May 2:
68 miles to between St. Jo & Nacona, TX. Lots of drunken fun on Freddie's boat over what was a three-day weekend rest - on the lake & in the marina. He & Jami were really sweet & accomodating & it was nice to see him again. Friday I did a hard 20 mile into-the-wind ride into Sherman for errands & didn't recognize a thing in town but got some correctly-sized tubes, postcards, a Sherman shirt for Mouse, Frogg Togg raingear (yea! & just in time!), bite valve for the bladder, & groceries. The pizza & cheesecske cookie bars were a big hit again. It rained like a MF all day Sunday so I'm gonna have to skip Lubbock. The ride today started in a downpour & eased up slightly through the day. I found a quiet place with great dumplings for lunch & stayed too long because I was damp & chilled from the rain. Even with the really good raingear, I was wet enough to be cold. It finally abated after Gainesville & became sunny for the last hour of riding to a really nice, off-the-highway picnic area 9 miles shy of my Nacona destination. A trucker showed up & idled late & then again in the early morning right next to me, though - which I guess is good because I don't really want to be seen anyway. A little nerve-wracking at night, though, until I figured he was gonna sleep in his cab. It was cold but I managed fine with the bag zipped up & a hat on.
May 3:
86 miles to Electra, TX, (the Jack Pump capital of the world!). The ride into Nacona for breakfast was crisp & hilly - still a very nice part of North Texas with trees, creeks, & grasslands (probably just cut & grazed land, now that I think about it). For breakfast, after a search & a question, I was directed to Dairy Queen ... you heard right. They had a decent & big breakfast burrito, wireless, & a plug to recharge the depleted HTC. As I was finishing, the guy who directred me to DQ tapped me on the shoulder to ask if it was OK & to admit that he owned the place. Haha! One old gal who'd discovered I was headed to Alaska told me she'd driven that highway 18 times & that her daughter lives near Sarah Palin in Wisala (sp?)! Then two oldtimers told me of their drilling & seismic work in Alaska. Fun talking to people when they're geniune & willing to engage! I lunched at a nice picnic area, got groceries & more DQ in Henrietta. As I was rolling off Hwy 82 onto Hwy 287 I heard this truck behind me riding his horn. I turned to see if maybe he was an oversized load & saw an oblivious gal barrelling at me on the shoulder! I barely got out of the way & she never noticed. Not sure if the truck was trying to get the driver to notice what she was doing or warn me but it was critical for me so, like, "Thanks, dude!" I immediately called Rae to share this near-death experience & we were both shaken. 287 was another very good Texas blue highway with a huge shoulder & rumble strips (yea, TX!), though Wichita Falls was really scary with real exits &, most terrifying, left exiting ramps that meant I had to frequently cross 3 lanes of 65 mph traffic - it sucked. As I was rolling into Electra I had another rear flat (how does this shit get through the liner?) with only a mile to go ... grr, tear down, replace tire, re-assemble ... 15 minutes. The park is just fine, though Dave, McKenzie, & Alex - teenagers who smoke - that this was the crack-making, as opposed to crackhead, side of town so I'm apparently safer here. Whew! Stretched, dinner of rice/chicken/pepper/garic, notes ... now bed. Interesting day ... Awoken at 12 by local police (first time I've seen a cop in tennis shoes - I kid you not) but not rousted - yea, common sense!
May 4:
86 hard miles to Childress, TX. Breakfast at Subway was not so good but, once again, the only choice. Poor Texas - no good breakfast in the smaller towns. The wind was going hard early & didn't let up all day, though my direction changed after Quanah & the head/crosswind became a tail/crosswind. Not as bad as the day from Border, NV, to Delta, UT, but still exhausting. On track for that train next week, though there'll be another hard day tomorrow because the forecast is for winds from the north and, yep, that's the way I'm heading tomorrow. If I would've been going north today ... ah well. Talked to a cute gal at a coffee shop in Vernon & met Ken & Bobby, retired schoolteachers born, raised, and still hanging out in Vernon. Ken's recent stroke will curtail their travel plans but they were so cute together! A front flat hit just as I was pulling into the Henrietta DQ & it took 3 tries to get something back in & now I need new tubes & a patch kit again. Maybe I should get new tires ...? There's a nice park with a reedy lake here in Childress, though it seems ripe for a rousting what with it's "strictly enforced park hours" sign. I'll tuck away completely & see what happens. Good stretch. Rae sent a cute, sexy text tonighht - yummy! I'm anxious to see her & the next 6 days of riding will be with her constantly on my mind. Ducks & frogs earlier this evening to lend an auditory note to a lovely sunset. Bats are out now as I finish sardines/rice/peppers/garlic.
