I was having so much fun making fun of Jake I forgot something. As mentioned, Jake and I have spent hours talking about life, family and friends. Without getting to much into the repeat business I have to mention the "grinder" that raised me. If there are any attributes that people like about me, they come from this guy, any thing you don't like - he gets partial credit for that too. He was the best man at my wedding and the man who drove from Tennessee to see me finish this thing. He's the best dad anyone could ask for, my dad.
He is a great man. He'll likely have no parks, bridges or buildings named after him, but he makes a point of making this world a better place by being nice, kind and funny to every one he comes in contact with.
Think of a world where everyone did that ..... just try.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Marty's epiblogue
I've been told, and I agree, that Jake's epiblogue will be hard to beat. I'll not try, but I do have some thoughts.
As Jake mentioned, we spent a good amount of time talking about family and friends and what they mean to us. I share all of those thoughts, but of course the names would be different. For me this trip was just all about the fact that we have just one life, and one chance to experience all that we can. I'll do everything I can to not look back and say "I wish I had...." Like Jake wrote the trip was life affirming and it also affirmed how nice people are. We were regularly being cheered on, encouraged and prayed for. There is little doubt that all that positive energy was wind at our back. It was pretty cool how often complete strangers would engage us in conversations about our trip and get truly excited about what these 2 smelly guys in goofy shorts (sometimes tights) were doing.
Sadly, at the same time Jake and I were ending this 43 day odyssey, about 115 people who have been cheering us on at my work, were being told they no longer had jobs. These are people I have known for years and care a great deal about. To all of you, I'm now cheering you on and I'll be praying for you. Remember, this too shall pass.
Back to the business of this last note: Jake talked about the lesson he hopes his kids get from this adventure. He and I had many conversations about this and it might have something to do with us actually getting this thing done. This was a hard trip. I knew it would be hard, but I didn't know how hard. It was really hard, but fun. As far as that "strong man" stuff ... really. This guy rode for 5 1/2 days sick as a dog. Stuff was flying out of him in every direction and he lost about 10 lbs in those 5 days, and yet we rode. When my knees blew up he took on extra weight on his trailer and he kept it until he got sick and he took it back once he was well. So, I'm not gonna say Jake's a strong man, I'll just leave you with a thought. The next time you're sick as a dog, throwing up, not eating and those other sick things are happening to you, think about getting on a bike for 6-7 seven hours, sometimes in the rain. Now that I write that, I think maybe he is crazy.
So beating Jake's epiblogue can't be done through normal means and I don't have the writing skills. I am however very talented at making fun of people and pointing out little items I notice and locking them away for just such a time. I hope that those who know Jake will get a good laugh. I hope those that don't know him have picked up enough from his writing to enjoy this. Here goes.
Jake and I are alike in many ways and way way different in others. One way we were different is our thoughts on what to bring on this trip. I packed thinking "will I need this for sure". Jake's packing thought was "Is there any chance that in the next 45 days I might, maybe wish I kinda had this". I should have known this. One year on our annual Mt Bike trip, the first thing he excitedly showed me was a combination chainsaw - flamethrower - flashlight - NOAA weather radio - ice cream scooper - tire pump - fingernail clipper - dart gun - floor jack. Lucky for me, all the other campers and probably the whole county, Jake had failed to get the jet fuel required for operation.
I hate technology and electronic gadgets. The only thing I packed for this trip that required power was a flashlight the size of an almond and weighing that much too. Jake brought the laptop, the GPS locator, solar panels, Ipod, gorilla charger (A battery pack use to charge other items), laser hair treatment thickener, an around the neck air freshener, under water video camera, a Garmin GPS, a rechargeable nose and ear hair remover, an electronic snore stopper thing (that didn't work), a 20 language talking translator (which was no help in the backwoods of Mississippi - obviously not an official language), a rechargeable blow up Kelly doll, and a battery operated talking garden gnome with eyes that lite up. (Okay, the talking gnome I made up.) I have to admit it was kinda fun watching the local news, in the real small towns, reporting on the roaming brown outs that seemed to start when we got to town and end about the time we packed up in the morning. Just the weight of all the cables Jake had to connect all his doohickeys to his doodads was more that my whole bike.
You might notice that I didn't mention his cell phone. That is because it holds a special place. I hate cell phones and really don't know how to use one. I can I only tell you my cell phone number if I've just happened to look it up in the last hour. Jake's cell phone is an appendage. I think he thinks he is getting points for how much he uses it. For the first 10 days of the trip, every time we stopped anywhere, Jake would pull out his cell phone and remark on whether or not he had coverage, and every time I got to hear one of the following things. 1 - "Unbelievable, I've got coverage .... here in the middle of no where". I'd give him my best "why are you telling me that, I don't care" look. Or 2 - "I've got no coverage here. Why the hell don't I have coverage here when I had coverage back in ______ , the middle of nowhere", to which I'd give him my best "why are you talking to me at all, don't you know I don't care" look. This went on for 10 days and we stopped 7-8 times per day. That means I heard one of those 2 saying 70 -80 times in just the first 10 days. It also means Jake got my best "why are you ......... ". you get the idea.
As Jake mentioned, he loves Kelly and these two are joined at the .... well, the cell phone. Here is my parody of our normal lunch stop: All of the following is Jake on his cell phone - "Hey honey, we just stopped for lunch in _______(enter any town between San Diego and St Augustine) at the local Burger King. Had a pretty good ride so far, we've done about 50 miles. Ya, the wind died down. Okay gotta go." end. "Hey baby, just standing in line. Think I'll get a number 3 combo but not sure, I'm not that hungry. Okay gotta go." end "Hey honey, I went with the number 5 combo cause I got hungry standing there. What was that thing you mentioned about Pepsi One the other day? Okay " Marty, Kelly said she read on line that Pepsi One has more chemicals than regular Pepsi" I give him my best "why are you telling me this?" look. (I've never drank Pepsi One.) "Okay gotta go, my food is here" end. Phone rings "Hey honey, Oh Jeff, sorry man, thought you were Kelly cuase we were just talking -. Blah blah blah divide the net revenue by 1.74 to give you that number. Okay gotta go, having lunch. "Hey honey, ya just finished lunch. Ya it was good but you know what they did to my burger? Yep, all the pickles were right on top of one another. Okay gotta go, Marty is riding away from me."
I make fun of Jake for a few reasons. For one, it's easy. For two it's fun. For three he can take it. But Jake made this a great trip and I truly could not have done it without him; he could have done it without me. Jake is the only person who I asked to do this trip with. If I had it to do again, Jake would be the person I'd ask again. (Don't worry, once should do it)
Folks, that's it for me. This was a great experience and all of the support, prayers and well wishes are so appreciated. People have asked "what's next"; well nothing like this. There are other things that I want to see and experience, but none of those remaining things will cause people to say "Are you crazy?", well maybe one of them, but that's years away.
Life is good, make it better.
Marty
As Jake mentioned, we spent a good amount of time talking about family and friends and what they mean to us. I share all of those thoughts, but of course the names would be different. For me this trip was just all about the fact that we have just one life, and one chance to experience all that we can. I'll do everything I can to not look back and say "I wish I had...." Like Jake wrote the trip was life affirming and it also affirmed how nice people are. We were regularly being cheered on, encouraged and prayed for. There is little doubt that all that positive energy was wind at our back. It was pretty cool how often complete strangers would engage us in conversations about our trip and get truly excited about what these 2 smelly guys in goofy shorts (sometimes tights) were doing.
Sadly, at the same time Jake and I were ending this 43 day odyssey, about 115 people who have been cheering us on at my work, were being told they no longer had jobs. These are people I have known for years and care a great deal about. To all of you, I'm now cheering you on and I'll be praying for you. Remember, this too shall pass.
Back to the business of this last note: Jake talked about the lesson he hopes his kids get from this adventure. He and I had many conversations about this and it might have something to do with us actually getting this thing done. This was a hard trip. I knew it would be hard, but I didn't know how hard. It was really hard, but fun. As far as that "strong man" stuff ... really. This guy rode for 5 1/2 days sick as a dog. Stuff was flying out of him in every direction and he lost about 10 lbs in those 5 days, and yet we rode. When my knees blew up he took on extra weight on his trailer and he kept it until he got sick and he took it back once he was well. So, I'm not gonna say Jake's a strong man, I'll just leave you with a thought. The next time you're sick as a dog, throwing up, not eating and those other sick things are happening to you, think about getting on a bike for 6-7 seven hours, sometimes in the rain. Now that I write that, I think maybe he is crazy.
So beating Jake's epiblogue can't be done through normal means and I don't have the writing skills. I am however very talented at making fun of people and pointing out little items I notice and locking them away for just such a time. I hope that those who know Jake will get a good laugh. I hope those that don't know him have picked up enough from his writing to enjoy this. Here goes.
Jake and I are alike in many ways and way way different in others. One way we were different is our thoughts on what to bring on this trip. I packed thinking "will I need this for sure". Jake's packing thought was "Is there any chance that in the next 45 days I might, maybe wish I kinda had this". I should have known this. One year on our annual Mt Bike trip, the first thing he excitedly showed me was a combination chainsaw - flamethrower - flashlight - NOAA weather radio - ice cream scooper - tire pump - fingernail clipper - dart gun - floor jack. Lucky for me, all the other campers and probably the whole county, Jake had failed to get the jet fuel required for operation.
I hate technology and electronic gadgets. The only thing I packed for this trip that required power was a flashlight the size of an almond and weighing that much too. Jake brought the laptop, the GPS locator, solar panels, Ipod, gorilla charger (A battery pack use to charge other items), laser hair treatment thickener, an around the neck air freshener, under water video camera, a Garmin GPS, a rechargeable nose and ear hair remover, an electronic snore stopper thing (that didn't work), a 20 language talking translator (which was no help in the backwoods of Mississippi - obviously not an official language), a rechargeable blow up Kelly doll, and a battery operated talking garden gnome with eyes that lite up. (Okay, the talking gnome I made up.) I have to admit it was kinda fun watching the local news, in the real small towns, reporting on the roaming brown outs that seemed to start when we got to town and end about the time we packed up in the morning. Just the weight of all the cables Jake had to connect all his doohickeys to his doodads was more that my whole bike.
You might notice that I didn't mention his cell phone. That is because it holds a special place. I hate cell phones and really don't know how to use one. I can I only tell you my cell phone number if I've just happened to look it up in the last hour. Jake's cell phone is an appendage. I think he thinks he is getting points for how much he uses it. For the first 10 days of the trip, every time we stopped anywhere, Jake would pull out his cell phone and remark on whether or not he had coverage, and every time I got to hear one of the following things. 1 - "Unbelievable, I've got coverage .... here in the middle of no where". I'd give him my best "why are you telling me that, I don't care" look. Or 2 - "I've got no coverage here. Why the hell don't I have coverage here when I had coverage back in ______ , the middle of nowhere", to which I'd give him my best "why are you talking to me at all, don't you know I don't care" look. This went on for 10 days and we stopped 7-8 times per day. That means I heard one of those 2 saying 70 -80 times in just the first 10 days. It also means Jake got my best "why are you ......... ". you get the idea.
As Jake mentioned, he loves Kelly and these two are joined at the .... well, the cell phone. Here is my parody of our normal lunch stop: All of the following is Jake on his cell phone - "Hey honey, we just stopped for lunch in _______(enter any town between San Diego and St Augustine) at the local Burger King. Had a pretty good ride so far, we've done about 50 miles. Ya, the wind died down. Okay gotta go." end. "Hey baby, just standing in line. Think I'll get a number 3 combo but not sure, I'm not that hungry. Okay gotta go." end "Hey honey, I went with the number 5 combo cause I got hungry standing there. What was that thing you mentioned about Pepsi One the other day? Okay " Marty, Kelly said she read on line that Pepsi One has more chemicals than regular Pepsi" I give him my best "why are you telling me this?" look. (I've never drank Pepsi One.) "Okay gotta go, my food is here" end. Phone rings "Hey honey, Oh Jeff, sorry man, thought you were Kelly cuase we were just talking -. Blah blah blah divide the net revenue by 1.74 to give you that number. Okay gotta go, having lunch. "Hey honey, ya just finished lunch. Ya it was good but you know what they did to my burger? Yep, all the pickles were right on top of one another. Okay gotta go, Marty is riding away from me."
I make fun of Jake for a few reasons. For one, it's easy. For two it's fun. For three he can take it. But Jake made this a great trip and I truly could not have done it without him; he could have done it without me. Jake is the only person who I asked to do this trip with. If I had it to do again, Jake would be the person I'd ask again. (Don't worry, once should do it)
Folks, that's it for me. This was a great experience and all of the support, prayers and well wishes are so appreciated. People have asked "what's next"; well nothing like this. There are other things that I want to see and experience, but none of those remaining things will cause people to say "Are you crazy?", well maybe one of them, but that's years away.
Life is good, make it better.
Marty
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Jake's Epiblogue
First of all, thank all of you for following our trip via the Blog and the satellite tracking (the SPOT is very cool). I really hope you have enjoyed the trip!
This post will do it for me. Marty will probably do his Epiblogue Monday when he gets back to VA. As an aside, someone enter "Epiblogue" in Wikipedia for us, okay? I think it may be an original term! Anyway, I will post some more pictures of the welcoming party and probably annoy folks with a fund-raising reminder e-mail, but after today, http://www.wherearethoseguys.blogspot.com/ and I will part ways.
The Blog became of labor of love. We didn't necessarily love the Blog, but we definitely love you guys (at least those we know!!) and know that some of you made this part of the morning routine. Some days were easier than others to create your coffee reading, I assure you. There were days when hooking up the PC and penning an entry was not what the body screamed for, but we did our best.
Before, during, and after the trip, people asked me if this trip was "life-changing". I can happily answer that question, but you will have to endure the ramblings of Jake (or scroll to the bottom) to discover my answer.
Nearly one million pedal strokes per rider carried us across the USA. That is a lot of saddle time and a lot of time to talk as long as the wind and the riding conditions allowed.
I am a talker. Marty is a talker. This worked out well as we kept the time moving by stretching the bounds of humor at every Seinfeld-esque observation that presented itself. We definitely passed the bounds of humor many times, but on a trip like his, quantity trumps quality. We also shared a lot of funny stories reaching all the way back to early school days. Even religion and politics were fair game. Fortunately we are pretty much on the same page there.
Many, many discussions were centered on family, past and present. These conversations often tailed off into silent reflection as we pedaled along to the sound of our under-lubricated chains dragging the chain rings of our bicycles along.
I cannot speak for Marty here, but in the many hours when talking was impossible, or words were just worn out for the day, family and friends dominated much of my thoughts. I am sure Marty did not notice, but I will admit to being emotionally overwhelmed several times just pedaling along some rural road lost in crooked, twisting corridors in my head.
Not wishing to slight my friends and coworkers individually, I will have to risk slighting them all by keeping the following observations to my immediate family. Rest assured, I truly miss all of you and can't wait to see you. However, I guess I HAVE to say something about Marty!
Marty Dunstan is a strong man. I did not say he was the fastest cyclist in the world, nor does he have the most durable joints in the country - he is, however a very mentally tough, strong man. He is also a great read of people, or at least of me for sure. When I was really sick, despite being one of the biggest blabbermouths this side of me, he seemed to know that SILENT encouragement was what I needed to keep going. Silent encouragement is hard to describe, but it was effective. Marty also freely and regularly shows a truly deep love for his family - another mark of a strong man and a trait I really appreciated. My father had a very high rank for men like Marty Dunstan: Marty is a "GOOD EGG".
Speaking of Dad, my trip and my general love of cycling is riddled with painful, yet poignant irony. Each time I double-checked traffic and potential obstacles, that man would rattle around in my head. Then, as the potential danger passed and the rhythmic pedaling resumed, I would think with a rueful smile about how tough he had to be to support a brood of nine children throughout three tumultuous decades of massive social and economic change (within and without our family). He wasn't the easiest guy but Dad was a grinder and he persevered through some very tough times. I am proud to be a grinder too.
My Mom was an accomplished artist with a creative streak a mile wide. She also had an adventurous spirit that really came through later in life. I do not think I could have considered this trip without having that piece of her running through me. As for the art... each time I looked at an amazing rock formation, a beautiful pastoral setting, a dilapidated farmhouse, or just the sunset on the darkening clouds, she was there. Green was not green, nor was the orange of the sunset orange - you cannot count the hues she could see. Her vision and spirit moved me forward in deep appreciation of the beauty of our country.
The aforementioned "brood", my siblings, all have left their mark on me. Susan, Vinnie, Barb, Julie, Kate, Joe, Joan, and Patrick popped into my head at various times and left me smiling in the knowledge I took a piece of each of them along as I cranked out another mile. Joan and Pat -I want you to know that I learned, and continue to learn, as much from the younger as the elder.
My children, Caitlin and John, probably do not know this, but I would not have been able to do this without them. They are good, strong young adults growing in self-reliance every day. But it is not the comfort of knowing they can live without Dad for a few weeks that makes this possible or even worth doing. I do these crazy things in large part to show them that with a little planning and preparation and a ton of perseverance, an ordinary guy like their Dad can do extraordinary things. Kelly and I are proud to have replaced ourselves on this earth with "upgraded versions" of ourselves and cannot wait to see the ordinary AND extraordinary things they will do in life.
That brings me to Kelly. I am 46 years old and when I met her a few weeks after her 18th birthday and just a few months after my 21st, I knew we would be together, build a family, and create those "upgraded versions" -- must have been that vision my Mom gave me. Anyway, in the solitude of my thoughts on this trip, Kelly was the one person who came to mind not just as specific memories and thoughts - she was almost a concept unto herself. She was a nebulous feeling of complete support and encouraging love that cushioned me and carried me along particularly in my toughest moments. Once again, I find words inadequate, but I know she knows. I love her.
So the answer to the question?
This trip was happily NOT "life-changing". Traveling across the country on a bicycle was life affirming. The memory of the trip and completing it will be a lasting reminder to Jake Scully to be grateful and show gratitude for life as it is.
And it's pretty good, if I do say so myself.
Thanks, and all the best!
Jake
This post will do it for me. Marty will probably do his Epiblogue Monday when he gets back to VA. As an aside, someone enter "Epiblogue" in Wikipedia for us, okay? I think it may be an original term! Anyway, I will post some more pictures of the welcoming party and probably annoy folks with a fund-raising reminder e-mail, but after today, http://www.wherearethoseguys.blogspot.com/ and I will part ways.
