Day 7: Dubois,WY to Colter Bay Village

Video of the Day: Click Here!

Miles on the northwest concrete: 73

Weather: cool…40’s and low 50’s the whole way. Mostly sunny tho’ so it was nice! No rain--yippee!

Terrain: It varied. We had one climb that put us at 9,700 feet, but other than that it was rolling to flat most of the way.

Deep Thought of the day while on the bike: I wonder if anyone has ever killed an elk or a deer while riding a bicycle. I don't mean with a gun,bow or knife while riding a bike, but rather by running it over. And if they did, do you think that they took it home and ate it for dinner that night? Hmmmm. That's something to think about.

# of bikers we’ve seen riding doing cross country trips so far: at least a dozen

Bummer about this day: It’s our last night with Randall and Kathy Thompson. They have been true servants, unbelievable saggers and non-stop fun. There is a perpetual stream of random jokes and musings that flow from RT’s mouth that keep us encouraged, laughing and sometimes scratching our heads. The guys and I have thoroughly enjoyed their company all in all! Thanks RT and Kathy!

Tomorrow’s Ride: 90 miles Colter Bay Village to West Yellowstone, MT .....3200 ft of climb

Since today is our last official night in Wyoming, I’ll continue my “Top Ten observations about Wyoming” that I started yesterday. Here’s the last five.

6. There were several incidents this week that made me think that Wyoming is still living in the 1980’s. I hear A TON of 70’s and 80’s music in the restaurants. No modern music up here. I’m sure they probably just heard of CD’s. Next decade is mp3’s and then the Ipod. Next, as I was woofing down biscuits and gravy early this morning, the dudes next to me were smoking like chimneys….right there in the restaurant. That’s so 1985 to smoke in the morning before breakfast. And lastly, we’ve seen a ton of old school RV’s and campers. I’m hoping to convince my wife to let me buy one off of craigslist before the summer is over. Err, that’s probably a long shot.

7. WY restaurants, like Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa are very quiet. Sometimes I wonder if there’s this unwritten code of silence that people subscribe to that we are apparently not following. Every restaurant we walk into we end up being the loudest group in the place. But sometimes that’s not hard when you're traveling with two high schoolers and Randall Thompson. Oh, and in many places people stare at us….they’re probably wishing that they had cool spandex like us I guess.

8. The scenery here is amazing. The Grand Tetons are truly one of the greatest sites I’ve ever seen in my life. Seriously. Our God is an amazing artist. Riding my bike was a worshipful experience today.

9. I see a lot of guys in cowboy boots driving big bad pickup trucks, but I haven’t seen many horses. Aren’t cowboys suppose to ride horses? What’s the deal with that?

10. I guess it’s the time of year and the particular part of the state that we are in, but everything is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overpriced here. I feel like every time I buy something I’m giving my money to some person in a mask and cape.

SHOUT OUTS......

Davis and Luke....the dynamic duo, my fellow riding partners. While I've picked on these guys a good amount for, well, being what they are, which is a couple of guys in high school..... they are seriously a ton of fun to be around. I've enjoyed their company and we've been enjoying ourselves every hour of the day ..... heck, even when Luke is talking in his sleep!

Day 6: Lander,WY to Dubois,WY

Miles on the asphalt: 67 (We were suppose to go 74 but got KO'd by a t-storm late in the day. So, we'll have to drive back and add 7 mi to our 62 mi day tomorrow. No cheating on the HR!)

Temperature at the finish: 46 degrees

Road Kill: A cat without a head, a skunk and a couple of dead birds

# of flat tires: Numero uno came today….and I was the lucky son of a gun.

Weather: Pretty nice for the first 62, then it was the coldest, wettest, windiest weather I’ve ever ridden in. That includes over 6,500 miles of riding on Hunger Ride 2006 and 2007. No joke. At one point, we were riding into a 40+ mph headwind, getting pelted by rain drops that felt like thousands of bees stinging me ….all while riding on a flat road peddling as hard as we could just to go 6.8 mph. I've never peddled so hard to go so slow. My heart rate was somewhere north of 165! It’s like I was peddling as hard as I could but standing still. A bicycle on a treadmill? But, it was a very memorable experience that we’re sure to never forget. I kept singing “There’s no easy way out” from the Rocky 4 soundtrack….thinking of the lines “See, I told you, he’s not a machine, he’s a man!” ….and….”The Russian’s been cut, The Russian’s been cut!!!”

