Nathan and Ross( Nathan's brother) after completing the Iron Man :)

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We made it to Ann Harbor Michigan!!! we have been here since tuesday spending time with Ross Leavitt, Nathan's older brother.
Are time here has not been so much productive as it has been very restful, which is a very nice change pace from the last month and a half.
Right now Nathan and Ross are checking in for the half iron man that is tomorrow and also eating unlimited pizza. While on the other hand I got kicked out of the check in area. Also Nathan's whole family is going to be at the race, which is pretty exciting since we havn't seen them since we left.
Please be praying for the race and I will try to update how the race goes

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Lynda the lady that let us stake at her house in Dubuque :)

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FWD:

It's Saterday now but to catch you up on what's been happening I'll debrief from Thurs on.
Thursday we set out to make our 110 and were in such hast to get the miles in that we skipped eating until mile 80 in Dubuque! By the time we ate we were utterly famished and Erik was a little feverish. But as we stood outside of Wal-mart a worker asked us what we were doing and within a minute she had invited us into her house for the night! That was such a blessing because as we rode to her house tornado sirens began to sound!
We left her house Fri morning and set off for Rockford Illinois but as we were riding at about11pm we got caught in a major thunder storm than touched a lightning bolt down so close to us that there ws no delay between light anf thunder! But thank God we made it safe to a camping area and only got mildly wet as we dosed ;-)
Sat we we made it to the HQ of a Christiam organization in Hindsdale Chicago that praise the Lord gave us an unexpected dinnner and lodging!

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Whoa were did the road go?

We hit a few mudd patches on the road that we were taking, so we had to jump off and push.

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Wohh water everwhere!!!

This is a road that we were supposed to cross in Western Chicago but had to make a deture because of the flooding.

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yeah buddy!!!

Well, we left Rachel`s on Monday and headed north to get back on our route eastward across Iowa, but the next eight days will be a little more interesting with the 110 mile/day average that we`re going to try to maintain in order to reach Michigan by the 27th! If we reach Michigan by this date it will give us four days of rest before the triathlon which would be awesome!

We made 100 on Monday due to some stops we took to avoid thunder storms, but Tueday we made 130! Today (Wednesday) we've made it 78 miles to a town called Waverly and upon arrival we quikly found the nearest Chinese buffet and thoroughly endulged... It felt goood :-) It's about mid-afternoon right now, we just finished our traditional after-buffet nap and we'll head out in a moment to get our last 32 miles in for the day. Thanks for any prayers and we'll keep you posted!
Nathan and Erik

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My sister Rachel Nathan and I

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Nathan carrying a spare tire :)

Mike and Nathan the fellow cyclist we ran into three times this weekend

What an amazing weekend Nathan and I just had. Last week we were able to average over a 100 miles a day so we could make it to Council Bluff, IA on Friday, Because Friday was my sister's (Rachel) birthday and we wanted to celebrate it with her. On friday we went to a "surprize" birthday party for Rachel and got to meet a bunch of her friends and also went bowling. Then on Saterday we were able to chill by a pool and and eat Omaha steaks which was a blast.
Then on Sunday we were able to attend a wonderful bible teaching church, where the people we very friendly. It was a very uplifting time to be able to be taught from the word and be able to worship the Lord with other believers.
Also we met a farmer\ cyclists , Mike, in a small town on friday. Then on Saterday we randomly saw him at a bike shop , and then today we called him and we were able to talk some more.
Well this weekend was very restful but now we are now planning on heading up to Michigan to see Nathan's brother, Ross.

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Wow, sorry for the long delay between posts but since last weekend we averaged about 100 miles/day because my (nathan) hub was spitting bearings like sunflower seeds (well not quite). To get it fixed we lost a day and a half and had to scramble to make up the time.
We met several groups of bikers throughout the week though and it was so much fun to hear their travel stories. One was a 55 year old English woman who had ridden almost 10,000 miles in the year she had been touring the world on her bike!
We spent the weekend in Pierre SD using a website called "couch surfing.com" to find lodging. Through this site people have said that their couch can be used by travelers and all the traveler needs to do is contact them in advance of thier arrival. We stayed with a guy named Ryan and a guy named Sam for sat and sun evening, and we were so blessed by the crazy hospitality that they showed us! Now we`re getting ready to leave town and we`ll keep you posted on continuing adventures!

