Day 54: 5:30 am wakeup you read that right

The earliest morning we’ve ever had. 

We literally woke up at 5:30 AM and left at 6:30 AM. 

@ my parents who may think I am incapable of waking up early, look at me now!!! 

Tubb and I took the early start because I had a lunch appointment in Louisville at 1 PM - this gave us just over 6 hours to knock out 70 miles. Somehow, after 225 miles in two days, we were still able to get it done - with the help of some coffee, of course. When I was a kid, my parents always told me, “Don’t drink coffee because once you’ve started, you can’t stop!!!” I think I’m now at the point where I can’t stop. Whenever one of our hosts offers us coffee, my head perks up and my eyes widen in excitement. Today’s coffee was sponsored by McDonald’s and a gas station. Ricker Dining better watch out next year.

The ride today was lovely. After our day of 125 miles, 70 miles doesn’t feel too bad, which is literally insane considering the fact that some of us hadn’t biked more than 10 miles in a day before this trip (me included). Tubb and I even had a chance to bike across a bridge and visit Indiana, which is right across from Louisville! Now my new state total for this trip is at 5 - Utah, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, and Indiana!! 

My lunch was with my 2019 summer camp microeconomics teacher, who lives in Versailles, Kentucky, a small town outside of Lexington (where we’ll bike in a few days). Seeing him for the first time in five years and meeting his wife was such a treat - we talked about everything, from culture shock to triathlon training to memories at camp in Los Angeles, California when I was 14 years old. Corey and Kelly, thank you so much for an amazing lunch and for driving out to see me!! We will definitely be having another reunion in the near future - I couldn’t be more grateful to have had spent some time with you both.

Amazing post-5:30am wakeup lunch

The rest of our team seemed to have a lovely day as well. They biked, played in a waterpark (one of the sprinkler types that toddlers run through), and drove to Indiana and order Thai food because everyone knows you can find the best Thai food in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Then, they ate it by the Ohio River, leaving Tubb and me at the house until 5 PM. 

Luckily, we were able to reunite for dinner (after Kawther and I slept from 7-9 PM) and cooked vegetables! 

Genuinely one of my favorite days of this trip so far. Maybe we should try waking up early more.

Will

Days 52 & 53: The 2 & 1st Century

We had a challenge—how do we get from Murphysboro, IL to Brandenburg, KY (225 miles) in two days? Well, the answer is two centuries in a row including my first century. Thank you for the applause for my beautiful pun of a title. (More on the other side of that pun below.)

Day 52 involved 125 miles from Murphysboro to Spottsville, a small town in Kentucky. Eva, Tubb, and Will set out at 7:15 am (a record!) to get a head start while the rest of us packed.

Thank you to our wonderful host, Jessica!

Will, Tubb, and Eva set off.

The rest of us pack.

The pack the van team!

We don’t have too many pictures from the rest of that day because we were simply pounding those miles out. (We’ve tried many slogans over the weeks, but we’ve finally settled on ‘Let’s pound it out guys’). But here’s a brief play by play:

9 am: Van leaves. This is a record early start for the van.

25 miles: I join Tubb, Eva, and Will in Marion. Amazingly, this still allows me to complete my first century.

48 miles: We stop in Harrisburg and grab a few snacks.

69 miles: Lunch at the Lincoln Street Grille & Pub in Shawneetown.

72 miles: We cross the Ohio River into Kentucky. Goodbye, Illinois!

Entering Kentucky! (Being a tech dinosaur, I was unable to figure out how to un-mirror the photo)

87 miles: We take a rest break at the Uniontown Public Library at 4:30 pm. 87 miles by 4:30 pm!

98 miles: We cross paths with a local motorcycle rider named Joe Carr and chat for half an hour about riding, family, politics, and life. He’ll start producing elderberry wine in roughly two years under the brand name ‘Pawpaw Heritage’ so stay tuned if you ever pass by Morganfield, Kentucky!

110 miles: Slushies from Casey’s in Henderson, and a gorgeous sunset across the Ohio River.

125 miles: We end the day’s bike ride in Spottsville. This marks 100 miles for me, and 125 miles for Will and Tubb. I genuinely have no idea how they did it—they’re incredible.

