av bike adventure 2017

Feeling very half wayish today. Over 1,000 miles. Finished with the 3rd map. Took the bike into a bike shop in Carbondale, Illinois. The guy replaced a part, tuned it up and gave the bike a good bill of health. He also gave me a bill - $12.00. Pretty amazing. And it feels good to know that the bike is ready for some more adventure. I am feeling a second wind. Tomorrow I hope to spend the night across the river from Kentucky. The following day I will start the morning on the ferry. Feeling somewhat refreshed and ready  for more. Til next time.

A very good end of the day. The biking today was hard,mostly because I was mentally prepared for a light day. There were still 35 miles of hills to get through ( total 47-thought it was going to be 40), and I crossed the Mississippi River on a narrow bridge with lots of semi's vying for space. The drivers were actually really good, but it was still nerve racking. But back to the end of the day - ended up in Chester, Illinois - home of Popeye, Olive Oil, and Bluto. Tonight we are staying at a bike hostel in back of an Eagles fraternal order establishment. Am hanging out with 3 other bikers who are going west (of course). Just having a ball going out to dinner and getting to know these guys. It has been a day to connect  with other cyclists. On the route today, I stopped and talked with Joe from New York City, and Eric and Judy from near Chicago. Eric just retired in January and it starting on his bucket list. The contrast with cyclists is amazing. The young ones are energetic and ...

Relenting is the word of the day. There were hills, but not as unrelenting as in the past. More like the photo above.  I ran into a local cyclist who helped me change route slightly. The route I was supposed to take was ok, but there was a lot of traffic. So he let me know about back roads that didn't' really change the distance.  60 miles today. Tomorrow I am going to ease off a bit - maybe 40. These legs are feeling it. In Farmington Mo. Am hanging out with two other cyclists going west. One from Ohio and one from Wisconsin. It is fun to trade stories. Not much to report on road kill. 1 racoon, 1 rabbit, 1 turtle, 1 armadillo (haven't seen one for a while). Live report 2 turtles and lots of chasing dogs. More than any other day so far. They weren't nasty, just insistent. So looking forward to making it to Illinois tomorrow. After tomorrow, I will have completed 3 of the 6 maps. Til next time.

Unrelenting is again the word of the day. I am getting better at hills, but they are not my favorite. Today we went through the heart of Ozarks country. National Ozarks waterway was the biggest part. Ran into a cyclist from Maryland going the other way. We were both amazed at the ferocity of the storm last night.    The natives have been really friendly, but a little more reserved than in other parts of Missouri. Almost everyone smokes cigarettes, which is surprising to me. Mileage today was 67. We are up to 898 total miles since Pueblo.      Road kill report - almost zero. 3 frogs was about it.       I also didn't see any wildlife either. Tonight I am staying in a cycling hostel run by the city of Ellington, Mo. It certainly is a blessing to know that there is a place like this waiting at the end of the day.       More hills tomorrow, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. At least the hills after tomorrow will be more "norma...

It has been a strange (and good ) day. It really started last night. I camped in an RV campground, which could have been ok,  but it was an adventure. I was given two different spots, but neither one had enough grass to put a tent on. So I ended up putting my tent in back of the shower/ bathroom/ laundry building. The real issue was noise from the highway next to the campground. It never went down. I finally gave up about 11:00 and took my sleeping pad and bag into the laundry room, shut the door, turned off the lights and got a few hours of sleep.     The morning was foggy again, so I ended up sneaking up on some deer crossing the road. Hilly again. I had to walk the bike up a few hills. They were relentless.  Total mileage today was 65 miles. We ended up in Houston, Missouri. It was beautiful - very green. Loads of trees, and beautiful valleys. Ran into 4 riders going the other way. The first one was a 20ish guy from Belgium. Then when I was becoming discouraged I ...

Today was good, but challenging.  I only went 49 miles, but it was all hills.  I am starting to do better on them, but it is still a challenge. The countryside is beatiful, but I am having a hard time appreciating the beauty.   Today's wildlife sighting - a flock of wild turkeys and 7 turtles. Sad to say that the road kill report is related - 3 turtles. I have been tempted when passing a turtle to pick it up and put it on the other side of the road, but I didn't know if human touch was bad for them.  Today I saw a motorist stop, get out, put on a glove, and move the turtle to the other side of the road.  The question still remains - was the glove for the protection of the person or for the protection of the turtle? My close encounter for the day was at a convenience store.  There were about 7 or 8 older men shooting the breeze.  I had assumed they were all farmers. One of the guys started talking with me.  He turned out to be a special ed. teacher...

