Missy and Shane's All Around US Tour.

We did it! We arrived in San Diego, CA yesterday (well, La Mesa really) after making record time from Mesa, AZ. We completed this last map from Mesa in 6 days. We had estimated it would take us 10 days. We zoomed here doing a few 90+ mile days, the last two days we climbed over 8,000 vertical feet. The cycling days were good, although long, and we were super motivated to get it done- just kept going farther each day than we thought we could. Our final night on the road we had a great stay in Jacumba, right along the border of Mexico, with a Warm Showers stay. Jean was a great host who met us on the road and before we went back to his place we enjoyed a couple cold ones at the local bar/mineral springs. Besides being a Warm Showers host he also has done some great work for bike messengers by starting the Bicycle Messenger Emergency Fund. He also has a website for info on Jacumba and for cyclists passing through there (check it out here). We've actually been to a couple of the same Cycle Messenger World Championships. He lives a stones throw from the border and we took a walk along the big fence separating the two countries and saw several Border Patrol vehicles along "the wall" and passed several more during our ride. They certainly have this part of the border under heavy surveillance.
We thought we had finished the vertical climbing to get up to Jacumba but on our final day we did almost the same amount of total vertical.
We were both feeling pretty strong and with the motivation of finishing that day it felt almost as though we were pulled here by some other energy. When we pulled into the driveway it was a bitter-sweet moment, a sense of accomplishment of finishing the southern tier and more than 10,000 miles but also a sadness knowing this part of the journey was over. We still have 1,200 miles of the Pacific Coast to do (Vancouver to San Francisco) but it will be a different type of journey. So with this leg of the All Around US Tour finished we look forward to a break in Napa; visiting family, resting, helping with home/garden projects, visiting friends, tuning up the bikes, and having our chickens back with us!

For those worried about how they'll kill time without our blog I'm sure we'll do a couple updates during our time off (a photo and numbers update for sure) and then we'll be back on the road in May with more frequent (and hopefully interesting) updates.

Not much to say......... just that we hit the 10,000 mile mark....... yeah, Ten Thousand! Yahoo!

Ninety miles, three flats, two down-pour thunder storms, and 1,000 feet of climbing and we made it into California today! We set out to make it to Quartzsite, AZ today but with a great tailwind we made it the extra 25 miles to the Colorado river and the extra few miles to Blythe, CA. If it wasn't for the flats and heavy rains (we must have changed rain gear six times) we would have made it another 25 miles to Palo Verde but we're excited to have made it here. Depending on how the wind & rains go we should be in San Diego in 4-5 days. We passed a group of cyclists heading East and they were plugging along at about 7 mph. We felt bad as we climbed hills at 16mph and zoomed down them at 30..... well not that bad.
Right before we left Mesa we heard from our friends Tom & Kris, who happened to have a free night and an open room in their home. Riding through Phoenix from Mom & Larry's to Tom & Kris' place in Glendale was a 55 mile ride of urban craziness. Some of the neighborhoods were interesting to ride through with their mix of old ranch style homes all the way through the McMansions of nowadays. We had a wonderful visit and happened to be there the same night that Holly & Destry were down from Anchorage and Kevin was down from Seattle so we all got together at Holly's new place and had tacos. It was a great visit and was a nice transition back to the road.
So now we continue westward to cross California!
Don't forget to check the sidebar for new posts on Twitter and the "where we're at" section. Oh, and have you seen that little map near the bottom of the sidebar that shows where our visitors are coming from?? New Zealand, India, all around the US... Pretty wild!

We're packing up this morning and getting ready to head out of Mesa. We won't get too far today, there's a shortage of camping heading out of here and it's either 40 miles or 100. The 40 miles won't even get us out of the urban sprawl of Phoenix.
We've had a wonderful time having our own 'home' for a few days here at Mom & Larry's new place. We had dinner with some of their friends who live just across the street... a wonderful italian "macaroni" and sausage dinner, yummy. Looking forward to getting on the road and finishing this southern tier, only about 10 more days to San Diego!

