Coast 2 Coast 4 Kalan... Uncut

Greetings from the Atlantic Coast!

It has been a long and exhausting journey, however it will all end tomorrow... Miami is only 50 miles away now. Throughout this trip we have tried to maintain a blog that was an interesting and enjoyable testament to our philanthropic bike trip. As stated earlier, we felt that such a difficult endeavor may emulate in some small way the difficulties that Kalan faced. Now that we are closing upon our endpoint, it has become clear that no trip could completely emulate the challenges that Kalan and his family faced last fall.

We consider ourselves fortunate for the help that we have had throughout this entire endeavor. We could not have been able to successfully cross the country by bike if it were not for all of the great people who have helped us along the way. However, after having spoken to a number of people back at the Willamette University campus, we have come to the conclusion that many people do not fully comprehend how difficult this trip has been. Although rewarding and amazing, this trip has been no pleasure cruise. This is probably in large part due to the fact that we have not discussed many of our difficulties. Below I will describe many of the challenges that we have experienced along the way, uncut...

Contrary to many who did not believe it was possible, we have ridden 21 days straight covering a distance of over 1600 miles. As a result of the long hours on the bike seat we have developed rashes from the chafing, saddle sores (pimple like infections), and one of us was even unfortunate enough to bruise a tailbone. We have ridden over mountains, through deserts, swamps, and now beaches. We have witnessed poverty at its worst in the U.S. (multiple spots), as well as excess wealth (Palm Beach, FL). We have been within a rocks throw of the Mexican border, and have stayed in towns with extremely high drug trafficking rates.

While on the road, we have been swerved at, accelerated at, honked at, yelled at, and cussed out by passing vehicles nearly every day. We have ridden through rain, snow, hail, lightning, and at one point, even a tornado touched down nearby. We have avoided pot holes, cracks, roadkill, and debris on bad roads. We have had a tail wind on three different occasions, every other day has been a cross or head wind. There have been long stretches of road where the next town is over 100 miles away, and have even had the pleasure of vultures flying above us.

When an affordable motel, or civilization for that matter, is nowhere to be found, we camp... After significant use, our tent now has mold on the interior of it and causes sinus problems in two out of the three guys. We have woken up to rain dripping on our face, and even ice inside the tent. If there is food nowhere to be found, we make due... Among the worst dinners we have had, one included chocolate milk and cup o' noodles. Another consisted of the three of us sharing a bowl of easy mac. This was the result of a gas station only accepting cash when the next town was 50 miles away and we only had $3.00 between the three of us. We have had a single home cooked meal in the past 45 days...thanks Sally Cunningham.

Furthermore, as a result of the hard use on the bikes, two bikes have had a small weld break rendering the rear brakes useless. One bike even has the front pouch duct taped to the handlebar. Our original rear rims were insufficient, and we have had to buy heavy duty reinforced rims to finish the trip. We have blown out two tires, and replaced an uncountable number of tubes.

Knowing what we have been through now, you may ask: would you do it again?

For Kalan, absolutely.