Hello. Stan has returned to Indiana to finish recuperating. He is in Ft. Wayne Lutheran Hospital. There are still some procedures to be done and his stay at the hospital could be up to 3 or 4 weeks barring no other unforeseen complications. At this point the doctors are still monitoring his wounds and lung quite closely. Thanks to all of you who have kept in touch, prayed, sent cards, etc. We appreciate it very much.

Stan and Jenny

Update on Stan - Sept. 27

Stan is off of the ventilator and is talking. He does not remember his little episode of the last 10 days. He is improving and already asking to go home. There is a lot of healing of the bones and his left lung, and his wound needs a skin graft. His pain is pretty excrutiating, but he is a strong man. He still has a ways to go, but this is a good starting point. It is just a blessing to see him interact again. We have had a good Saturday. Thanks to all of you for your concern, prayers and thoughtfulness.

Jenny and Stan Bippus

The Next to Last Day

It is 1:45 p.m. on this fine Wednesday afternoon. Jeremy and I are in Starke, Florida. We have about 28 more miles to ride and we will be in Green Cove Springs. That is only 15 miles or so from St. Augustine. So, we are almost home. Today has been great so far. The roads are very flat, no wind, the roads are smooths with good shoulders. The love bugs are still with us. That's it for now.

The Last Few Days

Day 8, September 13, 2008: We started the day at Spanish Forks, Alabama. Lawrence Bestmann fed us a great meal, provide a NetFlick movie and good sleeping conditions. Today greeted us with fairly strong winds out of the southeast. The first twenty miles or so were a real struggle due to the high winds, however, it wasn’t as hot as previous days, even though the humidity was quite high. Once we turned to the east, we had a crosswind and it was fairly nice riding. I thought a big white dog was going to take a hunk out of Jeremy’s leg. George and Dave spend a few hours at the Navy Aircraft Museum in Pensacola. Jeremy and I crossed into Florida around 3:00 p.m. Eastern time. Not sure when we will be in the Eastern time zone. Anyone doing Christmas shopping for Dave or George might consider a GPS as an appropriate gift as they have serious problem following road maps. It is estimated that we have drive over 470 extra miles looking for the right road. George and Dave have seem some interesting country and met some interesting looking for correct roads and getting directions. It was overcast most of the day and the winds never died down. The good news was no rain. We made it to Milton. Our goal for tomorrow will be ten to twenty miles past DeFuniak Springs. We are 180 miles from the home of the Florida State University.

Day Nine, September 14th: This was one of the best riding days of the entire trip, except for the heat. There was a cross wind from the gulf. For the most part the roads were smooth with great shoulders and the terrain was flat with an occasion hill or two. We made it to Chipley which was a 98 miles day. This was kind of a boring day in that nothing exciting happened or there were not any great features to observe. I did see the biggest rattlesnake I have ever seen along the road. Jeremy road right by it and didn’t even see it. Finding gas is becoming a problem. Many stations are out of gas and some only have premium gas. One station limited a purchase to just $40.

Day 10, Monday, September 15th: We left Chipley about 8:10 in the morning. The roads were good, the wind was out of the gulf again, and it was another hot day. We didn’t see George or Dave all day. A friend from Tallahassee drove out to Gretna to meet Jeremy and I. When we crossed the Apalachicola River we entered the Eastern Time zone. The hill up to Chattahoochee was the most difficult one since Texas. The love bugs are still with us, but they did disappear when we got close to Tallahassee. Fox News met Jeremy and I just outside of Tallahassee and took some video and did an interview. We missed seeing it on the news. We arrived in Tallahassee about 4:30 p.m. Coming into Tallahassee we saw signs to Jacksonville that stated it was just 170 miles to Jacksonville. The bike route map has us still going another 265 miles. We will look at making some route changes starting tomorrow.

Day 11, Tuesday, September 16, 2008: We decided to go off route today and took highway 90 right into Live Oak. It was a total distance of about 75 miles. My CatEye broke three days ago so I don’t know exactly how far we ride any more. About ten miles out of Tallahassee the love bugs were back in groves. There were also thousands of very small frogs crossing the highway at various times. The Spanish moss is still in trees along the way. Some of the trees are really beautiful. We made our goal of Live Oak today. We will take highway 90 out of Live Oak to Lake City and then catch highway 100 to Starke.

Update

We are on the road and I am trying to enter data. We are on highway 90 heading to Madison. I hope I can put the past three days on this computer.

Ride shots 2

Ride shots

Beating Ike

Day 7, Friday, September 12, 2008: The weather today was quite a surprise. It was still very hot and very windy, but no rain. We were hoping to take the route across Dauphin Island, but the road was underwater. We ended up taking highway 90 into Mobile. There was a lot of water in the city and many streets and roads were under water. The ride across the Bayway bridge was quite an experience. The winds were so strong that we struggled making progress in low gear. At the bottom of the bridge water was across the road and we got our feet wet riding through the water. Jeremy had a blowout just before the water crossing but I made him ride across the water just for the experience. We had no spare tube. We did find a bike shop in Daphne and discovered that our break pads were gone on both bikes. We met with Dr. Rosandich, President of the United States Sports Academy and spent the night with Dr. Lawrence Bestmann who teaches for the Academy. The winds are fairly strong, but we are hoping to be able to continue our journey in the morning.