May 5 (Cinco de Mayo):
64 miles to Clarendon, TX. Whooped. Hard, hard day with a day-long 20 mph headwind. Riding mostly at 6-8 mph in the 2nd chain ring, which made my ass hurt. I think I'm riding on the most uncomfortable bike seat ever made & I'm pissed I spent money on it. My legs are tired, too - wierd combination, I think. Lots of plowed cotton fields that ensured that I had lots of dirt get into my nose & mouth. Clarendon's city park has been full of kids since I got here - some teenagers & little ones were nicely playing together earlier but now there's some douchebag 12 year-old boys harassing girls, cussing, & being loud & stupid. One of the girls had a lot of spunk & said, "You don't know my mom, motherfucker!" Haha! I found not-so-great enchiladas but, once again, I managed to settle in a "dry" precinct. Seriously! I hope to sleep well as I'm body weary. I'll need to look at the map again to plan the stops into La Junta, CO, since I'm 30 miles short of the target today. I think there's two <60 mile days at the end do, as long as I can find places to sleep at around 70-75 miles each day I should be fine. I hope ...
Friday, May 6, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
FLASK April 27-28
April 27:
61 miles to Pattonville, TX. Slept well so slept in. Terrific headwind all morning so progress was slow but my spirits were up because Rae loves me. I was in the middle chain ring all day, except at the very end of the day when the wind abated & I needed to stand up to get off my pimpled ass. I saved a turtle today by getting him out of the road's tire track. Weather was intermittent clouds but it cleared up & the wind died down just as the sun was casting downward. There's a lot more farmland & big ranches out here. Found a roadside picnic area to settle into. I was a little paranoid as I fell asleep but as the traffic died down, I settled down. My perra formis were tight sdo sleeping on my side was uncomfortable.
April 28:
88 miles to Pottsboro, TX. 730-700. Breakfast in Paris. Texans are still allowed to smoke in restaurants ... hmmm. Beautiful, sunny day, moderate temperature, light headwind. I got of Hwy 82 to 56 so I could roll through small towns. Texans aren't nearly as friendly as the other states I've been in - they usually don't wave back & actually look at me like, "I don't know you so why are you wavin'?" From about mile 55 to the end of riding at 88 I was only off the bike twice. Once to walk the bike across a highway median around a detour & then around mile 82 to eat some trail mix since I was on the verge of bonking. Freddie & Jami came to get me about 6 miles from the marina (yea!) & we hung out on or near their big, beautiful boat - the S.S. Minnow - til 11. Jami's a sweetheart & Freddie's exactly the same - fun, funny, engaging, sincere, & nice. I'm so glad to see him again & I'm looking forward to a long, relaxing, drunken weekend - off the bike! I slept out on the deck in a wonderful light breeze. I wish my perri formis would loosen up so I could sleep on my side for awhile. Rae was already in bed when I called - poor thing was worn out & I would've liked to have been laying right next to her.
61 miles to Pattonville, TX. Slept well so slept in. Terrific headwind all morning so progress was slow but my spirits were up because Rae loves me. I was in the middle chain ring all day, except at the very end of the day when the wind abated & I needed to stand up to get off my pimpled ass. I saved a turtle today by getting him out of the road's tire track. Weather was intermittent clouds but it cleared up & the wind died down just as the sun was casting downward. There's a lot more farmland & big ranches out here. Found a roadside picnic area to settle into. I was a little paranoid as I fell asleep but as the traffic died down, I settled down. My perra formis were tight sdo sleeping on my side was uncomfortable.
April 28:
88 miles to Pottsboro, TX. 730-700. Breakfast in Paris. Texans are still allowed to smoke in restaurants ... hmmm. Beautiful, sunny day, moderate temperature, light headwind. I got of Hwy 82 to 56 so I could roll through small towns. Texans aren't nearly as friendly as the other states I've been in - they usually don't wave back & actually look at me like, "I don't know you so why are you wavin'?" From about mile 55 to the end of riding at 88 I was only off the bike twice. Once to walk the bike across a highway median around a detour & then around mile 82 to eat some trail mix since I was on the verge of bonking. Freddie & Jami came to get me about 6 miles from the marina (yea!) & we hung out on or near their big, beautiful boat - the S.S. Minnow - til 11. Jami's a sweetheart & Freddie's exactly the same - fun, funny, engaging, sincere, & nice. I'm so glad to see him again & I'm looking forward to a long, relaxing, drunken weekend - off the bike! I slept out on the deck in a wonderful light breeze. I wish my perri formis would loosen up so I could sleep on my side for awhile. Rae was already in bed when I called - poor thing was worn out & I would've liked to have been laying right next to her.
