The Loss of My Dad to Cancer-Feeling and Being Open is OK. By Kelly

For those that want to try and understand. Please read the article Click Here , it helped me decide to share my story or ramblings.  The view point is a little different but still explains a lot. This is not meant to hurt anyone. This is just my feelings.

I am not one to wear my emotions on my sleeve.  But I also think that by sharing maybe it can help others that may be going through something similar to know your feelings are yours. You can feel whatever you want. Or maybe it is just to help me, get my feelings out there for my own good. Who knows?  We all grieve in different ways for different amounts of time, no one story is the same. I don’t think I will ever not grieve the loss of my dad.  Maybe one day it will be less. But not a day goes by that I don’t think about Dad. 

Watching your hero, handy man, knows something about everything, best friend, travel buddy, strong, friendly and most amazing Dad wither away and needing help with basic every day things is the hardest thing I have ever had to witness. 

My story is different. I haven’t really shared my true feelings until now.

 We find out my dad has an incurable highly deadly brain cancer.  At that point I wasn’t sure what to feel. All I could think was what the F***.  I don’t think I ever remember my dad being sick. How could this happen to him?  How could this happen to me, my family?  The selfishness rises, there goes my future ski trips with my dad, hopes of bringing my family to the cabin with dad, he was going to tile my bathroom floor (PS after Dad’s surgery he sat on my floor and chiseled concrete … Only an amazing dad with a drive to live up to his promises would do that) now how will this happen? Then the emotion and thoughts of stop thinking about yourself, you DAD is dying. Your Mom is losing her husband, your siblings are losing their dad, his friends and clients are losing a man that has been there to support them and provide a wealth of knowledge.  Now what the hell do we do?  I remember the ride home.  My dad was angry as well. All I could do was sit in the back seat and try to be as strong as possible. We went to my parents’ house that night for dinner, we tried to be as normal as you can be in a situation where you just found out your dad has maybe 18 months left to live if he is lucky.

My Dad went through tests, treatments, ER visits, ambulance rides, 2 brain surgeries.  We are lucky that we have a pretty tight and strong immediate family, extended family and friends. We supported each other the best we could.  There was so much unknown. How much time do we have, how can he be in so much pain and nobody can figure out why.  He is sick, why won’t the Drs listen. Then they finally do and they apologize.  It makes you angry, feel belittled and you realize that Drs don’t always know everything and you need to be the voice. Thankfully, my cousin Lisa was there to be a medical advocate and help us understand and learn how to stand up and speak out.  Throughout this time, I struggled.  How do I live my life, be with my Dad as much as possible, keep my job, be a wife and dog mom?  Somehow, I managed it, probably putting less effort towards many of those things and not really caring about others outside of my family. Sorry, not sorry.

Acceptance. Ok, this is happening. What do we do, what do I do? How do I help my dad live out the rest of his life?  Sometimes, we in my view, forced him to do things, probably out of selfishness and grasping for some normalcy.     It reminds me of the Tim McGraw song “Live like you are dying.” However, you hear all the extraordinary things they do in this song.  But then you look at your Dad and think he can’t do any of that. He can’t walk for long periods of time, his strength diminished so fast that simple tasks of cooking, carrying a grocery bag, raking leaves, the list goes on and on can’t even be accomplished. That song is wrong.  Life isn’t like that. 

Anger/frustration.  Nobody understands….  People would tell me I understand it is hard. Oh, you know? Have you watched your parent go through all of this? Have you sat there next to your Dad in his hospital bed DYING, Talking and not making sense, not be able to lift himself up to go to the bathroom, watching him communicate with what only I can think of as the “other side” You think you have an idea of how I am feeling. All I wanted to scream was “you have no F****** idea, just stop.”  I would be angry when I would hear people talk about putting off seeing their parents because they had more important things in life to do. In my head I was screaming “you are stupid, I would give anything in the world to have my dad ask me to go fishing or go out to eat.”  One of the things I was the most angry about was working.  How can I work at a time like this?  I have X amount of time to be with my Dad. The last thing I want to do is work.  My boss changed throughout this process and it was horrible. This boss had no idea. I know it is not their job to worry about my personal life.  But dude, My Dad is far more important than my job or me caring one turd about you thinking I am slacking or that I should not take personal days for my Dad’s appointments. Let alone the things this person said to me.  I will admit I was also angry and frustrated with Chance. Why, I have no idea. I know he didn’t and doesn’t understand, but how can I be mad at him for not understanding. It is just how you feel at that time. You aren’t wrong and they aren’t wrong. I think I was angry with some friends that I didn’t feel showed the support I would have hoped. Again, not their fault It I an odd situation that many people don’t know how to handle. I am the same way I wouldn’t know what to do.

Finding out I was pregnant… December 22^nd, 2016. Excitement, joy, despair and anger.  Holy Moly after months of trying to get pregnant it finally happened.  I was initially very excited, and happy. Then angry. Why now after so many months, when things are going downhill for my dad. Why now?  The first thing I asked Chance was should we tell my parents?  We contemplated it for a tiny bit. Then decided, yes.  I wanted to be able to tell my Dad, we didn’t know how much time he had left. So, on December 23^rd, we told my Mom and Dad.  Thankfully we did, because 18 days later my Dad passed away. My Dad, was I guess you could say happy. I am not sure he totally understood at that point. To be completely honest, I was also sad and angry.  My Mom and siblings were happy. But with social media these days you see the videos of the grandparents/family finding out and they are so beyond excited. We obviously didn’t get this.  Was I expecting it yes, but at the same time, no.  Am I still mad. NO WAY.  Life sucked at that point, it is hard to muster super happy feelings when you feel your lowest.  I won’t lie. I struggled. I was tired, from the pregnancy, life, not being home often and the ups and downs of being happy and sad.  It was hard to hide the pregnancy.  Lots of Jack Daniels was flowing near the end (that I couldn’t partake in) and I wasn’t able to help with certain things in caring for my Dad, as I would have liked to. Maybe on the other side being so consumed in being with my Dad helped me to not feel sicker than I did.  I was also extremely jealous of my sister, niece and nephew. To the point that I was angry and trying so hard not to show it.  My sister got the excitement from us all when we found out she was pregnant.  My niece and nephew got to spend time with my dad and have picture memories. My sister has memories of my dad and her kids, his excitement to see them and watch him, play with her kids, show them new things and experience firsts.  I am not the person to be jealous and I most certainly did not want anyone to know this.  It is not their fault, I shouldn’t be feeling this way, but I was.  I don’t want anyone to feel bad.  I am so happy they got these times and memories.  Just sad that I will never have them and neither will Charlie. My Kid was supposed to have this amazing relationship with my Dad. Fishing, skiing, learning to fix things and be proud in what they do. Now that is my task, I am fortunate to have those memories and experiences. I will share them and keep my Dad’s memory alive. 

