Special Thanks

We just wanted to thank a few people that have made special contributions to help make this trip possible.

Special thanks to Adam Kenworthy for lending us a bunch of gear and providing valuable tips on the logistics of such a journey. Adam completed the northern tier route three years ago.

Special thanks to John Novak for helping us get from Seattle to the start in Anacortes, WA. Neither Dave nor I had met John before this trip, and he still bent over backwards to make this happen. We experienced a few problems before the start, but John was able to bail us out of each jam we got ourselves into. John also completed the northern tier route three years ago.

Special thanks to my Dad for unexpectedly joining us in Libby, Montana. Ray has been driving support, keeping us out of the weather, and help plan the route. Ray has not ridden his bike across America, but he does have a bike, which is pretty cool.

More thanks to my mother for minimizing the worrying factor, special thanks to the Palazzo's, Bret Arado, Brian Wenzel, Blake Callaway, and the many others randoms along the way that have provided a helping hand. Most of these people have been complete strangers ranging from hunters and loggers to grocery store clerks and bike mechanics. All of these people know what it's like to be on the road, and hopefully someday we will be able to return the favor. Thanks again.

Justin and Dave

The GC

With the king of the mountains jersey all but locked up with Palazzo, the battle for the green jersey heats up. As we transition from the cascades to the rockies, stages 5, 6, and 7 were a day for the sprinters. Two attacks from different farm dogs have lead to 5 points for Justin and another five points for Dave. Since in both instances the loser of the sprint escaped unscaved from the attacking animal, that individual received one point. Nobody wants a half-eaten competitor. The Pallazo also established a 7 point advantage by achieving the first crossing of the Idaho/Montana border on a descent requiring little, if any, skill.

Green Jersey Standings
(1) DP - 23
(2) JJ - 16

Yellow Jersey GC
(1) DP - 52 hours, 45 minutes
(2) JJ - (+ 0.00)


TTT
Also, today's stage was a team time trial. The TTT was a rigourous competition involving the beautiful rolling hills of Montana's glacier region. Team Gutter Ballls fought off lackluster competition and a several unseen grizzly bears to ensure their GC podium status for the participants. Overall time, 4 hours, 2 minutes.


Stage 10 looks to be another battle for the sprinters as the peleton rolls into more grizzly bear country...

Day 9 Kallispell, MT

After completing our first century of the trip yesterday, we've seemed to run into winter here in Montana. This morning a the start of our ride at 9 AM the temperature was 33 degress. It warmied up quite a bit to about 50 but by the time we arrived in Kallispell it was raining and 40 degress. In a counter move from the fierce storms here in northern Montana, we've decided to head south, which takes us into Yosemite. Here is the new proposed route through Iowa:



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Just outside of Sandpoint, ID


Sorry to keep everyone in the dark so long on the GC and points classification, it will be updated soon enough as there has been a lot of action in the green jersey competition.

Day 7 Sandpoint

After six days of riding we are in the cool little mountain town of Sandpoint, Idaho. We've seen a lot of cruiser bikes and bars so we immediately liked the town and thought it would be a perfect place to have our first off day. Justin's been riding strong but he has some pretty serious neck pain from the miles we've put in. He is going to see the chiropractor today while I hang out in town at the bike shop.


Here are some pictures from the state of Washington:





Day 1 at the coast starting the ride.










Not an encouraging sign



At the top of the first major climbing day




These kids were trying to sell us their cats for five dollars, they named the cat on the right Mr. Mustache. That alone was almost enough for Justin to pull the trigger and buy one, we decided to opt out and buy chocolate milk and snickers bars.




Sandpoint, Id

Day 4 Wauconda

The cascades so far have proved to be quite the challenge to bike over. There has been a lot of pain for not a lot of progress. The first climbing day we went over Washington and Rainy pass which was probably the hardest day so far. Justin was getting a lot of honks for encouragement as he struggled to turn the pedals. The good news is we have just one more pass to get over which is Sherman Pass. The bad news is the climb looks to be so steep our elevation map shows it as being overhanging.

Sprint Points

10- Grizzly Bear
9- Black Bear
7- State Line
5- Electrical Speed signs
5- Buffalo/Llama
4- 'World' Anything that says world, ie world's best salmon
1- Animal Crossing signs (No deer)
-5 for a crash
-3 race for misidentified animal

Mountain Classification
10- Hors category
8- Category 1
6- Category 2

Currently Justin holds the Green jersey taking points with two cow crossings and one world sign. Dave has the poka dot jersey taking maximum points for all three passes. Justin is a close second with 24 mountain points.

Finally the General Classification (GC):
Dave- 17 hours 09 min. (Including a 5 second time bonus)
Justin +0.00

Final Preparations and Route Details

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Last estimate on millage for the trip is right around 3600 miles. With about five days to go until we fly out to Seattle, Justin has been instilling loads of confidence in me with quotes like these, "We at least have the plane tickets, so we're definitely going. It's all up in the air what we end up with on that plane and who knows what happens in Seattle."

I guess there's only one way to find out, we fly out on Monday the 21st and start pedaling the next day.