Sorry for the absence!

Aloha!

Sorry for the absence everyone! We haven't had much time to update the blog due to long days and exhaustion.... and... laziness... sorry.. :P 

We've been in Nebraska for about 8 days now (including a relaxation day) and its been absolutely amazing. We left you guys off when we were in Iowa and wow... So much has happened since that moment. 

We are in a coffee shop at the moment so not much time because we do have to keep going and get to Wyoming today ;) but we'll try to fill you in on most of what's happened since that moment.

Sun setting near the water in Iowa. You can barely see a house in the distance over looking its lake.

Gorgeous rolling hills in Iowa. Those circle things are HAY! :P

Just the regular scene in a subway. Chillin'

Another nice sunset with a train passing by. Gorgeous landscape.

The trials and tribulations we go through haha. Roberts tire that got punctured, so a duct tape seal shall do. And it hasn't gone bad yet! :)

We met Mr. Wayne Donohue who was an absolutely amazing man. He helped us so much! Even though he closed down his shop a while back, he helped us out to the best of his abilities. His youthfulness and will to always push himself to bike more and do 24 hour races and long distance races throughout his old age inspired us to push ourselves as well. He also gave us Mirrors for our helmets and/or sunglasses. Yes! Go buy them! Safety sport Mirror company. We swear by them, it could save your life today! :)

Www.safetysportmirror.com

Robert, then Marcel, then Francis in Iowa.

A high school we passed coming into Omaha, Nebraska! Absolutely insane! Can't believe this is a high school.

The flatness in Nebraska. Absolutely awe inspiring. You can see the hay in the back.

We also had the honor of meeting a practical angel in our time of despair. He was an officer named Michael Wright in the town of Neligh, Nebraska. We got into a little accident due to a family of stray kittens and Alfred's lack of thought as he turned his bike towards them and there wasn't enough time for Marcel to swerve, thus resulting in a semi bent back wheel. Everything was okay in the end, but we were driven 40 miles to Oneill by Joe McNally and we knew God was watching over us. We were able to make it to Valentine the next day and actually did 110 miles!! Our new record. As if we hadn't had enough miracles, Alfred's amazing sister offered to help out and actually got us guys a motel room to end our miraculous day. We all are so grateful and our bodies were even more grateful when we got serenaded by the beautiful hot water that's so commonly called a shower.

Entering the Mountain Time Zone! Now 2 hours behind Eastern time. Felt good knowing that we made so much progress and that we're almost two thirds done!

One of the smallest towns we've encountered on this trip! Only 20 people!!! :P

We wish you could all be with us as we trek through the gorgeous scenery that is in the middle of the amazing Nebraska. This is only one of the many amazing landscapes that we encountered. 

A herd of cows all just watching us. Had to stop and snap a pic.

Absolutely beautiful.

At the top of a massive hill. Seems like the road is never ending. 

Marcel riding into the sunset. 

Oh the interesting things we see as we pass through republican country. Remember! Pull your head out before its too late! 

Haha

Ending sunset to a gorgeous, diverse day. Full of canyons, buttes, prairie, valleys, mountains, lakes, and farm land.

A mouthwatering banana split enjoyed by our very own Robert Abendroth after a plentiful meal. Thanks to Marcel's dad for this, who lets us convert our largest miles of each state into dollars for a good meal or a hotel. 

And thus you see the iced Caramel Macchiato and iced Mocha enjoyed by Marcel and Alfred to start off a hot last day in Nebraska. We'll be entering Lusk, Wyoming by the end of today. 

We hope that will sustain everyone's voracious appetites for details concerning our trip, until the next time we can update you guys, we thank you for all your support and for reading about our crazy adventure.

Aloha!

Ohio to Iowa! Oh the places we'll go.

ENTERING OHIO! See the obvious disappointment on our faces? :P

It's a Dalmatian horse!! Hehe

Beautiful scenery. Corn, corn, and more corn. Oh. And some wheat as well.

Robert peddling next to some corn.

Llamas!!! Nice haircut ;)

ENTERING INDIANA!! Woohoo!!

Everyday has a gorgeous sunset.

Robert fixing his tire after a colossal screw went through his tire. That was a ridiculous day filled with flats and spares. And despair.

YUMMY MEXICAN FOOD! Mmmmm <3

Going into nothingness. 

ENTERING ILLINOIS! more like Ill-annoying... Stupid bugs.. Bugs.. And more bugs.. As well as nasty pig trucks.. Grrrr.

Best sunset so far <3

What a beautiful sunset... Oh wait... What is that? Hehe 

Silly guys

See corn for MILESSS!

What a gorgeous sunset. Amazes us all. Wish you could all see it in person with us.

Missin our buddy Richard Henderson who was also supposed to come on the bike trip with us. Love ya buddy.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER! Woohoooo. West of the Mississippi River now :)

IOWA! Woohoooo!! Had an incredible dirt night in Iowa. It can't be bested. Or so we think at the moment.