The Blog became of labor of love. We didn't necessarily love the Blog, but we definitely love you guys (at least those we know!!) and know that some of you made this part of the morning routine. Some days were easier than others to create your coffee reading, I assure you. There were days when hooking up the PC and penning an entry was not what the body screamed for, but we did our best.
Before, during, and after the trip, people asked me if this trip was "life-changing". I can happily answer that question, but you will have to endure the ramblings of Jake (or scroll to the bottom) to discover my answer.
Nearly one million pedal strokes per rider carried us across the USA. That is a lot of saddle time and a lot of time to talk as long as the wind and the riding conditions allowed.
I am a talker. Marty is a talker. This worked out well as we kept the time moving by stretching the bounds of humor at every Seinfeld-esque observation that presented itself. We definitely passed the bounds of humor many times, but on a trip like his, quantity trumps quality. We also shared a lot of funny stories reaching all the way back to early school days. Even religion and politics were fair game. Fortunately we are pretty much on the same page there.
Many, many discussions were centered on family, past and present. These conversations often tailed off into silent reflection as we pedaled along to the sound of our under-lubricated chains dragging the chain rings of our bicycles along.
I cannot speak for Marty here, but in the many hours when talking was impossible, or words were just worn out for the day, family and friends dominated much of my thoughts. I am sure Marty did not notice, but I will admit to being emotionally overwhelmed several times just pedaling along some rural road lost in crooked, twisting corridors in my head.
Not wishing to slight my friends and coworkers individually, I will have to risk slighting them all by keeping the following observations to my immediate family. Rest assured, I truly miss all of you and can't wait to see you. However, I guess I HAVE to say something about Marty!
Marty Dunstan is a strong man. I did not say he was the fastest cyclist in the world, nor does he have the most durable joints in the country - he is, however a very mentally tough, strong man. He is also a great read of people, or at least of me for sure. When I was really sick, despite being one of the biggest blabbermouths this side of me, he seemed to know that SILENT encouragement was what I needed to keep going. Silent encouragement is hard to describe, but it was effective. Marty also freely and regularly shows a truly deep love for his family - another mark of a strong man and a trait I really appreciated. My father had a very high rank for men like Marty Dunstan: Marty is a "GOOD EGG".
Speaking of Dad, my trip and my general love of cycling is riddled with painful, yet poignant irony. Each time I double-checked traffic and potential obstacles, that man would rattle around in my head. Then, as the potential danger passed and the rhythmic pedaling resumed, I would think with a rueful smile about how tough he had to be to support a brood of nine children throughout three tumultuous decades of massive social and economic change (within and without our family). He wasn't the easiest guy but Dad was a grinder and he persevered through some very tough times. I am proud to be a grinder too.
My Mom was an accomplished artist with a creative streak a mile wide. She also had an adventurous spirit that really came through later in life. I do not think I could have considered this trip without having that piece of her running through me. As for the art... each time I looked at an amazing rock formation, a beautiful pastoral setting, a dilapidated farmhouse, or just the sunset on the darkening clouds, she was there. Green was not green, nor was the orange of the sunset orange - you cannot count the hues she could see. Her vision and spirit moved me forward in deep appreciation of the beauty of our country.
The aforementioned "brood", my siblings, all have left their mark on me. Susan, Vinnie, Barb, Julie, Kate, Joe, Joan, and Patrick popped into my head at various times and left me smiling in the knowledge I took a piece of each of them along as I cranked out another mile. Joan and Pat -I want you to know that I learned, and continue to learn, as much from the younger as the elder.
My children, Caitlin and John, probably do not know this, but I would not have been able to do this without them. They are good, strong young adults growing in self-reliance every day. But it is not the comfort of knowing they can live without Dad for a few weeks that makes this possible or even worth doing. I do these crazy things in large part to show them that with a little planning and preparation and a ton of perseverance, an ordinary guy like their Dad can do extraordinary things. Kelly and I are proud to have replaced ourselves on this earth with "upgraded versions" of ourselves and cannot wait to see the ordinary AND extraordinary things they will do in life.
That brings me to Kelly. I am 46 years old and when I met her a few weeks after her 18th birthday and just a few months after my 21st, I knew we would be together, build a family, and create those "upgraded versions" -- must have been that vision my Mom gave me. Anyway, in the solitude of my thoughts on this trip, Kelly was the one person who came to mind not just as specific memories and thoughts - she was almost a concept unto herself. She was a nebulous feeling of complete support and encouraging love that cushioned me and carried me along particularly in my toughest moments. Once again, I find words inadequate, but I know she knows. I love her.
So the answer to the question?
This trip was happily NOT "life-changing". Traveling across the country on a bicycle was life affirming. The memory of the trip and completing it will be a lasting reminder to Jake Scully to be grateful and show gratitude for life as it is.
And it's pretty good, if I do say so myself.
Thanks, and all the best!
Jake
Friday, April 10, 2009
Finale - Lake Kerr to Crescent Beach 206/A1A
Yesterday, Marty and I rode our final 56 miles ending our 43 day odyssey at the Atlantic Ocean.
The day began with late start from the lake and a brisk ride to Palatka.
Palatka is probably known for other things, but it is also the home of Florida's Oldest Diner, Angels. There we had a late lunch and waited for the arrival of Big John Sathe and Ron and Cheryl Adams who rode all the way up from Palm Coast to escort us in the last 26 miles.
For those unfamiliar with road cycling, this was a huge favor as we were able to ride closely behind them (draft) and thus really take it easy on the last leg. Mark and Anne
Betourne also joined us near Hastings so we had an even easier time of it the last 15 or so miles in.
Both of us felt like a milion, okay maybe a hundred, bucks as we crested the last "hill" of the ride -- the bridge over the intracoastal waterway on Route 206.
As we turned biefly South on A1A and then East onto the beach access road, we saw a bunch of our family and friends cheering us on. Upon rereading that last sentence, I realize that much better writer than I may have to be enlisted to pen an adequate description of the feelings of that moment.
Marty and I then made a valiant attempt to ride across the beautiful sugar sand of Crescent Beach, but had to walk the bikes the final yards to ceremonially dip our front wheels into the Atlantic.
Thus ended our ride, but not the day. We joined our welcoming committee at The South Beach Grill for a drink and some food.
Marty's Dad, Bob, and his wife Betty came down from Tennessee for our arrival. Lee and Chuck, of Kerr Lake fame were there as well. My family, including the entire in-law contingent of the Echelbergers, Fosters, and Sheppards as well as two of my sisters were present. The Daytona Beach Bike Club, the Flagler County Board of Education, and Nicole from the Ed Foundation were there in force to welcome us.
PC Bike actually closed early so James, Diane and young James could be there as well. Todd from work, Matt Haugan, Lynne Opelka, and the famous LESAER Of course, my daughter Caitlin, son John, and my wife Kelly were there - seeing them... well... you can refer to the "writer better than I" comment above on that one.
Many, many thanks to all of you who turned out to see us in (oh yeah, Matt and Lynne, thanks for the beer - I guess you know they will not go to waste!). All of your support is truly appreciated and gladly accepted. If I missed anyone, I apologize.
We have some pictures yet to post and probably a blog entry or two summing up the trip, but we are back, safe and sound and this little bicycle trip is over.
Big sigh.
Jake
The day began with late start from the lake and a brisk ride to Palatka.
Palatka is probably known for other things, but it is also the home of Florida's Oldest Diner, Angels. There we had a late lunch and waited for the arrival of Big John Sathe and Ron and Cheryl Adams who rode all the way up from Palm Coast to escort us in the last 26 miles.
For those unfamiliar with road cycling, this was a huge favor as we were able to ride closely behind them (draft) and thus really take it easy on the last leg. Mark and Anne
Betourne also joined us near Hastings so we had an even easier time of it the last 15 or so miles in.
Both of us felt like a milion, okay maybe a hundred, bucks as we crested the last "hill" of the ride -- the bridge over the intracoastal waterway on Route 206.
As we turned biefly South on A1A and then East onto the beach access road, we saw a bunch of our family and friends cheering us on. Upon rereading that last sentence, I realize that much better writer than I may have to be enlisted to pen an adequate description of the feelings of that moment.
Marty and I then made a valiant attempt to ride across the beautiful sugar sand of Crescent Beach, but had to walk the bikes the final yards to ceremonially dip our front wheels into the Atlantic.
Thus ended our ride, but not the day. We joined our welcoming committee at The South Beach Grill for a drink and some food.
Marty's Dad, Bob, and his wife Betty came down from Tennessee for our arrival. Lee and Chuck, of Kerr Lake fame were there as well. My family, including the entire in-law contingent of the Echelbergers, Fosters, and Sheppards as well as two of my sisters were present. The Daytona Beach Bike Club, the Flagler County Board of Education, and Nicole from the Ed Foundation were there in force to welcome us.
PC Bike actually closed early so James, Diane and young James could be there as well. Todd from work, Matt Haugan, Lynne Opelka, and the famous LESAER Of course, my daughter Caitlin, son John, and my wife Kelly were there - seeing them... well... you can refer to the "writer better than I" comment above on that one.
Many, many thanks to all of you who turned out to see us in (oh yeah, Matt and Lynne, thanks for the beer - I guess you know they will not go to waste!). All of your support is truly appreciated and gladly accepted. If I missed anyone, I apologize.
We have some pictures yet to post and probably a blog entry or two summing up the trip, but we are back, safe and sound and this little bicycle trip is over.
Big sigh.
Jake
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Gainesville to Lake Kerr
A great day for the penultimate day of riding. I've wanted to use that word for years which makes it an even better penultimate day. We did 66 miles of which over 20 was on bike trails, which is always nice. It was a very nice day of riding through central Florida's lake country. To top off the penultimate day, my sister Lee was waiting for us at the lake house. We had a great visit, a great dinner and a glass of wine or 5.
This morning Jake successfully threw a line hook and worm into a fish filled lake without so much as a bite. He blamed it on Lee, who had said because of the the full moon the fishing would be bad. He blamed it on the worms which were playing dead and he blamed it on the luck of the Irish, which is probably closest to the real issue.
So, we will shove off at around 1:15 and take our sweet time getting to Palatka where one of Jake's riding buddies will meet us to ride with us the rest of the way in.
Lee will be taking almost all of the rest of our stuff in her vehicle, so this last 55 - 60 should be easy.... oops did we say easy?
See you all soon. We would say more but the excitement of finishing this trip is kind of clogging up the brain.
Marty
This morning Jake successfully threw a line hook and worm into a fish filled lake without so much as a bite. He blamed it on Lee, who had said because of the the full moon the fishing would be bad. He blamed it on the worms which were playing dead and he blamed it on the luck of the Irish, which is probably closest to the real issue.
So, we will shove off at around 1:15 and take our sweet time getting to Palatka where one of Jake's riding buddies will meet us to ride with us the rest of the way in.
Lee will be taking almost all of the rest of our stuff in her vehicle, so this last 55 - 60 should be easy.... oops did we say easy?
See you all soon. We would say more but the excitement of finishing this trip is kind of clogging up the brain.
Marty
Itchnetucknee Springs to Gainesville
This is the Blog from Monday.
Our third to last day was by far the easiest. 36 miles of really nice countryside and more great roads. Gainesville gets huge high marks for its Bike Lanes. We didn't ride more than a mile without being in a nice, wide, well-marked lane.
But the best part of the trip was staying with my sister Joan, her husband Dan and my nephew Jacob.... oh yeah, Buster too.
Then as an added bonus, Kelly decided to drive over and have dinner with us -- what the heck, it's only an hour-and-a-half drive.
Joan made and excellent lasagna, we watched some Spiderman with Jacob and had an excellent night's sleep.
Many thanks to Joan and Dan for their hospitality - it was a great day.
Jake
Our third to last day was by far the easiest. 36 miles of really nice countryside and more great roads. Gainesville gets huge high marks for its Bike Lanes. We didn't ride more than a mile without being in a nice, wide, well-marked lane.
But the best part of the trip was staying with my sister Joan, her husband Dan and my nephew Jacob.... oh yeah, Buster too.
Then as an added bonus, Kelly decided to drive over and have dinner with us -- what the heck, it's only an hour-and-a-half drive.
Joan made and excellent lasagna, we watched some Spiderman with Jacob and had an excellent night's sleep.
Many thanks to Joan and Dan for their hospitality - it was a great day.
Jake
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The Last of the Lists, but not the last of the Blog
Lessons Learned
· You are not as strong as you think, but that is okay.
· You do not need all that stuff… it is amazing just how few articles of clothing are needed when the weather gets better. Oh yeah, that peanut butter jar?
· Never ever declare an “easy” day in advance. Still learning that one.
· When riding in the rain and a loaded livestock truck pulls up next to you, close your mouth.
· Some stereotypes are largely valid.
· If you ask a waitress about a menu item and she tells you, “only one other person has ordered it, but we have had no complaints”, don’t be adventurous, go with the cheeseburger.
· Even though people in the South wear a lot of camouflage, if you really concentrate, you will find you can still see them.
· Don’t mess with the RV Park “lifers” or their rules – they are serious about the coffee fund.
· If you win a free trip to El Paso, just El Paso! Trust us on that one.
· You are not as fast as you think, but that too is okay.
· If you are going to make eye contact with strangers, have something to say. In addition, have an “out” from the conversation, like, “my bike is on fire, gotta go”.
· Mental toughness trumps physical toughness – always.
· Climbing hills dragging 50 pounds of stuff, feels just like climbing hills with 50 pounds of stuff.
· Convenience Stores in the boonies are Necessity Stores – not just convenient, they are often “IT” for dozens of miles. Makes the canned Thai Pepper Flavored tuna really appetizing so don’t be too picky.
· Almost all Motel and Hotel rates are negotiable – have a good line ready.
· Some Motels do not have door knobs, some do not have coffee, some do not have windows, some do not have telephones and some don’t have walls or a roof…. Avoid those.
· When people in Texas are talking about how windy it is, double up on your tent stakes.
· People still pan for gold.
· The idea of “wrong side of the tracks” is very much still alive and well out West.
· There are places in this country, mostly in AZ, that don’t even look like they would be on earth. It is worth seeing.
· You will get there – eventually.
· It is a big country but it is a small world – be nice to people, there are a lot of nice people out there.
· You are not as strong as you think, but that is okay.
· You do not need all that stuff… it is amazing just how few articles of clothing are needed when the weather gets better. Oh yeah, that peanut butter jar?
· Never ever declare an “easy” day in advance. Still learning that one.
· When riding in the rain and a loaded livestock truck pulls up next to you, close your mouth.
· Some stereotypes are largely valid.
· If you ask a waitress about a menu item and she tells you, “only one other person has ordered it, but we have had no complaints”, don’t be adventurous, go with the cheeseburger.
· Even though people in the South wear a lot of camouflage, if you really concentrate, you will find you can still see them.
· Don’t mess with the RV Park “lifers” or their rules – they are serious about the coffee fund.
· If you win a free trip to El Paso, just El Paso! Trust us on that one.
· You are not as fast as you think, but that too is okay.
· If you are going to make eye contact with strangers, have something to say. In addition, have an “out” from the conversation, like, “my bike is on fire, gotta go”.
· Mental toughness trumps physical toughness – always.
· Climbing hills dragging 50 pounds of stuff, feels just like climbing hills with 50 pounds of stuff.
· Convenience Stores in the boonies are Necessity Stores – not just convenient, they are often “IT” for dozens of miles. Makes the canned Thai Pepper Flavored tuna really appetizing so don’t be too picky.
· Almost all Motel and Hotel rates are negotiable – have a good line ready.
· Some Motels do not have door knobs, some do not have coffee, some do not have windows, some do not have telephones and some don’t have walls or a roof…. Avoid those.
· When people in Texas are talking about how windy it is, double up on your tent stakes.
· People still pan for gold.
· The idea of “wrong side of the tracks” is very much still alive and well out West.
· There are places in this country, mostly in AZ, that don’t even look like they would be on earth. It is worth seeing.
· You will get there – eventually.
· It is a big country but it is a small world – be nice to people, there are a lot of nice people out there.
The Lists Part Three
Scary Moments – theses are moments we left out of the blog on purpose or soft-pedaled, so to speak.
· Interstate 8 out of San Diego County – the Bob Trailers are rated to 25 MPH – 38 is a low estimate of this plummet along side Interstate Traffic. Forearms were looking quite Popeye-ish as we had to squeeze those brakes for all they were worth.
· Marty’s Knee – it was really flipping bad. Kelly’s timely arrival and ride to the Doctor was great, but it was still touch and go for a couple weeks after that. Though some do it, this trip would not be fun solo.
· Dogs In Fort Hancock, Texas – These sons-of-bitches (HA we can use that with impunity) were nasty, mean, relentless and almost got the Bear Spray in the face. We never encountered anything like it anywhere else.
· San Antonio Highway Interchange – Jake has a weird penchant for dicey travels in close quarters with motor vehicles, but it was even time to change his shorts after the I-10, I-35, I-37, US 90, merge/interchange/funhouse/deathtrap/roller coaster.
· Jake’s Stomach and regions South – It was just bad. Even now that we are done, we assume people still like to eat without feeling ill, so the details will go to the grave with Jake… a place that did not seem so far off a few days into the episode.
· The people at the Imperial Palace Casino – not threatening, just scary.
· The people at the Jesus restaurant – not threatening, just scary.
· Fire building at Itchnetucknee Springs – well… what had happened… uh… well we… you see, here is how it all went down. We have no matches and no lighter. But we are at a campground with a fire pit and well, you know, you have to have a fire in that situation, don’t you? We took off to the Springs and took a dip in the ever 72 degree water and proceeded to load up Jake’s trailer with firewood for our fire. We still had the dilemma of no source of ignition. Lucky for us, a fellow camper had been burning some big logs the night before and that fire had two big chunks of half burned logs just full of embers. We happily loaded them onto my trailer on top of some beer boxes we thought would protect the trailer on the 75-yard journey to our campsite. Did we mention the 20 MPH wind today? Oh… well there was that… and the flammable beer boxes…oh yeah and the spare tires for the trailer and bike zip-tied to the bottom of the trailer. As one with half a brain might imagine, Jake was soon towing a raging inferno of wood, beer box, and rubber through the campsite. Undaunted we hurriedly dumped the entire conflagration into our fire-pit and saved the trailer (which could use a coat of Krylon now). We were successful in starting the fire as you might guess. As you might NOT guess, Marty, instead of aiding the emblazoned Jake, was doubled over in laughter thinking Jake looked like a dog running from his own tail afire.. THAT was scary.