Day 6, Thursday, September 11, 2008: This was a very difficult day for me as I had an upset stomach and struggle the entire day. We were off route the entire day. We took highway 26 through Poplarville and Wiggens to highway 63. Highway 26 was very hilly and we hit our first rain showers just east of Wiggens. The headwinds were significantly higher today and there was a lot more cloud cover. It was, however, just as muggy as ever. We are staying in a motel just south of Wade, Mississippi. The winds have really picked up. We are hoping tomorrow is ride able as we really want to make it to Daphne, Alabama. We are hoping to stay with Dr. Bestmann and the US Sports Academy would like to do an article on Jeremy.

Day 5, Wednesday, September 10, 2008: It was a little cooler today, but the love bugs were back in mass. The temperatures started in the high 70’s and peaked out in the high 80’s. The winds were very calm. The big surprise was the hills once we left St. Francisville. We had rolling hills all day. There were no “granny gear” hills, but several that got the blood pumping a little. I thought all of Louisiana was flat, not true! Most of the roads so far are very narrow with no shoulders. The grass along the road comes right up to the edge of the road. The good news is the fact that traffic was very light except for all the utility trucks. They were every where. There were several logging truck and several of them laid on their horns to warm us. I’m not sure what they expected us to do since there was no shoulder at all. Jeremy kind of chewed me out today for wanting to do this final leg of the ride in September. He is very unhappy with the extreme heat and humidity. Our goal for today was Franklinton. However, there was no place to stay in Franklinton because the utility and clean up crews were taking up the motel rooms and it was way to hot to camp out. Bogalusa is a town of 13,000 plus people and about 20 miles away but we felt the odds of finding a place to stay would increase significantly. This would make for a 90 mile plus day, but we headed to Bogalusa and did find a place to stay. Rain has been predicated everyday so far, but we have yet to receive any rain. Our luck may run out tomorrow as the effects of hurricane Ike may start having an impact. Our goal for tomorrow is Vancleave, Mississippi.

Day 4, Tuesday, September 9th:
This was a day of dogs, snakes, and debris. We had all kinds of dogs coming after us today, but the most exciting was when 5 dogs from on farmhouse chased us. I was in the lead and a yellow dog just kept coming and coming. Jeremy was right behind me and all of a sudden I heard a great “Lion King” type roar and the dogs took off. We saw six snakes, five of which were dead and one alive. It is amazing how many utility trucks are in the area fixing power lines. We have seen crews from Ohio, Wisconsin, Texas, Georgia, Missouri, and Illinois. I have no idea who is coordinating the power problems, but it’s quite an effort, very impressive. As Jeremy said, there must have been a lot of angles in the area because it was amazing how many homes were missed by falling trees. This was a very hot, muggy, and long day. Our goal was Simmesport. We arrived at Simmesport around 2:00 and there was no place to stay and it was very very hot. However, in Simmesport I had a muffuletta sandwich and that was the best sandwich that Jeremy, George, and I felt we had ever eaten. We also had some very good boudin. We decided totry for New Roads with the hope of finding a place to stay. The biggest hill of the day was the incline up to the bridge that crossed over the Atchafalaya River. We made it two Morganza and “ran out of gas” and had to catch a ride to New Roads. We caught the ferry to St. Francisville where we spent the evening. We had no love bugs today until we crossed over the Mississippi. In St. Francisville most of the town was still out of power and all restaurants were closed. We did obtain a meal from the Red Cross. Only one filling station had a generator so they were able to sell gas and some food items. We really lucked out with a place to stay.

Narrow Roads

I wanted to comment on the roads once we started riding on highway 104. The road surface isn't bad, but there are no shoulders. The roads are narrow and winding around the country side. Very unsafe riding conditions. We are deeply concerned about riding today as it is suppose to rain and that makes it even harder to see bike riders. Should be an interesting day.

Waltzing Across Texas

Day 1 (24), September 7th: After a very long drive of 1,068 miles we finally reached Texas Sunday afternoon, September 7th. It was a great feeling to finally be across the Great State of Texas. We were greeted with an extremely large population of black bugs which the locals call love bugs. They are every where and we were told to wash the dead bugs off the van every night as they have a acid fluid that will damage the paint. Our goal was to reach DeRidder in Louisiana which we did around 5:00 p.m. The team was most anxious to watch the Colts football game. It was a very hot day with temperatures in the mid 90's and the humidity was about the same. For some reason it was a challenging ride even though the terrain was very flat. We did have a slight, irritating head wind.

Day 2 (25), September 8th: This was a very difficult day for me. I did not eat and drink properly and paid the price for my ignorance. I fought off cramps after about 50 miles. Jeremy did great and was not affected by the heat and humidity. Just outside of Mamou we stopped to rest in the shade of a large tree. I was laying under the tree and Jeremy as at his bike along side of the road when this lady is a big white car drove by and stopped. She came back and asked if were were okay as she thought I was having a ceasure because I was swatting bugs. It was kind of funny. Were were out of water and still had a few miles to ride to reach Ville Platto so she drove up to a relatives house and filled up our water bottles. She was a real saint. We reached our goal of making it to Ville Platto, but Ineed to drink a lot of fluids and eat better if we are going to make it to Simmesport tomorrow. The forcast is for rain the next three days. We rode amost 80 miles today in extreme heat and humidity.

On the road again!

