It seems that Google maps limits your number of destinations, so I had to put it as two maps. Some stops are close estimations.
View Larger Map
View Larger Map
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Day 36 - Success!
And here I am! What an ending day it was! After my last post, I continued along the Pearblossom Highway, which eventually became the Sierra Highway, taking me through canyonlands along California 14. I was still hoping to reach Santa Clarita before I slept, and made decent time, but finally chose to get what sleep I could along a closed road, as places to throw down a tent were getting scarce.
The camping site was between CA 14 and the Sierra Highway, and traffic volume at night kept things busy. After a few hours of napping, I packed up again, figuring I would be able to finish up on that much sleep.
I knew that the last bit of travel had a few jogs, but it sure made for an interesting trip! As I traveled on in the very early morning hours, I got to take advantage of the really low traffic conditions, pushing through Santa Clarita, heading down to an intersection where I wasn't sure whether to go left or right, going right, biking for about 5 or so miles, and getting into.... Santa Clarita.... uh oh. Yup, a poor choice at the intersection had sent me back into Santa Clarita So there I am at 2 AM, with nothing open. I stopped my bicycle in a McDonalds parking lot, dug out the laptop and was very glad that they don't turn off their internet when then close for the night! Instructions had me go right back the way I came, giving what I was hoping would be a short day a bit of extra length.
I managed to backtrack and drop into the road-grid region of the Los Angeles valley just as the sun came up and traffic picked up. I got onto Topanga Canyon road, pushing up a good distance before reaching the canyon drop on the far side. Steep and downhill for miles with lots of turns, high traffic and no shoulders in some points. Fortunately, Californians are more used to bicyclists than most other states it seems, and I wasn't even honked at once! From there, it was onto the Pacific Coast Highway, and I could see my goal - Point Dume! Sure, I could have stopped at any part of the beach to touch the ocean now, but it wasn't where I was going to "end" so I chose to wait. Once I got off of the Pacific Coast Highway, I knew I'd just have about a mile or two to go!
As I came up the last hill to my turnoff, I noticed my controls were a bit funny. I looked down, and sure enough, the rear tire was very low on air, almost flat. I pulled off, pumped it up, started pedaling hard and made it about 1/4 mile before it was flat again. ARGH!!!! SO CLOSE!!! At first, I decided I'd just push the bicycle the last 2 miles, and got to the last 1/2 mile or so and my last turn before I decided I had to pedal in. So there, so close to the end, I took off all of my gear, flipped the bicycle, took off the tire, patched (I figured I'd save a new tube for when I was going to be veeery careful), and reloaded, then took off. I could tell that even with the fast patch, it was still losing air, but I managed to roll up to the entrance way to my grandparents house just as my grandfather was going out to drop off some mail! Viola!
After that, all that was left was the pictures and the pampering! (which seems to be ongoing). I surprised everybody with how early I arrived, which messed up others' plans a tiny bit (oops), but nobody was too bothered by that. Initial plans to post very quickly were actually overwhelmed by the need to nap after my arrival, so I have been here for a few hours.
Sometime soon, I will be adding a summary of my route, thoughts and general comments on the trip, but there are a few things I can note right now:
First, thank you to everybody, both family and friends (old and new) who supported me on this trip. You made the good times better, and the hard times into fun stories to share rather than miserable slogs! Without your support, I might not have made it!
Second: The meetings I had along the way with the wide variety of people were by far the best part of this trip. It had changed my perspective on people and I will always view some things in different ways (as well as always noticing what the shoulders are like wherever I drive.)
For those that are wondering, I did weigh myself and appear to now be around 179 pounds, a bit over 10 pounds lighter than when I began, despite eating very unhealthy food for much of my trek. That's a lot of calories to burn!
Over the next few days, I'll try to give a summary of my route, thoughts on gear, how much a trip like this costs to undertake, and other general comments. For now, I'm off to work on recovering (food and sleep!) THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!!!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Puttering along on Day 35
I am now less than 100 miles from Malibu! I believe I commented when I broke under 1000, so this will continue in that vein, although I doubt I'll take the time to post when I'm under 10 miles.
What a pleasure to see from the comments that some of the individuals whom I met on the trip have been enjoying my comments. One thing I think this trip has done for me is encouraged my writing - I was initially unsure of what to include in these posts, but seem to have found the right stuff as I worked along.
After a nights sleep in a wonderfully comfy bed, I got up and prepped to go, including putting on gloriously clean clothing! Breakfast included homegrown apricots - one of the great things about the west coast! Soon I was off, with a slight change in my route as I was leaving the Szymborski's home, which was a bit off of the route I had planned. Things worked out well, despite my managing to pass one turn by a mile or two and having to backtrack. The land I have been passing through is fairly flat scrubland, dotted with Joshua trees, and with moutain ranges to the north and south. Temperatures got a bit high today, along with a bit of headwind, but I have done a decent job of taking it easy (even taking the time to stop and get out the laptop).
At this point, I'm in Littlerock, California, a mere 85 miles from my goal, and have about three hours of sunlight left. After the comfortable sleep last night, I didn't have any troubles with the let quad until after a stop for lunch a bit back when it started to feel a bit sore. The evening wind began to pick up, so I'll plod along a bit more to try to give myself an easy day for tomorrow. After over a month on the road, it feels weird thinking that I will be done in a day or so. Once I do, I'll be sure to summarize my route, experiences and thoughts, so watch out for that as well as the obligatory picture of me on the beach with my bicycle!
Take care!
What a pleasure to see from the comments that some of the individuals whom I met on the trip have been enjoying my comments. One thing I think this trip has done for me is encouraged my writing - I was initially unsure of what to include in these posts, but seem to have found the right stuff as I worked along.
After a nights sleep in a wonderfully comfy bed, I got up and prepped to go, including putting on gloriously clean clothing! Breakfast included homegrown apricots - one of the great things about the west coast! Soon I was off, with a slight change in my route as I was leaving the Szymborski's home, which was a bit off of the route I had planned. Things worked out well, despite my managing to pass one turn by a mile or two and having to backtrack. The land I have been passing through is fairly flat scrubland, dotted with Joshua trees, and with moutain ranges to the north and south. Temperatures got a bit high today, along with a bit of headwind, but I have done a decent job of taking it easy (even taking the time to stop and get out the laptop).
At this point, I'm in Littlerock, California, a mere 85 miles from my goal, and have about three hours of sunlight left. After the comfortable sleep last night, I didn't have any troubles with the let quad until after a stop for lunch a bit back when it started to feel a bit sore. The evening wind began to pick up, so I'll plod along a bit more to try to give myself an easy day for tomorrow. After over a month on the road, it feels weird thinking that I will be done in a day or so. Once I do, I'll be sure to summarize my route, experiences and thoughts, so watch out for that as well as the obligatory picture of me on the beach with my bicycle!
Take care!
Day 34
Meet (From right to left) Bill, and Deborah, one of their granddaughters Cheyenne, their son's girlfriend Joy, and their son, Joe. Also, their two dogs Sydney and Millie (for the City in Australia, and for the Millenium).
Waking up this morning, I got off to a start with good weather and made fine time. Soon, I took my turn northward to skirt Los Angeles, which put me in beautiful country, with mountains on both sides, fairly flat land all around, clouds in the sky, and pretty rock formations. Despite a headwind, I made good time, although my left quad did start bothering me again (in the long run, I'm not concerned as it's muscle tissue, but it is making things more interesting in the short run.)
The shoulder was alright, if a bit thin in some areas, and it was great to be back in civilization, where there were regular stops I could take advantage of if need be. I even picked up some fresh fruit (JOY!!!) early in the day at a shop that carried some.
I was really trying to take it easy, and almost overdid it, worrying about making it to Apple Valley before darkness set in. As I was getting near, a car pulled up ahead of me, and a man got out with a bottle of water to offer me. We got to chatting, and I met his wife and granddaughter. After a bit of talking about the trip, I was invited to their house for the evening. Incredible people! Those that were present are in the picture at the beginning of this post. The warmth and friendliness I felt was immense, and the outgoing nature of the family brought to mind home and my own families somewhat outgoing nature. We discussed everything from books to religion to dog intelligence to biking. A great experience! Of course, the long conversations will probably lead to a late start tomorrow, but with about 130 miles or so to go, I'm not overly concerned, and taking it easy on the quad is becoming a must.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Days 32 and 33 (And What Days They Were!)
Wow! It has been one interesting ride for the last two days. I'm writing from Twentynine Palms, CA (about 200 miles bicycle ride from my Malibu finish). I'm also writing from a hotel again - unfortunate to have to use so many, but my pace is finally starting to take its toll on me. Let's start with where I last was though: Kingman, AZ.
I had planned to take a side highway to get myself off of the interstate, and checking on google maps, gotten the impression it would be a good ride with low traffic. I was definitely right on the low traffic. Unfortunately, some kinds of patching make for a very shakey ride that does a number on a bikers rear. This road started out as one of those. I hadn't realized it, but it was also part of historic route 66. The traffic was light, and I found myself crossing a flat valley towards a set of mountains... uh oh... So much for flat. Sure enough, my check hadn't been as thorough as it could have been, and I found myself taking the scenic route ("sharp turns, steep grades") through the Black Mountains of Mohave county, AZ. Still, the mountains were more of large hills compared to some earlier ranges I had crossed, and the views were gorgeous at times. I also discovered that I was riding into mining country, with places like "Goldroad mine" and "Silver Creek" popping up, as well as at least one active gold mine - nifty! I knew I had a split to take at a place called Oatman, and figured I would be out of he mountains when I got there. Going around a turn though, I came across a view about like this:
Oatman is apparently a tourism town with a main feature consisting of wild burros who were abandoned by early prospectors. They now wander the streets at will and are protected by the US government. Lots of tourists! After a stop there, I headed out and things soon smoothed out, dropping me to the California border. Western rivers flow a lot more quickly than eastern ones, but also tend to look more like large creeks than what I think of as rivers, so my entrance to California was a bit anticlimactic ("hmmm, I wonder if that was a canal or the Colorado river I just crossed.. am I in Cali yet?")
