Still workin'

On the slideshow

And the "thank you's"!

Home

We are going home today!

We are waking up to a beautiful day to bike home. I'm both excited and sad. We've been so, so lucky to have had this awesome trip, and now it is almost over. I am ready to bike home, but I will also miss our "simple" days biking, eating and sleeping.

We shared our last camp out with good friends (just like a sleep over), and it sounds like we will meet a few more friends today on the ride into town. What a great way to celebrate the last day. "Good Bye" U-Tour, and "Hello" Madison, WI!

Hello WI!

Been a long time...

Jane Addams Trail!

15.1 mi till WI

Lunch in Freeport IL

North end of Hennepin Canal Bike Trail ...

in the daylight.

Night riding

Yesterday, after a 50 mile day, we arrived at our campsite (Lock 22) at the south end of Hennepin Canal bike trail the north-south feeder of the east-west running canal. We'd had a fairly easy day half on a bike trail, half on small quiet farm roads, mostly flat, just a few rollers, and an awesome tail wind. We discussed riding longer to take advantage of the great conditions, but my legs haven't recovered from our 108 miles day yet, and we had the little campground along the canal all to ourselves.

We set up camp, ate dinner ... and checked the weather on our phones. Our apps were predicting "likely heavy thunderstorms with high winds and hail" for tomorrow's ride, 70 miles to Freeport, IL. We ate dessert, discussed our options, and decided we'd rather ride the 30 miles to Rock Falls/Sterling, IL (the next city with a motel) tonight in the dark, than tomorrow in the storm. So we packed up our gear and at 8pm started biking along the north-south Hennepin feeder canal. We rode as fast as my legs would let us (at least it was super flat!) as long as we had light. We had a beautiful pink sunset around 8:30, some dusk riding, and by 9pm we were riding (a little slower) by headlamps and bike lights. And that's when the fun started. Apparently the feeder canal bike trail is not a popular, well ridden trail. Although it began as a well maintained crushed stone path, it turned into an over grown dirt path with low branches, high grass, and sometimes down to one track for us to follow in our headlights. The other clue that the path was not used much was the wildlife we were scaring up as we rode down the path. We saw deer, great blue heron, many raccoons (some a little too close to our front wheels), and beaver (one slapped his tail spectacularly for us); and, heard splashes and other stranger screeching noises from animals we couldn't identify.

At 10pm we found, with great relief, the end of the trail, and edge of town (Rock Falls, IL), AND a motel to wait out the storm. So this morning I am writing this blog post from our motel room ... and the storm hasn't arrived yet. Now our apps are predicting heavy storms later this afternoon, and clear skies with head winds for tomorrow's 80 mi ride to New Glarus State Park, WI; and, our last night on the road! At least, the storm has given us another adventure, and a day off the bike for my tired legs. Hopefully my legs will get enough recovery for one more hard day, and then a short ride into Madison, and into our own driveway.

Lunch in Wyoming

But I don't think it qualifies as "a new state"!

Creation stories

Heidi got "Free Tibet" socks from "our support team", which are awesome.
We posted a photo of them on Facebook; and lots of people "Like"-d it.

And then, of course, we read the dioramas and historical info at the "Land Between the Lakes" Visitor Center. We read about "the Trail of Tears", where the tribes who lived here were marched West by American tribes/armies to "clear the land for 'settlers'", sort of the like the Bataan Death March that the Japanese army forced on Phillipino and American soldiers in the Phillipines during WWII (judged to be a "war crime" - by the victors of that war). Lots of Cherokee (and others) died on "the Trail of Tears". The Cherokee were forced to march during winter, in fact.
Get out! And stay out!

But that's not part of "our" "history". "Our" "history" is all about "freedom" and "democracy", the "Boston tea party", "the Founding Fathers" and "the Constitution". We call our sports teams the "Redskins", the "Indians" and the "49ers" (after the CA "gold rush" of 1849, as I'm sure you recall). The lily white suburban fans in Atlanta faithfully do "the tomahawk chop" at "Braves" games.

If someone says their people came from the Raven, does that really sound any crazier than "the Earth was created in 7 days"? That "Eve came from Adam's rib"? If someone's creation story values the Earth and the animals (other than humans, as well as human animals) and plants is that any crazier than living by a book written by many different people thousands of years ago, translated many times, and interpreted in many different ways, even when it leads to perverse actions and outcomes? Is it "better" because it is written down, as opposed to an oral history?

When we call our sports teams after the era of "our" people that overwhelmed "their" people, the ones who lived here before our recent ancestors arrived here (the Cleveland Indians, "the Texas Rangers") can we really be critical of the Chinese that are "rushing" to Tibet to mine, to build trains, highways, airports, electricity generating power plants and transmission lines (for themselves, while claiming they are doing it to help the "backward" Tibetans; just like "the missionaries" who taught "the Indians carpentry - and how to survive in the wild"), even when those things are in or on "sacred" sites of "the natives"?
Freedom?
Moral?
Good?

Will the Chinese "creation story" of their very own "Manifest Destiny" portray their "settlers" as heroes? As marauders? As "civilizing" the heathen natives? As thieves? Will they name their sports teams after the Tibetans, the "gold rush", even the "warriors" that fought against them in the 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese "settlers" (supported by the CIA, by the way - and by your [or your parent's] tax dollars)?

Our push onto other people's lands began as soon as "we" Europeans landed on "North America", and we pushed West in earnest by around 1830. The Chinese are doing it now, starting with their invasion of Tibet as WWII came to a close in 1951 (with Soviet help), a mere 120 years after we did the same thing to Kentucky, to Tennessee, to Texas, to California etc
How long have Arizona and New Mexico been states?
100 years.
And that's not very long, is it?

It sure is sad to SEE it happening in Tibet, of course; as it surely IS happening. But we Americans, Canadians and Mexicans (via the British, French, and Spanish, primarily) really ought to look in the mirror more and consider doing a better job ourselves before we scream "human rights!" when we see what other nation states/govts/people/'corporate people' are doing; and living in denial about their abuses as they write their own "creation story". I'm sure they'll have their own "Founding Fathers", their own "Louisiana Purchase", their own "Lewis and Clark". And they'll likely celebrate them as much as we do.

And we should remember that; we should remember our own history. And try to do better, next time, no matter how wonderful our own "creation stories" are - that we tell ourselves.

People in America

There are a LOT of poor people in America.

I have been amazed at how many people live in trailers and mobile homes. We have camped in RV parks across a lot of this big country, and there are many gainfully employed people living out of their RV's. There are construction workers, law enforcement officers, cleaning staff, park employees, you name it, living in RV's; likely with no "benefits", no "golden parachute", no "mortgage interest deduction" (We saw a television advertisement from a realtors group advocating for keeping the current mortgage interest deduction - it's in their interest after all - and they're willing to spend millions of dollars trying to keep "the status quo" - which is also advantageous to those buying huge [2nd?] homes.)

I keep thinking back to 2008 when surveys said Americans were very concerned about the 50 million Americans without medical insurance (who would [have to] go to the Emergency Room when desperate for care.) It was the number one concern, in fact.
Then you had the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act.
And immediately wealthy, powerful Americans and multi-national 'corporate people' - and their political party - began fighting dirty to prevent it from moving forward (a perverse sort of "preventative medicine"?!) They, on behalf of obese insurance 'corporate people', dropped "the public option". How could those CEO's justify their $10+ million/year salaries if the govt could do it cheaper, and more straightforwardly? It would make them look bad.

Now we find out that "our" govt is spending Billions of dollars (on the NSA and huge, private, for-profit-only contractors) spying on us; tappin' our phone lines, readin' our email, savin' our attachments - in huge, expensive complexes in MD and UT. (And, in one of the ultimate ironies, Facebook, Google and Apple - those tax cheats [extremely creative tax-avoidance-scheme 'corporate people'] - are facilitating our govt spying on us while NOT paying their fair share of taxes to pay for those $200,000/year "Booz-y" contractor salaries. Freedom!)
Remember when there was the push for all cell phones to have a GPS chip in them? Well, "our" govt is storing where you make and receive your calls too.

