Trans - America

2008-06-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

ok, is there anybody that is seriously interested in doing a transamerica trip... please let me know at wistermister at gmail. dot [com]. because we might do it again>>>

gallery

2008-04-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

okay... finally all the pictures, for those who stayed around long enough.

http://picasaweb.google.com/wistermister

2008-04-01T17:44:00.000-07:00

censored video footage NOW AVAILABLE!!

2008-03-31T11:40:00.000-07:00

Here it is. I had some major problems... i mean the computer was having Yugoslavian Conniptions over this (166,541 KB) video clip. But here's a link until i get a player embedded. *sigh* you'll need a fairly new version of window media player. DOWNLOAD Windows Media Player

http://www.jethro.ws/video/biker.wmv

2008-03-30T19:50:00.001-07:00

ya ya ya... this video is taking about 2-3 hours of uploading.

Top 10 FAQ's

2008-03-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

OK, you'all northerners are prolly wandering what in the world happened on this trip... and what kind of memories we have of the trip... so I'm gonna make a top 10 FAQ list to help answer some of mind boggling questions that are dancing around in you all's brains.

FAQ #1: Was the trip worth it? A: I think all of us would say that it was very enjoyable and worthwhile. We learned a lot and learned how to relate to each other better. If your trapped with four guys for five weeks it teaches you a lot about relationships and how to HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS FOR THE OTHER GUYS PROBLEMS. It's always enjoyable telling the other guys what their problems are. (just kidding) In reality, we learned a lot about each other and people in general. And ya, the trip was great! Worth it? It was a good experience for me.

FAQ #2: Is biking a good way to lose weight? A: According to a bicycle magazine I was reading yesterday, people generally lose weight if they burn more calories than they consume. So ya, biking is a great method to use to lose an extraordinary amount of weight. For more information, ask Javier. :)

FAQ #3: Is biking generally enjoyable? A: O yes, it is always enjoyable, especially when you think about all the weight that you are losing. As long as you focus on that thought continually without ceasing, you will be happy about how skinny you can get. Some people call it yoga, but I call it focus. It is also important to not eat too much while biking, else you will actually gain an uncalculatable amount of calories, and as a result, gain weight. This make biking utterly detestable.

FAQ #4: Which state was your favorite? A: Well, at first thought I would say Texas because that is where I lost the most weight. It also happens to be the state we were traveling through the longest. But let me get honest now, because the favorite state is always the one that is most scenic, because good scenery is important. Mexico was very beautiful. Every one of you all should go there and see it sometime.

FAQ #5: Did you guys eat healthy? A: Our diet was based mostly on the food that we ate. Most times we ate at either gas stations or fast food restaurants with a few good restaurants tossed into the deal here and there. We tried to save as much money as we could, to remind of us our good heritage. The gas station food usually did not taste as good as the good restaurants, but we were in a hurry and doughnuts usually taste pretty good. Our diet was largely: been burritos, candy bars, danishes, vitamin water, choc. milk, gatorade, water, burgers, beef jerky, peanuts, etc.

FAQ: #6: How much weight did you carry on your bicycles? A: I'm guessing that we each had about 20 pounds. We carried water, a few snacks, tools, clothes, panniers, a rack, sleeping bags, a tarp, (to sleep on) flashlights, first aid, spare bicycle spokes, etc. Most of our food we bought on the way as we traveled.

FAQ #7: What were some of the highlights? A: Climbing Emory Pass, (and descending) eating at good restaurants, going through flat Texas, beautiful Arizona and New Mexico mountains, seeing fighter plains frequently spying on us, riding on the road with almost no traffic, watching Javier and Jethro fight endlessly, fixing flat tires, riding through Houston, putting our bikes together in the airport, having some interesting conversations with people, especially the lady that could not believe that we are biking across the U.S., but after she was converted, she gave us $25 dollars. and many more.............

FAQ #8: Would you recommend this trip to other people? A: It was a great trip for me personally. (and for the other guys). The trip was a great experience, so if you think good experiences are cool then go for it. And if you like the outdoors and are the adventurous type, a trip like this will stretch you. The most stretching experience for me was the time that I broke a spoke on my wheel and the closest bike shop was 60 miles away. We called the guy up and asked him to meet us at the 50 mile point. Patrick and Jethro went to meet him and me and Javier got a lady to take us. The guy was really nice and did not charge us much! Thank you! Experiences that stretch us can be very healthy for us and can make us into more courageous people. This can be worthwhile!

FAQ #9: Did you guys ever get home sick? A: Um... this question is usually asked by girls, women or ladies... so I'll try to satisfy your curiousity. Well, first of all... deep down inside our hearts we were extremely homesick... but we were also to proud to admit it until now... I think Patrick was the worst of us all. He really missed Sandra! :)

FAQ #10: Where did you guys get the first 9 FAQ's? A: We took a survey.

