:O

Being greeted with this view from 9,300 ft after climbing for 5 hours is really something else. It's a tremendous feeling especially with endorphins from the climb coursing through your system. The picture doesn't do it justice either. It needs a panoramic view.

And that was pretty much my day: said goodbye to Mom and Dad then up up up up dowwwwwnnnn. Finally it was pretty much flat as I rode along the Arkansas River.

The down is actually the scary part because you're going so fast with limited visibility (winding mountain roads). You can't just ride your brakes either because you'll burn right through them. So I just tried to keep it around 30 mph alternating brakes as needed. It seemed to work out.

The way up was really really hard. People said it would be gradual, but I had miles and miles of very steep terrain. I'm pretty sure they put something in the asphalt on the steep parts to make it more sticky too. I stopped for a break and when I lifted my shoe the bottom was covered in tar. I had to sit in a bunch of rocks to dig some of it out to make my clips operable. It's still covered in the junk.

Other than that, my new camelbak is awesome. Hydration is now trivial and I've got a bunch more storage capacity. Grabbing a water bottle on a steep incline at 4 mph is really hard. Taking a sip from a camelbak is really easy.

I was going to try the new tent out but the bunk house at the campground I'm at was just too temping. Tomorrow I'll definitely be giving it a whirl though.

I'm in Coaldale, CO. I rode 84 miles but tomorrow won't be so long since I plan on staying up and not going down.

I saw a bunch of horned goat like animals lounging in the sun. I almost missed them but some pickup truck stopped an took pictures.

Rest day in Pueblo

Rest day with the parents in Pueblo today. Driving back from Pikes Peak right now. Looked awesome (see pic). Had lunch at 14,000 feet :).

Had a good week last week. 1,590 miles left. 49.7 mi/day to Aug 1 (down from 52.1). 40.8 mi/day to Aug 7 (down from 44.2).

Getting there!

Look who decided to show up

Hi Mom and Dad!

They come bearing gifts and supplies. Dad decided I should have a better tent and got me a few other things I was in need of, which is totally awesome.

Seeing as how my parents were going to be in Pueblo, I made today a very easy day. Got in 50 easy miles in under 4 hours and caught up with them around noon. Had lunch and will get dinner and tomorrow we'll be going to Pike's Peak going up the easy way.

I gotta say, approaching the mountains as they take up more and more of the horizon is pretty damn cool. After the rest day I'll be jumping right in with a 4,500' climb (spread over 30 miles) :O. Looking forward to it though.

Not much to say other than that. Saw some prairie dogs at the side of the road. Also saw a snake.

Got a couple of trains to honk as they went by. That was fun.

Almost there!

If you click into the picture and look veerrryy carefully at the horizon, you can just barely make out the Rockies! I can't imagine doing this west to east doing the best parts first.

Very easy day today. I got in 62 miles in about 4 hours riding a tailwind into Ordway (record speed of 15.3 mph!). I definitely could have made it to Pueblo, but I'm not sure if another century would be a great idea right now and I need my legs for the Rockies. Tomorrow's going to be another easy day.

A lot of the small towns in eastern CO are making an effort to try to make the area as bicycle friendly as possible (expanded shoulders, share the road signs, etc). It's quite nice. I think the center of the effort is in Ordway. It seems everyone in town knows they're on the TransAm route and are very welcoming to cyclists. They even have little brochures about it with a services by town grid and other info. It's a shame there are so many boarded up storefronts.

Speaking of friendly, one lady in town, Gillian, takes in cyclists for free. I'm using her computer right now and I've never even met her! I met Nick, a cyclist who's taking a rest day here and he showed me around. She had 16 cyclists last night! A bunch of them were that group I was riding with awhile back. They're heading for Pueblo today and I won't see them again since our paths diverge. Ahh well.

Saw 6 east-bounders today (3 groups of 2). At least 2 of them were here last night. They're the ones who told me about the place.

I'll try to upload some photos from my digital camera to a Picasa album. The computer has an SD card slot and a pretty decent internet connection. I haven't been taking toooo many pictures, but I'm getting a little better.

There are countless grasshoppers on the road. They all jump as you ride by... sometimes right into my spokes.

