2008: A Bike Odyssey

Thurs Oct 9th, Grand Ronde, OR -> Lincoln City, OR

2008-10-14T10:53:00.001-07:00

Wed Oct 8th, Newberg, OR -> Grand Ronde, OR

2008-10-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

Tues Oct 7th, Portland, OR -> Newberg, OR

2008-10-14T10:33:00.000-07:00

Tues Sep 23rd - Oct 6th Portland!!!

2008-10-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

Much fun was had by all.

Mon Sep 22, Biggs, OR -> Portland, OR

2008-09-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

Rode down the Columbia River Gorge. Amazing scenery. Much like riding into a wind tunnel. 60+ miles of riding on the interstate. Mostly at night. But we're alive and in Portland!!!

Sun Sep 21, Fossil, OR -> Biggs, OR

2008-09-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

Today we rode through huge wind farms - hundreds of wind turbines. In addition to some decent sized hills we had a stiff head wind most of the day.

Sat Sep 20, Dayville, OR -> Fossil, OR

2008-09-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

Friday Sep 19th, Unity, OR -> Dayville, OR

2008-09-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

We rejoined the TransAm trail today and stopped at one of the institutions of the trail - the Dayville Church. We had showers, tv, and a full kitchen to use. We had pasta for dinner, did our laundry, and watched "Surf's Up".

Thursday Sep 18th, Unity, OR

2008-09-18T17:47:00.000-07:00

Rest day. Scott had so much fun celebrating his birthday yesterday that we've been bumming around town today. Our plan is to leave at daybreak tomorrow and try to make up some of the lost miles. The original plan called for Dayville, OR, 80 miles away, but hopefully we can blow through that tomorrow and be well on our way to the Columbia River Gorge. That does bring up an interesting question though - where will our next shower be? While using the gas station's wireless connection we have discovered that the Clear Creek Distillery is located in Portland and the Rogue Brewery has a location in Portland.

Even though we still have a few hundred miles to go to the coast we feel like we're almost there. Only yesterday did we realize that when asked "where are you heading"?, we can no longer reply "Oregon".

Wed Sep 17th, Vale, OR -> Unity, OR

2008-09-18T07:20:00.002-07:00

Tues Sep 16th, Ontario, OR -> Vale, OR

2008-09-18T07:20:00.001-07:00

Mon Sep 15th, Murphy, ID -> Ontario, OR

2008-09-18T07:20:00.000-07:00

Sun Sept 14th - Mountain Home to Murphy, Idaho (60 mi)

2008-09-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

Today was a lazy day. The desert sun really got to us. By the way, who knew Idaho had a desert? I certainly did not. Mountain Home AFB was having an air show, so we caught a glimpse. After 50 miles of biking, which included almost getting run off the road by some asshole in a big white pick-up truck, we were so hot and tired we decided to nap on the cold concrete of a rest stop for an hour. We only went 60 miles instead of the planned 83... what a cop out! Turned out great though. A wave from the helicopter pilot and everyone else in Murphy. The Murphy General Store owners were nice enough to let us camp on their lawn, use their firepit, and even gave us grilled zucchini from their home garden and some dutch oven pot roast. Can you believe the hospitality? Amazing people in amazing places.

And once again, no showers. We have protective coatings of dirt and grime. The 3 day old dirt prevents the 6th day dirt from caking on. We're thinking of getting showers tomorrow.

We credit Scott's USA bandana with
getting us great hospitality from everyone today.

Plateau city.

Nice campsite tonight.

Ohmmmmmmm....

Sat Sept 13th - Fairfield to Mountain Home, Idaho

2008-09-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

Today we rode with Tony - the cyclist we met last night - for the day. An exceedingly skinny dude with a disproportionately bulky bike. But he can keep up! We rode through some desolate, hilly desert terrain... nothing like a swig of hot water from your canteen to crush your moral. But there's also nothing like an 11 mile, 6% downhill at the end of the day to lift your spirits. We parted with Tony at his Mountain Home motel - he is off to the Boise beat poetry scene. We were going to bike 23 miles further than Mountain Home, but it was close to sunset and ALL FOUR OF US got flat tires at the same time, near a lonesome church on the outskirts of town. We took that as a sign from above that we should call it a night. We camped on the church property without asking (they don't usually mind about that), ate our canned beans with tortillas and hot sauce, and washed it all down with PBR tall-boys. A beautiful sunset from an innocent swing set. We'll take care of those flats tomorrow morning. Let's just stare at the desert sky tonight...

Wayne's got it right:
married a rich lady, no kids, retired at 44.

The ironing is delicous.

Our desert bicycle gang.

The goat-head puncture fiasco.

Setting up camp outside the desert church.

Friday Sept 12th - Arco, ID to Fairfield, ID (90 mi)

2008-09-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

Today we rode like monsters past the Craters of the Moon, through the sunset and into the night until we reached Fairfield Idaho. Is it a real town? Is it just a gas station with its own dot on the map? We weren't sure but we made it our goal. After some night time explorations of the town we found their city park, and it turned out to have another bicyclist. Sweet! His name was Tony and he was into the hip-hop poetry scene. We chatted briefly, but for the last 10 miles or so we were running on empty, so we hit the sack pretty quickly.

Kyle Rogers, chillin' outside our cheap KOA cabin.

Scott Porbansky, talking to his mommy.

Craters of the Moon.

Tony, bicyclist, runner and poet extraordinare.

Thurs Sep 11th, Idaho Falls, ID -> Arco, ID (73.4 miles)

2008-09-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

Woke up 7:30, drinking coffee by 8:30, on the road at 10:00. Half a mile from the edge of town, Scott's rack broke, so back to a bike shop. Ann and Nicole told us about hot springs at Craters of the Moon, 90 miles away. Alas, we finally left town at 12:30. Good day for riding through the desert but we were tired when we hit Arco. The local KOA had a steal of a deal on a cabin, so we've finally showered and charged our electronics. Oh, good day for laundry too.

Wed Sep 10th, Palisades, ID -> Idaho Falls, ID (69 miles)

2008-09-11T21:08:00.000-07:00

Free camping in the city park. No showers. Near train tracks.
6pm: Kyle "Why would they say no camping here? Its so perfect!"
3am: Kyle "Fucking sprinklers. That's why they say no camping here"

Tues Sep 9th, Jackson, WY -> Palisades, ID (65 miles)

2008-09-11T21:07:00.000-07:00

Free camping! Cute dog, no shower.

Mon Sep 8th, Grand Teton National Park-> Jackson, WY

2008-09-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

Breakfast at the local diner where our waitress, Allie, told us about her west coast bike trip. Turns out the Oregon and California coasts are beautiful! Adrian left for Jackson and we went to break camp. Met up at the Snake River Brewery and split a hotel room 5 ways. Penne + olive oil for dinner with the hotel's kitchenette.

Sun Sep 7th, Dubois, WY -> Grand Teton National Park, WY (50 mi)

2008-09-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

Off to a late start to maximize our stay in the hotel but covered 20 miles and 1000 feet of climbing in about 1.5 hours, so we stopped for lunch. At lunch we saw a east bounder zip by, then Adrian, a west bound brit on a recumbent passed heading west. At the same time, Daniel and Ben pulled up. They are riding the Great Divide Trail from Canada to Mexico. We had a beer with them at lunch then continued on our climb. The peak promised us 17 miles of a 6% grade downhill but between the construction and the occasional hill, it didn't pass as fast as hoped. We met Adrian at the campsite at the end and built a fire and had some beers. Beautiful sunset.

Sat Sep 6th, Lander, WY -> Dubois, WY (80 miles)

2008-09-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

Left at 12:30 but good day for riding - rolled in to Dubois just before sunset. It was Kyle's 21st birthday so his mom got him a hotel room. Excellent duck for dinner.

Fri Sep 5th, Lander, WY (3.5 miles)

2008-09-06T10:44:00.001-07:00

Thurs Sep 4th, Jeffery City, WY -> Lander, WY (50 miles)

2008-09-06T10:43:00.002-07:00

Wed, Sep 3rd, Rawlins, WY -> Jeffery City, WY (70mi)

2008-09-06T10:43:00.001-07:00

Tues Sep 2nd, Riverside, WY -> Rawlins, WY (65 miles)

2008-09-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

Mon Sep 1, Walden, CO -> Riverside, WY (55 miles)

2008-09-01T18:26:00.000-07:00

Today started off well. It was a cold night camping in the city park. My sleeping bag is made for 20 degrees, but Aaron's is made for 55 degrees. Tonight it was below 55. Aaron slept with multiple socks, a hat, pants, and jacket and was still cold. I slept in my boxers and was sweating. So after a night of sleeping in the city park and 2 hours of hanging out in the gas station convenience store, we set off for Wyoming. We finally made it. We were crusing with a nice tail wind making good time. At one point we stopped for a snack and thought, "Isn't it weird that we're on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming?"

Then the cold set it. It hit us all at once, like a ton of ice-cold bricks. Grey ominous skies came hurtling towards us while we put on our rain gear. We decided to go for it instead of waiting it out, basically because we had no choice. There was no house or even tree in sight. We were 15 miles from the nearest town. So we went for it. Biking in the ice-cold Wyoming winds is harder than it sounds. And once it started raining that ice-cold Wyoming rain we started clutching our handlebars, keeping our heads down so the rain would hit our faces and go up our noses when we breathed. The wind was STRONG. And did I mention COLD? Staring at the odometer can be depressing at a time like that. 8 miles left of this? Just keep pedaling. Once we were 2 miles away I was thinking "Man that sucked back when there were 8 miles left." But we finally made it to the Bear Trap Cafe in Riverside. It had only been 50 miles, and we were planning on doing 110, but it was just too cold. Well it turned out to be a good thing. We met Scott and Kyle, who hitchhiked once the cold rain set in because the closest thing they had to bad weather gear was a garbage bag poncho. They are from New Jersey. They both work at bike shops and are crossing the country together. They do things a little differently than us, but it's cool. They don't wear biking shirts or gloves, and they eat gas station cream cheese danishes constantly. They are fun guys though and we split a cabin with them. We went through 5 six-packs between the 4 of us - with a couple going to Chris, the Continental Divide hiker.

Chris is the travelingest dude we've met so far. He is hiking the Continental Divide from Montana to Mexico. He's already biked cross country, and down the pacific coast, and has hiked the Appalachian Trail (in 3.5 months!). The best part of this trip is the people we've met. In fact, we're even planning on biking to Rawlins with Kyle and Scott tomorrow. That should be interesting...

Sun Aug 31st, Hot Sulphur Springs, CO -> Walden, CO

2008-08-31T18:48:00.000-07:00

Every day that passes I have been wondering if we will see any more transam bikers, as we are getting late in the season. Today we met a biker from New York as we were breaking camp, on a recumbent bike. He claimed that since he was from New York, he would have no trouble sleeping near the train tracks. Of course, we couldn't put that to the test since he got a hotel room clear across town. I'm sure he slept just fine there.
Shortly after starting on our journey we ran in to an Australian couple (Scott and Liz) on their way to Kremmling. They liked to go about 45-50 miles in a day, but got on the road early, so I think they were enjoying their time.
After setting up camp in the city park in Walden, we saw two more bikers heading to setup camp there as well. Haven't talked to them yet, so more on them later.

Sat Aug 30th, Silverthorne, CO -> Hot Sulphur Springs, CO (60 miles)

2008-08-31T18:39:00.000-07:00

Excellent russian food at the Stagecoach B&B. Shake'n'Burger in Kremmling was not as good as Five Guys, but better than one of the brewery burgers we had.