Quotable Quotes
· “I never been out of the state ‘cept when I went to my parents’ wedding in Las Vegas, and I hardly remember that” – young girl outside of the only store in Ripley, California.
· “Is that a trailer?” – Mensa member at Roadhouse in Bastrop Texas.
· “Better not get too much tanner, there are some real rednecks east of here.” Woman in general store in Independence Texas.
· “Are you guys crazy?” – many people in multiple towns.
· “Don’t you have anything better to do?” – The chain-smoking drunk guy (around age 25) downing Natural Lights one after the other, sitting next to his pregnant wife in the bar in Defuniak Springs at 5:20 PM.
· “If I were any better, I would be you” – enormous blow-hard to anyone with the misfortune of catching his eye at that whacky restaurant in Chattahoochee.
· “What is the deal here, are these guys all Jesus-freaks?” – Jake right before he noticed the plastic three-dimensional depiction of the last supper directly above his head in said whacky restaurant.
· “Marty, are there any beers left?” – Jake.
· “No” – Marty.
Stupid Signs
· Limited Sight Distance
· Texas State Law – you must observe all warning signs.
· No diving from bridge – seen often on dry creek and river beds in Arizona, NM, and Texas.
· No fishing from bridge – seen on a 10-yard bridge in Florida.
· “CHURCH” – that is it, not crossing, not warning if you are evil, in-session, just Church.
· All Traffic must stop for school buses – come on now.
· Absurd Church Signs – Okay, this may be sacrilegious, but once in the South.. and we mean the SOUTH… the marquees outside some denominations are just silly. I had no idea that Life without Jesus was like a Pizza without a bicycle Pump. Okay, so I made that one up… but seriously folks, let’s keep it relevant, shall we?
· Interstate 8 out of San Diego County – the Bob Trailers are rated to 25 MPH – 38 is a low estimate of this plummet along side Interstate Traffic. Forearms were looking quite Popeye-ish as we had to squeeze those brakes for all they were worth.
· Marty’s Knee – it was really flipping bad. Kelly’s timely arrival and ride to the Doctor was great, but it was still touch and go for a couple weeks after that. Though some do it, this trip would not be fun solo.
· Dogs In Fort Hancock, Texas – These sons-of-bitches (HA we can use that with impunity) were nasty, mean, relentless and almost got the Bear Spray in the face. We never encountered anything like it anywhere else.
· San Antonio Highway Interchange – Jake has a weird penchant for dicey travels in close quarters with motor vehicles, but it was even time to change his shorts after the I-10, I-35, I-37, US 90, merge/interchange/funhouse/deathtrap/roller coaster.
· Jake’s Stomach and regions South – It was just bad. Even now that we are done, we assume people still like to eat without feeling ill, so the details will go to the grave with Jake… a place that did not seem so far off a few days into the episode.
· The people at the Imperial Palace Casino – not threatening, just scary.
· The people at the Jesus restaurant – not threatening, just scary.
· Fire building at Itchnetucknee Springs – well… what had happened… uh… well we… you see, here is how it all went down. We have no matches and no lighter. But we are at a campground with a fire pit and well, you know, you have to have a fire in that situation, don’t you? We took off to the Springs and took a dip in the ever 72 degree water and proceeded to load up Jake’s trailer with firewood for our fire. We still had the dilemma of no source of ignition. Lucky for us, a fellow camper had been burning some big logs the night before and that fire had two big chunks of half burned logs just full of embers. We happily loaded them onto my trailer on top of some beer boxes we thought would protect the trailer on the 75-yard journey to our campsite. Did we mention the 20 MPH wind today? Oh… well there was that… and the flammable beer boxes…oh yeah and the spare tires for the trailer and bike zip-tied to the bottom of the trailer. As one with half a brain might imagine, Jake was soon towing a raging inferno of wood, beer box, and rubber through the campsite. Undaunted we hurriedly dumped the entire conflagration into our fire-pit and saved the trailer (which could use a coat of Krylon now). We were successful in starting the fire as you might guess. As you might NOT guess, Marty, instead of aiding the emblazoned Jake, was doubled over in laughter thinking Jake looked like a dog running from his own tail afire.. THAT was scary.
Quotable Quotes
· “I never been out of the state ‘cept when I went to my parents’ wedding in Las Vegas, and I hardly remember that” – young girl outside of the only store in Ripley, California.
· “Is that a trailer?” – Mensa member at Roadhouse in Bastrop Texas.
· “Better not get too much tanner, there are some real rednecks east of here.” Woman in general store in Independence Texas.
· “Are you guys crazy?” – many people in multiple towns.
· “Don’t you have anything better to do?” – The chain-smoking drunk guy (around age 25) downing Natural Lights one after the other, sitting next to his pregnant wife in the bar in Defuniak Springs at 5:20 PM.
· “If I were any better, I would be you” – enormous blow-hard to anyone with the misfortune of catching his eye at that whacky restaurant in Chattahoochee.
· “What is the deal here, are these guys all Jesus-freaks?” – Jake right before he noticed the plastic three-dimensional depiction of the last supper directly above his head in said whacky restaurant.
· “Marty, are there any beers left?” – Jake.
· “No” – Marty.
Stupid Signs
· Limited Sight Distance
· Texas State Law – you must observe all warning signs.
· No diving from bridge – seen often on dry creek and river beds in Arizona, NM, and Texas.
· No fishing from bridge – seen on a 10-yard bridge in Florida.
· “CHURCH” – that is it, not crossing, not warning if you are evil, in-session, just Church.
· All Traffic must stop for school buses – come on now.
· Absurd Church Signs – Okay, this may be sacrilegious, but once in the South.. and we mean the SOUTH… the marquees outside some denominations are just silly. I had no idea that Life without Jesus was like a Pizza without a bicycle Pump. Okay, so I made that one up… but seriously folks, let’s keep it relevant, shall we?
Marty and Jake's Lists Part Two
Motor Vehicle Drivers as they relate to Cyclists (ranked 0 to 5 stars)
· Professional Tractor Trailer Drivers – 5 stars – when they had the chance they went all the way into the other lane to the point of occasionally running on-coming traffic off of the road in our favor. Hats off to those folks.
· Cheapo Tractor Trailer Drivers – driving stuff like gross container trucks, logs, and sand and gravel – 2 stars – basically suck-city with some exceptions.
· Older Folks in La Sabres and such – a surprising 4 stars – they really seemed to take their time getting around us.
· Motor Homes (the big ones that run about 100k with the Cherokee dragged behind) – 4 stars – these people know they are rolling death-traps and try to give some room.
· Motor Homes (medium to small) – 0 stars, they think they are driving a Corolla and forget the car they are dragging behind on the U-haul Trailer is wider than the Motor Home.
· Drag Behind Campers – 2 stars.
· Pick-up Trucks/Standard – 4 stars – no problems
· Pick-up Trucks/Modified Exhaust and Big Ole Tires – 0 Stars -- These idiots seem to signal their disapproval of cycling by revving their engines as they are right besides us – no exceptions.
· Pick-up Trucks Dragging 4 Wheel Vehicles – 0 Stars – same as above, but with the added fun of the trailer swinging to and fro.
· Box Trucks – that would be everything from U-hauls and Ryders to Charles Chips, Toms Chips, and Frito-Lay to EX-Rental Trucks – negative one stars – totally oblivious and stupid and dangerous and rude and… well they suck.
· High School kids driving anything with the windows down – 0 stars – they cannot resist the urge to scream at us. I had no idea Marty and I were F-‘ing Q’s!!!
· School Buses – As a disclaimer, this is based on one unfortunate but prolonged bad and scary experience. On a scale of 0 – 5 stars, minus 28.7 stars. In nearly 3000 miles we have been run off the road one and only one time. This was by a line of School Buses as we approached Gulfport Mississippi on a 4 lane road. In the rain, with flashers on, hugging the side of the road – unbelievable.
· Professional Tractor Trailer Drivers – 5 stars – when they had the chance they went all the way into the other lane to the point of occasionally running on-coming traffic off of the road in our favor. Hats off to those folks.
· Cheapo Tractor Trailer Drivers – driving stuff like gross container trucks, logs, and sand and gravel – 2 stars – basically suck-city with some exceptions.
· Older Folks in La Sabres and such – a surprising 4 stars – they really seemed to take their time getting around us.
· Motor Homes (the big ones that run about 100k with the Cherokee dragged behind) – 4 stars – these people know they are rolling death-traps and try to give some room.
· Motor Homes (medium to small) – 0 stars, they think they are driving a Corolla and forget the car they are dragging behind on the U-haul Trailer is wider than the Motor Home.
· Drag Behind Campers – 2 stars.
· Pick-up Trucks/Standard – 4 stars – no problems
· Pick-up Trucks/Modified Exhaust and Big Ole Tires – 0 Stars -- These idiots seem to signal their disapproval of cycling by revving their engines as they are right besides us – no exceptions.
· Pick-up Trucks Dragging 4 Wheel Vehicles – 0 Stars – same as above, but with the added fun of the trailer swinging to and fro.
· Box Trucks – that would be everything from U-hauls and Ryders to Charles Chips, Toms Chips, and Frito-Lay to EX-Rental Trucks – negative one stars – totally oblivious and stupid and dangerous and rude and… well they suck.
· High School kids driving anything with the windows down – 0 stars – they cannot resist the urge to scream at us. I had no idea Marty and I were F-‘ing Q’s!!!
· School Buses – As a disclaimer, this is based on one unfortunate but prolonged bad and scary experience. On a scale of 0 – 5 stars, minus 28.7 stars. In nearly 3000 miles we have been run off the road one and only one time. This was by a line of School Buses as we approached Gulfport Mississippi on a 4 lane road. In the rain, with flashers on, hugging the side of the road – unbelievable.
Marty and Jake's Lists Part One
This is the first of a few sets of lists and observations we have compiled in our trip. Enjoy... we hope!
Scenery by State
1 – California – some crap, but San Diego County was amazing.
2 – Alabama* only 70 miles, but the Redneck Riviera was sweet.
3 – Arizona – diverse, challenging and sometimes scary.
4 – Texas – Again a bad rap on some, but we were there for over two weeks, there is some “crap residue”.
5 – Florida – Would rank higher, but we know it really well, so there is nothing that new for us except the dang hills we did not expect.
6 – New Mexico – Nice until we headed south of Silver City.
7 – Louisiana – Not their fault, Jake’s ailments kept us off course a lot.
8 – Mississippi – hey, sorry.
Road Quality by State
1 – Alabama* only 70 miles, but fantastic.
2 – Florida – great pavement good route.
3 – California – surprisingly beaten by Florida due primarily to the rugged terrain and that run into El Centro.
4 – New Mexico – Pretty good stuff but the recycling effort there seems to be chucking beer bottles onto the road.
5 – Arizona – Same recycling effort, but scarier roads especially from Superior to Globe.
6 – Texas -- Texas gets a bum rap as we were there forever, but there was enough bad stuff to rank them low.
7 – Louisiana – another bum rap because we were off the adventurecycling.org route for many miles, but that Huey P. Long Bridge was horrible. I would sooner ride the FDR Drive from the George Washington Bridge on a bike in rush hour than go there ever again.
8 – Mississippi – by far and away the pits, the worst, the bumpiest, the crappiest, the most flooded, dismal, excuses for roadways in the country. And we were on the adventure cycling.org route for most of that state. YUCK.
People by State
8-way tie – people are really great. No baloney; we tested many of them, we promise.
Scenery by State
1 – California – some crap, but San Diego County was amazing.
2 – Alabama* only 70 miles, but the Redneck Riviera was sweet.
3 – Arizona – diverse, challenging and sometimes scary.
4 – Texas – Again a bad rap on some, but we were there for over two weeks, there is some “crap residue”.
5 – Florida – Would rank higher, but we know it really well, so there is nothing that new for us except the dang hills we did not expect.
6 – New Mexico – Nice until we headed south of Silver City.
7 – Louisiana – Not their fault, Jake’s ailments kept us off course a lot.
8 – Mississippi – hey, sorry.
Road Quality by State
1 – Alabama* only 70 miles, but fantastic.
2 – Florida – great pavement good route.
3 – California – surprisingly beaten by Florida due primarily to the rugged terrain and that run into El Centro.
4 – New Mexico – Pretty good stuff but the recycling effort there seems to be chucking beer bottles onto the road.
5 – Arizona – Same recycling effort, but scarier roads especially from Superior to Globe.
6 – Texas -- Texas gets a bum rap as we were there forever, but there was enough bad stuff to rank them low.
7 – Louisiana – another bum rap because we were off the adventurecycling.org route for many miles, but that Huey P. Long Bridge was horrible. I would sooner ride the FDR Drive from the George Washington Bridge on a bike in rush hour than go there ever again.
8 – Mississippi – by far and away the pits, the worst, the bumpiest, the crappiest, the most flooded, dismal, excuses for roadways in the country. And we were on the adventure cycling.org route for most of that state. YUCK.
People by State
8-way tie – people are really great. No baloney; we tested many of them, we promise.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Monday's Ride
Sorry about the lack of a blog post yesterday. We road 93 miles from Chattahoochee to Itchetucknee Springs Florida where we found we had no cell service at all. No cell service means no internet unless we are able to cheat off someone's unsecured wifi, which we finally found this AM... very very slow connection but enough to post. We promise to upload and caption pictures when we get to Gainesville.
The Springs is a beautiful area and well worth a visit if in Florida. The actual springs are crystal clear and a constant 72 degrees all year long. Despite the chill and wind, both of us took a dip.
So that was our last "long day". It was not a tough day as the wind was mostly at our back. There have been 50 mile days that felt like 100, but yesterday was 93 and it felt like 40. Could it be we are actually getting into shape? Nahhhh.
Today will be a chilly 40 or so miles to Gainesville where we will visit with Joan, Dan and Jacob! Then it is off to Lake Kerr where we might see Marty's sister Lee. Then it is a 55 miler to end it Thursday. Can't believe it.
We will be posting a series of lists of various conditions, people, places, ideas and things we have picked up as we road along in the next day or so. Some of it is actually funny.
All the best
Jake
The Springs is a beautiful area and well worth a visit if in Florida. The actual springs are crystal clear and a constant 72 degrees all year long. Despite the chill and wind, both of us took a dip.
So that was our last "long day". It was not a tough day as the wind was mostly at our back. There have been 50 mile days that felt like 100, but yesterday was 93 and it felt like 40. Could it be we are actually getting into shape? Nahhhh.
Today will be a chilly 40 or so miles to Gainesville where we will visit with Joan, Dan and Jacob! Then it is off to Lake Kerr where we might see Marty's sister Lee. Then it is a 55 miler to end it Thursday. Can't believe it.
We will be posting a series of lists of various conditions, people, places, ideas and things we have picked up as we road along in the next day or so. Some of it is actually funny.
All the best
Jake
Thursday
Again, barring any unforeseen major issue, we will try to roll up to A1A and 206 between 5:30 and 6:00 PM Thursday.
As a courtesy to the South Beach Grill, Kelly wanted to give them an idea of how many extra people might be descending upon them that evening. Please e-mail Kelly at kellyscully@gmail.com if you are planning on being there and patronizing the restaurant. If you are just going to pop by and say hi, no need to drop an e-mail.
Please remember, we are not making reservations (can't) or anything like that, we just want to be nice to the folks at the restaurant and give them a heads up.
Thanks!
Jake
As a courtesy to the South Beach Grill, Kelly wanted to give them an idea of how many extra people might be descending upon them that evening. Please e-mail Kelly at kellyscully@gmail.com if you are planning on being there and patronizing the restaurant. If you are just going to pop by and say hi, no need to drop an e-mail.
Please remember, we are not making reservations (can't) or anything like that, we just want to be nice to the folks at the restaurant and give them a heads up.
Thanks!
Jake
A Sunday Ride
We left Chattahoochee and the weirdest restaurant ever at 9 AM today. I make it a rule to to keep religion out of the blog, but this was an over-the-top Christian themed restaurant complete with a Gospel performer with a band! All I wanted was some food at the end of the day. As it was the only game in town, we had breakfast there this morn - OY!
Do not let anyone tell you there are no hills in Florida. We have been rolling up and down all day. Nothing too brutal - but hilly nonetheless.
Our internet connection is so bad I am sitting outside the hotel to type this, so pictures will not be posted until possibly Tuesday when we will be at my sister Joan's place (yahoo, and thanks, Joan).
When we post them, you will see one of the Florida State University Stadium which I have renamed, Tim Tebow Field.
I failed to mention that Robby Mott of Bikes Plus in Pensacola helped us out a bunch - cool guy. Thanks to Norm for hooking us up.
Jake
Do not let anyone tell you there are no hills in Florida. We have been rolling up and down all day. Nothing too brutal - but hilly nonetheless.
Our internet connection is so bad I am sitting outside the hotel to type this, so pictures will not be posted until possibly Tuesday when we will be at my sister Joan's place (yahoo, and thanks, Joan).
When we post them, you will see one of the Florida State University Stadium which I have renamed, Tim Tebow Field.
I failed to mention that Robby Mott of Bikes Plus in Pensacola helped us out a bunch - cool guy. Thanks to Norm for hooking us up.
Jake
Saturday, April 4, 2009
How did we end up in Georgia?
Hi all,
We had a very uneventful 87 miles today, until the very end.
We crossed over the Apalachicola river into Chattahoochee, home of the Florida State Mental Hospital. We then traveled just 2 miles north to a really nice campground on Lake Seminole, which I promptly renamed Lake Tim Tebow. Poof we are Georgia!
Another state under our belts.
Tomorrow we are back in Florida... three 80 milers and two short days and we are done! We are very excited at the prospect of seeing everyone.
As today was a snoozer, adventurewise, I thought I would mention that Alabama's Redneck Riveria is really a fantastic place. I suppose everything looks new due to the fact a Hurricane wipes it clean about every ten years, but still. I would definitely visit there again.
Jake
We had a very uneventful 87 miles today, until the very end.
We crossed over the Apalachicola river into Chattahoochee, home of the Florida State Mental Hospital. We then traveled just 2 miles north to a really nice campground on Lake Seminole, which I promptly renamed Lake Tim Tebow. Poof we are Georgia!
Another state under our belts.
Tomorrow we are back in Florida... three 80 milers and two short days and we are done! We are very excited at the prospect of seeing everyone.
As today was a snoozer, adventurewise, I thought I would mention that Alabama's Redneck Riveria is really a fantastic place. I suppose everything looks new due to the fact a Hurricane wipes it clean about every ten years, but still. I would definitely visit there again.
