05

05.10.07 - And it Begins!!!

Hello!!!



The day I've been planning for over a year has finally arrived! As you read this, I'm currently on

my way from Boston, MA to Orange, CT. The weather looks great; there may only be a few

showers or thunderstorms. Hopefully it will remain that way.



The first part of the trip will take 3 days, and I'll check in with you then. If you see a tent on the

side of the road - it's probably me.



Talk to you later,

Ray









05.12.07 - Days 1-3

What a start! All I can say is that if the rest of the trip is anything like these first few days, then

I'm in for one heck of an adventure. Here's how the first few days went:





Day 1: Boston, MA -> Woodstock, CT (Mile 56)

Weather: Sunny, 85 degrees



From the trial run I did a month and a half ago, I knew that this would be a challenging day.

Moderate hills started about 28 miles from the city. I quickly determined that the training I'd

done over the past few weeks had paid off as I was able to cover the same ground more quickly

and efficiently.



It was a hot day - at least 85 degrees - and I drank about 5-6 liters of water. In Webster, MA, I

was simply amazed when a woman, who asked where I was going, offered to buy me dinner. I

thanked her greatly but decided to lay low at the local pizza shop (I don't think many restaurants

are going to want a stinky kid in there anyway).



So dinner was at Apollo Pizza, run by a man named Greg. While he was cooking up my dinner

he asked where I was going. Apparently I was the second person in as many days to leave for

CA. The man before me was a firefighter named Mike. He's staying at all fire houses and helping

raise money for burn victims. You may recall the terrible fire at the RI nightclub; a co-owner of

the club is also supporting his trip. You can donate to this great cause and follow along with him

at http://feeltheburn2007.blogspot.com/.

That night I set up my tent along Route 197 in Woodstock, CT. It got very buggy in a hurry and

smelled like farm. Note to self - buy bug spray. It was a hot night and only around 2am did I hop

into my sleeping bag.





Day 2: Woodstock, CT -> Bloomfield, CT (Mile 113)

Weather: AM Rain, PM Sun, 82 degrees



While snoozing through my cell phone's alarm (a favorite past-time of mine), I got a call at 6:30

in the morning. It turned out to be my Cousin Dee. She heard I was in the area and met me half

way to her home. To my surprise, I got a nice care package with egg sandwiches, brownie bites,

and a soda. This was a great way to start the morning, especially since I had the most difficult

hills ahead of me in North Woodstock and Union, CT. I plowed through them during brief

periods of downpours by 11:15.



At 12:15, I ate at the Stafford House of Pizza, in Stafford Springs. What a great place!! I had

dined there before and the food was amazing. After half a sandwich, I was on my way to meet up

with my friends from South Windsor, Llerone and James.



Around 3:30 we met in a parking lot while I finished the other half of the sandwich. I had to use

the bathroom so I saw two people outside a door and asked if they wouldn't mind letting me in.

Apparently I was at a CT institution for children with emotional disorders, so they were a little

weirded out that I was around the area. Still, I got to go inside and take care of business.



15 miles later, I was in a parking lot looking at my maps for a decent place to camp when a man

approached me and asked if I needed a place to stay. Hesitant at first, I said sure, contacted my

mother so she could do a quick check on him, and it turned out he was an incredibly hospitable

guy. Joe C. worked on an oil rig, church steeples, and radio/cell towers for a living. He let me

shower, gave me dinner, and we even played a game of chess. He's originally from Maine, and I

must say, one of the best hosts I could ask for. He told me of his younger days when he would

hitchhike across the country, one time going from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Florida - in 3 days! He

setup a cot for me in the upstairs, and there I slept.





Day 3: Bloomfield, CT -> Orange, CT (Mile 164)

Weather: Sunny, 68 degrees



Joe cooked me a delicious pancake and egg breakfast to start the morning, AND I found a new

pair of sun glasses across the street at the mini-mart - I knew the day was going to be great. After

a few tweaks to the bike from the previous day's rain, I was on my way.



Around 9:15am, I was in New Britain, and my route brought me right through the start of the

Connecticut Race in the Park Survivor Breakfast. Fortunately, the cops let me through and I kept

ahead of the runners until getting off the course. There were a few hills on the way to my Aunt

and Uncle's in Southington, but I was able to blow through them easily. I stopped for lunch, saw

my cousin and uncle, then left for home.

Around 4:30, I rolled up my driveway to find that my whole family and many of my friends were

waiting for me, cheering me on. What a surprise!! Everyone knew for weeks that this was

happening, and I had no idea. I want to thank my parents, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles,

cousins, neighbors, relatives, teachers, friends, scouts, and everyone in between for coming. It

was a great end to the first leg of the trip.



We celebrated by eating a ton of food, talking about the trip, and taking tons of photos. I've

gotten another mention in the Local Paper, the Amity Observer (Thanks Terri!). May 10 Article -

- May 12 Article.



It's now just after midnight, and I need to get some rest. I'm leaving tomorrow around noon for

Stamford, CT. If you see me in the area, give a few honks on the horn. See ya tomorrow.







05.13.07 - Day 4

Day 4: Orange, CT -> Stamford, CT (Mile 203)

Weather: Sunny, 73 degrees



Well, today was the day my parents were dreading - we had to say goodbye until California. (my

mother did not like this year's Mother's Day gift). However, it was another great day to be on the

road. The trip was relatively short and I made up for some lost time at home while doing some

last minute prep.



When I was in Fairfield someone honked their horn as they came by me. I couldn't tell if they

were waiving or giving me the finger because their window was up and the sun was reflecting

off it. The roads were pretty flat and I breezed through the day in 4 hours and 45 minutes.



From Norwalk to Stamford I rode with a man named Jimmy. He followed along with me while

we chatted about school, biking, and other random stuff.



I arrived to have dinner with Tim. Diane from NU also came down and we all had

chinese/japanese. Personally, I set a record for most food eaten: 2 shrimp rolls, 6 chicken wings,

and an entire order of sweet and sour chicken. Thanks for the dinner Tim!



Tomorrow is going to be a looong day - 72 miles through NYC and into northern NJ to visit my

Aunt, her mother, and my Uncle. That's all for now -- the trip has been very pleasant thus far.









05.14.07 - Day 5

Day 5: Stamford, CT -> Morris Plains, NJ (Mile 280)

Weather: Sunny, 70 degrees



1 day, 3 states -- that's definitely a good feeling. It also means I was able to experience 3

different kinds of drivers. Let's recap quick: CT drivers were friendly in the Northeast and central

areas, most were reasonable in the south west region, NY drivers were OK - although everyone

looked pissed off with smug looks on their faces. Finally, NJ drivers thus far have been

TERRIBLE at SHARING THE ROAD. In their defense, some of the roads did not have any

shoulder. However, drivers still deemed it necessary to pass me with 2 feet of space on the side

when there was no oncoming traffic. Or they thought it was a good idea to try and pass while

traffic was in the other lane. STUPID! Where's the fire, folks?



OK, so I had a little trouble in NY with the directions. One was my fault missing a turn and the

other was the state's fault because the bike path was under construction and their detour signs

were lacking.



Key times: Left CT @ 7:30, Entered NY @ 8:30, Entered NJ @ 12:45, Arrived in Morris Plains

@ 6:30pm.



I guess it's a good thing I crossed the GWB early - apparently there was a truck fire that shut

down the bridge. Who knows if it was crossable via bike/walk path.



During lunch, I was checking the upcoming route... all of the sudden a dog was poking its head

in my lap. He was a beautiful Golden Retriever - just like our dog, Dusty, was (only Dusty was a

girl). The owner offered his home to me for the night, but today I had a destination.



I'm at my Aunt and Uncle's right now and just had an awesome dinner (4 fajitas!) and watched

24. It was a long 70+ mile day, so I'm beat - aka: gonna go to bed. I'm currently on schedule to

arrive in Philly on the 16th and will be watching the Philly's game that night. So I'll see if there's

time to check in then. Otherwise, I'll talk to you in DC/Baltimore... Stay classy folks.









05.17.07 - Days 6, 7 and half of 8

Day 6: Morris Plains, NJ -> Washington Crossing, NJ (Mile 335)

Weather: Sunny & Hot, 80-85 degrees



First off, I feel as though I rubbed my uncle the wrong way with my last blog entry saying that

NJ drivers were awful. Let me clarify (after spending a second day in the state), NJ drivers in

ESSEX county are awful. In Morris and other counties, they proved themselves to me and gave

plenty of room to travel.



It was a hot one and to complicate matters, I've now gotten full-blown poison ivy/oak/sumac

(one or all of them), all along my ankles. I think I caught it on day 1 when I camped out in

Woodstock, CT.



Additionally, Spring is in full swing and the tree pollen keeps getting into my eyes, forcing me to

stop and rub them like crazy. I've doubled up on my allergy meds, but I think I may get eye

drops.



The landscape was very pretty; there were lots of open farms and clear hills. At one point, I

thought a school was evacuating because there were about 12 school busses in a row that went in

the other direction of me.



The last 5 miles of this ~50 mile day I spent riding with Ralph. He crossed the country 2 years

ago and followed a mostly northern track (Washington -> NY). As I've heard all along, the AT

was the worst part, so I'm really starting to dread Virginia and Kentucky. He didn't have any

camping gear (used hotels/motels), and he was able to finish the trip in 58 days biking, 72 total.



I ate dinner at Faherty's along the Delaware River. There I was fortunate enough to sit next to a

wonderful couple, Tom and Bella. They are locals of the area, and we chatted during the dinner

about my trip and a number of other topics. At the end of their meal they told the waiter to put

my dinner on their tab - totally unexpected, but incredibly refreshing and appreciated. Thanks

again!



It's unbelievable how nice some people are once you start to talk to them and get to know them. I

hope everyone who reads this will remember that not everyone is a psycho we read and hear

about in the news, so it's OK to talk to strangers (using your judgment, of course). Sometimes it

takes a random situation or life journey to open people up. Other times, we are lucky enough to

find those who are more open than ourselves. I'm starting to ramble, but the point I want to bring

across is to say hello or smile every now and then - you never know what stories the other person

may have.



After dinner, I set up camp along the Delaware in Washington Cross State Park. Not sure if I'm

allowed to even camp here, but nobody bothered me and I didn't make a mess. It was a hot night,

but eventually I crawled into my sleeping bag.







Day 7: Washington Crossing, NJ -> Philadelphia, PA (Mile 375)

Weather: Sunny & Hot, 80-85 degrees, evening Thunderstorms & Heavy rain



I knew rain was coming, and when I awoke today, I thought it was starting. Instead, it turned out

to be sap from the trees above falling on my tent. The ants found the sap quickly and I had to

shake out the tent's fly multiple times to get rid of them.



The first thing I noticed about Pennsylvania roads is that a little over half of them have a big

shoulder/bike lane. Most of the roads have a "Share the Road" sign every couple miles. The

drivers were mostly courteous, but when needed, defensive biking was performed. (Defensive

biking = me taking up an entire lane so cars and trucks cannot pass until I shift over when I feel

safe). Believe it or not - defensive biking works great!



About 20 miles out of the city I stopped at South Philly Bagels, and got myself a Philly steak and

cheese. Mmmm it was good. Coming into the city it smelled like that also.... until I reached the

city limits. I've never been to Philly before - only really drove through the area on I-95 - but let

me tell you, that place needs some SERIOUS help. For mile after sketchy mile, I rode through

endless slums and run down suburbs.



It was unbelievable that some people could live in such an awful place. I truly feel bad for them

and the city should be doing something to rebuild those places. OK, so here's what it looked like

(for those with good imaginations, such as myself): take a bunch of streets, put connected 2 story

apartments all along them, have 3 hurricanes, one earthquake, and 50 years come through there...

do nothing to repair the place... then put the people back. Yea... it was that bad.



So half way through the rundown outskirts, I had to put on my rain gear because the storm

clouds were coming. With only 30 minutes left on my bike ride, all hell broke loose from the

skies and rain just dumped on everything for a solid 15 minutes. I kept going because it was

refreshing but also because I did not want to stop where I was.



The rain went from insane to steady for a few more hours and I made my way to Citizen's Bank

Park to watch the Phillies play the Brewers on my first of 11 baseball park tour. Thanks to

Becky's dad for driving me both ways!



The game was delayed by about an hour, but that was fine because they played one gem of a

game. The Phillies' starter, Cole Hamels, pitched 6 perfect innings before giving up a walk and

then a HR in the 7th. He ended up going 8 innings and struck out 10 batters. It was great! The

park was amazing, too. All the sports complexes are within a 2 mile radius outside of the

downtown area. The 76'ers, Flyers, Eagles, and Phillies... anyone else left out?



Tonight I am sleeping at Becky's dad's house - Becky is from NUHOC at Northeastern. Thanks

for the hospitality and inflate-a-bed! My poison ivy was killing me and I couldn't fall asleep for

an hour. Need to get some medicine tomorrow. I’m only going to get 4-5 hours of sleep, so

tomorrow will be a short day. Plus, my knee is starting to hurt again... so no need to rush and get

injured again.





Day 8: Philadelphia, PA -> ??? (Mile 400+)

Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 70 degrees



The rain from last night really helped to cool off everything and all the pollen is gone for now. I

stopped to get some lotion for my poison ivy and a knee brace for my left leg. Also, I got some

eye drops -- so I'm freshened up and ready to go.



Right now, I'm at the Aston, PA public library and just about ready to head out of here. I may

stop somewhere in Delaware or go through to Maryland. The terrain is going to mimic the AT

shortly (up, down, up, down), but on a smaller scale, of course. The more I get done, the better,

but I'm gonna take it easy before calling it a day.



I should be able to write again when in Washington, DC. I'm deciding if I want to stop in

Baltimore along the way to visit my friend Rob, but I'll make that decision when I get there. Bye

for now!







05.20.07 - Days 8 (second half), 9, and 10

Well, the first leg of the trip is complete! I've made it to Washington, DC and am staying with

my friend Margarita. For the next 4 days, I'll be sight-seeing our Nation's Capital and Baltimore.

Plans include seeing the monuments, historic buildings, tasting some great local food, and

watching the Nationals and Orioles baseball games. Tomorrow afternoon, I'll head up to

Baltimore to stay with my buddy, Rob, who biked cross country last year.



Day 8: Philadelphia, PA -> White Clay Creek State Park in Newark, DE (Mile 425)

Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 70 degrees



After leaving the library, I continued on my way towards Delaware. The hills were slow and lazy

-- smaller than in MA and CT, but frequent ups and downs. I reached the PA/DE border around

1:30 or 2:00 and took some pictures of a one lane bridge that crossed a small stream/river. As I

was standing around, a man stopped his car and starting chatting with me.



He hiked the AT around 1998/1999 and offered me a place to stay. I thanked him for the offer

but told him I wanted to go farther for the day. He told me about the area before leaving;

apparently, the hills just over the border were owned by the 4th generation DuPont family

member. One thing I notice about most of the Northeast is all the 'Private Property' and 'No

Trespassing' signs. I guess they don't want random bikers staying on their property.



So onward, I biked, up and down more rolling hills. By day 4, my legs were already screaming at

me, however at this point, my legs just wanted to quit - hence the short day today. My knee was

feeling better with the brace on it, so that was good.



I got to the top of another hill to finally figure out why there were so many signs keeping me off

the land. Gunshots! Yup, I biked right through a gun club's shooting grounds and when I arrived,

they were skeet shooting. My father used to do that, so I called him and let him listen in for a bit.



As the day was ending, I took a look at my maps and decided it would be a good idea to stay in

the White Clay Creek State Park - I mean, they must have camping, right? Well, I arrived there

and just like in the Washington Crossing State Park, the sign said closed at Dusk. Great....

another night to hide out in the tent.



I got there around 5 or 6pm and there was a pretty large group of people having a cook out and

playing softball. Turns out they were from the University of Delaware's Graduate school (the

history department, specifically), and this was their annual outing to cap off the school year.

Congrats to the recent graduates there! I met, Jon (a 20th century business history professor) and

some students: Veronica (who brought me a hamburger - awesome!), Andy, Shannon, Michelle,

and Dan.



After, I spoke with a local man named Dan, who was letting his 5 kids enjoy themselves on the

playground. He (and the UD folks) told me to watch out for the ranger since the park closes at

night. And so I set up shop and waited.... the ranger came around 9pm but he didn't find me.

Great!





Day 9: White Clay Creek State Park in Newark, DE -> Gunpowder Falls State Park in

Kingsville, MD (Mile 488)

Weather: Mostly Cloudy & Cool, 65 degrees



My alarm went off at 5:30am - snoozed - 6:30am - snoozed again. 8am came by and there was a

knock on my tent: the park ranger found me! We chatted for a while and he wanted to know

what I was doing. After I explained myself, he said that he was going to give me a warning, but

that was pretty much just a formality - so he was pretty nice about it.



After packing up and taking a long time to get moving, I left around 10:30 and then entered

Maryland. The back roads, where I entered the state, lacked signage - which was alright because

I had maps, but it would have helped and been nice. I guess MD likes to only put one sign per

intersection and they didn't have the signs I needed.



In Rising Sun, MD, someone drove by and yelled "sidewalk" to me. Let me pause for a second: I

cannot hear 95% of what you people yell out your windows, and it does not help matters that

when you yell it, you're whizzing by me. So if you want to say something, STOP and say it.

Additionally, for those of you not familiar with the law, bikes ride ON THE ROAD and WITH

TRAFFIC. Even if there is a sidewalk, it is not meant for bikes (hence the WALK in

SIDEWALK). Additionally, try riding your bike on a sidewalk for a few miles and you'll quickly

realize that your ass is a delicate piece of real estate and after 30 miles of biking, you can feel

every bump and hump in the road. So basically, I would love to chat with all these passers by

and let them know what's up, but everyone speeds away.



Another "big man" move occurred the other day when I stopped on a narrow road because my

phone rang. Some cars had to wait for passing traffic, then as they passed, one guy laid on his

horn as he drove away - yea, you're a real tough guy..... but this is only the far and few between.

99% of all the drivers have been really respectful of me and made the ride easy on the nerves.



Later in the day, I crossed the Conowingo dam in.... Conowingo! The word Conowingo means

"at the falls" - so now you know.



So as the day wound down, I approached Gunpowder Falls State Park. Margarita and Matt were

deciding if they wanted to join me at the Falls for camping. See, the website said there was

camping, so my hopes were up, and I was excited to have camping partners. Turns out the

website was wrong (or the park was huge and I was in the wrong part). Either way, I couldn't

find camping, and I decided to not get caught by the ranger, so camping in a parking lot was plan

B.



The parking lot was adjacent to the Timber Creek Tavern Restaurant. They had some GREAT

dinner deals - I ended up paying 18 bucks for a side salad, 1/2 a pound of steamed shrimp, a 14oz

steak, baked potato and Sam Adams beer! A few cars drove by my tent, but there were no issues

for the night.





Day 10: Gunpowder Falls State Park in Kingsville, MD -> Washington, DC (Mile 555)

Weather: AM Sun, PM clouds (40/45 degrees in the AM, 70/75 degrees in the PM)



It was a cold start to the day, but the sun was up and shining promptly at 7am. I had to dry out

the tent from the morning dew, then was on my way. Trying to find the "camping" yesterday

caused me to go a little bit off course, but I was back on the right road within 8-10 miles. I ended

up riding through Joppa, MD (and going down Joppa St) to get back on track. In Russian, Joppa

means "ass", so I don't think there are any Russians living in Ass, MD especially on Ass Street.