But "we can't afford"
To make walking safer?
To make biking safer?
To make sure all Americans have some sort of basic public education and ("public option"?) medical care?

Well, clearly it is not a case of "can't afford". It is a case of "won't choose to" make it happen. A "Christian nation"?
Hardly.

"We" love war and the wealthy (well, "our" govt does anyway), just like so many imperial powers before us.

But the people you meet, the people on the street, are curious, funny, kind and generous. It is just too bad that "our" govt is not more like THOSE Americans; rather than like the greedy, venal, and vain "leaders" of our political and business "elite".

As well as Caterpillar, Chase and PNC banks, "this" is Peoria, Illinois
http://m.usatoday.com/article/news/1910091

I wish it was more profitable for "our" govt and "our" (American?) 'corporate people' to help the American people get a decent education, basic medical care, and some sort of economic opportunity (other than delivering 'recreational' drugs by bike/backpack in cities like Peoria, Illinois.)
Until "We, the people" are able to wrest control of "our" govt back from the unconscionable greed of multi-national 'corporate people' - and billionaires - the reality for tens of millions of Americans is going to continue to be a life of poverty, sickness and lack of hope or opportunity.
And that's too bad.
Unless you are already among the comfortable or super-wealthy, of course. In which case, maybe you should try harder to be content with all that you have - and stop trying to squash the smallest of attempts by those living in RV parks to "make the leap" up from the bottom of the social and economic ladder - and stop preventing "our" govt from attempting to help the American people.

The weather

Everyone loves to talk about the weather.
So here it goes, "the weather" for the ground covered on the U-Tour.
NorCal is foggy, misty, moist.
SoCal is sunny.
"The desert", stretching from SoCal East of the 4,000 climb outta San Diego to about Leakey, TX, is HOT. It's hot, dry, as in "11 year drought" sunny and dry. I was definitely surprised that there weren't more photovoltaic panels and passive solar hot water heaters. It seemed WAY sunnier "than Germany", for about 6 weeks of biking - straight.
As you approach Austin it turns green again, and you can absolutely see and feel the humidity comin' off the Gulf (of Meh he Co). Thunderstorms, rain.
East Texas ends up bein' like Wisconsin, but hotter - and more "oily".
Louisiana is hot, humid and swampy.

The Mississippi River basin is overflowing with water. The river is at flood stage. There are alligators in the river, pushed out of their habitual backwaters in Louisiana/Mississippi. The farmers in Illinois are a month behind in planting because their fields are still so wet.

So, the weather: 11 year drought for the entire Southwest; floods for the Mississippi River basin.
That's it for weather tonight.

The NSA is Awesome!

Well, since they're recording all American email senders, recipients, subject lines and attachments...figgered I'd give 'em a shout out!

But seriously folks. There is humor out there in this big old crazy country of ours.
Like dinner tonight.
We walked over from the motel (no camping in the Peoria area; and not sure I'd want to camp in many parts of this area...) to the Panera - and had to dodge out of the way of the woman comin' out of the drive-through in her Land Cruiser, "multi-tasking".

We go in to order food, and I'm impressed with all the Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau quotes - plus the bikes in the art, several times, as well.
BUT - we have to go outside to eat - because the air conditioning is cranked "up" so high in there that it is freezing!

America is so funny.

Saw one of these billboards today

While riding through Peoria, Illinois.
http://m.usatoday.com/article/news/1910091
Powerful.
Sad.

If we can afford to spend Billions of dollars spying on Americans - to keep them "safer".
We should be able to help keep these kids safer.
And it'd be a lot cheaper too.

Path in Peoria

Illinois

Sprints with Eddie

We had a record dog chase yesterday.
I figger he musta run bout a mile.
Lucky fer us he got a late start.
After his two compadres started the fireworks, he belatedly came a lopin' out after us.
But he kept comin'
And comin'
Even after the road made a 90 degree right turn
He kept comin'
So we put on a little "burst of speed" to try to discourage him (and you know, with loaded touring bikes, I mean that we went from 12 mph to 16 mph)
It seemed to do the trick
But we stopped a short while later, "lost" in rural Illinois. We were trying to figure out a way across the river blocking our progress Northward.
And I did keep checking behind us, just to make sure that "Eddie" hadn't resumed his chase...

100 days on the road

Couple hundred miles left to go
Till we're home again

Banana Split!

108 miles!

OK, we don't need to do that again. Between Joe Dobson's inspirational 100 mile ride yesterday, the great weather, tail wind, flat IL country roads and Gary's SAG (and lots of other good reasons I can't remember right now), we thought it would be a good idea to do 2 of our planned 50 miles days in 1 100 mile day. So tonight we are in Taylorville, IL, fed, showered and ready for bed. I'm glad we took the challenge, but I'm also happy not to do another 100 mile day again (at least until we get home)!

Ode to the 18

I've often thought on this trip
"Man, I wish I had an 18 (tooth cog)"
As I flip back and forth between the 17 and 19 tooth cogs; one is just a little too hard, the other just a little too easy.
Just call me Goldilocks, I guess.

But longin' fer the 18 is like longin' fer the good old Colonial days, back when the 13 "original" British(/French/Spanish/Dutch) colonies were sore about their "taxation without representation" reality - and the "glory days" of "the Boston tea party". No one HERE is goin' back to bein' just "colonies", believe you me.

It's like longin' fer "the Constitution", in abstract, without knowing a single one of the Amendments to that Constitution; without recognizing that "the Founding Fathers" KNEW that the times would change, that they and their document were NOT perfect, that a way to adapt and update it was vital. When "the Constitution" was read on the House floor after the recent Congressional election, "the 'tea party' revolution of 2010" - they DID NOT READ the part of the Constitution that the Founding Fathers wrote into it about "slaves being counted as 3/5 of a person" for the census - to make sure Southern, slave states would pass it - giving them more Representatives in Congress than they would have gotten based only on "land owning white males". So when people like that make a big public spectacle about loving "the Constitution" and being "strict originalists" and being "pure" and say they'll "never compromise on my/our principles" - are they saying they want slavery to make a comeback? That they want black men to not be able to vote? (Whoa. That's a little "close to home". Apparently some "tea party Republicans" ARE currently saying that!) That they want women to not be able to vote? (Can you say "Equal pay for equal work"? Congress can't!) Do they want to undo all the Amendments to the Constitution, go ALL the way back? (Should I assume that they know the first 10 Amendments, known collectively as "the Bill of Rights", were passed WITH the Constitution? Probably not, eh?)

Longin' fer the 18 is like longin' fer the days of "the Confederacy", that brief period in "American" history when "the South was 'free'". It ain't gonna happen, no matter how proudly the Confederate flag (or state flag with the Confederate flag embedded in it) is flown, no matter how sweet the thought might be (for some [white] "Southerners".)

So you can be sure that when I say "I long for the 18 tooth cog" that I don't have on my cassette today - I only mean it "in theory". While I would love to have the 18 - and would use it a lot - there is no way that I would be willing to give up the 24 and 27 tooth cogs that I now have to get the 18 back. The 18 was good, the 18 IS good. But the "amended" cassette that I now have on my bike, while not perfect, is a better cassette for me today, a better real world compromise for the real world riding that I am doing, today.

Long live the 18!

But God bless my 27...

Not the best patch job ...

Wow

I went from
"Holy crap. This sucks."
To
"Holy crap. This is amazing."
In the space of about an hour, yesterday.

