EBTrek

Day 44 – July 31, 2001 Dana Point, CA, U.S.A to Tijuana, Mexico 96.46 miles 13.29 average speed 7:15.27 ride time 8:00am departed 6:00pm arrived 2,750.92 total trek miles             I think we all slept fitfully that night knowing that the morning would begin our last day of the trek.  People have sometimes asked if we are sad the trip is ending, or if we have mixed feelings about it.  If the end of the trip also marked the end of our helping the EB kids, then we should be quite sad, but it does not. EB has not seen the last of us.                 Even though it was our last day, it was still a long way to Mexico.  We stopped seldom and rode steadily to San Diego and down into San Ysidrio.  Joey broke a million spokes, of course, but that has become simply a matter of course.  A ...

Day 43 – July 30, 2001 Huntington Beach, CA to Dana Point, CA 23.57 Miles 16.23 Average Speed 1:27:08 Ride Time 1:00 pm Departure 2:45 pm Arrival 2654.46 Total Trek Miles We decided to have our smallest mileage day of the trip today,  but try to ride the miles as fast as we could.  After a relaxing weekend with B-rock and Burke we left Huntington Beach in the afternoon immediately after the sun came out in full strength.  Our morning was spent in the local bike shop because Jake needed to have his rim trued.  We looked around the shop and found ourselves drooling over the lightweight, expensive road bikes.  I think each one of us would like to have a day without weight just to see how fast we could go.  The idea of an unloaded bike will have to wait a few more days (not many though).  While leaving “Surf City” we passed the Junior National Surf Championships and quite a few hecklers.  I find it interest...

Day 42 – July 29, 2001 Huntington Beach, CA  Day of Rest  The Huntington Beach singles ward doesn’t start until 2:00 so we spent one of the laziest Sunday mornings in recorded history.  B-Rock and Burke were ever the gracious hosts as we ate breakfast, watched the Tour on TV and sat around.  All five of us were pretty stoked to go to church that morning.  I would like to say that it was so that we could learn important gospel principles and feel of the spirit, but I am ashamed to admit that our excitement had more to do with eye candy than anything spiritual.  Church as always was excellent and we ran into a few friends that were there from Provo.  After church we ate a delicious meal cooked by Andrew and Dawn (a neighbor of B-Rock and Burke), watched Bottle Rocket, and went to bed.

Day 41 – July 28, 2001 Carpinteria State Beach, CA   to Huntington Beach, CA 126.73 Miles 14.88 Average Speed 8:30:46 Ride Time 7:00 am Departure 7:30 pm Arrival 2630.89 Total Trek Miles Our longest day had to crop up sometime, so here it is.  Enjoy:                  A splendid night with friends is one of the best things to do to prepare for an extremely long day.  Another “best thing” is to also have friends at your destination.  Both put a spring in your pedals that an empty hotel room just can’t provoke.                   Our plan was first of all to ride to Santa Monica to eat lunch with our friend Dan Peers.  That’s about a seventy-five mile ride so an early start was imperative.  This achieved, we rode steadily on flat roads and with favorable...

Day 40 – July 27, 2001 Lompoc, CA to Carpinteria State Beach, CA 71.07 Miles 14.69 Average Speed 4:50:14 Ride Time 10:30 am Departure 4:30 pm Arrival 2504.16 Total Trek Miles     Have you ever seen the movie “Best of Show?”  Andrew and I (Rocky) felt like we were in that movie this morning.  For those of you who are not familiar with this documentary, it chronicles the intricacies of today’s modern dog shows.     The city of Lompoc was hosting a large dog show the weekend we happened to ride through.  As we went to our complimentary continental breakfast we met some very dedicated dog owners.  Naturally, our conversation turned to the Lompoc Dog Show and we learned about the different categories of dogs and the common names used to differentiate the males and females.  You can imagine how we almost choked on our food when a total stranger started giving us a detailed run down of the competiti...

Day 39 – Thursday, July 26, 2001 San Simeon State Park, CA  to Lompoc, CA 96.69 Miles 14.37 Average Speed 6:43:39 Ride Time 7:00 am Departure 5:30 pm Arrival 2433.09 Total Trek Miles             We awoke this morning to a light mist that had been falling for most of the night and left all of our stuff nice and damp. Amazing how fast you get ready to go when it's cold and wet outside. We cruised into Cambria and bought supplies for the day. As we negotiated the business loop that led us back to Highway 1, we came to an intersection where a left turn would put us back on the coastal route. The light suddenly turned green with us still about 100 yards away. Anyone who knows Rocky knows that he is a big time morning person and feels like a million bucks at the start of the day. He definitely had too much energy this particular morning. He saw the opportunity to make the light, decided in his mind that we would make ...

