We have reached Bloomington, IN on the Ride Across America in support of our injured troops. We have gone 968 miles of the nearly 3900 miles planned. We have rode thru the rain in CT, MA and New York. We had sun and moderate headwinds as we crossed into Canada on the Peace Bridge near Buffalo. We had moderate head winds and sunshine as we rode the north shore of Lake Erie. We had massive thunderstorm with 70 MPH winds the evening we stayed in Erieau, Ontario. We had a beautiful day for the ferry ride from Kingsville, ON to Sandusky, Ohio. We have met wonderful people as we ride the backroads of rural North America.

We have given out ten pearl necklaces, that were donated by Selig Jewelers in Simsbury and the Selig family, to moms and wives of soldiers who have served our country. The ride thru Ohio was marked by very strong headwinds (40 + mph on 3 days) which made riding slower than expected resulting in long days of riding. The riding weather in Indiana has been good, cloudy. low humidity, minimal rain and temps in high 70's.

Donations have come in more slowly than hoped for, some of this due to the very rural areas we are riding in. You can still donate using Paypal by clicking on the Dog Tags on the web site or you can sending a check
donation to:
C.A.M.P.
310 Nutmeg Road South, Suite C-5,
South Windsor, CT 06074.

Visit our blog by clicking on the left side of the front page on the web site.

Next big event scheduled is the New Harmony, Indiana Parade on the 4th of July which we have been invited to participate in.

Ride Across America -- July 11th update - Chanute, Kansas

The Adventure continues across America, we have now bicycled for over 1600 miles having entered Kansas at the end of the ride on July 10th. The route has taken us through CT-MA-NY-Ontario-OH-IN-IL-MO-KS. We have given out 20 Pearl necklaces donated by Selig Jewelers and the Selig family. They have been given to Moms and wives of those who have served or are serving during the Iraq & Afghanistan wars and to women who are active duty and served. Each necklace has a story to go with it.

The Super 8 motel group has provided relief from the extreme heat and early on the heavy rains in New York. They have donated 5 nights when needed the most this has also provided us the means of computer access to update information on the ride.

Jessica and Amalyn from Timet, joined us for a day in Missouri, or as they call it "Misery". They each set individual daily mileage marks as they rode for more than 50 miles through the Ozarks. The 4th of July Parade in New Harmony was marked by heavy rain, causing the bar-b-que to be switched from 2:30 to noon with participation limited mostly to those who participated in the parade. We crossed the Mississippi River on 7th marking a milestone for the trip.

Funding has been very slow to come in; we have handed out hundreds of postcards to people interested in following the ride and the blog. Donations have not been coming in as hoped for. If you have not made a donation to help our injured troops PLEASE do so today- you can send a check to the Children & Adult Mobility Project or click on the dog tags and donate through Paypal

July 23rd

We have reached Poncho Springs, Colorado, having crossed through Kansas where temperatures reached a high of 107 when we were in El Dorado. Whoever tells you that western Kansas is flat has not ridden it on a bike/trike. The 200 mile after El Dorado are marked by an elevation change from 2200 feet to 3500 feet, and the whole trip seems to be gradually uphill. There are also headwinds in the afternoons that slow progress. I spent several days in El Dorado at the Kansas Veterans Reunion, where we were able to raise a little extra money for our goal of purchasing S.A.M.'s. We also gave out 8 pearl necklaces that had been donated by Selig Jewelers and the Selig Family. We still are far short of making a meaningful dent into the number of S.A.M.'s needed and need your donation today!!! If you have not already given. You can give through Paypal by clicking on the Dog Tags on the front page.

The first 4 days in Colorado have been marked by the beginnings of elevation change. From Hasty to LaJunta, we went up a few hundred feet in 50 miles. From LaJunta to Pueblo we went from 3900 feet to 4600 feet in 65 miles. From Pueblo we crossed over the pass through the San Isabel National forest at 8400 feet. Most of the rise from 4600 to 8400 feet occurred over 14 miles on route 96 a curvy narrow road. We then had our first significant drop from the 8400 crest to 7888 at Westcliffe, CO 12 miles downhill. The 12 miles was completed in just over 40 minutes with speeds in excess of 40 mph being reached on the new Ti-Trike that Kathy delivered last Saturday. The drop continued into Salida with a 4 mile run with 800 foot drop in elevation as part of the 50 mile day. We have completed almost 6 weeks and nearly 2400 miles to date. The toughest part of the trip may be tomorrow, July 24th as we cycle through Monarch Pass at 11,814 feet from our start point in Poncho Springs at 7200 feet. The mountains here are beautiful to look at, but a very difficult ride even with a great ride that I am having on the Ti-Trike.