2 weeks leading up to his passing…   At this point I was sad and in a fog.  But also, aware of what is to come.  The life is gone from dad’s eyes, He doesn’t eat or drink anything for days on end.  He is mumbling at the ceiling, talking to who knows. He is angry that he cannot get out of bed, but can only communicate this with being angry and trying with all his will to get up.  His skin is turning grey. NOBODY should ever have to experience this. It was odd this felt normal after a few days. We celebrated his 60^th birthday on January 5^th with friends, family and jack Daniels (dad’s favorite).  Each day and night you want to be there by his side and to support my Mom.  The times you are away you are afraid of every phone call from family, thinking this is it. He is gone.  You sit there telling him it is ok to go, but wishing a miracle would happen and bring him back to his normal self.  We switched off spending the night so my Mom didn’t have to be alone.  This is where I was not jealous of my sister and felt horribly sad for her.  She had to not only balance her life and emotions but the life and emotions of her kids.  They were/are young. Not sure why grandpa is lying in bed and not talking or playing. Having to juggle wanting to be there for my dad and mom but also being home with her kids and giving them a “normal” life.

January 10^th, 2017.  My brother Tom and I stayed overnight.  I got up at 11 or 12 am to give my dad his medicine.  Finally, after this I feel asleep. Sleep was hard to come by.  At 2am my mom and brother woke me up.  My Dad had passed. He had Given everything he had the past couple weeks. In the quite of the early morning he took his last breath, while we slept.  I remember not really feeling anything. Maybe even a sense of calm and peace. Also, not really knowing how I should feel.  We called my sister, she came over. I called Chance to let him know.  My Brother called the funeral home and a few hours later they showed up to take my dad.  Me being me threw out a couple jokes. My way of dealing with emotional or uncomfortable situations.  All I knew was the next few days would continue to be long as we got all the plans in place for the wake and funeral.  We disagreed on whether to bury dad’s ashes or scatter them some place.    My mom and Dad, I guess didn’t believe in the scattering part. I on the other hand don’t understand burial. You pay all this money to have a plot and stone, for what? To go there and talk to a stone?  I wanted to have a place that was beautiful and had some significance to my dad, that I could go and reflect on the good times. Oh well. 

The days to follow I will not deny that I was tired of people. There were so many people. Which is amazing! It goes to show the impact my dad’s life had on others. But, at some point it is tiring. Like I said, I  try not to show my full emotions and that is tiring. Also, again trying to hide a pregnancy, yes take care of myself and my unborn baby, was hard.  But I am truly thankful for all the support and help we had from family and friends. I was also amazed by those that did show up, people you would never expect, yet you felt so happy they were there for you.  All the food, flowers, stories and memories really help you through those long days.

In the end, losing my Dad has been and will continue to be the hardest period in my life. Losing someone this important doesn't change one day, it changes your entire life. Nobody truly understands the relationship my dad and I had.  We could argue about the dumbest stuff and the next moment, be at the bar drinking beer or eating some good food.  I don’t know if I will ever be ‘OK’ with my dad not being here.  I miss him every day and at the oddest times.  To me this means that I had the most amazing person in my life! 

TO MY MOM:

Mom, Stronger than she knows.  She kept apologizing and continues to apologize.  She didn’t give my Dad cancer why is she sorry? She shouldn’t be sorry that she is asking for help, sad or mad. Her and my dad gave us everything and has always supported us. Why shouldn’t we do everything we can to be of support and help?  DON’T BE SORRY.  She continued to work, bring my dad to appointments, coordinate visits, insurance, his work, our lives, holidays and so much more.  She never puts herself first and she needed/needs to.  You are stronger than you know. We have no idea what you went through or continue to go through.  But please know you can do anything. You have done and will continue to live and be ok.  Yes, things have been shitty the past few years and you lost your best friend, husband and so much more.  I can’t help you with your own emotions but I can say this.  LIVE. Be Happy. Go on adventures and trips.  Spoil your grand kids (especially Charlie 😉) Put yourself first. Say No. Say Yes.  Be spontaneous. Laugh often. Be Angry. Love. Eat Chocolate cake for dinner! Do whatever you want. Grieve. Have fun. Remember Dad and talk about him as much as you want, whenever you want.  Most of all Mom, I want you to be happy and not so sad.  Dad would want you to live life to the fullest and one day in the far, far, farrrrrr future you will see him again. 




My Final thoughts.  Don't keep saying I will do it tomorrow, I will travel tomorrow, I will see them tomorrow. Do it today. You are not guaranteed tomorrow. I myself need to remember this.  Cherish those closest to you, there may come a day they are no longer there or that they will need to be your biggest support.  Take pictures. They help with memories, laughter and remembrance.   

Reflecting On Why We Rode

Hello to whoever may be out there.

I (Kelly) have been thinking about our cross country ride a lot lately.  You might ask why?  Well,  when we decided to embark on this adventure we thought, hey cool trip before adult life! Then came the thought of lets do the ride for something and we decided on riding for the American Cancer Society. We selected the American Cancer Society because of our friends and family members who have faced cancer on the front lines.  We wanted to help those who had passed away and those who were still fighting the evils of cancer. Cancer eventually took the lives of Chances uncle, My Grandpa  and my Aunt Linda this spring. It has also come close when my little cousin was diagnosed with Leukemia.   The money went towards research and the accommodations that American Cancer Society can provide to cancer patients. 

Unfortunately, this spring my family had the ugliness of cancer shows its face again when my dad was diagnosed with Glioblastoma 4.  This was a very hard hit and you tend to question why?  That is something, that sadly with this type of cancer, they do not know at this time.  At this moment there is no cure.... This is the toughest thing I have ever experienced in my life.  When we got the actual pathology back you are in shock and then it all settles in.  I cannot even imagine what it is like for my dad.

This is why I have been thinking about this ride a lot. You always think, I will do this for a good cause, this will never happen to us again. Now we are hoping that the money is helping with research to figure out why does  this happen and how do we stop it and save lives.