Day 38 – Wednesday, July 25, 2001 Big Sur, CA to San Simeon State Park, CA 71.76 Miles 12.34 Average Speed 5:48:43 Ride Time 9:15 am Departure 8:00 pm Arrival 2336.40 Total Trek Miles             After almost a full week of wonderful company and people other than the five of us with whom to associate, we awoke this morning to the dismal realization that we were alone – together – once again. A few monster coastal climbs awaited us today and the first one greeted us from the get go. Anyone who has been on a long distance tour knows that it is during the seemingly never-ending climbs that one begins to lose their mind. Luckily, we have found the antidote. It’s “The Game.” The content of The Game is confidential, but we can tell you that it involves girls. Well, talking about them, anyway. So, pretty much, if you are a girl that we know, we’ve most likely talked about you during The Game. But ask any participants if the...

Day 37 – Tuesday, July 24, 2001 Santa Cruz, CA  –  Big Sur, CA 79.69 Miles 13.45 Average Speed 5:55:19 Ride Time 10:15am Departure 7:30pm Arrival 2264.64 Total Trek Miles             I have been asked by the EBTrek team to do one of these special daily updates. I am only Rocky’s sister, and I am not anywhere close to being as clever as Andrew, or any of the other Trekkers. Therefore, I will not even try to be as funny as any of those crazy guys.             We had the privilege of spending 5 days with the 5 bikers, and Tuesday was the last of these 5 days. The boys took their sweet time in the morning and started riding around 10:15am. My dad, Bob, rode with them to Big Sur, and my mom, Laurie, and I tried to follow them. Tried is the key word here, since we only followed them about 10 miles out of the the whole 179 miles we were on the road wit...

Day 36 – Monday, July 23, 2001 Lafayette, CA - Santa Cruz, CA 97.16 Miles 15.03 Average Speed 6:27:42 Ride Time 6:00 am Departure 8:00pm Arrival Total Trek Miles-2184.95 miles             The header is correct in identifying the beginning and end points of our trek today; however, the hardest part of the journey was not spent on a bicycle today—it was during the few hours we were able to meet with the children and family of those with EB. Three hours into our trip, after two flat tires and two broken spokes, down the city streets of South San Francisco along El Camino Real, we arrived at Stanford University where several families awaited to greet us with a loud cheer.              Words cannot describe the feeling one gets while being among those whom have been affected by this terrible disease. The feelings are those of disbelief that an individual can be...

Day 35 – Sunday, July 22, 2001 Lafayette, CA - Day of Rest             Today was the day of reckoning for the Bay Area contingent. We went to church at the home ward of Rocky, Dan, and Andrew and each of them had the daunting task of speaking to the congregation during sacrament meeting. This was the moment when their parents and church leaders would see whether their years of hard work and time invested did any good.  Writing as a non-speaker and semi-impartial observer, I have to say that the talks were excellent. It was wonderful to have Lynn Anderson, the President of the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation, at church with us as well. She must think that we’re doing her a favor with the way she thanks us and showers us with praise. The truth is that she works harder than all of us combined and inspires us beyond measure.             We...

Day 34 – Saturday, July 21, 2001 Lafayette, CA - Day of Rest             Our lovely and talented publicist, Kelly Dayley, joined us today at the Garff home. We call her our publicist, but in truth she is the one doing all the behind-the-scenes work that keeps this thing running. It wasn’t immediately apparent who had ridden a bike to Lafayette and who had arrived by plane, as the four of us were ready to get out and do something (we played some absolutely awful tennis) while Kelly spent the greater part of the day passed out on the TV room couch.             We had some quality sharing time this evening with Craig Stevens, the man who rode this route in 1971. He showed us pictures and journal entries from his ride and we showed some video from ours, which we realized was VERY BORING. We’ll have to edit and compress it into a highlight reel before we show it ...

Day 33 – Friday, July 20, 2001 We have updated the daily reports with pictures from the road, so please check out Days 13-32 for the new material! Lafayette, CA Day of Rest            Ah, yes - finally a day when we can sleep in without a care in the world...except that half of us woke up at 6 and couldn't go back to sleep. Four of us (Andrew, Rocky, Jake, and Joey) are at the Garff home in Lafayette, CA. Dan is at his parent's house and is on his own to provide you information about his rest days. We did as close as is humanly possible to nothing today. It's difficult to do nothing, because even thinking about doing nothing is doing something. Nevertheless, we succeeded.            Well, that's not entirely true. We did some hot tub therapy in the morning, some rear rim therapy at the local bike shop, some Seinfeld therapy in the afternoon, and some scared-straigh...

