newcastle

hey guys, no pics, the comps lately havent wanted to accept my camera so when i do get to download some there will be a lot im sure. today was not bad it was hot but not so many hills and only 75 miles. although the headwind made it seem longer it wasnt as bad as yesterday. yesterday was 112 miles and i felt every single one. it was hot and very little water and restrooms, but other than that it wasnt that bad. I took my time and james and i made a record!!!! we spent more time on our bikes than any other rider yet this year!!! yaa for us!! oh well, im competing against myself and since i finished, I won!! we are getting into south dakota tomorrow and then will have a rest day after that. thats a beautiful thing to look forward to. well we still gotta ride tomorrow so im gonna play some pool and hit the sack. Love yall, miss everyone and my family and matt!!!

harden

I am a bit pushed on time so this will be short. I am in harden. we had a very relaxed 50 mile day today. but the week will be getting tougher and tougher. i never wouldve thought that riding 50 miles would feel like just going to the grocery store but thats what it was like!! the weather was nice and we had good rewarding hills. still cant download any pics. i miss you all back home. we are making the 1000 mile mark tomorrow!!!! ya!!!! so that is something to look forward to besides the 111 miles the next day!! love you mom and dad and cynth, and love you matt, miss you all, cant wait to see you when i get back!! to all other family members of my adopted family Patty and Kevin are doing good and James hasent changed so.......just kidding, hes good to.

rest day in billings....still in montana

so i am in billings right now. cant find a way to download some pics but heres an overview......dessert....dessert.....a bike....dessert.....and james doing something stupid. but anywase ill have some pics up next time. im having a great time. its hot and long days but it is certainly an adventure. especially the other day when we were in townsend and a pretty bad storm came through and blew my tent down broke the poles and soaked everything inside. ya i saw other peoples tents go down and i though man , thank goodness mine is ok. then someone came inside the gym that we sought shelter in and said that my tent looked just fine. well...if a pancaked tent looks just fine then i guess they were right. so my tent is in a dump somewhere in townsend montana and i am currently homeless....well...sortov. i have a tent comming in a few days so im good. so the next day with about 2 hours of sleep and a slight cold comming on i decided to sag that day. yes.... i sagged but ya know it was either that day or the next so i rode the next day and felt much much better. so other than some sunburns and missing my family and matt so much i am doing fine. i wanna say hi to all my friends back home and my family and matt and the goldsboro weslyan church and my sponsors and to everyone who is keeping up with my blog. Love yall.

rest day!! yaaaa. missoula montana day 3

university of montana "M"

Debbie, a family friend from my younger days that happens to work in Missoula!!

Dandilions on steroids!!

we thought we were tough

i ran into the runners in wallyworld, and got a pic

the cutest puppy!!, and he does tricks!!

did not do much today, just tryin to rest up for tomorrow!! we went into town though just for a little, took the bus though so not much walking and NO getting on the bike. just gotta do some laundry and get to bed early so i can get up early......again. well...not much has changed, i miss my family and matt but i am still having a great time.

montana, day 2

Look!! 100 miles in 1 day!!!

playin with my camera at a rest break

me right after 100 miles!!

early morning in montana, tryin to beat the heat (yea right)

Ed was such a great subject

i think he was wondering why i was taking so many pics of him!!


james just being silly!!

look!!! proof we were in the desert

cute little bunnies at one of the gas station.


did my first century today (100 miles) . it was tough because of the heat and the hills and a lot of people seemed to have troubles. i didnt (thank goodness) but my day is coming im sure. am pretty tired so i think im just gonna sneak up to bed. hope everyone is doing well. love yall.

Yaaaa.... Montana

look closely, haha, i thought it was funny

still in idao

IT EXISTS!!

ya, finally montana

montana

patty and james

idao

idaho

idaho

we went from washington to idao yesterday and then from idao to montana today. We are staying at a high school in thompson falls and we can sleep INSIDE!! no tent setting up!! It was a hard day today. in some places it reached 111 and we did 87 miles!!. other than being just a little sunburned compared to most, more tired than i ever have been and have these mystery welts on my legs that hurt so badly when i bump them i am doing well. we have a little over 100 miles tomorrow to do so i better hit the sack. we are gonna get up early early early to try to beat the sun. (right). I am doing well. love you all.