9:45 pm: Arrive at the bike hostel in Sebree, KY. Consume dinner and shower.

11 pm – 12 am: We go to bed.

Day 53 involved another 100 miles from Spottsville to Brandenburg. Passing everything from rolling hill country to industrial complexes, we got to again see the diversity of 21st century America. We also had the privilege of meeting Esther and David, owners of the Kountry Korner Market in Stephensport. They generously provided us with some delicious, locally grown cherry tomatoes and left quite an impression of what it means to live life joyfully. I’ll let the pictures below tell the rest of the day’s story.

Starting the day on the backroads of the Ohio River floodplains

Picking up some delicious free tomatoes

Kawther building bridges between people and sheep

One portion of 21st century America: Us, modern cars, older architecture, and the ancient Ohio River

Bookmarks and horehound (approx. root beer) candy from the Kountry Korner Market

That night, we stayed in a bar built by our host, John, on his property. John is a legend who has completed 47 half-marathons, and we had a great time chatting with him and his friends.

And that’s a wrap, y’all!

Hunter

Days 50 & 51: Bike Hostel and Grub with a Tree

Howdy, it’s Kawther! I’m writing this blog as I savor a cold glass of milk at our wonderful hosts’ house in Charleston, WV. Just kidding, it’s Jonathan ghostwriting for Kawther. What gave it away?

On day 50, we set out from our comfy airbnb in St. Louis. Tired of the lack of shade on east-to-west routes, we rode directly south to Farmington, where we stayed at Al’s Bike Hostel, one of the most famous bike hostels on the Trans-Am Trail. We had the whole place and its 20-something beds to ourselves, but we didn’t have too much time to spread out. We quickly changed, showered, and headed a few blocks down the street to get a scrumptious dinner with Katie, a Stanford alum in the area. We loved the opportunity to spend time with another recent Stanford student and talk about dorms, classes, sports, etc. after two months of explaining to people that we go to Stanford in California not Samford in Alabama (we love all of our conversations though!).

Pretty river view on the way out of St. Louis

Dinner with Katie! This restaurant was phonomenal in all respects except including me in our group photo :(

After a great night’s sleep, we reached a new state (Illinois) the next day on our ride into Murphysboro. After a quick dinner and some fun conversation with our host Jessica, we hit the hay in preparation for our longest ride of the trip on day 52.

Day 51 gravel + river crossing

DAY 48 & 49: St. Louis Adventures

Sup blog!

This is Eva :) Apologies for our delay, we've been zooming. 

St. Louis was a delightful blend of teaching, exploration and connection with loved ones!

Here’s a recap of St. Louis through pictures:

Cool sign we saw on the way to the airport to pick up Will!

My family made sure we had a scrumptious dinner waiting for us at the airbnb!

We played endless rounds of Brawl Stars with my younger brother and little cousin!

Us eating dinner! (we eat a lot)

Cake that my little cousin made for us to celebrate our progress!

The next morning Will and I explored WashU!

A WashU dining hall.

Will and I shocked by the bougie the WashU dining hall.

Will playing arcade in the bougie WashU dining hall.

Then, we visited Forest Park! It was sooooooo hot.

We explored the St. Louis Art Museum.

I was so excited to see Degas's famous sculpture, The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer, because of this!

Then, we all met up at The Loop (aka a hip street where cool kids go). Ethan and I shared a scrumptious poke bowl and Kawther got her insomnia cookie!

The Loop had many cute shops, including this bookstore that we stayed at for over an hour engrossed in various books. #nerds

Hello famous Arch!

This is what we would’ve looked like inside the Arch!

Below the Arch existed an awesome museum!

We also made sure to stop by the Mississippi River and debated over the possible consequences of touching the water.

The next morning we taught 86 campers at the South City Family YMCA!

Tubb (or “bathtub” as the kids like to say) demonstrating a chemical reaction with chalk rockets.

Campers making slime while learning about psychology!

Hunter’s big elephant toothpaste reveal!

My strawberry DNA workshop with very young scientists!

All the campers were so sweet and engaged!

Campers solving Ethan’s escape room to land a spaceship.

Tubb prepping young campers for rocket making.

After a full day of teaching at the YMCA, we stopped by Boys Hope Girls Hope of St. Louis and did a Q & A college panel with scholars in middle and high school!