From Needles, I had a cool evening ride through the desert to Vidal Junction, with a small range of hills, long views and flat, rocky ground being the main things of note, along with loose gravel on the road making for an exciting ride. Vidal Junction was the important site of the day - it represented the last place to get supplies for almost 100 miles of desert. There was supposed to be a restaurant and a gas station, but I discovered that the restaurant had gone out of business. I'd rolled in shortly after sunset, but things were still hopping, as there was both a truck inspection stop and a through-way to a major vacation lake destination.
My initial plan had been to camp out at Vidal Junction for the night, or maybe a bit after it, but with the restaurant gone and the gas station exemplifying the concept of price gouging people who can't buy stuff anywhere else (I hate price gouging), I decided to load up on fluids and push through the night, especially after hearing from a local worker that daytime temperatures were still hitting between 100 and 110, and nighttime temperatures sitting around 80. After putting about 2 gallons of fluids onto the bicycle, I was off. With it being Friday, all of the traffic was headed the opposite direction of myself, and I found that I only had to pull off for cars (I was being paranoid about being hit) once every mile or two, and even less often the later it got. I was also hoping my night ride would let me avoid the winds.
Around 11ish at night, I spotted a different kind of light than car headlights approaching me. AHA! Another bicyclist! Of all the meetings with bikers, I have to say that an 11:00 pm meeting in the dark on California 62 has been the strangest. The cyclist was great though! Her name was Kelly, and she had just started a few weeks ago on her little jaunt... of five years. Yup! She had saved up money, lived cheap and was off to tour the world on bicycle for five years (my crossing the US, in comparison is taking about 1/60 of the time she has allotted for her trip). She was headed to Flagstaff to meet up with a friend for the ride and I was just about the first fellow tourer that she had run across. I think we were both pretty pumped to run across a fellow traveler in such an odd place, and we spent a good 30 minutes or more, standing in the dark along the highway as cars whipped past chatting about our experiences on the road, thoughts, suggestions, advice and life. She even noted that if some other summer I wanted to join her for a bit as she wandered around, that might even be possible (for anybody that thinks I'm nuts for this trip, chew on hers for a bit!) You can follow her adventures over the next few years at http://uparoundthebend.wordpress.com/ Rejuvenated from our chat and in high spirits, I made good time for quite a ways. I was hoping to press through the night and then crash out at Twentynine palms, but that was awfully far.
After a few more miles, I stopped for a refuel break and to check my progress. The area was fairly flat, and I'd been approaching a set of three lights that had sat in place for quite a while which had turned out to be an RV that was up and running. I also saw a few parked semis by my headlight, as well as a railroad crossing and a few large shelters, which I assumed were for loading and unloading. I parked the bicycle under one of the shelters and got out the map, figuring I wouldn't bother anybody as I ate and drank. A few minutes later, a light was headed towards me though - uh oh. The guy who walked up was really friendly, despite my initially concern about bothering somebody. He told me that the bathrooms were open in one camper and that if I wanted he had food and drink in another one. I was confused and asked if I had stumbled upon an unknown store. Nope! I had apparently inadvertently stopped for a break on the site they were setting up to film "The Fast and the Furious 5". They had just started to put stuff in, and there was only the one night guard - Luis - who was the manager's son. I think he was happy for some company given how desolate the area was. So there I was, sitting on the filming location of a movie being offered food and drink - Cool! I was still full up on fluids and food, so I just chatted with Luis for a bit, then sat down to eat my meal before taking off again. Two odd encounters on one night though! Luis also told me that in the case of the high desert, night is when it gets windy, not day (oops!)
Finally, the sky started to lighten and I was feeling pretty tired. I threw out my tent and napped for an hour or two, hoping the headwind I'd been fighting would die down. No real luck with that, but I was a bit rejuvenated, and had about 60 miles to go till more supplies. I hit the road while it was still cool, but things turned into a slog from there, after I made a small mistake. Despite drinking plenty, I was having a tougher and tougher time making any headway, with each push of the pedal becoming a huge effort. I attributed it to the lack of sleep and was starting to get really worried about my attempt to make it to more supplies. Mind, I was in no real danger - there are emergency call boxes every few miles in the desert here, and although traffic was light, I could have waved somebody down for help within 10 or 20 minutes. Still, despite all my fluids I found myself worried about making it on them. Finally, I figured out what was wrong - my body was running on empty from lack of calories. Even with the fluids, I hadn't eaten enough, and when you run out of food in your system, wham - you're going nowhere.
While I had a fair bit of food with me, 60 miles worth was straining it, and I was worried over the combination of hunger, thirst and sleep deprivation. Still, I inched along, with each mile becoming a battle. The fact that I was approaching 200 miles with about 2 hours of sleep didn't help matters, and my body was starting to really complain about the stress on it. Finally, about 10 miles before I was expecting it - A CHEVRON SIGN!!! I could resupply there! Approaching, I experienced heartbreak as I found it was a chevron aviation resupply depot for the airport I was passing, with no convenience store. Needless to say, I was very glad that the last few miles were slightly downhill as I finally rolled into Twentynine palms completely done in. I'd considered pushing a bit outside of town and camping out, as well as shortening my remaining distance to a two day affair, but I was too far gone for that, and there are enough small issues cropping up that I'm having to become more and more careful about pushing my body.
So here I am! I've crossed the last major obstacle (I'm pretty sure I thought that before too and was wrong....) in my path. I have about 200 miles to go until I roll into Malibu, and I am tuckered out. Tonight, I motel again, resting and recovering before beginning the slow, final push to my finish! It's good to be back in civilization! And finally, one of my favorite pictures, and how I felt at the end of the trip today:
I had planned to take a side highway to get myself off of the interstate, and checking on google maps, gotten the impression it would be a good ride with low traffic. I was definitely right on the low traffic. Unfortunately, some kinds of patching make for a very shakey ride that does a number on a bikers rear. This road started out as one of those. I hadn't realized it, but it was also part of historic route 66. The traffic was light, and I found myself crossing a flat valley towards a set of mountains... uh oh... So much for flat. Sure enough, my check hadn't been as thorough as it could have been, and I found myself taking the scenic route ("sharp turns, steep grades") through the Black Mountains of Mohave county, AZ. Still, the mountains were more of large hills compared to some earlier ranges I had crossed, and the views were gorgeous at times. I also discovered that I was riding into mining country, with places like "Goldroad mine" and "Silver Creek" popping up, as well as at least one active gold mine - nifty! I knew I had a split to take at a place called Oatman, and figured I would be out of he mountains when I got there. Going around a turn though, I came across a view about like this:
Oatman is apparently a tourism town with a main feature consisting of wild burros who were abandoned by early prospectors. They now wander the streets at will and are protected by the US government. Lots of tourists! After a stop there, I headed out and things soon smoothed out, dropping me to the California border. Western rivers flow a lot more quickly than eastern ones, but also tend to look more like large creeks than what I think of as rivers, so my entrance to California was a bit anticlimactic ("hmmm, I wonder if that was a canal or the Colorado river I just crossed.. am I in Cali yet?")
From Needles, I had a cool evening ride through the desert to Vidal Junction, with a small range of hills, long views and flat, rocky ground being the main things of note, along with loose gravel on the road making for an exciting ride. Vidal Junction was the important site of the day - it represented the last place to get supplies for almost 100 miles of desert. There was supposed to be a restaurant and a gas station, but I discovered that the restaurant had gone out of business. I'd rolled in shortly after sunset, but things were still hopping, as there was both a truck inspection stop and a through-way to a major vacation lake destination.
My initial plan had been to camp out at Vidal Junction for the night, or maybe a bit after it, but with the restaurant gone and the gas station exemplifying the concept of price gouging people who can't buy stuff anywhere else (I hate price gouging), I decided to load up on fluids and push through the night, especially after hearing from a local worker that daytime temperatures were still hitting between 100 and 110, and nighttime temperatures sitting around 80. After putting about 2 gallons of fluids onto the bicycle, I was off. With it being Friday, all of the traffic was headed the opposite direction of myself, and I found that I only had to pull off for cars (I was being paranoid about being hit) once every mile or two, and even less often the later it got. I was also hoping my night ride would let me avoid the winds.
Around 11ish at night, I spotted a different kind of light than car headlights approaching me. AHA! Another bicyclist! Of all the meetings with bikers, I have to say that an 11:00 pm meeting in the dark on California 62 has been the strangest. The cyclist was great though! Her name was Kelly, and she had just started a few weeks ago on her little jaunt... of five years. Yup! She had saved up money, lived cheap and was off to tour the world on bicycle for five years (my crossing the US, in comparison is taking about 1/60 of the time she has allotted for her trip). She was headed to Flagstaff to meet up with a friend for the ride and I was just about the first fellow tourer that she had run across. I think we were both pretty pumped to run across a fellow traveler in such an odd place, and we spent a good 30 minutes or more, standing in the dark along the highway as cars whipped past chatting about our experiences on the road, thoughts, suggestions, advice and life. She even noted that if some other summer I wanted to join her for a bit as she wandered around, that might even be possible (for anybody that thinks I'm nuts for this trip, chew on hers for a bit!) You can follow her adventures over the next few years at http://uparoundthebend.wordpress.com/ Rejuvenated from our chat and in high spirits, I made good time for quite a ways. I was hoping to press through the night and then crash out at Twentynine palms, but that was awfully far.
After a few more miles, I stopped for a refuel break and to check my progress. The area was fairly flat, and I'd been approaching a set of three lights that had sat in place for quite a while which had turned out to be an RV that was up and running. I also saw a few parked semis by my headlight, as well as a railroad crossing and a few large shelters, which I assumed were for loading and unloading. I parked the bicycle under one of the shelters and got out the map, figuring I wouldn't bother anybody as I ate and drank. A few minutes later, a light was headed towards me though - uh oh. The guy who walked up was really friendly, despite my initially concern about bothering somebody. He told me that the bathrooms were open in one camper and that if I wanted he had food and drink in another one. I was confused and asked if I had stumbled upon an unknown store. Nope! I had apparently inadvertently stopped for a break on the site they were setting up to film "The Fast and the Furious 5". They had just started to put stuff in, and there was only the one night guard - Luis - who was the manager's son. I think he was happy for some company given how desolate the area was. So there I was, sitting on the filming location of a movie being offered food and drink - Cool! I was still full up on fluids and food, so I just chatted with Luis for a bit, then sat down to eat my meal before taking off again. Two odd encounters on one night though! Luis also told me that in the case of the high desert, night is when it gets windy, not day (oops!)
