I would like to express my sincerest thanks to the Rotary club of Petaluma for their extremely generous donation of $2500 to the ALS Bay Area Chapter. My Uncle John was a member of this club and, as a member, organized volunteer trips to Mexico to donate dental and vision work to those less fortunate there. This club is one of Petaluma’s greatest assets. The generous and helpful spirit of its members is demonstrated by donations of money and hard work to this and many other worthy causes. Again, thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Andrew Samuelsen

Hello and thank you for your interest in and support for my cross country ride to raise money for ALS. Right now I have raised approximately half of my goal of $10,000. Please consider a donation to this worthy cause. You can donate by clicking “Support ALS” above or following this link: http://www.biketripforals.com/?page_id=9

Also, feel free to call either myself (775) 721-2242 or the ALS Greater Bay Area chapter for other methods of donating. Again thank you for your support!

Andrew Samuelsen

As Andy gets close to his final destination, I’d like to thank each and everyone of you who has commented and encouraged him, shared food and shelter, and lent moral support during his amazing adventure. I know in my heart John is sitting up there saying, “Way to go, Andy” and each of you has helped make his adventure possible. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

You did it Andy…you never gave up!I love you,Mom

Hello hello, sorry for not writing sooner. I’ve really been having a fantastic time getting farther East. I’m only a week and a half left… hard for me to believe. I was sitting in my tent the other night in some city park thinking that I was soon going to miss this!

I left off in Columbia, MO after relaxing a bit on going to a Mizzou football game. It was pretty funny, I watched them on TV play Nevada the next week. The rest of Missouri was great… riding through that state was one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip. As I approached St. Louis it began to get very very humid… worse than Washington, DC in July!! In St. Louis I cuch surfed w/a Washington University student in a Co-op. St. Louis was a fun city. The first real big city I had to ride into… I went up into the Gateway Arch and then crossed the big muddy Mississippi River into Illinois. It was a pretty incredible feeling to have ridden my bike there. Hard to believe, but I just kept truckin.

Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Missouri

Crossing the Mississipi into Illinois, St. Louis in the distance!

Sunset over the Mississipi from my campsite in Alton, IL

In Illinois I left the bike routes and people began to be very surprised at what I was doing. The rest of the trip before that I had been on routes and people were pretty familiar with touring bicyclists riding across the USA. The responses ranged from “you are nuts” to “you really have your head on straight,” sometimes these sentiments were expressed by the same person moments apart. Through Illinois I got off the beaten track so to say and went through some gorgeous rural country. They call it the Land of Lincoln and my favorite place (besides Fast Eddie’s in Alton, IL which doles out $1.29 cheese burgers and $3.49 steak on a stick) was the old city of Marshall, the last place I stayed before crossing into Indiana.

Crossing into Indiana… it seems like the whole state is a suburb of Indianapolis. I stayed with Donald, the nephew of Uncle John (Gladson) outside Indianapolis, who gave me the grandest tour of “Big Indie”!

Home of the Indy 500

The state is only 150 miles wide so I made it to the border of Ohio in 2 days.

Crossing into Ohio… a little late…

My first day in Ohio I enjoyed my FIRST TAILWIND SINCE UTAH, and let me tell you it was a vigorous one!!! I got out of my tent, jumped for joy, and rode 100 miles to Columbus where I stayed with a few Ohio State students.

Columbus, Ohio

After Columbus I continued east on Highway 40. After about 50 miles, the gently rolling hills of Illinois, Indiana, and western Ohio turn quite steep! Despite the challenge this is one of the most beautiful places I have ridden through. Completely different country than anything I have seen…

Well, after a few days hills I arrived in beautiful Pittsburgh PA where I have been staying with some friends of Jackie and Paul’s. I’ve been given the grand tour and been able to enjoy a little culture at the Carnegie Museum. This is definetally a place I’d like to return to!

Pittsburgh, PA

Well, I’ve got 9 days left until I arrive in NYC. I can’t wait yet at the same time I don’t want the trip to end. It seems like this trip has flown by (except for Kansas, haha!). I’ve become quite accustomed to living on a bicycle and seeing the great USA at 12.5 miles per hour. I’ve got one more college town, one more mountain range, one more state to go. Piece of cake!!!!!! Thanks for following and giving me your support. I really appreciate all the calls, texts, emails, etc.

Big Apple here I come!!!

I’ve spent the last day in Columbia Missouri relaxing and watching football!

Hi, I’ve made it to McBain Missouri to Phil & Trisha Rivas’ home. The Katy Trail is great, its great to get off the highway for a bit.

Here are some pics from the last week or so:
Made it to Kansas:

The curve of the earth is visible from the ground in Kansas…cool…..

