Monday, June 15, 2009
Back home
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Day 31 June 11th
Since I did more then I was planing yesterday I knew that today would be pretty easy. I left Wetmore before 8 after some peanut butter and headed for Canon City (pronounced Canyon) to see if I could get a little more breakfast. The road to Florence, where I wanted to get to last night, was completely down hill. I did the 13 miles in about 45 minutes. But it still would have been too much and would have gotten me in too late.
I got some pancakes with a lot of butter and syrup at a diner in Canon City. But almost more important, I was able to fill up my water. There was a good amount of traffic leaving Canon City but the shoulder was wide enough that it was fine. There were some pretty challenging hills especially when I turned onto Rt 9. I gained about 2500 ft over 30 miles. Most of the way was gradual but there were a couple stretches of a few miles where I would have to be in one of my lowest gears to get through it.
I made it to Guffey around 1:15. While I was riding I kept thinking to myself just do 10 mph and I'll get there in 2 hours. But some points on hills I would laugh to myself that just doing 7 mph would still get me there by 2 pm. When I was in Guffey a guy in a pickup stopped me and asked if I was looking for a place to stay. I recognized him for another blog as Bill, the owner of the hostel in town I was planning on staying in. He set me up in a bunk and pointed me towards some food. Rita's Place in Guffey was great. I got a green chili pizza with jalapenos. It was very spicy and very good. Rita let me use her computer which she got specifically for bikers since there is no cell service. Rita said that it hailed today but I only got a light shower. Guffey is a weird town. There are probably less than 100 people living here, they all seem to have out houses, and I can't find the shower or Bill. This is definitely not a tourist town but there is a lot of character.
I can't wait to sleep in a bed tonight. The first since Virginia.
Day 30 June 10th
Last night wasn't very restful. There was a cow farm about 2 miles outside of town and the wind carried the smell of it into my camp. So my tent smelled like cow crap all night. I figured out/ remembered that my fruit that I had bought earlier smelled really good so i slept with my plastic bag full of fruit next to my face. It really made a difference. So much So that when I rolled over to the other side the cow smell would come back and I would have to move the bag to whichever side my nose was on.
Peanut butter and an apple for breakfast. I did the 60 miles to Pueblo in reasonable time. I didn't push it too hard since I knew I had all day and I wasn't planning on going passed Pueblo. I first went to the library to find out where the bike shop was and i figured this town was big enough to have a Chipotle so I checked that out and was right. Next i went to the bike shop and now my back tire is fixed and maybe more importantly my bake break is usable. I asked the mechanic where i could get a good burger with green chili on it and he pointed me to a restaurant close by. The burger was called the "slopper" and I have never seen anything like it. I wish I had brought my camera into the restaurant to take a picture. It was a bun with 3 patties covered in green chili sauce. And i don't mean that there was sauce on top, it was all over. It was more like a soup with a bun and hamburger in it. The waitress brought a spoon over with it and I had to ask how you actually eat it. She explained that you don't pick it up like a regular burger but you eat it with a spoon. It was very good though.
I went back to the library after lunch for a few hours to do all sorts of random stuff and kill time. At around 5 I left for Chipotle. It was great and I've really missed it but I don't think it gave me very much energy since I was pretty tired for the final leg to Wetmore. I was planning on staying right outside of Pueblo in a campground on the lake but I missed the turn. By the time I realized that I missed the turn I had already gone up and over a pretty big hill and I decided to just keep going instead of climbing the hill two more times.
The closest town on the map was Florence which was about 30 miles outside of Pueblo. But but it was really slow and I was pretty tired even after the long rest during the day. I only made it to Wetmore where there wasn't any place listed where I could camp. But I rode by a church that was letting out and I asked them if there was anyplace I could camp. Brian, the pastor, said that there was a park right next door and it wouldn't be a problem if I spent the night there. He also said that I could get a shower at his house so I was very happy to hear that. I thought he was a little less creepy then Chad since he was a pastor and everything.
His family was great! His son Shane was in town before being shipped out to Iraq. Their grandparents were there from MI too to see Shane. They sat around the table playing Pigs and Jokers which is a card/board game that their friend created. I mainly just sat, watched, and listened while they all joked around. Brian offered me some antelope that he had shot. But I was pretty hungry and I think anything would have been good at that point. But they were a really great family and I'll have to send them a postcard when I get to OR.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Day 29 June 9th
I got a good amount of sleep last night. The wind wasn’t a problem but the ground was pretty hard. I was up earlier than usual because of the time zone change but I decided to stay in bed a bit longer since it looked like the weather was going to be fine. I had a terrible breakfast this morning. I was planning on getting some bread at the convenience store but they didn’t have any. So I was stuck with eating some kind of breakfast pizza which was pretty lousy. But I was on the road before 8 again.
