2 More Down

The kind of roads I was riding on to reach Mount Sunflower

Sorry folks for the lag in between blogs.  I have been slacking off with writing them.  Since Brent’s last entry I have reached 2 more summits met a ton of cool people and had some very interesting days of riding.  When he left I was in Colorado Springs where I stayed for a couple days in order to hang out with some of my friends that I worked with this summer at Fort Carson.  I was also there in order to avoid some of the cold weather that was coming through.  There was one day where the high did not even reach double digits but thankfully I was able to just hang out inside all day.  Eventually I got myself roused and headed out for my next highpoint in Kansas.

While I was able to leave the coldest weather behind me I still had to deal with brutally cold temps along with some wind on my journey east.  My first day out I was not even able to make it to my chosen destination but thankfully a family in Simla, CO were more than welcoming to me as they invited me into their home.  The next day I made it to Limon where I was originally supposed to be and found yet another welcoming household who were on couchsurfing.org.  It was a little warmer for my ride the next day but not by much.  However, I was lucky enough to have a tail wind which made my 80 miles ride go by pretty fast and allowed me to stay a little warmer since I didn’t have to compete with the wind.  Upon reaching town a gentleman from warmshower.com offered to put me up in the local motel since he was not able to host me at his own house while I was passing through.

For those that may be wondering this was in Colorado not Kansas.

This is where it starts to get interesting.  Plan was to ride into Kansas, hit the high point, and then head back towards Colorado for the night.  I knew I was going to have to ride on some dirt roads in order to reach Mount Sunflower but did not realize that meant over 40 of my 80 miles were going to be on dirt roads.  Some of which were snowy or muddy.  Most of this went pretty well until I was riding down a decent sized hill and crossed over a snow patch.  This is when my front wheel lost traction and slid out from under me.  I was lucky enough to have been riding in running shoes so it was easy for me to bail.  The bike however had some damage done to it.  Bent handle bars which in turn screwed up the cable for shifting, mud in the gears and shifter, and one of the attachment points on a rear pannier broke off.  Nothing major, but still time consuming to get everything figured out and fixed to the best of my abilities.  After about an hour though it was off towards the summit again without any other issues.  That night I ended up staying at a local fire station in Cheyenne Wells, CO.

After reaching Mount Sunflower I continued my journey south in order to find warmer lands and to hit up the highpoint in Oklahoma, Black Mesa.  The next couple days all kind of blur together.  It was never that warm and it seemed like there was a lot of headwinds that I had to ride through.  Eventually though I would make it to Kenton, OK where I would stay at the Hitching Post B&B.  I stopped by their house on the way in to town to meet them and I was glad I did.  They were a very nice family that has lived on that ranch for over 60 years.  They also fed me a pretty good lunch while there.  They happily put me up in a cabin they had for the next two days.  On one of these days I headed out to Black Mesa, which was a 6-mile bike ride followed by 4 miles of hiking in order to reach the summit.  The hiking was very straightforward although one thing that made it a little tricky was that it was very muddy.  It seemed like my shoes weighed a couple pounds heavier thanks to all the mud that stuck to them.  This also made it pretty slippery at times.  Another issue I had was that I knew there was some rain coming in that afternoon so I was moving at a pretty good pace in hopes of getting back before it rained.  When I reached the summit I could see the storm clouds making their way towards me so I didn’t get to spend too much time up on top even though on a clear day the views would have been spectacular.  So I snapped a couple pictures, had a snack, and then headed out.  It threatened to let loose on me a couple times as I made my way back to the house but all I ever got were a couple light sprits.  As soon as I got in the cabin though it decided to finally let loose which was fine with me since I was warm and dry. 

That’s about it so far.  The one last piece of news to let yall know about is that instead of climbing Wheeler Peak which is the high point in New Mexico now, I’ve decided to put it off for a later period in the trip.  According to the ski patrol at Taos Ski Valley everything is really unstable up there right now and they are expecting even more snow on Sunday and Monday which would be about the time I’d be trying summit.  Another big reason for not just waiting it out is that my dad has bought me a plane ticket to go home for Christmas, which leaves out of Albuquerque on the 24^th.  So I’ve decided to just head that way in order to make sure I’m there for that.

Until next time though if you’re in the mountains go out and have some fun in all the new snow.  If you’re not in the mountains . . . . . well you should just be in the mountains.

