Days 1-4

With 600 miles to ride in 6 days we had to spend most of the daylight hours biking so that we could get in an hundred miles a day. Our typical day went something like this:
We would wake up early and within 30 minutes be out on the road. Sometimes this was the hardest part of the day for we were exhausted and to peel yourself off the bed, put on your stinky riding clothes and throw your leg over your bike was not easy. We tried getting out early and even though there were mornings we were out by 6:30, there was a couple of mornings where it was closer to 8. We would pick up something quick to eat for breakfast at a gas station or something of the like. We would then be on our way, following our route, enjoying the coolness of the morning.
After riding for about 3 hours, usually around 10 AM, we would stop at a gas station or Walgreens to use the bathroom and get a drink and snacks if needed. Of course this stop always depended upon when we rode by these establishments. About 15 minutes would be spent at these stops then we would continue.
Around 1PM and after riding 50-60 miles, we would stop somewhere to have lunch. We always looked forward to these stops and they were much, much needed. Lunch would be at a restaurant, sometimes at a greasy spoon but never at a Fast Food place for we would spend an entire hour during this stop. It felt good to rest our legs a bit, talk and enjoy each other, and to spend some time eating food. When my dad and other family members in cars were with us, we would meet them for lunch so it was really fun to be able to stop and socialize with them. At lunch I would have some sort of caffeine drink, which if you know me is shocking. I haven't drank pop since I was 14 years old. I had stopped for soccer season and just never went back to it. I would take a sip of pop and hated how the drink just tasted like fizz and burned my nose. The only other time I have drank pop in the past 14 years was during the run of the Ironman and while running the Mohican 50. So for me to have pop every day for a week straight is pretty surprising. The caffeine helped us to not be drowsy and the sugar was an instant energy buzz. We did try putting the pop into one of our water bottles but the carbonation combined with the movement from the bikes caused the pop to spill onto our legs. We were already dirty enough and did not want to be sticky on top of it, so we kept our pop drinking to during meals.
After our mid-day break, we would saddle up onto our bikes and continue on more refreshed. We would again ride for about 3 hours, stop and get a drink and sometimes some candy, Starbursts and the individually wrapped Laffy Taffy being my favorite.

Every hour of the bike ride we would stop and take some salt tablets, which really do help to keep your legs feeling achy. We would continue riding until around 7:30, just before it got dark. During lunch I would estimate where we would be for the night, and as we got closer I would use my iphone to try finding a motel on our route.
After finishing our ride for the day we would get some dinner then check into a roach motel. We were so exhausted we didn't care about how dirty, run down and scary our room was, we were just grateful for a bed and a shower. I would peel off my stinky biking shorts and top and with my socks and underwear still on, I would jump in the shower and wash my body and remaining clothes. After cleaning up, I would put on the underwear I had cleaned the previous night and hang my wet ones up to dry during the night. My socks would never dry by the morning, so using hair rubber bands, I fashioned a drying rack to the seat of my bike.

We would average about 12 miles an hour, not bad considering that all the breaks to take salt tablets, talk, look at the map, all stops besides the lunch break were all counted into our time of traveling. Definitely not bad considering the distance we were doing every day, consecutively.

That was the basic structure of our day, but of course every day brought it's own adventures and experiences. Here are some of my memories:

Monday:

We started our trip on Monday morning at the Kirtland temple. My friend, Linda, dropped us off and we got on the road to start our adventure, leaving behind the life of motorized vehicles in exchange for our own two legs.

We headed towards Cleveland. We went through some really nice areas with big beautiful houses on the shores of Lake Erie, we rode through downtown, and we rode through some sketchy areas. I'll just say that the sketchy areas were not our favorite.
After half a day, we found ourselves nine miles south of my home. It tugged my heart strings to think that just 9 miles away were my precious boys and I wouldn't be seeing them. They were asleep when we left that morning and now I just wanted to snuggle them into me, see their smiling faces, even hear their crazy screams.
We rode through the MetroParks, where I had done most of my training for the Ironman. I have a lot of lonely memories of that road and now I was riding the same road with two of the most important people in my life. Funny how life happens like that.
We rode into Elyria and decided to take our lunch break. My mom, having such a strong Spanish background pronounced the town El-Ria, silly mom, but then as I look at the word I don't understand why I felt as though I could tease her so much about it.