We were suppose to resume Jeremy's ride last Tuesday, September 2nd, but felt we had better wait to see what hurricane Gustav did. Now we have Hanna getting ready to hit the east coast tomorrow and who knows where Ike and Josephine will end up. This may turn out to be a bad decision but we are heading to Texas to resume the ride Saturday morning, September 6th. This may be a decision we regret due to the fact we have no idea what old Ike will do in the next week or so. Our route for the final 1,200 miles or so will be:

September 6th Depart Huntington, Indiana to Silsbee, Texas
Sept 7th Day 1 (24) Silsbee, TX DeRidder, LA
Sept 8th Day 2 (25) DeRidder, LA` Mamou, LA
Sept 9th Day 3 (26) Mamou, LA Simmsport, LA
Sept 10th Day 4 (27) Simmsport, LA St. Francisville, LA
Sept 11th Day 5 (28) St. Francisville, LA Frankinton, LA
Sept 12th Day 6 (29) Frankinton, LA Poplarville , MS
Sept 13th Day 7 (30) Poplarville, MS Vancleave, MS
Sept 14th Day 8 (31) Vanclearve, MS Daphne, AL
Sept 15th Day 9 (32) Daphne, AL Pensacola, FL
Sept 16th Day 10 (33) Pensacola, FL Crestview, FL
Sept 17th Day 11 (34) Crestview, FL Marianna, FL
Sept 18th Day 12 (35) Mariana, FL Midway, FL
Sept 19th Day 13 (36) Midway, FL Madison, FL
Sept 20th Day 14 (37) Madison, FL High Springs, FL
Sept 21st Day 15 (38) High Springs, FL Palatka, FL
Sept 22nd Day 16 (39) Palatka, FL St. Augustine
Sept 23rd Depart St. Augustine, Florida to Huntington, Indiana

We most likely will not get a full day of riding on Sunday as the drive to Silsbee, Texas may take a little longer than one full day of driving. Also, I do believe we will complete the final leg of this ride in 14 days, but planned the ride for 16 days just in case we have some challenging weather.

The Start of the Ride

This is a picture of Jeremy and Stan as they started their ride on Easter Sunday in San Diego, California.

To prepare for the upcoming ride, Jeremy changed his peddle cage from his right peddle to his left peddle. Being left handed and favoring his left leg, Jeremy believes the odds of his foot slipping off the peddle again is significantly decreased. He was also getting some minor change slippage at the time of the accident. In the future, when he gets some minor slippage or shiffing problems, we will make adjustments right away rather than putting it off until tomorrow.

Day 23 - Mishaps Foils Jeremy's Ride

Day 23, April 14th: This was not a good day. About six miles outside of Kountz Jeremy took a nasty spill. He has a saddle on his right pedal to keep his foot in place while riding. However, do to some coordination and slow reaction problems he just has a plain pedal on the left side. As he stood up to peddle harder his left foot slipped off the left peddle throwing his body over the handle bars onto the road landing on his left shoulder. He was in a lot of pain. Joyce took him into Silsbree to see a doctor and I continue the ride into Silsbree. The problem was, no doctor would see Jeremy in Silsbree because he was not a local. Joyce then drove him to Beaumount to a minor injury care center and I rode my bike down to Beaumount. It appears Jeremy may have a hairline fracture in the bone on top of the shoulder. The doctor said he would be unable to ride for at least two or three weeks. That means we had to stop the ride, load up our gear and head back to Huntington. It is my intent to continue the ride when Jeremy is able later this fall or next April. There is not any doubt in my mind that Jeremy has the strength and determination to complete this ride. I believe the most physically and mentally challenging part of the ride is over. The land ahead is very flat, but the wind and weather pose additional challenges. We were about 65 miles from Louisiana when this all happened.

Days 18 - 22

Day Eighteen, April 9th: The 22 mile ride from Junction to state road 290 was extremely challenging. It was all strong headwinds from 25 to 35 miles an hour. The riding was not that difficult, but it took us over three hours to ride the 22 miles and the climb out of Junction was a little challenge. Lots of green grass and trees finally. Even saw our first hay field. Lots of road kills, with deer being number one, skunks number two, and armadillo coming in at third place. There were a lot of exotic big game ranches along the highway. The landscape reminded me of Africa for some reasons, but we didn’t get to see any of the exotic animals. We did ride in a drizzle for about an hour or so and even had to wear a jacket for a couple of hours. We also met up with a guy named Rick from Vermont that we had met way back in west Texas. We rode about 25 miles together into Fredericksburg. We did 66 miles today. The real excitement of today was the storm that night. The wind was blowing out of the southeast all day and into the night. It really picked up during the night. Our tent poles would hit us in the head as the wind blew so hard. Around 3:30 a.m. the wind direction changed 180 degrees followed by heavy rain. Jeremy ended up in the truck and the sleeping gear in both tents got very wet. It was a night we will not forget.

Day Nineteen, April 10, 2008: Finally a day without any complaints about the wind. The road from Fredericksburg to Dripping Springs was good with only a few hills. The winds were kind to us and even give us some tailwind at times. It was a nice day for riding with the temperatures in the 70’s, some cloud cover and mild winds, none of which were headwinds. We rode through Johnson City, the home of President Johnson. There with no shoulder. The only bad thing about today was we missed a turn and road an extra five miles we didn’t need to ride. We saw some newly planted corn fields today and more exotic game reserves. Most of the ranches we past were gated and quite nice. Armadillo’s took over second place for the number of road kills. Jeremy and I had some great BBQ in Dipping Springs and I had even better BBQ that evening in Lockhart. Joyce and Jeremy are staying in the yard at the Good Shepherd Ministries for the night and I’m staying with a friend.. We rode a total of 80.1 miles today.

