Divide By One

Into the National Bike Museum

2010-04-25T17:40:00.004-06:00

This weekend, on April 24, 2010, I had the privilege of attending the grand opening for the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame, which has merged with the National Bike Museum. Recently relocated from Somerville, New Jersey, to Davis, California, the Hall of Fame is in a great location in the center of Bike Town USA (Davis is ranked as the #1 bike-friendly small town in the U.S.), adjacent to the town's farmer's market (also ranked #1 farmer's market in the nation).

I am honored to be able to say that my Coker Big One unicycle (from my coast-to-coast journey) and my KH29 (complete with dirt residue from the Great Divide) are now in the national bike museum, which is within the building for the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame. It just so happens that Davis, CA, is my hometown, so I was able to share the excitement of the grand opening with my family.

Here is a link to my pictures from the grand opening this weekend:
http://picasaweb.google.com/onewheelforlife/BikeMuseumGrandOpening#

Thanks for everyone's support along the way! It is certainly an exciting step; hopefully it will encourage ongoing awareness of and donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

If you ever make it to northern California, be sure to stop in!

Rock n roll,
Gracie

it didn't quite kill us, so i guess we're... stronger?

2009-09-17T23:12:00.011-06:00

YES, we have finished the Great Divide journey!
YES, we have a big game of media catch-up to play!
NO, I am not recovered!

Early on in the adventure, it became clear to me that riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route on a unicycle would not be a test of technical riding ability; it is a test of will. It tests one's ability to endure: fatigue, extreme weather, dehydration, pain, etc.

How to summarize the unsummarizeable?
First I'll post (too?) many pictures from our journey south of Grants, NM. Then the really fun stuff starts, in the form of trip statistics and the like.

Due to the continuing monsoon rains that create impassable roads, we had to take the Adventure Cycling-recommended alternate through the El Malpais National Monument, which actually ended up being way cool. The monsoons came a bewildering few weeks late this year, which unfortunately coincided with our travels through the really mucky section of New Mexico.

["Collecting" is the new "gathering." Gathering is so B.C.]

[Near The Narrows in the monument, winding through a corridor lined with rock cliffs on one side and a wild lava bed on the other.]

[Jiminy cricket! (who is not amused)]

[Unrollable.]

[But surprisingly standupable! This otherwise-nearly impossible feat is made possible by the insanely sticky mud.]

[Here's a shout out to the folks at KEEN! The shoes were great and got us through the best and worst of it.]

[Unrollable means just that. Time to drag it sideways.]

["23"]

[Nita and I share a mutual friend! Pie Town, NM was a kind place, full of welcoming people and friendly faces. The pie lady at The Pie-O-Neer Cafe even lent us her car to do a grocery run several miles away! They were busy crankin' out the pies for the annual Pie Fest. I recommend the New Mexico Apple pie a la mode, with green chiles and pine nuts!]

["24"]

Sidenote: I know I've mentioned the insects and animals frequently during the journey, but seriously, sometimes they are out of control. Dung beetles are simply outrageous, expending an astounding amount of energy forming balls of poop in the cow pies, then rolling them away to do what they do best (and I still haven't figured out what that is). The ant hills are tremendous, and if you camp anywhere within a expanse littered with them, they will crawl on everything - and I mean everything - and even into your sleeping bag. And oh, the mice - clever ones, they are, creating all sorts of ruckus while we try to sleep. The dogs mostly stay away when we draw our knives and pick up stones in a ready-to-throw posture.

["25"]

[Nope, the mud hasn't stopped yet!]

["26"]

[Thunder and lightning all around, with absolutely no place to hide. The storm is so close and thick that it is blocking the view of large mountains just beyond. We ended up finding an outcropping of rocks, and I wrapped up in trashbags leeward of a boulder.]

["Roads impassable when wet." ...I'll agree with that.]

[a sloppy "27"]

["28"]

["29..." These poses and camera shots are getting lazy!]

[Muck through O-Bar-O Canyon.]

[Rapidly changing surface quality did a number on me, making my knee bleed even through the thick layer of mud.]

[New Mexico unicycle stand. Once again, this is not supposed to be possible.]

["30"]

[Ugly Santa Rita Mines.]

[Observing the piles of destruction at the Santa Rita Mines outside Silver City.]

["31"]

[Into the Chihuahua Desert, a stark contrast from the lush areas in the state that looked more like West Virginia. Good luck finding shade.]

[Just a cool sign, a cool sky, and 2 cool wheels.]

[Crossing a cattle guard just north of Separ.]

[First sign to our finish at Antelope Wells!]

[With Ron & Carol Elder, who showed us great kindness by saying hello in Silver City, picking us up on the route the next evening, filling our bellies with goodies and minds with good conversation, giving us a place to sleep, and returning us to the route. What a treat!]

[Starting our last full day of the trip!]

["Last full day" still means over 60 miles of pain, but with more motivation.]

[I think I see Mexico....]

[The road looks empty, but it is sprinkled with massive centipedes, tarantulas, and the occasional unicyclist.]

[Giant spiders devour Hachita!! Once again, no illusions. Tarantulas were everywhere.]

["32" - last crossing at 4,520 ft.!]

[Filling up at every chance meant finding windmill-powered pumps that filled stock tanks in the middle of nowhere... and I do mean the middle of nowhere.]

[Hatchet Gap: Windmill, pipe, fresh water, YES.]

[The last sunset.]

["1 Mile" in "Travel Time 5 Min." is twice our pace, and makes me doubt cars actually drive 12 mph for this last stretch to The Promise Land, or shall I say, "La Terra Promesa."]

[MEXICO!!!!]

[The moment we've all been waiting for. La Frontera.]

["United States Border Inspection Station Antelope Wells, N.M."]

[Tim, et al., at the border station is famous for his hospitality shown to bicyclists. He greeted us with ice cream and hot biscuits to supplement the multiple sodas we bought from the coveted Coke machine!]

[An hour after arriving at the least-used border crossing in the U.S., we hopped a shuttle (one of the ~3 vehicles that crosses each day) that takes Mexicans over the border to see family in Phoenix, AZ, then rented a car to drive through the night in shifts to Sacramento, CA where my parents picked us up and escorted us to Davis, my motherland.]

[Glowing grins.]

Now for the fun stuff!

total route mileage = 2,628.7*

riding days = 68

average daily mileage = 39.2

rest days = 9

time frame = july 2-september 16, 2009

# of pedal strokes (based on route miles, tire circumference, and squiggle factor) = 3,670,621

# of days over 50 miles = 17

# of days over 60 miles = 5

# of days over 100 miles = 1

most # of saddle sores at one time = 11

ratio of most # of saddle sores to pairs of socks lost = 2.75:1

size of biggest saddle sore: 3/4-inch diameter

total # of continental divide crossings: 32

most # of continental divide crossings in one day: 4

% riding days I cried = 19%

# animal species I had never seen before = 9

# of Wal-Mart sightings = 4

ratio of bags of chips consumed to threatening hummingbird encounters = 3.33:1

# of flat tires = 6 (each) (Matt got 3 in one mile near the Mexico border!)
# of flat seat tubes = 1 (each)

approximate % of days that the "I'm On a Boat" song was in my head = 95%

*Note: the total route miles listed is less than the initially intended 2,705 due to re-routes around impassable roads. Miles actually ridden are ~6% more (on our 29-inch, single-speed unicycles) due to the natural squiggle during the turn of a unicycle wheel, making the total ridden mileage 2,786.4 miles.

So, with little (if any) optimism from anyone who had actually ridden the route, we beat the odds and further expanded the horizon of possibility. Back in the real world, I am savoring every bit of music I can get in my ears; such a remote trip created quite a deprivation of one of my basic needs, as evidenced by frequent singing during the journey. Songs stuck in my head represented genres including, but not limited to, rap, children's songs, Gracie & Matt originals, and orchestral soundtrack scores to movies such as Dances With Wolves and Mr. Holland's Opus.

Rebounding from an extremely taxing endeavor has facilitated the alignment of my needs and wants, a blessing I wish would come more often. I need a job, and, ironically, I need balance in life; thankfully, those are the two things I want most right now. So... who's hiring? :-)

Finally I am going to post two lists of things I will and will not miss about the journey.