Jamien

I've Been Everywhere

2008-03-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

ok, this is kinda what we're feeling and thinking right now... lol. I'll never regret this. man. I guess this will be it except for some pictures and maybe videos coming later on. ~jet

Arriving in St. Augustine, Florida

2008-03-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

WOW, We made it! Great trip! and happy to be in St. Augustine. We started yesterday(our last day) at about 8 in the morning, biked 20 miles and stopped at Shoney's for buffet. This was the first buffet we ate at on the whole trip! Marvelous, and fabulous! i must admit. The sad thing is that you cant stuff yourself cuz you gotta bike again... but we each had our share... the waitress even sent some tea along with us for later. Really cool! We biked another 60 miles then stopped for supper around 4. After that we went another 40 miles, pedaling into the strong headwind, hoping that we would make it. Around 7:30 we got to Anastasia state park and dipped ourselves whole heartedly into the ocean. The water was kindof warm and very salty which was useful for brushing our teeth and soothing the scratch marks we gave each other. Don't ask about that... most of the time we fight nice... except for Jethro.
Me and Jethro went about 20 miles this morning to a good old Walmart to buy our selves some clothes so that we don't look like biking-camping-showerless for days type of guys. We each bought a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt- now we are happily grinning at the ears cuz we look normal except on the head.
Tomorrow we'll prolly do some touring and eat some food and sleep too. It all feels so good and the bikes are so light weight that we can bike and have fun at the same time... that's really nice cuz we didn't have fun the whole trip long... all we are trying to do is get famous. Hopefully when we get home nobody will have read this blog and will have all kinds of questions for us so that we can become celebrities... Ya that's what life is all about. We are trying to get famous like Jesus by laying down our lives.
Ok, I'm done with the sarcasm... and we didn't have to lay down our lives to go on this trip.
Tonight we will prolly go to red lobster to eat some sea food and have a good time being with each other again. It'll be great. Tomorrow my parents come around noon, then we leave for Lancaster on Friday evening:) All of us are ready to get back into the normal routine and eat some good food and try to gain back the weight that we lost...and most important of all... make some money. (just kidding) Life is more than making money and eating.
If any of you'll northerners want to here about r' trip you shoul' just come on over to the Faith High school over ther' in Kinzers' Pennsylvania on Saturday night at 7 and watch us play volleyball.
Bye everyone, and we miss you.
Jamien

cheers!

2008-03-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

congratulations to parker, wilson, emory, and little richard and their riders!

they hit the atlantic! 122 miles today with 20 mph headwinds. amazing! the final day of biking is the record breaker! the next few days will be spent celebrating and all those other adventurous things that 4 crazy guys put each other up to doing.

they'll be goofing around St. Augustine for the next couple of days so i'll let them tell their yarns on here themselves.

way to go guys! see-ya saturday!

winding down?

2008-03-16T15:27:00.000-07:00

Haaaay y'aaaaaal... the accents down here drive me bunkers. But it's rubbing off on us. Saturday we bike another eighty miles -couple hundred yards on the other side of the time zone. So now we're on the same hour, PA'ers. It was insanely windy today so we didn't get to Tallahassee, the capital of Florida. We're glad we didn't get the 40-50 mph winds that southern California got hit by... reminding us we're already at the end of our trip, or so we think. Saturday night was nigh unto eternity. After we were all in bed and two hours of talking, we decided icecream would taste really good. So we all get out of our sleeping bags and bike into town and get some icecream. We come back and try to sleep. Due to the mosquitoes, we only winked in a few itchy minutes of sleep. It's too warm to stay inside your sleeping bad all night to escape them. I got up in the middle of the night and took a cold shower just to avoid the mosquitoes... and then fell asleep sitting on the bath house floor. It was like heaven, until Patrick walked in at like three or four oclock and scarred the tar out of me... I go back to bed slapping myself.

Today Javier wondered out loud, "if God loves us so much, why did he create those bugs?" But, i'm sure he wasn't serious, even though it brought on some interesting discussions. (oooh, i forgot, the insect repellent bottle is empty.) This Sunday morning we slept in till ten... well, it wasn't really sleeping in but anyway. The other guys ate at Hardee's but I biked up the street and ate at an awesome Chinese Buffet by myself. Hey, it's a free world right!? (yeah, i know i had Chinese food for last night's supper....) Today was nice and warm in the mid 80's. Javier broke two spokes in the morning and then Jamien pops one of his too. After we repaired that and trued the wheels up again, Javier's pannier decides to do a special move. Now we're screwed. Maybe we shouldn't bike on Sundays??? And the bike shop doesn't open up till ten tomorrow. So we didn't quite get the amount of miles in that we would have liked. We got through Tallahassee but we didn't much further. So we're chillin right now...

oooh, and I'll wring the neck of that guy who insisted that Florida was as flat as Texas... arrgh.

more on the bikers

2008-03-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

Friday- 80 miles in 5 hours! The rain kept them from an early start and also forced them to find a hotel instead of camping out. They were pretty happy with the distance that they covered!

Saturday- Today they are hoping to pass through Tallahassee, Florida. The weather for the day looked like it would be warm and hopefully rain free, which means nice "sailing."

One of the many highlights of their week was singing in an old Civil War fort. Jet said the acoustics were insane.

They are really pumped about spending some time in the Suwannee River possibly Sunday. Javier, Jamien and Jethro participated in a canoe trip down the Suwannee and can't wait to touch that water again.

There's 300 more miles to cover. They're hoping to hit the beach they've been waiting to visit for quite a few months, so if everything goes as planned they'll be in St. Augustine by Monday or Tuesday. I don't know if the whole group is feeling this or not, but Jet said he isn't ready to come home, but he misses the people from home.

