Pedaling to Portland: Day 40-42

Julie and a group of young adults are biking from Baltimore, MD to Portland, OR to benefit the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. The team will cover 4,400 miles in 10 weeks. This is Julie's report for

Julie Crosses the Continental Divide: elev. 11.990 ft.

Day 40-42:

Colorado: Day 40 was our first day in the Rocky Mountains. The Rockies and I have a love/hate relationship because I love how beautiful they are but the climbing is a killer. We ended up taking the harder route from Boulder to Idaho Springs but it was worth it when we had about 8 miles of downhill and didn't have to pedal at all at the end of the day. During that downhill stretch, I reached a maximum speed of 45 mph!

Day 41, we got up at 4:30am so that we could set out early. We climbed Loveland Pass and at the top was the Continental Divide. It was the highest point of the entire trip at 11,990 feet! We were hit with some bad weather in the afternoon and after climbing the first mountain I was beat so I was vanned to our overnight host location.

Saturday (day 42), was a fairly easy route that was mostly downhill. We went through Glenwood Canyon on a trail that was awesome! Tomorrow we should be back to climbing so wish me luck!

Glenwood Canyon, CO

Pedaling to Portland: Day 20-23

Julie and a group of young adults are biking from Baltimore, MD to Portland, OR this summer to benefit the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. They will cover 4,400 miles in 10 weeks. This is Julie's report for

Day 20-23:

(Note: The group has overnight hosts who allow them to spend the evening in a sheltered location. Most of these hosts are churches)

Three days ago we biked into Chicago and got caught in a storm when we were about seven miles from our host. We stopped at a gas station for cover for about 15 minutes then finished our ride when the rain let up a bit. On Day 21, we had a rest day in Chicago and it was amazing! We went to see The Bean in Millennium Park and went shopping at some of the biggest stores I've ever been in. For lunch we went to my first Thai restaurant ever and it was good! We took the L back to our host, which was pretty similar to Washington's Metro.

We all take shelter from the storm

The next day (Day 22), we road from Chicago to Mendota, IL. Leaving the city was a lot easier than any of us thought it was going to be--I guess because it was a Sunday morning. This caused the bike trails to be very crowded, however. While on one of the trails, I was riding behind another rider and failed to see a short pole, which hit me and caused me to fall over. The person behind me also fell off his bike. We both fell into a creek and laughed about it for the next five miles. Later that day, when we were about 18 miles from our host, a fierce storm came out of nowhere. We took shelter in an abandoned farm and waited out the storm for about an hour then finished strong. That night, we stayed in a fire house, which was pretty interesting.

This morning (Day 23), we woke up to yet another storm so we had no choice but to ride in the van to our next host. During the drive, we got a tornado warning and got stuck in one of the craziest storms yet! We're all hoping for better weather in the days to come!

The 4K visits The Bean

Pedaling to Portland: Day 16

Julie and a group of young adults are biking from Baltimore, MD to Portland, OR this summer to benefit the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. They will cover 4,400 miles in 10 weeks. This is Julie's report for

Day 16:

Today we finished our first century!! We road 107 miles in one day from Columbus, OH to Eaton, OH. It was so hard but I'm glad I finished it. This morning I lead a paceline for long time. A paceline is when all the riders are in a line and ride close behind the person in front of them because that person blocks the wind. Everyone rides at the pace set by the first person--and we were going about 20 miles an hour.  It was pretty cool. We had a pretty awesome lunch but I know the miles we did after eating were definitely harder than the morning because I was tired. I'm excited that tomorrow is only 60 miles (I never thought I would say that).

-Julie

Pedaling to Portland: a 4,400 mile cross-country adventure

Baltimore, MD to Portland, OR. 4,400 miles in 10 weeks.

 Last summer, my friend Joanne got her motorcycle license and took her first road trip to Sturgis, SD.  This year, daughter Julie is trying to outdo her mom in the adventure business.  Julie and a group of young adults will spend 10 weeks crossing the US (4.400 miles) on their bicycles to benefit The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults.

“I am riding because I want to do something above and beyond just raising money for cancer,” said Julie. “I feel that when people find out what an amazing opportunity the ride is, it gets them thinking about the smaller things they can do.”

We’ll be following Julie’s cross-country adventure beginning with her June 2 departure from Baltimore.  Check in often to share her experiences.

Here’s her route:

After leaving Baltimore’s Inner Harbor riders head north to southern Pennsylvania then strike west through Ohio and Indiana and then curl up to Chicago, IL.  From the Windy City, riders travel through Iowa and Nebraska before landing in Boulder, CO. From Boulder, the route takes a distinctive northern turn into Wyoming’s Teton National Park then continues west again through Idaho and into Oregon.