Lastly, we had an amazing dinner with my family friends.

For my first time in St. Louis, I had a blast! Spending time with family made the trip even more special :)

Peace,

Eva 🚴‍♀️

Days 44-47: KATY TRAIL!!!

Howdy blog! It’s Tubb. The team has been so busy biking, teaching, and experiencing this unique journey since we said “KC-you-later.” In this three-part blog, I’ll fill y’all in on the fantastic four days we spent on the Katy Trail, which we used to traverse Missouri from Kansas City to St. Louis

Part 1: The Trail

When we planned our time in Missouri back in Nevada, we were disappointed to learn that the most popular trans-Missouri cycling route would be inaccessible to us. That’s because the Katy Trail, named after the old KT railroad that used to cross the state, is gravel. And as a team, our experiences with gravel in the American West have been, to put it mildly, less than stellar. I was sad — I’d read such great things about the trail and was disappointed our gear would prevent us from checking it out. Or so we thought.

In Salida, a local bike shop mechanic heard we’d be passing through Missouri and recommended we at least give the trail a shot and see how it felt. He was worried especially for Hunter, Kawther, and Eva on their 25s but thought it might work. Then, our Topeka warm showers hosts told us we could probably pull it off. So, our mapping wizard Hunter started designing routes to conquer the trail.

On day one, Eva and I saddled up early and hit the gravel. Our first realization was that not all gravel is created equal. Like not even close. The Katy trail is made of PUG, a type of crushed limestone smoother than some west-half roads. For >90% of the trail, we rode with almost no issue. In fact, we averaged less flats on the trail than we did off of it.

Besides the surface, there were so many other awesome aspects of the trail. I started writing them in a sentence, but it became a run-on super fast, so see the list below:

• Shade! Shade! Shade! Colorado and Kansas had treated us to beating sun, so the “tree tunnels” that form most of the Katy canopy were incredibly appreciated. The temperature was perfect, the Spokes weren’t sunburned, and the vibes were good.

• The views…first of all, the forests of Missouri are absolutely beautiful. We saw lots of cool wildlife (I definitely didn’t get hit by an errant groundhog) and the river vistas, tunnels, and railroad bridges wonderfully punctuated the bikes.

• The grade…because the Katy Trail is a rail trail (meaning it was created from the old KT walk-along), it can’t be any steeper than the old railroad. And old railroads weren’t very steep, meaning we were able to keep speed and avoid torturous climbs for almost the entire state.

• The people we met…see part 2.

• The beautiful towns along the way…see part 3.

• The opportunity to reflect and think from really within nature…see part 4.

Before parts 2, 3, and 4, I’ll drop some stats from the four days on the trail:

• Day 1, Kansas City to Sedalia, 100.43 miles, 2166 feet climbed, 32.3 mph top speed

• Day 2, Sedalia to Columbia, 69.45 miles, 1106 feet climbed, 24.1 mph top speed

• Day 3, Columbia to Hermann, 78.26 miles, 423 feet climbed, 0 mph top speed (I drove the van)

• Day 4, Hermann to St. Louis, 82.38 miles, 1326 feet climbed, 29.0 mph top speed

See some trail pictures below:

Part 2: The People

Most noticeably, we lost someone right as we started along the Katy trail. Will left the team from KC and returned to St. Louis, meaning he unfortunately missed all of the trail.

But in his absence we met so many cool people…

In Sedalia, we stayed at a beautiful United Methodist Church where we were met with overwhelming hospitality from the pastor, community, and even early morning ping pong club.

In Columbia, we stayed with Vince and Denise through warmshowers. We shared great stories, they made amazing lasagna, and we slept amazingly. They gave us a great ice cream recommendation we took advantage of the next day in Jefferson City.

In Hermann, we stayed with Keeley and Lee through warmshowers. We spoke with them about everything from cycling to off-the-grid living to sustainable farming. Their cats were incredibly regal and thankfully not too allergenic.

And in St. Louis, we met Eva’s family! More to come on that in the next blog.

Lastly, we met so many people on the trail. Unfortunately I am impressively bad with names, but we loved meeting the cross-country cyclist from Bellingham, WA, the adventurer who owned the KT Caboose (best lunch of the trail), the antique store owner in Augusta, and everybody else we met during the four days. The unexpected interactions on the side of the trail or in a random antique store make this trip so amazing.