We did this ride for a great adventure and a great cause. But in the end it is more then that. It is for families like mine that have had the evilness of cancer get to close for comfort.  To all the families out there that have gone through something like this or continue to we wish you great blessings for strength, good health and hopefully one day a cure!

If you would like to follow my Dads story you can find it at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/bobplatzer

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!

Hello to anyone who may still follow this amazing Blog!! Things are great here in MN and we continue to live an adventurous lifestyle as much as we can!

Why do we nee your help?

 Chance has been building the Cottage Grove Bike Park in Cottage Grove, MN. This bike park is completely volunteer built and built with donated funds and materials.

 Bike Park Facebook Page

We need your help to help us win a $33,000 grant provided by Bell Helmets and International Mountain Bike Association. The winner is selected by popular vote. Please help us win this grant by going to the Bell website and voting for our project during the voting window: April 21st through May 4th. If we win this grant the money will be used to build a 1 acre world class dirt jump plaza that will be progressive and provide a great facility that will provide opportunities for riders of all ages and abilities to learn and develop. From beginner to expert level riders this dirt jump plaza will be a great addition to the Cottage Grove Bike Park. All you need is a valid email address! Please help support our project and create an amazing amenity for the City of Cottage Grove, the Twin Cities and the great state of Minnesota!

Check out the video and VOTE!!

 PLEASE get as many people as you can to vote! we are up against some tough competition in Colorado, Illinois and Indiana. Help us spread the word so Chance can continue to riding culture here in the Midwest! We need people from all over the US and hey if you have contacts in other parts of the world their emails are just as good!!

You support is much appreciated!!

Thank you, Chance, Kelly and Jerry the dog!

New Beginnings!

Hello to anyone who might still be connected to this site! Chance and I wanted to again thank those of you who helped us out on our cross country ride in 2009! It's crazy to think that it was 2 years ago. Time sure does fly these days! We would like to share our news with you! We got engaged on June 21st 2011 while on vacation in Gatlinburg, TN! Crazy as it is the bike ride was something that taught us if we could survive a 3600 mile bicycle journey and sharing a tiny tent for 2.5 months we could most likely make it through anything else that was tossed on our plate! We look forward to sharing our life together and out aweomse memeories of a once in a lifetime adventure!

We hope everyone is doing wonderful and having a great summer!

new blogs

hey hey everyone! well, I'm not sure anyone still follows this blog, it does say there are 8 followers. So any of you that are still interested in us we each have our own blogs now talking about our own things. Mine is selfsponsoredcyling.blogspot.com and Kelly's is beansbookreview.blogspot.com
so check them out!

Colorado Road Trip

Hello to those of you who still follow!! Just thought I would fill you in on some of our recent excursions. This one being our July 1-11th road trip around the lovely state of Colorado. It was our intention to go on this trip not only for adventure and fun but to meet up with some of the wonderful and helpful people that we met on our cycle ride last summer. It was wonderful to see Joe and meet his family Courtney and the two little ones! What bundles of energy, I think they scared Chance in the fact that he is not use to being around little ones:) So we started off our Journey visiting Randy and Amber, some college friends from college and staying with them in a suburb of Denver. It was great to see them and fun to spend time grilling out and hot tubing/pooling it at night! Thanks so much for your hospitality and the delicious food and great company. From there it was off to Telluride to meet up with Joe and he is friends and family to celebrate the 4th in one of the best ski towns around. We had a marvelous times seeing the beautiful scenery and haing out with everyone we met! Telluride is for sure some place to visit if you are ever out in COlorado.
Second, we made our way over Dallas Divide into the quaint town of Ouray, a big 4 wheel/jeeping area in the summer and outrageous ice climbing in the winter. We met Shane who owns the Company Ride-N which offers 4 wheel rental and tours over certain passes in the area. It was a great private tour with him up Imogene pass to just pat 13,000 feet! The town was lovely to walk through and I might have had the best burger ever at a place called Maggies Kitchen, delicious!! If you are ever in the area you must stop by and eat/look for our names on the wall!!
After our great day in Ouray it was off to Gunnison and Crested Butte which is now mine and Chances favorite town ever!! I would love to live there, so if anyone has 1 million dollars and would like to buy me a house there, I would be very greatful he he he!! After wandering around Crested Butte it was off to the campsite for the night to get some rest!
In the AM we went up MOnarch Pass and took the gondola up to where the continential divide is located and took in the amazing views! Again another little place to stop on your way through the ROckies! We then headed back down the mountain to Salida and again wandered ates some grub and headed to Canon City where we would have the awesome adventure of white water rafting!!! In our lovely campsite haha not really, we played some poker to waste time as we watched the sunset over the mountains. We woke up very excited to see our friends at the White Water Adventure Outfitters (WAO)Thanks to Kathy, Tony and Dave for a great experience through the Royal Gorge!! We are going back next year so anyone wanting to go with us let us know! We did get lucky rafting, it was a beautiful day and right at the end when we got back it poured so hard that when we were driving we actually had to pull over on the side of the road...... After rafting we started towards Colorado Springs to finish our Journey. We set up camp at a nice little camp ground outside of Colorado Springs, the only bad thing is that the fire pits did not have grates and we had steak. So, smart Chance used hot dog pokers to pretty much rotisery the steaks and they turned out well!!
After a nice evening rest with perfect sleeping temp we woke up packed up and headed for some tourist attractions. We would be meeting up with Jerry Funk and his wife Gayle later in the evening. We stopped off in the little foot hills of the mountain town called Manitou Springs, again wandered around saw some cute little shops ate lunch and headed to the Manitou Cliff Dwelings to see how the Anzai and Pueblo people once lived. It was fun to tour and get to know some historical facts. After that we didn' tknow what to do so we played some mini golf hit up the bike store and REI...... More time left what to do.... Smart me, I found the free tour at the Olympic Training Center so we headed downtown. WHat a place it is crazy to see the facilities our Olympic athletes used and see their crazy crazy training habits.
Finally, time to meet up with Jerry and Gayle. they are so kind and allowed us to stay with them for the night and shared some wonderful Chinease food with them! Jerry talked with us about our next days climb of Pikes Peak. He has climed all 55 14ers otherwise known as 14.000-15,000 foot peaks in Colorado and has written a wonderful book called 14er Fan Club. So we knew he would have some much needed knowledge and wisdom for our climb! If you love the outdoors and reading you will want to get Jerrys book! Sat we got up at 5am to get ready for our Trek... I will tell you it was no easy task and I was glad when it was over. The views were worth it and I felt accomplished after! Again, thank you Jerry and Gayle for your hospitality and for celebrating our first 14er with us! Then it was time to head home for the 16 hour ride back!!
We had a great time and got to spend time with amazing people in wonderful places! Hope everyone is doing well!

long time... no word...

