RVK across the USA

Signs

2010-08-16T10:49:00.001-07:00

I came across a number of funny and interesting signs not likely to be seen around new york city. Below are few I captured with my camera.

Days 69,70 - Eugene, OR

2010-07-28T16:12:00.001-07:00

Today was the last big day of my trip riding 91 miles to Eugene and summitting the Mckenzie pass at 5325 feet along the way. Throughout my trip I would tell myself at the end of long days that if I could get to the last 10 miles I could do them standing on my head. It just meant that no matter what condition I was in I would make my destination for the night. Well, today I could have done the ride with one leg, riding backward on my head. I hit the climb in the beginning of my ride and when i stopped to take a picture of Mount Washington and the seven sister peaks i belated realized i had already summitted the peak.

At the apex is a cool lava field which cooled as it was still flowing some 1600 years ago, leaving behing a river of black angular rock reaching all the way back to the peaks of mount Washington. Some of the narrow twisting roadway cuts through the rock itself giving the feeling of passing along stone hedgerows.

I started a long 3000 foot decsent outpacing at least one vehicle along the way. The road snaked around the side of the mountian presenting one hairpin turn after another. I passed new elevation signs every thousand vertical feet. At the bottom I lifted my arms of the bars and felt aches in my muscels from being on a technical decsent for a half hour.

The rest of the ride was along rout 126, a narrow no shoulder road on a slight downgrade all the way to Eugene. A pretty good headwind eliminated my ability to coast at any point. I just started to ride as if I were going up another climb, turning the cranks pretty quickly and making good time into town.

Along the way I saw the sun shining through the trees of a yard with a wooden fence and a house tucked away not to far from the road and I had he sensation that I was riding along a road from my childhood, almost a deja vu feeling.

Sue, the person I arranged to stay with through warm showers was waiting outside her two bedroom condo for me as I rolled up the street. She is one of the best of hosts I've had the good luck to encounter along my trip. She offered a multitude of information about Eugene and a set of keys to come and go as I please. We had dinner along the willamette river and then headed over to an outdoor short film festival in Alton Baker park.

"Tell everyone it rains all the time, we don't want the secret to get out." Sue told me. The secret is that during the summer Eugene is an Eden of dry sunny days and cool clear nights. It's what some locals call "their second paycheck."

Eugene is a college town with old hippies looking to hang on and new ones being minted every year on the University of Oregon campus. I have to believe there are more VW vans per capita here than anywhere else in the world. The town also has an inordinate amount of modern day hobos, young dirty kids with backpacks and sleepig bags traipsing about town. They are probably not much different from the tramps riding frieght trains in the 30s, albeit less easy to romanticize.

Sue was kind enough to put me up for another night so i could rest up an enjoy the city some more. I went to the Saturday market in the morning, a mix of food an craft vendors selling there goods downtown, had a fantastic dinner at Papa's, a soul food restaurant and did a little bit of early celebrating over a trio of noise rock bands at Sam Bonds, a popular music venue as I toyed with the surreal notion that I would hit the pacific ocean tomorrow.

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Day 68 - Sisters, OR

2010-07-15T22:25:00.001-07:00

My energy level is through the roof, feuled by the thought that I'm just a few days from the coast. I started the day with another 2000 foot climb over the ochoco mountain pass, the fifth one in three days. I loved it, spinning up the incline with music blasting through my headphones.

I put in a 92 mile day ending the town of Sisters. Snow capped peaks were visible beyound the brown stone buttes and scrub brush prarie. The terrain is enough for me to not even think about my millage or the headwind or the heat. I am just enjoying it all.

Steve, who I'd been riding with for the last couple days cut his day short in prineville. It was good to have his company for a while but i am too excited to slow down. I'll head to Eugene tomorrow leaving me just 70 miles from the beach.

Day 67 - Mitchell, OR

2010-07-15T22:09:00.001-07:00

Woke up first thing in the morning and rode 87 miles to Mitchell, OR. The first half of the day was really easy heading downhill for most of it until Dayville. There was only a market open and I tried my luck with a microwavable chicken sandwich.

The second half of the day involved a gradual climb of 2000 feet over Keyes mountain pass. He road lead through an amazing gorge surrounded by ancient rock buttes. Oregon is just getting better the more I ride through.

Mitchell is a cool small town, just one road with a market and a restaurant and a few other necessities. There was a self-proclaimed hobo with a long beard sitting outside outside on a park bench. There isn't much to do in town, but you can do anyhing you want.

Day 66 - Prarie City, OR

2010-07-15T19:56:00.001-07:00

I climbed over three mountain passes in a headwind today today to reach Prarie city, just 66 miles away. The heat thankfully broke and for the first time in a week it was actually cool in the morning, perfect for climbing the 4000 feet of total elevation.

There were no resources along the way keeping me on my bike until I reached town for hearty lunch. I've pitched my tent at a local campsite and am looking forward to a quiet evening in this 100 person town.

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Day 64, 65 - Baker City, OR

2010-07-12T16:38:00.000-07:00

I died of dysentery.

Just kidding. Baker City is an historic town on the Oregon Trail and I just can't stop thinking about playing that game on the Apple IIe when I was a kid.

As some readers have probably noticed, I have been sporadic with this blog lately. It has been harder to write daily posts these days due to: having no cell service; being too tired at the end of the day; or being more interested in having new experiences than writing about them. The good news is I have sat in the Baker City library for most of today catching up so that my future posts will be real-ish time as finish out my trip within the next week. There is just 417 miles from here to the coast! However, there are 5 mountain passes to deal with along the way.

I have been riding with Steve, a super fit and adventurous 62 year old from Minnesota who has been involved with parks and rec and a number of nature conservation initiatives.

Day 63 - Halfway, OR

2010-07-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

I knew the day was going to be great when the waitress at the cafe reached down below the counter, pulled out a gun and fired at me. The projectile, a dart, sailed passed me landing on the floor. "Alright" she said, reached down under the counter pulled out bigger gun, loaded it with a marshmallow pumped it up and fired hitting me right in the chest from 20 feet out. The whole dinner broke into laughter. That's what you get for convincing the cook to ring the triangle when your order is up at Bucky's Cafe.

I headed out along 71 making a 1500 foot climb to summit a pass at around 5100 feet and than began a very long descent into, duh duh dahhhhh: Hell's Canyon. The waitress, who really liked me despite beaning me with a marshmallow, told me the Canyon is usually 5 degrees hotter than in town. I belated patted myself on the back for deciding not to ride through it in yesterday's heatwave.

The downhill was fantastic, twisting through stone passes along steep 7 percent grades. This is one of the few times on the trans-am bike trail where its better to be going the "wrong way," i.e. east to west.

After several miles I turned a corner to see the expanse of the Snake River flowing along the floor of Hell's Canyon. The road followed along the river passed the Oxbow damn where I crossed into Oregon, the 14th state of my trip. Oregon! The final frontier. The last state of my trip. I was so happy to see that sign.

I stopped at the only rest stop in the canyon to cool off. The thermometer read 100 degrees. They proprietor calmly told me that I wouldn't have made it through yesterday -- to damn hot. Steve caught up with me and in another 10 miles we were in the town of Halfway having a late lunch. Halfway to where? To another stagecoach stop in the olden days, which is how it got its name.

Steve had mentioned that Inga, his warm shower host, told him she had plenty of room and sounded laid back so I decided to show up at her door, having had no luck reaching her on the phone for past day. We rolled down a long dirt driveway two miles out of town up to an old farm house. A tall blond woman came to the fence saying hello and that it had slipped her mind to call me back but there would be no problem staying there. She immediately start shooting deadpan jokes our way, telling me she had a lovely ditch to bathe in and that the hay bales in her barn would make a lovely bed for us tonight. In the middle of the relentless joking she mentioned she used to race bikes in the past. I didn't think much of it.

After our greeting she went back inside to tend to some house guests and I took a walk around the yard. I stepped into an open barn off to the side and high up in the rafters were hanging 10 or so different racing bikes, most all with steel frames from the 80s. I walked under one bike to find her name embossed on the top tube. Across the rafters hung a team 7-11 eddy merckx bike. A light went off in my head. When she said racing she meant in the Olympics, holding world records, and winning national championships kind of way.

She fixed us some margaritas and we sat on her front porch as she told us stories of her career and what it was like raising horses and keeping an old farm. Steve and I were just giddy with the incredible luck of meeting someone as cool as Inga while on the road. We all drove into town for a first class dinner and wound the night up back on her porch, relaxing and trading stories.

After two months on the road I was mentally and physically exhausted and began to feel like i wanted to end my trip as soon as possible. This chance encounter completely revitalized me and got me excited again to be out on the road. Experiences like these are nothing short of magic.

Day 62 - Cambridge, ID

2010-07-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

I headed out in the morning riding 40 miles down the road to the old logging town of Cambridge, ID. Along the way logging trucks, stocked with 12 or 13 large tree trunks on their beds whizzed by me, occasionally laying into their incredible loud air horns. My intention was to ride another 40 miles to Oxbow. I pulled into town at 2pm a figured I would have lunch and hang out in the Library to avoid some of the afternoon heat. One shop in town posted 100 degrees on its scrolling ticker. Ouch.

After two hours of waiting around i stepped back into the afternoon heat and if felt not one degree cooler, though the thermometer now read 99 degrees. I stopped in the cafe for a drink and noticed on the heat advisory warning on the TV. This was all the convincing i needed to make this a short day and stay in Cambridge for the night.

While outside I bumped into Steve, one of the 4 riders I met in Riggins the other day. He was looking to put in some more miles and was now a day ahead of his friend. We had a beer that night at the saloon and planned to ride together to Halfway in the morning where he had arranged to stay with a warm showers.

Day 61 - New Meadows, ID

2010-07-12T14:59:00.000-07:00

I no longer have to cool comfortable weather of Yellowstone and Montana and I miss it. I continued along route 95 following the Salmon river to the town of Riggins where I met 4 other people on tour. They were all spending the night in town and I was contemplating to do the same after feeling the temperature shoot up into the 90s. I had a burger and a milkshake at a local cafe and afterward couldn't help feeling like a million bucks, Jumped back on my bike and headed for New Meadows another 42 miles and 2000 feet in elevation away.

10 minutes into the ride i had my shirt off and was sweating profusely. The sun seemed to get stronger in the late afternoon. I powered up the inclines, needing to take a few breaks before reaching the very small and sleepy town of New Meadows where I had a steak dinner special at the local bar and crashed right after, totally wiped from riding in the heat.

Day 60 - Grangeville, ID

2010-07-12T13:57:00.001-07:00

I rode down along the Lochsa river I to Kooskia for breakfast the fred flintstone would have been happy with. The ommlette covered a dining platter and the pancackes looked like flattened basketballs. This was one of the few times I could not clear my plate on this trip.

I had been trying to decide whether to head into Washington or continue south in Idaho along the transam. I friendly local covinced me to head south declaing the the way to Baker City Oregon was the most beautiful in the Country.

Through led me through more green terrain and I noticed the heat intensified along my lower elevations. I followed along the Salmon river until reaching the small town of grangeville where I called it a night and leaving a 2000 foot mountain pass for the morning.

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Day 59 - Near Lowell, ID

2010-07-12T13:39:00.001-07:00

Well rested and full of life from my visit with Bob and his family I headed out of Missoula and onto route 12. My plan was to head up over Lolo pass and down along the Lochsa river for as far as I close as I could get to Kooskia a 147 miles away.

Route 12 started out flat leading me through forest and surrounding mountians. I began to climb the reasonable grade in the cool afternoon air and about half way decided to take lunch, sitting on a barrier and eating half of my footlong subway sandwich. With just a little more effort I was at the summit and had crossed into Idaho, the 13th state of the trip.

After refilling my water bottles at the rest stop I began a long beautiful decsent into the lush green valley bellow. The winding roadway carved into the mountian was visible far off in the distance. As I flew down I passed other bicyclists grinding their gears on their way up, a much tougher approach to the summit than my own.

The steep decsent yeilded to a more gradual one and the road began to follow the beautiful pristine Lochsa river. The shallow water of the river wound it's way over a rocky bed with dense national forrest surrounding it's shorline.

70 miles into my day I decided to take a break and hike up to the Jerry Johnson hotsprings. I traversed the river over a cable and wood suspension bridge and followed 1.5 mile long through the woods. Old cedars lined the way.majestic olde Cedar trees.

A good size pool contained by surrounding boulders sat next to a small stream. I put my bathing suit on and stepped into the 100 degree water, slowly submerging my limbs until I was comfortable sitting on the sandy floor of the pool. The water was cyrstal clear and without any sulfer smell and felt great on my overworked legs.

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Day 57, 58 - Missoula, MT

2010-07-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

In the morning I made a relatively easy decision to cut 200 bicycle miles off my trip and drive from Bozeman to Missoula to spend time with my good friend Bob and his family before they moved to DC. After riding 3200+ miles (enough to span the US on the southern tier) I realized I'm no longer worried about "making it", but rather how I can make the journey better.

Bob is one of the inspirations for my trip having told me countless amazing stories from his childhood in Missoula. We had a blast catching up on each others lives, hanging out at the Salish Pow Wow, watching the fireworks and lighting off a bunch of our own.

Day 56 - Bozeman, MT

2010-07-12T11:39:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to pull of some big days to catch Bob and his family in Missoula before they left for DC. I got up at 6am and hit the road shortly after. I stepped out into a freezing cold morning for July and put on my leg warmers and gloves for the first time since i began the trip in early may. Clouds covered the sky and a light drizzle fell. As soon as i left town a headwind kicked up slowing me to a crawl and making my hands numb from the chill. It took me close to an hour and a half to make the turn ten miles down the road.

I headed onto a dirt road and began riding up a hill. The dirt turned to gravel and the gravel turned to good size throwing stones. I kept on riding, jumping all over the road to avoid large stone piles. I passed a woman and man in a driveway who gave bewildered stares. As the grade increased it became more difficult to hand difficulty and eventually I had to get off and start walking. I got my route from google which has lead me wrong before and I decided to loose a bunch of altitude by riding back down to the people in the driveway to get a second opinion.

"This road leads way up the mountain and eventually turns into a mountain bike trail with no outlet." I was glad i cam back down.
"Did you notice a dead end sign right when you came in? There's an old man who bought up a bunch of property around here and put that sign up to confuse people into not driving through." Great! Glad i asked.

