2006 Thompson Cross Country Tour

North Carolina Posse Encounter

2006-09-09T07:12:00.000-05:00

We met 4 of these 5 guys west of Colville, WA on Route 20 , east of the Pend Oreille River. It is interesting to note that they ride with very large gaps (e.g. 30 minutes plus) between each other.

We were just getting started (day ??). They were finishing their ride from North Carolina.

They are very nice guys having lots of fun. Their relaxed attitude encouraged us!

Take a minute to read their blog!

Everybody Wang Chung tonight ... JIM

Paul and Nita Moore

2006-08-31T20:31:00.000-05:00

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=lt&page_id=38874&v=k9

We met Paul and Nita Moore just east of Afton, MN.

Paul mis-interprets my favorite closing, "Go Fast."

... JIM

Welcome to the Nutmeg State

2006-08-29T21:55:00.000-05:00

August 18, 2006

And here are the numbers...

2006-08-22T12:44:00.001-05:00

3819 miles
49 days
698 pictures taken
41 touring cyclists met
19 city parks slept in
4 flat tires (2 - Soo Mi, 2 - Dad, 0 - Yoo Mi)
2 articles of clothing lost (Yoo Mi's sock & shorts - although the shorts were later found by Dave, a xc cyclist we met earlier, and he sent them to Uncle Bert's lake house)
117 degrees was the highest temperature on the road in Prescott, MN
48 degrees was the lowest temperature at the top of Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, MT
8 mountain passes climbed
13 states
77 minutes passed without seeing a car coming in either direction (after leaving Harlem, MT)
113 miles - longest mileage day (Mentor, Ohio - Corry, PA)
16 miles - shortest mileage day (Branford, CT - Madison, CT)
60-75 pounds of gear (plus bike)
6 times fallen off the bike (4 - Yoo Mi, 2 - Soo Mi, 0 - Dad)
1 hour of riding in the rain (for the entire trip!)
3 nights we slept on picnic tables
14.5 hot dogs eaten between four people, including...
3.5 pounds of beans
4 a.m. was the earliest wakeup

If you want any other numbers, let me know and leave a comment!!

The Home Stretch

2006-08-16T11:24:00.000-05:00

Hey Y'All,

We are taking a rest day at Elk Lake in Waymart, PA.

Day, Date, Camp, Comment
39, 08/09/06, Grand Rapids, OH ... camped at the baseball field adjacent to the library (internet access) and town swimming pool, restful
40, 08/10/06, Huron, OH ... great bike path from Fremont to Clyde, via telephone message from Dave of Arizona he enjoyed the pancakes we left for him in Monroeville AND he found the shorts that fell off Yoo Mi's bike
41, 08/11/06, Mentor-on-the-Lake, OH ... horrible pavement all day, hot rod show invitation at the Methodist Church, subsequent dinner and camping
42, 08/12/06, Corry, PA ... the Harecreek Campgrounds gets two thumbs way up, PA bike trail and road shoulders are a welcome change from OH
43, 08/13/06, Coudersport, PA ... after our encounter with the weird and wired OTP campgrounds lady we peddled an additional 15 miles into dusk, the city swimming pool was closed, the city park was too exposed, the yard between the Verizon building and the Post office served our minimal needs
44, 08/14/06, Towanda, PA ... Bradford County Park three miles off route was perfect, we stayed under a pavilion during torrential midnight rains
45, 08/15/06, Waymart, PA ... Route 107 from Carbondale defines 'up and down' terrain, scenic northern PA panoramic views
46, 08/15/06, Waymart, PA ... Uncle Bert's lake side cottage

On Sunday we will dip our front wheels into the Atlantic and thereby conclude our trans-American ride.

EVERYONE is invited to our 08/20/06, Sunday, 1:00pm WELCOME HOME PARTY, Hammonasett (sp?) State Park pavillion. Please contact Bev Farler (860-628-5557), Bob Stack (860-371-4502), or Shin Ae Thompson (860-673-7700) for additional details. I hope to see y'all there.