So today is actually the 12th day.  I counted wrong yesterday.  Today was a challenge as I expected.  Ended up going 70 miles, but only 23 of that was big hills.  From now on, it is all hills, all of the time.  When I talked with people from Ash Grove (where I am staying) and told them I was bushed from today, they just gave each other a "look" that said - "just wait".        Lately the agriculture has either been pasture for cattle or some kind of grain.  Today we finally got some CORN.   The interesting thing about today's fields is that many of them were not fenced.  I assume that means they will never have livestock in them.       Road kill report  - 1 rabbit, 1 armadillo, 1 snake, 2 adult turtles, 1 teeny tiny baby turtle, and a mouse that was still in the jaws of its capturing cat.  I put it in the road kill category, because the cat was running down the road with the mouse in his mouth.   ...

As I was getting ready to leave this morning, I noticed a decorative pillow in the living room with an inspirational saying stitched in the cover. "My goal in life is to be the person my dog thinks I am." How about that for an motto to start the day! At the end of the day today I finished the second of six maps I will use for this trip. In one sense then I am 1/3 of the way through the trip. By miles I am not quite there yet, but close. It is going quickly. By day's allotted for the trip, I am 1/4 of the way to the end(10 out of 40). The toughest part of the trip will be the next 7 days in the Ozarks of Missouri. We'll see how I feel after that.      Met a cyclist from Philadelphia going the other way to Oregon. He told me he came from Pittsburg this morning(which is where I am tonight). I didn't chuckle about the meaning of that until he left. 60 miles today (and yesterday) . Great riding. Good roads. All of the convenience stores were where they were supposed to...

The pasture land is incredibly green and rich. They have ads on TV claiming the cows in CAlifornia are really happy. I think the cows in Kansas have one up on them. If I remember correctly this area is known as the flint rock area and is known for the richness of the pasture grass.  They don't send the cows to feedlots, because they fatten up much better on the native grasses. A  good day, mostly because of interactions with others. Stopped at a small convenience store/ grocery store/ deli/DVD rental store. I was warmly greeted and given a small plastic lizard. The owners have been giving out these lizards (cycling companions) for 25 years to cyclists riding through. They represent the lizards that are found in that area. Then the cyclists write something in a notebook about where they come from and where they are going.  That is a lot of lizards and notebooks.  So, I named my lizard "Liz" and placed it in a place of honor to keep me company.  Really nice couple...

I like both of these  photos.  The top one shows how each town has its own thing to be proud of.Cassoday is a town of only 129 people, but they stand tall being the Prairie Chicken capital of the world.  The bottom photo is an affirmation to me of how great the drivers have been in Kansas. It was a good day, but tough physically.  Total mileage was 73 miles.  The tough part came partly from the long distance, but also because today was the first day when hills became an issue.  Not really hills as in high places, but rolling terrain enough to challenge riding technique.  It was probably good to get started on this, since Missouri looks to be all hills, and not very rolly ones at that. A second issue today was that at the 50 mile marker I was expecting a convenience store.  But there wasn't any there.  So I had to adjust to that.  Also at the 40 mile marker I turned and faced headwinds for 16 miles.  Physically it was difficult, but ...

A fairly short day today. Cold to start with, but ended up taking most of the wool off fairly quickly. The distance traveled each day depends mostly on where one might find shelter for a night. The maps I use are based a lot on how safe the roads are for cyclists, which means that a lot of the time we are on country roads a long way from towns and cities. The choice today was between 37 miles and 107 miles. I went for the 37. The other 70 comes tomorrow. The road kill report - 4 armadillos and one racoon. I thought I saw an armadillo a few days ago, but dismissed it since I didn't think we were in armadillo territory. Turns out we are. The pattern for today's roadkill -nocturnal animals.     We are definitely in conservative, religious territory. Many billboards with Christian messages. As I was leaving Hutchinson today,there was a huge billboard reminding readers to keep the sabbath holy and to rest on the seventh day.  I felt guilty and a little bit like I got caught do...

A really good day today.  It was cold, but I put my wool earmuffs on and my arm and leg warmers and off we went. 70 miles finds us in Hutchinson, Kansas.  Speaking of Kansas, I learned that they don't call the Arkansas river what most of the rest of us call the Arkansas River.  Here it is pronounced Ar- Kansas(as in the way the state of Kansas is pronounced). I rode through a wildlife refuge, which allowed me the pleasure of sighting a fox.  Earlier in the day I was lucky enough to witness a flock of wild turkeys waddling across the road. It did rain a few times, and it was cold, but I finally got a bit of tailwind.  That makes all of the difference. One highlight of the day concerned a couple of vehicles that I passed about 6 times.  The first time I saw a white truck and a black Kia nose to nose.  It looked like they were jumping the truck.  They got the truck going, and then they passed me. About 6 miles down the road, here they were again doin...