Finally, the sky started to lighten and I was feeling pretty tired. I threw out my tent and napped for an hour or two, hoping the headwind I'd been fighting would die down. No real luck with that, but I was a bit rejuvenated, and had about 60 miles to go till more supplies. I hit the road while it was still cool, but things turned into a slog from there, after I made a small mistake. Despite drinking plenty, I was having a tougher and tougher time making any headway, with each push of the pedal becoming a huge effort. I attributed it to the lack of sleep and was starting to get really worried about my attempt to make it to more supplies. Mind, I was in no real danger - there are emergency call boxes every few miles in the desert here, and although traffic was light, I could have waved somebody down for help within 10 or 20 minutes. Still, despite all my fluids I found myself worried about making it on them. Finally, I figured out what was wrong - my body was running on empty from lack of calories. Even with the fluids, I hadn't eaten enough, and when you run out of food in your system, wham - you're going nowhere.
While I had a fair bit of food with me, 60 miles worth was straining it, and I was worried over the combination of hunger, thirst and sleep deprivation. Still, I inched along, with each mile becoming a battle. The fact that I was approaching 200 miles with about 2 hours of sleep didn't help matters, and my body was starting to really complain about the stress on it. Finally, about 10 miles before I was expecting it - A CHEVRON SIGN!!! I could resupply there! Approaching, I experienced heartbreak as I found it was a chevron aviation resupply depot for the airport I was passing, with no convenience store. Needless to say, I was very glad that the last few miles were slightly downhill as I finally rolled into Twentynine palms completely done in. I'd considered pushing a bit outside of town and camping out, as well as shortening my remaining distance to a two day affair, but I was too far gone for that, and there are enough small issues cropping up that I'm having to become more and more careful about pushing my body.
So here I am! I've crossed the last major obstacle (I'm pretty sure I thought that before too and was wrong....) in my path. I have about 200 miles to go until I roll into Malibu, and I am tuckered out. Tonight, I motel again, resting and recovering before beginning the slow, final push to my finish! It's good to be back in civilization! And finally, one of my favorite pictures, and how I felt at the end of the trip today:
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Day 31!
One month and one day on the road!
With the wind and the late start, I didn't make much distance yesterday - probably no more than 55 miles. Fortunately, there are still plenty of juniper-type plants around, so I pulled off on a road in the middle of nowhere, dropped down the side of the road a bit, and set up camp between a set of three junipers. After a decent night of sleep (some critter wandered under the plants exploring once or twice, but I never got a look at it), I woke up to find my front tire flat. Sure enough, a fast check found a bit of tire wire debris sticking out of it. I pumped it up to see if the leak was slow enough to let me keep rolling on it, and things looked good (I was hoping to hold off on putting in a new tire until I got off of the interstate and into less tire-dangerous territory). After a few miles, I stopped to pump up the tire again, put on the pump, and promptly managed to tear the end of the presta valve completely off. Oops! With great care, in went a new tube - I was a bit worried since I still had a lot of distance to go on the interstate, and only 50 miles had given me a flat, but the tires have held up so far, with one more bit of wire getting stuck in the tire, but not penetrating to the tube. Grabbing breakfast at Seligman, I also loaded up on fluids (over 50 miles till the next shop) and was off for the long part of the day.
Today was supposed to be windy, but my good fortune with the weather held up, with it never getting too bad, and occasionally even turning enough to give me a bit of help, although along with it came plenty of dust. Cacti continued to increase, and I found myself generally passing through rolling hills and attractive country. While 50 miles isn't too far by car, at my rate on a bicycle, I figured I had about six hours of exercise where there would be no fluid resupply (unless I got desperate and went to a home or waved down a car to ask for help). I probably overdo the fluids I carry, but better safe than sorry! Despite the rolling hills, I still was losing elevation overall, and also had cooler weather in the morning, so I made good time, rolling into a truck stop (the first new resupply place) with about half my total fluids supply left.
The truck stop was a combined store, gas station, restaurant, and movie theater (yup, an actual mini-theater). I love these spots because they provide shower facilities for truckers, and an automated voice is always announcing that driver number XYZ's shower is now available - number AB... The restaurant had a lunch buffet going, and so I sat down to better food than I'd been eating recently - fruit, rice, potatoes, baked chicken. Biking all day will do great things for your appetite too! The truckers are fun, friendly people too. While I didn't chat with any of them as I sat eating, I enjoyed the conversations going on around me.
After eating and restocking supplies on the bicycle, I was about to leave when a guynamed Randy started talking to me. Randy and his wife had apparently just finished up a 6000 mile motorcycle tour, so he was a local to the area. He gave me suggestions on camping and told me about the road ahead. After chatting a bit, I was off. The truck stop I was at was still about 10 miles outside of Kingman, and I had hoped to take I-40 through it and a bit further on before camping out for the night. That plan had to change as the wind finally hit with a vengeance. It was still mainly blowing out of the south, with myself heading west, but even with the wide interstate median, I was getting blown around a lot, having to lean heavily to the side so as not to be blown over. I was also constantly worrying about hitting gravel and skidding out off the road. Finally, I managed to get to the first Kingman exit and started down to the local McDonalds to check the weather.
As I hit the exit ramp, there was a sign advertising a motel at only 35 dollars - a tie for the best rate I'd used yet, and tempting despite only one day of camping, given how dirty this weather has tended to make me. The McDonalds internet failed me, but a call home to give an update gave the parents a chance to give me a heads up - gusts in my area reaching 50 mph out of the south. Riding getting hit from the side by gusts of that speed would not be fun or safe. Also, right after Kingman, the road turns south, so I'd be fighting a very strong headwind. Tomorrow was supposed to be calmer, so I've decided to hotel for the night, given that I did almost 100 miles today. I normally check for the best priced hotel in town, but I had had no internet at the restaurant. This time, luck was really with me, and as I headed across the street to the first hotel, noticed another one advertising for only 30 dollars! Huzzah for the off season!!!
Having a hotel with electricity and internet has also let me keep working on my route, now that I've changed it again. The interstate median has been rough at times, as well as leaving me worrying about debris, so I was hoping to get off of it. Also, by my last plan, I was going to have to backtrack east alongside a river before crossing into California. With free time to spare, I've made what I hope are some better changes.
Tomorrow, I'll head west on a county route into Mohave Valley, then drop into California (YAY!) at Needles (BOO! - The only police officer I've ever met who was a jerk to me was from Needles so I was hoping to avoid it on general principle), then get on US 95 and head south to meet up with California 62, then to assorted roads taking me north of LA, and finally dropping into Malibu. Almost exactly 400 miles to go! Once again, depending on the shoulder conditions this could change, but that's the current plan (plan 3 or 4, I believe) A cooler front is supposed to move into the area starting tomorrow as well, so things might even stay under 100 for most of the time. Excellent! I expect that I may end up doing some night riding as this route will take me into the Mojave desert tomorrow, then promptly have me heading south through the Sonoran Desert - one of the hottest in North America!
With the wind and the late start, I didn't make much distance yesterday - probably no more than 55 miles. Fortunately, there are still plenty of juniper-type plants around, so I pulled off on a road in the middle of nowhere, dropped down the side of the road a bit, and set up camp between a set of three junipers. After a decent night of sleep (some critter wandered under the plants exploring once or twice, but I never got a look at it), I woke up to find my front tire flat. Sure enough, a fast check found a bit of tire wire debris sticking out of it. I pumped it up to see if the leak was slow enough to let me keep rolling on it, and things looked good (I was hoping to hold off on putting in a new tire until I got off of the interstate and into less tire-dangerous territory). After a few miles, I stopped to pump up the tire again, put on the pump, and promptly managed to tear the end of the presta valve completely off. Oops! With great care, in went a new tube - I was a bit worried since I still had a lot of distance to go on the interstate, and only 50 miles had given me a flat, but the tires have held up so far, with one more bit of wire getting stuck in the tire, but not penetrating to the tube. Grabbing breakfast at Seligman, I also loaded up on fluids (over 50 miles till the next shop) and was off for the long part of the day.
Today was supposed to be windy, but my good fortune with the weather held up, with it never getting too bad, and occasionally even turning enough to give me a bit of help, although along with it came plenty of dust. Cacti continued to increase, and I found myself generally passing through rolling hills and attractive country. While 50 miles isn't too far by car, at my rate on a bicycle, I figured I had about six hours of exercise where there would be no fluid resupply (unless I got desperate and went to a home or waved down a car to ask for help). I probably overdo the fluids I carry, but better safe than sorry! Despite the rolling hills, I still was losing elevation overall, and also had cooler weather in the morning, so I made good time, rolling into a truck stop (the first new resupply place) with about half my total fluids supply left.
The truck stop was a combined store, gas station, restaurant, and movie theater (yup, an actual mini-theater). I love these spots because they provide shower facilities for truckers, and an automated voice is always announcing that driver number XYZ's shower is now available - number AB... The restaurant had a lunch buffet going, and so I sat down to better food than I'd been eating recently - fruit, rice, potatoes, baked chicken. Biking all day will do great things for your appetite too! The truckers are fun, friendly people too. While I didn't chat with any of them as I sat eating, I enjoyed the conversations going on around me.
After eating and restocking supplies on the bicycle, I was about to leave when a guynamed Randy started talking to me. Randy and his wife had apparently just finished up a 6000 mile motorcycle tour, so he was a local to the area. He gave me suggestions on camping and told me about the road ahead. After chatting a bit, I was off. The truck stop I was at was still about 10 miles outside of Kingman, and I had hoped to take I-40 through it and a bit further on before camping out for the night. That plan had to change as the wind finally hit with a vengeance. It was still mainly blowing out of the south, with myself heading west, but even with the wide interstate median, I was getting blown around a lot, having to lean heavily to the side so as not to be blown over. I was also constantly worrying about hitting gravel and skidding out off the road. Finally, I managed to get to the first Kingman exit and started down to the local McDonalds to check the weather.