- Michael Hunter

The top of Colorado!

Hello!!!! (This is Brent)  I am honored to have the opportunity to once again write for the Cycle for the Summit blog.  (My last post was to announce my retirement from riding with Michael in late October, due to achilles tendonitis)  But as I said, the fact that I’m not riding anymore isn’t going to keep me from helping Michael out and serving the ultimate purpose of fundraising for Big City Mountaineers (BCM)…which is exactly what I’ve been doing.  (while waiting to hear back from job applications ;-)  I work to find Michael to find places to stay every night as well as try to drum up some media coverage for him. (I am going to work at getting better at the media part)

Another way I hope to stay active with Cycle for the Summit is to join up with Michael for some of the larger climbs as often as I can.  (I fear this will be harder once I land a job)  So while I don’t currently have a job, it was the perfect time to drive out to Colorado and join Michael for Mount Elbert, the second highest point in the contiguous United States at 14,433 feet.  (to Mount Whitney, California 14,505 feet) 

Luckily within Colorado’s 14’er (Mountains over 14,000 feet, Colorado has 53 of the 88 fourteeners in the US) community, Elbert is considered one of if not the easiest. While it is considered to be one of the easiest, it still should not be taken lightly and I had a number of worries in the back of my mind leading up to the climb.  Was I physically conditioned to make it to the summit?  Due to my achilles injury I had done little to nothing in terms of physical activity for about two months, a bit of swimming, but that’s all…my quads and calves had only been used for daily walking.  Another worry was completely out of my control…altitude sickness.  I would be coming from St. Joseph, Missouri, 885 feet above sea level and climb to 14,433 two days later.  Everyone reacts to altitude differently and there is no way to prepare for it or project how you will react.  While climbing I had to make sure to listen to my body and pay attention to altitude sickness symptoms so as not to put Michael or myself in danger.

Mount Elbert is the furthest right.  

I drove in and met Michael at the home of Jim and Cathy McKeen, whom we had contacted via www.warmshowers.com.  Like so many other hosts, they were an absolute pleasure to stay with.  We camped out Monday evening at the entrance of the four-wheel drive road at the base of Mount Elbert, so we could rise with the sun to begin our ascent as we expected it to be a full day affair.  

I could hardly sleep, as I was extremely excited to climb the next day.  Michael is an experienced mountaineer, having participated in a month long mountaineering course with the National Outdoor Leadership School, and climbed such icons as Half Dome in Yosemite and Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa to name a few.  I on the other hand grew up in the rolling plains of Missouri and this was only the third time in my life I had been to Colorado.  The largest “climb of my life was when we rode to the top of Clingman’s Dome, Tennessee 6,643 feet.  The largest hike of my life was only 7 miles with 1,700 feet elevation gain, on Calloway Peak in North Carolina.  (It was beautiful!)  So I was about to shred a lot of personal bests as we climbed Elbert.

Everyone’s thoughts, prayers and good vibes were with us for the summit day as the weather was absolutely perfect!  Days before the highs were in the low 30’s and lows nearing zero degrees, days after our summit the temps were colder than that…but for the Monday we camped and the Tuesday we climbed, the highs were in the mid 40’s and lows near 20. 

We hit the trail Tuesday morning at 6:45am.  Starting at 9,500 feet we had two relatively easy miles to hike up the four-wheel drive trail before we reached the trailhead.  We were taking the East Ridge trail.  Which was going to be 12 miles round trip with 4,900 feet of elevation gain.  We were extremely grateful for The Trailhead in Buena Vista, CO for lending us snowshoes and poles for the climb.  The snowshoes helped us conserve a good deal of energy below the tree line.  We had to cross a couple small snowfields where the snow was a couple feet deep in some areas. 

Once we made it above tree line, we no longer needed the snowshoes but still had a lot of work ahead of us.  Overall I was feeling good, but would have to catch my breath every once in a while.  Which I would do as we stopped to snack and drink water, keeping hydrated is the best way to fend off altitude sickness.  Michael told me that every time he felt symptoms of altitude sickness on Kilimanjaro, he would take a drink and feel better.  Sure enough I would always feel really good every sip I took.  Not only was water a must for general survival, it was a great mental tool to keep morale high. 