Finally out of that wretched state

Today was much better than yesterday. I got off to a very early start to avoid the heat, my right leg healed up nicely, the winds were much more manageable, and there was almost no traffic on the roads (I think it's because it's the weekend and I'm now in cattle country (there's much less rainfall in the high plains)). It was in the high 90s again but it was very dry so the heat index was only around 90 (another advantage of the high plains). Altogether it made for an easy 80 miles to Eads.

I tried eating some wheat from an unharvested field. I figured I've got to do it at some point in Kansas. Doesn't have much taste, as expected. Also, if you stop at a wheat field for any length of time, it seems flies just start attacking you... lots and lots of flies.

I can't believe I made it through Kansas without a drop of rain. For the first few days there were some massive storms (tornados, etc), but they were all to the north. It would have been nice to see one of those (from the comfort of a motel room). Oh well. I might get some rain tonight or tomorrow, but it's just brief thunder showers in this part of the country.

I'm now on mountain time (achievement unlocked!). I'm also at 4,200 ft.

After taking that picture I crossed the street and peed on the welcome to Kansas sign.

Slow and hot

Kansas continues to be my least favorite state to bike in. Today featured high 90s temperatures, a constant 20-30 mph SW wind, almost no shade between towns, a constant uphill (only 10ft per mile but that's noticeable in straight roads and 10 mile visibility), and of course more trucks.

Another thing I don't appreciate about Kansas is the smells. They come in waves, but it'll usually be either manure, fertilizer (ammonia) or oil. The worst are the cattle trucks. Every time one of those goes by you get a strong blast of warm manure-smelling air. The only time it ever smells any good is if you're biking across a field that's being harvested. The problem then is that it's really dusty.

I wanted to make it to Tribune to set up three easy days to Pueblo, but I only got as far as Leoti: 48 miles. I need to give my thigh more of a rest. It's not fully healed. That combined with the conditions put me at 9.7 mph for the day: tied for slowest of the trip. Unfortunately, I've got to ride 80 miles tomorrow in similar conditions :(.

I see a lot of anti-abortion signs on the road. These people don't seem to understand that Republicans have a vested interest in keeping abortion legal (galvanizes the base and garners them votes) and that value voting is a ridiculous thing to do. Politicians and values go together like oil and water and voting on the off chance that the guy isn't a complete hypocrite is silly. For 6 years we had an incredibly pious president, Republican dominated House and Senate, and one if the most conservative courts in history, yet abortion remains legal.

I've been meaning to watch the documentary called "What's the Matter With Kansas" (based in the book) about how Kansas has slowly been destroying itself by voting against it's own socioeconomic interests. Maybe this trip will get me to finally see it.

Looking forward to a hot breakfast tomorrow. I'm in a really good motel for the cost.

My right thigh is killing me

I can cross "catch a tailwind in Kansas and have a huge day" off the list, because today I rode 127 miles! That's 40 more than my previous best. A tailwind was in the forecast, the terrain was flat, and it was going to be in the 80s. I pretty much had to do it.

The tailwind wasn't that strong and turned into a crosswind by 2, but I was able to get in several hours at 17 mph. I ended at 15 average for the day (1.7 more than my previous best) but it would have been a lot higher had the wind kept up.

Unfortunately I had to leave David behind. I feel a little bad, but I just wasn't going to be able to make it if I stayed at his pace, so I left him about 3 hours into the ride. Maybe I'll see him my next rest day.

Kansas is now my least favorite state to bike in by far. Right now it's wheat harvest time. This means that the roads are FILLED with 18 wheelers hauling either grain or a very oversized load (usually gigantic John Deere havesters) bringing the grain to the local co-op elevator. It's not like they're being driven by truckers either. It's either farmers or farmers' teenage sons. I think the fear-of-death adrenaline really helped in getting me to the finish though. Ugh.

I've got to say, the rearview mirror I've got attached to my glasses is sooooo helpful. It helps a ton knowing when I've got to get off the road (e.g. Pinch point involving a train of oversized loads behind me and a grain truck ahead: GET OFF THE ROAD PANTANO... NOW!). The farmers appreciate this too.

Didn't see any other bikers on the road until about 6 where I passed three eastbounders. Two girls who didn't look like they wanted to stop and a nice Korean guy named Mu. He started in San Fran. His advice for the desert was to start early and bring 2 gallons of liquids. I was already planning on doing both of these, so that's reassuring.

I'm in a small town called Dighton. I'm pretty sure it's one of those disappearing Kansas towns. This place is depressing. I'm just glad the motel is still open.