I scurried back down the hill, made the turn which was also marked as a "private road" and followed a dirt path for 3 miles until i was finally back on pavement. The road was tolerable but the headwind was not. I kept fighting for speed but getting nowhere. With about 10 miles to go I felt my steering being a bit sluggish. My front tire had gotten a flat. I the tire looked a bit compromised but was able to take a new tube. I finally started back again and after a whopping 5 hours I had ridden 30 miles to make it into Bozeman.

I had been feeling a bit off during the day an thought i might have been the chill from the cold morning or perhaps some food I ate. I was just a bit dizzy. Next thing I know I'm on the ground. I had hit a parked car with one of my bags and flew off the bike. Luckily, I did no harm to myself of the car, but took it as a sign to call it a day and spend the night in Bozeman.

Day 55 - Livingston, MT

2010-07-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

I woke up extra early and packed down my tent and gear excited to see more of Yellowstone. After spending the day before on the east side I decided to cut over and ride the west side of the upper loop of the park. The temperature is quite cool in the morning, perfect for riding and my legs felt pretty strong. The shoulder of the road disappeared 7 miles into my ride but luckily encountered little traffic and almost no RVs, the transportation of choice in yellowstone. I passed through another valley again with bison strewn across the fields. At one point there were large rock caves just off the side of the road, which i didn't bother to inspect.

Though i was gaining elevation I didn't particularly notice and i was well into the 21 mile stretch to Mammoth. I turned a corner to realize i was at the top of a high mountain pass looking down into huge canyon below. The road carved into the stone mountain side winded its way down below. I attempted to video parts of my descent managing to keep on the narrow road as the cars drove past. I sailed along a few miles of downhill until i saw a sign for the Mammoth Hot springs and turned into see the jewel of Yellowstone.

A vast array of thermal pools are spread out over the side of a stone hill. Over thousands of years the springs have bubbled up stone and minerals leaving deposits along the waters path, creating the effect of a stone watterfal. The springs themselves contained deep blue pools of water and dark red stone. They were really amazing to look.

I got to Mammoth lodge by noon with tons of energy left so I decided to push on out of the park. The road continued along a steep downhill following the Yellowstone river where I cruised at 45 mph keeping up with a few motorcycles next to me. Along the way i passed the 45th parallel and the state Montana state line, the 13th state of my trip. I stopped int he town of, a poor looking town seemingly propped up by the run off tourism of yellowstone to get a bit to eat and internet access. A cafe charged $2:50 for the net. Not for 20 minutes, or an hour, but the whole day.

I call my good friend Bob who lives in Missoula and I am eager to see before he and his family move to DC. My original plan was to get there on the 4th but the extra time spent in Yellowstone has put me off that time frame. I decided to ride another 55 miles to Livingston before they day was through, hoping the my legs, the hills and the wind would all cooperate.

Just before leaving town I got a text from Ryan saying he had left the park on the west side and was in West Yellowstone. I know this likely much meant the end of tour together after riding some 3000+ miles. We were tracking for different destinations and would be splitting up at some point. Now seemed as good as any.

I hoped on my bike at 3:30 and headed out of town along the Yellowstone river. I had brief moment of panic about an oppressive headwind as I saw the grass bend back in forth in a strong breeze. Then suddenly i didn't notice any wind at all; it was all behind me. Quickly i was up to 30 mph cruising along with little effort. I sat upright leaning on the top of my handlebars letting wind push me along, at some points running out of gears to keep up with the the wind allowed. Mile marks passed by with frequency. In two hours I had knocked out 50 miles and was just 4 miles out of town when the wind did an about face and slowed me to a crawl. I pushed my way into town and decided to not press my luck by continuing to Bozeman.

In the evening I caught my first rodeo which was a blast to see after hearing bull riding stories from a cowboy in colorado. Folks were decked out in there wranglers and cowboy hats, buying beers by the six pack laughing at the antics of the clown in the ring between events. I got close look at the roping contest and was truly impressed with the riders' ability to maneuver a horse at full speed.

Day 54 - Yellowstone Park, WY

2010-07-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

The Yellowstone roadway is a large figure eight and we knew we weren't going to ecompass all of it. After some debate we took the east side route skipping old faithful and the other gueysers in favor of riding along the lake and through Hayden valley. "see old faithful when you are 70 with your grandkids" one guy who camped in the park told me and I took it to heart.

The morning was beautiful and cool as I rode along the tree lined lake from Grant Village. The road took me up over several hills as I spun along enjoying the view of yellowstone lake and the mountains behind it.

I passed several areas of trees which had been burned in a forrest fire. I had learned this is good overall for the forrest to prevent feul build up. In addition the lodgepol pine tree will reseed the ground with one type of cone which opens up only under extreme heat. Fires were always a part of the forrest and he trees have adapted.

I entered Hayden valley, a huge open and rolling clearing along a river with up to two miles of visibility. Herds of Bison sprinkled the hillside. Some sat right by the road side resting under the trees without the faintest care for the passing tourists. These massive animals are around 2000 lbs and have to give themselves a coulpe heave ho's to get themselves back on their feet.

I stopped along the route to spy a grizzley bear and two of her cubs through binoculars I borrowed from one of the several people watching them. A little ways beyond a coyote lazed about in the grass, unaware of all the watching eyes.

I approached south rim road and rode up a steep hill with the promise of a great views of Yellowstone grand canyon. Iwas not dissapointed. I stopped at uncle toms trail which lead me down a steep series of metal stairs halfway down to the base of the lower falls which spilled volumes of water over ancient stone down into the canyon river below.

I continued along a foot trail for 1.5 miles along the rim of the massive canyon. The stone along it's walls where brown and an ochre yellow ( hence the name) stained from minerals and other geothermal activity. The foot path was slight at points runing right along the edge of the canyon. Trees on the edge of the cliff had half of their roots exposed from the slow errosion.

I was so amazed by the canyon I decided to follow the north rim after hiking the south rim to experience it again.

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Day 53 - Yellowstone Park, WY

2010-07-09T07:57:00.000-07:00

We layed into a breakfast buffet at the camp restaurant in the morning, piling our plates with heaps of food, perhaps out of fear that we wouldn't have other food opportunites down the road.

We continued north out of Teton park going up and down a winding road, thick forrest all around us. A few miles before the Yellowstone park entrance I took on a large decsent into this spectacularly huge open valley. Nothing but open undisturbed woods surrounded me and the consideration that this land has been kept largely the same since it's formation 600,000 years ago held a powerful grip on my imagination.

I met up with Ryan near Flagg Ranch. He suggested we visit a camp he was told about by a women in Lander so we headed down a dirt road, across a low creek and into a camp where we met Jim, a horse wrangler with long whispy hair and a bushy mustache. He was kind to talk to us as he shod one of his horses, telling us about how his father started the camp after WWII. His love for his horses is subsidized by hauling trees off the mountain in the fall and being a "snow farmer", someon who lays snow making equipment on a ski mountain, in the winter. "Its gorgeous here, but you can't eat the scenery" he told us.

After entering yellowstone park we rode up to Grant Village and decided to camp their for the night. We new we would be slowing down our pace to enjoy the park and 40 miles on the day seemed pretty good. After setting up my tent I decided to ride up the road 2 miles to west thumb to check out the thermal pools. All of the where spread out alon the shore of Yellowstone lake, some with deep red stone and rich blue water. A strong smell of sulfer wafted through the air. As I came down the wooden walkway a large Elk walked across my path to reach a small shrub which she began to nibble at. I ended the day with a mile hike up a hillside to gain a full view of Yellowstone lake and the mountains beyond, well worth the effort.

I returned to camp to have a wonderful meal at the restaurant right on the shore of yellowstone lake at sunset.

Day 52 - Grand Teton Park, WY

2010-07-08T09:07:00.000-07:00

I was beaming with energy at the start of the day from all the extra rest and the prospect of reaching Grand Teton park by the afternoon. Grand Teton and Yellowstone parks loomed in the back of my imagination for most of the trip and were the main reason for turning north at Colorado instead of continuing west.

We had about 50 miles along route 287 taking us over Togwotee pass, a 9658 foot peak which we began to ascend shortly after leaving town.

My legs happily began to spin up the climb in the cool dry mountain air. Timber lined ridges with stone outcroppings surrounded the view. My excitement grew as I approached the top.

The road flattened and i noticed 4 cars waiting in front a construction worker holding a stop sign. The young guy holding the sign waved me over and explained that the road was being worked on and that the pilot truck leading cars back and forth would be have to take me and my bike down the road.

I paniced that i would be robbed of one of the most dramatic stretches of road on the trip. Luckily the free ride was only a couple miles. "Watch out for the Griz" Jack the driver told me. "We see 8 or 9 a week in broad daylight up here". I thought about the 3 pb&j sandwiches I had packed in my bag.

Back on my bike I began the long decsent down the pass cruising along at 33 mph. In a moment the tree line cleared on my left side and I saw the majestic Teton mountain range off in the distant. Large dark stone mountains with snowy creases jutted up into the air. The Grand Teton with it's pyramidal top extended high into the sky with small clouds danced around it's peak.

We continued on along the flat road into Teton park and into the dense forrest it preserves, the teton mountian range and ever present backdrop. We stopped in Jackson lake lodge, an architechtual mastepiece with it's grand 3 story high hall with its towering windows framing the Tetons an had lunch.

We continued into Colter Bay Village, another full service lodge and campsite right on Jackson Lake. John Colter was a fur trapper on the Lewis and Clark expidition and the first westerner to see this part of the country. We pitched out tents at camp and and carefully separated all our food and toilletries into separate bags to be stored in large metal bear boxes.

I headed back to the lake to enjoy it's beauty at sunset. The Forrest was thick and quiet and provided the best night of camping thus far despite falling asleep with the mild worry that I missed some candybar or bag of peanuts hiding in the clothes i use as a pillow and that a bear, smelling it's sweet sent would rip my head off to get at it.

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Day 51 - Rest Day in Dubois

2010-07-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Ryan needed a rest day to heal a pulled muscle in his calf which I took as an opportunity to catch up on mail laundry and rest myself.

After a day of errands in town I moved over to the cowboy bar (real name) for a beer and met Dean who works for the power company driving around the mountains each day. He told me how to get a pickup across a river, how he's lost a truck off the side of a snowy mountain road and that the loaded pistol he carries in his glove compartment is his bear spray.

Into the bar came 4 men all in white cowboy hats, worn blue jeans and crisply pressed wrangler shirts. They all looked differet but each had strong jaws, distinguished laugh lines along their cheeks and big chins. Two of them had spurs off he back of their boots. I thought to myself: damn all of these guys look like Marlboro men. Dean piped up: "they're Marlboro men. They come every summer to shot commercials out here". I laughed at the coincidence.

"But they're dudes. They ain't no cowboys, that's for sure. Lucky if they could ride a horse". He continued. "Dudes don't know how to do anything except look pretty"

Day 50 - Dubois, WY

2010-07-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

We had a 75 mile day planned along 287 to Dubois (pronounced doo-boys). We gained more than a thousand feet of altittude, but I barely noticed with the road rolling over climbs and decsents all day.

Lush green grass and brush ran along the red stone cliffs, some reaching over 200 feet high. Every so often a ranch would sit tucked in by the hillside and i wondered what life must be like in such a beautiful yet remote area.

About 2 or 3 miles before the junction if route 26 I encountered a steep downhill, the road twisting through the most alien terrain I have seen. Red and biege bolder with green tint spilled along the hillside and into a canyon below. The road slightly elevated, snaked through the boulder beds almost appearing to hover. I raced down road with a quick feeling of disconnect, as though I could have been travling on a different planet.

The hills became more subtle as I reached Dubois, another small town with a look left over from the frontier days, timber framed stores, wooden sidewalks and old neon marquees. A man in a vest and sleeves sat at an upright piano outside one store playing rags. Men eating at a local estaurant donned long moustache reaching down to their jowls.

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Day 49 - Rest Day in Lander, WY

2010-07-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

Ryan's friend Lilly came for a visit in Lander so we spent an extra day in town, which I was happy to have after having a tough ride. After sleeping 10 hours I drifted around town stopping in some shops and replenishing my PB&J supplies. There is good great bike shop and outfitter on main with friendly folks.

I had a killer burger at the Gannet grill and along with a couple local Lander beers (Stout was aces) and chatted up some locals for a while.

In the evening we drove 15 miles north in Lilly's car into the wind river reservation to check out the Eastern Shoshone Indian Days, a pow wow taking place over the weekend. Cars jammed the parking lot indicating a big gathering. The festivities took place around a large grass circle with bench seating underneath a roof along the outer ring. Outside the ring vendors sold Navajo tacos, burgers, smoked turkey legs and other food as well as handcrafts and clothes.

Families walked around the grounds, some kids in dress waiting to take the field to dance.
Teenagers stood in packs wearing baggy jeans, basketball jerseys and dark shades, their long back hair pulled back tight in pony tails.

"Are you ready to pow wow" an announcer with a booming voice called. Just were I was standing 5 men seated around a large animal skin drum each holding long drumsticks with cloth heads began to sound a beat and chant in their native tongue. Turns were taken to lead the song. The chanter would press his finger to his ear, perhaps trying to hear his own voice over the drum. Every so often one man would come over the top of the driving rhtythym with heavy strikes on the drum. Old men with portable tape recorders held them up, their crooked thumbs simultaneously holding down the play and record buttons. Some held there cell phones toward the circle and I joined taking small sound recordings of music I had never heard before.

In the center of the field men, women and children danced in a circle. Some had elaborate feathered headresses and beaded costumes, some in simple street clothes. They would take all their weight lunging on one leg, step back and lunge on the other leg.

The announcer sounded again calling out a different nation and the drum and song passed from one circle to another until it had made it's way all te way around the ring.

Day 48 - Lander, WY

2010-06-27T21:59:00.001-07:00

The second hardest day of the trip came not with huge climbs or blistering heat, but rather with mostly downhills. The challenge was pedalling into a 20-25 mph headwind for 85 miles. The wind was so strong it would actually stop me on a downhill less than 3 percent grade. I struggled with my speedometer in single digits for large parts of the day. The noise of the wind against my ears gave me a headache by the afternoon. After almost 9 hours in the saddle, way too long to be enjoyable, I finally made it to Lander heading straight into McDonalds, the first opportunity for food in 60 miles.