The morning was a little chilly so I kept on my long sleeve shirt. The cross wind from the north wasn’t that bad and actually helped reduce the turbulence from the trucks going by. I met a guy named Chris on the road. He was from Tucson and is doing the Trans Am in the opposite direction as I am. He had a pretty cool looking bike and was carrying a fishing pole which he had used 7 times but hasn’t caught anything yet. He also told me about a grocery store up ahead in Eads which had just gotten a fresh shipment of fruit. I got to Eads around 1 and headed for the grocery store where I got bread, peanut butter, apples, bananas, chocolate milk, and even a mango. Lunch was the milk, PB, and a banana.
I hit a nail on the road as I was riding out of town. It punctured my tire and tube so I had to replace both with a spare. That took only 15 minutes but my pump wasn’t working well and I couldn’t re-inflate my tube. So I had to walk over to the autobody shop and use their pump. A few miles out of town the tire was flat again. I rushed putting the spare back in and messed it up. But I was able to get a ride pretty quickly back to town from some man in a pickup truck. Back at the auto shop I was sure to install the tube the right way and it ran fine the rest of the day but I didn’t get back on the road until 3.
I met two guys from Tennessee that were doing the Trans Am in the other direction. They said they had met Dave last night. He apparently had done about 125 miles that day so there was no way I was going to stay with him. But these guys told me there wasn’t much in the town I was planning on staying in and they convinced me the ride to Ordway wasn’t bad. So I decided to push it and have an easy day tomorrow. They also told me how they flew from Portland to Astoria (the final town on the route) and from there I can fly back to PA. I’m glad I won’t have to ride an extra 95 miles to Portland and can just get on a plane and relax. So now I just need to figure out what flights to take. I can ship my bike home from Astoria too.
I crossed into Colorado a few miles after I started and was really excited to finally get out of Kansas. I’ve been looking forward to getting into the Rockies for the last 10 months and I knew I was finally going to get there. A little before 7, I got my first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. You couldn’t see much besides an outline because the clouds got in the way. I doubt you can see anything in the picture but you could in person. I decided that I was going to do this trip back in September and I knew that the Rockies were going to be my favorite part. So after 10 months and about 2,300 miles of riding I could finally see them.
After I rode through Haswell, where I originally planned to stop, I was getting a little tired. But I had the rest of the chocolate milk and I was back to doing 18 mph. My average for the entire day was over 15mph and I’m real happy with that since it was such a long ride. I’m having a large pizza and am going to the camp ground after I finish eating.
Day 28 June 8th
Chad went to work at 6:15 so I said bye and told him I would lock up. I got a shower after he left and had some peanut butter for breakfast. It was slow in the morning and it didn’t help that it was cold and windy. The wind wasn’t bad but it wasn’t helping the way it was yesterday. I stopped in a library along the way but can’t remember what I did except talk to Sans. I met a guy named Dave who was going to Portland too. He left New Jersey on May 10th and said he was doing between 100 and 120 miles a day. I had already done 45 miles that morning and he was just starting so there was no point in me trying to keep up with him so we said bye and he pulled ahead. He was stuck in some town waiting for his phone to be mailed there because he lost it a while back. But he got to the town on Sunday and had to wait for the post office to open on Monday morning.
But after I finished talking to Sans I only had another 25 miles to go and was able to do it in about 90 minutes so I was happy to finish the day like that and have a good long rest ahead of me. I got to Tribune by 1:30 but since I crossed into Mountain Time it was really 12:30. So I spent the next few hours in the library planning out the rest of my trip. I’m going to be averaging about 83 miles a day and will have 5 or 6 rest days where I don’t have to do any riding and can enjoy myself. I found 5 people through warmshowers.org who might be able to put me up for a night so I will def try to contact them as I get closer.
It was another boring ride through Kansas and I will definitely be happy to get out of here tomorrow. Let’s hope that the cattle farms in Colorado don’t smell too bad. I’ll be able to camp in a park under a gazebo for a little more shelter tonight. The park has showers too so I’ll see about that. I got a double cheese burger with onion rings tonight for dinner but will probably go back and have some more peanut butter at the tent.
Day 27 June 7th
Last night was pretty wild. A major thunderstorm rolled through the area. There wasn’t any rain where I was but the wind was out of control. I thought the poles for my tent were going to break they were flexing so much. There was a point where I was trying to brace the poles by just sitting there with my arms holding them up. Luckily I got it under control by putting some metal steaks in the ground to anchor the corners and it was fine the rest of the night.