We had a nice stay at the Little Grassy Lake campsite in Shawnee National Forest, and were making our way back towards the Mississippi river and the ACA Great Rivers route after "going rogue" to meet Joe, our friend from way back in Wickenburg, AZ, for lunch on his way East on the TransAmerica route (the original ACA route?)
We got a decent start. We were woken up by some fishermen/campers arriving on Sam's Point at sunrise, exclaiming "Holy cow! Awesome!" (I think there was cursing, actually. But I can't remember their exact exclamations, unfortunately.) I can only imagine, as they slammed their motor vehicle doors, that they were excited to have such a cool place to camp, on a nice lake, (almost) all to themselves. Ah, car alarms and car doors slamming. Heidi knows how much I love the "Bleep Bleep!" when campers keep going back to their motor vehicle late at night/early in the mornin' - and lock/alarm it - EACH time. (Just a warning - if you camp with me and do that - you may find some of your wiring cut in the morning...just sayin'. Unfortunately I'm not very good with cars, so I may end up cutting a whole bunch of wires, "out of ignorance". Sorry.)

We get on the road, have nice weather, pretty nice road - and less hilly than it has been the last couple days. But then I heard a metallic "Ping!" from my bike on a short, but very steep uphill before town - and my immediate thought was "Uh oh. There goes one of my pawls." (One of the tiny ratcheting things inside the hub which allow the rear wheel to "freewheel" when coasting, and then spring out and engage when you start pedaling.) We stop and I look at my bike, check for broken rack bolts etc. But I don't see anything and the bike is "working", so we keep going.
We only get chased by one angry dog with his hackles up, that I can recall...into Murphysboro. We only get aggressively/dangerously passed by one or two motor vehicle operators on the downhill into town. We stop, look at our bad maps, try to recall Joe's "tax-avoidance-scheme phone" map/directions - and figure, yes, we will go the way of the Bike Route green sign, even though it is in "the wrong direction". (Everyone has played those "brain teaser" games where you have to "think outside the box" in order to solve the puzzle - well, bike touring in America without a[n ACA] map is kinda like that. "Use 'the force', Luke. Use 'the force'.")
We wiggle around the poor, descendant-of-American-slaves side of town and onto "Main Street" - and I say "Let's go to the 'Market' instead of the gas station for snacks and restrooms", figuring I would rather support them (this time. We have spent a lot of money at "gas stations", and none of it has been on gas; it has all been on the higher margin stuff. They should LOVE us!) The 'Market' won't let us use the restrooms. Damn! I really gotta GO! So after snacking we go back across the busy street, for the 2nd of what will be now 3 times, to the gas station for a can of Coke and a Clif bar - and their restrooms. I get some serious "fish eye" from the poor white trash dude driving the beat up garbage truck as he pulls out of the gas station. I can only imagine that he was admiring my shorts. I figure my stink, which surely was in powerful form, wasn't what was likely bothering him given what was behind his ass.
The checkout lady didn't seem to mind my shorts so much that she wasn't willing to give us route info, and say "Be safe!" She confirmed that my hazy memory and rough idea were, in fact, heading us in the right direction. I was glad Joe let me stare at his phone, as the recent retinal image was coming in handy.
The only problem, I thought at the time, was that I was now feeling nauseous (too much chocolate milk and a banana pounded, quickly, on top of a full bladder? Did I wait too long "to go"?) I biked very slowly, but any forward progress felt like the right thing to do, at the time.
We passed the big red SUV up on blocks in front of the "descendant of poor white trash red-neck" house with the Confederate flag flying proudly out front. I wanted to take pictures, but my dizzy head and sense of self-preservation - plus my lack of CCP permit - made me "just keep ridin'".
A train passed us at about the same time: definitely on "the wrong side of the tracks", hemmed in between the freight train and the Confederate flag wavin' Colt 45 fan (either the cheap beer, or the handgun. Or maybe both?)

A short while later, after leaving the sleepy hollow of poverty and accessing the smooth highway of prosperity on the outskirts of town, I was beginning to feel like I was weaving more than desirable. I told Heidi that I had to stop, and pulled over onto a deserted side street. She wisely told me to get my ass down the road a piece, to find a little shade. After peeing there, again, I noticed my rear brake was rubbing, slightly. So I adjusted the right/left tension to get the left brake pad off the rim, and we set off again. Heidi pretty quickly says "Your wheel is out of true", as she has a Birdsville-eye view of it, riding directly behind me (and my stink). I stop, briefly, right on the side of the small, smooth, rumble-stripped highway and feel some of my spokes, and sure enough, there is a "broken spoke" on the rear wheel, drive-side. So I open the brake up as far as I can with the barrel adjuster and go forward a hundred yards or so and pull off in the next driveway. I figure I'll true the wheel up a little bit and we'll keep goin'. We're in the middle of nowhere, in Southern Illinois; nowhere near anything like "a bike shop". I take the tent, sleeping bag, lock, and two rear panniers off the back of the bike, as well as "the top lid" off the handlebar and flip the bike upside down on the grass. I dig out the spoke wrench from the bottom of "the extra tool bag", the one full of stuff you hope you don't ever need. I start looking at the rim. How bad is it out of true? I find "the broken spoke" and figure I'll try to get the rim at least a little straighter...

Now this one wheel, of our four, is the Sesame Street "Which one of these things is not like the others" one. The other three are Shimano XT hubs, with Mavic A719 rims (I don't recall the spokes, sorry. Strong spokes; not light, triple butted race-weeny spokes. Probably straight gauge, 14? 15?). When I originally ordered the wheels, years ago, I wanted two exact wheelsets, so that I could just swap out wheels when bike commuting in the winter in the Upper Midwest; so that I wouldn't have to change tires, regular for studded, depending on that day's meteorological reality. And it worked out great. Want just a studded front wheel? Grab the matching one outta the basement, swap it out, done. No need to adjust brakes, take tires off/on, pump up tires etc. Easy. Awesome. When Heidi ordered her frame for this trip and we were puttin' the parts together I figured she would just use "the other" set of touring/commuting wheels. Solid, strong, comfortable.
But. This one rear wheel is NOT a Shimano XT hub. It is an Onyx DT Swiss hub. And? The spoke nipples are (likely) NOT the same size as either the other three OR my one spoke wrench. I would have cursed (more) about that realization if I had not noticed that it was, in fact, more than one spoke. It was more than the two loose spokes. It was the dang hub flange! WTH?! Boom. Hub flange cracked, metal missing, spokes dangling free in the space where aluminum used to live. Well, this changes things. It changes things a lot. That is not repairable. That is "replace the rear wheel" kinda bad.
It's Wednesday. We're equidistant between two small towns in Southern Illinois, neither of which likely has a bike shop. And, as it turns out, the "forward" town has no camping, no motel, "nothin'".

We look up, and where are we, stuck on the side of the road? A campground. We are in the driveway of a campground.
Heidi looks it up on "tax-avoidance-scheme" internet search engine and calls the number. I text Kevin and Laura and Terry. Heidi tells me the "new" phone number for the "campground" and I dial. Anna answers, luckily, and tells me that they don't take over-nighters, that they rent by the year. But she's on her way out from town to clean up the cabin she rented merely 2 hours ago to another fella, or we could have had it. Dang! So close!

Miraculously, our friends Terry, Kevin, and Laura work it out such that they are going to get me a replacement wheel from my mountainbike in our basement - in 2 days. What?! Crazy. Laura has been thinkin' about joinin' us fer a stretch of the ride, and she has worked it out to get a ride down here from Gary on Friday. She already has my wheel, with a different cassette on it, and will have it to me tomorrow. Wow. Crazy. Awesome.

And Anna?
She shows up, talks to us, takes a look at my hub, and shows us around. We can set up our tent beside the "rec room" building, use the shower, do a load of laundry, stay a couple days. She even drives us into town to buy groceries - and back - after she finishes changing the sheets and cleanin' up the cabin we wished we could have rented from her; that a return renter is using starting tonight. We use the kitchen, sit on the couch, and watch Colbert on the big screen. Crazy. Nice. Generous. Trusting. Awesome.

