Day 13 - St. Louis, Missouri to Effingham, Illinois

Today we toured St. Louis, cruising the Mississippi shoreline and the Gateway Arch. The river is very high, crews are still cleaning the roads and trails near the river.

The cue sheet was five pages long today, much of it getting us through St. Louis. We did a photo op at the Arch and another in the middle of the bike bridge crossing the Mississippi. After that it was off through the Illinois countryside for a 144 mile jaunt.

Issues were fairly minimal. Jon Batek had a flat and he and Lynn got off route for 11 extra miles. Randy also had a flat, but overall things went pretty well. It was warm and a little muggy, with an annoying head/cross wind from the north all day.

In Illinois the roads were generally very quiet, with some roll, and a few little grinders. A paceline was the best way to get through the day. At various times our group included Randy, Len, Gene, the tandem team of Jim and Lara, and a couple of others that floated in and out. John Newton said what a lot of us are feeling – ‘My legs feel like they have 2,000 miles on them in the past two weeks. Len rode today, for the first time since leaving the tour a week ago. He did well, probably as much from his pent up energy and joy at being back on his bike, as compared to us worn down veterans.

Very tired, fell asleep. I will do a more complete write up tomorrow

Day 12 Osage Beach to St. Louis, Missouri

Today we crossed most of Missouri, a distance of 175 miles. For the most part the roads were fairly flat, with a little headwind, but there were three extremely hilly sections that will affect the dreams and knees of the riders tonight.

Randy and I started out with the strategy of riding easy to the first control then turning it up as the day went on. We knew there were some good hilly sections and wanted to be loose when we got there. The hilly sections were definitely a challenge, but the bigger issue of the day, for many riders, was the number of flats and busy traffic. The flats came in bunches for some people. Patrick had six before swapping his wheels out), the tandem had several. I had two. John Newton had four and had to boot his tire. Andrew only had one, but it came after the last rest stop and just before the rain storm.

Many of the flats came from the 17 mile section on the Katy Trail, a hard packed bicycle trail that follows the Missouri River (and the Lewis and Clark trail). This surface that was not kind to our road tires. Other flats were a result of junk on the shoulders of some of the busy roads we were on. Because we are following the RAAM (Race Across America) route, in some places the course takes the most direct route, rather than shift around on back roads. Today was one of those days and road construction added to the road trash and traffic.


Crossing the Missouri River was a tight squeeze, fortunately drivers were generally pretty patient.

The Katy Trail sections were traffic free, but not flat-free.


Riders did not start arriving at the hotel until 6p, an indication of how long the day was. I came in with Patrick, after we got a nice dose of rain 20 miles out, only the second bit of precipitation we have had.

I am feeling pretty tired after today, a sense shared by a number of riders. The last several days have been long in mileage, hills and now warmer weather that have taken a toll. Everyone is still working hard and are focussed on keeping the momentum going. With a few shorter days coming up, and generally flatter terrain, we hopefully can get a bit of a breather.


Maintenance is a regular part of long trips like these. Tandems seem to require more than their share of upkeep. Jim is replacing the wheel and fixing the rim after another hard day on the road.

Len Zawodniak met us at the finish line in St. Louis, ready to ride. He still has very sore ribs but would rather be doing this than sitting at home in New Jersey. I’m sure he will do well.

We picked up Boris,a German bike tourist, just before the lunch stop. Boris is riding basically the same route we are and he was hoping to meet up with us, for a day or two.

This map is updatd daily and displayed outside the support trailer. We are over 1/2 way across the US - 12 days done, 7 to go.



Tomorrow we are starting ½ hour earlier to avoid early morning St. Louis traffic. It is a shorter day, only 145 miles. The weather looks reasonable 60-80 above, with some chance of thunderstorms.

Day 11 - Yates Center, Kansas to Osage Beach, Missouri

Lots of stuff happened today, aside from another long, hard day on the bike.

First the riding. 185 miles of increasingly steep and long hills. We started in Kansas with wet roads (dodged another rainstorm!) for the last of the flat riding for a while. As we moved into Missouri, about 65 miles into the ride, we started with some short rollers that were fun to roll down and up, with your momentum carrying you along. The rollers gradually got longer and deeper until the climbs reached up to a mile long with continuous up and downs. The down hills became very brief compared to the grinds back up the next hill. The last twelve miles were nasty, with a one mile climb out of the Lake of the Ozarks, then a few more rollers before getting to the hotel in Osage Beach.