Monday, April 25, 2011
FLASK Trip Update:
April 22:
75 miles to Rose Hill (?). 8-6. Spent too much time in Columbia looking for postcards, which I didn't find. The solar charger'sz not charging even though I try to keep it reasoably oriented to the sun all day. Nice time in McComb: stopped to say Hi to the fire department & gave them the blog address, had really good italian mango ice at a little mom & pop stand, then finally found postcards at a super friendly little shop in a beautiful little town called Summit. Took the wrong highway out of town (98 instead of 54) so when I asked an old man in his front yard where Percy Quinn State Park was ... well. I had a flat on the rear tire I nursed for awhile & finally replaced. Finally stopped at Rose Hill Missionary Baptist Church & camped in the grass lot. I had an unbelievable, fulfilling, happy evening as I stepped into & stayed with the realization that I was on the big adventure of my life. The little anxiety I was feeling about not being in a park & how that feels like a kind of failure ... disappeared. I stayed in the moment as I stretched & it was physically & spiritually FANTASTIC! Stayed loose while cooking & eating dinner in a splayed seated posture - though I managed to let the pot fall off the stove twice! I was really connected to the moment as I relaxed in Dead Man falling asleep & felt a strong sense of the universe & how I was part of it's atomic fabric. Cool & seriously awesome.
April 23:
71 miles. 8-730. Rode 10 miles to Bude this morning & met Tim, a nurse, on my way into a neat little bakery/eatery. We sat down together & chatted for probably 2 hours. His wife's suffering with cancer but he was a remarkable guy: fun, nice, thoughtful, interesting, & helpful. I didn't make time in Natchez to see Longwood ( an antebellum home) or Natchez Under the Hill (a bar) he'd recommended because I just felt it best that I keep moving given the time. Two more rear flats today - it's the damn 1" tubes that the LOSERS at Steve's Bike Shop in Panama City sold me. They're splitting at the seam when not underinflated. When I ask for 1 1/4" tubes, THAT'S WHAT I WANT! I was sad to leave MS - everyone there was soo friendly. It was cool to cross the Mississippi River, though, & so far the folks in Louisiana are nice, too. Camped behind a rundown Baptist church so need to get up early so I'm well gone before they start getting ready for Easter service. Another very good stretch & the hip's doing fantastic on the trip. It feels better than it has in probably a year. Wrist is fine but I've developed some ass pimples that don't feel so great (I need to clean & swap my riding shorts every day). I would like to be home while Rae's winding down & celebrating school (really & truly) but this adventure is really fun & I'm stoked to be doing it, in it, & living it.
April 24:
75 miles to Gum Springs CG in the Kasatchie NF. 8-6. Happy Easter. 3 flats before I could even get on the road. Those a-holes at The Bike Shop are on my s%#$ list. Breakfast was good even though it was at a gas station in Jonesville, LA - ham & cheese omelette, though the folks there weren't overly friendly. 2 more flats leaving there, then nursing a semi-flat, then two more for a total of 7 today. Stopped in Jena's Autozone (yea! Open on Easter!) & got tube patch with regular patches & rubber cement. Of course, I didn't get any more flats after just pumping up the tire some more! Hahaha! I ripped of big chunks of mileage on the saddle this afternoon. Instead of the typical 5-7 mile rest period I did 22, 16, & 12 stretches. Ass is numbing, wrist is fine, palms hurt in the morning but were fine all afternoon. Stayed on 84 out of Winfield at 5:30 & rode easily to Gum Springs CG in Kisatchie NF. Beautiful campground with water at my site & great view through pines of a nice lake, in which I cleaned up both myself & the days clothes. I know I'll sleep better - I've been so sticky the last few nights it's actually uncomfortable, which must be pretty bad because I typically shower less than one per week (if I can get away with it. i.e. if Rae's not around). Bugs forcing me to sleep in the tent again. Too bad because otherwise it's just gorgeous out - light breeze, low clouds, whispering pines. Mmmmm ... outdoors. The desire to see & be with Rae is overwhelming some times & often I get weepy; especially if I'm listening to music.