Day 32 – Thursday, July 19, 2001 Bodega Bay, CA – Lafayette, CA 78.70 Miles 12.51 Average Speed 6:08:32 ride time 9AM Departure 6PM Arrival 2087.79 Total Trek Miles             Today would conclude the second and longest leg of the trip, sandwiched between a day of rest in Victoria, B.C. and a four-day weekend in Lafayette, CA.  The day broke with heavy fog and by the time of our departure the air still hung heavy around us.  The ride was mostly costal, except for a 20-mile jaunt inland littered with rolling brown hills.  Our excitement helped us up the hills as little as excitement can.  Each ascent was rewarded with a winding decent amid eucalyptus and pine and redwood.  We met the coast again at Stinson Beach. After that, grueling hills awaited us for the next 20 miles until we dropped down into Sausalito and over the Golden Gate Bridge.  We met...

Day 31 – Wednesday, July 18, 2001 Fort Bragg, CA – Bodega Bay, CA 113.26 Miles 15.41 Average Speed 7:20:45 ride time Left at 9AM Stopped riding at 8PM 2009.09 Total Trek Miles This is Jake, once again. There is nothing like riding 100 miles in a day.  In bike talk it’s called “doing a century.”  When your bike is loaded with 40 to 50 pounds of gear, a century requires you to start early, end late, and stop as little as possible during the day.  It also requires large amounts of food.  The food part was ever so generously covered by Brandon’s mom, Leanne.  She owns a store in Fort Bragg and before we left that mourning she had us loaded with sandwiches, drinks, and everything else our little hearts desired.  (By the way if you are ever in or near Fort Bragg, Leann’s store is called  Hoppers , it sits on the far south end of town, and you will not find a better tasting sandwich west of the Mississippi River) ...

Day 30 – Tuesday, July 17, 2001 Garberville, CA – Fort Bragg, CA 67.37 Miles 12.60 Average Speed 5:14:14 saddle time 9AM Departure 4PM Arrival 1895.83 Total Trek Miles This is Jake, taking a turn at an update.  (I don’t think you really care who is writing the update, but my dear old Dad asked if I would identify myself whenever I wrote, so to be an obedient son I am so doing.)  Our day of riding was pretty much the same as usual.  We climbed about 2500 feet up and out of Garberville, and then dropped all the way back down to the coast.  It was a beautiful ride, and as always a beautiful experience to see the ocean after not having seen it for a couple of days.  As Dan previously mentioned in an update he wrote, we have ridden in some spectacular places, but nothing quite compares to riding along the ocean shore.  The temperature drops, the smells change, and the wind blows (which is a wonderful thing if it is at you...

Day 29 – Monday, July 16, 2001 McKinleyville, CA – Garberville, CA 89.05 Miles |  16.15 Average Speed 5:30:50 saddle time Departed 9AM Arrived 5PM 1828.46 Total Trek Miles             It would be a shame to attribute the high quality of the families we have stayed with to luck, for most certainly the larger forces at play are responsible for the unrestrained generosity of our often-unwitting hosts.  They give as though we are their children and we try to take as though we are not.  In short, our stay with the Nicholl’s increased our debt to society several fold. Today we had a pretty good line up.  Thirty miles south of McKinleyville a road splits off the highway to wind among the giant redwoods.  Fittingly, it’s called the Avenue of the Giants.  Some of you may’ve heard of it.  Well, it shouldn’t be surprising that I think riding a bike through it is...

Day 28 July 15, 2001 McKinleyville, CA - Rest Day            Please check out days 21 and 24 for recent additions to our updates! You may have to hit the refresh/reload button to get the added text.            Not many people will allow 5 strangers to stay in their house. Even less will allow it on 16 hours notice. And the number decreases even further when those 5 strangers are clad in skin-tight lycra and smell like a junior high P.E. uniform that has gone unwashed for an entire semester. We were on our third consecutive day without having done laundry when we rolled into the Nicholls' driveway yesterday evening, but we were still welcomed with an open house and soft beds. For those of you not in on this Mormon connection thing, it's worth checking out. You have family everywhere you go.            John and Chery...

