Boston to Oregon, a cross-country celebration

Introduction

2009-01-26T20:21:00.003-05:00

It's time to ride my dream
Journal entry written on May 10, 2002

I planned to take a short bike trip this summer to celebrate my 50th birthday. I've never even felt middle-aged - so how did 50 years pass? Luckily I didn't spend too much time on my plans, because they've totally changed. I was just laid off from my job, and I've decided to use this as an opportunity (or a sign) to do the cross-country trip I've been dreaming of for a number of years. I've never been able to swing enough time off to do a full cross-country trip, so now that I'm unemployed it seems like the perfect time to go. Some people think that my reaction to being laid off isn't rational, but I know that it is. Most folks seem to go racing to the next job, but my love of cycling and my dream of riding cross-country have risen to the top.

People keep asking me why I want to do this trip. It's really a combination of things to me: a chance to explore our country at a pace that lets me really see things, a chance to meet and interact with people who live in the areas I'll be passing through, a chance to meet other cyclists, a chance to see parts of the country that I've only dreamed of so far, and a sense of accomplishment that comes from a ride of this sort.

It's time for a summer of bicycling! After that, I'll have to decide what comes next...

To learn a little about me, press the Author link at the top of the page.

I hope that you enjoy following my trip as much as I plan to enjoy the trip itself!
--- Denise Goldberg

Here's a picture of me with the bike I'll be using on this trip. My Air Glide & I took a quick trip to Moab with a friend in late April. My bike clearly wanted practice for the cross-country trip - dipping wheels in the Colorado River.

The route - a very crooked line
My first thought was to do the Adventure Cycling Transamerica route, but since I live on the East Coast, I've decided to start from home. Many thanks to the friend (sorry, I can't remember who...) who asked me why I was planning to start my trip in Virginia rather than from home!

Home is north of Boston, so I'll start my westbound trip by heading east to dip my wheels in the Atlantic at either the northern Massachusetts or southern New Hampshire coast. Then I'll head north and west to hook up with the Northern Tier route somewhere in either New Hampshire or Vermont. The official route runs pretty far north, and right now I'm thinking about cutting across southern New Hampshire, angling up to meet the Northern Tier route. I need to pick up some state maps to find a reasonable approach. Once I join up with the Northern Tier route, I'll follow it as far as Muscatine, Iowa, where I'll switch to the Great Rivers South route. I'll follow that until it intersects with the Transamerica route in Missouri at Johnson's Shut-ins State Park, then follow the Transamerica to Oregon. It's always been the western half of the Transamerica route that fascinated me, so this combination of routes lets me see some beautiful territory in the Northeast and some beautiful lakes in New York and Ohio (the route follows lakes through the Adirondacks and skirts the Great Lakes coming into the Midwest). Then the Transamerica westbound will allow me to enjoy the western mountains. I think that will make me happy.

My Adventure Cycling maps showed up yesterday, and I've started going through them to learn more about the route. I actually had to call and ask where the Great Rivers South and the Transamerica routes intersected. Now that I know what to look for (a rectangular white box on the map, not in the cues, that refers to the other map set) it is easy to see the intersection! How many miles? Who knows? My route is definitely not the shortest distance between the East and West coasts!

My bike - a new touring experience
I think I'm addicted to bicycling, and as part of that addiction I find that I am fascinated by bicycles and all things surrounding them. Somehow, I haven't been able to stop at one bicycle, so I actually have a choice of bikes to join me on this trip. What a nice "problem" to have! This will be my first self-contained trip traveling on my Bike Friday Air Glide. It will also be my first trip pulling a trailer, since I used panniers on all of my previous trips. It will be interesting to see if what I've heard is true - panniers definitely change the handling of the bike, but pulling a trailer supposedly maintains the normal feel of the bike (with a bit of extra drag!). We'll see. I don't mind the panniers once I've been riding a couple of days with them, but I'm looking forward to a more free feel to the bike. The titanium beam on my Air Glide gives it a little softer ride, and no, the little wheels don't make it harder to ride! The bike is a dream to ride...

Time to plan...
I've pulled a starting date of June 10th out of the air. That gives me a month at home to train and to get everything organized for the trip. We had a really mild winter, so I never stopped riding this year. I have 1400 miles of riding in so far this season, but that is mainly short rides. I need to start getting some longer rides in. And I need to set up the trailer and do a couple of practice rides hauling gear so I know what my riding life will be like for the next several months!

Thoughts and memories

2003-06-10T09:23:00.001-04:00

...a year later

I looked at the calendar this week and realized that it's the one year anniversary of the start of my cross-country trek. That's really hard to believe! It was a fabulous experience, one that I'd like to repeat some day. That day will have to wait a while, since I'm not ready to give up a steady income yet (someday ) and I'm currently constrained by my job's allowable vacation time - so for now I'm in a short trek mode

My trip is receding into the somewhat distant past, but my memories are still bright and shiny.

I remember wheeling my bike out the door on a bright, sunny day hoping that the funny feeling in the pit of my stomach would go away soon (and it did).
I remember holing up at a friend's house in Brattleboro, Vermont for an extra day, hiding from a cold, driving rain.
I remember that rain catching up to me again as I rode the funny cable ferry across Lake Champlain from Vermont to New York.
I remember days in the Adirondacks of cold rain, and switching to hotels as lodging because I knew I'd never be able to warm up if I wasn't dry.
I remember dropping off-route to the south to visit my parents for a few days, and my dad borrowing a truck to give me a lift back to the Northern Tier route at the end of my visit.
I remember wondering if I'd ever get across New York State as it seemed to stretch on forever.
I remember the wonders of Niagara Falls.
I remember my friend Sue driving down from Detroit to visit with me in Ohio for a day.
I remember the heat that followed me from Ohio through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and parts of Colorado.
I remember the kindness of strangers in helping me to escape from the heat, offering a place to stay, or filling my CamelBak with cold water as the sweat dripped off of me.
I remember watching the corn grow taller through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, until it was taller than me, and I remember the drought in Kansas and eastern Colorado where the corn was struggling just to survive.
I remember the constant wind in Kansas, and I wonder if it ever stops.
I remember Madelyn welcoming me to the Hotel Ordway (in Ordway, Colorado) with a clear, cold glass of ice water - she's definitely a cyclist's friend!
I remember finally reaching Pueblo, Colorado after thinking I'd never get there.
I remember the folks at the Great Divide bike shop making room in their busy day to tune up my bike (they always make room for touring cyclists ).
I remember the awesome mountains of Colorado and the varied terrain of Wyoming, from wide open spaces to red rocks that reminded me of Utah, to the Grand Teton Mountains, and to the geothermal features of Yellowstone National Park.
I remember the beauty of Montana, and my decision after wandering in Missoula that it was time for me to stop riding for a bit.
I remember all of the people who stopped to talk with me as I cycled through or stopped in their towns.
I remember the other touring cyclists I met on the road - and I've even heard from a couple of them since I returned home.
I remember being blown away by Chuck in Yellowstone National Park when he walked up to me and asked "Are you Denise?" - he recognized me from reading this journal!
I remember the magic of my trip...

Realizations about touring...

Long trips are for the overall experience. They encompass drop-dead beautiful places, and more ordinary places. They allow exploration at a slow or reasonable pace.
Shorter trips are worth taking too, and they can be planned to spend the entire time in drop-dead beautiful places.
Traveling alone does not mean being lonely.
Traveling with an open mind and attitude on a loaded touring bike opens many doors.
I'm still addicted to touring by bicycle! And if I can't be out there myself, I can enjoy trips vicariously by following along in other cyclist's journals. I'll keep writing about my trips, and if you're traveling on your bike I hope you'll contribute too for all of us who want to be on the road with you...

Plans are made to be changed, aren't they?

2002-11-11T20:45:00.012-05:00

...my actual route

I couldn't just stick to my plans, now could I?

I did follow my planned route for a good part of the trip, but there were sections where my original plans just didn't fit with what I felt like doing at the time. So - with help from state road maps, and suggestions from faithful readers of my journal - I changed my plans.

Map & information sources

Adventure Cycling
Rubel Bike Maps for cycling in Massachusetts)
Automobile Association of America, AAA
State tourism / department of transportation maps: I picked these up at visitor centers as I entered each state. On other trips I've had good luck with requesting the maps from the state's web sites.
US National Park Service, for information on Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks
Hostelling International USA for hostels along my route.

My actual route From my house in North Andover to Plum Island and back
I traveled via back roads, using Rubel's Bike Map of the North Shore (Boston)

From North Andover to Brattleboro, VT
Route 114 to Route 110 to Route 113 to Route 119

From Brattleboro, VT to Ticonderoga, NY
Route 30, then I followed the signs to the ferry to New York

New York and Ohio
Adventure Cycling Northern Tier, sections 10, and 9: Ticonderoga, NY to Monroeville, IN

Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri

US 24 through most of Indiana & Illinois
Adventure Cycling Great Rivers South from Quincy IL to Hannibal, MO
Route 61 from Hannibal, MO to Bowling Green, MO
Route 54 from Bowling Green to the intersection with route 73
Route 73 south to Route 32
Route 32 south to Route 65
Route 65 south to join with the Transamerica route in Fair Grove, MO
Adventure Cycling Transam section 9 to Girard, KS

Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana
Adventure Cycling Transam sections 8, 7, 6, 5, 4: Girard, KS to Missoula, MTWith 2 deviations from the Transam route:

US 50 from Pueblo to Canon City
CO I-15 North to I-90 West from Dillon to Missoula, MT

Driving from Missoula, MT to Eugene, OR

I-90 West across Idaho and into Washington
US 395 south to Tri-Cities (Richland, Pasco, Kennewick) WA
I-82 South into Oregon
I-84 West along the Columbia River Gorge
I-205 South to I-5
I-5 South to Eugene, OR

For folks looking for more alternate routes...
Larry Mitchell also gave me some suggestions from his trip in 2001. He and his wife rode state route 28 through Indiana. They used US 136 on the eastern side of Illinois, and US 24 on the western side of Illinois. Their routes ran parallel to mine, just a bit further south.

And a thank you too...

2002-09-13T09:22:00.002-04:00

As I look back on my trip, I just want to say thank you to a few people:

To my family and friends, for enjoying my trip along with me even though some of you would have preferred that I stayed home!

To my neighbors, for looking after my place and picking up my mail!

To all the new friends I met on the road, for taking time out of your day to chat with me, and for supplying me with conversation, water, ice, rides, etc.

To all the folks I met through crazyguyonabike.com, for reading my journal, sharing my experience, and providing feedback.

To the folks at Bike Friday, who were happy to lend me support along the way.

It's been a fabulous experience, and I'm glad that you all came along with me. Some of you told me you were riding along in my trailer or on my shoulder, in spirit at least. I was happy to have your good thoughts along with me, and I hope that you'll join me again in the future!

What's next?

2002-09-12T09:14:00.000-04:00

More biking, of course!

Although I'd love to say I'll be doing another long trip next year, it's likely that won't be possible. I'm headed back to work soon, and it's just not feasible to get several months off while working at a full-time job - especially when the company is a start-up. But - I do plan to continue touring, probably with one- to four-week trips, and I'll do another long trip when it becomes possible. My fellow crazyguyonabike.com authors have shown me that short trips can be fun too!

I actually thought I'd be doing another short tour before I start my new job - but although I have the time to do one, I've found that I'm a bit burnt out on travel for now. I was planning a 4 to 5 day trip in Maine, but when it came time to get myself on the road I found that I'm at a stage where I prefer to be in my own bed at night. But - I still want to do some riding along the coast of Maine, so I plan to do that in a couple of day trips. Maybe I'll write it up and post it as a photo journal, even though in the strictest sense it's not a tour!

Looking to the future though - there are quite a few places I'd like to visit on my bike. I want to spend more time wandering in the United States. I still have 5 states I haven't managed to set foot in yet, and it's quite possible that they will be the target for a future bike trip. I'd also (always) like to go back to Hawaii. I did a supported tour on the Big Island several years ago, and I'd love to repeat that as a self-supported tour, staying in B&Bs instead of the hotels I stayed in the last time. And I never seem to get enough of national parks, so that gives me quite a list of places to visit or re-visit. Other possibilities include Ireland, New Zealand, Canada (Vancouver Island and Nova Scotia are just two of the places I'd like to get to in Canada), repeat trips to some of our national parks, and who knows where else! I've had so much fun with my journal that I'm sure I'll be writing journals for my future trips, so keep an eye on my travel stories gallery or my blog for more on my trips.

Coastal Maine - a possible location for a future bike trip

Repeating a trip to the Big Island (Hawaii) is always a possibility --- but look at that wind!

An amazing experience

2002-09-11T09:12:00.004-04:00

Things I learned (and re-learned)

What an amazing experience! At times it almost felt like I was living in a dream world. I guess you could call it that, because I'd been dreaming of taking a trip like this one for a long time. Living my dream was a good way to spend the summer, and I'd encourage any of you who have a dream like mine (bicycling or otherwise) to follow your dream where it leads you.

As I talked to people along the road, many of them told me that I was brave, or that they couldn't do a trip like mine. I never felt like I was doing something that required being brave - I was just following my heart!

My trip had both high and low points, and I wouldn't give any of them up. It confirmed my belief that most people are good - in spite of the warnings I kept getting from people about the 'next' town. It also enhanced my desire to continue traveling by bicycle. After 2 ½ months on the road, I'm still addicted to bicycle touring.

When I started out, I planned to use Adventure Cycling maps for most of my trip. That plan changed when I realized how far north the Northern Tier route took me on my way to Iowa, and how far south the Transamerica route really was. I abandoned my plans, and found my own way across Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, joining the Transamerica route in southwestern (instead of southeastern) Missouri. This is the first self-contained tour I've done where I haven't depended on cycling maps for the entire trip - and it feels good to have moved on to other sources of routes. I like the Adventure Cycling maps because they include information on grocery stores, motels, and campgrounds. But - I learned that I can find my own way too. I spent time pouring over road maps, talked to locals, and even got some suggestions from my faithful journal readers. All sources of information were welcome, and all were used. The thing that made me the most nervous about striking out on my own was that I didn't know where the next food or shelter would be. I found that I could rely on locals for information like that - people generally know which of the next towns on the road have hotels, campgrounds, and food. What I didn't rely on locals for was information on the road. If they weren't cyclists, they tended to think that the road ahead was flat!

One of the things I knew from previous trips is that sometimes the Adventure Cycling route follows roads that are a bit too desolate for me - or routes that require too much attention and too many turns when there is a more straightforward road. This was true on this trip too. Once I hit Ohio I started carrying state road maps in addition to my Adventure Cycling maps. They allowed me to find occasional alternate routes. They also gave me a better sense of where I was, since the Adventure Cycling maps only cover a small distance on either side of the actual route. It was good to have both sets of maps. I picked up AAA maps a couple of times enroute, and I sent the maps home as I finished with them, so I was never carrying a full set of road maps + biking maps.

I feel incredibly lucky that I came home healthy and happy, and only 5 pounds lighter than when I started. I was really conscious of what (and how much) I was eating because I knew that in order to stay healthy I had to maintain my weight. Drinking lots of Gatorade and eating quantities of nuts (peanuts, cashews, and walnuts) helped me stay hydrated, fight off heat-related problems, and keep up my weight. I'd never used Gatorade like this before, and I found that it really helped. On those hot, hot days back in Kansas I could easily go through 6 to 8 20-ounce bottles of Gatorade in addition to my water. Wow! I guess it helped, and I'll continue to go down the Gatorade and nuts path. That's not to say that I didn't eat other things too - I just think those two items made a big contribution to keeping me healthy. And of course I was eating unhealthy things too. Somehow muffins and pastries tasted better than energy bars, and ice cream was a staple during those hot, hot weeks... I have to admit that I haven't totally figured out food and touring yet. I was trying to be careful, but I'd still have occasional days where I either didn't eat enough or didn't get enough of the right nutrients. I usually paid for that error the next day. One of my goals for my next trip is not to have any insufficient food days!

Another side effect of doing all of that riding along with hauling my gear is that my legs are absolutely solid muscle! Although I'm still a slow hill climber (one of the cyclists I met along the way told me that all touring cyclists are slow hill climbers!), I can pedal up hills more easily than I could when I started out. And of course that's a welcome change.

Wait, what about being exhausted? You're right, I came home tired too! It took me a while to get into the habit of taking regular rest days. I learned that taking one day a week wasn't always enough - especially if I used that one day to run errands. Since my bike was my only means of transportation (other than my feet, of course), I had a habit of riding on my days off, or running so many errands that I didn't get a rest. It's funny to think about, because this trip was a vacation. The physical exertion of riding 50 to 80 miles a day for weeks on end made it work too, and by the end of the trip I realized that I needed a vacation from my vacation. It wasn't until I hit Colorado that I started taking more than one rest day at a time. I should have figured that out earlier And of course the reason I took the second rest day in Pueblo was that I didn't get any rest at all on my first rest day! The next time I take an extended trip like this one I will plan for some 'vacation' time in the middle of the trip. I think that taking a week off in the middle of the trip would have been a smart thing to do. But - I didn't want to sit in a hotel room or a campground for a week. I need to find someplace where I'd be happy to sit still and relax for multiple days. What I plan to do before my next long trip is to find a place that interests me in the middle of the trip, then research places to stay before I leave home. I may look into becoming a Servas traveler as suggested by a cyclist I met from the Netherlands. He said that he had arranged a home stay about every 10 days on his trip. Or I may look into the Warm Showers List, contact someone in the local bike club, or try to find a reasonable place to stay by researching the area before I leave home. I don't want to lock myself into dates ahead of time, because that changes the spontaneity of the trip - but having the information in hand would be helpful. I could have happily spent days in the Old Faithful area of Yellowstone National Park just walking and watching the geysers (and people watching too). Unfortunately, spending days there would have meant getting reservations way in advance! I was lucky to get a one-night reservation at the Old Faithful Inn - and I loved the time I spent there. It just felt right

This trip solidified my trust in my own instincts for both simple and not so simple things. When I started feeling unhappy about my planned route, my instincts told me to change my plans. There wasn't anything magic about my initial route, and my new route served me quite well. When my instincts told me in Montana that it was time to come home - that was the right thing for me to do. (And that instinct or feeling had been building for a while; I just didn't pay attention at first.) I loved my trip, and I came home very happy with what I had accomplished. I didn't quite hit the Pacific Coast, but I found that I didn't need to get there to feel that I'd accomplished my goal of riding cross country.

I had a fabulous summer. I loved experiencing the vastness of our country, I loved meeting and talking to people along the way, and I loved sharing my experiences with friends, family and strangers via my journal. The feedback and encouragement that I received from everyone who followed me became an important part of my trip. As I mentioned in my journal entry the day I arrived at Old Faithful, Chuck just absolutely blew me away by recognizing me from my journal photos - and that experience just enhanced the fun!

I'm left with a love of touring by bicycle, and with the conviction that I can reach any goals that I strive for. I headed out on my trip with an open mind and the desire to meet new people and see new things and I came home happy with my experience. Maybe I'll see some of you out there on the road some day!

After thoughts on gear

2002-09-09T20:50:00.001-04:00

...any way to lighten the load?

I kept looking through my stuff all summer, looking for more items to send home. I found a few, and as you'll see in my gear list I did send things home. Well, some things I sent home, and others I sent to my parents because I figured they'd send them back in a hurry if I changed my mind!

The one area that really sticks out is camping gear. When I started this trip I intended to camp, but that went away pretty quickly. I did send my cooking gear home, but I kept (and needed to keep) the tent, sleeping bag, and pad. My stuff is pretty new since I bought it for my first solo biking trip in 1998, but even camping gear has changed over the past few years. Before I do another trip like this one, I'll probably take a look at the latest camping gear to see if I can shave off some pounds. My sleeping bag is pretty light at 2 pounds 10 ounces, but I just found a bag that weighs 1 pound 5 ounces. My tent is good for a 2-man tent, but there are solo tents that weigh less. Ideally the next time I will either make more use of the camping gear or I will leave it home all together. It really depends on where I am touring.

Then there are the bicycle supplies. I started out with spare cables and spare brake pads, both of which I sent home. I also had a spare tire for both the bike and the trailer, and spare tubes. I wasn't comfortable sending the spare tires home. Both are odd sizes, and not something I could easily pick up in a bike shop. It's not likely that I'd need to replace a tire - more likely that I'd need tubes. But I've had a tire sliced by glass on a previous trip, so the spares made me happy. As for the tubes - maybe 4 spare tubes for the bike was a bit much. I had 3 flats, and was able to patch the tubes in two of the instances. The 3rd involved the valve stem separating from the tube - not something I could fix. I probably could drop down to 2 (that would probably make me nervous) or 3 (probably a realistic number!) spare tubes for the bike and have more shipped to me as needed.

Let's see, what about clothes? Believe it or not, I used all of the layers that I had with me. If I were on a shorter trip in a region with more consistent weather, I might have been able to leave some of the cold weather layers behind. On this trip, I needed them - so it was worth the weight. I was also happy to have 2 sets of off-the-bike clothing with me. My reason for carrying 2 pairs of shorts and 2 shirts was to have something to wear when I do the laundry. Even though I did most of the laundry a little at a time by hand, I still used the extra set for laundry days. Since I was using mostly synthetics (cool max, etc.), these clothes didn't contribute too much to the overall load.

I got used to the load very quickly, but it is always nice to lighten things up a bit!

The best

2002-09-06T09:08:00.005-04:00

Bike shops, food, places to stay

Keep in mind that this page was written on September 6, 2002. The information was good as of then, but if you are reading this many years after my trip, the places I liked may or may not still exist. I'd encourage you to check...

I've gathered the names of a few restaurants, hotels, and bike shops that I frequented on my trip. These are what I consider to be the best, and I'd highly recommend them as stops to others who bike through the same towns as I did.

The best bike shops -
These shops welcomed me and my purple Air Glide. They provided great service, route suggestions (always welcome from local cyclists!), and conversation.

Great Divide Ski, Bike, & Hike, Pueblo, CO
Missoula Bicycle Works, Missoula, MT
Harley's Bicycles, Hutchinson, KS
Belmont Wheelworks, Belmont, MA - I have to include my (somewhat) local bike shop in my "best" list. These folks have always provided great support for supplies, cycling clothes, advice, and of course they have a fabulous staff of mechanics. I spent a bit of time in there before I took off, and my purple bike spent some time there too getting its pre-trip tune up.

Great pie -
The search for great pie continued across the country.

Pitkin's Restaurant, Schroon Lake, NY - the best banana cream pie
Cowboy Café, Dubois, WY - great cherry almond crunch pie, best selection

The best cookies

Fly by Night Cookie Company, Fair Haven, NY - Don't miss this one! It's off on a side road (not too far). Self-service, with tables and shelves loaded with a huge assortment of cookies and a jar to leave your payment in. I had a hard time choosing - I could have bought the whole place! I just discovered that they have a one-page web site, and it says to ask about their cookie mailing service. Hmmm... I could have their wonderful cookies every day!

The best cinnamon rolls

Ennis Café, Ennis, MT - _I had pancakes for breakfast and and ordered a cinnamon roll to go, a very good afternoon snack. Instead of putting the glaze on the roll (which would have turned into a gooey mess) they gave me a little tub of maple glaze that I could dip the roll into. Yum!

The best bakery

Le Petite Outre, Missoula, MT - great scones, shortbread, & bread

Great food

Tuscato, Frisco, CO - unbelievable eggplant parmesan
Tipu's, Missoula, MT - Indian food to die for
Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park, WY - great breakfast buffet
Brown Bag Gourmet Deli, Poultney, VT - chicken parmesan pizza for lunch!

Great places to stay

Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park, WY - a fabulous old lodge
Hotel Ordway, Ordway, CO - charming, and inexpensive!
Shamrock Motel, Long Lake, NY - the best of the Mom & Pop places with the sweetest owners. They made sure I had heat in the room on a cold, rainy day, and told me to call the next day (and offered a ride) if I ran into trouble on the road

If you want to stay at one of the lodges at Old Faithful, keep calling central reservations. They recommend that you make reservations there 9 to 12 months in advance, but that's not possible when you're touring by bicycle. Or at least it's not possible for me - way too far in advance to know where I'd be on any given day. I called 2 days in advance, and was told that everything was full. There wasn't a waiting list, but the person I spoke to on the phone said that they have cancellations all the time. When I called back in a couple of hours I was lucky enough to get a room at the inn. So - keep trying!

Home again

2002-08-29T09:05:00.002-04:00

North Andover, MA

It's hard to believe I've been home for a week already. The days of my trip seemed to blend together, and the days I've spent at home are doing the same thing. Walking into my condo after 2 1/2 months away definitely felt odd, but it felt like home too. I was pretty wacked from the overnight flight, so the first thing I did was throw my clothes into the washing machine and take a nap. And yes, I did set the alarm clock. I figured if I slept more than a couple of hours that I'd never get adjusted to Eastern time, but I knew if I didn't have a couple of hours of sleep that I wasn't going to function too well. And it felt great to be sleeping in my own bed. I have an air mattress (Select Comfort), so sleeping in a hotel bed doesn't feel much better than sleeping on the ground in my tent when I compare it to sleeping in my own bed!

After my nap I headed to one of the local farm markets to pick up some fresh produce. Ever since I got home I've been eating my favorite late summer foods - tomato sandwiches, fresh corn, the still wonderful summer fruits, and my own version of fruit smoothies. You can get smoothies on the road, but I use lots of fruit and plain yogurt in mine, and the smoothies you tend to find for sale usually include ice cream or frozen yogurt - it's just not the same. (Notice that I'm still focused on food!)

I'm definitely enjoying the simple things in life at home - my own bed, access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and good bread. It's been an adjustment to realize that I can wear different clothes every day if I want to, and I can use the washer and dryer at will - no more washing out my cycling clothes every night! I'm also enjoying changing my daily routine. For 2 1/2 months, I rode my bike all day, found a place to stay, took a shower, washed my clothes, got myself some food, wrote my journal entry, uploaded it, and went to sleep. Wow. That was a good routine, a lot of fun, but it's good to be home again.

I came home with the same enthusiasm for cycling that I started with. I did take a few days off, but I've been back on the road on my skinny-tire road bike. As usual, after riding a touring bike for a long time the road bike felt funny - but I'm definitely used to it again. I've been focusing on short rides so far since I'm still trying to catch up on sleep. It took me quite a while to get my body back on this time zone, but I hope I'm finally there. I've been riding without my camera for the first time in almost 3 months. I figured I didn't need it with me, but of course I was wrong. Yesterday I rode by a house with several goats in the yard, one of which was trying to climb the fence. That would have been a great picture!

It was a great trip, and a great experience, and I'm sure I'll do it again.

Homeward bound... sad and glad

2002-08-20T09:02:00.005-04:00

Eugene, OR to Boston, MA

Today is both a sad and a glad day. I'm sad to be finished, but I'm glad to be going home. And believe it or not, I'm looking forward to my next biking journey. I'm still convinced that traveling by bicycle is one of the best ways to see places and things.

I had breakfast at the hotel - included in the room rate because I was using a AAA discount. That struck me as odd but nice; in addition to the normal room discount, a full breakfast was included. The waitress got my order a bit confused - a good confused since I'd ordered cereal with fresh berries and she brought me a bowl of cereal and a big bowl of berries. That was good. Berries are one of the things I've missed this summer - they don't tend to keep real well when I stash them in a pannier in the heat! Cherries do better in those conditions, and I bought them whenever I could.

I did a little tiny bit of riding around Eugene, and then headed over to Bike Friday to drop off the bike. I spent some time there talking, and looking at bikes (what else!). And I met a couple from Vancouver who were picking up their Twin Air tandem. That's one hot bike. I planned to walk back to the hotel - about 3 ½ miles. As I was about to leave, the folks at Bike Friday offered me a ride, but I told them I thought I needed the exercise. Yeah, I know, I've been getting a maniac's amount of exercise for the past 2 ½ months, but I figured my body would appreciate the walk - especially since I'm going to be sitting on a plane all night!

Back to the hotel to shower and check out. It felt like someone put lead weights in the trailer / suitcase. The trailer frame is in there along with everything that was there before except for my electronic toys. I definitely didn't want to risk them in the checked baggage. So the trailer really should weigh about the same as it has all during my trip. It sure feels heavier though! Oh well, this time I don't have to haul it around.

I headed out for lunch, a visit to the Tuesday farmer's market, and a walking tour of the East Skinner Butte area. There were some pretty interesting old houses to look at. Then I went to the Park Street Café - a coffee house and dessert bar that opened about 2 weeks ago. I treated myself to a cup of coffee and a piece of flourless chocolate torte. Yum! I'm either going to have to keep riding a lot when I get home or I'm going to have to stop eating like this. It's likely that I'll compromise and continue to do both - but maybe in more moderation.

It was a really funny weather day today - cloudy, with rain forecast. And it did rain, but only in spurts. I was walking down Willamette St. when it started to rain the first time. It was pretty light, so I just kept on walking (instead of ducking into a store or restaurant to keep dry). Later - on the way to the airport - it poured. But it poured for a minute in bright sunshine, then stopped. Here's hoping that there was some heavy and sustained rain over the big Oregon fires. I'm sure the firefighters could use some help from Mother Nature at this point in time.

I'm traveling home on a one-way ticket, so I figured I'd be searched at the airport. What I didn't figure was that I'd be searched twice, both times in Eugene. I had all of my gadgets in a daypack, and as the security guard said, it looked very dense in the X-ray equipment. So they searched it when I went through security, and then I was chosen (ahead of time, and probably because of the one-way ticket) for screening at the gate. Not a problem though - I didn't have anything with me that would alarm anyone.

I had a 3-hour layover in San Francisco, not long enough to go anywhere, but plenty of time to walk through the airport, and plenty of time to get some dinner. Of course I was ready to eat again!

I had to try a phone / monitor at SFO to check email. It was supposedly a high speed connection, but it seemed to be the same speed as my dialup connection on the Jornada. It had a touch screen with keyboard, and no mouse. I prefer to use the Jornada, but for trips when I'm not carrying it this phone/monitor/Internet connection is pretty handy. Later I noticed that all of the regular pay phones in the terminal both electrical outlets and data ports. Now that was cool! The world is getting more connected every day Too bad the little towns don't have phones like that - but that will probably be a long time coming.

After being on the road and traveling by human power for the last 2 ½ months, the airports really were culture shock for me. There were many more people in one place than I've seen in a long time, and no one was talking to anyone that they didn't know. I'm so used to talking to total strangers at this point that it seems really weird to see all of these people in their own worlds. I think I prefer the biking world, but a plane was definitely a quicker way to get home. Let's see, it took me 10+ weeks to get out here, and it will take me 10+ hours (including layover time) to get home. What a change!

Seeking out ducks

2002-08-19T08:58:00.009-04:00

Eugene, OR

And yet another nice day...

I started with hazelnut pancakes for breakfast. That's some good solid energy for the day. It was time to find a bookstore to stock up on reading materials for the flight home. On the way to the bookstore I saw the Lane County Visitor's bureau, so I stopped to ask about the ducks and to pick up some information about Eugene. The ducks are a logical symbol for this town because the University of Oregon teams are called the ducks. The ducks I've seen around time appear to be tied to some fundraisers. The blow-up rubber duck I saw yesterday is a promotion for a rubber duck race down the river to raise money for a charity. I remember when there was one of those in Boston - pretty funny. The other ducks all start with the same form and are then decorated by artists. The women in the visitor's center said that they thought some of the ducks were going to be sold or auctioned off with the proceeds going to charity.

I headed over to Bike Friday for a visit after I called there for directions to the bike path. I knew they are right on one of the bike paths, but I couldn't remember which street led to the right path. It was easy to find once I had the right street name. It was fun to meet the folks I've been talking to on the phone. Thanks to all for interrupting their busy day to chat with me!

I went for a ride along the Mackenzie River this afternoon - just me and the bike, no trailer. That was a treat. And I guess that's a treat I'll be getting used to again, since most of my riding once I get home will be without gear. I say most, because I'm actually thinking of doing some short trips in New England (probably Maine) after I rest up for a bit. I'll have to see how the weather holds up, but in a typical fall at least September is usually a reasonable riding month. When I told my mother that I might be doing some short trips, the first thing she asked me is if I'd be writing a journal. I told her yes - that made her happy.

Back to the hotel room, time to prepare to fly... I'm not taking the bike home with me, and that feels really odd. It's the first trip in a long time where I don't have to pack a bicycle. I'll be leaving it at Bike Friday so they can fix the braze-on for the trailer hitch. They'll ship it back to me after it's done. I figured I'd need to buy a big duffle bag for the stuff that was in the trailer, but since I'm not taking the the bike with me I can use the trailer suitcase for my clothes and other gear. It's not quite big enough with the addition of the trailer frame, the trailer wheels, and the two panniers I have with me, so I headed over to REI with a pannier and trailer wheel so I could buy a duffle bag that was about the right side. It's a good thing I took the stuff with me because I wouldn't have guessed that a medium sized duffle would be big enough, but it was. And I can also fit my helmet in it, so I don't have to carry it with me on the plane.

I needed a little help to get the trailer wheels off. I had them attached with cotter pins that had to be un-bent to release them, and my little baby pair of pliers couldn't quite do the job. I hauled the trailer down to the hotel lobby, and one of the maintenance guys helped me with a full-sized pliers. We talked for a bit about my trip, and he told me that he just bought an old Schwinn 3-wheeler for his mother. I'd love to see that bike!

There is still stuff all over my hotel room, but it won't take much to finish packing. It's so much easier to pack to go home - no decisions to be made about what to take!

I'll have most of the day tomorrow here in Eugene. I have a 5:30 PM flight to San Francisco, then an overnight flight home.

Driving, driving...

2002-08-18T08:54:00.008-04:00

The Dalles to Eugene, OR

Driving, driving. Did you know that many more interesting things happen when traveling by bicycle than by car? It was a pretty uneventful day today. I did talk with a family at breakfast about my trip. The mom was pretty interested. They were on their way to Lake Chelan in Washington for a week's vacation. I've heard that it is really beautiful there. Then I hit the road and continued heading east through the Columbia River Gorge. I stopped at Hood River to check out the town. It appeared to be a windsurfers hangout. Then I drove a short way up the road heading to Mount Hood. I had to see if I could get a picture of it. I did, both with and without the digital zoom on the camera. When I look at the camera's LCD, the pictures without the digital zoom show the mountain fading into the sky. It will be interesting to see if they are decent pictures when I look at them on a larger screen.

As I left Hood River I noticed another high Cascade peak to the north in Washington. I don't know which mountain that was - but maybe one of my Portland readers (Greg?) can tell me which mountain that is! (8/19: Thanks Greg for filling in the mountain's name for me. That was Mount Adams that I saw.

I had one surprising cyclist sighting today. As I was heading west on I-84, I saw a couple on a tandem heading east on the westbound shoulder of the road. It is OK to ride a bike on I-84, but I was shocked that they were riding against traffic. That's definitely not acting like a vehicle, which is what the vehicle code in all 50 states calls for when you're riding a bike - but even more than that, it's scary and dangerous. Riding against traffic on a little road freaks me out. On an interstate it would be even worse...

It was another day of beautiful scenery. The Columbia River Gorge became greener as more trees appeared on the sides of the valley. Then as I got close to Portland and turned south I was driving in a flat area with mountains visible both to the east and the west.

When I arrived in Eugene I headed for the airport to return the rental car. Forgot to mention yesterday that Hertz tried to give me a Lincoln Town Car. I had made a reservation for a full-sized car to be sure that everything would fit in the car - but the Lincoln was not something I wanted to drive. Too big, too much like a boat, and definitely not my style! They only had one other car that they would release for a one-day rental, a Mazda classified as a mid-sized car. Luckily everything fit! I attracted a bit of attention this afternoon when I pulled the folded bike out of the trunk and put it back into it's real bicycle shape. That's a good magic act. I took a look at the map of Eugene, and then confirmed that the road that I thought I should take was the right one. I had a nice ride into town with a bit of a push from a tailwind.

I rode past a number of hotels, then decided that I wasn't in the mood for the funky places, so I splurged and checked into the Hilton downtown. I think that the fact that I don't want to deal with the little hotels any more is wrapped up in my decision to be done...

I walked around, then had a good dinner at a restaurant that bills itself as having Indian and Greek food. Luckily I really wanted Greek food because Sunday nights the menu is Greek only.

I'll be in Eugene for the next two days, and I'll be flying home on a red-eye Tuesday night. Wow.