April 25:
94 miles to Shreveport. 7-530. I thought I saw a bobcat today, making its way into some tall roadside grass. Good breakfast in Clarence, LA, at a donut shop opened just last week by some lovely Cambodians. My ass is covered in a rash but feels fine. Palms hurt but I think I just need to keep my left grip adjusted properly - I'm worried about locking it down until I know what position's best. Terrific tailwind nearly all day so made it to River City Cycling, where they comp'd me 2 tubes (they're probably too big but that's probably better than the too thin tubes I have) & told me about the tornadoes forecast for tonight. I've hunkered down at a crappy Days Inn, showered (wow, was I dirty), cleaned clothes, got some Newcastle, & had beef tips & rice for dinner. I'd rather not stay tomorrow, even though I'm figuring out that I'm days ahead of schedule so will definitely hang with Freddie B in Sherman, TX, this weekend.
April 22:
75 miles to Rose Hill (?). 8-6. Spent too much time in Columbia looking for postcards, which I didn't find. The solar charger'sz not charging even though I try to keep it reasoably oriented to the sun all day. Nice time in McComb: stopped to say Hi to the fire department & gave them the blog address, had really good italian mango ice at a little mom & pop stand, then finally found postcards at a super friendly little shop in a beautiful little town called Summit. Took the wrong highway out of town (98 instead of 54) so when I asked an old man in his front yard where Percy Quinn State Park was ... well. I had a flat on the rear tire I nursed for awhile & finally replaced. Finally stopped at Rose Hill Missionary Baptist Church & camped in the grass lot. I had an unbelievable, fulfilling, happy evening as I stepped into & stayed with the realization that I was on the big adventure of my life. The little anxiety I was feeling about not being in a park & how that feels like a kind of failure ... disappeared. I stayed in the moment as I stretched & it was physically & spiritually FANTASTIC! Stayed loose while cooking & eating dinner in a splayed seated posture - though I managed to let the pot fall off the stove twice! I was really connected to the moment as I relaxed in Dead Man falling asleep & felt a strong sense of the universe & how I was part of it's atomic fabric. Cool & seriously awesome.
April 23:
71 miles. 8-730. Rode 10 miles to Bude this morning & met Tim, a nurse, on my way into a neat little bakery/eatery. We sat down together & chatted for probably 2 hours. His wife's suffering with cancer but he was a remarkable guy: fun, nice, thoughtful, interesting, & helpful. I didn't make time in Natchez to see Longwood ( an antebellum home) or Natchez Under the Hill (a bar) he'd recommended because I just felt it best that I keep moving given the time. Two more rear flats today - it's the damn 1" tubes that the LOSERS at Steve's Bike Shop in Panama City sold me. They're splitting at the seam when not underinflated. When I ask for 1 1/4" tubes, THAT'S WHAT I WANT! I was sad to leave MS - everyone there was soo friendly. It was cool to cross the Mississippi River, though, & so far the folks in Louisiana are nice, too. Camped behind a rundown Baptist church so need to get up early so I'm well gone before they start getting ready for Easter service. Another very good stretch & the hip's doing fantastic on the trip. It feels better than it has in probably a year. Wrist is fine but I've developed some ass pimples that don't feel so great (I need to clean & swap my riding shorts every day). I would like to be home while Rae's winding down & celebrating school (really & truly) but this adventure is really fun & I'm stoked to be doing it, in it, & living it.
April 24:
75 miles to Gum Springs CG in the Kasatchie NF. 8-6. Happy Easter. 3 flats before I could even get on the road. Those a-holes at The Bike Shop are on my s%#$ list. Breakfast was good even though it was at a gas station in Jonesville, LA - ham & cheese omelette, though the folks there weren't overly friendly. 2 more flats leaving there, then nursing a semi-flat, then two more for a total of 7 today. Stopped in Jena's Autozone (yea! Open on Easter!) & got tube patch with regular patches & rubber cement. Of course, I didn't get any more flats after just pumping up the tire some more! Hahaha! I ripped of big chunks of mileage on the saddle this afternoon. Instead of the typical 5-7 mile rest period I did 22, 16, & 12 stretches. Ass is numbing, wrist is fine, palms hurt in the morning but were fine all afternoon. Stayed on 84 out of Winfield at 5:30 & rode easily to Gum Springs CG in Kisatchie NF. Beautiful campground with water at my site & great view through pines of a nice lake, in which I cleaned up both myself & the days clothes. I know I'll sleep better - I've been so sticky the last few nights it's actually uncomfortable, which must be pretty bad because I typically shower less than one per week (if I can get away with it. i.e. if Rae's not around). Bugs forcing me to sleep in the tent again. Too bad because otherwise it's just gorgeous out - light breeze, low clouds, whispering pines. Mmmmm ... outdoors. The desire to see & be with Rae is overwhelming some times & often I get weepy; especially if I'm listening to music.