Day twenty, April 11, 2008: This was a short ride from Buda to Bastrop. The ten miles to highway 71 was very narrow and a lot of traffic. The 24 miles on highway 71 to Bastrop had a very good shoulder, but lots of traffic. The worst part about today was a fairly strong north wind which made the ride to Bastrop a little tough. The armadillo took over top honors as #1 for the highest number of road kills for the day. It was a cooler day with temperatures in the mid 70’s. Saw lots of corn field that had been planted for over two weeks. We are staying at a state campground. The cost was $4 per person and a $12 camping fee. Total distance today was 42 miles. We hope to get to Brenham or Navasota or some where in between tomorrow.

Day Twenty-one, April 12th: We did make it to Navasota after 88 long miles. The winds were out of the north and fairly strong. They were a cross wind most of the time. We did pass the Blue Bell Creamery, but didn’t stop in for a tour. Lots of ranches and cows, but no corn fields today. Busy roads all day, but very little road kill.

Day Twenty-two, April 13th: We left Navasota around 8:30. The winds were calm, but out of the north. It was a very chilly morning and we wore jackets until 10:30. There were a few hills, but nothing challenging. From Conroe to Saratog, about 50 miles, I never changed gears, over 50 miles, once. We met a group of over 100 black motorcycle riders with a police escort just outside of Conroe. The landscape had little cleared land and we didn’t seen one field planted. There was a big resort area around Conroe and lots of traffic. The roads were good all day with only a few areas with rough shoulders. It was a very long day, but we did ride 106 miles. Our butts are very tired and sore. I was hoping we would make Louisiana tomorrow, but it’s not going to happen. We are most anxious to get out of Texas as it seems like we have been in this state forever.

Halfway and slowing down

We have been riding far too hard and plan on slowing down starting tomorrow. We may take a rest day on Thursday. We really wanted to get across west Texas and off the Interstate. The terrain is much greener and we are now into rollng hills. We are assuming that rain will start to become a factor. There are some real bad storms to the north of us, but we could get some rain tomorrow. We are going to start enjoying the small towns, the people, the history, and the scenery at a much higher level than in the past sixteen days.

Jeremy in Texas on April 8th

Previous pictures of Jeremy crossing continental divide

Jeremy in Texas on April 8th

Campground Friends from Houston

These were the folks we camped with in Fort Stockton.

Jeremy's Ride Pictues

Biker on the road

Another cactus

Checking out the cactus

Jeremy doing something

Ride Picture

Jeremy changing a tire.

Day 14,15, &16 of Jeremy's Ride

Day Sixteen: This was a very long and difficult ride. We rode 103 miles today and we had to work for each and every mile. The winds blew from every direction with the majority of the winds coming out of the east. We saw many wind generators on both sides of the road. The scenery was very bland with lots of hills and barren ground. There was a lot of road kills with skunks being the most seen dead animal. Who ever wrote “Dead Skunk on the Road” must have lived in Texas. There is a lot of oil exploration going on in this area. Jeremy was highly motivated to ride the 100 miles. I was unable to keep up with him and when we arrived in Ozona I was exhausted and Jeremy was as excited as I have ever seen him. We did make it to Ozona in time to see the final games of the NCAA tournament.

Day Seventeen, April 8, 2008: We left Ozona at 9:30 after a good breakfast. This was a very challenging day. The challenges were the wind, not the hills. I have never observed such wild and crazy winds. The other challenge was riding another day on the Interstate. Writing the Interstate is really boring and another day on the Interstate was starting to take it’s toll on our morale as all you do is ride. After today we only have 20 miles left to ride on I-10 and then we are back on the Adventure Cycling bike route. That is something we are all looking forward to. We may take a rest day. Also, some really bad weather is starting to happen in the area we are heading into.

Pictures of the last few days.

I have had no luck posting pictures so if there is nothing here you know why.

Silver City: We spent most of the afternoon around Silver City. We went to the Superintendent of Schools office where the Superintendent and staff were extremely pleasant and helpful. The ladies in the office gave us a couple alternative routes for tomorrow that will save us a lot of climbing and time. We must soon decide to me macho men and climb Emory Pass or cut down to Deming and take highway 12 into Las Cruces. Our concern is that we can’t find a highway 12 on any map. Some interesting decisions must be made by tomorrow morning. The local paper interviewed Jeremy for a story about the ride.