The miles are just flying by

2002-08-17T08:49:00.008-04:00

Missoula, MT to The Dalles, OR - via Idaho and Washington

I'm really blown away by the amount of distance it's possible to cover when you're in a vehicle powered by fossil fuel rather than by good honest muscle, sweat, and food. I did what for me is marathon driving today. I covered 7 miles on the bike, and 463 in the car. I considered following my planned cycling route, but I opted for the interstates because I think it's easier driving. I've been in four states today - the western edge of Montana, the panhandle of Idaho, the southeast corner of Washington, and northern Oregon. Those are just political boundaries, but there were physical changes too. Montana hills (mountains) and wide valleys followed me to the Idaho border - truly "big sky" country. Lookout Pass marked the transition from Montana to Idaho, with heavily forested steep hills and a narrow valley. It stayed green through Idaho but changed to brown as I passed into eastern Washington. The parts of Washington and Oregon that I passed through today were both very brown and dry. There were many fields that had been harvested and replowed - and there were whirlwinds of dust over some of them. It looked more like the dustbowl than the part of western Kansas and eastern Colorado that bears that name. There was even one area in Washington where some of the fields looked and smelled like they had been burned. It was a small area that didn't seem to be a "natural" fire. The scenery kept changing, and it was all gorgeous.

I ended the day driving to the west along the Columbia River. This is someplace I've wanted to see for a while so there's something good that comes of my change in route. Of course I'm not riding it - but that's a good thing today. I got out of the car at one point, and I could barely open the door against the wind. It was very difficult to stand up too. I think if I'd been riding west I would have been going backwards. I've got to hand it to Greg O'Shea for riding along this river against the wind - see his "Around Mt. Hood" journal for the details.

I was driving south on US 395 when I saw a sign for fresh cherries, so of course I had to stop. It was a funky market - they had fresh local produce, chocolate, and tourist stuff. I bought a pound of Rainier cherries - a real treat - and a few pieces of dark chocolate covered raspberry jellies. That was a good rest stop!

Toward the end of the day Mount Hood was just hanging in the sky in front of me. It is absolutely beautiful. I think the mountains of the Cascades like to play photo hide & seek. It was really hazy, and the mountain just blended in with the sky - not good picture-taking conditions. Maybe I'll get a shot tomorrow, but maybe not!

I've only got another 200 miles to drive tomorrow, so I should be able to get in a bit of wandering on my bike...

Decisions, decisions - I think it's time to head home

2002-08-16T08:48:00.002-04:00

Missoula, MT

Today was another rest day, but it was also a big decision day for me. I think this decision has been coming for a number of days. Staying in Missoula and enjoying the things (cafes, bookstores, parks, people) you can find in a decent-sized city allowed me to realize that I'm really ready to go home. I spent some time looking at my cycling maps this morning. I'm so close to the coast, and yet so far.

There were a lot of things that went into my decision to stop riding. It's been hard to keep up my energy stores, even though I'm in great shape from the 3000 miles I've put in on the bike since June 10th. But beyond that, I realized today that I'm done mentally and I don't have the desire to keep riding - especially through little towns with little services. And I'm looking forward to getting back to having easy access to wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables and to good bread - all things that are hard to come by in little towns.

I guess 10 weeks away from home is enough for me for now. I could continue, but I don't want to risk destroying my love for cycling and for touring. If I stop now I know I'll be ready to do this again in the future!

I still want to visit the folks at Bike Friday, so I'm going to drive from Missoula to Eugene, Oregon, and I'll fly home from there. I plan to continue writing journal entries until I get home, and I'm sure I'll have some final words to add after I get home next week. Plus, I do plan to upload some more pictures once I get to a faster Internet connection! So keep checking in for the end of my trek...

This has been a great trip so far, and I want to keep it that way!

Relaxation and good food

2002-08-15T08:45:00.009-04:00

Missoula, MT

I really like Steve Hackenburg's "hitch-biking" term (from his guestbook entry). That's much better than hitchhiking!

I had a quiet and enjoyable day today. I started by stopping by Adventure Cycling to say hello and get a quick tour of the operation. They have a cyclists lounge complete with complementary ice cream and soft drinks, along with Internet access. I wanted to thank Paul Adkins in person for putting a link to my journal on the Adventure Cycling web site. He was on vacation, so I wasn't able to say thank you in person - but I did try Paul! Hope your vacation is wonderful.

I rode out to REI to replace my travel wallet which was starting to self-destruct, and I spent some time browsing through bookstores. Then I came back to the hotel to rest the bike and to change from biking shoes and clothes to wandering around clothes. I headed to a cafe for lunch where I had a delicious hummus and veggie sandwich. Then I walked around the downtown area and headed to the river to visit Missoula's carousel. It's a beautiful carousel that is made up of both restored and new components. I found it interesting that there were more adults riding it than kids. A ride on the carousel was tempting, but I'd probably turn green and puke from going up and down and around in circles - the curse of being prone to motion sickness! I just wasn't willing to chance it, but I did stay there and watch for a while.

After the carousel I did some walking through the parks by the river, then sat and read a book for a while.

I found the wonderful Le Petite Outre bakery again and picked up a mid-afternoon treat. I visited the bakery originally on my 1998 trip, and I was hoping I could find it again. If you ever get to Missoula - they have wonderful shortbread and scones.

I had a fantastic dinner at Tipu's. They told me it is the only Indian restaurant in Montana, and it is an excellent one. Dinner tonight tied the dinner in Frisco for the best of the trip.

I really enjoyed being in a decent sized and nice town today. Someone I was talking to during the week heard I was planning to stop in Missoula and tried to talk me out of it. I didn't let them because I'd been here before and I knew it was a nice place. In fact, I think I could live here. Well, at least in the summer - I don't know how bad the winters are here. But that's not a decision for right now...

Taking the path of least resistance

2002-08-14T08:37:00.006-04:00

Dillon to Missoula, MT

I had one of those low energy days today, and my knees were a bit cranky. It was hard to get moving this morning, and I wasn't looking forward to the two passes today and one tomorrow that were on my route. I figured I had two options - ride my planned route, or take the interstate up to Butte and then west to Missoula. Either way it would take me 3 days of cycling. Of course if I was planning to go to Butte it would have been more efficient to head up there yesterday instead of riding southwest to Dillon. No matter, it was a beautiful ride! The planned route had 2 days of serious hills on back roads, and the interstate route had one day of serious hills. What to do...

I had breakfast, thought about my ride for the day, and still didn't decide. It was not only a low energy morning, it was a wishy-washy one too! I headed to the Chamber of Commerce in Dillon to see if it is legal to ride a bike on the interstates here. I thought it was, but I wanted to make sure. Judy - the director of the C of C didn't know, but she called the Montana Department of Transportation for me. The answer she got was that bicycles are allowed on all federal and state funded highways in the state, including the interstates. I finally decided it was going to be an interstate day, so I headed north on I15. ( I told you a while ago that I'm dangerous with a road map in my hands...) The big plus of the interstate is that it has a really wide paved shoulder with a nice road surface. That was a far cry from the road I was on yesterday afternoon. It seemed like there was less traffic on I15 than there was yesterday on the 2-lane roads, and the speed limit on the interstate was only 5 miles per hour higher than on the back roads - 75 vs. 70. I actually found the riding very pleasant, at least at the beginning of the day. Guess you've got to pick your interstates if you're going to cycle on them. This one was a gem!

It was another very windy day. The wind started out of the southwest, but switched pretty quickly to west. It would have been a headwind on my planned route, but since I headed north instead of west it was a cross-wind. I was fighting with the wind gusts, and almost got blown off of the road several times. I guess I was lucky that the wind was coming from the west. At least when I was blown around out of control it was toward the right edge of the road and not into traffic. It was still a bit freaky - there were a couple of times I stopped just before getting pushed into (and maybe over) the guard rail. Headwinds are hard, and I have to admit I was very happy not to be riding into that one today. But the strength of the cross-wind was pretty hard to deal with too.

Ignoring the wind, it was another drop-dead beautiful day. The mountains continued to be awesome, and ever-changing. I rode through a wide valley, across rivers, and up into the mountains. I was able to stop and talk with some llamas on a farm on the side of the road. I also saw a beautiful hawk sitting on a fence post right next to the road. It was another picture that wasn't meant to be. It's so hard to catch wildlife with my camera. I'm collecting two sets of pictures on my trip - one with the camera, and the other in my head.

It was interesting heading north out of Dillon on the interstate. Yesterday I road southwest into Dillon, and my route today passed some of the same territory, but I saw it from the other side. There were quite a few things that I recognized from the other side.

I had a good ride this morning in spite of my weird start, but by the afternoon the wind was really getting to me. The last straw was when I got a flat, in the rear tire of course. I pulled the panniers off of the bike, unhooked the trailer, and pulled out a spare tube and my tools. Then I decided I wasn't having fun, and I decided to try to get a ride to Butte. I figured I'd fix the tire after I found a place to stay - if I could get a ride. Maybe I should subtitle this trip as the "the summer I learned to hitchhike". (And no, I'm not going to start hitchhiking as a normal mode of transportation!)

I was lucky, and I did get a ride. Erv had delivered some kitchen cabinets to Jackson, WY, and was on his way back to his home British Columbia, east of Vancouver. Since he had already made his delivery, he had an empty truck, plenty of room for my bike and trailer. When he picked me up I asked for a lift to Butte, but when I found out he was going through Missoula I decided to go there. He would have dropped me anywhere - the Oregon Coast, Vancouver, Idaho, Washington. What a nice man! We spent a couple of hours talking and driving, and he told me about another cyclist (Scott from the UK) who he picked up a couple of weeks ago. Before he dropped me off he told me that yesterday as he was driving south he had the thought that if he saw a woman looking for a ride as he headed north that he would stop and give her a ride. Maybe it was fate that made me head north on I15 this morning, and made Erv drive home by the same route. I'll make sure to repay his favor by helping someone else in need.

The first thing that I noticed about Missoula is that there are bicycles all over. Wonderful!

At the end of the day I decided to continue my lazy day by having my flat changed at a bike shop. Missoula Bicycle charged so little for labor that it was more than worth my while to have them change the tire. And surprise, surprise, they even had a 20" tube with a presta valve. They said they try to stock many different tubes because of all of the touring cyclists who come through here. And although mine was the first Bike Friday that they'd seen, the front wheel of some recumbents is the same size as my tires.

I wanted to stay close to downtown, and my patience for the little mom & pop motels is growing thin. There were a lot of motels to choose from here, but as usual most of them are on the outskirts of town. There were only a couple of non-mom & pop hotels in the downtown area. I ended up at the Best Western. When I first saw the hotel I had a hard time figuring where the rooms were. The hotel looks like a faceless block. It turns out that the rooms are built around an outside central courtyard. The first floor houses the pool, and the rooms are all on the second and third floor overlooking the pool. It's an interesting design - it blocks the noise from the street, but I can still walk outside from my room. I checked out a couple of other hotels before I landed here, so it was after 6 when I checked in, and almost 7 when I went to look for some food. I asked the woman at the front desk where I could find a cafe, and she suggested the Hob Nob Cafe across the street. I never would have found the place on my own because the front of the place was a tacky bar, and the back was a really nice cafe. It just wasn't obvious from the street. The food was really good. I started with fresh gazpacho, good tomatoes and spiced really well.

In spite of the odd start, it turned out to be a really nice day.

I'm going to hang out here in Missoula tomorrow, and hopefully recharge my energy stores.

Another splendid Montana day

2002-08-13T08:34:00.006-04:00

Ennis to Dillon, MT

Did I tell you that Montana is beautiful? It is absolutely gorgeous. Of course it helps that the weather is cooperating, but who knows how long that will last. It seems like I'm either climbing, descending, or riding across wide valleys surrounded by mountains. The mountains are ever-present, but unfortunately it's been almost impossible to get good pictures of them. The light is pretty flat during the day, and the mountains seem to fade into the sky. To get really good pictures I think I'd need to be out during the edges of daylight, or I'd need to have a camera with a very wide angle lens and filters. I guess I'll have to use the pictures that I have to jog my memory. I'll keep taking more pictures. Who knows, some of them might even turn out to be good shots.

I went back to the Ennis Cafe this morning for breakfast - one pancake. I know that doesn't sound like enough, but I can't even finish one plate-sized pancake at one sitting! The cafe also had great cinnamon rolls, so I took one with me for my mid-morning snack. Plus, the ride today actually went through several towns, so I was able to stop at a bakery for a sandwich for lunch. That was a nice change from my usual energy bars.

I went through Virginia City and Nevada City - both restored mining towns. I thought I'd spend more time there, but once I got there I didn't feel like stopping. Typical Denise! Virginia City seemed to be mostly shops and inns. Nevada City looked more interesting because it had an area that was a restored town. I did stop to talk to people in both places. When I got to Virginia City I met a retired couple from Iowa who driving the Lewis & Clark trail in their RV. They are cyclists too. They told me that someday they'd like to take the train to LA and ride Route 66 back to Chicago. We talked for a while in Virginia City, and I saw them several other times during the day. In Nevada City I ran into the couple (Harley riders) who had the room next to mine last night. We had talked a bit last night, then talked some more in Nevada City this morning. They are from Texas, but said that they live on a houseboat in Branson, Missouri - in the heart of the Ozarks. They were in Sturgis for the Harley rally, and are spending some time wandering around Montana before they go home again.

Cyclist sighting for the day - I met a couple from Portland, OR who started riding in Florence. They took the Donna Ikenberry alternate from Missoula, so they had just come south from Butte. My route for the next 3 days is different from theirs. I asked if they'd had any problems with fires in Oregon, and they said that they haven't. That's good news. I also asked how long it took them to get here. They said the days are already blending together. They said they thought it took them between 3 and 4 weeks. That sounds about right to me - I was just trying to get their time for comparison purposes. It's really hard to figure out when I'll get to the coast just based on the remaining mileage. I guess it doesn't really matter when I get there...

Harley sightings have been getting fewer. The rally in Sturgis ended on Sunday, so most of the riders have probably disbursed. I did talk to a couple of guys yesterday after I arrived in Ennis. They were from Texas, and thought that the miles they were covering on their motorcycles was quite a challenge - at least until I told them I was riding my bicycle from coast to coast. I don't know - I can't imagine sitting on a motorcycle for hours every day. It seems like that would be a different kind of hard.

I passed a sheep farm this afternoon - the first of my trip. I stood and watched the sheep for a while. They were pretty funny. When I stopped on the side of the road it seemed that some of the sheep were watching me. And unlike the cows I've been talking to on the side of the road, the sheep were noisy. Baaa! Baaa! I do get a kick out of watching animals.

Wildlife sightings for the day: deer and hawks. The deer was pretty funny. It was standing in a field and was not too close to the road. It saw me coming and ran off, but of course it ran in the same direction that I was traveling - so it had to repeat its run several times.

Yesterday was a hard mental day. Today was much easier. It seems that there are low energy days and good energy days, and there are good emotional days and hard (bad) emotional days. I can't seem to control either, just have to take them as they come. I'm very glad that I have more good days than bad!

Unrelenting winds

2002-08-12T08:30:00.007-04:00

West Yellowstone, MT to Ennis, MT

Can you see the wind? The terrain today was mostly flat and downhill, but the headwind that I rode into for most of the day made it a bit harder than I'd expected. The saving grace was the overall loss of elevation. Wind or not, the day was absolutely beautiful. I started out in forested areas, then turned to ride down Hebgen Lake and Quake Lake. Quake Lake was created by an earthquake in August of 1959. What was the river is now a lake. The visitor center run by the US Forest Service was definitely worth a stop. After I passed Quake Lake, I followed the Madison River for the rest of the day. After a little bit of a climb I came out on top of a plateau. The river valley widened out, and the mountains reappeared. There was flat ranch land next to the road, with the Montana mountains in the distance. What a beautiful ride.

The weather continues to be cool. In fact, it started out kind of cold, but it warmed up into the low 70s. Not bad.

I did have a hard time getting going this morning, didn't get on the road until 8:30. And with the constant wind and the distance I covered, I didn't pull into Ennis until 5:30. That's definitely later than I like to finish the day. There was a "Welcome to Ennis" sign on the south side of town that said the population here is 660 people and 11,000,000 trout!

There were two nice looking motels as I entered Ennis - they had vacancies, but they were a mile out of town. I prefer to be able to walk to dinner, so I kept on going. There were 4 more motels - 2 right in town, and 2 on the northern edge. Only 1 had rooms available, so I ended up in a somewhat funky place. Funky, but clean, and in walking distance of the town, and the Ennis Cafe. That works. It is kind of amazing though that a town with a population of 600 has 6 motels in it - guess this really must be a fishing mecca.

I met two cyclists riding south today. The first was Gerhard from Germany. He started riding in San Francisco. He rode up the coast and picked up the Transam in Oregon. He'll stay on the Transam until somewhere in Colorado, then turn west to head back to San Francisco. It's funny - he noticed my bike, but what he commented on were the tires. I'm using Continental tires, which are made in Germany, as are my Ortlieb panniers. They both looked familiar to him!

A little later in the afternoon I met Jeff from Pennsylvania. He also started riding in San Francisco, and is heading back to his home in Pennsylvania. Jeff and I stood on the side of the road comparing notes for quite a while. It's interesting that we have both gone through some of the same thought processes and had some of the same issues. We've both had to stop being too hard on ourselves, and we've both had to do a better job of recognizing when we needed a rest day, and we've both had off and on energy problems. It was good to be able to compare notes, and to share the usual tips of places to stop along the way.

Wildlife sightings - I saw both osprey and a bald eagle today as I rode along Quake Lake. Very cool.

Communing with grizzlies and wolves

2002-08-11T08:01:00.004-04:00

West Yellowstone, MT

It's another sitting still day. I think I did myself in yesterday by not eating enough, so I decided to stay in West Yellowstone another day to sleep, soak in the hot tub, and eat! I got up and had breakfast, then went back to sleep until 10:30. What decadence! Then I found Jocee's Baking Company and picked up a blueberry scone for a mid-morning snack before I started wandering around.

Last night as I was about to fall asleep I thought I heard wolves. And it turns out that I did! The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center here in West Yellowstone houses grizzlies that were either orphaned too young to survive in the wild, problem bears that would have been destroyed if they weren't accepted here, and wolves that were born in captivity and can't be released in the wild. Apparently some behaviors are instinct, but hunting is something that is taught by the older animals. The center studies and cares for the animals and is open for the public to view them. They are focused on respect, and I heard one of the naturalists ask children to be quiet and not to unnecessarily disturb the wolves. They also participate in testing new bearproof containers (garbage cans). Obviously the containers that are opened or destroyed by the bears are not approved for use. I'm really glad that I stayed today so I had a chance to see these marvelous animals. And I knew that there had to be a good use for the digital zoom on my camera - it definitely helps with animal pictures (even though I know it's just manipulating the pixels).

I'm about to go soak in the hot tub.

Later this evening I'll probably go back to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center for a little while. The wolves sleep a lot during the day, and they are more active at night. I think I'd like to watch them play for a while.

Back on the bike tomorrow...

Thinking back on yesterday and not getting enough calories - I know I should have stopped for lunch before I left Old Faithful. And I think part of my problem was that I haven't been drinking as much Gatorade in the past few days. I went through a lot of it when it was hot out. Now that I have cooler temperatures I need to remind myself to drink more! OK Denise, concentrate on eating more! (You wouldn't think I'd need the reminders at this point in time, but sometimes I do! Guess I was too enthralled with where I was to pay attention to things like food...)

Absorbing the beauty of Yellowstone

2002-08-10T07:53:00.009-04:00

Old Faithful, WY to West Yellowstone, MT

It was another great day today. Wyoming said goodbye to me with swirling winds - from a tailwind as I was riding north from Old Faithful, to both cross- and headwinds on the section from Madison Junction to West Yellowstone. Except for the occasional blast of strong headwind as I rounded a corner, the ride was a pretty easy and short spin. I planned on a short riding day today since I wanted to spend the morning wandering around the geyser basins at Yellowstone. It's my second trip to Yellowstone (the first was a winter cross-country skiing trip back in the 1970s), and it won't be my last. I could spend hours just sitting in the geyser basin. What a beautiful place!

Last night I had the best nights sleep that I've had in a long time. Everything at Old Faithful Inn closes up at 10, and in spite of there being no soundproofing in the rooms, everything quieted down really quickly. It was cold again last night, so I was very happy to be in a heated room. It warmed up much more quickly than it did yesterday, so I was able to ride in what I'd consider normal cycling clothes - shorts and a jersey without any extra layers.

I'd been told by several other cyclists that the breakfast buffet at the Old Faithful Inn is wonderful. They were right. If you're cycling through, or even just visiting, the breakfast buffet is worth a stop. And of course you can go watch Old Faithful while you're there.

Gerald stopped by as I was eating breakfast. He is hosting 2 backpackers who are hiking the Continental Divide Trail from Canada to Mexico. He's going to drive them to some locations in the park that they'd like to see but that they wouldn't be able to get to on foot. They are walking 35 miles a day. I thought riding cross country was a challenge, but walking that distance is even more of a challenge. Gerald and I talked for a while, and he told me that the room I had last night is one that they use on the historic tours of the inn, and that it has remained the same since 1904. That's pretty amazing. We were also talking about long trips and food. He hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, and he told me it took him a good month before his metabolism slowed down enough to let him start regaining the weight he lost on his trip.

I spent the morning walking through the Upper Geyser Basin again. The different angles of the sun (evening vs. morning) changed the depth of the color in some of the pools. In both cases I was amazed at the blues of the water, and the whites, yellows, and oranges surrounding some of the geysers and springs. I left Old Faithful at 11:30, then stopped to see some more geysers as I headed north. After a couple of stops I got back into the rhythm of riding and stopped less frequently. But I did have to stop for a couple of animal viewings. I thought that I was going to ride through Yellowstone without seeing a buffalo, but I was wrong. All of a sudden I saw a line of cars ahead of me. My first thought was that it was either an accident or an animal, and it was definitely an animal. A buffalo just rambled across the road and continued walking out across a field. They are huge! I was happy to see that there weren't any stupid humans there today - no one attempted to follow the buffalo for a better picture. Maybe the park service signs about tourists getting gored by buffalo (or are they really called bison?) are doing the trick of getting people to behave sensibly. I also saw several herds of elk on the side of the road. A good animal day.

I passed through a number of old burn areas that had signs announcing "naturally reseeded by fire". These were areas that contained lodgepole pines, which need fire to open up the pinecones to expose the seeds. There were old burned tree trunks surrounded by new green pines. It was beautiful. I talked to a couple in the geyser basin this morning who were pretty upset about the past fires here. They thought the after-effects of fire were ugly. I think the opposite. Watching nature recover after a devastating fire is something that can be beautiful.

I talked to so many people in the park about my trip. Someone would ask a question, and someone else would overhear, and that would spawn more conversations. After that experience, it's going to be strange to be heading back out into unpopulated territory.

When I arrived in West Yellowstone I stopped at Free Heel & Wheel bike shop to have the front derailleur checked. It had been not so nicely shifting off of the chain rings to the inside every so often when I shifted into the granny gear. I moved the limit screw yesterday, but I wasn't sure if I'd moved it far enough. It seemed to be OK, but I figured before I headed back into the mountains I'd have someone else look at it. The mechanic rode the bike, then suggested moving it a bit further. It's moved, and hopefully totally resolved.

It's funny - as I was riding today and talking to strangers about my trip, I kept thinking "am I really doing this?" Sometimes I feel like I must be dreaming... I'm living my dream, but I'm not dreaming that I've arrived in Montana! Only three more states and about 1200 miles to go - Montana, Idaho, and Oregon.

Hey Chuck, you made my day!

2002-08-09T07:48:00.013-04:00

It was another fabulous day today. The morning was very cold, but it did eventually warm up. I can't really complain about the weather because it could have been worse. I talked to two cyclists who were at Old Faithful yesterday while it was snowing. No accumulation, but snow in August!

It was 35 degrees this morning when I got up. I knew it was going to be cold, so I didn't even try to get on the road early. I slept until 7, got dressed, and started breaking camp. As soon as I pulled the cover off of my bike the family at the next campsite came over to talk. It turned out that they were from Gloucester, MA. What a small world! They were attracted by the bike and trailer initially, but of course the geographic accident of living close to each other keeps conversation going too. They fed me a breakfast of coffee and pancakes, much better on a cold morning than the banana, bagel, and peanut butter that I was going to have! I got on the road at 8:30 wearing more clothes than I usually wear in the winter at home. Guess I was cold! I was really glad I had all those layers with me.

I started wearing many layers, but I pulled some of them off after riding the first mile. Luckily the first mile was flat to let me get warmed up - after that the uphills began. Not too bad, just long. The first hill was 7 miles long, then I had a slight uphill tilt for quite a while. There were a few flat miles along Lewis Lake, then more up. I met Stuart & John from the UK close to the end of that first hill. They are riding the Transam west to east, and are planning to meet their wives in Boston on October 1st. I gave them my number - maybe I'll hear from them when they get to Boston. They stayed at Grant Village last night. They were a bit concerned when they pulled in to see a sign saying that the campground was full. Luckily they went in anyway, because the campgrounds in both Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons have hiker/biker sites. They won't turn a cyclist away.

I was getting close to Grant Village when I met a cyclist from Wisconsin. He is riding a part of the Transam and then taking his own path to ride back to his home in Wisconsin. He's retired, and spends many days traveling on his bike every year. He confirmed what I thought - from West Thumb (just past Grant Village) I would have a 12 mile uphill going over two passes. That would be on top of what already seemed to be a (very slow) almost all uphill day.

I was moving pretty slowly due to the hills. Well, I was really riding my normal slow uphill pace - although my Wisconsin friend tells me that we all ride slowly with our gear... I wasn't too enthused about another 12 miles of a 6% grade, so I decided to try to get a ride. When I told my brother that I hitched a ride in Colorado he was amazed. He said "you hitchhiked?" Yeah, I guess I did. And I did it again today. Rob & his wife & friends, all from Salt Lake City, picked me up and gave me a ride over the passes. They said they'd drop me off anywhere. They were headed into Old Faithful, and I decided to take a ride all the way there instead of riding down the pass. It was still pretty cold, and it would have been a very cold downhill ride. That was my first time riding in the bed of a pickup. It was an extended cab pickup, but there were already 4 adults and 1 child inside. It was a great ride. The cab blocked the wind, so I was plenty warm. Rob & his wife ride a tandem. They have a road tandem and a mountain tandem, and they have done some touring on their road bike. I'm sure that's why they picked me up - fellow cyclists who have been there themselves.

After we arrived at Old Faithful, I followed the signs pointing to visitor services - looking for a late lunch. As I was walking the bike in front of the store, Chuck (from Michigan) came up to me and said "Are you Denise?" Of course I said yes, but I was trying to figure out who he was. My first thought was that he was someone I met earlier on my trip. My confusion increased when Chuck said "I'm one of your fans". It turns out that he has been following my journal all along, and when he saw me with the bike and trailer he figured it was me. He figured right! I was delighted, and Chuck, you really did make my day. That was fun! His wife knew what was going on, but I think their friends thought that something really odd was going on until Chuck explained it to them. So I guess I owe thanks to Neil Gunton (again) for creating crazyguyonabike.com, and to Bike Friday for making me a very recognizable bicycle!

I was waiting in line at a little cafe behind some Harley riders and started talking with them. As usual, I still had my helmet on, so they asked me where I was riding. When I told them I was riding my bicycle across country and that I had started riding north of Boston they said "you're kidding, right?". I finally convinced them I wasn't kidding. They were impressed. They had ridden their Harleys from Portland, Oregon to Sturgiss for the Harley rally, and were on their way back. They figured that was hard enough, so my bicycling journey kind of blew them away. All of the Harley riders I've talked to this week have been really nice. The stereotypes of motorcyclists just don't hold true. The two guys I talked to at lunch both work for Intel, more high tech workers...

The Old Faithful Inn is one of those great old national park lodges. The original structure - which is where my room is - was completed in 1904. There's also a new section that someone told me was built in the 1950s. The rooms in the old section have a sink in the room, but the toilets and showers are down the hall. I laughed when I saw the soap in the room - it had the usual bar soap, bottle of shampoo, and lotion, but it also had a piece of soap in the shape of a little bear. A nice touch... The walls in my room are made of logs, although the ceiling is made of flat slats of wood. The inn has a fabulous 4-story lobby with plenty of places to sit and relax both on the main floor and on balconies surrounding the lobby. There's a outside balcony on the second floor that is a perfect place to watch Old Faithful if you don't want to walk over to the geyser. There are even small double-sided work desks with lights for people like me who want to write journal entries. There are others making use of the desks to write letters, play cards, read books, etc. This evening there is someone playing a piano on the second floor lobby balcony, and a woman (one of the guests?) just went and grabbed her violin to accompany him. The rooms here are very simple, so most of the people seem to be hanging out in the lobby and on the balconies instead of in their rooms. It's just very cool here.

When I arrived my room wasn't ready, not surprising because it was only about 2 PM. I went out and watched Old Faithful erupt, then came back at 3:30 to check on the room. Still not ready. Gerald - one of the staff members at the inn - saw me still wandering around in my bike clothes and asked if I'd like a shower. He is a backpacker, so he understands the desire (or need) to get into clean clothes. Since most of the rooms in the old section of the inn don't have private bathrooms, it was pretty easy to get a shower before getting into my room. Gerald showed me where the showers are and set me up with a towel. I had a good shower, then walked back over to Old Faithful to watch it erupt again.

The Old Faithful area is very busy during the day, but it seemed to quiet down at about 5 PM. And supposedly it stays quiet until about 11 in the morning. That probably makes sense, because there isn't any camping here. There are several lodges with a relatively large number of rooms, which probably accounts for the bulk of the evening and morning population of this area.

I went for a walk in the geyser basin after dinner, and I plan to go again in the morning. It is a real treat to be able to see it in different lighting conditions. I absolutely lucked into seeing Grand Geyser erupt tonight. The sign that was posted said they expected an eruption between 7:30 and 11:30 PM, and I got there right at 7:30. Talk about lucky timing! It was a spectacular and a long eruption. I just sat there and watched it until it stopped. Fabulous. My red dog Rover joined me on my walk this evening. I made him promise not to jump into any of the geysers or hot pools - the water is just too hot! He said that he wanted to get some fresh air for a change, and he claims he is the reason that I saw Grand Geyser erupt.

Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks are right next to each other (north to south), but they are amazingly different. The jagged mountains of yesterday are gone. In their place are more rounded hills (mountains), and trees. There are signs of the fires of years past, whole sections of burned but still beautiful tree skeletons. And of course the geothermal features make Yellowstone stand apart from any other place. I learned some interesting things about Yellowstone today. I didn't realize that the park - or at least the geyser basin - is inside of an active caldera. There are earthquakes here, but it sounds like there could also be a volcanic eruption at some point. Not to worry, it's probably a long way off. The geothermal activity is concentrated but in a pretty large area. According to the ranger most of the geysers and hot springs are in an area 15 miles long and one mile wide. The boiling point of water at this elevation is 199 degrees, and the water coming out of Old Faithful is 5 degrees above the boiling point at 204 degrees. Amazing. While I was walking in the geyser basin tonight I ran into a ranger-led group. I didn't stay with them, but I did overhear one story he was telling. There are boardwalks through the geyser basin. I don't know when this happened, but at some point a new geothermal feature open up right under the boardwalk and blew away some of the boards in the walk. A park visitor went to complain that the boardwalk was unsafe and to tell the rangers about a geyser in the middle of the walk. Guess that one was a bit of a surprise for the park service. They obviously had to move the walk.

Back on the bike

2002-08-08T07:17:00.007-04:00

Jackson to Flagg Ranch, WY

What a difference four days off the bike made! I feel much better even though the end of the ride today was a bit challenging. The first 40 miles were relatively easy, partially because I had a nice push from a tailwind for a good part of the way. It was also relatively flat, with a couple of reasonable uphills. It took me quite a while to ride the distance today because I had to keep stopping to take pictures. My ride started with the Tetons in the distance, but they kept getting closer. I'm afraid that I have quite a few duplicate pictures. I'd take a picture, ride a bit further, decide there was a better shot, and stop again. Early in the day I saw a herd of elk off to the side of the road. They were too far away for pictures, but close enough that I could watch them for a while as I rode.

The last 16 miles were tougher. The wind changed directions so it was directly in my face. I knew I was going to have to pay for that tailwind at some point. The clouds finally rolled in, and the temperature started to drop. It was probably only in the 60s most of the day (70s in the sun), but once the sun was obscured the temperature dropped pretty quickly to the low to mid 50s. And the hills reappeared with a pretty long 6% climb. Maybe it only seemed long because it was the end of the day - I think it was probably several miles. There was a downhill after the up, and I had to stop to add some clothing layers before I flew down that last hill.

It is incredibly beautiful here. The Tetons just hang over the landscape and can be seen from the road through much of the park. It wasn't until that last climb after Colter Bay that the jagged peaks finally disappeared, and were replaced by rounded hills. The park newspaper describes the creation of the Tetons as follows: "The Tetons owe their existence to movement along a fault found where the mountains meet the valley. Starting about 13 million years ago, movement with massive earthquakes occurred about every thousand years or so along the fault. The mountain block uplifted on the west side of the fault while the valley block dropped down east of the fault. Today the mountains ride more than a mile above Jackson Hole, with total displacement of 30,000 feed along the fault. Ice performed the sculpting and carving of the Tetons." I think it's the existence of the fault line and the corresponding uplift and drop that makes these mountains so impressive.

I was happily taking pictures of the mountains when Graham from Maryland pulled up. He asked me to take a picture of him, and I asked him to return the favor. That's the one negative of traveling alone - there's often no one to take pictures of you in some of these really cool locations. Graham and I talked for a while. He's been out in Colorado running a youth camp for the summer, and he's now doing some sightseeing on his way back home. He's a musician and was listening to his demo CD in the car as he drove. He asked what kind of work I do, and I told him I was laid off back in May, but that I work in the software / high tech industry. I also told him that I've been doing this kind of work since the mid-70s - to which he said "that's not possible, you would have been 5 years old". Of course I told him that I'm 50, which totally surprised him. I still get a kick out of seeing peoples reactions (and their disbelief) when I tell them how old I am.

I stopped at the convenience store at Signal Mountain Lodge for a snack, and I met a cycling couple from the Netherlands who were also heading north and west. We talked for a while. I thought we might end up in the same place tonight, but I haven't seen them here. They were thinking about trying to get to Grant Village (Yellowstone). Maybe they made it there - it was too far for me today.

Then I stopped at Colter Bay Village to get a late lunch. The snack stuff just doesn't cut it after a while. I met 2 southbound cyclists there, both men, one from Minnesota, and one from the Netherlands. The guy from Minnesota started riding in Missoula and is heading south to Capital Reef National Park in Utah, and then to Las Vegas. The Netherlands native started riding in Washington, DC, followed a northern route to Yellowstone, and is now heading to Los Angeles. After that he's going to New Zealand. He said he was going to try to find work for 2 to 3 months, then do a 3 month tour there. (That's one of my dreams too, but I think I'm going to have to wait a while for that one. I have a feeling that when I finish this trek I'm going to be ready to head home!) They hooked up and started riding together (for a while at least) when they realized they were headed in the same direction. The guy from the Netherlands told me he used an organization called Servas to arrange to stay in people's homes every 10 days or so. I'm going to have to look into that for my next trip. I know there's also a "warm showers list" that does the same thing - you volunteer to allow people to stay at your house, and you get the same hospitality in return.

I started the day thinking I would camp at Colter Bay, which is in the park, and right on Jackson Lake. I arrived there at about 2 and decided to press on after a stop for a late lunch. Tomorrow is going to be a hard ride because I will be crossing two mountain passes. Rather than have a short ride today and a long hard one tomorrow I figured I'd be better off putting in some more miles today. I finished the day at Flagg Ranch campground, which is between Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. No room at the lodge, which is what I expected - so I'm camping tonight. It's a private campground - $23 instead of the $4 or $5 I would have paid for a hiker/biker site at Colter Bay - still pretty cheap in the overall scheme of things. And they have great hot showers. That felt really good after rolling in here a little bit chilled. It's been going down into the high 30s at night here, so I imagine it will be pretty hard pulling myself out of a warm sleeping bag in the morning!

The campground has metal bear boxes in all of the tent sites, which is a good thing since I don't have a hard-sided vehicle for storing food and toilet articles. This is bear country, and anything that has any odor to it all is supposed to be stashed where bears can't get to it! I've seen bear boxes in national parks both in the USA and Canada, but I've never seen them in private campgrounds before this.

I've been seeing tons of motorcyclists today - all on Harleys. I heard that the big 2-week Harley rally is going on in Sturgis, SD right now, and apparently quite of few of the riders take advantage of the time to explore the parks out here. Two of the folks I talked to this morning at the Moose Village store just inside the park thought that the motorcycle rally might have contributed to the lack of available motel rooms in Jackson. And no, South Dakota is not close to here!