# of dogs that chased us: a total of four. And two were nippers. However, some of you may recall that in Hunger Ride 06’ I found that by lowering my voice as low as I possibly can and then giving my very best “Satan bark of death” .....the dogs would actually can be very frightened by this surprisingly brilliant tactic. Don’t Mess with Randdog, my friends, don’t mess with me.

Start time today: 10 am
Finish time after the storm: 5 pm

After being in the “Cowboy State” now for several days, here are my observations about Wyoming: It’s my Wyoming Top Ten List I suppose.

1. It’s a 50/50 shot that advice/directions you receive from locals will be accurate. Half the time you are golden, the other half their words are worth a hot cup of jack squat. Or maybe not even that much.
2. People always associate the term redneck with southern people. However, I’m here to tell you that there are plenty of redneck folk in Wyoming. Plenty of ba pickups, tobacco, bad food and cheap beer to go around for all.
3. Every single river we’ve seen in this state is flooded. It’s pretty crazy, actually. Good thing that I told Tad Jones that we wouldn’t see rain more than once on this trip before we left. Yeah, just call me a modern day prophet. A sure mouthpiece of God.
Sheeesh. It’s rained three times in six days! I’ll go ahead and keep my mouth shut from now on.
4. They aren’t kidding about this Wyoming wind. It really is something else. I’m not even sure one is safe taking a leak in the bathroom. I apologize if that was just an over share. I’m thinking that I’ll start a national kite flying association (NKFA) and have a tourney here once a year. Maybe I can get ESPN to sponsor? I probably wouldn't participate, but I would like to be a kitecaster. I would then change my name to RANDY RAND.
5. I’m definitely a fan of Wyoming drivers. Much respect for bikers and great shoulders (other than the section that gave me a flat today) for biking!

You know…..now that I’ve got you all excited …I’ll save the last five for tomorrow.

COOL STORY OF WHERE WE ARE STAYING....

Tonight we are staying at the Black Bear Lodge in Dubios. Dubois is famous because it really is the last stop for travelers as they make their way to the Tetons and Yellowstone. It's a town the shuts down for about 7 months out of the year and people (motels, shops,etc..) make their payday for the five months of the tourist season. Many of you know it's been difficult for Luke and I to find motels that are willing to donate rooms in this area for that very reason. However, about 5 days before our trip, I got a tip from a teacher at Valor who told me that their was a former Valor family who owns a small 12 room place called the Black Bear Lodge (WHAT A SWEET NAME.....I LOVE BEARS!) in Dubois.

Well, to make a long story short, we got connected to this awesome family, had dinner with them tonight and are staying at their motel. Praise God for that....and for hot showers! What cool timing of it all! It's been a lot of fun and it's stories like these that make a trip like this memorable.

SHOUT OUTS....

Thanks to the Furman's for their hospitality!

44 YEARS AGO TODAY.....

A strapping, dark haired man named Roger walked into a bar in Lake Geneva, WI with a buddy of his. He surveyed the bar, was feeling confident on this day, so he asked the bartender to give a drink to a beautiful, short brown haired lady sitting at the other end of the bar with one of her girlfriends ....and to put that drink on his tab. Well, that drink lead to a conversation that Sunday afternoon in the bar, a conversation to many other conversations over the phone....and conversations to weekend trips to Chicago (from Rockford,IL) to see this lady named Rose. Sleeping in his car on these weekend trips (because her mother disapproved) to see his love, not even distance could keep them apart. Well, long story short, Roger asked Rose to get married and on this day 44 years ago they wed.