Most of the roads were downhill, which was great because my legs are beyond tired and worn

down. In Baltimore, I stopped to have some snacks and watched some kids practice before a

baseball game. I miss the days of playing baseball, even though I was an awful batter.



Around 1, I was getting hungry again and decided to stop at a local restaurant (it wasn't really a

restaurant - more of a hot dog shack on wheels), but it was really good. I'm learning that the local

places are better and more personable than the major food chains. I ate chicken, fries and a 32 oz

lemonade. The owner of Jessup County Restaurant, Matt, gave me a turkey sandwich and chips

for the road (which was delicious!).



I gotta give props to the Maryland DOT website for putting the Baltimore -> DC cue sheets

online. The route was very clearly marked (although I made a brief, but 4-5 mile mistake on one

of the bike paths). The BWI bike trail was really cool because it brings your by the BWI Airport.

The roads were pretty calm which made the ride easier too.



By 5pm, I was in Washington, DC and so happy to finally get a break. For the next few days, I'll

be exploring and watching baseball games. Then it's off to Virginia, where I'm expecting to be

there for at least 2 weeks as I start my trek through the Appalachian Trail into Kentucky.









05.22.07 - Days 11 & 12

No miles traveled on bike - resting until Thursday morning, but here are some thoughts on the

Baltimore/DC area touring...



After arriving Saturday evening at Margarita's, we went out to a local bar because her friend's

band was playing. It was an alternative/indie rock band and the guitarist she knew was rocking

out big time as he played (very high energy).





On Sunday, we walked around her neighborhood, got some breakfast at a local place, then

headed to the National's game. The stadium, which is also used for their soccer team, was pretty

nice and entirely enclosed. Half way through the game we got ice cream and tried to get better

seats, but even in the decent sections, they booted us from the area. So we went back to the upper

deck sections, but were able to sit behind home plate (vs. right field where we started). The Nats

came from behind in the 8th and scored 3 runs to win it in the end, 4-3.



Margarita then took me to the monuments along "the Mall", the strip of land where all the

monuments, museums, and memorials (3M) are located. We walked around and took pictures at

the monuments and memorials the rest of the day. An interesting note about the Washington

Memorial - if you look closely, you can see there are two different color stones (it changes about

a 1/3 of the way up). Like many government projects, either funding was under budgeted or the

quarry where they got the stone ran out, but they had to change where they got their materials

from hence the color difference. Kinda funny, if you ask me.



It's very weird to wake up early. It's only been 10 days, but my body does not allow me to sleep

much past 8 or 8:30 anymore. On Monday we went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural

History & Science. There were more exhibits there than you could even imagine. It's all free (aka

government funded), and it quickly filled up with school kids (as far away as West Virginia). In

the afternoon, I went to the Air and Space Museum - again, there were tons of displays and it

was unbelievable how much detail went into the entire production. They had original Apollo

space craft (such as the landing module that was used to re-enter earth's atmosphere) hanging all

over the place. I'm not sure if I changed buildings without knowing, but they also had a section

with a lot of other famous random articles, such as: Lincoln's hat, Edison's light bulb, the original

R2-D2 and C-3PO from Star Wars, a Babe Ruth signed baseball, Ray Charles' sunglasses, and

the Seinfeld infamous "Puffy" shirt.



After grabbing a bite to eat, I took the MARC train up to Baltimore and met up with Rob, who

biked cross country last year. I met a bunch of his friends and they brought over ingredients for

home made ice cream. We played Apple to Apples, then went to a local bar which is wedged in

between the local college campus. I slept on his couch and will be exploring Baltimore

tomorrow, as well as seeing the game. Talk to ya later.







05.22.07 - Day 13 (10)

Still recovering from the previous 10 days of biking, I decided to stroll around Baltimore. I saw

the Washington Monument, the waterfront (amazing), the downtown district, Camden Yards

(home of the Baltimore Orioles), and the Lexington Market.



Lexington Market was by far the coolest part of the city. From the outside it looks like any other

giant commercialized business, but inside is an entirely different story. There are dozens of small

20-25 foot stands where individuals sell everything from fruits & vegetables to fish and meat.

Most of the stores were selling food and it was cheap too! I got 3 giant scoops of ice cream and a

32 oz lemonade for 4 bucks!



Afterwards, Rob & I met up and he took me to REI so I could get a couple more things that

would be helpful for the trip. Then we met up at Nora-Mora's where Rob cooked a delicious

pasta dinner along with garlic bread. He also showed me how to open a beer with another beer - I

gotta work on that after finishing the trip.



We went to the O's game and my lucky streak ended as they lost. So that puts my Win-Loss

record at 2-1. Since they lost and I still had another day off, they decided to show me around to

some of the local bars which was fun. Baltimore: Surprisingly Interesting... Eff Yeah!







05.23.07 - Day 14 (10)

I said farewell to my gracious host, Rob, and came back to DC. Got my bike tuned up, a tire tube

changed, and ate some dinner with Margarita (after a lengthy debate on where to dine). My

second pair of sunglasses broke, so that sucks, but I suppose that's what you get for 5 bucks.

Hittin' the road tomorrow...







05.24.07 - Day 15 (11)

Washington, DC -> Montclair, VA (Mile 620)

Weather: Sunny & Hot, 85-90 degrees



I left DC around 9am and said my final farewells to major civilization and my awesome hosts,

Margarita & Matt. I took the scenic trail down to the Arlington Memorial Bridge. Of course, the

trail was "closed" but that didn't stop me from going down there anyway - honestly, just do your

road work on seasonal trails in the WINTER. Turns out they were changing a light bulb or

something dumb so I'm glad I was a rebel and disobeyed the closed sign. HAHAHAHAHAHAH

TAKE THAT DC!



A few miles after entering DC, the trail brought me near the Washington National Airport where

I watched some planes land for a little bit - they were so low and I am fascinated with planes, so

it was a match made in heaven.

I had a late lunch at a Safeway around 11:15am. The trail I took was called the Mt. Vernon Trail

and here's my observation about the signage - really good one both halves, but where they

connect, there is nothing to guide you. As was the case with most of my trip thus far.



The trail ended after 25 miles or so, and I rolled onto the roads and through a Military Base.

Around 2 or so I had to stop at 7-11 because it was just too hot and I could tell I was overheating.

Once it cooled a bit, I continued biking and stopped at a Wendy's to eat a bit and get some food

for later.



As I was setting up my tent that evening (on the side of the road), the owner of the property saw

me and said I could stay on his lawn off the road - that was cool. I rode farther than average

mileage, so that was good.







05.25.07 - Day 16 (12)

Montclair, VA -> Lake Anna State Park in Lake Anna, VA (Mile 685)

Weather: Hot, Humid & Sunny, 88-93 degrees



I got a good start to the day and was on the road by 8:30am. By 12:30 I made it to Wal-Mart to

rest from the intense heat. I left around 4pm when it FINALLY got cool enough to bike without

pouring sweat. The roads were bike friendly up until Dale City where the shoulder just went

away all together. The drivers are mostly courteous but I think because of the holiday weekend

they were all cracked up and one guy tried to pass when another car was coming from the other

direction. Needless to say I flipped out on the guy (aka had to slam my fist on his hood) for him

to back off. I think he got the point



So more defensive biking was performed in order to not get run off the road. At one point, I

stopped to drink some water and someone driving by stopped to see if I needed help - that was

very nice.



A few random thoughts on people, society, and other crap I think about while being alone:



#1 - Stopping at a red light in the left turn lane, this woman (passenger) said to the driver to roll

the windows up and move ahead -like I was going to rob them or something with my 80 pound

bike & backpack. So, I played into her stereotype and crept forward, staring her down. Am I a

jerk? Maybe...



#2 - While resting outside Wal-Mart, I start to notice just how many morbidly obese people there

are - how is this possible? Well, let me tell you: it takes a bike trip to figure it out. When

stopping at a mini-mart or small grocery store, I try to find bananas or granola bars. This turns

out to be some kind of cruel scavenger hunt, as all I see are the shelves loaded with ho-ho's,

glazed pork bellies, and cheese-filled hotdogs. No wonder! No places actually sell anything

healthy! And if you haven't started noticing yet, even water is being corrupted by

gatorade/coke/pepsi with propel and vitamin water. Why do we need sugar in water? It's the fact

that if we want healthy food, we need a map to find it - that's why we are getting bigger and

bigger. When will it end????



#3 - Again, sitting by Wal-Mart, I see a girl about my age come out and her friend drive up to her

cart. She unloads all her stuff into the car, then throws her empty drink cup in the shopping cart.

WTF!!! The garbage can was no more than 10 feet away. How obnoxious and lazy can we be?



#4 - Smoking. Maybe our parent's generation was lied to, our grandparents were DEFINITELY

lied to - but OUR generation knows that smoking is one of the worst things we can do to our

bodies. Yet, everywhere I go, I see people smoking of all ages - more so as I go farther south. At

this point, I was pissed off about society and decided it was time to leave.



Camping at Lake Anna State Park was 1) incredibly too expensive for just a guy and his bike

($25!!!), 2) overcrowded with non-campers - aka RV's and 3) about 2 miles farther than the signs

read. However, they did have a shower, so I got the chance to rinse off and hand wash some

clothes. I also built a fire and cooked a sandwich I bought.



Biking towards the camp ground I saw an owl fly right in front of me and that was pretty cool.

All-in-all, it was a mixed bag of a day.









05.26.07 - Day 17 (13)

Lake Anna, VA -> Cunningham, VA (Mile 745)

Weather: Hot & Humid, 90 degrees



The minute the sun is up, you can feel the heat - it is intense. I kept chugging along eagerly

awaiting my arrival at bike route 76 (the TransAmerican Trail, established in 1976). I finally got

there at noon. It was exciting, but quickly I realized that shelter was needed as it was again hot

and sticky.



I rested in Mineral, VA @ this pizza place where I was one slice short of finishing the whole

thing. Then I passed out and woke up 45 minutes later. It looked like it was going to rain, but

nothing happened.



Later on I met my first dog. In Virginia, it's popular to not leash or fence your dog up (I was

warned about this), so the dogs run into the road and right up to the bike. They aren't going to

bite you, but instead, you need to be sure that they don't get run over. This one did not (but it was

close).



The TransAm maps are easy to follow, which is nice. For Memorial Day, some locals in the

boonies have decided to listen to classic rock without shirts and their butt-cracks hanging out.

Exciting!



I met Chris from Kent's Store, VA who ran the local grocery. He was a nice guy, and I would

recommend stopping there if you get the chance.



Nothing else really happened and I found a place to camp off the main road - it was a road with a

number of un-developed lots so nobody went by during the night.









05.27.07 - Day 18 (14)

Cunningham, VA -> Afton, VA (Mile 794)

Weather: AM Clouds, Sun, Thunderstorm @ 1:30pm, Sun & Humid, 85-90 degrees



The weather is making the trip slow and annoying. I decided to re-arrange some items on the

bike rack in order to make my backpack less lopsided. I arrived in Charlottesville and had lunch

at a local cafe. Because there was no place to charge my phone, etc. I relocated to a gas

station/subway. While resting there, a thunderstorm came through and it poured for 45 minutes.



As quickly as the storm came, it left and the sun was back out. I continued towards Afton and

followed some railroad tracks. I arrived to a crossing just as the gate went down so I gave a

salute to the conductor and waited for the 75 cars to go by.



I've gotten a second round of poison ivy and it's a bit worse than the first round. I must have

gotten it at Lake Anna. Typically the last 2 miles of the day are "cool down" for me. But today,

they were death and they were steep and up windy roads.



I finally reached the end point and it turned out to be June Curry's, aka the "cookie lady". The

sign on her door read "Bike House Closed due to illness". That was a bummer. Luckily, some

friends of hers saw me and they talked to June who said I could stay the night. The house was

unbelievable (so much history) - you'll just have to wait for the photos. June told me some

interesting stories from her years tending to the home, and they were all incredible.



I went to bed after reading many of the articles and notes all over the house.







05.28.07 - Day 19 (15)

Afton, VA -> Mallard Duck Campground in ???, VA (Mile 837)

Weather: Warm on the hills, Very Humid in the valley, 80-85 degrees

I had planned on resting today, but felt good enough to continue, so I climbed the Blue Ridge

mountain and spend the majority of the day on the ridgeline. It took about 2.5 hours to reach the

summit and then the elevation ranged from 2,600-3,400 feet. I took a bunch of photos, but the

weather has been so humid lately, they aren't that great.



A cold front came through, but no rain. It cooled off and I was excited... until the decent into the

valley. It was more humid than I'd ever felt before - like a rain forest. Traveling down Rt. 56, I

laid on my brakes for the better part of 3 miles.



After finding the camp ground, I set up shop and a number of trains went by all night. Perhaps

I'll stay in a motel tomorrow as I'm starting to smell like a shaggy dog. Maybe this is why

cavemen clubbed women in the era of no showers. Also, ladies, the only clubs you can go to here

are rifle clubs. Sadly, you won't be dancing unless someone is shooting at your feet.







05.29.07 - Day 20 (16)

Mallard Duck Campground -> Troutville, VA (Mile 892)

Weather: Hot, Humid & Sunny - what a surprise



The hills were mostly rolling. I met some cyclists (who just finished biking 4 stages), Jim &

Nadale, who gave me some homemade energy bars and were excited to hear about the trip and

the TransAm trail. They were awesome people to run into.



Not much to say: when I go in my lowest gear, it sounds like a roller coaster going up the tracks.

The road and RR crisscross each other a handful of times, seems like they should have decided to

build on one side or the other.



By evening, I was in Troutville and got some groceries @ the local store. While sitting there, the

park manager approached me and showed me where to camp for the night. Both places had me

sign a record book.



It was another night of camping by RR tracks and the trains kept coming all night.







05.30.07 - Day 21 (17)

Troutville, VA -> Christiansburg, VA (Mile 942)

Weather: AM Sun & Humid, PM Thunderstorm then more sun



In the morning, I was woken up by not just the sun, but another effing train and about 12 dogs

that wouldn't stop barking. Was I next to a kennel? Hmmm...



I finally found a post office that was open, bought some stamps and sent some mail. My poison

whatever was blistering so I gave it a few hours to drain as I poked around to see what was up.



Yesterday I bought some Faviators - aka fake aviator sunglasses, pair #3. Let's see how long

these last. I had to do this because the bugs are everywhere and they were getting in my eyes.

Fun!



I got to Christiansburg and finally decided it was time to stay at a Howard Johnson Inn and

shower. 7 days without a shower - good smells all around. Tired and passing out after calling a

few friends.









05.31.07 - Day 22 (17)

A rest day. Got some food, did some laundry, updated the blog. Nice.



Some fellow bikers, also heading West on the TransAm are staying at a local campground. It

cost them 20 bucks, so I think I'm gonna camp illegally again because I learned my lesson after

Lake Anna. (aka Lake Ripoff).



Hopefully I catch up with this couple (they are riding a tandem bike, which is awesome), as they

are averaging about 60 miles a day.



Not much else to say. I'm 170 miles from Kentucky and far less from the mountains in western

Virginia. I'll try to write again soon, but it may be a while.



Thank you to EVERYONE who has commented and read my blog. It means a lot to me and I'm

loving the feedback! I wish I had more time to write and check emails, but they keep kicking me

off computers. (30 min limit). Talk to you soon!







05.31.07 - Day 22 (18) What, what?

Christiansburg, VA -> Radford, VA (Mile 955)



So I said I'd be resting... which I did for the majority of the day. However, after talking to Greg

and Sue (the couple also riding E->W), they said the campgrounds they were staying at (where I

planned to stay) cost $20.

Forget that! I learned my lesson with Lake Anna S.P. and decided to hit the road and find a nook

off the side of the road. Of course, every square mile is marked as "private property" but I could

honestly care less. As far as I see it, if the cops actually decided to bug me and arrest me, I'd have

a secure, dry place to stay anyway! Win-win!



So I ended up biking 13 miles to Radford, stopping at the R&R market, talked to Casey & Sam. I

ended up hanging out until they closed the store at 9, since my location was not really hidden.

With the protection of darkness, I setup camp and got a surprise visit from Casey and her friend

Brandon (she brought him because she thought I might be a sketchy serial killer - funny how

those thoughts work both ways in society.. haha).









06.01.07 - Day 23 (19) - Over 1,000 Miles

Biked!!!

Radford, VA -> Elizabeth Brown Memorial Park in Wytheville, VA (Mile 1,007)

Weather: Cool in AM (52 degrees), Warm in PM (85 degrees), PM T-Storm

Noticing a pattern with the weather? It's getting to be too predictable.



So I woke up at 5:30am because I did not want any visitors once it got light out and I was visible

from the street.



I went to the R&R market again where they cooked up 3 ham, egg & cheese sandwiches.



I'm not feeling very well: my stomach is upset, my allergies are out of control, and my body is

achy - this cannot be good. However, it looks like operation poison ivy was successful in that I

got it to stop spreading and blistering.



Events for the day:



1) Stopped in Newbern for a water, but ended up staying for an hour and a half talking to some

locals, including the store owner, J.W. He was celebrating his 55th anniversary, congrats! He

showed me that he could still ride a bike as he took his wheels for a spin around the parking lot

for a lap. That was a great town and I enjoyed talking and listening to the guys there.



2) Arrived at a local truck stop, aired out my sleeping bag (didn't dry it long enough yesterday,

so it was damp), and ended up sleeping/resting/eating lunch for 3 hours. Greg & Sue caught up

to me and then left before me. I planned to (and did) meet them at the end of the day.



3) Biked through Max Meadows... high school must have just gotten out because kids were

yelling at me from their cars and stoops. I even think that someone was shooting a BB/pellet gun

at me because at one point I heard a couple of faint pops and then heard something small whiz

by. Needless to say, I did not stop there for anything.



About 5 miles from the day's destination, I stopped at a church to take cover from the daily

afternoon downpour. 45 minutes later, back on the road.



Casey offered to show me around Dublin and Blacksburg (Virginia Tech) as well as meet her

friends, and it was a fun time. I'll tell you the one thing I miss the most about Boston, or the

Northeast for that matter: NON-SMOKING. It seems like everyone smokes down here and I'm

not used to it. It also doesn't help that I'm already coughing up a lung due to my illness. I guess

I'll try to get a prescription tomorrow.









06.02.07 - Day 24 (20)

Wytheville, VA -> Troutdale, VA (Mile 1,039)

Weather: Cool and Cloudy, 70 degrees



Finally a break in the weather! I got to a pharmacy and bought some Sudafed. Then I called my

Dr. back home to see if they could give me something, but of course, they were reluctant to

prescribe anything over the phone. I'll just keep riding and get more sick, so when I finally can't

stand or see straight, they can get a legitimate mouth-full from me. I can't imagine how someone

would use a Z-pack (5 days of antibiotics) in a harmful way, but ok....



