Friends and more cornfields...

I spent the day Saturday with old friends Chris and Monika in Iowa City.  The U of I and Iowa State football rivalry was alive and well as it seemed everyone in the city had on their teams colors!  Excitement was in the air!  The following morning Chris rode with me north for 30 miles towards the days destination of Guttenburg IA.  It was great to ride together again!  Another benefit of my days layover was the wind direction shifting from strong headwind to mild tailwind.  Whenever that happens you just smile and keep riding!  I stopped in Dyersville and met Janet and Tim and Mary Fitzgerald (sisters of my friend Ginny).  They fed and watered me and sent me on the road with about 15 Giant Chocolate Chip cookies!  That is just pretty awesome at mile 550 of a bike journey!  Did I mention the cookies were homemade? I wish I could have stayed longer as we were have great conversation!  Thank you Janet and Mary!  A few more hours of riding and a missed turn (most cornfields look the same), found me in Guttenburg for the night.  A neat little town on the river.  On this journey north I have ridden from summer into early fall; its been amazing watching the gradual change in the countryside!

Rain...and then an oasis

I awoke yesterday to pouring rain in my hometown of Hannibal, MO.  I thought it wise to wait and see if it let up.  The rain provided an opportunity for a big breakfast of eggs, hash browns, biscuits and Midwestern Gravy!  Volumes have been written about the gravy.  The rain did let up and then got heavy again after about an hour on the road.  A through soaking ensued...and you know what...after you are wet ya might as well keep riding...as nothing is going to change the situation.  Somehow I managed to get ahead of the storm clouds as I cycled north...while getting the benefit of a tailwind!  There is always a silver lining!  I didn't really stop for several hours until running low on water in Hamilton, IL.  From there I rode north to Burlington, IA.  The Mississippi river is beautiful (and big) here.  I found a great oasis in Lomax, IL.  Jenni's Ice Cream and Grill.  Highly recommended!  I shared my blog info with the owner Jenni whose close family member has successfully fought a battle with cancer.  I wish you and your family all the best Jenni!  The road north continues today towards Iowa City!

Friendly People and Midwest Beauty

These first two days on the road reminds me of why the Midwest is called the nations breadbasket.  Field after field of corn and beans as far as the eye can see!  Day one was great with favorable winds at my back; I kept spinning out as I am riding a single speed (wanting the challenge).  Careful what you ask for because day two brought 5 hours of headwind and another 4.5 hours of 94° heat.  Plenty of challenge on day two.  I have shared my blog with several people so far; and asked them to share with their family and friends.  I would appreciate if you would do the same!  Thank you for following...more to come from the road!

Midwest Tour - The Great Rivers Route

After several years I have felt the calling to do another CycleQuest ride.  These rides are always an effort to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer.  As I cycle this route from Carbondale IL to St. Paul MN I will share my message with people along the way.  Please share the signs and symptoms with your friends and family and loved ones...we can all make a difference if we do this.  Thank you and stay tuned for more updates from the road!

Upcoming Midwest Tour

After several years with no Cyclequest rides its time for another effort.  Stay tuned for more info on my upcoming Midwest tour...

Dawn to Dusk Ride Saturday

We had a perfect Arizona December day for the Dawn to Dusk mountain bike race. I camped out at the venue the night before along with several hundred other like-minded riders.

It is a beautiful desert park and every night I have spent there has included a serenade by packs of coyotes...this night was no different...once at about 10pm and again around 1:30 am....sounded as if it was the 'yotes dinner time. Not a snack mind you but a full on feast...took me a little while to fall asleep again...man we humans are wired with something primal there.

The race starts at sunrise and the temp felt like the high 40's...good mtn biking weather. At around 8 miles in I nailed a big rock with my rear wheel. It was a hit that I KNEW would go flat...and sure enough that is what happened. Stop...remove rear wheel...get out tire levers and co2...remove bad tube...dig new tube out of my pack...inflate slightly...install in tire...put tire back on rim...pray the new tube holds air...inflate tire...prayer appeared to be answered...close tube valve...reinstall wheel in bike which is typically a quick process which I have done many times...but that was not to be...it was as if I had never installed a wheel before....breathe Bradley....take your time...the dropout-axle-rotor-caliper-axletug-quick release assembly appeared to have the upper hand in a silent-smug-snickering-under-its-breath-conspiracy against me and only thru perserverance did I finally get the wheel back on the bike...could someone stop the clock...what??...did an eternity just pass??...congrats Brad on the slowest wheel change in the history of mtn biking! After my wheel debacle all I had to do was ride the rest of the day.

