Getting High

We are pretty high up in the mountains of the black range here in NM. We had a pretty good climb today. A little over 2,000 feet in 30 miles. Tomorrow we will be climbing this same distance in only 8 miles. Ahhhhh! Pretty steep climbing tomorrow and lots of it. Hopefully will be ending in Silver City, NM. We are currently in Kingston, NM staying at a lodge here. It is extremely beautiful here with lots of mountains and snow. I think we are currently at around 6,500 feet. Natalie and I are both starting to feel the altitude. Someone from Colorado would probably make fun of us but we are coming from almost sea level in the midwest. I love the scenery here. The weather has been cooperating for us too. We left Las Cruces and traveled to Arrey that day. Stopped in Hatch (which I'm told is the chili capitol of the world) and got a green chili burger which was awesome. Also got chocolate milkshakes at this place. That day was relatively flat and we had a tailwind which allowed us to fly to Arrey in great time. We left Arrey this morning and headed toward Kingston. Pretty much a slow uphill climb the entire way there which was frustrating at times. Sometimes I prefer the steeper climbs to just get them out of the way. We are starting to see snow here which is pretty cool. I took lots of pictures but don't know if I can upload them here or not because the Internet is kind of slow. Last night was very cold and the coyotes kept us up most of the night. They were so loud! I could hear them through earplugs even. A little unnerving to hear that always. We have hiked some trails around this Kingston area too which are really beautiful.  Its funny though; we get out of breath just walking around here on the hills. Need to acclimatize a bit still. Tomorrow we will be passing over 8500 feet and going into Silver City. From there we are staying with a host in Pinos Altos. Then, we will make our way to Tucson. We are both excited to be getting further west. I love the topography and scenery that the southwest has to offer. Some people don't like how dry everything is but I think that Natalie and I both love it. I will try and update in Pinos Altos tomorrow if I can.

~Drew

In New Mexico Finally!

We finally made it out of TX today and into NM. It was an absolutely beautiful day of riding out. It got up to around 60 degrees and sunny. We had a slight tailwind at our back which added to our joy. Starting to get into mountains which adds to more scenery for sure. West TX does not have much in the category of scenery. Both of us felt pretty good today. Our bodies are always kind of shocked after taking a rest day. We did nothing yesterday and had a great time hanging out with Kamala and Charlie. It is really great to meet people like them along the way. They had very similar ideals to Natalie and I so conversation was extremely easy with them. We stayed up too late last night talking to them. I could have talked with them all night. They have done so many bike tours and are just generally inspiring people. I hope that Natalie and I can be like them when we are older. They are role models for cycling and marriage.  Left this morning around 9:30 from El Paso and headed around the city using an alternate route. This allowed us to bypass the large metropolis of El Paso/Juarez. It was maybe 7 miles longer but much nicer because it did not have as much traffic. Had a very nice lunch stop. We had chocolate cake, sunflower seeds, and granola. The cake was from Kamala and it was awesome! Tonight we are staying with Lee in Las Cruces. Las Cruces is an absolutely beautiful city sitting in the foothills of large mountains. Lee made us an awesome dinner (we were very hungry) and also had some beers for us. Natalie and I were craving any type of alcohol on our ride today. Its so funny because every day we seem to crave something different. Today it was either margaritas or beer. We continue to be blessed to meet awesome people on this trip. Tomorrow we will head toward Caballo lake state park setting us up to tackle emory pass in the next few days. Emory pass sits somewhere around 8500 feet and will be very very difficult with the trailer. The weather looks favorable so we are game to try it. The route this way it definitely more scenic and is better than riding on the interstate or on west TX roads. The roads in NM so far are very good. There are some glass and debris but I swear to never complain about a road again after going through west TX. Cross your fingers for good weather for us!

