Day # 20... Preparing a full assault on Louisiana: Staging the troops 20 miles from the Texas/Louisiana border in Kirbyville, TX

Tuesday April 15, 2008, 105 miles (169 km) - Total so far: 1,960 miles (3,154 km)

Tomorrow morning I began my assault on Louisiana, a tireless campaign I estimate will last 3 days. The troop's moral is high and our provisions are well stocked. The horses have plenty of feed and the women and children have fled. Let the battle begin.

Today was a very mellow day, with no major events except 8, yes 8 dog chases. I actually got two of them on video and it's pretty hillarious to actually see it from my perspective. I will upload them at the next computer. None were very threatening but a pitbull did get my heart going, and I also had 2 dogs cross a 4 lane highway to come after me. Don't these dog's owners worry they'll get hit??
I was in an area with lots of logging trucks, which was kind of annoying; As they drive along, pieces of bark and branches are constantly flying off and bouncing around. The side of one road was a complete minefield of timber shrapnel. I stopped in Sillsbee to pick up one of my care packages, and was very excited to find it artistically decorated with texas stickers and drawings and various icons. Brook did a nice job! I will put up pics of that later too.

When I was getting lunch at subway, some lady with two kids in tow was yelling at the manager that the floor was slippery and unsafe (meanwhile, worker bee girl was still in the middle of mopping and had a bright yellow piso mojado sign out)... One patron said "uhh.. The sign is there." And she was still pissed, so I couldn't resist. I spoke up for everyone in the store and said, "why don't you just slip and fall, and sue this place?" in a sarcastic tone. She shut up and walked out. I'm an ass. Oh well; she was being loud and rude.
I made it to Kirbyville, a highway town with a great restaurant, Elijah's cafe.

Tomorrow will be a long one as I attempt to make it to Mamou (106 miles) or Villa Platte (121 miles). I'm preffering Villa Platte as it will put me within a days ride (129 miles) of St. Francisville for thursday night.

So far the weather is holding up, and that's probably the only thing that might slow me down enroute to St. Augustine.

Day #9... Hitting the high point.: ... And Leaving the Big Mountains in my dust, in Hatch, NM

Friday April 4, 2008, 102 miles (164 km) - Total so far: 813 miles (1,309 km)

Check it out on Google Maps

Today was a lucky day! At least the end was. The first part of the day was pretty brutal. Today's stats? 4700ft of climbing, 5200ft of downhill, and 102 total miles. I'll be in Texas by tomorrow evening which I am excited about; it means I've knocked out 3 of the 8 states! Yay!

I'll jump to the usual highlights and lowpoints and tell the end of the day story last.

Highlights:
-getting my first care-package
-not getting rained on when it was raining ahead a little.
-slowly grinding up to the pass, huffing and puffing... This car pulls up alongside while I'm riding, I thought they were going to cheer me on, instead they start having a full on conversation with me telling me where they're coming from and the lake they're looking for; they wanted directions! I actually knew where this lake was, about 60 miles in the opposite direction! Boy were they lost. It was pretty funny so I'll call it a highlight.
-while stopped and hunched over the handlebars, trying to get some oxygen to my head at 7900ft, having a couple stop and make sure I was ok. They offered to take me and my bike to the top in their car, and I explained that I was planning on pedaling every mile across the country but that their offer was very nice and appreciated.
-getting to the top and having no water...and then another couple gave me some when I asked if they had any.
-the ultimate "highpoint" of the trip! Emory pass at 8228ft. The views from the top were wonderful!
-having a swarm of bees trying to pollenate me. (After I put on my bright neon yellow windbreaker at the top)
-huge downhill, super fast.. I was going 40mph for about 10 minutes. I felt like I was in one of those car commercials, you know the type, some cool music playing and a driver whipping around tight turns in the mountains with the warning in small print "Professional Driver. Closed Course. Do not attempt." I was cruisin and needed a disclaimer message following me!
-getting to Hillsboro and finding 3 restaurants to choose from... ALL closed! What the heck!? To my luck (and this goes along with the last story) one of the owners was locking up and leaving, and after some begging, she got me an almond croissant and a sprite :). There was no other stores open in town, it was 3:30pm, and I hadn't eatin all day, and I was at mile 59 of 102.
-smooth sailin the next 43 miles into Hatch.
-scaring away a dog by barking and growling at it (see lowpoints)
-Riding past super symetrical pecan groves. I like symetry.
-arriving in Hatch before dark. (I didn't actually start riding till 10:30am and made it to Hatch at 7:00pm)

Lowpoints:
-more climbing. Blah.
-cold at the top ( I put on all my warm stuff for the descent)
-the end of the downhill.
-being chased by an angry pitbull who seemed hellbent on biting into my flesh. (See highlight above)
That's it for lowpoints! Another lovely day on the bicycle.