Pray for Peace ... JIM

Upppp and DDoooowwnnnnn

2006-08-14T17:23:00.000-05:00

That's basically what describes Route 6 in Pennsylvania. That and beautiful valleys and mountains. But to tell you the truth, it's much better than the flats AND the horrible pavement of Ohio. Cleveland and its suburbs really have to do something about their roads. I could hardly look up from the road, grrr.

We also noticed that northeastern Ohio has this weird obsession with personal ponds. Everyone has one in their front or back yard and they decorate them with rafts and slides and sometimes even canoes (I guess it can be fun going around and around and around a pond that has a diameter of 20 ft). Yeah, it was weird.

Tonight we're going to Towanda...not sure where we're going to stay (last night we got in late into Coudersport and camped out next to the post office, haha!) but wherever we are, we will be celebrating dad's big 5-0!!! And of course, there's always room for cake and a half gallon carton of ice cream for the three of us :)

Don't we all need an Atomic Blast Shelter?

Approaching Cleveland, OH!

I think we're out of Casey's General Market Land...

2006-08-09T18:39:00.000-05:00

The title post is such a sigh of relief!! For a while in Illinois and Indiana, we were traveling through beautiful miles of cornfields and country roads...but also small towns. Which means, there isn't much but of course, your trusted Casey's, a gas station/convience store that's filled with random dried/canned food and of course, donuts. It was a challenge for some days to find a piece of fresh fruit.

But the countryside in these parts of the country is so amazing. I cannot believe the amount of corn and soybean fields that we saw...for miles and miles and more miles. And we just traveled through two states! The whole world must survive on the corn we grow.

The roads in this part of the country are numbered in a specific way. In each county, there is a merdian line (half way east to west) and half way line (north to south) For each mile in whatever direction, the road number is 100. So if a road is 7 miles east of the merdian, it would be 700E. And this was done for 911 six years ago to help find people out on their farms. I thought this was very interesting (especially that 911 was only initiated 6 years ago!)

I am so happy to finally have internet access here in Grand Rapids, OHIO (already!). Some PUBLIC libraries have tried to charged for internet access, which I personally don't understand and won't pay for. Anyways, it's time for the library to close up and for us to take a shower at the city pool next door! Shower = happy

3,000 Miles and Still Laughing

2006-08-09T18:19:00.000-05:00

Hey Y'All,

We've been riding 100 mile days for 5 to 7 days. After a dreamy camp in Monroeville, IA, we opted for a late start and easier 85 mile day.

DAY ... DATE ... CAMP ... COMMENT

20, 07/21, Makoti, ND, (pop<80)

21, 07/22, Granville, ND, no grocery , no gas station, yet 3 bars

22, 07/23, Rugby, ND, Kurt The Odd, Pierce County Fair Grounds, 1907 Amtrak station

23, 07/24, Minnewaukan, ND, city park with showers

24, 07/25, Cooperstown, ND, pop=1000, thriving, competitive horse-shoe throwing facility, tiled and clean facilities at the town park

25, 07/26, Fargo, ND, May we move here?, Mike at Island Park Cycles, Bike-built-for five, Soo Mi re-joins
26, 07/27, Pelican Rapids, MN, turkey processing, 5 immigrant populations, Bosnians
27, 07/28, Long Praire, MN, 2:30 am wind and rain storm, scary, so much gear blown into and around Lake Charlotte
28, 07/29, Malaca, MN, bar/camp + no vacancy at Super 8 + darkness = Pastor Brown's house
29, 07/30, Osceola, WI, St. Croix River
30, 07/31, Red Wind, MN, Lance The Weird
31, 08/01, Brownsville, MN, !!RAIN!!, Mosquitos, Wind, Rain, swimming in the Missippi, Yoo Mi with 1,000 mosquito bites
32, 08/02, Marquette, MN
33, 08/03, Cascade, IA, baseball field, Casey's

34, 08/04, Reynolds, IL, Muscatine city shock, road tar/sand tire build-up 1/2 inch

35, 08/05, Henry, IL, Dave from Arizona, hot dog and bean eating demonstration

36, 08/06, Ashkum, IL

37, 08/07, Fletcher, IN, Fantastic Barn Roof Art

38, 08/08, Monroeville, IN, every touring cyclist MUST visit Monroeville, the town park pavillion provides cyclists ... hot shower, full kitchen, full laundry, TV/video/dvd, cots, etc.