~Drew

Almost out of TX

We are staying in El Paso, TX currently with some friends we have made. The roads through west TX got too bad for us on our triathlon bikes so we ended up catching a ride to El Paso. We are laying over a day here and resting a bit before we go to New Mexico tomorrow. The friends we are staying with had a really interesting bit of info for us. El Paso is one of the safest cities in the entire country (consistently in the top 5) and they are right next to the city which has the highest murder rate in the entire world (Ciudad Juarez). I found this just so interesting. Needless to say, we will be staying on the right side of the border. El Paso sits at around 3800 feet of altitude and is a bit cooler here. We will be going through some pretty high passes in NM the next few days so we are hoping for some good weather. The forecast looks good for us though. Del Rio wasn't really much to look at and there was a lot of trash around. West TX doesn't have much either. There are some mountain ranges here but other than that it is very very very desolate. There are wide stretches of land with nothing even close around. I-10 through this section of TX is like the autobahn. I didn't see a police vehicle for some 300 miles. You can pretty much drive as fast as your car will take you through this section which makes it a bit scary for bikers. The roads here are tar and gravel which make it very difficult for road bikes with skinny tires. We are doing this trip for FUN! We never did it to prove a point or to change our lives or to hurt ourselves. The minute it stopped being fun (and we knew it would be that for several hundred miles) we decided to make a change. Every rider who came through this stretch complained about the roads and scenery so we decided to cheat a little. We knew that if we did this stretch (which we were physically capable of doing) it would have mentally broken us down and possibly ruined the rest of the trip for us. Being in El Paso a week ahead of time also allows us to more explore the Gila wilderness of NM and spend more time with friends in Tucson. And not to mention, we get to San Diego faster. If we were doing this trip and knew we had to return to a crummy place afterword (i.e. anywhere in Midwest) we would take as much time as possible. But because we are ending and staying in San Diego WE WANT TO GET THERE! Some people have told us to slow down a bit but it doesn't really concern us. San Diego has too much to offer and we want to get there to explore it all! Also, we are both very much missing our pool time. I am having dreams about swimming. This is the longest I have not swum since I began to swim when I was 8. Natalie is in a similar situation. I am very eager to get to San Diego and start swimming again. Something I miss a lot. For now though we are safe and happy to be in NM tomorrow. Pray for good weather for us! We will be staying on the US side of the border always. No mexico for us. It was kind of funny in Del Rio. I was in the Walmart there and felt very out of place. One of only a handful of "white" people in there. Very different down here. Not at all in a bad way; just wild to see such a different part of the country. We are loving every minute of it (except for the really bad TX weather and roads). Hopefully we are done with that and can start seeing the sun a bit more. No recent pictures. Will add when I get some. Natalie says "Hi!" and "Goodbye!".