I'm eating a fried steak for dinner. It's pretty gross but I need the protein.

I hope my thigh heals by tomorrow. I may have overdone it a bit.

Halfway through Kansas

Pretty good morning. Pretty bad afternoon. The morning was low traffic and low winds. The afternoon was very strong headwinds, lots of trucks, and not much shoulder. Flat terrain all day long. We survived.

Originally we were going to stop in Nickerson and camp there tonight. Instead we pushed north to Lyons, which is off route but allows us to go west all day tomorrow (we went north today instead of tomorrow). This is good because tomorrow we *should* be getting a tailwind all day long :). It's not going to be super strong, but by the afternoon it should be 10-15 mph. This will be my first all day direct tailwind on easy terrain :).

Let's hope the forecast is accurate. I should be getting in at least 95 miles. I'm not sure if David's gonna make it though. I think he might be pushing himself too hard to keep up with me. He's down to his last 3 Codeine.

There are these really annoying kids outside Wendy's yelling at cars to eat there. Something to do with the 4H club. I've got no idea where they're getting so much energy. Yeesh.

Ahh. I forgot to mention that during the ride to Newton a random lady gave us 20 bux for lunch! She's a cyclist living along the trail and oftentimes hands out Gatorade and the like to passing bikers. I thought it noteworthy.

That's it for today. Pretty standard day.

Did 73 miles.

Rest day in Newton

This was my slowest week since probably the first two weeks. It's only because I'm so confined by lack of motel availability (and because I wussed out yesterday). I feel fine. Body and bike are doing great. Next week will be better (except tomorrow).

2,058 miles so far. 2,035 miles to go. That's 52.2 mi/day for Aug 1 (down from 52.3) and 44.2 mi/day for Aug 7 (down from 45.4).

I'm itching to get to the Rockies and the desert. Those look awesome. I'll start the mountains in a little more than a week.

Bah!

I am worthless and weak.

Last night while perusing my maps I noticed Hutchinson wasn't too far away from the TransAm route. It was also 35 more miles of biking.

It's a bigger town than Newton, it has a better movie theater, it has bike shops, it would save me a day getting into Pueblo, it would help out the average, and I would have my century.

But nope, I stopped in Newton after 74 miles. I suck.

Let the excuses roll. I was tired. It was getting late. The heat index was over 100. There was a 20-30 mph crosswind all day long (that might have been going slightly east). David was having a slow day (he's 53 and keeping up with me has been tough on him) so I was out there for longer than expected.

My Aug 1 target is barely going to move when I recalculate :(. The worst part is that I KNOW I could have made it. I just would have been absolutely miserable.

I'm in an econo lodge in Newton, KS.

Side note: I passed the 2000 mile mark and the halfway point!

Side note 2: when David pees, he just stops his bike, stays on it, leans a bit to the right, and pees. It looks like he's checking his maps or something. I left David behind at mile 50 to try to do my century (we were going too slow for me to make it) and so I tried his method a little down the road... I peed a little on my right shoe. Gross.

Side note 3: David shaves his legs. Says it's way more comfortable in terms of cycling/sweat. Odd. I won't be doing this as I value my leg hair too much.

Easy day

Kansas is pretty flat.

Did 63 more miles with David. 75 tomorrow though. I haven't had a longish day for awhile mostly because of the distances between towns and how few towns there are.

Hot again, but we left a bit earlier and got in 40 miles before noon. Rolled into the motel a little after 2. It's a lot better than the last one.

I'm in Eureka, KS.

Just for posterity

D:

Nailed a few more

That last one was a wily one, but I knew I couldn't let it survive and pass on its superior evasion genes to its offspring.

This place needs to be condemned

Those are just the ones I could kill! At least it's really really cheap.

Met another cyclist today: David. I found him resting on the road about 1.5 hours into the ride. He's a pretty accomplished rider, and this is actually his 2nd time crossing the states. He biked the northern states last time. He's also a bit of a mechanic and built his own wheels, so he shared some wisdom and showed me a few basics (truing a wheel, what should be tightened, what to lube, etc). He also gave me a Kevlar spoke, which helps out in the peace of mind department.

Today was the first time he's seen more than one tourist in 2 months. He just hit the TranAm trail yesteryday. He started in North Carolina a couple of months ago.