As I was takin' a shower yesterday, after settin' up the tent, I was thinkin' "Man, this situation went from 'Really bad' to 'Really good' in about the space of the last hour. How frickin' lucky. How frickin' lucky to have such nice people helpin' us out."

So thanks.
Y'all are amazing.

Some things we've learned from the U-Tour

It might be a bit early for a retrospective on the trip, but this might also be our penultimate rest day (knock on wood!).

I've been thinking of things we've learned from the trip:

1. Don't eat gas station prepared meals, especially if it has meat.

2. We averaged 40-50 miles a day, with breaks included. The total trip will be close to 5000 miles and 110 days (we estimated 5000 miles and 100 days).

3. We spent most nights in the tent, but used motels and restaurants as we wanted/needed to. I think it is costing us around $60/day for food and accommodations for the two of us, on average. A trip like this can certainly be done for a lot less (and a lot more).

4. Talk to the locals. Besides interesting conversations, we also learned important information, like what time the local factory shift change was (a good time not to be on the road). We never had to make an effort to talk to people, people often came to talk to us.

5. The ACA maps are awesome. It would be a completely different experience (not bad, just different) forging our own route from standard state road maps. We really like all the information and suggested routes on the ACA maps.

6. Don't let all the negative talk from people before the trip get you down. Although the negative stories weren't incorrect, they were a very small part of the whole experience.

7. Weather is everything. We don't have control of the weather, but time of year and direction of travel are related to temperatures, storms, and prevailing wind direction. We've been VERY lucky so far. Like Kevin Tita said to me 3+ months ago, "if its raining, take a day off", which we did. We also took days off for strong head winds or wind/sand storms. Sometimes a day off is more productive than wasting energy battling the weather.

8. Take care of your bike. Greg has been diligent at keeping our drive trains cleaned and lube'd. We've paid attention to strange clicks and pings from our bikes, hopefully preventing failures that might have happened. I found and tightened a loose bolt which was holding my rear rack to my bicycle frame (it would have broken, for sure), and Greg replaced his shifter cables. We've also had the bikes checked, cleaned, and adjusted 3 times along the way at bike shops. Not that we can or will prevent all failures (Greg's hub!), but we can try do what we can.

9. Flat tires are inevitable. A heavier sturdier tire is worth the extra weight. We've liked using the schwalbe marathons with reflective sidewalls, especially on the rear wheels.

10. Be visible. Wear bright colours (fluorescent yellow is the best). Use the brightest blinking front and rear lights all the time. We also had reflective slow moving triangles on our rear racks. Other people use flags as well, which work really well.

11. Avoid rush hour.

12. I liked using panniers. We had plenty of room with 4 panniers each. Some people use trailers, but I think they are added weight and rolling resistance, and more tires that could get flats.

13. We've met so many nice people.

... that's it for now ...

A day off gives time to fix things

Besides Greg's hub, other things are starting to wear out. Our bike gloves need to be replaced, I've worn through a few pairs of socks, Greg has repaired the pocket in one of his jerseys, and I found a leak in my mattress ... hopefully we can fix it today, the ground is hard to sleep on!

Benefiting from the kindness of friends and strangers, again

We thought we'd try to have a long day today, and make it into Missouri tonight. But our plans changed when Greg's bike made a slight "ping"-sound on a small but steep uphill. When it happened we both heard it, and we stopped so Greg could look for the reason. He didn't find anything obvious, and the bike was working fine, so we continued with our ride. About 10 miles later he noticed that his rear brake pad was rubbing, and then I noticed his wheel was out of true. Our first thought was, ah the ping was from a broken spoke. No problem, we have the tools and spare spokes to fix that. It would be a pain, but we could fix it. Greg set up the bike shop on the lawn of a "campground", when he found the real source of the "ping". The hub flange had failed. THAT we can't fix, and we are equi-distant between 2 small towns, with barely a gas station and a coffee shop, let alone a bicycle shop with a touring rear wheel.

Google maps gave me the phone number of the "camp ground" whose lawn we were sitting on, to find out its not a nightly kind of camping ground, but the owner was coming in anyway and she would see if she could help us out. As we have found many times on this trip, there are so many kind people! We set up our tent next to the park's community building, and our host gave us the keys so we can use the bathrooms, showers, laundry, and kitchen!

Meanwhile, Greg, with a few txt messages has already arranged a replacement wheel, thanks to our good friends, Terry, Kevin, Laura and Gary. Only this morning, Laura confirmed that she and Gary would be joining us from Madison on Fri. Now they have a second reason to drive down ... they will bring Greg's replacement wheel!

Not good!

Ping!

Broken hub flange, rear wheel drive side, two spoke holes.

Camping in the South

Southern IL, that is!

Tired today
From another 3,000+ feet of climbing day
With panniers again now too
Oof da!

When is our next day off again?

We had lunch with Joe!

We first met Joe and Kevin, just west of Phoenix, at a RV park in the bike tenter's spot. There were 5 of us bikers and we were all pretty excited to have the luxury of grass to tent on. We had great conversations with Joe and Kevin and looked forward to running into them again, but it never happened (Joe has had to deal with 2 broken bikes, an abscessed tooth, and tornadoes). And then yesterday I realized how close he was to us, he is heading east on the trans american and we are heading north on the Great Rivers Route. So, Greg and I made a small route change and planned to have lunch with Joe! We met Joe on the lawn of a church, and exchanged food and stories for 2 hours. I'm so glad it worked out!

"That's a wonderful way

From gittin' run over.
Them lights."

Says the dude gittin in the big red pickup truck at the market, with a cowboy hat on and a thick Southern (Illinois) accent.

I figure a great way to not get run over
Is for motorists to pay attention to drivin'
While drivin'

Drive at or below the speed limit
Slow down and move over when passing - give 3 feet of room, or more at higher speeds
Use yer turn signals - it helps communicate to other road users, even cyclists.

And if it's not safe to pass?

Don't pass.


And cyclists?
Wear "chartreuse" (especially if yer a bass fisherman)
Use flashing front and rear lights, even in the daytime. You might be surprised how many motorists will thank you fer havin' 'em - and usin' 'em.
Ride single file, anytime there is a remote chance that it would be appropriate; in terms of safety, in terms of "sharing the road".
Stop away from intersections when "checkin' the map", comparing power numbers, etc. - it is confusing for others if you stop right at the Stop sign with no intention of going through it (as soon as it is clear)
Wear a helmet.

Write yer legislators
Askin' 'em for more cycling infrastructure. It makes cyclists safer - and motorists less irate.
I mean, if we can afford $3 Trillion to remove the threat posed to American cyclists from Saddam - we can afford "more than zero" of our tax dollars being spent making American cyclists safer on the roads - from American motorists.


Thank you.

So sad our SAG left today

Riding a few days without bags and the convenience of a car was great! Its not just easier riding but easier logistics too. We also chose to stay together in cabins or motels, instead of usual camping. Life was good and easy, and then Leone left early this morning.
Coincidentally, we also hit some of the hilliest terrain so far on this trip, which felt that much harder after the gift of bag-free riding. And tonight we are back to camping, glad to have a site with a picnic table, and access to showers (that don't even need quarters). Its a beautiful and quiet campground on little Grassy Lake, IL. I think I will sleep well tonight.

Route change for lunch date!

With our friend Joe, from the Southern Tier

Our "support crew" has left

E-town has taken "the chuckwagon"
And gone home.

And as I look around at our stuff
I'm thinkin'
ALL this has to go on our bikes!!

Vegetable for dinner

Dinner tonight is

Dinner tonight is fried onions, fried pickels, fried mushrooms, fried potatoes, fried sweet potatoes, fried grilled cheese sandwich, and fried burgers. We've got all the food groups covered on Health Canada's and FDA's food pyramids.
Bon Appetite!