I kept my head down for most of the day, ignoring the scenery except for one glorious stretch beginning at the continnental divide called beaver rim. The snow capped Wind peaks extendending to 13,000 feet visible off in the distance as the local summits exposed ancient red and beige rock. I began a 12 or so mile decsent, flying into the valleys bellow trying at one point to video my ride in the strong crosswind blowing me around the road. I hit 30 mph and finally felt alive again.

Lander is a hard drink town. Whiskey and cokes, a shot of jack, martinis, all ordered in the breeze of a Saturday afternoon. There is a younger crowd attracted by prodigious nearby mountain climbing and the NAOL school headquarters . In the span of an hour I had talked to two different people who had hiked the whole of the Appalachian Trail.

Mixed in the fray at Gannet grill were Eric and claudia sitting at the edge of the bar having a warm up drink before returning to the Eric's 54 year highschool reunion. They both grew up in lander and were curteous in their account of how the town had changed since they were kids as they were served drinks from a 20 year old in short shorts with a tattoo running from her armpit down to her ankle. "Some towns don't make it out here." Eric explained.

Location:Caring Way,Lander,United States

Day 47 - Muddy Gap, WY

2010-06-25T10:53:00.001-07:00

Wyoming just keeps getting better. The terrain is extra green and lush due to record precipitation and run off from the mountains. We headed out late in the morning to ride rte 130 to the interstate for 10 or so miles to Rawlins where we could pick up 287, the road which will take us into Yellow stone. Bikers are allowed on the interstate in Wyoming due to the scarcity of roads.

I decided to due the first 40 miles of our day in one clip. Route 130 was an enjoyable flat road with large tracts of ranch land. The interstate was a tough ride due to the 20 mile headwind. I plodded along at 12 mph waiting for my exit to appear.

287 is where the magic happend. We turned back north putting thenwind at our side and watched the most spectacular rock formations unfold along the horizon. Sand and red stone buttes, cliffs of boulders and gentle sloping hills. A thin band of white clouds stretched across the sky.

Just as we hit the continental divide a particularly beautiful stretch of mountains appeared. The road dropped steeply and I sailed between two ridges down into a vast arid basin, the road stretchin for miles into the distance. I let out a yell on the way down, holding my handle bars tight as strong gusts of wind moved me around the shoulder of the road.

I pulled into Grandmas cafe in Lamont, a roadside oasis. The restaurant was empty. Ryan was sitting in a booth, 2 mountain dew cans in front of him. I helped myself to a drink from the cooler and took a load off. We sat ther for 30 minutes without seeing a soul, leaving a few bucks on the counter before heading down the road.

10 miles of more I tensely beautiful terrain and we were in Muddy Gap, which is just an intersection witha gas station. I decided to pitch my tent there for the night, while Ryan pushed on.

Day 46 - Saratoga, WY

2010-06-24T08:48:00.001-07:00

I had one of my best days of the tour. We woke up to watch USA beat Algeria in the world cup at the 90+ mark and then headed out to breakfast with Evan our host at a local grease pit, the Prarie Rose. Evan gave us a quick tour of the University of Wyoming, pointing out a 12 story building on campus, the tallest in all of Wyoming.

From Laramie we followed Snowy Range Road through the Medicine Bow national forest which took us up 4000 feet in elevation to a summit of 10800 ft. We were riding 75 miles in total to Saratoga, WY.

The snow capped peaks of the mountain were visible 30 miles out from the flats leading up to their base. Lush green pastures with roaming horses and cattle surrounded the hills. Along one stretch a pack of antelope raced along side us before turning back off the roadside and into the open plain.

We stopped in Centenial, a tiny town at the base of the mountain, for lunch. I was feeling a bit tired, perhaps from not being adjusted to the altitude. I knocked back two cokes, popped a couple asprin got on my bike and began to climb.

The road maintained a reasonable grade keeping in my lowest gears as it snaked up the mountian side. Fast creeks ran by the road side and slender green trees up the ridges. Snow drifts left over from winter stretched across open spans.

I saw the peaks getting closer as I rode, carefull not to burn through all of my energy to quickly. I imagined I would take a couple of rest stops on the climb but continued straight to the top, halting only occasionally to take a photo of the spectacular view.

I began what would total a 20 mile decent from the top, needing to wear my windbreaker to keep warm. The downhill was beautiful reward for the climb, cruising up to 40 mph as I watched the snow patches disappear, yielding again to lush greenery and roaring rivers again.

The sun Illuminated the stunning mountains and canyons and I stopped frequently to marvel at their splendor. I'm not religous, but being in the peaks of Wyoming may be as close as you can get to god without dying.

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Location:Arrowhead Dr,Saratoga,United States

Day 45 - Laramie, WY

2010-06-23T13:25:00.001-07:00

We started the day in high spirits. Tom served us some tea and scones in the morning and took us out to his back yard to show us the hens they keep as fresh egg laying pets. We said thank you and good bye and headed into town to Full Cycle, a local bike shop where Duane a mechanic did a really solid once over on our bikes for free, including installing new brake pads and truing up our wheels. The guys in the shop were really excited for us and gave us contact info to use down the road. Kudos!

We rode north west along 287 heading to Laramie, WY and into our 12th state of he trip. Our mapping session with Tom revealed we would be climbing 3000 feet over the day and the prospects were exciting being at the base of the Rockies over the weekend and having a fresh pair of legs.

Once we connected to 287 the road took up into some climbs. The road was spectaular with sweeping through the high plains. Stone buttes rose out of the prarie grass exposing beautiful red ridge lines.

We enjoyed a few decsents in the beginning and then the road turned to a steady series of climbs over over 30 miles leading us up to a peak elevation of 8100. Despite the work I was excited to see the terrain of Wyoming. At the summit we were paralelntomthe clouds of the eastern horizon.

We stopped at the P.O./general store in Tie Siding where i came across the first pay toilette I've seen in the US. Once at rest we quickly realized we were wiped. The new altitude made it harder to ride and we took a nice long break in the sun watching the wind blow the clouds across the sky.

We had 17 miles to go of flats and downhills which turned into a grueling ride with a 25 mph head wind. Gusts would kick up and I would struggle to keep a 7 mph pace. Observation of the day: Head winds blow.

Once in town we connected with Evan O'toole a warm showers host who kindly let us stay in his home for the night.

Location:E Ivinson Ave,Laramie,United States

Day 44 - Fort Collins, CO

2010-06-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

After our long rest we were ready to get back on the road, but not before having a killer breakfast at Lucilles, a Cajun restaurant in Boulder. We planned a short day of 44 miles up to Fort Collins, CO, which we rode uniterrupted save for one quick 7-11 stop for a soda.

We gradually gained some altitude over the day but it was barely noticable. It was another dry hot day and my legs felt as strong has they've been since the start of the trip. My saddle feels so damn comfortable when I've been out of it for a few days.

We reached town by early afternoon and took advantage of their city park pool for a couple of hours. Fort Collins is a college town packed with brew pubs and bars. We stopped at Coopersmiths for dinner and attmepted to watch a free show at the Aggie Theater but it was just too trippy.

We had contacted Tom and Rita through warmshowers.org and they were kind enough to host us in Ft. Collins. Both work in forrestry and had just come back from a Ride the Rockies week long tour themselves. Tom helped us plan out our next couple days at the dinning room table and made us a hand drawn map for us to follow out of Fort Collins. Thanks guys for the great hospitality.

Days 41,42,43 - Lost weekend in Boulder, CO

2010-06-21T17:59:00.000-07:00

Reaching roughly the halfway point of our trip we knew we would want to take some additional time off to thoroughly rest up and a weekend in Boulder sounded like just the ticket. Boulder is ridiculously beautiful with creeks running through town, the mountains an ever present back drop and what seams like an endless supply of dry sunny days. The people have a monied hippy vibe, with a few geniune eccentrics mixed in. It's the only place I've felt comfortable zipping off and reconnecting the legs of my tourist pants in public.

During our stay I ate some tasty food, saw a concert and hiked up to the flatirons, the large reddish brown shear faces of the mountains. The view was spactacular letting me see boulder canyon below and neighboring rocky peeks beyond. I wasn't accostumed muscles required for hiking and was spent out by the time I ascended the 2000 feet.

I was also able to meet up with my cousin Patrick and his family for dinner on Sunday, which I enjoyed thoroughly. Seeing friends and family while on the road really bolster you morale.

Day 40 - Rest day in Denver

2010-06-21T17:26:00.001-07:00

We knew we were going to rest up in Colorado and Russ without batting an eye let us spend another night at his place. In a gesture of the highest hospitality we've recieved on the trip he offered up his car for the day to go sight seeing and we took off for what has to the most epic drive in America. An important story detail: the car is a porche convertible able to go 0 to 60 in the time it took to read this sentence.

We took i70 into the mountains up to winter park, then headed north continuing on to Grand Lake, where we stopped for a bite to eat. We contined up through Rocky Mountain National Park, on to Estes park then back to down to Boulder, finally returning to Denver after 6 hours of driving.

The one lane roads, often without a guard rail, switched back up the mountians, summitting snow capped peaks with vast canyons below. We saw Elk roaming the open fields, unperturped by the small stream of traffic. We summitted peaks reaching up past 12,000 feet, the highest altitude I've achieved while not airborne. About 3 hours into our trip I realized it would have taken us 3 days to cover the same ground by bicycle. As we came down the mountains into boulder canyon the rocks turned into a beautiful redish brown.

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Day 38 - Limon, CO

2010-06-18T10:57:00.001-07:00

I woke up exhilarated from the chance meeting with Phil and Terry. We had another 85 miles planned riding due west along 24 to Limon, CO. An internet search revealed It would be another 2 days before reaching a bike shop to replace my chain.

We started out in a strong crosswind in cool sunny weather. The few clouds scattered along the horizon lifted by noon leaving an endless blue sky. I was happy to keep a moderate pace feeling both fatigued from our string or days on the road since Kansas city and a concern for my hacked drive train.

Route 24 is a low traffic road paralel to I-70 with modest 200 feet gains in altitude between towns. After a could of hours on the road I stopped in Seibert for a sandwich at a gas station near the interstate, the only option around.

After lunch I hopped back on the bike and followed 24 over to the south side of I-70 at which point it turned into a loose dirt road, taking away a little speed and comfort from the day. It had been recently leveled on one side and I swerved along looking for lines of packed dirt to ridr over. Overpasses came every 7 or 10 miles, with me having to ride up over them, while the highway traffic breezed under them.

Often I could see the next town where I would refill from ten or more miles out, which kept a target in front of me and my cranks turning.

At 70 miles into the ride I made it to the top of an overpass and saw far off in the distance the purple ridge line of the Rockies. I was astonished by their magnitude knowing I was a least 125 out from their base and the sight alone had me powering through the rest of the way to the hotel and truckstop packed town of Limon.

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Day 37 - Burlington, CO

2010-06-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

I looked forward to the short day ahead, just 67 miles to Burlington, Colorado. We would enter our 11th state and second time zone of the trip.

The morning was cloudy and cool and I started the day in a strong headwind, finding it difficult to keep a comfortable pace. I wanted to move faster but had to push hard to make 13 mph. The roads were long and flat and I kept my head down for miles at a time, watching my shadow brush up against the white line on the side of the road.

I grabbed lunch in a town with an immense reproduction of a van Gough painting. There have been so many strange and interesting oddities along this trip. I visited a prarie musem afterward, seeing pictures from the dustbowl years of the plains and reading about the sandstorms that would pass through -- black clouds of death.

A click came from my drive train, which I ignored for a few miles. As I shifted gears the cranks locked momentarily then released. This seemed odd but I continued for another handful of miles. The clicking remained and it bothered me just enough to take a look. One of the links of my chain had come unhinged.

I pulled off onto the grass at the side of the long vacant road, took my bags off and rested my bike upside down. I've never worked on a chain before, but had a chain breaker on a multi-tool I carry. I pulled it out and began to try driving he pin back into place. I mishandled the tool and managed to bend the link instead of reconnecting it. I fudged it
a bit into position and hoped for the best as I got back on the bike.

10 feet later my crank spun free and I saw my chain broken, dragging, off the rear cog. I thought for a moment about where I was, on a low traffic road 15 miles from the next town. I again set my bike upside down with the plan of removing the broken link. I drove a pin out with the chain breaker until it fell out and into my hand. I then attemtped to position the pin to go back into the chain one link over. I fiddled with the pin, trying to set it up perfectly under the driver, and after 15 minutes my hands were sore from trying to hold the tool, the pin and the chain. It occured to me that this would never work. I broke another link this time leaving the pin engaged on one side, lined up the link and drove it back through. The connection looked solid and felt smooth when I began riding again.

The crash course in chain repair gave me a much needed boost of energy to power through the last 15 miles.

Later that evening while at a bar and grill I met Phil Rhoades, a 74 year old Cowboy as real as the come. He road his first bull at the age of 12 and proceeded to make a living at it for 34 years. At his peak he was riding 400 bulls a year. "it get's in your blood" he told me. "It doesnt make sense because you're going to get fucked up, but you keep riding." He is tall and slender with a gaunt face, exposing leathery wrinkles along his temples. He and his friend Terry bought me a couple rounds of beers and entertained me with stories about the plains and Colorado, some I'm sure were true.

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Day 36 - Colby, KS

2010-06-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

I stepped into the Landis's kitchen and saw rain coming down from the window. I felt like I could have slept another 3 hours. The sight of the rain immedieatly switched me into a mode of not wanting to ride today, something I couldn't seem to unswitch despite getting back on the bike for another 85 miles.

We said thanks and goodbye to Fred and Velma just as the rain tappered and hit the road for Colby, another town 80 some odd miles due west on route 24.

The clouds were beautiful after the rains passed, scaterring into dune formations just above the horizon. Silverish blue sky struck through the gray cover and shafts of light emmenated from an obstructed sun.

We stopped after 17 miles in Hill City for breakfast. We sat in a cafe ordering large plates of food and talking with neighboring tables. Folks in Kansas are as nice as they come. Everyone waves to you on the road, perhaps excited to see another sign of life.

Ryan pulled out his bag of Mila, a "miracle" seed suppossedly containing vast nutrional benefit and fixed our glasses of OJ with two scoops. An elderly woman passes and asked what it was in the bag. "You should try some!" he exclaimed and sprinkled some on her cereal.

We finished our breakfast and got the check. "It's not marijuana, is it?" the woman enquirer in a whisper than laughed in a loud cackle.