I say more than one because we bumped into three guys going the other way. They were travelling extremely light and on road bikes doing over 100 miles a day.

He likes to motel it up too, especially in this heat, so we'll probably stick together for a couple of more days, until either my rest day or I start hitting bigger distances (got a couple of big days scheduled).

Speaking of heat, it's getting absurdly hot. It's going to be high 90s for the foreseeable future with a heat index in the 100s (today was 110). The best way to combat it is to start early. I hate getting up early :(

Had a good morning with some tailwinds going northwest, but it switched up in the afternoon and became a headwind. No big deal since it was only like 5-10 mph. Minimal hills :)

Other than that, did 59 miles and I'm in Chanute, KS.

Oh yeah

The verdict on those dried apples: not great. They're not as good as the trail mix ones. I think it's a texture thing. The trail mix version was more chewy while these are a little more chunky.

Maybe they'll get better as they get a little more stale... Or maybe I'll throw some rice in the bag to dry them out some more :).

Either way I'll still eat them, but not with the enthusiasm I was planning on.

Out of the Ozarks

And into the headwinds. The mountains are worse though. At least with the winds you've got something to combat the heat.

Plus if the 10 day forecast is accurate it's gonna get really hot for quite some time. No rain though, so there's that.

Today I met two new cyclists. I found them in the last big climb just as we were getting out of the Ozarks. They knew my name before we met and I knew their nationality. They are two women from the Netherlands: Anna-Marie and Elizabert (I've got no idea if I'm spelling that right. It's the Dutch version of Elizabeth). They've ridden before with one of the guys I rode with a few days back (that's how we knew of each other).

So I rode with them for about 50 of the 63 miles I biked today. Which was nice, because you can draft each other and avoid some of the headwind. Plus it's good to have company. We split off at the end of the day as they headed to their motel and I headed to the bike shop. They'll be resting tomorrow, so there's a pretty good chance I won't be seeing them again :(.

At the bike shop, I ran into that group I rode with again. They're down to 3 now: John, Will, and Joe. I got dinner with them at a pretty terrible Italian place. They'll probably be biking a good 30 more miles tonight. It might be awhile before I catch up with them (if I do at all). Either way, our trails diverge once we hit Pueblo.

Overall a pretty good day. It's good to finally hit some flat terrain. I'm just hoping for one day of tailwinds in the next 600 miles.

I'm in Pittsburg, KS.

Last thing: I should mention that the people at the Running Spring Farm (kind of a bunk-bed and breakfast) were all extremely nice and made for excellent company for the couple of hours that we saw each other.

I found some!!

Ever since I got a taste for them from a random bag of trail mix, I have been searching every grocery store I've been in for dried apples. Today, at long last, I found some.

From a distance I glanced at the corner of the store and saw what appeared to be a very large Sun-Maid dried fruit section. It was by far the largest I had seen throughout the trip. As I got closer, it became clearer and clearer that indeed this may be my day as I could tell the variety was unmatched (usually stores carry just raisens and cranberries, and maybe apricots).

And then I spotted them. Dried apples!! Yes!!

Needless to say I had a huge smile on my face as the cashier checked the 4 bags I picked up. I almost took all 7 but I wasn't sure how they would stand up to the heat inside my bags.

Not only do they taste great, but they're almost all low GI carbs with a good amount of potassium and sodium (electrolytes that you lose from sweat).

Taste the sunshine indeed.

As for the biking, today was much harder than I had expected. It was almost all big downhill, creek, big uphill. The hills weren't huge but they were all steep. Based on the elevation profile, I thought it would be an easy 55 miles. Nope. It was probably the second hardest of the trip.

Towards the end of the day, I ran into that group again. They lost 2 people, but gained 3, but it looked like they were losing 2 more. I knew they were ahead of me too from a gas station lady where I breaked. They went ahead to Golden City, while I stayed back in Everton to stay in a bunk bed on a farm. I *might* meet them tomorrow as I plan on getting an early start. We'll see.

Maybe I'll buy a better tent and camp more during the 2nd half of my trip. Maybe it's worth doing.

Big storms again!

Winds in excess of 60 mph :O. Going right through Marshfield.

One long month

Made it a month! Woohoo! Overall, I'd say it's gotten much easier. I am in wayyyy better shape than when I started and 50 miles in a day seems like a short ride. Now let's just hope it's good enough to survive high altitudes in the mountains and super hot temperatures in the plains and desert.