Onto my last story of good luck.
First off, I have a routine now for the things that need to be accomplished each evening... And tonight couldn't have worked out better!
I pull into town at 7:00pm... Decide to find the grocery store. At 7:03 they were locking up but after more begging they let me in and I got what I needed. Yes! Next.. I wanted subway, but google maps said the nearest one was 35 miles away. Darn. Gotta find a restaurant.. All closed! Decide to go to motel to check in: what's across the street? Brand new subway. Next door? Dairy queen for strawbeery milkshake. Built into the motel? Laundromat for my stinky clothes. The luck!! Wouldn't it be nice if such simple things always made you so happy? On a trip like this it's much appreciated when something like that happens, especially after such a long hard day.

More Photos

Here are some more photos

Day #8... 120 miles + 7500ft: Passes Out in Silver City, NM

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Thursday April 3, 2008, 120 miles (193 km) - Total so far: 711 miles (1,145 km)

So I got a message from my aunt Patti tonight and I thought it was pretty funny so I had to share:

"Hi Joe! I have shared your blog site with one of our 6th grade teachers. I go into her classroom and assist a few of my students who are in that class. In math, we are covering variables and patterns, and the kids are watching your progress (miles) for each day. Perhaps we will take the data (miles traveled each day) and plot your progress. Your journey comes at the same time that the textbook covers a bike rider and his journey!! Such a coincidence! The kids would like to read your entries (it's projected on the movie screen so they can see the map)but,ahem, their teacher has to scroll quickly and skip certain parts, like your motel adventure with the working blonde. LOL.. They are enjoying the photos and think it is so cool what you are doing! Bet you never thought that you would be the subject of a math investigation...Aunt Patti"

How cool is that! Here's a good math problem for today's ride: what was the average incline, or grade, in percent for the insanity known as today's route. The numbers you'll need? 120 miles of rolling terrain with a total elevation gain of 7500ft.

Today was certainly one of the hardest days I've spent on a bike. 7500ft of climbing in itself is tough, then add to the equation actually pedaling 120 miles on top of that. I was trying to come up with a good analogy while riding today, but I don't think there is one. Just try imagining... Well, 120 miles + 7500ft uphill. There were two full-on mountain passes, lots of little ups and downs, and the killer was the last hour and a half coming into Silver City. I was sooooo ready to be done for the day, but a pesky little uphill forced me to continue another 2100ft up! That is not what the map suggested! On the other hand, maybe it did, and I was just ignoring it all day.

Despite the long day and hardwork, the scenery was the prettiest of the trip so far and the roads mostly traffic free after mile 30ish. I took tons of photos.

I mentioned yesterday the Alaska jersey, and today didn't fail.. A guy actually stopped his car ahead of me and got out, as I was climbing the first pass of the day and wanted to know if I was from Alaska. Turns out he is too and has a place in the same neighborhood we're in and another in the town south of Anchorage called Girdwood. Crazy! Jerry Bell was his name.

Highlights:
-jerry bell
-big downhills on the passes
-seeing two motorcyclists with snowboards strapped to their backs heading toward colorado.
-spectacular views everywhere!
-getting to the top of the second pass and finding a pine forest that smelled great. It was just like the air freshener you'd hang in your rear-view mirror, only smells real.
-lots of rolling hills with wavy grasses.
-getting cold well water at the post office in Mule Creek, NM.
-everyone who passed in their cars/trucks on the rural roads waved, cheered or did something nice.
-Being chased by ominous clouds that were dropping rain but never getting caught.
-Making it to the continental divide
-making it to Silver City and not collapsing first.

Lowpoints:
-climbing is tough no matter how you look at it.
-fierce crosswind blowing me everywhere.
-mediocre sandwich in Buckhorn.