Fri Aug 29th, Breckenridge, CO -> Silverthorne, CO (20 miles)

2008-08-31T18:36:00.000-07:00

Breakfast again at the Blue Moose Cafe, then headed downhill for the Pearl Izumi outlet in Silverthorne. We met another biker there, West-East, chatted for a while, then decided to get lunch. Since it was getting on, we decided to rest in Silverthorne and make Walden the following day. Much Law and Order ensued.

Thurs Aug 28th, Breckenridge, CO

2008-08-31T18:35:00.001-07:00

Rest day. Had breakfast with Annette at Blue Moose Cafe, dinner at Backcountry Brewery in Frisco.

Wed Aug 27th, Breckenridge, CO

2008-08-31T18:29:00.000-07:00

Rest day - had breakfast at the Crown Cafe, drank coffee, and enjoyed free wifi till the evening. Met up with John Forensic for dinner at the Dillon Dam Brewery.

Tues Aug 26th, Guffey, CO -> Breckenridge, CO (69 miles)

2008-08-31T18:24:00.001-07:00

Crossed Hoosier Pass, the highest point on our trip and discovered that Guillermo's batteries were dead. Only camera phone photos. We met our first host from warm showers, Annette, when we arrived in Breckenridge. She was an amazing host - she let us stay two rest days! More to come:)

Mon Aug 25th, Florence, CO -> Guffey, CO (42.5 miles)

2008-08-25T19:31:00.001-07:00

Sat Aug 23rd, Eads, CO -> Pueblo, CO (119 miles)

2008-08-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

Riding through Arlington... Colorado, that is.

I bought a book on identifying wildflowers and trees. Staring at the same trees and flowers all day, it would be kind of embarrassing to not be able to name even one of them by the end of this trip.

One of the zillions of sunflowers in Eastern Colorado.

The sunflower family is one of the most evolutionarily advanced flower families in North America. The "petals" are actually rays, and the brown center is actually a collection of a whole bunch of mini-flowers, each with their own petals and ovaries. The sunflower is a compound flower. Bet you didn't know that!

Nice lady who gave us RO water and free electrolyte thingys.

Is it getting little cloudy?

It started to get cloudy in the distance near the end of the day, as we were approaching Pueblo. We began to see some major lightning, and when we were about 11 miles from our destination, I said to Aaron "You think we should put our rain gear on now?" "Not yet, we'll get too hot in it. Let's wait till it rains." Approximately 12 seconds after this exchange, raindrops the size of my saddle sore begin to pound us, while the raging winds from hell blew us over and made it nearly impossible to walk our bikes - let alone ride them - to the shelter of the abandoned house across the street. Under the shelter we put on our rain gear and waited out the storm. There was some intense cloud-to-cloud lightning, which kept us entertained while we waited. It was bad enough that cars were pulling off the road as well. Once the rain died down a bit we biked the last 11 miles - make that 15 once you count riding around town looking for our motel - to Pueblo Colorado. By the time we showered, ate dinner and went to sleep it was 1:00am. What a night!

Fri Aug 22nd, Scott City, KS -> Eads, CO (106 miles)

2008-08-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

breakfast : imitation grape nuts with milk
lunch : chef salad aka cheese + ham + wilted lettuce. good honey mustard though
100 mile snack : beef stick (aaron), 5 starburst superball (gmo)
dinner : don't get me started

the first 25 miles we fought a pretty bad headwind so we stopped for an hour at the gas station in leoti. we met Kevin there, the local youth pastor, who bought us coffee and rockstar. very nice guy who has done bike kansas and wants to go cross country one day. picture coming asap.

Kevin, a Kansas youth pastor, bought us drinks at the gas station.
Heck of a nice guy.

After leaving Leoti, the wind lessened a little, or at least gusted from a variety of directions so we started to speed up. The last 10 miles before we hit Tribune were actually fairly calm weather. Since it was the last stop before 58 miles of no services, we took a lunch break. Sure enough, the wind was back when we started biking again. After only a few miles though it started to shift from the South West to the North and ever so slightly East. In other words, we picked up a small tailwind. We were cruising along pretty nicely when we encountered Sheridan Lake. The auto shop that sold sodas was no longer selling sodas but a brand new gas station had appeared in its place. We ran inside and grabbed a few drinks - Gatorade, v8 fusion, and of course, rockstar. Upon leaving we started discussing how we should make a commercial for rockstar. Almost the instant we left the gas station we were racing along at 20-25 mph and kept the pace for about half an hour. Yep, tailwind + downhill can't run forever. Still, it was nice to see what a few hundred feed could do for the trip. In the Appalachians 200 feet of vertical descent is wasted on your brake pads, but this was so gradual we rode it for just over 10 miles before we had to climb back. Oh, we actually gained about 1300 feet in elevation today - at 4200 or so right now, which is the highest so far.

Grain Elevator + House of Guy Who Runs It
= A Western Kansas Town

After the only diner in town screwed up our order we were so tired and upset that we decided to get a room at the econo lodge rather than pitch our tents in the dark. Not sure how dinner managed to take 2 hrs, but we want to make up the time somehow.

Fellow touring cyclist.
His wife was too exhausted to talk,
so they declined our offer to join us for dinner.
Or maybe we smelled bad. Can it be both?

Thurs Aug 21, Ness City, KS -> Scott City, KS (~60 miles)

2008-08-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

We were on the road by 9:20 and excited by the prospects of completing our second century. Alas, Kansas is back to normal. After 4 hours of 10.8 mph average, we abandoned hope of making our goal of Tribune when a gust of wind actually knocked Guillermo off the road. I've got to go hop in the shower, so you'll have to wait a little bit to hear about the virtues of manure trucks.

Wed Aug 20th, Nickerson, KS -> Ness City, KS (130 miles)

2008-08-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

What a day. We'll have to write more later. Excellent breakfast, candy from strangers, picking peaches in the middle of a city, best sandwiches of the route, pitching tent in the dark. What's missing you say? Showers perhaps? Ride time: 9 hours

Tues Aug 19th, Hutchinson, KS -> Nickerson, KS (12 mile)

2008-08-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

We planned to go further this day but after dropping off the rental car and trying to attach my new handlebar bag, it was getting late. It is a 58 mile stretch of nothing after Nickerson, so we decided to stay at Hedricks Exotic Animal Farm. It's every bit as cool as Anna thought it would be. We're sorry that she missed it, but I think we'll have to come back and play with the kangaroos again.

Mon Aug 18th, Ft. Collins, CO -> Hutchinson, KS

2008-08-18T15:34:00.004-07:00

Sun Aug 17th, Denver, CO -> Ft. Collins, CO

2008-08-18T15:34:00.003-07:00

Sat Aug 16th, Denver, CO

2008-08-18T15:34:00.001-07:00

Fri Aug 15th Hutchinson, KS -> Denver, CO

2008-08-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

Thurs Aug 14th, Newton, KS -> Hutchinson, KS ( 40 mi)

2008-08-14T16:52:00.000-07:00

Coming soon: Anna and Tony's last day of riding, Braum's most delicious concoction, Guillermo's new double kickstand.

Wed Aug 13th, Emporia, KS -> Newton, KS (77.1 mi)

2008-08-14T16:50:00.000-07:00

Coming soon: 82 year old Mennonite man faster than Anna, German bread, and clean water.

Tues Aug 12th, Ottawa, KS -> Emporia, KS (65.9 mi)

2008-08-14T16:47:00.000-07:00

Coming soon: firehouse hospitality, ice cream, and margaritas

Mon Aug 11th, Kansas City, KS -> Ottawa, KS (36.43 mi)

2008-08-11T17:48:00.002-07:00

Thanks to a late night in Lawrence, KS we woke up just before checkout, packed up, and headed to get some food. Unusual for us, we split up; Tony and Aaron got some delicious Mongolian BBQ while Anna and Guillermo were stuck with omelettes from Mimi's Cafe. We returned the rental car and reclaimed our bikes from the back of the firestation in Louisburg, KS. The 30 miles to Ottawa fell in record time and we entered town at 6:30. Tony is in the shower right now, then it is off to Sirloin Stockade for some food.

Sun Aug 10th, Kansas City, KS

2008-08-11T17:48:00.001-07:00

Sat Aug 9th, Kansas City, KS

2008-08-11T17:47:00.000-07:00

Fri Aug 8th, Harrisonville, MO -> Kansas City, MO

2008-08-09T08:06:00.001-07:00

We woke up late today but managed to get packed in record time. After our standard breakfast of pancakes, french toast, bacon, biscuits, eggs, chocolate milk, and coffee, we started looking at the map. Aaron immediately seized on Ottawa as a likely candidate to offer more than a gas station. He consulted with Google and realized that although it isn't in Canada, it is a large town relative to its neighbors, so at around 1:30 we were on our way. So, despite waking up late, we were on the road at the usual time.

About an hour in to our riding we made it to the Kansas border and we stopped for a photo op (posting later). At this point the GPS had an arrival time of 5:50 so Aaron was sent ahead to procure a hotel room for the night, and more importantly, get ready to take advantage of Super 8 Motel's Olympics promotion - it required signing up at 7:00, so no time to waste! Aaron made it to Ottawa a few minutes early and called back to check on everyone's progress. Alas, it was not to be. Guillermo broke his rear wheel (one of the nipples snapped and popped out!), and decided that this was our last excuse to visit Kansas City - location of the nearest bike shop (and delicious barbecue). Off to Enterprise and Kansas City!

We drove to KC and immediately began our search for barbecue. The GPS led us to Arnold Bryant's, one of the original barbecue joints in Kansas City. When we arrived, however, we found ourselves staring at a giant casino instead of a dirty barbecue joint. It turns out that Arnold Bryant's is a chain, and one of the spin-off's is located inside this casino. Did we drive all the way to KC to eat at a second rate spin-off location? Hell no. HELL NO. We do have standards (although somehow we were suckered in to eating at KC Masterpiece's restaurant in St. Louis, and it certainly is a piece). We consulted over the telephone with our friend Jim who informed us that Oklahoma Joe's was the most highly regarded barbecue in KC. We drove across town and walked in the door at 9:26pm, just in time to be the last customers of the day and were rewarded with the best ribs, fries, and pork of the trip. Much better than last night's in Harrisonville - that brisket was an insult to barbecue everywhere. To anyone traveling to Kansas City, try Oklahoma Joe's!

Thurs Aug 7th, Windsor, MO -> Harrisonville, MO (56 mi)

2008-08-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

Wed Aug 6th, Versailles, MO -> Windsor (52 mi)

2008-08-06T08:16:00.001-07:00

Pancakes, eggs, french toast, hash browns, and toast for breakfast. No biscuits:( Aiming for an 11am departure.

Tues, Aug 5th Jefferson City, MO -> Versailles, MO (38-44 mi)

2008-08-06T07:24:00.000-07:00

Today we passed through Amish country (no, they're not just in Pennsylvania), with rolling hills, horse-drawn carriages and a pretty sunset. Pictures to come soon.

(Begin Amish rant)
At a gas station I saw some Amish people - probably Mennonite actually, which comes from the Dutch word for "Amish poser" - buying slice pizza, coffee and glazed donuts. Hmmmph! As I always say about the "Amish" people at the market in Burtonsville, MD, they are just playing the Amish game. Shame on them! Frankly, these half-assed Amish people piss me off. As the saying goes, anything worth doing is worth doing right. Are you Amish or what? Put down the artificially flavored French Vanilla coffee and mechanically-separated beef sausage pizza, get out of that gas guzzler, and ride your carriage back to your barn where you belong. Or - better yet - drop the schtick and admit that being Amish sucks.
(End Amish rant).