Day Eleven: Jeremy expressed being a little homesick this morning as he was riding very slow and seemed down. We went off route today and headed south into Deming instead of going over the mountains. The primary goal is to get Jeremy across the US and we don’t need to take on any unnecessary hills just to prove our manhood. It appears to have been a very good decision. We left Silver City at 8:10 and were in Deming at 11:50, which was 52 miles away. We were riding southeast and had a southwest wind. From Deming we took highway 11 into Columbus, which is 4 miles from the Mexico border. Lots of border patrol vehicles’ on the road. We had some very strong cross winds to Columbus which is about 35 miles south of Deming. Lots of border patrol vehicles on the road between Deming and Columbus. About three miles from Columbus I lost a screw from my left foot clip and was unable to get my foot out of the clip when we stopped. Much to my surprise a volunteer worker at the camp ground actually had a small screw that worked. We rode 85 miles today with some pretty strong cross winds and a tail wind from the southwest as we rode south. We are hoping for a strong tailwind tomorrow as we head straight east into El Paso. We are in a very nice state camp ground close to the area of the last battle ever fought in the US against a foreign invader, Mexico in 1916. There was a very nice sunset this evening. This was the first day we did not see the sun as we had total cloud cover all day.

Day Twelve: We left Columbus at 7:20. It was a cool morning with the temperature in the mid-40’s. Around 9:30 we started getting a slight wind from the southwest. The road to El Paso was long and straight with only a couple minor climbs. This road was patrolled very heavily by the border patrol. We thought El Paso would be flat, but turns out it was full of hills. I did find a bike shop on Mesa Street and replaced the make-shift screw with two replacements. Downtown El Paso was very nice, but very Mexican. In fact, everything east of downtown El Paso was almost all Mexican stores and people. Country Club Road and Mesa Street had a lot of traffic. Once past downtown, traffic was not too bad all the way to Fabens. Total miles for the day was 108.8. Weather was great with clear skies and temperatures in the 80’s.

Day Thirteen: The road from Fabens to McNary was not bad. About 9:30 we picked up a slight tailwind. However, when we turned onto highway 192 we picked up and headwind and a really rough road. We met a self-contained biker heading west who was very happy to have a tailwind. We almost missed the turnoff at highway 34. Once on I-10 we once again encountered a headwind all the way to Sierra Blanca. There was a lot of up and down today. We did manage to get in 66 miles on an overcast day, which was a welcome relief.

Day Fourteen: We left Sierra Blance at 8:00. Much to our surprise we had a headwind the entire 32 miles to Van Horn. Upon leaving Van Horn after lunch, the wind had switched to the southwest, which is what we expected when we left. It was a cool start with temperatures in the low 40’s at 8:00. It did warm up to 82 by days in. From Van Horn to Kent, all on I-10, we had a nice wind from the southwest. The first 20 miles we had a smooth shoulder, but it got a little rough the last 20 miles or so. All the hills were minor, but there were more than expected. I rode the entire day in middle gears. We stayed in an abonded house behind the gas station next to a very busy railroad in Kent.

Day Fifteen: Today was a great day for riding. The hills were few, the wind was good, and the road wasn't too bad. About 25 miles of the 90 we rode today had a great shoulder and we made some very good time. Most of the time the shoulder was very rough and rocky. It was in the high 70's and mid 80's most of the day with clear skies. The tailwind was great. We finally saw some green in the trees about 50 miles out of Kent. Otherwise, it's been very brown. We are at a campground just west of Fort Stockton. We are hoping for 100 miles (to Ozona) tomorrow so we can watch the payoff of the NCAA.

Day Six: This was a bad day for Jeremy. He was feeling really bad from, I think drinking too much power drinks. The ride from Surprise through the Phoenix area was not fun and the traffic was terrible. The Canal Bike Path was good, but getting across all the roads was a real pain, especially I-17. At the corner of 48th and McDowell I had another flat and was out of spare tubes. I had to walk the bike to Scottsdale Road to get going again. The guys at the bike shop at 1800 Scottsdale Road were very helpful and kind. From there I went off route and took Scottsdale Road to University. We stayed at a campground in Apache Junction. Total distance for the day was 73.3 miles.

Day Seven: We left Apache Junction around 7:45. Highway 60 was very busy due to a Safeway Gold Tournament and the last weekend of a medieval type fair. This was a fairly difficult day with lots of hills. The first challenge was Gonzales Pass at 2,651 feet. There was some road construction which caused some heavy traffic at times. At Superior the police let us ride through a very narrow section before letting all the traffic move. Just past Queen Creek Tunnel some rock climbers were putting up a sign. Not sure what it said except “We Love ?”. Signal Mountain was quite a climb at 4,829 feet. We arrived at Globe around 4:15. We were kind of surprised at the hills we had to climb to get out of Globe. We spent the night at the Apache Gold casino. The camp ground was the dog walking area for an RV park, but not a bad place. It also has a pool and hot tube which felt very good. The casino was about seven miles east of Globe. Total miles for the day was 71.

Day Eight: This was a fairly good day. It was much cooler with cloud cover. We also road with a couple for Youngstown, Ohio on a tandem for most of the day. At Bylas a guy we rode with in California for awhile caught up with us and we all rode together to Thatcher. The day was filled with minor hills, but nothing real difficult. We arrived in Safford around 3:30 and rode 68.3 miles.