The rest day helped a lot and I had a ton of energy throughout the the day. The weather also worked out nicely. There weren't any winds and it was very cloudy for most of the day. If you look at the picture, it looked like that to the left and to the right for about 4 hours. I lucked out and got about two drops of rain.

It was hilly, but nothing compared to the trip to Houston. I only had two rest stops for a little food and other than that I was on the bike. I did 68 miles. Maybe one was vertical.

Almost out of the Ozarks. I've got about 1.5 days until I hit fairly level terrain and a little over 2 until it's pretty much flat.

Two more days until I hit the bike shop that's put aside a tire for me.

I'm in Marshfield, MO.

I saw cow poop today while I rode by. It was gross.

Rest day in Houston

Apparently some people have been asking my dad what I look like without the glasses and helmet. There you go!

Most people, it seems, do this trip with fewer rest days. I feel like if I kept going for that long I would be asking for injury. I know from running that you've got to take at least one day off a week or you'll suffer from injury or overtraining. I can't imagine it would be much different with cycling. Admitedly I know next to nothing about the details and it's a small sample size, but with that group I rode with for two days, two of them were wearing knee braces and one I didn't meet had bailed due to knee problems. They were going on 2.5 weeks without a rest.

Anywho, 2407 miles left (1674 so far). 52.3 mi/day to Aug 1 (down from 53.2). 45.4 mi/day to Aug 7 (down from 47)

I can't believe I'm not even halfway there!

Disaster strikes!

GeoTagged, [N37.30875, E91.96194]

About an hour into my ride I hear what sounds like a gunshot coming from my front tire. My inner tube burst through the sidewall of my brand new tire leaving both of them completely useless (3 inch long gashes). I think I may have damaged the tire trying to get it on my rims (puncture resistance tires are really hard to put on).

I'm on my spare but I'm feeling very exposed and uncertain. I've only got one unpatched tube left (the one with the very slow leak) and no extra tires. I've got to find that leak asap.

The next bike shop on route is around 180 miles away. I've got to call them tomorrow and see what they have in stock for tires. If another tire fails I guess I'll limp to the nearest campground and overnight a new one via Amazon.

I guess it's just lucky it happened on a climb. There were some BIG downhills today.

Speaking of today, I think today was the hardest terrain I'll be biking all trip. There were 8 extremely steep 200-400' climbs and one 700' that started extremely steep then went gradual. On top of that there were countless 25-100' mounds.

I ended up doing the full 71 mile trip so as to rest tomorrow and to test myself (if I can do this I can do the rest of the trip). I think about 2 of that 71 is vertical. This was also the first time since day 2 that I had a single digit average speed (9.9).

I'm in Houston, MO.

Soooooo tired.

You know what really grinds my gears?

Sunblock containers. You can never get the last of the sunblock out and you inevitably have to throw some out. They should switch to the same containers used for toothpaste. At least those you can roll up.

I've developed a pretty bad case of backne. It's worse than high school. I'm not sure what to do about it.

Anywho, did 59 more miles of the Ozarks today. Both the hills and the heat weren't as bad as yesterday, but they were still pretty bad towards the end of the day. The beginning of the day was just a gradual 600' climb followed by a gradual decline. The shortcut that saved me 7 miles was much less hilly than the map path.

I'll decide tomorrow, but I might take two short days tommorow and the day after. I'm not sure if I can do 75 miles of these hills in a day and the terrain looks a lot worse coming up.

I saw a couple of dead armadillos on the road today. I don't think I've seen an armadillo before. I also saw a dead dog and a dead cat :(

In happier news I helped a turtle get across the road. He was just chillin' in the center.

I'm in Ellington, MO.

Into the Ozarks

I woke up this morning with two weather alerts: one for potential flooding along the Mississippi and one for the heat. I didn't get any flooding but it was brutally hot.

Started out the day early with 40 miles of flat terrain and then entered the Ozarks after crossing the Mississippi. They don't get very high (max elevation I'll be seeing is 1600') but man are they hilly. People say this part is harder than the Rockies, so I guess it's good to get this out of the way... only 300 more miles left!

Headwinds again, but they don't really matter when you're climbing at 5 mph.