I finally found my pace and just focused on small steps one after the other and was able to climb without getting too winded.  It was by no means an easy feat, I had to dig deep and think lots of positive thoughts to keep driving.  It was these thought of my girlfriend, family and friends that helped me push thought the fatigue.  About 300 feet or so from the summit we heard yells of elation and looked up to people celebration, who had come up a different trail.  Combining that with the adrenaline of being so close we pushed through and made it to the top at 12:45. 

Grilling on the Summit

We were welcomed by an unexpected sight…the group we heard celebrating were grilling burgers and brats on the summit!  It was awesome!  They were celebrating one of the girls 100^th climb over 13,000 feet.  We celebrated with them by taking some funny pictures on the summit. (They were taken by the other group, I tried to hold off posting this so I could use their pictures, but we'll post the funny ones at another time)Thanks to the amazing weather, we were lucky to be able to spend 30 minutes on the summit.   Combine the altitude with the hamburger and my stomach began to feel a bit funny, so we began our descent…and we were trucking it.  My legs were super shakey and worn out from the ascent, so I was extremely thankful to have the poles.  We trucked it on the way down and were back at camp as the sun was beginning to set at 4:30.  Up in 6 hours and down in 3; 10 hour round trip.  We were worn out, but excited to have reached the 10^th summit of Cycle for the Summit

The view North

This is the side we climbed up, the first picture on the blog is from the far side of that lake you see in the valley and we camped in between the large and small lake.  

To close out this post with more good news we were able to reach $1,000 before reaching the summit if Elbert, so we maximized the full $1,000 match from a private donor.  Thank you to everyone who helped to make the possible the Big City Mountaineers, the youth they serve and Michael and I are extremely grateful for you support.  Our total now sits at $2,215!  Only 40 more summits to go; up next it Mount Sunflower, Kansas.  It will be downhill all the way for Michael.  Until next time!

 All the best!

Brent 

Thanksgiving

            After reaching the summit of Harney Peak I had an awesome opportunity to stay with a couple that had worked in the National Park Services their entire careers.  They lived in Custer, SD and Penny Knuckles was a biologist for the park service while her husband Dennis was a ranger and bush pilot in Alaska for many years before retiring recently.  They had a ton of great stories to tell and were very fun to hang out with.  Penny also cam through for me as I left the next day I forgot both my water bottles at their house.  I didn’t notice till I was a few miles down the road and since I was already running later I figured I would just deal with it and get some bottles at my next stop.  But as I was riding about 25 miles from their house she drove by and gave me the water bottles back.  That was a great surprise. 

The ride that day was pretty fun as well.  It was mostly down hill and I rode through Wind Cave National Park.  Here I was able to see a lot of wildlife from the road.  Including a herd or bison that were probably no more than 15 feet away.  It can be kind of intimidating when they are all staring at you and you have no protection to speak of.  So I apologize for not getting a picture of them but I felt like it was a good idea to just keep riding.

            The next two days were pretty straightforward but they were both over 70 miles so they made for long days.  Eventually I made it to Scottsbluff, NE where I got another flat about 5 miles from my destination after another 70+ day.  After fixing that I decided to stop by the local bike shop called Sonny’s Bike Shop.  There were some great guys working there and they helped tune my bike up as well as outfitted me with some puncture resistant tubes and a new patch kit.  After that I headed over to the local fire station where I was spending the next two nights because a snowstorm was supposed to blow through the next day.  Both sets of guys were fun to hang out with as we watched football most of the day.

            When I started riding again I headed down towards Pine Bluffs, Wyoming that turned out to be an incredibly long day.  I had a head wind for most of it and ended up having to ride an hour and a half after dark in order to make it there.  But upon arrival a church was nice enough to set me up in a hotel for the night.

            The next day I knew was going to be almost 90 miles because that was going to be the first town I could make it to while also hitting the high point in Nebraska.  In order to get to the high point I had to ride about 8 miles down dirt roads and then another mile on a bison ranch.  You could see the bison heard off in the distance but that was the most exciting thing to see from the summit.  It turned out though that I was not done with the dirt roads.  I still had another 12 miles to go with it changing from a hard packed down road to a loose dirt road that was pretty hard to ride in.  I actually changed in to my running shoes so that I could ride and walk the bike a little more comfortably.  It also made it easier to bail the bike would slide out from under me.  Eventually though I make it to asphalt though and was able to continue at a pretty good pace because what most people don’t realize is that the majority of Colorado is very flat. 