The last thought is what I overheard at subway while eating dinner. There were two motorcycle guys talking about their trips.. One guy was whining about how tired he was after such a long day. The other guy asked where he rode, and he named some towns and said, "yeah, you wouldn't believe how tough 300 miles is in the mountains!"
I wanted to shout "try it under your own power and then see how tough it is!" But I realized that may be very provocative, so I kept my mouth closed. :)

Tomorrow I have the option of 99 or 137 miles. We'll see how it goes. I can't start till 9:00am because I have a care package at the post office and that's when they open. Looks like it'll be 99.

Joe

Day #7... Nothing Happenin Here...: Counting Ceiling Tiles in Safford, AZ

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Wednesday April 2, 2008, 77 miles (124 km) - Total so far: 591 miles (952 km)

Today was just an uneventful day in almost all regards. No major highs, no major lows. So I'll just tell a few brief stories and leave it at that. Nick says it's probably a good thing that there were no major events, but I pointed out that it would be nice to have had a bunch of cool stuff happen too. I did see two things I had not seen in weeks.. thick clouds and snow. One of the mountains I passed had some snow at the top, and I was riding into a pretty thick area of clouds but it either fell apart or moved further east.

I left Globe, AZ today and got into a grove, only stopped once to take a few self-pics and pics of flowers along the way. I then made it to Peridot, AZ around mile 18, which is part of an indian reservation, and got a sandwich at the grocery store. I went another 25 miles before I stopped again and that was just to get a gatorade. Another 25 miles or so later I made it to Pima, AZ home to the enticing "Taylor Freeze" ice cream store. Along the road starting about 5 miles out of town they must have had 8 or 9 signs teasing you with all the goodness that lay ahead. Bannanna Splits, Root Beer Floats, Milkshakes, etc. The "Little Joey" within me couldn't resist another strawberry milkshake, so I stopped and got one. And it was good. I then rolled another easy 10 miles into Safford, where I'll be staying tonight, only to discover that out of the dozen hotels, all but two were booked solid, with exception to a B&B with shared everything, and a dive-motel. I chose the later and got the last room. I asked some of the hotel clerks why every hotel was booked solid and they informed me that there is a brand new copper mine opening near town here, and there's hundreds of contractors working here to get things going, so their companies just block out a group of rooms all the time and there's nothing ever available! Luckily I am ok and don't need to get creative (sleeping on a display bed at the 24-hr walmart was one idea).

I saw two other eastbounders and briefly said hello, but they were going about 12mph on flat smooth pavement I was cruising 22-23mph on and didn't really want to slow down to hang out. I think they may have been suprised when I told them I was going to FL too. I guess I must look like a nut carrying no gear with me. But that's ok.

Today would be a good day to talk about my cool Alaska Jersey, since nothing notable happened.
Everywhere I stop, at least half the time, someone will comment about the jersey if I've got it on (the other is a plain, bright yellow jersey with no markings)
The most common question is a variation of this, "Sooo... are you going TO Alaska or coming FROM Alaska?" When I say "neither" they look confused, and then ask where I'm going. When I say Florida, they seem shocked. As if that was further than Alaska or something. I've also had dissapointed responses when I answer that question, as if they were really hoping I was going to or from Alaska, and that going to Florida is lame. A lot of times they also think that I'm lying or are just in shock. One guy at a gas station asked me 5 times if I was BS'ing him. "Really?".. "yeah" ... "For real??" .."yeah, for real" "come on, you're kidding!" .. "nope, not kidding, really going to florida!" pause. pause. pause. "ok, so you're serious." "Yep, serious."
That was my favorite.

I also had another guy tell me what I was doing was dangerous. When I pointed out that there's many other people doing more dangerous things, he confirmed for himself my point by saying, "well, I guess that's true. I was a firefighter for 20 years." I suggested that he probably was in danger more often than I have been on the bike. He agreed.
I also seem to run into a lot of folks that used to live in or live in Alaska part-time. There are a lot of old guys here that spent some time there in the 70's doing pipeline work. Another guy at the hotel I was at last night lives their in the summer and does drilling work for mine and oil companies.

A lot of people also seem to think it's impossible to do a trip like this. I guess it is pretty hard work, but I think the hardest part is finding the time, and then having the mental strength to get through the trying times. I think there's more people out there who can handle it, physically, than many realize.

Anyway, that's it for today!
I'm at the Safford Library so I'll add some pics next from Days 5-7.

