Coast to Coast for a Cause 2022

Hey y’all - Dustin again. Let me tell you we had a DAY, and it started with Julia and Brian hearing a loud and really unamused groan as my alarm went off. It’s been rough, and yesterday was our longest day of 64 miles - and today was supposed to be even longer (70 miles, emphasis on supposed to be - more on that later). We started off the day riding in the residential streets of Libby, MT where there was a 60s VW bug we were pretty sure was stalking us because it went up and down the street about 5 times. They eventually went away (we definitely lost them by going a speedy 8 mph). Shortly after we took a 30 minute snack break at the 10 mile mark and we were making pretty good progress!  After that we kept chugging along seeing some good views But at the top of one of the so called “hills” I again thought the group needed a morale boost. So I rolled onto the dirt to take a break and promptly fell off my bike AGAIN as the dirt just fell out from under my tire… (I’m okay again btw). I...

Alright, it’s Julia again! So today we made it into Montana, and we will be in this state for a longgg time. We crossed into Montana and immediately could tell the wildlife is bred different. The bugs are absolutely massive and viscous blood suckers. We did see our first black bear out here! Brian spotted it, slammed on his brakes, one thing lead to another and I ended up ramming into the back of Dustin. Sorry I didn’t get a picture of the bear, I was too busy trying not to fall. I think this was payback for me “making Brian and Dustin fall”.  Other than that our 64mile ride was pretty uneventful. Lots of rolling hills, great views, lots of deer, a time zone switch, and a cute family from GA that actually had a son go to The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp! It’s amazing how small the world really is.  A monumental event did occur, though. Everyone mark your calendars…. Today Dustin (the boy who has been cycling for a decade) told me (the girl who just learned how to ride a bike) th...

Brian here with a bright sunny day today! Finally a day of sunshine and clear skies!! Chuck and Margaret were wonderful hosts and made sure we had a great breakfast to start our day and made sure all our gear was dry and clean. Day 12: Todays ride was desperately needed after yesterday’s rain and it was a nice short 34 miles of relatively flat terrain. The only downside today was that we decided to wear our bags and panniers today, so an extra 35-ish pounds of gear that was not appreciated. Did we think we were hot stuff after making it through the mountains and that our legs were in shape? Yes. Were we humbled today by the extra baggage? A little, but we did it!!  Right on brand, we said that we would start riding today at 8:00 and promptly left at 9:06. On todays ride we saw some really cool stuff and since it was a shorter ride today we had some extra time that we wisely spent getting pizza and ice cream throughout the day.  We also saw some great scenery and a bald Eagle b...

Hey y’all, it’s Dustin again. Y’all really thought that a sunny 90 degree day in Connecticut would translate to a nice day over here on the west coast huh? Well you’d be wrong - it was 40s and pouring all day!  We started off - with honestly a pretty good day - Angie made some breakfast burritos and we got to chat a bit more and take a picture together to celebrate a great two days on the farm with her and her family. Because Brian’s bike broke and we lost a day of riding, Julia’s parents were gracious enough to get up early and drive us just about where we would have started the day.  But it was COLD and WET. We biked over 50 miles today in the cold rain - Julia and Brian were kinda cranky so half way though I decided to cheer them up a little! Nothing makes julia laugh more than me falling off my bike, so I did just that - I fell over on a dirt road, and in an effort to not break a wrist - I just let it happen and fell on my shoulder (still clipped into the bike). It did jus...

Hey everyone! It’s Julia coming atcha with todays adventures. This morning we woke with the mystery of “when are we going to be able to start biking again?” As you may remember from Brian’s post yesterday, we went to bed thinking that he had a bike with a broken frame (aka bike death). Well after a hearty breakfast full of farm fresh bacon, eggs, cheese, pancakes, and fruit, we got the great news from Angie’s friend, who owns the bike shop, that the frame wasn’t actually broken! Brian actually had a busted derailleur (the thing that shifts the gears) and the derailleur hanger (the part that connects it to the frame). Praise be, it’s looking like Brian doesn’t need a new bike! Now came the trouble of where on earth were we going to find a derailleur hanger?! Just to put it in perspective, these things are fairly custom to bikes and not something most bike shops have on hand. Also, lucky us…. most bike shops in the area are closed on Mondays. Oh and to add insult to injury…. it’s downpou...

Hi everyone! Brian here with our trip today finishing up the last of the Washington Mountains!! We started today finishing up our stay with DiAnne and Boyd with a nice breakfast and some parting stories before beginning our ride. Almost immediately we were ascending the last of the mountains up to Sherman Pass which has an elevation of 5575 ft. Even though we started at 8:45 or so at around 2820 ft elevation, it still took us until 12:10 to get the 15 miles uphill and finally get over our last mountain pass in Washington!! We also met a ton of other bikers on the trip including a couple who were doing cross country on a tandem bike, as well as someone who was just finishing his cross country trip going the other way. That means he started his trip in Boston in April…remember how cold that was? Couldn’t be us.  Side note: when I get back to UConn I’m going to christen the stationary bike I trained on for this trip because training on that has single handidly saved my leg muscles fro...