Hey everyone, sorry it's been so long since I've wrote, how have all you been? well everything is going well here on the home front. Kelly is still working for Argosy University as a high school recruiter, her go time is starting to slow down and begin the revamping and training time for the summer. I'm still working at the Hartford, some how some way... I can think of a million other jobs I would rather be doing but right now its providing health care and paying the bills. We have some serious plans for the summer. We hope to continue climbing and back packing as much as possible. As of right now we have a week long trip planned for Colorado that will be jam packed with adventures like climbing pikes peak and white water rafting. We or mostly me would love to do some mountain biking but just don't have the funds right now to make that happen. We will also be doing about a week in the black hills the end of August with the family! As for cycling I'm still shredding, try to ride everyday just to keep the legs going, Kelly is still dealing with some knee issues so she does what she can when it's not bothering her. I'm in the market to try some racing, right now I'm planning on giving cyclocross a go in the fall and maybe try to do a gravel race if I can find one in late summer early fall! on the immediate agenda Kel and I will be guest speakers and the Aberdeen/Brown County relay for life, in Aberdeen SD on Friday June 4th, I believe it will be at 11:30pm I know that's after many of your bed times but you should grab a dewski and try to stay awake and come watch us. Even if I suck at speaking in front of crowds, there should be a cool slide show... well keep on truckin' as wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'!

What's going on?

Hey everyone, I know it's been a long time since we wrote anything and I apologize for that. Things have been really busy for us. We are still trying to settle into the "real" world, proper adult life. Not as much fun as the bike ride that's for sure. As you all know we did complete the ride. It was absolutely amazing. We had so much fun and we couldn't have done it with out all your guy's support. Since the bike ride Kelly and I went to Hawaii with her parents for two weeks, which was very cool. When we got back from that the serious job hunt began for me. Kelly had already found a job as a substitute teacher for a couple districts in the Twin Cities. It took me about six weeks but I ended up landing a job at The Hartford, a large insurance company. It's a pretty nice job, it's not exactly what I want to be doing, I mean I'm not living in the mountains or anything, but is a start and an income. Other then that we are still bunking at Kelly's parents house, saving some money and looking for an apartment to call home. Oh, also we finally got all of our pictures added to our photo bucket site which you can access from the pics so far link. Once you are at that site you have to click on the most resent uploads link on the left side. Enjoy the new pics. We enjoyed taking them! Thanks again everyone!

Much Thanks!

Hello to everyone who has been following and supporting us for this great adventure and Cycling 4 A Cure! We would both like to thank you for all donations made to helping us help the American Cancer Society! For anyone who is still wanting to donate please do so, our website on the ACS website will stay active for a bit longer! or fell free to make a check out to the ACS and you can get the needed sheet off our ACS website or sent it to Chance and 922 3rd ave ne, Aberdeen SD 5701 and he will take care of the mailing for you. We hope that everyone enjoyed reading about our trip and if you have any questions please feel free to send us an email! For all of you that we have been so lucky to meet along the way, thank you for all of your help and generosity! We have been so lucky to have met all the wonderful people that there are spread across this great country of ours. If you travel across the country remember take the back roads I know it may be slower, but you see so many wonderful sighs most people miss. Don't forget to stop in the small towns they usually have the most to offer in the form of kindness! Again, thank you all! We could have never done it without you! Look forward to pictures to come! As for what we are doing now. Chance is back home in Aberdeen, SD working construction and hanging out with family and friends. I am in Maplewood, trying to unpack from school, and enjoy the things of summer I love so much! I will be going to Aberdeen on the 17th for Chances birthday and he will then be coming back to teh cities in September to get ready for our trip to Hawaii! Again thank you all so much and we hope to stay in touch!

San Francisco and the end!

The last two days we spent in San Francisco before we would fly on home. We had a great time seeing the sights, sleeping in and getting things ready to go home! In San Fran we saw the typical tourist sights of Pier 39, Fishermans Warf and so much more! We even rented these little cars called Go-Cars! They took us all over the city and navigated us by GPS we both had agreat time! IT was nice to relax and kind of weird to think that we were done and it was about time to go home. The last day Chance and I spent relaxing, and packing for the plane! It was time to get home. We took the Red Eye flight home on the 2nd of August and arrived in MN at 6am! It was a great trip and one that will be memorable for a lifetime!

The last day of riding...

It's been a long time coming! Today was our day we would enter San Francisco. IT has been a very long 2.5 amazing months and we are ready to see the ocean and head home! The morning ride was quite easy as we zig zagged our way through city streets. We were headed to Dublin where we would get on the BART and head into San Francisco! My knee was bothering me quite a bit today but I kept my spirits high as we were excited to complete our journey! Chance was wonderful as always and worked with me so that I could feel strong the rest of the way. We knew this afternoon we would have our last larger climb. we had no idea what we were in for. As we approached this climb, we knew the summit would be roughly 1,500 ft and we started at 35 feet so we had a pretty good climb left in front of us. The first part of the climb was pretty gradual and a bit a of a head wind. Chance flew ahead as usual but I took my time as I always say the turtle wins the race! Eventually the wind picked up and things got a little crazy. I got blown off my bike 2 times and I was like screw it I have all day so I got off and walked. It got so windy I was stopped in my tracks and could not push m y bike. Eventually I saw Chance again making it to the top having to push his bike as well! The kind guy that he is, he ran back down to help me out! As he was pushing the wind just kept picking up, the wind was so strong at one point, that it actaully took two of us to push my bike. At the top we took our time and got ready to make our way down. we both had a great time going downhill and cruised into Panda Express for lunch and a little break before we our final lag of the trip.. After lunch it was a great ride, full of excitement we made our way to the BART station and got on and let out a deep breath! We made it! We were on our way into the city and talked with a few of the locals who were a big help. once we got off the BART we of course got back on our bikes and made our way over the Golden Gate bridge dodging the tourists on rentals and took our pics! The last task was to find the bike store. At the bike store they would box our bikes and ship them home for us! It was agreat feeling to be done! We were both exhausted and headed to our hotel for a shower, food and a night of relaxation! It's been a great trip!