We have had three media coverage's on the ride so far.

One is a video from KSN NBC news in Wichita their web site is www.ksn.com. The newspaper articles were in the Eldorado Times and the news-leader at www.news-leader.com.

July 27th Update

The Ride Across America has now passed through Kansas and entered the difficult terrain of the Rockies. We climbed from 2500 feet in elevation in Kansas to 3900 feet in Hasty, CO to 4600 feet in Pueblo. We then had a rise to 8400 feet in the San Isabel National Forest on the way to Westcliffe, CO before dropping down to 5000 feet in Salida. We then had mall rise to 6000 feet in Poncho Springs before making our climb over the Continental Divide at Monarch Pass at 11,312 feet. This climb took me nearly 5 hours in the altitude and steep terrain. The 9 miles down Monarch Pass took less than 30 minutes as the Ti-Trike rode beautifully at speeds up to 50 miles per hour. The ride then took us through Gunnison, Monarch and Ridgeway, where thunderstorms in the afternoons have been torrential. On July 27th we arrived in Telluride, CO after leaving Ridgeway at an elevation of 6500 feet and crossing the Dallas Divide at 9000 feet. Again, what took 3 hours to go up 18 miles, took 34 minutes to go down the next 13 miles. We are taking an extra rest day in Telluride to do additional fundraising. The Brown Dog Restaurant here is holding a Tip-A-Rider dinner for us tonight 7/28. Two of the owners are from Connecticut (Simsbury & Wethersfield).

The Ti-Trike continues to ride beautifully, especially in the terrain of the Rockies.

Please make tour donations today through Paypal - by clicking on the dog tags or by sending your check to Children & Adult Mobility Project.

Ken

July 29th Update

The Ride Across America continued out of Telluride, CO on what has proved to be the most difficult leg of the journey to date. With the first 18 miles of the ride above 8600 feet, there was no chance to ever get your breath back. The 1st 3.5 miles was relatively flat leading to steep 2 mile climb of 1000 feet to Mountain Village, CO at 9500 feet. We then had a dip down and some flats before another steep climb through the Ophir Loop and Ophir, CO again at 9400 feet. We then had a dip and some flat before starting to climb for 8 miles through Trout Lake, CO at 9470 and up to Lizard Head Pass at 10,222 feet. The final two miles up to the pass was marked by very strong headwinds and the threat of rain coming in. Once we reached Lizard Head Pass, we rested for about 10 minutes before putting on our rain gear in preparation of the ride down. The Temp had dropped to 52 degrees and storm clouds were brewing, the 45-50 mph headwinds continued. We decided that since the 12 miles to Rico, CO was downhill that we would make the run to beat the storm and get lunch in Rico. Even though we had a steep downhill, the headwind was so strong that I had to pedal to keep up any rate of speed. The storm hit with 3 miles to go to Rico, hail larger than a pea was pelting down as was torrential rains and wind. The only bar/restaurant in Rico was open and I was glad to get inside. Mike brought towels and sweatshirts, he had reached Rico before the storm and did not know that we had been caught in it. The Ti-Trike handled beautifully in the rain even at the high downhill speeds. After lunch and change of clothes, the rains ended and we continued on to Dolores, CO another 35 miles of slight downhill from Rico at 8500 feet to the Dolores RV Park at elevation 6936.

We leave Colorado with 13 miles to go before entering Utah on Thursday 7/30. Please continue to send in your donations to support our injured troops by clicking on the dog tags or sending checks to C.A.M.P.

Read Here .. In the News

Read Here...7/29 edition of the Telluride Daily Planet

August 7th

We left Delores, CO and entered the Utah staying the 1st night at Devil's Canyon before making route change to Moab where Peter was able to get some bike parts. The southern route planned had no shops along the way. The ride to Moab is marked by elevation drop from 7000 feet to 4000 ft. As we moved west Pete & Karina split fro a few days going to Bryce and Zion while Ken and Mike went to Cedar City to do some additional fundraising. The ride from Navajo Lake area on route 14, after a steep climb to 9915 feet at the summit is marked by 8% grade descent to 6300 feet. We met Ashley and Jackie on the descent riding in group of 31 riders with "Bike and Build" They left Florida on June 13th taking a more southern oute, building houses in Florida, Texas and New Orleans. They were staying in Cedar City at U of So. Utah.

Mike and I met up again with Pete and Karina at Zion, headed back to Cedar City, UT and then on to Ely, Nevada. We are back on US 50 after the Bryce & Zion detour and rest days. At Ely we met additional riders from Bike and Build and met group of 21 riders from 42 Vodka who were at the same campground in Ely as us. They were going at more strenuous pace from NY to LA.

