Supaonabike

The End.

2009-09-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

So about 3 months and a week after its conception, I'd say the trip is now officially complete. Jean Noellsch was so kind to take this final jumping pose in front of my destination back home in Gibson City. Since I've been back, I think the city has really done well for itself and I've realized how it is thriving. This in itself gives me a great sense of pride as along my trip, I saw so many towns that were on their last legs.

So here it is.... the bike and the trailer in its entirety. 146 pounds and at the cost of a couple of tanks of gas.... these little guys are on their way back to Oakland, CA (hopefully in one piece)

Of course the primary purpose of the ride was to raise funds for the ABC and the FCYSC, but also, it was to be able to see one of my longtime friends Amy get married. They had a beautiful ceremony in the fields outside of Forrest, IL. Right afterwards, (literally 5 minutes, they walked over to the gun range to show their prowess at sharpshooting clay piegons.

Catherine flew in the night before to join me. Naturally, she was so supportive of me through this whole trip and I owe plenty to her for her patience and keeping me going through much of the trip! Here I am introducing her to corn.

Yesterday, I flew out of the fields of Illinois from Bloomington's airport around 10AM, went the absolute wrong direction for about 2 hours (to Atlanta), then caught my second flight westward towards San Francisco.

I've never really had many contemplative thoughts on an airplane before, but it is strange looking out the window for a total of 8 hours and think to myself... wow, I was down there someplace, experiencing all of the people, cultures, and landscapes of what there is... and most of the people around me may not even know its down there. When I first left Bloomington, I could see Funk's Grove and the roads that I took that led me eventually to Heyworth. It was pretty awesome to see it from the air, and again imagining myself down there at that intersection taking pictures with the signs before heading down an infinite country road eastward, which from the air looked like a simple stroll.

Much of the rest of the flight was uneventful. Unfortunately, there was cloudcover and rain for much of the flight. Which again, made me so very thankful that the weather I had was good and that I didn't get stuck under rainy conditions. I arrived back at SFO to be greeted by Michelle and Chris, two good friends from school that had been using my car while I was gone. Surprisingly, it was raining a bit in San Francisco and the East Bay.... which of course is unheard of for most of the year. But finally, I arrived back at the Convent (the name of my old place), and got settled in my room. This adventure is over, but as the song says "every new beginning is another beginning's end."

2009-09-13T07:57:00.001-07:00

On my way back to the bay area on a plane, bike is on the train. Done.

All trip photos now online!

2009-09-09T23:29:00.001-07:00

So by reading this blog, you have been given access to a limited number of photos that have been pre-screened by me for quality and for images that instill that the trip is wonderful, happy, and fun. However, there are plenty of other photos (and video) that truly reflect the ride in its entirety. Those are all now available online on my flickr page here.

I hope that you enjoy these and please share them responsibly! (meaning, please don't embarrass me too much). These of course include, the sequence of dud jump photos that led up to the jumping photos that I often posted.

Fundraising Totals

2009-09-07T20:58:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Gibson. Huge thank you to both Justin from Star Talent Events and Torri and Tommy from TNT Signs and Designs for their generous contribution to today's reception. I'm happy to say that this evening at Railside, we were able to raise an additional $1150 through donations and t-shirt sales! These funds will be going directly towards the FCYSC!

Also, a big thank you to everyone that was able to make it out today. This brings the grand fundraising total to approximately $5700. In other news, t-shirts will be ordered tonight and should be ready by Friday. Information about distribution will be available at that time.

Gibson City - A Welcome Sight - Day 42

2009-09-05T18:05:00.001-07:00

Berkeley, CA - Gibson City, IL

Total Trip Mileage : 3,100 Miles

Total Elevation Climb : 96,000 feet

Total Days on Road : 42

Greetings from the Gibson City, IL, the place where I grew up and spent the better part of my life so far. I arrived this morning under great weather and clear skies with my good high school friend and soccer teammate Ben Kaeding who made the journey from Fisher to Sangamon Ave. But before getting into the celebratory and fluffy details of arrival, I will entertain you with tales of riding through East Central Illinois by bicycle, traveling at 15 miles per hour. Well, that statement is about as exciting as it sounds and there aren't that many stories.