I tried to get an early start since I didn’t want to get caught out in the heat again so I was packed and on the road before 8. I went to Wendy’s for breakfast but all they had were breakfast burritos. McDonalds is still the best deal with their pancakes, eggs, biscuit, and hash brown. Luckily it stayed cool all day today and for the first time in Kansas I had a tail wind for the majority of the day. It was great to go fast again. I stopped in the town of Alexander and had some peanut butter. The town had a population of about 100 and it really looked deserted. It seemed like the only place open was the liquor store. Anyway, not much else happened until I met Chris from England. He was going from LA to New York and was planning on using the full 3 months of his visa for the trip. He kept complaining about the weakness of the pound. But as I rode away I heard the back tire rubbing against the break. So I removed the back break and once again am riding with only the front one. It shouldn’t be too big a deal since there aren’t any hills where I will gain enough speed that I would need both.
Kansas is extremely boring to ride through and I don’t think I took any pictures today. But I got to Dighton around 4:30 and found the park where I could camp. One good thing about Kansas is that they have a lot of community swimming pools and there was one right next to where I set up my tent. So I went over there to relax for a bit but it wasn’t very hot and I didn’t stay long.
After about an hour of lounging I went over to the gas station which was the only thing that was open where I could get food. While I was heating up a burrito, a guy named Chad started talking to me about my bike and what I was doing. We kept talking while I ate and relaxed. I figured he was just really bored since there really was nothing to do in this town except hang out at the gas station. He was 21 and just moved back to town. He offered me a place to stay at his place since the weather was supposed to get really bad. I met another lady at the gas station who had lost 34 years of her memory. Apparently her son died and her brain blocked out every memory of him along with an extra 34 years. Her husband divorced her after that and she had to relearn how to do everything. But luckily she married some other guy and he takes good care of her.
After I moved my stuff out of the park and into Chad’s I went back to the convenience store to get a case of beer to show my thanks. It was hailing on the walk over! It wasn’t big hail but it stung and was annoying since I was on the phone with my parents at the time and couldn’t cover up very good. But I was really glad that I was out of my tent and had a roof over my head. The gas station wouldn’t sell me any beer since it was Sunday so that was a complete waste.
Well it turned out that Chad was a complete creep. I don’t want to get into it over this blog but let’s just say I’m not going to be staying at any random people’s places anymore.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Day 26 June 6th
I kept being woken up by the wind last night. It was really loud and was shaking the tent. So I was awake at 5:45 but unfortunately couldn’t see the sunrise because of some trees around my campsite. Peanut butter and chocolate milk for breakfast and on the road by 8. The first 4 miles out of Hesston were bad because the road was all torn up and stripped but that would be the least of my problems for the day. There was a really strong wind from the south/south west today that kept my speed to 12 mph and even that was a struggle. Plus I knew that there would be no park to the trip where I would be heading north to take advantage of the wind.
I rode about 35 miles and got to some town by 10 and was able to fill my bottles with Gatorade and set off for the 58 miles of uninhabited farm land ahead of me. My god it was bad. There were plenty of times where I was having trouble doing 10 mph and would settle for 8. But there was no traffic. It was really endless and not being able to go fast really hurt my spirit and kept me down. It kept weighing on my mind that this stretch could take 5 hours or more. I decided to not even stop to take pictures to conserve what little momentum I had even though there weren’t too many good views, more of the same farm lands. Part of the way was actually through a wetland. Who knew Kansas actually had one of those so I got a picture while still moving. the only relief that i would get from the wind were groupings of trees every few miles.There seemed to be a new grouping every time I got to a new horizon so about every 2 miles and it would last for maybe ¼ mile. About 25 miles from Larned something changed. Either the wind changed or I just got a second wind but I was finally moving. I averaged about 16 mph for the last 20 miles and got to town around 4:45. So I rode for over 8 hours and only did 95 miles. I found out it hit 97 degrees today too and I think the back of my neck is burnt. A cop told me that the campsite is next to the city pool so I was able to go there and relax in the water for a little while and it did wonders.