A part of our creation story

Glad we watched that PBS Lewis and Clark video before this trip!

State #10!

Happy Birthday Big Brother!

We were thinking of you during today's ride. We had a great ride: partly cloudly, not too hot or humid, anad we got to ride on a parkway for the whole day. Couldn't have been much better. For me the highlights were the bison and elk sightings.
Hope you had a great day too, and ate some cake for us!

The funniest thing I heard today

We were bikin' along on the Land Between the Lakes Parkway, a Dept of Agriculture property, with lots of trucks pullin' fishin' boats. In fact, there was a fishin' tournament goin' on this weekend. We saw lots of professional bass fisherman out on the river yesterday, down by the Civil War/War of Northern Aggression monument.
So today when I saw a fishin' lure on the side of the road I was kinda excited. I have been carryin' a "rubber worm" for ages now. We found it on the ground somewhere along our travels. I regretted not lookin' fer a hook, after I got the worm, this one time when there was fishin' line all over the lakeshore where we stayed. We could totally catch some fish with a piece of line, a hook, and our found rubber worm!

So today, when I saw the tiny spinner bait I was trying to describe it to Heidi, since it was in a curve and several motor vehicles were around - and I decided to not try to go back and pick it up. I said, "It's like the one we have in my 'top lid' (i.e. handlebar bag), only it has a silver spinner on it and it's chartreuse."
Heidi comes back, calmly, with
"Everybody knows bass love chartreuse."

LOL.

Learnin' stuff

Snackin' w our "support team"...

Is awesome!

One of the luxury of SAG!

Kentucky!

With our support team!

I know you won't believe me

We started our trip on March 1, flying from the Flatwest to the border of CA and OR; going from a foot of snow on the ground to foggy and cool redwood forests.
We had 2 days of rain in Eur-tweeker-a; but we saw it comin' on our "smart-ass" phone and got up at 4am, biked into town, and stayed in a motel room. We charged up all our electronic devices - and our tired legs.
We rode through the desert in CA, AZ, NM, and into TX; where we saw some rain in the distance in the beautiful Davis Mountains - and rode on recently wet roads near the Washington Observatory. The woman at Davis Mountains SP told us it hadn't rained there since... She couldn't remember. Last summer?
We saw some rain in the distance in West Texas; but it never reached the ground. It evaporated before it reached the ground. Very weird looking, fer sure. But we stayed dry.
Keith let us stay in his trailer in Langtry for two days, avoiding the ridiculously strong winds and storm pushing through the region.
We rode over "dry wash" after dry wash (shown as "rivers" on our maps). We rode into the greenness of the Gulf of Mexico-influenced part of TX before Austin. Had an awesome stay with Jordan in Austin, arriving RIGHT before the rain.
We rode through LA, NM, AL, and into TN. We arrived at "our" motel on the 30th right before the rain, thunder and lightning.

And you know what?
Yesterday, May 31st, was
The first day
Of the trip
That we really
Rode our bikes in the rain.

Crazy, I know.

We biked from March 1 to May 31st, averaging about 50 miles/day - and never really rode in the rain - until May 31st.

I told you that you wouldn't believe me!

Fun times, old and new friends

We biked up the Natchez Trace Parkway from MilePost zero to 407, along the entire length (diagonal!) of Mississippi, through the NW corner of Alabama, and into Tennessee. It was not the entire 444 mile length, but our route took us West before Nashville ("the Trace goes close to, but not into, Nashville) - so we left "the wormhole" of "the Trace" to stay on the Great Rivers route from the ACA (Adventure Cycling Assoc).
We missed the Trace, pretty much as soon as we were off it. We went from low traffic, Speed Limit of 50 MPH (adhered to, enforced [somewhat, with the Parkway losing 9 Park Rangers due to Congress's ineptitude and their "sequester"]), smooth pavement with next to no trash where our bike tires touch the road - to busy roads with 55 MPH+ traffic, lots of debris in "our" lane, AND rumble strips pinching us into traffic or off the road surface and onto the gravel shoulder - MUCH more stressful riding conditions, no doubt.

Lucky for us we found a cheap motel just before the rain and thunder/lightning began. The only businesses surviving there in the "de-regulation frenzy" economy we have been bequeathed by recent American Administrations (Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush v2) are a gas station and a porn shop.
Luckily for us the gas station has put in a small grill since the restaurant went out of business; and we took advantage of their "food options" the next morning.

PLUS our "old" friends Eric and Anca "from" Madison drove down from Nashville and took us out to a fun dinner and beers up the road a stretch - in their car! Ah, so easy!
It was great to see them and catch up a bit, after 3 1/2 years was it? Look forward to our next beer, maybe in Madison some time?

Then, the next morning, a little, uh, tired from the late night and the beers...Heidi exclaims "Hey! There go some touring cyclists!" So I threw on my shirt and ran out the door after them, catching them just as they threw their legs over their top tubes. Now usually when I yell at people and run towards them they skeedaddle. But these nice folks actually waited till I waddled up to them with my tired cyclist legs and we chatted about our respective bike tours. They're heading South, we're heading North. And they're Canadians, eh?
We exchanged good restaurant options in the recent past of our respective directions; and I know for us it worked out great! Hope Jane and Rob have as nice a ride down the Trace as we had up it...

Heidi tells me our mileage

For the trip
So far
Is
4,002 miles

Not bad, eh?!

My new socks

I feel about as ragged as that profile...

TN is hilly

Leone's here with flags, t-shirts and SAG!!

Our support team has arrived!

Fried Green Tomatoes!

Yum!

Yup ...

Socks

We decided to buy socks from each state that we bike through; after spending a month in CA and NOT thinkin' of it!
So we have AZ, NM, and TX socks.
We looked for LA socks, but to no avail; figure we'll have to order 'em online once we're home in the Flatwest.
Then we biked into MS. Their flag has the Confederate flag embedded in it. Had a long conversation with an old white guy at one of the campgrounds along "the Trace", and while I enjoyed our conversations I also had flashbacks to the preacher in TX who put out a sign in front of his church "Vote for the Mormon capitalist, not the Muslim communist".
I brought up the fact that we had hardly seen any black people/descendants of slaves/African-Americans on our trip through MS so far and how I felt like what we were seeing wasn't a "real" representation of MS. And I asked him, gently, about the Confederate flag in the state flag; did many black people fly it? He was adamant that it was not a symbol of slavery, that it was just "a piece of history". Maybe. Maybe not.
Then he closed, much later, with "we call our little 3 acre place 'the plantation'".
Then we rode through the corner of AL. Looked up their flag, after catching a glimpse of one on a passing motor vehicle: very much like the Confederate flag. Huh.
Today, in TN, we stopped at a gas station for a cold can of Coke, and I saw a black guy. One guy. And when he walked by us, 4 times, he wouldn't look at us. Didn't seem relaxed, didn't say hello. I got the sense he was keepin' his head down, mindin' his own business; didn't want no trouble.
And that clinched it for me: I ain't buyin' MS or AL socks. Sorry.

(And I'm not sayin' "I ain't gonna buy TN socks", even though this last experience was here in TN. It just reminded me of my earlier thoughts and questions. The TN flag does not have the Confederate flag in it.)

Youch.

Tennessee be hilly
Hot
Humid

Landed at the Travel Inn right as the thunder started...

"Riders on the storm
Into this world we're born"

We rode on "the Trace", some nasty roads, and then a nice, smooth, quiet, swoopy road. We were on a llooonnngggg twisty fun downhill
When it started to rain a bit.
I was thinkin' "Uh oh. This could be trouble if it really opens up on us right now..."
But it was just scattered, big, splotchy rain drops; the kind that cool you off but don't get you wet, and make the road look "spotted".
I think Bobby may have been lookin' out fer us with that cooling rain and nice tailwind. Thanks Bobby. Hope yer up there swimmin' with the narwhals right now, laughin'...