Our lunch break was very welcomed. We stopped at a Thai restaurant, why not eat spicy while riding bikes, right? The food was delicious and we found ourselves resisting the urge to stay there all day.
We got back on our bikes, a little sore in the saddle. After 5 miles our directions took us onto a bike path, a 15 mile bike path that went by Oberlin College. It was awesome.
We got to ride next to each other on a mostly straight, paved path. We got to chat more, and not worry about getting hit by a car.
Later we came upon another bike path. We were again thrilled until a mile down it the path became gravel and sand, not ideal while riding road bikes. We strayed onto a nearby road and continued on.

Being the navigator - since both Todd and my mom are HORRIBLE with any sense of directions- I was trying to figure out a route while riding my bike - not the safest thing but I became quite proficient at this by the end of the trip. While I was trying to decide which direction was best, we came upon a traffic light. While there we cut into two lanes of traffic, stopped in the middle of the road, and turned left on a red light, all with a cop right behind us. Amazingly enough he didn't pull us over. He probably figured we weren't worth his time.
Around 7 PM my mom, who was the front cyclist at the time, shot her hand up in the air. It was her victory punch, we had just gone 100 miles, the farthest she has ever ridden on a bike. One more mile down the road we decided to stop for the night.
We found a very classy motel to stay at - sarcasm should be noted. We were giddy to be done with our first day, it had been hard, we were tired, but we were happy. After riding so far, my mom could not get over the fact that when I did the Ironman I biked over 100 miles and swam and ran the distances that I did. Glad I was able to earn some respect.

Tuesday:
This morning we got a late start. Todd and I left the motel around 8:30 while my mom stayed behind, waiting for LeNae to come pick her up.

I had been missing my boys but for some reason I really was desiring to see Roger. He's such a sweet and loving kid, yet sometimes I don't celebrate his free spirit enough. He and LeNae have a special relationship, in short, I'm sure Roger would marry LeNae if he could. Being filled with this longing to see Roger, I sent a text to LeNae telling her to bring her "boyfriend" along with her when she picked up my mom.
Our morning was slow. We had to change our route a bit for we decided that an extra 40 miles made a big difference, especially since we were wanting to try to get to Nauvoo at a good time on Saturday so that we could go to the temple. Also, I got a phone call from Lana, asking if I would talk to William. I answered the phone to him crying hysterically. He had been stung by a bee, in the ear. I felt so bad and stopped to talk to him until he had calmed down. Lana did such a good job of taking care of my boys, but I did still miss them and wished I could have helped him myself.

After LeNae had picked up my mom, they came and found us, and met us for lunch. We stopped at a greasy spoon called "The Speed Trap". The food was mediocre, but the bathrooms were hilarious. This was the women's bathroom:
Here is the one stall

(yes, that is a toilet my mom is sitting on) and I am in the stall opposite of the toilet.
LeNae had brought Roger and I was so happy. It was great to give him some individual attention.

After lunch was over, we pulled out Roger's bike (that was left in the back of my mom's car) and with him on his bike, Todd and I on our bikes, and LeNae on my mom's bike, we rode down the road for about half a mile. In this way, Roger was able to ride some part of the trip with us, and he loved it.

Afterwards my mom, LeNae, and Roger went to my house as Todd and I continued on.
We were deep into farmland, with rows and rows of corn all around us. There would be an occasional little town, but those were few and far in between.