Things I will not miss:

1. mosquitoes

2. flies

3. bees

4. perpetual dehydration

5. wearing filthy clothes

6. wet-wipe baths

7. crotch-crunching washboarded roads

8. popping saddle sores

9. smelly feet

10. shivering in the mornings

11. lack of fresh food consumption

12. being too tired to eat dinner

13. being uncomfortable

14. getting stared at

15. wearing a dirty "diaper" (chamois shorts)

16. running out of toilet paper

17. waking up still exhausted

18. being in pain 12 hours/day

19. loathing, but needing, the sun

20. struggling to maintain adequate hygiene

21. chasing daylight

22. wondering what is floating in my water

23. high-altitude boogers

24. strangers telling me I'm sunburnt when I'm not

25. running out of food

Things I will miss:

1. killing mosquitoes

2. killing flies

3. killing bees

4. watching the sky change over the course of a day

5. uncluttered horizons

6. freshwater springs

7. speaking obnoxious baby-talk to cows, to either confuse or startle them

8. early morning wildlife sightings

9. having everything I could need in my pack

10. sleeping outside

11. rarity of mirrors

12. sporadic reliance on technology

13. taking breaks wherever & whenever I want, even sitting in the middle of the road

14. eating junk food and getting into amazing shape

15. deep appreciation for the simplest of conveniences

16. receiving uninhibited friendliness from strangers

17. seeing new things all day every day

18. night skies so starry, seen only when at least a day's ride from anywhere and anything

19. eating fingerfood all the time

20. groves of aspen trees

21. creating an evident positive impact on others simply by pedaling

22. a special comaraderie with other cyclists

Lest I bore you with more, so ends the journey. Thank you so much to all those who helped and supported us in person or remotely - seriously, we are so very thankful! Thanks to Panama Jack, KEEN Footwear, roll: bike shops, and Kris Holm Unicycles: Evolution of Balance, who made it all possible. Good luck to our friends hiking the Continental Divide Trail, finishing up the home stretch!

Remember to donate if you feel so inspired, and as always...

...Rock 'n' roll!

Yours Truly,

Team Blazing-But-Slowly-Healing Saddle Sores

new mucksico: most rain, least water

2009-09-13T19:22:00.002-06:00

They say, "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all," so I won't. I will, however, give you three words to ponder: monsoon mud melee.

That said, this post is to inform readers that in two days we expect to reach the Mexico border, and that the next update will be written from California, with the comforts of a cushioned chair and full belly.

Thoughts and prayers are appreciated as I combat eleven or more saddle sores during these two consecutive 60-plus-mile days to the finish line, where misery ends and real life begins.

Rock 'n' roll!

Yours truly,
Team BLAZING Saddle Sores

the yin and the yang: unicycling is about balance

2009-09-08T08:02:00.020-06:00

Fortunately, a pack-lightening campaign in Salida, Colorado left me with only 18.6 pounds to carry, including 3 days of food.
Unfortunately, I am left with no tent, no sleeping pad, and no extra riding shorts.
Fortunately, we successfully dodged the many bowhunters in the national forest.
Unfortunately, a bug bit me and left my leg itchy and swollen: a 6"x4" section of my quad was inflamed, itchy, and hard from liquid pressure.

["17": Marshall Pass (10,842')]

Unfortunately, time spent in towns put us behind schedule to finish by September 16.

Fortunately, a night in a teepee with fellow cycle tourists boosted morale.

["18": Cochetopa Pass (10,067')]

[Matt, riding toward the "dramatic" Coolbroth Canyon opening of columnar basalt.]

[Matt kicks the speed up too many notches on the way into Del Norte, Colorado.]

[Delightful singletrack that paralleled our sandy, washed-out road.]

[Crossing the Rio Grande coming into Del Norte at sunset.]

Fortunately, Del Norte has free camping for cyclists in the city park.

Unfortunately, there is a one-night limit, and we had planned to stay two nights in town.

Fortunately, Heather and Bill Green adopted us, sharing their straw-bale home, excellent food, and the fantastic company of their family - truly a haven in the desert!

Unfortunately, the biggest climb of the trip, Indiana Pass, loomed over our heads.

Fortunately, Mike Tierney of Aspen, CO, joined us for the ride and amped us with good vibes, treats, and Hammer nutrition.

[Matt and Mike cranking up the pass.]

Fortunately, Indiana Pass was the highest point on our entire route: 11,910 feet.

Unfortunately, Indiana Pass does not even cross the Continental Divide.

[Reaching the summit!... thanks, Mike, for snapping this one!]

[A trio of champions. All downhill to Mexico, right?

Matt would like to give a shout-out to fellow Hoosiers - there was no "Indiana Pass" sign at the top for a photo op.]

[Representing a fantastic state at the top of the pass, although maybe we should be holding an Indiana jersey for its namesake.]

[Doris "Paparazzi" and "Cowboy Jim" Garling]

Fortunately, Doris was kind enough to leak a few photos to the press.

Unfortunately, this 48-mile day, with three mountain passes and an EPA SuperFund site, included some of the rougher roads we've faced.

[photo courtesy of Doris Garling.]

Fortunately, the fire was warm and the lounge was comfortable at Skyline Lodge in Platoro, CO.

Unfortunately, we spent more time looking at the maps and counting miles when we should have been riding in the rain.

Fortunately, the overcast skies made for cool riding.

Unfortunately, even brief showers turned the road to unrideable muck.

Fortunately, we learned of the mucky potential of the roads before entering New Mexico.

Unfortunately, most of the route through northern New Mexico is comprised of this soil.

Fortunately, Adventure Cycling Association recommends taking paved alternates when the weather is wet.

Unfortunately, we had daily thunderstorms and were slated for several days of hurricane rains during our time in New Mexico.

Fortunately, the paved alternate went closer to the Continental Divide, and past some very cool sites, including crossing the path of America's longest and highest steam-powered train.

[The Cumbres-Toltec railroad]

Unfortunately, the skies poured rain and large bits of slushy hail.

Fortunately, the weather served as confirmation of our route decision.

[The weather continues in the background.]

Unfortunately, a portion of the route south of Cuba, NM, has been closed because the road became private property.

Fortunately, Adventure Cycling provides an official alternate from Cuba to Grants, NM.

Unfortunately, the alternate is all paved.

Fortunately, we crossed the Continental Divide 4 additional times on the alternate, and rode through incredible mesas and canyons in the region of Chaco Canyon and through the Navajo Nation.

[A diesel fill-up, in honor of my unicycle's name: "Diesel."]

Unfortunately, we had to negotiate more car traffic than we are accustomed to.

Fortunately, we had the opportunity to meet and talk with some very cool and excited Japanese folks, traveling the world after college.

["19"]

[With Harold Redhouse, who stopped to see if we needed help. He is Navajo and taught us a few basic words in his language.]

Unfortunately, unreasonably angry dogs chased us and tried to attack on several occasions.

Fortunately, we found large sticks to carry for self defense. We collected them after Matt had to use a license plate to hit one in the face while riding. The junkyard license plate collection earlier that day paid off, though the dog's face bent the plate.

Unfortunately, we had a hankering to attempt a 100-mile riding day on our single-speed 29ers.

Fortunately, the moon was nearly full, and past experience had prepared us to interpret the road's shades of grey.

Unfortunately, we needed to take caffeine shots and pills to make it through the night.

Fortunately, they worked.

Unfortunately, they worked too well, and wreaked serious havoc on our digestive systems. Fortunately, there were more howls of coyotes than barks of domesticated dogs throughout the night.

["20"]

["21"]

["22"]

[Just to prevent our souls from becoming as sleepy as our eyes....]

Unfortunately, the sun was brilliant in the sky at 7:30am when we finished our 102.1-mile, 22.5-hour stretch of riding.

Fortunately, there were adequate patches of flat dirt on the side of the road on which we crashed to nap for an hour before continuing 20 additional miles into Grants, NM.

Onward and southward...

Rock n roll!

Yours truly,

Team Blazing Saddle Sores

Salida... like "saliva," but 23 times Awesomer.

2009-08-28T10:52:00.003-06:00

Can we say "THANK YOU" enough? What more could we need besides full bellies, good rest, fun folks, dinner parties, post office runs, cycling companions, and good-night hugs?? Really, all that and more from the Hendens. Thanks, Arnie and Shelly!!

[Shelly & Arnie escorted us out of Frisco, through Breckenridge, and up toward Boreas Pass.]

[Scotty Bondo, KCMV Radio Morning Show host, interviewed us in the morning, and then rode out of town with us on his 36" unicycle! Thanks, Scotty - it was a real treat!]

["16" - Boreas Pass (11,482'), highest elevation so far]

[Matt, riding down from Boreas Pass through South Park (yes, the region after which the cartoon is named!)... oh yeah, and "park" is Coloradoan for "meadow."]

[Silly shadows.]

[Our reward for climbing up a big watershed divide last night, just 12 miles above Salida, Colorado.]

[Incredible. Seriously. Aspen and spruce lined the way... and photogenic powerlines. Some of the aspen leaves have started to change color - fall is coming, and so is snow!]

[The Sawatch Range, a line of "14ers" (peaks over 14,000 feet), a section known as the "Collegiate Peaks," named for some well-known universities.]

The above picture was our view descending the watershed divide into Salida this morning. We will spend a few hours here in Salida revamping our equipment to minimize weight, and maximize efficiency - trying to finish September 16! It will certainly be a test of willpower and pain tolerance, but so goes unicycle touring.

Until next time!

Yours truly,
Team Blazing Saddle Sores

rocky mountain high

2009-08-25T08:36:00.008-06:00

Greetings from Frisco, Colorado! The past week has taken us from a treeless, deserted expanse, into a lush, grand landscape. I am grateful for more frequent water availability, though I still battle perpetual dehydration.