We made it to Mesa! We've actually been here a couple days. We ended up going to the hospital in Safford and Missy got some new prescription medicine. We also ended up hitch-hiking it again... all the way to Mesa with one ride. It was actually a great "adventure within an adventure" as Missy says.
We rode our bikes to the outskirts of town and in the heat of the mid-day sun stuck our thumbs out to every truck, van, or SUV that went by. We were there for probably 15 minutes before anyone stopped. The first two people that stopped were only going about 10 miles down the road and loading our bikes in for that distance and then being in tiny town with even less resources seemed silly so we decided to wait for a ride that would get us a bit further. After another 10 minutes another truck pulled over and he was going all the way to Mesa! We loaded the gear in the back of the pickup and jumped in. We zoomed the 180 miles here (about three days of riding for us) and though we missed the scenery passing by slowly it was great to get Missy out of the Juniper Jungle. Carlos, our driver, does flooring work and had just finished a job in Safford. I got to practice my spanish a bit more and we were once again impressed by the goodness of people.
We rode the couple of miles from our drop off to Mom & Larry's new place in Mesa. They haven't even been here since purchasing it just a few weeks ago. Their friends (Ralph & Charlene) are taking care of it right now and he brought the key over for us to get in. What a luxury to be in our own space for a couple days! As soon as we landed, exploded our bags, did some laundry, ordered some pizza, and Missy took some of her new meds things were looking way better.
The little bump in the road a few days back seems like just that, little. Missy is still feeling homesick but without the itchy eyes, congestion, and sneezing she's doing much better. Thanks to folks for the emails and comments of encouragement, they really helped too. There is record breaking heat here right now, in the upper 90s! It supposed to be cooler by Monday or Tuesday when we are planning to leave (only in the 80s). We'll have some big climbs ahead of us but hopefully won't have headwinds every day. Right now we are enjoying just being in one place, relaxing, knitting & needlepointing, watching movies, and resting.

There are some more pictures up from the past couple weeks (Las Cruces to Mesa). You can see those HERE.

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(Allergies and Aggravation)
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(Headwinds, Hitch-hiking, & Home)

What a wild past few days. Ever since we hit El Paso Missy has been dealing with allergies again. She got some medication back in Del Rio but the symptoms came back and they are stronger than ever. She's been stuffed up, sneezing, and having really itchy eyes for more than a week now. It was pretty bad in Las Cruces but it has gotten worse and that makes it really tough to ride. So yesterday enough was enough and we made the decision to get to Phoenix as fast as possible. But first a little on the past few days:

We left Las Cruces and rode out to the Caballo Reservoir. We had a nice view of the Organ Mountains on the way out of town and the sunset on the mountainside that night was really beautiful. The next day was a short 30 miles up to Kingston, NM and the Black Range Lodge. We had heard about the lodge from some fellow cyclists who stopped there on their way East. It is a really wonderful old lodge dating from the late 1800's run by a tremendous couple. They are active in the Green Building movement; they hold workshops up at the lodge on straw bale, earth-bags, earthen floors, and other natural building techniques and Catherine has written a couple books on straw bale and natural building and is working on another. We had a great time reading a bit in their resource library/bookstore, hanging out and being well fed in their kitchen, exploring the various natural building techniques they have around the lodge (including a straw bale chicken coop we plan to emulate).
Once we pulled ourselves away from the lodge we did a nice 2,200 foot climb in about 8 miles with several switch-backs. It was a beautiful view from the top of Emory Pass. We could see all the way back to the Organ mountains and over the past couple days of riding. The climb up was really nice with great views, a little tailwind, and a perfect pitch. The way down we had some headwinds but it was still very pretty. It ended up being a longer ride than we expected into Silver City, with more climbs than anticipated and our good friend the headwind making for a pretty tough day.