Traveling through Pensacoula, Florida

2008-03-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

Pensacoula, Florida
Hi everyone, this is Jamien again. My dad wants me to let you all know the route we took across America, so I'm gonna try to outline the route with some of the highlights.
As you all know, we started in San Diego California. Heading out of the city we climbed 4000 feet up to Pine Valley on Rt 79. This was the first day of the trip and we totaled 63 miles up hill. The next day we went 90 miles descending 4000 ft into Brawley. From there we followed the 78 all the way to Ripley, caught the 95 through Quartzite, then headed down Rt 10 all the way to Phoenix. Near Phoenix we got pulled off the I-10 because a policeman stopped us. He directed us down McDowell Ave.? which parellels I-10. We stayed in Phoenix for the weekend and visited the Mennonite church there. Sunday afternoon we headed out and slept between Tempe and Apache Junction at an Econo Lodge. Out of Apache Junction we headed down ST. 60 to Globe, caught ST. 70 all the way to Safford. We spent a night in Safford. Out of Safford we followed the 191 to Three Way, then turned onto 78. We had a really rough climb that afternoon, one of the hardest on the entire trip. We went about 20 miles in 4 hours, I'm guessing. We slept at the top of the mountain in Black Jack Campground. We covered ourselves with the tarp, but got soaked with snow overnight. The moisture soaked through all of our sleeping bags, Miserable! In Riverside we caught the St. 180, which we followed up to Silver City. In Silver City we caught a motel and visited the library. Out of Silver City we had some hills on the 152 all the way up to Emory Pass. Emory Pass peaked our trip in elevation with an altitude of 8228 ft. Descending down the other side was steeper than the ascent with hairpin curves and no guardrails for miles. We took the hairpins at about 15-20 mph for prolly 10 miles. We descended 3000 ft in about 10? miles. This was definitely one of the most exciting rides of the trip. We followed the 152 all the way to Caballo Reservoir. That day the wind was strong and we had a slight downhill grade for about 20 miles. We kept a pace of 20 mph easily without pedaling. While pedaling we easily hit 27-30. Off the 152 we caught the 187 to the 185 all the way to Mesilla. After Mesilla we followed the 28 to 273 to 498 into El Paso. We did a good 105 miles that day. In El Paso we caught the 76 to the 20 to the 192. Next we caught the 180, parallel with I-10. Slept in Van Horn. The next day I won't forget easily. We traveled beside I-10 for 37 miles to Kent. Those 37 miles took about 7 hours with a strong headwind. At 3:30 we left Kent for Fort Davis, knowing that their are no towns in between. Between 3:30 and 8:30 we climbed 2000 steep feet, ascending and descending 500 ft mountains repeatedly. We could hardly go fast because we were so deprived of energy. After dark we descended 1000 ft into Fort Davis. The stars were never so beautiful. We passed Texas University's McDonald Observatory. By the time we got to Davis Mt's State Park our feet were half frozen and we were cold! From Fort Davis we took the 118 to Alpine, then caught Rt. 90. We spent the night in Marathon. The next day we followed 90 through Sanderson and Dryden all the way to Langtry. 115 miles! Once we got to Langtry all the stores were closed so a local fed us ham and cheese sandwiches. They were really good after not eating for 80 miles and pedaling some Texas longhills. The next day we followed the 90 all the way to Del Rio. Out of Del Rio we went to Bracketville then turned off the Adventure Cycling Association Rt, for our homemade shortcut Rt. We stayed in Uvalde all day Sunday at a Best Western and relaxed. From there we traveled east to San Antonia and slept at a KOA in town. We kept following the 90 all the way to Houston. 2 days travel and beautiful country! In Houston we hit the worst and most dangerous traffic of the entire trip. We choose bad routes and were hoping for better. The next day we went to Beaumont, then shot up the 12 to De Quincy, LA. Through La we took the 190 all the way through Baton Rouge to Mississippi. In MS the 190 changes to the 90. There we visited the CARE base for one night then slept at a motel in Waveland the next night. From there we traveled east to Dauphin Island, Alabama. We spent the night on the island with the mosquitos. We all had a miserable night. The next morning we took the ferry for 4 miles across Mobile Bay to Fort Morgan, ending up in eastern Pensacoula last night.
It's rainy today and tomorrow so hard telling what we will do. We have approximately 380 miles to St. Augustine, Florida. We are hoping to get there Tuesday night via the 90, 100, and 16. The pedaling is so easy that none of us feel like we are working hard. We easily average 17 while on the road and plan on going about 80 miles a day. This equals about 5 hours of biking per day. It's about 9:00 now and the guys are still sleeping, I think? We'll probably get left around 10:00. Jamien
Yesterday we spent about 2 hours at the beach and 1 hour at a library. We ate lunch at Waffle House for about an hour. We only biked for about 4.5 hours. Fun!

Florida at last!

2008-03-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

Javier called Pauline around lunchtime. He said they are 15 miles from the Florida border!!!