My legs were sore today and I plodded along to our next rest stop 30 miles off. I sunk into a booth at a quickstop eating pb&j sandwiches. Everytime I closed my eyes I nearly drifted into sleep. I downed a coke an a muscle milk hoping it would wake me up.

I got back on the road to find a long, low hanging span of dark clouds in the distance. They began to envelop the sky until i was directly under them. Large drops of rain began to fall. I put on my shoe covers and rain jacket. The wind kicked up and thunder cracked in the sky. Rain ripped down in torrents over my head and back as I held tightly to the handle bars. I kept a low even pace, listening to the ruckus of rainfall, momentaily Interrupted by trucks whizing past, leaving long trail of backspray in their wake.

In a half hour the rain subsided and I pulled over at a crossroads for a break. I took off my shoes and rung out my socks and stood barefoot on the road in the sunshine eating some more pb&j sandwiches and enjoying the feeling of gravel under my toes.

There was 20 miles left of my ride and I seemed to be moving fairly well for 5 miles despite a strong crosswind. I turned a bend and was greeted with another long stretch of dark clouds ahead. They were a bit more ominous with gray streaks reaching down to the horizon. I looked for any type of rotation bit saw none. Just as I rode underneath them I felt a cold blast of air. The temperature dropped 10 degrees and the wind kicked up to 20 mph. I battled my way along the road spinning the cranks with great effort, but only moving at 10 mph an hour. Far in the distance was a small strip of clear sky, the other side of the weather system. It grew taller as I moved down the road. What might have took 40 minutes stretched out to an hour and a half and my knees began to feel the slight pain of inflamation. The strip of clear sky was finally under me and I had reached town without seeing another drop of rain, spent and exhilarated.

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Location:Zelfer Ave,Colby,United States

Day 34 - Beloit, KS

2010-06-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

The thermometer and the odometer cracked into the 90s today. We had a filing breakfast in the morning at the Chef in Manhattan with Rod and Jeff. Ryan went to the Pathfinder, a local bike shop to have some work done and I hit the road knowing it would be a tough day with a high temperature forecast and threats of thunderstorms.

Then plains of Kansas are beautiful. Miles of farmland stretch in every direction. Green corn stalks shoot up from the ground in neat rows for hundreds of acres at time. Seas of golden wheat undulate in the wind like waves lapping ashore. The road unfolds for miles, a necklace strung over the distant hills The sky is vast. You can turn all the way around and see unobstructed horizon. You can see wholly differfernt weather systems in a glance. It is really inspiring.

I passed a sign saying Beloit 55 miles, the two other mile markers were for highway intesections. I had three full bottles of water on my bike so I kept pushin on thinking there would be some small stop along the way. There was nothing. As I found out you can travel long distance in Western Kansas without a pitstop.

I had been riding for two hours during the hottest part of the day and I needed a break. The road unfolded mile after mile with nothing but farmland. I spotted a small patch of mowed grass around a signpost. I leaned my bike against against the post and covered it with my rainfly making a primative shade structure to sit behind. It did the trick for 20 minutes as I ate some bananas and peanuts and patiently waited for my body to cool down. On coming traffic slowed and sped off realizing I was only taking a break.

I pushed on. The wind and the heat died down at dusk and I was able to bring my speed up to 23 miles eager to get to town to eat and pitch my tent in the last moments of daylight. I found a restaurant in town and gulped down a large pasta entre. Ryan showed up moments later. I was about to head to the city park to set up camp when he told me he had got a room at the super 8 two miles up the road. We were lucky we stayed in doors. Flash floods covered the area with extreme rains. Cars pulled up to the booked hotel one after another looking for a place to stop for the night.

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Day 33 - Manhattan, KS

2010-06-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

It was hard to leave the comfort of a hotel bed and the sound sleep it rendered. After a leisuely breakfast i was out on the road. After yesterdays bad route, I decided to disregard googles suggestion and plan my own path riding due north out of Topeka up to route 24 which I would follow west for the rest of the day.

I have been thinking of a number improvements for google's route algorithim when it comes to bicycling. Here are a few things that it doesn't yet take into Account: a) number of turns. It is worth adding a few extra miles to put yourself on a more simple path. Constantly checking for turns slows you down. b) altitude. Hills slow you down too. it would be great to avoid them at the expense of some extra miles c) resources. In places like western Kansas you can travel 150 miles on a road and not pass a town with food or water.

Route 24 is a 70 mph two lane highway with a two foot shoulder. I was riding into a consistent southernly crosswind, except when I turned north and it became a tailwind. You don't notice a tailwind at first, but it is like riding on a conveyor belt, letting me pedal effortlessly at 22 mphs.

Ever so often a big rig would sail past from behind creating a wave of wind which would crash over my back powerful enough to knock me off my bike if didn't have my hands on the bars. It would push my shirt up my back as it thrusted me along the road.

I was in farmland, riding along vast cornfields when I noticed the intricate machinery used to work the land. George Lucas would do well to model his next intergalactic vehicles after farm equipment.

Tall rigs with articulating haversters were working the land. Long hydration scaffolds covered hundreds of feet.

Along route 24 I stopped in the town of Wemago, a small prarie town with the promise of some local site seeing. On mainstreet I passed the museum of hhe wizard of Oz, a small store front with gobs of memerobilia on display, including some eerie manikans of the main characters.

I arrived in Manhattan, the little apple as they call it, around 5pm and and found a local pool to relax at for a few ours. Ryan had found a host for us in town on warmshowers.org, a bicycle touring community site simmalar to couchsurfing.com. We stayed with Jeff and 7 other colledge kids living in a big four bedroom house. They are all avid bikers and have developed a great bike scene here in town, holding a bike repair night and bike polo matches. Their front room was littered with 9 or so bikes in a stand they built.

We recieved the finest hospitality, being taken over to Rod's, another friend, for burgers and then a tour through the town and college campus. Thanks guys for puttin us up. Makes me excited to host bikers when I get back to the other Manhattan.

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Day 32 - Topeka, KS

2010-06-10T22:26:00.001-07:00

The rains passed and Ryan and I headed out around 9am. Only a few moments down the road we had split up for what would be a day to come. I stopped for a large breakfast burrito in a restaurant one of the strip malls, which slowed me down for the rest of day. I would be a large man if I lived in Kansas City.

As I exited the city I passed several planned communities. I passed one after another, each with large stone signs or gates at the entry street. They all looked relatively new and spacious.

The day was largely uneventful, save for the 5 or 10 miles I rode to undo the bad route I got from google. I was taken along dirt rodes toward an amunitions factory, which I backtracked around. By the afternoon I was passing through Lawrence, home of Kansas University. I took a cruise through the campus riding along Naismith road (Basketball country!), but didn't stay long in town.

In another 30 miles of cornfields and farmland I entered the sleepy city of Topeka. I attempted to stop on the main strip for a coffee but most places were shuttered by 6pm. I got a text from Ryan saying he was having a blast in Lawrence and was going to stay the night. After realizing that I overshot the only camping option by 8 miles i decided to splurge on a $40 room at motel 6.

A squierly looking guy on a bicycle in a hockey helmet road up to say hellos to me. He figured I was on tour and asked about the trip. He didnt have much to offer in terms of things of interest in topeka, not his fault, but did tell me about blackbird cafe where I had dinner and breakfast.

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Day 31 - Rest day in Kansas, City, MO

2010-06-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

We were thinking of taking a rest day and a driving rain in the morning confirmed the plan. Nick's mom graciously offered to host us another night even though Nick was pushing off to Austin in the afternoon.

Kansas City is a bit of a twist. The city and its buildings are clean and and many look newly constructed. Yet their architecture and signage hark back to an older industrial era.

We drove back to the power & light district for lunch. The neon signs along main street reflected off of the wet roads. A down poor kicked in again and we took shelter in the mall which is outdoors but has a large translucent warehouse roof 100 feet above the court yard. The sound of the rain on the roof was impessively loud, muting my conversation momentarily. I'm told that the power & light, named after the K.C. utility, was an industrial slum only 30 years ago and has benefited greatly by a city revitalization plan. The plan worked.

We decided to catch a movie at the Mainstreet AMC theatre two blocks away. This is the nicest theatre Ive been to in the US. The lobby was immaculate, which I've come to expect in mainstream KC businesses.

As I approached the concession stand I noticed they had beer taps. I asked if I could bring one into the movie and the woman responded with a befuddled yes. She poured me a tall cold beer in a glass no less and I made my way into the gigantic viewing room and took a seat in an overstuffed leather bucket chair. What a middle American treat.

We ate dinner at a sports bar in the famous Country Club Plaza so we could catch the NBA finals. I am the Plaza is technically the first strip mall in America but it bares no resemblance to the commercial sprawls we have been riding past. The architect styled the buildings after the city of Seville, spain, incorperating beatiful stone work around many of the store facades, carved reliefs and ornate fountains. I did have the strong sense I was in Europe.

We headed home after the first half of he game. I was upgraded from the couch to a bed and slept soundly.

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Location:W 135th St,Overland Park,United States

Day 30 - Kansas City, MO

2010-06-09T07:57:00.000-07:00

I mentioned to Ryan, usually a late sleeper, that I might try to get an early start on our ride into St. Louis. I woke up at 7:15 to find his tent gone. I packed up my gear and got on he road by 7:30, my earliest start of the trip.

I decided to ride at least 20 miles before beakfast, having heard this was a common technique among tourists. The beginning of the day is a special moment physically. Your body is fully rested and you have the most energy you will ever have availabe to you.

The route I had planned started out on route 50 a bikable two lane highway. I spun up to a quick pace and was flying along the shoulder holding a 18-20 mph. I blew by Kansas City mile marker one after another and before I knew it I had cranked out 25 miles and decided to stop for a big plate breakfast at McDonalds in Warrenburg.

I continued at a good pace for the rest of the day realizing how much faster blacktop is compared to a dirt trail. As I was barreling down route 150 I saw Ryan pulling out of a parking lot 20 yards ahead. I was psyched that I caught up to him, but decided to stop for some needed food and water instead of getting his attention.

We reached Nicks beautiful home in Leawood, Kansas by the afternoon and entered our 9th state of the trip.

The rest of the day was spent lounging at a town pool and playing frisbee on a field nearby. By sundown I had worked up a tremendous appetitie and was eager to sample some of Kansas City's famous BBQ.

Nick took us to his family's favorite place, Jack Stack's Smokehouse where I had "Jack's Best", a plate of different types of ribs. The absolute highlight was the Crowne Prime rib which came with my order. Yes, just one rib, but it was as big as a size twelve sneaker and as heavy as a dumbell. The meat was soft and buttery. I had to hold myself back from eating the fat off he backside of the bone.

Afterwards we went to through the power & light district and had a beer in the Westport Neighborhood. Things were pretty quite for a Monday night and I was happy to be headed home for a comfy sleep indoors on a couch.

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Location:E 14th St,Kansas City,United States

Day 29 - Sedalia, MO

2010-06-09T05:56:00.001-07:00

I had the best sleep in my tent camping at Coopers landing with my rainfly off looking up at the stars and feeling a cool breeze rolling off the Missouri river all night. Ryan's tire patch didn't work and I knew we would be lingering at camp in the morning until we could figure out another plan. I was quite happy with the predicament as I got up early and leisurely enjoyed breakfast on the river bank, talking to folks starting their day. A camper loaned Ryan his car to drive to columbia to pick up a new tire and the morning turned into a lazy afternoon.

The heat broke leaving behind a cool sunny day. I felt like could have stayed another week at Coopers, but by 2pm we were back on the trail planning to ride 70 miles to Sedalia.

I was full of energy and feeling great from our stay at camp. As I rode along the trial I marveled at all of its natural beauty, the caves along the cliffside, the trees shading the path, the large expanses of the river.

Only a few miles into the ride I came across an enticing sign for another camp and decided to have a look. I pulled in to find a cobbled together stage right on the river with an ecclectic group of 8 or so musicians playing a slow swampy rendition of "Can't you see". Two men were wheeling a Hammond organ off the back of a pickup truck off to the side. 30 or so people where out in tank tops and shorts drinking beers and enjoying what I learned was a weekly blues jam at camp Catfish Katy. A woman approached me and offered me a beer, she was happy to hear about my trip and that took me past the most beautiful and weird stretch of the Missouri river.

The rest of the day was spent cruising along the trail passing people out for Sunday rides. I pulled into Sedalia at around 8 pm after 70 miles and began looking for the camping option the map had promised. No information was on the board and the police had no info. After some digging I got a text from Ryan about camping at the fair grounds. I was able to pitch my tent just before dark.

Camping next to us where three raggedy 25 year olds riding from Cross country from San Francisco. They had no tent sleeping out on the grass and happioy telling us the have so far been able to avoid Mosquitos. They had were riding 100+ mile days with no rest days plowing down route 50 all the way into MO. They planned to make it to the east coast in 35 days. I couldn't think of a more radical experience, but one I wouldn't trade for my own.

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Location:Main St,Kansas City,United States

Day 28 - Easley, MO

2010-06-07T18:16:00.001-07:00

I woke up sweating in my tent, a sure sign of a blistering day to come. We had breakfast in Hermann and jumped back on the Katty trail, the longest rail trail in America, by 10:30.

For the first time during the trip we rode together for the whole day, taking turns drafting every 2 miles. This is a much more efficient way to ride and you can noticable feel how much easier it is to keep a 20 mph pace in a head wind when you are riding just behind another bike, with large saddle bags hanging over both axles.

Truth be told I didn't like riding in this style and much of the day felt like work. The task requires a fair amount of concentration. You have to keep a close eye on your wheel when your drafting and when you are in the lead you are thinking about pace or obstructions in the road. I prefer to stop as I please and let my mind wander on the trail, evident by the two occasions I bumped into Ryan's tire.

We had about 15 miles to go when a knocking sound came. In an instant we heard a loud bang from Ryan's rear wheel. The tire had blown out in spectacular fashion. A large rip found it's way through the tred of what we thought were indestructible German kevlar tires.

We back tracked a hundred feet to Cooper's landing and found by far the best camp ground we've been too. It sits right on the Missouri River, has a shed and garage for a store and lounge and picnic tables and a fire pit out front. 20 or so people were out enjoying beers and big plates of food from a Thai truck, listening to a balladeer on a guitar. It didn't take us long to decide to make this our stop for the night.