restin in spokane

well its 10:00 and ive already been up for hours!!! (not like me at all) I got up, took a shower, got dressed, chilled out for a while then walked all the way to the moon for breakfast.(well it was like 8 blocks, but when your hungry it might as well be the moon). My plans for today is do nothing, eat, do nothing eat, and eat some more. Tomorrow we head out again and we actually have only 3 riding days before the next rest day. That could mean we just got lucky, or they are three really hard days. either way im counting it as a blessing. I wasnt able to write much last night ( i was tired out of my mind) but i figured id just fill in the blanks today. I have been doing very well. Like i said, i miss my family and matt so badly but im staying so busy that its hard to even talk to them so that part has been tough. other than that everything is going well. my muscles are a bit achy but oddly enough i feel good. my rear doesnt hurt to bad so i am counting my blessings!!!! the scenery has been so pretty these last 4 days, but its amazing how quickly the landscape changes in front of you!! and the people i have been riding with are such amazing people, (makes for good conversation).
Again i want to thank everyone for their support and the goldsboro weslyan church especially for your prayers. well i think i am going to go take a nap!! with food in my tummy its hard not to think about sleep.

days 1-4

Since the start of the ride I havent gotten a chance to update on my blog and keep you guys posted very well, but everything is so busy of course. but i will try to do better. so here is a recap of the last 4 days.....

the start of the ride in seattle. (im up front in the white jacket)

just a pretty lake and if you look closely in the background you can see some beautiful snowcapped mountains in the distance.

we stopped for a potty break (we got lucky there were porta johns) and took some pics while we were at it.

this is a local little restaurant near one of our campsights where the man that owned it made us a wonderful dinner and breakfast the next day!!

My best ridin buds, Patty, Kevin, and James.

snoqualmie falls. that was worth the huge mountain we had to climb to get to it.

ya see those mountains...pretty hugh??haha

a cute little farm somewhere in washington, (sorry my logistics are bad)

The Columbia river on the left. A road on the right....uphill

somehow we went from beautiful mountains to desert......

to rolling hills and farms

We are staying in the dorms at Gonzaga University tonight and tomorrow night... Yaaaa...no tent setting up!!!

Im on my front porch!!

Me and Cliff. we define the age brackets for big ride 08

We have ridden for four days. monday-90miles tuesday-73 wendsday-84 and today 78. (if i remember correctly). It has been so amazing this past week and although I am so glad we have a rest day tomorrow (with a real bed) I am also excited about getting out there again to see more beautiful america and have more interesting and sometimes just crazy conversation. other than the sunburnes, achy muscles (which is what asprin is for) and missing my family and matt so so badly I am doing good. I also want to thank all of my sponsors again for providing me with this wonderful opportunity for this once in a lifetime adventure. well off to the dorms.....i actually get to sleep in past 5:00 Yaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!

Some sight seeing before the ride

Patty took me and Kevin out for some sight seeing and fun before the ride starts on monday. these are just some pics from the day.

here is a dancing girl at the "summer solstice" parade in fremont.

Kevin, me and James at the "troll" dont ask me its just a thing under a bridge and you cant see it but hes got a beetle car in his hand.

This is either the cascade or olympic mountains, but who cares right!! their pretty (as long as your not riding your bike over them!!)

there ya go!! i got my "grays anatomy" shot!!

Ya, we took it easy today!!

In SEATTLE!!!!

My sister and Matt dropped me off at the airport and after a very emotional goodby im finally in greys anatomy town. well ive been told that they dont actually film it here but i still like to think it is just because thats what they say on tv and i absolutly LOVE that show. but anywase... its 8:30 here which would make it 11:30 back in NC. i flew out this morning at six and im pretty tired but im doin well after a nice nap id have to say. Patty Harm, a very sweet lady that is participating in the ride as well, picked me up from the airport and im staying at her house for the weekend. it is very beautiful here. ive been told it rains a lot but i havent seen any yet. just sunny skies and nice temps. as far as the flights go they were nice, smooth, no terrorists or anything. haha. i did meet a guy on the plane who is from seattle and very kindly explained that i was pronouncing all the seattle towns wrong and gave me a crash course just so i wouldnt look like an idiot, not that any of it stuck but i was grateful. Although the scenes from the airplane window were beautiful they had such a different meaning this time just because i knew i would be riding back in just a few weeks over those same snow covered mountains and flat planes and rolling hills. I would have to say that i think i noticed a lot more little details about the landscape this time then I have ever before.

finally heading out

HEY everyone!! its been a few days since i last wrote but dont get me wrong its certainly not because nothing worth writing about has happened, its simply because so much has happened i havent had a chance to log on. for starters my wonderful sister threw me a suprise going away party. shes such a sweety.

So other than that i have just been packing and nursing the butterflys in my stomach with " oh itll be alright" to myself.