Anyway, as I was sitting outside the pharmacy, one of the women working there said they had

some leftover pancakes from their breakfast and gave me some! That's the kind of thing that can

make any illness go away for 5 minutes of the day.



Yesterday was the start of going up the Appalachian mountain range, and this morning I started

at around 2,000 feet. Most of the 32 mile ride today was uphill or flat, but the hills were not

rolling or very steep like some of the roads leading up to this point.



In other words, while it was a slow day, it was not too exhausting. I stopped at Jerry's Kitchen

for some food and to use their laptop! This place is great and definitely biker/hiker friendly.

There are a TON of Appalachian Trail hikers coming through here right now. I'm going to stay

in a hostel (church) just up the street for a number of reasons: 1) the ride tomorrow will be

mostly downhill for about 20-25 miles and 2) being higher up should result in easier breathing.

It's so hot & humid in the valleys, might as well stay with some other adventurers and take it

easy.



Nothing else too crazy happened or is happening. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to bike 70+ miles

and finish off the mountains in Virginia. If all goes well, I should be in Kentucky in just a day or

two from tomorrow. Talk to you all later!

06.02.07 - Day 24 (20) continued

I forgot to mention a few things:



1) As I was shaking out the tent's fly in the AM, it caught on a nail or something and ripped...

total bummer. However, I've had this amazing good luck string going and one of the hikers in

Troutdale knew the store had a patch kit - problem solved!



2) After leaving the kitchen and heading for bed, I felt awful because I woke up in the middle of

the night and had a cough attack. Definitely woke everyone in my room up. One of the girls gave

me some meds including a sedative, which helped me get through the rest of the night. I did,

however, sleep outside so any other coughs would not disturb anyone else too much.



It rained lightly on and off for the rest of the night.







06.03.07 - Day 25 (21)

Troutdale, VA -> Rosedale, VA (Mile 1,099)

Weather: AM Rain, PM Sun - Cool (69 degrees)



In the morning, one of the AT hikers brought me some pancakes and biscuits. They were

incredibly nice (especially considering the fact that my coughing kept half of them up at night).



It was raining steadily, but I decided that moving forward was the only option since my sickness

was going to be there no matter where I went.



It was a moderate uphill for 6-8 miles, and then an amazing downhill for about 15 miles. This

brought me into Damascus for some food and warming up. A note about my "rain gear": either I

sweat a lot while wearing it, or they aren't really water-proof... more like water resistant for the

first 15 minutes. Needless to say, I get soaked regardless of what I wear and how I wear it.



But that was ok because it was like taking a shower. I had food at "In the Country" restaurant,

and was deciding how much farther to go. It has been the toughest part of the trip just because of

battling the cold/severe allergies.



To my surprise, the storm broke and the sun came out. So I decided it was time to move on. No

more than half a mile down the road, I'm being yelled at from a porch. Larry, from Damascus,

called me over to his home as he does all the hikers and bikers. He had a phone with unlimited

long distance, so I had a chance to call my parents since my cell has no service.



We ended up chatting until 4PM when "Baltimore Jack" showed up with some food and 2 other

hikers. Everyone tried to get me to stay the night, but I feel as though I've fallen a bit behind

schedule, so onward I pressed.



In Hayter's Gap, there lied my final major challenge: a 1,500 ft climb in about 3 miles. As I ate

as many energy bars and drinks as I could (thanks to the AT hikers from the night before and

Jim/Nadal for the gu & energy bars), I could hear a preacher yelling like a mad-man inside one

of the hundreds of churches I've seen in this state. I really though about going in to see what he

was saying.. but decided that there wasn't much time (aka didn't want to stick out like a sore

thumb in the wrong place).



Anyway, 45 minutes in the lowest gear, I only needed to stop twice to conquer the mountain. It

was now reaching dusk, and I started down the long hill. During a part of the 30+mph decent,

some fast cat-like animal ran down the road, then off into the woods. I kept going..... maybe

faster than before... who knows!



Tonight, I'm at the Elk Ridge United Methodist Church. Pastor Paul told me to make myself at

home, which was great, and I signed the log books (which has become a routine now). Had to

use my satellite phone once again - 2 days with no cell service. I guess it did come in handy, and

my parents were happy to hear from me.









06.04.07 - Day 26 (22)

Rosedale, VA -> Ashcamp, KENTUCKY! (Mile 1,158)

Weather: Mostly Cloudy & Cool, 75 degrees



The poison ivy is finally dead & scabbing over, my allergies have been given a rest due to the

nicer weather, and my legs feel good.



I left the church and headed for Kentucky. As I was going by a park, a bunch of people were

waiving at me to come down. So I did, naturally. I was greeted by Logan, who seemed to be the

school representative (or at least should be). He told me that today was their school's park day

and graduation was only a few days away. He, along with Cindy and "Hess" brought me over to

the picnic area where a hot dog and hamburger were waiting for me. Unbelievably nice is how I

would describe everyone from this town.



While having lunch, I was entertained with endless stories from the above individuals as well as

Code and "T-wad". I was also given a sneak peak into the world of "grove street" - the local beat

boxing group. I've got some videos which will go up eventually. Try searching for them on

youTube until then.



Sadly, I had to move forward and continue on Rt 80. AKA THE DEATH TRAP FROM HELL.

They warned me that it would be rough, but I have seen a lot of road already so I just shrugged it

off at the time. Oh no! This road was by far the worst I've traveled on for the whole trip. It's as

narrow a road as you can have, with no shoulders, and coal trucks barreling at you at speeds

upwards of 45 mph. To top it all off, the roads curve constantly, so there's really no way to tell

what's in front of you until you're right on it.



The last town in Virginia was Breaks, or as the locals called it, "the breaks". The hill was nothing

to sneeze at and it finally broke downward into Kentucky. 6:30pm - out of Virginia!



There was a hotel that wanted 30 bucks, but I'm no longer willing to pay more than 20 for any

place that has a shower. The guy in charge told me about a bridge that people camp under often.

AKA don't go there. I try not to listen to the locals as much as possible since I've had a very low

success rate with any of their advice.



So I ended up camping under some power lines just off route in a open field area. But it was

concealed enough that I would not be seen.







06.05.07 - Day 27 (23)

Ashcamp, KY -> Hindman, KY (Mile 1,215)

Weather: Clouds, Rain, Sun in the AM, Rain in the PM - Cool



I biked about 15 miles before stopping due to some rain. Going from town to town means going

up a huge hill, then down it, then flat for 7 miles before repeating.



Paul, from Hidden Treasures Furniture, brought me a bottle of water and explained how top

down mining works. Essentially you destroy a mountain and level the area for coal. We need to

focus on ALTERNATIVE ENERGY before we run out of EARTH. I've learned quickly that

Man versus Nature always results in Nature winning.



After leaving, the weather was playing jokes on me by pretending to rain, then getting hot, only

to look like rain again. So I fought with the rain clothes a couple times before saying "screw it",

only to have it rain steadily in the afternoon. Typical... haha.



I bumped into 3 guys riding together but left them figuring they would catch up since they have

road bikes and less gear. I never did see them that day, but biked into the evening during the rain

since it felt good and just seemed to make sense.



Arriving at the Knott County Historical Society, David Ray Smith welcomed me by offering a

warm shower and laundry service. I was very happy I'd gone this far since I was soaked and

starting to get cold.



While watching over his 6 kittens, he told me about all the kind of animals out in the woods,

which basically scared me more than ever at this point. Mountain lions, bears, foxes, snakes,

raccoons, and anything else you can think of - that's what was waiting for me in the hills out

there and down the roads. It started to get late, so I said goodnight and naturally walked out to

the tent that was setup (with all the animals waiting for me... haha).







06.06.07 - Day 28 (24)

Hindman, KY -> Booneville, KY (Mile 1,287)

Weather: Mostly Sunny, Pleasant ~80 degrees



I got a late start due to chatting more with David and having to backtrack a bit to get some food

before leaving town. I also ended up stopping at a gas station to make some phone calls also.



More fun times on Rt. 80 including having to fix my chain and clean it since that wasn't done for

the past 400 miles or so.



The 3 bikers found me once again and we stopped at Wal-Mart to get some supplies and actually

chat this time. They were trying to do about 70 miles a day, while I try to do 55. So eventually,

they will be long gone.



I'm surprised Wal-Mart doesn't have a church inside it down here, people seem to love it so

much. And apparently in Texas, not only is there Super Wal-Mart, but Super Target! Amazing. It

was too bad that Wal-Mart didn't have more cold beverages (or a gallon of cold water, instead of

20 oz bottles).



I left the guys again, thinking they'd catch up to my by Barea by tomorrow. I made it to

Booneville by dusk and my body was hurting as I was pushing hard to make it by dark. Arriving

at the Presbyterian Church, there was a sign saying make yourself at home and let others on the

trail know to do the same. This I did, while washing up and talking to the 'rents. Finally, I set up

the tent and went to bed. A thick fog rolled in.







06.07.07 - Day 29 (25)

Booneville, KY -> Barea, KY (Mile 1,349)

Weather: Hot & Sunny - 90 degrees



Today was a tough day. Not only did it get insanely hot the second the sun came up, but my bike

is now in all kinds of trouble. A spoke broke sometime yesterday, and I decided to change out a

piece of cable housing for my rear derailleur. However, the cable was frayed and I frayed a new

cable because I don't have the right cable cutter.

Fortunately, I walked to a gas station and was able to find someone with the right tool and barely

got the cable replaced.



Of course, leaving my stuff by itself for 5 minutes turned out to be hilarious, as mother nature

decided to whip up some winds and blow half of it all over the field I stayed in. So after

retrieving the tent from the 2 foot tall grass, I was able to get everything under control and pack

up.



I decided that the morning was shot and it was too hot to ride, so I went to the public library to

upload some photos and write to the blog.



In the afternoon, I made the decision to bike, even though I knew it would be dark by the time I

got to my destination that evening. Rather than staying put and losing a day, I made the final

push to Barea, KY and ended up finding a whole bunch of places to eat and hang out during the

night.



Sleeping? I don't think so. I spent a better part of the evening talking on the phone by Wal-Mart's

loading dock and eventually slept for a few hours under the stars.







06.08.07 - Day 30 (26)

Barea, KY -> Springfield, KY (Mile 1,430)

Weather: AM Sun, then clouds, then Thunderstorms... PM Sun, 85 degrees



Today was a long day. It was incredibly windy in the morning and this was capped off by a few

severe thunderstorms mixed in. The first came through and I got some food in a gas station

(yum). Then it seemed as if things were going to clear so I left.



Nope! I took a quick video (to be added after the trip) of these storm clouds that literally grew in

front of me. The winds started whipping over 40 mph and I had to stop biking because I was

almost blown over. The storm surged through and then it cleared, the winds stopped, and the sun

came out.



After the storm, I was able to bike much easier (not to mention the roads are starting to flatten

out). Every now and then, there would be a hill, but nothing like I had experienced the previous

2-3 weeks.



Today was an 81 mile day and looking back on it, I feel very much in shape and not too tired.

Tonight I camped out in Idle-Hour Park by a baseball field. It was an eventless night and I plan

to get the bike fixed tomorrow.

06.09.07 - Day 31 (27)

Springfield, KY -> Sonora, KY (Mile 1,494)

Weather: Mostly Sunny but not too humid, 85 degrees



So much for the bike shop! Turns out it closed down. Now I won't have anything until

Carbondale which is almost 200 miles from here. My rear wheel is very wobbly and I feel as

though every mile is destroying the parts.



It was a rough morning, but that was countered by a very pleasant afternoon for a number of

reasons. First, the riding is getting easier because there are prevailing tail winds. Second, I had an

amazing lunch! Probably the best lunch of the trip.



Whenever I go off the TransAm route, good things seem to happen. Lunch was the same case. I

found a Chili's, which was amazing considering I've been eating gas station food for the past few

weeks (it's actually not that bad, but the food did kinda suck for a while).



I was greeted by Crystal, who knew I wanted multiple glasses of water. I ordered some fajitas

and she recommended corn on the cob. I don't know what they put in it, or perhaps it was the fact

that I had not had real food in a while, but it might have been the best corn (and meal) I've had

this whole trip.



Crystal and I chatted a few times when she had downtime and she told me about her recent

graduation from WKU (congrats and good luck teaching!) as well as helping her mother with

some painting. As I left, she filled my nalgene with more ice water and that was great because

the rest of the afternoon was hot hot hot.



I stopped a few times to take pictures of cool things like a frog in the road, a turtle in the road,

and a cool mail box post. Tomorrow I'm crossing into Central Time! For the evening, a tall order

of rogue camping was in order and while I thought the local dogs would find me, I turned out to

be OK.







06.10.07 - Day 32 (28)

Sonora, KY -> Utica, KY (Mile 1,592)

Weather: Sunny, 85 degrees



What a great day. More tail winds = 98 miles biked! At the time change, I met a W->E biker

named Susan. She lives in Cambridge, MA and started in San Fran, so that was cool that we

were each doing the same route but in opposite directions.

Obviously, I'm now on Central Time as well. By the afternoon (3 or 4pm), I stopped in

Whitesville to get some food. I ended up meeting 2 bikers (Aaron & JJ) who were going W->E.

They were brothers and all of us chatted with each other and some local folks who were

interested in hearing about our adventures.



It was these guys who gave me a great time-saving tip (which is great because my bike is

crying). Instead of following the prescribed route, they said to take 56, Alt 41, 56 out of Sebree

and follow it to Carbondale (becomes Rt 13 @ IL border). It saves ~50 miles and does not go

over any major hills. I will definitely be doing this.



As we stood outside, getting ready to go, a made came up to us on a recumbent bike named

Dave. He was riding across country to help raise money for Andrew and the McDonough

Family. Andrew has been diagnosed with leukemia at age 14. His blood type is B+. There are

websites setup for Andrew's support and Dave's ride. I encourage everyone to visit them.



Tonight I am resting at the Utica fire department and sleeping indoors.







06.11.07 - Day 33 (28)

Rest Day - Utica, KY



I slept in until 10:30, got some food, chatted with Bill, a W->E biker for an hour. He started out

of San Diego and was getting ready for the hills of the Appalachians. After, I decided to nap

from 1:30-3:30.



When I came downstairs, I found another biker had stopped who was planning to stay the

evening. His name was Warren. As we were chatting, 3 more bikers showed up. These were the

3 girls that I had been hearing about.



I didn't think I would catch up to them, but they were doing shorter days (30-40/day), so I guess

it made sense that we bumped paths. At this point, I decided that it would be better to spend

another night where I was and with people, rather than in solitude.



It turned out to be a fun time as we had popcorn, watched some TV, and mostly chatted about all

kinds of things. It was my first full rest day since leaving DC, so I guess it was a good thing to

do.









06.12.07 - Day 34 (29)

Utica, KY -> Harrisburg, ILLINOIS! (Mile 1,682)

Weather: Sunny & Warm, 88 degrees



I want to thank Brad and Sherie for hosting me and Greg from Shawnee Cycle for fixing my

bike!



What an amazing day.... simply unexpected but I have met some of the kindest people in the

world.



To any other TransAm'ers or bikers in the Harrisburg area, Greg will take the utmost care of

your bike - make sure you stop in to see him.



So how did all this happen? I left Utica, KY around 6:30am and started to fly. I had my second

breakfast in Sebree, then just biked straight through the rest of the day. I really did not stop until

I got into Harrisburg, IL. There, I ate at Tequila's and had 2 dinners + a pitcher of water.



As I was paying my bill, Greg introduced himself to me and offered to fix my bike, if needed.

This was great because it needed to be fixed and I still had 45 miles to Carbondale. To top it all

off, he then offered Brad & Sherie's home to me for the night as they are listed on multiple

websites for cross country bikers.



He drove me to their home and said he'd pick me up in the morning.



Brad and Sherie were the best folks around. They told many stories including their Hawaii bike

adventure. I was able to check email quick, as well as wash up (it had been 7 days since the last

shower). I also was able to do some laundry - another thing that had been on my list of to-do's.



I slept upstairs and was told that breakfast would be fresh eggs from their own chickens! It was a

very good day.







06.13.07 - Day 35 (30)

Harrisburg, IL -> Murphysboro, IL (Mile 1,736)

Weather: Sunny and Warm, 85 degrees



For breakfast, I had real home grown chicken's eggs as well as fresh fruit. Brad said a very nice

prayer for me and I played with their kittens until Greg picked me up.



We worked on the bike for over 2 hours and it is now working like the day I bought it. He also

taught me a few things that I had not known before, so it was really a great morning.



Again, I had more prevailing winds, so I biked straight through to the Murphysboro State Park.

Unfortunately, I ended up getting a flat tire somewhere along the way. I think it was caused by

running over one of the many rocks in the shoulder while trying to not be run over by cars,

trucks, and coal trucks (yes, they just don't go away).



I decided that I would rotate my tires tomorrow morning because it got dark and I was tired that

night. The tires have not worn down as much I I initially expected, so we will see if they last for

the whole trip.



I've also decided that I'll be reviewing every piece of equipment when the trip is over so anyone

else doing the trip can see what worked and did not work.







06.14.07 - Day 36 (31)

Murphysboro, IL -> Ava, IL

Weather: Hot, Sun, the usual 85 degrees



Today was a short day for 2 reasons: 1) I'm ahead of schedule 2) I needed to modify my route.



Ever since Western Kentucky, the locals have been saying avoid East St. Louis. I didn't really

think it was going to be a big deal since I've gone through Philly and other cities without

problems, but from what I hear, it's really bad there.



Rather than risk it, I ended up spending the day by getting a ride across the Mississippi via car &

interstate (the only thing I'm cheating here is death.. haha). While I'm disappointed that I won't

be able to bike over the river, I'd rather be safe and able to finish the trip.



Tonight, I'm sleeping under a gazebo in just the sleeping bag.







06.15.07 - Day 37 (32)

Ava, IL -> Sparta, IL (Mile 1,793)

Weather: Hot & Sunny, 90-95 degrees



I left the gazebo where I spent the night and headed out towards destinations unknown. All that

was known: ahead of schedule, so take it easy. Not much happened for most of the riding; I

cruised to Sparta and still did battle with endless coal trucks.



The rest of this post is devoted to my friends and fans of SPARTA! 1st I went to the post office

where I shipped home about 3 pounds of stuff - it wasn't much, but I wasn't using it at all (spoke

brush, extra gas canister, maps of places I passed through, old receipts, an extra knife, and some

other stuff I can't remember. I also met "Pirate" Mike who was an assistant scoutmaster and also

a biker. He's ridden in the Philippines, Germany, Iceland, Guam, England, Scotland and here in

the USA.



Next, I went to the Sparta public library where I was able to finish updating the previous day's

blog entries. The Murphysboro public library wasn't so public, as their going Intraweb rate was 3

dollars for 30 minutes. The folks at Sparta were much nicer and let me use their computer for 2

hours.



Also need to mention that I stopped and talked to a man named Bill, who was mowing his lawn

at the time. He was nice and got me pointed in the right direction for my needs in town.



