Hello, I’m Dave Nowlan. I cycled from Encinitas, Calif., to Cape Cod, Mass. from April 22 through May 28, 2012 in an effort to raise awareness of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and to help fund research for a cure. My wife, Claire, and daughter, Julia, both have MS. I broke my back in a sledding accident almost three years ago; I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have recovered without being paralyzed and was able to ride this long cross continent adventure. Click on this link to “my story” for more information and why I continue riding. Here is a link to Information about MS
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers reading this. Being on this journey has left Claire without seeing any children or grandchildren or her mother today, which was disappointing. She was understanding and we decided to shouldered on to get us one day closer to the finish. This ride should be over in a couple of weeks so we'll be back to our family and friends again soon.
On this theme, in the second video below my granddaughter, Ada, explained my cross country trip on a large map of the USA to her friend. It's a little hard to understand but I think she actually gets it.
We made it to Illinois today, getting to a new state is always a big deal. I rode in to St Louis as close as I could before the traffic and roads became too congested and dangerous. There were six lanes of traffic on these roads with no shoulder or bike lane. So I decided to put the bike on the SAG vehicle and to get through the city. Then we entered IL and rode on.
I traveled a nice bike path which was the scene of another spoken broke, this time on the front wheel. So we back tracked to The Cyclery bike shop, which I stopped at earlier in the day to get some directions. Andy took great care and replaced the spoke, and I purchased a few extras in case of more spoke problems in the future. By the time we finished with the spoke replacement it was 5:00 PM and we then returned to the breakdown spot to resume. This made for a late day and I rode until sunset when we arrived at Greenville, IL for the night. I ended up riding about 80 miles today.
Today was one of the better days of this journey. No breakdowns, not even a flat tire! James Wilson did a great job on my bike yesterday. The weather was good, and the north east headwinds are still hanging on for most of today. This morning we did take a wrong turn and got a little lost and had to back track. Lots of hills today as we went through the National Forest. Missouri actually has some mountains, which I wasn't expecting. We have lots of videos and pictures from today's ventures. Enjoy!
I did about 83 miles today. Here's a link to the map of miles tracked after we got lost. I haven't totaled the mileage traveled overall yet, just too busy. "They'll be time enough for counting when the dealing's done".
I met Tom Skinner, who is riding his bicycle across the country, from San Diego to Vermont to raise awareness for veterans with PTSD. He is carying all his supplies and gear on his bike, inlcuding his PTSD dog! What a huge load. He's obviously going slower than I, and is expecting to reach Vermont by July 4th. We chatted for a while, this is a very different type of bike riding vs. how I'm riding. Check out his photo below.
We ended the day in St. Clair, which is fitting for mother's day. How did that happen?
Claire took the pucture of a 1956 Ford on Route 66. We'll miss Route 66 with all its ups and downs and craziness.
Navigating and Drinking Coffee
World's Largest Rocking Chair
Arlington Road
Tom Skinner - Veteran Riding Across America for PTSD
Thanks to all who have been commenting and sending your encouragement. It brings great positive energy to my ride. I'm feeling really well from a health perspective and my body has been holding together thanks to good physical therapy on my knee and good advice from Cape Cod Rehab. I'm icing my knees at the end of each day's ride as a precaution.
What can I say? Every day brings its own special adventure. We headed out of Springfield, MO with spirits high, following Rt 66 for yet another day. Navigation was working for us today without any detours or wrong turns. I did experience two flat tires this morning. After the first flat, I decided to install the tire liner, we picked up in Joplin, MO, designed to prevent flats. Within 2 minutes the same tire went flat again. I was thinking the flat preventer caused the flat, how ironic. I replaced the tube again and this time it held fine, so I suppose I had a bad tube...
I did lots of hill climbing today and everything went well until late this afternoon while climbing a hill something made a big bang noise and a piece of metal went bouncing across the road. Then my rear tire began rubbing against the bike frame (seat stay). I pulled over and immediately identified the problem. One of my rear wheel's spokes broke rendering the bike un-rideable. So I called Claire, my SAG vehicle driver and she came to the rescue. We were planning to stay in St. Roberts MO, the next town, and we were very lucky to find a bike shop.
James Wilson, the owner of Epic Adventures Outpost was at the shop and willing to help. My wheels are unique because they have only 14 spokes, which stresses the spokes more than a wheel with a higher spoke count. James found a spoke that would fit my wheel and he replaced the broken one and trued both wheels. James also sponsors a MS 150 cycle ride in Springfield MO in September very year. Graciously, James provided his services at no charge as sponsor to my ride and cause.
After the repair James, Claire and I had dinner together. We discussed James' business, and everything cycling. James was an angel keeping us moving forward on our journey. We could have never done this trip without the help and assistance from people like James. Thank you!!
