He's HOME!!!!

I'm so strong I can turn the earth diagonal!!!

My brother's epic journey is over. Donny arranged for about 20 friends to be waiting for them at their house with a finish line and confetti. I am sad that I couldn't be there to see him land, so to speak, because I am so happy! What a journey and experience -- his blog will need much updating.

It took 59 days from start date to the end date (including today). Alternatively:

• 1 month, 28 days
• 5,097,600 seconds
• 84,960 minutes
• 1416 hours
• 8 weeks (rounded down)

Now I might have to go walk on the treadmill. :-)

(Picture shamelessly stolen from brother's Facebook page)

2nd to last biking update, I promise (Updated 7/6)

Even though my brother has made it to California, he still has a ways to go yet, to get home, and he's moved on from San Francisco.

Sun 6/28 -- Fallon, NV (113 mi)
Mon 6/29 -- Fallon, NV (rest day)
Tues 6/30 --Hope Valley, CA (99 mi)
Wed 7/1 -- West Sacramento, CA (138[!] mi)
Thur 7/2 -- San Francisco, CA (95 mi)
Fri 7/3 -- Santa Cruz, CA (81 mi)
Sat 7/4 -- Big Sur, CA (77 mi)
Sun 7/5 -- San Luis Obispo (113 mi)
Mon 7/6 -- San Luis Obispo (Donny-Day!)

Anticipated arrival in LA is Thursday, July 9. When he came out almost 2 months ago, he brought a suitcase in which he schlepped his stuff. It is still in our basement. We will ship it home for him on Monday. I wonder if he or the suitcase will arrive first?

He did it!!!

I am doing the Snoopy happy dance! My brother made it to the Golden Gate Bridge this afternoon! He left my house in the DC area on May 12 and reached San Francisco, today, July 2. He made it in 52 days (including start and finish dates).

Or:

• 1 month, 21 days including the end date
• 4,492,800 seconds
• 74,880 minutes
• 1248 hours
• 7 weeks (rounded down)

I am uncertain of the mileage, but he biked somewhere between 3700 and 4000 miles. I am exceedingly proud and impressed and can't wait to see the pictures.

Now it's on to home (and Donny) in Los Angeles.

In CO, now UT, now NV...

Here is yet another update from my-brother-the-biker. He is now in Nevada, soon to be in California.

He has finally had an injury. I received a phone call on Thursday afternoon from him. He has mentioned the fierce winds in his blog posts and assured me that he wasn't exaggerating for the sake of attention. In between Baker and Ely (Nevada), the wind was so bad that it blew his bike over and down into a ditch, gashing his leg in the process. Unfortunately, he was basically at the midpoint between the two towns, and there was nothing for 30 miles either direction (30 miles back to Baker or 30 forward to Ely). So he opted to go forward, after cleaning and bandaging it as best he could. When he finally arrived in Ely, he called me for advice. It had stopped bleeding (thankfully) long since. He had a first aid kit and was able to use some of the contents to clean and dress the wound appropriately. Annoyingly, there would be no cell phone service for the next two days. Great, I thought, he's going to develop a serious wound infection and not be able to call. Well, he didn't, thank goodness. He texted me last night to tell me that it is healing well. Good long-distance doctoring. Easier than the time I diagnosed his appendicitis over the phone from 3000+ miles away...

Wed 6/17 -- Blanding, UT (82 mi)
Thur 6/18 -- Hanksville, UT (127 mi)
Fri 6/19 -- Boulder, UT (84 mi)
Sat 6/20 -- Tropic, UT (66 mi)
Sun 6/21 -- Bryce Canyon, UT (rest day, but 11 mi)
Mon 6/22 -- Cedar City, UT (78 mi)
Tues 6/23 -- Milford, UT (56 mi)
Wed 6/24 -- Baker, NV (85 mi)
Thur 6/25 -- Ely, NV (63 mi)
Fri 6/26 -- Eureka, NV (78 mi)
Sat 6/27 -- Austin, NV (71 mi)
Sun 6/28-- I don't know

If all goes well, he should reach the Golden Gate Bridge on Thursday afternoon!

More Brother Biking Info (because you can't get enough)

The most recent biking information from my brother (who should arrive in Utah at some point today).

Tues 6/9 -- Tribune, KS (47 mi)
Wed 6/10 -- Ordway, CO (119 mi)
Thu 6/11 -- Pueblo, CO (55 mi)
Fri 6/12 -- Pueblo (rest day; he saw Star Trek)
Sat 6/13 -- Howard, CO (94 mi)
Sun 6/14 -- Gunnison, CO (76 mi)
Mon 6/15 -- Placerville, CO (117 mi)
Tue 6/16 -- Dolores, CO (71 mi)

After the mountains, now the desert...

Check out his blog. I uploaded some nice pictures for him last night.

Another Brother Biking Update (Updated)

My brother hit the 2000 mile mark today, somewhere in Kansas. He is booking along. I guess he needs to make up some time before he hits western Colorado, where he will have a lot of vertical miles, as well as horizontal ones.

Here is a picture (as he had promised TheHusband) of Alexander, KS (pop'n 75).

I don't think that I have ever been in a town that small. How totally mind-blowing for this person who has never lived anywhere besides the East Coast of the US.