Jake
Rest day then big day
Because of some very bad weather, and the fact that it was about time, we took a rest day Thursday in Gulf Shores AL. Early in the day the sky was falling and we were very glad not to be on the road. We got some laundry done, shopping done and Jake got a hair cut.
It cleared a bit and we walked to the beach area, about 2 miles away, to check the place out. The town is a very nice beach resort location. When we got to the beach the weather started turning bad again and we ended up stranded (if you can believe this) in a bar on the ocean. These places have people whose only job is to serve you drinks. It was good to be out of the rain and lightning. We saw lighting strike the water just at the edge of the beach, pretty wild.
Friday we got a early start and headed to FL. The weather was great and we had a slight wind in the back. We road through a very nice part of Pensacola over high bluffs overlooking the bay. It was surprisingly hilly for FL.
We did have a mishap in the City of Pensacola. We made a wrong turn that took us just a couple blocks off course. We took the opportunity to have a snack and get our bearings. When we rolled away from the stop, I went the right way on a one way street and Jake went the wrong way to get to where we had to go. As soon as I noticed Jake wasn't with me I went back to where we last saw each other (survival tactic). Jake thought, "we just talked where we were going, so I headed there". So Jake road a few miles ahead and waited and I stayed where we were just knowing he would come back.
I waited about 25 minutes and thought "Maybe he can't find his way", so I rode to try and find him. As you might expect we past each other on side streets as he did come back and I went to find him. I asked a jogger if he had seen a goofy guy pulling the yellow trailer. He had, going the opposite direction from which I had came. Then we found each other. About 45 mins lost
What is funny about this is that each strategy (Go to where you were going or go to the last place you were) makes sense and would work, but they don't work if employed at the same time.
As we cruised down a country road in FL we came to the Blackwater river that had swollen it's banks and was now running across the road we needed to take. We took off our shoes, put all the bags on top of the yellow dry sack on the trailer and headed in. About 100 yards later we were out and the dry sack lived up to its name. The sack was actually floating and trying to pull Jake and his bike down river. Yes this is an adventure.
We spent the night camping right on a lake. It was a full day of riding and we set up camp in the dark. 130 miles is my biggest single day of riding and one of Jakes biggest.
All in all a great day with big miles that takes some pressure off for getting in on Thursday.
It cleared a bit and we walked to the beach area, about 2 miles away, to check the place out. The town is a very nice beach resort location. When we got to the beach the weather started turning bad again and we ended up stranded (if you can believe this) in a bar on the ocean. These places have people whose only job is to serve you drinks. It was good to be out of the rain and lightning. We saw lighting strike the water just at the edge of the beach, pretty wild.
Friday we got a early start and headed to FL. The weather was great and we had a slight wind in the back. We road through a very nice part of Pensacola over high bluffs overlooking the bay. It was surprisingly hilly for FL.
We did have a mishap in the City of Pensacola. We made a wrong turn that took us just a couple blocks off course. We took the opportunity to have a snack and get our bearings. When we rolled away from the stop, I went the right way on a one way street and Jake went the wrong way to get to where we had to go. As soon as I noticed Jake wasn't with me I went back to where we last saw each other (survival tactic). Jake thought, "we just talked where we were going, so I headed there". So Jake road a few miles ahead and waited and I stayed where we were just knowing he would come back.
I waited about 25 minutes and thought "Maybe he can't find his way", so I rode to try and find him. As you might expect we past each other on side streets as he did come back and I went to find him. I asked a jogger if he had seen a goofy guy pulling the yellow trailer. He had, going the opposite direction from which I had came. Then we found each other. About 45 mins lost
What is funny about this is that each strategy (Go to where you were going or go to the last place you were) makes sense and would work, but they don't work if employed at the same time.
As we cruised down a country road in FL we came to the Blackwater river that had swollen it's banks and was now running across the road we needed to take. We took off our shoes, put all the bags on top of the yellow dry sack on the trailer and headed in. About 100 yards later we were out and the dry sack lived up to its name. The sack was actually floating and trying to pull Jake and his bike down river. Yes this is an adventure.
We spent the night camping right on a lake. It was a full day of riding and we set up camp in the dark. 130 miles is my biggest single day of riding and one of Jakes biggest.
All in all a great day with big miles that takes some pressure off for getting in on Thursday.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Day 37 - Gulf Shores to Defuniak Springs
We will post some stuff tomorrow morn - 130 miles today. Great day, but we are fried.
Jake and Marty
Jake and Marty
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Arrival?
For those who are interested in meeting us as we roll into A1A and 206 (South Beach Grill), we are thinking that we will get there on Thursday. If that is the case, we will try to arrive around 5:30 - 6:00 PM to allow for that whole "work" thing.
No guarantees and we will update any deviations.
No guarantees and we will update any deviations.
Leaving the bright lights of Biloxi
Yesterday we bid a sad farewell to Biloxi and 30 miles or so later, the state of Mississippi.
I have to say that we will not miss the roads of MS - by far the worst. Rarely a shoulder and when there is, grass grows intermittently through mazes of cracks. Bouncy bouncy! Most of the time we road the white line which came in handy when the alligator was hanging out on the edge of the road (see pics).
Alabama, the home of ALABAMA MAN, is quite a different story. Smooth, well cared for roads with nice shoulders - a huge relief. As the winds were persistently ENE and stiff all day long, nice roads really helped.
We decided to ride down through Bayou La Batre and head to the Mobile Bay Ferry rather than go to Mobile.
As we pulled up to the ferry lane, we found out it was delayed due to mechanical issues... uh oh. Then they announced that there would be no round trips... uh oh again. Then it was apparent this was the last chance to get across the bay yesterday IF the boat was fit to go. This could be bad.
Finally, we were allowed to get on with the cars and cross the 4 miles to Fort Morgan. We were not told of the ship's ailment, but it was decidedly lower in the water at the front and left of the vessel. After Marty and I calculated how many life vests would be required to float our bikes and trailer, we relaxed and enjoyed the ride.
On the other side, we had 21 miles to go to lodging, it was raining and getting a bit dusky. Marty was somehow possessed by Lance Armstrong and started hammering down the road faster than I had seen him go without a hill involved. I think the end of the ride beer may have been calling.
We made it into Gulf Shores and unless the weather changes in the next couple hours, this is where we will have our last, albeit soggy rest day.
90 miles yesterday and about 550 left to go!
Jake
I have to say that we will not miss the roads of MS - by far the worst. Rarely a shoulder and when there is, grass grows intermittently through mazes of cracks. Bouncy bouncy! Most of the time we road the white line which came in handy when the alligator was hanging out on the edge of the road (see pics).
Alabama, the home of ALABAMA MAN, is quite a different story. Smooth, well cared for roads with nice shoulders - a huge relief. As the winds were persistently ENE and stiff all day long, nice roads really helped.
We decided to ride down through Bayou La Batre and head to the Mobile Bay Ferry rather than go to Mobile.
As we pulled up to the ferry lane, we found out it was delayed due to mechanical issues... uh oh. Then they announced that there would be no round trips... uh oh again. Then it was apparent this was the last chance to get across the bay yesterday IF the boat was fit to go. This could be bad.
Finally, we were allowed to get on with the cars and cross the 4 miles to Fort Morgan. We were not told of the ship's ailment, but it was decidedly lower in the water at the front and left of the vessel. After Marty and I calculated how many life vests would be required to float our bikes and trailer, we relaxed and enjoyed the ride.
On the other side, we had 21 miles to go to lodging, it was raining and getting a bit dusky. Marty was somehow possessed by Lance Armstrong and started hammering down the road faster than I had seen him go without a hill involved. I think the end of the ride beer may have been calling.
We made it into Gulf Shores and unless the weather changes in the next couple hours, this is where we will have our last, albeit soggy rest day.
90 miles yesterday and about 550 left to go!
Jake
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Out of LA and into MS
Had a great Po Boy in Independence LA and that was the only Cajun food besides boudin. LA was pretty fine with everything from real poor areas to Very nice areas. We saw soom flooding around the Bogue Chitto river and saw where people had moved all their campers and cars next to the highway to get them out of the water. It looked like someone had opened a used car and camper sales lot until we figured out what was going on. I think Jake got pictures.
Yesterday e road in the rain for a little over 1/2 the day. The good news is the temp was good for riding in the rain. We have only been rained on 3 times this whole trip and all have been when the temp was good. Pretty lucky all things considered.
We were in some real back woods parts of Mississippi yesterday. I mean back woods/words. We stopped at a community grocery store that sold everything from used book, crickets, hunting supplies, hardware and food. The word "community" in this area obvously means "few teeth". Between the 3 employees they had 9 teeth. One of them really messed up the average; she had 5 all by herself. Chuck, you could offer some great volume dental discounts out here. No one would be able to take advantage of it. What they lack in teeth they make up for in niceness.
End the night in a Casino in Gulfport. What a contrast from some of the other place we have stayed. People watching here in the Casino is pretty good. Let me just say, this ain't Vegas. We didn't even get funny looks being soaking wet and wearing those goofy shorts and shoes, on bikes in a casino.
All for now.
Yesterday e road in the rain for a little over 1/2 the day. The good news is the temp was good for riding in the rain. We have only been rained on 3 times this whole trip and all have been when the temp was good. Pretty lucky all things considered.
We were in some real back woods parts of Mississippi yesterday. I mean back woods/words. We stopped at a community grocery store that sold everything from used book, crickets, hunting supplies, hardware and food. The word "community" in this area obvously means "few teeth". Between the 3 employees they had 9 teeth. One of them really messed up the average; she had 5 all by herself. Chuck, you could offer some great volume dental discounts out here. No one would be able to take advantage of it. What they lack in teeth they make up for in niceness.
End the night in a Casino in Gulfport. What a contrast from some of the other place we have stayed. People watching here in the Casino is pretty good. Let me just say, this ain't Vegas. We didn't even get funny looks being soaking wet and wearing those goofy shorts and shoes, on bikes in a casino.
All for now.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Yesterday and Today
Hi all,
I'll make this brief - I would love to be long winded and incredibly funny, but the former has been done and the latter, well that is a roll of the dice!
Yesterday was a real dull ride as Kelly mentioned, but we did meet a couple of nice Mormon kids on mission. Tough gig where they were, but they were good guys and I hope they are happy in what they do.
One funny thing happened when my Trek Rep Norm called and I went on and on about how great the tires were holding up since I switched to Hardcase tires.. 10 minutes later... Marty's gets a flat (yes, Hardcase). Never Ever mention the F word while riding.
We actually did 84 miles and I am actually feeling 100%... less a few pounds.
Today we were up against a weather/lodging challenge. We really want to camp out more to get our ratio back up over 50% camping, but we are not going to PLAN to camp in the rain. And rain was on the way and it did not disappoint. Oddly, the rain came right after Marty remarked in Poplarville that we might avoid all the rain... NEVER EVER mention the R word while riding!
Anyway, using Adventurecycling.org, we would have to ride 150 mile to get to a hotel or camp in the rain. We bought a Mississippi map and set a course for Biloxi, where one can get a cheap room in a Casino for the same price as we paid in Fabens Texas.
104 mile later we are here and feeling great.
Tomorrow we will get to Gulfshores Alabama and camp, weather permitting. We will probably also take our last rest day there as well if it is nice.
Then it is back on the road. Posting a few pics today.
Jake
I'll make this brief - I would love to be long winded and incredibly funny, but the former has been done and the latter, well that is a roll of the dice!
Yesterday was a real dull ride as Kelly mentioned, but we did meet a couple of nice Mormon kids on mission. Tough gig where they were, but they were good guys and I hope they are happy in what they do.
One funny thing happened when my Trek Rep Norm called and I went on and on about how great the tires were holding up since I switched to Hardcase tires.. 10 minutes later... Marty's gets a flat (yes, Hardcase). Never Ever mention the F word while riding.
We actually did 84 miles and I am actually feeling 100%... less a few pounds.
Today we were up against a weather/lodging challenge. We really want to camp out more to get our ratio back up over 50% camping, but we are not going to PLAN to camp in the rain. And rain was on the way and it did not disappoint. Oddly, the rain came right after Marty remarked in Poplarville that we might avoid all the rain... NEVER EVER mention the R word while riding!
Anyway, using Adventurecycling.org, we would have to ride 150 mile to get to a hotel or camp in the rain. We bought a Mississippi map and set a course for Biloxi, where one can get a cheap room in a Casino for the same price as we paid in Fabens Texas.
104 mile later we are here and feeling great.
Tomorrow we will get to Gulfshores Alabama and camp, weather permitting. We will probably also take our last rest day there as well if it is nice.
Then it is back on the road. Posting a few pics today.
Jake
Monday, March 30, 2009
No internet
Spoke briefly with Jake. They have no internet connection tonight. I think he said they did about 75 miles today... boring, bumpy roads. They will face rain tomorrow but are glad it won't be cold AND rainy. They should be rolling into St. Augustine possibly next Friday or Saturday. If anyone would like to meet us at South Beach Grill when they arrive, you are all welcome! As time gets closer, we'll have better details as to time and day. Jake is feeling better, not 100% yet, but improving.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Ville Platte to Baton Rouge - 84 miles
We were feeling bad that once again we went a day in Louisiana without partaking of any of the legendary food. That is all my fault as you can imagine.
Anyway, Marty had the first taste when a woman at the convenience store gave us some Boudin - kind of a bratwurst sort of deal. I still had to pass. Tomorrow night is definitely the last one in Louisiana, so my chances for culinary nirvana are dwindling.
So, what is up with the roadkill in Louisiana? About every thirty yards, there was something. Didn't see that in Texas.... wait a minute... just what are THEY doing in Texas with the roadkill anyway? Hmmm... perhaps a clue!
Had a decent day of riding today with a few minor exceptions. There was the Morganza Spillway on Route 190 -- a narrow stretch of road that presented itself as a bridge over some bayou... well it is, but it goes on for 4 miles. Then there was the Huey P Long Bridge, that dumped onto the Ronald Reagan Highway -- two smooth guys should have smoother roadways as their legacy.
We ended up riding through a good part of Baton Rouge and even caught a glimpse of the fabled LSU Tiger Stadium! It is awe inspiring; you have to see that picture!
Tomorrow we ride again -- what a surprise!
Jake
Anyway, Marty had the first taste when a woman at the convenience store gave us some Boudin - kind of a bratwurst sort of deal. I still had to pass. Tomorrow night is definitely the last one in Louisiana, so my chances for culinary nirvana are dwindling.
So, what is up with the roadkill in Louisiana? About every thirty yards, there was something. Didn't see that in Texas.... wait a minute... just what are THEY doing in Texas with the roadkill anyway? Hmmm... perhaps a clue!
Had a decent day of riding today with a few minor exceptions. There was the Morganza Spillway on Route 190 -- a narrow stretch of road that presented itself as a bridge over some bayou... well it is, but it goes on for 4 miles. Then there was the Huey P Long Bridge, that dumped onto the Ronald Reagan Highway -- two smooth guys should have smoother roadways as their legacy.
We ended up riding through a good part of Baton Rouge and even caught a glimpse of the fabled LSU Tiger Stadium! It is awe inspiring; you have to see that picture!
Tomorrow we ride again -- what a surprise!
Jake
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Getting rid er De Ridder
Thank you all for your concern over gastro-distress. Hopefully, I am on the way back.
Today we got a late start on purpose and took it easy heading East. It was a beautiful, yet cold day that began at 43 degrees and never hit 60. We also had a real nice tailwind. Perfect conditions for my situation.
So far, the countryside around here has been very much like inland Florida. Lots of pines, lots of water and not many hills at all.
We planned to do only 60 miles today, but when we got to the only accommodations in the town of Mamou, one could say we were motivated to continue on to Ville Platte. That is where we ended up after 76 pretty easy miles.
A note on the pictures - we think we have really been shorting the photo album, but the last few days have not been rife with photo ops. We will try to have a more creative eye, but you all have seen pine trees, right?
Jake
Today we got a late start on purpose and took it easy heading East. It was a beautiful, yet cold day that began at 43 degrees and never hit 60. We also had a real nice tailwind. Perfect conditions for my situation.
So far, the countryside around here has been very much like inland Florida. Lots of pines, lots of water and not many hills at all.
We planned to do only 60 miles today, but when we got to the only accommodations in the town of Mamou, one could say we were motivated to continue on to Ville Platte. That is where we ended up after 76 pretty easy miles.
A note on the pictures - we think we have really been shorting the photo album, but the last few days have not been rife with photo ops. We will try to have a more creative eye, but you all have seen pine trees, right?
Jake
A big baby in LA
I mean really, who hasn't ridden a bike 80+ miles while throwing up, having the stomach issues mentioned and running a temp. It was only 4 days of not really eating. If I knew he was such a wimp, I wouldn't have come. Obviously I'm kidding. Jake is hanging tougher than anyone would expect.
I knew he was sick yesterday when we asked me to slow down. In the past that has happened .... ah .... ...NEVER! The only time I've gone faster than Jake was down hill on a Mt bike.
I rode out of Texas and into Louisiana. There was not welcome to Louisiana sign and if it wasn't for the "Entering Beauregard Parish" sign I wouldn't have known. The first 4 hours of our ride was in a thick fog that got everything dripping wet. There was almost no wind until the last hours of the ride.
The weather channel is saying we should have the wind at our back for a couple days (at last). The weather is also supposed to turn cold for a couple days. Good thing we sent our winter clothes home! We are catching all the breaks.
We are going to ride today and take advantage of the wind, but it will probably not be a real big day. Neither of us think Jake has a big effort in him. Actually let me restate that: About 60-70 mile will be a big effort in Jake's condition. We will take it easy for a couple days and make it up when he is 100%. We are currently just waiting to see how Jake reacts to his breakfast and we are waiting for his prescription to be filled.
By the way, if you are a people watcher, the Walmart in DeRidder LA is a must visit. I'm tellen' ya, it would make a great reality show. Just put mikes on these folks, a little video camera: geniues.
I knew he was sick yesterday when we asked me to slow down. In the past that has happened .... ah .... ...NEVER! The only time I've gone faster than Jake was down hill on a Mt bike.
I rode out of Texas and into Louisiana. There was not welcome to Louisiana sign and if it wasn't for the "Entering Beauregard Parish" sign I wouldn't have known. The first 4 hours of our ride was in a thick fog that got everything dripping wet. There was almost no wind until the last hours of the ride.
The weather channel is saying we should have the wind at our back for a couple days (at last). The weather is also supposed to turn cold for a couple days. Good thing we sent our winter clothes home! We are catching all the breaks.