Local passers-by have taken the time to warn us of things like bears and fast drivers (though neither want to hurt us), but the warning that takes the cake began like this: "You two know what you have to look forward to?" Wait, let me guess.... a hill? A steep hill? A hill that is so steep that even though I've pedaled here from Canada, I should probably just stop and go home? On my coast-to-coast journey in 2006, even the people in Kansas cautioned me against the treacherous local incline. Perhaps there is an amount of pride found in one's local terrain, or maybe these people just really like to be discouraging - I haven't yet figured out the intent of such warnings and cautionary statements. I try hard to give them the benefit of the doubt by assuming they're trying to help, but there is nothing helpful about it. Feel free to enlighten me with a reasonable explanation.

In other news, did you know that Specialized perforates their tubes? Yes, I had a hole in my tube, but not from a puncture. In fact, there were mechanically created slits around the circumference of a tube cross-section. Again, if there is a reason for such a cruel joke, feel free to enlighten me with a reasonable explanation.

["Into the great, wide open..."]

[Matt, climbing up Middlewood Hill out of Rawlins]

["15" - Roman crappy numerals X and V. Okay, we were really tired. And the camera was really crooked.

Middlewood Hill = 7,965']

Aspen trees are my favorite. Thankfully, Colorado is full of them, and it makes rolling south that much more appealing - some are even starting to change color! The flutter of the leaves often sounds like the rushing of a nearby creek, both of which are sounds that I have become accustomed to hearing more frequently than car engines - not a bad thing.

[Aspen Alley]

Good fortune has followed us, showing up mostly in the people along the way who have inconvenienced themselves just to spoil us. Among them is Jon Wade, who gave us a complimentary hotel room in Steamboat Springs, just as darkness and hopes for a place to stay descended. Colorado has brought hard-packed (read: easy-to-ride) roads, beautiful vistas, unique wildlife sightings (porcupine and beaver), and even more appetite. Since entering the state, which had no welcome sign (alas, what is a blogger to do?), we have seen less of the "high grade" or "well maintained roads," which make us cringe knowing that it means probable washboard, gravel, and motorized traffic. However, we have enjoyed more hard-packed dirt, often coming in the form of "lower grade" or "primitive" roads: worse for cars, but great for unicycles!

I have been asked why I cry so frequently on this trip; and, because the high percentage of riding days that bring me to tears also happens to amuse me, I will address the issue. Really, what could be so bad? Well, below is a list of things that make me cry - hopefully this illuminates the reality of day-to-day life on the Divide By One journey.

(1) bad dreams

(2) low blood sugar level

(3) pain

(4) exhaustion

(5) other frustrations with particular situations

(6) laughter

Furthermore, the combination of any items #1-5 can create additional distress, whereas a high blood sugar level combined with item #6 can bring an exorbitant amount of tears as well. Not to make it sound confusing or anything.

Regarding #1: the other morning, I slept restlessly all night, in and out of a dream that I had been diagnosed with an acute, terminal cancer, and that I had only a few days to live.

Regarding #2: I am much better at eating enough on this trip than on my coast-to-coast trip, so it is rarely an issue.

Regarding #3: from the moment I get on the seat in the morning, I am in pain, often wincing with the excruciating feeling caused by my many, irritated saddle sores. The pain remains to some degree until we are finished riding for the day, 8-12 hours later (6 mph is a painful pace!).

Regarding #4: I have been sleep-deprived for nearly 2 months. Without sufficient sleep, life as we know it might end, and slight difficulties become depressing disasters. Each morning I awake ready to go to sleep all over again. It is an increasingly exhausting cycle, and I hope I find a way to cope for the rest of the journey.

Regarding #6: laugh attacks happen. Sometimes I have to get off my unicycle because I can't stay balanced while laughing so hard.

[Matt claims that tooth brushing is more fun at 6 mph.]

In 2006, I met Arnie and Shelly Henden of Frisco, Colorado, when I rode through on a unicycle with my dad on a bike. Arnie offered their hospitality and we have kept in touch since. They are an amazing couple, active in the outdoors and in their community. Arnie braved a very wet storm on his bicycle to find us on Highway 9 and provided a personal escort to their home in Frisco, where we are recovering for the day. The below picture shows Arnie's mad skills on a unicycle in front of Dillon Reservoir, at the location where I left my camera behind on my coast-to-coast trip (later to be recovered by their efforts). This time around, I decided to take my camera with me instead of leaving it on a bench. What a novel concept.

[Arnie's a natural.]

After a shower and some well needed down-time, the party commenced, with a bunch of their friends coming over to celebrate - because life's a party (right, Fred?). :-) The crew was a blast, and it was great to re-meet a handful of folks that I had met in 2006.

[Party animals.]

So freakin' excited to be here! The last couple of weeks have been relentless and have really worn me down. Receiving the Hendens' kindness is more than we could ever ask for. I am so sick of being in the sun (my mood drops significantly every morning when it comes up), as its presence has equated itself with discomfort. Saddle sores hound my every pedal stroke, exacerbated during each mount and dismount. Sleep deprivation makes everything that much worse. But lest my complaints continue, now it's time for some catch-up! Off to do errands, meet up with friends in the area, and who knows - maybe another dinner party tonight? Why not? :-)

Rock n roll!

Yours truly,

Team Blazing Saddle Sores

"cream of broccoli soup draws gnats"

2009-08-18T10:37:00.016-06:00

You'll never guess the meaning of the blog post title, so all I ask is that you type the title phrase into the search box at yahoo.com.

Moving on:

current location: Rawlins, Wyoming

# of miles ridden, total: 1,379 (over half-way!!)

average miles per day, not including "zero"/rest days: 33.6

# of days of riding: 41

# of "zero" days: 6

# of Continental Divide crossings: 14

# of horned toad sightings: 3

# of Wal-Mart sightings: 0

% of riding days that I've cried: 24%

most # of saddle sores at one time: 6 (currently I have "only" 5)

favorite trail foods lately: Cheetos, Oreos, Kit-Kats, and water.
estimated date of completion: 9/17/09

After getting creative with how to rig multiple water bottles onto one slender and simple unicycle frame (oh, how we love long water carries), we ventured into the seemingly neverending desert landscape beyond Pinedale, Wyoming. Banking on a rumor that we were out of grizzly country, and because I always seek to eliminate as much weight as possible from my pack, it was time to do what I had wanted to do since the beginning: empty the can of bear spray. Not to make anyone jealous (because of course you all want to know what it is like), but seriously, it was fantastic. I shot it into Wyoming's vast emptiness, downwind, and with eye and face protection, sticking to my life motto: "Safety First."

[Wyoming state bear spray testing grounds.]

[Heavy traffic.]

[Continental Divide crossing #"10" of the journey.]

Wyoming has been a lot of emptiness since passing its northwestern National Parks. But I am dearly fond of desert skies, which are ever changing with the constant wind, so I don't mind a bit.

[Where does this road go? I dunno - Mexico?]

["11"]

Just after the above picture and below video were taken, a storm caught up to us on the Divide, whipping us with gusts of sand and blistering wind. Matt's map blew away, sand found its way into the video camera, and it was difficult to even walk. Although mostly a tailwind, it was strong enough that I could barely ride; and the times that it decided to add a crosswind component, I was leaned over as far as my torso could bend, backpack on, atop my wheel, just to stay balanced. Completely exposed to the desert elements, any exposed skin was brutally sandblasted.

["12"ish.]

Cool sights along the way also included two- or three-track ruts through the sagebrush from the various historical trails winding through the expanse: Oregon Trail, California Trail, Mormon Pioneer Trail, and the Pony Express. Dang!

[This is where the '49ers lost oxen fording the river, only to get run over by the Pony Express riders towing handcarts loaded with 19 children.]

["Riders on the Storm"... my favorite part of this sky is the series of cloud layers on the right.]

[Nobody likes a closed candy store.]

In Atlantic City, Wyoming (where still stands the now-closed former whorehouse of Calamity Jane), we stayed the night with a fellow unicyclist who had met us on the road a day before (many thanks, Craig!!). The next morning, we awoke to solid gray skies and windy rain. After procrastinating our ride for the day, we ventured out into the elements, only to be beaten down at the top of a hill with stinging, 35-degree rain, slippery roads, and sinking mud. My poor reaction to this otherwise-comical situation proved one devastating fact: I was desperately sleep-deprived. Many tears and verbalized frustrations later, we made the only sane decision to get hot chocolate and hole-up in Atlantic City for the night, hoping for better weather tomorrow. Verdict? Most excellent. After a 2.5-hour late-afternoon nap, I slept for a solid 9 hours that night. I guess 6 weeks of sleep deprivation can catch up with me, even at my zippy 6-mph pace.

[This is how they drink it in Belgium.]

We always feel bad for the bikers behind us, who hear statements like, "You think that's hard, there are a guy and a gal doing it on unicycles!" We hear from bikers along the way that they have heard about us for weeks, even months. How annoying that must be: we apologize... kinda (please, bikers, take comfort knowing you are in less pain). However, the joy of being unique on this route is that unicycle graffiti means special signs of love and encouragement - we know it was done just for us. Two signs at this junction boosted our spirits this particular day... I think I know who did it, but to tell would ruin all the fun.

