Departure on May 26, 2009 from Yorktown, VA

The first few states were rather ‘familiar’ as far as scenery goes – I hadn’t been to Kentucky before, but western Kentucky was quite similar to Virginia with a lot of horse farms and open fields. Eastern Kentucky was a little more poverty-stricken and was cluttered with trash on the sides of the roads. The roads were in poor condition with potholes (we had to be very careful to pay attention and not hit one)! I picked up a staple from the road in eastern Kentucky and got my first flat tire. We only briefly saw Illinois (I think we spent 2 days biking through southern Illinois), but we met some really fun people, namely two motorcyclists who invited us to their home to camp outside, grill, and play in the lake. Also, we saw Superman in Metropolis, Illinois, which was off-route and not planned. As it happened, we had bike problems that day and had to hitch-hike 70 miles to a bike shop to get a new chain for George’s bike. Missouri was very humid and the Ozarks were filled with hills.

About 40 miles outside of Springfield, Missouri, my shifter cable broke and I wound up hitching a ride with to a bike shop. For the first time since we left on May 26^th, I was in civilization again. Springfield was a large city (from what I could tell), and they had a Chipotle and Starbucks. That was exciting! We pedaled through Missouri in six days and then when we reached Kansas, we switched our sleeping and biking habits. Instead of riding during the day, we rode at night and slept indoors at fire stations, libraries, and churches during the day to avoid the 115-degree heat and humidity. It worked fairly well, except that I biked the entire state of Kansas carrying a viral infection, only to realize it when I entered Colorado.

Riding dirt bikes with Chase in Colorado.

A few days later, thanks to the generosity of a complete stranger, Cindi from Westcliffe, I had a car to borrow and was on my way to visit a friend from college. Unfortunately, I got sick again and at this point was very frustrated, as I didn’t know what was wrong with me. This was the only point in my trip where I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to continue if the virus didn’t get out of my system. I slept and rested for another day or two and then went whitewater rafting (already had reservations made) and then drove to Estes Park to see the beautiful Rocky Mountains and take photos.

I finally got on my bike again almost two weeks after getting sick and was now solo pedaling to meet Chase, my new riding companion, who was a few days ahead of me now. Unexpectedly, I spent a few nights in Salida, Colorado when I met Mike. He showed me around town and then guided me up my first 14er, Mt. Elbert. It was an incredible experience to be on the highest mountain in Colorado and one of the highest in the lower 48 states! After a day of recuperation, I climbed 26 miles up and over the Continental Divide at Monarch Pass at 11,312 feet! There, at the top of the pass, Chase found me and I rode down the other side of the mountain and then hitched a ride back to Pitkin where he and his family had rented a cabin for a few days. We spent a couple days in Pitkin and Ohio City with Chase’s family before we hit the road again on July 14^th.

The adventures really picked up once Chase and I met and started riding together – we found ourselves first taking a short-cut from Telluride, CO to Moab, UT in two days and meeting a really nice woman by the name of Lauren. As it turns out, she invited us to have dinner with her (grilled steak and peppers along with pickled asparagus) and sleep in her camper van just outside of Paradox, CO. Then we met Wayne, who gave us a lift from La Sal Junction to Moab and then into Arches National Park, where we toured the park in the afternoon together. It was a great time and nice since Wayne hadn’t had an opportunity to see the park before! After Moab, we rode down to Monticello (I had to pick up mail) and then onward to Hite, UT (Lake Powell). This was one of the worst days (from Blanding to Hite) as the heat was cranked up and the 88-mile stretch without services was brutal. We each carried 1.5 gallons of water and pedaled all day to get to Hite campground.

What would have been a long journey across the deserts of Utah and Nevada turned into a spontaneous adventure where we found ourselves 700 miles north getting dropped off in Yellowstone National Park. We caught a ride with Jack and his 7-year old who were on their family vacation. We were like family for 3 days and it was amazing. We had such a great time! Once we parted from Jack and David, we left to go to West Yellowstone where we ran into five cyclists that Chase last saw and rode with in Missouri! Who knew we’d end up back on the Transamerican Route in Montana weeks later and run into them!