No cell phone access tonight. That's to be expected, given that I'm in the middle of no where in the mountains. I've been amazed with the access I've had so far on the trip. There have only been a few days with no service at all. There have been some times with lousy service, and then there was the state of Kansas. In Kansas, I could use the phone, but it went through some bizarre roaming network that wanted a credit card. Since I was sure that Verizon would also charge me, I figured I'd rather use my regular telephone credit card and a land line. But once I hit Colorado and Wyoming I was back in Verizon territory. Amazing - overall the coverage has been better than I expected it to be. Of course it's quite possible it will be bad for the rest of the trip. Only time will tell.

On to Yellowstone in the morning...

Rest & relaxation again

2002-08-07T07:14:00.006-04:00

Jackson, WY

Another rest day today, which makes four days without biking. It's a rest that my body definitely needed. I'm feeling much better, and much less tired - but I'm beginning to think that my body is on its own strange time zone. The last two days I was ready for a nap (or sleep) at 5 PM, but after I ate dinner I was wide awake again. Very strange. Or maybe it's not strange - maybe I'm so used to my biking constant eating (and drinking Gatorade) that anything else doesn't work. I ate more on a normal person's schedule (breakfast, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, dinner) rather than constantly for those 2 days, so maybe that's the source of my 5:00 blahs.

Things went well today. The motel I stayed in last night had a cancellation for tonight, and they were able to move things around so I could stay in the same room. That was great, much better than changing hotels and not having a place to nap in the middle of the day. And yes, I did take a nap this morning. What a nice treat. I called Yellowstone reservations this morning to see if I could get a room in the Old Faithful area for Friday night. No luck, the place was totally sold out. That wasn't too much of a surprise, since it's recommended that you call for reservations there 9 months in advance. The guy I spoke with said that they get cancellations all of the time, but that they don't have a waiting list. So - I called back in 2 hours and was lucky enough to get a room at the Old Faithful Inn. I'm really happy about that because I want to spend some time in that area and it wouldn't be as enjoyable knowing I still had a 20 or 30 mile ride ahead of me. What luck!

After my morning nap I went out to find some lunch, then wandered through Jackson. The National Elk Refuge is on the northern edge of town, so I went up there for a while to watch the geese and ducks. No elk in sight today. Yesterday when I came into town there were some trumpeter swans there, but I didn't see them today. When I walked past the visitor center I met a miniature wire-haired dachshund from Indiana. What a funny little dog! I stopped to talk to the owners because I saw the dog on a leash pulling them along. That's just what Brandy and Caesar (my parent's dogs) do. It's the little dogs that think they are in charge of their people, and it's amazing what kind of pull a light little dog can exert on a human when the dog only weighs 10 pounds.

Here's another "regionalism": I'm currently in the town of Jackson, which is in the valley called Jackson Hole. In Wyoming, a hole is a high valley with mountains surrounding it. In Colorado, the same feature is called a park. So if Jackson Hole were in Colorado instead of Wyoming it would be called Jackson Park, and if Estes Park, Colorado were in Wyoming it would be called Estes Hole.

Tomorrow I'm headed for Grand Teton National Park, and Friday I'll be in Yellowstone National Park. I'm preparing to soak in the beauty...

One more day by alternative transportation

2002-08-06T07:04:00.012-04:00

Rawlins, WY to Jackson, WY

What a beautiful country we live in!

I covered a lot of ground today - one more day traveling by car. I'm amazed at the different types of terrain that I passed through in just one day. Wyoming definitely surprised me with its variety, from the plains of the great basin to red rocks to mountains, and from terrain devoid of much vegetation to forests. There were areas where you could imagine you were on the moon, red rocks that reminded me of Utah, and my first view of the Grand Tetons. I'd seen pictures of them before, but my first view of the mountains in person was awesome.

I had two good food stops today - lunch at the Wildflour Bakery in Lander, and a pie break at the Cowboy Cafe in Dubois. Matt was right, the Cowboy Cafe has great pie. I had a slice of cherry almond crunch pie with vanilla ice cream. Very good. But I'd say that this pie is in second place on this trip - the banana cream pie at the diner in Schroon Lake, NY still takes top place. I'd go back to either place for pie again. And the Cowboy Cafe definitely had more variety. They must have had at least twenty different kinds of pie. It would be a good place to go with a bunch of people so you could sample lots of pies.

There's a consistency to the type of towns I've been passing through. There are the small towns that have a lot of character, like Dubois, and Ordway (back in Colorado), and the towns that are kind of dead, like Jeffrey City (today), and others I've passed through in the last 2 months. I definitely have a preference toward the towns with character, but unfortunately when you're traveling by bicycle you don't always have a choice of where you'll be staying. Here's hoping that most of the towns I stay in on the rest of my trip are those with character...

I passed 8 cyclists today - 3 heading south/east, and 5 heading north/west. So there are still a few of us out here... I keep thinking that there aren't too many Transam riders out here because I've seen so few, but it's probably partially because you never see anyone traveling in your direction, and overall it's a pretty small group of people. Two of the southbound riders were cruising down Togwotee Pass - a well-deserved downhill after a long climb. The one thing that surprised me is that 3 of the cyclists that I passed were not wearing helmets. It always amazes me when I see people riding without helmets, and it surprises me even more when the people are serious cyclists.

I arrived in Jackson this afternoon at about 4:30, not the best time to arrive in a resort town looking for a place to stay. This place is hopping, much more activity than Frisco, but not as high end as Breckenridge was. I stopped at the visitor center and looked at the board showing places to stay that was supposed to show where there were rooms available. Unfortunately, most of the places don't call in, so most of the "yes we have rooms", "no we don't" entries were blank. I started calling motels. The first one I reached only had rooms for $170. I know this is an expensive town, but that's ridiculous. But the woman at that place said she thought the Angler's Inn had one room. I called there and got the last room for tonight, but the place is booked for tomorrow night. After dinner I called around and finally managed to find a room for tomorrow night. I think I want to sit still for another day before I start riding again. I'll return the car tomorrow morning, check out of this place, leave my trailer at the next motel, and find a place to sit and read for the afternoon.

Next cycling destinations - Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. I tried to get to these parks by bicycle back in 2000, but I canceled the trip because that was such a bad fire year. I figured it wasn't a responsible thing to do to deliberately be in a fire area that might need to be evacuated without having any way to get out other than a bicycle. I'm really excited to finally get to these parks!

Thanks to all of you who have written guestbook entries encouraging me to rest and supporting my decision to switch transportation modes to a car for a couple of days. Sometimes I'm just too hard on myself! I'm very happy with the decision I made to essentially skip cycling a state (1/3 of Colorado and 2/3 of Wyoming), and I'm going to take another day off here in Jackson. Then I'll ride some more and maybe rest some more too!

A change in plans

2002-08-05T20:12:00.000-04:00

Frisco, CO to Rawlins, WY

So how do you do a 4 day ride in one day?

I had a really good rest day yesterday - no exercise other than slowly walking through town - and I was still tired when I woke up this morning. That didn't really surprise me because I think my tired levels have been building for at least several weeks now. No altitude issues, no excuses, just tired. And yes, before you ask, I am eating enough! The next time I plan a 3-month trip I think I need to plan a week's worth of rest in the middle of the trip.

This morning was a decision point for me. I figured I could stay in Frisco for another day or two and try to get more sleep, start riding again even though I knew I was tired, go home, or find some other alternative. I didn't really consider going home. I don't think I'm done yet - I just need a break. I want to continue riding, and I need some more rest time. I didn't really want to sit in a hotel in Frisco any longer, although it was definitely a nice town and not a bad place to stay. It's not like I have a hard and fast end date for my trip, but sitting still for several days and extending the length of my trip didn't feel right. My planned ride today from Frisco to Kremmling wouldn't be too long - probably about 42 or 43 miles, but I knew there was some bad construction, and I also knew that it wouldn't be an easy ride even without feeling tired. I was in a good part of Colorado to try to find some alternatives. I knew that if I moved on that the alternatives would disappear very quickly as I moved back into the middle of nowhere.

I looked at my maps and thought about where I wanted to be, and I thought about what other types of transportation might be available. To most people, traveling by bike is the alternate mode of transportation. To me, traveling by bike is normal and other transportation methods are in the alternate category. I decided that I'd try to jump ahead to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. How to get there? Bus? No, not for me. There were a couple of rental car agencies in Frisco, so I called Hertz and asked about a one-way rental. At first I was going to try to drop a car in Lander, WY, which would jump me ahead 6 riding days. It wasn't possible to drop off a rental car there, but it was possible to drop off a car in Jackson, WY. So I rented a car, and I'm in the process of driving to Jackson. I looked at different routes to Jackson, but I decided to stick with the Transamerica route so I wouldn't miss any of the scenery. I find driving tiring too, but it's a different type of tiring. I'll probably sit for a day once I get to Jackson before I start riding again. This is also a case where having a folding bike came in handy. With the frame folded the bike fits very nicely in the trunk of the rental car.

Driving is so different from cycling. I drove with my camera at my side, and I continued to stop and take pictures. The ground I covered today represented what would have been both hard and easier cycling days with some fantastic scenery. As usual, the camera just isn't good enough to pick up the unbelievable terrain. The evergreen forests disappeared and I started seeing more scrub vegetation again. Ranches reappeared, so there was some green along the way even though the hills and mountains took on more of a brown tone. Oil hasn't totally disappeared either - there was a pretty big refinery in Sinclair, WY.

I was blown away by the image of me riding what I drove today --- and what I've been riding through all along. It's almost as if I'm in some kind of a bubble when I'm on my bike, riding along in my own little world. I've been riding through some pretty empty territory where there isn't any sign of people for miles, but it didn't really hit home until I saw the same territory from a car going 65 miles an hour. It's really empty out here!

I only saw three cyclists today, all riding south (eastbound Transam riders). The first was in the very nasty construction section just north of Silverthorne. I was very glad not to be riding through there - 6 miles with no pavement with alternating northbound and southbound traffic in one lane, not pleasant even in a car. The other two cyclists were resting on the side of Interstate 80. I was actually glad not to be riding there since it too was under construction. Both eastbound and westbound traffic were routed on the eastbound side of the interstate. That meant that it was more like one of the normal 2 lane roads - 2 lanes with little or no shoulder. The speed was reduced to 65 MPH (from the normal 75 MPH). That's the same speed as most of the two-lane roads around here, but Interstate 80 carries more traffic.

I was going to try to get to Lander today, but when I pulled off of the interstate in Rawlins I realized that I was pretty tired. I figured I didn't really need to drive another 125 miles today, and I knew that if I continued on I wouldn't stop to smell the roses or see anything that looked interesting. It was time to stop for the day.

I stopped at the Pearl Izumi outlet store in Silverthorne & bought 2 new pairs of Ultrasensor shorts. Now I don't have to worry about my shorts falling apart before I'm finished riding! The sales rep suggested their Attack shorts instead of the Ultrasensor shorts because he said the fabric is more durable. Unfortunately they are an inch shorter and are not as breathable. I prefer longer shorts, and I like the breathable fabric, so I stuck with the Ultrasensor shorts that I know I like. Silverthorne had a number of outlet malls and there were tons of people there - talk about culture shock! I guess outlet malls are a tourist attraction where ever they are. I never would have stopped there if I'd been able to find these shorts in a local bike shop, but none of the shops in the area carry Pearl Izumi shorts. Guess they may be too expensive for the normal traffic through these stores.

More driving tomorrow with planned stops in Lander to wander around, and in Dubois to find a cafe that Matt recommended that has great pie...

I'm happy, my sore knees are getting a break, and I'm sure that I'll be happy to get back on my bike in Jackson. And I know my sister approves since she wants me to just go home so she can stop worrying about me!

Rest & relaxation in Frisco

2002-08-04T19:25:00.006-04:00

Ah, a real rest day... I slept until 8:30 this morning, then headed to the Log Cabin Cafe for a pecan pancake breakfast. Yum. There's an Internet cafe in town, so I spent an hour making use of their high-speed connection and a full-sized screen to catch up on other cyclist's journals. I spent some time wandering through Frisco and looking through the buildings in the Frisco Historic Park. This was a mining town, and was eventually transformed into a ski town after a very depressed period. It was a good choice for a place to rest, and unlike Ordway where I spent last Sunday, Frisco is alive on Sunday and doesn't roll up the sidewalks in the middle of the afternoon.

I had a good lunch at a bagel bakery - hummus and veggies on a wonderful sesame bagel. And I think I'm going to repeat that wonderful eggplant parmesan for dinner tonight. It was definitely a good eating day. In fact, I didn't do much today other than eat, relax, and read the Sunday paper.

The weather continues to be cool. It just rained briefly, and then the sun returned. The weather forecast for the week calls for isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon every day with reasonable temperatures.

I've been told that Frisco is the last green I'll see for a while, so I'll have to soak in the forest today and be prepared for a change in scenery tomorrow. That's part of what makes this trip so interesting - I never know what I'll find around the next corner.

I feel much better today, and I'm hoping for a return to my normal cycling energy levels tomorrow. For now, I'll continue resting, relaxing, and eating.

Sea level gal vs. the altitude

2002-08-03T19:21:00.007-04:00

Fairplay to Frisco, CO

I've been wishing for cooler weather, and I finally have my wish. I'm not sure that the weather changed - it's my location that seems to be making the difference. It was a beautiful morning, with amazing clouds hanging over the mountains. At first there were some pretty dark clouds, threatening rain, but they cleared to allow big white clouds to contrast with the blue sky. And it was cool too.

Today didn't start out as a great day. It was another low energy day, and my stomach was a bit queasy. I think the altitude is getting to me. I thought I'd be OK since traveling by bike is a pretty gentle and slow way to gain altitude. Unfortunately, the slow elevation gain was from the eastern side of Kansas to Pueblo, Colorado. The 5000 foot elevation gain yesterday was apparently too fast for my body.

Matt and I had breakfast together, then headed out in opposite directions. I headed north, and he headed south. Before we split up Matt mentioned two sections of the route where he recommended I get a ride. One is a 6-mile nasty stretch of construction between Silverthorne and Kremmling, and the other is the section from Rawlins to Lander, Wyoming which he said was very dry, no services, and generally hard. I'll see...

I rode to Alma, which should have been a pretty easy ride. It was a slight uphill grade, mostly 1 and 2%. I was really dragging though. I did stop to take some pictures. I can always use the camera as an excuse to stop riding! I stopped at the coffee house in Alma that Matt recommended. I thought some hot tea would help settle my stomach, so I had tea and a bagel and sat for a while. The woman running the coffee house told me to make sure to drink a lot of water to combat the altitude problems. I told her that I was drinking lots of water and Gatorade - guess I'll have to continue with the liquids.

I talked with the other people there, including a guy who had done a several week tour on his own back in the late 80's. He asked me how my ride was going, and I told him that the ride overall was great, but that I was really dragging today and that I thought the altitude was bothering me. He offered to drive me to the top of Hoosier Pass, and I took him up on it. (What - she's taking another ride? Well, I hope I'm not disappointing all of my faithful readers. I'm doing what I need to keep myself healthy and happy.)

Then there was a slight change in plans. Jim from Michigan was sitting outside, and he was about to drive over the pass. Jim drove out here to do a several day mountain bike tour with some friends, and he was about to head home. He had an extra slot on his bike rack, and plenty of room for me and my trailer in his Jeep. Many thanks to Jim for the ride and to the unnamed Alma guy for offering to interrupt his work day to give me a ride.

Jim stopped at some interesting places on his drive from Michigan to Colorado. One of them really peaked my interest - he went kayaking on Lake Superior in Wisconsin. He said there are some caves that you can only access from the water. Maybe I'll have to stop in Wisconsin on one of my trips - that sounds like fun!

I have no doubt that I could have made it over Hoosier Pass on my own - I've ridden the equivalent before, both with and without hauling my gear - but I think that it would not have been a happy climb for me today.

Jim dropped me off at the top of Hoosier Pass (11,500 feet), and I promptly put my rain jacket on. It was cold up there. I started down, and stopped after a couple of minutes to put my rain pants on too. The layers stayed on until I got to Breckenridge. The change in scenery between the north and south sides of Hoosier Pass was amazing. The south side is open with very little vegetation, and the north side is forested. There are different kinds of wildflowers on the two sides of the pass too.

I spent about an hour walking through Breckenridge and getting some lunch. It took me a while to find a place to leave (and lock) the bike. The town was a bit too over the top for me. It seems to be a pretty high end resort town, and it was swarming with people. And it was just what I expected.

The one good thing about Breckenridge is that I found a bike shop that carried Pearl Izumi gloves. I started my trip with 2 pairs of gloves - one new, and one that I'd only worn this year. The sun and constant wear has totally trashed one pair of gloves, and I've been looking for a replacement for a while. Now all l'm on the lookout for is new shorts. I've noticed that the fabric on my shorts is showing more wear than I expected - even though I started out with 2 brand new pairs of shorts. I haven't found any place that carries the shorts I like, but I was told that there is a Pearl Izumi outlet store in the next town. Maybe they'll have what I need. It's amazing how much damage the sun causes!

There's a great bike path between Breckenridge and Frisco, and it continues on to Silverthorne. It was nice to be able to get off of route 9, which carries a fair amount of traffic and has no shoulders. It was still a slight downhill grade most of the way into Frisco, which was good for me given my energy level and given the fact that I was riding into a pretty strong headwind. The grade and headwind seemed to cancel each other out. I had fun watching the other cyclists on the path. It was pretty easy to tell the casual out-for-a-day folks from the serious cyclists. You can easily tell who's who from the riding style, but the thing that I found really amazing is that many of the out-for-a-day folks were not wearing helmets. I'm so used to seeing cyclists with helmets that it just shocks me to see so many people riding without them. Matt told me last night that he replaced his helmet after his fall. He said that the back of it was crushed, and the foam inside was cracked - and his head was fine. (For you non-cyclists reading my journal - bicycle helmets are meant for one crash only and they must be replaced after that.)

I saw one family on the bike path riding a very cool bicycle. The parents were riding a tandem, and their two kids were riding along on a tandem trailer bike. I didn't even know that the trailer bikes came in a tandem model. That was pretty amazing. Then I saw a father daughter pair on a single bike with a trailer bike. When I saw them the little girl had her feet up on the handlebars. I said "hey, you're cheating", and her dad said that as they were climbing the last hill she keep telling him how hard it was to pedal up the hill, then at the top told him she wasn't pedaling. He probably already knew that though. Must be interesting hauling a moving, squirming body - I think I'll stick with my trailer.

The day ended in rain. It wasn't a downpour, but it was enough for me to grab my rain jacket again. If it had been 10 degrees warmer I would have skipped the jacket, but with the cool weather that I've been wishing for I needed the extra layer. After I checked into my motel and showered, I walked outside to brilliant sunshine again. It's amazing how rapidly the weather changes here in the mountains! I walked around town, and then asked where I could find a grocery store. It turned out that the Safeway is on the outskirts of town (of course), so the purple Air Glide and I rode out there to pick up some fruit for today and tomorrow.

While I was at the coffee house in Alma I met the two women that Katie mentioned yesterday. I passed on her hello, and we talked for a bit. They recommended the Woods Inn here in Frisco. It looked like a nice place, but I was too lazy to haul the bike and trailer up stairs again, so I opted for the motel next to it. They were both the same price, and it's one step up from the driveway to get everything inside. It's two blocks from the main street, so I have easy access to restaurants. Frisco is another resort town, but much more low key than Breckenridge. The nice side effect of that is that there are a number of good restaurants here. I had a great dinner tonight at Tuscato - eggplant parmesan. I think it was one of the best meals I've had on this trip. I could very easily go back there tomorrow and have the same thing.

I'm going to stay here tomorrow. I'm hoping that another day of rest will help my body adjust to the altitude and will let me finally catch up on sleep. I feel much better tonight, but I don't want to push it. Frisco is at about 9300 feet of elevation, so I'm a bit lower than I was last night. I'll be going up and down for a while, but Hoosier pass was the highest point on my route.

After dinner I looked up to see a beautiful rainbow across some dark clouds. What a nice end to the day!

Into the mountains

2002-08-02T19:04:00.010-04:00

Canon City to Fairplay, CO

What was I thinking yesterday when I even remotely thought that I could make it all the way to Fairplay in one day under my own steam? Today was a hard ride for me, and I was able to get a lift part way from a really nice guy who lives in Canon City. I rode 45 miles, but made forward progress of 75 miles. I never would have been able to make the full distance on my own. Without the lift, I probably would have stopped in Guffey at a B&B after riding only 30 miles. There wasn't really any reason why I had to make it to Fairplay today, but that was really where I wanted to end the day. Plus, a 30 mile ride just didn't seem like enough (although it's possible that tomorrow's ride will be that short).

So why was it a hard riding day today? Maye it was just a low energy day, maybe I didn't eat enough, maybe it was the altitude, and maybe it was the riding. And maybe it was a combination of everything. Pueblo is at 4700 feet of elevation, and Canon City is close to that. Fairplay is almost at 10,000 feet, which is a pretty big jump. And I climbed 3800 feet today on the bike. The rest of the elevation gain came from my ride in a pickup truck. Hoosier Pass - my climb tomorrow morning - is at 11,500, so it's possible that tomorrow's climbing will be less than today's. That depends on how much climbing there is on the other side of the pass.

Today's ride started with a seven to eight mile climb up to the Royal Gorge area. And no, I didn't stop to see the world's highest suspension bridge. I figured I had enough climbing to do for the day without taking a side trip uphill! After the climb I went downhill for a bit, then headed up another long climb. Sometimes when you know the road is going to turn up again you really don't want to see the downs. You lose the elevation that you fought to gain, then have to do it all over again. But - that's the nature of riding in the mountains. After seeing my lack of speed on those two climbs I was pretty much resigned to stopping either in Guffey (which had a couple of B&Bs) or at a hostel just past Guffey - even though I still really wanted to get to Fairplay. (I know, I know, that's not really rational.) I was resting on the side of the road when I saw a pickup coming, so I stuck my thumb out and hoped.... I've been sworn to secrecy on his name - but a really nice guy stopped to see if I was OK. I told him that I was fine, but that I'd been hoping to get to Fairplay today and realized I wouldn't make it all the way there without a lift. That turned out to be his destination, and he said he'd be happy to give me a ride. I had him drop me off in Hartsel so I could ride the last 18 miles. He asked if I was sure, and I told him I'd probably regret it but that I thought I should do some more biking. He said it sounded like I was leaning towards being a purist again (nope, I'm not - if I really was a purist I wouldn't have asked for or taken the ride in the first place). And yes, I was really tired when I pulled in to Fairplay, so I did halfway regret it!

I picked up an interesting fact about the Canon City area during my "ride". It turns out that there are 14 prisons in the area. I had actually biked by several of them on my way into town, but I didn't realize there were so many. There is also a Colorado Prison Museum just outside of town. I didn't stop because I was too focused on getting the day's mileage under my belt. Might have been interesting though.

The scenery today was drop dead gorgeous. Obviously I'm in the middle of the mountains - but there were also rolling hills, some areas that were very dry with no vegetation, and other areas along the South Platte river that were really green. And then there were areas with red earth popping out. I stopped quite often to take pictures, but I'm afraid they just don't reflect the true beauty of the area. They'll have to do though. I guess I'll use the pictures to remind me of how beautiful it really is.

I met three other cyclists today. The first two were Katie & Steve. Katie started riding from her home in Seattle, and Steve just flew out this week to join her. They're heading east on the Transam. They stayed at the Schecter hostel last night. It's pretty primitive - a cabin with running cold water and and outhouse. Hmm - I was considering staying there, but I'd really like a shower. Fussy, fussy. We stood on the side of the road and exchanged tips, the typical cyclist encounter. Katie told me that there are a couple of women from Boston cycling west to east who she thinks are currently behind her. She asked me to pass on a hello to them if I see them.

While I was looking for a place to stay I ran into Matt. He did an Adventure Cycling group ride in the Wind River area (Wyoming), and then continued south on his own. His wife was with him for the first part of his trip, but she didn't have enough vacation time to continue on his extension. He's following the Great Divide route south with some variations and is headed to Durango. Matt told me his trip was a 50th birthday present to himself. Guess there are quite a few of us 50-year-olds celebrating by riding our bikes. I had just come out of the Hand Hotel B&B after hearing that it was full. We both headed to the Fairplay Hotel, and luckily they had two rooms. Both hotels are big old buildings, and of course our rooms are on the second floor. Another night of hauling bikes and gear up stairs! Old buildings, old wiring. When I plugged in my Jornada (the handheld PC), the lights in the room flickered! I turned out the overhead light, and the Jornada charged fine, and the lamp in the room stayed on. I figured if I attempted to charge anything else all of the lights would go dark. My room overlooked the main street. Luckily, things got quiet pretty early because I had to sleep with the window open to get some cool air in the room. I guess it would have been hard for it to be anything but quiet because the town pretty much rolled up the sidewalks at 7 PM. The only thing open after that was the little grocery store, and a couple of restaurants. The ice cream place even closed at 7!

Matt & I had dinner together in the hotel restaurant, then picked up a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream at the store down the street. We borrowed spoons from the hotel restaurant and sat in the lobby enjoying our ice cream. Then Matt got a bucket of ice from the kitchen to ice his hip that he injured in a fall. I took a glass of the ice for my knee. I've still been downing ibuprofen, and my knee feels fine when I'm riding, but it's been stiff in the middle of the night. I'm trying to ice it every night in the hopes that it will get better, or at the very least it will not get any worse. My little ice bag makes it much easier. It's not as cold as ice in a Ziplock bag, and it works much better than ice in a plastic bag on top of a towel - that doesn't let enough cold through!

I saw 2 deer this morning after I passed Royal Gorge. I was riding on a pretty quiet road. They just walked across the road and stood there for a bit. Once they saw me coming, they ran across the road again and off into the bush. This time I didn't even try to get the camera out.

Almost trapped by the wind

2002-08-01T14:56:00.003-04:00

Pueblo to Canon City, CO

Short mileage day today with a very late start! I walked across the street at 6:45 this morning to pick up some milk and cereal at a convenience store. The day looked to be shaping up to be a good one, calm and cool. By the time I took everything outside at 7:40, things had changed. The wind was absolutely howling at 35 miles per hour from the north and west. Unfortunately, the direction I was planning to travel was straight into the wind. I think if I'd attempted it I would have ended up traveling backwards (or someone would have found me sitting by the side of the road in tears). One of the staff members at the hotel said that the wind started at about 7, so even an early start wouldn't have missed it. The wind was from a weather front passing through that is supposed to keep the temperature down (in the 80s) for the next several days. Everyone expected the front to come through, but no one expected the exceptionally strong wind.

Instead of checking out, I pulled the bike and trailer back into the lobby and settled into a comfortable chair to relax and read for a while. Of course I talked with everyone who stopped by to look at the bike, and I went outside every so often to see if the wind had died down. I really knew it hadn't based on the flags and plants outside, but I had to go stand in it just to be sure. The wind finally got more reasonable. I think it diminished to around 20 MPH, but more importantly, it changed direction. Two people who were pulling a sailboat came outside with me and said they thought the wind direction had changed to ENE. That was a rideable direction, so I finally checked out of the hotel at 11 and hit the road. I made a quick stop for an early lunch, then headed through Pueblo's city park and then north to pick up US 50 heading west. My only regret about today is that I didn't know it was going to be crazy windy. If I'd known I was going to start riding as late as I did I would have slept in! Even with my extra sleep yesterday morning, I still crashed early last night, and I plan to do the same tonight.

The wind shift gave me a pretty good ride. The few miles I was headed straight north were rough, but most of the ride was to the west. The new wind direction translated into mostly a tailwind. My initial plans were to get a little further than Canon City, but based on the time I pulled into town I decided to stay here. I figured that staying here or moving on probably means the same thing for tomorrow. By staying here I stopped at a reasonable time and I should get a decent night's sleep. If I kept riding I would have had a late stop and I probably wouldn't feel as good in the morning. Tomorrow I can stay at a hostel in about 35 miles, or I can stay at a hotel or campground at about 75 miles. That's quite a difference in mileage, especially given the terrain. I guess I'll have to see how I feel and see how the weather treats me tomorrow. If I make it all the way to Fairplay there is quite a bit of climbing involved - over Current Creek Pass, and partway up Hoosier Pass. Here's hoping it's a good day.

The mountains were shrouded in haze and clouds initially, but they started to clear as I got closer to them. I kept stopping to take pictures - I had to try. The pictures got better as the afternoon wore on.

When I pulled in to Canon City I saw a sign for tourist information, so I headed over that way. The Chamber of Commerce here needs to improve their signs. There was a sign pointing to the right, but there should have been a second sign immediately after the turn. I didn't see the tourist information cabin, so I stopped at a USDA office to ask directions. The guy who helped me with directions had just checked tomorrow's weather on the National Weather Service site on the Internet. He said it is supposed to rain tonight, and tomorrow is supposed to be calmer from a wind standpoint. That sounds good to me.

There are new birds gliding around out here, but none that I recognize. The ground squirrels and chipmunks have kept up their antics, so I have something to laugh at as I ride along. And so far they are staying away from the wheels of my bicycle. I just hate it when they decide to play suicide games and run between my wheels.

When I talked to my mom tonight, she delivered a message from my sister. I guess Suzie still doesn't accept my mode of travel. She puts up with me, but I think she wants me to come home. Suze thinks I should load my bike on a plane and fly to the Pacific to dip the wheels in the ocean. Then I can go home. But hey - I'm not done riding yet! I am past the halfway point of my trek, but there are still many more miles to go. Suze - I'm really OK.

Wasn't this supposed to be a traveling day?

2002-07-31T14:47:00.006-04:00

...closer to a real rest day in Pueblo, CO

Wait, wasn't I supposed to be back on the road today? That was the plan, but when I woke up this morning I was still really tired. I took a shower to try to wake up, ate breakfast, and was ready to head out the door. Then I thought about it and decided it would be smart to stay put. Feeling like I did, I don't think it would have been a great riding day. I extended my stay for another night, put a do not disturb sign on my door, and went back to bed. To my surprise, I slept until 11 AM. Then I pondered what I think would have been a pretty stupid move. Checkout time is noon, so I considered changing my mind and heading out at 11. I thought better of it though.

I did spend some time on the (unloaded) bike today. I looked up AAA and found that they have an office up on US 50. I headed up there to pick up maps of the remaining states on my trip - Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon. I like to have the option to take alternate routes occasionally, and my state map supply ran out after I left Kansas. Since AAA doubles up states on their maps, those 5 states are covered on only 3 maps. I've been sending maps home as I finish with them, so my map stash is still smaller than it was when I started out. I also found a drugstore so I could pick up an ice bag for my knees. That should work a little better than the plastic bags I've been using since it's heavier material. Many thanks to Gladys Sims (Coasting 2002 on crazyguyonabike) for the suggestion.

In the process of riding to the outskirts of town to get to the AAA office I found the typical "motel strip". I'm so glad I'm staying in town and not out on US 50. It's amazing how look-alike cities are in these areas. If it wasn't for the different grocery store chains you wouldn't be able to tell what part of the country you are visiting.

It's a beautiful day, but hot again. It's 102 degrees, makes me very glad I didn't change my mind and start riding at noon. It would have been a rough day.

When I stopped at the Safeway this afternoon to pick up some food I had the same cashier as yesterday. He looked at me and said "I thought you'd be halfway up the pass by now". No, I needed another rest day, and one that was closer to a real rest day. I rode much further today, but overall I had quite a bit of sleeping and down time. I think it helped, I hope it helped...

Tomorrow I really will leave Pueblo and start heading into the mountains.

A busy rest(?) day

2002-07-30T14:44:00.006-04:00

Pueblo, CO

Yes Suze, you're right - I had another non-rest day today. I only rode my bike to the grocery store, but I was busy from 9 to 3. Hmm... I may take another day off very soon to really rest, but I am planning to move on tomorrow. As Terry (from the bike shop) pointed out, there are some small mountain villages coming up that are nicer places to just hang a little further up the road.

So what did I do today? I took the purple Air Glide to the Great Divide bike shop for a tuneup, found a post office and shipped my cooking gear to my parents, got my hair cut, wandered through the historic district of Pueblo, stopped for lunch, picked up the bike, rode to the grocery store to pick up some supplies, and came back to the hotel to have a snack and to rearrange and repack everything. (How's that for a run-on sentence?) That may not sound like much, but it took me all day!

The bike rides like a dream now, with much smoother shifting than before. It was definitely time for a tuneup, and a new chain, new derailleur cables and housings, and new tires help too. The guys at the Great Divide were great. They did a great job on the bike, and they gave me an alternate route out of Pueblo that sounds better than the Adventure Cycling route. Terry recommended riding to Canon City on US 50 instead of route 96. He said he rides both of them and finds US 50 both more direct and more pleasant. I'm definitely going to follow his recommendation.

I kept my tent and sleeping bag, but I decided I'd carried the cooking gear far enough given the number of times I've used it (or should I say I haven't used it?). That went home, and I looked at everything else I'm carrying and decided that everything else had to stay. I haven't used my warm clothing layers, but I'm not about to head into the mountains without them!

Hair cut... I couldn't stand my hair any more. It had been 7 weeks since my last hair cut, and I usually get it cut every 4 weeks during the summer. Sorry Alan, I had to do it! It's not an Alan-quality haircut, but it's short and that makes me happy. I feel like a new woman.

I wandered into an art gallery in the historic district that had some absolutely beautiful paintings, all by local artists. The artist who impressed me the most worked in watercolors. His paintings were fabulous and contained wonderful bright colors. It would have been pretty easy for me to buy one of his paintings, but now is not the right time. Let's see, do you think carrying a framed watercolor in my trailer is a good idea?

I found Pueblo to be interesting. I suspect that the contrast between the other riders I met who liked the town vs. those who didn't like it had to do with whether they found the historic district or not. The Riverwalk and the historic district were both interesting, and I liked the sculptures scattered through downtown. I'm glad I stayed in town instead of heading to the "motel strip" on the outskirts of town.

Time to go soak in the whirlpool for a bit before I head out to find some dinner. I know ice is better for my knees, but the whirlpool feels so good. I'll ice my knees later...

The last flat day

2002-07-29T14:40:00.009-04:00

Ordway to Pueblo, CO

Wow - I was actually on the road at 7:20 this morning. That's a first for me on this trip. Who knows, it could be a last too! I pulled into Pueblo at 1 PM, at least partially due to my early start. It was another no services day. There was supposed to be a store and a good cafe in Olney Springs, but they were both closed. It's Monday, and some of these tiny towns seem to be closed up on Mondays. I had extra Gatorade and food with me as usual, so no problem on the fuel front. And I've found that the railroad tracks running parallel to the road provide a good hiding place for bathroom breaks. I just climb over the tracks to the ditch on the other side, not bad.

Yesterday the terrain turned back into flat farmlands. Today started that way, then the land got brown and rolling with scrub vegetation again. I could see the mountains in the distance almost all day. I was about 45 miles from Pueblo when I noticed a dark blue line across the horizon. I know the Rocky Mountains are very big, but I still find it amazing that they can be seen from so far away. It's another mind picture only though. I didn't take any pictures of the mountains in the distance because they just disappeared into the haze on the horizon whenever I looked through the camera. I'm sure I'll have plenty of chances to take pictures of the mountains when I hit the road again.

I stopped at the city park in Boone to stretch. A guy who as about to go into the grocery / hardware store (there wasn't much in there, that's why I didn't consider that it was a service stop) stopped to talk. When he heard I was headed to Pueblo he said "be careful where you stay there - it's not safe". Here we go again! Why do people insist on painting cities (big cities, or not their cities) as bad? Pueblo is the largest city I've passed through in a long time, but in the overall scheme of things it's not that big. The Adventure Cycling map has the population at 98,000, which is a far cry from the 800 to 1,000 population towns I've been staying in the past few nights!

I had two very different things to watch as I got into the Pueblo area - Air Force planes flying in formation in the skies, and ground squirrels (or are they ground hogs) popping in and out of their holes in the ground. It was probably a good thing that I was riding on a wide shoulder at the time, so I could keep a half of an eye on the road ahead of me and still watch the planes and the animals. The animals definitely make me laugh.

The Pueblo Chamber of Commerce was right on my route, so I stopped in to get maps and information on where to stay. I wanted to stay downtown, in walking distance to the historic district, Riverwalk, and a bike shop. As usual, most of the motels are on the outskirts of town. There were a couple of funky motels that I was going to check out, but then I saw the Marriott and decided to go overboard and treat myself. I know my sister will approve of my home for tonight more than she would of the mom and pop places where I've been staying.