[My affinity for donuts preceeds me, apparently. Yes, we found this written on the sign.]

[Overall, the road conditions from Pinedale to Rawlins were some of the best of the trip. More, please!]

[Just another day in the office.]

["13," on the divide between the east slope and the Great Divide Basin.]

[We are treated to such sunsets nearly every night. No joke.

However, desert + sun does not always equal warm. Several mornings we have awoken to ice lining our tents and sleeping bags; the temperature had dipped to well below freezing.]

[We saw more wild horses than people this particular day, not to mention the countless herds of pronghorns. A lively group of horses were "horsing around" chasing herds of cows. Go figure. We also pet a few horned toads scampering across the road, but I don't think they were as fond of us. The horses, unlike the pronghorns and horned toads, created gigantic "studpiles" sporadically along the road, marking their territory. When I say "gigantic," I mean dimensions of 2 ft. x 2 ft. x 1 ft stacks of poop. Who needs Brinks Home Security when you could just make piles of poop around your yard?]

[Screw this, we're going to Mexico today!!]

[This is what half-way feels like.
We have to do what we just did, all over again. Does anyone else find it ironic that the half-way point on this mountain bike route is paved?]

[Yet, I struggle to walk and chew gum. Yeah, that's sudoku.]

[Watching where I'm going.]

[Matt and his piece of flare.]

["14"]

Southward, ho!

Yours truly,

Team Blazing Saddle Sores

come on and take a free ride

2009-08-13T06:34:00.010-06:00

Greetings from Pinedale, Wyoming! After a trip to Jackson, we hitchhiked back to the route and continued on down the road refreshed as can be, thanks to the amazing hospitality of the Resor clan.

[with Story and Felicia Resor when they dropped us off in town.]

[near Moran Junction, with the beautiful Tetons in the background.

p.s. thanks Daddy, Mommy, and Sarah for the gift at the post office!]

Once we got up near Togwotee Pass, we discovered the infamous construction zone that everyone in the area seems to bemoan and avoid. We were not allowed to ride through a ten-miles stretch of the area, so we had to ride in the Pilot Car that escorted vehicles through the area (see video at bottom of post). We also were not able to ride the dirt road up to Brooks Lake, which was unfortunate and meant that we had to ride more miles on pavement; the road was blocked off due to TNT near the junction. I guess you could say that we had an easy climb up and over Togwotee Pass, our 8th continental divide crossing of the journey. One disclaimer I should mention before the critics begin a rant: Matt and I have each ridden this pass in 2006 when we both took cross-country cycling trips (him on a bike and I on a unicycle).

["8" from the back of a truck over Togwotee Pass (9,658')

[loving life at 30 mph!]

[back in the saddle, we descend with the view of a glimmering sunset on the Pinnacle Buttes]

No doubt, the landscapes and challenges on this journey have been tremendous. However, rivaling their greatness are the people we have met. I may sound like a broken record, but each expression of gratitude is sincere and immense.

[The Neutra family stopped to chat and inquire about our journey. Pictures and trying to sit on the unicycle were a must. Matt, Colleen, Marian, Eliot and Gabrielle, it was great to meet you!]

"Trail Angels" Dave and Jo-An Martin fed us refreshments and refilled our water at their cyclists-only hostel, even though we arrived unannounced. I think the reality of the "unicycle" part of our journey didn't really sink into their perception of our adventure until we mounted up and rode down their driveway up toward Union Pass.

[Jo-An, Dave & Wrigley (dog) Martin]

[big climb up Union Pass brought stunning views of the Wind River valley]

["9" at Union Pass (9,210')]

... and ... happy birthday to me! I just turned 26 yesterday and it proved to be an excellent day, indeed. Just after I awoke, I heard footsteps coming over to my tent and began to see a yellow glow on the other side of the tent wall. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." Matt began to sing. He brought a blueberry muffin with candles that spelled out "26" and a card addressed "To Grace, Destroyer of Miles." To top it off, he included a cinnamon roll in the birthday breakfast. Talk about being spoiled! It helped broaden my smile that had become more a look of surprise when I discovered ice lining the inside of my tent and part of my sleeping bag. Yep, the cold has come!!

[What more could a girl want?

Oh yeah, and saw two bull moose hanging out in some Aspens early that morning!]

On our continued descent from Mosquito Lake (aptly named) to the Green River, we each made a "Three Ocean Cocktail," which consisted of water from three streams that are the headwaters leading to the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of California. Just add Tang, and it was a treat.

[birthday cocktail... and an advertisement for roll: bike shops, heehee]

[mudflap says: "Big, Beautiful Wyoming" - oh, the things we find on the side of the road]

We continued rocking our descent into Pinedale, stopping for a wonderful cafe breakfast at "The Place" along the way. Just outside of town, a lady named Kathy Raper stopped us who had seen us earlier that morning on the road. We got to talking and found out that her daughter is a Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma survivor, and she helps with an organization called "Kicking Cancer," which aids families with costs of cancer treatment that health insurance doesn't cover. Just when we were intolerably parched, she offered us water and (gasp) ice, and made plans to take us to dinner. Not only did she treat us to an amazing Mexican food dinner, but she brought us angel food cake, berries, and whipped cream to enjoy as a dessert on my birthday. Dang!! Her generosity extended much further than just the tangible gifts, and we are so thankful for her encouragement, enthusiasm, and all the work she is doing in the community to help others battling cancer. Thanks again, Kathy!!

[with Kathy at Fremont Lake, one of the deepest lakes in North America, just on the north end of Pinedale.]

And, of course, the video of glee getting to ride in the back of a truck over Togwotee Pass:

Well, that's life from the road. We are preparing to take on the worst (best?) of the Great Basin and are trying to get creative in ways to carry more water on our unicycles, not on our backs.

Rock n roll!

Yours truly,

Team Blazing Saddle Sores

layin' the hammer down

2009-08-09T11:43:00.020-06:00

greetings from: Jackson, Wyoming
housed by: the amazing, incredible, ever-hospitable Resor family
miles ridden: ~1,040!
most miles ridden in a day: 70
# of continental divide crossings: 7
# of books I've read (mostly while riding): 2
% of riding days that I've cried: ~20%
# of elk herd sightings: 3
# of bear sightings: 2
# of moose sightings: 3
# of snake sightings: 2
# of badger sightings: 1
# of animal intestine segments isolated from any creature, found on the trail: 1
# of Wal-Mart sightings: 0

Wow. What a couple of weeks. we have encountered all sorts of extremes in regard to terrain, weather, sleeping conditions, and more. First of all, we would like to extend heartfelt thanks to Matt and Mary Cohn of Helena, MT, for their hospitality during our stay in Helena. At a post office, Matt C. stopped us to ask if we were "the unicyclists" riding the Great Divide. As it turns out, he had heard of us when he rode the Canada section of the route just after we had passed through. Later, we had (a freshest of fresh) dinner with them and their friends who also had seen us earlier in our journey, in Big Fork, MT.

As the world continues to shrink, our perspectives expand as we encounter extreme experiences. We have finished riding through Montana: a milestone that gave us the confidence in our ability to complete the entire journey, as the state boasts some of the most difficult terrain of the trip (so we've heard...).

[Lava Mountain Trail between Helena and Butte, MT.
"Intense" is the word.]

[rigorous climbs reward us with stunning scenery, even if we're fogged in.]

We have made a point of stopping at informative signs along the route, some of which are interesting. Just after this (fifth) continental divide crossing, we rolled into Butte, MT, "the richest hill on earth." A sign at an overlook informed us that "booze, women, and gambling were common activities" back in the day. Thankfully, I was not treated like an "activity" during my stay (women, I think we're mostly safe, but they've still got a hand in booze and gambling!)

["5" (roman). unfortunately, riding on an interstate for this one.]

Our stay in Butte was a pleasant one, and we are grateful to The Outdoorsman bike shop for their services, friendliness, and donation of a well needed water bottle. The Outdoorsman is owned by the Leipheimer family. For those of you who follow the Tour De France, Levi Leipheimer is a famous bicyclist who competes in those big-time bike races. His brother, Rob, helped us during our stay in Butte, and my world shrank once more as I discovered that he used to work at the same bike & ski shop in Davis, CA that I have worked at: Ken's Bike & Ski.

[Matt and I hang out with some kids at the park in Butte who wanted to try out our unicycles.]

["6." From Butte, the route began to open up into wider, more vast landscapes.]

The cows are everywhere. Even as we slept, they tricked us into thinking they were bears seeking our food.

[ it happens.]

[a non-unicycling sort of balance.]

[Matt, rolling into a vast valley.]

[the downhill gets steeper....]

[on the really steep stuff that leaves room for shenanigans, I save my knees from some impact by riding in quick switchbacks.]