Arrival in Oregon!

Finally into Oregon, we were excited to reach Portland. However, it wasn’t over yet! We hit horrible headwinds in Columbia River Gorge (apparently the windsurfing capital of the world), yet no one gave us a heads up about this! We battled the headwinds for about 100 miles or so (on and off with the intensity), but once we were within 150 miles of Portland, the winds picked up even more! Chase wasn’t enjoying it. Nor was I. We agreed to hitch a ride the last 90 miles into Portland so we wouldn’t pedal away for two more days to get there. Instead, we wanted to enjoy seeing Portland before having to continue down the coast (or in Chase’s case, before he had to fly home).

On August 9^th, we reached the Pacific Coast at Cannon Beach, Oregon. I had 3,570 miles at this point. Our last evening of the ride (coast to coast), we camped in a city park as all the campgrounds were full and the motels/hotels were all booked. To make our story more fun, we camped illegally (in a city park, as there was nowhere else to go) and the next morning the police came at 5:55am asking us to leave.

The last leg of the trip, I rode solo down the coast from Nescowin, OR to San Francisco, CA. I met a lot of really nice people along the way and rode with several groups of riders as well. I met four motorcyclists from Victoria, British Columbia in Bandon, OR and then we reunited again in Brookings, OR the next day, 100 miles later. It was fun to see the same faces again on several occasions and we really had a great time exchanging stories and hanging out at the campsites together.

Arrival in San Francisco, CA - End Destination!

Virginia:

• lots of rolling hills
• nice scenery and houses
• lots of horses and cows
• friendly people, however, the drivers aren’t as respectful of cyclists as elsewhere
• cowtails are easy to find in southern / southwestern VA (a candy called Cowtails)
• the Appalachian Mountains are pretty significant when you cross them on a bike. I think we have done the hardest climbs possibly for this entire trip. We’ll see though:)
• lots of dead snakes

Kentucky:

• there are lots of dogs in eastern Kentucky
• the poverty level in eastern Kentucky is incredible
• the roads are in bad shape – in particular in the eastern part. There are lots of huge gaping holes in the sides of roads and no guard rails
• they use ripple strips on the sides of all the roads in Kentucky. You know, like on the side of I-66, those ripple things are on all the roads in Kentucky. It’s useful, I guess, but sucks if you’re a cyclist and the road is really busy and you want to ride on the shoulder and there’s no “ripple-free” space.
• it’s also very similar to Virginia and scenic in the western part of Kentucky. More horses and cows in that part and fewer dogs.
• it seems in the eastern part of Kentucky, people have dogs as “guard animals” whereas in the western part, dogs are more like family members and pets.
• motorists seem to be a little more patient with cyclists and slow down more than those in Virginia.

Illinois:

• there are some rolling hills here, also straight roads. We drafted for 18 miles on a straight road – it had a few curves and a few bumps in the road, but otherwise it was pretty straight.
• the people seem friendly (from what we saw) – we had great people welcome us to camp at their place, and another great experience was staying at Rachel’s (who Ben from Warm Showers contacted, even though she wasn’t a member). We only spent 2 or so days in Illinois so it’s hard to say what the rest of Illinois might be like, but my opinion and impression was good. I would go back.
• lots of corn fields
• the drivers aren’t as courteous with cyclists on the road. They sometimes honk at you if you’re biking slowly up a hill.
• one day, I think I smelled stinky skunks on 5 different occasions.

Missouri:

• people seem friendly, but I have yet to have an amazing experience with anyone in particular from Missouri. I think one of the most friendly people thus far was Chuck (from Indiana) who I met the other night. Otherwise, I haven’t had much contact with the folk from Missouri. Although my latest chiropractor seemed really cool and friendly along with his staff in the office. They were all interested in my bike trip and asking lots of questions.
• there are a few dogs here, but not nearly as many as in Kentucky.
• the heat is the worst part of Missouri.
• it’s a scenic state with rolling hills, lots of farmland and horses and cows out in the pastures.
• in Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri I’ve noticed there are lots of what appear to be wild orange lilies growing on the side of the roads. I see them everywhere.
• lots of dead turtles here, fewer dead snakes, and fewer dog chases!