Had my scariest dog encounter yet. I get chased by dogs... a lot. They usually just bark and chase a little until you get away from the property. This one was big and fast and very aggressive, making me swerve and unclip a shoe to avoid it. I should have given it a swift kick, but the owner was there (yelling at the dog to come back) and I was able to get away. Bah.

I had to do another 40 miles in the hills to get to a motel (I'm so tired): 82 in all (with a few shortcut miles again).

I'm now in Farmington, Missouri.

They letter their routes here.

Raaaiiinn

First off, camping was worse. I had company and the site had better facilities, but rocky ground makes it really hard to put down stakes and it was much hotter than last time. I couldn't get to sleep because I was so uncomfortable. Maybe I should have brought a better tent.

Second, it's a good bit nicer riding with other people. However, I'm not sure if it's nice enough to compensate for the misery of camping and the extra weight needed for a mostly camping tour (kitchen + better tent + more clothes).

My new friends ride a good bit differenly than me (I'm not an expert biker. In fact I'm pretty new at this). First, they take hills a lot slower than me. This might explain why very hilly days make me so incredibly tired. Second, they seem to take the whole day getting to their destination (with their destination a LOT more flexible than me because they camp). They stop for large meals (that last over an hour) and do a little sight seeing. I don't eat large meals while I ride (banana + trail mix every hour) and don't do much else other than ride while I ride. Third, they do less distance with fewer rest days (they were going on 2.5 weeks without a rest). They would do very short days for rest instead (30 miles or so). Finally they can draft each other on strong headwind days! Unfair!!

As for today: it rained. A lot. We had 4 very strong showers and were only able to find shelter 3 times. Got drenched during storm 4. I was just barely able to get to the bike shop before it closed (had to leave the other guys behind to make it).

Unfortunately I had to leave everyone back in Carbondale and move ahead to Murphysboro on my own. I just won't be able to make it to tomorrow's motel if I don't and it's supposed to rain all week (I do NOT want to camp in the rain).

I may or may not re-meet up with them. I can follow where they are online. I neglected to take photos on the iPhone. Sorry!

I did a little over 60 miles (with a couple of shortcut miles on top of that).

Met some other cyclists

But those guys aren't it. The pictured guys were going west to east. Nice guys though.

Basically as soon as I got on the Transamerica path (finished off the Underground Railroad), I found 5 other cyclists going east to west. They're all nice guys. Only two of them started together. They met on the road.

They do a lot of camping, so I might not be able to keep with them for too long, especially considering the fact that I have reservations for tomorrow already.

I've got zero reception. The campgrounds I'm at has wifi.

Did 70 miles, but count it 65 due to a very big wrong turn. I'm getting new tires tomorrow too. I need them.

Got another flat today, but it was very slow. I was able to ride on it until the campsite (pumping every 20 miles or so).

Exteremely hilly today and will remain so for a long time. These guys tell me this will be the hardest terrain for the trip, though the heat in the desert will be very difficult.

Late night getting in. I'm in Eddyville, IL: out of KY.

My motel has a laundry room!!

I've been hand-washing my clothes since Buffalo. There just hasn't been anything convenient anywhere. I must admit my gloves were really starting to smell.

Speaking of smelling, pig farms smell bad. Very bad.

Today sucked.

First I had the thunder shower in the morning. After waiting an hour and a half I finally get back on the road. Riding in wet pavement gets mud and water all over you and your bags.

Then it rained again. I was expecting it because of the maps, but ugh. It got a little heavy once and was light for the most part but it's really no fun to ride in the rain. It finally cleared up at 1.

My speedometer decided to stop working for 5 minutes. I've got no idea what that was all about. Maybe I should get a new one at the next bike shop.

Getting into Henderson was a pain because some roads I was supposed to take were closed due to construction. It ended up saving me 5 miles but put me on a slightly dicey road.

And finally, you guessed it: 10 to 15 mph headwinds all day.

I can't wait to get out of Kentucky. Between the rumble strips, the rain, the hills, the construction, and the 2-way stop signs in cities (4-way is better) I've had enough of this state. I'm in Illinois in 30 miles.

I did 60 miles and I'm in Morganfield at a very nice motel for what it costs.

Thunderstorms again

GeoTagged, [N41.94554, E73.99731]

Bah. Looks like I've got to wait it out a bit longer this time, but I should be able to get there alright.