For dessert we had the best pie of the trip so far - blackberry cobbler. We're looking forward to Newton, KS though - it's supposed to have the best pie on the TransAm route, according to Cesar and Gaby. This same restaurant tonight had some terrible potato salad though. Why was it terrible? It was Amish style, of course.

Mon Aug 4th, Jefferson City, MO

2008-08-05T09:11:00.000-07:00

Guillermo returned the car and picked up batteries from Radio Shack while Anna got her brakes fixed at the bike shop. We decided to head for Versailles, MO (that's "ver sails"); only 35 miles or so, but we were getting a late start and there didn't seem to be much else for 60 miles after. We started on our way to Subway and Anna found that her bike was pulling to the right. Bad news. Maybe crashing at 18 mph isn't so good for steel frames (or Anna). Upon closer inspection at the bike shop (with help from my parents), we found that the steel fork was bent. Luckily there is a frame builder in town; unfortunately he's closed Monday. So, we headed to find some food and happened upon a real gem at "The Daily Grind". For anyone else visiting Jefferson City, that's not "The Daily Grind Unwind". We found air conditioning, 1554 (beer from New Belgium Brewing Co), the best spinach dip we've ever had, and the best turkey sandwiches yet on the trip. The sandwiches were actually made with Milton's Bread, which is mine and Anna's favorite bread. We haven't seen it since we left. At the Daily Grind we ran in to Allan, another touring cyclist. He is making his own route across the USA, and is doing it alone. Kudos to Allan. Like us, he enjoys good food, good beer, and AC, which is what brought him to The Daily Grind. He took a picture of us and put it in his own blog, so we will do the same for him:

(Picture of Allan coming soon)

Sun Aug 3, Jefferson City, MO

2008-08-04T07:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had our first bike crash as Anna fell in to the side of the road. Luckily she landed in the mud and not the pavement and has no road rash, merely bruises. And unfortunately we have no pictures of Anna covered from head to toe in mud (we were too concerned for her safety to reach for the camera). Still, we thought it prudent to take a rest day (the local news was attempting to issue a heat advisory). After breakfast we found out that our friend Cesar from Caltech was doing the TransAm West -> East with his girlfriend, Gaby. We immediately rented a car and 5 hours later we were on our way to meet them in Marshfield, MO. Once they showered it was off to Springfield, MO for some dinner, catching up, and exchanging tips and rest stops.

For anyone not looking at a map, that's about 5 hours driving round-trip, so we slept in till 8:45 am today. Now, we must pack up and head to the bike shop, so more updates later. In the meantime, check out http://fleethecube.com/transamerica/.

Hermann, MO -> Jefferson City, MO (50 mi)

2008-08-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

Days 25-29: Berea, KY to Cave City, KY

2008-07-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

Day 25: 7/10/08 - Berea, KY to Harrodsburg, KY (~45 mi)
Day 26: 7/11/08 - Harrodsburg, KY to Bardstown, KY
Days 27, 28: 7/12/08 - Bardstown, KY to Lebanon, KY (~30 miles)
Day 29: 7/13/08 - Lebanon, KY to Cave City, KY (~60 mi)

Arriving in Berea was amazing because it marked the end of the Appalachian Mountains. If you look to the east in Berea, you see mountains, but when you look to the west there is a wonderful lack of them. Just rolling hills and open sky. We were so used to seeing mountains on all sides of us that it was refreshing to finally see haystacks, silos and farms. It was also refreshing to be traveling at 12 mph instead of 8. Doesn't sound like much to you automobile drivers out there, but we could travel 50 miles in 4 hours instead of 6 - that leaves more time for laundry and all that other fun stuff.

Our new biking scenery.

Resting under the shade of an enormous tree.

This old man was born and raised in this tiny town.
Come to think of it, that's the story with a lot of the old people we meet.

Our newest snack craze:
Ale 8 is from KY, and Zagnut is, well, Zagnut.

Hey Rocco!

At a gas station along the way we met Rocco, another cross-country cyclist going in our direction. We knew his name is Rocco because it's tattooed on his arm. Rocco just got his PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT - not what you'd expect from someone with "Rocco" tattooed on his arm. Rocco travels very light - he has a tent which is basically a Bivy sack that hooks to his bike wheel for support. We, on the other hand, travel very unlight. Heavily loaded, in bike-speak. I haven't discussed our packing or gear situation yet in this blog, so for those of you who are interested, I am going to make a separate blog entry dedicated to the packing and gear logistics.

We didn't get on the road this morning until 11ish, as usual, and by the time we ran in to Rocco we had gone maybe 10-15 miles, while Rocco was on his 60th or 70th mile. We're enjoying our pace - nothing to be ashamed of - but just for comparison's sake, he started the day in Booneville and is headed to Harrodsburg, which means that he is doing in 1 day what we are doing in 2 days. Since he's riding alone, he appreciates finding riding partners from time to time, so he asked to tag along with us for a while since we were all headed to Harrodsburg. He stuck with us for a few miles, but at the first big hill Rocco took off without looking back. We rested and sipped water and collected ourselves. The beauty of being on a solo bike tour is that you don't wait for anyone or rely on anyone but yourself. Go Rocco!

We made it to Harrodsburg and stayed at the Economy Inn, run by an Indian couple who lived in Panama for 25 years. They spoke fluent Spanish and, although they looked very Indian, they had Spanish accents when speaking English. Weird. Then we ate at another mediocre Mexican restaurant.

The next day we were on our way to Bardstown, the Bourbon capital of the world. On the way we stopped at Lincoln Homestead Park. This is the location of the log cabin in which Lincoln's father grew up. I had never heard of it before but it was cool to see. Plus it was hot out and they had cold water.

The bed and dresser were built by Lincoln's pappy.

Old-fashioned pizza slicer??

In don't think were were supposed to touch this,
but no one else was there.

The rest of the ride to Bardstown was very nice, and pretty flat. We made good time for once. We also got to stare at a bunch of corn, tobacco, horses, and moo-cows.

Mystery plant:
Later verified that is indeed tobacco.
Looks like mutant lettuce.

Biking to Bardstown.

Lots of horses in Kentucky.

Lots of moo-cows in Kentucky.

Old Talbott Tavern.

In Bardstown we decided to eat dinner at the Old Talbott Tavern, which is known in Bardstown for its good food, huge whisky menu, and live music. We decided to order a Kentucky Hot Brown, which is a classic Kentucky "sandwich". It is a slice of bread topped with ham, turkey, bacon and Mornay sauce. You can't pick it up with your hands because it's drenched in the cheese sauce. It is deliciously indulgent but very heavy. Talbott's Hot Brown was great tasting but very skimpy in size. The adults in our group ordered pints of Kentucky Bourbon Ale, which is an awesome buttery-bourbony beer made in Louisville. It does not contain Bourbon, it just has a subtle bourbon flavor from the used bourbon barrels in which it is stored. I hear there is a bar in Arlington which carries it on draft, so we'll have to check it out when we get home.

The next day we decided to rest in Bardstown and check out the Heaven Hill Distillery. Tony was thankfully uninterested and biked to the movie theatre.

Heaven Hill makes Evan Williams bourbon. Actually, their distillery is in Louisville so we didn't get to see the big tubs of mash being cooked, but we saw a video and their barrel storage warehouses. We were not big bourbon fans before coming to Bardstown, but we found out that we are just not fans of cheap bourbon. Heaven Hill gave us tastings of their 10 year old Single Barrel Evan Williams bourbon and their 18 year Elijah Craig. They were so good we bought a bottle of the 10 year, and another bottle of a wheat whisky we saw in the gift shop. We filled our flasks and mailed the rest home.

After leaving Bardstown we passed near the Maker's Mark distillery... close enough to make a detour. The Maker's Mark distillery is quaint and touristy, and much more interesting as a tour. We even got to taste the clear distilled grain alcohol before it goes into the barrels to age. Unfortunately, the Heaven Hill bourbon was far superior than what we tried at Maker's Mark. But it still made for a great tour! We got to see the big batches of sour mash and we stuck our fingers in it and tasted it too.

After the tastings it was almost 5pm and was too late to head for Lincoln's birthplace, 40 miles away, so we went to Lebanon, KY instead. A bit off route, but it put us in a good position to head to Cave City the next day.

So we were off to Cave City! We were excited about this for 2 reasons: Mammoth Cave, the most extensive cave system in the world; and Nashville. We are meeting our friend David Hockaday (cool name eh?) in Nashville, because that is where he is from, and he is going to show us around town. To get to Nashville, which is waaay of route, we are going to store our bikes in Cave City and rent a car.

While eating dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Cave City (more mediocre Mexican, although this was on the upper end of mediocre) an older fellow named Mark Davis approached our table. Mark spotted our funny looking bike clothes and tagged us as touring cyclists. Mark is an avid cyclist as well, and is semi-retired, and bikes around the Cave City area daily. He is planning to do a stretch of the Trans-Am next summer from Kentucky to Wyoming and wanted to talk to us about our experience. When we told him we needed a place to stash our bikes for the weekend, he offered us his house! What a swell guy. So now that that logistical detail has been covered, we will plan on meeting David and Tiffany in Nashville on Thursday night, and until then we'll explore the caves....

(Pictures to come... they take long to upload :P )

The Mammoth Caves are truly mammoth, but they are also truly boring. Luray Caverns in Virginia, for example, are beautiful. They have stalag's, both -mite and -tite, making gorgeous, intricate formations. Mammoth Cave on the other hand is so big because it is so sturdy, and the ceilings of the caves are made of a tough sandstone (don't quote me on that... although I rock, I am no geologist) and so no water seeps through to make the pretty formations. It's basically just a huge, boring dirt tunnel. Still glad we saw it though!

Days 20-24: Eastern Kentucky Summary - Breaks, VA to Berea, KY

2008-07-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 5th, 2008 through Thursday, July 9th 2008

I've had a hard time keeping up to date with the blog during this trip. As Kinsey stated, it's been "nigh a fortnight and a half" since the last update. To rectify this situation I am going to summarize what's been happening for the past 3 weeks, in a couple of installments, beginning with Eastern Kentucky. Hopefully this will make it easier to keep up to date.

Here's the itinerary:
Day 20: 7/05/08 - Breaks, VA to Elkhorn City, KY
Day 21: 7/06/08 - Elkhorn City, KY to Hindman, KY
Day 22: 7/07/08 - Hindman, KY to Buckhorn, KY
Day 23: 7/08/08 - Buckhorn, KY to Booneville, KY
Day 24: 7/09/08 - Booneville, KY to Berea, KY

The morning of July 5th we awoke in Breaks, VA to a dreary drizzle. We put our tents away wet, which doesn't help the smell. Anna and Aaron have a leak in their tent which dampened their sleeping bag. That must suck, but my REI half-dome tent has been working splendidly.

Once we got packed up and biked away from our tent site, the rain really began to come down. Sometimes you just have to grin and bear it and keep on truckin', but it was annoying enough - and we were hungry enough - that we decided to eat the breakfast buffet at the Breaks Park restaurant and wait out the rain. We came in soaking wet wearing our funny bike clothes, and the hostess sat us down in the corner, away from all of the regular customers.

Once we were finished it was getting to be 11:30, which is a late start. The trouble is that Elkhorn City is 5 miles from Breaks and the next town with camping is Hindman, which is 67 miles away from Elkhorn. Instead of biking 72 miles in a drizzle, we decided to just bike the 5 miles to Elkhorn City. But at least we made it into Kentucky! Our first state line! And it only took us 20 days!

Our Elkhorn Motel.

Beer bottle opener in the motel bathroom.
Ironically, this is a dry county.

Don, a local Elkhornian.