April 25:
94 miles to Shreveport. 7-530. I thought I saw a bobcat today, making its way into some tall roadside grass. Good breakfast in Clarence, LA, at a donut shop opened just last week by some lovely Cambodians. My ass is covered in a rash but feels fine. Palms hurt but I think I just need to keep my left grip adjusted properly - I'm worried about locking it down until I know what position's best. Terrific tailwind nearly all day so made it to River City Cycling, where they comp'd me 2 tubes (they're probably too big but that's probably better than the too thin tubes I have) & told me about the tornadoes forecast for tonight. I've hunkered down at a crappy Days Inn, showered (wow, was I dirty), cleaned clothes, got some Newcastle, & had beef tips & rice for dinner. I'd rather not stay tomorrow, even though I'm figuring out that I'm days ahead of schedule so will definitely hang with Freddie B in Sherman, TX, this weekend.
Oh, Honey!
After two weeks of traveling, Wes and I were hanging out for what was supposed to be a chill evening in Prescott with his cousin Zach.
"Quinn, what kind of honey is this?" Zach hollered from the kitchen with a chuckle. I turned my gaze, his hands were caked with a dull yellow colored goo stringing like glue between both fingers and palms. It was everywhere, and it was hardening! (photos to come) His laughter stopped when he barely could pry his hands away from one another.
Zach was just mixing honey with some spices for a yummy chicken dinner, or so we thought. When the honey started quickly rising in the mixing bowl, Zach chose to pour it into the sink instead of over the chicken. The mixture continued to rise and thicken, so he shoved his hands in the mix to assist removal. What was this mystery item that was so cleverly masked in a squeeze bottle on a shelf next to brown sugar and coffee in the van?
More on that in a minute.
The two weeks prior were filled with much family, driving and desert landscape. It started with a last minute trip to Lubbock, Texas to visit with Wesley's immediate family.
After a weekend of baseball, soccer games and wonderful company, we made our way back to the Phoenix area. Ops, and a quick stop to see the largest pistachio. These people make lovely flavored pistachios, and an okay pistachio wine.
One night to unpack, re-pack and we were off again to Red Rocks, Las Vegas. This time we were taking the VW van for a tour! What a spoiled way of traveling...bed, fridge, stove, even stocked with a little coffee, honey, and pinto beans!!! The weather was stellar, as well as the company! Some friends from Canada were down for a week at a "conference." Another group of friends was also down from Colorado Springs. It was great climbing with everyone, jokes and laughter abound!
After six stellar days of climbing, Wes and I made our way back to Arizona. Some time before seeing Zach in Prescott, we stopped off in Jerome. A cute steep hillside town with wine tasting, many motorcyclists, and old mine history. A well known musician established a winery and tasting room that we both wanted to check out. The wine was great, but the service by one of the gals was a bit snobby.
Back to the honey, I mean expanding foam. Yes, expanding foam!!
After spending the rest of the evening manually picking at, pouring various chemicals on, and a making use of a car scrapper on Zach's hands, we finally saw skin just before midnight. Poor guy. Crusty pieces of curry flavored expanding foam were on his hands for days!
Poor sink. Wes reached down the disposal and pulled out a Nerf football sized chunk of foam. We tried to help put the kitchen back together, Wes working on the drain clog, me putting away the various products we poured on Zach in attempt to slough the stuff off. We left the next morning, feeling terrible. We thought we were just offering him honey!!!
Arriving early in the morning back in Phoenix, I had just enough time to pack up all of my belongings. The loaded corolla headed out that same day to spend a few days in New Mexico with a good friend who happens to be working on a job in Albuquerque for the next few months! A warm goodbye hug to Rae and Wes sent me off on another leg of the journey.
Douglas and I climbed just outside of town on Friday, and then headed up to El Rito on Saturday.
El Rito is just north of Santa Fe. The climbing is on oddly composed conglomerate rock piled in small spires along a hill side. You grab onto large river stones cemented together, or the holes where stones used to be. Douglas ran into an old expedition buddy at the cliff, so over a drizzly campfire dinner that evening we made new friends and told stories. I woke up a bit chilled but motivated to finish the snowy drive to Estes Park. I arrived yesterday to lovely snowy conditions. It feels good to be back to one of my favorite places in the world!!!!