Rode to Modesto.,..

The ride this morning was pretty good. We had a bit of climbing in the morning to get out of Groveland. The one major exciting part of the day was the hill we got to go down called Priests Grade. Now, we were told there are 2 hills to chose from, old priest grade and new priest grade. When we got up to the split we looked down old priest grade and it was crazy, at some points it can get to over 20% and is 3 miles long. The New Priest Grade which we went down was 6 miles long. Chance really enjoyed the ride, flying down and cutting corners as you could see 3 turns in front of you. I however, did not like it as much way too fast for me. So I took my time and took pictures along the way as well. Chance had to wait for me and was not too happy about it.. So we continued on our way! It was great to see the mountains start to dwindle, they didn't disappear but they got smaller so that is always good! The ride went fairly quick and the temps stayed nice with the wind so we were not boiled like other days. We stopped in Oakdale, CA for lunch at Denny's! Lunch was delicious and we continued to get more excited to almost be in San Francisco. Once we left Oakdale we were in city limits for the rest of the ride into Montrose. In Modesto we did our normal routine and hit up the library. The library is so packed that we had to wait to get a computer and then you only got it for 30 min. From there we headed to the tourist info center and talked with the lady there about camping. we were told there was no camping within the city area but we could ride another 30 miles. That was no sounding good so we made our way to the Motel 6. Once we were settled and showered Chance was very excited for his first taste of In and Out Burger. While he enjoyed it, it was not super great. After dinner we stopped by the gas station to pick up a few things headed back and got ready for out last day of riding on this crazy trip of ours

Oh, It's all down hill out of here!

This morning we woke up a bit later then normal but it was ok, it was suppose to be all down hill to Groveland. We gathered our things and packed our bags, said goodbye to Joel and hit the road. We knew that we had a little hill to climb and then it was suppose to be down hill, and it was, for a bit. We went up to 8500ft and then flew down to 7500 feet and then had to climb back up to about 8300, WTF! Does know one from the west coast understand the concepts of down hill and flat, because it looks like they don't get it to me. I don't know, maybe I, a mid-west boy need to make a guide for dummies to riding your bike in the west, because someone needs to set the story straight and I guess the locals can't fathom it so they have to bring in a consultant. Well at the top of the other hill I stopped to take a pee and wait for Kelly. It wasn't long and we heard a familiar voice, "Hey slow pokes" it was Joel he had caught up. I guess we got one more day of riding together. The rest of the ride was rolly and there was a pretty big down hill and Joel and I got separated from Kelly. We thought it was because of traffic or just because she didn't want to join our draft line. Joel and I were really moving down the hill. So we waited and it took a little longer then normal and finally when Kelly rolled up to the turn out she didn't look good. We asked what was wrong and while she was crying she told us a bee had flown into here helmet and stung her before she could get stopped and take it off. So I looked at it and sure as could be she had a stinger in her head. Joel handed me a tweezers and I pulled it out. It looked to be already swelling and we could only hope that she didn't have an allergic reaction since there wasn't any medical around. But Kelly's tough and she rode it out. We had one more hill and then a huge down hill to the turn off were we stopped at the gas station to grab a bite to eat and bid farewell to our new friend. At the corner we went right towards San Fran and Joel went left into the valley to enjoy some more beautiful wilderness. The rest of the ride wasn't too bad. It continued to be rolly but we had some amazing down hills, Kelly calls them scary and rides her breaks but I love them. As we dropped elevation we could feel the temperature rise and it got hot for the last 20miles and stayed that way till the sun went down. When we got to town we ate some ice cream and found this really weird "motel" where you rent trailer houses, little cabins or tents and if you had your own tent it was only $25, ha only. We set up camp and went to 2 guys pizza. The food was good but I don't think it set well with Kelly or I, we spent quite a bit of time on the toilet. The rest of the night was spent trying to figure out our escape plan from Cali. Unfortunately we didn't get that great of sleep since at about 10pm all sorts of people decided it was time to have a party! Oh well, thanks for your support!

Welcome to Yosemite 9945ft

Alright finally a good nights sleep, it was cool right from the start and no crazy animals to wake us up. There were a lot of really creepy birds all over the camp ground, seagulls. It reminded me of the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds." I guess Mono Lake is one of their major breading grounds and they stick around because all the dumb foreign tourist keep feeding them since they think it's so cool. Well anyway back to the ride. We got up on our own this morning, no alarm since it was suppose to be a shorter ride with only a large climb up Tioga pass and then we were told that it was pretty much down hill to the other side of the Park. So we said goodbye to Joel and told him we would wait for him at either the top or Tuolomne Meadows Village. We headed out and started a very grueling grind to the top but it was filled with endless gorgeous views. It wasn't too long into the ride and I was waiting for Kelly. Her knee was starting to bother her and I knew it would take awhile to get to the top. I was had been waiting for Kelly for about 5mins and figured that she had already gotten onto her own break schedule so I decided to continue riding and it wasn't more then 3mins later and I heard her voice, "how did she catch me" I thought to myself and then I looked back to see her sitting in the front seat of a jacked up white Ford truck. She said she was getting a ride to the top. This didn't upset me since she was having knee troubles but it was now a personal challenge to see how fast I could make it to the top. I began to peddle as hard as I could and when my legs burned too bad to peddle I got off and walked until they felt better and then got on and road. It took me only 1 hour and 45mins to summit the beast and found Kelly waiting at the top cheering me on. It was a welcomed sight since I was extremely exhausted. It turns out that she was dropped off at Ellis Lake about 3 miles from the top. The ride from there was very pretty and not too difficult. There was only one 200 foot climb and the rest was basically flat.
While Kelly was waiting she met one of the workers that cycled to work, her name was Anna and she thought what we were doing was amazing and told us that she would give us guest passes so we didn't have to pay the $10 a person entry fee. So we waited for Joel so that he could get in free too. As we sat there we chatted with people that drove by and asked us what we were doing. We wrote down our website for a bunch of them so the could check us out. We kept getting mixed messages about how far Joel was back but he eventually made it to the top and we headed to Tuolomne Meadows to get some food. Tuolome Meadows is a very eclectic gathering point. It was interesting to meet all the hikers stopping for a piece of civilization. The term civilization means something different to a cyclist than a backpacker. To backpackers civilization is any place with facilities and people, to me as a cyclist, since we run into towns pretty regularly it's a place that offers amenities that I guess you could call luxuries like Mc Donald's. After we had ate, sent a few post cards and grabbed some food and a 6 pack to enjoy later we hit the road. According to a motorcyclist we had met the day before it was all down hill from here on out. We learned very quickly that they must have been on some good drugs because we had some pretty good hills to climb before we got to our campsite. When we finally made it to the campsite we tied our beer to a rock and through it in the stream, set up camp and then joined the beer in the stream to cool off and soak our tired feet. The after noon was very relaxing and enjoyable. We got to chatting with some of our neighbors and they were super cool. One couple were doing a National Parks tour and almost done and the other couple were just out doing some mountain biking for a couple days. The first couple invited us over to enjoy their curry with them and we spent the rest of the night sitting by the campfire and swapping war stories. It was a good time! Thanks for your continued support!