We ran into Don who recommended the Mexican restaurant in town and told us about the local economy in Elkhorn City. Elkhorn is an old Appalachian coal mining town, though the coal was pretty much exhausted years back. There's still plenty of coal in KY and in the US, as we all know, buy Elkhorn has been dried up and spit out. The town is falling apart and oozes poverty. And the Mexican food was only so-so.

After a Law & Order Criminal Intent marathon the night before, we were back on the road the morning of July 6th, albeit late, since there was more Law & Order on. We've heard so much about the dogs of Kentucky that we've been getting paranoid about them. I bought a dog spray back in Salem, VA, and after a VA dog incident when Anna and Aaron were chased uphill by some mutts I gave the spray to Aaron. Don warned us that there are a lot of loose dogs in the next 5 miles or so, so we rode the entire day on dog alert. We were riding on eggshells, if that makes any sense, just waiting to spray any dogs who dared chase us.

Back on the road in Kentucky.

Slow children at play.
Dem Kentucky kids ain't none too bright.

Is this Kentucky or some Haitian village?

Eastern Kentucky can be pretty sad looking in some parts. Old decrepit homes with confederate flags, trash on the side of the road, 7 year olds with mullets riding around on ATV's, and of course dogs running around loose. The mountains - the most beautiful resource - are often stripped, literally, of their beauty for the coal they contain.

Waiting out the rain at the top of a big hill,
about to pass in to a dry county.

Coal mine operation.

Nice retired old man who likes to talk with passing bicyclists.
Worked on this road his whole life as a flag man for the highway road crews.

After hours of biking, we finally finished the day in Hindman, KY (pronounced high-nd-muhn). We once again got the Blizzard of the Month at Dairy Queen (Thin Mint flavor) and some take home subs at dusk, and biked the next 4 miles to the Eighty Motel on Route 80. We didn't arrive at the motel until dark. Wi-fi is always the big plus of going to motels, so we asked the motel manager whether they have it:

"Do you have Wi-Fi?"
"Do we have what?"
"The internet. Do you have internet here?"
"No, we just have regular TV here."

The motel was dirty and dingy on the level of the Rebel Motel. It felt gross to even walk around on the carpet. But shelter is shelter.

The next day, July 7th, we left Hindman for Buckhorn Lake. We left late again. We were on the road around noon, just in time for the hottest part of the day. The road during the beginning of the day was big, and didn't make for the best bike riding. There was coal on the side of the road too, and we passed various strip mines.

We graciously shared our bike path with big rigs.

Confederate flag sock on the side of the road.
Standard Kentucky litter?

Coal is so plentiful, it's on the side of the highway.

Kentucky strip mine.

"Where is the bathroom sir?"
"Uh, most people just go 'round back."

Typical.

Ups and downs.

My mom likes chickens.
This picture is for my mom.

After plenty of big ups and downs on the bikes, we made it to Buckhorn lake campground and set up our tents, built a fire, made pasta and washed our clothes. Biking cross country keeps us busy on and off the bikes.

The convenience store next door was manned by a nice young guy and Jabba the Hut. By that I mean a man overflowing from his chair - he probably needed another on either side of him for support - who told us to come for breakfast sandwiches the next morning. When we arrived the next morning at the store, Jabba was still there in the same spot. Something tells me he hadn't moved.

After breakfast we began to bike westward. Since we began Kentucky, dogs have been an issue. In general the dogs just bark like crazy and usually stop running at their property line, but occasionally they chase us down the street. And although most dogs pose no threat, they occasionally seem more threatening and one even bit Tony's pannier. Aaron therefore uses his Halt! dog spray occasionally and, of course, judiciously. It doesn't seem to cause them pain, but hopefully they will learn to stop chasing bicyclists and stop running into the street:

Bad dog

At the top of a huge hill (another county line divider), right before the screaming downhill, we met Alan from Victoria, Canada. He was sitting waiting in his van for his life partner Dennis to bike up the hill. He's Dennis' support (SAG), and they are traveling eastbound, opposite our direction. SAG'ing seems incredibly boring to me, just driving a few miles ahead of the bicyclists waiting for them to catch up, but Alan was having a good time. We said goodbye to him and began soaring down the hill, passing Dennis along the way. Dennis must've been really confused when we said hello and called out to him by name!

Alan from Victoria, Canada

Biking uphill, 2 abreast.

Berea is the end of our 2nd cross country map (out of 12), and also marks the end of the Appalachians, so we are eager to arrive. However, when we reached Booneville we saw black skies approaching us, so we rolled under the awning of the Dooley Diner and had lunch, including a delicious Heath Pie dessert.

Waiting out the rain at the Dooley Diner,
Booneville, KY.

Dooley Diner's Waitress, Aaron, and Anna.

A rare group photo.

After lunch, when the rain died down, we did the math and decided that it was too late to press on to Berea, and Booneville was our last chance for camping. So we rolled over to the local church, which welcomes cyclists, and set up our tents.

2 older British men were setting up tents as well. Turns out they were waiting for 3 younger Brits whom they were SAG'ing. They arrived soon after, 2 guys and a girl. The young bicyclists were quiet but the older guys were great conversationalists. We found out they were retired police officers who trained and used police canines. Did you know that when a human runs through the woods (fleeing from the police, let's say) that person leaves a trail of scent and crushed vegetation that is traceable by police canines for 3 to 4 hours? It was news to me.

The older men, both named Paul, were enjoying their first trip to the US, even though they woke up early every day, gave the kids their breakfast, and took down camp while the kids rode away worry free for the day. Then they would meet up with the kids later to give them their lunch, then go ahead to the campsite for the night and set up their tents and make them dinner. We were so jealous of the British kids - how nice it must be to not have to worry about taking down camp, putting stuff away, washing dishes, washing clothes, and making dinner! And to not have to carry everything on your bike! But a couple of years back the kids rode across England on their own, carrying their own stuff, so at least they know what it's like. Here's their website.

Love to see that "Cyclists Welcome" sign.

The Brits.

Another rare group photo.

Finally, on Day 24, June 9th, we are riding to Berea and out of the Appalachians! Berea, by the way, is rich in racial history. It is the site of the first interracial college in the United States, which was later shut down and then reopened. Today it is a thriving college town, quaint, and a welcome change from the small Appalachian towns we've been subjected to up to now.

Go Tony!

Ghost house?
Look closely:
riding with Cocoa Crispies.

We decided to celebrate getting out of the mountains by paying a visit to Papaleno's, an Italian restaurant in Berea. By the way, since the beginning of Kentucky until now, I have not personally seen any black people, although the others claimed to have seen one back near Hindman. But I saw a black couple at the restaurant: they were chuckling at my butt padding when I was getting soda!

Berea College.

Waiting for our rootbeer floats.

Sebree, KY to Morganfield, KY (30mi)

2008-07-24T19:28:00.003-07:00

Falls of Rough, KY to Sebree, KY (72.5mi)

2008-07-24T19:28:00.002-07:00

Hodgenville, KY to Falls Of Rough, KY (60mi)

2008-07-24T19:28:00.001-07:00

Cave City, KY to Hodgenville, KY (42mi)

2008-07-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

Nashville, TN (!!!)

2008-07-24T19:24:00.002-07:00

Lebanon, KY to Cave City, KY (~60 mi)

2008-07-24T19:24:00.001-07:00

Bardstown, KY to Lebanon, KY (~30 miles)

2008-07-24T19:24:00.000-07:00

Harrodsburg, KY to Bardstown, KY

2008-07-12T07:12:00.003-07:00

Berea, KY to Harrodsburg, KY

2008-07-12T07:12:00.002-07:00

Day 19: Council, VA to Breaks, VA

2008-07-12T07:10:00.001-07:00

Friday, July 4th, 2008

Today we headed for Breaks, Virginia, right on the border of Kentucky. The reason for not going further is because at Breaks we can camp, and the only other option after that is a motel in Elkhorn City, KY or camping in Hindman, KY which is way too far for us to bike in one day (we are slow and in steep mountainous terrain). Besides, Breaks is supposed to be a nice interstate park so they must have nice campgrounds.

In the morning we met another biker named Scott from Anywhere USA. Nice guy. He stopped at the park in the morning while we were packing up because he saw our bikes. He left about 10 to 15 minutes before we did. When we left we almost caught up to him; we saw him in the distance. I decided to bike fast and catch up with him just for fun, but when I got close I started thinking what I would say when I caught him: "Hey, I caught up to you even though you left before us! You must be slow as hell! Well, I have to wait for my friends now. See you later!" So I slowed down and waited for the group.

Climbing the steep hill out of
the community park in the morning.

Aaron inside the convenience store.
No, he never takes off his helmet.

We stopped at a convenience store and asked the lady if there were any grocery stores on the way to Breaks. She said absolutely not, so we bought a Hunt Brothers pizza (surprisingly delicious) and some ramen and canned corn for the campsite later. Outside, some random hillbilly gave us free firecrackers for the 4th of July. Score.

Upon leaving the convenience store we immediately passed a grocery store. A few miles later, we passed another. And another. And another. I would say she lied to us for her own financial gain, but she didn't own the store. She was a new employee. Maybe she's an idiot, but the grocery store was practically next door. Damn country bumpkins.

We've decided that the Blue Ridge Parkway is overrated. People speak of it as if it were the most horrific part of the trip. They single it out so much that we thought it was by far the worst part, so we thought that the rest of the Appalachians would be relative cake. Not true. NOT TRUE. In fact, the only really bad part of the Blue Ridge is getting up there. But there have been hills - neigh, mountains - which have been just as bad or worse, and they have been plentiful. Note to future bikers: mentally prepare yourself for steep mountains from Afton, VA all the way through Eastern Kentucky.

Beautiful Breaks Interstate Park:
Grand Canyon of the East.
We earned this view.

Camping in the drizzling rain.

At Breaks we signed the bicycle logbook that Virginia uses to help determine how many people use Route 76, the Trans-America bike route which we are taking and which Virginia has graciously posted signs for all across the state. If people continue to use it regularly they will keep the signs up-to-date and, who knows, maybe even put in wider shoulders on some roads at some point. That last part is just wishful thinking on my part though.

Scott stopped at Breaks too and joined us at our campsite, where were set up our tents and sat in the rain for a while. Not ideal camping but at least we were able to build a fire. Aaron is a former Eagle scout. Or maybe a Webelow.

Day 18: Abingdon, VA to Council, VA (~60 miles)

2008-07-11T21:57:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

We were on the road late after watching Law & Order and were biking by 12:30pm. Right before Hayter's Gap we stopped by a little country store for a bathroom break, and of course to purchase some emergency Cowtails: caramel tubes with "oreo" creme filling. The locals at the store who ride their motorcycles around the county warnes us of the horrendously steep 3 mile uphill after Hayter's Gap. I like to call it Hater's Gap. 3 miles of incredibly steep winding roads that took us almost an hour to climb. That's right mathematicians! That's about 3 miles an hour! You know you've reached the top when you see the sign for the new county line. Counties apparently like to divide their territories at the top of huge fucking hills.

By 5:30pm we were near Rosedale, VA where we picked up cheap fried chicken for dinner later and slushies for right away. We could have stayed at the local Rosedale church - they welcome bicyclists - but they were having what appeared to be a wake, so we decided to push on another couple of hours and took off for Council. This meant another huge mountain climb. Tony wasn't happy about that and was grumpy and pouting the rest of the way. He wouldn't even eat Sour Patch Extreme Gushers, which he had never tried before. But when we reached the community park at Council around 9:00pm, his mood changed quickly. Shane, the lifeguard, let us camp near the pool and swim for a while, and then gave us free sodas and let us use the microwave. This was really nice of him since he had to stay there an hour and a half later just for us. The pool was enough to wipe the frown from Tony's face, and when he finally tried the Sour Patch Gushers he declared them to be his favorite candy of all time.

