In the middle of no where!!

Hey everyone sorrry for the lack of corrispondance but we were really busy in Aberdeen durring our break there and once we stepped out of Aberdeen we stepped into the middl of BFE, I wont elaborate on that acranim but you can figure it out for yourself. Today is the first day that we have had access to the internet, let alone the library. So thanks for baring with us. Now let me give you the run down.
June 23rd
When we got up in Milbank it looked like déjà vu, I woke up at 5.30 and it was so foggy I could hardly see. The fog put a hold on our riding until later into the day which ment hotter weather. I asked Kelly what we should do and she asked if I was hungry so we headed down to the corner dinner called Trevet’s Café. The food was alright and we met some nice people when were waiting for our food. Like most older people we met along our way they were interested in what we were doing and in turn thought we were a bit crazy and we probably are but heck we’re having a great time. When we were finished eating Kelly paid the bill and I went outside to call the radio station to give them an update on our progress. They told us there was a storm front moving our way but it looked beautiful to me, by know all the clouds had lifted and the sun was shining bright. When we left Milbank we had to climb “Mount Milbank”, it was a small over pass leaving town but it was the only hill we had seen in days. The ride started out fine, we were making good time but it didn’t last long. Within about 5 miles we were met with a brutal head wind. This turned the ride into a tooth and nail battle to stay on the small shoulder while tractor trailers were flying by almost pushing us off the road in typical condition now it was causing a confusing swirl of wind that forced me off the road. It was a bit dangerous because of the small shoulder and then there was loose gravel on the side that caused my bike to get a little squirly at times. The morning ride didn’t quite go how I expected, I thought it would be a pretty easy ride with a small hill section and we would have made it to Webster by lunch, which was about 45miles. Instead had only hashed out 19 miles to the Summit truck stop. It was a very long morning and we sat down to enjoy some chuck wagon burgers and ice cold Mt. Dew. It was a much needed hour break that rested our legs and put our differences for the morning at rest. After lunch the ride was a little easier. The wind had died down but someone had turned the thermostat to 11! It was hot, in the upper 80’s and there is absolutely no shade on hwy 12. There isn’t much shade on any highways but especially not in SD. It was nice though that the shoulder had quadrupled in size so Kelly and I could ride side by side and talk about all sorts of good things. It was nice to see the farther west we go the people become more receptive and friendly. We were getting a lot more waves, honks and thumbs up, so that was cool. By about mid afternoon we had made it to Waubay and had to stop and get our usual afternoon cool down break, which consists of sitting in air-conditioning and eating ice cream. Waubay has a cool little ice cream shop call the Purple Cow, and the ice cream was great. We were both a little reluctant to head out in to the heat again after such a nice break but we couldn’t sit there all day. Once again, back to the bikes. It wasn’t too long before the heat drove us back inside though. We road about 10miles further to a little bit bigger town of Webster and since it was too early for dinner, it was only 2.30 or so we located the library and went there to kill some time and beat the heat. After an hour or so at the library we head back down the street the way we came and decided it was still too hot to ride so we pulled into a little dinner and ate an early dinner. The food was great and by the time we had left it had almost dropped another 10 degrees. So it made riding a bit easier. We pulled into Bristol SD. It looked like a ghost town there were a few cars parked on the road but all the shops were closed and it looked as if no one was around. We flagged down an older couple that were headed our way in a golf cart. We ask were we could get a cold drink and they were like right here and we told them it was locked and they said nonsense you must have tried the wrong door. It turns out that the older couple in the golf cart knew my grandparents. So we paid the $2 tab and head to the park. We were so tired we just sat in the shade for a good 30mins before we even tried to set up the tent. Just after we got the tent set up we saw a red truck that had a familiar decal on the side and Kelly was like hey isn’t that your mom’s truck and I was like no it can’t be but it was my parents drove down to see us, they couldn’t wait another day to see me. It was nice though. We said good bye to my parents and headed over to the outhouse, to find it was locked. So we had no bathroom and we were in the middle of the neighborhood so we couldn’t just do our business outside. So the public restroom was only about 4 blocks from the park and city hall wasn’t much but a two room brick building, one being the bathroom. So we did our business and cleaned up in the sink and then made our way back to our tent. I was so exhausted, all I wanted to do was sleep so I covered the bikes and put the rest of the stuff away and got in the tent but I couldn’t sleep. I still felt gross and sticky and it was humid out. After a bit it cooled off a bit and I finally fell asleep.

Hey Hey Hey Everyone

We are in Aberdeen and having a meet and greet tomorrow night at the Eagles Club here in Aberdeen. It starts at 4pm and goes until 8pm. There will be a free will donation dinner. The menu consists of BBQs, hot dogs, chips, bars and some other stuff. Kelly and I will both be there to mingle with the natives and answer any and all of your questions. If we can rig something up for pictures we will have them to look at, no promises, we will try our best. We hope to see everyone from this area out in full force! Thanks again to for everyone’s continued support!

country road take me home!