The sun was beating down on us and Todd had started to slow down. I would continue ahead then stop nowhere in particular and wait for him to catch up. We weren't able to make a stop between lunch and finishing for there wasn't anywhere to stop. I was hot and thirsty and was running out of water. As I drank my last sip of water I told myself that worst-case-scenario I would stop at one of the farm houses and ask for water. Knowing that this may not only be awkward but inconvenient to the occupants of the houses, I hoped that I would see someone in their yard. Imagine my relief when I happened upon a house with two older couples sitting on lawn chairs in their yard.
I pulled over and asked them if I could have some water. At first they had a look of confusion on their faces, but then realized what I had asked for and the sweet little man in his 70's took my water bottles inside and filled them up. The people were curious as to what I was doing, so I told them. They were so impressed/excited about such a long trip. Meanwhile Todd passed by and stopped to join me. The man who took my water bottles, Jerry, had come out and proceeded to ask Todd if he could fill his up his water bottles as well, which he did.
We chatted with these people for about 20 minutes. They told us about the area and even directed us on what roads to take. They shared stories of when they had done some motorcycle trips years ago and had slept on picnic tables. They told a little about their neighbors, one which was a runner, "Sometimes she runs all the way to her parent's house in town, 5 miles away!" It was cute how enthusiastic and friendly they were. I loved how generous they were (they did offer us beer). Jerry took our bottles that we had been drinking and filled them up one last time then we said good-bye and were on our way.
Ten miles down the road Todd and I were riding down a road that ran next to the Maumee river, it was a perfect riding road but had not been on our route but thanks to the Jerry clan we knew about it. We were enjoying the beauty when a car passed us, pulled over and stopped. A man got out and went to the back of his car. As we got closer we realized that it was Jerry. He had been thinking about us and wanted to see if there was anything he could help us with. He offered to drive back into town and get us more water. We declined but were grateful for his offer and his desires.
That night we stopped in Defiance, Ohio. I had never heard of this small community until I had participated in a Sprint Triathlon. Here I was returning to the place that I had won my first prize money ($50) just 4 days earlier.
We rode down the main street still deciding where we would spend the night. My map was showing a few motels, but none were on our route, each at least a mile out of the way. We stopped near a bike store as I made phone calls to compare the prices. One of the owners of the bike store came out and chatted to us for awhile. He asked where we were staying for the night and we told him where we thought we were going to be staying (for $30). He told us that place was scary and proceeded to recommend Super 8 down the street. This place was three miles in the opposite direction and I was sure that it was a lot more than $30, but I appeased him by calling Super 8 and inquiring about the rate. It was about $70. Well, the man, being impressed with my phone and this game of calling on prices, wanted me to call the three other hotels that are by Super 8 and find out how much they were, none were any cheaper. Though he meant well, the man was kind of annoying. Todd and I had been standing there long enough and were QUITE okay with staying at a cheap motel and we just wanted to grab some food and go to bed, not call around town and chat about the prices. Finally on my phone I noticed another motel that hadn't shown up earlier. It was only two miles away and only one mile off the route. Upon hearing about the motel, the man let us know that that particular motel was a lot nicer than the $30 motel, and the rooms were only $10 more. We decided upon that and rode away.
When we got to the motel we were laughing for it was very quite run down. Our room was on the back side and when we got around the building we saw outdoor furniture outside one of the rooms and people were all hanging out like it was a little neighborhood. As we opened the door to our room, a particularly creepy guy commented on our bikes. We quickly pulled the bikes inside.
As we were falling asleep Todd joked that he was sure that our bikes, which were by our bed, would be found stolen in the morning. We just wondered about the state of the other run down motel if this one was a lot nicer.

Wednesday:

As we were leaving Defiance, Ohio, we came upon the small reservoir that I had raced in just a few days prior. Then we found ourselves riding on the bike course that I had ridden. We were on country roads, away from everything. We crossed some rail-road tracks, which we did a lot, and turned onto highway 24. The side of the road was nice and wide, not too many pot holes, but we were next to two lanes of constant traffic that were going at least 50 mph.