I also stopped at the Great Divide bike shop to see if they could fit my bike in for a tune-up tomorrow. The answer was yes - Terry told me that they always do what they can to make sure that they take care of the Transam cyclists. I called Bike Friday and asked them to ship me two new tires. They should be delivered to the bike shop tomorrow morning. It's probably a good thing I did that because when I got back from dinner I found a flat rear tire. That's flat tire number 3 for the trip - 1 trailer tire, and both bike tires. The rear tire is pretty worn. The front tire still looks pretty good, but I'm going to replace it anyway. I'm not going to change the flat tonight since I was planning on having the bike shop change the tires for me along with doing the tuneup - I'll just pump the tire up before I walk the bike 3 blocks to the bike shop. I figure if I keep my bike happy that it will keep me happy.

After I got settled in I went out to do a bit of wandering. Pueblo has a street gallery that they call "art & soul" with sculptures placed on the streets of downtown. I looked at the sculptures, then went over to the Riverwalk. I only saw a piece of the Riverwalk before I realized that I was pretty tired and it might be a good idea to go back to the hotel and relax. That was a good thing to do, and I'll get back to the Riverwalk and the historic district tomorrow.

One of the things I wanted to do while I'm in Pueblo was to have some non-diner food. I'm well on my way to reaching that goal since I had a very nice trout dinner tonight.

Rest day tomorrow...

Tailwind for a day

2002-07-28T14:36:00.007-04:00

Eads to Ordway, CO

I had a wonderful gift today - a tailwind! When I started cycling this morning the air was still, and I was hoping it stayed that way because I figured when the wind started blowing that it would be in my face. What a surprise to find that when the wind started a half an hour into my ride that it was a strong tailwind. That was a nice change of pace. I made it to Ordway by 1:30, an early end to the day for me. I considered continuing on to Pueblo, but that is another 50 miles from here. If the tailwind continued I'm sure I could have made it there, but 110 miles is a bit much for me, and I probably wouldn't have been too happy by the end of the day. And of course there was no guarantee that the wind wouln't shift. The morning was overcast until about 11, so the heat held off until then. It was 98 degrees when I pulled into Ordway, hot but not humid. I rode through a couple of light rain showers this morning, light enough that I didn't even really get wet. I know they need the rain here, but I'm happy not to be riding in the rain.

Ordway is far enough for today, and I have a pretty cool place to stay. The Hotel Ordway has bikers rooms and regular rooms. The biker rooms have a bed and a sink, no linen or towels, and shared bathrooms. They cost $10. That's where I thought I'd end up, but then I found out that the regular rooms with linens, towels, air conditioning, and a private bathroom were only $21. I've only seen one other person (not a biker) here tonight, and shared bathrooms don't bother me at all - but I thought it would be nice to sleep on sheets instead of my sleeping bag. $21 is still dirt cheap for a place to stay! The lobby has green plants and a bunch of comfy chairs too - a good place to write my journal... I talked to Madelyn (the owner) for a bit when I came in. The Austrian group that is ahead of me stayed here last night. No mention of the other group, so maybe they did make it to Pueblo last night. Then again, they may have camped on the side of the road again.

Before she took me up to see the room, Madelyn handed me a glass of ice water. She definitely knows cyclists. And I really like her hotel. I wish there was a place like this in every town. It's simple and clean and it has a lot of character.

When I checked in Madelyn said "good, you made it", and handed me a note from Bob - the motel owner from Tribune. I saw him on the road this morning. He was driving to Canon City to visit his mom. He stopped when he passed me on the road and we talked for a while. When he passed through Ordway he left a note here for me with his mother's phone number, and an invitation for lunch or dinner when I ride through Canon City. I'll have to give him a call when I get there. I don't know if he'll still be there, probably depends on how many days I end up staying in Pueblo. I was really surprised when Madelyn said she had a note for me because I didn't think anyone knew I'd be here today. But of course Bob knew because we'd talked about it, and he made sure that I knew about this hotel. I did know about it because it's listed both in the Adventure Cycling maps and in the Donna Ikenberry book, plus two of the cyclists I met over the last couple of days stayed here, and both of them mentioned it to me.

Ordway is a slightly larger town than the towns I stayed in the last two nights - Eads and Tribune. They actually have a real grocery store, definitely a treat. I was able to pick up some food for dinner, including fresh fruits and vegetables. That's what I miss the most on this trip - ready access to good produce. And ready access to good bread. And I actually had a bit of a Gatorade crisis today. The store in Eads had very little selection of anything. They had Powerade and All Sport drinks, but not Gatorade. I prefer Gatorade, I can tolerate Powerade, and I can't drink All Sport (it tastes like they just dumped vitamins in it). Unfortunately I don't like all of the flavors of the different drinks. The only flavor of Powerade they had was lemon-lime, which is one of the flavors I don't like (even in Gatorade). I bought it anyway and forced myself to drink it because I knew I couldn't get through 60 miles without it. Luckily the grocery store here has a good selection of Gatorade, so I've already stocked up for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be better than the last 2 days from a services standpoint since there are a couple of stores or cafes along the route. They are all very early in the day though, so I'll still have a good 30 to 35 miles without services. I'll have to get used to that though because there are some days in the mountains where there won't be anywhere to stop at all.

I made a brief stop in Haswell to stand up and stretch for a few minutes. While I was there in the city park, a couple of RVers stopped to stretch their legs too. They were headed home to Scott City, KS from a vacation in Colorado. It turns out that they live next to the city park in Scott City, so they meet a lot of the cyclists who pass through there. City park camping is allowed and free through the midwest, so quite a few of the people who ride the Transam end up staying in parks. It may not be generally allowed, but many of the cities allow cyclists to camp. All they ask is that you check in with the police.

I saw two more deer this morning. I think they are teasing me because they stand still until I'm just about ready to take their picture and then they bound off before I can get a shot. These two were standing under a low railroad bridge. It would have been a cool picture - guess I'll just have to keep it in my head. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to catch a deer with my camera. And then again, maybe not!

I'm not in Kansas anymore!

2002-07-27T14:31:00.006-04:00

Tribune to Eads, CO

Did you know that the terrain and the weather change at state lines? I know that's not really true, but it seemed like it today. The wind this morning was much lighter than yesterday's, but it was still wind. About ten miles into Colorado the wind changed. It disappeared, then it came back for a bit but it seemed to be coming from different directions. And by the time I finished the day the wind was calm. That's the first time since I entered Kansas that the wind disappeared - and I'm not in Kansas anymore! The other thing I noticed at about the same point the wind changed, so did the vegetation and the terrain. I passed through flat Kansas farm country to some rolling hills with scrub vegetation that reminded me of high desert plants. It was amazing how different it looked. Then, just before I got to Eads, some farmland reappeared. I wonder what tomorrow will bring,

Today was a no services day, which means I didn't talk to too many people. There were supposed to be minimal services in Sheridan Lake, but nothing was open. The gas station was closed but very nicely left the rest rooms unlocked. I don't know what made me bring extra Gatorade with me today, but I was very glad I did. I always carry food, and if I know there aren't any services I bring extra Gatorade and water. I guess I doubted the existence of services today. And tomorrow will be more of the same.

Some of the towns my route passed through today were very tiny, with populations well under 100 people. Some of them looked mostly abandoned to me. There would be some buildings that were barely standing and were clearly abandoned, but there were also other buildings that looked pretty bad but that it looked like people were using. And then there would be one or two houses that looked reasonable, maybe with some ranch land attached to them. I really hate seeing these somewhat dead towns. I hope there aren't too many more coming.

Bob came out to talk for a little more this morning. He wasn't there when I checked in yesterday, so he didn't see my bike until this morning. It was his first view of a Bike Friday, and he seemed pretty interested in the trailer - and the fact that the bike folds. He must have a sailboat (or at least access to one) because he said he thought it would be a good bike for the boat. He said that his next bike purchase will probably be a recumbent. Bob is one of the daring airplane bike transport people. He told me that when he's taken his bike to Europe that he's removed the pedals, turned the handlebars, and put the fully assembled bike into a plastic bag supplied by the airline - and checked it like that. I've heard of people doing that, but I've always had a hard time believing that the bike will arrive in one piece - if the airline will even take it like that.

I saw one other cyclist today - heading west to east on the Transam, then heading up to Connecticut. He was from San Francisco. He quit his job, put everything in storage, and took off on his trip. We talked for quite a while. He told me that he sent 35 pounds worth of gear home from Denver. I asked him what he sent home - I'm planning on sending my cooking gear back once I get to Pueblo, and I'll go through everything else, but I don't think there's much else that will go back. He said he shipped his cooking gear, cold weather clothing, and other things like books and an atlas. We both laughed about the atlas - but I told him that I always have one or two books with me. I just leave them when I finish reading them.

He told me that he passed two groups ahead of me heading west. One was the Austrians - I knew about them yesterday. So they didn't make it to Eads yesterday, ended up camping on the side of the road or in a rancher's yard. There's also another group of 3. They must have passed me yesterday when I stopped for the day in Tribune. They also camped by the side of the road - didn't stop in Tribune because they wanted to get out of Kansas yesterday. They sounded a little crazy because they said they were going to try to get to Pueblo today. If they were just inside of Colorado this morning, that means a 150 or 160 mile day! That doesn't sound like much fun to me.

I saw a deer today just outside of Eads. It's the first one I've seen since I left Vermont. It was standing on the other side of the railroad tracks that parallel route 96. I stopped to try to get a picture, but the deer took off before I could get the camera turned on. What a beautiful animal - with a full rack. It was incredibly graceful as it ran off.

It will take me two more days to get to Pueblo. I'm planning to take at least one day off there, and there's a good possibility that I will take two because I think I may be close to the edge of exhaustion. I'm trying to get a good eight hours sleep each night, but that doesn't always happen. I'm still baffled by the days that I'm just not ready for sleep - it seems to me that I should just fall asleep as soon as I get off of the bike! That doesn't happen though.

I talked to my sister before I headed out for dinner tonight. She asked me what kind of restaurant I was going to, and I just laughed. This town has one motel, one restaurant, and one gas station / store. Not too many choices! Yesterday I had one choice for dinner, and this morning I had one choice for breakfast. Most of these no choice towns have diner-type restaurants which aren't bad. I've been eating quite a few fried fish sandwiches for dinner. I think I'm in a rut! That's another reason I wouldn't mind spending an extra day in Pueblo, a choice of food.

Wind and tumbleweeds

2002-07-26T12:00:00.004-04:00

Scott City to Tribune, KS

I did battle with the legendary Kansas headwind this morning. At times I had trouble even riding at an 8 miles per hour pace, so I was astounded when my average for the day was 9 MPH. The winds let up some this afternoon, definitely a relief. Luckily the weather forecast wasn't right today since they were calling for a hotter day than yesterday. The morning was overcast and cooler. I don't think it got into the 90s until the afternoon. That was a welcome change. I think there may have been some storms flying through last night and this morning, perhaps the source of the west winds. When I started riding there were some dark gray clouds, and some of that marvelous cloud to ground lightening to the north. No rain over me though.

The clouds were beautiful this morning. They almost looked like they were painted on the sky. The sun kept popping in an out, giving a play of light on the fields that was pretty amazing. It was one of those days where it would be easy to sit in one spot and just keep shooting pictures as the light continues to change.

I met two west-to-east riders today. The first was Martin, who was (I think) from the UK. He's riding the Transam from Florence to Virginia. He started on July 1st, and has covered 2100 miles already, so he is covering ground quite a bit faster than I am. He filled me in on the motels in Tribune and Ordway, and told me about an inexpensive place to stay right in downtown Pueblo. It's always good to get some tips or confirmation that the one and only motel in town is decent! Martin also told me that there are 4 young guys from Austria ahead of me. They started from Scott City this morning too, but they are going to Eads today. That's way to far for me - over 100 miles against the wind - but more power to them!

The second rider was a guy from Japan whose name I didn't get. He started riding in San Diego, and rode up the coast to Oregon to pick up the Transam. He's riding the Transam, and will then go to North Carolina and finally north to Connecticut. And people tell me I didn't follow a straight line! He's definitely seeing a good chunk of the country. When I told him that he is the second rider that I've met from Japan he seemed surprised. He told me that Asians don't tend to do much touring. (Or at least the people he knows at home don't do much touring.) He was looking for a bike shop because he has a tire that needs to be replaced. I told him that the first one he'll hit is in Hutchinson, which is slightly off route. I was able to point out that the Athleticlub in Scott City ($8) and the Zion Lutheran Church hostel (free) in Hutchinson are both inexpensive places to stay. He's been camping and didn't realize that the places listed under hostel on the Adventure Cycling maps are also either free or very inexpensive. He sounded like he wouldn't mind a night inside, especially after the thunderstorms he had last night in Eads.

I'm still in Kansas tonight, but I'm now on Mountain time. Most of the counties on the western edge of Kansas are in Mountain time while the rest of the state is in Central time. I've been told that until recently there was actually one town that was split down the middle - half in Mountain and half in Central time. It really seems like it would be easier to deal with the time zone differences if it split at the state line, not at county lines. But I guess it's not much different from Indiana with a small part of the state using Daylight Savings time and most staying on Standard time. The time change means I had an early end to the day. It's nice to have that extra hour to use to relax this afternoon.

I was 10 miles out of Tribune when I saw a sign announcing construction for the next 10 miles. I cringed when I saw the sign, but I was lucky again. The road had already been repaved, and they were in the process of painting lines on the pavement. Oh, the joy of riding on newly paved roads!

At one point this afternoon a sheriff traveling east stopped and flagged me down to ask if I'd seen any cars flipped over between Leoti and my current location. I hadn't, and he continued on, I assume he didn't find one because I saw him coming back not to long after we spoke.

The elevation has been slowly increasing as I've crossed Kansas. I entered the state at an elevation of 900 feet, and Tribune has an elevation of 3543 feet. It's been a very gradual change, probably the easiest elevation gain of this trip. There will be another 1200 feet of elevation gain over the next 3 days since Pueblo is at 4700 feet. I guess that's why they call this area the high plains.

At the end of the day I actually saw some tumbleweeds rolling across the road...

I'm staying at the Trails End Motel in Tribune tonight. Martin told me that it was a good place to stay, which is a good thing since it's the only place to stay right in town. Bob - the owner of the motel - called at about 6:30 to invite me to join him for dinner. I had already eaten, but I went over to chat for a bit. He's a cyclist too. He's done the cross-state ride in Oklahoma, has been thinking of riding RAGBRAI (the ride across Iowa), and does a lot of mountain biking in Colorado. He's also done quite a bit of touring in Europe. He told me that he hopes to do the southern route from San Diego to Florida over a winter. It's really strange when the phone your hotel room rings and no one knows where you are. I was sure it was a wrong number - but it was for me.

Can you say HOT?

2002-07-25T11:55:00.005-04:00

Ness City to Scott City, KS

OK, I know it's further than 44 miles between Ness City and Scott City, but that's as far as I rode on the bike. Robert saw me standing by the side of the road between Dighton and Scott City and stopped to ask if I was OK. I told him I was fine, just very hot. The reason he found me standing there is that I stopped after a strong gust of wind from the side almost knocked me off of the bike and off of the road! He offered me a ride to Scott City, and I took him up on it. He was driving a flat-bed truck and hauling a trailer containing a corn head to be delivered to a local farmer. He said that it is attached to a combine to harvest corn. I had to ask - I keep seeing all sorts of farm equipment, and I don't have a clue what most of it is used for. The farmer is trading in his old one for this shiny new bright green John Deere equipment - a $35,000 investment, and this is only a part of the needed equipment!

Robert was also able to tell me what one of the local crops is. I've been seeing something that looks like corn, but doesn't look like corn. It's not as tall, and it has a flower / stack that is a mustard yellow color. I've been wondering what it is since I first noticed it outside of Newton. It turns out that it's something called milo that is a feed corn.

It's very dry here, and several people have told me that it will get even drier as I move into eastern Colorado. Robert said that it's been over a year since they've had any significant rain here.

I have to admit, I'm ready to be done with the plains. If I could find a ride to Pueblo I'd grab it. It's really the first time on this trip that I've felt this way. I'm not ready to be done with my trip - just the plains. I think it's driven by a combination of the heat and the constant wind. I wish I could believe that when I cross the political boundary between Kansas and Colorado that the conditions would change, but it just doesn't work that way. This morning's ride was hard. The southwest winds were coming enough out of the west to keep my speed down to 9 miles per hour. I had a much needed break when Gary appeared on the horizon. At first I wasn't sure he was on a bike because he was moving so fast, but as he pulled up to me he said "you must be having a hard time with this wind because I'm getting quite a push". Gary is from Toronto, and is riding from San Francisco to Toronto. He followed the Western Express route to the Transam. The Western Express sounds really hard to me, and Gary confirmed that it was hard. He said that many of the campgrounds in Nevada didn't even have water. He said that he would ask the RVers for water. They were always happy to supply him with water, and many times they also invited him to dinner. We stood on the side of the road and talked for about a half of an hour. He said he was going to try to cover 150 miles today. I pretty much choked when he said that and asked if he had been doing 100+ mile days. He said not - that he was doing 40 to 60 miles a day in the mountains, and longer distances since he hit the flats. But he said he wanted to take advantage of the tailwind for as long as he could. Gary took an interesting travel approach to get to the start of his trip. He threw his panniers and gear in a duffle bag and took a bus to San Francisco. He said he was planning to buy a new touring bike, and instead of getting it at home he bought his new bike in San Francisco. The bus fare was dirt cheap - less than $100 Canadian! Gary had the Transam maps through Missouri and was trying to decide when he'd head north to get back to Toronto. I showed him my route through Missouri on US 54 and pointed out the hairy section through Jeff City and that there were a couple of days where it was 4-lane divided road for the entire day. He said that looked good to him as a start to head towards home.

After Gary and I parted company, I continued on to Dighton. I had lunch at a gas station convenience store - and spent some time talking to the manager there and the Pepsi delivery guys. I filled up my bottles with cold Gatorade, and hit the road again. After I left Gary the wind calmed down quite a bit. That made me much happier. It's so much nicer to be able to move at a somewhat normal speed. The thermometer kept inching up - to 115 in the sun. The official reported temperature was closer to 103, still very hot. It's almost 8 PM as I sit here writing, and the temperature is still 101 degrees. The heat is supposed to continue for the next couple of days.

I had hoped to start earlier this morning, but I really needed some extra sleep after the Larned city park. I feel much better today after a good 10 hours of sleep, but the extra sleep meant that I still didn't get on the road until 8 AM. I guess I have to accept my 8 AM start times since that seems to be what my body likes. Sometimes you just can't fight it.

After Robert dropped me off I headed over to the Athleticlub to check it out. They allow cyclists to use the facilities and sleep there for $8. A great deal, but the back room where the cyclists sleep seemed pretty hot to me. There were fans, and Gary said it wasn't bad, but I was so hot I really wanted an air conditioned room. For someone who normally doesn't like air conditioning I think I'm turning into a bit of a baby! I was able to get a motel room - apparently one of the last in town due to the county fair and a softball tournament. So I paid $34 instead of $8. It's still not expensive... And Kansas continues to be the hardest place so far to get a motel room!

After I checked in I headed to the grocery store to pick up some fruit. I was wearing my normal grocery shopping attire - bicycle clothes and my helmet. As I was deciding what type of yogurt I wanted for a snack a woman came up to me and said "you people are crazy to do what you do". We talked for a while. When I told her I'd like to be out of the plains, she said she'd be happy to hook me up with one of her friends with a pickup truck but that they were all involved in the softball tournament. Too bad - guess I'll just have to keep riding to Pueblo!

I still had a bit of a puzzle with my bicycle computer this morning. I just couldn't believe it - changing the battery in the transmitter fixed the computer so it showed my current speed, but it still wasn't recording distance. Everything else was working, so I was having a hard time believing that it was broken. It took me a couple of miles of stopping and recalibrating the computer to figure out how to fix it. The computer either tracks active (riding) time, or it tracks the time since the timer is turned on. I always keep it set to active time, but when I changed the battery in the computer it defaulted to time, not active time, and I didn't notice it. Once I attempted to start the timer and saw that it started recording distance again I realized what the problem was. I reset it to active time. Now it's working properly and I'm happy!

The heat is back, and so are the southwest winds

2002-07-24T11:53:00.004-04:00

Larned to Ness City, KS

Today didn't have a stellar start, but as usual it turned into a good day.

Staying in the Larned city park didn't allow me to get enough sleep last night. Unfortunately it appears to be a driving destination for the local kids - at least I assume they were kids. There were people driving through there, parking with the bass blasting from stereos, leaving cars turned on, and peeling rubber as they moved out. That didn't make me very happy, but there wasn't much I could do about it. Things finally got quiet at about 12:30. I really need a good 8 hours of sleep, and I definitely didn't get it last night, so I was still a bit tired this morning. That wore off once I started biking, and I was fine. And the lesson here it to accept a back yard camping spot over a city park the next time one is offered!

When I woke up for one of my bathroom breaks in the middle of the night, one of my knees was really stiff. They've both been a little sore, but nothing major. I was a bit concerned last night, but I took some ibuprofen and everything seems fine now. Maybe I just slept on it in a strange way. Here's hoping my knees and I make it through the mountains that are yet to come without any problems.

I was about 10 minutes out of town when the bike began to feel very strange. Flat tire! I checked the tires before I hit the road this morning, and they seemed fine... I changed the tire and threw the old tube into my bag so I could patch it later. I assumed that something happened when I road through the road construction yesterday, even though I kept an eye on the tires and tried to make sure that nothing sharp was stuck to them. When I finished riding I pulled out the bad tube and discovered that the valve stem had separated from the tube - but in such a way that depending on the angle of the valve the tube would still hold air. Guess I can't patch that one!

The winds and temperature were back to what seems to be normal today. The winds were out of the southwest, and the temperature has been reported at 98 degrees. As usual, the bike computer shows about 10 degrees higher in the sun. After noon I could just feel the heat rising off of the pavement. I had a nice push from the wind as I rode straight north for 19 miles. Once I turned west again, it switched to a strong side wind with some sections that felt more like a glancing headwind. It definitely wasn't a head-on headwind, but it was enough in my face to make the ride harder. I wonder if the wind ever stops blowing here. Ever since I crossed into Kansas it has been windy.

I met a rider from Phoenix this afternoon. He's riding from Phoenix to New York on a recumbent. Well, actually he's riding the flat parts on his recumbent, and the mountains and hilly parts on a "regular" bike. Like yesterday, when I first saw him I thought he might be a local cyclist because he had very little gear on his bike. When I asked him if he was traveling with a very small amount of stuff, he told me that his wife is sagging him in their van. She's carrying all of his gear, plus an extra bike. Now that's luxury - having 2 bikes to choose from on a cross-country tour.

As I move into western Kansas everything is starting to look really dry. According to a newspaper article I read over the weekend many of the farmers are planting crops with no intent of harvesting them. They are hoping that the crops will help keep the soil in place. Here's hoping that this area gets some rain soon - but I do hope that happens after I leave here.

I saw an animal today that may have been a fox. Does anyone know if they ever hang out in farm land? At first I thought it was a dog, but it had the look of a fox. It ran out of a field toward the road, saw me coming, and ran back into the field. Every so often it would pop it's head back up and look. I really think if it had been a dog that it would have been chasing me.

I rode without my cycle computer today. As I suspected, the problem was with the battery in the transmitter. I was on numbered state roads and US highways all day today, so there were mile markers on the road. That helped quite a bit, but I still missed my little toy. When I got to Ness City this afternoon I went in search of a battery and actually found one. I really thought I'd have to wait until I hit Pueblo to find the right battery. Everything's fixed now - I'm happy.

And I'm very happy that I was able to get a motel room tonight. It's way too hot out there to be sweating in a tent. And the forecast for tomorrow is triple digits again.

Tailwind delight

2002-07-23T11:44:00.008-04:00

Hutchinson to Larned, KS

What a nice riding day! I had a very nice surprise when I found that the wind was coming from the northeast which gave me a tailwind for a very welcome change. It's funny - the wind is very noticeable when it's coming from any direction other than behind you. When it's a tailwind you don't notice the wind as much as you notice the change in speed and the feeling that you're flying. My average speed today was just above 13 miles per hour which is very fast for me on this trip! I know that's not fast for other people, but it is for me...

Marilyn and her daughter saw me off this morning. I was glad to see her so I could give her a couple of things I wasn't taking with me. I needed to replenish my peppermint soap supply, and while I was able to buy some yesterday, I could only find a larger bottle than I needed. I filled my small bottles and gave her the rest. I also had some extra strength Tylenol that were free with some Motrin that I bought - so Marilyn ended up with the Tylenol too. I was glad to have someone to give those small items to - I hate to throw things away just because I don't want to carry them. It was nice to have someone see me off too - a change of pace for me.

Just before I got to Nickerson I saw some zebras by the side of the road. At first I thought I really must be seeing things, but then I remembered that there is an exotic animal park there. There are supposed to be giraffes there too, but I didn't see any. What an odd thing to see in the middle of Kansas. The zebras have a fabulous design on their hides. I think it's really striking.

I met up with Bob, Ray, and Sandy just outside of Nickerson too - "Three Old Guys and a Gal". (Yeah, I know, there are just 2 guys, but there were three originally.) I was wondering if we'd cross paths. They are doing the Transam from West to East, and I've been watching their journal when I post my own. I noticed yesterday that they were in Larned, so I thought there was a chance I'd see them today. There was also a chance I wouldn't because I was off route last night, and they are early morning starters and I'm not. There was more than a small possibility that they would pass the point at which I got back on route before I arrived there. They've been getting on the road by 5:30, while I'm still fighting to get on the road by 8. I would like to start earlier, but my body doesn't seem to want to get moving much earlier, so 8 it is. When I first saw Bob I thought he must be a local cyclist because he didn't have any gear on his bike. It turns out that Bob is driving Ray's van and carrying all of their gear. He rides about 20 miles each day, while Ray and Sandy ride the full distance. I'm sure I'll be jealous of all of these folks who have managed to arrange sags when I'm hauling all of my gear up the Rocky Mountains! We had a nice visit on the side of the road, and then went off in opposite directions. While I was getting a nice push from a tailwind, they were having a pretty hard ride against the wind.

There was some pretty nasty road work going on at the end of the day today. I was lucky again in that they were working on the other side of the road. The road surface was in good shape, so I don't know why they were chip-sealing it - maybe preventive maintenance. The stuff was flying all over the road when people passed me or went by on the other side of the road. But at least I didn't have to ride on it.

I pulled in to Larned at about 3 this afternoon and went in search of a motel. Nope, not tonight. There are two motels on the outskirts of town, and both of them were full. It's hard to believe that I haven't had any problem getting a room in any other state - just in Kansas. A woman I was talking to in the park said there is a 4-H Fair of some sort going on, probably the source of the motel room problem. So - I'm camping at the city park. It's really a beautiful park, and I have my tent set up next to a fountain. I should have some nice soothing water sounds in my ears as I fall asleep tonight. I went to the grocery store to pick up some food for dinner, and met Jewel Shartz. She told me I was welcome to camp in her back yard - but I'd already checked out the park and decided it had everything I needed, so I thanked her and moved on. I kind of figured middle of the night bathroom stops would be easier and less disruptive in the park than traipsing into someone's house....

The park is very well used. There is a beautiful swimming pool, a fountain, a rose garden, two picnic table pavilions, 2 sets of very clean rest rooms in addition to the ones at the pool, and a pond containing ducks and geese. There were quite a few people here this evening with kids either dangling their feet in the fountain or watching the water birds in the pond. I spent some time talking with some of the kids waiting for their moms to pick them up just after the swimming pool closed, including one little girl who had been to someplace near Albany, Oregon for vacation this summer. She was telling me about a windy road that she insisted I would have to ride in order to get to Oregon. Hmm, wonder where that is... I also had a chance to talk with some of the people sitting around the fountain, and I met a local cyclist and his two dogs when he came over to ask what kind of bike I am riding. He saw the small wheels, and just had to check out the bike. It was his first glimpse of a Bike Friday. He told me he's thinking of getting a recumbent. They have always fascinated me. I wonder how many years will go by before I decide I need one of those.

One of the women I spoke to at the fountain said I'm pretty lucky in the conditions here today. There are two feed lots here in Larned, and apparently if the wind is blowing wrong, the stench is unbelievable. I noticed the feed lots as I pulled into town. I enjoy watching the cattle out in nice fields, but these feed lots were really gross. They looked barren, no grass, and the cows were just packed in there. I guess I'd better hope that the wind doesn't shift overnight.

My bike computer decided to stop sensing speed and distance at the end of the day. I changed the battery in the computer, but that didn't solve the problem, Unfortunately I don't have a replacement battery for the transmitter. Hopefully I'll be able to find one tomorrow, but I have a feeling that I may not have my little crutch for the next few days. It stopped working after I got to Larned, then it started working again. So I'm hoping it behaves itself tomorrow, but I have a feeling that it won't. And unfortunately, the next decent sized city is Pueblo, and I think that's 6 days away. Yuck. I'll know how far I've ridden from the maps, but it's nice to know how much further you have to go based on how far you've already ridden for the day. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

To the Cosmosphere

2002-07-22T11:35:00.005-04:00

Rest day in Hutchinson, KS

Another rest day. It's amazing how fast the days go by, resting or riding. The weather has toned down a bit, and the wind direction has changed. For the first time since I've hit Kansas the wind is coming from the NNW instead of the SSW, and the temperature is only 88 degrees, still humid. Here's hoping that the temperature change sticks for a while.

I started the day with a visit to Harley's Cycle Supply here in Hutchinson. I got my first flat of the trip yesterday - picked up a thorn in one of the trailer tires. I don't know why, but I could not get the tire off of the rim. That's the first time that has happened to me. It wasn't a big deal because it was the trailer (a low pressure tire with not a great deal of weight on it) and not the bike (a higher pressure tire with more weight on it). Actually, if it had been the bike I would have been able to change the tire - I've changed bike tires many times over the years... I was able to get by yesterday by stopping to put more air in the trailer tire every hour or two. Annoying, but not a big deal. What was more annoying to me was not being able to get the tire off! Dave at Harley's helped me out. He also put Slime (for you non-bikers, it's a liquid that helps seal punctures) in both trailer tire / tubes, and I bought a different set of tire levers that hopefully will work better than the set I was carrying. It gave me an excuse (as if I needed one) to stop and chat with the folks at the bike shop. Dave said he saw me ride up Main Street yesterday and wondered if I was riding cross-country. He thought I was because of the trailer and panniers, but he'd never seen anyone do the trip on a Bike Friday before. I'm not the first, but maybe the others didn't stop here. I asked if there had been quite a few cyclists passing through here this summer. He said there had been a number, but they (we) started coming through later in the season than usual, and that he thought that the numbers were down. He also said he's seen fewer foreign cyclists this year. Interesting.

I came back to the hotel to drop off the trailer, and to have a snack - eating again! I met some of the baseball families who are in town for the World Series. Marilyn asked me if I was riding across the state. Once I told her that I was riding across the country that started a longer conversation, so we talked for a bit. Then I headed to the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. I saw the Space Station film at the Omni theatre. It was really impressive. If you have a chance to see it, I highly recommend it. I went through the museum too, which traces the history of space flight from the German V1 and V2 rockets in World War II through the US - Soviet space race to the present and includes the most significant collection of space artifacts outside of the Smithsonian. It was definitely a good place to visit.

When I sat down in the theater, a couple of boys were looking at me. I said "oops, I guess I should take my helmet off", and they said that they had just seen me talking to their mom back at the hotel, and expressed surprise that I made it to the museum so fast. It was only a couple of miles away, and when you factor in the stop lights on the way, it probably didn't take me much longer to get there than it took them.

After I finished my tour of the museum I wandered into the gift shop. I met Marilyn there again and ended up talking to her and several other moms and kids from Omaha. She asked me if I'd be willing to talk to their boys - the baseball team - back at the hotel. You know me, I love sharing my trip and talking about biking, so of course I agreed. We me in the lobby at 5, and I talked to the group before their next World Series game. Marilyn and Jan and Faye stayed and talked some more after the kids headed out. That was a lot of fun. Marilyn teaches American History, and she said she's going to have her class follow my progress when they get back to school in mid-August.

The hawks glide on the wind, why can't I?

2002-07-21T11:26:00.001-04:00

Newton to Hutchinson, KS

Another sunny, hot, windy day... the temperatures rose to the low hundreds again, and the wind was really strong. Luckily the wind continues to be mainly from the south. At times it felt like a headwind even though it was really coming from the side. The cyclists I met yesterday said the same thing. I guess that amount of wind coming from any direction but behind is tiring to ride in. But I'm so glad that it wasn't a headwind! And for proof of the heat - by the end of the day my clothes are coated with salt. I guess that means I've been sweating up a storm.

When I woke up this morning I was still tired. I guess by now I should realize that when I'm really exhausted at the end of a day that it may be a signal that I need a rest day. Somehow I was thinking I could make it to Pueblo, Colorado before my next rest day. I don't know what I was thinking of, because it will probably take me another week to get that far. I rode to Hutchinson anyway, and I'm going to take a rest day here. Today was only the 2nd time this trip that I've walked into a hotel and been told that they were full. This week is the 12 & under Baseball World Series, so every place is just swarming with kids, parents, and coaches. I was very lucky to get a room for two nights. I had an out - the Zion Lutheran Church here allows cyclist to stay in their office. A free place to stay would be nice, but I wanted a room where I could sleep in or take a nap in the middle of the day. The first place I checked was full, the second had a room for only one night, but the third was the charm - a room for two nights. And it's in walking distance of several restaurants. I had dinner at a Chinese buffet restaurant tonight. I usually don't go to buffets because with my normal eating habits they don't make sense. But they certainly make sense for me as a hungry cyclist - all I could eat for $7.95. Now that was a good deal!

I didn't meet any west to east riders today, but that could be because I took US 50 instead of the Adventure Cycling route. Hutchinson is 6 miles off route to the south, and it seemed to make more sense to head straight west from Newton instead of heading north and west and then needing to head south again.

It seems to be getting dryer as I move further to the west. There is a huge difference in the way the corn fields look here and the way they looked further east. The newspaper today (yes, I finally got to read a Sunday paper!) had an article about the drought in western Kansas. I'm still in central Kansas and it's already starting to look dry.

I saw a hawk sitting on a fence post as I rode up. I stopped and tried to grab a quick picture, but of course the bird took off before I could snap a picture. I stood and watched it fly for a while. It's amazing how they just seem to float on the air currents.

A trailer went by carrying two horses. I've only seen this one other time, and I wondered if I was imagining things. Guess not. The horses were standing angled across the trailer with their heads hanging out of the window!

As I came into Hutchinson I was standing at a stop light waiting for the light to change. A kid (looked to be a very young driver) was next to me on the right waiting to turn right. He asked me where I'm from and where I'm heading. When I answered, his response was "wow, cool".

My plans for tomorrow - rest, maybe a little extra sleep, plus a visit to the Kansas Cosmosphere.and Space Center.

I knew Kansas was going to be hot

2002-07-20T11:23:00.006-04:00

Eureka to Newton, KS

It was a long riding day, but I think it will be a short journal entry day! It was another hot one, with more of those 2 to 3% non-hills in the first 20 miles of the ride.The wind continues to come out of the southwest, which is mainly a side-wind as I'm traveling west. There were times that it felt like a headwind, and I had a marvelous 15 miles with a tailwind as I headed north for a bit. The temperature? My bike computer said it was 110 degrees at one point. That's in the sun (of course), so it's not the official recorded temperature. The weather station said the highs in the area ranged from 100 to 105, but with the humidity the heat index was above 110. Tomorrow is supposed to be a match for today. I'm planning a short ride for tomorrow, and I'll just keep hoping that the next day will be a little cooler.

I stopped to stretch relatively early in my ride. A man from Yates Center stopped to make sure that I was OK, and we talked for about 15 minutes. He was headed to Witchita to watch his son in a baseball tournament. He works for the Kansas Highway Patrol, and told me that he saw me yesterday in Eureka. Guess the bike and trailer combination makes me easily recognizable!

I pulled into Rosalia and stopped for my usual recycling / refueling. The route went north from there to Cassoday, then west to Newton. There were no services on the road from Cassoday to Newton, which was close to 40 miles. The road looked pretty desolate heading north from Rosalia, so I asked the people in the cafe about it. They confirmed that the road north and the road west to route 77 were pretty desolate, with only a few houses. I decided to continue west on US 54 to El Dorado. I knew that there were places to stay in El Dorado which gave me an out if I decided it was too hot to continue to ride. I arrived in El Dorado and decided to continue on to Newton. There was still a 40 mile stretch with no services, but US 54 and US 77 were both good riding roads. I had lunch and stocked up on water and Gatorade before I left El Dorado. If it wasn't for the heat it would have been a very reasonable ride. With the heat, it was a little longer than I liked. I'm tired tonight, and I think that more from the heat (well OK, riding in the heat) than from the ride itself.