Randy, John Newton and I rode together to the first rest stop. Actually Randy pulled us nearly the whole way then continued on at a fast pace to test his mettle for a RAAM (Race Across America) ride next year.

We spread out after this, with the increasing hills dictating riders find their own pace. After lunch I felt pretty spunky and really cruised along for about 40 miles before running out of steam and backing off until the final rest stop. Harold Trease, another RAAM alumni, caught up and passed me but he also slowed down not long after that. When I got to the last rest stop, Randy was still there, having bonked in the same area and was recovering. The relentless hills wore everyone down – but it still beat another day riding through Kansas!

Now the other news:

Lenny’s back! Len Zawodniak, who had to leave the ride a week ago with bruised ribs and hand, is returning to the tour tomorrow night in St. Louis. It will be great to see Len again and have him back on the road with us.

I was the recipient of a nice care package today. A large shipment of Mrs. Fields cookies from my wife Nancy. I shared some but will keep the rest for later sharing with close personal friends, or for when I need a favor. :-)

Scott Luikart is leaving the ride, due to an auto accident injury to his office assistant. Scott’s wife Jennifer drove over to pick him up tonight. This is too bad, as Scott is a fun person, and a very strong RAAM rider who has been doing a good job of keeping Tim Feldman busy and under control by pushing Tim to ride very fast all day. With Scott gone, Tim will be looking for other enthusiasts to push the pace with. :-) Actually Tim is great to ride with and does a nice job of matching his pace to whoever he is with.
There is a chance Scott may rejoin us in West Virginia and for sure we will see him in Williamsburg. Our best wishes to his assistant also.




This is what the lunch stop looks like when you wheel in after riding a 100 miles or so in the morning. Wayne Rosenthal is one of the cheery support crew people that help our days go smoothly.







Once we are done riding for the day, getting your feet in the air helps to drain the blood from your legs. A cold bath also helps.



















Tomorrow is another long day, 175 miles, with many steep hills (8,000' of climbing), lots of turns and road construction as we cruise through the heart of the Missouri Ozarks. I rode through this part of Missouri 30 years ago on the first Bicycle Across Missouri 540 mile ride in 1980. This was the first real organized brevet/ultra marathon event in the US, modeled somewhat after the Paris-Brest-Paris ride in France. This was also the ride that Lon Haldeman and Susan Notroangelo met for the first time. Lon finished first, Susan made it in just under the wire. Over the next decade, Lon and Susan set many records on transcontinental crossings and other ultra marathon events. In the meantime, they formed PACTour (Pacific Atlantic Cycle Tours). Check out http://www.pactour.com/ for more information on their tours and history.

Day 10 - Pratt to Yates Center, Kansas

At 5:30a the alarm goes off. A quick peek outside and it is pouring. There is nothing more depressing for a cyclist than starting a ride in the rain. There is no avoiding the Elite Tour schedule however and we grab the rain gear and convene for breakfast in the vending machine room and hallway.

By 6:15a, miraculously it has stopped raining. Morale improves. Even the flag over the Walmart showing a brisk headwind out of town isn’t enough to stop us now.

The ride starts at 6:30a, as usual. It is cool, the roads are wet and we have a 10 mph breeze in our faces, but it is a good day for a ride. The weather continues to improve all day, ending up in the high 80s and sunshine in Yates Center.

Getting ready to start, just after the rain stopped.

The first couple of hours were cool and damp, until the roads dried up



Today was a funky day, with a lot of weird things. Jim Slauson, the tandem captain, has a sore Achilles tendon and is very tired so the PACTour Comotion tandem is unloaded and set up for Lara to ride with Harold Trease. It takes 30 miles to set up the bike for the two of them, something that normally takes hours and several test rides. They start the ride and quickly blast away from everyone, except Tim Feldman who thinks he has it made for the day by sitting on their wheel.