Today we were planning on getting up early and getting in as many miles as we could before lunch since we were crashing early and it was suppose to be hot, but that didn't happen. I woke up at 5.30 to go to the bathroom and I couldn't see the baseball field that was 25 feet away because it was so foggy! All I could hear was trucks on the highway and I knew that it would be way too unsafe to attempt a go in this weather, so I went back to sleep and didn't wake Kelly until 7. When we finally got up it was a little clearer. We could actually see the hwy but it was still pretty dense. When we were about ready to get going Milt pulled up in his truck and asked how the night went and we spoke for a couple more minutes and he gave us $20 for breakfast. So we thanked him for all his hospitality and we desided it would probably be safer if we waited a little bit longer so we went to the Sunburg Dinner and ate. When we walked in the place was filled with familiar faces. All the folks from the baseball game were there having coffee and no one even not even the people we didn't know staired. I guess news spreads quickly in small towns and everyone already knew all about us. After breakfast we hit the road and hoped that the overcast skies lasted all day. It was a plesent ride even though the air was heavy with mist and there was no more then a white line to ride on. We were both feeling fresh this morning and you could see it in our riding. We were pacing much faster then normal. We covered the 18 miles to Benson in just over an hour. In Benson we stopped and used the restroom and discussed our options for eating since there was only one small town between where we were and Ortonville, which was 35 miles away. We decided to stop at this gas station just outside of Danvers. At the truck stop/Oil supply company we chatted with some of the employees and enjoyed a sandwich and coffe cake while we told them some stories of our adventures to date. After our break we hit the road, hoping the shoulder would improve, unfortunately it didn't, but about 18 miles out side of Ortonville we met our second traveler. Her name was Beth and she was traveling alone from Seattle to Minneapolis. We told her about our trip and that she was only about 170miles from Minneapolis and she was very excited. We spoke a bit longer about our trips and then we were back on the road. By this time the cloud cover had pretty much completely left and we were really feeling the heat now. I think the temperature was increasing with every passing minute. Finally we had reached Ortonville and we saw a familiar and exciting sight, Dairy Queen! We stopped in and got our usual blizzard and sat in the airconditioned shade of the booth and tried to recover for the rest of our journey since we were still 11 miles from Milbank where we had decided our destination for the day would be. When we got back on our bikes it was almost painful to sit on the seat it was so hot but my butt quickly adjusted but the last 11 miles were by far the most trying. Kelly fell behind and looked like she was going to die from the heat, I found the only way to deal with it was to drink as much water as I could and distract my mind with random song singing. When we finally got to Milbank we popped into the first resturant we could find and got out of the heat. After a very drawn out dinner, we spent the next couple hours in the library to let the temperature hopefully drop a bit before we made our way to our camping spot. Thanks again for your continued support!

County Line Baseball and Rain

Today went quick to say the least. We had 65miles in by 2:30pm. Today was on of the only days we had a tail wind but with a tail wind that usually means rain, the direction that we are going. We woke up around 6.30 and were on the road with in the hour. We said our good byes to Tommy and hit the road. We were almost out of St. Cloud when we were stopped by an older gentleman that asked us where we were headed. The weather was cool and the ride was nice for the first 25miles or so then it began to drizzle, which wasn't actually so bad. It felt like someone had one of those misters in front of you the whole ride, but it didn't take long before the mist turned to rain and we had to take a break in Paynesville. It was only 10.30 but we figured since we stopped we would grab some food. After our brunch we hit the road, or should I say bike trail. It was nice and relaxing to be able to ride on a bike trail for a few miles and it even shaved a couple miles off the trip. It began to rain pretty hard right before we got to New London and we figured we should take a break there but there was nothing open, I guess the whole town shuts down on Sunday, but luckily the rain stopped. We did run into an open place just out side of town it was called Pete's Surplus. It was a pretty neat little shop. It had all kinds of outdoor gear and army surplus equipment but we just needed the bathroom and a candy bar. We stopped and chatted with the clerk and a couple locals while we ate our snack. It was this time that Kelly made the call. We would most likely call it quits in Sunburg, but we would decide over lunch. When we got back on our bikes it started to mist again. It wasn't too much further to Sunburg. When we pulled into Sunburg there was a baseball game going on. We found the only diner in the giant metropolis of 109 people. Unfortunately the entire town and surrounding community was at the baseball game. So Kelly and I made our way to the game and parked our bikes under a picnic shelter. It was the same old same old. Everyone in the little town stared at us as we road in and most likely missed a nice play in the field. After a couple minutes a older gentleman walked up to us. He looked to be a biker with his Harley shirt on and POW cap on, not to mention his masterful braided beard and amazing mustache, his name was Milt, I think. We asked him about camping and he told us about a state park 5miles away and then we asked him about places to eat and he told us they had awesome brats. So we decided to grab a brat and a soda and mingle with the locals, who knows we may score a place to sleep. We chatted with a couple gentlemen about this and that. One was the county and farming commissioner and we asked if it would be possible to camp in this open area and they said it would be no problem and Milt said he would leave the fire house unlocked so we could use the bathroom, which was really nice. The baseball game was good, Sunburg won 3-2 and the announcer was absolutely hilarious. They had some really weird but funny commercials during the inning breaks like that the team was sponsored by "Sham-Wow" and some others about people in the community. We had no idea they were fake but one came on about an Optician and I made the comment that it was odd that a town this size would have an optician and one of the guys told us that it was a joke, the guy they were talking about was a half blind trucker. Now it all made sense and they were way funnier now that we knew he was just takin' the piss out of the locals. After the game he announced us and we chatted with a few more people and handed out our cards. When everyone cleared out we set up our tent under the picnic shelter for added shelter and a good thing we did. It started to rain so hard we couldn't see across the field and it rained on and off for the rest of the night. We stayed mostly dry under the shelter and made dinner and then called it an early night.