Sermons Sundays and Wendsdays.

Snack break: Doritos and Slushies.
We're going to try to eat healthier someday.

The pool we played Sharks & Minnows in,
and the lifeguard who let us.

My main man Shane.

Hoodlums-turned-pool-employees.

While setting up our tents after dark, a truck pulled up near us at the park. A group of teens - possibly hoodlums - approached us. Turns out they were park employees who thought we were the hoodlums until we told them we were camping bikers. My new beard must've given them the wrong impression:

Day 17: Damascus, VA to Abingdon, VA (9 miles)

2008-07-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

Today was Aaron's birthday, so we decided to take a rest day in Abingdon, 9 miles away, and celebrate with Aaron's birthday ritual of a Will Smith movie and Mexican food.

Damascus bicycle shop

"Hutch", bicycle mechanic and former AT hiker.

Hutch is the bicycle mechanic at the Damascus bike shop we went to. I was having trouble with my derailleurs, and Aaron was as well, so we stopped in this morning. Hutch didn't know how to work the new-fangled brake shifters on Aaron's bike, but we trusted him anyway. He gave us a useful lesson on adjusting derailleurs which we will take with us for the rest of our trip. Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for the rest of his life. I know, I'm cheesy. But it's true.

By the way, Hutch got his nickname from his Appalachian Trail (AT) hiking days. Everyone gets a name on the trail. Hutch said his was from Starsky & Hutch, so I'm guessing his life-partner Starsky was accompanying him back then. Another AT hiker we met, "M&M" (see below), got his name because he brought a huge 5 pound bag of the eponymous candy with him on his trip, and when he realized he shouldn't be carrying so much on his back he began handing it out to everyone willy-nilly.

After the bike shop we ate next door. We wanted to sit outside until a wasp nest attacked us and stung Aaron and Tony. I was wearing my yellow and black bike jersey: they thought I was one of their own and let me be.

Then it was off to the bike apparel store to buy more bike gloves. Tony and I only have 1 pair each; it's amazing how much they begin to stink by the end of the day. Unbearable. You wouldn't even want to eat with those hands. Having a second pair would ease the stress on our first pair, and regular washing should help tame the stench.

Now it's off to Abingdon to watch Hancock and chillax.

The quaint ice cream shoppe

"M&M", the AT hiker.

Day 16: Wythesville, VA to Damascus, VA (60 miles)

2008-07-09T20:37:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

I'll write details later... too tired to blog now, but here are some pictures.

Side 1 of Historical County Line Sign

Side 2 of Historical County Line Sign

Our trail winds around the Appalachian Trail (AT)

Nice long downhill next to a beautiful creek.

Love to see the Welcome Bikers sign...

An old dude riding the Trans-Am,
on an ice-cream pit stop.

Gravel road towards our campsite.

Camping next to a creek... Awesome!

Wading in the creek... freezing but awesome!

Long bike ride make Tony hungy.

Late night campfire...

Day 15: Claytor Lake, VA to Wytheville, VA (40 miles)

2008-07-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 29th, 2008
Monday, June 30th, 2008 (rest day in Wytheville)

I'll write details later... too tired to blog now, but here are some pictures.

Day 14: Radford, VA to Claytor Lake, VA (9 miles)

2008-07-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 28th, 2008

We needed to do laundry so we went to the local laundromat to hang out, then across the street to buy PB&J fixin's and other foodstuff. We decided to bike 9 miles to Claytor Lake. It was already late and people were tired, but another motel would be expensive - I've been whining about expenses - so we compromised on a short day with camping.

At the laundromat.

Waiting outside a church whilst Tony
makes an emergency bathroom stop.

Claytor Lake is a great campground ... showers, sink for dishes, a lake, peace and quiet. Perfect. We biked to the store nearby and bought weiners, s'mores ingredients and some brews (both root and ale) and just chilled out for the day. The lady at the store had an inkling that we don't camp much once we started asking about firestarters and s'mores ratios (how many hershey bars to a bag of marshmallows?). She actually said "Y'all don't do much campin' do ya?" Oh well, we actually got a roaring fire due to Aaron's boy scout days and the s'mores were pretty straightforward to assemble, so now I can say we're expert campers. At night we sat around the campfire and listened to music (iPod with portable speakers). After all this relaxing we should be ready for a long day of riding tomorrow. And we decided that camping was so much fun we'd start doing it more often.

Day 13: Salem, VA to Radford, VA

2008-07-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 27th, 2008

Today we woke up late... again. We got caught up watching some episodes of Law & Order. Tony kept claiming he didn't like the show, but after 1 episode, he was hooked. Eventually we found our way out the door.

Under an overpass.

Storm clouds that we avoided.

On our way to Radford today from Salem, we encountered thunderstorm clouds... again. I spotted an overpass on a side street and we escaped the rain for 20 minutes.

Resting on the side of the road.

The hill in to Christiansburg.
A mile and a half of pure steepness.

Christiansburg, VA is the end of our first map. A real milestone for us. There are 12 maps total! It has taken us a couple of weeks to get through the first one, so to get through all 12 it will take ... oh whatever! The longer the better.

Storm brewing outside of Cracker Barrel.

On our way up the monster hill to Christiansburg I heard on my handy dandy weather radio that a bad storm with hail and 60 mph winds was coming through Christiansburg and Radford, VA. So we pedaled on as fast as we could, but still got caught in some rain. However the worst clouds were still ahead so we took cover from the rain - again - inside the Cracker Barrel and had some pancakes and Chicken Fried Steak.

Whooping Tony at checkers in the CB.

East-bound Australians.

We met some east-bound cyclists on our way to Radford after the skies cleared up. There were 3 of them, and 2 of them were on a tandem. They were coming from San Francisco. Always nice to talk to others who are doing the same thing.

Waiting out the rain a third time.

Just a mile outside of Radford, we got caught in the rain for a 3rd time. We waited under a large tree. It's not the best place to wait out the rain, since the water gets through the leaves eventually, but it's all we had.

Finally we crossed the beautiful New River into Radford. We checked in to the Executive Motel and called the only cab in town to take us to some microbrewery restaurant that Aaron had heard about. It turned out to be so new that it wasn't even opened yet. So the cab brought us back to the motel. I asked the cabbie earlier if the gas prices were catching up with him and he said it didn't affect him at all. Now I know why. He passed the cost on to us - a $23 cab ride for nothing! On the bright side, some Thai chef for some reason decided to settle down in Radford and open a restaurant across the street from our motel, so we had a great Thai dinner. Hits the spot after such a hilly day. And the hills won't end until mid-Kentucky...

Day 12: Roanoke to Salem, VA (19 miles)

2008-06-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

A few days ago, on our way to Mineral, VA, we got caught in a huge thunderstorm. By the time we arrived to our camp at the Mineral Volunteer Fire Department the rain had let up, but we were soaked. Even worse, our shoes were soaked. We all hate soaked shoes so we decided to head over to the laundromat and stick our wet stinky shoes in the industrial dryer. While we waited for the shoes to dry we went to eat sandwiches, pizza and ice cream, and when we went back to the laundromat we found a pair of shoes mysteriously on the floor and the dryer door was open. Turns out that the shoes were pounding the door and flung it open, so Tony and I had to take turns standing against the dryer door until the shoes were all dry. And when it was all over... our shoes had shrunk. The rubber insoles shrunk at least 5 sizes, and the toes of the shoes tightened up. Our toes got numb from wearing them. But the beasts that we are, we kept pedaling like that for days. Now we are in Roanoke though, which is an actual city with bike shops, so we decided to head over to the bike shop today and get new shoes.

To get to the bike shop we took Roanoke's Greenway, which is a bicycle & walking path that cuts across the city. It is a nicely paved bike path and refreshing to ride on since Aaron and I didn't have to keep looking in our rearviewmirrors every few seconds for speeding cars. I took this picture while riding - a real action shot:

Midway through the trip to the bike shop we got off the Greenway and rode through the dilapidated part of town - downtown Roanoke's west end. Always nice to see how the other half of Roanoke lives. It is filled with vacant manufacturing buildings, empty warehouses, and soup kitchens. According to a recent article in The Roanoke Times, this area is actually going through a "revitalization" (read: gentrification) which seems to bother some of the longtime residents. The manager of a local soup kitchen says "They're not going to want us here anymore. Our people don't dress well. Some don't smell too good." One of the developers claims to disagree though: "I feel we're sharing downtown. I'm happy to have them here."

The bike shop is on the complete opposite side of town. Once we were a couple of miles away we hit some very short but steep hills through a neighborhood street. Tony and I made our way up the worst hill and waited for the others who were close behind. That's when we saw Anna suddenly, slowly, fall over ... Timber! She wasn't hurt, but her handlebar was badly bent. Luckily we were close to our desination, and luckily our destination was a bicycle repair shop.

At the Roanoke shop, called East Coasters, Anna got new extra-thick handlebars - "This way, the next times you fall your handlebar won't get bent up." Anna and I got new bike shoes, and I got a new handlebar bag. From now on when our bike shoes get wet, we'll just stuff them with dry newspapers and let them sit overnight. Supposedly that works like a charm. Aaron asked about getting a kickstand for his B.o.B. trailer, since it's so hard to park. The bike shop guy said there are no kickstands specific to the B.o.B. trailer, but the company has a suggested parking method wherein the trailer and the bike form an angle and can stand up by themselves. Unfortunately the trailer is filled over the max capacity, so it's too heavy for that. Props to Aaron for pulling that much weight! That's why we call him The Mule.

The Mule.

After the bike shop we went across the street for smoothies, wraps, and iced coffee. The iced coffee was cool because the coffee shop (The Daily Grind) saves it's brewed decaf and uses it to make ice cubes. That way when you order iced coffee the coffee ice cubes don't dilute your drink. Genius.

By now it was already 4:00pm or so. Leaving the motel at 11:30 isn't good for the schedule. We decided to go to a nearby motel on our route, about 10 miles away, and just call it a day. We basically got across town today. Doesn't sound like much but we had fun and got some necessary bike shop stuff taken care of. On the way to the motel we decided to stop off at the post office to mail home some unnecessary items - extra tubes, street shoes, an extra stove - and got caught in a downpour. After whooping out my handy dandy weather radio we found out the storm had the potential to create 60mph winds and nickel-sized hail. Luckily we were waiting under the post office awning. After the rain cleared we realized that the high winds and hail were passing around our area so we decided to pedal on to our motel 10 miles away. And on the way, after mailing home some of our extra inner tubes, Anna got the first flat of the trip! The ironing is delicious.

The ride to Salem (where our motel was located) was actually clear, crisp, sunny and extremely beautiful after the rain died down. It was a refreshing ride. When we reached the motel, we met a nice motorcycle traveler named Vinnie. Vinnie was finishing up a week-long trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's much much easier on a motorcycle, but although he was motorized, we had a lot in common and I think we were on our trips for similar reasons. We could relate. When we tell people about our trip, some people respond with "Why???" and some people instantly understand. You either get it or you don't.

Well Vinnie got it, and we talked to him for at least 30 minutes outside of the motel before checking in, retelling our tales of people falling off their bikes and such, until we realized we should book our room. He was booking a room in the same motel (we gave him a coupon out of our motel coupon book), and we were having such a great time talking to him that we invited him to join us for dinner at the Mexican restaurant next door. He split a couple of pitchers with us and then we all went to bed exhausted. Vinnie had a 500 mile motorcycle ride to Connecticut ahead of him, and we were set to bike to Christiansburg in the morning. We all needed our rest.

Some chicken mole dish.

The whole group.

Vinnie. Gotta love that goofy smile!