Things don’t work out that way as Tim gets the first of four flats for the day. The tandem fairs worse, with 7 flats. All told, we accumulate 29 flats today for the entire group, a good percentage of them due to a rough road with very small gravel spread on it that seems to eat up tires. This is only the beginning of the problems for Harold and Lara as a shift cable breaks, then the bottom bracket craters. They have their own support vehicle keeping them moving down the road. They do finally finish though, a tribute to their persistence and the ingenuity of the support crew.

This seems to set the tone for the day as a bridge out causes a 3-4 mile detour for most riders. Instead of the usual groups spreading out over the Kansas prairie, nearly everyone is bunched up, for a while at least, around the detour.

The views today were consistent, lots of prairie, roads stretching into the Kansas horizon.




The rest of the day goes fairly smoothly for most riders, but the first pair of riders does not get to the hotel in Yates Center until 6:15p. Randy and I came in about five minutes later, tired but happy to complete another day.

Wayne Rosenthal and George Jehant, two of our excellent support crew, enjoying their day off by pulling Randy and I along. Thanks, guys.










Mark Pattinson left the tour today to begin his taper for RAAM (Race Across America) that starts in three weeks. We all wish him the best of luck.

A wonderful surprise showed up at the hotel just before we headed out for dinner when Mike and Nancy Myers arrived. Mike and Nancy are PACTour and RUSA legends, completing several PACTour transcontinental rides and over 30 RUSA Super Randonneur series and three Paris-Brest-Paris rides. They have been riding tandem for many years and, although they had to switch to a recumbent tandem two years ago, are still completing brevets regularly – they already have completed a RUSA Super Randonneur series this year and have a week full of brevets planned in July. They are also two of the nicest people you will ever meet. I met them at a PACTour Desert Camp four years ago. It was wonderful to see them and have the chance to talk for a while before they had to leave for the two hour drive home.

Dinner at the Feed Bunker was great and unbelievably inexpensive. The place was nearly full, obviously this was the restaurant of choice when the local people eat out.

Tomorrow the pedaling gets a lot harder with another long day, 185 miles, and the beginning of the Missouri Ozarks hills – steep and rolling. I switched over to a triple crank set several weeks ago to handle these challenges. Hopefully it will be enough.

Day 9 - Ulysses to Pratt, Kansas

Today was the day we all had been dreading since we signed up for Elite Tour - riding through the heart of the Kansas wind tunnel. Yesterday we dodged a bullet a little bit as the winds weren’t as strong as they could have been. Today was 25-35 mph crosswinds all day, mixed with an occasional head wind, and, to be fair, a little bit of quartering tailwind. Scattered thunderstorms loomed all day with occasional spatters. One group got hit pretty hard with a short downpour.

Overall it was a tough day, definitely one to group up with other riders to cope with the wind even though the distance was a relatively short 151 miles.

The PACTour support crew did their best to keep us cheered up. At Mile 45, Tracey and Susan unfurled a big PACTour banner as we went by, and managed not to get blown away.



Four of us started out together (Randy, Jon Batek, Brad Reid and myself), and wisely let the small crazy fast group head off into the sunrise without us. We were able to echelon fairly well for the first forty miles when we caught up with Max Hogan, who had dropped from the fast group. At this point we changed to a flowing double echelon line for a while then eventually broke into two groups so we could ride safely on the shoulder. This worked out pretty well for the rest of the day.

With 60 miles to go, Randy and I were together and he really cranked it up. He is riding stronger every day. I held on and we left the other group of three in the dust, figuratively, as it was still raining off and on. With 30 miles to go, I had a bit of a meltdown. I tried a caffeine energy boost (Dr. Pepper) but nothing happened. Finally, after 20 miles, a GU tube and Payday bar got me fired up again and we finished strong.

Scenic highlights today were minimal, other than two tributes to the winds that blow consistently through this part of Kansas. One was the M. T. Liggetts Political Statement Emporium in Mullenville, Kansas. There are over a 100 whirligigs and other metallic art, from used farm implements and other material along the fence line of his farm at Mile 108. Very interesting – but we had 40+ more miles to cover and it was raining. This is one of the tough parts about Elite Tour, there isn’t any time to stop and look around. Fortunately Randy is quick with the camera so we can at least say we saw it on the way by.

The other tribute to wind was the 170 tower wind farm at Mile 55. By this point we were believers that they could power the whole country by harnessing the wind going through this area.