~Drew

Rough Days

Since my last post we have had some pretty rough days and weather. We left the EMS station in Wimberley and headed toward Blanco. Here the hills were really starting to pick up. These things are mountains at a lower altitude. The hills here are really really intense. We are getting incredibly strong though. It is no wonder this was the training ground of a seven-time tour de France winner. The EMS station guys were awesome and we were sad to leave them. On our way out of town we stopped at a taco shack and I think I had one of the best quesadillas I have ever had. It had egg, cheese, ham, and bacon in it. I saw one of the guys eating one and had to get one. After wimberley, we headed to Blanco where we stayed with a host family from warmshowers. They were really nice and served us awesome food! They made us homemade pancakes in the morning with homemade strawberry syrup and eggs. I did not eat eggs before this trip but I am starting to eat them more and more because of their benefits. I notice that I ride a lot stronger after I have eaten them. From Blanco we headed to Kerrville with more huge hills the entire day. We both felt great though that day I remember. We had very nice weather that day. It was warm (in the 70's) and the sun was out the entire day. I am starting to get a pretty sweet sunglasses and helmet strap tan. We stayed with another host family in Fredericksberg. He was nice enough to meet us half way since we had already ridden almost 75 miles that day. They had a sweet guest house and made us an awesome dinner. We weren't really at that house much. Only stayed there until eight the next morning and then off again. This is when the weather started to really suck. It rained on us the entire day to Vanderpool which was close to 80 miles away. It was one huge hill after the other and drizzling rain the entire day. Our spirits were very low that night. By the time we got to Vanderpool we were exhausted and did not know where we were going to stay that night. Natalie glanced at a motel sign at the last minute and we decided to stay there. I was kind of against it at first because I felt like we were selling out. It turned out to be one of the best decisions of the trip so far. The heavens opened up that night. Really bad thunderstorms all night. We would have been so screwed. A lesson to always listen to your wife. We had really good rest there and I was able to set our tent up inside the cabin to allow it to dry and I had to fix a couple things. Some of the grommets were wearing out and I was able to fix them with duck tape and glue. It has been a really good tent; we have just used it close to 50 times. Some things are starting to wear out. After leaving Vanderpool we knew we were going to have a monster day of climbing (See pictures of elevation profile). We stretched and plugged in a good mix to the ipod. The hills and grades were insane! I have been on mountain roads that were easier riding than today. Oh yeah, and we are pulling a 65 pound trailer over these things. Natalie did a great job and didn't complain at all during her stretch. Her hill that she had to pull over was arguably more challenging than the ones I had to deal with. That day was only 40 miles but it really kicked our ass. We did between 4,000 and 5,000 feet of climbing that day in only 40 miles. Also, the wind and rain started again. The temp was only in the 40s and I was freezing my ass off. Natalie had the trailer at this point so she was fine because she was expending way more effort than I was. We got to the bottom of the hill and actually argued on who GOT to pull the trailer. She continued with the trailer and I just put on all the clothes I had. We stayed at a nice campground that had REALLY hot showers. We both showered for around 30 minutes and then set our tent up. The lady running the campground was nice enough to offer us a cottage for the same price since it was supposed to be cold and possibly storm again. We took her up on that offer and slept almost 12 hours. We woke up and got a late start heading toward Del Rio. We didn't make it all the way and we are currently in Bracketville, TX. Tomorrow we will plan to go either to Del Rio for a short day or to Langtry for a long day. It will depend on how our legs feel and which way the wind is headed tomorrow. We are staying at a campground again tonight and have new food supplys. The weather is supposed to be nice for a while and we really hope it is. It has rained every other day on us in TX and we are really getting fed up with it. Especially since we are supposedly in a draught here. Whatever. Its just really pissing both of us off. We're tired of being wet and cold. I will try and add some pictures when I can. I have some really good ones.

~Drew

Making Moves

I think last time I posted we were in Gay Hill, TX. We are currently in Wimberley, TX and are officially in the hill country. It is absolutely gorgeous around here and the riding is awesome. This is the former training ground of Lance Armstrong and I can see why it made him so strong. Just amazing climbs and decents and it never seems to end. The scenery is beautiful and the roads are great so far. We are still getting good weather. We put in about 45 miles today from Austin, TX. We spent last night with Natalie's cousin in Austin. She lives near the UT campus so we were able to tour around there for some time. We had a really good time. I wish we would have had more energy to go out with her cousin and friends but we are always so tired at the end of days. After leaving Gay Hill, TX a few days ago we traveled a short distance down the road to Carmine, TX and stayed with Carol at her ranch house. We stayed in her bunkhouse above one of the barns. We had a really relaxing day there. We only put in about 15 miles so it was a very short day with lot of rest and we were able to get healed by mother nature. The sun was out and we caught some good rays. The next day we set off for Bastrop which was just outside of Austin. We rode about 65 miles that day but I think it was our hardest day yet. We had a headwind the entire way and the hills definitely picked up. They were different than hills we are in now. The hills were very steep and short which I do NOT like. I like the more gradual climbs and then the decents. I hate going up steep grades with the trailer. It just absolutely kicks your ass. We went through Bastrop state park which was almost completely burned in the wildfires here (see pictures on FB). The hills there rivaled some of the steepest I have ever been on. And it was endless. It was no doubt the longest 13 miles of my life through that goddamn park. For all I care, it had it coming with those fires. I don't care if I never go through there again. After that state park we arrived in Bastrop. We crossed eight lanes of highway traffic so we could go to a Wendy's. We ordered an obscene amount of food there for two people and the lady taking our order looked a bit in shock. Natalie and I just laughed.....and we ate all of our food without any issue. We stayed in some small RV park in Bastrop that night which set us up for an easy ride into Austin the next day. That next day we got rained on AGAIN! I didn't think it rained much in TX. "Supposedly" they are in a drought here but we have so far seen half of our days in TX with rain. I don't care if I don't see it again until San Diego. Austin is a really cool town. Its kind of a hippie town which is strange to see in ultra-conservative TX. The capitol and large university are there too so it makes it a very fun city. Lots of live music and good beer. No real cool stories since we went to bed so early. This morning before we left we made sure to stop by Lance Armstrong's bike shop which is AWESOME!!! Really really sick bikes in his store. He also had all of his yellow jerseys from his many tours in there. Some of his early bikes are in there too from when he rode back in the early 90's. It was really interesting to see some of those. There was a really good coffee shop in there too. Highly recommend going if ever in Austin area. Today we rode from Austing and ended up in Wimberley. Today has been my favorite riding so far. The area is beautiful. Wimberley is a cool little town in the hills of about 5,000 people. We are staying at the local EMS office here with all of the paramedics. They let us inside to use their kitchen and showers. Also offered up their laundry services. It is really cool to stay with them to talk ER types of things. They are all really cool guys and I love that they do this! We are posted up in their backyard with our tent. Tomorrow we plan to go to Blanco and we are staying with a warmshowers host there. Should be another short day tomorrow. Nice to have some recovery days. Our bodies are thanking us. My legs are getting really strong and so are Natalies'. It is nice to be getting in really good shape again. We are going to be animals when we get out to CA. Keep us in your prayers. The roads around here can sometimes be crazy. Love to all! I will add more pictures on facebook tomorrow.

