Susan Notorangelo, Arend-Jan Koning and other's Notes on the Northern Transcontinental July 1997 (Days 13-25)

DAY 13 , Friday, August 1

Murdo SD to Mitchell SD ..... 144 miles

The night before we had to change from western mountain time to central time, meaning that some people had one hour less daytime, while others had one hour less sleep. Somehow, everybody managed to be at breakfast at 7.00, for take-off at 7.30. It looked like it was going to be another fairly hot day, while the sun was shining brightly. With a weak tailwind, the riders who felt like it, could hammer down the road on a fairly even route going through fields of nothing and something. This tended to be so popular that at the first sag most riders were in before the official time that the van would be in operation. Because of the hot weather, which later in the day felt like about in the 90's, repleneshment was essential, make the sagstops very popular.

The scenery could be taken in by riding for about 4 miles, after which the rest was about a repetition of the same. Compared to the previous day, the grasshoppers were much less in number, while at places grasssnakes seemed to be inhabitants of the roadsides and temporary occupiers of the warm tarmac. Most of them slid away before they were run over. Two lazy specimen were so slow to react that they only just managed to stay away from my tires. Not knowing at the time whether they would be harmless, these 2-footers scared me.

The highlights before lunch were the roadworks on the I-90, with most of the oncoming traffic being (motor)-bikers going for a festival in Sturgess. Crossing the Missouri River (being used by the lunch crew, until hammerhead came passing by) by a neat bridge, with boneshaking roadsurface was another main event.

When lunch is described on the routesheet as "shade trees", one might rightly assume that there aren't many trees around. It still very hot, despite the trees.

The monotony causing boredom of the afternoon, was enlivened by a truckdriver who had parked his semi beside the road, shedding his 50,000 lbs load of sunflower seeds in the fields. The lunchcrew weren't able to pass this accident in their van, while a vacuum truck was sucking up the seeds. A deal was made; a bucketfull of seeds for a bottle of pop. To make this chaos complete, another semi driver showed some sort of solidarity by parking his truck in the ditch when he tried to get away from it all.

In the evening, some riders went to downtown Mitchell for dinner and have a look at the amazing Corn Palace, while the crew had a fairwell party for the Barbs, who would be leaving the next day.

(Arend-Jan Koning)

DAY 14, Saturday, August 2

Mitchell SD to Worthington MN ....... 137.2 miles

Another 6.30 breakfast, another hot day, another day with scenery that makes you appreciate even more the scenery of the first twelve days. With groundmist for the first half hour, we didn't have to worry about sunburns. With the sun breaking through, we had to worry about the sun. With reasonable favorable wind, progress was pretty good and the largest speedline so far was formed when 18 riders joined for a rotating speedline. This meant a welcome rest for sore muscles, up till the moment you were up in front pulling. Along the unpaved main street in Sherman another great lunch was served in the shade of the trees in the local park. Alas, it was time to say goodbye to crewmembers Barb Bohaty and Barb Marshall, who had been great fun to be with.

German strong man Bernd took off with Lon on the tandem after lunch, breaking the sound barrier with other riders trying to hang on by their fingertips. Obviously, the 18 man strong speedline broke up completely. Minnesote was entered without a sign of the border, except for an improved raod surface. Luverne was the only place of some significance, before the arrived in a scorching hot Worthington. The thermometer may have shown 85 degrees, it felt quite a bit hotter (well, we did come out of an airconditioned van).

Susan Notorangelo & Lon Haldeman

Day 15 Worthington, MN to Austin, MN 143.5 mi

The Riders had nice weather in the morning, cool with almost no wind. At the first sag in a little gravel parking lot which most of the riders waited for the sag truck to get there because they arrived too early. Others skipped the sag and went ahead to the 2nd sag. We had lunch at a City Park in Blue Earth, but with no public bathrooms expect the bushes. The riders had a hot and humid ride in to the motel. Tipical Midwest weather, but they were revived The wonderful lunch crew handed the hot, tired, and sweaty riders a cold soda before the motel became in their site.