            I didn’t quite make it into town though before it got dark and I was on a pretty busy road without much of a shoulder.  After riding this for a little in the dark I stopped and was going to try and find a ride into town.  Lucky for me the owner of the driveway I had stopped in was on his way to the airport but he got his wife to come get me in the truck and she took me into town. 

            I was worn out but thankfully tomorrow was only going to be about 45 miles as I rode to Denver and where I was going to stay for the next couple days.  My mom flew in to hang out with me for Thanksgiving, which was very nice.  While in Denver I finally got a chance to go meet some of the people that work for the Big City Mountaineers.  We went to lunch right by their office at a very cool little place called the Vine Street Pub.  Afterwards we went over to their office and they showed me around. 

            Heather from Big City Mountaineers actually invited both my mom and I over for thanksgiving dinner the next day that was awesome.  Some of her friends were also there so it was a fun day just hanging out with new people where most of them worked in the outdoor recreation field.  For dinner her fiancé made a really good smoked turkey and the sides were all really good as well. 

            Well after having a great set of rest days it’s on to the rocky mountains and the highest point in Colorado, Mount Elbert.

            - Michael Hunter

Rejuvenation

            There have been some pretty big events that have occurred since my last blog.  I had the opportunity to ride through the Badlands National Park in South Dakota, fly back to USC for the weekend, and then reach Harney Peak for my 8^th summit.

Sunset in the Badlands

            The whole way across South Dakota I had been hearing about how amazing the Badlands are and had gotten really excited to ride through it.  I was actually planning on camping in a section of the Badlands that has a herd of free range Bison.  However, I came to find out that in order to do that I would have to bike in about 12 miles on a gravel road and then bike out about another 13 miles.  So needless to say I decided against that.  But, the rest of the ride was pretty spectacular.  From the second you go through the gate the scenery drastically changes from the rolling plains to involve desert cliff faces a couple hundred feet tall.  The rest of the day I spent riding up and down these cliffs enjoying all the different formations that were created by the passing of time.  I lost track of time a little bit while riding and by the time the sun was setting I still had about 8 miles to go before I made it to a town to stay in.  Luckily it was mostly downhill and I was able to get there pretty fast although it got very cold as soon as the sun went down. 

            The next day I rode to Rapid City, SD where I met the Thurston’s.  They were a very nice couple that offered to keep an eye on all my stuff while I flew back to USC for a couple days.  The reason I was going back to USC was so that I could help out the University with their new Capitol Campaign kickoff event. They wanted me to come back in order to talk a little bit.  My short talk with Brent was focused around our promise to participate in the community as a USC alum.

Part of the trail to Harney Peak

            This trip back to Columbia was great for me both because I was able to help out USC after they have done so much for me and Cycle for the Summit but it was also rejuvenating to hang out with all me friends for a couple days.  It was also a great break from the cold windy weather that I had been dealing with up in South Dakota for the last week or so.  But, early Sunday morning it was time to head back to South Dakota in order to get ready for the next stages of my journey.

            The day after getting back to Rapid City I hit the road again by making my way into the heart of the Black hills.  This took me to Mount Rushmore, which was fun to see in person since it is such an iconic landmark in the United States.  After stopping here for a little bit I continued on to the trailhead of Harney Peak where I camped for the night.  I woke up early the next morning to a fresh snow covering everywhere.  This day turned out to take a lot longer than I expected due to some logging going on along the trail I first expected to take.  But either way it was a very peaceful day hiking through the snow towards my 8^th summit.  I didn’t see another soul all day but I did see plenty of deer and I also saw a lot of cougar tracks in the snow.  Upon reaching the summit I was treated to one of the greatest views I had seen on this trip yet. 

            Well now it is time to hightail it south as fast as I can.  Everyone says I have been lucky that a big storm has not come through yet but I don’t want to risk it any longer than I need to. 

- Michael Hunter

Truck, Tuck, and GO

          Since my last blog I was able to reach the Highest point in Iowa, Hawkeye Point.  This summit was probably the easiest one to reach the summit of thus far but, it still was able to provide a nice view of the surrounding landscape.  One cool thing that the summit did have was a sign to each of the other 49 highpoints and showing how far away they were.