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South Dakota

Justin and Chrysta the couple who graciously let us stay with them for two days

We had a wonderful Independance Day weekend. So to give the very short version, last friday while biking around 11pm a couple drove up to us and asked if we needed anything, we said no without thinking much of it. Then on Saterday while at a free barbeque a man, justin, came up to us and said that he was the guy that we saw 80 miled away in the middle of the night riding our bikes.
We talked for a bit and afterwards Justin told us that we could sleep at his house. So for the next two days Justin and his wife, Christa, treated us like family. They gave us beds, showers, food and were so loving the whole time. Justin even drove us to another town so Nathan could get a new wheel. Well there is much more to say but this is all there is room for. God really knows how to bless his children.

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Yes! Yes! Yes! Yeahhhh!

A snake on the road that had been run over and had its recent sage rat dinner

mmmm lunch (chicken and ice cream)

Waking up in the morning after sleeping on concrete under the concession stand at a baseball field

Nathan pigging out in front Albertsons in Montana

Beautiful Montana

The regular occurance of Erik sleeping while Nathan is working on his bike

Nathan eating lunch by the side ot the Missouri River in Fort Benton MT

I think the sign says it all :)

Once again camping by the side of the road in Montana

This is a fellow biker that we met up and camped with just out of Bonner Montana

We stopped by the Adventure Cycling headquarters in Missoula Montana (they made the maps for the biking route that we're following)

Biking by a beautiful river on our way up to Lolo pass to cross the rockies in Idaho

A place just out of Grangville Idaho that we camped by the the river

Nathan by a canola field in Idaho.

Haha, I know a dead badger in the middle of teh road but how often do you see a badger :-)

Yeeha! We made it to Idaho!

On top of some random moutain peak and so happy to be at the top!

A little park we stopped at just off highway 84 in Oregon

Our campground on the second day just west of Portland! We were tuacked away in some ivy just off the road...it was pretty epic lol!

In a park in Longview Washington with a cyclist named Frank that we talked to for a decent bit.

Our camping site on the first day of the trip tucked away in the coast of Seaside Oregon

Haha, okay so my dad emailed me this picture and made me promise that I'd post it on the blog and show the vast time that my cousin and I have spent with each other through the years of our life.
Oh man, anyways, funny picture! :-)

North Dakota :)

Breakfast (cereal) in a bag in Sidney MT

Sunset last night while riding 140 miles!

Tues through Thurs

Well, sorry again that it has been so long since we updated the blog, but we have been out of cell service and away from computer access since Monday!
Anyway, Tuesday we made it to a little town called Fort Benton that is apparently loaded with history. We chilled through the heat of the day by the Missouri river under a grove of cottonwood trees. Erik took a really long nap and got covered in cotton but I was able to meet several other bicyclists one in particular was 60 years old and was making his trek from Portland, OR to West Virginia! Yeah, I was pretty impressed as well especially since he caught up with us (he didn't take Sunday off though, so there’s our excuse!).
We took off from there when the heat had passed and rode till about 10:30 putting in about 93 miles that day and thoroughly enjoyed some doughnuts when we made camp smack in the middle of nowhere.
Tuesday we biked uneventfully to a town called Lewiston, and after we ate our typical ginormous dinner we settled down for the night in a great little park.
Wednesday we made it to a little town called Winnett in time for lunch and after downing mass quantities of organic substances, sleeping a lot and reading a little we continued on for a bit until we made it to this amazing rest area. Okay, this was indeed like no other rest stop that I’ve ever been to, super nice landscaping and the interior had a two story atrium and four personal bathrooms for each gender! It was so sweet that we decided to stay the night, but that turned out to be a bad idea because the area was thoroughly infested with mosquitoes! I synched my sleeping bag up until there was only a little hole through which I could get air, but as I peeped out through my little mosquito fortress I could see dozens swarming around about a hands breadth from my nose. And of course, just as I would begin to dose off a stray skeeter would muster enough courage to sample my (Nathan’s) tender nose only to be swatted away. My nose is still intact but it made for a sleepless night (yeah, we didn’t have any “off” and I know we should have put up the tent, but we were tired and lazy)!
Anyways, today we made it to a town called Jordan and the only thing eventful to report is our roughly 3,000 calorie a piece meal that left both Erik and I still hungry!
Haha, the interesting picture that we posted below was the remains of the ten chicken thighs that we devoured on top of the package of the half gallon ice cream container that we ate while the chicken was cooking! Unfortunately, the picture doesn’t capture the two peaches and yogurts that we also ate…hehe
Well, we’re still alive, consistently getting our 80+ miles a day in and never slacking in our epic pursuit for more food!
Keep you updated!
~Nathan and Erik

Mmm lunch in Jordan MT