The ride in Utah is not getting any easier. The 84 miles from Ely at 6400 ft to Eureka at 6350 feet on the "Loneliest Road in America" was marked by fierce 50 mph headwinds with higher gusts. The ride also featured 4 major climbs over 7450 ft. and the entire ride is above the 6300 ft elevation.

The Ti-Trike I am riding continues to ride beautifully on the up hills and is very fast on descents.

Our ride on 50 will continue west to Fallon, NV where Pete & Karina will split again following the originally planned route while I ride to Reno, and then to Lake Tahoe to do more fundraising with Mike.

August 11 - Capay - California

The Ride Across America continued into Sparks, NV on Friday for Mike & Ken while Karina and Pete continued on the original route to Walker Lake and Yosemite. After riding the 40 miles to Sparks we set up at Hot August Nights - Classic Car show and collected nearly $400 in the afternoon and evening. We set up a fundraising table in Reno at Hot August Nights in front of the Atlantis Casino where much of the action was. At 5:00 pm they start the "Cruise" for the classic cars. Ti-Trikes were the lead vehicles in the cruise and the only one manufactured after 1974.

I had meetings with Troy and Phil from the Reno Veterans outreach program. They will try t set up fundraising with Vet groups in Sacramento and San Francisco.

On Monday we moved on to California, we decided to follow a more northern route through Donners pass and along route 20 through Tahoe National Forest. We stayed Monday night at Sierra Woods near Emigrant Gap. Tuesday's ride started with 20 miles of steep up and downhill climbs across the ridge line between 6500 and 5000 feet elevations. Then the last 3miles as we exited the National forest was a 3 mile steep downhill and then 7miles of lesser downhill to 2500 feet to Nevada City, CA. We continued on route 20 still downhill through Grass Valley, and Yuba City completing 60 miles in less than 4 hours and decided to continue on to Williams, CA another 20 miles of flat farmland, mostly peach and nectarine orchards.

Wednesday's ride started with 5 miles of flat land as we left the Sacramento River Valley and headed back into the mountains. After a steady 9 mile climb to the summit, there was a 4 mile downhill run on route 20 before heading South on Route 16 through Cache Creek Canyon. The ride through Cache Creek Canyon to Capay, CA was almost all a gradual downhill slope for 37 miles as the elevation dropped to only 250 feet. The downhill run from Colorado, to Utah to Nevada and into California is now complete and the temperature of 98 and 103 the last two days was proving it.

We cut several hundred miles of of the originally planned route and will now focus on fundraising for a few days at sites near Travis Air Force Base, Napa and Sonoma before completing the ride from Sonoma to Bodega Bay where we will again meet up with Pete and Karina.

August 20, 2009

Bodega Bay!!! We have reached the Pacific Coast after nearly 10 weeks and 3500+ miles. The Ti-Trikes Recumbent was a marvelous way to ride. The comfort of a seated position and the stability that three wheels provided, made climbing the mountains much easier than a bicycle. Driving and steering with two front wheels made the downhills easy to corner at high speeds (over 50 mph in mountains).

Mike and I were invited to visit Travis Air Force Base, the base hospital and the Fisher House on base. Travis provides many of the medical evacuation flights to our injured soldiers. We were able to speak first hand to flight crews who are bringing soldiers in from overseas. They were genuinely thankful that we are out trying to provide the medical equipment that these injured troops need during the recovery process.

The final few days of riding took me through Napa and Sonoma wine country. We took pictures and video in the Napa Valley and at Benzinger Winery in Sonoma. Most of the riding in the wine country was on flat roads. The ride from Napa to Sonoma on Napa Road proved eventful as there was a pack of coyotes feasting on a fresh deer kill in the shoulder of the road. I waited several minutes for a line of cars to come and force the coyotes into a vineyard before racing past, as they returned to their breakfast. The ride northwest from brought us to Spring Lake campground at the Santa Rosa/Sonoma border. We were visited by coyotes again in the campsite around midnight as they feasted on the abundant number of ground squirrels. The ride to the coast from Spring Lake started with an easy bile lane ride through Santa Rosa to a Bike trail to Sebastopol. The Bodega Highways was then a challenge of steep uphill climbs fro several miles in traffic with minimal breakdown lane. The last 7 miles from the town of Bodega to town of Bodega Bay was almost all downhill, a welcome easy ride to the ocean. We did additional video and pictures along route one on the coast and visited the US Coast Guard Station in Bodega Bay.

Last two days will feature ride to Mike's Bikes in San Rafael!