[ascending Mt. Fleecer, approaching a notoriously steep downhill section. The guide book recommends ignoring trail etiquette by departing the actual trail, and walking in a switchback pattern down through the sagebrush. Matt and I were slipping just walking downhill, and had no chance ofriding the last quarter-mile of the descent.]

[yes, fellow Great Divide riders, the answer you've all been waiting for: we were able to descend most of Mt. Fleecer. (honestly, he's grabbing his brake)]

[another non-unicycling sort of balance. the fly swatter has been our greatest sort of entertainment.]

[cows in the morning light of a Montana meadow.]

[a short stretch of highway leading toward the Medicine Lodge-Sheep Creek Divide.]

[got salt?]

A 70-mile day brought me to Lima, MT. That's right, a whopping 70 miles, followed by only 5 hours of sleep, warranting a rest day. The Mountain View Motel is a haven for long-distance cyclists and hikers; another cyclist and several Continental Divide Trail thru-hikers made the stay jovial and entertaining. Here's a shout out to our new friends: Neil (Bubbles), Numbskull, Dirty Bird, Panda and Valley Girl! And, a cook-your-own-steak joint in town ain't so bad either. A vicious storm rolling through inspired us to take teh entire day off, leaving us with incredible company and a double rainbow to boot.

[after Lima, the surroundings quickly morphed into an empty expanse.]

[post-storm sunset.]

[We have been early birds lately, often starting our riding at first available light. I always make sure to pack myself some breakfast pastries, or other morning delights, to motivate myself to get up that early.]

[We watched a band of cowboys round up the bulls from a pasture in the Red Rock National Wildlife Refuge, a home to the recovering trumpeter swan population.]

[Aspens are my favorites.
Nearby, we saw trumpeter swan mates and their young cygnet.]

["7" - and into Idaho!
Red Rock Pass 7,120 ft.]

[What would a state line be without climbing the sign?
Thanks, Mark, for chatting and taking our picture!]

["it takes balls this big to live here" - Sawtelle, Idaho]

The last bit of riding in Montana, and most of the non-paved portions of Idaho and Wyoming thus far, have been jarring. Let's just say that there have been multiple days of wearing double-layer chamois shorts, wishing for smooth terrain. Unpredictably, some of the more maintained roads are the worst, due to the grading process; smoothing the road for cars often means making the gravel impossible to avoid. Then add washboard. It makes me wince just thinking about it. Thankfully, we had a fun crowd to hang out with in Sawtelle, Idaho (near Island Park and Mack's Inn): Slow Joe, Randy, Delmont, et al. Yeti, thanks for letting us sleep on the floor of your hotel room; and Daniel, keep on truckin' - can't wait to see you down the road!

A notorious section of trail is along a rail-trail through Idaho. Rail trails are old railroad beds that have been turned into recreation trails; this particular one is used by everything from hikers to ATVers. The latter tear up the trails quite badly.

[crossing the Big Springs River at dawn.]

[About 10 miles of the rail trail is deep, sandy volcanic soil. It is difficult on a bike and nearly treacherous on a unicycle, though we were able to ride the whole thing (but not without casualty).]

This particular day was simply not my day. For me, it was the worst day of the trip thus far. I woke up very sleep-deprived. I fell down early in the morning and busted my knee, complete with blood dripping down my leg. A mosquito bit me in the only spot I had not applied bug repellent - on the top of my foot - when I took off my shoe to empty it of invasive volcanic soil. I lost my only other pair of socks. My seat pain heightened. I spent several moments curled up on the ground bawling due to severe pain in my abdomen. At the end of it all, I could not eat the dinner I had so eagerly anticipated because it was way too spicy. And so I was reminded of the differences between adventures and vacations. But the day was not all bad: we were offered a ride into an off-route town shortly after the storm reached its worst (thanks, Paul!), the rail trail ended in amazing scenery, and we were not bothered by the black bear Matt saw dash across the road in front of us.

[my poor knee after taking a good fall into the volcanic soil.]

[later on during the section of rail trail, we got to chase cows - oh, the entertainment we come up with on our long, monotonous days....]

[riding along the Warm River.]

Riding up out of the Warm River canyon, a storm hit hard. It was raining buckets, and as we reached an open expanse at the top of the climb, lightning and thunder were simultaneous directly ahead of us. the lightning was hitting repeatedly only a few hundred yards away, but directly in our path. I didn't want to do CPR, nor have it done to me, so we turned around to find shelter, and hitchhiked off-route to nearby Ashton, ID.

[the Grand Tetons! just about to be smothered by the storm.]

[help! sideways rain, gusty wind, lightning, thunder, and having to turn back from the ridge.]

[Reusing our labels & box, and reapplying our packing tape that we most clearly bought up in Canada.
This is our "bounce box," a box of various supplies, town clothes, and battery chargers we send ahead to ourselves to post offices in towns along the way.]

[gummi bears: a staple in my diet.]

[Wyoming. yesssssss!]

[Indian Lake, just inside the Wyoming border. Except for the small portion of water we could see, the entire lake was covered thickly with vibrant, green lily pads. I have never seen such an amazing lily pad invasion.]

[same lake, with a camera flash.]

[Waking up to a foggy Grassy Lake Reservoir wasn't the worst thing in the world, even though I hardly slept all night because of numb feet.]

[a Wyoming unicycle.]

Nearing Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks meant two things: frequent photography and witty comments. A sincere "thanks" goes out to those passers-by who treated us like people, and not like bull moose. But, to the guy who drove past saying, "You're missing a wheel!" we have one thing to say: you're driving a mini-van. The only way to cope with the copious amounts of people taking pictures of us was to take pictures of them taking pictures. If it didn't stop their photographical antics, it sure made them chuckle in embarrassment. I will spare you all the 15 or so pictures I managed to capture of tourists with cameras pointed at yours truly.

In contrast, there were some awesome people we met who actually took the time to treat us like people, instead of moose. Meeting The Watts family was a highlight of the day; they were really encouraging and supportive of the cause. They also play the bagpipes, which makes them that much cooler.

[Jose, Makayla, Luis, Matt, me, and A'Lisa, with the Tetons in the background.]

[the Grand Tetons across Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park. however, we couldn't see them because of the storm clouds - good thing we got good pictures from the Idaho side!]

As we finish up a day of recuperation in Jackson, Wyoming, at the welcoming abode of Bill, Story, Avery, and Felicia Resor (went to Duke with Avery), we feel so spoiled and cared for by their hospitality. There's something to be said for food that can't be found at convenience stores (a rarity for us).

Spare time lately has been stuffed full of tasks, including sewing projects, attaching pieces of flare, finding ways to carry less gear, washing clothes in streams, and eating very frequently: The Appetite has arrived. While we ride, we often think get creative with how we will next fill our water bottles or find a place to sleep. During the nights, I have battled overheating and overcooling, each leading to restlessness and sleep deprivation.

And such is the nature of adventures: journeys with unknown stepping stones and outcomes.

Rock n Roll!

Yours truly,
Team Blazing Saddle Sores

p.s. Sorry if the satellite tracker link on the main website has not been working; we don't know what is wrong with the transmittance, and are sending out messages that should post at least once daily. We hope the problem fixes itself - it's a SPOT thing, and out of our control.... thanks for your patience!

please stay tuned

2009-08-07T12:10:00.003-06:00

with some types of adventures, the amount of awesomeness to share is inversely proportional to the internet access through which i can share. did that make any sense? basically, i'm writing in to report that we are safe, happy, challenged, amazed, hungry, tan, eager, and smelly: just the way things should be.

stories, pictures, and videos will come just as soon as i get to a computer with reasonable capabilities. but for now, i will share a few highlights:

- i rode 70 miles in one day.
- we saw a badger.
- we enter wyoming from idaho, and cross the 1,000-mile mark later today.
- i made myself a pair of fingerless gloves out of an old teeshirt (sun protection).
- i have a saddle sore the size of a nickel. (TMI??)

stay tuned for more coming later...
rock n roll!

yours truly,
team blazing saddle sores

big sky has big climbs

2009-07-26T14:37:00.020-06:00

location: Helena, Montana
total mileage: 618.4 miles (including 31.5 off-route)
average daily mileage (including rest "zero" days): 26
# of continental divide crossings: 4
# of cow pies/splatters in the road: 1,548 (approximately)
favorite trail foods: mac 'n' cheese, kit kats, and cola bottle gummies!!
these adventurous sorts of journeys are packed full of learning. bear with me as i share a few of the morsels of wisdom so far:

- a bandana, which quadruples as a washcloth, towel, sun protector, and breathing mask, effectively quintuples as a water filter.
- Lincoln, Montana, through which we rode, was the home of The Unabomber.
- i don't like spiders, but gigantic daddy long legs that invade my tent make me really freak out.
- lightening my pack is a good idea.
- forget carrying the weight of a fleece top - i'd rather carry a fly swatter!! we have been bombarded nonstop with some combination of mosquitoes bees, and flies (my ankles are swollen from bites... which might actually make them proportional to my body for the first time). you know it's bad when a regular lunchtime game involves creating piles of dead flies.
- don't leave your extra biking shorts, socks, and bandana "drying" in a tree as you ride a ways down the road.
- the people who live in and visit the town of Ovando are really nice... except for that one lady complaining about gas prices.
- hummingbirds are eerily attracted to me, scaring me by hovering and staring less than two feet away on multiple occasions. (could it be my pink tank top? or simply another reason i should carry a fly swatter?)

our last shenanigans in Whitefish involved unicycling, naturally. fellow mountain unicyclist carl kohnstamm, whose family so graciously hosted us, fed us, and cleaned our rank clothes, got out his giraffe unicycle and we had a go at it. then, being the circus that we are, we rode to the local ice cream shop for some evening sweetness.