Today's ride is dedicated to Bobby

Our friend's, friend Bobby, was hit and killed yesterday by a DUI motorist. We are dedicating today's ride to Bobby.

Inchworming along

I was thinking about the "Inchworm Song" by Rhonda Herdman, today when I was going 3 mph uphill sweating buckets and watching the caterpillars and beetles sprinting across the street with confidence and optimism.

The chorus goes like this:
"i'm pedaling backwards i'm pedaling backwards i'm gettin nowhere fast lil green inchworm is beating my ass"

We've left the worm hole

We said good bye to the Natchez Trace and hello to the rural roads of Tennessee. The positives for today are: tail winds, no thunder storms (so far), lots of friendly waves, dogs tied-up or fenced-in, and beautiful country roads. The negatives are the hills (over 10%!), the humidity, and the rumble strips in the already narrow shoulders.

Leone you've timed your services perfectly! I can't wait to ride a few days without bags!

Hot

Humid
Hilly

An 11% grade
with an 80 pound bike
is hard.

400!

Miles on the Natchez Trace Parkway...

Natchez Trace

Fascinating stuff

Powerful history here

You can feel it in yer bones...

Sequestration sucks

"Our" federal govt set up "the sequester", thinking it would be so awful that Congress (and the Obama Administration) would never let it happen.
Well, here we are!
And on the Natchez Trace Parkway, a National Parks property (part of the Dept of the Interior - mostly concerned with oil, gas, timber leases, but, oh yeah, we have some nice parks too), they have closed half the Restrooms Monday - Wednesday and the other half Wednesday - Friday.
I won't tell you what I idly thought about doing in front of the locked Men's restroom yesterday (I knew it would only negatively impact the NPS [contract] workers, and not who it would have been directed at - Congress, and especially Boehner, Cantor and McConnell - the three-headed obstructionists.)
And, we found out yesterday, they cut 9 Park Ranger positions here. Nine more people outta work. Great work folks.
But, of course, "we" have plenty of money to bail out the "Fix the Debt" crowd on Wall Street (who DON'T pay their fair share of taxes - pay yer taxes! THAT would fix the debt!), plenty of money to bail out the motor vehicle industry (again), and plenty of money to drop McDonnell Douglas cruise missiles on Libya - to make some Libyans safer?
Congress (and the Obama Administration) is clearly owned by big business. How many Wall Street "banksters" were arrested for crashing the American and world economy with their stupid, reckless derivatives? None. How many "Occupy Wall Street" protesters were arrested for seeking a redress of grievances from their govt? Plenty.
And? Too big to fail has gotten Bigger since 2008. Derivatives are still NOT regulated. The Glass-Steagall Act has still not been re-enacted, separating banking from investing - to prevent the kinds of meltdowns we had in 1929 and 2008. Another one is comin', that much you can be sure of.

If 'corporate people' like Apple would only pay their taxes, like you and I do, then those 9 Park Rangers would have jobs - and we would be safer biking the Parkway.

Check out the lengths to which Apple goes to NOT contribute to schools, parks, and "Supporting Our Troops".

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/business/apples-tax-strategy-aims-at-low-tax-states-and-nations.html

Feeling better!

Yesterday morning I was feeling so tired, I hardly ate any breakfast. Today I feel refreshed and we biked 88 mi (with 2100 ft of climbing). Everyday I'm amazed how my body recovers from the day's ride.

Today's highlight was entering the state of Tennessee, it's really starting to feel like we are on the way home. We also rode in 3 states today ... starting in Mississippi, then through the NW corner of Alabama, and ending in Tennessee.

Today we are camping at our last camp ground along the trace. I will be sad to leave the parkway, the riding has been easy and relaxing.

But leaving the Trace, also means we are getting closer to home, and I am looking forward to seeing our friends Eric and Anca tomorrow, and Leone on Friday! Leone confirmed that she will be "SAG"-ging (support and gear) for us for the next few days! We are very excited!!

It must have been that gas station cheeseburger or ...

Ugh! We are both feeling sick today. I am too tired to ride today, so we are staying 2 nights at Tishomingo SP.

Riding the parkway, we don't have the convenience of towns and gas stations to stock up on calories. We are sometimes at the mercy of the one store close to the parkway, or bike off route for better selections. The last two days we ended up at stores close to the parkway and just ate whatever they had. The first was fried chicken and catfish, yesterday's was cheeseburgers that had probably been sitting out all day. In our defense, in both cases there wasn't much choice in terms of food. In hind site maybe we should have biked further off route, but that's easier said than done. So today I'm paying for it, recovering thanks to good weather and a beautiful place to spend the day, and Greg's grocery trip into town to buy real food.

WI has a "3 foot passing law"

The WI Dept of (motorized) Transportation has a biennial budget of $7 Billion.
Yet it is left up to private bike shop owners to buy "billboard" space to try to educate users of the public roads in WI on "the law of the land".
Lame.

And from my contacts with law enforcement at home - even those charged with enforcing the law are completely unaware of the "3 feet (or more) passing" law.
Sad.

But "our" state govt added $300 million MORE to the budget for MORE road building. Did I mention that the head of the WI Road Builders Assoc was one of Gov Walker's largest (local) campaign "contributors"?

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQOMS0MMpbcwi6NfEsHxYWzGCAXoas0atohqxHfcnDIyHPQV3O1R-oDHLtaBrRcbW8vS5O21qWXUyYneCgp8X1mbLeqRkxCED0Y-1MbWJF8DTkwx66R5jx_SS1T2rE9zPUNOyan_puzED/s1600/048.JPG

Seems like dumb white guys in Mississippi still like to beat on "the weak"

(Sorry to our friend, for calling you "the weak". I trust you know what I mean.)

Just heard from a friend that a motorist stopped beside him on the Natchez Trace Parkway just north of Tupelo and yelled at him, among other things, "I pay taxes!" Then proceeded to beat him near death. Another motorist came along, 'bout 15 min into the beating, and the bully sped off in his white dualie pickup truck. Our friend is recovering at home; and would like his assailant identified and arrested.

Now, as a kid I was bullied a bunch. And I didn't appreciate it much. So on behalf of "the bullied" (the weak, in a given situation, in a given setting) I'd like to say to the cowards who do the bullying, diplomatically of course, "Fuck y'all."

And it seems like we need a national campaign to teach these ignorant assholes that cyclists are also homeowners (paying property taxes), motor vehicle owners (paying registration fees and gas taxes. In fact, if anything, the guy who got beat up in this case drives a big damn gas guzzler), income tax payers - unlike a lot of the super wealthy Romney-class people and 'corporate people' such as Google, Facebook, Starbucks, Apple, Boeing, etc. But I guess Rupert Murdoch's Faux Noise Corporation lie factory and the likes of Rush and Charlie Sykes (who's wife is a judge in WI. Awesome!) have done such a good job since Reagan and the Republicans undid the Fairness Doctrine (governing private, for-profit use of the public airwaves) that we now have a shit ton of angry, ignorant assholes. And in this day of so much information, that really is a cryin' shame.

Happy Memorial Day America!

Biking the Natchez Trace Parkway is like biking in a bubble

We honestly can't say we've biked in Mississippi. The Natchez Trace has been perfect for biking: camp grounds at regular enough intervals, great pavement, hardly any debris, low traffic, no dogs, and courteous drivers. But we can't say we've bike in real Mississippi.

Greg was a hero and biked 3 miles to a store down the road from tonight's campground to buy treats and laundry detergent. It sounds like he found more dogs than we've seen the whole trip! And after riding the extra miles and facing the dogs, he learned this county doesn't sell beer on Sunday!