However, the last two days have been exciting for me at least. Starting from my home in Berkeley, I had imagined in my mind at least once a day how great it would to be back in the

Midwest, riding on lonely country roads, surrounded by corn. Well, that dream has slowly become a realilty over the past few days. From Heyworth to Fisher via Route 136 was a whopping 33 miles. But since I couldn't take 136, that number gets rounded up to a nice even 44 miles, which I stetched out as long as I could. I got o

ut from Heyworth a bit late and had the timing just right so I could visit LeRoy for lunch. (you know it's a slow day if you're planning out your day around going to LeRoy for lunch). But I got there a

round 12:15 and hit up the McDonalds. I hadn't been to a McDonalds in at least a few years and I had been craving some chicken nuggets and fries ( a childhood favorite.... along with dairy queen of course). Did you know, that chicken nuggets now come with 10 nuggets and not 9 like they used to? This was the first shockwave that it is true, about portions becoming bigger at fast food outlets. I guess time has been passing me by a little too fast. Or maybe they had heard that this poor starving jobless kid on a bike was passing through town... I imagine the former is probably true.

Well after turning a few heads and downing my 9 nuggets and 1 extra in Leroy, it was off on another overland adventure to Fisher. I took mainly back roads which in my opinion have way more character and provide me a little sanity because of the few cars that go by.

I was pleasantly surprised by a red truck that drove passed me and gave me a friendly wave... a feat that in my book is already above and beyond that of any good cycling samaritan. But THEN, he came back (with his dog), with a cold gatorade and powerbars (first, i didn't know that farmers ate powerbars). How awesome was that? I was very appericiative and told the gentleman thank you. He told me he was also a cyclist and it looked like I was pretty thirsity.. (I know he was just being nice, but I did wonder if I looked THAT bad that someone needed to offer me some water, maybe it is time for this trip to be over)

After that run-in, I started seeing familar things, the windmills to the west of gibson, those enormous white tanks near Fisher, News-Gazette mailboxes, ahhh home. So eventually, I made it to Fisher and made camp there at the fairgrounds. I think of the many places that I camped, Fisher was actually the most hospitable. Maybe I gave the aire of being a local despite my skin-tight clothing. So after trying to fit in with the local middle schoolers on their bikes, I made the rounds in town, visiting all of the local attractions such as the water tower, the caseys, and the ingolds grocery store (twice). I would have visited the stop light, but such wonders of rural life are limited to big towns (like Gibson City).

It was a great evening though. I was about to scrub off in a typical city-park-under-the-faucet bath, but then the local youth soccer kids started a practice which kind of killed that plan. But it was around that time when Ben showed up to say hello, then my parents (after a 10 hour drive from Atlanta). So it was a great reunion right there in Fisher, IL, at the site where Ben and I and my parents were years ago playing soccer against the Fisher Bunnies. As an aside, the Bunnies seems like an unfortunate name for a team mascot. The only mascot in this area that may be less-ferocious than a bunny would be the Hoopston Cornjerkers . In a ring match between those two, I'm not even sure who would win. The bunny might start eating the cornjerker and then we'd be in real trouble. However, if you're ever in Fisher, go to the fairgrounds and you will see a depiction of the most aggressive looking bunny you'd ever seen on the bottom of their watertower.

Later in the evening, I was paid a visit by another good high school friend Justin Bond. By that time of the evening, it was probably well past the social prime of Fisher, so we decided our next best option, the Rantoul Wal-Mart (i am being sarcastic btw). After a nice pleasant trip to Wally's World, it was time to retire. I went back to my little estate on the Fisher Fairgrounds and called it a night.

So onto the grand finale of this whole story. I woke up this morning around 7am in Fisher, IL. A feat that I never thought I would do in my life (waking up in a tent in Fisher, not riding across the country)

I made my typical oatmeal and started packing my things. My dad actually came by a little bit later and helped me get my things going. As an added bonus, Ben Kaeding would be riding back to Gibson that morning with me. Ben rolled in around 8:30am and we got our day started that way. Ben was prepared for a big day, I offered him a pair of bike shorts to substitute for the pair that he had handcrafted himself (I won't go into details, but it was pretty hilarious). But we laughed at the fact that back in middle school, when traveling such a distance between Gibson and Sibley was a necessity, this would be no big thing. But we are a few years older these days...

The ride this morning was great and we probably couldn't have gotten any better weather. The ride was a short one and we cruised into Ford County after about 45 minutes and took a well deserved break. The big spectacle in the morning would be that a Police/Firetruck escort would be waiting for us outside of town. (wow. awesome.) So it was quite a bit more than I was expecting in terms of a welcome, but it was an awesome and pretty unforgettable.

While I was riding though, I was thinking to myself, those people driving on 47 are not going to be happy about this, but at the same time, it felt pretty good to be cruising down the middle of the highway without a worry to traffic.