[matt on the giraffe]

[first time ever attempting to idle on a giraffe!]

early the next morning, we rode out of Whitefish, refreshed by how the kohnstamms spoiled us.

[carl, me, and matt
carl was an absolute champ keeping up on his 24" wheel!]

[met up with the charming "posse" of great divide riders coming out of whitefish - wish we could have kept pace with this great bunch!]

[never underestimate the power of poop.
"pink pan turd" and "blue turd of paradise" were discovered at a yard sale; sadly, they were too delicate to be purchased, carried, and sent to friends at the next post office.]

lazy days can materialize into some amazing experiences. after a big meal upon reaching civilization (finally), the last thing we want to do is get back on our unicycles for some good ole bumpy riding. thankfully, in Big Fork, MT, our procrastination led us to discover amy and anya, who were in the last days of their Eugene-to-Glacier bike tour. holler to some awesome campsite buddies! Big Fork happens to be adjacent to the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi: Flathead Lake.

[me, matt, amy, & anya, showing off our tan lines. i'm feeling inadequate here.]

[anya and matt jumping into Flathead Lake at sunset]

the route is very well described on our maps, and i have done fine without a cyclometer. however, there have been times that we have gotten lucky. after a disagreement about which way to go, matt spotted this sign off the road in the foliage.

[what does this have to do with the great divide mountain bike route?
look closely....]

so, to clarify the nature of the route: we ride mostly on dirt roads, some atv/4wd tracks, and some single track; 90% of the route is off-pavement, while the other 10% makes up the time we ride through towns, etc. singletrack (as seen below) is challenging, and most often quite technical. while it can be the most fun, the stipulations for such enjoyment usually entail not going steeply uphill. here, we encounter some fun singletrack as the sun sets upon a montana meadow.

i think i've mentioned the sunsets at least twice in this post already. they are such a treat, and make riding in the evenings so magical!

[in the swan valley, with the swan mountains in the background]

however, the scenery doesn't always need a sunset to take my breath away. here is an example of a basin up which we rode.

[yes, we rode up that road!]

[ahhh....]

[we pretty much feel like we have succeeded in life by recognizing the backdrop to the "section 1" map for the great divide route.
good eye, matt.]

as aforementioned, when singletrack trail goes steeply uphill, is smothered with rocks and bumps, and we can't exactly bunnyhop over them well with 25-pound packs, it gets pretty miserable, due to a lack of any sort of momentum; we can't exactly "gear down." this particular day marked the first time i have had to walk any section of the route since way back in alberta. at first it was a confidence crusher, but after mounting the steed once more, it remained solely a pride-crusher, which is probably for the best. at least the scenery rewarded us as we worked hard up this climb.

anyone who has spent a few days with me knows the importance of frequent snacks to my overall happiness and outlook on life (it's extreme, dramatic, and very inconvenient). my parents have seen me go from composed to sobbing in a matter of seconds, remedied immediately by a few bites of food. combine this factor with a few hard spills and you have one sad gracie. i was overdue for lunch when i took this hard fall; you can't seem them in the picture, but tears are streaming out of my eyes.

i have had a few very hard falls this trip: several bruises, cuts, and dirt-smotherings. the falls are made significantly worse by the backpack, frequently making it impossible to stick an unplanned dismount (too-well-known to unicyclists as "UPDs"); the weight makes me so top-heavy that i have face-planted several times. for example, on the second day of the journey, i landed sprawled out, with my teeth on some rocks (but nothing a few cola bottle gummies can't wash down).

[ho hum, ho hum, just riding along a cliff edge]

[have i mentioned the joys of downhill singletrack?! :-)]

[oh yeah, and the joys of singletrack where you can't see the trail, and you still have to negotiate bumps and rocks?
this section was actually a real treat and a highlight of the trip so far, with the best scenery to boot.]

[out of the jagged basins, into cattle country.]

yeah, there go those sunsets again. i am so in love with them. the above picture portrays the light shining through stormclouds. in stopping to photograph the sky, we decided on a whim to stay in a nearby hay barn. however, this was no ordinary hay barn. this was the real deal: stacked high, and with a solid roof.

with our luck, the roof proved most useful this particular night. it wasn't long after climbing atop the stacks that lightning started sparking over a nearby ridge. just after we dozed off, the rain came fast and hard, hitting the metal roof with such power that matt and i couldn't hear each other talk from our sleeping bags 5 feet apart. lightning and thunder ignited the sky in literally every direction; it was a storm like i had never experienced, and i woke up with dry gear in the morning. being dry is not overrated in the wilderness.
we salute you, diligent ranchers.

[how to track a unicycle in the woods.]

just when i was wondering when the real challenge would begin, yesterday brought us multiple continental divide crossings, complete with virtually impossible terrain. i am frustrated by the inability to portray steepness in still photos, but this will have to do. oh, and for all you bicyclists out there, banked trails are "hell on wheel" (no handlebars).

the first crossing of the day, although comprised of the toughest terrain we have encountered thus far, had some very fun sections that involved getting wet and muddy - yes! and, we were able to ride up more of the ascent than i initially thought possible.

[continental divide crossing #2 for the trip: we are making a "2" in roman numerals]

[why wouldn't we try riding along a ridge in old mine ruins? (look closely)]

no rest for the weary: right after the crossing, we headed up yet another divide crossing, but not before a thunder & hail storm caught up to us.

and, finally, to our 3rd continental divide crossing of the trip:

["3"]

we had hoped to cross three divide passes in one day, but various rest stops got the best of us... or shall i say that we got the best of them? really, the evening kept getting better. despite dodging a seemingly infinite number of cow pies and foot-deep ruts in the road, intimidatingly shooing herds of cows off the roads (including an undaunted bull), we enjoyed the ride through a ranching valley. when we were both thirsty and out of water, with no creek in sight, matt spotted a freshwater spring emitting water into a spring box, harnessing its liquid delight, seemingly just for weary travelers like ourselves. there's something about not having to treat water in cattle country that makes me feel like i've beat the system. yee-haw!

not far past the spring, we stopped to camp for the night a little ways up on a private road. this worked out well, but served as a catalyst for some morning excitement: within seconds of packing up, a truck began to drive up the road. we were able to scoot down a hillside and hop two fences and two railroad tracks before it passed, safely arriving "in the clear." unfortunately, matt's attempt to cross a little stream left him with one shoe - the other had been sucked into the mud! this was not so much a "welcome" interruption to the morning, since it was one of our coldest so far. hakuna matata, the shoe was safely retrieved and functioned beyond our fourth divide crossing, into Helena.

[priest pass (5,994'): "4" (roman style)]

well, folks, congrats on making it through the entire novel of a post! greetings from Helena, Montana, where the first things i noticed on the ride into town were sidewalk curbs. imagine that: curbs! - what a novel concept, and seemingly foreign these days.

rock n roll!

yours truly,
team blazing saddle sores

R-O-C-K in the U-S-A!

2009-07-17T12:43:00.003-06:00

NOTE: the previous post has been updated with pictures, video, and a few more stories.

current location: whitefish, montana

total mileage: 338

total riding days: 14

% of riding days i've cried: 29%

moose sightings: 3

wal-mart sightings: 0

continental divide crossings: 1

bags of kettle chips consumed: 4

the narrative on the great divide route map advises riders of the many challenges, dangers and potential perils they may encounter. some are daunting, some are humorous, but most remind us that we are not supposed to be doing this on unicycles. for example:

"Many wild, remote stretches exist along the trail that are not elaborated on here. High temperatures, lofty elevations, wild animals, inclement weather (including lightning storms and extremely strong winds), and other potential hazards are plentiful."

**dangerous, or simply more exciting - your call.

"A high-quality water filter is mandatory; advisably, carry one filter per person in your party."

**how about no water filter for either person in the party, and simply hoping that a tiny eyedropper of clorox bleach will suffice?

"A minimum group size of three is strongly recommended."

**i'm lucky to have even one other person along!

"Your bike should have at the very least a front shock absorber. A fully suspended bike is even better."

**i have two shock absorbers: my left knee, and my right knee.

"DO NOT attempt to ride this route without an accurately calibrated odometer on every bike in your party."