Hey Mom and Dad! Happy 44th wedding anniversary! Y'all rock! Thanks for being an awesome example of a Christ-centered marriage!

Day 5:Rawlins,WY to Lander,WY

Miles on the road: 125 big ones

Weather: Rain and wind in the am, clouds and wind in the afternoon. temps ranged from low 50's to mid 60's.... comfortable riding weather when it wasn't raining!

Wind: a very fierce headwind at times. So fierce that during one slight decline, we actually had to peddle fairly hard just to hold a 12mph pace. Crazyness!

Road Kill: We saw our first skunk today! Also a snake, a deer and a mouse

# of gas station stops from Rawlins to Lander: 1.....so yeah, we felt like we were in bfn

# of times I thought my feet were permanently frozen this am: 16

Weight at the start of the trip: 164 pounds

Weight after 5 days of riding and 425 miles on the road: 166 pounds

Songs Stuck in my head today: "Wouldn't it be nice" - Beach Boys .....the boys used their own fill-in-the-blank version of this song.... "It started out with "Wouldn't it be nice to have some blue skies....wouldn't it be nice to have tailwind" ......and, of course the amount of things you can fill in the blank with this is endless

Weird dream of the day: Luke woke up (but he was really sleeping talking) in the middle of the night (last night) and said out loud, "I'm going to kill you Tom Rand. I'm going to murder you!" I asked him if he remembered saying that in the middle of the night and he said no. He said he only remembered that in his dream were playing the game "Halo." I guess that explains it.

SUMMARY OF THE RIDE....

Oh one has to love the joys of licking the delicious combination of rain water, dirt, truck grease and gasoline from your lips as your riding a bicycle. That's pretty much what we were doing this am as we grinded and plodded our way northwest, onward to Yellowstone and the Tetons on hwy 287. It was pretty extreme conditions at times ... 65mph road, rough shoulder with little room and not too mention the rain and wind which always throws and interesting curve ball into the equation. But, things changed after about 30 miles of riding. The rain let up, the wind actually was in our favor for a few short miles, and we had a big, smooth shoulder. Hooray for big, smooth shoulders with no debris! That was dandy! The boys put on their gameface today and I'm ecstatic to say that they knocked out the 125 like Tyson fighting Moore.

SHOUT OUTS....

Krista at the Holiday Inn Express for the donation of two hotel rooms.

Day 4: Riverside, WY to Rawlins,WY

Miles on the road: 60

Tomorrow's Ride: 125 miles (Rawlins,WY to Lander,WY)

Wind: tailwind, headwind, crosswind ... we experienced it all. Gotta love that WY wind!

Temperture: 52 at the start, high 60's at the finish

The "should have been scary" part of today's ride: Riding on the shoulder of I-80 ... but there was actually a ton of room so we felt pretty safe. But occasionally you'd have that semi that would breeze by and give you the chills .... and put some hair on your chest.

Hats off to: the drivers on the road today. Gave us tons of room. Thanks, Wyoming.

Quotes of the Day:

"Gosh! You are an animal in bed, Luke" -Davis Butler (Davis is the other high school student that is riding with us all the way to West Yellowstone. Davis and Luke get the privlege of sharing a bed at the places where we're staying. He was apparently speaking of Luke's tarzanian like sleeping habits, we think he meant to say this in a different way)

Kathy Thompson today while driving: "Randall, did you hear that so and so's dog died?"

Randall Thompson: "Yeah, I did. And I'm glad"

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT .....
What's it? Well, that'd be our cabin on river last night. We just about floated away. We had to make an emergency exit from our cabin in Riverside, WY at 9:30pm (Monday night) because of a major flood (biggest since 84' we heard) on the North Platte river. So, we ended up driving 18 miles to Saratoga where we ended up crashing for the night. Good times, good times. We then drove back to Riverside this morning to start our ride. The funniest part of the night was an interaction with this crazy old man who was the night manager at the good ol' Lazy Acres RV and Campground. He was trying to convince us that the flood was no big deal and that we should stay. He actually became very angry when we told him we were leaving. Huh? I'd a thought he'd be freaking out a little more considering he's from Arizona and sees water like twice a year when a cactus explodes. We were like, "whatever dude."

