Tuesday, April 15, 2008

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.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

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.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

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.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

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.

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My name is Jeremy Winkelman. I am 29-years-old and live in Huntington, Indiana.

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I enjoy helping others. I'm a hard worker.