Apologies for not getting any updates on here. We are in Dubois, Wyoming and heading into Montana Saturday. We are being picked up Saturday by Ben's Aunt Kris and heading to her house in Montana for a rest day. We are about 1,300 miles away from the coast which translates to about two and a half weeks of cycling left. We are hoping to be at the coast by August 5. Our cousin Will has been tracking us on Google maps, you can follow us by clicking here.

Day 22 June 29, 2009

We left the motel and headed straight into the Missouri Ozarks. We biked to Ellington which was 50 miles from Farmington and napped under some shade trees outside of a burger joint. The next 40 miles were going to be the toughest 40 miles of the Ozarks. We took our time and were chugging along when we had our first mechanical failure of the trip. I was biking up a steep hill about a half mile behind Ben and Jay when my chain snapped in half. At first I thought my chain had just come off but when I got off my bike I found my chain dragging behind the bike. I called Ben and decided that the best course of action was to hitch hike to where we were staying in Eminence and we would fix it there. As soon as I hung up a state trooper drove by which I flagged down and he took me into town. There wasn't a bike shop within an hour drive so we were in a real bind. I needed a new pin to put in the chain to hold it together and the police station happened to have an impounded bike that they said I could pull the chain off of. The trooper called dispatch and their conversation went a little something like this-
Trooper: Dispatch, this is 3208 I have a stranded man down with mechanical failure on his equipment. over.
Dispatch: 3208 are there any injuries on site? over.
Trooper: negative, over.
(Sam trying to contain his giggling in the passengers seat)
Trooper: I'm going to need you to get the equipment out of the back room and meet me at the dairy shack in Eminence. Over.
Dispatch: Equipment is loaded onto convoy and in route to destination. over.
We met the other trooper with the impounded bike at the dairy shack and were able to piece together the chain. I hopped on my bike and biked the 8.5 miles to the spot that my chain had broke and rode back so no one could say I had not really biked the whole thing. Mileage= 90.5 (Sam's mileage= 98.5)

Day 21 June 28, 2009

We left the hotel and began the morning biking with Brian and Bob. At 9 Amy and Barbra came and picked them up and provided cold drinks for all. At lunch we stopped in at a local diner and Ben went to get the maps to study midway through the meal. He came back and asked Jay if he knew where the map was, to which he answered that he thought Ben had them. After five minutes of thinking they realized that Jay had left the map at home in Brentwood on top of his desk. We decided to stay at a motel so we could have our parents fax us the maps. Mileage= 44.5.

Day 20 June 27, 2009

After the two week medical break we are back on the trail! Brian and Bob (Ben's dad) biked with us today. It was painfully hot temperatures ranging from 95-105 degrees. We met Amy (Sam and Jay's mom) and Barbra (Ben's mom) two miles short of Chester, IL where they picked us up and took us to the hotel we were staying in for the night. We biked 64.5 miles, though we agreed they were some of the hardest miles of the trip due to lack of activity while we were on break and the extreme heat.

Day 19 June 13, 2009

Woke up at 5a.m. and biked to Marion and met Brian there. Biked 40 miles by 9a.m. averaging just under 20 miles an hour. Trip to be continued at earliest convenience.

Day 18 June 12, 2009

Left the fire station early and we were able to make good time because the mountains and hills had flattened out into the Midwestern terrain. We stopped for lunch at a church which had a basement dedicated to bikers. They gave us sack lunches to take with us. We crossed the Ohio river into Illinois by about four in the afternoon. We forgot to find a place ahead of time to stay, so we biked to the nearest town which was Shawneetown. They happened to be having their town fair this weekend and the local fire station was having a BBQ. We were able to camp in the parking lot behind the Baptist church which was easy walking distance to the fair and library. We are being picked up tomorrow by Brian (Sam and Jay's Dad) to drop our bikes off in Carbondale and then drive to Chicago to visit our Grandfather and to get Ben some medical attention for a rash he has aquired.

Day 17 June 11, 2009

We stayed for breakfast at the gas station. We each consumed four sausage biscuits with homemade jam. Then Lucy came over to the store and cooked us eggs and toast. We were reluctant to go but we left around nine because we would gain an hour crossing over into the central time zone. We biked to the Utica volunteer fire station where we had the place to ourselves. We enjoyed a small dinner then settled down in front of their television to watch game 1 of the NBA finals. Days mileage = 70