Aftermath

So I thought I wouldn't want to touch my bike for weeks after the trip was over. But here I am already riding around campus and wondering when I can go on my next bike ride! Although some things about the trip I didn't like, I am very pleased with the results I see in my body. Overall, it accomplished the goals I was trying to reach -learn to love my bike, gain confidence in road riding, and make cycling into a lifetime hobby, not just a seasonal commitment for Little 5. The trip really was awesome; I made incredible new friends, I saw beautiful scenery, I traveled the country using my own two legs and my own power and that feels pretty good. I won't be going on deCycles again, but maybe I'll send a letter or two in the future to encourage those still addicted to the journey and the madness.
I guess that about sums it up. Below is a picture from our mini celebration last night. I'll be putting all the pictures from the trip, including the ones from the blog, up on my Facebook so keep an eye out.

Love,
Jen

BLOOMINGTON

We are done! Thank God. We woke up this morning at 5:30 in Madison and then drove right over to Bloomington. When we got here we stopped at the high school and got geared up to ride to the center of town. When we got there there was a huge celebration for us! We ate a ton of food and there were tons of speeches and some awards. Then it was finally time to pack up and go home. I said goodbye to my friends, there were many amazing people that I met on this trip, but there were also things I won't miss at all. Now I'm finally home, sitting on my couch, freshly showered, sipping a beer. Hoorah!

Overnight in Madison, WI

Spent the day travelling by van, we are on our way back home! The pictures are of me and Cherryl at a Minnesota rest stop and of my friends playing cards in the van. It feels so good to be done but surprisingly now that I'm off my bike, I am actually looking forward to riding it again...maybe in like a week. This trip has had some ridiculous ups and downs but whatever happened, I DID become a much stronger rider and that is what matters. I also met some awesome people ...and some not so awesome ones, ha.

Bismarck!

We did it!! We finally made it to Bismarck! Today was an 85 mile day which rounded out our total mileage to about 1580. I was so energetic today because I'm so happy it's over! Not that there weren't fun parts but it is time to get back to a normal life. We celebrated on the lawn in front of the capitol building with bubbles and sparkling grape juice and took a group photo. I am very proud of what I did but I  also very exhausted. More tomorrow!

Bowman

Today we crossed into North Dakota. Our last state of the trip. The mileage was 135 and we had a tailwind for a lot of the time which was awesome. I was in a small group with only four people: me, Bo, Alec, and Miles. I took a couple pictures of the rolling hills. After this we only have two more days of riding. I can't believe I can accomplish 135 miles on my bike now. I am sore and tired but I was totally able to do it and it feels pretty good.

Sturgis

My blog has been acting weird so I apologize if posts have not been showing up. Today was a shorter ride, only 67 miles from Custer to Sturgis. There were some tough climbs but it was a pretty ride, lots of winding roads and not much traffic. I got to be in a group with the other college kids who are my closest friends on this trip so that was really fun. I took a couple pictures today but I did not get to go to Devil's Tower. We had the option but it was an hour and a half van ride directly after we finished the 67 mile ride... with no shower. Since I've already seen it in my lifetime I opted out. Anyway South Dakota is pretty cool but we leave the state tomorrow and are almost done with our trip. Time to rest up!

Another REST DAY

Spent the day in and around Custer viewing the Crazy Horse monument and Mount Rushmore. Took a lot of pictures and finally got to just relax and be a tourist for the day! I enjoyed both monuments and my legs really needed the rest. I can feel that I've gotten stronger but I still can't believe the mileage I've put in the past couple of days. I am really appreciating all the friends I've made here lately and even the staff...everyone works so hard to make this happen and even though it has sucked at times, I am glad I came on the trip and that I at least tried it out.

So enjoy the pictures and I'll post again tomorrow!!

Custer

SOUTH DAKOTA TIME. 108 miles was really tough after such a long day yesterday, but we just rolled into the church where we're staying tonight.
They made us all a delicious spaghetti dinner with garlic bread which smells sooooo good. Still don't have a lot of pictures, but we stopped in Pringle, SD where there was a bike sculpture that I took a picture of.

Special shout-out today goes to my group leader, Addison, for keeping me company while going up all those hills!

Lusk

We are in a town called Lusk, Wyoming. And there is nothing here! But guess what? I rode 140 miles today! That's the furthest I have ever ridden my bike so far and I am definitely very sore. It feels awesome though, I still can't believe I did it. Still no pictures today... this part of Wyoming just doesn't really compare after Colorado. That's all I have, today was a long day so I'm going to bed.

Cheyenne

My first century today! 100 miles down no sweat. The biking part of the day actually felt really good, but there were many things that made the day...memorable to say the least. It started off good but after our first break we hit a detour and had to ride on this TERRIBLE road. After lunch we had a 20-25 mile stretch and then another break, but it was super short because we had to try to beat the rain...but had no such luck. Rode a lot of the last stretch in the rain and wind, I got a flat tire, and then we finally made it to Wyoming!! Didn't really take any pictures today because there wasn't much to see, except when we got to the city we did get to walk around for a bit and there was this cowboy store with a HUGE selection of boots, so I got some photos of that. So many shoes I had to get multiple shots to capture them all!

Estes Park

Happy 4th of July! We made it up to the top of trail ridge road today! It was slow and steady but totally worth it. I did get a flat tire today though, so did two other people in my group which really slowed things down.
The top was really awesome and I took a ton of pictures. Not much else to say, we are playing cards waiting for fireworks!

Silverthorne

Another rest day today! We woke up and went to the rec center for hot showers and then got COFFEE (a rare treat on deCycles). The air and scenery and weather here are all awesome. We then took a shuttle back to Breckenridge to explore for the whole day. We ate in town and took a gondola partway up the mountain. Then we hiked all the way to the top of the ski lift, which was fairly close to the summit. I took a ton of pictures and really enjoyed the day. Not much else to the day except taking the ski lift down, eating dinner, and souvenir shopping. Now we are playing cards and waiting for bed.

Oh and a shout-out to my friend Jake for helping me clean my bike today! It really needed it.

Breckenridge

(Yesterday)
We rode just about 100 miles! Today was one of my favorite riding days so far. We had some huge climbs but we got to take them at our own pace, so I stuck with the slow people and enjoyed the view! I took lots of pictures and then when we finally made it to the top of Hoosier Pass it felt awesome! Then there was a sweet 10 mile winding downhill that ran by the lake. So beautiful. We stopped in Breckenridge after 80 miles of cycling and got dinner and explored the town a bit. Then we rode 17-18 more miles on a bike path that went right over the reservoir. It was a relief to have such a nicely paved, clean path for a change. We ended up in Silverthorne which is where we are staying for our rest day but there are free shuttles to take you to the surrounding towns. It was a pretty great day, hope more beautiful days are to come!