Every time we reach a rest or lunch stop, the PACTour rule is you must wash your hands (sans gloves of course) before touching any food or drink. No cheating, even if you are in a hurry. This makes a lot of sense and goes a long ways to keeping bacteria or other communicable virus from spreading around.

Tomorrow’s outlook is much better as Elite Tour and RAAM (Race Across America) veterans tell us. We get out of the wind tunnel path and head past Wichita on to Yates Center, Kansas, 178 miles. Winds are forecast to be less than 10 mph, but thunderstorms are likely.

Tomorrow is also hump day. After that we start the nine day countdown to the end of the ride.

We are all trained into the daily cycle now. 5:30a wake up, Dress, Eat. Ride. Rest stops. Ride. Lunch stop. Ride. More rest stops. Ride. Hotel. Stop. Clean/fix bike and person. Eat. Ruminate briefly. Sleep. Repeat 19 times.

Day 8 - Trinidad, Colorado to Ulysses, Kansas

Today’s agenda was 193 miles of eastern Colorado plains and the start of our trek across Kansas. Strong cross winds were predicted and temps in the 90s were forecast. Flat, long, windy and hot were the words of the day.

Good news - Mark Pattinson, the Race Across America rider who went over the guard rail yesterday, was back riding on a borrowed bike today. It looks like he will be able to get a replacement frame in time for the RAAM race in mid-June.



We started at 5:30a, an hour earlier than usual, to cover the longer distance in daylight hours, plus we end up in the Central Time Zone once we cross into Kansas.




PACTour support man Brad Reid at his bagel and toast station for our early breakfast.

Right off the bat the first group of 8-10 riders went off at a crazy fast pace, 24-28 mph, with up and down rollers. I was near the front of the group and took a turn leading, unfortunately up a short, steep little hill. I was pretty winded by the top and nearly fell off the back of the group when my turn ended. A mile or two later, about 10 miles out, I blinked and lost contact with the group. I had a few seconds to decide whether to bridge up quickly or let them go. I choose to ease up and they quickly disappeared. I spent a few minutes debating whether this was the best move, but enjoyed riding the next 30 miles on my own to the first rest stop, passing a couple of other riders who had also fallen off the pace. At the first rest stop, John Newton and I hooked up and worked together to the second rest stop where we found Randy Mouri and Jon Batek ready to leave. At the third rest stop we added Max Hogan. The next stop added Lara and Jim on the tandem to our group and 15 miles from the end we picked up Gene Ter Horst, so we were a happy octet heading into Ulysses.

There weren't many towns along US 160, but you could spot the grain elevators from many miles away. We will be seeing a lot of these over the next several days.



One of the highlights of the day was meeting Wyatt, a seven year old BMX bike rider at the lunch stop in Prichett, Co. Wyatt rode up to our trailers and asked to have the bike mechanic look at his bike. Jon did a quick check and adjusted his handlebars. Wyatt then showed us his trick moves, including putting both feet on the top tube. He was a really cute kid and insisted on leading us out of town – a distance of three blocks from the park.

An Echelon day.

This was an excellent day to work together in a group, as the persistent wind was variously a headwind, crosswind, quartering tailwind and a blustery, quartering head wind. We did a lot of echelon pace lining which worked very well with our experienced group. This was also a big energy saver and morale maintainer for everyone. We were on US 160 all day, heading pretty much due east. Traffic was virtually non-existent until we got close to the end at Ulysses, Kansas, so forming echelon lines was quite safe, and we kept an eye out for any traffic coming up behind us. After our group grew, we even had a double echelon line going for a while, which didn’t take up as much of the road.

Lara Sullivan and Jim Slauson joined our group on their tandem for the last 50 miles. Their contribution was much appreciated in the windy crosswinds.

More variations of butt preservation strategies are coming into play, including double shorts, balms,creams, special potions and changing saddles. Most riders are coping ok, but long, hot, flat days are tough on the tushie as you can tell by Max Hogan's expression.

Colorado is now over, we are down to 3,000' and breathing a little better. Kansas is our fifth state in eight days.

Tomorrow is a ‘short’ day of 151 miles to Pratt Kansas. Weather forecast is for 25-35 mph crosswinds from the south and a 30% chance of thunderstorms.