Part 3: The Places

To be frank, I wasn’t expecting anything crazy out of Missouri. But it was awesome (sitting in second a hare behind Utah in my current states-biked-through ranking)! Some of my favorite spots included:

• Every single little river and stream…great excuses for breaks and selfies.

• The antique shop in Augusta…so much cool stuff, lots of amazing gifts and relics of previous eras and Missouri history. Hunter and I literally spent almost thirty minutes looking through early 1900s postcards.

• The ice cream shop in Jefferson City…cool vibes but mostly I just love ice cream.

• The visitor center in Booneville…cool information, a museum, and a beautifully painted old bike.

• Every single Casey’s…S-tier gas station. 99 cent slushies and free ice water were gas (pun intended).

• Wherever I got a scrumptious chocolate raspberry rhubarb pie in Rocheport. It went so well with an Arnold Palmer.

• The big tree in Columbia…very grand.

• The two live music venues I stumbled upon mid-show in Hermann.

• The sunflower fields in Marthasville.

See some cool photos below:

Part 4: The Ponderings

As I mentioned above, biking the Katy Trail gave me lots of time to think. I thought about a lot of things, but I’ll talk about a few here:

• The time, money, and effort organizations and local governments have put into rail trails like the Katy Trail is incredibly appreciated. It truly takes a village (and by  village I mean the entire cycling community of Missouri) to maintain a resource like the Katy Trail and it’s so cool that the community is willing to devote so much to the trail. I wish I had something so cool in or near San Antonio.

• Trees are amazing. This sounds stupid, but after a tragic tree shortage in east Colorado and most of Kansas, being surrounded by surprisingly lush forest had me thinking about how nice trees are for bikers and how vital they are for our environment.

• I’ve said this in previous blogs, but being so immersed in the beautiful nature of Missouri in a biker’s paradise had me reflecting on how blessed we are to have this opportunity, these people around us, and this one-of-a-kind country to bike across.

day 43: kc-ya later

Hi everyone! We just finished teaching at aSTEAM Village in Kansas City, an incredible education center that engages students and families in hands-on, community-based STEAM learning. The kids were so engaged and we loved getting to know them and sharing some tidbits of knowledge with them!! Here are some photos from our workshops.

In the afternoon, we got the chance to walk through Kansas City!! After yesterday’s beautiful bike ride, I couldn’t wait to see some more of the city. Also, this is one of the biggest metropolitan areas we’ve visited on this trip, so there was no shortage of attractions to explore! 

First, we got to see the Kansas City Central Library, one of the most beautiful libraries I’ve seen. With four floors, I could literally spend the entire day in the library reading and writing. Truly beautiful.

Jaw dropped

Then, we sauntered through the city to Thou Mayest, a coffee shop in the River Market neighborhood. I got an on-tap mango kombucha, which was actually a need. A true need. The kombucha coupled with a reading and journaling session in the comfy couches of Thou Mayest was exactly what I needed to recharge from biking 7 of the past 8 days.

Some of us really needed that cafe break

After Thou Mayest, we headed home to our Warmshowers hosts, Alan and Sandy, who made us a delicious harvest bowl dinner - very sweetgreen core. I’m starting to really understand why the make-your-own-bowl joints like Chipotle and Cava are becoming so popular. Vegetables are actually amazing, and customizing your vegetables is even more amazing. Delish.

Literally had to get sweetgreen the next day because I’m obsessed with vegetables. Mom are you proud?

Overall, Kansas and Kansas City have really surprised me with their natural beauty and kind humans. I never envisioned myself visiting Kansas before embarking on Spokes, but it’s been such an incredible journey through the plains (and rolling hills, @ Eastern Kansas.) 

I’m realizing how much I’ve accustomed myself to the crazy daily biking schedule of waking up at 7AM, eating breakfast, biking and being sweaty for the entire day, and getting to our destination at 7PM to have dinner. Living like a nomad is so much fun. It really keeps me on my toes and never lets me get too comfortable, which is a blessing and a curse in many ways. 