As I hit the exit ramp, there was a sign advertising a motel at only 35 dollars - a tie for the best rate I'd used yet, and tempting despite only one day of camping, given how dirty this weather has tended to make me. The McDonalds internet failed me, but a call home to give an update gave the parents a chance to give me a heads up - gusts in my area reaching 50 mph out of the south. Riding getting hit from the side by gusts of that speed would not be fun or safe. Also, right after Kingman, the road turns south, so I'd be fighting a very strong headwind. Tomorrow was supposed to be calmer, so I've decided to hotel for the night, given that I did almost 100 miles today. I normally check for the best priced hotel in town, but I had had no internet at the restaurant. This time, luck was really with me, and as I headed across the street to the first hotel, noticed another one advertising for only 30 dollars! Huzzah for the off season!!!
Having a hotel with electricity and internet has also let me keep working on my route, now that I've changed it again. The interstate median has been rough at times, as well as leaving me worrying about debris, so I was hoping to get off of it. Also, by my last plan, I was going to have to backtrack east alongside a river before crossing into California. With free time to spare, I've made what I hope are some better changes.
Tomorrow, I'll head west on a county route into Mohave Valley, then drop into California (YAY!) at Needles (BOO! - The only police officer I've ever met who was a jerk to me was from Needles so I was hoping to avoid it on general principle), then get on US 95 and head south to meet up with California 62, then to assorted roads taking me north of LA, and finally dropping into Malibu. Almost exactly 400 miles to go! Once again, depending on the shoulder conditions this could change, but that's the current plan (plan 3 or 4, I believe) A cooler front is supposed to move into the area starting tomorrow as well, so things might even stay under 100 for most of the time. Excellent! I expect that I may end up doing some night riding as this route will take me into the Mojave desert tomorrow, then promptly have me heading south through the Sonoran Desert - one of the hottest in North America!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Starting Day 30 Out Right
Waking up this morning, I found that my front tube had picked up a slow leak, getting fairly low over the night. Fortunately, I was near a bike shop and headed in that direction.
It seems that most bicycle shops don't open till later in the morning, so I found myself with an hour or so to wait. That left time to get breakfast - something I found at a local cafe where I could use the internet and keep up on world events. At the bicycle shop, all the workers were the younger guys. I tend to find the "greybeards" to be my favorites at bicycle shops, probably because they are the ones who tend to be more into the bicycle touring and have a more similar outlook to me compared to the younger workers who are into the "exciting" aspects of biking. Regardless, the guy who ended up helping me had done a bit of touring and was quite friendly.
Given my luck of late, I decided it was time for a pretty thorough overhaul of the bike. I was out of un-holed tubes at this point as well, so resupply was a must. I had been saving all of my tubes with small holes, both as backups and to use for short trips when they wouldn't be as big of a deal. Finally, I gave up on that idea and decided to toss the old tubes (fortunately, they aren't that expensive) to clean up and reduce weight. Also, I had at least one decent sized tear in my front tire - the one I've had since the trip began - and general wear on the cheap rear tire that had been my only replacement in Kansas. Flagstaff seems big on bicycling, and this shop was well stocked, so I went ahead and had them replace both tires with decent quality, fresh tires under a policy of not wanting to push my luck in the middle of the Arizona or California desert.
I also checked on the road ahead (I was planning to follow Arizona 89 alternate). Daniel (the 5 months and still going biker) had given me his biking map of Arizona which notes steep inclines and color codes the maps for shoulder width of over 4 feet, under 4 feet, and for rumble strips on the shoulder. Most of AZ 89A had the under 4 feet note and the google map street views I'd checked on it looked bad. The bicycle shop workers noted that it was a pretty ride, but there was basically no shoulder along it. This has led me to change my route again.
I've found that side trips by bicycle can be exhausting, with a small "10 miles" off leading to 10 miles back as well, along with the hills in between. While seeing new things by bicycle is great, a lot of the tourism destinations are probably best visited by car, and no matter what road I'm on, I appreciate the scenery by bicycle. This trip has been great for encouraging me to come back with a car to hit some of the locations I only really noticed because I was moving more slowly than I would in a car. Keeping all of that in mind, I decided that I'll be taking I-40 most of the way to the California border before dropping down to Parker to get onto California 62. Bicycling on the Interstate is legal in Arizona, and I'll have large shoulders, although watching for debris will be more important. Still, I'd rather have a slightly less scenic, but far safer trip than vice versa. The interstate will also help me avoid the really steep rises and drops that can be draining, and I'll add very little distance in the end. Finally, food and communication will be improved by staying near the interstate, where Sprint cell phones normally get their access. If I end up disliking it, I can always drop to a side road, but for now, I'll be interstating it. Since I have an electric plug and am taking it easy today, I'll also throw in a few random pictures from the trip.
Photo of Chimney Rock (not the more famous one in Nebraska - the less famous one in Colorado)
My bicycle straddling the Continental divide line (brass metal strip you can see on the ground) at the top of Wolf Creek Pass. That's snow in the background you can see.
Saw this critter with some pups in Kansas. Coyote? I'm not sure and haven't done any searches to find out yet.
And on the other side from the critter above, several antelope with a baby.
Sign in the tiny town of Granda. A few names are fairly famous.
Original wagon ruts from the Santa Fe Trail. The dog on the right is apparently part of a breed of dogs that are left with the sheep as pups so they will "think of themselves as sheep". I was amused to learn that bit of trivia.
It seems that most bicycle shops don't open till later in the morning, so I found myself with an hour or so to wait. That left time to get breakfast - something I found at a local cafe where I could use the internet and keep up on world events. At the bicycle shop, all the workers were the younger guys. I tend to find the "greybeards" to be my favorites at bicycle shops, probably because they are the ones who tend to be more into the bicycle touring and have a more similar outlook to me compared to the younger workers who are into the "exciting" aspects of biking. Regardless, the guy who ended up helping me had done a bit of touring and was quite friendly.
Given my luck of late, I decided it was time for a pretty thorough overhaul of the bike. I was out of un-holed tubes at this point as well, so resupply was a must. I had been saving all of my tubes with small holes, both as backups and to use for short trips when they wouldn't be as big of a deal. Finally, I gave up on that idea and decided to toss the old tubes (fortunately, they aren't that expensive) to clean up and reduce weight. Also, I had at least one decent sized tear in my front tire - the one I've had since the trip began - and general wear on the cheap rear tire that had been my only replacement in Kansas. Flagstaff seems big on bicycling, and this shop was well stocked, so I went ahead and had them replace both tires with decent quality, fresh tires under a policy of not wanting to push my luck in the middle of the Arizona or California desert.
I also checked on the road ahead (I was planning to follow Arizona 89 alternate). Daniel (the 5 months and still going biker) had given me his biking map of Arizona which notes steep inclines and color codes the maps for shoulder width of over 4 feet, under 4 feet, and for rumble strips on the shoulder. Most of AZ 89A had the under 4 feet note and the google map street views I'd checked on it looked bad. The bicycle shop workers noted that it was a pretty ride, but there was basically no shoulder along it. This has led me to change my route again.
I've found that side trips by bicycle can be exhausting, with a small "10 miles" off leading to 10 miles back as well, along with the hills in between. While seeing new things by bicycle is great, a lot of the tourism destinations are probably best visited by car, and no matter what road I'm on, I appreciate the scenery by bicycle. This trip has been great for encouraging me to come back with a car to hit some of the locations I only really noticed because I was moving more slowly than I would in a car. Keeping all of that in mind, I decided that I'll be taking I-40 most of the way to the California border before dropping down to Parker to get onto California 62. Bicycling on the Interstate is legal in Arizona, and I'll have large shoulders, although watching for debris will be more important. Still, I'd rather have a slightly less scenic, but far safer trip than vice versa. The interstate will also help me avoid the really steep rises and drops that can be draining, and I'll add very little distance in the end. Finally, food and communication will be improved by staying near the interstate, where Sprint cell phones normally get their access. If I end up disliking it, I can always drop to a side road, but for now, I'll be interstating it. Since I have an electric plug and am taking it easy today, I'll also throw in a few random pictures from the trip.
Photo of Chimney Rock (not the more famous one in Nebraska - the less famous one in Colorado)
My bicycle straddling the Continental divide line (brass metal strip you can see on the ground) at the top of Wolf Creek Pass. That's snow in the background you can see.
Saw this critter with some pups in Kansas. Coyote? I'm not sure and haven't done any searches to find out yet.
And on the other side from the critter above, several antelope with a baby.
Sign in the tiny town of Granda. A few names are fairly famous.
Original wagon ruts from the Santa Fe Trail. The dog on the right is apparently part of a breed of dogs that are left with the sheep as pups so they will "think of themselves as sheep". I was amused to learn that bit of trivia.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Day 28 and Day 29
I ended up taking advantage of the decreased wind that accompanies nightfall in the area of Arizona I was in to push onwards as darkness fell. My goal became to reach Flagstaff, AZ sometime in the morning of Day 29, where I could then take it easy.
The plan started out well, with the wind beginning to drop off as evening fell, and my zipping along at a decent pace. As darkness set in, I saw yet another great shooting star, and with so little light pollution, I could easily make out the Milky Way in the sky. They desert also smelled wonderful as traffic dropped to nothing - a flowery, dry sandy smell I can't easily describe.
The first sign of trouble hit when I stopped at one of the sparse gas stations to refuel my body - just as I was pulling in, my controls started to feel funny. Sure enough, it looked like what amounted to a staple had broken through my back tire and I was sinking to a flat. As I've noted before, I'm not that good with switching flats, so I grimly got ready for the task, first getting a large fountain drink and an egg roll from the gas station to nibble on as I worked. About the time I managed to make some decent progress getting to old tire tube out, I hear a snuffling and look up to see another of the strayish "Res-dogs" as a guy I'd met called them looking at me.
Then I noticed that my yet "untouched" egg roll seemed to be missing. Grrrrr. The dog sure stayed friendly for the next half hour or so though while I fixed up the bicycle, bought a second egg roll which I immediately ate, and reloaded the bike. The dog eventually wandered off as no more food became readily available. Humph!
Sure enough, with my bicycle luck, I made it about 3 miles down the road before something tore (I know I need to work on careful seating, and have been improving with time, but it's a slowish learning curve with me, I guess..) A patch held up for a few miles before giving way, then another patch, and so on and so forth, putting me behind my hoped for schedule.