I didn’t have lunch today because I was planning on finding a spot during the 58 mile stretch where I could sit in the shade. But there weren’t many choices and when I did try to stop I was immediately swarmed by flies trying to bite me. So I was a little light headed when I was talking to the cop but she gave me some water and I was able to make it that half mile to the pool. I found a Chinese buffet in town and spent over an hour there. I ended up talking to the waitress for a while since I hadn’t had anyone to talk to since I left Danny.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Day 25 June 5th
Pretty good nights sleep last night without any problems. I didn’t pay to stay in the park so I thought I should leave as early as possible. So I got up before 7 and was on a bench in town eating my peanut butter for breakfast by 8. The morning was pretty tough. I was on a major highway, KS 54, where there was a lot of traffic, including tracker trailers and the speed limit was 65 and there usually wasn’t very much of a shoulder but there was enough to get by. The trucks were really bothering me though. They were creating so much turbulence some times that it was hard to control the bike. At least the ones coming from behind created a slight draft for a second that I could use to be pushed forward but theses could still push you around. But the ones coming in the opposite direction could almost stop you in your tracks if you were going up a hill. But the tractor trailers were a little more cautions than the cars and pickups. Plus the wind was from the south/south west so slightly in my face.
But after 41 miles of traffic and wind I could turn off the highway and onto a smaller road headed north. I had 17 fantastic miles with the wind at my back and virtually no traffic. It only took an hour to do the 17 miles to Cassoday where I was planning on having lunch. They had a buffet there with pulled pork, potatoes, baked beans, and peach cobbler. All of which were great. So I was feeling pretty good after lunch and ready to tackle the remaining 50 miles.
I was heading west again so there was no help from the wind but there was very little traffic on this road. It was 38 miles to the next town and all I saw for 3 hours were cow farms. So I started singing and talking to myself and I occasionally would yell at the cows. I got a big kick out of it sometimes when they would run away and I would laugh out loud but I was in a pretty weird mood and it kept me positive for the long boring stretch. I used the library in Newton so I was sure to get enough time online before the one in Hesston closed. I made it to Hesston around 6:30 after almost 8 hours of riding. Subway for dinner and my campsite has warm showers so I should be in for a good night.
Day 24 June 4th
Pittsburg to Toronto 100 miles
I got a pretty good amount of sleep last night. As usual I had to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. I think I should start limiting how much I drink after I finish riding and at dinner because I’ve been waking up every night. Peanut butter for breakfast and on the road a little before 9. The morning was great. I did 60 miles by 1 o’clock. I missed the turn onto an unassigned road right out of town and ended up riding on a gravel road for a few miles. It was pretty bad and slow but I knew that if I kept going I would be on a major road and wouldn’t get lost. It didn’t add any extra miles it was just a pain since the surface wasn’t good for riding.
The wind was behind me from the north east again and I only had a few portions where I was heading into it. I met a guy named Dave on the road who was heading from Astoria to Yorktown. He traveled down the coast of California and straight across to Colorado instead of going through Montana and Wyoming. He said he did this because it still is too cold to travel through Montana and Wyoming in early May. But he still had a major problem. He got an infection from a sore that was caused by sitting in the saddle for so long which cost him a few days. But I’ve been getting showers a lot more regularly and my clothes get changed every day.
Subway for lunch at 1 after the first 60 miles. My bike seemed a lot heavier after lunch than it did before and I think the wind was coming more from the north and wasn’t helping as much. But the road was still flat and I knew I wasn’t going to be heading into the wind until the very end. My knees started hurting in the late afternoon and it wasn’t helping my spirit knowing that I was going to have to turn into the wind for the last 10 miles. But I still had plenty of day light to make it to my goal so I decided to take it easy and not worry about my speed at all to try to conserve my knees.
I got into town a little before 5 and chilled at the library until it closed at 6. In the morning when I was packing up my tent and everything the community pool was opening and they had music over the loud speaker. They played to Lady Gaga songs in a row and both were stuck in my head all day. I didn’t hate it. And the night before they played a song from Mama Mia and I didn’t hate that either since Ali would play that when we were in Greece because the play is set there. So when I was in the library I was sure to listen to those songs on YouTube. I left the library and headed for the Italian restaurant across the street where I had unlimited bread sticks and some more Alfredo. Courtney, the restaurant owner told me that the camp ground had showers which I was happy to hear since I knew I could stave of infection for another day. But I found out the water in the showers wasn’t heated and it was a little too cold outside to wash my hair right before bed. So it wasn’t the best shower in the world and I was a little cold before bed but I didn’t pay to stay there so I can’t really complain.
Kansas is a lot nicer than I imagined. I was expecting just miles of wheat fields and silos but there are trees and small hills that break up the landscape. When the sun hits the wheat the right way it looks golden and can be really awesome.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Day 23 June 3rd
Fair Grove, MO to Pittsburg, KS 95 miles
Last night was the best nights sleep of the trip so far and i really needed it. Gail left before i woke up so i wasn't able to say goodbye and thank her but i had cereal with Tom and left by 8:15. It thunderstormed last night and i was really thankful to be inside. I've slept indoors 5 times and there has been a thunderstorm 3 of those times so I'm feeling pretty lucky in that respect. Plus its only rained once or twice while I've been in my tent.