TODAY'S RIDE....
For the next four days, I've surrendered all navigating resonsibilities to Luke and Davis. I figured that it'll be good for them and maybe teach them a thing or to about reading a map. I've told them that I'm simply a follower and will provide no insight whatsoever-they are driving the bus. Well, let's just say that today was a learning experience and that we'll hope to be in Lander,WY by tomorrow at sundown. If there's no blog tomorrow night, well, we're probably camping out in a ditch somewhere for the night with the wildabeast. On the bright side, these two guys are starting to tear it up on the bikes. For not having riden much before, these cats are starting to find their groove. Nice work Jones and Butler. Hopefully they can keep the HR Train moving for 125 big ones tomorrow!

SHOUT OUTS.....
Special thanks to Jordan at the Hampton Inn of Rawlins for the two free hotels rooms tonight. We appreciate the comfy beds as well as the pullout, which Davis will be sleeping on tonight.

SPIRITUAL PARALLELS....
The interesting challenge that provides some interesting convo's at night is this....Since we are on a bike trip, what are the parallels to biking and the Christian life? We've had fun thinking about the relationship between the two.


TOO BAD...
That we lost our tech crew. Here's a video from yesterday's ride, but it could be the last one for a few days. Hopefully we can figure out how to post vid's in the next few days.

Day 3: Kremmling,CO to Riverside,WY

Intro Video to the day: Click Here!

Miles on the road: 112

Elevation Gain: 3,000 ft

Elevation Loss: 3,2000 ft .... we love our downhill rides

Ending elevation: 7,100

Weather: It was pretty good all day .... mid 70's. We seriously rode right into our cabin in the bustling town of Riverside, WY (pop. 59) right before a torrential downpour. We went down to our cabin and it was literally in the water, so they upgraded us to a room with a shower! How generous of the Lazy Acres RV and Campground. The Platte River, which is literally 20 yards from our cabin is about 3 inches from overtaking us. (see pics above) So, we might just float away tonight and turn this sucka into Hunger Float 2010, baby!

Wind: First 60 miles was a sweet tailwind ....we rode 60 miles in 3hr and 45min. Then the last 50 miles we had a NASTY headwind. We're talking like 25-30 mph. So it took us about 4 hours or so.

# of times Luke has dropped something while riding: 7-8, I think?

# of bike computers Luke has lost: 1

# of Bubble baths Luke has taken this trip: 3 (we're not kidding)

# of times Luke has talked about his butt: We stopped counting after triple digits

Road Kill: One gargatuan moose, a shredded rabbit and a gopher.

Quote of the day: "My butt doesn't hurt anymore, it's just numb. I think that's why I don't feel anything." -Luke Jones

PTL for ..... many things ...but today we are grateful for a large road shoulder and little traffic!

Fundraising Update: As of this morning, we've raised just a couple of bucks under $14,000! Thanks to all who have donated! We are on our way to putting that health center up in Tikoling, Uganda!

THE HUNGER RIDE SAYS GOODBYE TO.....

Tad Jones, Martin Butler and Andrea Aymami. Wow, this is really sad. What fun we've had the past 3 days hanging with these cool cats. We seriously had a blast. Thanks for the laughs, guys. You are incredible sag wagoners. I wonder if you'll begin to question your true calling in life after this??For a couple of old guys and a CU Boulder grad, you guys are pretty cool! I've always said that my parents are the best support crew I've ever been around, and that is still true, but these guys were ridiculous. Always in the right spot right when we needed them. Fellas, you rule.

THE HUNGER RIDE SAYS HELLO TO.....

Randall and Kathy Thompson (aka my in-laws)

We're ecstatic to have them part of Hunger Ride III. They are excited about the journey ahead ...and so are we. (We're really looking forward to having several quotes from Randall every night!)