My legs had 93 miles in them for the day...18th place in the singlespeed category...if they gave out medals for 18th place it would probably be made of dirt...or maybe rock...which would be somewhat ironic.

All in all it was a great day!

Arizona Dawn To Dusk Ride, December 1st

On December 1st I'll be riding The 5th annual Arizona Dawn To Dusk Ride. It's a ten hours race on the Pemberton trail at McDowell Mountain Regional Park. It all begins at 7:13 a.m. Saturday. Stay tuned for an update! Brad

Hot, Hotter, HOTTEST

Tuesday, July 24

Now that I've reflected on the recent ride, I want to share a bit of what it was like last week.

For the first two hours of the ride things were going pretty well. I do almost all of my riding on an unloaded road bike, and whenever you transition to a loaded touring bike the shock is immediately noticible. It's like going from a Mini Cooper to a Ford F-350 truck. I was fortunate that the cloud cover blocked the oppressive July sun.

My mouth was dry and I consumed three liters of water by the time I started the nine mile climb on the Beeline highway to Payson. Normally, this rate of water consumption would serve as a red flag, a warning that conditions were pretty extreme and it would be best to find a cool refuge somewhere. In my determined excitement I kept rolling slowly upward. The turnoff to Four Peaks served as a reminder to eat again...I stopped for some calories just in time for the cloudcover to burn off. And BOOM, who just turned on the broiler! I have ridden the 90 miles to Payson AZ at least a dozen times over the years and this was like being on another planet...close to the sun.

A quick inventory of water revealed about four liters left; eight pounds of the only thing that really matters in the desert. The sun was baking hot on my face and neck...and I really felt it on my neck in such conditions. I pedaled slowly upward facing 10,000 feet of climbing over 90 miles. Man, this ride usually goes faster than this, I thought. Another hour in the saddle and I stopped for food and water transfer. Just five feet away, I saw a snake that - when alive - would have been nearly four feet long. It had somehow met its untimely end and was so dried and dessicated, the wind made the corpse move slightly making it appear alive again. Not possible...not out here. This should have served as my second warning. I continued upward, ever so slowly while the sun started to raise doubts in the back of my mind. Prehistoric man would have taken cover somewhere, out of instinct. But being more "evolved" and highly motivated, I foolishly continued onward. Hard climbing on a heavy bike...envision doing half squats in a sauna. The third and final warning came when I dropped my next to last water bottle when I missed holstering it in the bottle cage. The bottle rolled under the guardrail towards a steep ravine. Clumsy, I thought, what's going on? It doesnt take long to stop when you're only rolling along at five miles per hour. After jumping off the bike to retrieve the bottle I was beseiged by powerful hamstring and quad cramps. Bad! Warning number four. I climbed over the hot guardrail and retrieved my bottle, the air conditioned cars speeding by seemed to mock me...cool space capsules in a foreign land. Honestly, in 22 years of riding in Arizona and I have never been so hot. EVER.

I was 50 miles from Payson and nearly out of water.

In years of bike racing one learns how to put pain and discomfort on a shelf...you recognize it and compartmentalize it in order to deal with the discomfort. You must persevere in spite of the conditions. That's the normal mindset, but this situation was far beyond normal.

There was no shade around. I could see an overpass about a mile up the road; four easy minutes in normal conditions. But on this day, it took all I had at four miles per hour to cycle 5,280 feet, uphill, to reach the only shady sanctuary for miles around. Will someone just please turn the sun off!

Thankfully, I'd gotten a 4G smart phone for the ride. I don't think my old phone would have worked in that remote, mountainous area. The new phone enabled me to stay in touch with my brother John who was handling the blog and media from Minneapolis. We discussed the options and really there was only one - I needed to stop in this the hottest summer since 1936 and recover from the symptoms of heat exhaustion and stress I was experiencing. When its this hot and you start having chills it is a big warning sign.

I was able to contact friends Bob and Ginny and they coordinated things with their daughter Amy who drove up to pick me up and give me a ride back home. After a day or so of Gatorade and bananas, I recovered my electrolyte balance and feel fine.

I'm looking at doing a loop tour up in Colorado, with a promise of cooler temperatures.

Brad

High Heat & Adversity

High noon and I'm 48 miles up the highway, about halfway to Payson, AZ, the day one destination.