That led to my most exciting time, at about 1 in the morning. Every time I have a flat, I have to unload the bicycle, get out the gear, remove the tire, etc. etc. Needless to say, it's a fairly involved process. So there I was, close to the Grand Canyon area with almost nothing around and few vehicles passing by, and I start to get barks, yaps and howls first from one side, then another. I know that most animals will leave humans alone, but "most of the time" is not something I like to bet on, and I was feeling pretty vulnerable with my bicycle in pieces and with a lot of excited yipping an barking going on. Finally, when that patch gave way almost immediately, I walked the bicycle, flat and all a ways down the road to a roadside stall. I have no idea if it is normally used for anything during the day anymore, or is just abandoned, but it had walls and a decent roof that looked strong. Working in there made me feel more comfortable and safer, knowing that if I ended up with an angry pack of wild dogs outside by chance, I could climb onto the roof until I could wave down a car.
Sunlight finally came, but with no sleep, it was like moving through a surreal world. At the same time, I finally managed to get a patched tube to hold up well. At this point, I was about 50 miles from Flagstaff (the nearest bicycle shops) and had already decided that if nothing else worked, I'd take the time to walk the bicycle, flat and all, into town so I could still do the entire trip on my own power. Fortunately, I didn't come to that, and I managed to pull off the loooong climb into Flagstaff on my last bit of energy, coming in at around 2:00 local time - a bit late for a real recovery day, but not bad for covering 190 miles since I last slept. I"ve napped since then, getting set up in a hotel for the night and washing off the grit of the road (Arizona has a lot of blowing dust that sticks to your sunscreen and promptly layers you in dirt). Now it's off for dinner.
Tomorrow, I'll hit one of the many local bicycle shops to get checked out and re-up my spares (as well as discussing my tire changing issues), get a good breakfast, then head onwards to the last few days of the trip. As for night riding, I'll try to avoid it as it tends to turn me into a zombie afterwards, but having seeing all of the local wind generators, I might have to just go for whenever the weather lets me leave!
The plan started out well, with the wind beginning to drop off as evening fell, and my zipping along at a decent pace. As darkness set in, I saw yet another great shooting star, and with so little light pollution, I could easily make out the Milky Way in the sky. They desert also smelled wonderful as traffic dropped to nothing - a flowery, dry sandy smell I can't easily describe.
The first sign of trouble hit when I stopped at one of the sparse gas stations to refuel my body - just as I was pulling in, my controls started to feel funny. Sure enough, it looked like what amounted to a staple had broken through my back tire and I was sinking to a flat. As I've noted before, I'm not that good with switching flats, so I grimly got ready for the task, first getting a large fountain drink and an egg roll from the gas station to nibble on as I worked. About the time I managed to make some decent progress getting to old tire tube out, I hear a snuffling and look up to see another of the strayish "Res-dogs" as a guy I'd met called them looking at me.
Then I noticed that my yet "untouched" egg roll seemed to be missing. Grrrrr. The dog sure stayed friendly for the next half hour or so though while I fixed up the bicycle, bought a second egg roll which I immediately ate, and reloaded the bike. The dog eventually wandered off as no more food became readily available. Humph!
Sure enough, with my bicycle luck, I made it about 3 miles down the road before something tore (I know I need to work on careful seating, and have been improving with time, but it's a slowish learning curve with me, I guess..) A patch held up for a few miles before giving way, then another patch, and so on and so forth, putting me behind my hoped for schedule.
That led to my most exciting time, at about 1 in the morning. Every time I have a flat, I have to unload the bicycle, get out the gear, remove the tire, etc. etc. Needless to say, it's a fairly involved process. So there I was, close to the Grand Canyon area with almost nothing around and few vehicles passing by, and I start to get barks, yaps and howls first from one side, then another. I know that most animals will leave humans alone, but "most of the time" is not something I like to bet on, and I was feeling pretty vulnerable with my bicycle in pieces and with a lot of excited yipping an barking going on. Finally, when that patch gave way almost immediately, I walked the bicycle, flat and all a ways down the road to a roadside stall. I have no idea if it is normally used for anything during the day anymore, or is just abandoned, but it had walls and a decent roof that looked strong. Working in there made me feel more comfortable and safer, knowing that if I ended up with an angry pack of wild dogs outside by chance, I could climb onto the roof until I could wave down a car.
Sunlight finally came, but with no sleep, it was like moving through a surreal world. At the same time, I finally managed to get a patched tube to hold up well. At this point, I was about 50 miles from Flagstaff (the nearest bicycle shops) and had already decided that if nothing else worked, I'd take the time to walk the bicycle, flat and all, into town so I could still do the entire trip on my own power. Fortunately, I didn't come to that, and I managed to pull off the loooong climb into Flagstaff on my last bit of energy, coming in at around 2:00 local time - a bit late for a real recovery day, but not bad for covering 190 miles since I last slept. I"ve napped since then, getting set up in a hotel for the night and washing off the grit of the road (Arizona has a lot of blowing dust that sticks to your sunscreen and promptly layers you in dirt). Now it's off for dinner.
Tomorrow, I'll hit one of the many local bicycle shops to get checked out and re-up my spares (as well as discussing my tire changing issues), get a good breakfast, then head onwards to the last few days of the trip. As for night riding, I'll try to avoid it as it tends to turn me into a zombie afterwards, but having seeing all of the local wind generators, I might have to just go for whenever the weather lets me leave!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Day 27 - It's HOT (Also, Day 28 Start)
What better time for record setting heat for this time of year in the desert than when I'm bicycling through it. I heard 103 being bounced around around 4:00 today. But I regress...
Waking up this morning, I got a late start, enjoying having a bed and shower for what will probably be the last time in a few days. Checking out, the same lady that I ran across last evening was there and we had another good 30 minutes of stories and conversation shared. I headed over to the diner that was just two buildings down and had a tasty Sunday brunch buffet, then finally took off down the road.
The weather was great and I made nice headway - a given on days I get good breakfast. Fairly soon, I was passing through the Ute reservation coming up on Four Corners. I'd been warned that it was under construction/renovation, and sure enough, I wasn't able to actually get to the corners, being blocked about 20 meters away. Ahhh well, at least I saw it.
Soon after that, the heat really set in for the day. The amount of liquids I drank today was massive, and was truly amazing. Fortunately, all of the scattered towns have had trading posts or gas stations, so I managed to keep my fluid supply high. Progress was a bit slower than I had hoped as I plugged along. I'm in the tiny little outpost of Mexican Water now - not much more than a gas station/shop and a restaurant. Kim - the guy running the shop told me a bunch of bikers go this way and that I can camp out behind the place, as well as giving me a heads up about free wifi that is available here. He's a great guy! We've been chatting about politics and his life (he grew up in Utah and ended up coming out here to help a friend rebuild a sheep herd)
Even with a bit of light left, I'll probably relax here and at least get a nap in. Tomorrow is supposed to have more record-breaking heat, so I'm aiming to get an early start - perhaps even before the sun rises - to get in as much mileage as I can. I'm 190 miles from Flagstaff at this point, and would love to make it in two days. With an inexpensive hotel mapped out, I figure I might be ready for another shower by then. Arizona is also my second to last state. After this, all I have left is California. Amazing...
Well, I didn't get to post yet because blogger is having issues. While I was sitting outside, another local came up. He turned out to be a police officer for the Navajo Nation. He, Kim and I sat around and I got to learn a lot about local politics and how the Native American nations work. To get local perspectives was absolutely wonderful. We talked about the divide between the youth and adults in how they viewed tribal life (interesting parallels with West Virginia politics in some ways), what kind of crime they face and the financial limitations, as well as customs, respect and tourists that pass through.
An education I could get nowhere else.. Wonderful!
Posting was still down, so I've added a little more. I started out the morning after breakfast at the restaurant in Mexican Water and made good time in cooler weather for the first 20 miles or so. Soon though, the winds started up again, holding me back a bit. Also, I ran into "blowing dust" signs, and areas with wind pushing grit across the road. Not the most pleasant of riding conditions. Finally, I got into Kayenta. Stopping at the McDonald's to try to update again, I saw a loaded bicycle outside. A quick check inside found me the other biker. His name is David and he's been on the road for the last 5 months after quitting his job to do this. He started in Chicago (where he's from) and has gone across the north, down the coast, and is now headed home through the more southerly of directions. We chatted and shared route information for an hour or two as the worst head of the day occurred. He just got back from Monument Valley, a side trip he'd done. Great guy with a lot of fun stories to share. I may run through the night to hit Flagstaff tomorrow night. We'll see what the weather and my body is saying.
Waking up this morning, I got a late start, enjoying having a bed and shower for what will probably be the last time in a few days. Checking out, the same lady that I ran across last evening was there and we had another good 30 minutes of stories and conversation shared. I headed over to the diner that was just two buildings down and had a tasty Sunday brunch buffet, then finally took off down the road.
The weather was great and I made nice headway - a given on days I get good breakfast. Fairly soon, I was passing through the Ute reservation coming up on Four Corners. I'd been warned that it was under construction/renovation, and sure enough, I wasn't able to actually get to the corners, being blocked about 20 meters away. Ahhh well, at least I saw it.
Soon after that, the heat really set in for the day. The amount of liquids I drank today was massive, and was truly amazing. Fortunately, all of the scattered towns have had trading posts or gas stations, so I managed to keep my fluid supply high. Progress was a bit slower than I had hoped as I plugged along. I'm in the tiny little outpost of Mexican Water now - not much more than a gas station/shop and a restaurant. Kim - the guy running the shop told me a bunch of bikers go this way and that I can camp out behind the place, as well as giving me a heads up about free wifi that is available here. He's a great guy! We've been chatting about politics and his life (he grew up in Utah and ended up coming out here to help a friend rebuild a sheep herd)
Even with a bit of light left, I'll probably relax here and at least get a nap in. Tomorrow is supposed to have more record-breaking heat, so I'm aiming to get an early start - perhaps even before the sun rises - to get in as much mileage as I can. I'm 190 miles from Flagstaff at this point, and would love to make it in two days. With an inexpensive hotel mapped out, I figure I might be ready for another shower by then. Arizona is also my second to last state. After this, all I have left is California. Amazing...