Kansas:

Kansas:

Petaluma’s little cousin city:

Katy Trail:

Missouri River:

Hello from Newton, Kansas! I’m making my way across the state. I should be in Missouri in a few days. Then I will take the Katy Trail to St. Charles, MO and as of now plan to go through Indianapolis, Columbus, and Pittsburgh on my way to NYC. Thanks for all the comments and such! I will try and post pics soon…

PS Some very nice people I met in Gunnison CO have put me on their website and donated some money for ALS. http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=3Tzut&page_id=126450&v=2P

Hello from the OTHER SIDE of the Rockies! I made it!
The library (which is great) allows me to upload some pics so here you go:

The Continental Divide:

Pretty:

This was the top of the LAST HILL of the Rockies. Woah:

So long, big mountains!!!

Lahontan Reservoir outside Fallon, NV. During the Ice Age, there used to be a huge lake comprising much of what is today Nevada and they called it Lahontan… I’m not sure this one lives up to its name!

This is taken on Highway 50 where it crosses through a Navy jet training area… there were jets flying overhead shooting missiles at fake targets it was pretty cool to watch.

Another day, another basin and range:

Middle of nowhere:

Old mining hut, one of many on the side of Highway 50:

The first real mountain I saw… Wheeler Peak 13,000+ft in Great Basin National Park:

Finally made it to Utah!

Hello from Montrose, Colorado! I am writing you all from the FIRST internet cafe that I have seen on this trip. Perhaps it is the only one in the United States? I’m not sure, but its great.

Well, I’ve had a fantastic few weeks in Utah despite the breakdowns, big hills, and hot weather.

First I want to say thanks for everyone for all the comments, text messages, calls, emails, etc. etc. etc.! Its nice to get to a computer and have a bunch of them to read or have my mom recite them over the phone.

Utah was incredible! As I just got into the state I stopped and talked to another biker on the side of the road and he told me “there’s a reason there are 5 national parks here.” Its pretty evident. I last wrote from Cedar City, UT which was the edge of the basin and range land and the beginning of incredible desert land. My first day included my largest and steepest climb yet… 5,000ft in about 15 miles from around 5,000ft to over 10,000ft. Pretty high! I was exhausted at the top then I road around a curve to see this, Cedar Breaks National Monument. Wow!

Little did I know this was but a preview to the spectacular places I would see in the coming weeks (also the hill was a preview to how hard the riding would be). The next day I rode to Bryce Canyon National Park, one of my favorites. Really an amazing place. I was able to ride there and take a quick 10 mile trail run/hike then get out of the park before sunset (and before having to pay the entrance fee…)

After the park I rode down a gnarly hill, ate some dinner and camped at the abundant BLM land Utah hosts. Next morning I was up at 5:45, hiked a little hill and caught the sunrise with a view of the Aquarius Plateau, an amazing pink cliff that you can see from the whole region, to one direction and Bryce Canyon to the others. Can you spot my tent:

Aquarius Plateau:

Next day I crossed into Escalante National Monument, a gigantic area recently put aside for public enjoyment. I camped a little creek in a canyon and hiked to a cool waterfall.

I enjoyed the place so much that I took the next day off and hiked back to the waterfalls and relaxed.
The next few days took me nearly to the edge of Utah, past Lake Powell, and up to a city called Blanding.

I’m pretty sure this is the definition of paradise:

Lake Powell:

I left the city and on my way out and down a hill the bike suddenly stopped. The rear hub (which is what the rear wheel spins on) had siezed up and the bike could not be ridden. So I hitch-hiked to Moab 60 miles away in a FedEx van and spent a few days there while my bike was fixed. After try number 2 which included leaving Moab, breaking down again and hitch-hiking back, the 3rd was a charm and I rode into “Colorful Colorado”:

Next I rode up to my favorite place I have been so far, Telluride… a cool little city tucked in the mountains… enjoyed a free concert, open air showing of Hidalgo (haha), and full night of rest in a comfy bed. Today I had another little hill with some amazing views of the giant mountains I will continue to traverse for the next week!!!!

Some thoughts:
I’ve met a lot of people out here. The majority of them I talk to for about 3 minutes about the trip, and we go on our merry ways. There are plenty of tourists from all over, Europe, USA, Asia. A few times when I have pulled into an RV park for a shower a family will invite me for dinner in their RV before I’m off to my campsite. Much appreciated!!
Utah is spectacular. The scenery is difficult to put into words or capture in pictures. There are colors on rocks that point out at angles or are stacked in ways that I didn’t think existed. This is really a place you must see if you haven’t been.

I feel like my physical condition has improved a lot. I find I can go for longer and farther each week. Also, I am able to manage my diet during the day well now that I’ve had a little experience on the road.

I will leave you with one last picture that will give you an idea of where I am right now! See you all soon!