Day Nine: We left Safford about 7:10 with the goal to reach Lordsburg. The route we took is not part of Adventure Cycling suggested routes to Silver City. We were going to go via Mule Creek, but there was a lot climbing and no services at Mule Creek. Plus, I don’t think it was any further going via Lordsburg. It looked like it could save a lot of climbing, which it did.. It was a little over 40 miles to Duncan, but very nice riding with gentle hills and a slight cross wind. There was not a whole lot in Duncan with not fresh water to spare. The road to Lordsburg was great. The winds were from the southwest so we had cross winds and tail winds most of the way. Outside of Safford there was some purple cactus. We never saw it again. The weather was perfect with temperatures in the high 70’s and no clouds. The traffic was light. Total distance today was 85 miles

Day Ten: The climb to Silver City was not near as bad as I thought. I was a little concerned because Lordsburg was 4,245 feet and Silver City is around 6,000. The first challenging climb was about 9 miles out of town and not very long and there was so much climbing via Mule Creek.. Just past a big copper mine there was about a five mile glide and then up again. Coming into Silver City there was another nice glide into town. Total miles from Lordsburg was 44 and we were expecting it to be 54 so that was a nice surprise. It was a cool day with temperatures in the high 60’s.

First Three Days of the Ride

Day One: Jeremy and I left Dog Beach in San Diego Easter Sunday morning on March 23, 2007, at 7:30. It was a cool 52 degrees when we left, but the temperature soon rose to 80 by days end. The ride today was extremely difficult and challenging. There were a couple “nice” hills prior to Santee with a nice decline coming into Santee. However, after Lakeside it was all up hill the rest of the way. To make matters even more challenging, the Santa Anna winds kicked in around 10:00 and were with up all the way to 4,000 feet. After hours of whining and asking everyone we met how much higher the hill we were climbing was, we reached Alpine around noon. At Alpine we made a big mistake and ate a very large Mexican lunch which stayed with us the rest of the day. Prior to Alpine the decision was made to try for Pine Valley without a clear understanding of all the climbing that was involved to make that destination. The high point of the ride was 4,000 feet so the one mile cruise down hill to Pine Valley was a welcome relief. I got a couple cramps at 3,000 feet at mile 42, but was able to make it into Pine Valley okay. Both Jeremy and I ran out of water at mile 43. We arrived in Pine Valley around 4:15 p.m. very tired, but very satisfied with our progress. Monday offers more hills for about 30 miles and then a big ride down hill on the Interstate into Ocotillo.

Day Two: We left Pine Valley at 8:30 this morning. It was a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky and the temperature was 56 degrees. Since it was a little chilly we left with jackets on. After riding about a half mile in the wrong direction we decided to leave our jacket at the motel when we went by the motel in the right direction and headed in our favorite direction, up. We climbed to over 4,000 feet twice before reaching Live Oak Springs. Along the way we met Ron who rode with us to Jacumba. Along the way Jeremy almost ran over him, but only ended up hitting him with his break level and ripping his bike shirt. There were a lot of hills today, but not nearly as bad as yesterday. Coming into Jacumba Jeremy hit a section of uneven pavement and did an outstanding job keeping his bike up. Great move on his part. Just out of Jacumba we said good bye to the mountains and enjoyed a 10 mile decent down Interstate 8 to Ocotillo where Jeremy and I enjoyed a really nice lunch. Our goal was to make it to El Centro, but it was 95 degrees and we were not sure we could make it that far. Once we headed east out of Ocotillo it was flat, but the road to Seeley was really rough. We did make it to El Centro around 4:45 p.m. While going through Seeley Joyce made contract with one of most wonderful and caring person any of us have meet in a very long time. She provided us with supper and a motel room and even made a donation to Jeremy’s Ride. Meeting people like her is what makes a ride of this nature such a pleasant experience. Our total distance today was 74.1 miles.

Day Three: We left El Centro about 8:00 in the morning. It turned out to be a rough day. About eight miles out of El Centro, Jeremy blew a tire. We had extra tubes, but no extra tire. Joyce was still in El Cento so she brought out my old Raleigh that was brought along to use as a back up. Jeremy road my bike and I rode the Raleigh. Outside of Brawley we were actually below sea level. We also meet a guy from New Zealand who was skate boarding from Key West, Florida to Los Angles and then was heading to China to do the same thing. Things were going fine until we reached the sand dunes, just a little before Glamis, and I had a flat. I happened to be at a place that catered to motorcycle and sand dune buggies so I was able to fix the tire fixed and get some air and be on my way. It was a very lucky break. The sand dunes was one of the most interesting sites I had ever seen. The Chocolate Mountains in this area, but were not very impressive. Jeremy rode ahead into Glamis, not knowing I had a flat, which cause some tense moments. It wasn’t as hot today as yesterday due to some cloud cover. Even with the tire problems we made it to a camp ground in Palo Verde (236 population) which was a total distance of 82.2 miles for the day. We had a few small hills, but the terrain was mostly flat. Jeremy and I had some hot wings and two very good sandwiches in the local bar in Palo Verde for supper. If all goes well we should reach Salome, Arizona tomorrow evening. However, according to a couple other bikers heading west, there is a very nice campground in Hope, Arizona so we may stop there.

Jeremy was featured on the Fort Wayne News!

Click here to watch!

Jeremy letting his dad know he will be just fine on the bike ride. David will be on his own the next couple months as his son and wife are on the cross country bike ride.

Enjoy the peace and quite Dave. Dick and Paul will keep you company and out of trouble.

We wish to thank all the following people/businesses for their kind donations that made Jeremy's fund raiser a tremendous success. Owens, Marshes, Arbys, Vista Inn, Guest House, Pirates Cove Marina, Rebers repair, Wertenberger, Buds, Johnsons Junction,Tom A Sak, Walmart, John Rakozi, Five Star, Aalco, Warren Huggy Bear, Knights of Columbus, and National Liquor.