Well, I didn't get to post yet because blogger is having issues. While I was sitting outside, another local came up. He turned out to be a police officer for the Navajo Nation. He, Kim and I sat around and I got to learn a lot about local politics and how the Native American nations work. To get local perspectives was absolutely wonderful. We talked about the divide between the youth and adults in how they viewed tribal life (interesting parallels with West Virginia politics in some ways), what kind of crime they face and the financial limitations, as well as customs, respect and tourists that pass through.
An education I could get nowhere else.. Wonderful!
Posting was still down, so I've added a little more. I started out the morning after breakfast at the restaurant in Mexican Water and made good time in cooler weather for the first 20 miles or so. Soon though, the winds started up again, holding me back a bit. Also, I ran into "blowing dust" signs, and areas with wind pushing grit across the road. Not the most pleasant of riding conditions. Finally, I got into Kayenta. Stopping at the McDonald's to try to update again, I saw a loaded bicycle outside. A quick check inside found me the other biker. His name is David and he's been on the road for the last 5 months after quitting his job to do this. He started in Chicago (where he's from) and has gone across the north, down the coast, and is now headed home through the more southerly of directions. We chatted and shared route information for an hour or two as the worst head of the day occurred. He just got back from Monument Valley, a side trip he'd done. Great guy with a lot of fun stories to share. I may run through the night to hit Flagstaff tomorrow night. We'll see what the weather and my body is saying.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
End of Day 25 and Day 26
And what a great ending it has been! I ended up fighting headwinds as I made my way towards Durango, getting into Bayfield with only about an hour of light left. I figured I'd get a bit outside of town and throw up camp, giving myself a longer ride on my "recovery day" tomorrow than I had anticipated, but still not bad. Just as I was leaving town, a biker rode up behind me and started chatting. She was a local and (given my reputable look) offered me a shower and bed for the night. Huzzah!
Cindy (my host) first needed to pick up her dog, and I followed her to the local ranger office - A park ranger! Her dog is great - a 2 year old girl named Nelly/Nellie and an incredibly calm, friendly dog. I haven't heard her bark once, she followed Cindy home as she bicycled along, ignoring other dogs and following verbal commands to keep her safe. Once home, she followed me around and is actually sitting next to me, gnawing on a chew toy while completely relaxed.
Cindy and I had a great time discussing how she got to being a ranger as well as her experiences in the service (from trail crew to fire crew to dealing with land exchanges and rights of way), while I shared stories about my trip thus far. She has mainly done backpacking with a bit of bicycling thrown in, and had some exciting stories from her travels. She's also hit a lot of the different parks and forests around the nation, from Florida to the Appalachians to all throughout the West. A great lifestyle to have!
Tomorrow will probably still be an easy day, as it will give my body more time to recover before hitting the desert. Weather has been good but I've gathered that I should expect light headwinds for most of the rest of the trip, which will slow me a bit. Cindy and her dog, Nelly/Nellie(?)
And it is now the end of Day 26. After a good night's sleep I woke up before Cindy left for work, and she made me up a combination breakfast that she often eats - a mixture of oatmeal, cereal, raisins, fruit and yogurt with cinnamon and almond milk - Delicious! She also gave me some of the best description of the road ahead that I've had for the whole trip. Soon, I was off again on the road.
From Bayfield, it is about 18 miles into Durango - miles which flew by after a good night's sleep and one of the better breakfasts of the trip. After Durango, the day got a bit harder. I had been warned of the five mile long hill after the town, and although it wasn't that bad, especially after the passes, I also found myself battling a headwind that stayed with me for most of the rest of the day. Pedaling a loaded bicycle uphill into a headwind is an experience I most connect with what I imagine running in molasses would be like...
Despite the wind, today gave me some great views as I moved along, passing the entrance to Mesa Verde and skirting some federal parkland. In many ways, I feel as though I skipped out on the mountains - I had my first major pass (Norte La Veta), then almost immediately was on the flat San Luis Valley for the day, hit the second pass (Wolf Creek) and then got fairly flat again. Today finally some a bit more of the up and down I was expecting to, but it was still several mile long ups and downs, with no really steep sections. All in all a good ride, headwind or not. There were also plenty of local bikers out and about.
I had been trying to decide whether to skip out on the cheap hotel I'd heard about in Cortez given my recent shower and good night of sleep or not, but after miles of headwind, I decided to splurge and have two days in a row of shower and bed. Getting into town around 2:30, I found a great little motel. The lady at the front counter was an outgoing 79 year old who I ended up talking to for about half an hour on religion, spirituality and politics. Absolutely hilarious and outspoken, the conversation was good.
Now I have the rest of the day to relax before I hit the desertlands tomorrow. For then next long bit, I'm back onto flat land and should soon start seeing cacti again I expect. Tomorrow will also see me at Four Corners! Onwards (after appropriate R&R)!
Cindy (my host) first needed to pick up her dog, and I followed her to the local ranger office - A park ranger! Her dog is great - a 2 year old girl named Nelly/Nellie and an incredibly calm, friendly dog. I haven't heard her bark once, she followed Cindy home as she bicycled along, ignoring other dogs and following verbal commands to keep her safe. Once home, she followed me around and is actually sitting next to me, gnawing on a chew toy while completely relaxed.
Cindy and I had a great time discussing how she got to being a ranger as well as her experiences in the service (from trail crew to fire crew to dealing with land exchanges and rights of way), while I shared stories about my trip thus far. She has mainly done backpacking with a bit of bicycling thrown in, and had some exciting stories from her travels. She's also hit a lot of the different parks and forests around the nation, from Florida to the Appalachians to all throughout the West. A great lifestyle to have!
Tomorrow will probably still be an easy day, as it will give my body more time to recover before hitting the desert. Weather has been good but I've gathered that I should expect light headwinds for most of the rest of the trip, which will slow me a bit. Cindy and her dog, Nelly/Nellie(?)
And it is now the end of Day 26. After a good night's sleep I woke up before Cindy left for work, and she made me up a combination breakfast that she often eats - a mixture of oatmeal, cereal, raisins, fruit and yogurt with cinnamon and almond milk - Delicious! She also gave me some of the best description of the road ahead that I've had for the whole trip. Soon, I was off again on the road.
From Bayfield, it is about 18 miles into Durango - miles which flew by after a good night's sleep and one of the better breakfasts of the trip. After Durango, the day got a bit harder. I had been warned of the five mile long hill after the town, and although it wasn't that bad, especially after the passes, I also found myself battling a headwind that stayed with me for most of the rest of the day. Pedaling a loaded bicycle uphill into a headwind is an experience I most connect with what I imagine running in molasses would be like...
Despite the wind, today gave me some great views as I moved along, passing the entrance to Mesa Verde and skirting some federal parkland. In many ways, I feel as though I skipped out on the mountains - I had my first major pass (Norte La Veta), then almost immediately was on the flat San Luis Valley for the day, hit the second pass (Wolf Creek) and then got fairly flat again. Today finally some a bit more of the up and down I was expecting to, but it was still several mile long ups and downs, with no really steep sections. All in all a good ride, headwind or not. There were also plenty of local bikers out and about.
I had been trying to decide whether to skip out on the cheap hotel I'd heard about in Cortez given my recent shower and good night of sleep or not, but after miles of headwind, I decided to splurge and have two days in a row of shower and bed. Getting into town around 2:30, I found a great little motel. The lady at the front counter was an outgoing 79 year old who I ended up talking to for about half an hour on religion, spirituality and politics. Absolutely hilarious and outspoken, the conversation was good.
Now I have the rest of the day to relax before I hit the desertlands tomorrow. For then next long bit, I'm back onto flat land and should soon start seeing cacti again I expect. Tomorrow will also see me at Four Corners! Onwards (after appropriate R&R)!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Evening of Day 24 and Day 25 First Half
After my last post, I kept right on trucking, eventually making it to Del Norte with plenty of light, then moving on to South Fork against a rising headwind. Between the two, I passed two cyclists going the other way. I only noticed them as we were already passing, and they didn't seem inclined to stop. The two (one guy, one girl, I think) did yell back that they were headed for New York when I asked where they were headed.
South Fork is a tourism town, with the expected prices on both food and lodgings there. With no desire to spend that much on a hotel, and with the promise of campgrounds ahead, I started out on the road towards Wolf Creek Pass. After a bit, sunlight was starting to get thin, but I had made it into National Forest lands. Given that, I decided to go ahead and use an official campsite. The cost of the site usage goes straight back to the facilities that were used, so I didn't feel bad about it.
The campsite was almost completely empty, with one other tent visible, and a family that pulled in in an RV a bit after me. I spoke to the wife of the troupe. She and her husband are from Kentucky and go RVing with their two kids (7 and 9 years old now) to a different state/area each summer. Last summer, they'd done Alaska, and before that the Yellowstone area. Nice people! The view is great, and having a few people around me in bear country as I sleep is comforting too! :) No internet out here, so I'll save this and get some sleep. Tomorrow, I will cross the continental divide and head downhill for quite a bit! With the sunscreen I've been using and the number of days camping out, I decided I was about due for a shower and did some searching online (finding cheaper hotels in tourism country can be challenging). It sounds like there is a good hotel in Cortez, CO, so I plan to pedal hard tomorrow, camp out, and then have an easy day rolling into Cortez and recovering after that. Once that day is over, it's the Four Corners, then Arizona! Onwards!!!
Alright, that last bit was written last evening. I woke up this morning and broke down camp with temperatures that, while cool, were much warmer than they had been when I slept in the pass! South Bend was the last spot I was expecting to be able to get food until after the pass, so I'd grabbed a bit extra in terms of packed food. After eating a mixed breakfast containing jerky, a bagel, candy, nuts and dried fruit, I started my climb. The pass was a bit further off than I'd been led to believe yesterday, but the incline up to it on this side was actually better than North La Veta for bikers. The majority of the approach I actually bicycled, walking the bike only for the occasional break and to cover the steepest parts. Rising higher and higher, I eventually began seeing snow still sitting under trees on the north facing slopes. Near the very top of the pass, I went by the ski area which as apparently already closed down, although given the amount of snow, I was a bit surprised. Finally I hit the summit! (pictures will be forthcoming when I have an electric outlet available)
At the summit, I spoke with two different groups that were touring. One was an older couple from Tennessee. The husband had worked for the road authority(?) until he retired and they were on the road in their full sized van with two small dogs (sleeping in the van as they vacationed around). The other group was a middle aged couple and another woman who I think was one of their aunts - a lady with a great sense of humor who was very excited to get a photo of herself straddling the continental divide (it was shown by a bronze metal line). As I headed downhill, I ran into both groups again - one when I stopped for a photo op at the same spot they were, and the trio at a waterfall a bit further down. After about 9 miles of downhill rolling, things flattened out again and I found myself struggling to make headway.