We are on the home stretch and will see ya soon enough!
Go with God's Grace ... JIM

Red Wing, Minnesooooooota

2006-07-31T19:33:00.001-05:00

Hey Y'all,

!!! NEVER BEEN BRIGHTER !!!

Tonight, 07/31/06, we are camping in Red Wing, MN. Today, a NEW RECORD ... 14 quarts of water over 80 miles! We have started to encounter some humidity and the 'on road temperature' was between 102 and 110F with bright sun and a FIERCE head wind all day. No worries. We got a kick out of the effort.

MN farms are very neat and tidy.

Met Dave from Arizona. He's headed east. We rode together for awhile. It's amazing how many of the same places we camped at different times.

We heard at a random taco stand in Prescott, Wisconsin ?, that the 'bicycle-built-for-four', which we passed on the slope up Washington Pass, took a train to Prescott and is now approximately two days in front of us. I hope we meet them again! I want a bicycle built for four.

Soo Mi is back and stronger than before. Yoo Mi is a climbing machine, although she hates hills.

I'll catch up on events since my last post later.

Go Fast ... JIM

Food poisioning really really really sucks

2006-07-26T12:25:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I had food poisioning and it made me miss two days of the trip. It was very depressing but my body told me that I needed to take a couple of days to rest and get better.

It started in Newtown, MT, where I ate a turkey sandwich that probably had been sitting out too long. Yoo Mi had the other half of the sandwich, but for some reason, I only got sick. And by sick, I mean terribly sick. I couldn't keep anything down, including water. Now I don't want to go into any graphics, but yeah...it was bad.

So that night, we stayed in Makoti, MT, made it to Granville, MT the next day (about 65 miles) and then Rugby, MT (the geographical center of North America btw), which is another 40 miles. But I still wasn't feeling better, so I decided to stay while Dad and Yoo Mi went on. I stayed with a GREAT family, the Andersons, and now I'm at the Fargo Public Library (that only lets you use the computer for 15 minutes)...AHHH, its shutting down...okay, Dad and Yoo Mi are meeting me tonight. More to come!!

p.s. I forgot to mention that I came to Fargo via Amtrak from Rugby. Since there's only one train that leaves westbound and one that leaves eastbound per day, I had to be sure to make my train at 10:52 pm (arriving in Fargo at 2:30 am!). Sorry for all the confusion!!

Summary Update

2006-07-20T14:40:00.000-05:00

Hey Y'All,

It's never been brighter!

Some quick notes:

Day, Date, Camp Site

13, 07/14, Cut Bank, MT ... 25 mph headwind 10 miles from town was draining, 100 mile views, met Adam from Eureka again, Big Sky truely begins

All touring cyclists should treat themselves to lunch at the Spud's Cafe, 1st Street East, Chester, MT!!

14, 07/15, Hingham, MT ... population less than 500, Texan 'combine' harvest crews, a 15,000 acre wheat and barley ranch, combine technology

15, 07/16, Harlem, MT ... city park & swimming pool, they open the town hall for our use of the facilities (Would Avon do that?), the mosquito attack begins, municipal vehicular midnight mosquito poison fogger (Tom K., do you remember chaseing the DDT foggers around the Newington neighborhood?)

16, 07/17, Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs, MT ... long & curious 'resort' history, great hot spring, the mosquito attack culminates, Did you know that Saco is the proud mosquito capital of Montana? Did you know mosquito swarms can attack uncovered skin at 20 mph?

17, 07/18, Wolf Point, MT ... Ms. Mary Madison sets an example for all of us. Met Ferdinand from Germany via Vermont after his 200 mile day. ... great home-made panniers from cat litter plastic boxes

18, 07/19, Williston, ND ... park, library, baseball, spokes

19, 07/20, Williston, ND ... deep and true western hospitality

I recommend touring cyclists carry the parts and tools required to replace broken spokes on the 'drive' side of the rear wheel.

The ride has been beyond all expectations. The word AWESOME is inadequate!!! One million laughs, stories, 'characters', sites, and experiences. Truly ... once in a lifetime. We'll see y'all soon enough. Pray for Peace!

