Day 21 - Kadoka, SD

The group seems to have deemed my tent "Laura's Chalet".

Today we left Rapid City and rode 103 miles to Kadoka.  We rode through The Badlands.  It was nice to see the different scenery.

The rock formations look like giant sandcastles.  It's amazing!

... Oh great.  JUST the sign I want to see while I walk around and explore...

Days 19 & 20 - Rapid City, SD

The ride through Black Hill Cluster State Park on Day 19 was extremely beautiful.  Sadly, I don't have any photos, as I left my iPhone in my luggage!

Day 20 was a rest day in Rapid City.  I was surprised to see drive through liquor stores!

We seem to be eating a lot of ice cream on this trip.  Nellie's mom took us out for one in a nice, air conditioned car.  It felt funny being inside a motor vehicle as opposed to on a bicycle!  Olivia joined us on the trip to a great old-fashioned ice cream shop.

At the end of the day, I got a "taxi" back to the dorm.  Was nice letting someone ELSE do the peddling for a bit!

Day 18 - New Castle, WY

Happy Independence Day!

Today's trek was a much needed shorter ride compared to yesterday's 112 mile day.  We rode by many beautiful horses with their young.

I am so thankful for cloudy skies, otherwise I am burning up!  Still experimenting with sunscreens!

So surprised with the different terrain. 

Beautiful views!

Day 16 - Sheridan, WY

I had breakfast duty this morning, so I got up and was ready to ride at 5:15am.

Today, we hit the 1000 mile mark!  Here I am with Jenny, Melanie and Cara.

We biked through the Crow Nation reservation, encountering many loose dogs.

Goodbye, Montana.  Hello, Wyoming!

We stopped at a bar, Fort a Cole.

The day ended in Sheridan, WY.  Lots of fishing shops!

All in all, a great day for riding... hot headwind conditions... 84.5 miles!

Day 15 - Hardin, MT

Today's ride from Billings, MT to Hardin, MT is a whopping 53 miles... and I quickly discovered why.

Always seem to be climbing!

Some scenery along the way!

Entering Big Horn County, headed east into the rising sun.

This tractor has been sitting idle too long!

Final destination of the day.

The nicest looking building in town... the county courthouse.

All in all, a nice easy day, ending at a KOA campground.

Day 13 - Billings, MT

Today's ride is Harlowton, MT to Billings, MT.  Hot, sunny, and dry!  I rode most of the day with Kendell, and he's great to ride with, pulling me all the way!

Let's play a little catch up!

Back on Day 2 of the ride, I was unlucky enough to experience a flat tire.  My luck!

Tom was kind enough to help me change the tire...

And then Martha stepped in to give advice!

Lastly, Charlton from the support crew comes along with a pump.  Great teamwork gets the tire changed!  

And from Day 10, here's a photo of the long smooth road into Vantage!

Monday, June 17 - We're off!

First week down, and onto the next!

We met Monday morning at 7am in the parking lot for a farewell by the president of The American Lung Association of the Mountain Pacific.  We presented a check for the amount that has been raised thus far as a group.

I'm still trying to raise more while the ride is occurring, so please, if you can, please donate!  There is a link to my donation site at the top right of this blog, just under the header!  

Here are the women of the Big Ride, ready to hit the road!

We passed by Snoqualmie Falls, and then biked up Snoqualmie Pass, a beautiful tree-shaded 7 mile climb that was a lot nicer than I-90!

There was a picnic lunch waiting for us at the falls when we arrived.

The Summit at Snoqualmie.  (I've seen a lot better mountain summits in my day.)

Sorry for the sporadic updates.  As you can imagine, time is very structured (and limited!) though I promise to update as often as I possibly can.  Thanks for all the support!

Seattle, Day 2

First, Happy Father's Day, Dad!

And also a Happy Father's Day to Carroll!  Tomorrow you start another round of chemo, and my thoughts are with you.

The weather in Seattle was great today!  Grabbed some breakfast...

... and then I went to a section of Seattle called Ballard and visited the most amazing farmer's market!

I spent a couple of hours walking around and doing a little shopping before heading back to Seattle Pacific for the rider orientation meeting.  The group I'm traveling with is a wonderful bunch of young people.  I can't help but feel like I'm on Survivor... when do I get kicked off?

Decided to take my bike for a test ride.  Finding a pair of bike shorts was a bit of a chore...

But it was worth it.  Bike is perfect in every way!

It's 7pm and I'm in for the night.  Ride starts bright and early tomorrow.  We have to have our bags on the truck by 6am.

I'm ready to roll!

First stop, Seattle!

This morning, I left the DC Airport on Alaska Airlines (thanks for the miles, Dad!) headed to Seattle and was happy to find the weather here in the Pacific Northwest is beautifully cool and dry.  I met up with Melanie and headed to Speedy Reedy bike shop to pick up our bikes that we shipped ahead of time.  The shop really did a great job in assembling my bike once it arrived and getting it prepared for me to pick up and take it on the upcoming journey.  While I was there I picked up a new front light for my bike.

For the next two days, this is the dorm room I'm staying in.

Already having some luggage issues... one of my bags already is having a problem with the wheels on it, and both bags are over the weight limit set for the ride, each by 10lbs.  Looks like I'll have some problem solving ahead of me.

Seattle is a really great city.  It's beautiful, and its full of young, energetic people who are biking and running all over.  Now that I've got my belongings in my room, I'm going to head to this great juice bar I found, which will hold me over till dinner!

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Just had a great steak dinner with Kim's sister Linda.  It's still light out, but its lights out for me, snuggled up in Dad's sleeping bag.  Another busy day tomorrow!

The journey begins!

Off to Seattle!  How am I supposed to maneuver all this luggage for seven weeks...?

Even Winston came along to see me off.  Sorry, little guy.  You stay with Dad!

Last Training Ride!

Went on one last training ride with my good friend and ride buddy Kim today, about 46 miles here in Northern Virginia.  Last week, my husband and I spent the entire week cycling with Trek in Boulder, Colorado.  I'm as ready as I'll ever be to tackle the next 3300 miles head on!

Pre-Ride Packing

Almost completely packed.  Just a few last things to fit into my already jam packed bags and it's off to Seattle bright and early tomorrow morning!