A new companion and the wonderfully pricey town of Lee Vining

This morning we woke up around 5.30 or so but we were up on and off through out the night. Around midnight there was a siren that went off for about 10 mins. I'm assuming it was a rural fire volunteer wake up call because about 10 mins after that we heard a couple fire trucks go tearing by. Then around 4.20am this damn rooster started crowing and didn't stop, he was soon followed by a quartet of dogs and then some other animals that were unrecognizable. According to Joel the rooster was trying to stay on central time just like us. That was unfortunate for us, so much for a good nights sleep. Well we readied ourselves and headed out about 30mins before Joel. The mornings ride was absolutely brutal. We had a 7 mile climb that hit grades of 10% at times and that wasn't the worst of it. The head wind was almost unbearable and we had to push our bikes for much of the 7miles. Then there was a very long down hill and then right back up a long gradual grade. At the top Kelly and I stopped for a snack and saw Joel for the first time this morning. He was about 3miles behind us and we figured that he would catch up so we continued on. The next section was labeled the 5 mile dips. it was absolutely ridiculous. It was like a giant whoop section down a road. The hills were short and steep. As Joel later put it, what the f@#$, how lazy is California, why couldn't they just flatten that road. There are a million illegal Mexicans that will work for pennies. Just take a little damn sand out here and add a little there! Haha, it was hilarious because we felt the same way. Joel caught up to us at the top of the next hill as I was waiting for Kelly. He rode with us for the rest of the day. The most of the day was filled with climbing. We were told we would have about 10miles of climbing and then it would be down hill. I guess they can't judge distance very well or they just forgot about the summit of 8600 some feet. It was such a relief to see that summit sign. We had climbed about 3500 feet so far this morning and we were ready for some down hill. At the top of the summit sat an RV and they were setting up some sun shelters so we stopped by to see what they were doing since they had two nice road bikes on the back of the RV. When we got closer we saw the sign on the side. They were the Sag for a ride to help raise money for the Eastern Sierra Disabled Sports program. They were really nice and couldn't believe that we had ridden as far as we had with all our gear. They asked if we wanted to have a soda and we gladly excepted. Then they asked if we would stay for lunch so all their riders could meet us and we could meet this amazing man who was riding a hand bike and doing all the hills, unfortunately I can not remember his name, sorry. So we stayed around and enjoyed an amazing lunch. Joel almost ate them out of house and home. I thought I ate a lot. He's super skinny and eats like a horse! haha, but it was nice to meet all the people and we gave them our information. They guy on the hand bike was absolutely amazing and it was so motivating to see him climb that last hill and ride all the terrain that we struggled to. It was great to meet all of those great people and they were so supportive, they gave us some Cliff Bars and cheered us on as we road away. The rest of the ride was very scenic and extremely different to what we had gotten use to for the last couple of weeks. We dropped quickly into a densely forested area along Mono Lake, one of the oldest lakes in the US and it is a salt water lake that has a 25% higher salt content and is a 100% more alkaline than the ocean. The day was nice and cool but unfortunately we were not done climbing. We had one more shorter climb and then it was a gradual climb into Lee Vining. When we got to town we stopped at the Mobile Station just out side of town and ate at the Whoa Nellie Deli like we were instructed to by the other cyclists. The food wasn't super amazing or even that cheap but that's not what it was about. It was about the scene. It was a super cool laid back area were people from all walks of life stop to meet other interesting people. There were tons of tourists like everywhere but there were also longs of hikers and some mountain bikers and there was live music to enjoy while you ate. The manager of the deli loved what we were doing and gave us a free piece of pizza and a free beer. We ate our food and enjoyed the music and asked about camping opportunities and were directed towards the RV park since it was the only place were we could shower. So we headed over to Mono Lake Resort and RV Park, what a joke this place was. It cost us $23 dollars to set up our two tents on a plot of grass and then we had to pay $1 for every 5 minutes of hot water we wanted in the shower. They also advertised Wi-Fi so we were excited to use that but they failed to mention that it was $6 to connect. It was even worse then staying at a KOA. Fortunately there were some nice people that we camped by so that made it worth it. When we had set up our tent we went down to the local camp store to try and find Joel a new sleep mat since his blew out the back of a truck in NV when he was hitching a ride. When we got back to the camp site we sat around and chatted for a while enjoying the cool weather. Kelly was pretty tuckered out so she went to bed early. Joel and I met this guy doing a tour on his motorcycle and chatted with him for awhile and then made our way to bed as well. It was a biter sweet day. We had quite a struggle in the morning and then met some amazing and inspiring people and were blessed with a beautiful ride in the afternoon. Thanks again for all of your support. We are almost there!

Hmmm?