Brief update

Aaaand we're back online! What a week it's been. So much fun, but kinda tough at times, in a Midwest-sort of way. We'll explain the deets later.

We were glad we ditched the Appalachians. The Scenery was beautiful, we admit, but ultimately the five days of agony in the mountains made "West Virginia" a word that couldn't ever be spoken, and Country Roads a taboo song for the trip.

Ohio though...way down low in the valleys past the Ohio River, introduced some new annoyances (mosquitos). On our first night in Ohio, in a little town called Coolville, we were ambushed by them. Robert and I were on guard for hours, until we pulled a tarp over us. We figured suffocating all night was better than blood-suckers screaming in your ears nonstop.

Ohh but overall its been AMAZING so far! Really a vacation type of thing, even over all the terribleness, and I might be able to speak for everyone that we can't regret the commitment we made for this trip. WE'RE STILL ALL THE WAY! And I wanted to say the landscape is what keeps us going, that the new and different places we go to brings us energy. But just the way that its difficult to expect the next day, the way things pan out so interestingly, makes us feel continually motivation to create more experiences, to keep biking to them. I dunno if that makes sense, but main point of this post is to say we are all happy, healthy, (exhausted), and STILL SICED AS POOP FOR THIS TRIP!

Also just want to say current happenings--

Today we biked 109 miles and are now in Champaign, Illinois! We're at about 870 miles total (2130ish to go!) and are spending the night with the Quigley's! We are incredibly grateful and blessed that they've offered their home and food tonight, not to mention that we came late in the evening looking we pooped ourselves hehe.

Thank you so much!

-Marcel

P.S. Pics to come very soon :)

West Virginyer: Days 5-8. It had its Up's and Down's.

Hey all! It's been a while since we've posted, mostly because the last week through West Virginia was the "slowest" and "toughest" part of our route across the country, as we were told. Unfortunately our aching bodies and weary minds made it difficult to write every day, but here are a few highlights of the past week through the mountains:

Day 5 (since we left Delaware; day 3 from  our homes in Maryland) up to Day 9 were spent in West Virginia. 5 days!! And our average seemed to be only around 40 each day. But we were proud, because it was tough!

We woke up in Winchester, VA on day 5 to some mist and a beautiful red sunrise. The day quickly became a cold rainy one, unfortunately, and by the time we got to Romney, West Virginia, we were tired and soaked. On the way we saw a woman driving up and down the mountain over and over. Then she parked close by and announced that she was trying to find and save a turtle that was trying to cross the road. She walked down the road, stopped over a small lump by the road, then ran back up saying "It was all squished up and dead!" Poor turtle... 

That day Marcel also rolled over some glass and ripped his tire. For next 100 or so his bike held up with only a thick layer of duct tape over the crack and a boot patch underneath it.

In the end we were graciously offered a motel by Mrs. Marchitelli, and had a much needed night to dry off, clean up, and sleep well! Thank you Aunt Concha!

Day 6 we had some good motel breakfast then left to find a bike shop in Romney. People kept pointing towards a place called "Romney cycles." For time and energy's sake, it would have been better for us if it were called "Romney Motorcycles".

In any case this day had beautiful scenery, as well as an ominous forewarning of a 'death climb' coming up according to the locals. We met Mike soon after Ridgeville, who confirmed that there was indeed a long climb up ahead, as well as that there were no food and water places for a while. We kept biking and soon met a winding 9% incline, and it never stopped. Well, for five miles it didn't. On the way up, though, Mike drove by with some heavenly Gatorade and snacks to keep us going! He drove really far to get them!! This man truly lives for the sake of others. Thanks so much Mike!!

At last we arrived in Mount Storm (40 miles from Romney) where we ate a nice pizza dinner and slept behind in a field outside. The owner, John, was gracious enogh to let us sleep there, let alone eat there as it was closed for the night already! Thanks John and staff!

Day 7 we ate and washed up at the restaurant, thanked the owners, then started riding. After some hills we met a 4.5 mile 9% downhill, which nearly killed our brake pads. At the bottom there was a tractor-pulling festival, and we felt we were a little too white-necked to dive in to. We met a few bikers who planned to do some 200-300 miles that day. Impossible, we said.

In Grafton we had a much needed subway dinner and set up shamelessly under a shopping center hang-over to sleep. We went about 50 miles today.

Day 8 we traveled around 47 miles to West Union, WV. We woke up to an already-awake town. Our plan was to get to Clarkesburg for their bike shop, which our bikes really needed. The road there was hilly but really nice, farmy, and a bit more on the downhill side. We got to Clarkesburg by noon and, after waiting out a storm, journeyed to the Holy Moses bike shop. Some of our bikes barely made it there; Alfie's tube blew and Marcel's duct tape couldn't support the tear any longer just before the shop. The owner, Moses, gave us some tires and tubes for a good price. Yay. We left Clarkesburg with healthy bikes and killed 25 miles in 2 hours, and arrived in a misty mountain town just before it started raining. We were dry and comfortable that night in a house under construction.

And stay tuned for.....

:)