Day 16 Austin, MN to Prarie du Chien, WI

Susan Notorangelo & Lon Haldeman

Day 17, Tuesday, August 5

PRARIE DU CHIEN, WI TO BELOIT, WI 148 MILES 6,200 FT OF CLIMBING

MOST OF THE RIDERS WERE HAPPY TO GET OUT OF THE FLAT AND INTO THE HILLS OF WISCONSIN. MILD TEMPERATURES IN THE MID 80'S. THE BEAUTIFUL DAIRY FARMS WERE NICE TO SEE BESIDES THE CORN FIELDS AND SOY BEANS. AT LUNCH WE HAD SWEET CORN THAT WASN'T EVEN RIPE, BUT WAS ENJOYED ANYWAY AFTER THE ROLLING HILLS. LON'S MOM AND DAD, ED AND MARY JANE JOINED US FOR LUNCH IN WIOTA WITH PAC Tour HALL OF FAMER, ROGER HENNING. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A PRETTY LONG THE RIDERS ARRIVED AT THE MOTEL EARLY. THE HALDEMAN'S GOT TO GO HOME AND SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON. SUSAN GOT TO SEE HER BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS AND PAY HER WONDERFUL BILLS.

(NICOLE NOTORANGELO)

Day 18, Wednesday, August 6

Beloit, WI to Kankakee, IL ...... 165 miles, 1,150 ft of climbing

Surely a long route, but with regards to the amount of climbing, not a very tough one. That is at least what most riders were anticipating, and this turned out to be true. With the weather again cooperating (low 80's, sunny and not much wind) , it turned out to be a nice day for a spin. Nicole had talked me into another ride on the tandem, which meant theat the pressure was on us again. Leaving from Beloit, some rollers were used as a warming up, after which the hills calmed down and the going got pretty flat.

While some people regard Beloit as a suburb of Chicago, the proximity of this town meant that traffic was quite busy at places. This meant that we were delighted to use a paved bike trail for a couple of miles. After the second rest stop in Hinkley, with 20 miles to go to lunch, Nicole and I were ready to kick some butt. Almost everybody we passed, hopped onto the back of our group (are pace was easy enough to hang onto) and about 4 miles before lunch e even passed the fast group, making the total group about 22 people strong. Some riders tried to bribe us into another few hours of pulling, but duty was calling. First, a great lunch was served next to the fire station in Serena.

Rider Doug McLaren's wife and 2 little children were awaiting him at lunch. After lunch Doug attached a single wheel trailer to his bike for his chidren, making it possible for them to pedal and use a derailler, watching them leave was the main event of the day.

The afternoon was best remembered for the bridge crossing the Illinois River, one stretch of road that drove you absolutely nuts since the joints of the concrete road were still felt even though it was tarmaced over. With 120 psi in the tires, one does feel the bumps. Kankakee turned out to have a bit unpleasant atmosphere,with warnings not to leave anything unattended, but nothing bad happened.

(Arend-Jan Koning)

Day 19, Thursday, August 7

Kankakee, IL to Wabash, IN ...... 137 miles, 1,010 feet of climbing

Not a day with a very high rating, but still an early start, with breakfast at 6.00 hours. This is kinda boring, with weather conditions and scenery practical identical to the few days before. The first highlight of the day was the first stop at the Indiana border which was extensively used as a photo opportunity for an almost complete pack of riders.

Lunch was in the small town of where we used the sheltered picknick facility in the local park; a perfect setting for a good lunch. This is where we lost our mechanic Seth Pizzo, since he was picked up by his girlfriend to return home.

In the afternoon we came through places like Twelve Miles, (sign:"Twelve Miles 14"), Mexico and Peru. During our rest stop in Mexico a car hit another car that was braking in front of her at a speed of about 15 mph; seeing 5 emergency service vehicles being used for such a minor accident, the lady driver being carted away in an ambulance made the whole thing quit rediculous. At least some major news for the local paper.

The fast guys were having fun up front with hard racing and close sprints while the rest took it easy and had an enjoyable afternoon as well. Wabash was one of those places where we stayed but of which we saw only like half a mile of outskirts. In the evening a video was shown about the Great American Bikerace of 1983 from Santa Monica to New York, a predecessor of the RAAM race. This was truly wonderful stuff to watch; seeing Lon win, while the 3 (!) other competitors were in agony somehow.