            The summit day held true to the last couple days in that it was a decent headwind most f the day.  Due to this I was not able to make it all the way to Sioux Falls, SD as I had planned but was able to find a nice place to stay in rock Rapids, IA for the night.  This left only about 35 miles to Sioux Falls the next day where I had another appointment with a couch surfer.  This ride to Sioux Falls is where I concluded that I have to get a new pair of cycling shoes for the colder months.  It was another very cold day, which at this point I can only expect to become more frequent and get even colder.  But my current shoes were to tight for me to put on one pair of thick wool socks let alone two pairs of socks to keep my feet warm.  I did have the shoe covers but even with them I could feel my feet freezing from the bottom up which just did not make for a comfortable ride. 

Well I made it to Sioux Falls and had a great evening with my host as he showed me around the city.  The next morning I decided to go to a local bike shop before continuing my trip west across South Dakota since there was not much in the way of bike shops for almost 400 miles.  I stopped at Harlan’s Bike and Tour where the guys were incredibly helpful.  Not only did I get some new shoes there but I also got a new chain and a quick tune up on the bike.  They also gave me good directions for getting out of the city on some pretty decent biking roads. 

After fixing the first flat of the day.

As I left the bike shop and hit the road for another relatively short ride I was in a great mood and the weather was just beautiful compared to what the last week or two had been.  This lasted until I had about 4 miles left to my destination.  This is where I got my second flat of the trip in my rear tire.  O well a flats a flat so I took everything off the bike and fixed it.  Or so I thought.  As I was reloading the bike and put by backpack on the back my new tube blew.  I just kind of had to chuckle to myself in disbelief.  After looking at the tube I must have pinched it or something when putting it on as there was a hole in it but no corresponding damage to the tire itself.  At this point my host for the night was actually with me since he rode out to meet and ride in with me.  We were so close to his house that he just offered to ride back and get his car to pick me up so that I could just fix it at home and make sure I did it right this time.  Still a great day even with those two setbacks though.

The next two days were quite an experience for me.  I had consistent wind ranging from 20 to 35 mph with gusts well over 40 mph coming from the SSE.  At least it was slightly towards my back but the brunt of it was definitely coming from my side.  One day I rode on a two-lane highway with little traffic but it did have a good number of trucks that drove by.  As trucks drove by in my direction I had to fight off getting sucked in to them more than ever since there was also no shoulder most of the time and I was already leaning in to the wind which also meant leaning into traffic.  While this made for interesting riding it was the oncoming trucks that made it really interesting.  It actually gave me a sensation of being in the ocean and jumping into the waves.  You see it coming, brace yourself, hold your breath, and dive right into it.  The Truck, Tuck and Go method.  This I found usually worked out pretty well for me.  You got the wobbles a little bit as it passed but as long as you were ready and there was no traffic coming your direction it worked out well. 

On the other side of things I rode on the interstate the next day so I did not have to deal with oncoming traffic but I had a much more frequent flow of trucks traveling in the same direction as me.  This allowed me to embrace the wind the trucks created and get a little speed boost from each one that went by.  The more awkward looking the cargo trailer the better the boost you can get too.

The view from the house I stayed at in Chamberlain, SD.

I have been hearing about how beautiful the western part of South Dakota is since I got in the state.  I got my first taste of that as I made it to Chamberlain and had a great view of the valley below.  I’m definitely looking forward to riding through the badlands and making it to the Black Hills in a couple days.  Until then . . .

- Michael

O The Flats

            This week riding has been very straightforward with very few hills.  But it has been nice to see different parts of the country than what I’m used to.  For me it has been interesting to see a lot of the farmers working on harvesting their crops for the season.  Using all their equipment such as combines in the process that I’ve never really seen in use before.  It has also been pretty fun riding by all the cattle farms and checking out the cows.  Sometimes when riding by some of the younger cows they are still interested in me as I ride by so they start chasing me along the fence.  When a couple of them start going it always seems like the whole herd starts running at the same time which is funny to watch.

