I made it! --> 2692 miles in 22 days

Mission Bay!!!

Wow another day to remember! Sunday we rode from Gila Bend, Arizona to 15 miles inside the California border. We cycled a total of 145 miles in 9 hours and burned about 8300 calories! It was all desert and the temperature hit a high of 112 degrees. Needless to say, I sweated a ton! 2485 total miles cycled to date. Will ride a shorter day today and then will arrive in San Diego by Tuesday afternoon. I am really looking forward to meeting Kari and Chris at the beach. I'll be back to Gentle Dental by Friday. Looking forward to seeing everyone! Ron

Looking Forward to a California Sunset!!

Well, it looks like Mike and I might make it to San Diego by Monday evening!! Three weeks of cycling to get from coast to coast is not bad for a couple of old guys :-)

Arizona Here We Come :-)

Buenos dias! We are starting the day in New Mexico and if everything goes as planned, we will end up close Arizona. My Spanish has improved greatly as we head across the state! As of this morning, we have cycled a total of 1881 miles in 16 days. I anticipate we will hit San Diego by next Wednesday or Thursday. I am anxious to get home to see my dogs, Bandit and Duke, and also to get back to work to see my patients and friends at Gentle Dental :-) We are still cycling on I-10 and will continue until we hit I-8, somewhere around Tuson, AZ. Then we stay on I-8 all the way to the Pacific Ocean!

Today's weather forecast calls for light rain and possible thunder showers. Hopefully it will not hinder our progress. We have had a couple of good days regarding flat tires, after having 4 flats on Sunday, 5 flat tires on Monday, we had only one flat on Tuesday and NONE yesterday! We stopped at a bike store in El Paso and bought 12 tubes and 2 patch kits, and also Mike bought a couple of "bomb-proof" tires. Our bikes are holding up quite well and we are thankful for that!

Keep the "tweets" coming as we hit the home stretch. It is great to stay connected to my friends and family! Ron

Rain Rain Go Away...

Our Saturday forecast called for rain all day. We decided to ride anyway and made it 5 miles on I-10 in a downpour with thunder and lightening. We were rescued and spend the next several hours at a picnic area inside the trailer. After the rain stopped, we started cycling again around 3:30 pm and road until 6:00 pm, covering 54 miles for the day, burning only 3300 calories. Our total miles at the end of Saturday are 1,383 and we should reach the halfway point Sunday as long as we have decent weather and don't have any other unforseen setbacks. On a positive note, it was nice to have some cool temperatures after the storm.

Mike and I are both doing well. Our hands get the most sore, especially with all the rough roads. Looking forward to seeing the Pacific Ocean :-)

Don't Mess with Texas!

We finally made it to Texas yesterday! We've been through FL, AL, MS, LA and we've had quite an adventure along the way. For starters, the headwinds are brutal and that is all I have to say about that! We have had a few crashes (and some near crashes), lots of flat tires and have gotten lost here and there. We have endured thunder and heavy rain, bridges, debris, gravel roads, dirt roads, grass roads, bonking, being chased by a dog, very STINKY clothes and some interesting (but friendly) people. We are burning a ton of calories and eating a ton of food :-) As of yesterday, we have cycled 1095 total miles. We rode 6 hours & 45 minutes for the 1st day in TX. The you know what (the dreaded "HWs") off and on all day with a 27 mile stretch of probably 20 miles per hour straight at us!
The good news is that we are getting stronger every day and are loving every minute (well, almost every minute) of our "Epic" adventure. I appreciate everyone's tweets and blog comments. It keeps me motivated and connected to my Gentle Dental friends and family.

It's game time!

Today we road through New Orleans 44 miles and let me just say there are some very interesting people here. After our ride we went and picked up our new driver and hopefully this one is patient and lasts more than a week. Mike and I have decided to have a contest for my Gental Dental peeps. If you can guess how many hours it takes Mike and I to ride through Texas you will win a great price of 25 blue bucks. Start your guessing!

Stiff headwind

We are now a couple of days into our CRAZY ride! We are 2 1/2 states finished and our goal is to finish at New Orleans today ,145miles from mobile. There has been headwind from the get go. I walked outside this morning and it was already blowing. I thought I ate a lot before this ride but we are putting a lot down! A HUGE breakfast, 2 sandwiches and a big dinner. You have to eat a lot when you are burning 8000 calories! Looking forward to the headwind tomorrow and drafting Mike. The maps sucked so we threw them out. No more getting lost.

Our first day of cycling...