(Arend-Jan Koning)

Day 20, Friday, August 8

Wabash, IN to Troy, OH ....... 133 miles, 1,030 feet of climbing

Good cycling weather, pracically no hills; sounds familiar, eh? In the last couple of days the riders tried to stay together, more than they did before. Pacelines growing up to 18 people were not unusual. A few of the fast riders leave late, pass other riders who join them and the group keeps growing, giving the riders the chance to take it easy; drafting takes less energy than pulling. A rotating paceline of about 22 riders was split up just before the second stop of the day when some fast guys started hammering thus increasing the safety for the riders. After this stop the option could be taken to go for a very quiet route through cornfields to the lunchstop of the day in Coldwater. This stop was at the local Bike Shop, which meant that a number of people were awaiting us, trying a catch a glimpse of these weird people who ride their bikes from one end of the country to the other end of still the same country. Back in the cage, please.

The treat of the day at lunch were hamburgers of some sort; 6 of those stands as the record of the day (Joe Smith).

Thinking for a while I was riding alone, I was surprised when I looked back, to see a single file of 17 riders behind me; another good paceline was introduced, thinning down by the end of the route to about 10 riders. In Troy we had very good rooms in the rather new Hampton Inn. Also here; what does the place look like?

We were passing a timezone now, making the day one hour shorter.

(Arend-Jan Koning)

Susan Notorangelo & Lon Haldeman

Day 21 Troy Oh to Athens OH 153 miles 2,900 ft

It started off as a beautiful summer day. Cool morning ride thru the Ohio country side. A few hill but a great ride if you were on a tandem with David Cardwell. David wanted to try a tandem and that was the last flattish day left that I could ride. So David and I decided to give it a go. We got lost in the traffic circle leaving Troy and weaved our way back on course just as the main pack passed us in town. Oh well so much for an early start. But Lady Luck was on our side as Tom Schwartz flatted not 5 miles up the road and the whole pack stayed with him in small groups off on the shoulder. David and I worked really well together and beat them all to the first sag. That of course opened on time! David had so much fun that we continued on to the 60 mile sag stop. We pulled a big group down the road averaging over 20 miles per hour. All the fast guys were in the line. So much for small group riding. We loved it. We had one detour after another that day.....as the roads or RR crossings were being worked on. The riders could get thru but the trucks had to go around all of them.

Lunch in Circleville was a mayhem as softball games and country singers surrounded us in the picnic area. We left another cone at lunch..one last year and another this year. Circleville's road department is making money on us. Later that afternoon the deep hills of southeastern Ohio slowed the pace of the group abit.....at least the uphill pace. The descents were spectacular...except when the down pour started. The lunch truck was already in town...Athens and the thundershowers had the streets all flooded. It was alot of rainfall. Some riders had rain and some did not. But all would agree that it had been a great day of cycling. Tomorrow would be the start of the mountains..and they were looking forward to that.

Day 22 Athens OH to Elkins WV 166 miles 6,500 ft

Highlight of the morning was the big shell refinery checkpoint and riding into Wild West Virginia. Traveling on and off US RT 50 using some of the older sections of highway and then getting back on the four lane when the old highway ran out gave the riders a challenging cue sheet day. Some got lost but most did fine. The uphill were long but not steep. Riding on beat up shoulders made it difficult but at times they could ride on the newly paved lane of the highway that was still closed to auto traffic. Now that was smooth sailing. Lunch was at an old school that has been closed for years..Rebecca made a 4 square game with chalk and many of the riders had to play before riding off to the next sag. Even though it was a long day....riders seemed to be enjoying the day. Not hot and not muggy. Arend and Nancy rode to lunch and Nicole and I rode from lunch to the motel. Nicole rode another century only this time in the huge mountains of West Virginia. We got to the motel about 6:30 pm..shopped and ate and then watched the Chicago Bears Miami Football preseason game. being PAC Tour...we never found out who won because we went to bed before the fourth quarter. Arend had a tick on his leg.....and one rider got lost but all in all another fabulous day of biking. Joe Smith dumped his 150 dollar camera over the side of a bridge while sightseeing.....oh well not worth going in for...but all those pictures....a few days ago someone else left their camera by the side of the road..after stopping to take a picture.....John Koehler left his 170 cycling shoes at the previous motel....we are also loosing control of the riders as they get faster and faster....