I have never in my life seen so much road kill until this trip. I should have tried to keep track, but then again, I think I would have gone insane… there is so much!

I saw a dead armadillo today on the side of the road – I think the first armadillo I’ve seen in real life outside of a zoo, and it had to be dead :/

Animals spotted on this trip thus far:

• Armadillo
• Chipmunk
• Mice
• Squirrels (duh!)
• Birds everywhere (duh!)
• Deer (almost ran into one at night when biking back from the library)
• Snakes
• Lizards
• Horses
• Cows
• Chickens
• Goats
• Llamas
• Fox
• Turtles
• Dogs (everywhere)
• Cats (several houses with multiple cats hanging out – like 14+)
• Bunnies/Rabbits
• and more that I’m probably forgetting

Speaking of which, there’s a cat just on the paved path in front of the courthouse right now. Looks like he’s grooming himself. I’d go pet him, but then again, I don’t want him becoming attached and coming and curling up inside my tent all night. He’s curious and cute looking – black and white

Woke up rather late this morning compared to normal – got up about 7:30 and slowly the guys started waking up. Last night Rachel met two more cyclists who ventured into the Long Branch cafe where she works. She offered to let them stay at her house as well and they showed up around midnight and then everyone was talking, hanging out, listening to music and such. I was pretty tired and just wanted to sleep especially knowing we’d be back on the bikes in the morning. Finally, sometime around 1:30 I fell asleep. I then woke up again around 3, I think and saw Rachel and Colin were still up out on the porch. I luckily fell back to sleep again. Woke up again probably sometime between 4-6am to see/hear the thunderstorm/lightening going on outside – looked like a pretty big thunderstorm. No one else woke up during the night to the storm…

But anyway, the two other cyclists were Michael and Colin, two music students who just graduated from JMU (one from undergrad, the other from graduate). Michael just finished his graduate degree and plays the piano and says he’s planning to stick around Harrisonburg for another year. Colin did his undergraduate in classical guitar, I believe. They’re biking to Oregon and seem to be enjoying their trip thus far and doing some detours and such when they feel like it.

Anyway, so a late start was had. George made us omelettes this morning which were good; I went to the co-op to go online and find a post office further down the route so Mom can mail my insurance card to me. So I found a post office in Pittsburg, Kansas where she’ll mail me my card. We’re aiming to be there no later than Sunday evening and I think we should be able to make it by then with a few good days of biking. We’ll probably take a half-rest day then and do laundry and such again, I imagine.

We rolled out from Rachel’s about 10:30 this morning and the clouds were rolling in and thunder was making its presence known. We were probably riding no more than 10 minutes before the rain set in and it rained the entire way to Murphysboro (about 6-7 miles from Carbondale). We rolled in and I stopped to put away my solar panel in one of my bags since it was useless at this point, so I was just going to use the battery from the panel. No more than a minute or two later and it started to really storm – really dark skies, torrential downpour of rain and loud thunder and lightening. We had taken cover under an overhang at a Citgo gas station and probably stayed there for 30 minutes or so. During this time I was beginning to feel the pain in my back again and it was very painful and uncomfortable. Any movement hurt – stretching and bending, etc. I went into the gas station and asked if there was a chiropractor in the town – the lady knew of one, so I went in search once the rain let up and the storm had passed. The guys went to the library while I went to a chiropractor and luckily was able to be seen within 30 minutes and on a walk-in basis. The doctor readjusted my back and did a small neck adjustment and I am already feeling better thank goodness. It looks like I’ll have to go to a chiropractor at least once a week to make it thru this trip without going insane with all the lower back pain. It’s really frustrating because I think it’d get better if I could go regularly two or three times a week and get the adjustments, but the major towns/cities are so far apart that I really don’t/won’t get the opportunity to even do that. Anyway, for now, I’m feeling much better and am going to continue the stretching and exercises I’ve learned from the past three chiropractors thus far.