For those of you who haven't heard, I'm quickly becoming one of the biggest and most well known businessmen in the northwest. And because of this, Colorado has decided to name a city after me. Check out the signs on this vid that lead to Rand,Co

Other videos of today's ride you might check out:

1. Uphill Endurance Challenge

2. Shots from the Ground

Day 2: Georgetown,CO to Kremmling, CO

Videos of the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D09sENU7BTI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRHsvkSxsSc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9NCfjheRis

Miles on the road: 69, maybe 70

Wind: Brutal. Absolutely brutal headwinds the majority of the ride

Temps: Started at cool 66 and finished at a scorching 86 degrees... but it was mostly sunny!

Start Time: 9am

Finish Time: 3:30 pm

Lunch Stop: Qdoba in Silverthorne

Terrain: We climbed roughly 4500 feet today with the majority of that in the first 15 miles! We tackled Loveland Pass and then enjoyed the payoff of 12+ miles of downhill.

Danger scale of roads: On a scale of 1- 10 w/ 10 being the highest, about 9.8. The last 30 miles I sang Jesus Loves Me to myself and never took my head off the road. Seriously. You laugh, but when you're on a busy road with a speed limit of 65 mph, you probably would to. We saw campers, semi's and SUV's pulling big ol' boats....fortunately, they were all very gracious.

Songs stuck in my head: "Midnight Blue" by Lou Grahm (When I wasn't singing Jesus Loves Me)

Scenery: Gorgeous. Absolutely spectacular. Mountains, rivers, streams, forests.

# of Times I kissed my wife: between 30-35 (Hey, I'm not going to see her for 11 days... easy!)

Quote of the Day: "I'm getting a butt, I can feel it." -Luke Jones

Forecast for tomorrow: 112 miles to Riverside,WY ....yeah, we can use your prayers! 3,000 feet of ascent, 3200 feet of descent.

THE HUNGER RIDE SAYS THANKS TO.....

*Our unbelievable sag wagon crew of Tad Jones, Martin Butler and Andrew Aymami. They are amazing. They carry our stuff, feed us electrolytes, food and other good stuff. We could not do it without you guys!

THE HUNGER RIDE SAYS HELLO AND GOODBYE TO ....

*57 year old Frank Connor (aka Frank the Tank) We call him a tank because that's what he is on the bike. An absolute beast. We had the honor of riding with this legendary cyclist for 1.5 days and we were truly privleged to have him with us because he is a joy to be around. He also has tolerated two inexperienced high schoolers on bikes without complaint. Frank said goodbye to us on the top of Loveland Pass ..... and then road back to Denver today. Nuff said. What a stud.

*Marcy Mcgovern. Time will not allow for us to tell all of the stories that we have on Marcy, but be sure to check out this one: Marcy killed it up Loveland Pass today and then coasted with us into Silverthorne before heading back to D-town with my wife. Fun Times Mr. Marcy. Thanks for riding with us!

*Lyle "Heavy D" Devries: The surprise of the day came about 2 miles from our lunch stop in Silverthorne as Heavy D blessed us with his presence. He then road the next 20 miles out of S-town....and I'd personally like to thank Freddy-Fresh legs for absolutely destroyeing us. We had a nice little 4-man peloton system going with each of us taking about 2 minute pulls. It was nice until Heav blew up the peloton. The fact is, we're weines. We just couldn't hold the pace. I say all of this in good fun of course because we were honored to have him out. And the reality is that had Heav climbed 45oo in the morning (like we had) he still probably would have lit us up. Heav, you da man. We love you. And we wish that God made us more like you.

*Andrea Rand, my lovely bride. Annie will make another appearance on the HR in appr. 11 days, but until then I'm going to have to pull through without my better half. Most of you don't know that the reality is there would be no Hunger Ride without my wife. She's done a ton of work behind the scenese to pull so many things together. Nice work, baby! Way to smoke it up Loveland!

THE PLAN FOR NEXT YEAR .....