Todd from Council Bluffs

            I have been lucky to meet some very cool people this week though.  The first cool person I got to meet was Todd in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  This is basically the same place as Omaha, Nebraska.  It’s just the other side of the state line.  But I was able to find him through warmshowers.org.  Todd took me out to eat at a great pizza place, which just happened to be right next to the TD Ameritrade College World Series Baseball Stadium.  Now of course if you’re a Gamecock fan at all you know that this is where the baseball team won the College World Series in 2011 after winning in the old stadium in 2010.  It was cool getting to see where the gamecocks have seen so much recent success in person.

            The next night I stayed at a church in Onawa, Iowa.  They were nice enough to let me stay inside their family center for the night, which also had a kitchen that I was able to cook my dinner at for the night.  When I left Onawa the next day there was a very stiff headwind though.  It was blowing directly in my face from the northwest all day.  Not to mention it was blowing between 15 and 25 mph all day.  This made for a very frustrating ride because of how slow I was going.  I gained just over 400 feet of elevation in 40 miles so it was a very flat ride overall.  However, because of the wind I was still only able to average 7.6 MPH. 

College World Series Stadium

            O well I had two rest days coming up so I just kept pushing on and eventually made it to Sioux City and my next couch surfing destination with Titus.  This turned out to be a very fun weekend of watching football and hanging out with Titus’s friends for Halloween.  This was one of the most fun weekends I’ve had on this trip and some of the coolest people that I had met yet. 

            The next step is Hawkeye point on Tuesday for the 7^th high point of the trip and then on to South Dakota for number 8. 

            - Michael Hunter       

You just have to roll with it

What a week we have had.  It was exciting for me (Brent) to be back on the road.  Monday was a nice short 30-mile ride down the Katy trail from Columbia to Boonville, MO.  The Katy trail is a reclaimed railroad that runs 240 miles across Missouri.  Our next day was spent riding I-70 from Booneville to Higginsville, MO.  Yes, in Missouri bikes are allowed to ride on the interstate system.  While the vehicles flying by at 70-80+ mph were a bit nerve-racking, it was nice to the entire shoulder to ourselves.  While riding on the shoulder was comfortable, the 45-degree temps and 20 mph headwind were all the opposite...but to look at the cup half full, it was great training for the winter riding that shall be encountered up north.

Unfortunately my excitement was short lived.  By the end of day two my achilles were hurting worse than they had ever hurt before I got off in Georgia.  (for those of you who do not know, I took off three weeks to rest and rehab my Achilles due to tendonitis.)  It was as if I had not rested and rehabbed at all.   The night after our second day, walking was hardly bearable.  It was apparent that I would need much more than three weeks off and then it still wouldn’t be guaranteed that I could ride again.  After thinking for a while and talking it over with Michael, I have decided that I will no longer be riding.

This was a tough decision.  I’m an optimist and competitor, driven to succeed and really wanted to push through and hope all will be well, but I had to be realistic.  This isn’t like football where I could get a cortisone shot or push through the pain.  It’s day after day endurance riding, where pushing through the pain would likely lead to long-term damage…not worth it in the long run.  It’s a bummer, but you know what…I can still serve the ultimate purpose!

That purpose is providing opportunities to tomorrow’s leaders by fundraising for the Big City Mountaineers!  I will now take on a PR role; coordinating places for Michael to stay, venues to give presentations at, people to ride with him and reaching out to media outlets.  I’m looking at the time I spent on the road as the ultimate PR training grounds.  Now I know what is needed and how I can best support Michael as he continues on to the highest points in America. 

Speaking of that ultimate purpose, the raffle for a pair of Voler cycling shorts will conclude in one week on October 31^st.  You can enter by making a donation to the Big City Mountaineers.  Click here to do so.  For every $10 donated you will be entered into the raffle once.  In addition, our generous matching donor will match your donation, so you’re $10 donation will be $20 to the Big City Mountaineers.

            To end on a high note, the past week was full of family filled awesomeness!  We stayed Wednesday night with my cousin Kristen, Thursday night with my cousin Eric, the weekend was spent at home, and I am writing you from my cousin Hannah’s.  It was great to spend Saturday watching football with dad and making cookies with mom.  To top it all off, my extended family came over that evening and we had a great dinner followed by watching the Cards take game 3 of the World Series.  Sunday We paid a visit to my Hope Church family.  Members of the church donated over $300 to the Big City Mountaineers!  So awesome!  It was a great time at home with great people.

Here's to continued success and safety for Michael as forges ahead.

Brent