Next, I got some much needed chinese food at Dynasty. Sweet & Sour chicken and shrimp lo

mien - 2 dinners... sooo good. My next stop was probably the most random however, turned out

to be one of the coolest of the trip. I needed a haircut and had driven by this place a couple times

already, so I figured, "what the hell, I’ll just march right in". Well, only an hour after I walked in

did I realize this place ran on appointments. However, the ladies at "Shear Thing" treated me like

a celebrity!



Picture this (in the mindset of being a hair salon stylist): some sweaty guy in spandex walks into

your place, asks for a haircut, then a spider crawls out of his head. Yea... that's right. As I'm

asking them to touch my head, creatures start falling from it. Don't ask me how I managed to

contain the spider during my first three trips.



Needless to say, they were great about the whole situation. (Side note: I first thought it was a

women-only salon, but was quickly relieved to see a guy getting his head trimmed). They

washed my head 4 times between pre-cut and post-cut. I enjoyed talking to Sue, Sha, Chelsey,

Liz and Kathy. At the end of the day (because I decided to stay until they closed), we got a photo

together (Sue, Sha, Chelsey & Me). This is shout out #1 - thanks ladies!!!!



Next, I decided to go to a baseball benefit dinner because I'm getting married to a baseball, Sue

was also going, and I had seen the signs promoting it as I rode into town. Once again, I was

blowing folks away telling my stories and answering tons of questions. I even found my

"heckler" from the streets earlier (good strategy: if someone yells out their window to you, stay

in that town and weed them out). Sue actually knew who yelled at me just from my description

of the car. hahaha!



So we had a great time chatting about everything. Unfortunately, my helmet mirror fell off and I

ran over it by accident. After leaving the dinner, I went to Wal-Mart and got some crappy

replacement that is now on the handlebar. So my second major shoutout goes to the guys in

American Legion Baseball Post 396: (in no particular order) Tyler & Todd Mitchell, Dane

"Cook" Walter, Wesley "two first names" Craig, Tyler Jeffers, Nate "Long-Dong" Bleem, Tim

Thompson (double T), Marc Stirnaman, and Tim "Preston" Sivels. Thanks for a fun dinner and

let me know if those photos ended up in your paper.



The night ended by setting up camp in Sparta's public park. It was a huge park and mostly lit, so

I found a semi-dark area and wasn't bothered by anything during the night.

06.16.07 - Day 38 (33)

Sparta, IL -> East Carondelet, IL (Mile 1,850)

Weather: Summer



On the way out of Sparta, I ran into another mail man who was at the baseball benefit dinner last

night. The riding was easy and I stopped for lunch in Red Bud at a Subway. From there, I went

to Smithton where I planned to stay for the night. Those plans changed after chatting with the

other kind of bikers.



In the gas station (where I was eating again), I met LR and Yvonne. They were biking

(motorcycling) through, talked to me for a bit and offered to put me up for the night following a

mandatory BBQ. Additionally, they offered to drive me through E. St. Louis, so this was great

because Terry & Craig (see next post) had less distance to travel. So rather than camping in a

random park, I biked my way to LR's place (where we were able to see some of downtown St.

Louis).



What a night! Not only was it my first time eating cooked deer, but I also learned a lot about true

motorcyclists (not the "Sunday riders"). I met Dutt, Doug, James, Jason, Katie and others. At the

bar we went to, there was a wedding going on. The last I saw of the bride.... she was being driven

out of the bar on a bike and the man was not her husband. I heard she returned later to the correct

man. I want to give a shout out to the Free-Spirits and Dutt especially (as he gave me his Free-

Spirits member card).



LR's dogs were great also: Bubba, Ty and Sparky. To the bed...







06.17.07 - Day 39 (34)

East Carondelet, IL -> Ladue, MISSOURI! (Mile 1,869)

Weather: Hot & Sunny, 90 degrees



LR and Yvonne drove me through East Saint Louis as promised and treated me to lunch at Shady

Jack's. That place had some great food and was a biker hangout area. I also saw Jason's bike that

he made which had a 70 degree angle on the frame between the front and rear tire.



I got to meet and take a photo with LR & Yvonne as well as Shady Jack himself.



From there, I biked to the Arch where I called up Craig to see what the driving situation was.

After talking with him for a bit, we decided that I would ride to Ladue and then get picked up (2

reasons: don't want to cheat the miles and it was less distance for him to drive and get me).



So that was done and from there we went to a BBQ. We had steak, salad, bread, and strawberry

shortcake. Finally, I was driven back to Craig's house where I got to sleep in a comfy bed. Their

house was in a town called Kirkwood, so I'm now off my route and need to find out how to get

back on.







06.18.07 - Day 40 (34)

Rest Day: Kirkwood & St. Louis, MO

Weather: Very Humid, Cloudy, PM Rain, 80 degrees



I awoke to have an omelet cooked for me by Kim, who was at Terry's. After chatting with Kim

for a while, Terry came home and I finally got a chance to meet her. She drove me to St. Louis

and we went up in the Arch. The arch had an amazing view of St. Louis and East St. Louis. The

tram up is really cool as it rotates for every 5 degrees on the track on the way up.



Afterwards, Terry dropped me off at Busch Stadium where I met Yvonne. Yvonne got me into

the stadium before the rest of the crowd and introduced me to her fellow workers. I showed off

my sweet tan lines, met Tony and Wendi. Gotta thank both of them for the following events.



I was hooked up with a wristband that got me into the Patio area where they served a buffet and

unlimited drinks. I also got a personal tour of the stadium and was able to see Bill DeWitt's suite

(the owner of the Cards) and the Anheuser-Busch suite. In that one, they had their own personal

bartender and chef.







06.19.07 - Day 41 (35)

Kirkwood, MO -> Hermann, MO (Mile 1,938)

Weather: Sunny, Much less humid, pleasant - 85 degrees



Terry made breakfast today; we had pancakes and sausage. She also gave me some oatmeal

cookies that will get softer as time goes by. I think I’ll save them for a day when they are needed.

I left by 10:30 and it was tough getting back on the saddle after a day off. But by half way

through the day, I was back in my old form.



The day was mostly eventless however, around 4:30, I got a flat tire after running over some

kind of insane staple. I was told that these would come about, so my new strategy is to avoid

riding in the shoulder where there is a lot of crap.

A few notes: Rt. 100 was actually easier to ride where it was 2 lanes and busy rather than the

country road. The drivers don't really give you much breathing room as they pass very close. So

defensive biking 101 says, take up more road and deal with the honks.



At one point, a guy honked at me and slowed down to tell me his thoughts: "I can't see you

because you're riding in the middle of the road..... (then garbled words)". Before I knew what had

happened, he drove off and I realized - this guy was driving wasted. His wife and 2 kids were in

the car with them. I only wish I could have remembered his license plate so he could be reported

and told not to drive drunk.



For dinner, I visited Subway once again. There were a bunch of high school kids sitting around

and we got to chatting eventually. They were amazed that I biked as far as I did. They then

showed me their brandings (fish hooks). I took a photo of it for later.



I arrived in Hermann with not idea where to camp. Sitting in the waterfront park, there was a

sign stating that the park was closed. Rather than be a rebel, I decided to call the police to find

out where I should go. They said there was another park down the road. It turns out that this park

had everything: pavilions, fields, tracks, courts, bathrooms, and camping sites. When I arrived,

there was another cross country cyclist, Amelia. We didn't really talk too much, but she left from

DC for the northern West Coast.



I bought a new razor & travel-sized shaving cream, a new toe clipper, and some other random

stuff (aka food). All in all, it was a good day and my pace was on point.







06.20.07 - Day 42 (36)

Hermann, MO -> Columbia, MO (Mile 2,012)

Weather: AM Sun, PM Clouds - 85 degrees



2,000 MILES!!!! It took 19 days to accumulate 1,000 miles and 17 days to get the next 1,000.

I'm going to try to break the 17 day record for the next 1,000.



The ride started off amazingly fast - it was very flat for about 15 miles and it turns out the road I

was on (Route 94) was right along the Katy Trail (a bike trail that covers Missouri from east to

west).



There were a few hills that became steep at points, but nothing that lasted longer than 5-10

minutes. Certainly nothing like the trying hills of the East. After biking 25-30 miles in the

morning, I stopped for some food. There were a bunch of bikers who were doing the Katy Ride

(a benefit ride following the whole trail) that went by me as I had lunch. Maybe I'll run into them

tomorrow as I'll be on the trail eventually.



I got to Columbia around 4:30/5:00 and met Ben, Logan, Amy, John, Andrew, Chris, Abby,

Nate, Lauren, and about 12 other college kids who were floating around. These were more

friends of Christa (or 3+ degrees of separation). Either way, I had never met anyone, but they

were very excited to have me. We BBQ'd and then got ice cream.



I'm deciding how far to go tomorrow, but should be in Kansas City by Friday or Saturday. Bed

for now...



Thanks to everyone for hosting and treating me kindly the past week or so. It's been really

amazing and unexpected.







06.21.07 - Day 43 (37)

Columbia, MO -> Boonville, MO (Mile 2,057)

Weather: Hot & Sunny, 88 degrees



Today I got a late start and that was intentional. I planned on it taking 2.5 days to bike to Kansas

City, so I was able to rest for half the day. I got some lunch at this Thai place called the Blue

Moon. It was nice having some food that isn't found in small stores or gas stations. I talked with

a girl named Niki, who was nice and told me about how she rides her bike to and from work also

(rock on!).



There were some moderate hills leading up to the Katy Trail and for about 3 miles, there was an

unpaved road-- that kinda sucked.



Once on the Katy Trail, it was flat crushed limestone (used to be a RR track). I stopped just past

Boonville after crossing the Missouri River for the 2nd time and having some good eats.







06.22.07 - Day 44 (38)

Boonville, MO -> Higginsville, MO (Mile 2,132)

Weather: Very Hot & Sunny, 90+degrees



Today started off well enough - got some food and drinks for the ride. I met some sisters (Karen

& Beth) who were riding the entire Katy trail from West to East(hope it went well!).



Shortly after leaving the trail to head for my own self-made directions, I stopped in a store in

Beaman to get more drinks & food. There, I talked to David & John. They were farmers and

invited me to see their crops just down the road a few miles. It was a really cool adventure as I

ended up riding in a combine machine (harvests wheat) driven by another man named Tom.

David told me about some farming: such as wheat is harvested once (it does not grow back like

hay) and then needs to be replanted. Soy beans are popular to plant after wheat. Corn may also

be planted after wheat. Wheat is sometimes planted in the fall season, but every year can be

different depending on the weather.



I spent the rest of the day riding mostly calm back roads, but unfortunately, this meant I ran out

of water with 20-25 miles left in the day. By the time I reached I-70 and the pilot station, I was

dehydrated and exhausted. I bought a gallon of water and drank a third of it rather quickly. I

ended up chatting with a man named Robert outside the station who told me many stories and

also explained the following phrase: "I got a milkshake that's giving me a headache". Trust me,

you don't want to know. I slept that night near the McDonalds drive-through in my tent and it

rained briefly during the night.







06.23.07 - Day 45 (39)

Higginsville, MO -> Kansas City, MO (Mile 2,205)

Weather: Mostly Cloudy & Humid, 80 degrees



After eating a huge breakfast, re-hydrating, and chatting with a man who was motorcycling all

over the country, I finally left the Pilot rest area. Its 24-hour convenience will be missed. The day

started off typically enough: tons of bikers seeing as though it was the weekend and about 10

miles of unpaved roads. That was definitely what my bike needed considering another spoke

snapped.



There was one section where I had to push the bike up because the hill had to have a 20-30

degree grade and it was unpaved of course. This was one of the toughest parts of Missouri. My

back tires would spin in the lowest gear, so I could not ride up the hill. After much cursing at the

road, I was back on the saddle and finally made it to normal pavement.



I pretty much cruised in the rest of the way and met Ian, a couchsurfer, who was putting me up

for the next 2 nights. He brought me to a work/housewarming party and I met a ton of folks and

had some good food. Then came home and slept in a comfy bed.







06.24.07 - Day 46 (39)

Rest Day - Kansas City, MO



So after looking at some maps, I am quickly realizing that the half way point is approaching.

Since I don't have some of the route mapped out yet, it's hard to say when I'm exactly halfway

done, but it's getting close and will probably occur within the next 2-4 days. Unbelievable!

Ian took me to his friend Sarah's where her mom had a TON of food for us to eat. But this was

not before I got to play guitar hero (best game ever).



Then we went to a local park and played Frisbee Golf. This is a cool game and is played exactly

how you think it would be played. Being another obscure sport, I rocked pretty hard at it (since

I'm really athletic and built). It took over 2 hours to play 17 holes and fortunately, nobody lost

their frisbee to the woods.



We then came back and I talked to dad and some friends for a bit. Clearly I'm updating the blog

now and tomorrow I'll go toa bike shop to get the broken spoke repaired. I plan to be in Denver

within 7-9 days and will probably spend the 4th of July there. I will also need to plan the Denver

-> San Diego portion of the trip at that time too. For now.... the bed.







06.25.07 - Day 47 (40)

Kansas City, MO -> Nortonville, KS (Mile 2,275)

Weather: Sunny & Hot, 85 degrees



After a very laid back start to the day, which included a chinese buffet brunch and the fixing of

my second broken spoke (thanks Billy, Mandy & Mark from River Market Cyclery), I hit the

road hard.... only to get lost once again. My directions appear to be flawed around the major

cities either due to human error or unexpected construction.



Either way, after asking a few strangers for directions, I decided to modify my route on the fly

and just take a major roadway out of the city since it was a straight shot and I'd need to be on it

20-30 miles down the road. Sometimes I wonder why I tried so hard to make such a complicated

route.



The day was pretty uneventful and I ended up camping next to a gas station. The roads are

getting flatter and less traveled the farther north and west I go.







06.26.07 - Day 48 (41)

Nortonville, KS -> 14 miles East of Seneca, KS (Mile 2,332)

Weather: Party Cloudy but Hot, 90 degrees



Every morning I try to eat as much as I can in order to wake up as fast as possible and have

enough energy to bike for 20+ miles before lunch (or breakfast #2... haha). This particular

morning, I met my match. BIG TIME. I ordered french toast and a full stack of pancakes. The

woman taking my order said, "You must be hungry". Assuming I was in normal-world, I said

"yes".



Shannon brought out the french toast and it was 3 pieces of bread... typical. Then I got the

pancakes - 3 of them. Each was larger than some 8 inch thin crust pizzas and probably weighed

over a pound. So as you can imagine my jaw dropped and I was hardly able to put a dent into the

meal. The leftover pancakes were cut up and put into a doggie box. The 10-inch square box was

completely filled with the leftovers.



So after this hilarious practical joke (because at this point all the locals had to come over and

comment how I must be new there), I headed out and made my way to Route 36. Around 2pm, I

was on the road and heading west. Route 36 is my new home until I get to Denver.







06.27.07 - Day 49 (42)

14 mi. E of Seneca, KS -> Belleville, KS (Mile 2,436)

Weather: Clouds, Heavy Rain, Clouds - 70 degrees



Hitting the road before the sun came up, I started my latest thought-up challenge: the

Kansas/Colorado Physical Challenge. In this challenge I am going to try to bike ~100 miles for 3

days, then 200+ miles for 36 hours, or however long it takes to reach Denver.



Day 1 was successful. I biked 104 miles and got to my destination 3 hours before sunset. While

waiting for the sun to go down, I called some family & friends. While doing so, a man named

Morris approached me and said I could camp out next to his fireworks display tent. It seemed

like a good idea to be less visible from the street, so over I went.



Along with Morris, I talked to Katie and Jesse about all kinds of random things. Jesse was pretty

entertaining and informative - telling me about all kinds of bugs and critters I could see on my

journey. I think he was pulling me leg with some of his stories though.







06.28.07 - Day 50 (43)

Belleville, KS -> Phillipsburg, KS (Mile 2,541)

Weather: AM Clouds, PM Sun - Very Nice Biking Conditions, 80 degrees



Day 2 of the KS/CO physical challenge complete. Another 105 miles added on and I reached a

campground in P-burg where I paid 10 bucks for a site, power, and a bathroom.



The highlights of this day are focused on meals (since my mileage has gone way up):

1) Pancakes (3 - normal sized), french toast sticks (5), and a small egg, sausage & cheese burrito.



2) Ham & Cheese omelet, chicken sandwich, lots of lemonade



3) Phil's Special (not so special it turns out) - aka 3 small pork chops on a bun. 3 scoops of ice

cream for dessert.



4) Full rack of ribs, an ear of corn, a baked potato, and a brownie ice cream sundae.



Passing out from food overload.







06.29.07 - Day 51 (44) - HALF WAY DONE!

Phillipsburg, KS -> Atwood, KS (Mile 2,640)

Weather: Sunny & Warm, 84 degrees



At this point, I just cruise through towns. There really isn't much to speak of to be honest. The

people are very friendly (most wave as I bike by them) but there's just not much happening in the

towns. Everything out here is farm land - wheat, corn, soy beans, & hay. I've also been fortunate

enough to still have tailwinds or mostly prevailing crosswinds.



Today marked the half way point of the trip when I jumped 4 miles off the route to visit

Lebanon, KS - the geographic center of the 48 United States. There wasn't much there more than

a flag, a plaque, and some picnic tables.



So with day 3 complete and the trip just over half done, I go to bed getting ready for the 36 hour

(or less) bike marathon tomorrow.







07.01.07 - Days 52 & 53 (45 & 46)

Atwood, KS -> Denver, CO (Mile 2,837)

Day Weather: AM Clouds, PM Sun - 85 degrees

Night Weather: Mostly Clear, Full Moon, strong Southern winds - 60 degrees

Day 2 Weather: Clear & Sunny, 85 degrees



After 3 days of 100 miles, I am really going to push my body to its limit by riding for 36 hours or

however long it will take to reach Denver. Why? Because I can! After being kinda bored with

Kansas, I decided to do this crazy trip so I could get to Denver a little ahead of schedule in order

to plan out the final parts of the trip. (I ran out of time planning the route, but it's better because I

have learned many lessons which will be applied to this next phase of planning).

So the first part of the trip went just fine. I was initially worried that there would be no water for

140 miles, but it turns out, like has happened often, it was just hot air. There was water & food at

least every 20-30 miles for the most part. I had dinner in Colorado and then began the evening

ride.



About 10 miles out, the wind started to pick up. It was fine initially, since it was so warm. As the

temperature dropped, I had to add all my layers to stay warm. Any time I stopped, I was instantly

cold. The wind continued to intensify and it made the ride nearly impossible. The roads started to

get hilly from about 2am until 6am. Once I reached the outskirts of Denver, it flattened out.



Around 1:30am - maybe a little later - I was watching the stars as I pedaled. Watching a reddish

star, I noticed it getting closer. Guess it wasn't a star after all. Wondering what it was, I kept my

eye on it. It got closer and a little wider. I had my radio on, so I couldn't hear if it had an engine.

What happened next I cannot explain: it got closer and wider, the colors were orange and

reddish. It looked to be approaching around the same speed as an airplane would as it comes in

to land. All of the sudden, just as if a switch was flipped, the light was gone. In disbelief, I

wondered if I was tired and imagined the whole thing, but I'm pretty sure I just saw a UFO.