Day #6... Canyoneering: Nursing a Strawberry Milkshake in Globe, AZ

Tuesday April 1, 2008, 78 miles (126 km) - Total so far: 514 miles (828 km)

I'll start off with some advice Jim sent today...it's very good!

From Jim:
"If you become very bored and suffer from sensory deprivation while pedeling, I have a very simple solution-Take a deck of playing cards and affix one or two on the frame of your bike-make sure they just glance the spokes. This has a three-fold effect. One-it elimates boredom as you can play tunes at various pitches with varying speeds, two-no-one will bother you as they really think you are a flake, three, it keeps the rattlesnakes at bay. I know of an instance of a biker in arizona who arrived at his destination with 22 rattlers on his back like streamers-he did not die because of his speed-the snakes could not catch their breath long enough to pump in their venom!---sedentary advice from jim higgerson........"

I bought a deck of cards so we'll see how this works tomorrow. So far I've only had 2 or 3 dozen snake bites a day, this should drop it to less than a dozen.

Now onto serious stuff...
Today started off boring and gross. 15 miles of strip malls, retirement RV parks, industrial sites and unplanned run down sprawl. Mesa and Apache Junction were nice places to leave. Onto the highlights and lowpoints:

Highlights:
-Leaving subsprawlin Phoenix
-tons of freshly bloomed wild flowers
-taking no rest breaks
-smooth pavement for some stretches.
-getting buzzed by 2 F-15's
-riding on a freshly paved but not yet open to traffic section of road for a few miles... Until captain safety drove up to me and asked me "where do you think you're going??" I replied, "well, I think I'm going to Florida." He thought for a moment and chirped back angerly "you're going the wrong way!" I raised my eyebrows and said "what?! They told me it was this way (pointing) if I go that way I think I'll end up in California." Surprisingly my smart assness didn't get me physically removed from the road, instead he said he'd have to escort me in his truck. So he drove 10mph as I pedaled behind him up to the top of a pass and cheerfully waved goodbye.
-big 'ol smokin fast downhill for miles
-seeing some british or aussie fellow climbing the big uphill I was racing down at 50mph and waving to each other (he had a small flag, couldn't tell exactly which it was)
-Staying in a much nicer (no hookers) motel 6 that was almost as cheap.
-strawberry milkshake after dinner.
-not a single flat tire- thanks armidillo!
-making it to Globe, AZ and not dying on the 4000+ft of elevation gain I did today
-great great scenery. Rode through some cool narrow canyons.

Lowpoints:
-mesa and apache junction suck.
-road construction
-tons of traffic
-No shoulder with blind curves occasionally- scary.
-climbing 4000+ft was not painful but felt more like a chore. I felt really good and could have done 120 miles or more if I was on flat ground. Climbing sucks speed out of you, and in turn time/daylight.
-rude guy at the days inn when I asked if there was a AAA discount. He yells "no! This is the final price! No discounts!" Okaaaayyyyyy... Someone has been asked that too much and doesn't know how to handle it.
I got the discount at motel 6 though :D

That was it on the lows, not too bad.
Now I'll talk a little bit about horns. Not animal horns, or rock horns, not even fog horns... Car horns. These pesky little noisemakers are found on just about every moving vehicle nowadays, and as most cyclists can relate, we are often at the receiving end of their noisy fury. This is an everyday occurance, so ingrained in my experience that its not worth mentioning each event, just as I wouldn't mention running over a bump or seeing a crow on a fence post. Its everywhere.
There are a few distinct types of horn blasts that may be encountered, and they go like this:
1) Toot toot!... "Way to go! Do your thing man! Yeah! Go for it!"
2) Toot toot toot toot toot!!! ..."Yeah! I am even more excited than the last guy and like honking my horn so I'll keep doing it!"
3) Beeeep! "I'm the 4000th car to pass you today but I thought you might like to know I am a half mile behind you and closing in. Be ready!"
4) BEeeeeeEeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! "You fu#*+@?! Bikers don't belong on MY roads!!!!"
5) BEeeeeeeeeeeep bEeeeeeeeeeeep bEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! "I'm even more of an ass than the last guy but I really want to make sure you know you're not welcome on MY roads!!!"

That's the sum of it for horns. It happens all the time. Sometimes its scary sometimes annoying and sometimes it just startles you!

I've got some other thoughts of the road but I'll share those daily to keep you hooked and coming back.