~Drew

In Texas!!

Finally made it to Texas. Natalie and I could not wait to get out of LA and MS. The people there were great don't get me wrong. We met some fantastic people through those states. I cannot say the same for the roads, scenery, and drivers. Roads were bad, not much to look at for scenery, and drivers were pretty awful. Very thankful to make it to TX. Upon entering the state we notice immediately that the roads are so much better. Not so much debris on the side and wide shoulders to ride on. We stay our first night in TX in Kirbyville. We rode about 55 miles that day. We are getting to the point where 55 miles seems short to us. We are still with Stefan for the time being. We stayed with a very nice couple here, Sidney and Debbie. Sidney made us an awesome meal at night. I think they were the best burgers I have ever had. They were a mixture of beef, venison, and bacon. They were awesome!  They had friends over later that night and we had a bonfire. They brought some Shiner Bock beer with them which I did not know was brewed very near in Shiner, TX. We drank a lot of those and listened to some hilarious stories. One of the best nights we have had so far. The next morning we had to leave pretty early in order to make it to Shepherd, TX. It was about an 85 mile ride so we got going around 9:00. We parted ways with Stefan and now it is just Natalie and I again. The ride was very pleasant with great roads and a slight tailwind. Our legs felt great and we made it to this place around 4:00 in the afternoon. No doubt, one of the most interesting places we have been so far. We stayed at a place called Shepherd Sanctuary. Awesome, awesome place. They even made us dinner! The gentleman doing the cooking studied in France so the food was excellent. Best pot roast I have ever had. All of the people who stayed here (people live at this sanctuary) were great company. We had great conversation with them. They felt bad for us sleeping in a tent because it was supposed to rain so they let us stay in one of their cabins. Very cool cabins! They were each decorated with a special theme. The lady who runs this place buys all sorts of decorations and even had the neon sign from Buffy the vampire slayer (see pictures). They made us great coffee in the morning and we took off around 10. Very sad to leave places like this. We had about a 55 mile ride the next day to Sam Houston national forest outside of New Waverly. Very cool forest and starting to get a little more hilly around here. No more flat ground and certainly no more messing around. We woke up the next morning and it was raining but warm so we decided to continue riding. We had to get to Carmine, TX which was another 85 mile ride. We were not very excited about it. We both felt like crap yesterday. I realized that we had ridden almost 600 consecutive miles without any days of rest. We were both feeling really lousy and it was raining which did not help. The humidity was killer and was hard to breathe actually. We stopped in Navasota, TX for lunch at Pizza Hut. We got their buffet and loaded up on everything. We took about an hour break and felt much better. Natalie pulled the trailer through some serious hills until Independence, TX. We took a break there and knew we only had about 20 more miles to go until being done for the day. We entered Gay Hill, TX and a woman stopped us in her van and asked where we were going to stay that night. We replied that we were staying with a woman about 10 miles down the road. She stated that she had a hot tub at her place and quickly won our allegiance. That, and we did not have to go any further as she was just a mile down the road. We stopped at her place which is in Gay Hill, TX. They have a guest house which they offered to us. Everything is beautiful here! They are on top of a hill that overlooks land as far as you can see. You can see all the way to College Station, TX which is 25 miles away or so. Absolutely beautiful! They have horses and a ton of property here. Sandi and her husband Gary took us out to dinner at an awesome Mexican place. They are both bikers too and we loved talking to them. As I am writing this, we plan to stay with a woman in Carmine, TX which is only 10 miles down the road. That is all we are riding today and plan to rest! Tomorrow we plan to head toward Austin and see how far we can get. This trip continues to be amazing and I continue to say the best part is the people we have met along the way. Often times we don't know where we are staying that same night and someone offers to take us in. It has exceeded my expectations in every way so far. Best wishes to all my friends and family! Check out my pictures on Facebook. I was finally able to upload them.