Another first on the trip and in my life. It could not have been anything else - there was no

horizon - it was well above the rolling hills I was on (and there were no trees). So I saw a UFO -

it was weird and kinda freaked me out, but I never saw it after that. It was gone.



When the sun came up, the winds died down a little (but this may have been due to reaching

civilization as well - trees & homes). Nearly falling asleep at breakfast, I left and kept pushing.

This was certainly one heck of a physical challenge. Once again, my directions were wrong and I

got lost. Thinking that route 36 ended when it reached I-70 (what all the maps said online), I

ended up finding it again and taking it for a while.



Around noon, I decided to stop at a gas station and get picked up because my left knee was

starting to become sore and it hurt on contact. I was about 30 miles out of Denver and it turned

out my directions did not account for some 30-40 miles. So with the combination of bad

directions, a tired and sore body, and the heat of the day approaching, I got picked up and

brought into Denver by Kari.







07.04.07 - Days 54-59 (46)

Denver, CO - Resting, Touring & Planning



I'll be in Denver until Sunday the 8th as I plan out the rest of the route. On Saturday, a bunch of

us plan to go to the Rockies game. I want to thank Kari, Kelsey & Kelly for letting me stay in

their apartment while I visit Denver.



Hope everyone reading this is doing well and has a Happy 4th of July!

-Ray









07.06.07 - Pausing for some thoughts...

I've taken quite a big break here in Denver, mostly staying indoors and planning the final part of

the trip. I figured you might appreciate some thoughts I've had on the trip. I'm just spitballin'

right now, so you'll have to bear with my randomness.... although anyone who knows me should

expect random things when it comes to me.



Generalizations: True or False. When it comes to a trip of this scale, everyone has their own

thoughts on what will be seen, where to go, where to avoid, and what to do. In every region of

the country, even as micro-segmented as each town, the views can vary greatly. One of the best

examples I can use to illustrate this example is Kansas and Colorado: I was told that there would

be "nothing" for 140+ miles along US-36.



After biking 40 miles to the last "major" town in Kansas, I asked the locals there what they

thought. I was not surprised when they said that there were towns every 10-25 miles that would

have a place to buy food/drinks. Why did this not surprise me? Well, somewhere in the early

parts of the Midwest, (I cannot remember right now) I was told by some locals that the next town

I would get to would be tiny and have nothing compared to their town. Upon my arrival, it turned

out there was MORE than their town had, completely contradicting what I was told.



I have a couple theories about why this is. The first is something I'd like to call townism. Like

nationalism, one's pride for their country, I believe that they are very proud of their town and

firmly believe it to be superior to the surrounding towns.



My next theory has no term, but is based upon the invention of the automobile. Being able to

travel tens of miles in a short period of time has lead to a number of weirdisms. The first is big

business's prosperity. If we could not travel as far as we do now, there'd be no Wal-Mart's where

millions of people shop every day. Secondly, the automobile moves you from point A to point B

in short times, relatively speaking. Drivers simply ignore what they see when they drive. So it

could be possible that the advice given to me was honest but clearly wrong.



This is one reason why I wanted to bike across the country. In a car, you take the highways.

That's a no-brainer. Nobody in their right mind would take back roads (especially the ones I

took) to get across our nation. Along the highways, you're going to see what Corporate America

wants you to see. That's where the money is. You'll see the ExxonMobil’s, the McDonald's, and

the Wal-Mart's. On the back roads, you experience an entirely different world. A world without

all that stuff, in towns where the busiest place might just be someone's front lawn. Either way, I

think it's very interesting how this happens.

My third theory is the tourist theory. The fact that I'm an "outsider" to the town, some people

might just be messing with me because I don't know any better. It's possible but highly doubtful

since I'm no longer on the TransAm trail.



The ignorance theory wraps up all my theories. It is plausible that some people may not know

what's in the other town because they have never been there. I know what you're thinking, my

automobile theory completely contradicts this theory, but you should remember that some towns

were so poor, it's very possible that going to an adjacent town is just not affordable.



Anyway, my next topic has to do with cars once again. Specifically, I want to talk about gas

prices and speculate on why we (America) have such high demand for fuel.



Driving in the Northeast was interesting. I was always paying attention because cars were

abundant. However, once I got out to the rural areas of the country, I quickly realized something

weird: a strong majority of people drive huge trucks of all makes and conditions. In the Midwest,

there does appear to be a zombie-like loyalty to Ford and Chevy. In some areas there also

appeared to be an insane obsession with modifying the exhaust system (or on the older trucks,

just not fixing them) so that they were insanely loud.



I'm not sure what the obsession is, but the root of the problem lies here, for starters. As I traveled

into more and more of the super-rural areas, I still saw huge trucks. Even the newer models were

not of a hybrid variety. It appears more people than I initially imagines turn a blind eye to fuel

efficiency. Some of this I can understand. Some farmers, for example, need to have the biggest,

baddest-ass truck to get their work done. But you know something isn't right when you look into

a driveway and you see 5 F-350 super-dutys.



I have a page-a-day calendar called "Fact or Crap". You can imagine what each page has to do

with. It presents a statement and asks you to decide if it's true or not. Well, let me ask you one:

Trucks get better gas mileage with the tailgate up. What do you think?



It turns out that trucks do indeed get better gas mileage with the tailgates up versus down or off.

I'd say 1 out of 5 trucks will drive by with the tailgate down or off completely. In addition to the

gas mileage being slightly worse, you now increase the chance of losing anything that may be in

the bed of the truck while driving around. I only wish there was some way to tell everyone about

this, although I'm not sure what kind of an impact it would have considering they are still driving

huge trucks. Instead of 5.5 mpg, it would be 5.75.....



At the end of the trip I plan to have all kinds of stats. One stat I want to talk about is the food

bill. This is clearly my largest expense, some days running greater than 20 dollars. Most of my

meals are prepared for me at local food chains or single-owned restaurants. The one food chain

that I have seen the most? Subway. Believe it or not, I've hardly seen McDonald's, Wendy's,

Burger King, or Dunkin Donuts (not surprised there). When all is said and done, and the final

meal is digested, I'll post just how much I spent on the trip and where it was spent.



Tan lines: yes, I have them. No, I won't put up any pictures until the trip is over. Unless you see

me along the way, you won't know what to expect. All I can say is I am the winner of most tan

and most pale at the same time.



Top 5 questions: When I meet someone randomly and tell them what I've done and where I am

headed, and once they pick up their jaw from the floor, they will usually ask me the same 5

questions: When did you start, how many miles do you bike a day, when will you finish, why are

you doing this, and how much will it cost. When I make my next round of business cards, these 5

questions will have the answers on them.



Truckers: I hate them... with a passion. The states of Virginia and Kentucky kinda suck too. Not

the people, but more so their Departments of Transportation. It is impossible to ride safely at

times on their roads. Apparently they don't know what a shoulder is and why it was invented.

They will be getting endless phone calls, as will their local representatives when I'm done. It's

scary when truckers are driving 40+ mph, empty or full, and don't slow down for curves, hills,

or... bikers!



Coal truckers are the worst. If I do the trip again, I'd probably buy a sniper rifle and shoot out

their tires (this is a joke for those who think I'm serious). Their blowout would be the equivalent

of the frustration I experienced at times as they showed no regard for me. They don't slow down

and they don't know how much the wind affects bikers when they buzz by (this is a serious

statement).



Once the video is finished, you will be able to experience a wheat truck driving by me in the

opposite direction to hear the burst of wind that occurs after passing. You will also be able to

hear and see what it's like when a truck passes at a quasi-safe distance. But until you get on a

bike yourself and experience it, I’m afraid you'll never fully understand. I should also say that

there are some very safe truckers out there, but the ratio is definitely not 99:1, like it is for non-

truck drivers I encounter.



Future stops: The final 2,000 miles of the trip will cover 4 states and 2 time zones. I'll be

visiting the Royal Gorge, the 4 Corners, the Grand Canyon, Phoenix, and the California coastline

ending after the Golden Gate bridge. The end date looks to be something like August 15. I'm

hoping the timing of all the ball games and my forced return to the East Coast lines up perfectly,

but it will be tight.



That's all I can think of - it's amazing how far I've gone and how much more I have to do. The

journey and its challenges continue Sunday!









07.08.07 - Day 60 (47)

Denver, CO -> Colorado Springs, CO (Mile 2,927)

Weather: AM Sun, PM T-Storms, 85 degrees

With airhorn in hand, I fought my way through the suburbs of Denver. On a 4 lane road, I took

up one of the 2 lanes heading south. Even on a Sunday, the drivers were relentless - honking and

cursing at my defensive biking. The good news? It was two-fold: I had the horn to blast back and

since they were honking, at least it meant they saw me and did NOT hit me. So even though it

seems stupid, defensive biking works well.



I decided to leave Denver and take a more South/East route in order to avoid any foothills of the

Rockies until I reached the exact point of entry. This strategy worked well - I could see where

my other options would have been and they were much more hilly.



With a flat route and a week of rest under my belt, I took off and pounded out 90 miles, but not

before some close calls and some of the worst driving conditions since Virginia on Route 80.

Route 83 took me from Denver to the Springs for the majority of the ride. For the most part,

there was no shoulder. I don't know if this was the norm or perhaps it was the end of the July 4th

week, but the drivers were determined to get where they wanted to go no matter what stood in

their way.



A truck went by and the wind from it passing pushed my bike off the shoulder (by shoulder I

mean the white line which was breaking apart from the road... aka no shoulder) and into the

grass. Needless to say I had to stop and then blew the horn. You may think I'm blowing the truck

driver thing out of proportion, but honestly, they are the worst and it's very frustrating when you

want to enjoy the ride and take in all the beautiful landscape.



Needless to say, I made it to Colorado Springs and found myself on a 6 lane road, Academy

Blvd. Somehow the drivers still decided to try and run me off the road and blow their horns

because they needed all 3 lanes in their direction. It was like the drivers all had mad-cow

disease... just a tough day for riding.



Fortunately, after this long day, our good friend in the family, Fr. Joe, had arranged for me to

stay at a Rectory in the area, so I collapsed in their bed upstairs from pure exhaustion. I did not

even have enough energy to walk down the street to get dinner. Instead, I fell asleep after eating

5 granola bars.







07.09.07 - Day 61 (48)

Colorado Springs, CO -> The Royal Gorge in Canon City, CO (Mile 2,990)

Weather: Mostly Sunny, 90 degrees



Talk about night and day. Today was so much better than yesterday and it started right off the

bat. After leaving the rectory, I found my favorite breakfast fast food (I know it's lame and there

are a ton of better options, but hey, I'm just a hungry guy on a bike), Dunkin Donuts! Hadn't seen

one since about 3 states ago. Needless to say, I was excited and stopped in. While in line, I spoke

with Annie and her son Davis about the trip. She then decided to pay for my breakfast even after

I warned her I eat a lot. Thank you!!!



So breakfast was delicious and now it was time to head into nowhere and begin conquering the

Rocky Mountains! The roads and drivers were so much better. The majority of the ride took me

on roads that had a gradual increase - nothing like the Appalachians back East. The main

difference between the Rockies and the Appalachians is that leading up to the passes in the West,

the roads are gradual increases whereas in the East the roads continually go up and down small,

but tiring, hills. So forget everything you think you know about the Rockies, because as long as

you stay on major roads, the grades are reasonable.



One thing that I've begun to notice is an incredible increase in RV traffic and campgrounds/RV

parks. They are starting to occur at a rate similar to that of churches in Virginia. There really

aren't too many truck drivers, so the biggest danger is RV drivers who clearly don't realize how

big their million dollar homes on wheels are.



Leading up to the Royal Gorge, there are a number of places to pay for camping. Don't be a

sucker and camp there. Head towards the Gorge and you'll find that you enter the Royal Gorge

park about 3-4 miles off Route 50 (on Route 3A) - if heading from the opposite direction, there is

nothing on Route 3/3A, sorry. Camping is free and as long as you DON'T have an RV, you can

camp there. Follow the dirt road for about a mile and you've got outhouses and some covered

picnic areas - certainly more than I've been used to. So with another 20 bucks saved from not

camping at "tourist central" I made my camp for the night and went to bed.







07.10.07 - Day 62 (49)

Royal Gorge in Canon City, CO -> Nat'l Forest 1mi. West of Poncha Pass (Mile 3,060)

Weather: Mostly Sunny, 80/85 degrees



Awaking in the morning, the winds had picked up considerably over the night. Taking down the

tent and folding it up was quite a challenge. But soon enough I was back on the road and ready to

view the Gorge during sunrise. When I arrived, I found out that the south gate was closed until

10am, so there was no way to get out of the park unless I backtracked the 4 miles I rode in.



After paying the $13 dollars to get a ticket (which nobody checked....), I went onto the

suspension bridge and saw the amazing view from over 1,000 feet above the Arkansas River. It

was as beautiful as I had imagined it would be. And it was too early for the tourists to be in the

way, so I pretty much had the whole bridge to myself! :-)



Being the super biker that I am, I came to the following realization: I could either bike 4 miles

out then 3 miles along Route 50 to the other exit/entrance for the Gorge, or I could try to get

around the South gates and ride the 7 miles back to Route 50. Since I really don't like

backtracking and the distances were the same regardless of my choice, I decided to see just how

"closed" the park was from the South side. Of course, they were cheesy gates, so I got my bike

around them and kept biking, happily I might add. There was one more gate to get around about

2-3 miles down the road, and that was no problem either.



Back on Route 50, I followed the Arkansas River for the majority of the day. Today was the first

day of absolutely beautiful views. The mountains were majestic and the river was crystal clear.

The hazard of the day was white water rafting buses. Only one passed me closer than I liked, so

besides that I continued to keep a keen eye out for RVs.



About 17 miles in, I had breakfast in Texas Creek. Pancakes and a breakfast sandwich that

couldn't be beat. They even gave me a free snickers bar for the road. I felt bad later in the day as

I came to the realization that I don't remember tipping them, but I may have - gotta check my

receipts. I also decided that all of my knives were too dull, so I bought a new knife. I was really

tempted to get a 16 inch long super-knife (haha), but decided I only needed a 4 inch one instead.



Stopped at a gas station in Salida (pronounced sa-lie-da), I found myself talking to the cashier

and a woman who was selling cheap jewelry. She tried her marketing tactics on me, which were

pretty pathetic. As she put the small boxes out, she was explaining to the cashier how they would

be great travel gifts since they did not take up much space. She also said that they are great gifts

for mothers. Clearly, both comments were directed at me and not at the cashier.



Not falling for it, the subject changed to my bike ride and then this woman told me to watch out

for traffic - as if I wasn't already aware after biking 3,000+ miles. I told her that I'd be careful if

she drove carefully also. Then, I guess because I didn't buy her crap, she said that the roads were

dangerous and the speed limit was high. After having heard pretty much every possible comment

yelled at me from cars during the trip, I shot right back at her with, "It's a speed limit, not a

minimum". BAM! That's all it took, and I left the gas station, victorious!



Well, for one reason or another, my luck took a quick swing in the other direction as an older

man who was using a cane to help himself walk, decided that the mirror attached to the left

handlebar of the bike was sturdy enough for him to lean on. Broken mirror #2. Lovely.... Back to

the roads I continued, blind behind me.



Fortunately, there was a decent shoulder as I began the 7 mile, uphill ride to Poncha Pass. About

an hour and fifteen minutes later, I arrived at elevation 9,010. Now I was in National Forest

territory and decided that it was getting too dark to continue. So I found a campground (free, of

course), and set up camp. I also decided that I wanted to make a fire tonight in order to keep the

bears away.



I keep my food in kayak bags, and made the decision to not try and hang them from the trees

every night. Instead, I keep the bags closed once arriving at the campsite and spray them down

with bug spray. I really don't think there is any smell of food coming from the bags, but using the

spray I make doubly sure.



While setting up camp, an RV drove in and past my site, so I knew I wasn't alone - which was

nice. No cell service tonight. No bears either.

07.11.07 - Day 63 (50)

8 mi. from Salida, CO -> Del Norte, CO (Mile 3,137)

Weather: AM Sun, PM Clouds, Very Windy - 75 degrees



Most of the day I spent going down from Poncha Pass, although there was enough of a headwind

that kept me from hitting my typical downhill speeds. It was incredible seeing the mountains

open up and almost disappear at points as I rode smack into the middle of the Rio Grande Valley.



After getting breakfast in a very small town, I met a hitch-hiker named Cliff. He was heading to

Durango (which is where I was headed) and trying to get a ride from anyone who would stop for

him. I figured he may appreciate some granola bars, so I gave him a handful. Eventually, he

passed me in a yellow big-rig, and I saw him waiting for another ride just outside another town.



At one point I saw a sign that read "Gusty Winds Likely Next 1 Mile". That sign was a joke. It

was windy for the next 15 miles. I stopped at one point because I was being blown all over the

road from the 20+ mph winds. Eventually I decided to just tough it out as the winds did not stop

and I did not want to stop where I was.



Getting to a town called Center, the winds subsided and I got food at a small restaurant. The

town was heavily Spanish-based and one of the locals told me that every year many buses full of

immigrants (legal or illegal) are brought up to help with the potato harvest.



I decided to head towards the next town and ended up calling the local police to confirm that I

could stay in their public park. Everything was OK and the officer told me to set up my tent

where it was dark.







07.12.07 - Day 64 (51)

Del Norte, CO -> Pagosa Springs, CO (Mile 3,199)

Weather: AM Sun, PM Rain then Sun, Varying Temps - 40 degrees to 75 degrees



From yesterday's post, you will know that I slept in a public park after getting approval from the

local police. What the officer failed to mention was that at 5am, the sprinkler system would go

on. So at 5am, I nearly jumped out of my tent in just my boxers and moved the bike to a dry

location. Fortunately, I put the fly up on the tent due to the recent trend of windy nights and

cooler temperatures at the higher elevations.



I had a great breakfast (which I continue to spoil myself with) and talked to a woman named

Bernadette along with her husband, Bob, and mother, Lucy. She gave me some great food

choices for the upcoming towns (which translated into the next 2-3 days).

Playing leapfrog, I saw my hitch-hiking friend, Cliff, once again. This time, he needed some

water. He told me that he was kicked out of an RV park after trying to buy a burger from them.

Their reason? He wasn't camping there. The real reason? They are jerks who didn't want

"campers" to see a hitch-hiker. One thing that disappointed me about Cliff was the fact that

yesterday when I saw him for the 2nd time, he was drinking a beer. Not a good image to be

sending out if you're trying to get a ride from strangers.



Today was going to be a tough day because I needed to get past Wolf Creek Pass (10,850 ft).

This turned out to be a 10 mile, 5-6 degree grade. About 2/3 of the way up, I met Meredith and

Sam. They had passed me as I was on my way up the mountain and then took my photo by a lake

along the pass. Meredith also gave me some homemade cookies which were delicious.



Slightly later, I stopped to call my mother and started to see the clouds move in. Rain gear on.

The farther up the pass I headed, the colder and more wet it became. Reaching the top of the pass

(and the Continental Divide - where the pass separates the Atlantic and Pacific watersheds), I

was cold and wet - it was not a good situation. I knew it was cold because I could see my

breathe. It turns out that for every 1,000 feet of elevation gain the temperature drops 3 degrees.