The weather was great today. It was overcast and cool around 65 and a wind from the northeast that helped since I was going west. The road had a few climbs in the morning but nothing major and after lunch it was mostly flat or down hill. I met a man named Doug on the road who told me about a shortcut he was going to take that would cut out 10 miles of the trip. I was glad to give it a try since I was planning on doing over 100 miles. There's always something though and i ran into construction. I had to walk my bike through it and it was covered in mud by the time I got through. I used both of my water bottles cleaning it and it still looked terrible. I had to wait until i got to camp to clean the whole thing. For the brief time I was with Doug we ran into a man riding from KS to KY and doing the Trans Am in sections since he never had enough time to do the whole thing. Lunch was peanut butter and Gatorade outside a gas station along the shortcut. By the end of the day I was averaging over 15 mph and pretty happy with myself. I reached Pittsburg by 3:30 but no one seemed to know where the park I was trying to get to was. So I found another park and decided just to camp there. I saw another chinese buffet while I was searching through the town so I went there for dinner after everything was set up. I'm pretty tied after the long day so lets hope nothing bothers me in the middle of the night.
Day 22 June 2nd
Houston to Fair Grove 80 miles
I decided to take today a little easy an only do about 80 miles and sleeping until 8. I was pretty tired after the last few days and the library didn't open until 9 so there was no rush in the morning. I ran into Danny at the library. He made it to Houston and stayed in a hotel. I checked my email and such and said bye to Danny and was ready to hit the road by 11. There were a few hills along the way but it was the heat that made the day hard. I never saw how high the temperature got but i was sweating a lot and the sweat was visible on my shirt. I wore the same shirt as yesterday, the Red Rockets jersey, since it stands out the most out of all my shirts which was good for the turns and hills. But now there were two days worth of sweat baked into it and it actually was painful by the end of the day.
There were about 6 major climbs so it wasn't nearly as bad as the last few days and i knew that the final 10 miles would be pretty much down hill to Fair Grove. Lunch was in Hartville where i got a double cheese burger with fries and a pitcher of water. But most of the day was uneventful. I didn't meet any bikers along the way and the scenery was pretty repetitive. But i was glad that it was a net down hill day for a change. I called the Gourley's after lunch. They are the people that Shawn told me about the day before. I talked to Tom and he said he would definitely be home by the time I would get there and he gave me directions. I got to their house just after 6 and his wife Gail got home a few minutes after me. After a shower and putting my laundry in we sat down for some alfredo and salad. They had me laughing so much about their stories about other bikers and their hippy lives that my cheeks were tired from smiling by the time i went to bed. They also told me about how a recent storm trashed their town. The hail did enough damage that they had to replace their brand new roof on their house along with some car windows. It left some people with out power for 10 days. But they told me that the hail storms usually are never that bad and only last for about 15 minutes so I should be able to take cover under a tree if I get caught in one but lets hope it doesn't come to that. I'm really looking forward to sleeping in a bed tonight though.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Day 21 June 1st
MON to
I woke up around 6:30 this morning by 
There were a lot of climbs today. People describe the Ozarks as a rollercoaster and they are definitely right. 
A little before we met 2 people from Wisconsin, I forget their names but they were on a tandem recumbent going across country. After lunch we met this guy named Shawn who was riding from 
I started experimenting with the video recorder on my camera for the final two descents. The first time down you can only see the trees above the road going past and can’t see the road at all. It’s a shame too because when I was coming out of the descent the trees opened up to an awesome view of a farm on the hillside. On the final major descent I propped the camera up in my front pouch but it fell down about 6 seconds in and all you see is the sky and hear me yelling the speed. But I hit 43.5 mph on that one which is my fastest so far.
I left Danny behind after climbing the last hill. I don’t know if he made it to 
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Day 20 May 31st
I got a good rest last night and had
Some of the drivers around here are real ass holes though. I rode passed a kid on a bike who had downs syndrome or something and a car coming up behind beeped and yelled at him then gave the finger to me
After I got to the top of the last major climb of the day I met a guy named Nick who was going
Day 19 May 30th
I got woken up by some horses but o
But I left 
When I got into town I found out they were having a carnival at the place I was staying. There were rides, food, a volleyball tournament, a band, and beer. I got a shower there and headed into the bar. A few of the people there started talking to me and asked what I was doing and after I told them they all felt compelled to buy me