Coopers started out as a bait shop 30 yeas ago and slowly turned into an outpost for hippies and creative types. They have live music four nights a week and once a year host an Eco-art festival. Interesting characters abound. Jim a glass worker, stays here the summer and is hoping to start a local music label. He also has a movie script in the works where Cheech and Chong meet Jay and Silent Bob for the first time here at camp. Ginger began helping out around here after her husband passed and cooks a delicious breakfast on the weekends.

Bob, a travelling nurse walks about camp followed by his family of geese. In the winter time I'm told you can spy eagles hunting along the shores and watch the ice floes slowly build until the river is entirely frozen.

At camp we met Rick, a 55 year slender architect with neat gray hair and glasses. He got a kick out of our cross country stories and became intent on helping us out, treating the flat tire like a puzzle to be solved. He offered to give us a lift to his house where he thought he might have a spare, so we jumped in his van with his with his wife Debby and he began to tell us he story of his house, how he bought the 27 acres in 77, started with 500 square feet and continued to add to the house and grounds for the next 33 years.

We pulled up to a grand cedar shingled lodge style facade. As soon as we exited the car, Rick giddy with delight began showing us the property. We him around followed a deck which went around the house passing two different 3 season rooms overlooking the woods. There was an outdoor jacuzzi inside a Japanese pavillion, walking trails he maintains twice a year, a fresh water pool, a 9 hole frisbee golf course, an outdoor shower he uses exclusively, a "get high" shed where he has "safety meetings" with his builder, and finally a miniature town he's created with old structures he's accumulated over the years including a hog house he used to clean every week as a boy growing up on his parents farm. There was a saloon, hotel, post office, all no taller than 4, each holding more junk inside.

"Now for a quick dip in the pool and then we can fix that tire". Rick handed us towels, turned the flood light down, took off his clothes and jumped in. The temptation of a cool swim after a long day of biking won over the potential awkwardness and we jumped in too.

We got out and put our clothes back on. Rick remained naked. "I'm naked outside as much as possible" he explained. "My wife, kids and neighbors have grown accustom"

Rick got dressed and we went to his work shop to try and patch the tire. Ryan was at the bench and I was standing next to him. I turned around to notice Rick had gone down to is underwear.

Lightening flashed in the sky and the first few drops of rain fell. Rick put his shorts back on and gave us a lift back to camp.

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Day 27 - Hermann, MO

2010-06-06T19:38:00.001-07:00

We got a start on the day after having a great night out in St. Louis. We had breakfast with Nick and his father and headed out on the Katty trail at 1:30 pm. The Katty trail is a very
well maintained packed limestone path which follows along the Missouri River. It runs about 50 miles shy of Kansas City.

I was taking a slower pace being a bit sleep deprived. Our goal was a town about 60 miles out. At the beginning of the trail we began riding cooperatively taking turns in the lead, but i didn't have much in me and berfore long Ryan had pulled ahead.

I noticed the road feeling a little bumpier. I looked down and saw my rear wheel was flat, my first of the trip. I stopped, took off all my bags and changed the tube in the baking, sweating dripping on my tools tools. I checked the tire but didn't see any foreign objects. In about 20 minutes I was back up and riding to Marthasville for lunch.

After lunch I noticed my rear wheel was flat again. I painstakingly reexamined my tire off the rim and found the tineiest of metal shards protruding through the tred. I was so happy to find that bugger.

As the sun lowered the trail became more spectacular. Glimpse of a glimmering river, rabbits feeding their young, murky swamps along the shore, trees growing out of creek beds. I was happy to be outside.

Hermann, the town we stayed in, is the most German town in america acording to a couple we met. The planners surveyed the location and transported enough expats to get it started in the 1800s. Many of the business had authentic names like Berliner's pharmacy and there was a heritage museum on the main street.

We camped in the town park. It was not a very serene place being right next to a gas station anda high traffic road. I needed to keep my rainfly on my tent to block all of the lights. Unfortunately, this makes the inside a great deal hotter. I eventuly dozed off still sweating out all of the St Louis fun from the night before.

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Location:Missouri 100,Hermann,United States

Day 26 - Rest day in St. Louis

2010-06-05T07:52:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a partial rest day in St. Louis. We got breakfast in Soulard in the morning. I noticed several Mardi Gras posters on the wall and was told the this area of town has the second largest carnival outside of New Orleans. We met an old timer at breakfast who had been living there for 30 years, telling us the area was full of rooming houses and liquor stores decades ago.

We rode west 30 miles to Weldon Springs where Nick's father lives. On route we stopped at a few stores to replenish supplies including the Maplewood bicycle shop where Ryan had a spoke replaced. The told us about the Katy trail, a rail trail which ran west almost all the way to Kansas City, our next big destination. What luck!

We dropped off our bikes and gear at Nick father's and had our first home cooked meal. Afterward we drove back into the city to the city musuem for a Fishbone concert.

The City Museum is one of the cooler spaces Ive seen. Large metal stuctures take overthe outdoor space, all of which you can climb. There are ladders around trees which lead to different plateaus, slides which bring you down to others and a large airplane shell 7 stories high at the top.

The concert was just what we needed, a burst of high energy. We met up with Franzie and Alex there and all danced about frenitically at the front of the stage. That area turned to a mosh pit after the first couple of numbers.

Afterwards we cruised around the city stopping at coffee cartel in the central west end and then to a karaoke bar for last call. We mustered a version of like a prayer. No applause from the crowd, but no boos either.

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Day 25 - St. Louis, MO

2010-06-05T07:06:00.001-07:00

I got up at 8 am, what I thought was an early start. All the other tents had been packed except one, Ryans. He made it into camp at midnight riding a monster 138 miles.

The Trans-America trail continues west from Chester heading through the Ozarks. However, After realizing we were only 65 miles south of St. Louis we headed up to take in the city and meet up with oir friend Nick from New York.

I ran into TransAm Nick while eating breakfast at subway. He is the spindly 20 year old from PA we met in a Kentucky campground a week back. As luck would have it he was heading to St Louis as well so we decided to ride up together.

This was the firs time that I was riding with a person other than Ryan and Ryan and I rarely ride together, keeping different paces and stopping for different reasons. After about five miles I had pulled ahead of Nick and into the strongest headwind I've experienced. I could swear the stalks of corn on the side of the road were bent. i struggled to get the odometer up above 9 mph.

Large ominous clouds swallowed up the blue sky, being pushed foreward by gusts of wind. Just as I thought it would pour I stopped for a soda. I came back outside to hear nick quip "that was crazy"

We got back on the road together and Nick offered to take lead. We began drafting off of each other trading lead each mile and started making better time. The storm clouds passed us by and in their wake gave us a pretty strong tailwind. In an instant Nick and I were cruising at 23 mph, sharing the work all the way up to St. Louis.

We got lost in East St. Louis, something locals joke about because its a rough neighborhood. It didn't take long before we were back on track up on Eadds bridge riding over the Mississippi river and into Missouri, our ninth state of the trip. The silver arch soared high above the downtown buildings on our left.

In St. Louis we decided to spend the night at the Huck Finn Hostel in the hip neighborhood of Soulard. The hostel was dorm style with bunk beds and had the look of an old man flop house more then place catering to young backpakers. The mattress I slept in bowed down a foot in the middle.

Nevertheless, we did meet Franzie a German woman living in Carbondale and her younger brother Alex at the hostel. They were staying in the city for a few nights. Nick drove in and we all went out to eat at a local resaurant and then spontaneously decided to catch a Cardinals game.

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Location:Russell Blvd,St Louis,United States

Day 24 - Chester, IL

2010-06-02T07:25:00.001-07:00

I struggled in a blistering sun as the temprature shot up past 90. My route, again courtesy of google, took my along winding country roads past farmland and woodmills on route to Carbondale. Parts of the road were stained with tar and my tires sizzled as they rolled over the small black bubbles oozing from asphalt.

I started at 10, far too late for this kind of heat and I only had two good hours of riding before the temprature slowed me down. The heat will knock 3 or 4 miles off your speedometer as easy as an incline will.

After 35 or so miles I reached Carbondale, a large college town, just in time for lunch and a reprieve from the midday sun. I stopped at a sandwich shop and while eating noticed another loaded bicycle across the street at a Mexican joint. I was back on the Trans-America trail. As much as I wanted to kill time, I inhaled my sandwich and became a bit antsy. I pushed on down the road to Pheonix Cycles, one of three bike shops in town, curiously all on the same block. The folks in the shop where nice letting me loiter inside and plug my phone into their wall socket. An hour had passed and I still had 40+ miles to go. I sent Ryan a text wondering how he was doing.

Another 10 miles down the road and I was in the town of Murphysboro. I stopped again to rest and evade the heat at a DQ. A text from Ryan popped up. Not much info other than an expressed willingness to still make Chester. I pushed on.

I continued on another 30 miles mostly on route 3. The evening sun offered not much of a break. A series of hills had me sweating through my shirt and hands slippery on the bars. A long flat stretch along vast corn fields unfolded and I was able to pick up the pace. As I passed Rockwood I spotted the Mississippi for the first time. The sight gave me a boost of energy, just enough to get up and down the hills while entering Chester.

Chester is the home of Popeye the sailor man. There are numerous effigies of him about town including a sculpture in the town park and a painting of him and Olive Oyl atop the town hall. There is a Popeye picnic held in his honor once a year. Mothman, Superman and now Popeye have so far mascotted towns along my path.

I'm camping on the back lawn of the Fraternal Order of Eagles here in town with 16 other cyclists on an organized Trans-America ride. Being a late arrival I didn't get a chance to see any of them, just their tents set up around a volleyball court.

Inside the lodge I treated myself to a 7 dollar chicken dinner and a couple of 1.75 Stag beers. Easy livin'.

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Location:W German St,Chester,United States

Day 23 - Vienna, IL

2010-06-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

After two days off the bike felt foriegn to me. My saddle felt unusually comfortable and my leg muscles a bit unaccustomed to turning the pedals. We headed out from Ross's Landing, the lake house, on route to Vienna, IL our 8th state of the trip.

It was a solem day. Ryan and I split up early on and I kept waiting for the readjusment period of being back on the bike to be over. By the time we got to Paducha, a river town on the state border riding felt normal again and i didn't much worry about the 70 miles I was going to put in on the day.

I came across a high arching steel bridge painted blue on route 45, which would be our Ohio river crossing and entrance into Illinois. As I made my way up the ramp the concrete switched to steel grating and the shoulder dissappeared. I felt my tires skid around the metal and quickly slowed down to a crawl. Cars whizzed past me as the buzz of their tires over the grating became louder. I kept my eyes trained on the few feet in front of my, occasionally lettin my gaze slip through the grating to the river 200 feet below.

Once over the bridge I heard a shout from Ryan who was only moments behind me. A stack of cars slowly trailing him, a white sherrif's car in he lead. He had caught site of Ryan and quietly escorted him across. He pulled over to nicely let us know we shouldn't have been on the brigde and even commisserated with us about getting burned by google maps.

On the other side of the river we passed through the town of Metropolis, the home of superman. There were illustrated signs about town from the chamber of commerce and a giant statue in the town square. Each June they have a superman festival. Makes me wonder economically who would win in a fight: Mothman from Pt. Pleasant or Superman from Metropolis.

I continued on another 20 miles of flat straight road to the small town of Vienna. Ryan pulled an audible and stayed at Harrah's in metropolis. Hopefully we'll be staying in fancy hotels for the rest of the trip with all of his winnings.

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Days 21, 22 - Rest Days on Kentucky Lake, Hardin, KY

2010-05-31T20:09:00.001-07:00

Kentucky Lake must be one of the best kept secrets in the US. Two large elongated lakes surround a vast tract of preserved wildness. Small coves and bays specal the vast shoreline. Ryan's friend David has a family home on Johnathan Creek, a large inlet from Kentucky lake. We drove up Saturday and spent two wonderful nights in this oasis.

Our first evening was spent BBQing at the house and fishing and swimming off of their dock. The water was as warm as a bathtub. As the day waned we caught the most spectacular sunset over the creek. The blue sky began emitting mellow pink tones which reflected off the ripples of the lake. The sun, easy to see now with the naked eye, gently set below the treeline across the water.

In the morning we cooked up a monster breakfast at the house and then set out to the marina to rent a boat for the day. The thought did occurred to me that this could be a challenge during the holiday weekend. When we got there all the boats had been taken except the smaller ones which could only go a mile from the marina.

Dave quickly started talking about, Ed and Cindy, some family friends who might be around for the weekend. We took a walk along the dock and ran into them and after some small talk were invited aboard for a spin on their beautiful and quite large boat named Harmony after the town in which they were married.

We cruised along the lake for several hours, dropping anchor in one bay to go swimming in the perfect temprature water. Cindy mixed some vodka tonics for everyone, and I more than happily floated along wondering at the imposibillity of ever having such an experience if it were not for bicycling a thousand miles to get there.

Once ashore we stopped by a local and beloved restaurant called the dinner bell which serves all you can eat country home cooking. I had a taste of some real Kentucky fried chicken, grilled catfish, greens, stuffing and peaches. Delicious.

We were all wiped out from a lazy day in the sun and turned in by midnight.

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Day 20 - Nashville, TN

2010-05-29T23:23:00.000-07:00

We changed course today to head 70 miles south straight to Nashville, Tennesse our 7th state of the trip. Ryan has a good friend right outside the city. Our original plan was to meet him in Hardin, KY for the holiday weekend, but we figured we could see another city and drive back up with him the next day.

We took lots of local routes for most of the day, getting lost here and there. It didn't matter. 70 miles feels like a joy ride when you know you are heading toward fun, a good night sleep and a rest day.

Along one small road we turned a bend and met an overwhelmingly sweet smell in the air. By the side was an entrance to a large strawberry farm. It was like riding through a wall of delicious aroma.

Further down the road I spotted two guys drinking beers in front of a large BBQ smoker. I stopped and asked if I could take a picture. James T. Groves, the grill master (right in picture) warmly invited me up for a look at the slabs of ribs he had foiled up and been cooking all day. A smokey sweet smell filled the air. On a chopping block next to the smoker lay one slab he had taken off and unwrapped, juices seeping from the corners of the foil. "Go ahead, get a little piece there to see what it tastes like." I picked up a piece of meat as soft as butter and tossed it in my mouth. He asked me about my bike and I told him I was headed across country. "Go ahead, get another little piece."