C.A.R.E. Base

2008-03-11T08:50:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody,
We are at the Care base in Mississippi just relaxing and waiting on our wash. It's a challenge washing the one pair of clothes that we are wearing, but shifts come in handy with two guys washing and the other two taking naps in their sleeping bags... so goes...
Yesterday we set a record number of flats. We had 6! I guess the LouzzyAnna roads did it to us. I think that state has the roughest roads in the country, comparable to western Texas. The guys don't know how to pave properly but i think they are learning. We saw an alligator and two wild boars along the road while we were biking through the National Wildlife Refuge just west of the Mississippi border in Louisianna. As we headed into Mississippi we hit some nice! roads with wide shoulders to bike on. We could average about 17 on those roads with a 5-10 mile per hour headwind. We were proud of ourselves(shhh... don't tell anybody) Around 7:00 we called the CARE base and discovered that we are only about 2 miles away. We were kindof lost and didn't know where we were before that... so that came in handy. We got here prolly half an hour after the sun set, ate supper inside the dining room. We had ham, diced potatoes, veggies, jello, and bread. (I'm writing this for the ladies information) We are finding out that food is food no matter how it is cooked. I mean the supper was good, but it was only food with some flavoring, and it was good, i mean it was food. But anyway, i hope you don't get the point.
Today, we are hanging out at the Care base. I imagine we will go swimming in the ocean to commemmorate the last time we did it in June when our youth group came down for tour. That time we swam out so far that we had to go under the waves to touch the bottom. It was exhilerating. Hard telling what will happen this time... hopefully it won't be the end of all times. We will also go to the library and maybe get a good douse of theology or some other good book,... so that we have something to talk about again.... since we're deprived of things to talk about other than ourselves.
O ya, the ladies here made us some chocolate chip cookies and they were reaally good, lol, too bad they aren't good anymore... atleast since i stopped eating them... they served them to us "to go" with milk while we are doing our wash. I was the waiter, but the other guys are too stingy to tip me. Life is rough!
Jamien

take a break!

2008-03-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

The bikers reached the CARE base on Monday evening and plan to stay there for a while today. This will give them a chance to eat some hot meals and just crash. They did not get beds, though, since the bunks were filled, but by now they must be used to sleeping under the stars. One more week of biking......if all goes well.

Faith

Photo's by Popa Joe

2008-03-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

Crossing Louisiana by police escort

2008-03-09T13:44:00.000-07:00

Hey, this is Jamien again... Jethro is outside and i don't know the password to post on the blog... so here goes. Ya it was interesting riding 4 miles across the bridge with the cop blaring rock music for us over his loudspeaker. After he turned it on, Javier said, "I think he wants us to go faster, so we stepped on it and hit about 27 miles per hour going across the bridge... that didn't last long of course... it think that was the most i huffed and puffed on the whole trip and my lungs almost caved in.. but im still alive to tell the story. We are finding out that cops are really cool and they actually look out for our good and they should move up to Lancaster so we can become their friends.
Today was a little nerve racking.. we had two bridges to get into Baton Rouge but neither of them had shoulders so we didn't know what to do. We traveled south on the 415 after leaving the 190. We headed for I 10. Video camera caught us without us knowing it. 2 miles later we exited because the I-10 had no shoulder, contrary to what the cop had told us yesterday. About 5 minutes later a patrol agent finds us and tells us that it is illegal to travel on the I 10 in Louisiana. Well, we were happy to hear that. J/K. He also said that the cops could stick us in jail if they catch us on the I 10. I call two taxi services to get us across and none of them can do it so we have no clue how to get across the humongous Mississippi river. 10 minutes later the patrol guy pulls in and says that we should go across the I 10 without him and let the motorists call us in. He will get the call then escort us. That is the only way to get across. How lowsy, but anyway! Well there happens to be a guy filling up his truck at the shell so we ask him to take us across the river. He says immediately, "Load em up." So we hop on with our four bikes, and off we go, zooming across the Mississippi on a truck, with our hair flailing wildly. That bridge was about as short as my backyard... or so it seemed. Now we are in Baton Rouge and having a good ol' time at the library. We'll prolly go another 20 miles today, then hit the CARE base tomorrow night.
Jamien

Jethro says, "This world's huge!"

2008-03-08T18:38:00.000-08:00

They were pleased to put 120 miles under their wheels on Saturday. They might reach the CARE base tomorrow or Monday. Subway was a good place to fill their tummies. Tonight, their beds are made between the railroad tracks and a swamp. The train shakes the ground when it goes past and it sounds like the end of the world. Think they can sleep soundly and not get their arm slung over the rail??? They have been lying there for an hour and their sleeping bags are already damp.

Kudos to them they passed the 2000 mile mark!!!

Their mood is great with lots of party time.

They were about to cross a bridge that was a 2 lane highway with no shoulder, 4 miles long.... an officer got behind them and put his lights on and escorted them across. At one point, he turns some 70's rock music on his loud speaker for the rest of the way! This all took about 15 minutes.

Faith

Deweyville, Texas

2008-03-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

Wow, we went 30 miles today, and it's like 2:00. We left Beaumont around 8 this morning and keep getting caught in the passing showers every few miles so we keep stopping at gas stations for shelter. Last night it rained really hard so Jethro and Javier got caught in the rain while trying to find the library. After they got back around 9, i ordered some pizza from Dominos. 10:00 rolled around and still no pizza for our starving stomachs. I called Dominos soon after 10 and they had no record of our order, so i placed my order again and they brought it around 11. The pizza was really good and it felt relaxing to have some food in our stomachs. We slept like babies and woke up happy. Around 8 we left and got breakfast about 10 miles later. The last 6 hours their have been sporadic showers with us getting wet some of the time and the other times not getting wet. We stopped for lunch at an Exxon and now we are at the library goofing off. Hopefully we will go another 40 miles yet today, but if we don't, who cares.