Once we were in Silver City we were greeted by a friend of Pete & Catherine's (the Lodge owners), Wendy. Wendy is an Aussie relocated here in New Mexico. We had a wonderful time exchanging travel stories (she has a lot of great ones, she is a master traveler) and enjoying her fabulous cooking! The next morning we went to the local food co-op to stock up and to the great local bike shop, Gila Hike & Bike where we had Missy's drive train worked on again. It's really been giving her problems since the beginning but last week she broke a der. cable and since I replaced it the darn things been skipping even more. They made some adjustments, replaced the chain (with about 5,000 miles on it it was time), and worked some other magic. It worked for a bit but is back to skipping a bit. I think it's time for a new derailleur and maybe shifters.
Met some other bike tourers at the shop. They were heading East, which seems to be the direction almost everyone is going. Seems the headwinds in the spring are prevalent out of the West. Who knew? Oh well, when you do a circle around the US I guess it's inevitable that you fight prevalent headwinds sometime.
With the late start out of Silver City we only made it as far as Buckhorn, NM and didn't make it into Arizona until yesterday. As I said earlier, Missy's allergies are acting up and it has been really miserable for her. On the ride out of Buckhorn and up to the Mule Creek Pass we had a really rough time of it. Our first major breakdown of the trip where we actually rode separate for some of the day and both got very emotional and frustrated. The combo of climbing into the headwinds and Missy's allergies made it pretty wretched. It also doesn't help that we are both missing 'home' and this last 1,000 mile stretch is the hardest with the desire to be 'nesting' getting stronger. We're like birds in the spring, ready to gather our straw and build our cozy spot.
But it seems there's a little more adventure to be had and luckily the terrain got more beautiful and the summit was really pretty. Crossing into Arizona made us feel a bit better too, one state away from home. There was a long steep downhill that even with the strong headwind we could enjoy some "free miles".
Once we reached the bottom in Three Way, AZ we decided that it was time to Hitch! Missy couldn't do another four days of riding and we wanted to get someplace that she could go to an allergist to find out what was going on. It was already 4:30 but we figured we'd try for a bit and see if we could get to the next town or all the way to Mesa. We parked our bikes on the side of the road and stepped to the side together. We stuck out our thumbs just as a truck was passing. It pulled right over! The first one! We hardly had our thumbs sticking out yet. She said she was only going as far as Safford but that was 35 miles farther and much bigger than the one store 'town' we were in so it was perfect. Catherine is an electrician at the Morenci Mine. She gave us a ride into Thatcher (a bit further down the road), told us about the mining in the area, and after dropping us off pulled a couple cold waters out of her cooler and wished us luck. She was all the luck we needed that day. She lifted our spirits and gave us hope that today we might get to Mesa and get some relief for Missy. So after breakfast (oatmeal again) we'll stick out our thumbs and see if we have the kind of luck we had yesterday.
We're in need of a bit of encouragement these days so if you have a moment to drop a line (comment or email) and let us know you're rooting for us it would be greatly appreciated. Missy especially needs some uplifting words to help push through this next thousand miles to get us home for a break. Thanks for all the encouragement in the past, it's helped us get this far!

Had a wonderful birthday yesterday, relaxing at our Warm Shower stay, running some errands, catching a couple movies, and talking with family and friends that we miss so much. Yesterday we also said 'hasta luego' to our friend and riding buddy for the past week and a half, Chaney. It was so great to ride with him and it will be weird to get back on the road and not have him there with us. Even though it was only for about 1/100th of our trip it felt like we spent a lot of good quality time together getting to know one another; that's pretty easy to do when you ride and camp with someone for awhile. He's heading to San Diego at a much faster pace than us so it's not likely that we'll catch up with him (especially since we decided to take a second rest day) but we may see him in the Bay Area in the beginning of April, hope so.

As for the few days before Las Cruces... The weather warmed up quite a bit during the day reaching the 70's, though it was staying in the 30's at night. After another night of luxury, sharing a KOA cabin with Chaney we stayed the next night at the Sierra Blanca city park where we didn't have any water, most likely because of the freezing weather. But we had a great Spanish Tortilla dinner and all enjoyed a relaxed afternoon after one of our shorter days in awhile.
The next day we had another long day riding into El Paso but were excited to be cutting it a little shorter by staying in East El Paso with another Warm Shower stay. We had a mix up with the directions and ended up not finding our hosts house and after almost seven hours on the road (and 80 miles) it was getting dark so we found the nearest campground and just pitched it on the "smooth" crushed gravel pads. The next days ride was "just another day in Hell Paso" as Chaney so perfectly put it. The ride through our last Texas town was a little disappointing; rude drivers, no shoulders, heavy traffic, climbs, and urban sprawl made it for a fine send off into New Mexico. But one bad experience in West Texas didn't diminish our fond affection for the place. We were both really impressed and surprised by our experiences, after so much build up and expectation of a 'rough time' everything went smooth and we really loved the scenery, the people, and almost all our experiences there.

We're glad to be in New Mexico though. We're having a great time at our wonderful Warm Showers hosts, Cindy & Lee. They have opened up their home and made us feel so welcome and relaxed here.
We also feel so much closer to home. Only half of this state to cross, then Arizona, then it's California! Looking forward to our break before finishing the Pacific Coast with Jennifer. But there are still several miles to ride until then and a few big passes to cross, one of our highest actually coming up in a couple days (over 8,000 feet). We both have new sets of rubber (only Missy's third set in 9,500 miles) and are feeling inspired to keep heading West! I also got a new wheel (a Peter White) and a new pair of cycling shoes (my fourth pair of Cannondale Roams in about 6 years) for my b-day so things should roll real smooth for me =).