Go Fast ... JIM

Lovin' those tailwinds

2006-07-19T09:21:00.000-05:00

I am writing this post from Wolf Point, Montana, home of the Wild Horse Stampede and the Future Cowboy Hall of Fame. We stayed at Mary Madison's house, a woman who has graciously opened her house to all bicycling travelers (She's listed on this website: warmshowers.org; check it out!). A couple of days ago we ran into Brent, a bicyclist who was riding from Maine to Washington and he gave us Mary's name and recommended staying here. Mary herself has rode her bike to AND from Wolf Point to Bar Harbour, Maine. And she's 71!!

Yesterday was a great riding day...GREAT tailwinds, did 100 miles!! The day before that, we had an unusual experience with some headwinds and it is just exhausting...so the return of tailwinds was very much welcomed.

The weather is hot of course, just like the rest of the country. It reached about 111 degrees on the road. And you really have to come out here to believe it yourself but the wheat and barley and hay fields go on and on and on for hundreds of miles. We actually met a combine crew in Hingham, MT, that is hired to do the harvesting around here and they said that the farmer they were cutting for had a 15,000 ACRE farm. We were guessing like 500 - 1000 acres...boy were we off, haha!

Today we're looking to get to Williston, NORTH DAKOTA (another state!!) which is about 100 miles away. Hopefully we'll have some of those sweet sweet tailwinds :)

Summary

2006-07-13T22:22:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Internet access, thus far, has not been as available as I estimated. The following list of dates and camp sites describes our progress:

07/02 ... Anacortes, WA (start)

07/02 ... Sedro Woolley, WA

07/03 ... Newhalem, WA (nature's embrace, http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;geocode=&q=Newhalem,+WA&ie=UTF8&ll=48.668178,-121.250439&spn=0.019868,0.057077&z=15&om=1)

Our daily plan is to purchase our evening meal and breakfast supplies as late in the day as possible and thereby carry less weight while cycling. We cook dinner and breakfast at our camp site. (Side Note: the Coleman Dual Fuel Apex Stove is much better than the MSR Whisper Lite. The Apex is no longer in production but the Apollo is even better ( http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=9760-A25&categoryid=2005 )).

We stopped in Marblemount, WA just after mid-day and just before entering the Ross Lake National Recreation Area, part of the Northern Cascades National Park. We considered and decided not to purchase supplies here. Instead, we would set camp at the Vistors Center, clean-up, and mosey into Newhalem, WA to purchase supplies. Well, we leisurely set camp and wash-up and start chatting with other campers. Uh-Oh ... We are informed that the only store in town closed at 5:00pm. Nancy and Nancy were leaving the next day and kindly shared some left over provisions. Lesson learned! Always carry a couple ramon noodle packets, an onion, and some instant oatmeal for those emergency days. Thanks Nancy and Nancy!

The Nancies saved the day!! The kindness of strangers is inspiring.

07/04 ... Mazama, WA (Rainy & Washington kick butt)
07/05 ... Omak, WA (the Omak Stampede rules!) 07/06 ... Republic, WA

07/07 ... Colville, WA (nicest town and park), camp in the park ... not at the fairgrounds

07/08 ... Usk, WA
07/09 ... Clark Fork, ID

Kootenai Falls (just west of Libby, MT)

07/10 ... Libby, MT
07/11 ... Eureka, MT (seven bike tourists alone in the town park, 100 miles)

07/12 ... West Glacier, MT (Logan's Pass and 70 miles)
07/13 ... Cardston, Alberta CA

The MAJOR passes (Rainy, Washington, Loup Loup, Wacaunda, Sherman, and Logan) are now behind us.
Yoo Mi is getting much stronger every day. She climbed Logan's pass in 2 hours this morning. Soo Mi and I saw her at the bottom and then at the top. Park Rangers require all bikes over the pass by 11:00am. She was determined to beat the deadline!

My access time is up. I have too many stories to share!

!!! Our FAVORITE road sign !!!