Coming soon: The constant reaction to my Alaska jersey. Peoples reactions when you tell them what you're doing. Trash - where it collects and what it's made up of. Roadkill (and recipes). Stay tuned.

Day # 5... Riding a rollercoaster: Bleeding in Mesa, AZ

view in Google Maps

Monday March 31, 2008, 79 miles (127 km) - Total so far: 436 miles (702 km)

Today was quite the rollercoaster of highs and lows. Overall good though. Traffic was pretty bad all day, riding from Wickenburg to the East side of the Phoenix area.I'm staying in a pretty run down area at a lousy motel 6 so that's added an interesting dimension to the day.

Highlights:
-tailwind and smooth roads most of the day.
-mailing unneeded stuff back to Alaska, now my load is much easier to deal with.
-nice neighborhoods to ride through.
-Adventure Cyclings great route selection! I never knew Pheonix had such nice roads and bike paths to ride on. It was a much different side to Phoenix than I'd seen before.
-smelling all the freshly blooming flowers all over town
-smelling freshly cut grass; ahh, summer.
-getting new tubes and a new rear tire! Wahoo! This new tire is called the Armidillo for it's toughness and I honestly think my flat tires will significantly decrease.
-getting gatorade and water from a stranger (detail below)
-catching up to the organized version of the trip I'm doing (for about $3500 you can pay adventure cycling to lead you, but you still have to carry all your own stuff.It seemed everyone had 4 fully loaded panniers and other things strapped here and there. I need to talk to someone who's actually done one of these trips to figure out the appeal..maybe I am missing something)
I tried talking to a few of them but I must have had axe murderer tatooed somewhere on my face because they didnt seem eager to converse with an outsider on a bike. The one guy who did briefly talk though wanted to know where all my stuff was and when I started. When I said "this is it, this is all I need, he looked shocked and added that I must be doing high mileage days to have covered the same amount of distance in 4 1/2 days less time. ---well yeah. And I'm carrying 8 pounds now vs his 80.
-getting to the end of my first route map and starting a new one. There are 7 total and I'll start another in El Paso, TX.
-meeting with a potential bride while on a bike trip. Do you think the IRS will allow me to write off the whole thing?

Lowpoints:
-flat tire at mile 18
-tons of traffic
-smog, pollution, noise, sprawl
-almost getting hit by an old guy who wasn't paying attention... Wait for this... Driving a golf cart.
-adventure cycling folks not wanting to chat. Come on, I'm lonely out here.
-a blood eruption in my nose; this actually scared me. I was about 8 miles from being done for the day, feeling great and just cruising when I felt this drip come out of my nose. I wiped it with my arm and my arm was covered in blood. I stopped the bike and it was like a leaky faucet for 3 or 4 minutes. Blood constantly coming out and dripping all over the place. I hung my head over a railing and proceeded to call Brook, freaked out hoping she could google "spontaneous nose bleed strenuous excercise hot" to find out how serious this was. No big deal she says. The bride I met with tonight also happened to be a family physician so she reccomended some saline nasal spray called Ocean Spray, which is working nicely.
-staying in this gross motel 6. It's dirt cheap, but now I know why.
-figuring out that my neighbor next door has set up her nightly office 10 inches on the other side of the wall. If anyone needs a prostitute, just come to the motel 6 in Mesa. Room 124 tonight is a leggy blond named ashley.
-gross pizza for dinner because there are no restaurants nearby.

So enough bad stuff. Here's the best story of the day.

I didn't really stop today at all for food or fluids (probably why I got a bloody nose). I was about to get on a 10ish mile section of bike path away from stores so I decided it would be a good time to stop and get more fluids. I was a little dehydrated and when that happens I often crave gatorade or juice. Usually its a 32oz bottle of fruit punch gatorade that I want the most. Well, I get about 400ft from the bike path and there has been no stores for miles on the route. I decide that I'll at least fill my empty water bottles if I can. When you're in a residential area there's always someone out watering or working on their truck that won't hesitate to fill up your water bottle if you ask nicely. So sure enough, a guy is out working in the yard... The hose is out, so I stop to ask if I can fill the bottles. He says "sure! Where ya headed?" I tell him and he says "wow that's far. Is water gonna be enough? I've got cold gatorade if you want some." I told him that was perfect and what does he pull out? No less than 2-32oz bottles of fruit punch gatorade!!! Wow. What luck do I have in scoring that. :D

Tomorrow will be better I think.