**my odometer stopped working on day #3.

well, despite fair warnings from Adventure Cycling Association, here we are in Whitefish, Montana, enjoying the incredible hospitality of the kohnstamm family (meals in a treehouse?! yes!). a lot has happened since Elkford, BC, where i last posted, not the least of such happenings was crossing into the United States. we experienced the incredible beauty of the canadian rockies and loved watching the mountain terrain change as we headed south. regardless, it was very nice to get back in the states, to a certain amount of familiarity, and lower prices all around.

our last days in Canada were full of daisies, dandelions, and grasshoppers. each of the three swarmed our existence in a way to rival an egyptian plague. only the latter were not welcome. camping along the elk river one night, we opted against a grassy campsite simply to avoid the kingdom of grasshoppers; instead, we slept among mosquitoes, ants, gnats, moose poop, and cow pies. yes, the grasshoppers were that bad.

other than animal entertainment, we have found our own as the road unfolds, especially as we get bored on particular stretches of pavement along the route. we all know from our years of growing up, a "dare" can go a long way... combine with rumble strips, and stir.

riding out of Fernie, British Columbia, we scoured the landscape for a place to stealth-camp between residences. following an unused road up a hillside, we found two uninhabited cabins, complete with an outhouse and luxurious porches that sheltered us from the rain as we slept. however, structures that protect against rain do not necessarily protect against wildlife - emphasis on wild. in the middle of the night, matt and i awoke to the sound of an animal snorting and stomping its hooves. the stomping vibrated the ground and porch underneath us, and a buck, who was calling for a fight, paced anxiously 15 yards away as we peered out from our sleeping bags. it was our attempt to find "night mode" on the camera that finally scared it away.

[matt and i at the first "u.s. border" sign.]

thankfully, we had no problem at all with the border patrol agents, whose poker faces showed nothing more than a faint curiousity in the uniquity of our journey. i probably could have gotten my camera confiscated for the following video, but things went smoothly.

once in the states, we took our first rest day (after 10 consecutive days of riding) in Eureka, Montana. cross-country cyclist, mack malloch, split a hotel room with us for a night, and i pillaged many scoops of ice cream from the nearby store. doing laundry for the first time on the trip was a perk for both us and anyone near us. the 215-mile canadian section of the route served as a good "warm-up," but the morning we left Eureka, we were greeted with a wee bit of moisture in the air:

yes, this moisture formed large droplets and decided to nearly flood the hotel parking lot where we had stayed. the video does not do it justice; needless to say, we were dreading riding through the storm. this rainy day involved a very long, albeit beautiful, climb on our way up to whitefish divide.

our new friend kurt, who is hoping to continue his journey around the world, rode with us for a couple of days, and showed us how to find a haven in the rain, though it was 5.5 miles off-route, each way. weasel cabin is a primitive abode in the Kootenai National Forest, and an oasis for numb, drenched cyclists desperate for heat and a dry bed. it was definitely worth the side-track, even though the miles were nearly all uphill. it's hard to beat a wood stove-heated cabin, hot cocoa, and a pancake breakfast.

[matt, me, & kurt at the quaint weasel cabin.]

with fatigued quads, we mounted our trusty steeds the next morning, rode up over whitefish divide (deceitfully, not a continental divide crossing), and down toward Polebridge, Montana, near the border of Glacier National Park. on the way, we met up with great divide cyclist allan mcgarvey, who rode with us for two days, which was apparently enough for him to understand why he would never - ever - want to ride a long distance on a unicycle.

[allan and i]

with two bicycle contraptions and two unicycles, we appeared to be quite the circus.

[allan with a BOB trailer, kurt with an Xtracycle, and matt with a unicycle, displaying an evolution of sorts....]

Polebridge was another 5.5 miles off-route; we do, in fact, realize that riding off-route is a habit we need to break, but well worth it for the incredible North Fork Hostel, and hands-down the best pastries i have ever tasted. [special thanks to oliver at the hostel for a discounted stay, and to the northern lights saloon for the LLS donation!]

[gotta love Polebridge!]

from Polebridge, we climbed over Red Meadow Pass, listened in on the efforts of national forest employees as they tracked a nearby mama grizzly and her 3(!) cubs via radio, antenna and tracking collar, and savored the beauty surrounding multiple roadside lakes.

[me, at red meadow lake]

[matt, at upper whitefish lake]

the campsite at which we plopped to finish our day sat adjacent to upper whitefish lake, and boasted an incredible view. what we didn't see at first was discovered later during an attempt to gather firewood to cook dinner. had we arrived earlier, we might have found dinner in this discovery: a whole, raw chicken sitting on the ground beneath a tree. what?!? who does this sort of thing? perhaps this display of stupidity is the sole reason that the U.S. has so few user-maintained recreation sites, unlike its northern neighbor; in the heart of bear country, someone left a raw chicken sitting outside the package. matt and i have not seen any bears yet, and i kinda hope to keep it that way, so we moved to another campsite, as if that would actually help. the one cool thing about a decomposing, featherless bird was the wide and stunning array of beetles it drew to its carcass. even though i cried "EW!!" repeatedly, i couldn't help but linger to stare at the impressively colorful insects.

we love the lakes, but with standing water come mosquitoes. matt got the better of this mosquito, but only after the mosquito had gotten the better of him:

[ew.]

on my unicycle trip coast-to-coast in 2006, the motorcyclists were by far my favorites with whom to cross paths. nothing has changed: they are always enthusiastic, generous, and encouraging, comprising a genuine bunch. while we rolled toward Whitefish, we ran into this group of 15 bmw motorcycle tourists, also riding the great divide route.

we exchanged lots of laughs, and they even gave us some candy (i.e. sustenance!).

one aspect of the trip that hasn't been laugh-inducing has been struggles with seat discomfort and knee pain; matt has been one tough cookie and battling both of these nearly the entire trip so far. special thanks to Glacier Cyclery in Whitefish for letting him ship a new brake to their shop, where we picked it up yesterday. we hope the brake will relieve his knees of the pressure and impact on descents. but what to do about the seat? there have been many-a-seat modification thus far, and probably more to come. we continue to hope for best with each change, and are trying to keep it relatively simple.

[sleeping pads make good closed-cell cushions for seats!]

in addition to seat issues, there are always questions of how to deal with other problems while in the backcountry. for instance, what do you do when you lose your unicycle, or if someone steals it?

find a unicycle forest and pick one off the trees - they're organic!

and what if the backpack becomes too uncomfortable to carry our stuff?

pull a trailer!

[allan, you may recognize this trailer....]

it's a rest day during which we continue to savor the kohnstamms' amazing hospitality and treehouse meals. perhaps it would do me well to get away from the computer and explore town a bit (i.e. sample the local ice cream).

rock n roll!

yours truly,

team blazing saddle sores

"you guys ever heard of a job?"

2009-07-07T13:04:00.006-06:00

a couple of days before beginning the journey south, as we were coming off the trail after the practice run-through, we arrived back at the trailhead to find three mountain bikers, loaded with gear and posing for a picture. the father of one of the cyclists was dropping them off to begin their bicycle journey down the great divide, the same route we are riding. after the bikers took off, matt and i chatted for a bit with the father, whose reaction to our journey was (and i quote), "you guys ever heard of a job?" i don't want to know what kind of battle the son fought to convince his dad that biking all summer was worthwhile. maybe someday that father will relate to the joys of the wonderful dichotomy we describe in four 4-letter words: work hard, play hard.

meanwhile, greetings from Elkfordshire, a town known to most as Elkford, British Columbia. we left Banff on july 2, eager to roll away from the beautiful town whose streets and sidewalks were filled with bike-salmoners.

[matt and i at the spray lakes trailhead behind the banff springs hotel]

the morning after re-entering The Real World, on our second day of riding, we treated ourselves to a breakfast of some lychee nuts that i had been carrying around for many days. those, in combination with questionable bison pepperoni, caused matt to experience the wonders of both gastrointestinal destruction and a severe allergic reaction simultaneously.

after the itching, redness, puffiness, hives, chills, and other liquids had passed, my friend meredith (weekend warrior princess) caught up with us during her weekend trip to Banff, and blessed us with her company. even though only one day out on the trail, it is refreshing to see a familiar face, and matt was a good sport by pushing through challenging days with little more than a destroyed internal system.

[meredith and i at the spray lakes westside campground]

one great thing about being out on the road is that we cross paths with many others who are on their adventures. if you think cycling across the country is a crazy endeavor, i recommend trying it and you will find a surprising amount of people doing even crazier things.

[martin & nadine have been cycling around the world since 2003.

click here to view their website.]

[matt in alberta]

[me, in the prettiest landscape we've seen thus far]

much of the route takes us along dirt or gravel roads, which can get very dusty on dry days with car traffic as we near towns. the dust the cars kick up can make it very difficult to breathe and see.

after donning a handmade crown of dandelions (the roads are lined with them), i coped with the dust by combining my visor and bandana to block the dust, looking more like a dandelion bandita. i call the style, "dandi bandi" - it's all the rage in the mountains.