We are going to ride today and take advantage of the wind, but it will probably not be a real big day. Neither of us think Jake has a big effort in him. Actually let me restate that: About 60-70 mile will be a big effort in Jake's condition. We will take it easy for a couple days and make it up when he is 100%. We are currently just waiting to see how Jake reacts to his breakfast and we are waiting for his prescription to be filled.
By the way, if you are a people watcher, the Walmart in DeRidder LA is a must visit. I'm tellen' ya, it would make a great reality show. Just put mikes on these folks, a little video camera: geniues.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Kountze to De Ridder (bye bye Texas!)
Well guys here is the deal...
We left Kountze an hour before dawn making great time on really easy roads. I even had a little appetite back and had a decent breakfast.
Sorry if this grosses anyone out, but 41 miles into the ride after numerous attempts to properly digest the aforementioned meal, my ride came to a spewing, cramping end - stomach cramps that is.
After that episode and another particularly unpleasant issue at the base of an old oak tree, I was sitting cross-legged on the shoulder of the road, helmet on the ground, deciding what to do.
As you can tell by now, despite previous reports, I was not getting much better at all. The stomach virus was probably at the end of its course, but three full days of the most yucky experiences of my life, I was clearly dehydrated and in bad shape. I could not eat or drink - bad news when you are burning 4000 - 6000 calories per day.
We slowly rode into Kirbyville, TX and I promptly called Enterprise. Marty was the only one of us to ride out of Texas. I waited for the car, then drove up to Jasper and then into Louisiana to De Ridder and the Beauregard Hospital.
Just got back after three hours of waiting, two liters of saline and a few admonishments from the Doc.
Overall my first experience with people in LA was excellent - very friendly and they have plenty of saline.
Anyway, Marty trucked on into De Ridder on his bike - I am told it was uneventful, but he did make it out of Texas and got in a full 85 miles (Dave you can deduct 45 off my total).
Tomorrow AM I decide what to do with me. The options include - go very short for a few days or return the car in Baton Rouge and meet Marty in St Francisville. I am leaning towards the former, but we will see how the system operates tonight and tomorrow AM... so to speak.
Sorry for the gross stuff, but a blog is supposed to tell it as it is, no?
Jake
We left Kountze an hour before dawn making great time on really easy roads. I even had a little appetite back and had a decent breakfast.
Sorry if this grosses anyone out, but 41 miles into the ride after numerous attempts to properly digest the aforementioned meal, my ride came to a spewing, cramping end - stomach cramps that is.
After that episode and another particularly unpleasant issue at the base of an old oak tree, I was sitting cross-legged on the shoulder of the road, helmet on the ground, deciding what to do.
As you can tell by now, despite previous reports, I was not getting much better at all. The stomach virus was probably at the end of its course, but three full days of the most yucky experiences of my life, I was clearly dehydrated and in bad shape. I could not eat or drink - bad news when you are burning 4000 - 6000 calories per day.
We slowly rode into Kirbyville, TX and I promptly called Enterprise. Marty was the only one of us to ride out of Texas. I waited for the car, then drove up to Jasper and then into Louisiana to De Ridder and the Beauregard Hospital.
Just got back after three hours of waiting, two liters of saline and a few admonishments from the Doc.
Overall my first experience with people in LA was excellent - very friendly and they have plenty of saline.
Anyway, Marty trucked on into De Ridder on his bike - I am told it was uneventful, but he did make it out of Texas and got in a full 85 miles (Dave you can deduct 45 off my total).
Tomorrow AM I decide what to do with me. The options include - go very short for a few days or return the car in Baton Rouge and meet Marty in St Francisville. I am leaning towards the former, but we will see how the system operates tonight and tomorrow AM... so to speak.
Sorry for the gross stuff, but a blog is supposed to tell it as it is, no?
Jake
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Cold Springs to Kountze
We only got in 63 miles today. There were two reasons for this:
Tornadic activity predicted for the afternoon in this area and persistent rip currents in my digestive tract.
Marty was a champ today - he pulled the entire ride. The roads were surprisingly nice for being way out in the "Big Thicket".
The Thicket is a National preserve in which Civil War deserters would hide - they were called "bushwhackers".
I am toast, but I think I have seen the worst of it. We will most likely be in Louisiana tomorrow.
Jake
Tornadic activity predicted for the afternoon in this area and persistent rip currents in my digestive tract.
Marty was a champ today - he pulled the entire ride. The roads were surprisingly nice for being way out in the "Big Thicket".
The Thicket is a National preserve in which Civil War deserters would hide - they were called "bushwhackers".
I am toast, but I think I have seen the worst of it. We will most likely be in Louisiana tomorrow.
Jake
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
About Texas and a catch up blog
We should have just 2 more days in Texas, then onto LA. With this in mind, I'll share some observations of Texas:
- Texans are proud of their state and their country. I have seen hundreds of people flying the state and US flag. This is especially true of the more affluent areas.
- Texans like pick up truck, especially white ones. This is true on New Mexico also, but we have had ten vehicles in a row pass us, all of them white trucks. And yes, they are American trucks and they are the big ones; no S10s or Rangers. Chevy's and Fords lead the pack, then GMC and Dodge. I did see a Toyota one day. After further investigation I saw it had Missouri tags - traitor!
- Texans are either really friendly. (Will strike up a conversation and give advice in a heart beat) or not (Make a special effort to not respond or do so in as few words as possible. (That could be our shorts)
- Wranglers are the jean of choice. Levi's, not even an option.
- Cowboys hats, boots and belt buckets are not rare.
- Texas is not flat, at least not the part we covered.
- Texas is windy, really windy in a "I wouldn't want to live here" way. The mornings are cold, in a "I wouldn't want to live here way."
- It's is not rare to hear women talking about pick up trucks and fishing lures, in a "I wouldn't want to live here" way.
- They have 2 lane roads with 70 MPH speed limits. (65 at night)
- Oboma is more popular than we thought. We talked to 314 Texans and one thought he might do okay. The other 313? not fans.
All in all the people have been great.
We have about 1200 miles to go. Based on what we have been doing against winds, we expect to finish in 15-16, barring anything usual.
We shipped 33 lbs. of cold weather gear and one trailer today, so we will be leaner and meaner for the next 15 days!
All for now, Marty.
BTW - Jake did eat today and is holding it down. Tomorrow should be great, after all he did 86 miles while sick.
- Texans are proud of their state and their country. I have seen hundreds of people flying the state and US flag. This is especially true of the more affluent areas.
- Texans like pick up truck, especially white ones. This is true on New Mexico also, but we have had ten vehicles in a row pass us, all of them white trucks. And yes, they are American trucks and they are the big ones; no S10s or Rangers. Chevy's and Fords lead the pack, then GMC and Dodge. I did see a Toyota one day. After further investigation I saw it had Missouri tags - traitor!
- Texans are either really friendly. (Will strike up a conversation and give advice in a heart beat) or not (Make a special effort to not respond or do so in as few words as possible. (That could be our shorts)
- Wranglers are the jean of choice. Levi's, not even an option.
- Cowboys hats, boots and belt buckets are not rare.
- Texas is not flat, at least not the part we covered.
- Texas is windy, really windy in a "I wouldn't want to live here" way. The mornings are cold, in a "I wouldn't want to live here way."
- It's is not rare to hear women talking about pick up trucks and fishing lures, in a "I wouldn't want to live here" way.
- They have 2 lane roads with 70 MPH speed limits. (65 at night)
- Oboma is more popular than we thought. We talked to 314 Texans and one thought he might do okay. The other 313? not fans.
All in all the people have been great.
We have about 1200 miles to go. Based on what we have been doing against winds, we expect to finish in 15-16, barring anything usual.
We shipped 33 lbs. of cold weather gear and one trailer today, so we will be leaner and meaner for the next 15 days!
All for now, Marty.
BTW - Jake did eat today and is holding it down. Tomorrow should be great, after all he did 86 miles while sick.
A Rest Day!
Well, Cold Springs was not the location of choice for a rest day, but as Marty noted, I got ill.
I will spare you the details off said illness, but let's just say that describing the symptoms dealt with would truly give my creative writing skills a work-out. Bleh.
Anyway, we covered 86 miles yesterday.
Today, we are determining if we can further consolidate our stuff to reduce our load. With any luck we will be down to the panniers (luggage bags on the bikes and one trailer. if we are successful, one guy will take the trailer, one will take the bags.
Another mark of our brilliance: that we waited until we were fully out of any elevation of note to reduce our stuff.
BRILLIANT!
I feel better today and provided I can eat, we will be off and riding again tomorrow.
All the best,
Jake
I will spare you the details off said illness, but let's just say that describing the symptoms dealt with would truly give my creative writing skills a work-out. Bleh.
Anyway, we covered 86 miles yesterday.
Today, we are determining if we can further consolidate our stuff to reduce our load. With any luck we will be down to the panniers (luggage bags on the bikes and one trailer. if we are successful, one guy will take the trailer, one will take the bags.
Another mark of our brilliance: that we waited until we were fully out of any elevation of note to reduce our stuff.
BRILLIANT!
I feel better today and provided I can eat, we will be off and riding again tomorrow.
All the best,
Jake
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Jake sick / In coldspring
What a wild night. The wind was ripping thru where we were even though we set the tent in behind 2 walls of an old building which blocked most of the wind. It had to be hitting 30-40 MPH. I was not looking forward to today's ride.
Once we got up and on the road the wind was all but stopped, maybe 5 mph. The bad news was Jake woke up sick and with no energy. He was hurting pretty bad so we just tooled along to see how far we could get.
He would feel better for a bit and then worse, but overall not the Jake on a bike I know. The last 10 miles were pretty hard on him. I'd say it took over an hour to finish and then things got worse. He is asleep now, after some yogurt and 7up.
I'm sure he will be good tomorrow. Not much keeps this guy down.
Today's ride was thru the Sam Houston national forest and was low rollers. All and all not bad, but we did see what we called some sad old towns. We also saw some huge houses and ranches. This part of Texas is very nice.
All for now. Wish I had something more interesting to discuss.
Once we got up and on the road the wind was all but stopped, maybe 5 mph. The bad news was Jake woke up sick and with no energy. He was hurting pretty bad so we just tooled along to see how far we could get.
He would feel better for a bit and then worse, but overall not the Jake on a bike I know. The last 10 miles were pretty hard on him. I'd say it took over an hour to finish and then things got worse. He is asleep now, after some yogurt and 7up.
I'm sure he will be good tomorrow. Not much keeps this guy down.
Today's ride was thru the Sam Houston national forest and was low rollers. All and all not bad, but we did see what we called some sad old towns. We also saw some huge houses and ranches. This part of Texas is very nice.
All for now. Wish I had something more interesting to discuss.
Independence and Coldsprings Texas
Yesterday's ride out of the park was pretty hilly, but we were blocked from the wind. When we got out of the parks, we saw a bit a wind. To put it lightly, it was stupid. (Tom Habich, you would have laid down and cried) It was not right in the face, it was hitting us from the SE while we were heading East. It was so strong at times we were leaning into it like we were trying to.... well, I don't know what. It would have been fun it we were doing it for 50 feet. Unfortantly we did it for miles. It wore me out.
We ended with about 20 miles thru some nice rolling hills and farms to Independence. We stayed on the property of to local general store. Mike, the owner, actually offered us a cabin 5 miles away, but Jake and I were done, so we camped on his property.
Total for the day 83 miles.
We ended with about 20 miles thru some nice rolling hills and farms to Independence. We stayed on the property of to local general store. Mike, the owner, actually offered us a cabin 5 miles away, but Jake and I were done, so we camped on his property.
Total for the day 83 miles.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Independence Texas - short version
Hey all - connection is really bad - we will update tomorrow for both days - 83 miles - winds ridiculously high out of SSE. Apparently when Texans bother to talk about the wind, it is windy.
'til tomorrow!
Jake
'til tomorrow!
Jake
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Bastrop Texas
We learned a few things over the past days. Hills are what they are, wind is what it will be, and riding on or along interstate highways is as dull as dishwater.
Despite the fact that tomorrow we will be facing winds off 20 - 30 MPH with gusts over 40 (not my guess - check weather.com) we will be happily trying to make it to Navasota Texas. We figured out that AdventureCycling.org chose the pathes least taken for a reason. San Antonio was worth it though.
Navasota will complete 4 of 7 sections of our trip. We hope to be in Louisiana in 2.5 days. I'll have to brush up on my French so I can pick up on some of the Cajun as we head to Baton Rouge. C'est vrai!
Anyway, we knocked off 93 miles - probably a century if you count the ride back to the restaurant and convenience store - but we do not count that! So that is about 265 in the last three days. Moving right along.
As you may notice from the pictures I have shaved the beard. Yesterday, about 30 miles from San Antonio, I found a battery operated trimmer at a Dollar General. We were at the time eating left over pizza on the side of the store, so you can imagine the scene - shaving and eating pizza on the side of US 90 - kind of gross, but my kids were up in arms, so what is a Dad to do?
Today's highlight is our campgrounds - a beautiful state park outside of Bastrop - no rail cars. no highway, no indigent RV Park dwellers - just wind int he pines and Marty snoring his butt off... yikes.
Oh yeah - went through a town called UHLAND. Can't tell if it was in homage to Lance Armstrong's interview style... Uh.... Levi was great.... Uh... The team was just great... Uh...
Or maybe it was because "You Know, TX" and "Like, TX" were already taken!
'til next...
Jake
Despite the fact that tomorrow we will be facing winds off 20 - 30 MPH with gusts over 40 (not my guess - check weather.com) we will be happily trying to make it to Navasota Texas. We figured out that AdventureCycling.org chose the pathes least taken for a reason. San Antonio was worth it though.
Navasota will complete 4 of 7 sections of our trip. We hope to be in Louisiana in 2.5 days. I'll have to brush up on my French so I can pick up on some of the Cajun as we head to Baton Rouge. C'est vrai!
Anyway, we knocked off 93 miles - probably a century if you count the ride back to the restaurant and convenience store - but we do not count that! So that is about 265 in the last three days. Moving right along.
As you may notice from the pictures I have shaved the beard. Yesterday, about 30 miles from San Antonio, I found a battery operated trimmer at a Dollar General. We were at the time eating left over pizza on the side of the store, so you can imagine the scene - shaving and eating pizza on the side of US 90 - kind of gross, but my kids were up in arms, so what is a Dad to do?
Today's highlight is our campgrounds - a beautiful state park outside of Bastrop - no rail cars. no highway, no indigent RV Park dwellers - just wind int he pines and Marty snoring his butt off... yikes.
Oh yeah - went through a town called UHLAND. Can't tell if it was in homage to Lance Armstrong's interview style... Uh.... Levi was great.... Uh... The team was just great... Uh...
Or maybe it was because "You Know, TX" and "Like, TX" were already taken!
'til next...
Jake
Saturday, March 21, 2009
San Antonio
We had a pretty boring 84 mile ride from Uvalde to San Antonio. When I say it was boring what I mean was that there were not many interesting sights, different than what we have seen over the last few days.
What was great was the wind was in our face. What's great about the wind in your face is the fact that you always see it coming. It also help you from going too fast, which cuts down on any possible errors in directions etc. It also ensures that you are going slow enough to see every bit of all the sights, which again are the same as the last couple of days.
In San Antonio we meet up with my niece Casey and her boyfriend Wes. It was great seeing Casey and meeting Wes. I had not seen Casey since she graduated from high school which was 13 years ago. We had diner at the San Antonio river walk and it was a very nice evening to sit outside. Amazingly, Casey looks just the same as she did 13 years ago. Me, not so much.
Items to note:
I've been asked about my blog entry where I said we made a mistake and ended in a part of El Paso that 2 guys in tights should not be in. The question was "what was it about this part of town?". Lets be honest, we have all, one time or another, been in a place where we didn't feel quite comfortable. When you wear this goofy biking stuff, that happens fairly often. I mean really, unless you, a friend or a family member cycles, these clothes are freaky looking. Anyway, lets just leave it at that.
In my next blog I'll explain the clothes to those non biking folks out there, but believe me it is NOT a fashon statement. When we finish riding each day we get out of these clothes as quickly as possible. (Okay, maybe Jake like to wear it around. Ha) I hope he doesn't read this.
All for now. Hoping for more head winds. It really is keeping us hunble.
What was great was the wind was in our face. What's great about the wind in your face is the fact that you always see it coming. It also help you from going too fast, which cuts down on any possible errors in directions etc. It also ensures that you are going slow enough to see every bit of all the sights, which again are the same as the last couple of days.
In San Antonio we meet up with my niece Casey and her boyfriend Wes. It was great seeing Casey and meeting Wes. I had not seen Casey since she graduated from high school which was 13 years ago. We had diner at the San Antonio river walk and it was a very nice evening to sit outside. Amazingly, Casey looks just the same as she did 13 years ago. Me, not so much.
Items to note:
I've been asked about my blog entry where I said we made a mistake and ended in a part of El Paso that 2 guys in tights should not be in. The question was "what was it about this part of town?". Lets be honest, we have all, one time or another, been in a place where we didn't feel quite comfortable. When you wear this goofy biking stuff, that happens fairly often. I mean really, unless you, a friend or a family member cycles, these clothes are freaky looking. Anyway, lets just leave it at that.
In my next blog I'll explain the clothes to those non biking folks out there, but believe me it is NOT a fashon statement. When we finish riding each day we get out of these clothes as quickly as possible. (Okay, maybe Jake like to wear it around. Ha) I hope he doesn't read this.
All for now. Hoping for more head winds. It really is keeping us hunble.
Off The Course
By the way, we are off the Adventurecycling course - we shot down through San Antonio (today's destination). We are meeting Marty's niece there later today.
This means we WILL NOT GET TO AUSTIN. We will actually come up below the Southeast part of that city.
Jake
This means we WILL NOT GET TO AUSTIN. We will actually come up below the Southeast part of that city.
Jake
Friday, March 20, 2009
Back on the Road
Today we got up at 5 AM and were rolling by 6.
The darkness and wind were oddly calming. The only distractions were the little obstacles the headlight pointed out. I could not see my navigation unit and therefore I had no idea of how fast or slow we were going. I decided to focus solely on the effort my legs were putting forth.
Without regard to change of wind speed or pitch in the road, I kept my legs feeling a constant effort. All I had to do was shift my gears to keep the focus. Pretty soon all my thoughts were about maintaining that focus; that effort.
That is, until "The Boxer" popped into my head. Odd as there are no Simon and Garfunkel songs on the old Ipod. I realized I could maintain the effort focus and half hum, half mumble the song.
I wondered if I could keep the focus once sunlight revealed all the distractions with which I normally ride.