Well Well, where to start? I guess I will start from the beginning. We were staying with Carl, who was extremely hospitable, and when we had first met him outside the bank we had inquired if he knew anyone that was heading in our direction, namely Tonapah. It was more or less a rhetorical question, since it was half way across the state and everyone we had asked earlier had told us we wouldn't find anyone going that way until we passed the Hiko turnoff. He of course didn't know of anyone and said he would have loved to help us only if his wife would have been home to take care of the cats. Fortunately for us he decided after awhile that he would take us since he was retired and didn't really have anything better to do on a Saturday. So he went looking for us and found us at the laundry mat. It was amazing, probably one of the best days of the trip to that day. So that's how we ended up staying with him. So we woke up Saturday morning and ate breakfast with Carl and hit the road about 5.45am. We made pretty good time. When we stopped in Ash Springs, about 40miles into the ride, I (Chance) took over driving and lets be honest here. I was a little on the fence here. I didn't really want to take such a large helping hand. I was struggling with the idea of "cheating" not completing the trip ourselves but there were a few variable involved in the final decision. One being the intense heat, two being the large distances without services, even though there was water available that we could filter, and the third and most important to me was that Kelly's knee was starting to bother her again. So I talked it over with my dad and was still a little on the fence but decided it was the best idea and by the time I had driven two hours through the most desolate land I had ever seen in my entire life I knew that we did the right thing. After about three and a half hours of riding we pulled over in a turn out, just pass the ghost town of Coaldale NV and loaded up our bikes ate our sandwhichs we got at the gas station, thanked Carl for all his help and said goodbye.
We had about 35 miles to ride that day and we had a pretty good since summit to climb before we reached California. The summit was long but it wasn't too demanding. The heat was starting to intensify very quickly and we had no real idea if there was anything waiting for us in Benton CA or not but we pushed on. The decent was quick and a little iffy because we had a 15-25mile an hour head wind. Wind is that variable in riding that one cannot predict or train for. You never know what it's going to do and it can really make your bike unstable at higher speeds. From the top of the climb to Benton was only about 10miles but due to the intense head wind it took us one and a half hour to do it. When we were getting back on our bikes after taking our boarder picture I was almost blown over by an intense gust of wind. For the first time ever I had been stopped by customs inside the US. When you cross over the CA boarder you have to declare if you have any fruit, veg, or livestock from another state. Of course we didn't and they didn't pursue it and we proceeded to Benton. Benton was basically a ghost town. The only thing in it was a park, a dinner/gas station and a church, where we spent the night. The Dinner was alright, nothing special but the Indian taco I had was amazing. While we were there we met this really nice couple from Tonapah and spent the next hour talking with them about our trip and what lay ahead of us. The were so kind they paid for our lunch, thank you! After lunch we sat around and chatted with the ladies working there, trying to beat the heat. Finally we decided to go set up our tent but when we got to the park the wind was blowing so hard it would have been impossible to set it up and then it started to pour, so we were chased back to the dinner. We decided to pick up some snacks for later and some pop tarts for dinner, unfortunately we didn't check the dates on either and both were out, fortunately the checks mix was only out a week or so and it taste good still but the pop tarts were out 6months! They have a year shelf life! That means they had been there for a year and a half!! wow, well anyways the weather died down and we were going to go set up our tend commando style in the park, even though it said "no over night camping" on a big sign. As we were walking out this lady stopped us and asked if we were the "kids" looking for a place to camp and she told us she was the pastors wife, as she was holding a case of beer and a bottle of booze, haha how ironic. She said we could camp at the church. So we did. It was sand, not grass but it was nice. We set up camp and used the sink in the park bathroom to clean up and were just hanging around.
That's when we met Joel! He was riding by and we waved him down, it turns out he was looking for a place to set up camp as well. So we told him he could join us at the church and he did. He had just graduated from Western Illinois and was riding his bike to LA where he was going to catch a flight to New Zealand and hitch hike and ride his bike around there for three months. He was traveling alone because his friend that was going to go with him had gotten a DUI and couldn't afford it. It turned out that he was going the same way as us, at least for the next couple of days, so we had a new member of our team! The rest of the night was spent getting to know each other and reminiscing about the each others trips so for. It was pretty ironic that we had both pretty much made our own routes and taken more or less the same way and met a lot of the same people. What a small world! Thanks for all your support!

Short Day?

Well, last nights sleep was a little off due to the immense train traffic at night. Man are those things loud. The dogs also like to bark at nothing so every once in a while I would wake up to that. But all in all the night cooled down and sleeping was pretty good. When our alarm went off the sun was still not up so we went back to sleep. This mornings ride was very easy to say the least. The only climb we had was Panaca Summit. Once we got to the top there it was pretty much all downhill from there. We FINALLY got into Nevada!!! That means we are almost home and ready to be back. It's been a long time away, but an unforgettable adventure. So we stopped in Panaca at the gas station to grab a little snack and some Mt.Dew. We didn't get our Mt.Dew yesterday and it is crazy because Chance and I actually got headaches from our lack of caffeine. So we asked what the road was like to Caliente and they told us it was pretty flat one little hill. So when entering Nevada we also entered the Pacific time zone. So we got into Caliente at 9:00 am and had already done 47 miles and our stopping point for the day! You may ask why so early? I will say today it was already 88 degrees by 8am. So if you go into the afternoon you hit the 100 degree mark and it is horrible to be in. So we stopped and were going to do our laundry but had to stop at the bank to get some change. We ran into a very wonderful and hospitable man named Carl who is our life saver and has been a great help. After our laundry was finished Carl took us to his house hooked us up with some cool temps, lunch, shower and a nice place to sleep! He is defiantly a man of all trades. He designed and built his own house that is absolutely beautiful. Also his cool cars that he restores! Carl thank you for everything! We are now going to continue to rest and have such wonderful conversation with Carl. Thanks again for supporting us and we will hopefully see you all soon!

Modena Utah..

Hello again. Today we woke up at our over priced piece of dirt campsite at the KOA to a fairly cool morning, not cold enough to wear jackets. This was the first campsite ever that other people were up at the same time as us. So we got rolling this morning and stopped at the gas station to fill our tires. Chance got a new tire last night so we had to make sure that had proper air in it. We had a very gradual climb for most of the morning and then reached the summit. It wasn't too bad of a climb. If only all climbs could be as such. We then had a very nice downhill for quite a while. Today so you know was pretty lack luster for the most part. We got into a town called New Castle and stopped at the gas station and had a little something to eat. They told us Modena had nothing in it and we were disappointed because that was going to be our stop for the day. So we decided we would continue riding as far as we could and take a break in the shade and let it cool down a bit. SO we road the flats all the way to Modena about 50 miles from Cedar City. We found an old abandonded building and were going to take up camp for a little rest. So, we sat down and noticed this oasis of vibrant greens and beautiful flowers across the street. We then saw Carol. I needed to use the restroom so I told Chance I would see if she would allow me to do so. But she was so very kind and allowed us to come over have some cool water, and sit on the patio that was cooled by the swamp cooler so it was super nice. WE took a little nap and talked with Carol for a bit. It did not get cooler. So we decided to stay here and again so kind she is allowing us to set up camp in her front yard! She also had the fixings for sammys and some soup that filled us both up! After awhile it finally started to cool down probably around 7pm mountain time. We set up our tent and Carol's husband Vince came home. So we continued to chat while the rain came down in a heavy sheet! So as you can see today was pretty boring for you to read about. Tomorrow we will be in Nevada, a new time zone and closer to our destination of San Fran! Thanks for reading and continue to pray and hope for cooler weather, kind people and healthy bodies!