I crossed paths with 2 Transam west to east riders from Kirkland, WA who were headed to Cassoday to camp in the city park tonight. We chatted for a while, then they headed east to camp and I headed west to find an air-conditioned motel room. Normally I hate air conditioning, but on this trip it has definitely been the way to go.

When I was checking into the motel, I asked if they had either AAA or AARP discounts. There was a man standing next to me at the desk who looked at me and said "That AARP card can't be yours". I reminded him that you can join at 50. I almost threw the application out when it showed up in the mail just before my 50th birthday, but then I remembered that they get good discounts!

My planned short day tomorrow isn't really because of the weather, although that's a great excuse. The next towns with places to stay are spread out in a somewhat strange pattern. It would be nice if there were places to stay every 50 to 60 miles, but there isn't really anything for quite a while after tomorrow's stop. I can use a short day though, so I have no complaints!

I think this tree is a good statement about the prevailing wind direction in Kansas. I was facing west when I took the picture, and the winds were coming from the south (and maybe a little west). It's not often that you see trees growing in the direction of the wind.

Hot, hot, hot... my bicycle computer claims the temperature is 109 degrees!

Sunscreen sliding into eyes

2002-07-19T11:16:00.008-04:00

Chanute to Eureka, KS

I know it's really hot out when the sun screen slides off of my face and into my eyes. It was 98 degrees out when I checked into the motel. My bike computer showed 104 degrees in the sun. It sounds like the next two days are going to be triple digit days, and the forecast calls for it to cool off into the mid-90s on Monday. I'm not sure I'd call that cool, but even a few degrees cooler would be good. The southwest winds continue to blow. At least the winds are drying the sweat so I'm not soaking wet all day!

Today was a partial off-route day. When I looked at the directions last night, I saw a 4-mile section on gravel. There was an easy off-route option of riding US 75 north, then US 54 west. The Adventure Cycling route ended the day on US 54, so I just got on it a little earlier. When I got to the supposed gravel section it was paved, but I took my alternate anyway. It turned out to be very nice. I was treated by 10 miles of new pavement on US 75.

I stopped at the grocery store in Chanute this morning to pick up some more bananas. When I came out, an older man stopped me, welcomed me to Kansas, and presented me with an official highway map. I had actually picked up a map yesterday in the motel. This is the first state I've been in where the state highway map is readily available. Everywhere else it seems that you have to get to an official visitors welcome center to pick up a map. Here, I've seen them in motels, in convenience stores in the middle of nowhere, and in the hands of people who live here.

I rode through my third Buffalo of this trip - Buffalo NY, Buffalo, MO, and Buffalo, KS.

The Casey's convenience store in Yates Center was my lunch spot today - pizza, snacks, and conversation. One of the people I talked to told me that he saw a cyclist handing off of a truck mirror getting pulled along the road. If he wasn't kidding (I couldn't tell), that's a pretty stupid thing to do! The same guy told me about the road ahead. He told me it was flat to the town of Neal, and that there were big hills between Neal and Eureka. There was another person who told me the same thing, and she actually said there were more big hills beyond Eureka. I think they were both serious, but I should have considered the source. I rode most of the afternoon wondering when the hills were going to start. What hills? There were a couple of short 5 to 7% grade hills this morning, but the afternoon "big hills" were a couple of long 2% grades. I wouldn't consider those big hills!

I stopped to take a picture this afternoon. While I was standing at the side of the road, a guy in a pickup saw me, and turned around and came back to make sure that I was OK. People have been great.

My ice cream stop this afternoon was at Lizard Lips Grocery and Deli at the intersection of US 54 and KS 105. I just love the name! The woman who was running the store is from Seattle. She and her husband moved here to be close to her grandchildren. She asked me to sign their cyclist guest log. They've had quite a few cyclist stop there - the last 2 days ago.

New non-wildlife for today - grasshoppers. One of them came along for a ride on my handlebars. I thought that the red-winged blackbirds and the killdeer had abandoned me, but they both showed up again today. I also saw some cardinals and some hawks, and some other birds that I don't recognize.

To all the people who told me that Kansas is flat and boring - what state were you talking about? The eastern part of the state has been rolling, and not boring. Maybe the stereotype of Kansas comes from the western side of the state. I guess I'll find out soon. In the meantime I've been getting a real kick out of watching the cattle. They seem to watch me ride by, and they turn their heads to look when I talk to them!

A lightening day

2002-07-18T11:10:00.013-04:00

Pittsburgh to Chanute, KS

Let's see, what can I say about today? It was wet, wet, wet! It started dry and ended dry, but the middle part of the day was a good solid hour and a half of riding in the rain. The good thing about the rain is that it held the temperature in the 70s. After the rain stopped the temperature popped right back into the 90s. It was windy again too. Just like yesterday, the wind was coming from the south, which meant I had side winds for most of the day. Good luck so far, because that strength wind as a head wind would have slowed me down considerably.

I started the day by talking to people at breakfast - as usual. The folks I was talking to are in Pittsburg for a big 4-state farm show that starts tomorrow. Based on where Pittsburg is located, I assume that the 4 states are Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.

I stopped for my first bathroom break at a gas station north of Pittsburg, where I ended up talking with three men for about 15 minutes. One of them said that he saw a bunch of cyclists resting at the dog track up the road a couple of weeks ago. He stopped to talk to them (or to be nosy, as he put it), and ended up breaking out his cooler which was full of soft drinks and beer. He said the cyclists seemed much more interested in the ice from the cooler - which they promptly dumped on their heads to help cool off.

After I went through Girard I met a Transam west to east rider from Pennsylvania. We only talked for a few minutes because by then the weather was starting to get pretty threatening. Right before I met him I had stopped to pull my dry clothes off of my trailer drying rack - just after I started hearing thunder. He hoped to get to Girard before it started pouring, and I hoped to find a farm house with a porch that I could borrow for a while. I didn't make it, and I suspect he got pretty wet too. It was a warm day, so neither one of us had any intention of pulling out rain gear. But the oncoming storm looked scary, with quite a few cloud to ground lightening strikes. After I was totally soaked I found a farm house with an overhanging roof that could provide some shelter. I knocked on the door and asked if I could hang out by the side of the house until the rain eased up. The teenager who answered the door said that would be fine and promptly went back inside. I probably stayed there for about 15 minutes. I wrung the water out of my gloves and my socks, and started riding again when the rain got lighter and the lightening seemed to move further away. I was able to take a break a ways down the road when I found a church with a covered entryway. I sat there and had a rest and a snack, then pulled back out in the continuing light rain. It wasn't too bad - but then it started to pour again. Luckily this time there wasn't much lightening because there wasn't any shelter around except for an abandoned house and barn, both of which had holes in them! The rain stopped just as I arrived in the tiny town of Walnut. It had a post office, a bar, some other closed buildings, and a gas station / diner combination. I stopped at the gas station for lunch - a grilled cheese sandwich and a hot chocolate. Probably a weird combination, but I was soaking wet and figured I needed something warm. A couple of the guys in there had seen me go by on the road... One of them said that the rain was just a narrow band. It may have been a narrow band, but it sure seemed to stay over me for a long time.

I had another 25 miles to ride after lunch. I continued to hear thunder and see occasional lightening to the south of me, but I was riding in bright sunshine for the rest of the day. I checked into a motel in Chanute, cleaned the bike, took a shower, threw my clothes in the washer, and then looked outside to find that it was pouring again. What a crazy weather day! And if that was an example of a Kansas thunderstorm, I hope I don't meet too many of them. It would be OK without the lightening - it was one of those stay on the bike or run and hide decision days!

New wildlife for the day - I saw what I think was an armadillo trundling across the road in front of me. It had a pointed face, a long snaky tail, and a squat body that was armored. And no, I was not hallucinating!

Hey Rover, we really ARE in Kansas

2002-07-17T10:59:00.006-04:00

Ash Grove, MO to Pittsburg, KS

Today is a different kind of milestone day for me. I'm in Kansas for the first time - so my list of states that I haven't visited yet is down to five. Now all I need to do is figure out how and when to get to the missing five: Mississippi, Arkansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and West Virginia. That's an odd assortment. So who wants to go biking there?

The hills continued for the first 18 miles today, but they were nothing like the up and down section on county road CC yesterday. There were just a few of those 15 to 18% grades, and things flattened out considerably past Pennsboro. But of course Missouri threw in a few more rollers at the edge of the state! It was cloudy most of the day, which helped keep the temperature reasonable (in the 80s). I was caught in the rain as I left Golden City, but it didn't last long enough to really wet the road. I didn't even bother to pull my rain jacket out because I figured if I put it on I'd be wet from the inside out! There was a very strong wind all afternoon. Lucky for me, it was a side wind and not a head wind.

I saw some more of those "Impassable During High Water" signs today, but unlike yesterday they were in flat sections of Missouri. I understand the signs in the gully areas, but in a flat area? I couldn't even figure out where the water would come from. That's scary.

When I wandered through Golden City in search of a grocery store I actually had to ask where it was. How can you hide a grocery store? This one had a sign, but it was only visible if you were heading in the opposite direction, not the direction I came from. As usual, I needed to stock up on Gatorade, plus pick up some lunch. Cooky's Cafe was recommended by a friend of Mark's, and based on the line of people waiting to get in there it was probably very good, but I didn't want to stay off the road that long. The grocery store worked fine for me.

Lois kept me company at breakfast this morning. I walked into the local diner just as she was finishing her breakfast. After I ordered, she said "are you a cyclist?". When I answered yes, she came over to sit with me. Lois is a sweet little old lady. She is originally from Iowa but moved to Ash Grove at the request of one of her children. Of course the daughter who got her to move subsequently moved back to Iowa and of course wants her mother to return. But Lois told me she likes Missouri better - she said the people are friendlier, the weather is warmer, and the tiny town of Ash Grove has everything she needs.

As I was eating dinner in a Mexican restaurant tonight, the family seated next to me stopped by to chat on their way out. They didn't ask if I was a cyclist, just started the conversation by asking where I started riding and where I was headed. Do you think I'm sending out cycling vibes? I wasn't wearing cycling clothes, so I asked what gave me away. It was my hands, which look like I'm still wearing my gloves. I'm used to getting a circle on the back of my hand from my gloves, but this time I have half-glove marks on my fingers too! They also asked me where I started this morning, and my mind absolutely went blank. It took me a minute to dredge up Ash Grove. It's amazing how the days just run into each other.

"Missouruh isn't flat"

2002-07-16T09:27:00.009-04:00

Buffalo to Ash Grove, MO

It was a good people day today, and a good but hard riding day. The first 20 miles were relatively easy. There were hills, but they were all a reasonable grade. I was really lucky, because 5 miles north of Fair Grove there was a sign that said: "Shoulder work next 15 miles - Fresh Oil". Timing is everything, and they had started on the northbound side of the road so I still had nice dry clean pavement to ride on. If they had already oiled the shoulder I probably would have ridden in the road. The image of my trying to get that oil off of the bike and trailer without good cleaning stuff isn't a happy one, so I'm glad I didn't have to deal with it.

Thunder rumbled for about an hour this afternoon, but I was lucky and only had to ride through some light sprinkles.

Once I hit Fair Grove I turned onto the Transamerica trail. And then came county road CC. That one was really hard with rollers up and down that unfortunately were steep enough and long enough that you couldn't just coast up the other side. I'd call it a very bitchy 5 miles. I should have known how hilly it was going to be when I saw the first of many signs saying "Impassable during High Water". The road swooped down to the creek-bed, then climbed straight up again. It actually reminded me of some of the riding I did in Washington back in 1999. I was just hoping that the rest of the day wouldn't be as hilly. Luckily the hills moderated after CC crossed route 13. The hills didn't go away, but the riding was much more reasonable for a while. Then some pretty big hills reappeared, with grades at the top of the climbs ranging up to 20% (according to my bike computer, which could be a bit off). Ouch! I've been told that the hills will continue for the first 15 miles of tomorrow's ride, then they should moderate to be true rolling hills - not rolling steeps like I had today! And these aren't even considered to be mountains, just hills.

I had a conversation with some cows early this morning. They were pretty funny in that they came toward me as I was standing there talking to them. Usually they run the other way, but this bunch seemed to be curious about the two-legged creature riding a bicycle. I actually felt like they were watching me as I rode off.

I started talking with people at breakfast this morning. I met a couple from Joplin with their infant daughter. He is a Frito-Lay route specialist who is in the Buffalo area for a week, so his wife and daughter came with him. She said that her mom and grandmother raise money for and ride in the MS rides. I suspect that her mother is my age or younger...

I was about 10 miles out of Buffalo when I met Hiroshi. He's from Japan, and he is cycling from Los Angeles to Chicago. He wanted to ride old route 66 the entire way, but the road conditions were getting to him so he switched to 65. He said that I was the first touring cyclist that he met on his entire trip - and he's only the 3rd that I've met on my trip. (I expect to meet more cyclists now that I'm on the Transam.) Hiroshi & I must have stood by the side of the road and talked for at least a half of an hour! He is headed to St. Louis, and then to Chicago where he'll be meeting a friend. Then back to Japan. He said his parents are worried about him traveling alone by bike in a foreign country. Sound familiar? Only in my case, it's not my parents who are worried. Well, hopefully my sister has finally accepted my mode of travel by now. He was planning on stopping in Buffalo today, so I told him that I stayed at the Comfort Inn, and that I thought it was a good place to stay (a bit nicer but also more expensive than the 2 mom & pop motels in Buffalo). He said he had been staying away from that level of motel because he didn't think they'd allow him to take his bike into the room. I told him that I haven't had a problem bringing my bike into my room - even in the "nicer" places. The only place that it was questioned was on the edge of Indiana where the desk clerk thought I was going to bring a motorcycle into the room!

When I made my first recycling / refueling stop, I met a woman who asked me if I was done with school. Funny, I don't think I look that young! But I guess I should take that as a compliment.

I stopped for lunch in Fair Grove, and met a cyclist from Springfield there. He's a math teacher who teaches in high school during the normal school year and in two colleges all year round. He said that the colleges know that his summer teaching must be done in the evening so he has time to bike. I like his attitude!

When I was in the middle of hilly road CC, I stopped at the top of a hill to talk to a man who was mowing his lawn. He asked how far I was going today, and I told him I hoped to reach Ash Grove, and that I hoped the hills would be moderating a bit since I still had 22 or 23 miles to go. He told me it should get better after I crossed route 13, and he also told me that I was welcome to camp in his yard. It was only 1:00, and really too early in the day to stop, so I thanked him and moved on. He also told me that there was a nice clear stream at the bottom of the hill and recommended that I cool off in it. A good recommendation...

John drove up as I was standing and resting at the top of one of the many uphills. He offered me a ride to Springfield, but since that wasn't on my route today I turned down the ride. We talked for a while, and I told him about the Transamerica trail. He has seen many cyclists go through here, but he didn't know his house was on a mapped cycling trail. He said he'd be happy to let cyclists camp in his yard - he thought his seven year old son would get a kick out of it. I gave him Adventure Cycling's web site address and phone number and suggested that he call them and volunteer his yard as a camping spot. I'm sure they'd be happy to add another lodging spot to the maps. John also told me that the thought the hills would moderate once I passed route 13, but he warned me that there were some more big hills around Ash Grove. He was right.

I stopped for more Gatorade and some ice cream, and was sitting outside the store on the pavement enjoying my ice cream sandwich. A man come out of the store and asked me where and when I'd started riding. Then he said "boy, you're really kicking ass". His girlfriend looked at me and said "I bet you don't feel like it though". Then at my next refueling stop, I got the same question from 4 guys in a car. When I told them I started riding in Massachusetts on June 10th, one of them suggested that I might want to see a psychiatrist. Good thing I don't take these things to heart - and by the way, I don't think I'm the crazy one here!

The five miles on CC were the slowest miles of the day. I made much better progress once the road became more reasonable. I'm actually pretty surprised that my average speed for the day was 9.1 miles per hour. That's pretty slow, but I would have guessed that my average would have been even slower...

I ended the day in Ash Grove where I'm camping in the city park. They don't charge cyclists anything to camp here, and they make both the pool and the showers available. The only negative is that the showers are cold, but a cold shower is better than no shower! It's just getting dark out, and I can see fireflies all over. I feel like a little kid - it seems that long ago that I remember watching (and trying to catch) fireflies!

No new wildlife sightings today, but I did have a run-in with a very nasty bee (or some kind of stinging thing that has the capability of stinging more than once). It flew down my shirt and managed to sting me several times before I managed to grab it and kill it. Then I got off of the bike and tried to figure out how to cool down the sting. I have to send thanks to my mom for the Caladryl Gel that she gave me when I was in Utica. I opened the trailer on the side of the road - which I don't normally do - to grab the gel and apply it. That helped. Hopefully that is the first and last encounter with a bee that I'll have on this trip.

And thanks to MarkG for his advice not to wait until I ran out of sunscreen to look for some more. He told me that they were forced to buy some sunscreen at one point last summer that smelled like bubble gum. Yuck! I was getting low, so I started to look for it in the larger cities I passed through. And larger means a population in the 1500 to 3000 range, which really isn't too big! I was lucky to find a reasonable replacement for my PreSun. I have to order that over the Internet, so I wasn't too hopeful of finding it on the road. But while I was in Buffalo I found Coppertone Sport Gel, which has the same active ingredient as the PreSun and is also a gel. I bought 2 bottles. That should at least get me across Kansas.

The truck hauling these statues passed me early this morning. When I saw it parked at a gas station down the road I had to stop for a picture. I wonder where these things will find a home...

A long overdue (and well-deserved) rest day

2002-07-15T09:25:00.004-04:00

Buffalo, MO

Today I took a long overdue rest day. It was a real rest, no biking at all. In fact, I didn't do much of anything. I slept until 8 this morning - what luxury! Then I had breakfast, and sat and read a newspaper. OK, it was only USA Today, but it was the best thing around. I did a little bit of walking, then came back to the room and read a book.

Lunchtime - another walk to find some food. Next I sat in the hot tub for a while and read some more. (Reading material... mysteries.) Luckily I had the pool and hot tub to myself today, so it was really relaxing. Yesterday there was a family in there with me, with a couple of boys being boys - noisy. It was nice to have the quiet this afternoon.

I've spent some time looking at my maps, trying to figure out where I'll wind up tomorrow. I'm sure that Missouri still has some hills for me, and some of the people I talked to yesterday said that the eastern edge of Kansas has some leftover Missouri hills too. Places to stay are pretty spread out. It looks like tomorrow I'll have a choice of a 48 to 50 mile day or an 80 mile day. I guess where I end up will depend on how I feel after 50 miles.

It's about time to go out and find some more food again. I'll just upload this journal entry and head out in my never-ending quest for fuel!

A word of warning to my faithful readers: I've reached an area where I probably won't be able to access the Internet every day. I need a phone line, and camp sites usually don't give me access to a phone. I'll be continuing to write every day, and I'll upload journal entries whenever I can. Please keep checking back, and don't panic if you don't see an entry for several days - just assume that I'm OK and still pedaling along out here!

Rover and I just needed a rest today. No bike riding, so no helmet, and no helmet-head!

Back to Buffalo?

2002-07-14T09:22:00.004-04:00

Osage Beach to Buffalo, MO

I'm in Buffalo, Missouri, which is 18 miles north of the Transamerica route. Wow, almost there...

Another Buffalo? I've stayed in two cities called Bowling Green, and now two called Buffalo. I wonder what the next duplicate city name will be.

I had several different options this morning. I've ridden 12 straight days now, and I definitely need a rest day. Option 1 was to stay in Osage Beach. It was an expensive place to stay because it's a resort area, and it didn't feel like where I wanted to be, so I ruled that out pretty quickly. Option 2 was to ride to Ha Ha Tonka State Park outside of Camdenton, do some hiking, and then find a place to stay in Camdenton. I quickly realized that that would involve probably 20 miles of hilly cycling plus hiking - not really a rest. Option 3 was to ride to Buffalo and then really take a rest day. Option 3 was it. Nothing like riding another 127 miles after deciding I needed a rest! I'm at the Comfort Inn in Buffalo. It's in walking distance of a grocery store and several restaurants (some fast food, some not), and it has a pool and whirlpool. I'm planning to just veg - and eat - tomorrow.

US 54 was a pleasant surprise this morning. Once I pedaled past Camdenton it turned back into a 2-lane road with paved shoulders and climbing lanes. That was a first! Then I turned off on route 73 which was a real 2-lane road. Both roads were pretty quiet. There were hills all day - some rollers, and some longer hills, all between 6 and 8% grade. It was another good riding day.

I stopped for a second breakfast in Camdenton. When I came back out to the bike I found 2 couples checking it out. They live in Branson, MO now, but they used to live in Iowa. They are also cyclists, and used to ride the RAGBRAI when they lived in Iowa. That ride sounds like a cross-state party on a bike. Maybe one year I'll go to Iowa and ride RAGBRAI. When we were talking about the terrain of Missouri, one of the men said "Missouruh is definitely not flat". Branson is in the center of the Ozarks - apparently south of Springfield the mountains get much steeper.

According to the Missouri tourism department, there is a controversy over the correct pronunciation of the state - Missouree, or Missouruh. They say it's a combination of regional differences - east to west - and age differences. Interesting.

I stopped to fill up on water and Gatorade at the intersection of routes 54 and 73. An older woman (white hair, beautifully dressed) came up to me to talk. She started with the usual "where did you start", "where are you going", and "you're not alone, are you?". By the time we were finished talking, she told me that she was glad to see a woman doing a trip like mine. She was also a cyclist, but said she didn't think she could do a trip like this. I told her I thought that if she really wanted to do it that she probably could.

I passed an interesting house this afternoon. From the back it looked like just a roof. The front of the house looked like a normal ranch, but the entire back was below ground. That must help keep things cool in the summer.

No new wildlife sitings today, but I did hear several bobwhites. And I discovered that there are some nasty stinging insects around here. One got me good when I stopped to take a picture, but unlike the black flies in the Adirondacks, this one didn't leave a welt.

I'm looking forward to some extra sleep tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to reaching the Transamerica trail on Tuesday.

When I talked to my mom tonight she said she's been having so much fun with my journal that she thinks I should keep on writing after I get home. Have I created a monster here? I don't think I can manage that! When I talked to my sister earlier this week, she said it sounds like writing a journal every night is like having homework every day...

Did I say this was going to be a short day?

2002-07-13T09:20:00.003-04:00

Kingdom City to Osage Beach, MO, Lake of the Ozarks

When I got up this morning I didn't think riding 81 miles was in the cards for the day. When the alarm went off, my body said no, I'm not getting up, but my head said yes, I am getting up. I think I need an easy day or a rest day, but I didn't want to stay in Kingdom City, which was essentially the intersection of Interstate 70 and US 54. I started the day thinking I'd ride to Jefferson City (or Jeff City as the people around here call it), have a short day, and just relax for the rest of the day. When I got there I was feeling good, so I decide to press on to the Lake of the Ozarks. At that point I thought I'd be riding 70 miles, but sometimes I just don't know when to stop! I just got a quick look at the lake. It's a man-made lake which was opened in 1931. There are 2 dams involved, and the lake is 92 miles long from Bagnell Dam to Tunnel Dam. It's the oddest looking lake that I've ever seen - it looks like a bunch of river tributaries, or like a many-legged spider. It looks like it would be really easy to get lost on the different arms of the lake.

The road was relatively flat this morning. The hills started in Jefferson City, then it flattened out again, and then the hills came back at the end of the day. Most of them were probably 5 to 6% grade, but there were a couple of 8 to 10% grade hills just to keep things interesting. Most of the ride was very enjoyable, even the hills. There was a fairly nasty section through Jeff City where US 54 pretty much turned into a city expressway with minimal shoulders. Luckily that didn't last too long. The road was 4-lane divided for most of the day. The good thing about that is that there were good shoulders for almost the entire day. There were plenty of gas stations with bathrooms this afternoon, but this morning had the usual searches for the elusive side-of-the-road pit stops. Sometimes I just get as far away from the road as I can (behind a tree, in a ditch...), and use the innocent child's approach of "if I can't see you then you can't see me". That works, right?

Another river crossing today - I crossed the Missouri River in Jefferson City. No pictures though, because the river crossing was on a highway bridge with no shoulders, so I really couldn't stop. But here's another question for you. I've crossed the Illinois River, the Mississippi River, and the Missouri River. I think I need a refresher in American history. What was named first - the rivers, the territories, or the states? Were the rivers named for the states, or were the states named for the rivers? Or neither?

And while I'm on a question kick, here's another one. I've been going past signs for "(name) Branch" next to small streams. At first I assumed that a branch is a creek, but then I saw a sign for a creek. Is there a difference?

I stopped on the side of road to take a picture this afternoon. I looked up to see a red convertible backing up on the shoulder toward me. Out popped Jean to see if I was OK. She and her companion (sorry, I didn't get his name) are cyclists too, and they wanted to make sure I didn't need any help. We talked for a bit, and they filled my Camelbak with cold water and ice. Very nice!

Wildlife for the day - I saw a little lizard scampering along in the grass on the side of the road. And I saw my first squirrel in weeks. They seem to have disappeared when I hit farm country, so maybe they'll disappear again when I get to Kansas.

Did you know that choosing Mexican food for dinner isn't the smartest move in the world when your lips are sunburned?

Off route again

2002-07-12T09:15:00.008-04:00

Bowling Green to Kingdom City, MO

Change in plans - off route again! My friend Barb asked me a few days ago if I'd found a diagonal route across Missouri, or if I was heading south per my initial plans. I told her that I couldn't find a reasonable diagonal path, but then last night I found one. I verified it with a businessman who I met at breakfast. I'm riding on US 54, heading southwest toward the Transamerica trail. I'll join the Transam in Fair Grove after a quick stint on route 73 and US 65. Fair Grove is just north of Springfield, and quite a bit west of where I was originally supposed to hit the Transam. Although I'll still technically be going through the Ozark region, it sounds like I'll be missing the knee-grinding hills that I would have hit tomorrow (and for the next several days) if I'd headed straight south today. Maybe I'm a baby, but I've never liked riding super-steep hills, so that side effect of my new route makes me happy. Another side effect is that I'll be riding by the Lake of the Ozarks, and that sounds like it is beautiful. People have been driving by me today pulling big boats, and I think that is where they are headed. The description of the lake in Missouri's official tourist literature is that is has "1,150 miles of scenic shoreline winding through the Ozark hills".

My new acquaintance who described US 54 to me this morning stopped to see how I was doing on his way home. He had a business meeting in Louisiana this morning, and was driving US 54 on his way to Interstate 70 and Kansas City. He passed me and then stopped to say hello. That was really nice.

Most of the drivers here have been great. I've been getting an occasional beeps (a hello with a horn) with a wave or a thumbs up as I've been riding along. There were a couple of trucks who refused to pass me, so I had to pull off the road. They're bigger than I am, and I wasn't about to argue with them. The first time I pulled off next to 2 horses in a front yard field. I stood and watched them for a while. They would look at me, stamp their feet, and move a little closer. Then they'd move back, and go through the same movements again. That was pretty funny. The second time I pulled off the road and promptly pulled a Laugh In-like fall over sideways. The road had rough gravel shoulders, and I must have just hit it wrong. I went over so fast that I didn't see it coming, which also meant that I fell with the frame of the bike - no time to stick out an arm and get hurt. So other than a bruised spot on my butt, I'm fine - no problem. (Too bad that kid from yesterday wasn't around - guess I wrecked!) A couple and their dog in a pickup truck stopped to make sure I was OK and that my bike was OK too. They weren't about to leave if I wasn't. And that truck driver wasn't discriminating against cyclists - the couple that stopped to check on my also had to move off the road to get out of the way of that truck. Luckily there were only a couple of obnoxious drivers today.

And yes, for most of the day US 54 did not have a paved shoulder. But think about it - the roads I ride at home almost never have paved shoulders. It was great riding weather today - cooler, and with a welcome tailwind for sections where I was heading straight west. It was cloudy in the morning, with the sun reappearing in the afternoon.

Funny sign for the day - I passed a store that claimed to sell used cars, live bait, bicycles, and fireworks. It was closed, so I couldn't check it out. What a combination!

Funny comment for the day - I stopped at a Casey's convenience store to use the bathroom and pick up some food for lunch. I got there right before a crew of utility workers who stopped for the same reason. One of the guys looked at me and asked how many miles I was riding my bike. I told him about 4600. He looked at me and asked "where to where". I told him I started north of Boston and I'm heading to the Oregon coast. He just shook his head and said "Oh Lordy".

I've noticed a couple of regional words or phrases over the past few days - different use of the words than I hear on the East Coast:
>>> blacktop - as in, turn left at the new blacktop after the grocery store
>>> 4-way - as in, turn left at the second 4-way
>>> sack - at a store - do you want a sack for that?

Good news - my mom was released from the hospital this morning. She did have a mini-stroke, but the only impairment she has from it is slurred speech. She doesn't like that, but she's dealing with it, and she's been told that it will go away. And Brandy and Caesar (the "guys", the "kids", the two crazy dachshunds) have welcomed her home - they're not ignoring her like they did the last time she returned from an unexpected hospital visit. Thanks for all of your good thoughts and wishes.

Did you wreck?

2002-07-11T08:09:00.009-04:00

Quincy, IL to Bowling Green, MO

Missouri, state number 8. Illinois will be the last state for quite a while that I'll be able to get through in a small number of days. I'll be in Missouri for quite a while since I'm heading quite a way south to meet up with the Transam, then I'll still need to ride west across the entire state. It's beautiful here so far, rolling green fields, hills, and big trees. I know the hills will soon become mountains as I move on to the Ozarks.

I started out this morning back on the Adventure Cycling route, which I followed as far as Hannibal. The surprise of the route was that I was able to cross the Mississippi on an interstate bridge. The sign on the entry ramp said non-motorized vehicles were prohibited, but it had the added clause "except bicycles" - just for the bridge crossing. It was another good bridge since it had a shoulder. I'm beginning to think I'm dangerous when I have a map in my hand, because I ended the day off route again. This time it was on the advice of someone I met in the post office in Hannibal. While I was preparing a package of maps and other extraneous stuff to send home, the security guard in the Federal Building (where the post office is located) came up to talk. She's a cyclist too, and is hoping to ride the Katy Trail later this year. That sounds like it should be a good ride. When she asked how I was leaving Hannibal and heard I was going to ride route 79, she recommended against it. 79 is a narrow, windy, and very hilly road. She and several other people I spoke to in Hannibal said that the road is beautiful, but is difficult even in a car. And she said that her brother-in-law, who is an experienced cyclist, finds it a hard ride. I decided I didn't need a preview of the Ozarks this early, so I opted to take US 61. It is a 4-lane divided highway, but like the other 4-lane roads I've been on recently, it has a nice wide shoulder. The shoulder was pretty bumpy for the first few miles, but then it smoothed out and stayed that way. One interesting thing I noticed is that most of the truck drivers were swinging into the left lane to pass me, even though I was hugging the right side of the shoulder which was nowhere near the driving lane. That was nice though, because some of those trucks have quite an air pull as they pass you. It was a good road to ride on, and I was able to zone out on the traffic noise. I'll continue down US 61 to Troy tomorrow morning, then I'll hop back on route.

It was a good people day today, starting with talking with people at breakfast, continuing over lunch at the Jumping Frog Cafe in Hannibal, and continuing with my conversation with the security guard at the post office. People here are really friendly. They are also both interested in and amazed by my trip. When I told someone this morning that I'd started riding north of Boston, MA, she said "you're kidding, right?".

I had a lazy morning today. I was thinking about just riding as far as Hannibal and hanging out there for the day.Hannibal is the birthplace of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). I thought I'd go to a couple of the museums there, but when I arrived there I wasn't in a museum mood. I did spend some time there wandering through the tourist area and talking with people. Then I found the Jumping Frog Cafe for lunch, and then (of course) I continued riding.

My favorite comment from today's ride is "did you wreck?". I had stopped by the side of the road and laid the bike down on someone's lawn so I could grab a piece of paper from the trailer and write myself a note. I keep writing journal entries in my mind while I''m riding and then forgetting them when it comes time to really write them. A kid who lived at the house came out to ask me if I "wrecked".
The conversation went like this:
__Did you wreck?
__No, I just stopped to write myself a note.
__Yeah, but did you wreck?
He seemed pretty disappointed when I said no. I talked to him for a while, then talked with his mom too when she came out.

I saw a pretty funny sign yesterday. It said "Tourist information - Pea Ridge Arena, Camping, 9 miles. Open May to October, 8AM to 5PM". What kind of camping area is only open during the day?

Just writing Mississippi in my journal brings back memories of grade school spelling lessons. It's spelled just like it sounds, but I wonder who came up with the name (and the spelling).

New road kill today - frogs.
New "wildlife" too - well, not really wildlife - woolly caterpillars. I think they were trying to commit suicide. I kept seeing them wandering across the shoulder of US 61, heading for the driving lanes.

I got some bad news / good news last night. My mom is in the hospital, with what they think was some kind of mini-stroke (the bad news). She seems to be OK (the good news), and is currently waiting for test results. My first reaction was - I should fly back to be with her. But both my mom and dad said not to. She said she'd be pretty unhappy if I stopped riding because she is riding along with me. For all who are reading my journal - please send good thoughts her way. I'll keep you posted.

I was surprised - but happy - to see this sign. Bicycles aren't permitted on the interstates at all in the eastern states, but an exception was made for the bridge across the Mississippi leading into Hannibal, MO

To the Mississippi

2002-07-10T08:06:00.002-04:00

Rushville to Quincy, IL

I made it to the Mississippi River today. Tomorrow I'll start following the Adventure Cycling Great Rivers South maps heading south from Quincy, IL. There are still a few more days of riding before I hit the Transam. It was still humid this morning, but the temperature was about 10 degrees lower than yesterday. I rode through light rain for a good part of the afternoon but I luckily missed the downpour. I've been pretty lucky with rain so far, since today was the first rain I've had to ride in since those cold rainy days in the Adirondacks. It's amazing how trashed the bike gets even if the rain isn't heavy. It's clean now though. Clean the bike, hand wash clothes, shower, in that order...

I started the day by riding backwards a bit to find some Gatorade since the gas station on the edge of town was out. I'd ask how a store can be out of Gatorade, but I ran into that situation twice today. I headed back into Rushville, and picked up my Gatorade and had a good conversation with the woman in the store. Talking about cycling is always a good way to start the day.

This is for Larry - I waved as I passed the Land of Lincoln Motel in Mt. Sterling this morning. It looked a little classier than the place I spent the night, but hey - how can you have complaints about a clean $30 room?

I had my first dog encounter in a long time this morning. The dogs were bad in some sections of upstate New York - quite a few days ago. The encounter today was pretty funny. I was riding by a farm and house that was set back from the road. There was a small dog sitting by the house who just gave a few barks. I thought he was saying hello, but he was apparently telling his colleague that there was something on the road that needed to be checked out. The next thing I knew there was a big German Shepard chasing me. He ran along side me for quite a while, then just stopped. I hate getting chased by dogs. I'm never sure whether I should stop or keep riding. I always keep riding.

Many thanks to the folks at Bent's Family Foods in Camp Point for providing good conversation, shelter from a downpour, snacks, and a free T-shirt! The sky started getting really dark, and I started to hear rumbles of thunder when I hit Clayton, so I stopped to change the lenses in my glasses. I rode on, and it started to rain. It was a light rain, but the color of the sky made me think it was going to rain harder. When I pulled in to Camp Point I saw Bent's Family Foods and decided to pull in for a snack. The store had a nice overhang, so I left the bike under a bit of cover for a change. I had a long chat with two of the folks there. At one point we heard the rain pounding on the roof. I was very glad to be inside and not out riding in that! By the time I went back outside the rain was fairly light. And thanks to the overhang, I even had a dry bike seat to sit on.

I must have been really tired yesterday because I totally forgot to mention some strange road conditions. It was so hot that the tar that had been used to repair cracks in the road surface melted. The cracks that were perpendicular to the direction of travel were fine, but when I rolled over the cracks headed in the direction of the road the soft stuff just grabbed my wheels. Talk about weird riding conditions! Even thought I was trying to avoid them, every so often I'd hit one and almost lose my balance. I consider myself lucky that I didn't end up on the pavement! That strange road surface lasted for the better part of an hour.

I'm staying in downtown Quincy tonight. Not an impressive downtown from what I can see - another gritty industrial town - but I did find a great Italian restaurant called Tiramisu for dinner. Good pasta, and a salad with nice greens - not just iceberg lettuce!