Day 11: Buchanan to Roanoke, VA (20 miles)

2008-06-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

After yesterday's rest day - which consisted of sitting by the pool (not in it, because it was being cleaned or something) and blogging in the sun, playing fetch with the motel border collie, watching Darma & Greg and Family Guy, and eating multiple candy bars - we woke up early and were on the road by 6:50am. One of our earliest days. That means we'll make some pretty good mileage!

Getting on the road early is good in theory. We used to want to get on the road by 6am, which would mean waking up by 5 or 5:30 for us normal bikers. Anna and Aaron, however, take 2 - 3 hours to prepare in the morning. I don't know if it's the B.O.B. trailer (Beast of Burden, aka "The Yak"), which is hard to pack and unpack, but they are slow to get ready. Tony and I can wake up late and be ready in 20 or 30 minutes depending on how much we rush. Anyway, we've decided that waking up before 6 is too difficult. Maybe it's all the TV watching at night. The motels, aside from being expensive, lend themselves to a lot of TV watching. None of us have cable TV at home, or even broadcast TV, so when relaxing in the motels we take advantage. So it's hard to wake up early. Most times we wake up between 8 and 10 and are on the road between 10 and noon. Not a great schedule. So this morning when we were on the road before 7am, we were pretty excited. But like I said, getting on the road early is good in theory, but it's actually pretty damn cold for bike riding at 7 in the morning. We put on our jackets for the first hour or so to prevent freezing.

We had a light breakfast, which means 1 banana, so we stopped at a country store for a breakfast sandwich. They had regular breakfast sandwiches, on regular bread, and breakfast biscuits which you could order with sausage or ham, egg, and cheese. My conversation with the lady at the counter went something like this:

"I'll have a biscuit sandwich, with ham, egg and cheese."

"Well do you want a biscuit or a sandwich?"

"I want a biscuit sandwich."

"A sandwich has bread. Sounds like you want a biscuit."

"Just open the biscuit and put the stuff inside of it."

Although they don't understand the nomenclature, they did make a great biscuit breakfast sandwich. With the sandwiches and chocolate milk as our fuel, we were off to Christiansburg, about 60 miles away!

On the way, we met some other cross country bicyclists. A group Brits who had SAG support (i.e. a support van following them the whole way with their gear) were riding the opposite direction. In other words, they are almost done with their trip. We can't wait for the day when we are the ones almost done with our trip, and come across a group who's just starting out. It wasn't the first time we'd heard it, but they warned us about the dogs in Kentucky. In general dogs haven't been a problem, except for one instance near Charles City, VA. Aaron went far ahead and then turned left into a dirt driveway to turn around and wait for us, but instead of stopping he suddenly started to pedal furiously towards us with 2 dogs chasing him. Luckily a truck came along and began to honk at the dogs and scared them away. Another time, we turned onto a road and saw a team of 4 or 5 dogs on the street a few hundred feet away. They were white with black spots, and from that distance Anna thought they were humongous - "They're the biggest dogs I've ever seen! I think they may be cows!" We decided to speed past them and hope for the best, and it turned out that they were the cutest little dogs you ever saw. They couldn't have been more than a year old. They made you want to just get off your bike and go pet them. Kentucky, however, has a reputation for unleashed angry dogs. We are planning to get dog spray just in case. These Brits assured us that dogs were not as much of a problem as people say... but I think we'll buy the spray just in case.

A little later we ran into another group of 4 guys who were riding cross country. They are going the same way as we are, only faster. They have an injury too, so they are taking it easy and are aiming for Christiansburg today like us.

After they left, we started to rethink our goals. We have an injury too. Anna has had a sinus infection for a few days now, and the Blue Ridge completely exhausted her. So we looked at the map and decided that Roanoke would be a good idea. We could be there by 12:30, book a room, and relax. The journey is more important than the destination, and if any of us are overworked then it just starts to feel like... well... work. So it's off to Roanoke! Only a few miles away!

In Roanoke we booked a room at the Howard Johnson (HoJo) near the Roanoke Airport. Then we rode our unloaded bikes to lunch at Red Robin for chocolate malts, burgers, and beers (both root and ale). Next to the Red Robin was a clinic where Anna received antibiotics while Tony and I napped on the grass outside. Hopefully Anna's sinuses won't get in the way of her bike riding anymore!

After our nap, we went to Wal-Mart for some groceries, biked to hotel to shower, and took a cab to the movies to watch The Incredible Hulk. After the movie was over we noticed that Get Smart was starting right away so... we had a double feature night. Then we went back to the Red Robin for dessert, where our waiter told us about his friend who was recently hit by a car while riding his bike through an intersection. This is the most common type of bicycle accident. The waiter was really interested in our trip and proceeded to tell everyone in the kitchen about it. We don't usually make it a point to tell every single person we meet about our trip, but maybe we should. Everyone we tell gets very excited about it. It's a good way to spread joy and excitement, and a great ice-breaker.

We called a cab to drive us home, but after waiting 45 minutes we decided to walk home the mile instead. Unfortunately I don't have too many pictures of this day - I guess I was having too much fun!

Day 10: Lexington, VA to Buchanan, VA (30 miles)

2008-06-26T20:10:00.000-07:00

Tony with pigtails?

Monday, June 23rd, 2008
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 (rest day)

After yesterday's long night bike riding home from a late dinner, we of course woke up late. We ate breakfast next door at the Waffle House and had some amazing waffles. I don't know what they do to those things but we couldn't stop eating them. We were on the road around noon.

Riding on country roads is fun because there is very little traffic... until you come across an accident between a tractor and a tow-truck.

Anna and Aaron have a habit of pulling over and resting in the middle of the street. This morning we pulled over on a slow country road, right before a bend, on the opposite side of the street at a little gravel driveway. While the rest of us were off the road, Anna was stopped right on the street, in the path of oncoming traffic. She didn't worry since it was a quiet country road. But suddenly a car came flying around the bend and had to swerve to avoid hitting Anna! After that scare, hopefully everyone will rest on the side of the road instead of in the middle of it.

White fluffy mystery bug.

Our original goal was to make it to Troutville or Daleville, about 40 miles away. That would leave us only 40 or so miles to go the next day to get to Christiansburg, VA. Christiansburg has been a goal of ours for a while now because it is the last city on our first map. In total, there are 12 maps that make up our cross-country trip. The first map is from Yorktown, VA to Christiansburg, VA and is 360 miles long. Our unofficial goal was to reach Christiansburg by day 7. Now we were hoping to arrive tomorrow, Tuesday, which would be the 11th day. Oh well... it's about the journey, not the destination.

Unfortunately, leaving at noon doesn't make that an easy goal. Our overall traveling speed, including breaks, is around 5 miles per hour. Not too impressive! Leaving at noon, at 5 mph, for 40 miles means we'd arrive at 8pm. To make matters worse, Anna hasn't been feeling well. She thinks she has a sinus infection, and her legs are completely worn out from the Skyline/Blueridge climbs. So, we decided that our best option would be to set our sights on Buchanan, which is almost 30 miles from Lexington. This is not the mileage we were hoping for. It's hard to plan in advance a trip of this magnitude, and if you don't keep an open mind and accept changes to your plan, you will end up disappointed. This is what happened to me this day when I realized we would only travel 30 miles. I was disappointed because it was below expectations. In hindsight, that is the wrong attitude to take on a trip like this. When this happens, adjust your expectations. If people need to rest, then so be it.

A couple of miles from Buchanan we passed by the Red Mill Bed & Breakfast. We stopped to check the price since it looked quaint and we were already there. The man who opened the door, Chip, informed us that the B & B is no longer in service, but talked with us about our trip for a very long time. He told us about Natural Bridge, which was only a couple of miles away. Natural Bridge is a bit of a tourist trap, but probably well deserved. It is a natural bridge (not just a clever name) formed over time from erosion. Thomas Jefferson liked it so much that he bought a huge plot of land containing the bridge from the British and built his home on it (we're still relatively close to Monticello). At least that's what Chip told us. We didn't visit it because we just wanted to get to the motel and call it a day.

Anna, Chip and Aaron.

People in small towns are either very nice or very bored (maybe both) because he talked with us for at least an hour and made some phone calls for us to find out if the Train Car Inn was open for the night. This is a train car that was renovated as a 1-room inn, which sounded pretty cool but unfortunately the person who runs the place was out of town. So instead we got a room at the Mountain View Motel and ate at the restaurant next door. We decided that if Anna was overworked and needed to rejuvenate, a rest day would be the best way. So, we are taking a rest day tomorrow at the Mountain View Motel. More Dharma & Greg I guess! Ironically, I have watched more TV on this trip than in the past few years combined.

Day 9: Finally the Blue Ridge! (Afton, VA to Lexington, VA - 50.5 mi)

2008-06-23T07:24:00.002-07:00

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008

This morning Tiffany and her mom drove me back to Elkton from Front Royal, VA. Since we rode for an entire day in the wrong direction from Afton to Elkton on Friday, we needed to get back to Afton ASAP so that we could actually ride the Blue Ridge Parkway. Sure, we could've ridden back, but that would have taken a whole extra day. We're on a tight schedule you know. So as it turns out, Bob, the owner of the Country View Motel in Elkton, VA was kind enough to give us a ride in his pickup, with our bikes in the back, all the way back to Afton. He's used to this sort of thing, although usually it's for Appalachian Trail hikers. Bob has a big heart, and the convenience store lady in Elkton even mentioned that some of the locals tend to take advantage of his helpful nature. It's not nice to take advantage of kindness like that, but thank God there are people like Bob in this world. This trip is about meeting people as much as bicycling, and we are all glad we met Bob.

Aaron, Anna, Bob, Dog, Tony.

Bob and the 4 of us would not all fit in his pickup truck, so Tiffany and her mom were kind enough to drive us to Afton as well, carrying myself and Tony, while Bob took Anna and Aaron. It was probably an hour and a half out of their way, so I can't thank them enough for the favor.

Tiffany & Mom.

Today's ride along the Blue Ridge was actually a bit nicer than the Skyline Drive ride. Skyline Drive had trees on both sides for most of the way, so it was like a nice ride along a country road with the occasional overlook for a view. Today was different. We could see the views of the distant hills and valleys as we rode, which helped make up for the massive hills.

Typical view while riding.

Going up a big hill, Anna fell. Again. It's not just her who keeps falling though. I've fallen once, Aaron's fallen... actually Tony's the only one who hasn't fallen yet. We should have named our blog "Legends of the Falls". It's comical watching it happen, because it's this slow-motion movement to the side, like a tree being cut down. The person falling of course is clipped in to the bike pedals and so can't put their foot down to stop it from happening, and in one smooth motion... "Timber!" Actually, this time it was less funny because the teeth on the large cog of the bike tore into Anna's calf and left a couple of gashes in her leg. Ever quick on my feet, I jumped to get my first aid kit and disinfected the wound and gave her a bandage. Disaster averted.

Right about this time, we noticed the dark storm clouds. Some of you are probably thinking "What do you guys do when it rains? Where do you go?" The simple answer is: it depends. How hard is it raining? Are there severe weather alerts? If there are no severe weather alerts (i.e. high winds, hail, tornados) we probably just keep riding, unless it's a quick-moving storm with heavy rain and there's shelter nearby. In that case we can just get under an awning or something and wait 15-20 minutes. On the Blue Ridge Parkway however, there are no awnings. There are no stores. There are just rocks and trees. There were no tornado warnings either so we just decided to ride on, and we got very lucky and only felt 2 drops of rain. Then the skies cleared up and it was smooth sailing. Disaster averted.

Dishearting view: We can see our uphill
continuing on in the distance.

Maximum Elevation: 3300 ft.

So happy to be off the Blue Ridge!

