34 km. Boonville Missouri 91F partly sunny June 3
39 km. Lizard Head Pass, Telluride Colorado 60F sunny June 6
I started at 8,800 ft and climbed to the summit at 10,300 ft. Total vertical climb of 1,500 ft. Maximum grade of 7%.
70 km. Red Mountain Pass, Ouray Colorado 76F sunny June 8
Finally!! Fifth time is a charm! I have attempted to climb this pass four times in the past, but finally made it all the way to the 11,018 ft. summit. I started in the town of Ridgway at 7,000 ft., for a vertical climb of 4,000 feet. Maximum grade of 9%. It took me three and a half hours on the way up and only one hour on the way back down. A very exhausting day, but I achieved what I set out to do.
No shoulder, no guardrail! Yikes!! Don't look down!!
51 km. Ellis Kansas 60F sunny June 9
54 km. Burlington to Brantford Ontario 25C sunny June 11
82 km. Brantford Ontario 26C sunny June 13
66 km. Brantford Ontario 20C drizzle June 14
41 km. Odessa Texas 75F partly cloudy June 19
77 km. Ridgway to Placerville Colorado return 39 - 75F sunny June 21
7000 ft. elevation to 9000 ft. to 7300 ft. and return for a 3700 ft. vertical climb. Colorado Route 145 is part of the "Ride the Rockies" bike tour, a 2,000 cyclist annual event, taking place three days afte I rode here. Halfway up Dallas Divide, painted on the pavement was a sign "The burning in your legs is all in your mind!" and then near the summit, another sign "The view is worth all the pain. Savor it!" I'm sure that many times this summer, sentiments like this will come to mind.
41 km. Penrose Colorado 75F sunny June 22
40 km. Kingdom City Missouri 87F sunny June 23
54 km. Kinderhook Michigan 80F sunny June 24
53 km. Burlington to Brantford Ontario 26C sunny June 25
Well, that's it for training for the tour. 3700 km. all told. Physically I'm ready as I'll ever be. Now we are off to an adventure of a lifetime! I'm hopeful all goes well for the cyclists and the support team. I've raised about $11,000 to date, and I understand the total raised has topped 1.5 million dollars. Thanks to all the donors for the support, and we all anticipate God's blessing on the who will be helped by this "little endeavor" Now it's off to Seattle! My email address while on tour is dirksseatosea@live.ca
Sleepless in Seattle: Air Canada decided to take my bike for a tour before I did. I arrived in Seattle on Saturdy 3 PM and for some reason my bike went to San Fransisco. I couldn't get an answer from Air Canada as to when it would set here, so after spending a very anxious night and all day Sunday, my bike finally showed up at 7PM Sunday. All was intact, I put it back together, went for a short test ride and we are now ready for the start of an adventure of a lifetime.