It sounds a lot worse than it was. It was actually one of the easier roads to ride on and it kept us going fast. Eventually the road crossed us into Indiana, and from there I think it may have actually been an interstate that we were riding on, but there weren't any "No biking, walking, tractor" signs, so we kept going.
As we got closer to Fort Wayne, Indiana, we were led onto a bike path, which was beautiful and a nice break from the road and traffic.

After being on the path for 10 miles, it took us into the city. The good news is that we found ourselves in front of the old Fort Wayne, which was cute and made us wish that our boys were with us.

The bad news is that we had to cross a pedestrian bridge over some water…and we had to climb steps to get to the bridge. Normally I wouldn't mind climbing the steps, but having to carry our bikes up the stairs! While in biking shoes! I thought for sure I was going to slip.

I took advantage of the break and did some stretches.

 We went the wrong way a couple of times (my fault) but after stopping for lunch, we were out of the city and back onto the country roads we were use to.
I have always liked Indiana, and after doing a couple of races there I was convinced that we would move there someday (most of their races are on Saturdays! Awesome), but after riding through the parts that we rode through, I'm not so sure. It was really run down and depressed. There were houses that didn't look that old, nor bad shape, that were boarded up. Not a good sign.
That afternoon was tough. I had a lot more energy and stamina than Todd did. Without pushing myself, I would get far ahead of Todd then have to stop and wait for him. He would finally catch up then after giving him a few minutes, I would continue on. I was getting frustrated with Todd not being as quick or pushing himself harder, but then I remembered that I had trained and done an Ironman just a few months before. I better be in a lot better shape, plus Todd had supported me all through my training, now was my time to support him. I slowed my pace a little bit and would let us take a longer break when he caught up to me. I think it was good I did that for later he told my dad that I would get way ahead of him, get a 10 minute break while I waited for him to catch up, then give him a two minute break and want to continue on, not realizing that I got a longer break.
Even though I had changed my attitude, it was still a difficult afternoon. We were going through farmland, no stops, no stores. We were running out of water, we were hot, we were tired. I had gotten a text from my mom and upon looking at my phone I realized she had texted me a couple of pictures of the boys. I loved seeing them, I missed my boys and it lifted my spirits to see that they were having a great time. I realized that Todd probably needed a picker-upper more than I did, so I decided to stop and show Todd the pictures. I stopped too soon.

I didn't realize that Todd was right behind me, so when I stopped, he ran into me, rolling himself into the ditch off the side of the road. It wasn't a terrible crash, didn't injure Todd nor his bike too much, but it did break his headphones and did frustrate Todd a lot. I saw that Todd was upset, so I tried to show him the picture of the boys, he was not interested and I was able to tell that Todd was really upset, so after making sure that Todd wasn't injured, I got on my bike and rode on.
Todd later told my dad about this, that I just got on my bike and left him, but I pointed out that I have learned that when Todd is upset, it is best to let him have some space and time and then he will be fine. Todd agreed and stated that biking 30 miles did cool him down - that and a road sign that said "There's no room for Domestic Violence here".
Riding off, knowing that Todd was struggling, knowing I was struggling, and only having one last sip of water remaining, I was getting discouraged.
My dad was supposed to meet us, and if my calculations were correct, we would see him soon for he had been in Fort Wayne just a few hours prior. I decided to text him in hopes that he could pick us up some drinks and bring them to us. I was very discouraged when I found out that since he didn't know how to use his iphone's maps and the roads out here are a little more confusing, he had driven almost two hours in the wrong direction! He was now in Ohio! I was upset that I wouldn't see him soon, but I was more upset because I needed a drink and he was not going to be able to help me. I looked at the map and decided that I would push it to the next town, further leaving Todd in the dust. After thirty minutes of watching the side of the road for a tossed out drink, wishing for a house close to the road, pushing myself, I came into a small town. I found the convenience store, ran in, purchased a gallon of water and a large Gatorade, took a big drink, then balanced my purchases and went back on the road to find Todd. Needless to say, Todd was grateful for my peace offerings.
By the time we rode to the other side of the town, we had about 10 miles until we got to the next town and only about 45 minutes of sunlight left. Todd was hungry and wanted to hurry grab something, but after informing him that we couldn't do both (eat and make it to the next town today) I let him choose. He opted for riding to the next town. I was worried that we wouldn't make it before it got dark and there wasn't much in between the towns (except for farms), plus our bikes were not equipped with lights. We pushed it, and I am happy (and alive) to say that we did make it in time, with time to spare. We enjoyed a meal at Bob Evans then rode to a nearby cheap motel and went to bed, exhausted.