Things went much better today, no breakdowns, no detours. Still traveling RT 66. We'll miss it when we have to head more easterly after St Louis. The beginning of today's ride was interesting as it brought is down what seemed to be side streets and small winding roads. I also missed a turn, which wasn't marked and had to navigate an alternate route to stay on track. The GPS apps on the iPhone have been extremely useful for navigation.
We ended up in Springfield, MO for a total of 76 miles. Here's the link to the map of today's ride. I was considering riding further but there were no hotels after Springfield.
When we ended today's ride RJ, a college student, approached me and thanked me for riding for MS. He is a SAG support vehicle volunteer for an MS ride in Colorado each year. Two of his extended family members have MS, we had a good chat.
Need to get some sleep now. Good night my friends. All is well.
Day 18 began well. The weather was good, bright and sunny. I had a north headwind but it was less than yesterday. We saw more horses in the fields, Oklahoma has the most beautiful horsed I've ever seen. Still traveling RT 66 and the hills are less challenging than yesterday.
While riding yesterday afternoon I noticed the bike's drive train felt rough turning the cranks in some of the gears. There were lots of hills and I was torquing up them. Today it felt worse so I was wondering if the gears needed adjustment or the chain needed replacement. When we stopped for lunch I inspected the chain and noticed it had stretched to the point that the chain wasn't fully engaging the chain ring. I knew the chain needed to be replaced. I did bring a new chain with us, so I thought the best option was to replace it before the stretched chain wears away the teeth in the cogs and chain ring.
However the chain on the bike didn't have a maser link that could be removed by hand or with pliers. I found out later there is a specific chain tool that presses out the pins in the links. So I put everything back together and continued riding.
The nearest bike shop was 50 miles away. I thought if I could have a mechanic's shop cut through the old chain, I could install the new chain and put this problem behind me. The first opportunity was a muffler and radiator shop. The older gentleman and owner, named Steven Smith, said all he had to cut the chain was a cutting torch. We both decided this probably wasn't a good idea. So off I went further down the road.
The next opportunity several miles later was Smith Automotive. The owner's name was also, Steve Smith. This Steve Smith offered to cut the chain with his grinding wheel. This was acceptable, so off came the old chain. When I installed the new chain it immediately became obvious the new chain was longer than the old one. It would not even operate on the small chain ring. I thought I must have the wrong replacement chain. I put the bike on the back of he car and off we drove to find a bike shop.
I spoke with Debbie Johnson, the owner of Bicycle Specialists in Joplin MO. She said that replacement chains come with extra links so they will fit several bikes and she could most likely make the new chain fit the bike. So we drove there. Tim Cote, the expert mechanic was able to help and the bike is running as smooth as silk.. I bought a chain tool, so now I'll be able to add and remove links, if necessary. Debbie gave me a good cycling route so I could make up the difference from the time spent with the bike on the car today. This made for a long day as I rode until sunset.
Tim Cote is not only a expert bike machanic, he is also a musician (drummer) in a band called "Me Like Bees". This is good music, check this link out.
Later in the evening, Claire and I went to a local Bob Evans restaurant where we met two waitresses, Kelsey Britt and Danielle Hext, who were amazed to hear about the cross country journey. As it turns out, Danielle's father has Multiple Sclerosis. I asked Danielle to tell her dad I am riding for him. It was meant to be.
Day 17 was a good day, the weather was better, I still had a northeast headwind wind, but it was not as strong as yesterday. I started the day with a ride around Hefner Lake instead of backtracking to give Claire some time to take care of getting supplies, etc. This was a great experience, on another enjoyable bike path. Check out the lighthouse in Oklahoma city. We made it to Tulsa, OK this evening. The big news today was a detour caused by a bridge out on RT 66. When I saw the detour I put my bike on the car, then we followed the detour for no less than 47 miles... This was the longest detour I ever experienced.
Here's some interesting videos. Sorry, no link to the map today.
Today presented strong headwinds and lots of hills and valleys, which kept my speed down. I was able to pedal 87 miles, none the less. Here's today's route. This provided an opportunity to see things at a somewhat slower pace, in a little more detail. This was also the welcomed first entire day I was able to ride completely off the Interstate in over a week. I rode on Route 66 for most of the day enjoying some of the nostalgia. We experienced cattle, beautiful horses, lots of wheat fields, and other unknown crops. We happened upon a cool old bridge over the South Canadian river that is at least a half mile long.
We met up with an Ausie named Ron, who was cycling in the opposite direction toward Los Angeles from Chicago. He was carrying all his gear on his bike. We spent a few minutes comparing notes and telling each other what to expect ahead. Claire shared some Gatoraid with him and off we went in opposite directions. I was told that traveling Route 66 has become the sixth most popular vacation activity in the world. So far we have met two groups from France, some Ausie's, and an older couple from Switzerland, who was also carrying all their gear on their bicycles, traveling the same route as Ron.