Predictably, the answer was no. Despite a rather dull 83 miles from our campsite near Del Rio to Uvalde, wind, hills, sights and sounds were all convenient alibis to lose focus.
We passed through one town, Brackettsville, 40 miles into the ride and that was it until Uvalde!
Well almost... the sole picture of the day was a historical marker noting the site of a bygone settlement called Delores. Apparently some Land Baron named the town after his Mexican wife. Perhaps they would have lasted had he only named it after his favorite aunt, Mulva.
I think Jerry Seinfeld would agree.
The darkness and wind were oddly calming. The only distractions were the little obstacles the headlight pointed out. I could not see my navigation unit and therefore I had no idea of how fast or slow we were going. I decided to focus solely on the effort my legs were putting forth.
Without regard to change of wind speed or pitch in the road, I kept my legs feeling a constant effort. All I had to do was shift my gears to keep the focus. Pretty soon all my thoughts were about maintaining that focus; that effort.
That is, until "The Boxer" popped into my head. Odd as there are no Simon and Garfunkel songs on the old Ipod. I realized I could maintain the effort focus and half hum, half mumble the song.
I wondered if I could keep the focus once sunlight revealed all the distractions with which I normally ride.
Predictably, the answer was no. Despite a rather dull 83 miles from our campsite near Del Rio to Uvalde, wind, hills, sights and sounds were all convenient alibis to lose focus.
We passed through one town, Brackettsville, 40 miles into the ride and that was it until Uvalde!
Well almost... the sole picture of the day was a historical marker noting the site of a bygone settlement called Delores. Apparently some Land Baron named the town after his Mexican wife. Perhaps they would have lasted had he only named it after his favorite aunt, Mulva.
I think Jerry Seinfeld would agree.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Rest Day Success
We rested!
We also met this guy David who offered up his truck... no not gave us a ride... let us take his truck at his insistence to "town" to reload on stuff. This is very cool because we plan on starting early tomorrow prior to the stores opening and selling said "stuff".
Really a very generous gesture - people are very nice for the most part and we are very grateful for that.
Meanwhile, it is time for more of that rest deal.
Tomorrow we deviate from the adventure cycling map and head straight to San Antonio. Cannot avoid this dang wind (15 MPH steady out of the East - no joke), but we can avoid more climbs. While this may eliminate us from the pantheon of the greatest cyclists in the world, as they say in the French Alps, "oh well!".
All the best!
We also met this guy David who offered up his truck... no not gave us a ride... let us take his truck at his insistence to "town" to reload on stuff. This is very cool because we plan on starting early tomorrow prior to the stores opening and selling said "stuff".
Really a very generous gesture - people are very nice for the most part and we are very grateful for that.
Meanwhile, it is time for more of that rest deal.
Tomorrow we deviate from the adventure cycling map and head straight to San Antonio. Cannot avoid this dang wind (15 MPH steady out of the East - no joke), but we can avoid more climbs. While this may eliminate us from the pantheon of the greatest cyclists in the world, as they say in the French Alps, "oh well!".
All the best!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Day 20???
Wow that is a long time 20 days on a bike.It is not like we didn't ask for it!
A St Patty's Day note or three - James, I got both of your impaired voicemails and both were much appreciated. No, Bob, no green beer... Sanderson is not McSorley's West. And Thomas, does the Irish blessing really say may the wind slam into your face all day?
Today was windy and not the good kind... which reminds me what Glen Lebby told my son John: West Texas is not a normal place for wind - so all you folks praying and hoping for West winds, kick it up a notch okay?
As usual we met some interesting folks mostly in our only true stop at Langtry Texas - home of Judge Roy Bean's saloon and court house. Michael from the Wagon Wheel (great BBQ sandwiches) and his pal Russell were extremely helpful.
We made it to Armistad National park just outside of Del Rio before dark.
Tomorrow we rest - no biking unless it is to food.
New Pictures as always are being posted right after I say..
All the best,
Jake
PS: we are seriously considering taking US 90 through San Antonio for a couple of reasons. I will let y'all know for sure tomorrow.
A St Patty's Day note or three - James, I got both of your impaired voicemails and both were much appreciated. No, Bob, no green beer... Sanderson is not McSorley's West. And Thomas, does the Irish blessing really say may the wind slam into your face all day?
Today was windy and not the good kind... which reminds me what Glen Lebby told my son John: West Texas is not a normal place for wind - so all you folks praying and hoping for West winds, kick it up a notch okay?
As usual we met some interesting folks mostly in our only true stop at Langtry Texas - home of Judge Roy Bean's saloon and court house. Michael from the Wagon Wheel (great BBQ sandwiches) and his pal Russell were extremely helpful.
We made it to Armistad National park just outside of Del Rio before dark.
Tomorrow we rest - no biking unless it is to food.
New Pictures as always are being posted right after I say..
All the best,
Jake
PS: we are seriously considering taking US 90 through San Antonio for a couple of reasons. I will let y'all know for sure tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
St Patty's day - a day of redemption
Yesterday had us pretty beaten. I think it had a lot to do with waking and riding in near freezing temps. Be that as it may, we got up and went to work today.
We got rolling around 9 after a hearty meal at the Chuck Wagon. We know, that sounds late, but due to the fact we are on the west end of the timezone, it does not get light until nearly 8.
First 25 miles was a hoot - lots of downhills with either no wind or wind at our back. We got to Alpine Texas (again with the Alpine thing) in what seemed like no time at all. Alpine is a dang nice place - seriously. Surrounded by amazing scenery, it is a real town - university and all.
As we wondered why it is we always seem to stop in the uncool town right before the cool town, we came upon Gil Jones. He stopped his 77 El Camino and told us that we were welcome at his "crib" in Marathon 30 more miles down the road. Immediately I sensed something fishy about Gil. Marty said I was just being crabby. But for Cod's sake, you have to follow your instincts, right? Well the salty Marty convinced me to swing by Gil's just for the halibut.
Gil... actually Guil, runs a wacky commune in the Southwest corner of Marathon - check out the pictures. Oh My COD (credit to Kip Adonis). Guil was not there but Buffalo Springfield was blaring as we pedaled away and set out to make Sanderson... another 55 miles away.
On the way, we met John (in the pics) who quit his job to go 80 days from San Diego to Maine. Kelly and Sue - at least we kept our gigs!! He was driving the route backwards to scope stuff out. Nice guy, chronic over-packer even compared to us.
Anyway, despite a crosswind/headwind ever since Guil visited us we stayed out there for 10 plus hours (including lunch and snack stops) and made it to Sanderson. 110 MILES - our first century!!!! The lame pic of us is on the exact spot we finally crossed 100.
Sanderson, what a cool place... we are camping in an RV park wedged between the only main road in this entire area and and a railway. We will sleep like kings. How do we manage to do this? This is unbelievable - Alpine was cool, Marathon was cool, Sanderson makes Palatka look like Coconut Grove.
Not to jinx ourselves, I will say we will do what we feel like doing tomorrow -- right now I feel like having a beer.
Thank you Thomas for the Irish Blessing
Jake
We got rolling around 9 after a hearty meal at the Chuck Wagon. We know, that sounds late, but due to the fact we are on the west end of the timezone, it does not get light until nearly 8.
First 25 miles was a hoot - lots of downhills with either no wind or wind at our back. We got to Alpine Texas (again with the Alpine thing) in what seemed like no time at all. Alpine is a dang nice place - seriously. Surrounded by amazing scenery, it is a real town - university and all.
As we wondered why it is we always seem to stop in the uncool town right before the cool town, we came upon Gil Jones. He stopped his 77 El Camino and told us that we were welcome at his "crib" in Marathon 30 more miles down the road. Immediately I sensed something fishy about Gil. Marty said I was just being crabby. But for Cod's sake, you have to follow your instincts, right? Well the salty Marty convinced me to swing by Gil's just for the halibut.
Gil... actually Guil, runs a wacky commune in the Southwest corner of Marathon - check out the pictures. Oh My COD (credit to Kip Adonis). Guil was not there but Buffalo Springfield was blaring as we pedaled away and set out to make Sanderson... another 55 miles away.
On the way, we met John (in the pics) who quit his job to go 80 days from San Diego to Maine. Kelly and Sue - at least we kept our gigs!! He was driving the route backwards to scope stuff out. Nice guy, chronic over-packer even compared to us.
Anyway, despite a crosswind/headwind ever since Guil visited us we stayed out there for 10 plus hours (including lunch and snack stops) and made it to Sanderson. 110 MILES - our first century!!!! The lame pic of us is on the exact spot we finally crossed 100.
Sanderson, what a cool place... we are camping in an RV park wedged between the only main road in this entire area and and a railway. We will sleep like kings. How do we manage to do this? This is unbelievable - Alpine was cool, Marathon was cool, Sanderson makes Palatka look like Coconut Grove.
Not to jinx ourselves, I will say we will do what we feel like doing tomorrow -- right now I feel like having a beer.
Thank you Thomas for the Irish Blessing
Jake
Monday, March 16, 2009
People Pain and Food
I need to note that the people of Sierra Blanca were very nice to us. The hotel was not the greatest since the Ritz Carlton, but the people who ran it were genuinely nice and helpful.
We had dinner at Curly's, a BBQ place on the East side of town (see pictures). The people there were real characters, gruff, teeth challenged, but again, really nice. Patrick and Tresa were the cook and waitress respectively. Tresa isn't a typo - it is Gaelic according to Patrick who wields the knives in the place, so who was arguing? The food was great and Patrick was so disappointed we did not have one of his steaks, he gave us one anyway. Great place good people.
So as Marty mentioned, we got out of town on the wings of a monster tailwind. It was great! There were times we were flying downhill at over 35, soft-pedaling on flats at 25 (remember we are toting a bunch of stuff) and going uphill in the teens. We had a great lunch in VanHorn and arrived in Kent feeling great with 75 miles under our belts.
Then Texas 118 - look it up. 10 miles later, legs are feeling dead. Not painful, just dead. You cyclists know the feeling - zero horsepower. We stopped and set up camp DUMBASS - in a 5ft by 6ft concrete culvert.
This morning began with the most painful 30 minutes of riding I have ever experienced. Frost bitten fingers and feet numb to the midfoot only added to the fun of traveling uphill at 6 MPH.
We struggled all day to get a measely 37 miles behind us. We really need a full rest day. We think we will hold out until we get to Del Rio - nice big lake, milder temperatures, and more stuff.
Our final stop today, Fort Davis, does not have a lot going on, but it did have a coin-op laundry which we desperately needed according to the coyotes who took one sniff of us last night, howled and ran for the hills.
At the coin-op a nice lady gave us some detergent and told us about the Chuck Wagon where she worked. It was yet another great Texas BBQ place. Worth a stop, if for some reason you happen to be out on Texas 118!
Tomorrow we go as far as we feel like going - right now, I feel like going to sleep, so until next blog...
Jake
We had dinner at Curly's, a BBQ place on the East side of town (see pictures). The people there were real characters, gruff, teeth challenged, but again, really nice. Patrick and Tresa were the cook and waitress respectively. Tresa isn't a typo - it is Gaelic according to Patrick who wields the knives in the place, so who was arguing? The food was great and Patrick was so disappointed we did not have one of his steaks, he gave us one anyway. Great place good people.
So as Marty mentioned, we got out of town on the wings of a monster tailwind. It was great! There were times we were flying downhill at over 35, soft-pedaling on flats at 25 (remember we are toting a bunch of stuff) and going uphill in the teens. We had a great lunch in VanHorn and arrived in Kent feeling great with 75 miles under our belts.
Then Texas 118 - look it up. 10 miles later, legs are feeling dead. Not painful, just dead. You cyclists know the feeling - zero horsepower. We stopped and set up camp DUMBASS - in a 5ft by 6ft concrete culvert.
This morning began with the most painful 30 minutes of riding I have ever experienced. Frost bitten fingers and feet numb to the midfoot only added to the fun of traveling uphill at 6 MPH.
We struggled all day to get a measely 37 miles behind us. We really need a full rest day. We think we will hold out until we get to Del Rio - nice big lake, milder temperatures, and more stuff.
Our final stop today, Fort Davis, does not have a lot going on, but it did have a coin-op laundry which we desperately needed according to the coyotes who took one sniff of us last night, howled and ran for the hills.
At the coin-op a nice lady gave us some detergent and told us about the Chuck Wagon where she worked. It was yet another great Texas BBQ place. Worth a stop, if for some reason you happen to be out on Texas 118!
Tomorrow we go as far as we feel like going - right now, I feel like going to sleep, so until next blog...
Jake
We found a pretty part on Texas, but it cost
Yesterday we woke, in Sierra Blanca, to find the winds were at our back. We cranked out a pretty fast 75 miles and then turned and started a climb if rolling hills. We scenery was great. Lots of open spaces and lots of small Mountains and out cropings. Our legs gave out and we decidedto camp where we were verse trying the next 30 to the next town.
We actually camped in a concrete colvert because of a 20 MPH wind. All was good until this morning when we found the small vally we were in was obviously where the cold air fell to. We got up and on the bikes within about 18 mins. Normally it take us an hour. It was the coldest night we have sleep out and it was not pleasant. In fact the first 30 mins of riding was pretty miserable as well. Jakes hands were froze and my toes had the same. We finally climbed into the sun and we stopped to warm up. In no time, we were taking off layers and it got pretty warm.
He climbed today to the Mc Donald Observatory near Ft Davis at a little over 6000 feet. It was the hardest day yet. Instead of steady climb, it was climb drop climb drop etc. It took almost 3 hours to go 14 miles. At places the road was so steep we were out of the saddle in the granny gear. (I never thought that would happen) So the day ended with us doing about 37 miles. The legs are tired.
We are now in a small town called Ft Davis waiting for a Motel room to be cleaned. Nether of us can handle another night in the weather. Hopefully as we move further East and South the nights will get warmer. For the last 3 mornings I have been wearing every piece of clothing when we start. It has been that cold and with the wind in your face...... Very cold.
We actually camped in a concrete colvert because of a 20 MPH wind. All was good until this morning when we found the small vally we were in was obviously where the cold air fell to. We got up and on the bikes within about 18 mins. Normally it take us an hour. It was the coldest night we have sleep out and it was not pleasant. In fact the first 30 mins of riding was pretty miserable as well. Jakes hands were froze and my toes had the same. We finally climbed into the sun and we stopped to warm up. In no time, we were taking off layers and it got pretty warm.
He climbed today to the Mc Donald Observatory near Ft Davis at a little over 6000 feet. It was the hardest day yet. Instead of steady climb, it was climb drop climb drop etc. It took almost 3 hours to go 14 miles. At places the road was so steep we were out of the saddle in the granny gear. (I never thought that would happen) So the day ended with us doing about 37 miles. The legs are tired.
We are now in a small town called Ft Davis waiting for a Motel room to be cleaned. Nether of us can handle another night in the weather. Hopefully as we move further East and South the nights will get warmer. For the last 3 mornings I have been wearing every piece of clothing when we start. It has been that cold and with the wind in your face...... Very cold.
When did they put mountains in Texas?!
Hi y'all... Kelly here.
Just talked to Jake and he wanted to let everyone know they are fine. They didn't have cell or internet service last night. Because of high winds last night, they had to sleep in a culvert. The cold air settled in quickly and Jake said it was the coldest they've been so far. They have much slow, windy climbing ahead of them today. Hopefully, they will be able to get online this evening!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Day Two in the Longhorn State
First off - we have no cell service and I am borrowing the PC from the Hotel to post this - we are just fine.
Before we left Fabens, we had breakfast at the famous Fabens Cafe. There I finally asked someone what the heck Menudo was other than a boy band from Puerto Rico.
Delia (whose picture will be posted when Kelly gets a chance - can't do it from here), not only told us what it was, but gave us a little bowl of it to test. For those who do not know, Menudo is Beff Tripe and Hominy. We dutifully chowed down on the menudo. Apparently it is a famous hangover cure.
Again the wind was in our faces and it took entirely too long to do 70 miles to Sierra Blanca, which should be called Sierra Cerrado (thank you Sesame Street) - nearly eberything is closed!
We saw a lot of that as we rode along the Rio Grande - Marty is pictured riding buy the civic center of McNary... where narry is a ... well anything.
We found out what a Texas Cycling interval is today too. Here is how it works.... you ride along at a moerate pace and one of you yells "DOG!" Then you ride as fast as you can until your heart nearly bursts to get away from the snarling. snapping dog.
Dave Van Gundy if you are reading this beware that 2 miles West of Fort Hancock, that dog who looks like he wants to play does in fact want to play... with your internal organs.
I have never seen Marty ride so fast!!! The dog was a cross between a wolverine, a pitbull, a dingo and cerebus (minus two of the heads). Scare the you know what out of us. Next one gets the Bear Spray right in the kisser.
Met a fellow traveler - Michael form Anchorage -- and that is where is is riding to - Wow.
I have but two wishes for Texans -- they really need some pickup trucks here and some stray dogs.
That said, we enjoyed much prettier countryside today.
All the best.
Jake
Before we left Fabens, we had breakfast at the famous Fabens Cafe. There I finally asked someone what the heck Menudo was other than a boy band from Puerto Rico.
Delia (whose picture will be posted when Kelly gets a chance - can't do it from here), not only told us what it was, but gave us a little bowl of it to test. For those who do not know, Menudo is Beff Tripe and Hominy. We dutifully chowed down on the menudo. Apparently it is a famous hangover cure.
Again the wind was in our faces and it took entirely too long to do 70 miles to Sierra Blanca, which should be called Sierra Cerrado (thank you Sesame Street) - nearly eberything is closed!
We saw a lot of that as we rode along the Rio Grande - Marty is pictured riding buy the civic center of McNary... where narry is a ... well anything.
We found out what a Texas Cycling interval is today too. Here is how it works.... you ride along at a moerate pace and one of you yells "DOG!" Then you ride as fast as you can until your heart nearly bursts to get away from the snarling. snapping dog.
Dave Van Gundy if you are reading this beware that 2 miles West of Fort Hancock, that dog who looks like he wants to play does in fact want to play... with your internal organs.
I have never seen Marty ride so fast!!! The dog was a cross between a wolverine, a pitbull, a dingo and cerebus (minus two of the heads). Scare the you know what out of us. Next one gets the Bear Spray right in the kisser.
Met a fellow traveler - Michael form Anchorage -- and that is where is is riding to - Wow.
I have but two wishes for Texans -- they really need some pickup trucks here and some stray dogs.
That said, we enjoyed much prettier countryside today.
All the best.