We were 5 miles from our destination and big drops of rain began to fall. The sun was still bright in most of the sky. The big isolated drops quickly turned into a down pour. In a minute I was drenched, in a few minutes my tires where rolling threw an inch or two of water. As the rain got harder I noticed white pellets bouncing of my red handlebar bag. Hail! I kept my head down as i got pelted with pea sized projectiles. We pushed up over a hill and onto Johnny Cash Highway. 200 yards ahead the sun was shining and the road was dry. We rode right out of the storm and back into a beautiful day.

When we reached Dave and Nicole's we jumped in their pool to cool off and then got ready for a Friday night on the town in Nashville.

Our first destination was to get some BBQ. We stopped at Hog Heaven, a roadside hole in the wall that looked really promising but was already closed for the night. The counter clerk directed us to Jack's BBQ right in downtown on music row.

After a little wait on a line we sat down to two slabs of st loius ribs, a pound of Tennessee pork shoulder and various sides. We were all starving and inhaled the table full of food in no time, drizzing different Tennesee and Texas BBQ sauces on each fork full of heaven.

After dinner we strolled along music row heading in and out of different bars to get an earful of the country bands playing. None of the bars charge covers letting you hop in and out freely. If you could carry a drink with you, you'd think it was New Orleans.

The crowd was young and dressed to the nines. Tall men in wrangler shirts and Stetsons, southern bells with straight blond hair in gingham dresses. Everyone sang along to each tune. Every so often a girl would make her way up to dance on the bar for a fee moments of fredom before a skinny bouncer would coax her back down to the floor.

Second Fiddle and Tootsies had bands playing country or country-fried covers of rock songs. Robert's had traditonal country and the best sound to my ears. The bouncer promised me I wouldn't hear "the devil went to Georgia" in there.

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Location:Applewood Valley Dr,Hendersonville,United States

Day 19 - Bowling Green, KY

2010-05-27T21:08:00.001-07:00

I woke up early at the "my old Kentucky home" campground not sleeping well the night before. It was 8 am and I could already feel the strength of the sun against my tent.

The heat pushed up 90 degrees today and it took everything out of me. I struggled to keep a 9 mph pace for most of the morning and just didn't feel like being on the bike for most of the day. My strategy was just to continue to take it slow, making stops along the way untill I hit our destination of Mammoth Cave State Park 66 miles down the road.

Along the way i passed by the boyhood home of Abraham Lincoln. It was indeed a log cabin, only slightly bigger than my apartment in NYC.

The last 15 miles of the route took my over several hills along a country road and inside the park itself. Along the way i passed into the Central time zone, which gave me a boost of energy knowing I gained an extra hour.

When I reached the campgrounds I was a little dissapointed. For 18 bucks there where no power outlets at all and you had to pay 2 bucks for a ten minute shower. Not being able to charge my phone would be a set back for tomorow's ride as it's my primary means of navigation.

When Ryan arrived (he had detoured through cave city) we began looking at an atlas in the commisary and decided to push on another 32 miles to Bowling Green.

We were racing against the sun with only an hour and a half left of good light. After struggling all day I was finally able to muster a quick pace in the cooler evening air and the under the urgency of being potentially stranded on an unlight country road.

The scenery that I could care less about in the oppressive heat -- cows garzzing in the rolling pasteures, horses prancing around their pens -- turned beautiful under a setting sun.

I reached the outskirts of town by nightfall and after a short detour found the hotel we would check into for the night. 110 miles total on a day.

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Location:Willamette Ln,Bowling Green,United States

Day 18 - Bardstown, KY

2010-05-27T06:29:00.001-07:00

I spent 76 miles along the rolling hills of horse farms and burbon country in the glorious state of Kentucky. Our destination of Bardstown was only 66 miles away, but I decided to take a ten mile detour in Lawrenceburg to visit the Four Roses distillery on the advice of my Lexington friends.

I spent a hour walking around the grounds listening to a slight woman with a buttery southern drawl explain the proccess of making the only US certifed spirit. At the end of course we had a taste of their offerings. I found the low grade stuff petty mellow and smooth and the expensive single barrel a bit harsh. This may have had something to do with being on a bike for thirty miles before having my midday libations.

Kentucky has another deicious beverage aside from burbon, it's Ale 81. It somewhere between a gingerale and a 7up and it absolutely hits the spot on a hot day. I knocked back two of them at a Marathon Gas station on my way to Lexington and have been hooked since.

Somewhere along the line someone had the masterstroke idea of combining the two. The drink is called a jeeter speedball or Winchester doublewide. A jeeter is a youngin' who is trying to high step past his upbringing -- this usually means going to college. As I can only imagine the is a university of Kentucky favorite.

At the end the ride I pulled into the "My Old Kentucky Home" State park to camp for the night. Upon entering I realized another landmark: we had officially hit the trans America bike trail. There were two other bikers camping for the night. We are sharing a space with nick a 20 year old college student, bringing our fee down to 4 bucks a head.

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Location:W Flaget St,Bardstown,United States

Day 16,17 - Lexington Kentucky

2010-05-26T06:35:00.001-07:00

We capped off our first century (100 mile day) in a scortching Kentuky sun and it felt like the best day of the trip. After leaving Carter Cave state park I continued on route 60 the whole way into Lexington. Kentucky is absolutely gorgeous and perhaps my favorite state so far. Long rolling hills, tall grass along the roadside and green pastures for most of the day.

I got my rhythym early on and kept it for the rest of the ride, taking short breaks every two hours to eat a pb&j sandwich. I flew at an 18 mph pace over the last 20 miles from Winchester into Lexington, exhilarated from the day. My arms from my sleeves down where fire truck red by he end.

A gory note about Road kill. I've seen a lot. When you have an uncomfortable amount of time to inspect the animal. You see the expression of death on it's face. The mouth, if it's still discernable, is almost always wide open with horror. I've seen deer hide torn off the carcas, it's golden hair dusting the side of the road. I've seen turtles, snakes, possom, raccoons, skunk, birds as small as a finch and as large as a turkey all in repose. And today in kentukey I saw cats and dogs. It was horrible. Judging from the amount of unchained dogs that chased me this kind of thing happens a lot. The last fatality I witnessed was on foot in the city A woman on knelt over a still cat, stroking it's fur, a small pool of blood trickling from it's nose. I asked to help. She replied "it's gone"

Back to the good stuff ... We decided to treat ourselves to a comfy hotel and a rest day in town to recover from a week on the road. I went out to DeSha's for a plate of scallops over cheese grits and a Kentucky burbon ale. Delicious!

In the morning my first order of business was to head to Pedal Power, a local bike shop open since 73. The experience was 5 star. Alan, one of the mechanics, dismanteld my right shifter and discoverd a spring had split. He offered to get a replacement part under warranty but
I didn't have enough time in town to wait so Im using it as a friction shifter now. He also replaced my chain. which had prematurely worn out due to the climbing with heavy load and rail trail riding. My bike is riding like a dream again.

After all the work was done on my bike Alan called a friend to squeeze us into a progressive dinner ride tonight sponsored by Bike Lexington an organization which hosts bike events through out the month of may. Tonight we started with beer and appetizers in a local park and then road critical mass style over to a evening of bluegrass music on a lawn next to a bowling lane. Nothing could beat this ending to the day, sitting in the grass, drinking a beer and listening to the sounds of the band play.

Everyone we met was excited for our trip and happy to talk about good safe routes, which just so happened to run along the Burbon trail. Special thanks to Tim and Shane, two of the organizers who let us roll with the group.

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Location:Nelms Ave,Lexington,United States

Day 15 - Carter Cave

2010-05-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

An epic day on the bicycle! We pulled down a good 85 miles on mostly flat roads in the bright sunshine. We Continued along route 2 which winds it's way along the Ohio river through Huntington, a petty large industrial town.

Along the way I treated myself to a Hill Billy hot dog, a locally famous outpost on route 2, with junk strewn across the yard and on the side of the trailer where they make the food. I had the junk yard dog pictures above which has just about eveything.

After Huntington we crossed the state line into Kentucky, our 6th state of the trip. I was tempted to cross a bridge into Ohio just for the he'll of I but never got around to it.

My experiences so far with kentukians has been great. In the middle of one steep climb a guy with no shirt on slowed down his pickup truck so he could lean out and offer me a cold beer.

We pushed on down route 60 with the intention of stopping in the town of Olive Hill but along route noticed signs for the Carter Cave State park and headed there to pitch our tents for the night. Of course the park camgrounds are 5 miles of steep climbs from the entrance. A tough way to end a long day.

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Location:Camper Ground Dr,Olive Hill,United States

Day 14 - Point Pleasant, WV

2010-05-23T19:17:00.001-07:00

We got a late start out of Parkersburg, around 11am. I got breakfast at Sonics, a moden day drive in. A 17 year old came stumbling out on rollerblades with my sandwich and hot coffee. It made me nervous just watching her.

We followed route 68 out of town heading south west for 30 miles to Ravenswood. The roads, or at least these roads flattened out and it was a nice relief from the hills and trails of previous days. I was able to keep up a comfortable 15 mph pace, following the road as it hugged the Ohio river.

Ravenswood didn't have much in it other than a quick stop for lunch and 20 miniutes on an internet terminal at the local library.

We jumped back on the road for another 30 miles to Point pleasant.

Point Pleasant is the town of the Mothman. It's a local myth that now seems to help hold the econmy together. Most every shop has a mothman effigy or poster up on the wall. There is a statue of the creature right in town square. There is a mothman museum on main street and an annual mothman festival in September which attracts paranormal enthusiast far and wide.

The storie goes that a couple spotted the half man half moth back in the woods not to far from town in the 60s. Since then it has become local myth and the inspiration for a major motion picture.

We stayed at the Lowe Inn which looks like a hold over from the boom times. The inn is full of antiques in it's various rooms and parlors, including the original telephone switchboard on display in the lobby. It was in use through the 90s. An elder staff memeber would continue to patch the cables to direct calls and listen in to stay awake at night, so the owner told me. The long hallways have old dark wooden doors with transoms above and skeleton key locks.

I'd say our highlight came sitting at the local diner eating breakfast sandwiches at 11pm on a Saturday night. Ryan played John Denver's Country Road on the juke box and we signed their guest book and and a town poll of the states visitors our from. Both were recorded in beat up spiral notebooks with coffee stains on them.

In the morning we walked along the flood wall that protects the town from the Ohio river. It had been painted with these beautiful murals depicting Native American and early Settler scenes.

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Day 13 - Parkersburg, WV

2010-05-22T06:39:00.001-07:00

I awoke to the sounds of sniffing. I heard a creature liking its lips. I jostled. Then came a growling sound. I turned on my headlamp to see the outline along the tent wall of what must have been a raccoon. I got up, made some prefunctory loud noises and hoisted the few paltry snacks I had with me from a tree. The geese along the riverside hissed and squealed, attempting to stake their claim against other scavengers.

I fished out the pair of ear plugs I bought in Rockwood, put them in and fell back to sleep. Between freight trains and wildlife, I've have yet to find a peaceful night in the outdoors.

In the morning we continued west on the North Bend rail trail. Along the path are old train tunnels which are pitch black and 20 degrees cooler inside. I've learned to keep my headlamp near by so I can get i can fire it up a few feet from the entrance and continue riding without breaking pace. Inside you see nothing but a two foot shard of light in front of you and, if the tunnel is straight a light at the end. My arms instinctively tighten up when I'm passing through. They are the only things keeping me from going over the handlebars.

Our plan was to follow the trail for 17 miles to Walker and then ride south another 40 miles into Ripley, WV. Neiher of us had much energy in reserve from the night before and the tough trail riding made the thought of another 40 miles on the road unappealing.

Rain srarted coming down while we were on the trail and we quickly decided to make it a short day by riding another 20 miles to Parkersburg, WV.

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Location:W Virginia 618,Parkersburg,United States

Day 12 - North Bend State Park, WV

2010-05-21T14:21:00.001-07:00

We left Clarksburg in the morning and rode about ten miles to wolf summit where we picked up the North Bend rail trail. Like the other rail trails the path maintains a 2 percent downhill grade. However this trail was overgrown in several spots and bogged down from yesterday's rain, making for more difficult riding. I nearly bottomed out my front tire a few times in the large muddy puddles we had to trudge through. Every once in a while I would take a break to ride along an adjacent road for a bit.

Along the way to the trail and on the trail itself are several poor backwoods towns. Folks living in prefabs and trailers, livestock roaming their front lawns and auto graveyards along their driveways. We met one old timer in front of a gas station who remembers when the rail was in service and the area was a little more prosperous. He told us the recession didn't matter much around here because unemployment is always high.

We rode the trail for about 40 miles until we reached North Bend State Park where we pitched our tents for the night.

At the camp ground I ran into Ted and Coleen, a couple who have put in over 8500 miles bicycle touring across the US and post to the website foolsonamission.com These days they roll in a camper van with the bikes on the back, driving only 30 miles each day. Ryan met them the night before and it was a coincidence we landed in the same spot. We joined them for dinner and some great travel. Thanks guys!

I made my first rookie camping mistake tonight. Ryan kindly gave me a pb&j sandwich to eat but I was already full from dinner so I left it in my tent. We left the site for a little while and when I returned I found a golf ball size hole in my net and the sandwich gone. Live and learn I told myself as I cleaned up the mess.

I'm lieing in my tent now and hear a growling noise outside. No doubt its the same creature coming back for seconds.

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Day 11 - Clarksburg, WV

2010-05-19T20:06:00.001-07:00

We entered West Virginia today, our 5th state of the trip. We rode a good 70 miles over hilly terrain down through the South West corner of PA and into northern WV.

There was no official indication of the state line, but I did noticed Steeler bumper stickers changing to Mountainers logos. I also noticed today that the hills are starting to mellow, a hopeful indication that we are mostly past the Appalachian range.

I saw a number of different a animals along the route. In the morning, along another short rail trial, I spotted several cardinals fluttering in and out of the trees and shrubs. Coming out of one descent two horses caught site of my approach and ran along side me for the stretch of their pen. Cows were grazing along the rolling pastures, stopping their endless meals for a moment to stare blankly at me as I passed them by. They are the only ones willing to pose for a portrait.

At the top of one particularly long climb i was lucky to find a small bar on the side of the road. I was tired and thirsty more than i realized. I grabed a 7up and a Gatorade and downded them quickly as i cooled off inside. Two old timers, looking as old as the hills were trading travel stories. "Always throw a few fresh handy wipes out the window so the 'lot lizards' know to leave you alone" one crowed at the other.