Day 23 Elkins WV to Harrissonburg VA 105 miles with 9,850 ft of hills

Begin climbing, Cheat Mt., Shaver Mt., Alpena Lodge, Middle Mt, Rich Mt, Allegheny Mt and Top of Climb Virginia Border...Top of last tough climb,...today reads the route card. The riders had a tough morning with all the climbing a dodging of huge gravel trucks. Only one rider got lost and had to be rescued with the sag car. Bernd was the first up the German Valley Climb and Junichiro...who was the first up the Big Horns had taken a wrong turn.....oh well....Others had a great day managing the climbs and e=enjoying the down hills. Only one rider taking some gravel after misjudging the white line. We had lunch in the Lutheran Church parking lot as the Bank where we had lunch last year was doing a busy Monday business....they might not appreciate having the drive thru window blocked by the Ryder truck. The afternoon got quite hot especially on the climb to the Border. A bit of rain fell on some but not most. In Harrisonburg, a train blocked Rt 33 for over 20 minutes. The riders wanted to get through....David Corl crawled under the train and was expecting the other riders to do the same and pass over his bike when a police officer came by and told David not to do that.....he ended up crawling back under the train to get on this bike and backtrack on the route to find the overpass. The riders did beat the lunch truck in as we sat another 10 minutes after they rode off. A good night for food as there were many restaurants in the area. A big group ate at Chili's...a very social time

Day 24 Harrisonburg VA to Ashland Va 123 miles with 4,500 ft

The last big climb.....The big Horns...Cheat Mt and the Germany Valley Climb...now the ride up to Skyline Drive. Not the most difficult but definitely the last climb of the Northern. Nicole and I sagged to the top and coasted off ahead of all the riders. The twisty decent was not difficult and we hit 53 on the final straight away. It was fabulous. We rode 60 miles to the second sag. Lon rode with me into lunch with Bob Derry on our wheel. Bob was happy to have such a great drafting spot and that he did not have to worry about getting lost. It was a hot and humid day. A day that most would have thought we would have had more off. But this trip has not been too cursed with bad weather. Riders hung around lunch long enough to get rehydrated but it was so hot that the call of the AC in the motel had them riding off pretty fast. Of course the "back" as they are known..stayed abit longer. Todd Haba...arrived last having gotten lost. He was glad to have lunch and a cold soda before trying to catch up with the "BACK". The lunch crew again split the day with Nancy and Arend riding off on the John Deere Tandem. That was hard but Lon has taken Dena for an afternoon 40 mile ride to the motel so they had the other bike. Lon took Joe Garrett, Nicole and Rebecca to the King's Dominion...an amusement park after all the work was done. They are still there and I am going to try to send out this email to all. Tomorrow is our final day of the 1997 Northern,,,so much planning. training and dreaming got all of us here and by this time tomorrow...all it will be is a memory.

It may take me awhile to finish this story. as Thursday at 5 am the trucks will drive home to Sharon, WI nonstop...I have a busy weekend planned so I will try to finish the story on Monday of next week....thanks for all the replys...as we are having fun and this is the first time we have tried to send out anything to anyone.

Day 25 To the Finish

It was one of our best finishes with no one missing! We had the Baltimore Store Check Point, the Basketville checkpoint and the meeting up on the Colonial Parkway....it was a grand parade to the finish. Even Rebecca rode to the beach. Although she was tired from her night at Kings Dominion and the rock climbing wall ; she stayed with the pack on the tamden with Arend Koning. Our finish in at the beach was wonderful as it was hot and many riders and crew slipped into the water to cool off. So many cameras.....we were all movie stars..We had the picnic and then the riders rode home. The UPS strike made all the riders take their bikes on the planes so that was more costly and more difficult. Our final banquet at the 1776 Hotel was marred by long lines at the Pig Roast...but once we got to the food it was great....Joe Smith out Bid Mike Danowski for the Map Board...donating $1,200 to the Alteimer's (SP) Foundation. It was an incredible success. With the UPS strike, the plaques did not make it to the finish but we honored everyone anyway.

As always, it is hard to separate after traveling 25 days with great folks. Some tears and some hurrahs..more photo's ...then off to the ice cream store or Unos for a round.

The trucks drove home non stop arriving in Sharon, WI at 2am after leaving the east coast at 5AM. What a terrific ride making us many new friends.

We hope to see some again....soon

Closing the Northern tour PAC Tour group update.

Susan Notorangelo