I think I'll stick to biking the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Oh, the irony

Of the "No Obamacare!"
and
the "JESUS" signs
Down here in the "white" part of
"the Bible belt"
is...delicious.

Isn't Jesus the guy who took care of the sick?
I mean, even the lepers,
for God's sake?!

"Indian Treaty"

I made the mistake of stopping at the "Choctaw Boundary" Historical Marker.

"...thus clearing for white settlement all areas of the three states crossed by the Natchez Trace."

That's some "treaty" we signed, eh?

So, I figure, we have no moral standing to complain about what the Han Chinese and the Communist Party of China, along with the People's Liberation Army, are doing to the Tibetan people, sadly.

A nice change from noodles and tuna at the campsite!

Snakes and alligators

Most of the ride along the Natchez Trace has been peaceful and stress free. its a parkway so no commercial vehicles, not a lot of on ramps, a low speed limit, and low traffic. Yesterday I even accidentally ran into Greg's real wheel, because I was just dreaming and not paying attention to biking.

The Natchez Trace was formed over 100's of years of people travelling by foot and horse between Natchez (on the Mississippi) and Memphis. There are many places where you can still see the deep trough left from all the different travels over so many years. The Cypress and Tupelo forest we visited was also a magical place.

And then there are the alligators and snakes! I've never seen an alligator before, let alone in the river alongside our campsite. Apparently the long black snake I saw today is harmless except for its smell, but we were also warned (again) that we are in rattle snake country, "they are as big as my arm" (and he didn't mean a cyclist's arm).

Dude, you wanna go fishin'?

You packin' heat?!

We were bikin' along the Ross Barnett Reservoir today in M iss iss ipp i
And I was idly thinkin', about 5 hours into "the pedaling", "Hey, those lilly pads look pretty good fer bass fishin'" as we crossed a little inlet from the reservoir, down here near Jackson, MS.

Then I saw him.

Holy cats!

Swimmin' up the 6 foot wide inlet, between the lilly pads, casual as a Sunday stroll after dinner
A 10 foot gator.

Damn.

I guess when you go bass fishin' in Mississippi you might wanna pack a little heat, just in case.

Tupelo and Cypress tree forest

One of the ubiquitous

Raccoon feeders round here...

The Natchez Trace Parkway is awesome

Beautiful, quiet road; good road surface
Gradual grades (max has been about 5%)
Speed limit a mere 50 mph for motorized traffic
Bike Route signs, and notices to motorists to look out for cyclists

So far the only bad things are the non-critter-proof garbage cans (and raccoons, and garbage strewn all over the place; and the huge backlog of work that needs to be done on the NPS campgrounds)
And the fact that our friends Andy and Laura aren't here to ride it with us. I think they'd love it!

For folks in the Ontario/Quebec area, think Gatineau Park - but not as steep hills, and basically a straight line, heading Northeast...

Nice, big trees, grasslands, corn, some cows, horses, birds, historic spots. An awesome ride so far.

Pay yer damn taxes, Apple, Incorporated

The same goes for Google
And Starbucks
And Boeing
And...

The National Park Service does NOT have critter proof garbage cans (on the Natchez Trace Parkway)
And they could really use them, trust me.

What the NPS does have, thanks to years of budget cuts (brought on by revenue problems - largely from 'corporate people' shirking their responsibility [over the last 3 or 4 decades] - and the "tax cut and spend" policies, from the Republicans, especially [Reagan and W; and the tax cuts have gone primarily to the "Romney-class" Americans among us - and I guess they don't use the National Parks, so they wouldn't even know) is:
Household-style garbage cans - that the raccoons love!
People burning their garbage in fire pits, including their plastic - can you say "persistent carcinogens"? I can.
Broken and closed restrooms
Broken and closed water taps/fountains
Broken windows in the "welcome" building
(The repair backup is huge)
No staff on hand to help park visitors

'Corporate people' are ugly.
And while you might "love" your I-phone, 'corporate people' will never love you back.

Chris! I keep meanin' to tell ya

We finally figered out how to set thuh tent up.
You remember that tight cross pole?
Well it has gotten looser, over the months; just like all of us.
And then we figured out that with those two clips, side by side, in the very middle of the tent - well, you don't have to get all fancy like we were tryin' to be an clip one of 'em on the main arch pole an one on the cross pole. You just clip both of them on the main arch - and run the cross pole over the top arch, right between them two clips attached to the main pole. It holds the cross pole in place, enuf. And it's less tite on the cross pole then too. Easier to get it in the hole. And Chris, I know you know what I'm talkin' about here, ya know?
Hell, we figered that som'bitch out...
oh, a coupla days ago?

Well anyhow, I figured since you were thar at the very inception of us settin' 'er up the wrong way you'd be glad to hear that, well, we finally figered 'er out.

See ya later, y'all!

Up next? Mississippi.

We'll be leavin' Louisiana behind in the mornin', headin' East from Vidalia over the mighty Mississippi River to Natchez, MS.
Then we'll be biking along ~400 miles of the Natchez Trace; pert near the entire length. And it'll take us plumb across the state, over to the NW corner of Alabama, and into TN. We've heard that it is beautiful; that commercial trucks are not allowed on it. I think the speed limit for motorized vehicles might even be a mere 45 mph? That will seem down right pedestrian, esp compared to the 70 mph on the "small" highways that we've been bikin' on (80 mph on the Interstate). Anyway, I was staring at the National Park Service map of it today, and I'm pretty excited.

I do believe we'll be crossing "The Trail of Tears"; maybe even more than once (there are several routes that we drove the indigenous peoples across, like so many branded cattle, "to clear the land for settlers" - as if there weren't any humans settled on the land when we got here). And one of the things that I have been most impressed with, other than the good-naturedness of nearly everyone we've met, is the absolute destruction of the tribes that were here before the Spanish, then the Spanish-Mexicans, and finally, before the Americans (remember, AZ and NM have been states for a mere 100 years. The nastiness of the Spanish, in particular, has been kinda shocking. The ruthless murdering, stealing, and destruction is the furthest thing from "civilized" that I can imagine. I can only imagine how distraught, guilty and repentant the King of Spain must feel; the angst of the Spanish Catholics and the Pope over the suffering and deaths because of their actions. It's shocking, really.) So sad. I'll try to resist stopping at too many of the "Historical Markers." I know y'all don't wanna here about it...

The people, the landscape, the wildlife, and the food continue to impress. The motorists have been mostly observant and courteous. But I'll tell ya, the absolute lack of infrastructure for walking and biking has also made a huge (and I don't mean obese; but that could be said about it too) impression. We have truly become a land of oil addicts and motor vehicle aficionados - to the exclusion of all other simpler, healthier, quieter, cheaper forms of transportation. And we are paying for it in more ways than we realize.

Ride yer bike.
Walk yer feet.
It'll make ya feel better.
Today, and tomorrow.

Dude! Down by the boat launch!

Was eatin' some catfish strips down by the Mississippi, which is way high, when I noticed somethin' floatin' in a big eddy behind the line of trees that normally make up the riverbank.
Was on my way to take a photo of a passing train when a dude whistled me over.
The "log" had lowered itself in the water so that now only its "head" was visible.
I got a photo of that head. He showed me his photo of "the log".
He said he thought it was 12 feet long.
Dang!
That's a pretty big alligator
Esp for a river that doesn't normally have alligators (usually they are in the stagnant, warmer backwaters, which are flooded right now; what with all the snowmelt and heavy rain upstream)

And the kick of it was
The gator was less than 100 feet from the public boat launch.
And there were little kids runnin' on the "riverwalk", not 30 feet from the (new, temporary) "shore".

"Yeah, go ahead Bill; just walk in the water there and help me get this boat up on the launch, will ya?"

Youch!

If you blow up my photo of the head of that "log" you can clearly see its eye, starin' at ... you.
(Hope to get it uploaded, tonight, in the tent.)