It’s so different from my day-to-day life at home (the wakeup at 7AM and eating breakfast is the most stark difference) and I feel like I’m going to have some insane lifestyle shock when I get back to San Francisco and start living in my room again. Hopefully, though, I’ll keep the 7AM wakeup, nutritious breakfast, and fitness levels. Will keep you guys updated on that post-trip.

-Will

A beautiful passage from The Joy Luck Club. Hopefully I’ll have this finished by the end of the trip and be able to do a book review

Day 42: Out of Kansas, Into Kansas City

Hello again blog! Day 42 was 85.2 miles from Topeka to Kansas City, with a record number of people telling us that we’re crazy for biking in the midday heat. But hey, if it’s already 80 degrees by 7 am, it’ll be hot the whole day and we might as well just sleep in and leave later. (I know this is terrible logic, yet it works so well every morning at 7 am!)

Anyway, a recap of the day. We did manage to set out at a relatively early time for us, and Tom rode with us for the first few miles on his tandem bike alongside Kawther. They proved to be an incredible duo, zooming far ahead of us.

The tandem bike in action!

Then, each experience was followed in quick succession by the next. The heat and humidity really set in, with increasingly large hills as a sweet topping. We picked up cheese curds along with free cucumbers and tomatoes at a farmer’s market. We detoured up and down an absurdly steep and bumpy gravel road due to construction. We visited a beautiful arboretum, with a pond but no mosquitoes since it was so hot. We cooled down in the wonderfully air-conditioned D-dubs Bar and Grill in Eudora. We plunged down into a canyon to visit a beautiful lake, and then worked our way up and out to relax briefly at Electric Park in Lenexa. Lastly, we entered Missouri and had another splendid spaghetti dinner with our Warmshowers hosts Sandy and Alan.

Morning, pensive lake view

Gorgeous gazebo at the arboretum. No mosquitoes!

Afternoon lake on the outskirts of Kansas City, and all smiles

Kawther’s favorite pavilion

Negotiating the foreign concept of a big city

Powering through as we near our destination

And that brings me to a quick reflection now that we’re just over halfway to DC:

So many experiences every single day that I wish I could all stuff into my mind. Not a whole lot of time to stuff it all in.

Protein bars are lifesavers. However, when it comes to Zbars vs. death, I’m less sure what some team members might choose.

Organization of the van is a relentless task. I insist that we’ve been getting much better at it though. Boxes help!

Kindness of people we encounter on this trip continues to be mindblowing. Kindness truly matters.

Eat, sleep, drink, bike. On a bike tour, get those right, and you’ll be able to do whatever you like.

Since the trip started, everyone on the team has grown so much and become like family. It’s been a great time. And speaking of which…

‘24 days left (give or take a couple, as of the day I’m writing this blog). Crazy!!

See you next time, and keep an eye out for our next post about our teaching (and other experiences) in Kansas City!

- Hunter

Day 41: Tailwind to Topeka

Hi blog…it’s Tubb. We’re doing our best to get the blog caught up, so I’ll fill you in on our 65 mile ride from Emporia, KS to Topeka, KS from last week.

Mid-ride flick

After a Super 8 hotel breakfast helped us expedite our morning routine, we were ready to roll around 10. Unfortunately, so were the clouds…so roll in they did, bringing the strongest rain we’ve biked through yet. On the whole, I’m grateful for the dry-ish weather we’ve mostly encountered so far on this trip, but the gradual descent out of Emporia through the stinging rain was an amazing and new start to the day.

Rainy bike maintenence

After some bicycle mishaps and repair, the rain let up, which meant that (unusually late in the state for eastward Kansas bikers) we finally had a tailwind! Gradual uphills became much easier and flats felt practically effortless. It was a much needed break from the constant crosswind of the days prior.

Riding the crosswind through small Kansas towns >>>

The beginnings of a delicious dinner

Before we knew it, we were in West Topeka, with our amazing hosts Tom and Belinda. We shared an amazing spaghetti dinner, each found a comfy nook of their beautiful home, and talked with them about everything from Catholicism to tandem cycling to finding your life passion. I was especially impressed by the time, money, and effort they’d put into both their biking trips and, more importantly, the five foreign exchange students they’d hosted in the previous years. Thank you so much Tom and Belinda!

The crew pre-departure!