Jeremy would like to thanks to all his friends at J.D.s located in Huntington, and Millers located in Andrews. Jeremy's comment was, "You guys have been a great support to me and this bike ride would not be possible without you helping me." Jeremy said the list was to big to mention everyone but each one of the people that helped me and believe in me. Jeremy also said, "All of my friends are very special to me. I think you all so much. I will see you in May when I finish the ride and get back home. I look forward to telling you all about my trip and having fun.

The following article was published in The Herald-Press in Huntington, Indiana on March 3, 2008.

This ride will show he can
By CALEB SANDERS, Staff Writer

Jeremy Winkelman, left, and his uncle Stan Bippus discuss
their planned cross-country bicycle trip - a trip Winkelman
says will show that people with handicaps don’t have to give
up their dreams. (Herald-Press/Matthew Berry)

Learning to overcome a physical disability can be daunting. And for Huntington's Jeremy Winkelman, it has been no easy task. Soon after Winkelman was born, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a condition that affects the brain and impairs movement.“My parents were told I would not be able to walk because my legs were weak,” Winkelman said.”But I did.”The 29-year-old was also told that he would not be able to play baseball or basketball - and that he would not be able to ride a bike.

Winkelman has stood up and proved them wrong, able to do all of these things and more.Now he wants to showcase his determination by participating in a cross-country bike ride with his uncle, Stan Bippus. The two will embark on their journey March 23, when Winkelman will dip his back tire in the Pacific Ocean in San Diego, Calif., and travel the 3,100 miles to St. Augustine, Fla., and the Atlantic Ocean. “At first I didn't think I could do it, but my parents told me they knew I could do it if I really wanted to,” Winkelman said. “My uncle said he would ride with me to make sure I didn't quit when I got tired and sore.”

The two will travel along the southern rim of the United States across the plains of Texas and the painted deserts of Arizona. Along the way, they will stop at schools and organizations to show that individuals with a handicap can accomplish major physical challenges. He also wants to raise money that would help to support programs for young people with special needs.“I hope to raise money for other people that help special kids like myself,” Winkelman said. His goal to raise a penny for every mile that he rides. All public schools located in towns that he will pass through will be notified of his ride, the purpose of the ride and the tentative arrival date. The ride has a fixed schedule and the bikers have planned specific locations for overnight stops.“We will be camping mostly,” Bippus said. “But Jeremy's mother, Joyce, will also be calling ahead and trying to set up locations for us to stay at.”Hoping to average around 60 to 70 miles per day, Winkelman and Bippus know that it will be a big challenge, but say they are both up to it.“I am looking forward the physical challenge and really looking forward to helping Jeremy get through it,” Bippus said. “But I am also concerned with my endurance.”Joyce will be following the pair in her car and will be available with water and other items they need. They plan on taking regular breaks.Bippus is no stranger to physical tests. He has climbed to the highest points in 48 of the 50 states. On Sunday, the 68-year-old Bippus was to climb the highest point in Hawaii and plans to tackle Mt. Ranier in Washington a week after the bike ride.Winkelman has accompanied Bippus on hikes to the highest points in Michigan, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Delaware. Now he looks forward to an even bigger accomplishment with the ride.“My uncle has definitely been my inspiration,” he said.Winkelman has already received $1,134 from the HELP board to cover gas expenses and has also received $250 from the Bippus Lions Club. But even on a bare bones budget, Winkelman is still seeking support.A fund-raising benefit will be held at 2 p.m. on March 8 at JD's, 23 E. Market St. The dinner will include grilled chicken, brats, sides and desserts for $5 a person. Mail contributions can be sent to Jeremy's Ride, Huntington County Community Foundation, P.O. Box 5037, Huntington, IN 46750.Once they head off on their ride, those interested in keeping up with their progress can head over to http://www.jeremysride.blogspot.com/.“There you will have the opportunity to hear updates, see photos and track where we will be,” Bippus said. “This blog will be a great resource for teachers and parents to use to motivate their students to excel by taking on difficult challenges using Jeremy as a role model.”Actor Daniel Day-Lewis won an Academy Award for portraying a man who overcame cerebral palsy, and Winkelman hopes to write his own chapter through the ride.“I want to show people that just because I have some physical problem, I can still do what other people can do who do have the physical problems,” he said.

LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM JEREMY’S RIDE

Teachers and parents can teach their students/children many practical life skills following Jeremy’s Ride across the United States on his blog site: jeremysride.blogspot.com. Each day pictures of the landscape will be posted along with miles ridden, wind direction and speed, temperatures, elevation gained/lost, special features, and other information parents and teachers can share with their children/students that will enrich their education.

Goal Setting: Jeremy had to set a goal; to ride across the US and then develop a plan to accomplish this goal. This included such things as physical training, transportation, food, housing, how to fix a flat tire and reading a road map. To develop a plan, Jeremy also had to determine how far he felt he could ride every day. As a learning activity, children could be ask what they felt someone would need to do to prepare for a bike ride across the US to help them understand the need for planning. Goal setting is a very important skill young people need to learn.