I guess my new goal can be to see a chiropractor in every state along the course of route and just see how they are all different and what not. Each experience has been quite different. Today’s visit was more like the chiropractor visits I have had back home with Dr. Anna – just adjust and move on. I kinda want a deep tissue massage though – I think that’d definitely feel good on my back. Anyway, the chiropractor today said that most likely my pain is resulting from an imbalance of muscles and my hips are rotating in different directions and it’s causing some sort of pull in the back muscles, which causes the horrible pain.

Anyway, the day was a bit slow to begin – I left the chiropractor’s at 12:30 and went to meet the guys at the library. We then went to Diary Queen for lunch and then left Murphysboro at 1:30 (only 7.5 miles into the day’s mileage). We had to try and ride 55-60 miles after lunch. The day went pretty well, but for some reason right after lunch I felt really sleepy – my eyes kept wanting to close, but I had to stay awake while biking. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one that felt sleepy – George did too. It was weird, but we stopped about 23 miles into the day at a gas station in Ava and got ice cream and refilled water bottles. We continued on biking and the roads were slightly rolling and had a few bends/turns to them. In the last town in Illinois before crossing the Mississippi River, Chester, we saw Popeye the Sailor Man’s statue. We stopped there and took a few photos as well as faked our “Welcome to Illionois” photos since we couldn’t get any when we entered Illinois the other day (we were driven across the border because the bridge was not good for cyclists to ride on).

I played around and took some video as we crossed the bridge to Missouri and then we stopped again for the mandatory “Welcome to…” signs that we reach at each state. We also had to get ice cream again. It was then where we stopped that we met another cyclist, Lawrence. He was biking from Manhattan, Kanasas to his hometown somewhere in Kentucky. He’s doing the transamerican trail in sections since he can’t get all the time off from work at once, so he does 2 weeks each year. At this point, we were 19 miles from Ozora, where we were planning to overnight (camp). We had a good pace going, about 17-18mph and were covering ground quite well. The roads were extremely straight and you could see for miles – it was weird. Also, the roads here are named using the alphabet, like “Hwy H” or “Hwy K” which I find a bit odd, but kind fo cool  since it’s different.

Into Missouri we go

We rolled into St. Mary’s (8 miles from Ozora) and decided to look for a place to camp here. There wasn’t much of anything here – one little bar/restaurant open and that was it. We went up to this church and were lucky enough to have talked to a member of the church across the street (asking if we could camp in his yard). He said he could do better than that and said we could sleep in a hall in the church, so he grabbed a key and unlocked it for us and is letting us stay here. It’s definitely nice to not have to worry about setting up the tent and just being able to stay dry and such. Once we got settled in, George and I walked down the bar/restaurant to order some burgers/fries to bring back to the church. Chris waited here since we didn’t have a key to get back in. We ate, cleaned up, and are now all about to hit the sack for the night.

The church in St. Mary where we got permission to sleep inside a hall

GPS Stats:
57.9 miles
04:50 moving time
11.9 avg speed
40.6 max speed

Computer Stats:
59.41 miles
04:50:03 moving time
12.2 avg speed
42.0 max speed

Snake count: 1 dead
Dog chases: 0, but saw the cutest yellow lab puppy tonight – the cutest!

We then met up at Long Branch, the cafe where Rachel works. We all had breakfast down there and it was really yummy. We all had vegetarian burritos and then Rachel drove us to the movie theatre and we were an hour early before the first showing, so we walked over to Walmart and picked up some snacks to sneak into the theatre with us:) We saw Taking of Pelham 123 at 1:15 and the movie was really good and had some action. It was a good choice for a movie for the three of us, I’d say. Afterwards, we went back to Walmart to pick up a few other things. I got some terry cloths, degreaser, a new toothbrush for cleaning my chain and cassette. I then started to walk back to Rachel’s when my phone rang. It was a couchsurfer I had contacted two days prior about looking for a place to stay here. Aur is his name and he is friends with Abed (another couchsurfer) who said I should try to contact Aur since Abed was out of town. Anyway, Aur offered to give me a ride back from Walmart to Rachel’s since it was about 2 miles or so. So he gave me a ride back and then we went to the Co-Op to check out the store (it’s a small version of Whole Foods). I picked up some trail mix and dates because I love them and they looked really good!

