A few days to go

   It has been hard for me to update the blog with photos because it  has been hard to get online.  I do not have the camera cord on me now, I have the Idaho and Washington state line photos to put on when I can.  However, we are camping the next few nights and then we only have 2 ride days left after that before the end of the trip.  We exciting!  I will have pictures from Vancouver as soon as Tuesday!

Climbing in Washington

    We were welcomed into Washington with a cold rainy day!  Also, a little bit after lunch we climbed a mountain pass which entailed about 14 miles of climbing.  I have pictures of the pass signs saying how many feet the climbs were and I will post those within the next few days.  The first mountain we climbed was the Flowery Trail Pass which was 4,046 feet high.  After the exhausting climbing we had an amazing 10 mile descent into the town we were staying in, Chewelah, Washington.  What a rush, I spent most of the downhill at speeds over 40 miles per hour as I was confidently cornering the turns.
    Today (Wednesday) we had an even bigger climb.  This one was called Sherman Pass and it was over 18 miles of climbing and it finished at 5,575 feet.  The temperature was much lower at the top and I had to put gloves, a hat and arm warmers on as I got ready to ride down the mountain into Republic, Washington. 
   We are supposed to have two mountain passes to scale tomorrow and we are really working hard to get to Vancouver.  We will arrive and finish our trip on Tuesday and we are all very excited.  Stay tuned as we climb more mountains and enter into Canada on Monday!

Day Off

   I am enjoying my time here in Sandpoint, ID on my day off!  We had a long ride here (95 miles) and a break was well needed before the last 8 days of riding before the end.  Here are some pictures from the tough riding day at Glacier National Park!

Glacier National Park

    The last couple of days were the best of the trip so far!  They were filled with lots of climbing mountains, camping in the rain at the national park, and climbing even more in almost freezing weather.  We rode into the park through the mountains and it was a lot of hard work.  We did however get to descend 6 miles all the way into the park going almost 40 miles per hour the whole way.  Camping was very tough because a storm appeared out of nowhere and it got really cold and rainy.  I spent the whole night in my tent with friends because that was the only way to stay dry!
     The next morning no one felt like cycling because it was 45 degrees and drizzling.  I barely packed any cold weather clothes.  I put my feet in Zip Loc bags and had socks for my hands.  We had to climb to get to Logan Pass which was 18 miles away from the campsite and the elevation was 6,600 feet.  It was an incredible sight, I do not have pictures of this day because I did not want to take my camera in the pouring rain.  Then came the wild part.  We had to ride down the mountain when it was 35 degrees at the top.  I started to descend and my hands were frozen instantly.  Luckily there was a construction stop where a park ranger had me warm up in her car and gave me winter gloves.  Without her I do not even think I would have been able to brake or steer the bike I was so numb.  After a 12 mile descent I was at the bottom and the temperature was in the 70's.  I cycled into Whitefish from there at a more relaxed pace.  What an amazing day!  3 more days left in Montana.

We finish August, 28th.

These are pictures from an old gymnasium we slept in a few days ago in Glasgow, Montana

 

Still in Montana

Hey everyone,
   We are still in Montana, it is the 4th biggest state in the country!  It takes a very long time to bike through.  I do not have any pictures today, but tomorrow we will be riding through Glacier National Park in Montana.  There is supposed to be amazing scenery and I will be taking a lot of pictures there.
  The trip is starting to wind down as we have 13 ride days left and an off day and a build day left!  I am so excited to see Idaho and Washington.

Mr. Goldstein

Lunch time!

Everyday on our ride we have lunch about half way throughout the ride.  The van and the trailer are packed by the riders with coolers full of food that we have.  We are able to dig in and get the food we need to finish out that day's ride.  Riders also need to carry snacks with them to eat throughout the rest of the ride after or before lunch as they need them.  Since we are in Montana now, the lunch stops are not as glamorous as they are in more populated locations.  

-Mr. Goldstein

North Dakota and Montana

     It has been a little tough to blog lately because we have been in areas that have not been as populated.  I rely on the public libraries and their computers to get to my blog.  We have been in a couple of very small towns that did not have libraries.  Last night going into Montana, we camped out.  It was amazing and there were a ton of stars in the sky!  However, it will be nice to have a nice, big cooked meal for us tonight at a church here in Colbertson, Montana.  It feels like we are really getting into the homestretch of the trip! 

    A student asked me if the girls acted girly and cried during the trip.  The girls on this trip are some of the toughest girls I know.  The all cycle the miles everyday and handle themselves just as well as the boys.  This is a hard trip for everyone and we rely on each other sometimes to get through.  I also call my wife Christina sometimes back in New Jersey if I am having a tough time! 

Keep following,
Mr. Goldstein

 Intense morning fog in North Dakota

 The center of North America in Rugby, ND

 Some interesting pics of the Great Plains!

 Breathtaking sunset!

 Windfarm!  Natural energy.

Sunflowers

School 7 Students

Dear students and staff,
   Thank you for all of your support to this point.  I know summer school is ending tommorrow.  Keep looking at the site and keep commenting and as I will still be posting things even though summer school will be over.

    So yesterday we entered North Dakota and cycled our longest day of the trip.  It was 116 miles and it was made even more difficult by the fact that there was a lot of wind, which makes it hard to ride fast.  My friends and I were the first ones in and that was not until 3:45 pm.  We left at 6:15 in the morning.  It was a very hard day.  Everyone finished though, and we were rewarded with a much shorter 59 mile day today with much less wind.  We have one more cycling day before Build Day 9 out of 10.

-Mr. Goldsteion