Check out the new map

My old boss made a kickin' rad map of my progress. It's under pages on the left. I'll try to keep it updated, but no promises.

Rest day and distance check

Resting in Owensboro today. 6 days of riding this time. I'm gonna go watch a couple of movies and hit up a public library.

I've got 2,820 miles to go. To make Aug 1 (53 days) that's 53.2 miles/day (down from 54.3). To make Aug 7 (60 days) that's 47 miles a day (down from 48.7).

In a couple of days I'll be at the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. This is more of a dissected plateau than a mountain range. This will be the most hilly by far (300 miles or so).

After that I've got the plains of Kansas and Colorado. This will be almost no hills at all as I climb 4,000 feet over 600 miles. This will be the most windy by far. It would be awesome just to get one day of strong tailwinds to get in a century during the trip.

After that I've got the Rockies and the desert. This will be the hardest part.

I probably should have left that spider alive

It occurs to me that a good yardstick for measuring a motel's quality is the number of bugs, dead or alive, that you find upon first entering the room. I am at a 6 bug motel in Owensboro, KY.

It's got some redeeming qualities though: namely the fridge and microwave. Lots of expensive motels (e.g. Super 8) don't provide them and I use them both (esp. the fridge). Other than that, yeah it's a dump. I'm here for 2 days :)

Did 70 miles today. The maps had me on rt 144 for the first half. Then they diverted north for sight seeing purposes. I stayed on 144 and saved myself 18 miles. So count it 88 towards the goal.

It was probably the most hilly day yet, though no wind (too many hills and trees I'm guessing).

I get the feeling that KY drivers don't see a lot of cyclists. They all go way too far to the left to pass and they'll wait a very long time to make absolutely sure it's safe. Also those damn rumble strips are everywhere (see pic).

I saw two other cyclists doing the underground railroad path today. They were supporting themselves with a van and going out and back from their motels. I didn't get the point.

Looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.

Side note: I'm on Central time now.

Long day

Today was a long day. I did 86 miles. Either today or tomorrow necessarily had to be long and I decided today was the day. The terrain was better than tomorrow's and I had mostly tail winds (NE winds and I was mostly going south with some west). Also I ate a TON yesterday.

Started with a 30 minute rain delay. The radar maps showed it would be over quick and be the only rain, so I just waited. There were two big climbs (several hundred feet over a mile or two) followed by very hilly 30 mile declines.

Other than that I figured out that I really shouldn't sit during my breaks. Muscles get tight and I don't want to get up.

Made it to Kentucky! They have a nasty habbit of putting rumble strips in their shoulders :/

I'm in Brandenburg, KY.

I just ate sooooo much at the local all you can eat Chinese buffet... FYI.

Short day

Had a very short day today (40 miles) because the nearest motel after that would have been 80+ miles an I wasn't willing to do that into the wind. Also this opens the door to 70ish mile days for the next two days for motel purposes. Also I got 14 additional shortcut miles from Delaware to London and by not leaving the bike trail to sight see.

Again I did my own routing (last time for a long time if I do it again) but this time it was all Indiana backroads. In fact, I had to reroute twice to avoid roads made out of rocks :). I'd say there was a car every 5 or 10 minutes. Very hilly and windy but it's not too bad if you're only doing 40 miles of it. Had a couple of big downhills (couple hundred feet in elevation) down long and windy roads (scary if there's a car coming the other way).

I keep forgetting to mention this but I passed 1000 miles a couple of days back :)

I'm in Madison, IN and a cheap hotel (first non-motel)

Picture didn't upload again. Trying email.

I'm in one piece!

Today was an interesting day.

The first thing I did in the morning was check to see if the Celtics won. They lost. The next thing I did was realize that I was out of sunscreen. Uh oh. Gotta find some sunscreen. There was nothing near by so I proceeded to finish off the trail I was on (furiously racing through the parts that weren't shaded) and 22 miles later I found a Walgreens. First problem solved!

About 3 miles later, I was on my own in terms of routing. The Underground Railroad path veers east at this point and I want to go west. So I'm making my way to Madison, Indiana on my own (saving 100 miles). This means I've got to go through Cincinnati. I didn't get to go through downtown, but the uptown part: NOT BIKE FRIENDLY... also hilly. It's especially hard getting out on the west side because there's an interstate there and thus it's very highly trafficked. It wasn't too too bad, but definitely not fun... and it didn't get much better.