Not much to report. I started to ride this morning, but then with the rain, headwind, and weather report I decided it wasn't worth the risk. Got some rest. Tomorrow should be a go.

Today was a tough day. 62 miles, of which 42 of it was with a face slapping, head wind.  I know that is redundant, since head winds are by nature, face slapping.  But that is just how it felt.  Then we had a detour which took us(my bike and me) through 10 miles of gravel road. The last three miles today were on a road that was highly traveled, but had no usable shoulder.  So, I didn't make good time because I was constantly getting off the road for safety reasons.  Those wide loads are not very forgiving. Enough complaining.  I got into town and into a motel before the "weather" showed up.  Tornado sightings and warnings most of the evening until now.  It is still raining, but I think the worst is over. So, I feel fortunate.   Road kill report.  Two possums and a racoon.  They are both firsts for this trip.  I feel like we are getting into some new terrain.  Lots more trees.  We even went by what I would call a real f...

Another long ride.  I didn't start the day with that intention, but the weather reports are for some really stormy weather, so I thought I had better get as far as I could. The next two days will include some violent thunderstorms.  So, 78 miles today.  It was windy.  Very windy.  The day started with the wind coming at me directly from my left.  It was a challenge to keep the bike going straight. Then when semi-trucks went by, it made it all the more interesting. With trucks coming in my direction I would get pushed in the direction I was going, but then sucked towards the truck.  The truck would ge by so fast that I would then get hit by the crosswind and it would send me back to my original position.  At first, it was scary, but after a while I got the hang of it and just let it happen.  I had more issues with the trucks coming at me.  It was like getting hit in the face, and hit with two kinds of swirling winds at the same time. ...

Toto we are not in Colorado anymore!! It was a long day today.  I needed to do a longer ride either today or tomorrow.  It turned out to be today.  79 miles total.  I am in Leoti, Kansas. The landscape was really variable today.  It went back to sagebrush and cactii for about 15 miles, turned  back to grass for the next fifteen, and then suddenly became waves of some grain that I couldn't identify.  It wasn't amber waves of grain, since it was young and green.  But impressive in how it went on and on and on.  The last 30 miles of so ended up being a mixture of various agriculture and crops.   The road was really clean again today.  Road kill report  - 4 snakes, 1 cat, 1 red winged blackbird, 1 wild turkey, 1 skunk, and about 250 gnats.  200 of the gnats ended up stuck in the hair and sun screen on my arms and legs.  The other 50 ended up going down my gullet. Cleaning them out of my arms and legs was quite a chore. No...

    Today was a great biking day. 62 miles with the wind as my friend. The roads were straight and in great shape.  At one point I looked back at where I had been and could still clearly see the town I had left 9 miles before (in a straight line).  Very little traffic.  I had a vehicle pass me once every 5 or 10 minutes.  Which meant that I could really listen.  The birds were incredible today.  It was like a bird concerto for 6 hours.  They took the main part, with the crickets and frogs coming in once in a while to take over.  Even the gophers chirped in periodicly to keep it interesting. And then the cars and trucks were like the rest of the orchestra making verious contributions depending on the speed and size of the vehicle.  The sting basses rumbling or the timpani starting small, then playing too loud and drowning out the main instrument only to quickly fade away.  It was sweet.         Today also mad...

And so it really begins This morning was the real beginning.  It went well.  About 52 miles, more or less flat.  The surrounding vegetation was mostly scrub, with lots of sagebrush and a lot of the cactus pictured above.  There wasn't much road kill to report.  Two frogs and a snake.  Birds were around all day, making lots of beautiful noise.  The highlight of the day was the reaction of a young calf.  The calf had wandered away from the herd and was right up against the fence where I was riding. She looked up as I was passing and immediately sprinted 70 feet to the other side of the herd.  At that point it turned around to see what this strange looking thing was that had frightened it so.  I met three cyclists going the other direction.  Two of them were from Holland.  The other rider was heading home to the western slope of the Rockies.  It was good to compare notes.  They were overjoyed that the wind was unusually ...

So I am smiling today. Just had a great morning riding on trails in Denver with Rod Mahaffey.  This picture finds me in Pueblo just biting at the bullet for tomorrow and the beginning of the adventure(finally). I hope I am smiling at the end of the day tomorrow.  Til next time.