Just based upon elevation, I was already 32 degrees cooler than Boston.



Needing to get off the pass, I began down the 9 mile, 7 degree grade road. With hardly any

feeling left in my fingers from the cold rain, I did not stop nor let go of the brakes for fear of not

being able to get a good grip again. I headed down the pass at 20 mph for the next 15-20 miles,

eventually leaving the rain and reaching Pagosa Springs.



Still cold and wet, I went to get chinese food and warm up. I asked where Pagosa Springs' park

was and set up camp there. The park was well hidden from roads that were 20-25 feet up, so I

didn't call the police to find out if camping was allowed. There were no problems.







07.13.07 - Day 65 (52)

Pagosa Springs, CO -> Durango, CO (Mile 3,259)

Weather: AM Sun, PM Rain, then clouds, 80 degrees



The riding was similar to that of yesterday. I had another pass to go over, and another storm was

on the way. After riding for 15 miles in the rain, I stopped at Chavolos Restuarant and got a great

Mexican dinner - chimichanga and fried ice cream. Both were delicious and the owner, Edgar

Ortiz, said that dinner was on him.



The storm I was riding in broke and I headed down more hills to Durango. Arriving at a Wal-

Mart, I was instantly greeted by Ron. He had spent the past 2 days in the Wal-Mart parking lot to

fix up his VW. We talked for quite a while about many topics including: riding to South

America, the NAFTA highway, and cosmic mysteries.

Before I knew it, the sun had set and I needed a place to sleep. Going behind Wal-Mart, I found a

walking/biking path along the Animas River. To the left, it ended, so I put my tent up right on

the concrete. Once again, no issues.







07.14.07 - Day 66 (52)

Durango, CO -> Cortez, CO (Mile 3,318)

Weather: Sunny, 85 degrees



Per Bernadette's recommendation (from Del Norte), I found and ate at Oscar's restaurant by the

City Market in Durango (along Rt. 550). The food was great and the waitress gave me some

carrot cake on the house as I was able to finish my huge meal to her disbelief. I told her that I

think I was hungrier after eating the breakfast (joking, of course).



I decided that after the past 2 days of rain, I needed to clean up the chain, gears, and cables as

dirt had stuck to everything. So I spent half a day doing that and then headed out. Just before

leaving, Daniel stopped to talk to me and he explained that he worked at a really cool place. He

gives tours of the Animas River, but their location is only accessible by train or helicopter. I bet

it's quite an awesome tour.



Towards the afternoon, I finally left my last pass and headed out of the Rockies. The passes I

went over had elevations of 9,010, 10,850, 7,900, and 8,200 according to my GPS or signage.



By the time I finished eating and left Cortez, it was getting dark, so I needed to find a place to

sleep. Another good stroke of luck brought me to Tracy's house. She had a sign at the end of her

driveway that read "RV's $15". I asked how much to put up my tent and $5 was the deal.







07.15.07 - Day 67 (54)

Cortez, CO - Teec Nos Pos, ARIZONA! (Mile 3,362)

Weather: Hot & Sunny, 102 degrees



The moment the sun came up and hit my tent, it was hot. Very hot. So I got up and headed out

earlier than previous days. I can definitely tell that I'm at a lower elevation.



Along the road, I was passed by a biker. I said hello and thought nothing of it. Then I was passed

by 2 or 3 more bikers. Glancing at their jerseys, I could hardly believe my eyes..... BIKE &

BUILD. I've previously mentioned bike and build on the links page of my site. For those of you

who don't know anything about them: Bike & Build is partnered with Habitat for Humanity.

Each year, groups of 30 or so bikers make their way from some place on the East Coast and head

West.



Before riding, they need to raise at least $4,000 for their cause. It goes towards funding their trip,

but primarily towards a local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. During the ride, they not only

continue to raise money where possible, but spend days "building" with Habitat. Each route is

established beforehand and the groups need to find places to stay every night, typically at

churches or local parks or campgrounds.



This group that ran into me was traveling from North Carolina to San Diego. Since the 4 corners

was one of my planned stops and theirs as well, we agreed to meet there after chatting for a bit.



The four corners was pretty cool to reach since it marked another significant accomplishment in

the journey - done with Colorado! Talking with many of the bike and builders, they invited me to

join them as we soon discovered that our routes overlapped.



Not gonna lie.. this was another lucky & random event on the trip. I absolutely love the random

encounters and people I meet on this trip.



Rather than continue biking towards nothing in the hot desert heat, I decided to join the B&B

group for a few days. They stayed at a church in Teec Nos Pos and I got my first shower in 8

days (a new record!).







07.16.07 - Day 68 (55)

Teec Nos Pos, AZ -> Kayenta, AZ (Mile 3,439)

Weather: Hot, 100 degrees



The bike and build group kicked my ass into gear. Getting up at 4am, they were on the road at

6am. I decided to leave half an hour earlier since they were just riding bikes and I had a tank. By

10am, it was hot. It was weird, though, because I had thought there would be a downhill all the

way to Phoenix, although, the landscape was moderately mountainous and generally flat.



Before leaving Denver, I used Google Maps to see where there would be food/services between

towns. Nothing showed up for the 70 mile ride between the two towns above. However, there

were about 3 towns in between.



The final 10-12 miles were difficult and hot. There was some wind coming towards us and that

does not bode well for a fat bike.



Earlier in the morning, I passed another guy who was biking to California, but he was a very

strange man: big glasses, no bike clothing, cardboard panniers, and when I asked him where in

CA he was going, all I got back was a grunt.

Stopped at Burger King in Kayenta, this guy found me again and sat right next to me. Very

weird, but luckily, some of my new friends found me and ate there too. We stayed in a local

church and the shower was an outdoor hose - hey, better than my norm!







07.17.07 - Day 69 (56)

Kayenta, AZ -> Tuba City, AZ (Mile 3,516)

My 23rd Birthday!

Weather: Hot & Sunny, 95 degrees



I can't believe I've been on the road this long... and now it's my birthday. Thank you to everyone

who wished me a happy birthday, either by calling or sending a text message. Wendi, I didn't get

a chance to talk to both my mom and dad to hear what the gift was today, but on the 18th, I did

find out -- it was absolutely awesome and unbelievable! I got to see the photos too (once getting

to Phoenix), and let's just say, I have a new phone background!



Tuba City is part of Navajo Nation (as is Kayenta and Teec Nos Pos), and thus was a dry city. So

we had no celebration besides cake and ice cream at Sonic.



But let's back up.... I woke up a little later than I wanted due to the fact that my phone didn't

know what time it really was -- but apparently neither did anyone else. Navajo Nation is separate

from the rest of the state of Arizona in that they always stay on Mountain Time. Arizona, on the

other hand, does not participate in daylight savings time, so they alternate between Mountain and

Pacific time. Oddly enough, my phone didn't choose either of those time zones. Instead, it went

back to Central time...... thanks Cingular/AT&T.



So I left the group a little earlier and stopped to get some ice and water. It didn't take long for

another hitch-hiker to hassle me for money. He said he wanted it for his brother and him to get

food. I offered to buy them whatever they wanted inside the store, but he said he just wanted

money. This pissed me off because I'm not a moron. Being in Boston for 5 years, I know how

this game works. So rather than being a total jerk, I gave the guy 5 bucks and said that's all I

could spare. Who knows what they spent it on, but if they weren't gonna get the food I was

willing to buy them, 5 bucks should be a blessing.



The first 20 miles of the day were uphill but certainly not that bad. I arrived at the first rest area

as the support van arrived. The next 30 miles were the fastest I've ever biked. The reason? A

tailwind, some slight downhill, and my new inspiration from the 30 or so fellow bikers I joined.

Once again, I arrived at mile 50 just as the support van did. (My average speed was 17-20 mph).



The last 25 miles were decent, but I slowed down as it got warmer. Arriving in Tuba City, many

bikers were at Sonic, so I stopped there and had some food. I hung out as the majority of riders

cycled through.

Getting to the next church, there was a woman by the name of Susie Q inside. She was crazy -

very energetic. However, she cooked us some lunch and that was terrific.



Some people showered, some went to the public library, and others just took naps. But

eventually, it was time for dinner, and I helped prepare the meal by cutting onions, spinach, and

carrots. At the end of dinner, Susie Q found out that it was my birthday and one of the other

riders, Eric. So she promptly demanded that we get a birthday spanking. It was hilarious.



Some of the bikers and I decided to go back to Sonic (clearly a favorite place) for more ice

cream. We ordered the Sonic Blast, but it was more of a Blah. One blast was missing cookie

dough while another had root beer at the very bottom but it was definitely not supposed to.



Night time approached and it was time to get some rest.







07.18.07 - Day 70 (57)

Tuba City, AZ -> Grand Canyon, AZ (Mile 3,601)

Weather: EVERYTHING - Sun, Clouds, Heat, Cool, Lightning, & Dagger Rain



When you think of the Grand Canyon, what do you think of? I always thought of a huge flat area

with a 5,000 foot drop leading to a river running through. Well, this is not the case. Getting to the

Grand Canyon actually means going up about 3,000 feet. So we biked from 4,400 feet up to

7,400 feet. Along the way, we stopped at the Little Colorado River and its "small" gorge (relative

to the GC), as well as some Navajo stores.



We biked through 2 storms and arrived at the Grand Canyon entrance tired and ready for a break.

Instead, we were greeted with the news that we needed to bike another 25 miles because the

campsite the group wanted to stay at didn't allow groups because it was a "family campsite". It

was called the Dessert View campground. The fact that they were going to charge $12 a head

with no facilities and didn't allow groups to camp there (even a group that goes to bed with the

sun and up before the sun), means I give them two thumbs down and you should not camp there.



Along the extra 25 mile ride, we decided to stop because we were getting low on energy and

hydration. I shared more or less the rest of my food with the 3 other people I was riding with. We

rested for 45 minutes and then pounded out the last bit of the ride.



Seeing the canyon for the first time of my life was equivalent to being in Afton, VA @ the

cookie lady's house. The view was unbelievable and the canyon is beyond huge. You could see

what appeared to be the other side of the canyon, only to find out that it was just one piece of

land that was in the middle of the 10-mile wide canyon.



The weather was still iffy so parts of it were sunny, others were cloudy, and even others were

being rained on. After getting to the camp site, some of us decided to watch the sunset from one

of the cliffs. With food and drinks in hand, we watched as the sky changed color during the

sunset.







07.19.07 - Day 71 (58)

Grand Canyon, AZ -> Williams, AZ (Mile 3,668)

Weather: Mostly Sunny, 100 degrees



We started with a small 3-4 mile wrong turn, but quickly got back on track. We left the Grand

Canyon and headed downhill.... or did we? Turns out that there was an initial downhill, but by

the end of the day, we'd have no net elevation change.



The head & side winds increased during the day, but Jenn & Melanie kept me company and rode

with the tank. Stopped at a gas station, we saw a small wildfire about 5 miles off. As we got

closer to Williams, there was a sign for a lake about a mile off the road. We decided to stop there

and then discovered the quicksand, yet very moldable mud. Hopping from rock to rock, I found

an decent place to hop in.



We rode over to the next church in Williams, took a shower in a nearby hotel room, got some ice

cream, and then went to bed.







07.20.07 - Day 72 (59)

Williams, AZ -> Prescott, AZ (Mile 3,740)

Weather: AM Sun, PM T-Storms - welcome to the MONSOON!



I decided to ride on my own today since I wanted to get a full breakfast at a sit-down restaurant.

The route brought us on Historic 66 all the way to I-40. Up until this point, I hadn't found a state

that allowed bicycle travel on highways, but Arizona (and parts of California) have sections that

are OK for bikes. The specific information can be found on each state's DOT site or by

contacting the bicycle coordinator.



I-40 was mostly downhill into Ash Fork. A few miles after getting off the highway, someone was

changing a flat tire. I kept going ahead and ended up riding with some B&B'ers as they all kept

getting flats.



We arrived in Prescott and stayed in a gymnasium at the local high school. This time it was

Tony's birthday, so we went out and found a restaurant that got all 30 of us our own room. It

took a while, but we got the job done (or Dave did, at least).

After some folks went back, the rest of us went to another bar and went dancing - it was fun and

reminded me of being in Boston. It was so nice to have tons of people to hang out with and

spend time with. Had it not been for their adoption of me, I'd probably have been searching for

places to sleep each and every day. Needless to say, I enjoyed being with the group every

minute.







07.21.07 - Day 73 (60)

Prescott, AZ -> Sunset Point (Rest Area off I-17) (Mile 3,788)

Weather: AM Sun, PM Rain



First, I should explain Monsoon season, as I am quickly becoming aware of it. Apparently in

Arizona, mother nature decides to flip a switch some time in July. This year it was July 19th. The

weather changes from 0 humidity and 120 degrees to 50 percent humidity and 95 degrees. This

change is also accompanied by sporadic and sever thunderstorms that typically last 30-60

minutes.



With that in mind, let's see what happened today. Well, for the Bike & Build group, today was a

build day. Seeing as though I'm a supporter of what the group does on all levels, it just seemed

natural to join the group and build with them (of course after I made sure it was OK with the

leaders).



We headed over to 3 homes that were being completed in Prescott. The homes were more or less

90-95% done, so the majority of the work was cosmetic. We picked up glass in the backyard,

painted trim, and moved/distributed landscape rocks.



During lunch, the site's project manager, Susan, talked to us about the local chapter of Habitat -

what the challenges were, how the organization was doing, and also left us with inspiring words

to stay with the organization wherever we ended up in our lives.



Today was a significant day for me. Not just because I volunteered and did something good in

my trip, which was great for sure, but because I had never really gotten to know much about

Habitat. Seeing first hand how they can change a family's life is really incredible. The cost of the

homes can range from 85,000 to 125,000. When they are moved into after completion, their

value typically increases by 80% or more. The money that was raised by the NC to SD B&B

group will completely fund one family's home (as I read in one of the biker's blog), which is

simply amazing.



Susan explained that the homeowner cannot simply turn around and sell the house for a profit

either. If the home is sold within 5 years, all the equity goes right back to Habitat. The

organization tries to ensure that the home is useful and livable for the family and encourages the

family to stay there.

One issue facing the group lately has been increasing prices and decreasing land. This has

changed their strategy in a few ways. First, they try to work with the town to get discounted land.

Additionally, they have been looking into exploring multi-family homes and condos. Lastly, they

have been looking into buying land on the outskirts of the cities since it would be less expensive.

This seems similar to gentrification, where cities purchase properties near their center, typically

lower-income and low quality homes. Then they flip the homes and either build new apartments

or condos. The prices of the new home is too high for the residents who were there before, thus

pushing those families farther from their jobs and where they used to live. Even if your home

stays the same, because the value of the surrounding area has increased, your taxes go up and

your home becomes more expensive and less affordable.



After helping out the group, I packed up my stuff and said farewell as I needed to leave and head

towards Phoenix. I was sad to leave the group, but soon enough I was back on the saddle.



It didn't take long for the monsoon to know I was biking as it absolutely poured out. I had to stop

as the roads turned into rivers almost instantly. Just when it finished raining and I hopped back

on the bike, more lightning forced me to head back indoors. I ate at the most boring Red Robin

chain in the world: the employees were like robots... very boring and lacking any enthusiasm.



Even after the food, the sky still looked terrible, so I decided this was going to be a "tough it out"

ride. And a lot of toughing was required. Not much later, I got a flat. This was typical for two

reasons. Arizona has so much broken glass and trash on the side of its roads, I find it simply

unbelievable. Secondly, I was telling pretty much everyone in the B&B group how I've only had

2 flats for the whole trip. So of course, I got a flat and in the rain.



I changed it and kept going.... only to get a second flat less than 10 miles later. This did not make

me happy for a number of reasons. I had no places to stay. I only had one more spare tube. The

roads were too busy to travel in any lanes.



Flat tire number 2 changed and I didn't put much pressure into it because I thought this one was

caused by a pinch from the tire itself beginning to show significant wear.



Fortunately, I had no more flats and hopped onto I-17. I made it to a rest area that had the

following sign, "Overnight parking permitted, no camping". Explain that one to me? Well, of

course they probably don't want people going there just to camp, but because I was traveling and

no legit cop would actually write me up, I camped anyway.



The combination of the two flats, the rain, and leaving the group, it was a tough mental and

emotional day. At the time of the second flat, I really felt like giving up.



It rained all night at the rest area, but the only time I was found was around 4:30am when

someone was walking their dogs.

07.22.07 - Day 74 (61)

I-17 rest area -> Chandler, AZ (Suburb of Phoenix) (Mile 3,867)

Weather: Sunny & Hot, 95/100 degrees



After yesterday's awful series of events, I wanted to get going as soon as possible. The rain had

stopped and the sky was clear. I packed up the tent and headed out towards civilization.



There were no storms on the horizon today, just heat. After having breakfast in Black Canyon

City at an Amish restaurant, I next stopped at a gas station after leaving I-17. There I decided it

was time for ice cream and hydration. It was 9:00am.



Continuing on the ride, I called up Jen (the Jenwich) from NUHOC, who was in Tucson, and told

her I was getting closer to Phoenix. She and her friend Elliot decided to drive up for lunch. I also

called long time elementary and high school friend, Nicole, and let her know I was getting closer

to her house too!



The timing worked perfectly as Jen, Elloit & I all arrived at Nicole & Don's (her husband) house.

We all chatted for a bit, I showered, then we went out to eat at a fairly new restaurant to the area.



Riding into Phoenix, I noticed a few things. First, all of Arizona seemed much more pleasant to

ride in compared to Colorado. In fact, Colorado was surprisingly biker unfriendly. However, in

AZ, there were fairly consistent bike lanes in all of the suburbs and in the city. It has been very

nice riding here and I must applaud Arizona for having a "Share the Road" sign with a concept I

have imagined making and sending to every state. Instead of just saying Share the Road, I

wanted to design a sign that had a car and bike and double-headed arrow with "6' min" distance

between the two. The Arizona signs say exactly that except it is 3 feet, but they also include "It's

the LAW" on the sign. I think this is very effective and should be the national standard. I will

definitely be advocating this in Boston and as much as possible with other states and bike

groups.



I'm glad to have a bed and more friends to spend time with. I'm especially happy to see Nicole,

since she has been in Arizona for a few years now.







07.24.07 - Days 75 & 76 (61)

Resting & Touring: Phoenix, AZ



Yesterday, Nicole and I watched some TV and caught up on everything in our lives. I also

checked the 110 emails I had. Additionally, I needed to resolve some credit card issues (oops!).

So it wasn't a totally lazy day.

I met her 1 and 3 year old Golden Retrievers, Zsenso and Pavalova. They are a blast to play with

and they remind me of our golden we had when I was a kid, Dusty. Pavi makes a crying noise

when she is excited and Z is just very big and clumsy since he's the youngest.



I also cleaned out one of my panniers. Specifically, it was the pannier where I stored my jelly.

Yup, it exploded due to the extreme heat, so jelly was everywhere.



After ordering and consuming an entire Dominos medium pizza, we had burgers, hotdogs, and

tots for dinner. Then we all went to the Diamondbacks game. The D'backs definitely have an

identity crisis. During the game, their mascot came out. It looked like a raccoon or possum, but

then during the game some of their animation showed a snake and a tiger. Clearly, they have no

idea what animal they are.