From gritty industrial areas to rolling farmlands

2002-07-09T08:02:00.008-04:00

East Peoria to Rushville, IL

I rode through Astoria this afternoon. Does that mean that I'm done? Oh, right - the Astoria at the end of the Transamerica trail is in Oregon, I'm not in the right state yet. It was a funny name day. The other sign that made me laugh was the sign for Vermont pointing 6 miles to the west. I thought I left Vermont behind weeks ago.

The bridge across the Illinois River this morning was a breeze. I usually hate bridges because they typically don't have shoulders or sidewalks, but surprise, surprise - the bridge this morning had both! It also had very little traffic, which was directly in conflict with what I was told yesterday. I guess I should have thought about what heavy traffic means where I am vs. where I live!

There are some 70+ mile rides that are easy, and some that are hard. Today's was hard because of the temperature. It was hot and humid again, with my bicycle computer showing temperatures in the low 100's again. Luckily the last hour was much better. The sun hid behind some building clouds and stayed there. That made it feel a lot cooler. It was one of those days where I had to make a decision early about how far to ride. My choices were to stop in Lewistown, which was too short of a day, or to continue on to Rushville. There wasn't any place to stay between the two towns, so Rushville it was!

The ride through the southern end of Peoria this morning took me through industrial areas. Except for the first couple of miles where the air quality seemed a little suspect, it was fine. US 24 was marked as 4-lane divided on the map for what looked to be about 20 miles out of Peoria, but it was actually shorter than that. There was construction for while with one lane closed. There wasn't actually much going on, so I was able to ride in the closed lane, not too bad. Once I got through the industrial area, I was back in farmland. This time there were some marshes (with accompanying bugs), and there were hills. Rolling farmland, and some longer hills, maybe to help my legs warm up for the Ozarks.

I saw a deer run across the road this afternoon, the first I've seen for quite a while. And I spent some time talking to horses and cows in fields along the road. It was one of those funny days where the animals seemed to be watching me. As I watched their heads turn in my direction of travel, I wondered what they were thinking...

The clouds were pretty amazing this afternoon. I kept thinking I was going to get caught in a wicked thunderstorm, but it didn't happen.

You shouldn't bike through (fill in the next town name)

2002-07-08T07:33:00.004-04:00

Chenoa to East Peoria, IL

I decided I needed a break in the form of a shorter day today. It appears that after a few 70+ mile days my body decides it wants a rest. I decided this morning that I would only ride as far as East Peoria - which is across the Illinois River from Peoria. That allowed me to bypass the 4-lane divided highway going into Peoria since I could take Business 24 to route 8. I still need to get across the river, and there will be some 4-lane roads in the morning. After that US 24 goes back to a 2-lane road heading southwest to the edge of Illinois. It's funny though - I had one person tell me not to ride through the south section of Peoria, and another person tell me not to ride through East Peoria at all. It seems that people from other surrounding towns paint their neighboring towns with a black paintbrush and assume that the towns are bad. I tend to go the other way and assume that they are fine. And in my experience they are fine.

It seems like it's been getting a little hotter every day - back to triple digits in the sun today. There was a moderate headwind all day. It wasn't terrible, but it was noticeable. My average speed dropped back to 9.9 miles per hour. I've been averaging 11.5 in the flat country lately. Even though that doesn't seem like a large slow-down, it's nicer to be going a bit faster.

I stopped at a grocery store in Eureka to pick up some supplies for lunch. I was waiting in line behind a woman with 3 young girls, and I noticed that the older 2 were looking at me a little funny, so I started talking to them. "I must look pretty strange to you walking around in my bicycle helmet." And then I told them what I was doing. We talked for a while, then I went outside to sit next to my bike and eat. Before I knew it half of the cashiers and all of the baggers came out to check out my bike and talk. Then I met a man and his small son. He looked at my maps with me and verified that my proposed path to East Peoria would work. He told me about a good Chinese restaurant in East Peoria, and told me that the bridges across the river are a bit crazy. My map shows one bridge that appears to be a surface street rather than a highway, so I'll need to try to find that in the morning.

I finished my ride early this afternoon, and I found a place to stay that has a washer and dryer. That's a treat. I've been washing out my cycling clothes every night, but somehow I think washing everything in a washer with regular soap instead of my usual shampoo is probably a good idea. It's amazing how simple little things make me happy!

The road kill tally finally went down today. I hate seeing dead animals on the road, and there have been a lot of them lately. I try not to look at them other than to make sure that I can miss hitting them with both the bicycle and the trailer wheels. As far as live animals go - I miss seeing those crazy chipmunks and squirrels, but the birds are still coming along for the ride. I passed a field this morning that I thought was a bit odd because I could only see one cow in it, but it turned out that the rest of the cows were hiding in a ditch in the shade. Guess they were too hot too.

I rode through the town of Crescent City, IL yesterday. The welcome sign said "Welcome to Crescent City, the small town with a lot of spirit". The thing that seemed off about the sign was that the background looked like a huge fireball. When I saw a historical exhibit down the road, I had to stop and look. It turns out that there was a trail derailment back in 1970 that pretty much destroyed the town. Two of the cars were carrying flammable gas. The pictures were amazing. It looked absolutely devastating.

Toward the end of the day I was riding on the signed "Ronald Reagan Trail". Now, I understand the Lewis and Clark Trail, but what's with the Ronald Reagan Trail. He went to college near here, but what's the significance of this trail? Does anyone know?

When I checked into the hotel tonight, and was asked if I needed 2 beds, I responded "It's just me and my bike, and my bike doesn't need a bed". The manager asked me if I was on an extended trip, and when I told her I was traveling cross-country, her reaction was "I'm jealous"! I love that kind of reaction. Turns out that she rode from Chicago to Ottawa years ago. It's fun finding other cyclists...

Flat & headed straight west

2002-07-07T07:29:00.005-04:00

Kentland, IN to Chenoa, IL

Illinois - state number 7 on my trip - and I've definitely deviated from my planned route. The more I looked at the maps, the less I wanted to head north on my trip across Illinois only to turn south again. It looks like Muscatine, IA - the end of my current Northern Tier segment - is a good 45 miles further north than I am right now. I'm still riding on US 24, which goes straight across the state until it hits Peoria, then heads diagonally south. I'll rejoin the Adventure Cycling route in Quincy, IL, which is on the Great Rivers South route. The only negative to US 24 that I can see right now is that there are some 4-lane divided sections around Peoria, and I still have to figure out how to get through or around Peoria. Hopefully that won't be too bad.

The mornings haven't been too bad temperature-wise, but by the end of the day it's been in the upper 90s. It's less humid than it was last week, so even though it's hot it doesn't seem as bad as it was. I got a late start this morning (9AM) mainly because I had trouble sleeping last night so I had trouble getting up this morning. I just don't understand how I can ride 70+ miles and still not fall asleep at a reasonable hour! It doesn't seem to matter what time I leave though, because I seem to manage to spend the entire day on the road. I do prefer to leave by 8. I think I'm going to want to leave earlier than that soon, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to pull that off.

As I was leaving this morning, a man came up to me and asked if I was riding cross-country. He looked pretty shocked when I said yes, then pulled his daughter over to join our conversation. He saw me arrive last night and said he thought then that I was riding cross-country. He and his family are from somewhere near Dayton, Ohio, but he grew up in this area. He looked at the Illinois map with me and said that from what he knows of the area that US 24 is a good road. He didn't know much about hotels or campgrounds much past the eastern side of the state, but he confirmed that most of the towns are pretty small.

Leaving Kentland this morning, I knew of places to stay in Gilman, which was only 30 miles from my starting point. I also knew from the Adventure Cycling maps that there were places to stay in Pontiac, which was 10 miles north of my route and 8 miles south of the Northern Tier route. I knew that there were 2 interstates that intersected with US 24 west of Gilman, and I was hoping I could find a place to stay in one of those intersections. I figured if all else failed I could head up to Pontiac. I stopped in Gilman and asked at a truck stop, but that was too far away for good information. I also stopped at the Super 8 in Gilman to ask if they knew if there were motels or campgrounds in either Chenoa or El Paso since I've found that most motel managers and owners are very aware of other properties in the area. The dingbat at the desk told me there wasn't anything in either place. It turned out that there were Super 8 motels in both places! Not my favorite place to stay, but there isn't anything else - no campgrounds, no motels. Before I turned north to head to Pontiac, I stopped at a gas station convenience store in Forrest. I needed more Gatorade anyway - but the stop was worth it for more than that since the women that worked there thought there was a motel in Chenoa and verified it with the phone book. I've been having pretty good luck checking the yellow pages for places to stay.

I stopped to take a look at the map to figure out how far I was from Forrest just as I got to Chatsworth. A man pulled out of a side street, rolled down his window, and said "Hey lady - you have to be crazy to ride in this heat!" At that point I almost had to agree with him!

I headed toward the downtown area of Fairbury after seeing a sign to "shop historic downtown Fairbury". There wasn't much there, but sometimes these historic downtowns are fun, so I just had to see if there was anything to it. The only thing that hit my funny bone was a sign for the "city auto park". My initial reaction was "what's an auto park?". It really only took a minute for me to realize that it is a parking lot - but I can't believe I actually had to think about it. What is happening to my brain? Must be the sun!

There doesn't seem to be much in the town of Chenoa, population 1800. The motel is just off the interstate, and it is surrounded by the usual gas station convenience stores and fast food places. Luckily, there is also a great diner - the Chenoa Family Restaurant. Another great dinner for $6!

Is there any significance to a boot on a post in the middle of a field?

To the edge of Indiana

2002-07-06T07:26:00.006-04:00

Peru to Kentland, IN

I almost made it to the Illinois border today, but while the border was close, the next place to stay was about 18 miles further, and I decided it was time to stop. That was after playing head games with myself all afternoon - it's too far, it's not too far, etc. Maybe the warnings about the bad bicycle / car interactions that I got over the past 2 days made me want to get out of Indiana fast... By the way, my experience with the drivers here has been fine. (And Suze, I'm sorry I made you cry again!)

I spent the entire day today on US 24 - no route finding, just riding. From Peru to Logansport, I followed Business 24, and west of Logansport the road turned into a 2-lane road. For the most part the riding was good. There were just a couple of sections with a bad road surface. Well, not the entire road, just the shoulder. Luckily the bad sections weren't too long.

As I was making my way through downtown Logansport I saw a sign for a carousel in their riverside park. I headed over there to check it out and was very lucky to be able to go inside. It's a historic landmark, a beautiful carousel. It doesn't actually open on the weekends until the afternoon, and it was only 9 o'clock in the morning. But a group of people had rented the space and were setting up something around the outside of the carousel, so I was able to go in and look at it. It reminded me of the carousel I saw in Missoula on my 1998 bike tour - very cool.

I stopped in Monticello for lunch. First I stopped at the Chamber of Commerce office to find out what towns up ahead had campgrounds or motels. (I did pass a single campground today, but it was 25 miles before I stopped riding, and it was not too inviting. I was in a big grassy field by a man-made pond - not too bad so far - but it was right next to an interstate.) Then I rode around town to check out the lunch spots. Abe's Pizza caught my eye, so I headed over there. As I was attempting to prop my bike up outside of the restaurant (it was one of those bike falling over days), Darrell came out to ask where I was headed. Darrell is the owner of the Abe's Pizza. He treated me to lunch, and we sat and talked for at least an hour. After I left I realized I needed to adjust my rear brakes, so I went back in and asked Darrell if there was a bike shop in town. I really just needed to borrow some regular (not folding) pliers. Darrell said he had tools in the back, so we rolled the bike around to the back of the restaurant and adjusted the brakes. That's a much easier operation with an extra set of hands! Many thanks to Darrell for good conversation, dynamite bread sticks and pizza, and the chocolate chip cookies he sent with me for an afternoon snack. He also gave me his phone number and offered help on the road if I needed it. And he rode after me to tell me where I could find his brother's place about 12 miles down the road if I needed to stop for rest or some cold water. People like Darrell are one of the reasons why I find bicycle touring so appealing.

When I checked in to the motel tonight, the receptionist and I had a little bit of a crossed wire for a bit. She was telling me that there is a camera on the parking lot, so my "cycle" would be safe. You should have seen her face when I told her I was planning to bring it into the room - she thought I was riding a motorcycle! I got that straightened out pretty quickly, and my purple bike is sitting in it's usual spot - in my room!

I had dinner at Joe's Filling Station - a truck stop right down the highway. I had a delicious fish sandwich and coleslaw - and it cost all of $3.15! Before you ask - I know it doesn't sound like enough, but I've been eating all day, and stopped for ice cream just 6 miles before I stopped riding because I was still focused on going on to Illinois. So that was fine for dinner, and I can finish up now with my remaining chocolate chip cookies.

Now all I need to do is get a hold of Verizon Wireless customer service and find out why they think my cell phone is out of service even though I am successfully using it. Very odd.

And I need to figure out if I'm going to get back on-route tomorrow or if I'm going to continue on US 24. I'm planning to cut over toward the Mississippi before I get to the end of this Northern Tier map section because it starts heading too far north for me - I might go as far as Kewanee, IL, or I might cut over sooner.

Hey Rover, we're not in Kansas anymore. No, wait, I have that backwards - there are still 2 states between us and Kansas!

Tailwinds, for the first, but hopefully not the last time

2002-07-05T07:24:00.004-04:00

Decatur to Peru, IN

What a difference a day makes! Today was a pleasant weather day, about 10 degrees cooler than yesterday, and much less humid. And I actually had a tailwind for about 2/3 of the day. That was certainly a nice change of pace. I was off-route at both the beginning and the end of the day since in this section of the Northern Tier route all of the places to stay are off route. I used a diagonal road to get back to the route this morning - US 224 which was a great road for riding. The middle third of the day was on county roads that were arrow straight 2-lane roads with no shoulders and farms on both sides of the road. Still nice riding, except for a short cut through Salamonie State Forest. That road had a really bumpy road surface, but luckily it was pretty short. After Lagro, I opted for US 24 to Peru. It's a four-lane divided highway, but not a limited access road. The shoulder was as wide as a driving lane, so other than the noise of the motor vehicles, it was pretty decent riding. And it was a much more direct route than staying on the Northern Tier route and then cutting down to Peru. All in all, a good riding day.

The change in scenery and terrain surprised me again. The morning was all flat farmland. Then some rolling hills introduced the Salamonie Dam,which is an earthen dam built by the Army Corp of Engineers for flood control. After that I was in a wooded area in the state forest, then back to farms, but with some occasional (pretty low) hills.

Clint came up to me to talk at my first refueling stop. He and his wife are both cyclists, although he said that they don't ride much here. They moved to Indiana from California several years ago. After a conversation about bikes and touring in general, he repeated the "be careful" warning that I got in Monroeville yesterday. He said that this state doesn't seem to be very cyclist-friendly or cyclist-aware. The people are friendly, but the drivers apparently don't always see cyclists on the road. Too many cyclists have been killed here. I find it hard to believe that the drivers don't see the cyclists because the roads I've been on are arrow straight without any blind spots. I'm riding as defensively as I can, and I guess that's all I can do.

Same refueling stop - I tried my first Krispy Kreme doughnut. Chocolate glazed, yum! Wait Denise, you don't eat doughnuts, do you? They're not in my normal diet, but that tasted good this morning. I wonder if it would have tasted that good if I hadn't been riding like a maniac.

I stopped to talk with a woman who I saw who was riding a bike loaded down with groceries - in baskets in the back, and in bags hanging from the handlebars. I haven't seen too many cyclists here, let alone people who are using their bikes as their primary form of transportation.

I've noticed something over the past few days. The houses that have pools in this area either have above ground pools, or man-made ponds. The ponds look very interesting. They all have a gravel edge, and they are pretty large. When I first saw them I assumed they were shallow - but some of them actually have docks on them with diving boards and slides. And no fences! I've never seen anything like that before. I wonder if these ponds are unique to this area, or if it is a common thing in farming areas. The ponds have been in residential areas, not necessarily on farms.

My friends the red-wing blackbirds are still following my route. OK, OK, I know they live here - maybe I'm following them. I've also been seeing another bird since I turned away from the lakes at Huron, OH. I don't know what it is, but it reminds me of a shore bird. They have longer legs than songbirds, reminding me of the birds that skitter around on the beach. They seem to hang out in fields. They have a wing shape that again reminds me of birds I've seen on the water. There is a white line parallel to the back edge of the wing, with several different shades of brown on the bird, including a tail patch that tends toward the orange. I hope I can maintain an image of this one until I get a look at a bird book. For now, it's my mystery bird.

And you wonder why I get confused - how can US 224 West go both straight ahead and to the left?

Ohio leaves me with memories of heat and headwinds

2002-07-04T07:21:00.004-04:00

Defiance, OH to Decatur, IN

The days are starting to blend in together. Someone asked me at the end of the day where I'd started from this morning, and I had to look at my maps to give him the name of my starting point. ^T Wow.

It was yet another hot one today, with headwinds added to make the day even more challenging. I ended the day in Indiana, which is still in the Eastern time zone, but doesn't use Daylight Savings Time. I thought that only half of the state rejected Daylight Savings Time, but it turns out that only two small parts of the state use it, and most of the state doesn't. A man I was talking to in Monroeville (who is an Indiana resident, so he was talking about himself too) told me he thinks no one can figure out how to change their clocks... but I did have to change mine.

I had my first biking conversation at my first Gatorade stop this morning. A guy came up to me and asked where I was from and where I was going - the typical start to these conversations. He had done some touring in the past, but said that he only rides locally now. I'm not sure why he said only, because he told me he usually rides 20 to 30 miles a day. That adds up pretty fast. He also told me he had a rough ride yesterday between the heat and the wind. I was glad to hear that because I thought I was just having general energy problems yesterday. Guess it wasn't me!

I stopped to verify that the road I was on was really state route 637. Every intersection was well-signed until I hit this road, and knowing that I'd added some unwanted mileage a couple of days ago before, I figured I'd stop at a house and ask. The couple who owned the house were really nice, so we stood and talked for a while. That's when I found out that there was a huge motorcycle rally in Fort Wayne, so I shouldn't try to find a place to stay there. I asked about Decatur, IN, and they said that would be a good place to stay. They also suggested Van Wert, OH. I don't really need to ask why it takes me so long to get to my destination each day - it's too much fun talking to people along the way

The ride today had towns every 10 to 15 miles, and every time I stopped to refuel I found new people to talk to. The place that amazed me the most was Monroeville. I knew that the town has an indoor shelter in the city park that they allow cyclists to use, but I didn't realize how much interest in cross-country cyclists permeates the residents. I assumed that Monroeville wouldn't be where I'd stay tonight because I didn't think I'd be able to find anyone in the parks department. Just as I pulled my bike into the gas station / store in the center of town, someone who works for the parks department walked up to me and told me about their pavilion. It's air-conditioned, with showers and a washer and dryer, and it's free for cyclists to stay there. My timing wasn't stellar on this one though, because the entire city park including the pavilion was the scene of a big Fourth of July celebration. He invited me to join the celebration, plus stay in the pavilion, but he also said that he didn't expect the pavilion to clear out until 10:30 tonight. Since it was only 1:30 at the time, and since I felt like I needed to be settled in and asleep before 10:30, I decided to push on. I did think about staying though. But as those of you who know me know - I'm not good with crowds and loud noise, so I did the right thing for me by getting back on the road. I may have been content there for about an hour, but not the entire day. I did stay in town for a while talking to other people.

The one real bad piece of news I got today was that a cross-country cyclist was killed last week just outside of Monroeville - a bad car / cyclist interaction. That just sent a chill up my spine, and I'm sure you have the same or similar reaction. (Sorry folks, I couldn't keep that to myself - it bummed me out too much.) One of the people I was chatting with told me that right after he told me to be careful. I'm always careful, but I guess you just can't stop bad things from happening sometimes. I hope nothing happens to me, but if anything does, at least I'm doing something that I love.

OK, enough of that. Back to the trip. For now, I've decided to stick with the Adventure Cycling route. Larry's route from last summer is a little further south than mine, but it pretty much parallels the route that I'm on. The one diagonal route has quite a few miles on divided highways, so I don't really want to take it. The only problem with remaining on the Northern Tier route is that for the next few days the services (food, campgrounds, and motels) are all off-route. From Monroeville, I headed south and a bit west to Decatur to find a place to stay. I followed route 101 south for 9 miles, then intended to turn west on 224. When I got to the intersection of the two roads, l saw a detour sign for 224 west pointing east. Oh no! I flagged down a convertible and asked if 224 was really closed up ahead. Luckily the person that stopped to help me was a local. He told me that a bridge was under construction up ahead, but he was able to tell me how to get to a local bridge that was one block north of the bridge that was closed. That was easy. I wouldn't have been happy to have to ride backwards at that point in time.

Just as I pulled in to Decatur the sky got dark and it started to rain. Unfortunately that lasted only about 5 minutes, and it didn't cool things off at all.

I continued talking to people once I got to Decatur. I met some people who are attending the motorcycle rally in Fort Wayne, and I had a good conversation with the 2 couples sitting at the table next to me at dinner. They overheard me tell the waitress that I needed a lot of water because I had been riding all day and started talking to me.

All in all it was a very good day - both from a people and a riding standpoint. I do hope that tomorrow is cooler and less windy, or that the wind blows from a different direction!

A change in terrain

2002-07-03T07:16:00.004-04:00

Bowling Green to Defiance, OH

It was another scorcher today, so I can again be found cooling my heels in an air-conditioned motel room tonight. (But at least I'm back in the realm of the $40 to $50 room.) The official temperatures are reported in the high 90s, but both my bike computer and a bank thermometer in the town of Napoleon showed 102 degrees. Enough! The weather forecasters say a front will be going through overnight that will drop the high temperatures into the 80s. I hope so.

I expected today to be flat and all farmlands, and it wasn't. What a surprise! I started the morning in farm country, with corn fields that seemed to go on forever. It stayed that way until I hit Grand Rapids (OH), which was a charming little one-block town with B&Bs, restaurants, and a number of shops. What impressed me the most was that there were actually public restrooms in the center of town - a far cry from my normal search for bathrooms or reasonable side-of-the-road pit stops! There were also benches and a walk along the Maumee River. Very nice.

I followed the Maumee River for most of the day, and I assume it is the river that is responsible for the change in scenery. There were actually trees lining the road at times, although they still didn't cast any shadows on the road. It was another day when I was hoping for the sun to hide behind some clouds. I can't say that it was hilly today because it certainly wasn't, but it wasn't pancake flat either. As I got closer to Defiance, I could see what looked like real hills on the south side of the river.

My first stop of the day was after I turned onto Tontogany Road. I had just stopped to flip my map over, but a very nice gray-haired man and his very cute black dog stopped their car to ask if I needed help with directions. I didn't, but he made sure I knew where the road was heading before he drove on. That was a funny road. It looked like it was just barely wide enough for two cars. It almost looked like a wide bike path!

I stopped at the post office in Napoleon to send a couple of things home - my off-the-bike long pants (I'll use my rain pants or cycling tights instead), spare cables for the bike (the cables on the bike are brand new, so what are the odds I'll need these), and some spare parts for the stove. I sent them to my parents, so if I decide I need them back I can get them sent back! I've been trying to send those pants home for weeks now, even though I did wear them in the Adirondacks. It was probably silly, since the package weighed only 1.3 pounds, but every little bit helps. I wonder if there is anything else I can get rid of. From my habits so far, I could send all of the camping gear home - but nope, I'm not going to do that!

While I was at the post office I ended up talking to all of the people in line about my trip. I was standing there addressing my envelope wearing my helmet (of course) and with sweat just pouring off of me when one of the women in line asked if I was traveling far. My answer generated some more questions from other people standing in line. We had a nice conversation, and I managed to get cooled off in the nice air-conditioned post office.

I have maps spread out all over the room. I'm looking at my Adventure Cycling route, and I'm looking at some alternate roads suggested by Larry Mitchell - many thanks to Larry for emailing me with some good riding suggestions in Indiana and Illinois. Now I just need to make a decision!

I've already had dinner - but there's an ice cream place just down the street, so I think it's time for some dessert. Eating whatever you want is certainly a nice side benefit to cycle touring!

Visiting, traveling, no biking

2002-07-02T07:15:00.001-04:00

Fremont to Bowling Green, OH

Sue offered to drive either just my gear, or my gear, bike, and me to Bowling Green today. And surprise, surprise, I took her up on the offer to drive me and my stuff to Bowling Green - assuming that we could fit it all in her rental car. It was another scorcher today, and while it would have been a treat to ride an unloaded bike from city to city, it was more of a treat not to be exercising in this heat. Tomorrow will be soon enough. This is not a purist's bicycle trip. Sometimes it's OK to compromise!

It's a tribute to the design of the Saturn that we were able to fit everything in the car. Sue had a 4-door Saturn, and with the back seats folded down everything slid in with ease. It actually surprised both of us, because from the outside it didn't look like it would work. And I didn't even need to fold the bike!

We drove to Bowling Green, walked through the downtown area, walked through part of the university campus, and had lunch. Another day of visiting with a good friend - what a nice way to spend the day!

We also stopped at Cycle Werks to pick up the new clamp-on trailer hitch that Bike Friday sent me. Remember the jury-rigged trailer hitch that those guys in the campground made for me on the second day of my trip? Well, a couple of days ago I noticed that the trailer hitch was bending and just about freaked out. I called Walter at Bike Friday, and he shipped me a clamp-on hitch to use for the rest of my trip. When I'm done I'll drop the bike off at Bike Friday so they can fix the braze-on for me. It's a good thing that I noticed the problem before it broke. When the cycle shop helped me remove the old part we found that it had cracked about a third of the way through! Many thanks to Walter for his fast response on that problem!

Hey - if you think I'm passing by any other friend's houses and don't realize it - let me know. I'd be happy to visit with you too.

Funny thing that I forgot to mention the other day... when I was talking with Scrappy and his grandson John in North East, PA, they mentioned that John and his parents were visiting from Florida. I asked John if they flew, and he told me that they drove up, and that the drive took two days. The first thing I said to him was "wow, that's a really long drive". Then I looked at what I was doing and started laughing. I thought it was too far to drive from Florida to Pennsylvania, but I'm riding my bike from Boston to Oregon!

Back to the road tomorrow...

A hot last view of the Great Lakes

2002-07-01T07:13:00.003-04:00

Vermilion to Fremont, OH

Wait, wasn't the day supposed to end in Bowling Green today? Yes, but... the heat really got to me and I had to stop. I missed a couple of turns during the day, so I added a few miles to my proposed 75 mile day. There were another 35 miles to go to get to Bowling Green when I arrived in Fremont. If it had been cooler I might have continued on, but the thermometer on my bicycle computer read 104. Of course, that was the temperature in the sun - I think the "official temperature" was around 95 - but I was in the same sun as the computer. Enough riding for the day.

Today was my last glimpse of the Great Lakes for this trip. The first 10 miles to Huron paralleled the lake, and then I turned southwest and inland. The views from the bike changed to farmlands and houses, which was a pleasant change. I imagine I'll be tired of farm country after a while, but for now it is nice. I met the first cyclists coming the other way since I saw Jeff way back in the Adirondacks. Somehow we forgot to exchange names - but they were a couple riding a recumbent tandem who had started from their home in Salinas, Indiana several days earlier and who are following the Northern Tier route to Bar Harbor. We stood on the side of the road and chatted for a while, and they told me there was another cyclist about 20 miles ahead of me heading west. It's not likely I'll catch him though, because I've planned a visit with a friend tonight and tomorrow. It's just nice to know there's someone else out here on a bike.

The last seven miles of the day was on a beautiful bike path between Clyde and Fremont. There were actually some shaded benches along the path that a local runners club had donated. That was a nice touch, although it was too hot to even want to sit in the shade so I just kept on riding. When I got to Fremont I followed the directions to the center of town, then stopped at the drugstore to ask about a good place to stay. Several people consulted, then recommended the Traveloge on the outskirts of town. They started to try to give me directions, but didn't seem to agree on the best way to go. One of the women said that she'd borrow a truck and drive me there! It was only a couple of miles, but - hey, why not! It was pretty funny though, because one of the reasons she wanted to drive me was that she said there was a big hill on the way. It was really only a big hill to the locals because it is so flat around here. I think it might have been a 3 to 4 percent grade for less than a quarter of a mile.

Once I got settled in I called my friend Sue who was on her way from Detroit to Bowling Green to visit with me. She changed her driving direction to end up in Fremont. Luckily it's a lot easier to make last minute changes like this in a car. We had dinner and a great visit lasting past both of our normal bedtimes.

Hot, hot, hot

2002-06-30T07:08:00.014-04:00

Mentor to Vermilion, OH

It was another scorcher today. I had hoped to cover another 10 miles, but the heat started to get to me and I just had to stop. Or maybe I should say that the heat started to get to me quite a bit earlier, but I finally got to the point where I couldn't handle it anymore!

The entire ride today paralleled Lake Erie, and was mostly through residential areas. The first 60 miles were either residential or urban (downtown Cleveland), and the last nine were more industrial. There were areas on both sides of Cleveland with huge mansions along the lakefront. Most of the other houses were much more reasonable. I started out this morning by running into a biathlon. Unlike Greg O'Shea's stint as the RAAM leader, I was going in the opposite direction of the race. That gave me a chance to watch the cyclists coming toward me. It must have been a "fun run" type of race, or else I just missed the serious racers. The folks I saw were riding all kinds of bikes - some racing bikes with aero bars, but also some hybrids and cruisers - and all kinds of clothes. I even saw someone wearing one of the original Bell Biker helmets! I remember those helmets as being both heavy and hot. Too bad I couldn't tell the guy that he'd be more comfortable (and probably safer) wearing a more modern helmet.

The start of the Cleveland Lakefront Bike path was a little weird. It looped through a park, and then right back out on the road. But it did turn into a real bikepath at the eastern edge of Cleveland, and stayed that way all the way to downtown. That made the ride into Cleveland a good ride instead of a fight with traffic. I was very glad that I rode through Cleveland on a Sunday because there were sections of the road before the bike path appeared that would have been challenging to ride in traffic, to say nothing of the section through downtown. I'm also glad to be done with city riding for a while. The stop lights got old really fast. It seemed that as soon as I got going I had to stop again!

I stopped at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for a rest. I didn't go into the museum, which was absolutely swarming with people, but I thought that the building was beautiful. It's a series of glass pyramids. And there was something funny going on outside - the Beggin' Strips dog obstacle course. The dogs only made a brief appearance outside because it was so hot. They were spending most of their time lounging in an air-conditioned RV. The obstacle course was pretty funny. It included a series of fire hydrants, a couch and a shoe that were both teeter-totters, and a blow-up dog that the real dogs ran through.

Just as I was approaching Vermillion I stopped at a farm market to see if anyone know of a place to stay nearby. The heat was just starting to roll off of me. Once couple told me about a Holiday Inn Express that they thought was still a few miles away, and then offered to throw my bike and trailer in their truck and drive me there. She had been working outside all day, and said I looked like I needed to be out of the heat. I almost took them up on it, but then someone who lived in Vermillion told me there were a couple of mom & pop motels within the next one to two miles. I rode on into Vermillion and found a nice cool room for the night. I'd like it if tomorrow is cooler, but the weather forecast is for another hot one.

Time for me to crash for the night...

A quick view of Pennsylvania

2002-06-29T22:02:00.007-04:00

Erie, PA to Mentor, OH

I finished my tour of the northwest corner of Pennsylvania this morning and entered Ohio, so now I've been in 6 states and one province. Maybe I shouldn't count New Hampshire, Ontario, and Pennsylvania because they were so short - but I did bicycle in all three, so I think I'll count them.

Today was one of those "I could have stopped earlier, maybe I should have stopped earlier" days. I had finished 50 miles when I arrived in Geneva-on-the-Lake, but I wasn't tired and I wanted to do another 10 miles. I thought there were places to stay up ahead, but I was wrong. There were 2 pretty awful looking motels, and no campgrounds. I'm sure my sister is proud of me for passing up those places... I spoke to someone who lives in (or near) Madison, and he told me there wasn't really anything decent until Mentor. He also told me it takes him 30 minutes to drive there. At that point I could have gone back to Geneva-on-the-Lake but I decided to press on. It was an unexpected 80-mile day, but it was a good one. It turned out to be another 20 miles from Madison. I was feeling good, the weather was good, the terrain was good, and I really didn't start fading until close to the end. And I did end the day in Mentor, which is not too far east of Cleveland. This will actually work out well, because I will be riding through Cleveland tomorrow. I think riding through the busy Cleveland lakefront area will be more pleasant on a Sunday than during the week.

The ride today followed Lake Erie for a good part of the way, and there were actually sections where the road was next to (but above) the lake. Most of the time there were houses between me and the lake. For the most part they were rather unassuming structures, but there was a section between Conneaut and Ashtabula where there were some pretty imposing houses. It really makes me wonder what the people who live there do to support themselves, since there doesn't seem to be much around there. Maybe they work in Cleveland, but it seems like that would be a pretty nasty commute.

Coming into Ashtabula, the scenery went from pristine lakefront to heavy industry. It was amazing how abrupt the change was. Right after I crossed the Ashtabula River just after entering the town, I saw a sign that said "The Ohio Department of Health advises against eating fish caught in this area". What are they doing to the water? I wonder if they mean fish caught in the river, or if the danger area extends into the lake too.

The next town after Ashtabula was Geneva-on-the-Lake. It would have been fun to stay there if I hadn't still been so full of riding energy. It was a very funky resort town, with the main street lined with mom & pop motels, arcades, ice cream places, bars, restaurants, etc. The streets were also lined with an unbelievable number of motorcycles. It was kind of amazing to compare Geneva-on-the-Lake which had a population of 1600+ and was very alive with the towns of Ashtabula and Conneaut which were much larger and didn't seem nearly as active. That could have been a function of where I was riding though, because I passed through all 3 towns along the lakefront, and the two larger towns probably had a lot more going on further from the water.

I spent some time looking at maps last night, and realized that I might not want to ride straight across Indiana and Illinois. It would make more sense to find a diagonal path to meet up with the Transamerica route. If I follow my planned route I will go west to Iowa, then back off and come east a bit as I head south through Illinois and Missouri. Of course, I left home with only my Adventure Cycling maps. My stack of AAA maps is still at home. I was hoping to find a AAA office sometime next week, figuring that today was out of the question since it is a weekend day. I rode into Conneaut, Ohio, and one of the first things I saw was a big AAA sign. Imagine my surprise to find that they were open today! I now have road maps of Indiana and Illinois, a campground book, and pages torn out of the tour book showing motels. The tour book was too big and heavy for me, so I only took the sections that I thought I'd need. I'm not sure a diagonal route is possible without riding on Interstates, so I may still end up following my original route. At least now I can attempt to figure out if it's possible to take a more direct route. That's a task for another day...

When I was talking to the owner of the bakery I stopped at in Conneaut, I mentioned that I was glad to be in a new state because I felt like I was never going to finish riding across New York. She told me she thought I'd feel that way about Ohio too since it is pretty wide. She was surprised when I told her that I thought I'd be through Ohio in much fewer days than it took me to cross New York.

As I was leaving Erie this morning, I noticed something that I thought was a typo on a sign yesterday but that appears to be deliberate. The people in Erie spell diner as "dinor". Very odd. Everywhere else I've been they're are called diners, not dinors. Is that an acceptable alternative spelling, or is it an Erie thing?

While I'm asking questions, maybe one of you can answer these for me. I've obviously had too much time on the bike to think of odd things, and now I need answers... My questions have to do with farming. The first is - why are barns red? I've seen a few white barns, but most of them have been red. Maybe it's just a custom, but it seems like there must have been something behind the color. And the second question - how do farmers manage to have straight rows of crops with dirt but no weeds between them? It seems like the weeds grow in my garden as soon as I walk inside. (OK, so now you know I'm really crazy...)

Wildlife... I've been seeing quite a few squirrels and groundhogs, and more red-winged blackbirds. Some of the squirrels have been playing suicide games with cars, but luckily I haven't seen any of them get hit.

A final day in New York

2002-06-28T21:34:00.004-04:00

Dunkirk, NY to Erie, PA

I woke up this morning to very gray skies. I thought for a while that it was going to rain, but it didn't, and the sky finally cleared. For a while it was blue skies with clouds to the north, gray skies to the south, and a mixture just in front of me. It actually turned out to be a beautiful day. I would take a lot more just like today if I had a choice.

I'm finally out of New York! Sometimes I felt like I was crawling across the state, even though I wasn't. I ended the day in Erie, PA. It just wasn't in the cards for me to get all the way across the corner of Pennsylvania and into Ohio today. That would have been a 90-mile day, not what I wanted to do today. I started the day on route 5, but had to cut over to route 20 for a while. In this part of the state, NY 5, US 20, and Interstate 90 all parallel each other. 5 is closest to the lake. At one point I saw signs for construction for the next 18 miles and decided to backtrack to a county road that would take me to route 20. I remembered Jeff telling me about construction on route 5, but I couldn't remember where he said it was. If I'd thought about it this morning I would have started on route 20 because the construction just had to be today. It wasn't a problem though - the two roads were only 1 to 2 miles apart most of the day today.