"Quinn, what kind of honey is this?" Zach hollered from the kitchen with a chuckle. I turned my gaze, his hands were caked with a dull yellow colored goo stringing like glue between both fingers and palms. It was everywhere, and it was hardening! (photos to come) His laughter stopped when he barely could pry his hands away from one another.
Zach was just mixing honey with some spices for a yummy chicken dinner, or so we thought. When the honey started quickly rising in the mixing bowl, Zach chose to pour it into the sink instead of over the chicken. The mixture continued to rise and thicken, so he shoved his hands in the mix to assist removal. What was this mystery item that was so cleverly masked in a squeeze bottle on a shelf next to brown sugar and coffee in the van?
More on that in a minute.
The two weeks prior were filled with much family, driving and desert landscape. It started with a last minute trip to Lubbock, Texas to visit with Wesley's immediate family.
After a weekend of baseball, soccer games and wonderful company, we made our way back to the Phoenix area. Ops, and a quick stop to see the largest pistachio. These people make lovely flavored pistachios, and an okay pistachio wine.
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| Wes squeezing on Cloud Tower |
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| Last Pitch Cloud Tower |
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| Eric avoiding the water hazard at the base of a climb |
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| View from the tasting room in Jerome. Sedona in distance. |
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| Disgruntle customers |
Back to the honey, I mean expanding foam. Yes, expanding foam!!
After spending the rest of the evening manually picking at, pouring various chemicals on, and a making use of a car scrapper on Zach's hands, we finally saw skin just before midnight. Poor guy. Crusty pieces of curry flavored expanding foam were on his hands for days!
Poor sink. Wes reached down the disposal and pulled out a Nerf football sized chunk of foam. We tried to help put the kitchen back together, Wes working on the drain clog, me putting away the various products we poured on Zach in attempt to slough the stuff off. We left the next morning, feeling terrible. We thought we were just offering him honey!!!
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| Barbie doll shoved in hole? |
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| Douglas hiking to the cliffs! |
Douglas and I climbed just outside of town on Friday, and then headed up to El Rito on Saturday.
El Rito is just north of Santa Fe. The climbing is on oddly composed conglomerate rock piled in small spires along a hill side. You grab onto large river stones cemented together, or the holes where stones used to be. Douglas ran into an old expedition buddy at the cliff, so over a drizzly campfire dinner that evening we made new friends and told stories. I woke up a bit chilled but motivated to finish the snowy drive to Estes Park. I arrived yesterday to lovely snowy conditions. It feels good to be back to one of my favorite places in the world!!!!
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| Karla and Astro with snowball cling-age. |
Friday, April 22, 2011
Florida into Mississippi
FLASK Daily Trip Notes:
April 18
69 miles to Fort Walton. Flat, flat, flat. Awoke with dry sinuses & aches. Sad goodbye with Judi & Michelle. I met very enthusiastic Will & his gal, Soul, at Win Dixie - super nice. Got water socks & pots at Bass Pro Shop (boo! - though some of the staff wanted the blog address!), then got cold medicine & Tasty Bites at Publix. Sore ass but wrist & legs are OK . Nice view with herons playing & feeding at Liza city park - nice folks out running, walking, & one mom holding up an unstable kid on a bike. Beautiful , fat, yellow moon on the horizon above the simmering water at 830. Missing Rae & wondering why I don't pay for camping - free is nice but the worry about getting rolled or rousted is not conducive to sleeping. Plus there's not much to do til bedtime when you're trying to keep a low profile. Dalton (homeless) showed up in a wheelchair around midnight - talking, snuffling, coughing, & peeing - & I gave him $4 in the morning.
April 19:
83 miles to Loxley, AL. Warm, humid, & mostly cloudy. Very tired at mid-day again, despite good tailwind most of the day. My ass is sore, wrists are fine, legs are tired (I took a video - that I don't yet know how to post from my smartphone - of end-of-day calf spasms), & heart is heavy as I'm really missing Rae. AL is hillier than FL but pretty in the rural areas, & the people are friendly. Too many gnats at the Loxley Municipal Park but it's very nice. Typical 2nd day blues so now very glad I didn't push the extra 14 miles to ($30 camping!) Meaher State Park. I'm starting a state roadkill list since AL has armidillos & turtles, & FL didn't. Saw a Rastafarian Texan touring back from Crestview,FL, on a crappy bike loaded with garbage sacks of stuff mostly on his handlebars. He was walking when I first saw him but he made it to the gas station I was resting at just before the wreck.