Day 7 - Monte Vista to Trinidad, Colorado

Mark Pattison - RAAM Racer

Rob - leaving rest stop on way to La Veta Pass

Loading into the shuttle van after La Veta Pass - Randy, Jon, Max, Jim

Singer/waitress at Rino Restaurant in Trinidad

Today’s leg was only the second time in PACTour history that the ride was stopped for safety reasons. Winds gusting over 60 mph created very treacherous, swirling wind conditions on a high mountain pass in Colorado. One rider, RAAM favorite Mark Pattison, was blown off the road and went over a guard rail.
We started in Monte Vista this morning. La Veta Pass was about 66 miles into the ride. Until the approach to the pass, we were travelling basically east, with a fairly good S-SW cross wind. Riders were grouping up into echelon pacelines using the wide shoulder, Even across the flat mountain plains there were significant shifts in the wind.
Once we started up La Veta Pass, heading northeast, a tail wind picked up considerably as we reached higher elevations. It was a unique experience to be climbing a mountain pass at 15-25 mph. Standing up to catch the wind would gain another 1-2 mph. After the top of the pass at 9,400’, the problems started on the descent. Blasts of wind, up to 60 mph and more, would hit you from any direction. My first sense of this was a head on blast that pushed my glasses into my face and stung my cheeks with fine gravel. My speed went from 35 to 12 in a couple of seconds. A little farther on, two riders ahead of me were being pushed sideways by the wind, in unpredictable patterns. Most of us got down the hill ok, either by by being very cautious or going faster and managing the wind gusts well. There were some incidents though that highlighted the dangers.
Mark Pattison, who is planning to compete in the Race Across America (RAAM) ultra marathon event in three weeks, was the first one down the hill and was pushed off the road by a big swirl of wind. He flipped over a guardrail, his bike sailing over his head with him. Mark amazingly was unhurt, not even any road rash, but his custom ultra distance bike, with electronic shifting, etc. did not survive the fall, cracking his seat stays. He was able to ride the bike slowly down the reste of the hill. Mark finished second in RAAM 2008 and is a favorite in this year’s race.

Lynn Lashley, one of our women riders, was blown off the road and nearly went over a steep embankment. She fortunately only has a small bit of road rash on her knee.
Lon Haldeman, our PACTour leader and famous past RAAM champion, had to put both feet out to keep himself upright when he was blown into a gravel turnout.
At the bottom of this 10 mile torture test was the next rest stop. Susan was there and was already very concerned as the next part of the route would take us over Cucharas Pass, 1,000’ higher than La Veta, directly into the 40-60 mph wind and with a twistier descent. Once everyone was off the hill, Lon and Susan decided to stop the ride at that point and shuttled us up to our next overnight in Trinidad. No one disagreed. This is only the second time in 18 years that PACTour has stopped a leg of a ride. We got in 76 miles, a little over ½ of the day’s miles. Probably most riders were a little bit glad to have a small bonus rest as tomorrow we ride 193 miles to Ulysses, Kansas with a projected 20-25 mph crosswind from the south.
We are now out of the western mountains and face the prospect of several days of wheat fields and silos across the rest of Colorado and through Kansas, with likely strong winds and the possibility of rain in a couple of days. So far, (other than the wind today) the weather has been very good. We are all well tanned, some of us even a little crispy in spots.
One of the interesting effects of a day like this is how as a group we are growing closer together. There were lots of very animated stories about coming down the La Veta hill. Everyone here is a strong rider with many years of road riding experience. Some are faster than others, but nearly everyone has ridden every mile to this point and morale is still very good.

Dinner tonight was a special experience. Eight of us went to the Rino Restaurant in old downtown Trinidad where the theme was pasta, the ambience was wonderful, food was great, the conversation was fun and we were treated to several very well done classic songs by the owners and waitresses.
The biggest issue now for many riders are that butts are getting sore. More of the evening dinner conversations now revolve around ways to minimize or at least numb this problem area. Other aches and bruises come and go. Personally, I am getting over my cold, my ribs are still sore from the fall on Day 1, but improving. Onward.
Because of the safety concerns on the ride today, we all get a free pass on the ride-every-mile challenge.
Thanks, Lon and Susan for providing a great challenge for us, but looking after our safety when necessary.