I stayed on route 20 a little longer than I needed to because I just had to ride through the village of North East, PA. That's a crazy name for a town. Can you imagine answering the question "where do you live?". I live in North East. No, what town? That is the town name! And, to top it all off, the village of North East is in the northwest corner of the state. I did find out that the town and village are in the northeast corner of Erie County. Talk about confusing! Thanks to Scrappy and his grandson John who waved me over to give me some cold water, and who gave me the answer to the question on why North East was named North East.

I passed an old man working outside his house and had to stop and chat when I saw the signs saying that he sold picnic tables and bicycles. He is 80 years old, and has been doing this for the past 16 years. When I started talking to him he thought I wanted to buy a bicycle from him. Oops - I wasn't trying to lead him on, I was just curious. The picnic tables looked OK, but the bikes were pretty suspect. He had a garage and a basement full of old bikes. I asked if he serviced them, and he said no. In fact, he said he didn't know anything about those "speed" bikes. I guess he's not going to put the bike shop in Dunkirk out of business anytime soon.

Rest day... a little riding too!

2002-06-27T21:32:00.005-04:00

Dunkirk & Fredonia, NY

Yesterday I considered staying in Buffalo for a rest day, but when I listened to the weather forecast I changed my mind because yesterday was supposed to be a drier day than today. Then when I got to Dunkirk I thought I'd press on today - but when I woke up this morning I knew it was time for a rest. Sometimes you just have to listen to your body. I pried myself out of bed, dressed for cycling, and went to breakfast. As I was eating, I decided it was time for a quiet day, and a sudden downpour cemented that decision. I didn't fall asleep again, but I did spend the morning reading in bed. What decadence! When I checked about extending my stay here for another night, the desk clerk asked if I needed anything from housekeeping. She gave me fresh towels and more shampoo (used to hand-wash my clothes!), and told housekeeping not to make up the room. That was great, since it stopped them from waking me up if I had fallen asleep again.

There were several periods of downpours this morning, and there's a severe thunderstorm warning tonight. The humidity is supposed to be better for the next couple of days, which will be a welcome change. I'm glad I didn't travel today because I would have been facing pretty bad headwinds in addition to the rain. There were noticeable headwinds yesterday, but not as hefty as today. The winds have been out of the west at 18 miles per hour, with gusts to 31.

Once I was done lounging around this morning I did get on the bike for a while. After all, it is my only transportation. I rode into Fredonia for lunch at a bakery, took a quick tour of the SUNY College at Fredonia campus, then rode up to Lake Erie to visit a historic lighthouse and War of 1812 memorial. Unfortunately, it turns out that the grounds and the museum are only open for 4 hours a day, and I didn't happen to catch the right four hours. I also rode by that large industrial building on the lake that I mentioned yesterday. It turns out to be a power generating plant.

I somehow managed to ride 17 miles in my wanderings today - oh the joy of riding an unloaded bike for a change!

Before I left for my ride I spent some time talking to the motel staff who were taking a lunch break outside. They have seen other cyclists here, but didn't realize that they were on an established cross-country route. They were pretty amazed about my trip That seems to be a universal initial reaction from most people. I got a "you really rode here from Massachusetts?" today...

I've been staying in motels much more than camping so far. Sometimes I've opted for staying inside because of the weather, sometimes because there were no campgrounds around (especially around the larger cities like Rochester, Buffalo, and soon Cleveland), and a couple of times because I was just lazy. Last night was both a weather-related decision and an "I've gone far enough for the day" decision. I knew there was supposed to be heavy rain and wind last night (and that forecast was right) as well as rain all morning today. I figured if I decided to take a rest day I'd rather not be stuck in my tent in the rain. I keep thinking I should send the camping gear home to get rid of some of the weight but that would be the absolute wrong thing to do. I looked forward to my map of Indiana and Illinois, and not only are all of the services off route by quite a bit, but there are also only campgrounds shown, no motels or B&Bs. So I really do need that camping gear!

I was hoping to pull another 3-state day getting from here, across Pennsylvania, and into Ohio, but I just looked at the maps and I think it's probably too far for a day. Tomorrow should be my final day in New York though. I know I've been making good progress, but I can't believe how many days I've been in this state! I'm sure I'll have the same feeling about Missouri where I'll be riding both south and west through the state, and Kansas, which is a really wide state.

The first day along Lake Erie

2002-06-26T21:28:00.007-04:00

Buffalo to Dunkirk, NY

When I arrived in Dunkirk I saw a brochure that listed Buffalo as a not too distant attraction at 30 miles away. Of course, that was via the New York Thruway, which is most likely a pretty straight line. My 52 mile ride must have been following a pretty crooked line!

I didn't leave Buffalo early this morning. It turned out that the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site was across from where I was staying. It opened at 9, so I went over to tour the house and to visit a special exhibit - "From Teddy's Bear to the Teddy Bear, Celebrating the 100th Birthday of an American Icon". I don't know if I would have stayed around to tour the house, but I had to see the teddy bear exhibit. It was fun. I also picked up an interesting tidbit. A toy company has named a monkey "Dubya"- how fitting. However, I don't think the Dubya monkey is going to outstrip the Teddy Bear in popularity.

I finally hit the road at 10:30.The path out of the downtown / waterfront area of Buffalo was via bike path, and as usual I had a little trouble transitioning from the bike path to the road - the directions were a bit confusing, but I managed to figure it out. While I was standing there a cyclist (in a car, but with a bicycle on a rack) stopped to ask where I came from and where I was going. It was another case of cyclist jealousy!

I only got about 4 miles before I stumbled on the Naval & Military Park on the Buffalo waterfront. I stopped there to tour the USS Little Rock, which is a guided missile light cruiser. That was interesting. I think I would have had a lot of trouble on a ship like that at sea. I doubt if my tendency to get motion sickness would go away when working, living, and eating on the lower levels of the ship. And I can't imagine how anyone ever managed to get up and down the steep stairs (OK, they are probably called something other than stairs) in heavy seas.

I did the right thing by staying in Buffalo last night. I didn't realize that it was another 10 miles to Lackawanna, and I don't think I would have been too happy staying there. Not a problem, since I found a good place to stay in Buffalo.

The beginning of the ride today was pleasant, on bike paths along the water. The route then went through a very industrial section of South Buffalo, and on to Lackawanna. Not pretty, but it got me out of town. Past Lackawanna the official route followed some back roads along the lake. I opted to stay on Route 5 all day so I didn't need to watch for turns. I suppose that's lazy, but that way if I zone out I don't miss a turn! One side effect of staying on route 5 is that I actually passed some real grocery stores (as opposed to the so far ever present gas station convenience stores). That was good, because I needed to pick up some fresh fruit.

Traveling along Lake Erie is nicer than traveling along Lake Ontario because the road is closer to the water. There were times that I was right on the edge of the lake, and times that I could see the lake between the houses. It was pretty flat until the end of the day when the terrain changed to be somewhat rolling. Nothing steep, but enough to notice. That was probably because it was the end of the day though. Another difference is the crops - it seems that the area around Lake Ontario is apple-growing territory. And by the end of the day today I was seeing grapes and signs for wineries.

I stopped for lunch in Blasdell and ate what I thought was enough food. It wasn't, so I stopped at a small store along Lake Erie to pick up my first ice cream of the day. (Yes, I did stop twice for ice cream!). I ended up talking to the couple who owned the store for a while. I told them about my trip, and then they pulled their 3 daughters out to talk to me too. It was really amazing - they aren't cyclists at all, but they were very excited for me.
## icecream.jpg ##

Just before I crossed into Dunkirk, I saw what I thought were two kids in tire swings on the side of the road. I did a double-take when I saw the sign above them that said "Grand-kids for sale". I had to stop and take a picture. While I was standing there the woman who made them came out to talk. She said that quite a few cyclists stop to take a picture of her grand-kids, so she gets a chance to talk to many of us. The grand-kids are fabulous dolls, dressed in kids clothes and stuffed with plastic and foam pellets so they could stay out in bad weather. I left there with a big smile on my face.

At first glimpse, Dunkirk appears to be an odd combination of vacation property and industrial property. Along the lakefront, there is a marina and a boat launch right next to a large industrial complex.

Powerful water

2002-06-25T21:21:00.014-04:00

Lockport to Buffalo, NY, by way of Niagara Falls, Ontario

Let's see - if I rode straight from Lockport to Buffalo, I'm sure it would have been a shorter ride than the one I took today. But it probably wouldn't have been as much fun. I rode by way of Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was a 2-country, 2-bridge day. The Lewiston-Queenston Bridge into Canada was much quieter than the Peace Bridge was crossing into Buffalo. But luckily on the Peace Bridge bicycles cross on the sidewalk. That made it a reasonable crossing. I did have a scare partway across though - I was almost half-way across when I saw the bright orange square of a manhole cover that was up. I thought I was going to have to move onto the road surface, but the bridge workers very nicely closed the manhole and let me pass. Getting off of the bridge was another story. The Adventure Cycling map had pretty good directions, once I got myself to the left side of the bridge, not the right side where I came out of customs. The thing that was a little crazy was that I didn't really take any of the official bridge exits - I cut across a parking lot and through an almost closed gate to get to the street I was looking for. I started following the detailed instructions to the bike path along the lake, then thought better of it and stopped at a gas station to see where the recommended hotels were in relation to where I was. It's a good thing I stopped, because downtown and the hotels were in the other direction. If I'd started out I probably would have ended up staying in Lackawana, but I was really ready to stop, so I'm glad I stopped and asked. It was time to get out of the sun.

It was another hot day, with sun most of the day. There were some pretty big clouds hiding the sun for a while when I was in the falls viewing area. That created some amazing light effects on the falls when the sun peeked out again. I tried to catch it in some pictures, but I just wasn't fast enough to catch the light. It was fun trying. I did get cooled off while I was standing at the top of Horseshoe Falls; it's unbelievable how much spray comes off of the falls. I think it was about 11:30 when I came off the bridge and onto the Niagara Parkway, and I managed to wander around the area for the next 3 hours. I walked through some beautiful gardens, but missed the Butterfly Conservatory because I wasn't willing to wait in line for a half an hour to get in. If you looked up at the glass in the building you could actually see the butterflies from the outside. I'm sure it was beautiful in there, but I just wasn't in a waiting mood today. The next stop was for some food - a slice of pizza and something cold to drink set me up for the rest of the day.

Hey - can I pull this trailer behind my bike? I think this horse was ready to come out and play for a while.

After that I rode down to the falls viewing area, locked the bike to a light pole, and went to look at the falls. The whole area was mobbed with people, but it was still possible to get unrestricted views. The falls are absolutely amazing. Both Niagara Falls and Horseshoe Falls are very wide and high. From the Canadian side you can walk right to the side of Horseshoe Falls, so you can see (sort of) the water at both the top and the bottom of the falls. I found it amazing how turbulent the water is at the top of the falls in addition to the bottom. I took quite a few pictures, but as usual with something so impressive, I don't think the pictures do it justice. Having the digital camera is really fun. I didn't even think about taking only "good" pictures - I just kept clicking away in the hopes of getting some good shots. And I think I did get some.

I met a woman from Lockport as I was changing some money on the way into Canada. She was asking about my bike - and then about my trip. She said that she wants to ride the entire Canal Trail someday, from Lockport to Albany. By the way, if any of you repeat my ride from bridge to bridge - don't bother to change any money. All of the tourist places had everything listed in both Canadian and US currency - they accepted both everywhere.

I stopped to get something cold to drink, and when I got back to the bike I found a couple from Michigan staring at it. They were riding some cruiser-type comfort bikes, and had never seen anything like my Air Glide before. We talked for a while. When they heard where I'm headed, they told me that they had ridden across Kansas on motorcycles years ago and found it way too hot. I didn't really need to hear that since I'm expecting it to be hot in Kansas. I'm hoping that by the time I get there I'll be a little better adapted to the heat. Right now I'm enjoying the 70-degree days more than the 90-degree days. Today was better than the last hot day though. I don't know why, since both days seemed to be pretty humid.

The ride from the Falls viewing area to Fort Erie (where I crossed back into the States) was on a bike path that paralleled the road. I don't know if parallel is the right word though, because it seemed to snake in and out. I wonder how many extra miles I rode by snaking around on the bike path instead of riding in a straight line on the road. I would have switched to the road, but it was a 2-lane road with room for two cars and with absolutely no shoulders. I thought it was better to stay on the bike path. The thing I found interesting about the bike path is that it was also an access road to the houses along the Niagara Parkway. Their driveways were off of access roads that were also the bike path. I've never seen anything like that before.

I had dinner tonight at the Colter Bay Grille. It was named for Colter Bay in Grand Teton National Park. I thought that was fitting, since Grand Teton is on my itinerary for the summer.

Interesting wildlife for the day - black squirrels! Too bad they wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get a picture.

I was very happy to see this sign as I got close to the Peace Bridge. I had just followed the Adventure Cycling instructions to take an unmarked ramp, cut through concrete barriers, cross a parking lot, and cut through another barrier. And it worked!

The first flat day

2002-06-24T21:11:00.007-04:00

Rochester to Lockport, NY

Today was my first flat day - as evidenced by the increase in my average speed. The weather could have had something to do with that too - it was in the low 70s and cloudy most of the day today, a sharp contrast from yesterday's 95 degrees, sunny, and humid. I was actually glad it was cloudy today.It started to sprinkle a couple of times, but didn't really rain until after I checked in to my hotel for the night. That was lucky. My talking to the sky, saying "please hold off for another hour" every time it started sprinkling probably didn't have anything to do with it.

My average speed today was 11.9 miles per hour, a far cry from yesterday's 8.9 MPH. And the first hour today was a slow one (9 MPH) - the time I spent on the Canal Trail. It was nice to have a bike path to get through Rochester - no need to deal with cars in a busy city - but I opted for Route 31 as soon as the bike path surface changed from paved to unpaved. Route 31 was a great riding road. It had a wide paved shoulder for most of the way. At least the shoulder existed between the small cities / villages - within the cities it usually disappeared. There was only one bad patch of road (non-road) in a construction zone. I was ahead of the truck that was about to water the road, but there was still some real mud and a nasty gravel section. It's a good thing I wasn't drying clothes on my trailer today. If I had been, I would have needed to wash them again! I guess that's something I should be more aware of - put the clothes away before riding through construction zones or unpaved areas.

The only hills of the day were as I was entering Lockport, and within the city itself. It was a nice change of pace, although I'm sure I'll welcome some hills again in a while. I felt like I was riding like a normal person today, not crawling along at a slow speed. Those slow speeds will come back again, but for now I'll enjoy the flats.

My first stop today was at a bakery to buy a blueberry muffin. The woman in the shop looked at me and asked "what's that blue thing?". It took me a minute to realize that she was looking at the tube from my Camelbak. She had never seen one before. No wonder some people look at me (and all cyclists?) strangely - biking clothes, helmet, gloves, funny sunglasses, and Camelbaks. I guess I look a little odd to some people. Maybe that's why the dad with a little girl in the ice cream shop yesterday looked at me like I had 2 heads! I was getting close to Rochester at that point, and I figured that people in larger cities were just not ready to talk to strangers who they thought looked odd.

I was riding down Route 31 when I heard someone say "are you touring?". It was another cyclist who was about to pass me. He asked where I was coming from, and where I was headed. Then he said he wanted to do a cross-country trip too, and said "I wish I was you - have fun" before he went on his way.

I stopped for a sandwich in Brockport. While I was eating, a man saw my bike and then came and found me to talk. He had done a Newport, Oregon to Washington, DC trip back in 1996, and is about to head to Europe for a 2 to 3 week tour. It was fun to talk with him.

It's funny - a bunch of towns in this area of New York are named for other countries. It makes me want to look into where the names came from. I've passed through or been close to Mexico, Greece, and Sweden.

Tomorrow I head into Canada to Niagara Falls and the Niagara Recreational Parkway. That should be fun - I haven't been to Niagara Falls for years.

Where I think I'll be...

2002-06-24T20:42:00.010-04:00

Just in case you want to take this trip yourself, or if you really want to follow the details of where I'll be going, here's a list of the maps that I'll be using on my trip. I'm adding this page to my journal after my dad asked me how he could get a copy of the maps I'm using.

I'll be using Adventure Cycling maps for most of my trip, but I used my imagination along with help from some friends to figure out a route from home to Ticonderoga, NY.

From my house in North Andover to Plum Island and back
via back roads, using Rubel's Bike Map of the North Shore (Boston)

From North Andover to Brattleboro, VT
Route 114 to Route 110 to Route 113 to Route 119

From Brattleboro, VT to Ticonderoga, NY
Route 30, then I followed the signs to the ferry to New York

Adventure Cycling maps, in the order they will be used
Northern Tier, sections 10, 9, and 8: Ticonderoga, NY to Muscatine, IA

Great Rivers South, section 1: Muscatine, IA to Cape Girardeau, MO ^T Actual end point is Map 12, Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park

Transamerica, sections 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1: Murphysboro, IL to Florence, OR ^T Actual starting point is on Section 9, Map 10, Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park

Headwinds & rollers

2002-06-23T20:50:00.011-04:00

Sodus Point to Rochester, NY

I wonder why I thought this part of New York is flat. It isn't, in case you are wondering. I wouldn't exactly call it hilly either, but I had rollers a good part of the day and strong headwinds all day. Overall the day was great, but I had a really low energy start. I'm not sure what I did to cause that - probably a combination of not sleeping well last night (I woke up every 2 hours!) and maybe not eating enough last night. I don't think I can blame breakfast this morning since I ate the same thing yesterday and it worked then. I stopped at the Pultneyville Pickle for Gatorade, juice, a fresh banana strawberry muffin, and another banana. That apparently did the trick, because I felt much better after that break. It might have helped that I sat there and talked to people for close to an hour too. I got some route advice, and decided not to follow the Adventure Cycling route for most of the day. I had already decided not to ride on the Canal Trail (which follows the Erie Canal) for the full 90 miles that the Northern Tier route called for since a good chunk of it isn't paved. I knew the section through Rochester was in good paved shape, so that's where I planned to ride it. What I didn't realize was how far south the route took me on the way to Rochester. It dipped south and then came north again. So - first I opted to stay on a numbered road (county route120 to state route 21) out of Pultneyville instead of following real back roads and dealing with navigating. I really prefer fewer turns. When I ride a route where you turn every mile, I always think I'm going to miss a turn. Then, instead of going all the way south to Palmyra, I turned west at Marion, following county route 207 to state route 441. When I was just north of Fairport, I turned south, then rode west from Fairport to Pittsford. That's where I finally made my entrance to the Canal Trail. The end result was that I cut 8 miles off of the Adventure Cycling mileage for the day. And yes, 48 miles was plenty today! I owe many thanks for John Welch who I met at the Pultneyville store for suggesting that I didn't need to go as far south as my maps told me to go.

Most of the section of the Canal Trail that I rode was very nice. Unlike bike paths at home, this one is not overutilized, so it is reasonable to bike on it. There were only two things that got to me. The first was that the first lock I hit didn't have an exit ramp to go around it, so I had to haul my bike and trailer up a set of stairs. Ouch! Needless to say, I had to make several trips. The second gotcha is that it was hard for me to figure out where to get off of the trail to find a hotel for tonight. Of course, I could have called for directions, but I didn't! I knew there were hotels on East Henrietta, and one of the signed roads that the Canal Trail passed under was West Henrietta. I figured that at some point west turned into east, but the little tiny map of Rochester that I had showed only West Henrietta, so I figured the east half was far away. That was very wrong. It turned out that West and East Henrietta are parallel roads and are only a small distance apart. Luckily I didn't go too far past West Henrietta before I stopped another cyclist and asked.

It was another hot (95), hazy, humid day today. I did manage to get a few pictures of Lake Ontario, but the lake pretty much blends in with the horizon.

One of the cyclists I met on the Canal Trail told me there was an air show here today. I was too far away to see much, but I heard the planes and I did see the Blue Angels fly by.

I've been seeing a bird fly by for the past couple of days. The bird has an orange body and black wings, and I just had to call my mom to find out what it is. She said it's a Baltimore Oriole. That's pretty cool. I don't have a bird book with me, but sometimes I can still find out what it is that I am seeing.

I finally got a glimpse of Lake Ontario. It was so hazy out that the lake and the horizon seem to blend together.

Imagine my horror when I came up to these stairs on my fully loaded bike! The only way to continue on the canal path was to climb the stairs, so climb I did. It took 3 trips to haul all of my gear up the stairs - the bike, the panniers, and the trailer.

Where's Lake Ontario?

2002-06-22T20:42:00.010-04:00

Port Ontario to Sodus Point, NY

Another good riding day, and a good day to talk to people too. The weather cooperated by staying cloudy, which kept it a bit cooler than yesterday. When I left this morning it was already in the 70s and humid, but it didn't get much higher than 80. That was a good thing. It tried to rain a couple of times, but never got any further than sprinkles.I managed to get on the road a bit earlier today - 8:30 - but that still didn't get me to camp before 5. I'm pretty much maintaining a 10 miles per hour pace. Today was relatively flat, but there were quite a few of those short very steep (15% grade and up - ouch!) hills to slow me down. Between my pace and stopping to eat, take pictures, and talk to people, I was on the road all day. But since my primary purpose is traveling by bike, it's OK if I'm on the road all day!

I met 2 cyclists from the Onondoga cycling club out for their Saturday club ride. We talked on the side of the road for a while, then ended up riding together for a few miles. They had to slow down considerably to go my pace! It was a nice change of pace to ride with someone for a bit.

I stopped for an early lunch in Fulton. I'm still trying to figure out the best things and times to eat for maximum energy all day. I'm not there yet, but I'm getting closer! I ended up getting an egg, cheese, & bagel sandwich at Dunkin Donuts. It tasted pretty good, and seemed to work pretty well too. Eggs don't usually give me enough energy, but I think the carbs from the bagel + the protein did the trick.

After lunch I stopped for what I thought was going to be a quick picture of a lake, but it ended up as a great conversation stop. It turned out that the spot where I stopped was the ending point for a triathlon. I stayed close to an hour chatting with 3 guys who were 3/4 of one of the triathalon teams. That was fun. My bike and trailer (as usual) were the conversation starter. What I find interesting is that the trailer seems to be attracting more attention than the bike. That's a little odd, since what people usually notice are the little wheels. Maybe it's because I'm riding with rear panniers, so the little rear wheel isn't as noticeable. Once people really look at the bike it attracts its own attention too.

I've been following the edge of Lake Ontario all day, but I didn't actually see the lake at all until the end of the day. And it is pretty much socked in with fog or haze right now. Maybe I'll see it tomorrow, and maybe not. There are quite a few campgrounds that are right on the lake, but most of them are a mile or more off the road. Guess that's one of the reasons that I haven't seen too much of the lake.

As I was grinding up one of those short steep hills coming into the town of Fair Haven, I noticed a sign for the Fly By Night Cookie Company. The sign said it was off of a side street 3/4 of a mile down the road, so of course I had to stop. What a dynamite place! It's in someone's house. The front room is a self-service cookie shop. You just take what you want and leave the money in the dish on the table. I spoke with another woman in there who had been going there for years. She said this appears to be a case where the honor system works well! They had so many fabulous cookies that I had trouble choosing what I wanted. I really wish there would be a store like that one every day of my ride!

The last 20 miles of today's ride was interesting navigating. Most of my route so far has been on numbered roads - until today. The end of the ride was a turn right onto Red Creek Road, proceed straight onto Furnace Road, Turn right onto W. Port Road, etc. Luckily the roads were well marked. I wouldn't want to rely on directions like that in the Boston area since there are so few road signs! I considered staying on the numbered roads instead of the back roads on the map, but I decided to stick with the map for the day. I'm glad I did because the route took me over some very pretty quiet roads, passing through mostly farmland with a little residential areas thrown in.

I'm staying at the South Shore RV Park tonight. I was a bit disconcerted when I pulled in to find the owner's house locked up tight, and the office and camp store signs on a building that looks like it was never opened for the season. There were people camping though, so I asked if they knew how to find the owners or the camp host. They pointed me to one of the permanent trailers, so I was able to get a site. I'm glad I didn't need to go on any further - it was definitely time to stop! There are only a couple of other people with tents here. As expected in an RV park, most of the folks here are in trailers, and some of them were joking with me about my trailer. There is a nice grassy tent area, not a bad place to stay.

I didn't see much wildlife today - only a raccoon, and that kind of freaked me out. I'm always a little leery of raccoons that are running around during the day. This one came from the side of the road, ran parallel to me for a while, then crossed to the other side of the road and disappeared into the undergrowth. It was a big dog day today though. Only one stayed with me for a while, but I really hate all of the dogs who think chasing bikes is fun. Today made me think I should pick up some HALT or other pepper spray. I did meet a couple of nice dogs in the campground tonight, including one miniature dachshund who was really tiny. Her owner said that she only weighs 6 pounds, which is tiny even for a mini.

I just had to move into the tent. I've been sitting at the picnic table with my electronic toys, and it just started sprinkling. Time to more "inside". It's odd, because what I can see of the sky (it's almost dark out, just a little dusky) doesn't look like clouds. But better safe than sorry - I don't want to risk my baby PC to the rain.

I'll be somewhere in the Rochester area tomorrow - and in a motel. There are no campgrounds for the next 100 miles, and after that they look pretty sparse for a while. It looks like there won't be too many until after I get past the Buffalo area.

The wonderful Fly By Night Cookie Company - you've got to stop there if you're ever in Fair Haven, NY

The back, back, back roads

On the road again

2002-06-21T20:35:00.000-04:00

Boonville to Port Ontario, NY

Whatever happened to 70 degree days? The weather has gone from 50 degrees and rainy to 90+. Wait - the day I rode to Utica was closer to perfect. It was another beautiful ride today, but it was very hot. It was a hazy day, humid, with temperatures in the 90s. I can't complain though, because the afternoon thunderstorms that were forecast never appeared.

It was a late biking start. My dad drove me back to Boonville, and I left there at 10am. One of these days I'll get my body schedule adjusted so I can start earlier. For some reason I had trouble falling (and staying) asleep last night, so it was hard getting started this morning. Hopefully I'll get to sleep earlier tonight.

I'm finding that I can't get enough calories into me at breakfast, so I've been eating whatever feels right for breakfast, and then stopping fairly early to fill up on Gatorade and to pick up something interesting for a snack.That seems to be working for me. My first stop of the day was at the Hilltop Market in West Leyden - for Gatorade and banana bread. I talked with the owners for a while - they let cyclists sleep in their screened room, and it turns out that their son Steven is riding the Northern Tier from west to east with a group from Adventure Cycling. They are telling all west-bound cyclists to say hello to Steven when they meet him, so he should get quite a greeting. One more message if any of you happen to see Steven - tell him he needs to put stamps on his postcards before he mails them! I got a bit further down the road when a man in a truck stopped to ask me where I was coming from, and where I was headed. Turned out to be Steven's grandfather. What nice people!

My target mileage today was 50 to 60 miles. I definitely made my target, but ten of those miles didn't contribute to forward progress. I was so fascinated by a combination gas station, store, diner, motel in Redfield that I didn't even see my turnoff on the other side of the road. I got about 5 miles up the wrong road before I woke up and realized that there should have been some small towns along the road, and I seemed to be getting into lonelier territory in a beautiful wooded area. I managed to flag down someone in a pickup truck, and he confirmed that I was still on county route 17. I was supposed to be on country route 2. Time to turn around and backtrack.

This morning had some rolling hills with a bit of a headwind. I actually welcomed the wind since it wasn't too strong, and it was helping to keep me a little cooler.There was one wicked uphill coming out of Osceola, with grades ranging from 8 to 15% according to the inclinometer on my cycle computer. Guess that was the payment for screaming downhill coming into Osceola. That little town was located at the bottom of a hill. To leave the town in any direction you had to climb. The end of the day was mostly downhill, heading for Lake Ontario. I ended the day in Port Ontario, after talking to some folks at a farmer's market in Pulaski. They recommended the Golden Fish in Port Ontario for dinner. That was a dynamite recommendation - I had an excellent fresh grilled haddock.

I was wrong about the black flies - they're still here. It was another day of getting swarmed whenever I stopped. Maybe they'll be gone tomorrow. I can always hope.

Wildlife, and not so wildlife for the day... I passed a field of cows and had to do a double-take. One of the cows looked like it was wearing trousers! That was an optical illusion caused by the cow's coloration. I definitely had to look at that one twice. I saw a groundhog run across the road while I was climbing the hill outside Osceola, and I saw and heard several deer in the woods. Then there were the goldfinch, the red-winged blackbirds, and the butterflies.

Rest & relaxation

2002-06-19T20:34:00.001-04:00

...visiting family

No riding today. It was a rest day, but my mom and I were busy all day. I thought I'd take a nap, but of course I didn't. Maybe rest days aren't meant for resting - just for taking a rest from biking. I have clean clothes, and a clean bike - it's all ready to start riding again and hopefully ready to avoid rain for a while. I tried to pick up some of that pink Finish Line Bike Wash, but the small bike shop we stopped at today didn't have a clue about any bike cleaners. Water and a little citrus degreaser did the trick though, along with some fresh lube. I've always tried to keep my bike clean, but I might have gone over the top today. I carry my multi-tool in my seat bag (the only bag I have with me that isn't waterproof), so it got pretty wet this week. When I pulled it out to use it yesterday I noticed that there was rust on a couple of the tools. I hate rust - so I had to clean the tools too. No more rust, and it's now in a plastic bag, still in the seat bag. Let's see how long that lasts.

I'm going to stay with my folks for another day. I'm really glad I decided to ride down here instead of having them come up to Boonville. It changed our visit from several hours to two days. Very nice. And my dad is going to borrow a truck so he can easily drive me and my toys (bike and trailer) back up to Boonville Friday morning to continue my trip.

Those black flies really got me. I'm still finding welts that are black fly bites. Hope they settle down soon.

My sister has been calling my trailer a truck. When I talked to her last night, she asked me where I was keeping my truck - I guess she didn't think I should bring it into the house. But of course it is in the house, and the bike is in the garage. She and my mom both thought I should bring the bike into the house too! It's happy out in the garage though, and I was afraid that since the dogs seem to like grease that they might decide to clean the chain for me.

Change of plans

2002-06-18T20:30:00.009-04:00

Old Forge to Utica, NY, via Boonville

Utica? Wait, weren't you headed for Boonville?
Too bad I didn't figure out that I was going to bike to Utica before I got off of route 28 this morning!

I had a late start today because it was going to be a short riding day. I slept until 8 - what bliss. Then I packed up and headed to the Pancake House for a pecan pancake breakfast. My waitress was very interested in my trip. She said she thinks she'd like to do a cross-country trip by bike too, although she wasn't sure about hauling gear. I told her about Adventure Cycling and suggested that she call for information on their maps and on their trips. Once I finally got on the road, I headed to Boonville. The route to Boonville starts out on route 28, but then goes via back roads for the last 17 miles.The route to Utica from Old Forge - the one that makes sense at least - stays on route 28 until it intersects with route 12. I did a few extra miles because I went all the way to Boonville, then decided that it was a beautiful day for riding, and that I should ride to Utica to visit with my folks instead of having them come up to Boonville tomorrow. Of course the fact that it was only 1PM when I pulled in to Boonville had something to do with my decision to push on. It was a good 59-mile day today instead of a very short 27-mile day. Right now I'm about 30 miles south of the Northern Tier - but I think it will be a one-way detour because I'll probably get a lift back to Boonville to continue my trip.

I'm pretty sure that the last 7 miles I spent on route 12 weren't a legal place to bicycle. North of there route 12 is a marked bike route. At one point, the bike route sign pointed off of the road, but it didn't say "bicycles must exit", so I stayed on the road. I got off at one point, then realized I wasn't where I wanted to be. I started to get back on the road and saw the "pedestrians and bicycles prohibited" sign. Interesting though that a state trooper saw me on that section of the road and did not stop me.

I called my dad at that point to get directions to his business - and he just laughed when I told him I couldn't get back on route 12. Then he told me how to find him. Once I was pointed in the right direction I found my way without getting back on the highway.

It's days like today that make remind how much I like traveling by bike. It was a beautiful weather day, and the first day since last Thursday that I was able to focus on something other than getting to my destination before I got wet and cold. I was able to stop and take pictures without getting swarmed by black flies, which was a pleasure. And I had a bit of a tailwind on the ride from Boonville to Utica, which was a nice change from yesterday when I had a cold headwind.

I stopped by the side of the road to take some pictures of some wildflowers. The next thing I knew a policeman stopped to make sure I was OK. I told him I was fine, and thanked him for stopping. It's nice to know that people will stop to ask if aid is needed.

Animals today - I saw several deer, some wild turkeys, and some Canada Geese with their teenage offspring. Unfortunately they all scattered before I could grab the camera.

Something I've noticed over the past couple of days in the Adirondacks... When I was in New Hampshire and Vermont there were sections where there were no houses, but where there were houses there were also people. In the Adirondacks, there were sections where there were houses but no people. I guess I was up there too early to see people during the week, although I didn't see a lot of people around on the weekend either (maybe a factor of the rainy weather). These were all camps that are used mainly on weekends in the summer. The other thing I noticed is that people who live further north in the Adirondacks don't consider the southern section of the mountains to be "in the Adirondacks". I was talking to some people from Keene (south of Lake Placid) when I was in Schroon Lake. They asked about my biking route, and when they heard I was heading east said "oh, you're not going into the Adirondacks". Technically I was already there!

I discovered when I got to the house that Brandy & Caesar (my parent's crazy dogs) either like sweaty skin or bicycle grease, because they promptly tried to clean my legs.

Good dinner tonight - spinach and tofu and fresh vegetables, with homemade blueberry pie for desert. That's a lot closer to my normal diet than what I've been eating on the road. My dad loves cooking, and we love eating his cooking.

Tomorrow is a rest day - and a laundry and bike-cleaning day.

Still on Moose River Road. I had this road to myself most of the time. Pleasant views, but a rough road surface. When the road smoothed out as I crossed a county line, I remembered how much I like smooth roads!

Black fly days

2002-06-17T20:22:00.005-04:00

Long Lake to Old Forge, NY

It was a much better weather day today, still chilly, but not wet. The rain was in the form of sprinkles, not downpours. I did a lot of talking to the sky whenever it started feeling wet. I know, I know, that couldn't possibly work, but it did the trick today. It was another beautiful ride today, mostly rolling with a couple of long uphills- followed nicely by some good downhills. The biggest problem I had today was the black flies. I found that I could only do one thing when I stopped. I could either change clothes (too hot, too cold), grab a snack, or take a picture. I couldn't stand the bugs any longer than that. I actually had to take my helmet off and brush off my head after one stop because I felt like they were crawling all over me! I guess there is one good side effect to my staying in motels because of the weather - I don't have to deal with the bugs at a campsite.

I spoke to the owners of the Shamrock Motel this morning before I left. They made sure that I knew that once I passed Blue Mountain Lake that there was nothing until I hit Inlet. When I said I thought there was a place to stay in Raquette Lake, they told me I wouldn't like it there. And they offered to come and get me if I ran into trouble on the road. Very nice. I also showed them the entry on the Northern Tier maps for their motel. They had never seen the maps before, and didn't realize that they were listed.

I met Jeff (from Michigan) on the road this morning - the first other Northern Tier cyclist I've seen so far. He started on May 15th, and has been riding 100 miles a day. He's definitely moving much faster than I am. He thinks he'll be in Bar Harbor in another 5 days. We chatted for a bit, and shared some tips for each of our ongoing routes. He told me there are a couple of guys about a day in front of me.

This is the first motel in the last three nights where I've had a phone in the room. The first thing I tried to do was to upload my journal entries for the last two days, but my baby PC wasn't getting a dial tone. Strange. Then I realized that there was a pretty long delay after pressing 9 for an outside line before the dial tone started. I couldn't figure out how to insert a pause in the dialing string, but since there is a data jack on the phone I was able to plug in without unplugging the phone. It was a long shot, but I picked up the receiver, dialed 9, and waited for the dial tone. Then I had the Jornada dial the rest of the number.
Boy, was I surprised when that worked. Hopefully it will work again so I can upload this entry too.

Tomorrow will be a short ride. I'm only going as far as Boonville. My folks are going to drive up to visit me on Wednesday, so I'll have a rest day there. I'm really looking forward to seeing them.

Helmet head - this one's for Alan. I promised I get some pictures of good cases of helmet head, and I thought I had a pretty good one at the end of my ride today.

Rain... wait, is that the sun? And more rain...