Thursday:

My dad had gotten to the motel late the night before and met us in our room at 7 AM to see us off. It was good to see him for I had missed him. He kept asking us if we were sure we wanted to continue on our trek, offering to take us up to Wisconsin Dells (a touristy place he served on his mission). We declined and continued on our way. Here my dad is thinking, "I wish you guys would quit!"

I don't know if it was just an extension to the previous afternoon, but that morning was tough for me. Our progress seemed slow, the scenery seemed to be just never-ending farmland - which is beautiful, but never changing. Mostly it was getting tough for I kept thinking about what my dad had said about stopping our journey and spending the time with the family.
I have always been a people-pleaser, especially for my parents, and ya, there were a lot of hot, difficult, and boring moments on the bike ride, but there was also a lot of good moments.
The fact that I didn't even turn on any music until the third day is amazing. There were moments of sheer joy of being. I loved the wind on my cheeks, I loved seeing new areas, wondering about the inhabitants, I loved being with Todd, sharing this journey together. I loved that we had set out a plan, a difficult plan, and were pushing ourselves through it. I understood what my dad wanted, and in truth I wanted it too. I wanted to be able to spend more time with my boys and with my parents and sisters, but I also knew that I wanted to do this trip and the only way that I would be able to do the trip was if I knew my boys were being well taken care of by people that loved them dearly. In the end, that was the biggest deciding factor for me to push on.
It was hot, and we were slow, but it was about lunch time when my dad called from the next town. The next town was small and only had two options for food. One was a family restaurant and the other was Casey's Convenience store. I didn't feel like eating at a gas station (this was our one big break for the day) so we went to the family restaurant. My dad met us on the road to the town and drove ahead of us to show us the way. He miscalculated something causing Todd and I to have to back track a couple of blocks. This doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you are in it, it's like pouring lemon juice into an open wound.
The lunch stop was enjoyable, and not too bad of food served by an 85 year-old woman. The lunch stop seemed to be just what we needed for after lunch, the next 60 miles just flew by. We entered Illinois and before we knew it, it was getting dark.

We passed through the town that I had predicted that we would stop at, and kept going. It was nice knowing that if we didn't make it in time to the next town, my dad could come pick us up and take us to a motel. We got to the next town, Forrest, Illinois and threw caution to the wind and kept going. At this point we were feeling the day's and the week's effects on our bodies. A couple of miles to the next town, I was done. We pulled over onto a driveway and called my dad, we were D-O-N-E. After 20 minutes my dad pulled up and boy, I have never been so happy to see him.

We found a Pizza/Pasta restaurant and had dinner there. The food tasted so incredible, but maybe I was just desperate. We drove back to Forrest to stay the night, very fitting that the town was Forrest...For-rest. I was really excited for just 15 minutes before us, my mom, sisters and BOYS had gotten to the motel.
I was so happy to see my boys and they were equally happy to see us. I had missed them and they seemed to have gotten bigger. We played with them and enjoyed them. We ended up getting to bed much later than we had planned. Even though my mom, Todd, and I were staying in a separate room so that we could get more rest and leave early without waking any of the boys up, we let Grant come sleep with us. It was good to have our little boy with us. I went to bed very happy.
The next morning, our plans were changed.