Day 27 July 14, 2001 Klamath, CA to McKinleyville, CA 54.80 Miles 13.99 Avg Speed 3 hours 45 min 59 sec ride time 10:30 AM departure 4:00 PM arrival             I am going to take my first stab at writing a daily update. (This is Jake by the way) I thought I would take this chance to tell you a little about the mistakes in estimated mileage and difficulty of route that we are constantly making. You have not heard much about these gross errors because normally I am the one making them and the person writing the update (mostly Andrew) is just a little to kind to mention most of them.             Today we woke up late at the Trees of Mystery Motel thinking that we had a easy ride of about 35 miles with only a few easy climbs and a good amount of flat. Some of the guys ate a big breakfast, some slept in and others watched TV. We finally took off a little af...

Day 26 July 13, 2001 Golds Beach, OR to Klamath, CA 74.15 Miles Average Speed 14.20 Time 5:13:15 Departure Time 8:30 am Arrival 5:30 PM             Did you get a chance to watch Lance Armstrong cross the finish line after winning the Tour de France either of the last two years? Do you have the mental picture of him on the bike, hands in the air, with a look of exhilaration, exhaustion, and utter contentment? Got it? That was Dan, Rocky, and Andrew as we crossed the state border from Oregon into California. Not that our trip is over - or even close to being so. But there was a certain sense of accomplishment as we made this a 5-state tour and finally entered the beloved home of the Bay Area contingent.             California welcomed us with open arms and a gi-normous (or was it e-gantic?) mountain which we climbed up into Redwood National Park afte...

Day 25 July 12, 2001 Coos Bay, OR to Golds Beach, OR 81.03 Miles Average Speed 15.15 5:22 and 11 seconds ride time Departure Time 9:00 am Arrival 5:15 PM             As Coos Bay was a little off the coast, we had to head West as we continued South. It's always nice to see the coast after going inland for a while. This is my first update (Dan), so I don't know what has been written before, but there is some indescribable pleasure in riding with the water by your side. Perhaps like a fire keeps a man lost in the wilderness from going insane, the myriad features of the ocean shore accompany us.             When there is no coast we find other ways to amuse ourselves. Whether it's coming up with new ways to call out an approaching bump in the road or just yelling out whatever the nearest sign happens to say in the local accent of some place we've visit...

Day 24 July 11, 2001 Yachats, OR to Coos Bay, OR 76.17 Miles Average Speed 14.51 Travel Time 5:14:50 Departure Time 8:30 AM Arrival 5:00 PM             The lobby of Benetti's, the local Italian restaurant in downtown Coos Bay, Oregon was packed like a sardine tin, even though the smell was quite a bit more appealing. Joey did NOT want to wait 25 minutes to eat and Andrew did NOT want to eat another quick quality-on-par-with-garbage dinner. It was a potential fierce battle of wills that was narrowly avoided when Joey conceded the point (I usually don't) and waited out the agonizing half hour of hunger. As they drew to a close and the hostess uttered those sweet words, "Dan, party of 5...", a groan went up from the other members of the lobby mob. They had most certainly been waiting longer than we had and felt quite snubbed. Joey, not in the best of moods at this point and certainly not afraid to let people know it,...

Day 23 - July 10, 2001 Tillamook, OR to Yachats, OR 100.00 miles  15.12 average speed 6:36.43 travel time 8:00am departed 6:00pm arrived  1457.26 total trek miles             Before I begin I must admit something that I hope you will all excuse because it is a first time offense. One of the statistics above is a lie. You can probably guess which one it is. I mean, what are the chances of riding exactly 100 miles? Well, I'll tell you - they aren't very good. But you gotta understand - we have Rocky with us and he loves even numbers. The story is (and we're stickin' to it) that when we rolled into the motel in Yachats (DON'T ask us to pronounce that) the odometer read "99.97." So we told Joey to ride around in circles until it turned to 100 miles. We're really sorry and we promise we've not fudged any other numbers. We just really wanted that century. If anyone has a big problem with this, just let us know and...

Day 22 - July 9, 2001 Astoria, OR to Tillamook, OR 70.11 miles  13.60 average speed 5:05.21 travel time 8:00am departed 5:00pm arrived  1357.26 total trek miles             Something strange is happening to our bodies. Darwin said it would, but the Galapagos Islands are too distant to be be poignant examples to some thick-headed bikers. I don't want to create an evolution eruption among our readers, but I believe I can safely say that his studies, if nothing else, confirm that if you use something a lot, it'll get better at being used. Not to say we're great bikers or anything, but our bodies are adapting to our bikes to some degree, which is good for what we're doing. It's not so good for walking or running (Rocky sent his running shoes home a LONG time ago) or going up stairs. This may be extremely uninteresting to you, but when you experience the phenomeonon of barely mounting a flight of stairs and ...