On the road to St.Cloud...

Friday the 19th we packed up our gear and headed out from Maplewood after a relaxing 4 day break. Lets just say it is hard to get back on your bike when it is super hot and you have been watching tv and eating ice cream for four days.. The morning started off ok, we road on a nice sidewalk for a bit. About 8 miles into the ride our friend the flat tire visited Chance. Lets just say that this friend was not welcomed by Chance with kind words:) After our little fix it session we headed out. We were lucky enough to be able to ride on sidewalks almost all the way out of the cities. We were starving by the time we got to North Oaks so we went to Rainbow and had a littly sammy! We then continued to ride on hwy 10 most of the time. We stopped off in Elk River at a little joint to have a bite to eat for lunch. I was hoping they would have air conditioning but sadly they did not:( After lunch I was very tired and could have fallen asleep while riding. The wind also decided to pick up and made the ride less enjoyable for me. We road to Big Lake where I got a gatorade to help pump me up. It did work for a bit, but riding 88 miles the day after a 4 day break is not so easy. We eventually made it into Becker, MN where we said goodbye to our friend hwy 10 and started our ride on county road 8 to St.Cloud! We saw a nice little kitty but he decided to lay in the road and look at us funny. I told him he would get run over if he did not move. So I hope he took my advice and moved to the field next to the road! As we got closer into St.Cloud our legs were starting to wear out and the sky just kept getting darker and darker. Then it happened the lightening, thunder and rain graced us with its presense. We stopped put on our rain jackets and continued the 4.5 miles we had left until we got to my brothers house in St.Cloud. Upon arrival at Tom's(my brother) he had some nice little confetti poppers to great us and in his living room he said he had another surprise. That surprise was his tent set up with streamers and a congratulations sign! It was really cute and nice! What a nice brother! From there we had to get our bikes to Revelution Cycle and Ski so they could help us with tuning and adding some new parts for the rest of journey. We talked with the staff for a little and then headed back to shower. Once we we finished showering Chance decided he wanted to go eat at Bonanza where he could pretty much eat all he wanted. So my brother and his girlfriend Shannon took us and yes both chance and I dominated the buffet! From there it was back to Toms to watch a movie and do Chances favorite activity, sleepy time! We will head out on Sunday towards Aberdeen! Thank you all for your continued support! As always, pray and hope for good weather, kind shoulders and a safe journey!

Shamrocks and the Dr...

Thank you everyone that came out to Shamrocks to hang out with us! Karen it was really nice to finally get a chance to meet you and we are so happy you are there to support us as much as you have! Family and friends thank you for continuing to show great support and being there for us all the time... It is greatly appreciated!

Ok so, most of you know that I have been having some knee troubles on the trip and today I was able to go in and see the GREAT Dr.Dahl! He worked magic and I got a mind zap(shot) of cortizone and I am hoping it will help me make it through the remainder of the trip. Dr.Dahl also drew me a very lovely picture which everyone I have shown has got a kick out of it! Thank you Dr. Dahl and staff for helping my doctor visit go well and hopefully helping my knee hold up for a bit longer!!

We will now be leaving the cities on Friday morning and will be in St.Cloud on Friday night through Sunday morning when we will head off to Aberdeen, SD. Our estimated date of arrival in Aberdeen is this coming Wednesday.

Thanks again to everyone for your wonderful and gracious support and donations!

T-Shirts

Alright everyone, so far we have been limited to whom we can sell our shirts to since we can't bring them with us and we have had a couple people ask us about obtaining one. So we discussed it with our parents and have come up with a solution. Anyone that is interested in getting a Cycling 4 A Cure T-shirt can contact either my mom, Brenda Glasford at 605-229-2231; 922 3rd Ave NE Aberdeen SD 57401, or Kelly's mom, Terri Platzer at 651-731-6875; 1031 S Lakewood Dr, Mapplewood MN 55119. The shirts are lime green (shown in the picture) and say Cycling4acure, its our logo, and have our sponsors on the back and they are $15 each plus $2 shipping and handling, unless you are in the area and stop by and get it. They have most sizes. The proceeds go to help us help the American Cancer Society, since that is what this adventure is all about!