Last night we figured out that we have another 900 miles to Florida, which is the equivalent of 9 days biking. We hope to have 3 rest days in with that, which would end our trip on the Wednesday before Easter.

O ya, and we keep leaving stuff here and there. I lost a pair of sunglasses and some lenses. Jet lost his biking pants and his bug-eye goggles. We laughed because he looked funny without them(his goggles). Javier lost his helmet and 12 bucks while biking down a six lane highway. It was too difficult for me to stop and pick it up(his 12 bucks, not his helmet). You'll have to ask Javier for the details on the lost helmet, and you'll have to excuse me for the confusing sentence. Patrick hasn't lost anything except as he says, "his mind." But, haven't we all. I think he misses his sisters too, but he would never say such a thing. We are Lancaster county deprived and all other kinds of deprived too(girls, actually i'm KIDDING, and wishing id be humble enough to admit it). I've been computer deprived for the last 3.5 weeks. Actually, I decided to go on a computer fast for 3.5 weeks, and it's been a really good experience. It has blessed me spiritually, emotionally, and physically, and I'm feeling lot's more stable. It feels like I've really been blessed, and I hope it will continue to be a blessing to my life.

Hey, Loyal, I saw your post. Ya i'm having fun, althought this is a completely different world than FB. I miss FB and hope to go back again, but I'm enjoying myself out here too. And to the students at FB. Have fun and keep plugging away. I misssss the dorm discussions with you guys. It almost brings tears to my eyes and makes my emotions go wacky.

Well, it's about 3 and time to bike another 40 miles to a picnic area to sleep. Hopefully we won't freeze tonight. It's supposed to drop into the low thirtys.

If we don't post again by tomorrow morning, you should be worried that we froze from frostbite. If we do post tomorrow morning, that means we are all fine and happy.

We might get to the CARE base by Sunday night, but probably not until Monday or maybe Tuesday. The trip's ending seems to be near, so we are getting ready for some good times at St. Augustine and some good old home cooking once we arrive in Lancaster.

Well, hope you guys are having fun around home cuz we sure are! C U.

Jamien

March 5 - 6

2008-03-06T17:09:00.000-08:00

LOL. This is jet again. I love reading the posts. It's like... lets just say the real thing is a little bit more accurate than the post.

So from Halletsville we biked another hundred and ten miles to the Houston where we hit some unexpected traffic with road construction. No shoulder. We stopped a few places and asked for directions to the Houston Lake State Park but it was like twenty miles out of our way so we said scrap that. But we had no place to sleep on the north side of houston where everything was neighborhoods. We decided to take another road that was less busy. Finding a pizza shoppe, we ate supper and slipped into a soccer park that was to be closed ten at night till six in the morning. We sacked it out in the pavilion. We had a few visitors during the night. But I guess they decided not to call the cops on us. Maybe we were just homeless freaks or something. This morning (they tell me it's the sixth of March and that it's thursday, otherwise I wouldn't know) we biked to Beaumont. Maybe around 90 miles. We were hoping to hit Louisina (sp?) today but nice strong headwinds all day long and two and a half hours of rain prevented that. When it rained we stopped and washed our clothing for the third time in three and a half weeks. I mean, we washed it in real washers and driers. Then we had to get a motel... so you'd better be grateful because me and Javier just walked three miles in a down pour to the library in Beaumont to satisfy your addiction. ...after drying off under the hand dryers. and creating lakes and streams on the library foyer. We aren't even embarrassed. We think we might be losing sanity. Or else gaining something we're not sure what. anyways... we're kinda sad it's all over pretty soon. but there's always an end to all good things. so there you are.
~jet

True Southern Hospitality

2008-03-04T18:07:00.000-08:00

These guys are making lots of friends. Within the last 24 hours they met four more gracious Southerners.

Friend #1 - was the guy last night who gave them a cabin for the price of a campsite.

Friend #2 - was the guy who drove one hour each way to help them out of their bicycle troubles. He brought the parts that they needed -- extra spokes, bike tubes, a new wheel, sprocket, etc.

Friend # 3 - gave them a ride to the WalMart where they met the 'bike shop on wheels'.

Friend #4 - the lady who couldn't believe that these young guys were actually biking across the US. After they shared their blog spot address with her and answered some more questions, she kindly gave them $25. to spend on food.

We live in a great country! There are a lot of nice people out there. One way to meet them is to bike across this beautiful country. Right guys??

By 2:30 today they had done about 100 miles when Jamien broke a spoke on his bike and couldn't go a bit further. They spent about four hours messing with that.

Tonight they are in Halletsville, TX.

beth

peddling toward Houston

2008-03-04T13:52:00.000-08:00

The boys stopped at a campground in San Antonio on Monday night. The man there was nice to give them a cabin at a reduced rate. This morning was one of their best... no big hills, nice flat roads, and a slight breeze on their backs, urging them on. They actually did 30 miles before 10:30 which was very good. They are travelling on alternate 90. Their goal for today is to get past Houston.