Unfortunately circumstances are not going our way today. The extreme heat, coupled with an overweight load, has caused some serious cramping in my legs. I ride many thousands of miles a year and to face this is extraordinary.

I'm dehydrated too even after drinking 6 of my 7 liters of water in the first half of the trip today. The ascent is so steep with this load, I was only able to go 4 miles an hour so I wasn't getting any cooling from any breeze, with too little water to get to Payson.

I'm under an overpass right now and this is about the only shade in the high desert enroute to Payson.

Given the circumstances, extreme heat, my cramping and some heat exhaustion, low on water, overweight bike, I've decided to return and reassess.

It's 20 miles to the nearest town, in the hottest part of the day, so a friend is going to pick me up and give me a lift back home.

Will keep you posted.

Let's Roll!!!

Thursday, July 19

CycleQuest 2012 is underway! I left my home in Tempe, AZ at 5:30a. It's a beautiful morning and 83 degrees. It really helped to take yesterday as a final prep day. Everything is just right on the bike and I'm well rested. I awoke shortly after 4a and feel good.

I'm riding the Surly 'Long Haul Trucker,' a bike that is perfect for a long tour like this.

I'll be riding more than 1,400 miles between now and early August to raise awareness of the subtle symptoms of ovarian cancer which claimed the life of my dear wife Susan in 2005. She was an amazing person who would love to be riding this ride with me. And she is - in my heart.

By the end of the day I will be in Payson in northern Gila County. Its location is almost exactly the geographic center of Arizona. Thus, it is often called "The Heart of Arizona". The Payson Rodeo, held since 1884, is considered the world's oldest continuous event of its kind.

This is Zane Grey country, too. In 1918 the famous western author made his first trip to the Payson area. He would come back with regularity through 1929, and purchase two plots of land near Tonto Creek. Grey wrote numerous books about the area and also filmed some movies, such as To the Last Man, in the Payson area in the 1920s.

During the 1930s an effort began to try to get Payson a better road to connect it to the outside world. At that time Payson was very isolated with a Phoenix to Payson trip taking four to five hours by motorcar. Throughout the 1950s work on a paved road from Phoenix to Payson progressed and the paving was completed in 1959. A few years ago this highway, State Route 87, the "Beeline Highway," was expanded to four lanes. And, for that, I thank them. Still, it will take me a good chunk of the day to get to Payson. No motorcar for the 10,000 feet of climbing over 90+ miles today.

Please share the blog with family and friends to widen the circle of compassion. Together, we can raise awareness about the 'silent' disease of ovarian cancer.

Oh, I again have my satellite beacon with me. When I activate the ROVER beacon it shows my location. We'll be sharing these beacon links regularly. Click the link below to see where I was shortly after departure. http://fms.ws/8hlWN/33.43053N/111.93674W

More later...

Brad

Departure

I decided to depart on the CycleQuest ride tomorrow morning. I worked yesterday and there are just too many last minute things to wrap up.

I especially want to look at getting a smart phone to have 4G service during the ride. That will help enormously with communications enroute, and enable me to get encouraging messages.

So, the plan is to roll out of my driveway at 05:30 tomorrow and head to Payson, 90 miles away and nearly 10,000 ft. of climbing.

Please share news of the ride and the blog link with all your friends and loved ones....let's make this a memorable, collective effort on behalf of those who need to know about this 'silent' cancer.

Brad

T-minus....

I'm planning on rolling out of my driveway in Tempe, AZ at 5:30a tomorrow morning.


The destination - with nearly 10,000 feet of climbing - will be Payson about 100 miles away.


The plan is to traverse all or parts of seven states, finally rolling into Hannibal Missouri on Friday, August 3rd.


On the right side of the blog is information about how you can make a difference and get involved to support the ovarian cancer awareness cause.

All proceeds go to OCA efforts. Not a single cent supports this ride. My expenses are my own.


My brother John is writing the blog during the ride.

Look, there's only so much I can do riding 100 miles a day across drought-parched America! :-)

More once I'm on the road!


Brad

CycleQuest Summer 2012 is About to Begin!

Upcoming Ride: On July 18th I will depart on a 17 day cycling effort that will start in the Sonoran desert, cross the southern and central Rockies, span the Great Plains and eventually, if all goes well, end in Hannibal, MO on the banks of the Mississippi River.

All in all The CycleQuest Tour for Ovarian Cancer awareness 2012 will touch seven states.

I am riding once again, to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer presents with few symptoms and is often late stage when it is diagnosed. This cause is very personal for me and my family as the disease took the life away from my dear wife Susan.