2002-06-16T20:20:00.003-04:00

Schroon Lake to Long Lake, NY

Rain. Wait, is that the sun? Hey it's getting too warm for all of this rain gear. Oops - here comes the rain again. And again. And...

My dad saved me from getting soaked first thing in the morning, but I did get wet several times during the day. When I first woke up this morning it was still raining, so I slept for another hour. The next wakeup time was gray, but no water falling from the sky, so I headed back to Pitkin's for breakfast. Then I packed up, and right before I left I called my dad for Father's Day. Good thing, because when we were finished with our conversation it was pouring rain again. I stayed where I was until it changed to a drizzle.

I met Karl & Lori in the parking lot of the general (junk and more) store in North Hudson. They gave me their phone number and a map to their place in Old Forge in case I need a place to stay there.

I rode up Blue Ridge Road from North Hudson. It was gorgeous, and nicely rolling - followed of course by a long uphill that included a good chunk of 8 to 11% grades. It was one of those deceptive hills too. At one point my eyes were sure that I was going downhill, but I was still moving uphill at a pretty significant grade. I know it's an optical illusion - but I'm always amazed when that happens. The long uphill was were it first started pouring. I had just started to overheat, and had just stuffed my rain gear back in my panniers. Time to put it back on again. It was an on-again, off-again rain day. The rain was serious when it happened, downpours, not drizzle. But in between rainstorms the sun almost showed it's face. I was almost able to dry out between storms. It was definitely a better weather day than yesterday. The temperature was usually in the mid-50s when it was raining, warming up to the high 50s and low 60s when it wasn't raining. I heard some nice rumbles of thunder, but didn't see any lightening.

It was a bad day to stop and rest. Every time I stopped I was swarmed by black flies. Yuck! I guess that's another good reason not to be camping right now.

I pulled into Newcomb and stopped at the Northwoods General Store for something warm to drink. I was pretty wet at that point and definitely needed to warm up. I ended up talking with the owners and with Pat. After I asked how much further it was to Long Lake, Pat offered me a ride. He said he was heading back that way, and was driving a truck with enough room in it for my gear. I think I surprised both of us by accepting his offer. He said he didn't know if I was too much of a purist to accept a ride. I learned the hard way on my ride in Washington back in 1999 that sometimes accepting a ride is the smart thing to do - and I'd had enough of riding in the rain for the day. Hey, what's 13 miles in the overall scheme of things? Pat rides too, and he said he offered me a ride because he'd like to think that someone would do the same for him in similar circumstances. I have offered my house as a place to stay, and I never hesitate to offer help to other cyclists. I was happy to accept the ride today!

There were a couple of hummingbird feeders hanging outside of the store, so I was able to do some hummingbird watching. The store owner told me that one day one of the birds allowed her to hold it! She said she wanted to see how close she could get to the hummingbirds. She walked pretty close to the feeder, and the bird just sat there and watched her. She actually reached out and picked it up, and it just allowed her to hold it! When she put the bird back on the feeder it took a drink and then flew away. Isn't that just amazing?

Pat drove me around to look at the different motels. The Shamrock looked like it was the most convenient, so we pulled in here and just caught the owners as they were leaving for a Father's Day dinner. They set me up in a room, and turned the heat back on so I could warm up and get my clothes dry. What nice people! They recommended the Blarney Stone Pub for dinner, excellent choice. The restaurant had a hummingbird feeder in their window too, so I was able to continue my hummingbird watch.

The rain is forecast to continue for another couple of days. I hope it breaks soon. And my poor bike hopes it stops too. I'm starting out every morning with a cleaned and re-lubed bike, but it's amazing how much crap it picks up from the road in the rain.

Solid rain

2002-06-15T20:17:00.001-04:00

Ticonderoga to Schroon Lake, NY

My sister told me that she cried when she read the entry about my trailer problems. Hey Suze - don't cry when you read this one! I was wet, but I'm dry now!

Rain, rain, and more rain. It rained a good part of the night, and it was still pouring when I got up this morning. I considered staying put, but since the weather forecast calls for rain for the next three days, I figured I'd better get moving. My target destination was Newcomb, which would have been a 45 mile ride. I didn't make it there, but I'm dry and happy in Schroon Lake. It was a short but very wet ride, starting with a serious 3-mile uphill. About a mile and a half of the uphill was at a 9-10% grade, but the rest was more reasonable. Of course I made the mistake of stopping to rest where I thought the grade had moderated. Unfortunately, that was a false impression, and it was still a very steep grade, which meant I couldn't get started again. One of these days I'll get the knack of getting the bike rolling again on a steep grade. Today I had to walk a bit - probably about a third of a mile. My walking speed wasn't much slower than my riding speed though - nothing like only progressing 3 miles in an hour! The rain eased up a bit while I was walking, and I stopped to have a conversation with 2 women who were sitting in a car in one of the parking areas on the side of the road. As soon as I started riding again, it started raining again too. Even in full rain gear, it was very wet.

No pictures today, so I'll have to make do with the pictures in my mind. The road was absolutely beautiful. Other than the first long uphill, it was rolling, with small lakes and woods along the road. I like it.

I stopped at the Paradox General Store for something warm to drink and ended up staying for about an hour and a half. The owners are cyclists themselves, and are planning to do a (southern) cross-country trip on their tandem someday. I owe them thanks for letting me stay and talk and warm up! They told me that I was the 5th cyclist who passed through within the last week or so heading east to west.

I decided that I needed a dry place to stay (and that continuing on to Newcomb wouldn't be too smart given the weather), so I asked the folks at the store about any nearby motels or B&Bs. They told me about a new motel a couple of miles north on route 9, and motels and restaurants in Schroon Lake. I opted for Schroon Lake in the hopes of finding a dry place to stay within walking distance of places to eat. Success! I'm at the Yellow Coach Motel right in the village.It's a funky place with a great hot shower and a good price. There was a big vacancy sign outside, but when I walked in and asked about a room the first thing the owners asked was "what are you going to do with that bicycle?". When I told them I wanted to bring it into the room I was afraid they'd tell me they didn't have a room- but all they did was ask me to dry it off! I told them I would (I always do, since I hate dirt and grit on my bikes), and asked them if they had some old newspapers that I could put underneath the bike. That made them happy. I was relieved to find a room. The folks at the Paradox store said I shouldn't have a problem finding one even though it is a weekend. They said it doesn't get busy up here for another few weeks.

I had dinner at Pitkin's restaurant, a diner here in town, after it was recommended by 3 different sources - the folks at the Paradox store, the owners of the motel, and a woman I met at the laundromat. Good comfort food, and great banana cream pie. I'm sure I'll be back there for breakfast tomorrow.

So what happened to my camping trip? I'd like to think that if it was raining and warm that I'd still be camping. But it's raining and 50 degrees out. Too cold and damp for me. I need to be dry at night. Hopefully I'll be camping again later in the week. It sounds like it will be raining for the next couple of days, and then it's supposed to warm up. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed.

The sitting cow method of predicting rain

2002-06-14T20:12:00.009-04:00

Dorset, VT to Ticonderoga, NY

What a beautiful ride! The weather was gray and threatening rain all day, but the terrain made up for the weather. The beginning of the day was flat to nicely rolling. The end had more short steep ups and downs interspersed with more flat and rolling. It was a 60 mile ride, with an average speed of 10 miles per hour - not bad.

I made quite a few stops today, the first just steps from the campground. For a while I didn't think I was going to get anywhere because I was having so much fun talking to people. I stopped just after I got out of the campground to take a picture of the first marble quarry in the US. I met a woman there who was walking a Corgi. In case you haven't seen one - it's a stocky dog with short legs. As usual, the little dogs seem to think they are in charge, not their owners. The dog's owner was an elderly woman who told me I shouldn't talk to strangers on my trip. Hmm... wasn't she a stranger? Then I met a man who used to do a lot of bicycle touring himself when I made my first Gatorade stop. I looked at my watch and realized that I'd been on the road for a half of an hour and I'd only made 2 miles of forward progress! It's nice not to be on a schedule.

I stopped for some french toast two hours after I started riding. Then two hours later I had a great lunch at the Brown Bag Gourmet Deli in Poultney, VT. They had chicken parmesan pizza that was absolutely wonderful, and I also picked up a brownie for tonight, and a small loaf of fresh bread. It was a good eating day.

I stopped at the beach at Bomoseen Lake this afternoon to use the bathroom, and I met a great couple from Chicago and their children. They were disappointed that my route doesn't go through Chicago because they thought it would be fun for me to stay with them. I thought so too, but Chicago is quite a bit north of my route.

There was quite a bit of farm land today - lots of cows. The weather reports I kept hearing called for rain, thunderstorms, downpours starting this afternoon and going through Tuesday. I certainly hope that the reports have been blown out of proportion or that they are just wrong. But riding past fields full of cows made me think of what my mom used to tell us as kids - that if the cows are sitting down that it is going to rain. Of course it's just an old wives tale (sorry Mom, I know you're not one of those old wives!), but I was laughing as I passed fields with all of the cows standing, and other fields with most of the cows standing. Unfortunately, I still didn't beat the rain.

Let's see, if the cows are standing it's not going to rain, right? Wrong!

I arrived at Andy's Campground - or what I thought was Andy's campground - at 3:30. It's funny I saw one well-marked campground, then a campground sign but no campground, then Andy's, where I saw the campground but didn't see a sign. Odd. Anyway,it was 3:30, and it had been getting darker out as the afternoon went on. I looked at the map, and it appeared that the ferry to New York was only about 12 miles away, so I decided to push on, and to try to find a place to stay inside. It turned out to be 14 miles, filled with lots of ups and downs across some very pretty farmland with mountains in the background, and then a couple more miles on the New York side. It started raining just before I got to the ferry. It's a cable ferry across a pretty short part of Lake Champlain, seven minutes across. It was a great deal - $2 for both me and the bike. There is no one staffing the ferry dock - the ferry staff are all on board the boat. When you get to the ferry landing, there is a sign that says "Pull here to call ferry". When you pull, it flips up a bright orange square sign!

I guess I'm being a baby tonight - I just wasn't ready to pack up a wet tent in the morning, so I opted for a motel.

I'm now on the Northern Tier route, and in my 4th state - a function of the New England states being so small. And now I have the security blanket of the Adventure Cycling maps. Now I just need to figure out how long it will take me to get from here to Boonville so I can let my folks know when to meet me there. It will be fun to see them!

The first mountain of the trip

2002-06-13T20:03:00.010-04:00

Brattleboro to Dorset, VT

Today would have been a 50 mile day, but I missed the bike shop where I wanted to stop, so I had to backtrack. What's two more miles in the overall scheme of things? It turned out to be a beautiful riding day. It was pretty cool to start, and the sky was very gray. Mark said it was fog, but it sure looked like clouds to me. The sky finally cleared at noon, turned into a bright sunny day, then faded to clouds again at the end of the day. Based on the weather report, it's very likely that I'm going to get wet in the next day or two. It took me a while to get my butt in gear this morning, but once I got rolling the riding felt really good. The morning was flat to rolling uphills.Then there were two serious hills this afternoon - a two mile climb out of Jamaica, and a 4 to 5 mile climb up Bromley Mountain. The climb out of Jamaica seemed harder to me with the grade ranging from 5 to 10% with a good deal of it at 8%, but the climb up Bromley was what concerned me this morning. It also had steep parts, but it seemed to be steep followed by a flatter stretch so I could rest. And it had a screaming downhill on the other side, a nice reward for the climb. I'm happy - my first mountain of the trip is behind me. And considering the uphills, I think my average speed of 9 miles per hour was pretty good.

I saw my first wildlife of the trip today - other than chipmunks and birds, that is. I saw two deer bounding across a field just outside of Brattleboro. Beautiful.

Mark and Griff told me that what worked well for them last year was to eat a light breakfast in camp and then eat a second bigger breakfast on the road after riding about 20 miles. I think I'm going to try that. I'm still trying to figure out food on this trip so I have enough energy and so I don't lose weight. Didn't do the second breakfast today because when I stopped for Gatorade after 12 miles, the store had some great looking - and great tasting - chocolate swirl pound cake. After my pound cake snack, I didn't want another breakfast when I passed a diner - but I did stop at the general store in Jamaica for a sandwich. That worked OK. Weight - before I forget - when I left home I weighed 115 pounds, and according to my scale I am at 18% body fat. I don't know if the body fat percentage is accurate, but it will do for a comparison point when I get home. It's going to be interesting checking both weight and body fat at the end of this trip. I really don't want to lose weight on this trip, but I certainly didn't figure out how not to burn so many calories (or how to eat more!) on either of my previous self-contained tours. Hopefully I'll figure it out this time. We'll see.

Today also felt more like I expected this trip to feel. Whenever I stopped for food, I ended up talking with people about my trip and about where they lived and what they did in the area. That was very different from the first day when I was still fairly close to Boston. I had some people give me funny looks, but they didn't want to talk. I think part of the magic of bicycle touring is meeting and learning about people.

I feel so lucky that I was able to stay in Brattleboro yesterday. The weather was a huge contrast from Tuesday when it was in the 90s. Yesterday it was in the 50s, raw and rainy, so it was a good day to kick back and do not much of anything. It reminded me of the first week of my Pacific Northwest tour in 1999 - not pleasant riding conditions. Mark, Griff, and Zoe shared a lot of tips from their Transamerica ride last summer. That should help me to decide on good places to stay once I join the Transamerica route in Missouri. We also spent a bit of time looking at my route through Vermont. I changed my plans to ride a route that they did back in 2000 - backwards, since I'm heading north and they were heading south. Mark was able to tell me where to find 2 good campgrounds, which was a nice security blanket for me. I'm staying at the Dorset RV Park tonight. There's a beautiful tenting area, and they play country music in the bathrooms.Very funny. There apparently is a swampy area near here filled with frogs - so I hear frog noises interspersed with all of the birds. With the change in route, I'll be joining up with the Northern Tier route on the ferry across Lake Champlain going into Ticonderoga, NY. I'm hoping to make it to Andy's Campground in (near?) Sudbury tomorrow, which means I should get to New York state on Saturday.

And we ended my rest day yesterday by going to see Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood. A good movie..

I stopped at the Battenkill Bike Shop in Manchester this afternoon. I wanted to double-check that the headset on the bike was tight. Things seemed loose this morning (rocking feeling to the handlebars). I tightened the stem and handlebar bolts and that seemed to take care of it, but I figured I'd better check the headset out too. It turned out that it was fine. But by the time I made it down Bromley Mountain I had lost the taillight I had mounted to my rack. I suspect it shook loose on the downhill. So - I needed a new light. I picked one up, and one of the mechanics helped me mount it to the rack. Instead of using the hardware that came with the light (probably my problem the first time), he used a super long bolt. And he put Locktite on it. I had checked the bolt on the old light this morning, and it was tight. But the bolt was much shorter. Hopefully it will take longer for this one to work it's way out, and if I remember to double-check it every couple of days, maybe I'll hold onto the new light for a bit longer! While I was at the bike shop a couple came over to look at my Air Glide. Turns out that they are planning to buy Bike Friday Pocket Rockets. It was fun to talk with them about the bikes - and since my other Bike Friday is a Pocket Rocket I was able to talk to them about the differences between the bikes.

It's really a small world. I'm sitting in the rec room at the campground writing my journal - I thought I'd take advantage of electricity, and more importantly the lack of bugs. Just talked to another person camping here - and she and I both graduated from the same college. Eight years apart, but still...

Forgot to mention yesterday - even though I'm still trying to figure out what I have with me that I don't need so I can lighten my load - I picked up a companion / mascot for the trip. Rover is a mini-Beanie Baby, a bright red dog with flying ears. I have his big brother at home. When I was walking by the drugstore in downtown Brattleboro and saw him in the window, I knew he was asking to come on my trip. (OK, so I'm a little crazy. But I wonder how many of my fellow touring cyclists have similar "companions" with them?)

An early rest day with friends

2002-06-12T19:59:00.001-04:00

What a change a day makes in the weather! Yesterday was hot, hot, hot. As we rode through New Hampshire someone told us that severe thunderstorms were expected at 6PM. They didn't happen on schedule, but sometime last night there was a big downpour, and the temperature dropped quite a bit. It feels like it could be in the 50s. I was very glad I decided to stay here another day when I woke up this morning to the sound of another serious downpour. The forecast is for showers and thunderstorms all day today, and a nice day tomorrow. Good timing.

My plans for today - resting, eating, and catching up on my journal. A walk to the food co-op to stock up for the next couple of days, and to get some lunch. A walk to the hardware store to pick up some spare cotter pins for the trailer and some bungie cords (Mark is going to show me a good way to use the bungies to dry laundry on the top of the trailer while I'm riding.) And a nap or two...

The hills begin, a 3-state day

2002-06-11T19:54:00.010-04:00

Ashby, MA to Brattleboro, VT

How many days on this trip will I touch 3 states? Today was the first, and it's quite possible it will be the only one. Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont...

Today started with a bang. It could have been a disaster, but I was lucky to be in just the right place. As I was leaving the campground I hit a hole, and the trailer went flying off of the bike, and in the process stripped the threads from the braze-on. The problem was caused by two things. If I screwed the trailer hitch all the way in, I couldn't attach the trailer to the bike because there wasn't enough clearance. I backed off the connector just enough to allow me to attach the trailer. Unfortunately, this created some wiggle room, and when I hit the hole the hitch just popped off of the bike. What I should have done was get an additional connector, but I didn't know that. I do now. I had assumed that the connector was straight - but it was slightly tapered, just enough to allow some movement. But - I was definitely in the right place. I owe many thanks to the folks at the Pines Campground in Ashby, Masschusetts. They rethreaded the braze-on, plus made me an additional piece that connects to the trailer hitch. The extra piece allows the trailer hitch to be properly attached to the frame with enough clearance to attach the trailer.I don't think there are too many campgrounds where they have the tools and the know-how to accomplish a task like this one. But when it happened my first instinct was to ask the campground owner for help - they are fixing and restoring a 1959 tractor, so I was hoping there was some overlap there. As the editorial in the latest Adventure Cycling magazine noted, one of the magic things about touring by bicycle is the kindness of strangers.

The ride today was hard and hot - but it was also beautiful. The hills came early.In fact, there really were hills at the end of the day yesterday. It wasn't just that I was tired. I expected hills in New Hampshire. I just didn't expect them to start in Massachusetts! The temperature was in the 90s all day, and it seemed pretty humid too. Definitely a big Gatorade day. I think I set a record (for me) for the longest elapsed time for 30 miles. My average speed today dropped to 8.5 miles per hour - that in addition to lots of rest stops contributed to my lack of speed. Mark Goehring rode out to meet me and rode with me for the last 20 miles. That was a really nice treat. I don't know if the hills disappeared, or if the company made them easier. I think there was a section after Mark joined me where the terrain moderated for a bit. It seems like the first 10 miles was really hard, then I had a respite for a bit, then the hills started again. And then that pattern repeated. Yesterday I saw more farmland. Today it seemed either just empty, or there were houses. And as I'm sure I'll see all summer, there wasn't much in the towns that I passed through!

Second problem of the day - Mark & I stopped to take pictures of a really pretty covered bridge in New Hampshire. As I was moving the bike to get started again, I caught the trailer wheel and pulled out the cotter pin. Hmmm - a spare part I didn't realize I needed. I'll pick some up in Brattleboro.

We stopped at Mark's favorite bike shop so I could have my rear cluster checked out. There is one cog that doesn't feel as smooth as the others. Odd, just a slight vibration that I can feel through my feet. The first thought was that it might be the chain, but after checking it probably isn't. It sounds like something I can and should ignore. But I was told that the chain would probably need to be replaced within the next 1000 miles. Apparently 9-speed chains wear really fast. I guess I'll just need to plan a bike shop stop within the next month. That's definitely not a problem - I hate shopping in general, but I can happily spend time browsing through bike shops and chatting with the people there. Must be part of this whole bicycling addiction.

I'm spending the night with Mark, Griff, and Zoe - and I've decided to stay here an extra day and rest. (What - a rest day after only 2 days on the road? Yes, it feels like the right thing to do.) Mark made a delicious pasta dinner, and we had a nice relaxing evening. It's fun talking about biking and touring with someone else who has done it. It's an added plus that they did the Transamerica trail last summer, so they have a lot of good ideas for me.

First day on the road

2002-06-10T19:50:00.008-04:00

North Andover, MA to Ashby, MA

My first traveling day is over - I can't believe it!

I spent most of yesterday doing final organizing, but I had plenty of time to speak with friends and family. Barb and I had lunch at Legal Seafood. I needed to get a final fix of New England shellfish before I headed out. A Maine crab roll really hit the spot. I spoke to a lot of folks on the phone - my thanks to all who called to wish me well! My sister called to tell me she felt scared and excited for me. She said she started getting scared when she saw the picture of my bike and trailer in my journal. It's really OK Suze - my bike tells me it will treat me well on this trip!

It took a little longer than expected to get out of the house this morning - between running to the bathroom with a last minute case of nerves, cleaning out the refrigerator, and last minute organization, packing, and re-packing. I really shouldn't be surprised. I had hoped to leave between 9 and 10, but it was 10:30 before I made it out the door. And it was very weird leaving directly from my front door with no long plane trip to start my biking trip.

I made a couple of last minute changes. Last night Bruce convinced me to take a second pannier. That way I would have 2 partially full bags with a lot of extra space, and no lopsided balance issues. I know the panniers are there, but there isn't really enough weight in them to alter the handling of the bike. Thank you Bruce - I think in the long run I'll be happy to have the extra space - even though I have no intention of filling it up. I'm using my front panniers on the rear, so they are not too big. I also took out the long-sleeved long underwear shirt and replaced it with a second long underwear tank top. I think I'll get more use out of that, and if I made a mistake I'll just have to pick up another shirt! I think part of my clothing indecision is because the two other self-supported trips I took were so different from each other. The first had very very hot weather - even at elevations in the Rockies where it is normally cool - and very little rain. The second was very wet and very cool. I hope that this trip is a combination of the previous two from a weather standpoint.

It was a good first day, with nice weather all day. It was sunny this morning with totally blue skies, and the afternoon had some high, thin clouds coming in. It's likely that I'll get rained on later in the week, but it was nice to have a good weather day to start the trip. Of course if it had been pouring rain this morning, I probably would have been a baby and delayed my trip start by a day!

I had to stop and ask for directions twice - both times at T intersections with absolutely no signs. Oh the joy of Massachusetts road signs - it's a guessing game if you are not familiar with the area.

I started by cycling through Lawrence and Lowell, both old mill towns along the Merrimack River. Once I got through there, the terrain changed to gently rolling, with widely spread out tiny towns and farmland interspersed with trees. It's really pretty in this area of the state, and it's a place where I've never ridden before. I tend to head north, east, and south from my house because it's faster to get to pretty roads from there. I'll have to start doing some of the bike club rides in this area after I get home.

First day out, and what did I remember about loaded touring? First and most obvious is that I travel more slowly. I averaged 10.5 miles per hour today, and it was relatively flat. Toward the end of the day there were more hills - or at least it seemed like there were more hills, although it could have been because I was tired. I'm sure there will be some slower hillier days to come. Hopefully as I get into better touring shape I will be able to maintain that speed, or even get a little faster. But when I think about it - the only thing I need to do every day is bike - and eat, and sleep! Second, a loaded bike likes to fall over when you lean it up against something. I leaned the bike against a post, turned to walk away for a minute, and CRASH! It was down on the ground. No damage, but hopefully enough of a reminder for me to be more careful about how I lean it against things! Third - and I realized this last week, probably never really forgot it - I definitely notice the extra weight going up hills.No real surprises there.

I ended the day at a quiet campground north of Ashby. It may be quiet because it's a Monday night; there don't seem to be too many people in residence. Nice hot showers, and my tent is near a babbling stream - a sound that I find very soothing. I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight, something that I didn't really get last night. Somehow I didn't get to bed until 1AM, definitely not my normal sleep time. But I was still up early this morning... probably from the excitement of finally starting my trip.

Last minute preparations & packing, packing, packing

2002-06-08T20:39:00.006-04:00

Wow - it's Saturday night, and I have only one more day at home. Monday is the start of my great adventure! It's hard to believe that it has only been a month since I decided I was going to do this trip.

I was still working at getting last minute things done this week. I started the week with my official ride to the Atlantic Ocean, and I'm finishing by packing. In between I spent time with friends, and I got my pre-trip haircut. I usually get my hair cut every 4 to 5 weeks. I wear my hair very short normally, but Alan gave me a super-short haircut this time in the hopes that it will last me a little longer. He thinks I should come back with long hair (long for me, that is) - but I think I'll have to do something with it partway across the country. I did promise him that I'd upload some pictures of me with a good case of helmet-head. That will have to wait a few weeks though, because right now it's too short to have my helmet create ridges in my hair!

My house has pretty much looked like a cyclone hit it all week, but that's all changed now. The trailer is packed. Or maybe I should say it's in the first version of packed. Space is a bit tighter than I'd hoped. Bruce was right when he told me that the trailer was both too big and not big enough... Tomorrow's task is to take everything out and do a little reorganizing.

I'm carrying the stove, fuel, cookware, and food in a single pannier, and everything else in the trailer. At least that's what I'm planning right now - it could change tomorrow. Based on the way everything fits in the trailer (tight), I may take the tent out of the trailer and strap it to the rack. I guess it's a good thing that I decided to get a rack for the bike so that I could carry the stove along with the (smelly) fuel in a pannier instead of in the trailer, because there is no way the cooking gear would fit in the trailer with everything else!

Update on Sunday morning
I just repacked the trailer. I was carrying packing materials for the bike - felt bags and assorted tubes to slip over bike components to minimize (prevent) damage from packing. That was pretty silly, since I don't need the materials until I come home, probably in September. I removed that package, and now the fit in the trailer is much more reasonable. I'll give the packing materials to my friend Barb and ask her to ship them to me at the end of my trip. (Or I'll just buy some cheap towels or fabric and wrap the bike with that...) I also moved the spare tires to the bottom of the case - instead of taping them to the lid. I've packed my emergency materials (spare bike parts, etc.) - stuff I hope not to need to often - in and around the tires. That seems to work well.

I feel much better now. Everything seems to fit, and I shouldn't have any problems repacking each day. I know the first attempt at packing is usually not the last one!

This looks like a lot of stuff - is it going to fit in the trailer? And no, the Concept 2 rower is NOT going on this trip!

Packed in the trailer... it's tight, but it seems to fit, and it is possible to close the case. The pile of stuff in the trailer seemed to get smaller as the trip went on. I sent a few things home, and maybe everything else compressed!

To the ocean

2002-06-03T19:43:00.012-04:00

North Andover, MA to Plum Island and back again

Let's see, I said I was going to start this trip on June 10th. So I guess today's ride could be classified as day 0 of my trip - or should that be day "-7"? Last week I decided to do an out and back ride to the Atlantic Ocean sometime this week to start my trip. Then on the 10th, I'll have the trek from the ocean to my house under my wheels, and I'll be able to leave my house heading west instead of starting east to head west.

When I looked at the week's weather forecast last night, it looked like today was going to be the best day of the week. I woke up to find an absolutely gorgeous day to ride to the ocean - so I guess my trip is officially started! I figured that I should take advantage of the opportunity to choose my weather for the official start of my trip, especially since I'll have to take whatever comes for the rest of the trip. It was sunny all day, with a bit of wind, and temperatures in the low 70s. In fact, I can't remember the last day I rode when it wasn't windy. The wind is probably good practice for what is apt to come!

I headed to Newburyport, and then out to Plum Island. I had to stop at the visitor information center in Newburyport for directions. I had a good biking map that showed Water Street and Plum Island Turnpike going right to the beach, but in typical eastern Massachusetts fashion, the roads weren't marked. I've lived in this area since 1985, and I still don't understand why the road signs here are so bad. Well, maybe I do understand - it's cheaper if you don't put signs up! What you find here is that if you are on what is considered to be a major road (and these roads can be just 2-lane country roads...), that the assumption is that you know what the road is. Typical.

While I was at the information center I spent some time talking to Bill from Harbortours. When he asked how long I thought my trip would take I told him it would probably be 3 months. That's when he told me he did a cross-country driving trip with his family and it took him 7 weeks. Hmmm... I wonder if that was one direction or round trip.

I asked someone I met on the beach to take this picture of me and my bike - I knew I needed an official start of the trip photo!

Of course, cleaning the bike yesterday seemed a little wacky today as I pushed it across the sand and into the water. Hmmm... salt water and sand. Guess I need to clean the bike again, although once the sand dried it dropped right off of the wheels.

As I left Plum Island I saw a fish market, so I stopped for a lobster roll for lunch. Yum. It was a good eating day - I stopped at one of my favorite ice cream places too as I got closer to home. The ice cream at Benson's is great - I was craving chocolate, so I had chocolate walnut fudge with chocolate jimmies. The only problem I have with the ice cream there is that the smallest portion is huge, so I always end up throwing some of it out. I hate wasting food, but I wouldn't have been able to move if I'd finished it!

Riding in a downpour

2002-06-02T20:37:00.003-04:00

...I hope this isn't practice for my trip!

My trip is getting closer and closer - and it definitely feels real! And my "to do" list is finally getting smaller instead of larger.

I took my first ride pulling the trailer this week. It handled exactly as I expected. It slowed me down on uphills - which is the same thing panniers do - but it didn't change the handling of the bike once I got it rolling. I only got a couple of strange looks as I rode around here on bike and trailer. The one thing I noticed is that I do have to be careful in traffic, since the trailer is further into the lane than the bike is. I can't fit through as small a space as I can without the trailer... A couple of times I actually had to look back to make sure it was still there!

Today was to be a short ride followed by a big bike-cleaning - I wanted to clean and re-lube the bike that I'm taking on this trip, plus the others that I've been riding all spring. I'll start with a clean bike, and I'll leave my other bikes clean at home - waiting for me to return to ride them again. It's a good thing I planned to clean bikes, because at a minimum I had to clean the Air Glide. I left for my ride in bright sunshine. A windy day, but no hint of what was to come. About half-way through my ride, the skies turned dark gray and then just opened up. I was riding with lakes in my shoes within a couple of minutes. I've done my share of riding in the rain - both while training for trips, and during trips. Here's hoping this wasn't practice for my trip.

As soon as I got home it stopped - which gave me an opportunity to clean one bike before it started pouring again. Since I was cleaning bikes outside, I had to wait an hour before I could get to the other two. All done!

Getting closer...

2002-05-30T20:34:00.006-04:00

...and my route is all set

The countdown continues...just 10 days to go. The time is absolutely flying. I know that I said that before - but it seems like it just goes by faster and faster.

I spent Memorial Day weekend visiting with my parents and:"the boys" in upstate NY. ("The boys" are two very funny dogs - miniature dachshunds - that think they are people. They make all of us laugh!) And no, I didn't ride my bike there, and I didn't even take a bike with me. I will be passing about 45 miles north of where my folks live on my trip, but it will take me days instead of hours to get there. I'm looking forward to a visit from Mom & Dad in Booneville, one of the small towns in northern NY that is on the Northern Tier route.

It was a total rest weekend, which was much needed. I did spend a bit of time with both the Adventure Cycling maps and regular road maps, and mapped out the remaining part of my trip. In the process, I managed to give myself a good case of eye strain. My eye doctor keeps telling me I probably need reading glasses, and for really tiny print like road maps he is right, although I still don't have problems reading books or my computer. My mom supplied a big magnifying glass - problem solved. I'm taking a magnifying bookmark with me for the maps, and I also bought a tiny pair of reading glasses called GuestSpecs LifeSaver Readers that fit into a case that is not much bigger than a pen. I think I'm all set - I can comfortably read the small print on my maps, and I know how I'm getting from home to the Northern Tier. I'll travel on route 110 to 113 to 119 (west) in Massachusetts. I'll continue to follow Route 119 as it cuts across extreme southwestern New Hampshire, and then I'll cross the Connecticut River into Vermont at Brattleboro, where I'll visit with MarkG and family. Next I'll head north on routes 30 and 100 until I hit Stockbridge, Vermont - which is on the Northern Tier route. From then on I'll be following Adventure Cycling maps.

The weekend was a good opportunity to experiment with my camera too. My folks live in a barn that was converted to an apartment, and all sorts of critters congregate around the bird feeders and spilled (thrown?) bird seed on the ground. I tried to catch a hummingbird with the camera, but they were way too fast for me. I was able to get some pretty cool pictures of chipmunks and little red squirrels using the digital zoom on the camera. The optical zoom is 3x, which isn't bad, but the addition of the digital zoom takes the zoom to 11x which was helpful in capturing the skittish animals!

Dad and "the boys". I asked the dogs if they wanted to join me on my trip - but they said there was no way they would sit quietly in a basket on top of the trailer. Guess it's still a solo effort!

This trip is a first for me in more ways than one. It's my first cross-country trip, but the thing that really feels odd to me is that it's the first time I'll be leaving from my house. Every other trip has involved flying and reassembling my bike before I started. I'll need to head east before I start my trek west - for the ceremonial dipping of wheels in the Atlantic Ocean. Steve, Ellen, and Skip volunteered to drive me to the ocean to start my trip, but the more I thought about it the weirder that felt. That's because I live fairly close to the coast, and because I've decided to head west across northern Massachusetts before cutting across the southwest corner of New Hampshire and then into Vermont. Steve & company would drive me to the beach, and I'd then start back toward my house. I'd probably get a little past there, but not by much - so I'd end up staying not too far from home. That just feels totally weird! I think instead what I'll do is an out and back day trip to the ocean, coming home to sleep - probably a couple of days before my scheduled June 10th start date. Then I'll start heading west from home. Some might call that cheating (sleeping at home again...), but I think it is a good start to the trip

My 'to do' list for the trip gets shorter, then it gets longer again. Things get done, and other things get added. I still feel like I've been constantly running around trying to get things done... my goal is to have a relatively quiet week at home next week, relaxing, visiting with friends, and biking. That should work, since I just have a few things left to do - besides packing, that is! I plan to ease up on the biking mileage too, so I'll be able to start my trip in a rested state.

The countdown continues

2002-05-24T20:33:00.004-04:00

...just over two weeks before the bike & I take to the road

I can't believe how fast the time is flying. My trip is just over two weeks away, and I still get that "I think I'm about to jump off a cliff feeling" every so often. It's a mixture of excitement, joy to be off on a biking trip, and sheer nerves - but I know I'll be fine once I'm on the road. I had the same feeling before I set off on my previous trips, so I guess it's just a part of me.

It's been a good week for training rides, although the weather was pretty raw at the beginning of the week. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous - blue skies, and temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s, my favorite. Today was a bit warmer, but still pleasant.

Time to practice pack - and everything does fit in the trailer. But I had a bit of an argument with myself about taking a stove with me. I decided that my trip is too long to be camping without being able to cook - although I could change my mind after I'm out on the road. The problem - I really don't want the smell of the fuel in with my clothes, tent, and sleeping bag. So I decided to put a rack on the bike and carry my cooking gear in a single pannier. It might look a bit odd - and certainly somewhat lopsided - but I've ridden with a single pannier before and it hasn't caused a balance problem. Hmm... backpackers must have solved the fuel smell problem, but I can't seem to get away from the odor. But I think the addition of the pannier solves the problem for me. If it ends up driving me crazy I'll try something else!

I also took some time this week to make sure that I really can update my journal using my little handheld PC. No problem. And I can even upload pictures successfully - as long as I remember to shoot some at 2 megapixels, not 4! I can use the compact flash card from the camera in the Jornada, either in the compact flash slot, or using the PCMCIA card compact flash adapter that fits in the Mindstor. I'm really happy about that. Now the only thing I will need to do is find a phone line every so often.

I'm going to owe my neighbors big time after this trip - they've agreed to pick up my mail and keep an eye on my place for me while I'm gone.

I still need to do some route planning. I didn't spend any time this week with my maps, so that project will need to be done next week. The puzzle - how to join up with the Northern Tier route in either New Hampshire or Vermont, with a starting point on the coast in northern Massachusetts or southern New Hampshire. I'm glad I'm using the Adventure Cycling maps for most of my trip. It's so much easier, although sometimes it feels like cheating.

I continue to talk with people about my trip, and I'm getting the usual mix of reactions. My friends know that I've wanted to ride across the US for a long time and are excited for me. Other people are very worried about my safety - or just think I'm crazy. Luckily I know this trip is the right thing for me to do and can ignore the "advice" of the people who either tell me not to go alone, or not to go at all! I think that all of us who attempt this type of journey must get the same types of reactions from people. I'm looking forward to the adventure, and to meeting new people and seeing new things, and I'm looking forward to doing the trip I've been dreaming of for years. And yes, I'm addicted to traveling by bike!

Things are really coming together.