Jake
Not the best of Texas
Our morning ride out of NM was pretty nice as we passed Pecan trees, farms, horse ranches and a polo field. We dropped into Texas, without any signs or fan fair, into a really ugly part of El Paso on Texas 20. It was like we were suddenly in a junk yard, mixed with a flee market and parking lot with our road going through it. It did get better after a few miles but honestly it does not represent Texas well.
El Paso from what we saw is a really long skinny city squished between some mountains and the Mexican boarder. Our directions had a hic-up on one of our turns (that's my story) and we ended in a part of El Paso that two guys in tights should not be. We just kept rolling and found our way out.
While like every city there are good parts and not so good, our route exposed us to much more of the latter. We could see some beautiful homes build into the mouintains overlooking the city, but we didn't go there. What we saw was strip malls and restraunts for 20+ miles. It just went on and on. Jake saidhe actually saw three Villiage Inns on the same road in Texas. Since we were not looking for a room, I didn't notice.
I'm ready for a break in the morning cool, the wind in the face and I'm missing my wife, my kids and my home.
This morning it is 35 and the wind, still in the face.
Hello to my poker gang in Chesapeake who are playing tonight. I miss you guys. Please let Sue win a couple big pots. While we are trying to not spend a bunch on the road out here, sometimes you get caught. We paid $70.00 for a dive of a motel last night because our options were that or bandit camp. Nothing else 50 miles.
That's all for now.
El Paso from what we saw is a really long skinny city squished between some mountains and the Mexican boarder. Our directions had a hic-up on one of our turns (that's my story) and we ended in a part of El Paso that two guys in tights should not be. We just kept rolling and found our way out.
While like every city there are good parts and not so good, our route exposed us to much more of the latter. We could see some beautiful homes build into the mouintains overlooking the city, but we didn't go there. What we saw was strip malls and restraunts for 20+ miles. It just went on and on. Jake saidhe actually saw three Villiage Inns on the same road in Texas. Since we were not looking for a room, I didn't notice.
I'm ready for a break in the morning cool, the wind in the face and I'm missing my wife, my kids and my home.
This morning it is 35 and the wind, still in the face.
Hello to my poker gang in Chesapeake who are playing tonight. I miss you guys. Please let Sue win a couple big pots. While we are trying to not spend a bunch on the road out here, sometimes you get caught. We paid $70.00 for a dive of a motel last night because our options were that or bandit camp. Nothing else 50 miles.
That's all for now.
Friday, March 13, 2009
A quick pass through New Mexico
Marty will fill you in on the incredible sights and sounds of El Paso.
New Mexico (Land of Enchantment) only took us two and a half days to get through. We only hit the Southwest area of the state, but definitely enjoyed our stay - especially the time with John and Alicia.
New Mexico was the 47th state admitted into the Union. Don't worry.. no boring history lesson, just a boring memory. You see, our Basic Training group (called a Flight) in the Air Force was chosen to be the "Flag Mass" on parade day; the culmination of our stay in Lackland AFB.
At the time, I was a good deal shorter than I am now... a towering 5'9" (and a half, dang it). And as the fourth shortest member of our flight, I carried the flag of New Mexico, which happens to be the very last of the 48 continental states I have visited.
That's it - told you it was boring.
As for the rest of New Mexico, what we saw (except Deming) was really nice. My cousin Mary Lou, if I recall correctly always loved horses and has settled here - good choice from what we saw.
Well we entered Texas and got in about 83 miles today and feel pretty darn good even though the wind was once again, not our friend. That is the thing about going in one direction all day - there is no backside of the loop where you get the tailwind that was the headwind earlier. I know, we are Wind-Whiners.
Jake
New Mexico (Land of Enchantment) only took us two and a half days to get through. We only hit the Southwest area of the state, but definitely enjoyed our stay - especially the time with John and Alicia.
New Mexico was the 47th state admitted into the Union. Don't worry.. no boring history lesson, just a boring memory. You see, our Basic Training group (called a Flight) in the Air Force was chosen to be the "Flag Mass" on parade day; the culmination of our stay in Lackland AFB.
At the time, I was a good deal shorter than I am now... a towering 5'9" (and a half, dang it). And as the fourth shortest member of our flight, I carried the flag of New Mexico, which happens to be the very last of the 48 continental states I have visited.
That's it - told you it was boring.
As for the rest of New Mexico, what we saw (except Deming) was really nice. My cousin Mary Lou, if I recall correctly always loved horses and has settled here - good choice from what we saw.
Well we entered Texas and got in about 83 miles today and feel pretty darn good even though the wind was once again, not our friend. That is the thing about going in one direction all day - there is no backside of the loop where you get the tailwind that was the headwind earlier. I know, we are Wind-Whiners.
Jake
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Dem(ing)s da breaks
I really can't say too much about Deming. The RV folks were odd enough and friendly enough, but the sad thing was there were clearly a few semi-homeless tent dwellers there... some with kids. I am not going to go all soapbox here as to do so, I would need to have some glib solutions to spew.
I do not. But I do suspect this is a growing phenomena in this country.
John and and his wife Alicia are very nice and gracious hosts -- we have already been fed twice! We are very glad to be here given the fun fun fun we had in the wind today.
I do need to do a retro-blog here. Somewhere between Buckhorn and Silver City Marty and I went to a convenience store to refuel. We had magnificent frozen burritos for breakfast and as we were reviewing the bulletin board, the super-friendly clerk perked up.
We noticed that a World Record elk had been shot by bow. She quickly explained with great disdain that she knew that elk had been farm-fed and the hunt was in a confined area. Not very sporting. In addition to damning the faux heroism of killing a big fat encumbered beast, she noted that the world record antlers were the result of CALCIUM supplements.
Today as we rolling along we were chuckling about this particular episode and Marty said, "can you believe she thought they made the antlers big with COW SEMEN?"
Yeah Marty, you will find that in the GNC right next to the Bull Milk.
Have a great night!
Jake
I do not. But I do suspect this is a growing phenomena in this country.
John and and his wife Alicia are very nice and gracious hosts -- we have already been fed twice! We are very glad to be here given the fun fun fun we had in the wind today.
I do need to do a retro-blog here. Somewhere between Buckhorn and Silver City Marty and I went to a convenience store to refuel. We had magnificent frozen burritos for breakfast and as we were reviewing the bulletin board, the super-friendly clerk perked up.
We noticed that a World Record elk had been shot by bow. She quickly explained with great disdain that she knew that elk had been farm-fed and the hunt was in a confined area. Not very sporting. In addition to damning the faux heroism of killing a big fat encumbered beast, she noted that the world record antlers were the result of CALCIUM supplements.
Today as we rolling along we were chuckling about this particular episode and Marty said, "can you believe she thought they made the antlers big with COW SEMEN?"
Yeah Marty, you will find that in the GNC right next to the Bull Milk.
Have a great night!
Jake
Flat, flats and still nothing comes easy
Last night before hitting the hay, Jake noticed he had a flat. But he was wrong, he had two flats. He fixed both. In the morning one was flat again so he changed that one again. Then when loading his bike the tube blew out. That's 4 flats in zero miles - beat that. About 45 miles into our ride he had another blow out. That is five flats on 2 tires in 45 miles. This after going for 13 days with only 3 flats up until today. Luckily we made it to John's (a brother of Jake's cousins wife) in Las Cruces without another flat. Had we had a blow out we would have been in trouble as Jake had used the last of the tubes.
We woke this AM to another very cold Morning and had 15 mile head winds all day. Not a good day on the bike. Very cold and no where to stop for anything the whole way. We were prepaired with peanut butter and Nutrigrain bars, but a cup of coffee or real breakfast out of the cold would have been nice. We were doing 9-10 miles per hour on flats and downhills. Very exhausting and disappointing; almost 6 hours on the bike for only 55 miles. The effort should have yeided 100 miles+.
I'll let Jake write about some of the events in the RV park. Overall real nice people. If you ever get a chance to visit Deming, just keep going.
We woke this AM to another very cold Morning and had 15 mile head winds all day. Not a good day on the bike. Very cold and no where to stop for anything the whole way. We were prepaired with peanut butter and Nutrigrain bars, but a cup of coffee or real breakfast out of the cold would have been nice. We were doing 9-10 miles per hour on flats and downhills. Very exhausting and disappointing; almost 6 hours on the bike for only 55 miles. The effort should have yeided 100 miles+.
I'll let Jake write about some of the events in the RV park. Overall real nice people. If you ever get a chance to visit Deming, just keep going.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Why Deming?
Some of you may be tracking the adventurecycling.org route and noticed that Deming is not on the trip.
Well, remember that choice we made Sunday to stick with the course even though knees and achilles tendons thought we ought to just take boring old Rte 70 avoiding massive climbs? Well, we had another choice this morning and this time the joints and tendons won the battle.
As we headed down 180 in the cold rain with the wind at our back, my Garmin started beeping at me to make a left and head towards Mount DOOM - Emory Pass.
The peak, shrouded in titanium hued clouds, beckoned us to test our mettle. Instead, our intelligence won the day.
As we passed the turn, the Garmin castigated us with its incessant beeping. It finally shut up, but it seemed the hills had the last laugh.
As Marty mentioned, the wind suddenly turned our 23 MPH romp down 180 to a grueling 11 MPH trudge into Deming, "Flower of the Southwest". I made that last part up... but there were flowers on the walls of that Motel I bagged.... and for me to opt to camp instead of sleep under roof is extreme.
Missing all, hope everyone is great.
Jake
Well, remember that choice we made Sunday to stick with the course even though knees and achilles tendons thought we ought to just take boring old Rte 70 avoiding massive climbs? Well, we had another choice this morning and this time the joints and tendons won the battle.
As we headed down 180 in the cold rain with the wind at our back, my Garmin started beeping at me to make a left and head towards Mount DOOM - Emory Pass.
The peak, shrouded in titanium hued clouds, beckoned us to test our mettle. Instead, our intelligence won the day.
As we passed the turn, the Garmin castigated us with its incessant beeping. It finally shut up, but it seemed the hills had the last laugh.
As Marty mentioned, the wind suddenly turned our 23 MPH romp down 180 to a grueling 11 MPH trudge into Deming, "Flower of the Southwest". I made that last part up... but there were flowers on the walls of that Motel I bagged.... and for me to opt to camp instead of sleep under roof is extreme.
Missing all, hope everyone is great.
Jake
Nothing is coming easy
The day started with me waking to find the hotel did not give us the 6:30 wake up call; it was now 7:45. By the time we got up and and out it was raining, and of course cold. We had more climbs an descents for about 8 miles and then it got flat with the wind at our back for about 8-9 miles, then everything changed. The wind picked up out of the Southeast at about 15 mph. We were heading Southeast, see the problem? We ended the day with 60 miles under our belt, about 44 of it in the rain. It was mostly a soft rain, so it could have been much worse.
We are staying in Deming NM at a Roadrunner RV park. Not too bad of a place, but not the best. Jake actually chose this over a Motel down the street that we checked out. It was really rough and Jake said no because of the smell. I could smell nothing because taking in the decorating required all of my senses. OMG - I would have taken pictures but I thought that might offend the owner. But then again based on these being his rooms, my guess is he does not offend easily.
Here is something we experiance today, which I hope you never do: During the part of the day when it was raining pretty hard, a cattle carrying semi came by. Obviously the rain was washing off the floor of the truck which was covered in .......... Anyway once the runoff was mixed with the normal semi tire spray, we had a lovely little cow urine and poop shower. Like I said, I hope you never experience it. Maybe that's why I couldn't smell the motel room and maybe that's why the owner wasn't disappointed when we said we would pass.
That's all for now. Wishing all your showers are free of cow poop and urine!
We are staying in Deming NM at a Roadrunner RV park. Not too bad of a place, but not the best. Jake actually chose this over a Motel down the street that we checked out. It was really rough and Jake said no because of the smell. I could smell nothing because taking in the decorating required all of my senses. OMG - I would have taken pictures but I thought that might offend the owner. But then again based on these being his rooms, my guess is he does not offend easily.
Here is something we experiance today, which I hope you never do: During the part of the day when it was raining pretty hard, a cattle carrying semi came by. Obviously the rain was washing off the floor of the truck which was covered in .......... Anyway once the runoff was mixed with the normal semi tire spray, we had a lovely little cow urine and poop shower. Like I said, I hope you never experience it. Maybe that's why I couldn't smell the motel room and maybe that's why the owner wasn't disappointed when we said we would pass.
That's all for now. Wishing all your showers are free of cow poop and urine!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The last couple days
As Jake mentioned we had a pretty difficult day on Sunday. It is pretty intimidating to see the road you are riding disappear into the clouds, then when you get pretty far into the clouds, it just keeps disappearing a little further up and on and on. We climbed for almost 3 hours and saw very few cars. It makes you wonder why someone would bother to build this road. There were some interesting sites along the way.
Once we dropped into New Mexico we saw nothing but a couple of ranch entrences for miles. We went by one place called Mule Creek. I swear we saw one house and a post office and nothing else. If you are ever looking for a low stress job, try a post office in a one house town.
We ended at anthoer one of those RV parks were people live, not visit. It was not very nice and we both actually chose not shower in the place. This was after already not showering for 2 days because we camped at places without facilities the previous 2 nights.
We did about 35 miles today with more climbing into Silver City NM. We crossed the Continental Divide today which took us back up to 6230 ft and then had another climb before dropping into Silver City. We had the best tasting Whopper ever. It is amazing how good something can taste when you have be surviving on much less for a few days.
Looks like we will be in Texas in 2.5 days of riding.
For those wondering, the knees are holding up pretty well. I wish they were 100% as the trip would be much more enjoyable, but I'm still having a good time and seeing intersting things.
Couple items to note: Saw tumble weeds in Bylas AZ blowing ride down the middle of "town". Also in this part of of the word you can't take a step any where without shoes as some kind of sticky thing will be in your foot; usually it will be three things.
When Jake mentioned that we were not prepaired for rain, what he meant was that we left stuff out. We did realize that we would see rain sooner or later, and are prepared.
All is well. Thanks for all the thought and prayers.
Once we dropped into New Mexico we saw nothing but a couple of ranch entrences for miles. We went by one place called Mule Creek. I swear we saw one house and a post office and nothing else. If you are ever looking for a low stress job, try a post office in a one house town.
We ended at anthoer one of those RV parks were people live, not visit. It was not very nice and we both actually chose not shower in the place. This was after already not showering for 2 days because we camped at places without facilities the previous 2 nights.
We did about 35 miles today with more climbing into Silver City NM. We crossed the Continental Divide today which took us back up to 6230 ft and then had another climb before dropping into Silver City. We had the best tasting Whopper ever. It is amazing how good something can taste when you have be surviving on much less for a few days.
Looks like we will be in Texas in 2.5 days of riding.
For those wondering, the knees are holding up pretty well. I wish they were 100% as the trip would be much more enjoyable, but I'm still having a good time and seeing intersting things.
Couple items to note: Saw tumble weeds in Bylas AZ blowing ride down the middle of "town". Also in this part of of the word you can't take a step any where without shoes as some kind of sticky thing will be in your foot; usually it will be three things.
When Jake mentioned that we were not prepaired for rain, what he meant was that we left stuff out. We did realize that we would see rain sooner or later, and are prepared.
All is well. Thanks for all the thought and prayers.
(Monday's Ride) 3-way to Buckhorn
It rained all Sunday night. Not a deluge, but just steady rain. We had been lulled into the security of day after day of sunshine and were really not very well prepared for rain… especially rain that slipped in under the cover of darkness.
Luckily, I awoke and scrambled around getting our stuff either covered or in the tent. There were only a couple of misses.
This morning, the rain let up in time for us to break camp. It was in the low 40s and the sky threatened more rain. So, we broke out the rain gear and even went so far as to line our shoes with plastic bags.
Lesson 38… Do not deploy rain gear unless it is raining. Once upon a time there were these things called “wet suits” that stupid high school wrestlers used to cut water weight (some still do – not good). Well, rain gear for cyclists acts very much in the same fashion. So while trying to stay dry in the non-existent rain, we managed to get completely soaked by our own sweat!
Sweat? Low 40s and climbing to higher altitudes? Oh yes… our ride today was not horribly long in miles (46) but it was an absolute killer. The first 14 miles were pretty much straight up… we encountered our first bunch of switch-backs as we climbed out of and above various canyons on the Arizona side. When we got to the top of the pass, it was really cold and we were really wet from our rain gear… sadly designed to keep us dry!
Anyway, the temperature was around 35 as we had our brief break of a 5 mile plunge to just short of the New Mexico border.
Marty and I noticed the weirdest thing – all the way up the mountain, we were looking at craggy rocks, precipices, cactus and scrub. As soon as we crested, we were in forest. And then as we got lower, we were in rolling prairie land. If you ever get the window seat as you fly into Phoenix, you may notice that the instead of mountainous terrain rising out of New Mexico, it appears more like the earth was gouged creating the canyons and such in Arizona. At least that is how it looked to me flying to San Diego.
Sadly, the climbing did not stop. We continued up and down in New Mexico and finally said ENOUGH in Buckhorn. Odd place and zero cool stories about cool friendly people – sorry!
Neither Marty nor I have set foot in New Mexico before, so yet another first.
Tomorrow we climb into Silver City where we just might call it a real short early day. Today was really rough – six and one-half hours for 46 miles is just sick.
Jake
Luckily, I awoke and scrambled around getting our stuff either covered or in the tent. There were only a couple of misses.
This morning, the rain let up in time for us to break camp. It was in the low 40s and the sky threatened more rain. So, we broke out the rain gear and even went so far as to line our shoes with plastic bags.
Lesson 38… Do not deploy rain gear unless it is raining. Once upon a time there were these things called “wet suits” that stupid high school wrestlers used to cut water weight (some still do – not good). Well, rain gear for cyclists acts very much in the same fashion. So while trying to stay dry in the non-existent rain, we managed to get completely soaked by our own sweat!
Sweat? Low 40s and climbing to higher altitudes? Oh yes… our ride today was not horribly long in miles (46) but it was an absolute killer. The first 14 miles were pretty much straight up… we encountered our first bunch of switch-backs as we climbed out of and above various canyons on the Arizona side. When we got to the top of the pass, it was really cold and we were really wet from our rain gear… sadly designed to keep us dry!
Anyway, the temperature was around 35 as we had our brief break of a 5 mile plunge to just short of the New Mexico border.