We are now at the Greenbreir Motel in Clarksburg, WV sitting down to some homemade pasta. The proprietor told us to make sure we included her establishment in our blogs, "tell 'em some old bitch told ya to write it in."

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Location:Thomas Ave,Nutter Fort,United States

Day 10 - Uniontown, PA

2010-05-19T06:59:00.000-07:00

I packed down my gear and tent under a light drizzle at the campsite. We were off to our earliest start of the trip, awaking at 7:30. Back in town we ate breakfast at Poor Man's plate. A women sitting next to us began talking to the waitress about her various relatives who been there since the rails where built. She's the kind of person who will keep talking whether someone is listening or not. She began talking to us as soon as the waitress disappeared to the kitchen. She told us she had been a state trooper for 14 years until she was shot. She gently lifted the hem of her pants to show an exit wound on her calf.

We continue along the Allegheny Passage trail for most of the day. A quick note of praise to the state of Pennsylvania for maintaining such a gorgeous rail trial. The path snakes along the cassleman and youghgeny rivers, taking you through lush greenery and past many small waterfalls running off rock ridges. At many passes, sapplings are planted along both sides of the path creating shade and the feeling you are passing through a natural corridor.

These are the same natural surroundings which inspired one of the greatest architectual landmarks in America, Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright. After reaching Ohiopyle for lunch we broke off the trail to go visit this masterpiece. The house is an homage to the nature which surrounds it. At each transition the outdoors are brought inside. In the livingroom is a large stair case which leads right down to the river and water fall on which the house is built. Large terraces cantilever over the water fall echoing the cascading rocks found below. Harmonic is the best word I can think of to describe the house.

We got back on the trail for another tewnty miles of enjoyable riding before breaking off in Connelsvile. From there we pushed on for another 12 road miles to Uniontown, PA where we called it a night after a good 65 miles. I wish the transition from the path to the local roads where as graceful as those at Fallingwater. I was rudely awoken to honking horns from drivers not too keen on giving up a shred of the road as I pedalled on along route 119.

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Location:Old New Salem Rd,Uniontown,United States

Day 9 - Rest day in Rockwood, PA

2010-05-17T19:01:00.001-07:00

I heard rain splash against my tent roof early in the morning and I fell back asleep. The weather was bound to turn for the worse and we needed a rest day at some point. I woke again to feel the moisture of rain coming in at the foot of my tent. I begrudgingly exited my warm sleeping bag, put my shoes on and jumped outside to refasten my rainfly. I ran to the bag of food i had hung from a near by tree the night before. I was preparing to hunker down for the day.

I wish I could accurately portray what a freight train sounds like passing through an old rail town, which is normal as quiet as the crickets keep it. You first hear a dull ruckus from the tons of steel carrying more tons of coal rambling along the tracks. Just as the noise sharpens into a discernable rhythym of locomotion the roar of the horn blares across all that was quiet and serene, firing in slow succession as it approches the crossing. It's an alarm only the dead would fail to hear. It is louder than any ambulance stuck in traffic, the squeel of the uptown 4/5 train bending into 42nd or the 5 am garbage trucks sweeping up the lower east side.

In town is an old grain house turned into an opry upstairs and eatery downstairs. The building is full of artifacts from the boom times, a cabled switchboard and telegraph, a saloon cash register. A burger at the local restaurant cost $1.75. A glass of wild turkey at the tavern, $2.50.

Day 8 - Rockwood, PA

2010-05-17T09:53:00.001-07:00

Though my sleeping bag and tent are pretty comfy I didn't get a lot of sleep my first night camping due to the thunderous crashes from freight trains pulling through a rail yard nearby. They were louder than thunder. I can't believe a piece of machinery can produce such a noise and survive.

I got up at about 8 to the sounds of Tom and Meg packing down their gear and heading off on the trail. I wanted to lie still a little more before getting up so I didnt get to see them off. They left a kind note behind with their email address.

After getting dressed and organizing gear inside my tent I stepped out into a cold fresh air. Clouds were over head. I took down my tent and packed the rest of my bags for the day. Ryan was late waking up. He too had trouble sleeping in addition to feeling a little off from his evening swim in the Potomac.

We followed the last 5 miles of the C&O tow path into Cumberland for breakfast at the City Queen Creamery. It's an old time soda shop, booths filled mostly with seniors, a vintage Rock-Ola juke box not too far from a soda fountain behind a wood paneled bar.

We had a good conversation with two guys next to us about possible routes for the day. One of them, a local police officer who just suffered a heart attack a week ago, described how tough the hills on route 40 would be making special note of Big Savage Mountain which begins in Frostburg, MD. We stopped by the local bike shop, where we were also told about the terrible climbs. While there we were offered hot coffee, use of there a shower and a laptop with internet!

So far getting information from locals far outstrips what you can attain from a gps or google maps. Folks who have spent there whole lives in a town can tell you about evey bump in the road.

Our alternative was to take the Allegheny Highland Trail which starts where the tow path ends and continues north west all the way to Pittsburg, PA. Although we would be losing some of our longitude by heading back into PA, the opportunity to be on a scenic, car free path with plenty of camping options was too good to pass up.

The path is a well maintained rail trail made of smooth packed dirt, which keeps an even 2 percent uphill grade for about 20 miles, the most steam engines could do at the time of it's construction. This feels like riding up a long handicap ramp. You realize you are on an incline, but it only knocks a couple miles off your speed. At the easten continental divide, not too far past the PA border, you summit the climb at 2392 feet and begin riding downhill. This was a welcomed change of pace, letting me ride comfortably at 15 mph.

Along the path are beautiful sweeping vistas of the valleys below. Every so often the trail takes you through a tunnel or up along a high overpass. I stopped frequently to snap photos. At other points I spotted a steam engine passing along another set of tracks. The sun was out all day.

We took a quick lunch break in Meyersdale, PA, a sleepy town with most stores closed on Sunday. I ate a sandwich at subway where a pre-pubescent kid, uniform hanging off his thin frame, took orders from customers acting grown up and looking freightened at the same time.

We followed the trail for another 15 miles to Husky Haven camp site, which is in Rockwood, PA. There are separate small clearings with fire pits and picnic tables nestled between the trees. Barry, the operator, killed the engine on his tractor to show me around. We choose a spacious clearing right by the water to set up camp. The grounds are idyllic and I'm looking forward to getting some sleep.

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Location:Rockwood, PA

Day 7 on the C&O trail outside of Cumberland, MD

2010-05-15T19:14:00.001-07:00

After getting some local information from Dave and Donna at the town hill inn we decided to take a 40 mile route along the scenic C&O tow path to Cumberland instead of 20 more greuling miles on route 40.

What a great decision! The tow path is a shady dirt road which winds it's way along the Potomac river. A canal runs along the otherside with a series of locks which have long fallen into disrepair. Along the way we travelled through the Paw Paw tunnel, a long and dark old canal tunnel with a cramped walkway to one side. Ryan played his harmonica in the middle off it, the sound reverberating off the walls as he immitated train passing through.

Along the path we stopped in Old Town, where there is a defunct high school which continues to serve food out of the cafeteria. Pictures of each graduating from 1932 to 2000 class hung along the walls. There were never more the 20 kids in a class, some had as few as ten. I Kept imagining what life is like to grow up in such a small town.

On the other side of the canal in Old Town is the last privately owned toll bridge in America. A lady in a booth sticks out a tin cup attached to a poll to collect fairs from cars passing by. I didn't see the price, but I got the sense it was 50 cents or so.

We were thinking this would be our off day but we really had no where to be off. Riding along the path was easy work compared to the hills from yesterday but a bit rough on the backside being on a bumpy dirt road all day.

The best part of the path is that there are plenty of free campsites right along the trail. We de ided to finally use our gear we have been lugging all around and pitch our tents at the last site before Cumberland, Md. The site is a little small and noisy from a nearby highway and rail yard, but pretty suitable nonetheless. We met a cool couple also stopping there for the night, who are on route to DC. The husband Tom is thin, has a prodigious moustache and a speaking voice remenicent of a young bob dyaln. His wife, who is a nice as can be, is a director at Meals on Wheels. They offered up some of their Yeungling beer, always a tasty treat at the end of the day. If you are reading this, thanks guys!

I'm sitting in my little one person tent now finishing up this blog post. I've aleady misplaced stuff inside which I will have to find when it's light again. Looks like I have a little more to learn. Things to ponder as I get some rest.

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Day 6 little Orleans, MD

2010-05-15T09:10:00.001-07:00

I trained for the Olympics today. The sun broke out for the first time on our trip and the temprature sored to 85 degrees. Dropping south into Maryland foiled our plans of trying to avoid the Appalachian mountains and now we are in the thick of them. I rode only 50 miles today, but it took every shred of strength I had to get through them.

My day started with one snafu after another. I lost yesterday's blog post and had to retype it again in the morning. Then I followed the wrong route by accidently leaving the "by car" choice selected on google maps. I payed for that mistake in spades.

Instead of taking a beautiful flat rail trial I went along local route 40 for 10 miles which has some pretty tough climbs. The route eventually dumped me on highway 70, which i had no choice but to ride along in the breakdown lane for two miles until the next exit. Though I didn't want to be on the highway, the flat road and intense draft from the highspeed traffic let me comfortably keep up a 22 mph pace. Once I exited I realized how bad a mistake I made.

I needed to head to the town of Haddock only a mile away but on the other side of the highway. I had no choice but to ride 10 miles out of the way, back into PA and back again into MD to reach the first underpass. Along the way I had to summit two steep ridges and for the first time began cursing the road in front of me.

Once in town I took a short rest at a roadside dinner over a tall glass of lemonade. I didn't want to stop too long as Ryan started the day before me and with my detour was probably far ahead.

I connected onto route 144 and then started the hardest climb of the trip so far. The road stretched upward for a mile at a very steep grade. I dropped into my lowest gear and began slowly spinning up the hill at 4.5 miles an hour, sweat pouring off my body. It seemed to take forever to make it to the bend in the road ahead and once I did I was greeted with another mile stretch of the same steep grade. The road continued in this fashion for another 5 miles with each bend in the road a mirage of the final apex. It took me an hour and 15 minutes straight to get to the top, my body on the verge of overheating most of the way.

How hard was this climb? Here are some indicators: 1) Ryan told me he stopped midway to ask a couple in their driveway if he could refill his water bottles. He told them we were heading to Cumberland along this route. The husband and wife matter of factly replied "oh you'll never make that." 2). Cyclist on the Ride across America, which passes through here have told our host that these hills are far worse than the Rockies due to their unrelenting inclines. 3). To my caskill friends, it was like riding over hunter mountain starting at the entrance to katterskill falls.

I flew down the back side of the mountain approaching 40 mph at one point but mostly riding my brakes as I navigated sharp switchbacks. The road flattened out and lead by a gas station that I almost passed in my delerious state. I realized I was down to half a bottle of water and pedalled in to find Ryan's bike parked outside. It's always a morale boost to catch up.

Ryan had been resting there for 45 minutes and was ready to go. I was envious of his downtime and knew I needed at least 20 minutes to regain some strength. Ryan took off. It was 5pm and we were both still under the delusion that we would reach Cumberland by nightfall.

After my break I got back on my bike and realized I had nothing left. Even the most mild incline or headwind had me dropping into my lowest gear. I could keep pedalling but get no faster than 4 or 5 mph. I managed to get another mile up the road and ran right into another monster climb.

At this point mild panic set in with the realization that I would make my destination. I immediately started looking for any viable camping spots but the steep hill offered none. Half way up the hill I broke down and started walking my bike, which was only 1 mph slower than riding it. My new plan was to reach the top and hope to find a flat and inconspicuos spot of to pitch my tent for the night.

At the top I saw a lookout on the side of the road with sweeping views of the valley. Ryans bike was resting against the elevation sign. On the otherside of the street was a bed and breakfast. What luck!

We stayed the night in Town Hill bed and breakfast which is large, beautiful old place. It reminds me of the hotel in the shining a bit, as we were the only occupants in the 25 room establishment. However, the owners are as nice as can be and in the morning we were treated to what I am sure will be the finest breakfst of our trip.

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Location:Little Orleans,United States

Day 5 Hagerstown, MD

2010-05-14T08:08:00.001-07:00

What I thought would be a lazy day turned into a monster ride. We slept in until 10 am, slowly getting our stuff together and heading out on the road by 11:30 or so. We get to sleep early, but so far we have been averaging 10 to 11 hours of sleep each night. I sleep like I'm dead, drifting off moments after my head hits the pillow

The weather was cool and cloudy again, with a forecast of a thunderstorm to happen at some point during the day. Our plan was to head to Gettysburg, roguhly 30 miles west and figure out the rest of the day from there. The wind was fairly clam and it was a pleasure to ride along the rolling hills of farm country again once out of York. The miles went faster than I expected.

Gettysburg is a quaint if touristy colonial town with lots of historic buildings. The coolest part is there are plenty of folks walking around the streets dressed in civil war costumes (I have a soft spot for costumes) happy to speak in character about the toils of nineteenth century life like how dark the weekend wil be because they only have half a candle to burn. Robert E. Lee was especially nice to us, stopping in the middle of he street to entertain a photo op. I suppose there there is a year round livivng to be made here reenacting the past.

When I joined up with Ryan who was shortly behind we had a quick lunch and started to plan the rest of the day. Looking at the map we saw a coulpe of small towns further wast in PA but we quickly ditched that idea and the idea of sticking in PA for a 35 mile trip to Hagerstown MD. We have been on the road for 5 days and have been in 4 states.

I was sluggish leaving Gettysburg, suffering a sugar crash from a delicious cup of mint chip ice cream i downed earlier. I managed to shake it off after a mile or two. I love stopping to check out the different towns we pass through but at the same time hate to break the rhythym I work up on the bike.

We headed west along 16 which is a sketchy road with no shoulder and 18 wheelers whizzing past. If they are going fast enough and drive right by you can feel their wake of air pull you into the road. On this road we encountered two massive climbs, one after the other, spanning 6 miles in all. I had to take a break along the way but not before acheiveng a tingly medetative state while listening to a Jimmy Page guitar solo that reminded me of Segovia.

Ryan and I split up after missing a turn. I doubled back and began riding solo along rolling pasteurs as I came across a stone pilar marking the Mason Dixon line. A car gave a friendly honk as it passed, no doubt recognizing that I was touring.