Whenever moving forward gets hard, my first assumption is that I'm out of calories. I won't be hungry yet, but it won't matter. Sure enough, after pulling to the side and loading up again, I made much better headway, finally rolling into Pagosa Springs, CO around noon. On the way into town, I passed by several cyclists, but none of them had much gear with them, leading me to assume they're locals. One older guy who I had passed on my way into town showed up when I was resupplying on Gatorade at a gas station. I had a chat with him and he gave me some information on the road ahead. Apparently he's a local and likes to get in about 50 miles or so per day. I'm guessing a retired local, as 50 miles takes a bit of time, even without gear on your bike! He warned me that it gets windy around this time, and sure enough, the wind has been picking up. I'm still hoping to get as close to Durango as I can by this evening, as tomorrow is still going to be a "day off". We'll see what the terrain looks like - after 4 nights of camping and another one planned for tonight, a shower is looking very attractive! Good riding!
South Fork is a tourism town, with the expected prices on both food and lodgings there. With no desire to spend that much on a hotel, and with the promise of campgrounds ahead, I started out on the road towards Wolf Creek Pass. After a bit, sunlight was starting to get thin, but I had made it into National Forest lands. Given that, I decided to go ahead and use an official campsite. The cost of the site usage goes straight back to the facilities that were used, so I didn't feel bad about it.
The campsite was almost completely empty, with one other tent visible, and a family that pulled in in an RV a bit after me. I spoke to the wife of the troupe. She and her husband are from Kentucky and go RVing with their two kids (7 and 9 years old now) to a different state/area each summer. Last summer, they'd done Alaska, and before that the Yellowstone area. Nice people! The view is great, and having a few people around me in bear country as I sleep is comforting too! :) No internet out here, so I'll save this and get some sleep. Tomorrow, I will cross the continental divide and head downhill for quite a bit! With the sunscreen I've been using and the number of days camping out, I decided I was about due for a shower and did some searching online (finding cheaper hotels in tourism country can be challenging). It sounds like there is a good hotel in Cortez, CO, so I plan to pedal hard tomorrow, camp out, and then have an easy day rolling into Cortez and recovering after that. Once that day is over, it's the Four Corners, then Arizona! Onwards!!!
Alright, that last bit was written last evening. I woke up this morning and broke down camp with temperatures that, while cool, were much warmer than they had been when I slept in the pass! South Bend was the last spot I was expecting to be able to get food until after the pass, so I'd grabbed a bit extra in terms of packed food. After eating a mixed breakfast containing jerky, a bagel, candy, nuts and dried fruit, I started my climb. The pass was a bit further off than I'd been led to believe yesterday, but the incline up to it on this side was actually better than North La Veta for bikers. The majority of the approach I actually bicycled, walking the bike only for the occasional break and to cover the steepest parts. Rising higher and higher, I eventually began seeing snow still sitting under trees on the north facing slopes. Near the very top of the pass, I went by the ski area which as apparently already closed down, although given the amount of snow, I was a bit surprised. Finally I hit the summit! (pictures will be forthcoming when I have an electric outlet available)
At the summit, I spoke with two different groups that were touring. One was an older couple from Tennessee. The husband had worked for the road authority(?) until he retired and they were on the road in their full sized van with two small dogs (sleeping in the van as they vacationed around). The other group was a middle aged couple and another woman who I think was one of their aunts - a lady with a great sense of humor who was very excited to get a photo of herself straddling the continental divide (it was shown by a bronze metal line). As I headed downhill, I ran into both groups again - one when I stopped for a photo op at the same spot they were, and the trio at a waterfall a bit further down. After about 9 miles of downhill rolling, things flattened out again and I found myself struggling to make headway.
Whenever moving forward gets hard, my first assumption is that I'm out of calories. I won't be hungry yet, but it won't matter. Sure enough, after pulling to the side and loading up again, I made much better headway, finally rolling into Pagosa Springs, CO around noon. On the way into town, I passed by several cyclists, but none of them had much gear with them, leading me to assume they're locals. One older guy who I had passed on my way into town showed up when I was resupplying on Gatorade at a gas station. I had a chat with him and he gave me some information on the road ahead. Apparently he's a local and likes to get in about 50 miles or so per day. I'm guessing a retired local, as 50 miles takes a bit of time, even without gear on your bike! He warned me that it gets windy around this time, and sure enough, the wind has been picking up. I'm still hoping to get as close to Durango as I can by this evening, as tomorrow is still going to be a "day off". We'll see what the terrain looks like - after 4 nights of camping and another one planned for tonight, a shower is looking very attractive! Good riding!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The Rest of Day 23, and Day 24 begining
What a day yesterday was! Rejuvenated from my lunch in Walsenburg, I headed off into the mountains. Given the amount of sunlight I had left, I planned to get to the top of the first pass I'd have to tackle (North La Veta pass - elevation 9,400 ft) and make camp with plenty of sunlight left. Starting about 9 miles from the pass, the uphill climb began. I got into a system of bicycling for a bit, then walking the bicycle for a bit, then bicycling again, saving my legs and butt from a long grind up the hill. Despite the walking, I still managed to reach the summit with plenty of light left. I dropped down just a hundred feet or so on the far side before finding a likely camping spot, figuring that even with the elevation, the night wouldn't be too cold.
The night wasn't bad. What was less than pleasant was breaking camp in the morning cold, followed by the long downhill. Normally I love miles of rolling downhill. When I've just woken up, it's cold enough outside to see your breath at times, and your biking gloves are the fingerless kind, it's not so fun! I found myself stopping every few miles to stick my hands under my armpits until I got lower and the day began to heat up a bit. With all that downhill, I made great time to Fort Garland, where I stopped in at Del's Diner for delicious pancakes and oatmeal! After resupplying on fluids, I was off again across the San Luis Valley. It's almost as flat as the plains were! Still, I'll be coming up on more mountains as well as Wolf Creek Pass soon enough. When a man at Del's asked where I was going and found I was planning to use the pass, he started laughing and shook his head. Still, I'm already at over 7000 feet, so I'm not that concerned.
Today and tomorrow should see me crossing two major boundaries on the trip. The first, just a few miles down the road from here (I'm posting this from Alamosa) is the point at which I will have less than 1000 miles left to go on my trip. That is in only about 25 miles! The other big boundary will be my crossing the Western Continental Divide at Wolf Creek Pass - something I plan to do tomorrow (no more camping out right at the nice chilly summit for me!)
With less than 1000 miles to go as of later today, and over a mile of downhill to reach my finish point, it looks like I will manage to get from coast to coast in under 40 days, something I would not have imagined myself doing when I started!
About two days back, I saw my first cacti, an exciting event that I had been anticipating. Moving up in elevation, I'm out of cactus country for now, but am definitely in scrubland regions, with pines on the mountains. Even looking out the window here, you can still see snow on many of the peaks, and the tree line is clearly visible. I don't think I've had any problems with the elevation, although given changing grades I bicycle on, sleep, and food, it's hard to tell whether this has been any effect. We'll see how things go over the next two days as I reach my greatest heights, then begin to drop again.
The night wasn't bad. What was less than pleasant was breaking camp in the morning cold, followed by the long downhill. Normally I love miles of rolling downhill. When I've just woken up, it's cold enough outside to see your breath at times, and your biking gloves are the fingerless kind, it's not so fun! I found myself stopping every few miles to stick my hands under my armpits until I got lower and the day began to heat up a bit. With all that downhill, I made great time to Fort Garland, where I stopped in at Del's Diner for delicious pancakes and oatmeal! After resupplying on fluids, I was off again across the San Luis Valley. It's almost as flat as the plains were! Still, I'll be coming up on more mountains as well as Wolf Creek Pass soon enough. When a man at Del's asked where I was going and found I was planning to use the pass, he started laughing and shook his head. Still, I'm already at over 7000 feet, so I'm not that concerned.
Today and tomorrow should see me crossing two major boundaries on the trip. The first, just a few miles down the road from here (I'm posting this from Alamosa) is the point at which I will have less than 1000 miles left to go on my trip. That is in only about 25 miles! The other big boundary will be my crossing the Western Continental Divide at Wolf Creek Pass - something I plan to do tomorrow (no more camping out right at the nice chilly summit for me!)
With less than 1000 miles to go as of later today, and over a mile of downhill to reach my finish point, it looks like I will manage to get from coast to coast in under 40 days, something I would not have imagined myself doing when I started!
About two days back, I saw my first cacti, an exciting event that I had been anticipating. Moving up in elevation, I'm out of cactus country for now, but am definitely in scrubland regions, with pines on the mountains. Even looking out the window here, you can still see snow on many of the peaks, and the tree line is clearly visible. I don't think I've had any problems with the elevation, although given changing grades I bicycle on, sleep, and food, it's hard to tell whether this has been any effect. We'll see how things go over the next two days as I reach my greatest heights, then begin to drop again.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Day 22 and Day 23 thus far
First, the pictures I forgot to put up last time. First is Lauren, second in Ryan.
Yesterday ended on a good note. I made it into La Junta with a fair bit of sunlight to go after an uneventful day. Knowing that Colorado 10 has nothing along it, I got 3 footlong subs at Subway and was off to make a bit of headway before nightfall. I got about 10 to 15 miles down the road before making camp and trying to get a night's sleep. I've found that I've been having very vivid dreams some nights, and my sleep schedule has been strange. After waking up from one of these dreams about an hour before sunrise, I broke camp and went ahead to move forward.