Then I walked back to Rachel’s and started working on my bike. I replaced my brakes on both wheels and cleaned my chain, crank, and cassette pretty well. It was black beforehand and now it’s shiny and silver again. It was pretty gunky, but it’s much better now. I just did a general cleaning of my bike including the rims and tubing too. It’s in good shape now for the next 1,000 miles.

I came back inside and showered and then started updating my receipts/expenses in my spreadsheet, updated the biking log I’m keeping for statistics and averages and such. Now I’m finishing up blogs and now going to head down to Denny’s (courtesy of a gift card from Michele), so will be enjoying some dinner down there and then probably go sneak some internet from the co-op and sit outside on the bench while I use it.

I started to look at our maps for Missouri and it looks like we’ll be in Pittsburg, Missouri by Sunday evening (21st) next week. It’s almost 411 miles from here to there, and with the Ozarks to start climbing over, but I think it’s doable. I need to get an address for a post office there to have mom mail me my insurance card for my new health insurance, so hopefully I can call tomorrow and get some info on that.

Anyway, enough for today – pretty decent rest day, especially since it rained this morning and was overcast/dreary this afternoon.

Anyway, we continued the last 40 miles to Carbondale and it was slightly hilly for the portion I led and then nice and flat for the sections Chris and George led. Chris led us the last 6-7 miles into Carbondale and got a nice pace going around 19-24 mph on the flat/slight downhill portion. It was definitely nice to get to Carbondale fast in those last miles. We stopped at Southern Illinois University to go to the library and try to get internet access. The computers were all locked down with username/password, except 2 which were for 15-minute use. I went on and looked up motel/hotel rates and found some decent prices for around $50/night which was our back-up plan. I also checked couchsurfing and warmshowers for potential hosts. I had emailed two couchsurfers the night before but hadn’t heard back yet, so that was out. I then checked warm showers and found one guy (Ben) listed with a phone number so I called him up and he answered. He was really friendly and nice and was out of town but said he’d try to find a friend we could stay with. He called back about 30 minutes later and said we could stay at his friend Rachel’s in Carbondale. He sent me her number and I called her and she was totally cool and friendly – really laid-back and willing to let us crash with her for a couple of nights.

We then biked over to her place and hung out waiting for her to come home. Then we unpacked, showered, and called in an order to Thai Taste and went and picked that up and brought it back here. We all really liked the thai – I’d get it again tomorrow, but I think I’ll try something else instead just so I’m not eating thai two nights in a row. After eating, Chris, George, and I walked to the laudromat and did our laundry and then walked to Dairy Queen a bit over a mile away. They got brownie batter blizzards and I had a cookie dough blizzard – really yummy. We then went back to the laudromat to put our clothes in the dryer and wait for about 20 minutes till they were done. We got back to Rachel’s around 11:30 and then called it a day and went to bed.

GPS Stats:
43.7 miles
31.6 max speed
11.7 avg speed
03:44 moving time

Computer Stats:
44.65 miles
32.5 max speed
12.1 avg speed
03:41:38 moving time

Snake count: 1 dead today
Dog chases: 0

His page is: http://www.youtube.com/rage0rge

I’ve just uploaded some more photos on facebook as well as picasa (same ones, just on both sites). So whenever you have a chance, check them out. We saw Superman yesterday! Also some photos of Chris and George goofing off at the lake yesterday and the rest of Kentucky photos from a few days ago. We’re now in Illinois for all of 2 – 3 days or so and then we’ll be in Missouri!

Link to the Picasa album

Time to head on out and get the miles in to Carbondale!

