Monday, May 31, 2010

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And this is me

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Jack our aca leader

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Will:

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Joe:

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Lee: 

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Paul: 

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Bryn

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Ray and Michelle from Canada: 

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Robert:

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Bill: 

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Olof:

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James:

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Meg and Randy 

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Mort: 

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05.31.10 
Carbondale, IL 
Today is an off day!
Temp: 85^
Weather: sunny 

Today we are relaxing! And like most other rest days, there are only a few things on the agenda 1. Laundray 2. Bike maainenance 3. Blog/ comunication 4. Read and relax oh and eating is inbetween all our days events. 
We might find somewhere to jump in if we find out where a lake is.

Update on Jack: tonight we are all having dinner together and we should talk about the future of the trip then. As of now, Jack has the car his wife drove out in and she flew home. He seems to be feeling better.     

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05.30.10
Dixion springs IL- Carbondale,IL 
Miles: it was intended to be a 50 mile day, bryn and I had a 60 mile day 
Sleep: econolodge hotel 
Temp: 100s
Weather: hot, dry heat 

Today was a great day, with an early navigation mistake we still had a fantastic day. Bryn and I missed a turn and we ended up a bout 5 miles past the turn so instead of going back (we decided to never turn back, just to find a new rout) we ended up taking the highway for a little bit. It wasn't as bad as we thought. We ended up going 21 mph on the highway. After our detour we got right back on track. Illinois is full of lakes. we passed devils kitchen lake and wanted to jump in but couldn't find a place to get in. The next lake we ran into we jumped in the first chance we got. it was wonderful! We went in with all of our cycling clothes on. It was so nice we ended up spending about 45 min there relaxing. When we got back on the road I was almost all dry. We were pleasantly suprised to realize that we were only 10 miles away from our camp for the night. When we got to our hotel our priorities were shower, food , hangout. We were all slightly zombielike while watching tv. It's nice spending the night In a bed. Tomorow is a rest day. it's nice to have a day away from long rides. 
 

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05.29.10
Marion, ky - Dixion Springs State Park, IL
Miles:50
Temp:100s
Weather: sunny, hot, and humid
Sleep: Campground with holes for toilets 
Today we Made it to a new state, we are now in Illinois ! We Rode the ferry over the Ohio river to get here. Bryn and I almost missed it and had to yell and race down the hill to catch up to the boat, where there was a full car load and about Half our group on the boat. We got to our camp fairly early. 
We had an Awesome dinner by Lee and James. We had a great salad, and groundbeef pasta, and fruit salad.   
We met Jacks wife Nadene briefly, he's looking a bit stiff from his injuries but he's in high spirits.

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Kentucky

Main points of the state:
May 20- May 28
Days: 8

Wild Flowers: daisys

Roadkill: turtles, snakes and birds

People: not very diverse in the parts where we were. overall, the people were very nice and curious about what we are doing.

Drivers: the drivers are awful, and not curtious to bicyclists.

Dog encounters: far to many to count, we had about 20 + every day

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05.28.10
Patton's house near Slaughters,Ky - Marion,Ky
Miles:35miles
Slept: in a very nice friends of the Patton's house
Temp: 100
Weather: hot and humid
Sleep: baptist church basketball court 
Recap: Jack our leader is out for 4 weeks after a bike accident yesterday. 

We got a late start after a few meetings to discuss what everyone thouht. We have no real control over what Adventure Cycling wants to do, but we talked about it anyway. We decided ACA (adventure cycle association) needs to take either full responsibility and send out a new leader, or take no responsibility and give us our money back.  
Either way I'm going west. a few of us have made it very clear that we are going and we can stick together and follow the plan. It's out of our hands what ACA will do so there's no use worrying. 
After finally getting the ok to ride on, that day was a short ride down the road. We got there with time to visit the public library. After a wonderful dinner made by Robert and Michelle Bryn, Will and I played on the roof of the courthouse and watched the dark night sky roll in. Everything is still fairly up in the air, stay posted.  

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05.27.10
Yeaman, Ky- The Patton's  Near Slaughters Ky and Providence, Ky
Miles: 83
Temp: 90s to 107 after the storm 68
Weather: crazy !!! 
Today was a huge day! So many miles, so much went on some good some not so good.  

We started the day with a wonderful breakfast made by Beth and Garry. We said farewell and started our 81 mile day. It was very hot today, as Bryn and I were riding together we noticed the temp got up to 107 degrees. Right as it hit the hottest part of the day, a storm began to roll in. It turned into a huge thunder storm. The lightning began to get a little overwhelming, and the rain was about to start so we decided to take cover in a barn that was off our route. It began to rain as soon as we got in under the roof. About 10 minutes into the downpour it began to hail, large dime sized hail. After the rain we began to ride away twards our camp.   About 9 miles away from the house we were stopped by Darrel, the guy whose house we were staying at, telling us that Jack had a bike accident and was going to the hospital. All we knew is he had a pretty bad wreck. We got to the Patton's house and had a wonderful dinner while waiting for Jacks condition update. What happned was that while Jack, Joe, and Olaf were riding they encountered a dog. Not your average nice dog, they tried to squirt the dog with water to scare it away but Jack ended up jerking the handle bars to avoid the dog and went down on his head and shoulder. He had a small abrasion on his face. It was awhile before we knew what he had happned because he wasn't seen for a long while and they had to run tests. We went to bed not knowing how bad it was. When we got up the next day we found out the bad news. Turned out Jack had broken his collar bone and a few ribs. He was told to stay inactive for at least four weeks. We were left to contemplate the rest of our trip into the next few days... Stay posted for updates     

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