Sun 5/31 -- middle of nowhere, MO (84 miles)
Mon 6/1 -- Houston, MO (101 mi)
Tues, 6/2 -- Houston, MO (rest day)
Wed 6/3 -- Fair Grove, MO (81 mi)
Thu 6/4 -- Pittsburg, KS (102 mi)
Fri 6/5 -- Toronto, KS (102 mi)
Sat 6/6 -- Newton, KS (97 mi)
Sun 6/7 -- Larned, KS (108 mi)
Mon 6/8 -- Scott City, KS (121 mi!!!)
__________________________________
Updated 6/9, 12:38 pm (EDT)

Mountain Time! He's made it to Mountain Time. He's in Greeley Co, KS.

Brother Biking Update

Got a text from Daniel on Saturday night with more recent locations and mileage. He also sent me some photos to put on his blog, which I have done. TheHusband and I told my brother that we would drop everything or anything to come to his aid east of the Mississippi. Last night, we relinquished that responsibility to Donny, although in reality, I would still drop everything and run... That's what big sisters are for, right? TheHusband is considering meeting him somewhere in Kansas, just because.

Here is the full list of his stops and the mileage. Some of the mileage is exact (i.e., what his bike computer said), and some is estimated (i.e., from his map). I don't know exactly where he stayed last night, though. :-(

Tue, 5/12 -- Occoquan, VA (???)
Wed, 5/13 -- Fredericksburg, VA (55 mi)
Thu, 5/14 -- Powhatan, VA (93 mi)
Fri, 5/15 -- Charlottesville, VA (70 mi)
Sat, 5/16 -- Lexington, VA (88 mi)
Sun, 5/17 -- Catawba, VA (66 mi)
Mon, 5/18 -- Blacksburg, VA (25 mi)
Tue, 5/219 -- Blacksburg, VA (rest day)
Wed, 5/20 -- Sugar Grove, VA (91 mi)
Thu, 5/21 -- Council, VA (83 mi)
Fri, 5/22 -- Hindman, KY (96 mi)
Sat, 5/23 -- Booneville, KY (65 mi)
Sun, 5/24 -- Berea, KY (???)
Mon, 5/25 -- Bardstown KY (98.5 mi)
Tue, 5/26 -- Bardstown, KY (off)
Wed, 5/27 -- Falls of Rough, KY (93 mi)
Thu, 5/28 -- Sebree, KY (74 mi)
Fri, 5/29 -- Eddyville, IL (90 mi)
Sat, 5/30 -- Chester, IL (105 mi)
Sun, 5/31 -- Somewhere in MO (???)

I used Google Maps "Walking" directions option to generate the maps below, so they are not entirely accurate. However, they do show how freaking far he has gone... Click on each to enlarge.

Bethesda, MD to Blacksburg, VA


Blacksburg, VA to Bardstown, KY


Bardstown, KY to Chester, IL


The whole trip (so far) on a topographical map. Virginia is one hilly place.

Far away and with strong legs

My brother is now in another time zone. On Wednesday, he crossed into Central Time and, by the end of that day, he had biked 1,084 miles! Last night, he was in Sebree, KY, and he should make it to Illinois today. Next is Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Nevada, and then California. I hope he can find some time to stop and smell the roses.

If you want to read his travelblog, which is updated when he finds a signal, mosey on over and visit him at Handlebar Confessional. You can even read his description of the scary giant bug story here.

Why, yes, I really don't have anything useful to say today. How did you guess?

So long, be careful...

My brother left my house at 10:05 am (EDT) en route to Los Angeles, by way of the rest of the country.

Best of luck, Brother, and have fun!

(And he'll probably be a slight bit annoyed that I posted this before he did. Tough poopies!)

A journey of epic proportions

My brother flew in on Friday from LA, which is always an event in my household. ThePinkThing adores her Uncle Danny and would be happy to throw over her parents to move in with him. Every day for the week prior to his arrival, we counted down the days ("4 days until Uncle Danny...").

I picked him up at Dulles Airport, even though I felt as if I had been run over by a large camper. Thankfully, not only was his flight on time, but his luggage arrived. The cell phone lot at Dulles airport is a godsend -- I just sat in my car reading a book (and blowing my nose) until he called me say he was ready. It took me all of 5 minutes to get to the terminal from the lot. We came home to my house, and I tried to nap, but it just wasn't in the cards.

Then we got a call from TheHusband and had to deal with a bike-problem. Bike problem, you ask? Yup, a bike problem. You see, last week my brother shipped his bike here from LA, because he is bicycling back home. Yes, he will be bicycling across the country, beginning at my house, and ending (hopefully) at his.

I am amazed and awed, and (of course) a little nervous, as any older sister should be. I even bought him a useful gadget for the trip -- a solar powered phone charger, which will allow him to more easily remain in contact with the family. He has promised to text me his location fairly frequently (every day?), and I may post maps of his progress on his blog. TheHusband I promised him that he can call on us for anything (hospital, broken bike, jail, etc) east of the Mississippi. His partner is responsible for any problem west of the Mississippi. I may even fly out to Somewhere, Kansas to meet up with him, providing he can give me enough notice and we can plan appropriately around a rest day.

I can't wait to hear all the stories and see his pictures. And I am proud of him.

If you wish to follow his journey, you can find it at Handlebar Confessional...