[matt and i amidst dust and mountainscapes]

although my backpack started out at 29 pounds, it is notably lighter now, with less food; our trip started out with a 3-day food carry until our resupply at the Boulton Creek Trading Post in the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park of Alberta.

mostly, our route has been trail and dirt roads, each bringing their own challenges. we found the brief section of paved bike trail near the trading post nearly more difficult than off-road, due to the increased responsiveness and squirreliness of our unicycles.

[very funny, alberta.

nearing boulton creek trading post.]

the route has challenged us as our bodies adjust to the demands. the more extreme terrain evokes surprising route instructions, such as "walking recommended," and "start climbing a virtual wall."

we have had to walk up a handful of the steeper sections, but found the strength to ride up nearly the entire long-haul to the top of elk pass (6,443'), our first of 28 continental divide crossings.

[matt and i at the top of elk pass, forming a "1," representing our first divide crossing.

this also marked the border between alberta and british columbia.]

[me, descending elk pass.]

the beauty of canada has been astounding, and the people we have met have been nothing less than amazing. however, the following not-so-awesome observations are tidbits you may or may not have already known about canada:
- they like to tax... everything. even your $1 per hour internet usage is taxed.
- hotels and restaurants are surprisingly expensive.
- when two people ride unicycles in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road that is approximately 20 METRES wide, "conservation officers" in pick-up trucks will ask you to ride single-file, "for your own safety." what i gather is this: canada taxes people so that they can pay other people to drive around and "conserve" other people's lives. i thought it was only the U.S. that took strides against personal freedoms by making & enforcing laws against endangering oneself. alas.

[just another day in paradise.]

at the boulton creek trading post, we stuffed our faces appropriately, even gobbling down broccoli-cheddar soup that looked less like soup and more like inner thigh fat, especially after it congealed. it's no wonder the mosquitoes hounded us that night - worse than i had ever experienced. inside the tent, i beat them at an unfriendly game of "mosquito rodeo." other treats along the route include countless meadows full of dandelions, and various pieces of abandoned equipment, such as gloves, jackets, a backpack, and 20 horses. no joke.

[not what i expected to see blocking the trail as i rounded a bend in the road.]

and oh, the storms. i am a huge fan of weather in general, so i had a great time during a day of solid rain, which came just minutes after leaving the campsite for the day. it kept coming well into the evening, turning the road into more of a stream, and caking my unicycle with mud. bits of mud would fly off every which way as the wheel spun, and we got soaked to the bone. i had a blast!

[with mud all over our unicycles, now we look like we know what we're doing;

mud gives us "cred."]

intermittently, we come across cattle guards, ones that are far more treacherous than most we had seen in the U.S. canadian cowboys don't mess around. we found ourselves thinking of them more as unicycle guards, or unicyclist guards, for that matter.

[we have actually learned to ride over them without getting our wheels stuck]

we hereby officially commence the 2009 Comeback Contest, accepting ideas for how we should respond to the ever-present/never-funny-to-us "you're missing a wheel!"

well, we better get outta town, before the famed $30 two-for-one pizza deal entices us. i don't know about you, but to me that sounds more like two-for-the-price-of-three. however, therein lies common ground: both canadians and americans love those 2-for-1 deals, except in canada they say, "you made two from one, eh?"**

**actual quote by passing cyclist in reference to our unicycles

Divide By One statistics:
total miles = 109.4
moose sightings = 3
wal-mart sightings = 0
% of riding days that i have cried = 60%
# of continental divide crossings = 1

rock n roll!

yours truly,
team blazing saddle sores

mexico or bust!

2009-07-02T14:29:00.002-06:00

after another rushed drive across the country - well, as rushed as an old VW van can go - matt and i arrived in my hometown davis, california to drop off all our stuff at my parents' house, pack only our unicycling gear, and fly up to calgary, alberta to get the wheels rolling. with a few days of cushion once we arrived in canada, we had time to explore banff national park, a place in which i've always wanted to spend a bit of time.

in davis, we were greeted by our newly screenprinted "divideby1.com" trip apparrel. it's true, you get stronger when you wear it.

matt peformed a stellar paint job on my unicycle. the opposite side boasts a black lightning bolt. oh, and if you can't tell from the picture, it's coated in a glittery clearcoat.

finally to banff, we were able to ride out a ways on a backcountry trail and camp out for a night. this proved to be a valuable opportunity for a final testing of our gear and to make sure we are adequately equipped.
the verdict? we are not adequately equipped.
i was too cold to sleep, even with a fleece jacket, beanie, and socks. enter sleeping bag liner.
matt's backpack was as unstable as a unicycle, and demanded extra focus and energy to balance. enter new backpack.

behind the famous banff springs hotel is where the great divide mountain bike route starts. yeah, i've seen worse scenery.

we took a day to head further into the national park to visit lake louise, a place whose reputation preceeds it but does not overstate it. simply breathtaking.

we hiked around the lake to the glacier field.

beautiful blue. almost murkily blue.

back in calgary, we camped in the backyard of cory and rae read, who offered their hospitality via a cycle-tourist website. we had amazing burgers and a chance to catch our breath before heading off to see collective soul play in the city. it was a great show!

packing mayhem ensues. sidewalks are a suitable space for such shenanigans, me thinks.
hours later, we are now a bit more prepared and ready to ride.
pack weight = 29 pounds, including 3 days worth of food... EEK!!
seat, don't fail me now, seat don't fail me now.

this is the last update before starting the big journey south. we hope to leave within an hour.

a couple of website updates to look for on divideby1.com:
- a link to more pictures on a picasa web album
- a link to track us on google maps through our satellite messenger

MEXICO OR BUST!

- team blazing saddle sores

training time

2009-06-21T20:53:00.001-06:00

well, matt and i spent the last few weeks training for the big ride whenever we could, while trying to tie up all loose ends, smooth out logistics, and iron out the wrinkles prior to embarking. the plane tickets are purchased, the SPOT satellite messenger is activated, and the unicycle seat is still as uncomfortable as i remember. last weekend we drove from durham, north carolina up to damascus, virginia to ride the virginia creeper trail, logging our longest ride to date on 29-inch wheels: 34 miles. this was an encouraging accomplishment, because this is the approximate distance we hope to average on a daily basis during the expedition. we are doing our best to keep expectations of the trail and mileage reasonable, as it will add factors such as high elevation, ungraded roads, and heavy backpacks.

the evening before riding the trail, we explored damascus, including a ride under backbone rock

matt, with a cheery grin as he keeps truckin' along

if only my pack were this small for the trip...

climbing 17 continuous miles made me a wee bit excited for 17 miles of descent!

haven't you heard? - it's easier to ride with your hands way off to one side ;-)

the virginia creeper trail was converted into a biking & hiking trail (overlaps with the appalachian trail) from a railroad, which means we got to ride over the river on a very high trestle.

inverted balance

and now some silly video fun, although it exposes my weakness of over-the-head filming. views of my scalp were intended to be shots of the bicyclists coming from behind. good thing matt is in charge of the videography this summer!

currently, matt and i are driving my old volkswagen bus, loaded with all my earthly possessions, across the country to california, where i will leave it with family. on june 28th, we will fly to calgary, alberta, and intend to start pedaling on july 2nd, after enjoying canada day and a collective soul concert in calgary on july 1st.

the one-week countdown begins!!

rock n roll.

many months and modifications later...

2009-05-21T14:25:00.003-06:00

to break the long silence, it's time to announce the latest news about the journey.

long-time friend and fellow unicyclist matt burney will be joining me on the expedition this summer. he brings extensive long-distance adventuring experience to the team, and will be a solid asset. additionally, he will be focusing on documentation of the journey, so stay posted for some awesome photos and videos in the coming months.

we will be riding to raise money and awareness for the leukemia & lymphoma society, a cause for which i rode back in 2006, in honor of my uncle richard and family friend jeff gale who are battling multiple myeloma. we hope that the documentation of the journey will aid our efforts to solicit donations; many generous donors contributed to nearly $12,000 for the LLS in 2006, and my sights are set even higher this time around. if you would like to donate, click here - every cent counts!

in other news, on april 30, matt and i won the 'evolution of balance award' given out by kris holm unicycles and other sponsors. applying for the award involved proposing an off-road unicycle adventure. winning the award involved proposing the most difficult, remote, and creative adventure, as well as demonstrating a reasonable level of credibility, organization, and capability. we are very excited about this opportunity and are looking forward to working with kris holm and the award sponsors.

meanwhile, matt and i are honing logistics, gathering gear, engaging in team pep talks, and will start training soon. tomorrow, i will meet with jack katz, founder of panama jack (my financial sponsor for the journey), to brainstorm fundraising ideas using our combined human and institutional resources. if anyone has ideas for highly effective fundraising techniques, please don't hesitate to shoot me an email!

until next time, rock n roll!

Up and Rolling

2008-12-22T20:15:00.004-07:00

planning to start the big trip july 1, 2009, or perhaps earlier if the snow melts. i intend to ride southward, from banff national park in alberta (canada) down to antelope wells, new mexico, at the mexico border.

in other news, the new website, divideby1.com, is up and rolling! there are still many details to work out to make it complete. stay tuned for more updates.

rock and roll.