Good sign: Vesuvius only 3 steep downhill miles away.

Once we were off the Parkway, we headed for Vesuvius. We rode for 3 miles and descended over 2500 ft! It was the steepest, windiest hill we encountered up to that point. It zig-zagged so much ("switchbacks" in mountain talk) that we couldn't even go fast down the hill or we would have just flown right into the forest. We had to ride down the entire way holding down our brakes hard, and we were still going 25 mph or so. Possibly the least fun downhill I've ever ridden. I didn't take pictures of it because we were too busy clenching our teeth and holding on to our handlebars for dear life.

By the way, in the picture above, you'll notice a sign for Route 76. This is the Bikecentennial route which we are following. It was first mapped out in 1976, hence the route number, and only the state of Virginia has signs along the length of the entire route within the state. Hopefully the other states on our route will follow suit someday. Speaking as a Marylander, I'm growing to love Virginia more and more everyday.

We decided to shoot for Lexington, VA, which we thought was 20 mostly downhill miles after the Blue Ridge. Not true. We still encountered monster hills into the city, which were very unwelcome after the hills earlier in the day. We finally arrived at the Super 8 in Lexington around 6:30pm, completely exhausted. After showering, we for some reason decided to ride our bikes (unloaded) out to Main Street 2 miles away to a restaurant called the Southern Inn. Everyone in town raved about it. It turned out to be a delicious restaurant, but if I had to do it over again I wouldn't have ridden the 4 miles roundtrip. Anna and Aaron loaded the restaurant info into the GPS, and then the GPS led us on a big 1 mile loop ending right back at our motel (whaaaaaaa???). Turns out you don't need a GPS to find Main Street in a small town. Then, after dodging rain earlier in the day, we end up getting wet on the way to dinner after checking in to our motel. Then after a huge meal, we had to get back on our bikes at 9:15pm and ride back the 2 miles.
In the dark.
In the rain.
Not fun.
Lesson learned.

From now on, suck it up and go to the Waffle House or whatever is next to your motel.

Day 8: Rest Day in Elkton, VA

2008-06-23T07:24:00.001-07:00

Saturday, June 21st, 2008

After yesterday's Blue Ridge fiasco, we decided to take a rest day. Anna, Aaron, and Tony spent the day in Elkton, VA - the fried chicken joint was having a huge barbecue with a pig roast today. I am the photographer of the group, so there are no pictures of their day. Oh wait, there is one from the morning before I left:

Candid shot.

I went to the wedding of Tiffany's sister Teresa. Tiffany's brother-in-law (not the groom... her other brother-in-law) was kind enough to pick me up in the morning. It was a very nice outdoor wedding at the house of the groom's father. Open bar, mountain view, the whole nine yards. It's not really bike-trip related so I won't go into too much detail about it in this blog, but I think this picture sums up the experience for me:

I had a good time.

Day 7: The Blue Ridge Fiasco (Afton, VA to Elkton, VA - 45.4 mi)

2008-06-23T07:22:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 20th, 2008

Yesterday at Chile's Peach Orchard in Crozet, we bought buttermilk pancake mix (just add water!) and blackberry syrup.
We paired that with the Cookie Lady's generously stocked pantry to make a delicious breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, orange juice and milk. That was just the kind of sustenance we needed to make the Blue Ridge climb (well, except maybe the bacon, but you only live once). So after that hearty breakfast, we prepared for our journey. Anna and I used our Trans-America map to finally write out some cue sheets for our ride. Couple that with our GPS and we were guaranteed some smooth navigation.

The first climb was brutal. And that was just to get into the parkway. You know, I've always wondered what the difference is between Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. To my mind they always seem to be used somewhat interchangeably. Oh well. Whatever!

The pictures of the hills don't really do the place justice. It's hard to tell, but in the picture above, Tony is finishing a long, slow uphill climb. This was taken in the morning, so his legs were still fresh. Soon they'll be on fire. We expect to climb above 3000 ft this day. Although it was difficult, it was a great bike riding because the air was crisp, the sun was shining, and the scenery was spectacular.

On our ride we saw a young black bear (although I could only get a fuzzy picture), and we stopped plenty of times to take in the view and smell the roses. This trip is more about the journey than the destination... we just have to keep telling ourselves that.

These hills were pretty steep, but more than anything they were long. We would climb uphill non-stop for what felt like 10 minutes at a time or more, although in my delirium I lost track of time and I could be totally wrong about that figure. Every time we would go around a curve we would see the uphill continuing, mocking us, but when you have the eye of the tiger nothing can bring you down. We continued undeterred. And every so often we would see a sign for an overlook with an elevation marker and our confidence would boost. Soon we would be above 3000 ft!

Let's do it to it!

Oddly enough, we never saw a sign for an overlook that was above 3000 ft. Disappointing, since a picture of it would have been nice for this blog. And strange, because our topographical map clearly showed us going above 3000 ft at least 3 times, and as high as 3300 ft at one point. Even by the time we had ridden over 30 miles on the parkway, still no sign of us being above 3000 ft.

I wish we hadn't gone the wrong way.

30 miles?!? We were only supposed to be on the parkway for 28 miles! Why hasn't there been an exit yet? Did we ... ? Could we've ... ?

Yep! We went the wrong way!

Earlier in the morning we reached a T-intersection. To the left the sign said "Visitor Center", and to the right the sign said "Skyline Drive". What's the difference between Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway anyway? Who knows, but we sure didn't want to go to some Visitor Center, so we took a right and paid the $8 entrance fee. How come our map didn't mention an entrance fee?

4 minds, a detailed map, hand-written cue sheets and a GPS just weren't enough. If we had looked at our map or cue sheets carefully, we would have seen them indicate a left at the T-intersection, south towards the Blue Ridge Parkway. Instead, we went north on Skyline Drive. So that's the difference!

By the time we figured all of this out it was nearing 5:00pm. Turning around wasn't an option, since it had taken us all day to get to where we were. The GPS was telling us that Elkton was just 12 miles further north as the crow flies, but it's hard to get motivated when you know you're going in the wrong direction on hilly terrain, and every yard you pedal will have to be pedaled back the next day. We considered camping illicitly on a patch of grass at an overlook, although water would be tight because Aaron and Anna sucked all of theirs up earlier in the day. Only Tony and I had any left. We hadn't had dinner either, and as I said before, this kind of cycling just begs for calories.

Pasta-face.

It was getting cold by this time, but we put our jackets on and kept pedaling the remaining miles. Finally we came to the exit off of Skyline Drive towards Elkton. Funny how a long day's climb of 3000 ft can be so quickly undone by one 3 mile downhill, and it's hard to enjoy when there are cars speeding past you. At around 6:45pm we made it to Elkton, VA, about 50 miles south of Front Royal, and booked a room at the Country View Motel for $45. After a day like this, we just wanted to shower, eat, and relax.

Worn-out at the Country View Motel, Elkton, VA.

The owner, Bob, ordered us some fried chicken from the nearby convenience store, which turned out to be some of the best fried chicken I've ever had! And as it turned out, my girlfriend Tiffany's sister's wedding was the next day, Saturday June 21st, in Front Royal, VA - just 50 miles away! I didn't think I was going to be able to make it there, but with this simple twist of fate I decided to call Tiffany and have her pick me up the next morning before the wedding. We all decided to take a well-deserved rest day.

This bicycle tour has been a metaphor for life. You have your ups, you have your downs. It's hard, but you keep pedaling. And it's about the journey more than the destination. Trite but true, and we have really been learning the meaning of these sayings on this trip.

Day 6: The Cookie Lady (Charlottesville to Afton, VA - 27.8 mi)

2008-06-23T07:21:00.000-07:00

By special request, for Kinsey:

Ride now, ride now! Ride to Afton! Suddenly Aaron cried to the Randonee and the bike sprang away. Behind him his bike shorts blew in the wind, a brown horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his castle, but he was ever before them. Guillermo rode there on his trek, the white horsetail on his helm floating in this speed, but Tony could not be overtaken.

Behold! Trees of cherry sprang from the soil of Corzet! nourishing the battle-stricken warriors as the sun dried the clothes dripping from their metal steeds.

Crossing the hills of Corzet, Curry mountain awaited the riders. Back and forth, the steep and winding road was unforgiving and never-ending, but with a fire in their veins, their legs push them towards the Manor of the Cookie Lady. And then all the host burst into song, and they sang as they flew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City of Afton.

After continental breakfast and some Dharma & Greg at the Charlottesville Budget Inn (we're really roughing it), we didn't get on the road until 10:30 or so. We stopped at the local Harris Teeter grocery store to buy provisions, i.e. pasta, cans of olives, sundried tomatoes, hot sauce, etc. You need some spice in your life.

The ride this morning was pleasant, although it was cloudy at times. Our goal was to get to Afton, to the home of the Cookie Lady, which is only a 28 mile bike ride away. We made this our goal despite the short distance because, for one thing, Afton comes right before the Blue Ridge climb, which has some of the steepest and longest hills on our trip. Also, the Cookie Lady has been hosting bikers at her house since 1976, when the Trans-America trail first opened. If we're going cross-country, we may as well stop there and become part of the tradition. So Afton it is.

In the middle of the ride we came upon an unexpected but pleasant surprise. Chile's Peach Orchard in Crozet, VA, believe it or not, had some of the best soft serve ice cream we've ever had! The vanilla had the perfect consistency and flavor, and the chocolate had tiny speckles of real chocolate in it. We ordered it in Sundae form, with fresh peaches and whipped cream.
On the recommendation of one of the employees, we then went out to pick fresh cherries which are in season this time of year. All in all, we spent at least an hour and a half at this place, but since our destination was so close, we didn't sweat it. The Cookie Lady was just 10 miles and one big hill away.

After leaving the orchard, we were on our way to the famed Cookie Lady's house. Things got progessively hillier, and all we knew was that she lived at the top of a steep hill, and after each hill we climbed we expected to see her house. After a steep, but short, hill, we stopped in front of someone's house wondering whether that was it. But there was no sign, no indication of either cookies or a lady. So we continued to climb. Then we hit a hill steeper than any other, and it curved, but after going around the bend, instead of flattening out as we expected, it just kept going up. And it kept curving. And after every curve, instead of flattening out as we expected it just kept going up. This went on for quite a while, and as we reached the top, winded and exhausted, we surely expected to see the Cookie Lady's house. Nope! Nothing but an antique store! So we called June Curry, the Cookie Lady, and asked her for directions. "We're near the antique store," we said. She didn't sound like she knew what we were talking about, which was scary because that meant we weren't too close. Luckily it turned out she was just old and either didn't hear us correctly or just plumb forgot about the antique store! She lived next door.

Unfortunately June Curry is very old now, 87 actually, and she had a stroke a few years back, so she isn't in top form. She is still sweet though, and buys groceries (yes, including cookies) for all of the bikers. She has a small brick house next door to her own which she calls The Bike House, and that is where all of the bikers stay when they spend the night. It has 5 rooms, and outdoor shower (cold water!), a kitchen fully stocked with dishes and food, and all sorts of bicycle memorabilia dating back to 1976. You can imagine the catalog of stories she has stored in her mind about bikers and the town she lives in. Well, she talked our ear off for a good 45 minutes about Crozet's railroad, and what it was like to date back in the olden days ("You and your date would go to church together because that's really all there is to do here in Afton.") Ms. Curry lives alone, and it's understandable that she just needs an ear every once in a while.