Our first day started off well and then I missed a turn and we started heading North. As a result, we rode the wrong way for 18 miles. Our driver picked us up and took us back to the spot where we went off track so our miles traveled would be accurate. Then, we got a bit lost in Gainsville. It cost us 10 miles and 90 minutes of time. Tonight, we are camping outside of Gainsville. I am going to study the maps tonight, for sure! Looking forward to tomorrow!

The start from St. Augustine @ 9:25 this morning. I can't believe it's happening.

Ready to Roll

We picked up our driver at JAX and we are spending the night in St. Augustine at a RV site. No cushy WalMart accomodations this evening. Good eats though, marinated elk filets with angel hair pasta and fresh veggies. Cinco de Mayo will never be the same as we intend to start at 8:00 am local time tomorrow. We'll get some pictures before we take off, although Mike and I are still looking for a good excuse to get out of this insane idea (let us know if you think of anything!) Keep the "tweets" and blog comments coming. We are loving the support from you all!

Florida

We made it to Florida! We are on track to make it to Jacksonville by the end of the day. We are officially expert WalMart campers. What a great way to see the USA! The forecast calls for rain the first week of our ride. I guess we need to endure some bad weather to have our ride qualify as an "epic" adventure! Thanks to everyone who has been "tweeting" us along the way. It has been fun to keep in touch with friends and family during this long drive :-)

The long drive East...

We r ~ 50 miles from "don't mess with Texas". Mike and I have been together for over 24 hrs & haven't been in a fight. Major accomplishment!! We should get well past half way to St Augustine tonight. SaWeet ;---)

Headed out

We just left the Gentle Dental office after having a wonderful send off party that included our staff, friends, and others. Everything from balloon arches to maps and signs and a nice lunch spread, it was beyond what I imaged. I especially enjoyed being interviewed by one of my favorite patients, 6 year Dylan Hartmann. He asked me why I decided to ride from Florida to California, to which I replied, "because I'm nuts!!"

ROSEVILLE DENTIST CHALLENGES HIMSELF TO CYCLE COAST-TO-COAST

 I just wanted to share with you a write up from my company's newsletter that highlights my coming upcoming ride, for which I'm in the final stages of training and preparation.  Ron

     Why would a 57-year-old dentist, who has recently recovered from rotator cuff surgery, want to ride a bike from the east coast, all the way across the United Statesto the west coast, and then throw his bike into the Pacific Ocean?  Most people at age 57 would be happy with a few hours of biking in the gym, but that is not the case for Dr. Ron Milla, Roseville's Gentle Dental dentist.  He and his buddy Mike Reese plan to ride their road bikes from Florida's east coast to California's west coast starting on Cinco de Mayo.  It's a 3,100-mile biking adventure, and they plan to average 135 miles of highway every day.            
     This is not the first time this Gentle Dental dentist challenged himself to something great.  At 40, Dr. Milla didn't even own a bike. He borrowed his brother's bike and didn't have the first clue how to ride.  He decided that for his 40th birthday, he was going to challenge himself to something he had never done before.  So he boarded a flight to Canada, bought a new bike, and rode it all the way down the west coast (taking California's winding Highway 1) to Mexico, where he abandoned his bike at the Mexican border.  Now, almost twenty years later, with many more years of riding under his belt, and while working full-time as a Gentle Dental dentist, he plans again to challenge himself to an even longer ride.  
     If there is a formula for staying young, Dr. Milla has it. With his energy and perfectly toned body, he easily passes for 35, and could put the 20-somethings to shame (eat your heart out Lance Armstrong).  And what does this hard-working dentist say about all this? “It's just another feather in my cap, and I can hardly wait to get started,” he says.  
     But - one last question.  Why throw an expensive, custom-made road bike into the Pacific Ocean after it has just carried you 3,100 miles across the United States? That's a good question.  But Dr. Milla didn't want to share his answer yet.   He wants us to guess his answer to that question.  
     Has Dr. Ron Milla perhaps given himself too great a challenge this time?  Will he even make it to the Pacific Ocean from Florida?  And why in the world would he throw his custom road bike into the ocean? 
     Join Dr. Ron Milla on his ride, along with his patients, friends, and all the folks at Gentle Dental beginning on Cinco De Mayo.  Follow him on Twitter or comment on his blog as we see what a 57-year-old Roseville, California dentist really can accomplish.  Also, just for fun, try to figure out why in the world he might throw his bike into the Pacific Ocean.  There may even be a prize if you can guess Dr. Milla's answer.
     Simply visit http://ronbbld.blogspot.com/ or log on to http://twitter.com/ronbbdand watch him go! Let's see what this 57 year old can do while we support him on his daily ride across the United States.  Remember, he starts his great ride on Cinco de Mayo.