~Drew

Almost to Texas

We can't wait to get out of Louisiana!! The poverty and trash everywhere is starting to get to me. This place makes Southern IL look classy. Nothing to look at really either. Yesterday we rode from Simmesport, LA to Ville Platte, LA. We stayed in Chico State Park. Pretty nice state park. I walked in the office there and they had two gator heads that were approximately 3 feet long. I asked the guy if they caught them in that lake and he assured me they did. I think they were 12.5 feet long each. We stayed about a half mile from the lake though so no worries. Yesterday's riding was around 55 miles with flat terrain. Really windy and cold though. Natalie did not like that. We camped in our tent last night (only tent in the park, hell yeah!). Got down to 25 last night but we stayed pretty warm. Natalie sleeps completely under the covers on those nights. We took off this morning with clear skies bur really really cold. I think it is supposed to warm up tomorrow. There is another warm front coming in. Today we rode 85 miles! This has been our longest day yet. No wind today but it stayed really really cold. Never warmed up today. Natalie was pretty blue all day. We met up with a german guy about halfway through our route today and he rode with us. His name is Stephan and I think we will ride with him at least through tomorrow. We kind of got caught in no-mans land so we had to go further to this campsite. They have cabins here which is nice because it is supposed to be cold again tonight. This campground is hilarious. There are ducks, donkeys, bulls, fish, cats, alpacas, and pheasants here.  They love cyclists here though! We have our own separate teepee. That's right; we are staying in a teepee. We plan to ride to Kirbyville, TX tomorrow and staying at a warmshowers place. So we will be able to stay inside again tomorrow. HUGE!! We are both exhausted today. I will try and update tomorrow again if this lady has Internet. Pray for warm weather. Internet is too slow to upload pictures. I will try at this lady's house tomorrow. Peace! We'll be in TX within an hour of riding tomorrow. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaaaa!