Go Fast ... JIM

ALIVE!! in Kettle Falls, WA

2006-07-07T17:55:00.000-05:00

Here we are, at the Kettle Falls Public Library, after 6 days of riding. We've passed through the Cascades (BEAUTIFUL) on the North Cascades Highway, going over five passes (Rainy 4855', Washingon 5477', Loop Loop 4020', Wauconda 4310', Sherman 5575') in four days!! The weather has been great - sunny and dry, sometimes reaching as high as 109 degrees.

Meeting nice people along the way and the camping has been good. Hopefully we'll be in Idaho within the next two days. And in the flatlands!!!

So what do you bring?

2006-06-30T23:16:00.000-05:00

Many people have asked me what exactly do you need to bike across the country. Here's a pretty comprehensive list of what I am bringing:

-Bike (Jamais Aurora)
-Tent (Performance Lite series)
-Sleeping bag (Slumberjack), in a compression sack
-Stove (Coleman Exponent)
-Mess kit (cup, plate, bowl & pot)
-Utencils (spoon, fork & knife and hook on to each other)
-1 green scrubber for washing dishes
-measuring cups
-2 bike shorts
-2 bike shirts (1 t-shirt, 1 tank top)
-2 Thoro socks
-1 pair of cycling shoes
-1 pair of sandals
-1 fleece
-1 rain jacket and rain pants (lightweight & packable of course!)
-1 t-shirt
-1 pair of convertible pants (there's a zipper at the knees to convert the pants to shorts)
-1 sports bra
-1 pair of underwear
-1 folding toothbrush (finally they make something like this!!)
-1 mini tube of toothpaste
-1 small very absorbant camping towel
-1 bar of soap (we like to use Kirk's Castile Soap b/c it will soap up in any water)
-1 35mm camera
-1 camcorder (Dad's going to be carrying that one)
-1 whistle (to keep away those dogs)
-1 Pulsar light (very very small)
-1 bottle of water purifier tablets
-1 bottle of 30 spf suntan lotion
-1 tweezer
-1 nail clipper
-4 hair ties (although I just cut 8" of my hair for this trip...)
-1 journal & pens
-20 stamps
-1 chapstick
-bike repair tools
-2 extra bike tubes
-small pack of baby wipes
-1 bottle of ibprofen
-med kit (just in case!)
-duct tape ("...it's what holds America together", for all of you Praire Home Companion fans)

I think I've covered it all for now. Looking at this list, it seems like a lot, but you'd be surprise what all this fits into. Can't wait to share pictures with you all!

Cramps, Why and How to avoid

2006-06-30T08:20:00.000-05:00

Cramps

Few things are as annoying as muscle cramps! The link above discusses their cause and prevention. Table salt mixed with 50% apple juice and 50% water has ALWAYS worked for me.

We'll be careful to consume adequate salts during our ride through some hot and dry territories!

Go Fast ... JIM

Cycling Shame

2006-06-30T08:01:00.000-05:00

www.cyclingnews.com news and analysis

I'm a cycling fan. The news that stars like Ullich and Basso are implicated in yet another blood doping scheme is disappointing.

Why would any sponsor want to associate their company's good name with a 'sport' rotten to the core?

Go Fast ... JIM

Our Route

2006-06-29T09:32:00.000-05:00

Adventure Cycling Association

We will be riding the Northern Tier Route as published by the Adventure Cycling Association. For more detail, follow the link above and select "details" from the map selection.

We plan to complete the ride at the Connecticut shore (note: At at the start, traditionally, you dip your rear wheel in the Pacific and at the end dip your front wheel in the Atlantic). Therefore, we will ride off the published route in PA and ride generally eastward along Route 6.

Crazyguyonabike: Bicycle tour journals, forums and resources

2006-06-22T08:43:00.000-05:00

Crazyguyonabike: Bicycle tour journals, forums and resources

Photo Test

2006-06-13T10:59:00.000-05:00

We start from Anacortes, WA on 07/02/06.

Adventure Cycling - Northern Tier

2006-06-04T15:05:00.000-05:00

Thank you Adventure Cycling Association!! This is the Northern Tier route that we're going to be taking...except we're ending up in CT (not Maine as pictured). More info to come...

GET READY TO RUMBBLLLLEEE!!