Faith

half way.

2008-03-02T11:08:00.000-08:00

i've talked to jet 2 times in the last week. lots to say, but for me to say it, well, it just sounds plain down boring. and i actually feel sorry for the readers. :( neway. whoever does read this blog probably would want to know that the guys are over half way through the trip! yeah. totally sweet. :) monday, tuesday, and wednesday they were on a roll, averaging 100 miles per day.

according to what i hear they've been frequenting motels because they've discovered the campsites are the same price if not more than a motel room.

oh one piece of funny info- the other night jet and javier decided to stay up all night. they spent alot of their time chilling at walmart!
-rosina

Arriving in Langtry After Hours

2008-02-29T15:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at 12:30PM, the guys had already done 50 miles and were in Sanderton, TX. After taking about an hour break for lunch, they decided to go another 60 miles to the next town called Langtry. There was no rush. It seemed like a nice ride to Langtry, until they hit strong headwinds and needed to pedal furiously to go even eight miles in an hour. After intense pedaling for several hours their water supply was gone. They finally reached Langtry just as it was getting dark, only to discover that every shop in town was already closed for the night. They were SO thirsty. They talked to a man who was driving a pickup and he told them to hop onto the back and he'll take them to the community center where there is water. After thanking the 'good Samaritan' they drank water and drank water some more!

Jamien said after his thirst was quenched, he realized just how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten anything for the last eighty miles that he had biked. So they checked around to see if they couldn't atleast find a vending machine. NOTHING.....

Along came the same man, so they asked him if there is any place where they can get some food. He offered to make them some ham and cheese sandwiches. They gratefully accepted and devoured them rather quickly. He offered to make them some more, but they graciously declined. Jamien said he laid down to sleep, feeling as if he had eaten nothing. This same guy told them that nothing opens in the mornign until 9AM. That took care of getting an early start this morning! They couldn't leave this morning without eating.

Towns are few and far between. Some days they travel fifty miles from one small town to the next and only meet several cars along the way.

This morning at 9:00, they found a shop with a tiny fridge containing a couple of drinks. On the store shelves were some candy bars and canned soup etc.. Breakfast consisted of a candy bar, cold soup out of the can and gatorade. Do you think it tasted good on an EMPTY stomach?

Tonight they are in Del Rio. They had east winds again today. This is a bigger town. Javier and Jethro went to Walmart to transfer photos to a CD. If they can find a post office, they will send photos our way. \"/ They'll bring pizza to their room tonight and get an earlier start in the morning.

They are enjoying their trip -- taking time to see the scenery, making memories. Temp today- 80'.

Fort Davis Mt. State Park

2008-02-27T14:19:00.000-08:00

I know some of these details are not all that interesting for all of you readers. But I suspect these young men who are doing the trip will be happy that we did a bit of journaling for them. So here goes....

Yesterday they left Van Horn, TX at 8AM. Biking into heavy headwinds yielded a mere 40 miles by 3:30PM. At that point the next town was fifty miles away and winds had died, so they biked until 8:30PM to reach that town - crossing only one mtn. with a 2000' elevation. Fort Davis Mt. State Park was where they got their campsite and hot showers. It was a COLD night. By morning the water in their water bottles was frozen. They got a good, hot, breakfast this morning before heading out.

They saw four wild boar rummaging through people's trash at neighboring campsites during the night. I guess we'll need to wait to hear the details until we hear it from the guys themselves. I wonder how that made them feel........ They also saw mule deer in the park.

to satisfy curiousity

2008-02-26T03:58:00.000-08:00

over 1000 miles and two weeks completed!

the weekend was spent in el paso. parker, wilson, emory, and little richard traveled 90 miles yesterday (monday), the wind at their backs. jet said that the temperature was in the 80's. they've been wearing their long sleeve shirts to protect them from the sun. the guys keep meeting up with other cross-country bikers. according to the input from the background the bikes were loaded with stuff- lawn chairs, sinks, stoves, and etc!

the guys checked out prices for a campground for the night and discovered that the motel rates were cheaper. so a motel it was! oh and they were lucky to get great mexican food along with that. rice and refried beans for supper and they were pumped about the breakfast this morning before they hit the road. today (tuesday) they have one more hill (whatever that means) before they hit the flats of texas. if all goes as planned, the goal for tuesday is 90 miles.

the "background noise" from the phone conversation consisted of a voice speaking and then spasms of laughter. they are having a super great time!

-Rosina

El Paso

2008-02-23T18:53:00.001-08:00

Did 105 miles today. Wind to their favor. Windy, dusty and sunburned.

The other night when they finally found a State Park in which to settle, they hadn't had supper yet. They were famished and there was no food close by. The closest town was four miles away, so Jamien and Jethro biked out there for some food. A gas station and a Cafe was the extent of this particular town. So they got a bag of chips at the gas station and four whoppin' burgers with fries at the Cafe- actually double burgers (bigger than Stoltzfus Meat's 1/4 lb. burgers). They biked back the four miles and sat down and wolfed up those burgers. Jamien said he was still hungry so he ate chips yet, too.

I am glad I was not watching those guys come down off of Emory Pass. At the top it was blowing and snowing and bitterly cold. They just wanted out of there fast. It was so COLD. They used their brakes a lot to navigate those hairpin curves with massive drop offs and no guard rails.