~Drew

Back in Louisiana

We are back in Louisiana! We crossed the border again yesterday while riding.  We started yesterday in Poplarville, MS at one of the world's finest camp grounds. It poured on Sunday night but we stayed dry in our tent with no problems. Robert started the day's ride with us and rode for the first 30 miles or so with us. We are back on our official route after taking a New Orleans detour (which was totally worth it). The roads are a lot quieter without so much traffic. We are not around any big cities right now so the riding is much easier than in days past. Weather continues to be good but wet. I don't think our tent has completely dried since leaving Florida. Its so wet every night that nothing dries. Super humid down here. Temps have been in the mid 60s and 70s and the wind has not been bad yet. We ended yesterday in a campground in Franklinton, LA. We rode about 50 miles total that day. This camp ground was really cracking me up. It is set up to use for their summer fair so not many people use it most of the other times of the year. The guy who checked us in, Chris, shot the sh*t with us for an hour or two. He proceeded to smoke and drink the entire time while talking to us and he claimed he was on the job. He was also driving. He also had a fully stocked cooler (which I utilized) in the back of his dual-wide pickup truck. This is the south. I have seen a lot of people driving around with brown bags. We watched the LSU game at a local bar and pretended to be LSU fans so as not to get harassed. We sat next to a pair of gentleman who talked to us the entire time and loved us, but I could not for the life of me understand a damn word they were saying. Lots of nodding my head and laughing. It poured again last night but again we stayed dry in the tent. We left Franklinton and headed toward Jackson, LA. It was about a 70 mile ride today. Lots of hills. I had no idea there were this many hills in LA?? It reminded me of Ironman Wisconsin bike course. Scenery was very similiar too. I got my ass kicked today and so did Natalie. Hard to pull the trailer up some of these hills. We are staying indoors tonight with a couple who allows bike tourists to stay with them. Perry and Lep. Super nice couple who let us take a shower, do laundry, AND made us a massive dinner. Just what we needed after a super hard riding day. I love all of the people I am meeting. People down here may not understand what we are doing but they are some of the nicest people I have met.  I think everyone should take a trip like this. The people you meet reassure you that there are still good people in this world who want nothing more than to help others out. Will update in a few days. Natalie is doing well. She came down with a minor cold (thanks Robert!) but is doing well. Sorry I haven't posted any pictures yet. Honestly we haven't really seen anything that cool and I'm too lazy at the end of days to dig around in my trailer. Scenery around here looks similiar to midwest anyway. I will try my hardest to post some next time. Peace and chicken grease!

~Drew

In Mississippi

So a lot has happened since I last posted back in December. We've had some plans change too. We decided to start in Pensacola, FL instead of starting on the east coast in St. Augustine. Two friends of ours decided to come with and one had already ridden across the state of Florida years back. He told me it was one of the more boring rides of his life. No elevation change over hundreds of miles and nothing but scrubs and brush to look at. I agreed with him and decided we should start in Pensacola, FL. Our first few days of riding have been great. Weather has been very good for us and wind has been at our backs for most of the riding. We have covered approx. 150 miles over 4 days and decided to take a rest day today in Poplarville, MS (see middle of nowhere). Yesterday was awesome too because we decided to go through New Orleans. I have never been there but Natalie raves about it so we decided to go for it. I severely underestimated that city. It is a non-stop party 24/7. My kind of city. I couldn't stay out for as late as I like due to tired legs and riding all day. We caught a ride from a friend out of New Orleans so we didn't have to drive out of that mess of a city. The south is still pretty devastated from Katrina. You would think it happened yesterday. Many homes still abandoned with FEMA numbers still spray painted on. Really wild. We also stopped overnight in Biloxi, MS which is another awesome city. A friend that we stayed over night with estimated the city is only 40% rebuilt. Where there used to be gorgeous mansions and houses right along the coast is now abandoned. Many empty lots still stand. Very eery. We have been camping all nights except for last night when we stayed in a hotel. People we have met in the south are very nice and accommodating. Most people seem genuinely interested in what we are doing. My legs feel good and so do Natalie's. We are both healthy and doing well. My gooch (area between butt and balls where you sit on your bike seat) has been really rough getting used to riding again but that will improve with time I am sure. Tomorrow we will head west heading back into LA. I think we are stopping in Franklinton, LA or something like that. I can't remember and I don't have my maps with me right now. I will try and update this about once a week or so when I have Internet access. Tomorrow's ride is about 50 miles and the day after that will be about 60. It is nice getting used to a nomadic lifestyle. We really have no plans and often don't know where we will be sleeping that same night. It worried me at first but now I am beginning to like it. There is nowhere we have to be and no schedule to live by. Some people wouldn't like it but we do so far. Best wishes!  I will try and add some pictures at a later time.

~Drew