Marty and I noticed the weirdest thing – all the way up the mountain, we were looking at craggy rocks, precipices, cactus and scrub. As soon as we crested, we were in forest. And then as we got lower, we were in rolling prairie land. If you ever get the window seat as you fly into Phoenix, you may notice that the instead of mountainous terrain rising out of New Mexico, it appears more like the earth was gouged creating the canyons and such in Arizona. At least that is how it looked to me flying to San Diego.
Sadly, the climbing did not stop. We continued up and down in New Mexico and finally said ENOUGH in Buckhorn. Odd place and zero cool stories about cool friendly people – sorry!
Neither Marty nor I have set foot in New Mexico before, so yet another first.
Tomorrow we climb into Silver City where we just might call it a real short early day. Today was really rough – six and one-half hours for 46 miles is just sick.
Jake
Monday, March 9, 2009
In the Middle of Nowhere, New Mexico
Hi y'all,
Kelly here... Jake just called from a barbershop in Buckhorn, NM. They have absolutely no cell service, so there will be no photos or blogs from the guys today!
He said they climbed and climbed and climbed today; traveled about 48 miles in 6 hours. Looks like two more climbing days ahead.
Marty's knee is better.
Hopefully, they will be able to get online tomorrow.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Honky Tonk Night - Wind in your face Morning!
If the connection holds up I will post the pictures from last night as well as the pics from today's ride.
The bar across from where we pitched our tent was everything it was cracked up to be. Apparently most of the town is run somewhat by the family of the store clerk who gave us the Lion's Club hook up. I believe they are the Keens and they were also about two thirds the patrons at the bar.
It seems we stumbled into a bit of a reunion as one of them had disappeared many years ago and returned this weekend. Kind of sweet in a "don't ask too many questions" way. Anyway they were all really cool people.
So this morning we woke up to find that the ice we purchased at 3 PM the day before (not in a cooler) was still good to go! Yes, it was dang cold. So we scurried around muttering vague obscenities and got ready to roll. 50 yards from the Lion's Club - rear tire FLAT.
To further enhance our morning, the wind, our buddy the day prior, was in fact the fickle mistress the sailors say. Dead in our face.
So we toodled along until we reached Safford on a rather unremarkable Rte 70. There, a decision was on us.
We could either leave the Adventure Cycling Route and continue on the relatively flat but not very interesting Rte 70 to avoid many many climbs (knee saving) OR... we could suck it up and stick with the route.
At the fork in the road, we chose to stick it out and enter some of the most incredible landscape in the Country.
We climbed quite a bit and I have to say, Marty did really well. Then we finished the 57 mile day with a 6 mile descent to "3 Way" that featured ... well speeds that caused us both to feather the brakes more than a little.
We are now camping FOR FREE AGAIN at the Clifford Ranger Station of the Apache National Forest and looking forward to some serious ups and downs tomorrow. The wind is screaming at us right now and the temperature is dropping. They do not call it roughing it for nothing.
Pauline's (my cousin from day one) brother John called and left me a voice mail that he will be putting us up or putting up with us in Las Cruses, so John if you are following this, I will get an idea when we are going to be there because we would love to take you up on the offer - even if Pauline made you!!
All the best
Jake
The bar across from where we pitched our tent was everything it was cracked up to be. Apparently most of the town is run somewhat by the family of the store clerk who gave us the Lion's Club hook up. I believe they are the Keens and they were also about two thirds the patrons at the bar.
It seems we stumbled into a bit of a reunion as one of them had disappeared many years ago and returned this weekend. Kind of sweet in a "don't ask too many questions" way. Anyway they were all really cool people.
So this morning we woke up to find that the ice we purchased at 3 PM the day before (not in a cooler) was still good to go! Yes, it was dang cold. So we scurried around muttering vague obscenities and got ready to roll. 50 yards from the Lion's Club - rear tire FLAT.
To further enhance our morning, the wind, our buddy the day prior, was in fact the fickle mistress the sailors say. Dead in our face.
So we toodled along until we reached Safford on a rather unremarkable Rte 70. There, a decision was on us.
We could either leave the Adventure Cycling Route and continue on the relatively flat but not very interesting Rte 70 to avoid many many climbs (knee saving) OR... we could suck it up and stick with the route.
At the fork in the road, we chose to stick it out and enter some of the most incredible landscape in the Country.
We climbed quite a bit and I have to say, Marty did really well. Then we finished the 57 mile day with a 6 mile descent to "3 Way" that featured ... well speeds that caused us both to feather the brakes more than a little.
We are now camping FOR FREE AGAIN at the Clifford Ranger Station of the Apache National Forest and looking forward to some serious ups and downs tomorrow. The wind is screaming at us right now and the temperature is dropping. They do not call it roughing it for nothing.
Pauline's (my cousin from day one) brother John called and left me a voice mail that he will be putting us up or putting up with us in Las Cruses, so John if you are following this, I will get an idea when we are going to be there because we would love to take you up on the offer - even if Pauline made you!!
All the best
Jake
Saturday, March 7, 2009
The Best Plans
We saw Kelly off at around 11-ish and took off down Rte 70 East bound .. but not down. Marty's grapefruit had some fluid pulled out of it and you can now tell the difference between his knee and his calf. Better yet, he was feeling good as we pedaled along.
I too, felt pretty good. Kelly was a great help. She brought a stearer tube extender from James at PC Bike so I could raise my bars to eliminate my upper back and neck pain -- it totally worked, although those who know my riding style would never believe I would have a road bike where the seat and the tops were level. But enough Bike-talk drivel....
So there we were - going to do 30 miles and camp out down by the Coolidge Dam. Wellllll... there was this monster tail wind and much less ups and downs if we took the alternate route straight towards Safford, AZ. So we did. 60 miles later we sit in Fort Thomas. So we didn't keep it to 30 miles today, but even though there was a good amount of climbing, it was like a 30 mile effort.
Fort Thomas was as you might guess was the site of a fort during the Indian Wars. It is now the site of the Lions Club (the founder of the international Lions Club was born here), a convenience store and a Honky Tonk complete with corogated steel siding and big red letters:
BEER - FOOD
These being two of our favorite things, we stopped and asked at the convenience store if we could pitch our tent somewhere and not get shot (ha ha). The clerk, who apparently also runs the Honky Tonk said "sure - the Lions club"!. But she did warn us that the music could be loud until 1 AM. If the wind holds up, we will not hear them, if not, we will go over and enjoy the band.
I think she said the Good Ole Blues Brothers Boys Band was going to be playing the theme to Rawhide repeatedly.
We'll see!
Jake
PS - Scullys - our Great Grandfather's half brother was NOT stationed here at Fort Thomas - he was at Fort GRant and Camp Thomas (later to become Fort Apache). But I am sure he matered the quarters well where ever he feathered... er... made his bed.
I too, felt pretty good. Kelly was a great help. She brought a stearer tube extender from James at PC Bike so I could raise my bars to eliminate my upper back and neck pain -- it totally worked, although those who know my riding style would never believe I would have a road bike where the seat and the tops were level. But enough Bike-talk drivel....
So there we were - going to do 30 miles and camp out down by the Coolidge Dam. Wellllll... there was this monster tail wind and much less ups and downs if we took the alternate route straight towards Safford, AZ. So we did. 60 miles later we sit in Fort Thomas. So we didn't keep it to 30 miles today, but even though there was a good amount of climbing, it was like a 30 mile effort.
Fort Thomas was as you might guess was the site of a fort during the Indian Wars. It is now the site of the Lions Club (the founder of the international Lions Club was born here), a convenience store and a Honky Tonk complete with corogated steel siding and big red letters:
BEER - FOOD
These being two of our favorite things, we stopped and asked at the convenience store if we could pitch our tent somewhere and not get shot (ha ha). The clerk, who apparently also runs the Honky Tonk said "sure - the Lions club"!. But she did warn us that the music could be loud until 1 AM. If the wind holds up, we will not hear them, if not, we will go over and enjoy the band.
I think she said the Good Ole Blues Brothers Boys Band was going to be playing the theme to Rawhide repeatedly.
We'll see!
Jake
PS - Scullys - our Great Grandfather's half brother was NOT stationed here at Fort Thomas - he was at Fort GRant and Camp Thomas (later to become Fort Apache). But I am sure he matered the quarters well where ever he feathered... er... made his bed.
A Visitor!
Kelly flew in yesterday afternoon and as I mentioned that gave us the opportunity to give Marty a full rest day. It also gave me the chance to bomb around in the hills out here without 45 pounds of stuff on my bike.
But before I get to that, I can't tell you how good it was to see her... really I cannot even begin. She is the greatest.
As Marty said, I took off from the campground (we posted some pitcures from when the sun went down on the rocks - incredible) at around 8 am. Because we went off the track to get to the camping, I decided to take shorter route back to Rte 60. Of course the first couple of miles of this road was unpaved! Oddly, this was not a disaster - 30mm tires are pretty versatile.
Then it was onto Rt 60 east into Tonto National Park and onto Superior, the home of the World's Smallest Museum! And... not much else. Reminded me of some Vermont towns I have been to... but with really good breakfast burritos.
Remember the Chamber of Commerce woman? Well once again, her words of wisdom were a tad off. She described a virtual "tunnel of death" that you have to ride through to get out of Superior that was 1 mile long straight uphill, two lanes, no shoulder, etc.
As I ate my breakfast, someone asked (and by the way, this a really cool part of the trip, people are almost always really interested and friendly) where I was going. I told him and we chatted about the rest of my ride and the TUNNEL OF DEATH, As he paid his bill, he offered to put my stuff in the back of his truck and drive me through - what the heck?
You guessed it... a pretty well lit 200 yards of three lanes of traffic. Better safe than sorry.
What she should have told me about was the upcoming riding through places like "Devils Canyon" and "Top of the World" and the total lack of shoulder in many spots and the copper mining trucks whizzing past... but nothing beats a good TUNNEL OF DEATH story!
It was rather dicey both uphill and down. I was very glad not to have my trailer. At one point they were blasting so the whole road was closed temporarily in both directions - the nice worked let me fly down the mountain all alone for a mile or two.
Then I hit the end of Tonto and the beginning of mining country - thank God for National Parks.
I got to Globe and waited for Kelly and Marty. They found an urgent care place and got Marty some help and some advice. The good news is he can keep going.
So we are planning several short days in a row due to the terrain and the need to slowly bring his knee back. Hopefully that plan will work. Might cost a couple days, but oh well.
Did I mention how great it was to see Kelly?
Jake
But before I get to that, I can't tell you how good it was to see her... really I cannot even begin. She is the greatest.
As Marty said, I took off from the campground (we posted some pitcures from when the sun went down on the rocks - incredible) at around 8 am. Because we went off the track to get to the camping, I decided to take shorter route back to Rte 60. Of course the first couple of miles of this road was unpaved! Oddly, this was not a disaster - 30mm tires are pretty versatile.
Then it was onto Rt 60 east into Tonto National Park and onto Superior, the home of the World's Smallest Museum! And... not much else. Reminded me of some Vermont towns I have been to... but with really good breakfast burritos.
Remember the Chamber of Commerce woman? Well once again, her words of wisdom were a tad off. She described a virtual "tunnel of death" that you have to ride through to get out of Superior that was 1 mile long straight uphill, two lanes, no shoulder, etc.
As I ate my breakfast, someone asked (and by the way, this a really cool part of the trip, people are almost always really interested and friendly) where I was going. I told him and we chatted about the rest of my ride and the TUNNEL OF DEATH, As he paid his bill, he offered to put my stuff in the back of his truck and drive me through - what the heck?
You guessed it... a pretty well lit 200 yards of three lanes of traffic. Better safe than sorry.
What she should have told me about was the upcoming riding through places like "Devils Canyon" and "Top of the World" and the total lack of shoulder in many spots and the copper mining trucks whizzing past... but nothing beats a good TUNNEL OF DEATH story!
It was rather dicey both uphill and down. I was very glad not to have my trailer. At one point they were blasting so the whole road was closed temporarily in both directions - the nice worked let me fly down the mountain all alone for a mile or two.
Then I hit the end of Tonto and the beginning of mining country - thank God for National Parks.
I got to Globe and waited for Kelly and Marty. They found an urgent care place and got Marty some help and some advice. The good news is he can keep going.
So we are planning several short days in a row due to the terrain and the need to slowly bring his knee back. Hopefully that plan will work. Might cost a couple days, but oh well.
Did I mention how great it was to see Kelly?
Jake
Friday, March 6, 2009
A sad morning at broken knee
I just watched Jake ride off toward Globe AZ as I sat in our camp. I'll be catching a ride with Kelly later and am trying to get into an orthopedic Clinic today. My right knee is in bad shape an our 4 days of taking is easier has not improved the situation, though I don't think it has gotten much worse.
Each night as I sleep pain builds and then in the morning I'm limping around. As the day moves on it gets feeling better and I can walk pretty normal etc. The problem is as I ride I can apply almost no pressure, which means I'm ride with one leg, the other is really just along for the ride. This has been okay for the last 3.5 days that have been fairly flat, but we have big climbing days in the coming 5 days and I need 2 legs. Riding with one leg is now causing some other issue as I have had to adjust my riding position to accomodate.
On the lighter side, we had our first Elvis sighting today in the Camp restroom. It was the older Elvis with big chops etc, but he was thin. We was decked out in biker garb, but was driving a mini van. (Look for Elvis in a white mini van.)
When we were in El Centro in Southern CA I went into a big grocery store called Carabrosa's, or something like that. I asked where they had pain medication and sun tan lotion. The gentleman did speak English and quickly got me in contact with anther man that didn't speak English who then assisted be by getting a third guy who didn't speak English. What happened next you might not believe but I said, "I need ibuprofen" he had no clue so I said "Pain medication, something for pain" and he said "mushrooms?" That made the stop worth while. I did find what I needed, without help. When I checked out I noticed the register rang up both dollars and Peso's. FYI - Ibuprofen and water is a lot of peso's. I choose to pay in dollars and hence feel like I got a great deal. You can't fool me!
That's all for now. Hoping that a day off the bike and some good news from a Dr will get me back on track. The last few days have been less than fun. Jake has been great, riding slow (not his style) and carrying more than his share of the load.
Each night as I sleep pain builds and then in the morning I'm limping around. As the day moves on it gets feeling better and I can walk pretty normal etc. The problem is as I ride I can apply almost no pressure, which means I'm ride with one leg, the other is really just along for the ride. This has been okay for the last 3.5 days that have been fairly flat, but we have big climbing days in the coming 5 days and I need 2 legs. Riding with one leg is now causing some other issue as I have had to adjust my riding position to accomodate.
On the lighter side, we had our first Elvis sighting today in the Camp restroom. It was the older Elvis with big chops etc, but he was thin. We was decked out in biker garb, but was driving a mini van. (Look for Elvis in a white mini van.)
When we were in El Centro in Southern CA I went into a big grocery store called Carabrosa's, or something like that. I asked where they had pain medication and sun tan lotion. The gentleman did speak English and quickly got me in contact with anther man that didn't speak English who then assisted be by getting a third guy who didn't speak English. What happened next you might not believe but I said, "I need ibuprofen" he had no clue so I said "Pain medication, something for pain" and he said "mushrooms?" That made the stop worth while. I did find what I needed, without help. When I checked out I noticed the register rang up both dollars and Peso's. FYI - Ibuprofen and water is a lot of peso's. I choose to pay in dollars and hence feel like I got a great deal. You can't fool me!
That's all for now. Hoping that a day off the bike and some good news from a Dr will get me back on track. The last few days have been less than fun. Jake has been great, riding slow (not his style) and carrying more than his share of the load.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
quasi-rest day 03/05
As promised, today was a late start and a slow roll out of Mesa.
I was really longing for the nothingness of the desert again. The endless traffic lights and heavy traffic kind of took the fun out of actually having a bike lane in which to ride.
We decided to hit the Apache Junction Visitor center where we met a woman who claimed to be a "long-distance" cyclist. She was friendly enough, but her tales of misadventure, gloom, death and destruction on bicycles were amazing. I was surprised we made it to the next traffic light (conveniently placed 10 yards from the previous one) alive!
She did give us directions to The Lost Dutchman State Park that sits at the base of Superstition Mountain. But before she did so, she made sure we knew that THERE WAS NOTHING past Apache Junction that would afford us the resources to continue our journey.
So, we passed store after store and restaurant after restaurant on our way to the Park after we took the time to buy a bunch of stuff at the grocery store. I did say she was friendly, right?
Incredible beauty at this place and better internet signal than the hotel in Mesa.
Some pictures of the park today.
Total miles today around 30 but I'll be back tracking a bit tomorrow to get back on the course.
Kelly is flying in tomorrow (she is on Spring Break!) to see us (okay mostly just me). This will give Marty a chance to have a 100% rest day as he will wait for Kelly at the campsite and then they will join me at Globe, AZ about 60 miles up the road and mostly up hill. Lucky me, my wonderful wife will rent a puck up truck and so I get to hammer this out on my bike -- no trailer, no packs. SWEET.
It is getting chilly, gotta go. Oh by the way, Mark Bertoune took the liberty of doing a rewrite of this blog on his site www.thebikeframe.com - I have to admit, it is very funny.
Jake
I was really longing for the nothingness of the desert again. The endless traffic lights and heavy traffic kind of took the fun out of actually having a bike lane in which to ride.
We decided to hit the Apache Junction Visitor center where we met a woman who claimed to be a "long-distance" cyclist. She was friendly enough, but her tales of misadventure, gloom, death and destruction on bicycles were amazing. I was surprised we made it to the next traffic light (conveniently placed 10 yards from the previous one) alive!
She did give us directions to The Lost Dutchman State Park that sits at the base of Superstition Mountain. But before she did so, she made sure we knew that THERE WAS NOTHING past Apache Junction that would afford us the resources to continue our journey.
So, we passed store after store and restaurant after restaurant on our way to the Park after we took the time to buy a bunch of stuff at the grocery store. I did say she was friendly, right?
Incredible beauty at this place and better internet signal than the hotel in Mesa.
Some pictures of the park today.
Total miles today around 30 but I'll be back tracking a bit tomorrow to get back on the course.
Kelly is flying in tomorrow (she is on Spring Break!) to see us (okay mostly just me). This will give Marty a chance to have a 100% rest day as he will wait for Kelly at the campsite and then they will join me at Globe, AZ about 60 miles up the road and mostly up hill. Lucky me, my wonderful wife will rent a puck up truck and so I get to hammer this out on my bike -- no trailer, no packs. SWEET.
It is getting chilly, gotta go. Oh by the way, Mark Bertoune took the liberty of doing a rewrite of this blog on his site www.thebikeframe.com - I have to admit, it is very funny.
Jake
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