Disappointments

There really have been very few disappointments for me on this whole, crazy trip.
But I have to say that I am missing our friend rhae; and what I imagine would have been her plan to show us around Lafayette, LA, and the good music and food that would no doubt have accompanied that adventure.
Maybe we'll just have to come back!

Disappointments

There really have been very few disappointments for me on this whole, crazy trip.
But I have to say that I am missing our friend rhae; and what I imagine would have been her plan to show us around Lafayette, LA, and the good music and food that would no doubt have accompanied that adventure.
Maybe we'll just have to come back!

Thank God Almighty, We Are Headin' North at Last

Well, after the month of biking South on the Pacific Coast in March
Then biking East from San Diego on the Southern Tier for April and the first 3 weeks of May
We have finally turned North.
At last.
We're still a LONG way from home, but at least it feels like we're finally headin' in the right direction...

It was a little sad turnin' off the Southern Tier this mornin'; in the middle of nowhere, no one around.
When we took our little "shortcut" up LA 15 along the West side of the mighty Mississippi to Vidalia. There was not much between the early bridge that had a "no bikes" sign on it (and then an official "bike route" sign right after the bridge too. Weird. And it is a recommended route on the LA Bike Map. The "no bikes" sign must be to make the lawyers and insurance company happy, I reckon.) and that little empty church that we made it to after about 70 miles, parched, out of water, and suffering in the 90 degree heat with the sun blazin' down. So we found an outside faucet and our gravity (water) filter and drank a bunch o water before pickin' up some trash round the place as a sort of thank you.

I was thinkin' I'd listen to and post a link to that famous speech by MLK, but I feel a little self-conscious pullin' it up here in the RV park with the (LA and) MS flag(s) flyin' - you know, the one with the Confederate flag still embedded in it...

Might be t-storms tonight and/or tomorrow. Tenting tonight, not sure about tomorrow - other than I'd like a day off, and we might get wet. Then it'll be over the Mississippi river and into Natchez, MS, and on up the Natchez Trace. Worried about campsites what with the Memorial Day weekend comin' up. Hope we don't end up stranded on the side of the road.
But then again, the last time that happened (in Pismo Beach, CA) we ran into Elicia and Joe and salvaged a pretty good time out of it!

U'm tired

Another 80 mile day with the 80 pound bikes
90'F
Tired

We are changing our route a bit

After reading the review below and advice from a woman we met in Cottonport, we are staying a little off route in Marksville instead of Simmesport. Its hard to know when we are getting good advice, but this time we decided we didn't want to find out.

"My son and I finished an unsupported cross country bike trip this summer. It took us along the southern tier of the USA and we followed a route provided by Adventure Cycling. It was a beautiful ride and a great adventure but it often took us to places with few to no lodging opportunities. When in Simmesport, La the Sportsman Motel was the only place for 50 miles in either direction. It was one of the most memorable nights of our trip. Simmesport was perhaps the poorest, shadiest (not because of the trees) and scary places we passed through on our entire 2600 mile trip. We brought mace on our trip because when biking you are frequently chased by dogs, and its helpful to have mace velcro'd to the bike just in case. When staying at the Sportsman Motel we actually slept with the mace next to our bed - unfortunately not because of the dogs but because of the people around town. The "convenience" store next door has a larger selection of (drug) smoking pipes than soda or potato chips. If you are biking across America or run out of gas in Simmesport LA, I would recommend the Sportman Motel - the only place to stay - literally!"

Turtle

Alligator!

Alligator!

Man, I wish my camera was working!

Alligators and turtles, everywhere!

Exciting morning in Louisiana!

The day started normally, coffee, oatmeal, and packing up, and then we started biking out of Chicot SP. The way out is actuallu through the park so we had a nice ride through a luscious forest on a quiet paved road. And then we saw our first alligator! The road went over a bridge, over a bayou with trees growing in the water, with cranes, turtles and yes, alligaors! I'm glad I didn't know about the alligators before we went to bed.
The excitement continued when we went to the small town post office just outside the park to send our cold weather gear back home. When I put my gear on the counter, I felt a sting and all of a sudden there was a huge caterpillar sitting on the counter next to my gear. It must have hitched a ride from the camp ground. The lady at the post office was as surprised as I was. She said it was a stinging caterpillar, and seemed surprised I'd never seen one before.

Now we are eating chinese food in a small town the road. Its takeout only, but they set up a table so we could eat inside (in the air conditioning). We must look weird to the other customers coming in for pickup.

Its not even noon and we've already seen so much and met so many people!

A big thank you to Greg!

This post is long over due. In case you were wondering, Greg has been riding out front for 99.99% of the time. My new nickname for him is Master Draft. A trip like this is a once in a life time experience, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have done it on my own. Plenty of people do, but - I don't think I would or could. Its more than just blocking the wind for me all day (although that is huge!), its having someone to share the experience with, and to have someone take care of or look out for you when you need it. Even the small things, like making coffee in the morning. Thank you Greg!!

It only took over 3000 miles of bike touring

It only took over 3000 miles of bike touring, but I am a new fan of chamois cream. This isn't my first time biking by any means, but until today I didn't really have a need or understanding for chamois cream. After yesterday (75 miles) of hot and humid riding by butt started to chafe. Today, after 80 miles and "euro style" chamois cream, NO CHAFING! I'm not a new cyclist but I am a new fan of chamois cream.

Robert Kennedy

Saw a road named after the assassinated rich, white dude from MA today, upon entering the poor side of Ville Platte, LA (yes, NOT Platteville, WI). Then a street named after his more famous brother.
And for the first time I thought of them as being kinda like Frank and Andy Schleck, the bike racing brothers who are inseparable - and each other's best teammate. Now, this was near then of a long, hot, humid day into a brutal wind (15 - 25 mph, mostly cross wind) where I was afraid in the morning, then resigned to my fate/duty round lunch, then determined to just keep turnin' the pedals over, no matter how hard or boring it was...so I know it is weird; but it is what it is. The mind goes to strange places over 5+ hours of pedaling, especially when the wind makes conversation difficult.
And then we rode through some poor Louisiana neighborhoods where a white dude could reasonably be a little concerned for his safety. And I thought about Bobby, and how he visited poor neighborhoods in the deep south (of 'Merica!) And how it really effected him; how he wanted to do something, anything, to help his fellow Americans. Even the poor ones, even the dark ones. And how, it seems, whenever you want to or try to help poor people you get killed. You get killed in "mysterious circumstances". You get killed by the CIA. You get killed by "School of the Americas" trained (in Georgia, by Americans) right-wing mercenaries in Central or South America.
The thing that pulled me out of my random thoughts about Bobby, about history, about poor people and powerful people?
A woman in the passenger seat of a car in the poor neighborhood of Ville Platte who yelled to us as we biked by
"God bless y'all!"

We stayed in teepee last night!

We had the best accommodations last night. Just east of De Ridder we stayed at a small RV park/camp ground and a small hobby farm, Plesant Hill Park. We were going to tent there, but we were very easily convinced to take advantage of the teepee accommodation with A/C, beds, and refrigerator. We also had access to the kitchen (for cyclists only), laundry and showers.

After using all the facilities and a nap we met some of the animals. There were the 2 donkeys, Jack and Daniel, the two mini horses Bonny and Clyde, two baby mini horses, 4 mini cows, 3 alpaca (somoa, al, and ?), 3 goats (blue berry, and ?), 5 ducks and 3 cats (one with little tiny kittens). The owner, Monica, was from Austria originally and was proud to introduce us to the farm family. In the kitchen she keeps a guest book of all the cyclists she has hosted. We only made it through the back half of the entries before we started falling asleep and had to go to bed. On the wall in the kitchen was a certificate from ACA acknowledging Monica's generous accommodation for cyclists. I'm so glad we found Monica's teepee (designed, built and decorated by Monica).