What a slog it was! I wasn't sure if it was the elevation, my poor night's sleep, or lack of a "proper" breakfast, but every mile seemed to be a struggle. Despite that, I managed to pull into Walsenburg about an hour or two ago, got some food and am now relaxing in Mike's Coffee Barn, sipping a frozen drink and using the internet and electric outlet. I also figured out why it was such a slog after calling home to update on where I was - I had gained around 2000 feet of (net) elevation during the ride. I need to get used to it though - this is the last stop before the real mountains!
I'll be crossing the Continental Divide in the next few days using Wolf Creek Pass (elevation: 10,863 feet!) so it should be a tough few days. I'll be interested to see what kind of daily mileages I will be turning out as I hit the hard stuff. For now, it's down the road a bit then perhaps finding somewhere to take a nap. I could use one!
Yesterday ended on a good note. I made it into La Junta with a fair bit of sunlight to go after an uneventful day. Knowing that Colorado 10 has nothing along it, I got 3 footlong subs at Subway and was off to make a bit of headway before nightfall. I got about 10 to 15 miles down the road before making camp and trying to get a night's sleep. I've found that I've been having very vivid dreams some nights, and my sleep schedule has been strange. After waking up from one of these dreams about an hour before sunrise, I broke camp and went ahead to move forward.
What a slog it was! I wasn't sure if it was the elevation, my poor night's sleep, or lack of a "proper" breakfast, but every mile seemed to be a struggle. Despite that, I managed to pull into Walsenburg about an hour or two ago, got some food and am now relaxing in Mike's Coffee Barn, sipping a frozen drink and using the internet and electric outlet. I also figured out why it was such a slog after calling home to update on where I was - I had gained around 2000 feet of (net) elevation during the ride. I need to get used to it though - this is the last stop before the real mountains!
I'll be crossing the Continental Divide in the next few days using Wolf Creek Pass (elevation: 10,863 feet!) so it should be a tough few days. I'll be interested to see what kind of daily mileages I will be turning out as I hit the hard stuff. For now, it's down the road a bit then perhaps finding somewhere to take a nap. I could use one!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Day 21 and start of Day 22
A fine day! I'm sitting at the first rest stop in Colorado, typing this up and will post it when I get internet access next. After all of my rest yesterday and a good night's sleep, I was up fairly early. Taking my time to get ready, I had a large continental breakfast, chatting with a couple who had driven into the area to pick up a small hay bailer (they sell farm equipment) and was finally ready to go, with the time still quite early. The weather was sunny and pleasant, with scattered thunderstorms supposed to roll in as the day progressed. Getting onto US-50/US-400, I found a great shoulder and pedaled along in calm weather, enjoying myself immensely.
A few miles down the road, I stopped to get something to eat at a gas station, noticing a guy sitting with a big backpack in the food court, checking out a map. After eating, I went over to talk to him. His name is Ryan, from Ohio and he is apparently hiking from the Pacific to the Atlantic in a wandering, relaxed style and largely "depending on the kindness of strangers" to make it through, using signs telling what he is doing to get free food from passersby and other support - more daring than I would attempt, but it's good to know that there are so many friendly people out there that you can do that to get by just fine!
Ryan had largely traveled from the way I was heading, so we sat discussing the route I had ahead (along with life, road experiences and many other topics) for a while. While we were chatting, another man came in and asked who had the bicycle outside. It turned out that he was biking from the Pacific to Washington D.C. to raise support for a Constitutional amendment to balance the national budget with his parents riding an RV in support, carrying pamphlets and other stuff for his campaign. His website is www.saveamericasfuture.org. At this point, I haven't looked at it, but the next time I have internet, I'll be checking it out. He didn't stay long before hitting the road again, and soon I was off myself.
Getting a few more miles down the road, I saw another bicyclist heading in the opposite direction with a trailer attached and plenty of gear. This was perhaps my favorite meeting so far. The biker was an older man named Lauren Brown. How much older - he was 67 years old, if I recall correctly. Apparently he had joined the Peace Corps a few years back, ended up in India and liked it so much he stayed on an extra year beyond his contracted time. Once he came back to the states, he decided to do this bike trip to try to rainse scholarship funds for Village Children in India! I think what really made him stand out to me was that most riders I have met, especially those with causes, have support vehicles. Not Lauren! He carries not only all of the gear he needs for the trip, but also all of the papers and pamphlets he needs for his cause with him! You can check out his website at www.bfki.us. I'm sure planning to when I can!
We only chatted for a bit, as there was a storm looming to our south and drifting slowly in our direction. Soon we were off on our separate ways. One more meeting capped off the day. Stopping at a Subway for lunch/dinner, two motorcyclists pulled up and got to chatting with me. They were doing a ride across the country from East to West and were happy to chat for a bit about my experiences on the trip as well as what areas of the country they had liked most. Once again, I set off, hoping to make it to the state line before too long.
Sure enough, with the bad weather having missed me all day long, but with some cloud cover to protect me, I pulled across the state line, finding the rest stop that hiker Ryan had suggested to me to be nice, and setting up for the evening despite the sun still being up for a few hours (see, I can take it easy if I really work at it!) The bathrooms here have running water, no warning about the water being non-potable, and best of all, and electric outlet, so I can read some ebooks without worrying about battery life! I've also discovered just how prolific prarie dogs are in some areas! They were all over the place as I went along on the last bit. Grasslands have finally started to give way to scrubland as I'm heading farther west. The two pictures I'll hopefully be able to upload when I get to internet should be Ryan the hiker and Lauren the biker from today. I did get one warning as I was setting up my tent - apparently there's supposed to be hail tonight - my first of the trip! If so, I plan to retreat to the shelter of the bathrooms or one of the picnic shelters, so it shouldn't be a big deal! I'll probably add onto this with tomorrow's experiences before I put it up on the net. Life is good!
Day 22 begins
I managed to miss any hail that fell last night, although it did rain a bit. I woke up partway through the night and could see the incoming storm front, so I moved my tent under one of the picnic shelters, staying dry the whole time. Next morning, it was packing up and off on the road again. Hopefully I'll make it to La Junta by this evening. For now, I'm sitting outside of a gas station in Lamar, CO mooching internet off of a nearby hotel. A few wispy clouds are in the sky, and there has been a light breeze all day, mainly against me, but not too bad. For now, I'm still in the flat part of Colorado, although I have been gaining elevation for the last few days, and am now over 3000 ft above sea level. It will be interesting to see what kind of mileage I get over the mountains! I'll post again when I can!
A few miles down the road, I stopped to get something to eat at a gas station, noticing a guy sitting with a big backpack in the food court, checking out a map. After eating, I went over to talk to him. His name is Ryan, from Ohio and he is apparently hiking from the Pacific to the Atlantic in a wandering, relaxed style and largely "depending on the kindness of strangers" to make it through, using signs telling what he is doing to get free food from passersby and other support - more daring than I would attempt, but it's good to know that there are so many friendly people out there that you can do that to get by just fine!
Ryan had largely traveled from the way I was heading, so we sat discussing the route I had ahead (along with life, road experiences and many other topics) for a while. While we were chatting, another man came in and asked who had the bicycle outside. It turned out that he was biking from the Pacific to Washington D.C. to raise support for a Constitutional amendment to balance the national budget with his parents riding an RV in support, carrying pamphlets and other stuff for his campaign. His website is www.saveamericasfuture.org. At this point, I haven't looked at it, but the next time I have internet, I'll be checking it out. He didn't stay long before hitting the road again, and soon I was off myself.
Getting a few more miles down the road, I saw another bicyclist heading in the opposite direction with a trailer attached and plenty of gear. This was perhaps my favorite meeting so far. The biker was an older man named Lauren Brown. How much older - he was 67 years old, if I recall correctly. Apparently he had joined the Peace Corps a few years back, ended up in India and liked it so much he stayed on an extra year beyond his contracted time. Once he came back to the states, he decided to do this bike trip to try to rainse scholarship funds for Village Children in India! I think what really made him stand out to me was that most riders I have met, especially those with causes, have support vehicles. Not Lauren! He carries not only all of the gear he needs for the trip, but also all of the papers and pamphlets he needs for his cause with him! You can check out his website at www.bfki.us. I'm sure planning to when I can!
We only chatted for a bit, as there was a storm looming to our south and drifting slowly in our direction. Soon we were off on our separate ways. One more meeting capped off the day. Stopping at a Subway for lunch/dinner, two motorcyclists pulled up and got to chatting with me. They were doing a ride across the country from East to West and were happy to chat for a bit about my experiences on the trip as well as what areas of the country they had liked most. Once again, I set off, hoping to make it to the state line before too long.
Sure enough, with the bad weather having missed me all day long, but with some cloud cover to protect me, I pulled across the state line, finding the rest stop that hiker Ryan had suggested to me to be nice, and setting up for the evening despite the sun still being up for a few hours (see, I can take it easy if I really work at it!) The bathrooms here have running water, no warning about the water being non-potable, and best of all, and electric outlet, so I can read some ebooks without worrying about battery life! I've also discovered just how prolific prarie dogs are in some areas! They were all over the place as I went along on the last bit. Grasslands have finally started to give way to scrubland as I'm heading farther west. The two pictures I'll hopefully be able to upload when I get to internet should be Ryan the hiker and Lauren the biker from today. I did get one warning as I was setting up my tent - apparently there's supposed to be hail tonight - my first of the trip! If so, I plan to retreat to the shelter of the bathrooms or one of the picnic shelters, so it shouldn't be a big deal! I'll probably add onto this with tomorrow's experiences before I put it up on the net. Life is good!
Day 22 begins
I managed to miss any hail that fell last night, although it did rain a bit. I woke up partway through the night and could see the incoming storm front, so I moved my tent under one of the picnic shelters, staying dry the whole time. Next morning, it was packing up and off on the road again. Hopefully I'll make it to La Junta by this evening. For now, I'm sitting outside of a gas station in Lamar, CO mooching internet off of a nearby hotel. A few wispy clouds are in the sky, and there has been a light breeze all day, mainly against me, but not too bad. For now, I'm still in the flat part of Colorado, although I have been gaining elevation for the last few days, and am now over 3000 ft above sea level. It will be interesting to see what kind of mileage I get over the mountains! I'll post again when I can!
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