One car stopped to ask if we needed help – but wasn’t really able to help us as they were on to a family function of sorts, but said if we were still stranded in 2-3 hours they’d come back with a trailer to pick us up and our bikes/gear and drive us to Princeton, KY where there was a Walmart to see about buying a new chain. Bicycle shops are few in this area – so Walmart was our best bet. A few minutes later, after being on hold with Walmart to ask if they had a chain for George’s bike (they never came back), I hung up and then flagged down a pick-up truck and asked if they were heading towards Princeton. They said they were and I asked if we could throw our bikes in the back and get a ride as we were stranded. The couple (Stan and Brenda) were very friendly and just out for a Saturday drive. They were from Indiana and said they could give us a ride and off we went. It was about 18 miles or so to Walmart in Princeton. George and I went in to check on chains, but they didn’t have one long enough. Stan and Brenda waited to find out if we were still stranded – we were. The lady at Walmart called a local hardware store to see if they had something; she thought they did and they thought they did. Needless to say, we got there and it was the same piece Walmart sold that George had already bought and didn’t work. Our next idea was to have Stan and Brenda drop us near the interstate to try to find a truck that was going towards Carbondale (where we knew they had 4 bike shops) – but Brenda and Stan decided to drive us further, towrads Paducah, KY where I called ahead to a bike shop to see if they had the chain and powerlinks. They did, so off we went. We arrived just after 1pm at Bike World in Paducah and George got his chain fixed and we then went to grab Mexican food since it was about 2pm and we hadn’t eaten. The chain first broke at 11am, so we were on the go hitching it for 2 hours to the bike shop. Thanks to Brenda and Stan though – otherwise, I have no idea what we would have done.

After eating lunch, we went back to Bike World, because one of the guys there said he’d drive us over the bridge to Illinois (it was a bad bridge to bike on and it was either that or biking on the interstate bridge, which is illegal). So he drove us about 8 miles from the shop and into Illinois and dropped us at this intersection with a gas station (no longer in service) and a small restaurant of sorts. We did a quick pit stop, came out and started chatting with a few motorcylists and before we knew it, we had an invitation to camp out at their place just outside of Vienna, Illinois (which was right on the route from Metropolis to Carbondale). They told us they had a lake with diving board, and that pretty much sold it – plus it was about 20 miles from where we were dropped off. It was already 4pm in the afternoon and Carbondale was about 70 miles or so away, so we had plenty of time to get there. We figured, why not – it’s not every day someone invites you to camp at their place and swim in their lake!

But first, after leaving our drop-off and the motorcyclists Tracy and Kerri, they said we had to go check out the giant Superman statue – so we did, but only after celebrating our first 1,000 miles with an ice cream from Sonic (the drive-in fast-food place). It was tasty and well deserved especially after the day we’d had. After that, we went and saw  the Superman statue and come to find out it was the 31st annual Superman celebration! What are the chances that we wind up in Metropolis, IL on the weekend of the annual Superman celebration? And then to finish our evening arriving at Tracy and Kerri’s for grilled out steaks/hamburgers, baked potatoes, and the boys got to swim and play in the lake! It has definitely been a great day from what seemed like a crappy one with bad luck and no bike shops nearby. It was fun and adventurous and these are the things that I know I’ll remember from this trip.

So we traveled the furthest in distance today, but had our shortest biking day!

GPS Stats: (including the route which was driven by car)
121.0 miles
05:02 moving time
23.9 avg speed
82.3 max speed

Computer Stats:
42.66 miles
3:21:43 moving time
12.6 avg speed
31.5 max speed

Snake count: 0 today
Dog chases: 0 today
Highlights:

1. Repair #5 today
2. Hitch-hiking with bikes 70+ miles – very nice people (Stan and Brenda) from Indiana gave us a ride
3. Invitation to swim and camp at lake near Vienna, IL – met some awesome folks, Carrie and Tracy
4. Got out of Kentucky and into Illinois! 3rd state now!
5. Saw the Superman statue in Metropolis, IL
6. Going to Carbondale, IL tomorrow – about 40-45 miles away, then relaxing a bit, seeing a movie perhaps, getting bike tune-ups and doing laundry on Monday!

Aches/pains: none really, just some very minor back aches at the end of the day – probably from too much car riding and not enough biking, right? Haha! The last four days have been pretty good though – no real back pain at all, so I’m just going to continue taking MSM and fish oil and doing my stretches and hope that continues to improve things!