April 20:
83 miles to Benndale. I was rousted by Loxley police at 11:30 last night so moved behind a nearby Antique store in a grassy clearing. i got a little off track on Hwy 98 Truck Route & went through Prichard - very run down but everyone was friendly. Tight shoulder with a curb was annoying for quite awhile. Some toothless hicks in Lucedale grocery parking lot had great beta on Fairley Bridge Rec Area & Pascuagula the river but river road was muddy & FBRA was too far, so got stuck in Benndale. I found a nice park, though the mosquitos were horrid so I put up the tent. I idled on a bridge above a very scenic bayou & saw a snake swimming & a snapping turtle feeding! Palms are sore - need to rotate bars down to see if that helps. Ass is better & wrist is fine (I had the brace off all day, too!). Better attitude, though quite tired (palms, mostly) in late afternoon. Fig Newtons make me fart like mad.
April 20:
79 miles to Columbia,MS. 8-6.
What a day! I made it to Wiggins by 10 for a fast food breakfast with free wifi but the food & coffee were not so good. Sccenic ride on some very backcountry highways (49 & 13). Just before Lumberton Scott was waiting by the side of the road (I need to remember to take pictures of folks I meet!) to see where I was heading & tell me he'd backed over his mountain bike recently. He offered me a place to stay, too - nice. Then at the Lumberton grocery store a whole passel of folks came out as I was loading the panniers because the clerk got on the store intercom to tell everyone in there what I was doing. One girl asked if I was nervous sleeping out at night & suggested I should be! It was sprinkling & thundering as I pulled into Barkerville (?) & I sat under the local store awning with a bunch of friendly hicks killing an hour while it rained. When I got into Columbia a fellow directed me to a city park off the highways & I decided to roll into the nearby fire station to see if I could finagle permission to sleep in the park to avoid the late night rousting scenario. Wow! Great choice! Cpt. Jeff, Jonathon, & Neil of Columbia Fire Station #2 Shift C were awesome! Cpt. called the night shift police captain then they offered me a shower, which I gladly took. Still waiting for the police captain to come by, we chatted for two hours, they got on the blog, we friended each other on Facebook, & they fed me fish, french fries, fried pickles, & sweet tea! Cpt. Pearly showed up & was skeptical about letting me stay in the park until Shift C told her I was legit - "See, look here, he's got a blog about it & come look at his bike!" Whew - approved! As I'm packing up to go Neil insisted I take a fireman shirt & $20. Mike, a B Shift fireman who'd just rolled in on his motorbike then gave me his fire station cap & another $20 "representin' Shift B for 'Bad.'" Wow! Did I say these guys were awesome! So the Columbia MS Station #2 Fire Dept is now an official sponsor of Team F-Bomb & $10 will go to St. Jude's Hospital. For good measure & to check up on me, Neil & Jonathon came by the park before they closed the station gates & to swap some more stories. Awesome ... I love Mississippi!
April 18
69 miles to Fort Walton. Flat, flat, flat. Awoke with dry sinuses & aches. Sad goodbye with Judi & Michelle. I met very enthusiastic Will & his gal, Soul, at Win Dixie - super nice. Got water socks & pots at Bass Pro Shop (boo! - though some of the staff wanted the blog address!), then got cold medicine & Tasty Bites at Publix. Sore ass but wrist & legs are OK . Nice view with herons playing & feeding at Liza city park - nice folks out running, walking, & one mom holding up an unstable kid on a bike. Beautiful , fat, yellow moon on the horizon above the simmering water at 830. Missing Rae & wondering why I don't pay for camping - free is nice but the worry about getting rolled or rousted is not conducive to sleeping. Plus there's not much to do til bedtime when you're trying to keep a low profile. Dalton (homeless) showed up in a wheelchair around midnight - talking, snuffling, coughing, & peeing - & I gave him $4 in the morning.
April 19:
83 miles to Loxley, AL. Warm, humid, & mostly cloudy. Very tired at mid-day again, despite good tailwind most of the day. My ass is sore, wrists are fine, legs are tired (I took a video - that I don't yet know how to post from my smartphone - of end-of-day calf spasms), & heart is heavy as I'm really missing Rae. AL is hillier than FL but pretty in the rural areas, & the people are friendly. Too many gnats at the Loxley Municipal Park but it's very nice. Typical 2nd day blues so now very glad I didn't push the extra 14 miles to ($30 camping!) Meaher State Park. I'm starting a state roadkill list since AL has armidillos & turtles, & FL didn't. Saw a Rastafarian Texan touring back from Crestview,FL, on a crappy bike loaded with garbage sacks of stuff mostly on his handlebars. He was walking when I first saw him but he made it to the gas station I was resting at just before the wreck.