Circleville to Cedar City, UT..

Howdy to everyone reading our blog. Today we find ourselves in Cedar City, Utah and now you will hear the oh so wonderful story! This morning started off a little later then most, roughly 6:30 Mountain time. The great thing about this morning is that it was nice and cool to ride! We were lucky enough to get to ride between canyons so the sun stayed off us for about 37 miles until we hit the large climb for the day. Now when I say large I mean very very long. The summit was only at 7,000 some feet but with an 8% grade and 2-3 miles long it was one we were not looking forward to.. However, while the climb was difficult, it was also easy. That means compared to other climbs in Utah we were able to ride all the way to the top with only half a mile of walking or less! I must add it was a beautiful ride to the top and all the way to the interstate. When we got to the top and saw that down grade sign we were very happy! We got to go downhill at an 8% grade for 6 miles and that pretty much took us to our date with the interstate. Now to you cyclist out there, of course you never really want to go on the interstate, but when it makes you ride shorter and it is pretty much flat with some downhill you are happy to take it! Utah is one of the only states where cyclist are allowed on the interstate, that may change though because a cyclist and a few others were killed just the other day. Once we hit the interstate it felt like the temperature suddenly got much hotter and that is probably because we were in the mountains all morning. With cars zipping by us at 75+ miles per hour and the sun beating down on us in the valley between all kinds of mountains, I must say..... I am ready to be out of the mountains and not see them for quite some time.. I hope all of you in MN don't complain too much about your weather because I would rather have your weather then the 90's-100's we continue to run into here. So any ways back to the interstate, we decided to stop off at a truck stop to grab some lunch at Subway. Upon entering we meet James and Tara a very nice couple who were very interested in hearing about our journey! We are always grateful to run into such people. We then set out to beat the heat! As we got going there were a lot of blown tires on the side of the road, it is bad for bicycle tires because of the wire running through them. Yes, I ran one over! So in probably one of the most dangerous places to be standing, Chance had to change my flat tire and hope all the drivers speeding past us were able to see us. I also must say it is crazy to think that we sat there for like 10 min and not once did someone ask if we needed help! So in the future for you all reading if you see a cyclist on the side of the road in some place they probably should not stop, be kind, slow down and ask if they need anything! About 2 miles from our exit into Cedar City I ran out of water and was pretty much dying. So we stopped into a truck stop yet again, cooled down and had tons of water. So after a 75 mile day we are in the library getting you all up to date and going to hit the bike shop, campsite and get some dinner! Tomorrow will be our last day in Utah!!! So you can all cheer with us! Thank you all for your support and please continue to spread the word! Thank you also to everyone who has been emailing us, it helps keep us in high spirits when others tell us how we are doing such a great thing! See you all soon!

Grumpier Old Man Saved Our Day

Well today we woke up this morning a little later then normal since there was going to be a free continental breakfast at 6. It was nice to sleep in and especially in a nice comfy bed. After breakfast we hit the road. It was pretty chilly out since we were technically in the mountains and there was a chance of thunder showers and the sky was overcast. It didn't take us long to get to the next town of Bicknel, unfortunately nothing was open but the post office so we stopped in there and dropped off our post cards and asked the lady about the ride to come she said its not bad once you get to the top and well the ride to the bottom of the hill was really easy but we could see what laid in front of us, a daunting hill, from at least 10 miles away. When started to climb we just couldn't efficiently turn our peddles over so we gave up and began to walk, luckily for us we didn't have to push long before an older guy stopped and asked if we wanted a ride to the top and of course we wouldn't turn that down, we made that mistake once and never again. As I was putting my bike in the back the guy was like "hurry up lazy bones I've got places to be!" So yeah one would assume that if they offer you a ride they would typically be a nice person but not this guy. He should have been a fill in on grumpier old men! He didn't talk much. He asked some questions about us and asked if Kelly was old enough to be hanging out with me, haha and he didn't seem to keen on the fact that we weren't married. Oh well he helped us out big time and we thanked him and coasted into Koosharem. It was intended to be our destination for the day but it was only 10.30am and we were feeling pretty good. So we stopped at the local dinner for a bit to eat and asked about the ride to Circleville. They told us it was flat with a down hill lie but of course it's Utah and there must be at least a couple hills. When we had finished eating it was still pretty nice our and the sun remained behind the clouds so we took off. The ride was nice, probably the best ride in Utah. It was filled with nice scenery, that we could actually enjoy since we weren't busting our butts up hill after hill. The best part of the ride was through Kingston Vally, it reminded me of Colorado, unfortunately there was a slight head wind to slow us down. There wasn't much of the way of towns along the way so we didn't have much need to stop. We made great time and were in Circleville around 2.30. We weren't quite ready to call it a day, but we knew that there was a large climb between us and the next inhabited area. Kelly was hungry again so we went to the local dinner to get some grub. We met some Mormon Missionaries, and yes I know what you're thinking. The guys in the white shirts with their name tags that come to your door but you pretend you're not there. Well I typically do the same thing but these guys were actually really cool and not pushy at all. They did make sure to tell us about their mission and get in a few things about their religion but what can ya do. They were actually more interested in our trip then spreading the "good word" so when we were finished we said good bye and tried our luck at hitch-hiking for a bit but were unsuccessful so we had to call it a day and find a camp ground. The campground was nice, the guy running the place was a little weird and we couldn't get the Internet to work but it had nice facilities and that's all we need. We met a guy from Cali there and we got a little excited, hoping maybe he was heading our way, but he actually had just moved there and told us how much better it was in Utah then Cali, personally I think he's nuts. Utah is beautiful but it is too hot and way to sparsely populated for me. We both were pooped so we enjoyed the cooler day and took a nap under the shade tree and cleaned up before spending the rest of the afternoon reading. We both hit the hey early! Thanks again for your support!