She was born in 1921 in the house she now calls The Bike House, and has lived there almost all her life. She was married and had a child, but her husband left her and she moved back with her father and uncle into the house she grew up in. She was living with her father in her 50's the first time they saw bicyclists pedaling up their hill. "We were suspicious at first. We had heard about all of the motorcycle gangs, and we thought 'Oh dear, they must've taken to bicycles too!" They gave them water, and before the first group was done drinking another group came up the hill and was waiting in line. They put up a sign which read "Water For Bikers" and they kept it going ever since. "Let me tell you something about bicyclists: When I had my stroke a few years ago, the doctor said I could go home after 10 days on the condition that I have a 24 hour nurse. The cheapest I could find was $10 per hour, which I couldn't afford on my $300/mo social security check. When the Adventure Cycling Association found out, they posted a bulletin on the internet and received donations from bicyclists from all over the world! People who had come and stayed at my house over the past 30 years! I received enough to pay for a nurse for the next full year. It wasn't friends or family, just bicyclists. You guys are a part of my family whether you know it or not."

Outside the bike house.

Tony says: "I am the walrus."

After a dinner of angel hair pasta with sundried tomatoes, olives and canned chicken, and of course some cookies and milk, we went to sleep so we could tackle the Blue Ridge Parkway....

Day 5: Louisa, VA to Charlottesville, VA (61 miles)

2008-06-19T05:05:00.000-07:00

Today we departed the Rebel Motel with a small breakfast of Honey Bunches of Oats. We are documenting what we eat because food is such an important part of our trip. Riding our bike 6 hours we burn 3500-4000 calories! So we have to eat at least twice as much as normal. Luckily we are all foodies, but it's hard to stuff our faces so much. We eat whilst riding. We are virtual eating machines. A day hasn't passed where we didn't eat ice cream. We originally planned to eat Snickers dipped in Nutella on this trip, but that hasn't materialized yet, not sure why. We have eaten a gross amount of Andy Capp Hot Fries though.

Our rest stop in Louisa was actually 6 miles out of the way, so we backtracked those 6 miles in the morning back to Mineral, VA. We were up early... on the road by 6:50. Actually, it was pretty damn chilly in the morning. On this day the cars were driving faster than normal past us. This was true for the entire day. On one road, while we were pulled over for a break, a lady slowed down next to us and told us to watch out on this road: "This one's a baddie!" It's true that the cars were driving fast and there was no shoulder, but we're pretty used to this treatment now. No fear. I think we're prepared to ride on virtually any road now. City, rural, even interstate. In fact, the interstate may even be safer. Cars on rural roads drive as fast as on the Interstates, and at least the interstate has a wide shoulder.

The first half of the trip was kind to us. While going up a hill, an enormous bug flew into Aaron's open mouth and into his throat. We could hear him coughing it up from a distance. I took the picture of the bug on my camera's "Cuisine" setting. I (Guillermo) fell when trying to get going after a rest break. These bikes, fully loaded, weigh almost 100 lbs or so. They take some getting used to. The weight shifted unexpectedly and I fell over with my feet clipped in to the pedals. Embarrassing! Not as bad as later in the day though. The second half of the trip was much hillier than the first, and Anna sometimes struggles with the hills. Especially when tired. She actually fell over to the LEFT while going up a hill, while a car was driving behind her. Luckily the car was going very very slowly while waiting for a chance to go around her. Still though, it was scary. That sort of thing is an anomaly though, so don't worry too much. Our legs get stronger every day.

On our way to Charlottesville we passed Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, and the incredibly overshadowed Ash Lawn, home of James Monroe. We didn't go into either of them because we were too focused on getting to Charlottesville. Besides, the hill up to the entrance of Monticello was KILLER, and there was a very windy hill at the entrance to visit the place. We were in no condition to go up that hill (think Lombard St, but worse). Anna and Tony were almost crying from the hills, and we hadn't even hit the hill into Charlottesville proper. That one caught us by surprise. Charlottesville is very VERY hilly, and the entrance hill was the worst of the trip. It makes the Mormon Temple hill in DC near my mom's house look like a mole hill. Our thighs were on FIRE after that one, and Anna had to walk up it, bless her soul. It's good training though, because in 2 days we will be crossing the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Blue Ridge might be the worst hills of the trip - worse than the Rockies! One hill in particular makes the Charlottesville hill look like a speed bump. I want my mommy.

Tony says: "Remember the Titans."

Over a late lunch at an Italian restaurant in the outside Charlottesville mall, a very butch lady walked up to us with a menacing look saying "Are you those bikers who were riding on the road near Monticello earlier today?!?!" She sounded menacing, and could probably take on any of us. We all thought she was a driver who was going to bitch us out for riding on the road. Turns out she was one of the bicyclists who passed by us. She commended us for climbing that hill with loaded bikes, and said she used us for inspiration. "When I was going up that hill, all I thought about was 'At least I'm not carrying all of those bags.'" She's an experienced cyclist who's biked through many states, but never a cross-country trip. She recommended SportsLeg, a pill you take to "increase your lactic acid threshold." Supposed to reduce leg burn on those monstrous hills. I think that recommendation will go the way of Anti-Monkey Butt. That one was recommended to me by an ex-coworker for the inevitable chafing we will experience. It's not that it was a bad recommendation, it's just that it's a powder, and I don't really want the cottage cheese build-up in my nether-regions on a hot sweaty day. We ride commando under those bike shorts you know.

Tonight we stayed at the Budget Inn, next to UVa. It was $70 for a double room. Cheaper and much nicer than the Rebel Motel, which cost $100 out in bumfuck nowhere. Maybe they charge so much there because they know the drug dealers can afford it.

Tomorrow we ride 40 or so miles to Afton, VA. We hope to stay with the Cookie Lady. She's an 85 year old lady named June Curry who has been hosting cyclists at her house for 30 years, since this Trans-America trail opened in 1976. She lives at the top of a monstrous hill, and she puts out ice water and bakes cookies for the bicyclists who make it up. She even lets people stay over her house if they need to. She's a Trans-Am institution and we are excited about meeting her.

Days 1-4: Tales From The Rebel Motel (Yorktown to Louisa, Days 1-4)

2008-06-17T16:53:00.000-07:00

We are sitting in Room 107; A dingy room in a dingy motel. The Rebel Motel, in Louisa, Virginia. On the TV: hippos spraying dung. On the bed: planning tomorrow's trip to Charlottesville. On the laptop: finally creating this blog.

We've ridden for the past 3 days, and today we're taking a break to rest our sore thighs. And our sore calves. And our sore buttocks. Tony rubbed BenGay on his. Aaron finally revealed to us today that he decided to pack his laptop, and now we will reveal to you what has happened to us so far on our journey across the US.

DAY 1: Yorktown, VA to Charles City, VA (48 miles)
DAY 2: Charles City, VA to Mechanicsville, VA (38 miles)
DAY 3: Mechanicsville, VA to Mineral, VA (66 miles)
DAY 4: REST DAY in Louisa, VA (6 miles)

Our trip began on Saturday June 14th in Yorktown, VA, one of the corners of the Colonial Triangle - along with Jamestown and Williamsburg - on the Virginia coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Our goal is Astoria, Oregon, 4250 miles away. We planned on waking at 5am, breaking camp and eating breakfast with Anna and Guillermo's mom and Guillermo's girlfriend Tiffany - both of whom drove us down to Yorktown and camped with us to see us off (thanks again!) - and then pedaling off by 7:30 or so. In general we plan on being on the road by 6am to take advantage of the cooler temps, and to avoid the afternoon thunderstorms. Let's just say that hasn't worked out so far. Packing and preparing the bikes has taken much MUCH longer to do than anticipated. We awoke at 6am the first day and were on the road by 10am. It's not a great start, but it's a start.

We planned on dipping our tires in the Atlantic, and upon arriving in Oregon dipping our tires in the Pacific. However, our bikes were so heavy (Anna can barely lift it onto the curb) that we decided to just roll them onto the pier, above the Atlantic, and start from there. Close enough for jazz! We pedaled up the road approximately 0.2 mile and were lost for the first (not last) time on the trip. We decided to make a left to Rte 17, but when we got there we promptly found ourselves staring at the Atlantic again. We turned around.

We followed the Colonial Parkway towards Williamsburg. It's a very pretty road made of exposed aggregate pebbles, giving it a more rustic feel. A wide road with overhanging trees. Perfect for biking. We made so many stops though, that after 3 hours, we had only biked about 1.5. The other hour and a half was spent stopping, drinking water, looking at the map, waiting for the others to catch up, or eating hot goo. Logistically we still had many things to learn.

Lesson 1: always stay 2 or 3 steps ahead on the map. Sounds obvious enough, but we had to learn it.

Lesson 2: inform the others of the next 2 or 3 steps on the map. Some of the more physically prepared of us like to bike ahead without knowing the next turn, and end up waiting on the side of the road for the others to catch up.

Lesson 3: when stopping for, say, a quick picture, tell the others to keep riding and just catch up with them in a minute. Otherwise it precipitates a full-on 20 minute break. That's why our time was spent bicyclying only 50% of the time.

Lesson 4: set a reasonable mileage goal for the day. We hoped to make it to Ashland the first day, 80 miles away. After 45 miles we decided to stop in Charles City. Charles City is not so much a city as it is a gas station and general store. I think this will be a theme of the trip, since we are biking through rural America.

Lesson 5: plan where you will sleep early in the day, or even the night before. At the general store that is Charles City, we were trying to find a place to camp or a room to rent. Luckily, Mary Lou Gillam, who works at the general store, used to run a Bed & Breakfast out of her house and accomodated many cyclists. She offered to let us camp in her big, horsefly-ridden backyard. Sounds good!

At the camp in Charles City, we ate Mac & Cheese with tuna and showered using Mary Lou's garden hose. Mary Lou came out to greet us while Aaron was showering and caught an eyeful of Aaron (she told us later we could come back any time we wanted). Tiffany met us that evening to camp with us one last time, so we had company again which was nice. Then, we noticed the sky turn grey so we set up our tents as quickly as possible. Just in time too!

In the morning we packed up and said goodbye. Anna and Aaron woke up at 5am and were done packing by 9:45. They decided they were carrying too much weight so they looked through their stuff for things they could send back with Tiffany. It involved unpacking each individual item, rating it from 1-10 on the value scale, then packing it up again. They gave her two mini-notebooks to send home.

We rode and rode, stopping at a gas station to fill up. We had Hot Fries, Slushies, and Snickers. That was enough to get us near Mechanicsville, but we lost steam at that point. We had biked only 35 or so miles but the Mac & Cheese with tuna from the night before proved to be insufficient sustenance. Biking for hours a day requires many MANY calories. So, we stopped in Mechanicsville, which is not even as far as Ashland (our original Day 1 goal), ate hot wings and chicken burgers and booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express. At the Wal-Mart, Tony suggested we buy a gallon of neopolitan ice cream. "We can eat as much as we want, and then throw away the rest!" And we did.

Long bike ride make Anna hungy.

Our Firestation Camp.

Unpacking and repacking every item.

Monday morning we got an earlier start. Our goal was to make it to Mineral, VA, about 60 miles away. For the first time on the trip, we achieved our goal! We passed through Bumpass, VA along the way (rhymes with "compass").
We stayed the night at the Mineral Volunteer Fire Department. They are used to cyclists coming through, and they let us camp outside and use their amenities. Very nice people. They have a journal for bicyclists to write entries, and Guillermo and Tony took the liberty of describing the trip from Mechanicsville to Mineral in their over-dramatic fashion:

After this exhausting day, we decided to take a rest day on day 4. The nearest motel was in Louisa, VA, 6 miles away. That is where we are now. Funny, our first day without a shower is today, on a rest day in a motel. Not because we're too tired or anything. The motel is just that dingy. The bathroom lights and the vacancy sign both flicker, and a sketchy Oldsmobile circles the parking lot. We can live without a shower for a day...