Please share the signs and symptoms with your wives, daughters, mothers, aunts, grandmothers, sisters and friends. And be sure to check back as I will be updating this blog with stories from the road.

Here is roughly the first half of the route: Tempe-Payson-Show Low-Pie Town, NM-Socorro-north to ALB-Santa Fe-Taos-North to Alamosa, CO-Buena Vista-Breckenridge-Frisco-Loveland Pass-Idaho Springs-Nederland-Boulder.

More from on the road!

Brad

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all the best of Health and Happiness in 2012!

Upcoming Road Ride...

On Sunday I am riding in the Tour of Scottsdale. It is a 70 mile road ride and after the hot summer we have had here in Arizona, I am really looking forward to getting back on the road.

My message has not changed...please continue to share the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer with your loved ones...you never know who's life you can effect.

Inspiring...

I met a woman today who is an ovarian cancer survivor. Her name is Jan and she is training for a hiking/climbing trip that she is taking this summer to the Swiss Alps.

It was great meeting you Jan! I hope you have a wonderful trip to Switzerland. Watch you step over there I hear the Alps are rather steep!

A great day for a ride...

The Dawn to Dusk ride started at sunrise and was much warmer than last years 38 degrees. Over the course of the day I managed 6 laps and 93 miles of riding in the dirt. My hands are a little sore today and my back was pretty tight by hour 7 of the ride. I guess that last time I rode my singlespeed for 8 hours was last years ride...maybe there is a lesson there somewhere.

Thanks to everyone who pledged their support! We raised hundreds of dollars for the NOCC. That money goes a long ways towards educating the public about the signs and symptoms or ovarian cancer.

Upcoming Event: Dawn to Dusk Mountain Bike Race...Solo Singlespeed

December 4, 2010 McDowell Mountain Park. You can see more about this event here: http://www.dcbadventures.com/Event/dawn-to-dusk

Once again I am using this ride as a platform to raise money for a great organization: the NOCC (National Ovarian Cancer Coalition). If you are able to pledge so much money per mile we can raise funds to help support the NOCC; a non-profit organization that does so much for raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer.

100% of the pledged money will go to the NOCC. All donations are tax deductable and you can make your donation directly on their website on the right side of this blog->>>

Just like last year, I will sponsor myself for $1.00 per mile. Any amount you can pledge (for example .25 cents per mile X 100 miles = $25.00) would be greatly appreciated. It will also be a great incentive for me to ride as far as I possibly can on Dec 4th! If you would like to pledge a flat rate that would be great too.
Even if you can't donate right now please help by spreading the word with your family and friends. This is the sole purpose of CycleQuest: To increase awareness of the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer.

If you are able to help please leave a note here or e-mail me at psychlingbww@yahoo.com

Likewise if you are in the area on Dec 4th stop on out at McDowell Mountain Park and cheer the riders on! The park is a great spot for hiking, riding, picnicking, and nature watching.

I hope to see you out there! Oh, dress warm...last year it was 38 degrees at the start!

Many Thanks!
Brad

Go Bob Go...

Friend and CycleQuest team member Bob Lewis is nearing the end of a major transcontinental bike ride. He is riding with PAC Tour on the "Northern Transcontinental", starting in Everett, WA and finishing in Williamsburg, VA.

He is riding 3400 plus miles in 30 days, with over 110,000 feet of climbing!

Wow!!!

You can read more about his trip here: http://www.pactour.com

Way to go Bob!!!

Miles Ridden and Dollars Raised

We had a nearly perfect day for the Dawn to Dusk Mountain Bike Race at McDowell Mountain Park. It was a chilly morning as the thermometer in my vehicle said it was 38 degrees at 530am.The race consists of riding laps of the 15.5 mile Pemberton trail. As this is a mountain bike event it was somewhat new to me. I had an absolute blast doing the race and ended up riding 7 laps (105 miles) in the solo singlespeed division. I finished 8th place in my division. More importantly, thru the generous support of friends, we were able to raise over $600 to be donated to the NOCC (see link at right) and the Arizona Cancer Center. Thank you friends and family for your generous support of this effort! A very special thanks go out to friends and co-workers Jeremy and Meg for their amazing support throughout the event; they kept me fed and watered and in good spirits. Thank to Steve and Micki for the use of their awesome camper/basecamp facilities; and for being patient with my endless mountain biking questions in the weeks leading up to this event.