Like magic my road merged into another and I was right behind Ryan again. We were laughing as we saw each other and the boost from the coincidence powered us the rest of the way into town.

I'm wiped out. I just inhaled a chicken pasta entree with two sides at a roadside honky tonk next to our hotel. I'm tired all right, but might have just enough energy left to try out some of the line dancing they have going on next door. Yeehaw.

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Location:Dual Hwy,Hagerstown,United States

Day 4 York, PA

2010-05-12T16:41:00.001-07:00

After 10 and a half hours of sleep I awoke full of energy and ready to start the day. Beaming might be a way to describe my disposition. The weather report called for a cloudy and cold day, but little if any rainfall. This was an improvement since checking the night before so we decided to put in a full day of riding.

In the morning, I went through my gear up ritual: dress, repack the close handwashed the night before, fill water bottles, stretch out. When I reach our stop for the night I follow this more or less in reverse: shower, wash that day's riding clothes, dress in my one set of "casual" close, stretch, pull out my fresh gear for tomorrow's ride.

We started our day at Claires family restaurant in Morgantown, which is set up like an old time diner with with a mix of locals at the counter and in the booths. We got a few inquisitive glances, which I'm beginning to get used to. I had a lumberjack breakfast and loved every second of it. Breakfast is my favorite meal.

Once on the road we continued for 50 miles west on route 23 passing through Lancaster and on route 462 into York, PA, our destination for the day. The begining of the ride was utterly fantastic.

The road turned Into a large cascading descent, then another one, perhaps a mile in all. I thrilled at the ability to breeze through the stretch, my head up able to take in all the countryside, but in the back of my mind worried every so slightly about having to regain the altitude. The road flattened and then dropped into another downhill! I was amazed. There was little to do but watch the scenerey and pedal along the occasional flat all the way into Lancaster and much of the ride for the rest of the day.

Our route took us through amish country past beautiful farmland and pasteures which i could see stretch past a cloudy mist. Every so often i would spot a horse and buggy with a man at the reigns and a woman in a bonnet in the passenger seat. Alnong the way i stopped at a roadside stand with an honor box to buy fresh strawberries. An amish woman was happy to sell me half a basket, all I wanted to carry. Her 5 year old son, eyes as blue as the sky shyly hid behind her long skirt, stealing gazes at me.

With a broad shoulder and no turns to worry about i was able to let go and fully enjoy the moment. It has been a long time since I've felt as good as i did this morning. It's the kind of feeling that makes me realize I can die happy.

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Location:N Beaver St,York,United States

Day 3. Morgantown, PA

2010-05-11T16:07:00.001-07:00

I awoke from a brazillian BBQ food coma and we were off to downtown Philly first thing in the morning to get some breakfast and make stops at a bike shop and EMS for some final gear purchases. I got some shoe covers which I tried out later in the day as a cold drizzle started. My feet tend to get cold and numb easily so I was psyched to find a pair after having no luck in NYC.

Starting out in the morning is the hardest part of the day. You don't really think you have it I you. My left achilles was still pretty sore and tender in the morning. I pedalled through it and thankfully it loosened up later in the day.

Our route took us west out of Philly to catch some local routes, which continued north and west for 47 mile to land us In Morgantown, PA, just shy of Amish country. As we were leaving the city on route 3 we passed by, in what appeared to be a black neighborhood,a hell's angels club house with KKK painted in large white letters on the door. An elderly black man in a black leather jacket with a red kangol and red butterfly collars was strolling passed at the time.

Out of the city the area turned lush and fancy. Mail boxes and gates bore the names of estates like "duck walk" and "spruce hollow". The lands were beautiful and with large houses sprinkled every 100 yards or so. The area reminded me of parts of Greenwich, CT with perhaps less ostentation.

We had our first encounter with hills today as the road undulated with climbs and decents for most of the afternoon. I was daunted at first to see the steep inclines but managed to find a rhythym on the way up. Climbing, especially with a bunch of weight on your bike, is all about patience. You are going to be in a low gear, going very slow (sometimes 1-2mph) and be on the climb for a while. It's best to settle in and hope you have a good song playing to distract you from the fact that the peak never seems to get closer if you keep looking. I had to take a break on one incline, which took me about 10 minutes in all to get over. By the end of the day I was more comfortable with the hills. It's amazing how each day brings new mental and physical adjustments.

Ryan had a tougher time today with the hills, no doubt due to the extra gear and body weight he was moving. At about 10 miles off our detination he hit the wall and wanted to stop. Unfortunately, there was no nearby hotel option, the light rain was starting to pick up and the temprature had dropped to low 50s. We pushed on and managed to reach our destination, lucilky taking the last halfmile on a downhill.

Observations:
* As with fixed gear bikes, stopping is the enemy with long distance touring. Your legs get cold and hurt like hell when you get back on the bike.
* Rumble strips in the middle of the road are great -- you can hear traffic approaching behind you well in advance.
* What you eat is important. I had lots of small snacks all day and had plenty of energy. Bananas! Ryan stopped for a big plate of food at Boston market, which he needed all in all, but made him feel sluggish afterwards.

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Location:Lexington Way,Morgantown,United States

Day 2 philly

2010-05-11T07:19:00.001-07:00

I'm tired! Carrying 40 pounds of grear on a 35 pound bike is a lot harder than cruising around on a road bike. We faced a strong headwind at times and the bags hanging off the bike felt like two umbrellas opened up behind me. We are still upbeat, but i am starting to realize how physically strenuous the trip will be. My left Achilles started to ache by the end of the day.

We followed country(ish) roads from east brunswick, nj to philly, even passing a few farms along the way. It was a nice break from the sketchy roads we took out of NYC. In all we did about 55 miles.

Once we crossed the tacony bridge and made iinto PA we cruised along local roads and got a brake from the headwind as we entered the city.

We stayed with a friend of ryan's in port Richmond, who mixed it up in us and instead of taking us out for cheese steaks brought us to this insanse brazIlian bbq spot. We OD'd on all you can eat and then crashes for a good 8 hours -- could have slept for 12

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Location:Edgemont St,Philadelphia,United States

Day 1

2010-05-09T17:24:00.001-07:00

Day one is complete and was awesome. A number of folks came out to the MUD to see us off in the morning with a few riding with us up to the bridge. I loved being around everyone, but at the same time was eager to get the trip started. It was the first time ridin my bike fully loaded. It handled really well despite the firece winds we rode into at times.

Our initial route came from goolge maps "by bicycle". Let's just say that the may want to move back to "alpha". After winding through crowded roads of union and Bergen we were routed on newark turnpike, which is high speed road often without a shoulder. After 15 or so sketchy miles we were back on safe roads and moving through Newark.

Then the awesomeness occured! We had strayed a little from our route and just as we were going to get reoriented we saw hundreds of bicyclist cruising along an adjacent road. Ryan and I immediately peddaled off to catch up to them. The cyclist were all cops on the annual Police Unity Tour, a 4 day ride to DC. Better yet they were being escorted by motor cycles and passing thru every intersection unobstructed! We decided to stay on the ride and chatted with a number of friendly folks, many of whom were blown away when the heard we we heading cross country. One of them gave me a flag from the ride, which i know have on my nike. We rode a good 25 traffic free miles with them to Edison NJ. After parting ways Ryan and I were on cloud nine, beaming from the incredible good luck on our first day of the trip.

We found a roadside Greek dinner where we made our first and only stop of the day. Jersey dinners are GREASY. The chicken wrap almost slipped out of my hand. Over lunch we decided to shoot for Princeton but ended up making it to New Bruinswick. We found a cheap hotel 6 in east bruinswick and after a couple of miscues probably from being tired an still getting used to our combo of iPhones and a dedicated gps we found a comfy bed and a hot shower.

We put in about 65 miles and I'm feeling good, but tired. My right knee, which I had ACL surgery on a few years ago gets tired and sore, but doest bother me at all on the bike. Curious to see how my body holds up after riding day after day. Heading to Philly tomorrow.

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Location:Serviss Ave,East Brunswick,United States

Gear

2010-05-08T07:49:00.001-07:00

I have a pretty steep learning curve when it comes to gear for this trip. I've hardly ever been camping and i've only ridden road bicycles and a fixed gear bike around new york city.

After reading many good reviews, I decided on the Surly Long Haul Trucker for my bicycle. I've known a lot of happy surly owners in the past and the price of $1100 for the configuration seemed liked a great deal. The name says it all. This bike is built like a truck. The steel frame has a low bottom bracket and long chainstay for extra stability while carrying lots of extra weight. The bar end shifters add to the big-rig feel, making you get your whole arm involved in shifting action (reminds me of the stories my dad told me about driving split shift semis). I added the front and back Cro-Moly Surly racks to the bike, along with three bottle cages, some fenders and a set of Schwalbe Marathon XR tires (700 x 35). These tires are supposed to be bullet proof. We got this recommendation from the ginger ninjas, a group of musicians bicycling around the world.

One of the most important gear decisions is the saddle. The majority of tourist choose a brooks saddle, which is what i went with. I chose the pre-aged Flyer, which is a sprung version of the b17. The pre-aged version comes partially broken in and noticeably more flexible out of the box compared to the standard models. I had immediate misgivings about it, but have slowly gotten adjusted to its feel. A trick it seems is to set the correct tension. Too loose and you are feeling the metal anchor on the back of the saddle, too tight and your sit bones ride high off the leather. It should continue to get more comfortable as time goes on.

I bought a set of Ortleib panniers to store all of my gear. Bike-Packer Plus bags for the back and Sport-Packer plus for the front. I also have an Ortleib Handlebar bag, but may leave it behind. I bought the bags as a set from Wayne at http://www.thetouringstore.com/, a really helpful will steer you in the right direction. Like my tires, the bags are from Germany and heavy duty. They are fully waterproof and have lots of pockets. After using panniers for the past week I can't see myself going back carrying a backpack.

What's in the bags:

Clothes:
2 wool t-shirts (wool is the miracle material, naturally anti-microbrial, wicks well, and doesn't trap odor like synthetic alternatives)
1 wool long sleeve shirt
3 Pairs of wool socks (two short, one long)
2 pairs of high end pearl izumi bike short (i almost skimped on these! get the best you can get!)
1 pair nylon shorts (I plan to use these for riding/swimming/casual settings)
1 pair of hiking pants with zip off legs
1 Marmot rain/wind jacket
1 pair Marmot rain pants
1 pair biking gloves
2 pairs of boxers
2 pairs of cheapo sunglasses (hey, i live 2 blocks off st. marks)
1 Sea to summit micro fiber towel
1 Brooks saddle cover
1 pair of Specialized Tahoe MTB shoes
1 pair of Merrel water shoes (for off the bike)

Camping:
Mountain Hardware Ultralamina 32 sleeping bag (I went expensive here to carry less weight and bulk. Many nights i won't even need to be in it i hope)
Thermarest inflatable sleeping pad (go with the cheaper/better Big Agnes model if you can deal with the smaller dimensions)

Tools:
Park bike pump
Alien multi tool
Small Crescent wrench
Small 10 wrench
Combination lock
Brooks tension spanner
3 Spare 700x35 tubes

Tech:
Iphone 3G
Powermonkey eXplorer Solar charger + battery
Nokia MD-6 portable speaker (this thing rawks for its size)
Canon S90 point and shoot camera, charger, extra battery, extra SD card, SD card reader
Head lamp (i'll use this for a front bike light as well)
Bike Planet Cycle computer (the odometer only goes up to 999 miles. I'll flip it 4 times!)
Adventure Cycling Trans-America & Western Express map sets

Toiletries:
Dr Bronner's Magic Soap
Sun screen
Advil and Aleve
Toothbrush
Floss
Lotrimin
Neosporin

Misc:
Spindle of thin nylon rope (for hanging clothes / food)
3 small stuff sacks for organizing gear
10 Liter dry bag
1 disc craft frisbee (plenty of time to practice my forehand)

Weight:
I took all of my packed bags to my local laundromat to use their scale.
Grand total 32.5 Lbs

This seems light to me, which may mean I'm missing stuff. I will be adding a cable to lock my bike which should add another 2 lbs or so and will have varying levels of food and liquids as well while I'm traveling.

T-minus 1 day

2010-05-08T06:47:00.000-07:00

So excited to start this blog and my bicycle tour across the US. I'll be leaving with my friend Ryan tomorrow, May 9th from our local coffee shop MUD in the east village, NYC. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. I've left my job, learned all about bicycle touring, geared up for the trip and squeezed in as much time for friends and family as possible. Yesterday Ryan and I took a spin out to Coney Island to dip our back tires in the Atlantic Ocean. In 4500 miles or so will have the honor of dipping our front tires in the Pacific.

We will be riding the trans-America trail for most of our trip, a route created for the bikentennial ride in '76 by George Sipel. The official course starts in the West and ends in the East, taking advantage of the prevailing westerly winds. This won't be the case for us as we leave New York and end in Oregon. To me, there is something a little more magical about stepping out of your apartment and just pedaling off.

We will be heading over the GWB bridge into New Jersey and then heading south to Philly PA. I am hoping to ride along part of the Peter Odell Memorial route, a bicycle ride my girlfriend's father created, which is still held annually in his honor. In PA we'll follow the southern boundary of the state taking advantage of the Bicycle Tour Route S the state has listed on their website. About three quarters the length of the state just past the shared border with Maryland we'll turn south into West VA heading into Monongahla National Forest for some good camping I hope. Our strategy is to avoid the Appalachian mountains as we haven't trained and we will still be early in our tour. Depending on difficulty we may continue south back into VA to pass through the Washington and Jefferson National Forests. Just south of the Jefferson National Forest is Christiansburg VA, where we can pick up the official Trans-America trail. If this proves too difficult will stay in West VA, continuing west of the Monongahla National Forest range and enter VA and the western tip to connect onto the trail. From here the trail continues west through VA, KY, IL, MO, KS and CO. In Colorado the trail turns north west up through the state into Wyoming and Montana, passing through Yellowstone National Park, west into Idaho and into Oregon. By many accounts this is the prettiest part of the trail. We'll also have the option of skipping this part and saving 1000 miles by continuing due west in Colorado and summitting the Rockies by gaining 11,000 ft of altitude and continuing through Utah, Nevada and into California.

That is the theroy at least. Now back to the "by bicycle" option in google maps.