The stadium was nice as it had a retractable roof so the team could play no matter what. In this

case, the roof was closed and the AC was pumping. They won the game 4-3 against the Marlins

and now my touring record is 4-2 as I head into the final 5 games of the trip.



Today, I spent the majority of the day updating the blog. Actually, I've been up since 6:30am and

now it's 6:00pm. Of course, I've taken food breaks, talked to Nicole, and watched some TV. But

still, this takes forever, so you'd better be enjoying this... haha.



After updating the blog, I need to change out my bike chain, dry out the tent, then put everything

back together. Still much more to do. I also hope to get some photos online for you all - but no

promises as of yet... sorry!



The good news going forward is I have 400 biking miles to San Diego!!!!!!! I can taste the

sweet, sweet Pacific. I can't wait... however, there are a few challenges awaiting me (per usual).

There is still the desert that needs to be conquered from here to San Diego county. It will be hot,

and possibly monsooning. Also, there is one last mountain range I need to bike over. It will be

just shy of 4,000 feet, but it should be gradual and not a problem considering I've done the

Appalachians and Rockies now.



Then it's all downhill right to the California Coast! 1,000 miles left for the rest of the trip and

400 until the Pacific Ocean. Here we go!







07.25.07 - Day 77 (62)

Phoenix, AZ -> Gila Bend, AZ (Mile 3,955)

Weather: AM Sun & Hot, PM Monsoon - insane!



Knowing that the heat was going to be on, I took off from Nicole & Don's around 5am..... only to

realize I had yet another flat. Arizona... the land of flat tires. After getting only 2 for the entire

trip, I'd now gotten 5. It seemed like a slow leak so Don used the larger and more efficient pump

to fill it. Plus, it was the first flat on the front tire, so it wasn't really that bad in my opinion.



Anyway, the good news is that I successfully changed my chain last night. I could not believe

how much the old one had stretched. It looked like it was about 5-10% longer than the new chain

- which would explain why it was slipping so much.



However, with the new chain on, it unveiled another known problem: my rear cassette (for the

gears) has been worn down on the 5th and 6th rings. The 6th ring is essentially useless and the

5th ring can only be used under moderate pressure. I'm really glad I've done this trip just because

I've learned so much about bike repair and maintenance.



By the time I got to Buckeye, AZ, the sky began to look like storms. After some cold smoothies

from Sonic, I pressed onwards, hoping to outride the storm. I reached a peak in the road about an

hour later and took some photos since I had a 360 degree view of the area. To my back was a

dust storm, which meant rain was on the way. To my right, more storms and dust blowing - it

was headed my way so i needed to move. To the left was a pretty clear sky, while ahead of me

the storm also appeared to be growing.



It looked like I was not going to get away from this one. While moving forward, a truck drove by

me and its tire blew out. I stopped to pick up the pieces since the tire chunks went everywhere. It

was at this point that I discovered the cause for the majority of the flat tires: when truck tires

blow out, small metal pieces that are supposed to hold the tire together scatter along the road,

making them pin needles that stab through anything.



With that realization out of the way, I now found myself stuck between monsoon on all sides. It

was only a matter of time before the storm swallowed me. So I got the rain gear out and got

ready.



I could actually see the storm about 200 feet ahead, then it was 100 feet, then it was 50 feet, and

then I was in the storm. STORM SUMMARY: It rained harder than I've ever experienced in my

life for about 20-30 minutes. It rained harder than even Hollywood could imitate. There was so

much water falling that visibility was reduced to 100 feet or less. Then there was the wind. It

blew from every possible direction and changed whenever it wanted it. It blew from the North at

first, then the South, then the East, and finally the West - only to continue its random rotation

until the majority of the storm was over.



I moved my bike and self to the opposite side of the guardrail in order to protect everything in

the event that one of the semi's or cars on the road lost control.



When the rain subsided to a normal, steady pace, I started noticing all kinds of flying bugs

everywhere. It began to get a little out of control, so I needed to find out where they were coming

from. There were small holes, about the diameter of a ball point pen head, and these ants with

wings longer than their body would come out and fly off. Meanwhile, there were larva-like bugs

marching around the hole. It was very weird and I felt like I was watching the discovery channel

in real-time.

Anyway, after drying out underneath a bridge, I arrived in Gila Bend and decided to camp out at

a truck stop. When the sun went down and the lights came on for the parking lot, those crazy

flying bugs came out again. They filled the sky and hoarded around the light - I was forced into

my tent because there were so many bugs everywhere. And not only were they in the air, but

they made the ground look like it was moving. I put the fly (rain-proof cover) on the tent because

the chance of rain was high, but this caused me to sweat pretty much all night - it was not fun

and the air remained warm and muggy.







07.26.07 - Day 78 (63)

Gila Bend, AZ -> Foothills, AZ (Mile 4,063)

Weather: Sunny, Hot & Humid



Last night before the bugs came out, I changed the front tire. Today, I had my 6th flat on the rear

tire, from another big-rig tire blow-out. So at a rest area, during the monsoon, I had 2 hours to

change the tire and clean up the bike.



Along I-8, I stopped at a small gas station/convenience store to get some liquids. There, I talked

to Richard, who owned the store, and he explained to me how the interstate system caused their

town to dwindle. This reminded me of being on route 36 in Kansas and hearing about I-70.

Richard showed me some photos of the area from the 60's - there was a Cafe and many places to

shop. Just as I-70 wiped out most of the towns along KS-36, I-8 had caused this town to dwindle

too - even with the interstate being right next to the town.



Close to sunset, I was crossing a small pass (more like a hill) and the sky cleared to reveal an

amazing sunset. At this point, I could not take any photos because my camera had gotten wet

from yesterday's monsoon. But you can trust me, it was beautiful.



After scarfing down dinner at Applebee's, I found another truck stop and camped out again. For

the second day in a row, it was hot at night and I was sweating all night, often waking up in a

puddle of my own sweat.



Oh yea, and I am over 4,000 miles after riding 108 miles today - did not even know or try to

accomplish that distance when starting this morning!







07.27.07 - Day 79 (64)

Foothills, AZ -> Yuha Desert, CALIFORNIA! (Mile 4,143)

Weather: Super Hot, 102+ degrees

The highlight of the day here was getting into California! I crossed early in the morning as I rode

along I-8. I decided to stay on I-8, even where it was technically illegal, up until CA-98, as the

alternate side roads before this junction were absolutely awful. My butt goes through enough just

riding on normal roads - when I saw what the side road was going to be for the next 8 miles, I

decided to take my chances on the highway as it was beautifully paved.



Early into CA, I saw sand dunes for about 6 miles and the wind was tossing sand everywhere.

Obviously, I was excited to get out of that area. Nothing else really happened - I stopped for 3

hours at a Jack in the Box, ate lots of food and drank lots of water.



In the evening, I arrived in the Yuha Desert, much to my disbelief. I thought the desert was done!

The mountains appeared to be close, but as I pedaled for miles, they never got closer.



One cool thing that CA does here is line the roads with water for travelers like myself. Plastic

containers are every half mile and filled with gallon water containers. The Yuha desert is part of

the Bureau of Land Management, which means you can camp there, just as you can on National

Forest land. Still, the heat continued to be on and it was the third straight night of sweating and

not sleeping well - how much longer would this last? Fortunately, I was out of monsoon territory,

so I didn't need the fly. Hopefully out of the desert tomorrow.







07.28.07 - Day 80 (65)

Yuha Desert, CA -> 2 miles west of Campo, CA (Mile 4,211)

Weather: Cooler, but still hot, 95+ degrees



For the majority of the day, I traveled uphill. If I wasn't going up, then the wind was blowing in

my face. Either way, it was a much slower day than I have had since leaving Phoenix. So it was a

tough day, but I had a ton of water and ice packed and just took it one pedal at a time.



After reaching 3,000+ feet, I was out of the Yuha desert, but not out of the dry climate.

Apparently, the desert climate extends all the way to the Pacific, so the chances of seeing many

trees and a flourishing environment quickly slipped away.



For lunch, I stopped in Jacumba. There I met a man named Vladimir, who has been involved

with Cir de Sole, and Alfred, the owner of a mineral hot springs. They were both happy to talk to

me and Alfred let me use the hot springs - this was great because after sweating for 72+ hours, I

got a chance to cool off.



Oddly enough, I met some people from Connecticut who knew my friend's mother - what a small

world! After saying goodbye to Jo-jo, Vlad, and Alfred, I biked to a small campground right near

the Mexico border. One quick note: there are a lot of border patrol vehicles - I'd see them every 5

minutes or so.

07.29.07 - Day 81 (66)

Campo, CA -> SAN DIEGO, CA!!! (Mile 4,270)

Weather: IT DIDN'T MATTER - I MADE IT TO THE PACIFIC!!!!



All day, the only thing I could think of was seeing the ocean. I was on a mission to get going and

get to the coast. I had to force myself to stop and get breakfast. 3 pancakes and 1 breakfast

burrito later, I chomped through the last remaining hills. The wind still blew towards me, and the

road was choppy in some spots, but I didn't care or pay attention.



Finally, at 3pm, I saw and smelled the Pacific Ocean! Just as I arrived, I met Brett, a 26 year old

who recently quit his job, made a website, and put 50 to-do's on there. He said he wasn't going

home until he did everything on his list. Already, he's been to Pennsylvania so he could milk a

cow and Boston to see a Red Sox game. Good luck to Bret as he continues his adventures!



Arriving to Dave's house, the view was unbelievable! Crossing some bays, I saw nothing but

beautiful waters, boats, and skies.



The beach would have to wait though.... for now it was a shower, the Simpsons movie, and

watching the sunset at a beach-front restaurant.



600 miles to San Francisco! ETA - August 14. So the trip isn't quite over..... stay tuned for

photos!







08.03.07 - Days 82-86 (66)

One of the first things I did upon arriving in San Diego was go out with Dave. Dave is a good

friend of mine from Northeastern who moved out to SD after graduating.



He introduced me to some of his friends and we got dinner & drinks as the sun went down into

the Pacific Ocean.



The next day I met up with Dave's friend, Eric. He had an extra surf board and he taught me to

surf! It was tough and considering the fact that I've done nothing with my arms all trip (not that I

do anything with them anyway), I was sore the next day.



It was still a very cool experience and it was yet another activity that I did for the first time ever.

Everyone around here seems to surf, so as they say, "When in Rome...."

The next few days I was pretty tired from biking and surfing, but on the 3rd I took a train up to

LA to go watch a Dodgers baseball game. They were playing the Giants and I managed to get

tickets online before all the Giants fans did. For those of you who live in a hole: Barry Bonds

was 1 home run of tying Hank Aaron for the all-time HR record. The only issue is Bonds

happens to be one of the major player in the MLB who has tainted his record by taking steroids

illegally, although he denies it.



Needless to say, the stadium was absolutely packed and every time Bonds stepped up, we boo'ed

him and hoped that he would break his back or something equivalent. It was remarkable how

much the stadium lit up when every pitch was thrown to him during his at-bats. This night he did

not tie or break any records, so it was a good night in my opinion.



I had to leave before the end of the game because the latest train to leave LA for San Diego was

at 10:10pm. I literally ran back to the train station and made it with about 4 minutes to spare.



Just as the weekend approached and Jen & Eliot (from Phoenix) came up to SD, I had to take off

and resume biking up the coast. I spent more than half a day with everyone on Saturday, but then

rode into the sunset.







08.04.07 - Day 87 (67)

San Diego, CA -> San Onofre, CA (Mile 4,327)

Weather: Sunny, breezy, 80 degrees



After sleeping in for the morning and getting food with Dave, Jen, & Eliot, I took off for LA.

Due to the late start, I had to bike into the night, following the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). I

talked to a couple who wanted to walk or bike across the country, hopefully with their 3 dogs.



Following I-5 and the train tracks, I came upon a cliff with a great view of the ocean. It was in a

state park that was closed, but as you all know, it didn't stop me.



So I set up the tent, ate my dinner, then went to bed. Only an hour later was I woken by the park

ranger, we'll call Ranger Rick, and told that I was camping illegally. Here's some advice: if you

get caught by a State Park Ranger, play dumb. They will usually let you stay where you are. I

really didn't want to with RR because he was giving me attitude and pretending I was half-

retarded.



He asked, "Did you see the cliff here?" and I half-laughingly responded, "Of course, that's why I

camped here."



And then as he told me I wasn't supposed to be there I told him there were no signs that said no

camping. Anyway, he talked down to me for a while, but then did something that made me really

mad. He took away my one souvenir: the California license plate I FOUND on I-8. FINDER'S

KEEPERS, LOSERS WEAPERS. But since I didn't want to lose my spot, I just let him have the

plate. But honestly, that was dumb - are park rangers even real police and have that right?

Someone out there should know.







08.05.07 - Day 88 (68)

San Onofre, CA -> Los Angeles, CA (Mile 4,383)

Weather: AM Fog, PM Sun, Cool & Breezy, 70 degrees



I rode mostly on the PCH up through some pretty nice areas: Newport Beach, Laguna Beach,

Huntington Beach, & Long Beach. It was a Sunday, so every bicycle club was out and riding.

There were a ton of bikers on the road, and I rode for 10+ miles with a man named Mike. I also

spoke with Randy, Tim, Mike and others who bought me breakfast (thanks!).



All the beaches were really nice, and once I left to head into LA, the trail was hard to follow. The

signage isn't very good and the Adventure Cycling maps could have been more detailed. So after

riding in circles, some nice guys who saw me told me the right way.



The LA River trail smelled like piss and that was probably because every single overpass had

been inhabited with homeless people. This was one thing that surprised me about California: the

incredibly high number of homeless people. But as the point was made, if you were homeless,

wouldn't you want to live where it was nice all the time? Touché!



Today was a special day though, besides the bums and beaches. My parents were flying out to

meet me and celebrate the end of my trip! They opted for the GPS unit in the rental car and it

helped them find me at the small restaurant I was at.



After hugging and showing off the tan lines, we packed up the bike and headed for Palm Springs,

where they were staying for the week. It was weird being back in the desert as my body had

quickly gotten used to the cooler temperatures of the coast. But the place we stayed at was

amazing. Tons of famous people had stayed there including Lucile Ball, (more ppl), and yours

truly. Our main man behind the desk, Rich, gave me the low-down on each DVD I would select

every night.







08.07.07 - Days 89 & 90 (68)

Resting, Touring, & Hanging out with my parents!! (Palm Springs & LA)



The following days we drove all over Palm Springs and relaxed, either from biking or from jet

lag & airport madness. On the 7th, we drove back to LA to go see the Angels play the Red Sox.

It was a very close & exciting game in the beginning, with the lead changing sides almost every

half inning. Then the Angels ripped the game open and went on to win 10-4. It was great because

I am NOT a Red Sox fan. On the contrary, I'm an avid New York Yankees fan!







08.08.07 - Day 91 (69)

Los Angeles, CA -> Malibu, CA (Mile 4,432)

Weather: Cooler, Windier, 65 degrees



I didn't write down much that happened today. Probably because not much did happen. I spent

the better half of the day with my parents as we drove around Long Beach and had lunch at Joe's

Crab Shack (a good place to eat).



Just like when I left San Diego, I once again rode into the night. Really late night. Like 11pm.

Tonight was rough because I did not want to get caught sleeping illegally on the beach and the

camp grounds in this area were expensive. So, being the resourceful homeless man I am, a quick

chat with the gas station attendant revealed a secret open lot that his friend uses often. So I got

there, put up the tent then heard the dogs barking all night.



I really thought I was going to be caught by the neighbors or cops, but that didn't happen. During

the middle of the night I thought it was raining, but everything had stopped. I guess I slept

through some sprinklers or a quick shower as everything was wet in the morning.







08.09.07 - Day 92 (70)

Malibu, CA -> Santa Barbara, CA (Mile 4,512)

Weather: AM Fog, PM Sun, More Headwinds, 60 degrees



I got out of the open lot around 6am or so and started biking North back on Rt. 1. I was

absolutely exhausted from not sleeping well and staying up so late last night.



I biked until I reached a state park beach area and then took a 2 hour nap. It was great and very

refreshing, but the winds were still there. Apparently the entire coast line has strong northerly

winds - bad for business for this guy.



One really good thing I was looking forward to: a home to sleep in tonight courtesy of Emily

Rum from NUHOC. Her friend Adam lived just outside of Santa Barbara and I was able to stay

on their pull-out couch that night.



For dinner we went to the KillHouse - a 24 hour mexican restaurant right near UCSB (University

of California, Santa Barbara). This is what Boston and/or all colleges need: 24 hour food!

College kids love to eat and the city is full of them, so they should have 24 hour places.







08.10.07 - Day 93 (71)

Santa Barbara, CA -> Orcutt, CA (Mile 4,580)

Weather: AM Fog, PM Sun, Cool 55-60 degrees with strong headwinds



Nothing new here: more strong headwinds and a 15 degree cooler coastline. Ironically, I gave

my parents much of my warm weather gear since I thought the coast would be nice and warm.



I got my 8th flat after eating dinner at a diner. Fortunately, I was near a gas station so I could use

their air compressor to fill my tubes. I rotated my tires again considering the massive amounts of

abuse the rear one had taken since Arizona (7 flats). As I rode through the Vandenburgh Air

Force Base along the PCH, some ass threw their taco bell soda at me and it hit my backpack head

on.



Fortunately, I was wearing my backpack, something that everyone said was going to make the

ride impossible. But because I wore the backpack, the soda hit it instead of my head and I stayed

dry.



With that behind me, I continued onward and the weather remained cool and cold at times. Body

temperature control is nearly impossible due to the high winds, cold coastal temps and the

Appalachian-like hills of the coast. Going up them made me sweat a lot, but going down them

made me frigid cold.



I camped on the side of the road under a pine tree. It turned out to be one of the most comfortable

places to sleep as the needles on the ground felt just like a mattress.







08.11.07 - Day 94 (72)

Orcutt, CA -> San Simeon, CA (Mile 4,660)

Weather: Sunny but cool, 60/65 degrees



Once again, there were more headwinds, strong at times. I was either going up a hill or dealing

with headwinds, so my average biking speed decreased back to my east coast speed of 8-9 mph.



The day started off great for a number of reasons: the fog cleared early, I had a great breakfast,

and I felt like a celebrity at 7 eleven in Pismo Beach as everyone wanted to hear my cross

country story. I met Ashleigh from Palo Alto and we agreed to get in touch when I got to San

Francisco.



I was debating where to camp when the sun started to set, but ended up seeing how much the

state park would cost. Turns out it only cost 2 bucks!! The best deal I had for the entire trip!

Unfortunately, they put all the hikers/bikers together so you hear everyone talking until they go

to sleep. However, I was so exhausted that once the sun set, I passed right out.







08.12.07 - Day 95 (73)

San Simeon, CA -> Big Sur, CA (Mile 4,719)

Weather: Sunny & Cool, 55/60 degrees, Windy



Before heading out, my friend Manuel "Sexy" Guy gave me some bananas and energy bars for

the ride. Guy wants to play rugby and I hope he tries out for a local team.



