The ride into La Crosse was challenging not only because of the climbs, but because of road closures. We had routed off of highway 30 because last year the team deemed it entirely unsafe: rolling hills, blind curves, narrow shoulders ridden with potholes. However, our alternative route was closed for 27 miles & routed on […]
For the first time since before Illinois we had serious hills on the route to Wyalusing. Our elevation was around 4,000 feet & a lot of that was climbed in a couple of long, drawn-out hills. Though it was tough, the scenery was beautiful. We got to the park & had to start setting up […]
The ride to Madison was mostly on trails, which is bittersweet because while traffic is not an issue, gravel trails are not the best mix with road bikes. The last 20 miles our riders were escorted by a cycling group that has been hosting Texas 4000 for 3 years now. One of their riders lead […]
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. For the last 16 months, Sierra alumni had told us about their time in the desert. The days would be long, the heat would be punishing, and the rest days would be few and far between. We were advised to begin stockpiling cases of water and gatorade […]
The majority of the ride out of Chicago was on bike paths with beautiful trees & an abundance of shade. Our first day in Wisconsin ended in a thunderstorm. As the last group of riders rode in, the storm unleashed & the electricity in our host’s homes was knocked out. Despite the setback, our hosts […]
The route from Champaign to our hosts into Chicago was set to be 160 miles. The team was ambitious in the morning with hopes of doing at more than 100 of those miles, but things don’t always work out as planned. After dealing with heate ended up riding 80 miles & having to drive through […]
The century (another name for a 100+ mile ride) from Springfield to Champaign went more smoothly than yesterday’s ride. Although there was some gravel, it didn’t wreak too much havoc. We got in to Champaign around 5:30 pm & were each given our own dorm room in the St. John’s Newman Center on the campus […]
Today was the first of three days in a row that the team will ride around 100 miles. We took off from St. Louis a little later than usual & rode the 110 miles into Springfield to Knight’s Action Park. The team encountered a slew of gravel roads & had a rough time. By the […]
Our ride into St. Louis from Mount Vernon was 95 miles. It was a smooth ride for everyone & we arrived at our host at around 3:00 pm. Many of us thought that it was one of our coolest rides because we got to go all the way in to the city with a beautiful […]
Day 19: Denver to Estes Park, CO, 107 miles Today’s ride was our longest yet. It almost felt like two different days. The first 70 miles of our ride were on the beautiful and winding bike trails that connect Denver to Boulder. Next, we began the long climb into Estes Park. We gained 4,000 feet […]