After getting out of the city (which took forever because of wrong turns and rerouting bad sections) I finally get to within 9 miles of my motel. Unfortunately it's 9 miles on route 50. This just wasn't safe: two lanes of high speed traffic and little to no shoulder. I spent the first two miles or so terrified out of my mind desperately looking for a place I could turn off and reroute. I found a place, stopped at the nearest Walgreens to reload my water and do some routing.

While I bought my water, someone stole my pepper spray... I'm *pretty* sure I didn't misplace it.

If you look at the picture of my bike that little bag attached to my stem houses my pepper spray and my digital camera. Whenever I get off my bike I take my iPhone, my wallet, and my digital camera with me. I don't carry my pepper spray because I don't like the idea of walking around with a weapon. Basically it's the easiest thing to take if you want to take something, and it got took.

At Walgreens I figured out a route that only required a little under a mile more on 50. This brought me through Aurora, Indiana and I stopped at a bar for some dinner (there's no food near the motel). I was running low on juice for my phone and was able to find an outlet, so I plug my phone in... It didn't charge.

At this point I start freaking out a bit. I had a sunscreen problem, then a whole lot of safety issues, then stolen pepper spray, now my phone won't hold a charge, and it was getting late. I should add that I had dropped my phone earlier in the day.

The guy at the bar reassured me that there was plenty of shoulder on 50 from Aurora to the motel (saving me a couple of miles of rerouting). He said he biked that way before, so I trusted him (this guy is pretty badass. He hiked the whole of the Appalacian trail in '95).

I FINALLY got to my motel after a really long day, rebooted my phone and took a shower. It's charging! I'm alive! Woohoo!

I'm at a motel in Aurora, IN. I think I'm done trailblazing after I get to Madison. I did 62 or so miles (65 including messups and getting back on route in the morning).

The picture is from the University of Cincinnati (about the only interesting thing I saw in the city).

Also, it was really hot.

Much better

Today was very nice (after the thunderstorm). At mile 8 I got onto a well paved bike trail that goes from Columbus to Cincinnati. As a result, there was tons of shade (the sun eventually came out), no traffic, no hills, and the wind was completely muted by the surrounding trees. On top of that, the elevation dropped 600 feet, though it wasn't really noticable. Overall a good day.

I wanted to do more than the 74 miles I rode but was running out of time and available motels (the morning rain plus I had long conversation with a guy who was interested in my saddle, the trip, and who happened to sit on the board of a local savings and loan).

I'm at a wayyyy overpriced Super 8 in Kings Mills OH.

I've never had Arby's before. They make some delicious roast beef sandwiches.

Rain's still coming

Just got caught in a thunderstorm. It should calm down in an hour from looking at the radar maps. Storm's moving east at 35 mph. Waiting it out at a Bob Evans.

Severe weather alert!

Getting some awesome storms from Cincinatti to Columbus. 60 mph winds and downed power lines expected.

Ugh

Hmm. So I'm bound to get a couple of days of tailwinds, right? I mean, it's only been like 80/20 in favor of headwinds. Let's check the forecast! Gah. 10-20 mph headwinds. Nevermind! That just got upgraded to 15-25. Awesome! What's this you say? The nearest motel is 80 miles away??

Fuck.

Seriously, these headwinds are one of the most frustrating and trying experiences of my adult life (second only to working for Geoff Greener). They are non-stop. They are unrelenting. They do not weaken. In fact, they get stronger as the day goes on.

Luckily the Motel 6 is 7 miles closer than where it's marked on google maps. As such I only spent 73 miles feeling like I was going uphill instead of 80.

And guess what's on top for tomorrow? That's right! MORE HEADWINDS.

There are several reasons people do this east to west:
- better weather (you can't leave the west until mid July at the earliest because of snow in the Rockiest)
- the sun isn't in your eyes in the morning (more importantly it's not in the eyes of the driver behind you)
- the scenery gets better as you go

There is ONE reason people do this west to east: the prevailing continental winds. A lot of people say that the local weather is idiosyncratic enough that you'll get a good mix either way you go. But that has not been my experience. At all.

End rant.

I'm a little northeast of London OH.

Restday (again)

I'm a little annoyed but I was just tired. Feeling pretty good now. Tomorrows going to suck though. 10 to 20 mph headwinds and afternoon rain :(