They are in a motel in El Paso for the night.

beth beiler

El Paso on Saturday

2008-02-22T19:13:00.000-08:00

80 miles were covered on Friday. At two o'clock p.m. the guys reached the highest point of the trip at an elevation of 8,000 ft. A snow storm was brewing and the temperatures was a frigid 25 degrees. One hour later and 4000 ft. down the mountainside the temperature had risen to 60 degrees.
They slept in a New Mexico motel Friday night because of the cold, and plan to travel due south to reach El Paso on Saturday permitting they have favorable winds. Thanks to Martha Zook's horse linament, muscle soreness is kept at a minimum. Maintaning a healthy diet is a constant challenge, and the boys plan to spend Sunday in an El Paso hotel.

-Conrad

update

2008-02-21T16:01:00.000-08:00

This is Jet writing from a library in Silver City, Arizona with an elevation of over 6,000 ft. I'll back up a couple days... lol, we're are having so much fun here we forgot to call home. So it was Saturday and not Sunday that we had those four flats. Actually, it was me that had all four. Had two of them in the City of Pheonix trying to get to Elam and Martha's RV campground spot. Oh, the police department was trying to track us for a while when we were on the interstate. We weren't breaking the law, but they didn't think it was safe, so they pulled us over. I told the sherrif(that's that they're called out here) that we'd be willing to get off the interstate if he gives us good directions to Pheonix. So he did that and we got off. Nice cop.

It was Sunday morning when we had some awesome oatmeal caserole before heading off to the Mennonite church and a message on facing the giants. That was a refreshing day to kick back and relax. In the afternoon we biked about twenty miles to the outskirts of Pheonix and found a spot to sleep.

Monday morning we woke up, up course. What else would you do? Right now, all the days run together and you'll get bored of all the monotony. We can't capture every moment and send them to you. I mean, who's doing this trip anyhow? We keep talking about a group journal... but that kinda goes like the showers. Nothing. Unless mom's in sight. So until we get motivated enough, we won't be keeping a journal. Monday night we went to sleep under the stars... of course.

Tuesday. We're still in Arizona did some 88 miles. Apache land. Apache Indians everywhere and the land is flat and hilly. And Jamien had and flat. I don't think we'll mention flats anymore. It's emotionally and spiritually traumatic experience. We all end up crying or something close to it and sob some prayer. (In reality, it only takes about ten minute to change a flat and its really not a big deal at all, since we're experts by now.) We had trouble finding a spot to sleep that night. It was a nice breeze, we had spotted snow high up in the mountains, so we expect to be hitting cold weather tonight. We are having problems with the dew making our bags wet, but no biggie. We were traveling the 78 and we wanted something away from the road so we landed ourselves in a Apache graveyard well out into the flats. There are no trees around. Only bushes about two feet tall and snake holes and gofer holes and sand and stones. So we freaked ourselves out pretty good with the fresh grave mounds in the Apache cemetery and decided on a few hundred yards away in a depression. We decided we should lock up our bikes, but we couldn't get them close enought and below the brush line so we decided we were paranoid about robbers and we just plopped them down and went to sleep. Beautiful stars. ooohh, we talk late into the night.

Back up a day... I have regained my memory. Monday we met another cross country biker going to San Diego, he was like 60 years old with a 30 year old bike named Arnold. So that day we named our bikes too. Patrick is riding Parker. Javier has Wilson. Jamien has Emory(probably named after the 8000 ft mountain pass we get to climb on friday) and I have Little Richard. Anyhow, we climbed for most of the day and ended up in National Forest campground 4,000 above sea level. It got cold, but we had a nice fire for the first time. The coyotes howled like crazy. Sounds like baby crying. But they are everywhere just waiting for us to close our eyes and take our stuff. We like getting cans of soup and eating them cold or heating them up. Food is extra good these days. We stop maybe three or four times to eat every day.

Wednesday we did some coasting and mostly climbing. We are already at four thousand but we go higher. Absolutely gorgeous country out here. Very steep up and down. We were talking about the emotional and spiritual high of going down a hill when we were climbing that day. And concentrating on the last rush to last us this one last climb. (we have some amazing conversations on our bikes and in our group devotionals!) We hit some serious switchback roads, but we made it to the top. It was well over six thousand feet above sea level and the first time we got to touch snow! Very exciting. We decided to sleep UNDER the tarp instead of ON the tarp because some local Apache warned us of nasty weather. "Yeah," he wined, "the cats and moutain lions will get you up there. Keep your food up in the tree. If the cats don't get the bears will. If the bears don't get you, the bugs will. If the bugs don't get you.... well, by that time the buzzards are sure to clean you up." Nice people. Very different. It went down in the the high twentys.