April 20:
83 miles to Benndale. I was rousted by Loxley police at 11:30 last night so moved behind a nearby Antique store in a grassy clearing. i got a little off track on Hwy 98 Truck Route & went through Prichard - very run down but everyone was friendly. Tight shoulder with a curb was annoying for quite awhile. Some toothless hicks in Lucedale grocery parking lot had great beta on Fairley Bridge Rec Area & Pascuagula the river but river road was muddy & FBRA was too far, so got stuck in Benndale. I found a nice park, though the mosquitos were horrid so I put up the tent. I idled on a bridge above a very scenic bayou & saw a snake swimming & a snapping turtle feeding! Palms are sore - need to rotate bars down to see if that helps. Ass is better & wrist is fine (I had the brace off all day, too!). Better attitude, though quite tired (palms, mostly) in late afternoon. Fig Newtons make me fart like mad.
April 20:
79 miles to Columbia,MS. 8-6.
What a day! I made it to Wiggins by 10 for a fast food breakfast with free wifi but the food & coffee were not so good. Sccenic ride on some very backcountry highways (49 & 13). Just before Lumberton Scott was waiting by the side of the road (I need to remember to take pictures of folks I meet!) to see where I was heading & tell me he'd backed over his mountain bike recently. He offered me a place to stay, too - nice. Then at the Lumberton grocery store a whole passel of folks came out as I was loading the panniers because the clerk got on the store intercom to tell everyone in there what I was doing. One girl asked if I was nervous sleeping out at night & suggested I should be! It was sprinkling & thundering as I pulled into Barkerville (?) & I sat under the local store awning with a bunch of friendly hicks killing an hour while it rained. When I got into Columbia a fellow directed me to a city park off the highways & I decided to roll into the nearby fire station to see if I could finagle permission to sleep in the park to avoid the late night rousting scenario. Wow! Great choice! Cpt. Jeff, Jonathon, & Neil of Columbia Fire Station #2 Shift C were awesome! Cpt. called the night shift police captain then they offered me a shower, which I gladly took. Still waiting for the police captain to come by, we chatted for two hours, they got on the blog, we friended each other on Facebook, & they fed me fish, french fries, fried pickles, & sweet tea! Cpt. Pearly showed up & was skeptical about letting me stay in the park until Shift C told her I was legit - "See, look here, he's got a blog about it & come look at his bike!" Whew - approved! As I'm packing up to go Neil insisted I take a fireman shirt & $20. Mike, a B Shift fireman who'd just rolled in on his motorbike then gave me his fire station cap & another $20 "representin' Shift B for 'Bad.'" Wow! Did I say these guys were awesome! So the Columbia MS Station #2 Fire Dept is now an official sponsor of Team F-Bomb & $10 will go to St. Jude's Hospital. For good measure & to check up on me, Neil & Jonathon came by the park before they closed the station gates & to swap some more stories. Awesome ... I love Mississippi!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Leaving Florida
After a great week with my sister, Judi, and her wonderful family, I'm starting the ride tomorrow. We had all kinds of fun: baton recital, soccer, ROTC drill team, beach sand castles, dolphin spotting in the new family boat, crawfish and shrimp eating, ... whew! I'll leave Panama City in the morning and, hopefully, make Colorado May 10 for the train ride to Phoenix. It might be hard for me to update this blog on the ride, so look for Facebook status updates - or track my exact location on Google Latitude, OK?
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Ready! Aim! Ride!
We had some fun Tuesday night with one of our sponsors, Angela of Deschutes Brewery, in Old Town Tempe. Quite a few too many Mirror Mirror (9% alchohol) and Abyss (11%) [pints meant that I didn't get nearly enough done Wednesday. Thankfully I finished it all today. Finished the headset installation with the retrofitted brakes and new bar end shifters. Repaired and installed the front rack. Tuned the disc brake rotors. Packed bags. Tore down the bike and boxed it for train shipment. Packed Cirque gear in the van and changed the oil. Whew! I'll miss Rae terribly and whenever we start talking about the trip we move quickly from excitement to tears. I'm sure you all know I'm the luckiest man on earth. Train to Florida tomorrow night! Yeehaw! Ready! Aim! Ride!
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