The hills started to become more intense today, but so did the views. The pictures make

everything look warm and inviting, when in reality it was pretty cold and windy. Still, the views

were unbelievable as many of the hills simply dropped into the ocean or there were rocks jetting

out of the ocean hundreds of feet out.



Stopping in Big Sur, I met Tom, Dan, Jamie, Becka, Chloe, & 'lisa. They showed me this

awesome waterfall that lead to the beach and we tried to reach it, but the terrain was too steep.

Instead, I slept off the side of the road under another pine tree. My new friends left for the night

to go to a hot springs.







08.13.07 - Day 96 (74)

Big Sur, CA -> Santa Cruz, CA (Mile 4,805)

Weather: Sunny, cool, 55/60 degrees, windy



Getting past Point Big Sur was insane. I was in my third lowest gear, going downhill and was

still being blown backwards. There was a point when the road curved around and I had a tailwind

for a quarter-mile. Without pedaling, I sped up to 30mph. Hopefully this gives you an idea of

how hard it was to bike up the coast.



Once I got off the coast and near Santa Cruz, I was able to bike faster because the winds died

down. I even had a tailwind for a bit. The route brought me through many farms, including

strawberry fields. They smelled so good -- I wanted to stop and eat the berries off the vine so

badly. But who knows what kind of pesticides were on the berries.

I camped out at New Brighton State Park for 5 bucks with two other bikers who had just left San

Francisco, headed for San Diego. It felt weird to tell them that tomorrow was my last day biking.







08.14.07 - Day 97 (75)

Santa Cruz, CA - > SAN FRANCISCO, CA! (Mile 4,905)

Weather: Foggy, Cold, 60 degrees, Windy



I knew today was going to be long and difficult. It was at least 90 miles to the Golden Gate

bridge and it was likely another faceoff with the winds was likely.



I was on the road by 7:45 and made really good time to Davenport, where I had 8 dollar

pancakes. Oh yes, the PCH is home to some really yuppy people and places to eat. Just in case

you are planning to do the trip, pack a lunch like peanut butter and jelly, because a simple trip to

the gas station for crappy food should not cost 20 bucks.



By the time I reached Half Moon Bay, I thought I was going to be really late. Additionally, I

knew I had a couple very steep hills to get over. I guess what I failed to realize is that while the

hills were steep, the duration was short, relatively speaking.



After biking across the country, it's funny to hear other bikers talk. One guy told me I had a

6,000 foot gain from Davenport to San Fran, but it was probably more like 3,000 feet. I guess I

have become accustomed to riding through the pain and the hills because I just deal with it and

don't really notice it.



Many bikers, especially in California I feel, want the expensive bikes that weigh very little and

are the top of the line. Honestly, if I wanted to, I could have biked across the country on a

tricycle. You can bike across the country on any bike (minus a fixed gear). Point in case, Dave

from Kentucky rode across in a recumbent bike (where you are sitting/laying back).



So I almost got to the point of laughter when people would tell me how hard the hills were going

to be. For the record, the hardest point of the trip is the Appalachians, by far. It's steep, narrow,

and poorly paved.



About 5 miles before the Golden Gate Bridge, the fog broke and the sun came out almost as to

say "Hey, here ya go for all your hard work". The bridge looked amazing and I rode across it in

glorious fashion, taking my time.



I had my picture taken after riding 95 miles for the day and I raised my bike off the ground, as

high as I could comfortably hold it. It was over. The trip was done and I had achieved what I set

out to do.



I met Rosa and Gus, took their photo for them, and then they showed me to the CalTrain that I

needed to take in order to reach Mary & David in Palo Alto.



It took a while, but I finally reached their house around midnight, I had dinner, and we all had

dessert. Mary usually doesn't stay up past 9 or 9:30, so for her to stay up until 1am was awesome

of her. Thanks for the food and for the place to stay. It was also her birthday (and Abby's &

Sarah's) on the 16th, so we had to celebrate that soon.



Expect more updates, stats and questions to be answered. If you have any questions that you

want me to answer, please leave them here as comments. I will be taking Amtrak back to Boston

starting on the 19th and ending around the 23rd or 24th.







08.15.07 - Amtrak Day 1: San Francisco, CA -

> Seattle, WA

This is it... biking is over. I now have an estimated 4 days on the train to get up to Seattle and

then across to Boston. The train I'm on now left San Francisco (near the Great American theme

park). It will be arriving into Sacramento in a few hours, and then I need to switch to another

train after a 90 minute layover.



Sitting next to me for the first leg of this non-traditional journey were Jenna and Ana. They were

just starting college in a few days and were enjoying their last days of summer. There was a very

interesting man who wore a feather in his hat who ended up taking our picture when we arrived

in Sacramento, or as I like to call it, The Sac.



The train that I needed to catch next in The Sac was 2 hours late. Add that to the 90 minute

layover and the fact that it was already 11pm when we arrived and you'll get some cranky and

tired passengers. I was hoping that this would not be a preview of what was to come on the next

part of the journey but on a much larger scale.



Finally the train arrived, but it took 45 minutes for our seats to be assigned and the train to leave

the Sac. It was harder to sleep than I initially imagined, even being as tired as I was. The seats

were very well spread out, but after a few hours, it still felt like you were sitting straight up.



I sat next to a woman who got off the train around 4:30am. The next morning a couple

passengers sat in the seat next to me. The train had absolutely no electrical outlets, which I

dreaded because I wanted to organize my photos and watch some movies. By a stroke of luck, I

found an outlet by a pair of empty seats and I took that spot.



It didn't take long for others to find out though. This guy behind me asked if he could use the

outlet, but I told him that my computer was like a portable desktop in that the battery did not

hold a charge. An hour later, he bugged me again to use the outlet. I agreed to charge his phone,

even after I told him about other places on the train that had power (like the observation car and

other random spots made for cell phone charging).



I was shocked, but the laptop battery held onto the charge this time for a solid two hours. Once I

got the low battery message, I swapped cords. About 30 minutes later this guy saw his phone

unplugged and nearly flipped out saying "You didn't even charge it, did you?" I told him I did

charge it and he turned on the phone to see it had been charged.



So this guy was talking to the passenger next to him about how he was driving home with his

buddy one night. They had both been at the bar and were drunk. They got pulled over and his

friend was arrested while he was allowed to walk away from the car. You'd think he would have

been grateful, but instead, he complained that his friend got a warm jail cell while he had to walk

home in the cold.



He then explained how he was once an alcoholic and had to go to AA. The girl next to me later

said that he had drank 5 nips (shots) of Jack Daniels while mixing it with his coke during the

conversation with his neighbor. So that explained why he was such an ass while sitting behind

me. Oh, I should add that I could not help from asking him incredibly sarcastically if his phone

was charged, then telling him how happy I was that he could use his phone again.







08.17.07 - Amtrak Day 2: Seattle, WA ->

Somewhere in Montana

Back on the train! I learned my lesson from the first day: do not buy food on the train because it's

expensive and not very good. Also, being in the coach seats means you get last dibs for dining

car reservations. In other words, they will usually run out of food or run so late that they can't

accommodate everyone who wanted to eat. If that happens, you can try your luck in the

cafe/lounge car, which also runs out of the better food options. I think they should have some

fast food cars that don't need a ton of room, such as subway.



Anyway, my game plan was clear: peanut butter and jelly as long as possible. The first night I

treated myself to a bottle of Andre. I had started the bottle in Seattle and the movement to the

train must have really increased the pressure inside the bottle. When I unscrewed the cap it

nearly blew out of my hand, not to mention making a loud pop. I could only laugh after this

happened. Drinking only took place under the safety of darkness.



Not much happened this night. I sat next to a nice woman and we chatted as I finished the bottle

off and went to sleep.

08.18.07 - Amtrak Day 3: Somewhere in

Montana -> Minnesota

Waking up, it was already flat as if we had just bypassed the Rocky Mountains, however, I know

we passed them during the night. The train never really went too high up, instead it curved

around the mountains and, at times, went through some tunnels in the mountains.



In the morning, I decided that the dining car was not going to make a fool of me this time. So I

made some sandwiches and worked on my laptop, essentially making some slide shows and a

movie trailer for the DVD that I'll do once back in Boston. I should mention that the train's origin

was Seattle, so I had prime seat picking. This meant that I got the only seat with power. Later on,

some kid asked if he could use the power. He had a splitter, which was great, unfortunately the

seat engineer put the outlet too close to the seat so only one outlet was useable. Laaaame.



During this part of the trip, I had some interesting folks sit next to me. I'm not sure what it is

about the train, but it brought out some really interesting folks. This guy sat next to me and

decided that he wanted to tell me about his ex-wife who had 3 other ex's. He told me about oil

drilling in the Northern Plains. I didn't really need to do much talking, he seemed to want to get a

lot of stuff out into the open apparently. I worked a lot on the video and also watched some

movies that Katie let me borrow. Another night and rumors were starting to spread about the

train tracks being out of service ahead.







08.19.07 - Amtrak Day 4: Minnesota -> Ohio

I had not slept too well last night, so I was napping in the early morning when all of the sudden

the conductor woke me up so someone could sit in the spot next to me. This guy had a cowboy

hat on and appeared grungy. But who was I to judge when I myself was not showering for 3

days.



Back to sleep I went. When I woke up, the pillow that was behind my back was now on my

shoulder, being shared by both of us. He must have been having some crazy dreams too because

he kept saying stuff out loud and then when I thought he woke up, he had actually just moved a

lot and then put his hand on my leg. I gave him a quick nudge and he woke up. This guy was

definitely an addicted smoker too. That's all he would think about, talk about and do when we go

to a station stop.



As we arrived in Minnesota, the conductors confirmed the rumors: the tracks past St. Paul were

washed out from 12-17" of rain that fell Friday and Saturday that week. We were going to be

transferred to buses and then brought to Chicago. This was not a big deal for me since I had a 6

hour layover in Chi-town.

This one woman went completely off the scales because they didn't have buses right away. There

were 340 people who needed to get buses, so I figured that the best thing to do was to sit down

and just wait for the last bus. This way here, I would have less time to kill in Chicago and people

who had earlier connections than me could go first. Oh yes, and the best part of the plan: waiting

until the last bus meant there was a good chance I'd get my own two seats to myself because it

would not be a full bus.



Oh how my plans work out so well! The bus was about 1/3 full and everyone got their own seats

for the most part. The crazy woman and her husband (who was clearly not wearing the pants in

that relationship and knew it) were on our bus and sat in the front seat. The following quote has

not been modified and was told to the woman in the front seat. "Excuse me ma'am, we're going

to need that seat; there's an old woman coming and she's very large." How nicely it was worded.

I know I couldn't believe that he said that, but I text messaged some of my friends the Amtrak

Quote of the Trip.



Then the bus driver got on. He had the wonderful task of calming the group, who had to wait the

longest. He joked about how the biggest troublemakers/complainers sat in the front seat. I'm

pretty sure he wanted it to sound like a joke but spoke the truth. Once again, I laughed to myself.



For the inconvenience, Amtrak got us complementary drinks and donuts. You know Amtrak

food isn't good when the free food went untouched for the entire trip.



We stopped in Wisconsin and I proceeded to get 2 subway sandwiches, 3 ears of corn, a 2 liter

bottle of soda, 3 breakfast pastries, and some gum. You can never be too prepared for an Amtrak

journey.



Finally, we arrived in Chicago. I still had about 4 hours to kill, so I walked around until I found a

bar to go to. There I got 3 beers, 1 shot, and an order of quesadillas. Feeling ready for the last

day of the trip, I went to a store and got a small bottle of vodka for the soda I got.



The train we boarded in Chicago didn't have power along the sides and it was very crowded.

However, I finally had an interesting group of people around me. One guy was talking about how

credit cards are evil, as is the Internet. Another guy was talking about religion. And then we

started talking about the US government. Eventually, we got too loud for the time of night,

11:30. We moved to the lounge car and stayed up for a few more hours, eventually retiring to our

seats.







08.20.07 - Amtrak Day 5: Ohio -> Boston

The next morning came way too early, with babies crying, people talking, and announcements

being made over the shitty speaker system that did not work at all. The only sounds that came

out of those speakers resembled a broken siren. However, during the night, the train

configuration must have changed, because the car behind us now had power strips.



After a quick debate (noise versus quiet), I moved back a car and played on the laptop.

Somewhere in New York, a girl named Jessica joined the train gang. We chatted about all kinds

of outdoorsy stuff, and found out that both of us have gone on some pretty crazy trips. While we

were talking, the Border Patrol came on the train and performed a thorough scan to ensure there

were no illegals onboard. This process consisted of the patrolman coming up to each person and

asking "Are you a legal citizen?" Let's see, if I was an illegal, I'd definitely tell them "Oh sir, I

am here illegally." Homeland security to the north - the best of the best.



The train arrived into Albany about 3 hours late. They held the train for us, which was nice. We

made up an hour or more back into Boston and I was trembling with excitement! After 4 straight

days on the train, I was ready to leap out of the emergency exits. Trip over!









Leaving Boston - May 10

Webster, MA - May 10th, Afternoon









Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

Union, CT during a downpour - May 11

Bloomfield, CT - where I slept for the night - May 11









Orchards near Southington, CT - May 12

Lake near Southington, CT - May 12









Aweful way to say "Logging" in Cheshire, CT - May 12

Crossing the Housatonic River in Stratford, CT - May 13









Entering New York - May 14

Stairs (and bike tire track) to get on the GWB - May 14

The George Washington Bridge - NYC - May 14

Lunch time in Fort Lee, NJ - May 14









Deer in NJ - May 15

Open farms in NJ - May 15









Washington Crossing State Park along the Delaware River - May 15

The Camping Setup in W.C.S.P. - May 16









You tell me -- where do I go? - somewhere in PA - May 16

Citizens Bank Park (home of the Philadelphia Phillies) - May 16

The Liberty Bell @ CBP

Poisen Ivy/Oak/Sumak









Smith's Bridge entering Delaware - May 17

I got written up for camping illegally

Downtown Balitmore - May 19









Entering Washington, DC! - May 19

The DC Metro - so much better (and cleaner) than the T in Boston









Robert F. Kennedy Stadium - Home of the Nationals - May 20

Margarita and Me @ the Nats game

The Nats won!

At the Capitol Building

At the Washington Memorial

You aren't allowed to have fun in DC









Part of the WWII Memorial

The Reflecting Pool during sunset

Ducks!









More ducks!

Korean War Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

The White House









Seinfeld's "Puffy" Shirt @ the Smithsonian

Rob & Me @ a local Bar in Baltimore









The Washington Memorial in Baltimore

Relaxing at Camden Yards









Camden Yards - Baltimore vs. Toronto

A plane landing near the Washington National Airport









Sunset in Virginia

Central & Eastern Virginia - Hay Hay Hay!









Arrived at Bike Route 76

Rogue Camping









One of the many freight trains in Virginia

I wish this little guy could have come along! He's a stray... one of hundreds.









The "Cookie Lady's" Water Faucet

June "The Cookie Lady" Curry - Afton, VA









Along the Blue Ridge Parkway

Happy to have reached the top!









The hills of Kentucy

Welcome to Kentucky!









More rogue camping... muhahaha

The biggest ice pop I've ever seen! It's like a billy club!









Death road - aka Route 80

Wide Open Roads

Turtle Soup









Fellow Bikers Aaron & JJ

Crossing the Ohio River









Illinois!

Another beautiful sunset









Sue, Sha & Chelsea - The ladies of Shear Thing

American Legion Post 396









Open Roads

I look around and wonder.... who's buying? There's dirt everywhere!!









LR & Dutt

Shady Jack









The St. Louis Arch

Downtown St. Louis - View from the Arch









Yvonne & Wendi @ Busch Stadium

That's right... I'm on the big board!









Having a blast @ Busch Stadium

Sunsets are amazing









Good thing it's not raining

Road closed....









or is it? I got around!

Mile 2,000!









My chips are delicious

The Katy Trail in Missouri









Want to take a ride on the "Kool Bus"?









A combine machine emptying the wheat it just harvested

Riding in the combine machine harvesting wheat









Smoke!....... smoke!!!....... you smokin' yet!?!? (inside joke)









Broken spoke #2

A drawing of me by Robert - Higginsville, MO









The worst hill of the ride - steep and unpaved

Downtown Kansas City, MO









Frisbee Golf! Aaron making a stellar toss









Watch out for see-saws in the road?

Leaving Kansas City - trust me, I was only miles from leaving









Welcome to Kansas!









The breakfast I could not finish in 2 sittings

Biking - hardcore









Sunset on Rt. 36 - 14 miles East of Seneca, KS

Sunrise in Kansas









Downpour - a view from the safety of Taco Bell

The Center of the 48 States - Lebanon, KS









Shadow of a biker

Kansas has its flat moments









Harvesting wheat - endless fields









More wheat fields

Colorado! The middle of my physical challenge 24 hour day









Now I'm 2 time zones away









Eastern Colorado is pretty flat too

Sunset at the end of hour 12 of the physical challenge bike ride









3am and the wind was howling while the moon was full

Welcome to Arizona!









Really cool rock formations

Sunrise on the rocks - 6:15am









There were some open roads which reminded me of Kansas (minus farms and any kind of plant

growth)

More really cool rocks - this was by a rest spot 50 miles into the day









We took up all the Sonic drive-ins

More open roads in Navajo Nation









Little Colorado River Gorge

The GRAND CANYON! Dwarfs the Little CO Gorge









More Grand Canyon

Celebrating our arrival









Thumbs up for riding where I'm not supposed to

Riding on Historic Route 66









First signs of California! Woohoo!

Gee.... could they be more specific?









Flat tires for the B&B crew

Helping landscape with Habitat for Humanity with the B&B crew









The Bike & Build crew

A rest area off I-17... clearly I camped there anyway









Cactus!

Entering Phoenix









This is THE sign that needs to be replicated and posted everywhere - thank you ARIZONA!

Cool cactus









Lookout bikers! Horses need space too!

Arizona's bridges are so cool









When in Arizona, drink Arizona Iced Tea

Phoenix and its suburbs have the best bike lanes and signage I've seen so far, by far









Chase Field, home of the Arizona D'Backs

They won and I was happy, clearly









Don, Nicole, Jen, & Elliot

Nicole & Don along with Pavalova & Zsenso (at 5am - leaving to beat the heat)









Palm trees? In Arizona? Didn't see that coming...

Escaping the monsoon.... the rear of the storm









Monsoon to the right....

Monsoon to the left....









Monsoon to the front...

Caught in the monsoon - yowza









Camping at truck stops

Welcome to California!









This sign told the truth - sand blew everywhere!

I thought I was out of the desert.. little did I know!









California has it down - water for travelers every half mile

A beautiful sunset in the desert - crossing that mountain range the next day









Going up the mountain in the blinding, hot sun... it was tough

Resting along I-8, still going uphill. Hey! I found a California license plate!









PACIFIC OCEAN!!!!!!!!!

Learning to surf - I was able to stand a few times - another first!









Beautiful West Coast

Downtown San Diego









Went to LA for the night to boo Barry Bonds and hope he does not set any records

A Barry Bonds inflatable replica - I think it looks just like him









Dodgers Stadium

Downtown LA at night