Thursday. We woke up four o'clock to snow pelting the tarp. I had gathered a huge pile of pine needles together and was sleeping on them between two armstrong heaters... Patrick and Javier. All through the night they pulled the tarp around them, complaining of getting wet. In the end, we all got a little damp. But man o days. It was creaking cold. We packed up for the next town. Nine miles away. We thought it was going to be a nice coast to the town. I commented... "what we need now is a flat tire." Thirty two degrees coasting down the mountainside, God gave me what I asked for. Nice little thorn in my tire. Let me say, that I'd rather change five tubes in seventy degree weather, than one tube in thirty degree weather. It didn't go in straight so I had a little twist in the tube which made a "thump" with each revolution. We got down to our town after crossing a few cattle guards and into New Mexico. "Mule Creek" as it was called, only had a post office and a broken down trailer or two. Next town. 19 miles. Great. Just great. But wow, the country around here is awesome. Landscape changing. (Pictures and videos coming sometime in the future.) We ate two pizzas for our brunch in an old western "last chance" liquor store. Nice big stove to heat up our toes. It went up twenty degrees in like ten miles and one hour. We had a nice wind to our backs again. Cruising at a nice twenty miles an hour. We climbed again towards the end of the day to six thousand feet again to Silver City, NM where we will be spending the night. Most of our climbing is behind us. One big mountain pass tomorrow and then downhill to El Paso. We're planning to be there on Saturday night. We're right on schedule with no rashes, saddle sores, broken bones. Three of us are slightly numb on the right hand from lack of circulation. We're getting over that. We are thouroughly enjoying this trip, hoping nobody is getting a little worried. What we've seen so far, and the people we've met -- it's all amazing. All we can do is say, that this is our Father's World. Many many details and fun memories already. No use to tell everyone. lol. It can only be kept in the hearts and minds of these crazy four guys who want to take a little bike ride to the beach.

P.S. Hey, mom thanx for the note you left in my backpack, I found it a few days into the trip. And every now and then I take it out and read it!

Who is doing this trip?

2008-02-18T10:42:00.000-08:00

Some of you are wondering who is doing this trip. There are four of them as follows: Javier Montania, Jamien Beiler and Jethro Fisher from Lancaster County, PA, and Patrick Ramos currently from El Salvador.

Sunday

2008-02-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Jethro totalled 4 flats and they still managed 110 miles! Thorns, thistles, and nails!

They went to church with Elam and Martha. It is a relaxing day, cleaning up, chatting, refreshing. Hopefully they can cross another 20 miles or so until they find a place to sleep under the stars.

Javier is having some trouble with his hand. He slept on it one night and now he experiences periods of numbness, but no pain. Martha gave some horse linament and they plan to get a brace at WalMart to stabilize it. Joe suggested moving the handle bars to change positions.

They say there are no pictures to take because since the Rockies, everything looks the same!

Anticipating PA Dutch Cooking

2008-02-16T17:31:00.000-08:00

Elam and Martha are biking home from Walmart in Phoenix with a fresh supply of groceries. They have been in contact with the guys a couple of times today and are expecting them at about 7:00 tonight. Martha plans to cook for them. Thanks Martha, I am jealous but just delighted that they found each other!

I asked Martha if the guys will be able to get a camp site in the same campground. She said, "They'll sleep right here, they have sleeping bags don't they?" So they plan to stay with Elam and Martha for a bit. Martha is planning to make breakfast for them also.

By the time the guys get there, they should have atleast 117 miles behind them for the day. I suppose they will be ravenously hungry.

Tired, Quit Early

2008-02-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

Lloyd talked to Jamien tonight. They did another 70 miles today. Bucking wind and a bad shoulder yesterday was exhausting. More wind today and they were ready to quit early.

Tonight they are sleeping under the stars secluded from a nearby truckstop. Town is small, the name of it is insignificant. Got their showers at the truckstop (atleast some of them \"/), supper too, I suppose. Temp. is 60'.

Phoenix is 117 miles ahead. They hope to reach there tomorrow. Elam and Martha Zook are in Arizona for the winter. Just now they are in Phoenix. If all goes well, they hope to spend Sunday with Elams.

They haven't experienced any bike problems so far. PTL! They mailed home all cooking utensils.

Arizona comin' right up

2008-02-13T19:21:00.000-08:00

They travelled 90 miles on Wednesday in 97 degrees. They are sunburned into crispy marshmallows and Patrick is turning black!! The terrain was mostly downhill with the wind on their backs. Imagine no guard rails and steep banks beside the road, braking to stay at 40 mph! When they got to the flats, they could look back at the big mountains they just crossed. They found a Getty to buy refreshments and sat under a clump of trees for a few hours. They saw some sort of coyote or jackal and we moms hope those wild animals stay away from camp sites! :-/ But tonight they are in a motel, even if it's not a very good one, at least it's a roof and a bed, the walls are dirty and the microwave doesn't work....

Their maps are a bit outdated, so they had a problem finding a place to sleep last night. They finally found a deserted campground. They are still in California, soon to cross into Arizona.

Sandra writes:

2008-02-13T17:18:00.000-08:00

I’m so happy for Patrick… he made it through the airport (his “nightmare”) and has started to fulfill his dreams already! Yesterday morning around 7 they took off and biked 55 miles up mountains… to an elevation of 4000 feet! Oh I am so happy for him. i can just see him biking up those roads… grinning from ear to ear.

San Diego!

2008-02-12T05:51:00.000-08:00

The boys arrived in California, Patrick included! Although they had to repack the bikes in Philadelphia because they would not allow more than 2 bikes in a box, all the boxes arrived and they were assembling their bikes again at midnight ET. They will soon be on their way home!

Trans America

2007-12-08T18:59:00.000-08:00

Here we go. Come ride with us on the cyber side of things.