I need your help on something. I'd like to do something next summer, but I just haven't been able to decide what that might be. Sitting here with sunburn, sore legs, butt, and well .... you can imagine. I figure that I'd choose something a little bit easier. Help me figure out which one of these would be the most fun:

1. HUNGER FLOAT 2011 ....I will start in Minnesota and float down the Mississippi River on my way to the ocean. Anyone have a canoe I could borrow?

2. HUNGER FLY 2011 .....I saw a hot air balloon yesterday.... and thought that would be pretty cool. Maybe fly from like Maine to California?

3. HUNGER GLIDE 2011 .... then there's always a hang glider. But how would I go pee?

4. HUNGER CLIMB 2011 .... climb all of the 14-ers in the state of Colorado. Actually, nevermind. That's too hard. And I have zero upper body strength.

5. HUNGER SPELUNK 2011 ....Yes, that's right. I will explore all of the top caves next summer.

6. HUNGER 80'S DANCE PARTY .....In case you didn't know, I'm a big fan of the 80's. I could committ to listening to 80's music 16 hours per day for everyday of the summer. Oh wait, nevermind, I already do that.

Ideas? Please share them in the comment section.

Day ONE: Valor Christian High School to Georgetown,CO

Miles on the road: 62

Terrain: Mountainous ... about 4400 ft of climbling

Weather: Partly cloudy with ranging temps from 80 degrees at the start to high 60's at the end

Wind: headwinds, but with the temps it felt oh so good

# of Gatorade bottles I drank: 4 or 5

# of riders at the start: 17

# of riders that went all the way to G-town: 5

Amount of sunscreen I put on this morning: none (whoops)

# of miles on a dirt trail: 3

# of yards we had to walk our bikes b/c the road was unridable: about 500 yards

Songs Stuck in my head: Oddly enough, there really wasn't one. Hmmmm, what could this mean for the rest of the trip?

What was it like to ride today? Check out this vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP6Bb8SQ3eQ

THE START -20 Miles to Morrison Rd & C470

Wow, what a day! It's hard to put into words how awesome it was to have 30+ people at the start of Hunger Ride III. We feel so incredibly blessed. We departed from Valor at approximately 8:34am this morning to blue skies and a light breeze. We had an awesome crew comprised of 6 students, a couple of faculty, and friends that rode the first 20 miles to Morrison! The lesson learned today is that whenever you plan a bike trip, always ride the route before you actually do the trip. But who would've thunk it that the well traveled path of the C470 bike trail would be under construction. I mean, seriously!? Are you kidding me?

Doh! Never assume things bloggers. Just don't do it. Just say no. Resist the urge. Because oftentimes, as the saying goes, it makes a you know what out of you know who. But the tough, determined, Zulu warrior-like crew we had this morning de-saddled, literally picked up our bikes and tackled that 500 yards of unridable terrian like Atwater nailing Okoye.

It was gravy. Or, duck soup as my father would say.

THE REST OF THE WAY

The Day ONE crew of seven continued on to Evergreen through a very windy, hairy canyon with very little shoulder. We stayed together as a group and got er' done, climbing our way to Idaho Springs and then on to Georgetown. It was a glorious day and a perfect ride for Day ONE.

We feel very blessed.

SHOUT OUTS

We gotta give it up for Derek of Lamars donuts in Highlands Ranch for hooking us up with 24 donuts for the pre-ride festivities. Also, thanks to Pamela at Panera Bread. Even though I spilled hot coffee all over my hand early this am, we are still grateful (and eating) the bagels that she hooked us up with.

NEWS FLASH

I actually got a new job today. Yeah, you know I wasn't going to let everyone know about the Auto Shop that I recently opened (this morning at 5) in Kittredge, CO.

(see pic above)

I mean, here's the deal. This is how it all went down. The good folk of Kittridge heard about how I once fixed a flat tire when I was in high school .... and they became curious about my mechanical skills. Then they saw that I had chain grease all over my leg and they salivating. But the kicker, or clincher if you will, is that they heard that I might be able to change my own oil... it was then that they were sold. The begged, pleaded and offered me a six figure contract to have a shop in their town. So, what else could I tell them?