Geography:
Learn the location of all the southern states by tracking daily progress
Learn about different vegetation and landscape and how they change from state to state
Learn about direction by discussing prevailing winds, headwinds, and tailwinds
Talk about temperature changes and compare temperatures between Jeremy’s location and home/school
Learn about different time zones in the US

Math:
Distance – show students how far one mile is by walking or riding a mile
Average – how many miles did Jeremy average this week, this month
Estimation – based on how many miles Jeremy has ridden each day, how many miles do you think he will ride today.
Money – how many pennies has Jeremy earned so far or today? If Jeremy were paid 5 cents or 10 cents for every mile he rode, how much would he earn each day, each week or for the entire trip
Elevation – how many feet did Jeremy climb/ride today or this week

History:
An effort will be made to list anything historical learned along the way

Fund Raising For Special Needs Youth

Jeremy's Ride

On Jeremy's cross-country bike ride, he will be raising money for programs that serve special needs kids. Jeremy will be riding 3,159 miles from San Diego to the Jacksonville, Florida area. His goal is to have school kids, businesses, and interested individuals raise one penny for every mile he rides from March 23, 2008 to about May 8, 2008.

Anyone wanting to help Jeremy complete this ride and raise money for special needs children is asked to send donation to:

Jeremy's Ride

Huntington County Community Foundation

P.O. Box 5037

Huntington, IN 46750

Any and all support will be deeply appreciated, especially by the special needs kids who benefit so much from the efforts of various groups that provide activities to enrich their lives.

Tentative Route and Schedule for Jeremy's Ride

March 23 Day 1 San Diego, CA Alpine, CA
March 24 Day 2 Alpine, CA Jacumba, CA
March 25 Day 3 Jacumba, CA Brawley, CA
March 26 Day 4 Brawley, CA Blyth, CA
March 27 Day 5 Blyth, CA Salome, AZ
March 28 Day 6 Salome, AZ Wickenburg, AZ
March 29 Day 7 Wickenburg, AZ Phoenix, AZ
March 30 Day 8 Phoenix, AZ Apache Junction, AZ
March 31 Day 9 Apache, Junction, AZ Globe, AZ
April 1 Day 10 Globe, AZ Safford, AZ
April 2 Day 11 Safford, AZ Lordsburg, NM
April 3 Day 12 Lordsburg, NM Silver City, NM
April 4 Day 13 Rest Day
April 5 Day 14 Silver City, NM Kingston, NM (Emory Pass)
April 6 Day 15 Kingston, NM Las Cruces, NM
April 7 Day 16 Las Cruces, NM El Paso, TX
April 8 Day 17 El Paso, TX Fort Hancock, TX
April 9 Day 18 Fort Hancock, TX Van Horn, TX
April 10 Day 19 Van Horn, TX Fort Davis, TX
April 11 Day 20 Fort Davis, TX Marathon, TX
April 12 Day 21 Marathon, TX Sanderson, TX
April 13 Day 22 Sanderson,, TX Del Rio, TX
April 14 Day 23 Del Rio, TX Bracketville, TX
April 15 Day 24 Bracketville, TX Camp Wood, TX
April 16 Day 25 Camp Wood, TX Vanderpool, TX
April 17 Day 26 Vanderpool, TX Kerryville, TX
April 18 Day 27 Kerryville, TX Blanco, TX
April 19 Day 28 Blanco, TX Bastrop, TX
April 20 Day 29 Bastrop, TX La Grange, TX
April 21 Day 30 La Grange, TX Navasota, TX
April 22 Day 31 Navasota, TX Cleveland, TX
April 23 Day 32 Cleveland, TX Kountze, TX
April 24 Day 33 Kountze, TX DeRidder, LA
April 25 Day 34 DeRidder, LA Opelousa, LA
April 26 Day 35 Opelousa, LA Simmsport LA
April 27 Day 36 Simmsport, LA St. Francisville, LA
April 28 Day 37 St. Francisville, LA Frankinton, LA
April 29 Day 38 Frankinton, LA Wiggins, MS
April 30 Day 39 Wiggins, MS Pascagoula, MS
May 1 Day 40 Pascagoula, MS Spanish Forks, AL
May 2 Day 41 Pensacola, FL Crestview, FL
May 3 Day 42 Crestview, FL Marianna, FL
May 4 Day 43 Marianna, FL Quincy, FL
May 5 Day 44 Quincy, FL Crawfordville, FL
May 6 Day 45 Crawfordville, FL Perry, FL
May 7 Day 46 Perry, FL High Springs, FL
May 8 Day 47 High Springs, FL Palatka, FL
May 9 Day 48 Palatka, FL St. Augustine, FL

Background on Jeremy and his ride

Jeremy will begin his cross-country ride on March 23, 2008, from Ocean Beach Park in San Diego, California. His goal is to average between 60 and 70 miles per day. If all goes well he will arrive in St. Augustine, Florida on or about May 9th.

Jeremy has cerebral palsy which causes him some coordination and speech problems. He also wears hearing aids and fairly strong glasses. When Jeremy was a child there were concerns that he would have great difficulty walking and his parents were told that they should have no hopes of his ever playing sports of any kind.

Neither Jeremy nor his parents accepted this picture of the future and encouraged him to try his best at various sports and activities. He played baseball with little talent, but lots of heart. His favorite past time is playing basketball and he has developed a very good three-point shot. When he graduated from Huntington North High School in 1998, he was elected Homecoming King by the student body.

To prepare for this ride, Jeremy works out at the Huntington YMCA. He rides a stationary bike for 20 to 25 miles, lifts weights, and plays basketball three days a week.