There's a new survey on the sidebar (which I remodeled last night, there is now a subscription via email and a couple other little additions).

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes.
Keep the dreams big and the worries small.

A quick note from Van Horn, Texas. We finally made it out of Sanderson a few days ago. Did one of our bigger mileage days and made it all the way to the great town of Alpine, Texas (86 miles). We celebrated that night by hitting the Railroad Blues bar and listening to a great band, Sister Morales, playing a bit of pool, and enjoying some of the 'local' brew (well, quite a bit of the local brew actually- Chaney especially enjoyed the homemade tequila). We met up with the owner and he gave us a place to camp that night and everyone we met through the night was either highly entertaining, super nice, or a combination of the two.
The next day we had planned to ride up to the McDonald Observatory for the Star Party. Between the fun night and the cold weather, once we rode the 25 miles up into Fort Davis , we decided rather than riding another 16 miles up to 6,200 feet and camping out in the 10 degree weather, that we had done enough for the day!

We split a room with Chaney (makes it much more affordable and easier to opt out of camping with a friend along!) at the Hotel Limpia and when we woke up in the morning to see their fountain frozen solid we were very happy with our warm room.

Yesterday we rode up and over the pass near the McDonald Observatory and set another major mileage record for us, 93 miles (our longest is 120 but that was in flat N. Dakota with a tail wind). I think riding with Chaney has sped us up and pushed us a bit more. It has been really beautiful riding too, we especially loved the area between Sanderson and Alpine and the climb towards the observatory. Once we came over the hill yesterday it was a little less interesting, somewhat because we are right along interstate 10 instead of the back roads. There are nice mountains in the distance but it's pretty flat and desolate. But overall we've enjoyed Texas a lot more than we had expected.

So now it is off towards El Paso which we should reach in two days and then Las Cruces for my birthday on the 8th.

Spending some quality time getting to know the small town of Sanderson, Texas. We rolled into town on Tuesday night after a beautiful day of riding from Langtry, Texas (home of Judge Roy Bean, "The Law West of the Pecos"). The rolling hills, canyons, rock walls, cacti, and general landscape are all very beautiful in this area. We stopped at the Seminole Canyon State Park on the way to Langtry and took a tour down into the canyon to see some really amazing cave paintings from about 7,000 years ago (see our photo link below for some shots).
On the way from Langtry to Sanderson I broke a spoke and the night before Chaney got a couple holes in his Therm-a-Rest, so on Wednesday we had a repair morning. As I replaced my spoke (on the drive side- so for those 'bike geeks' I used my new found retro Hypercracker tool) I discovered that my rim was cracking...a spoke was pulling out. We got a late start by the time I was done with my repair and in the meantime Missy checked the weather to find a forecast for high winds (up to 35mph). We discovered a junk yard with a pile of bikes and I found a back-up wheel in case mine blows out on the way to El Paso (a few hundred miles ahead). By that time we were feeling pretty unmotivated and decided to take a day off for repairs and to wait out the weather. I made a run to a local welder and got my Xtracycle frame fixed. Yep, it cracked again in the same spot so I was going to try and find a place to fix it again. I found a great guy who not only welded the spot but put on a nice support piece that will make it stronger and hopefully it will last the next few thousand miles (and beyond).
It's actually been a big couple days of break downs... I had a buckle brake on the Xtracycle and my Ortlieb bag and last night I got a couple holes on my Therm-a-Rest. Just a lot of miles and wear and tear on everything. I have a new wheel on order from Peter White Cycles, a great wheel builder who is shipping it along to a town a couple days ahead. Should be a great wheel that will stand up for the Long Haul.

Waking up this morning the wind really picked up and it was blowing pretty hard out of the West so it would be a major headwind. So after a day off for repairs we are taking another day for weather.

It's not a bad town to be 'stuck' in. A lot of West Texas character but not really a lot going on either. Great to have Chaney here to entertain us too, he's a hoot. The forecast looks good for tomorrow and hopefully we'll be able to make up some time and still make the Star Party at the McDonald Observatory.

Oh Yeah, Have some new photos too!! Check 'em out HERE.