Once arriving to town, things moved pretty quickly. I had the opportunity to say hello to a handful of people who had come out to greet us but it wasn't long before I was in the WGCY Studio having the opportunity to chat with Frank, Gary (who I had been talking with via cell phone for weeks) and my high school teacher Mr Tompkins. All in all, it was a pretty awesome day and alot of fun to see everyone again and have a chance to answer questions and chat about the ride. But again, as I've continued to say, I really am indebted to those who have been incredible supporters of the ride and the fundraising effort to make this all possible.

So where do things go from here? This definately won't be the last post because I am known for always forgetting to say things... so there will at least be one or two more. However, they future posts will likely be quite a bit more boring. Additionally, I would love to keep any readers updated on my adventures here in the near future, but for some reason I feel that "suparunsacommunitymeeting" or "supahelpscatherineplanwedding" won't really draw much of a following. Actually, now that I think about it. I do plan on making a quick post on cycling as well as what i'll be doing back in SF... but that may come in a few days

Also, the fundraising effort isn't quite over yet. We've raised nearly $5000 in total and we'll be having a reception on Monday at Railside Golf Club in Gibson City at 4:30pm in hopes of raising a few extra dollars (however, feel free to come by and say hello regardless!) - big thank you to Justin Bond for helping organize that. In addition! After speaking with Tommy of TNT Signs and Designs of Paxton, he said he would be donating all of the proceeds from t-shirt sales 100% to the fundraising effort! Thanks Torri and Tommy!

That's all for now. I'm a little sad that it's over, but also glad to be home. Thank you everyone for such a warm welcome. Have a great Labor Day weekend!

2009-09-04T18:39:00.001-07:00

Camping in fisher, il, this is pretty fantastic

Fundraising Totals!

2009-09-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

So FINALLY, paypal has gotten it's act together and I have some updates on fundraising totals (based on what has been submitted via the website)... and the leaderboard stands as follows:

Ford County Youth Soccer Club - $2764.00
Atlanta Bike Campaign - $1954.00

So.. The FCYSC has charged ahead in terms of funds raised. However, it's not over yet!

Arrival Details... to Gibson City

2009-09-04T07:05:00.000-07:00

So after speaking with some people back in Gibson, it looks like I'll be arriving around 10AM and leaving Fisher sometime around 8:30am. I'm not exactly sure where I'll be staying, but if you would like to get in touch with me, feel free to contact me on my cell at 678-612-2327! I'll be rolling out of Heyworth around 11am this morning. Sorry for all of the scheduling changes!

Update: I'll be camping near the fairgrounds (orange round watertower)

Almost Done... Day 40

2009-09-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

ARRIVAL UPDATE: So there has been a slight turn of events. Based on some things that could be going on in Gibson on Saturday, I've changed plans to arrive on Saturday (time TBA). Sorry for the change!

After 40 days out on the road, I've finally made it to recognizable parts of Illinois. It was a pretty comfortable ride today around 75 miles from Havana to Heyworth. If you look at a map, you'll notice that US 136 runs directly between the two places (and I mean DIRECTLY), but unfortunately for me, busy roads with lots of trucks aren't a fun place to ride a bike with a big yellow bag behind it. So, it was mainly back country roads for me. For most of this trip, it's been funny because people will try to tell you the best way to go from point A to point B. Granted, their being nice and their intensions are good, but I don't know how many times people just tell me to jump on interstate whatever and head straight there. I think people forget that I'm on a bike and don't envision themselves on their huffy cruising down the highway.

But anyway, today was again, pretty uneventful. I saw some rather pretty country in and around Havana and I stopped for a quick lunch in Delevan, IL. After all that was said and done, I hopped on old Route 66 near McLean, IL to make the final run to my final stop in Heyworth. As a side note, I wanted to get your opinion on this. I was thinking it would be a sweet coffee table book to have ....drum roll... a photo book of post offices around the United States.... what do you think? Something about having a consistent theme of the post office with the different architecture styles of post offices around the country.... i think it would be a hit.. maybe. Once I get back to Berkeley, I'll be sure to post all of the pictures of post offices that I took on the trip (I think I took about 30-40 of yes, post offices)

Now that I've made it all the way here, it's really bizarre being back via my bike. I'm now running into towns that I haven't visited since high school, and even then it was by school bus or by car. Once I made it to Heyworth, I was reunited with my high school friend Matt and his fiance Shawna. They have an awesome new house here in town and I may be their first guest, quite an honor!

For dinner, we ventured up to Bloomington for a dinner with some old high school friends. It was great to catch up with them and see how they were doing (with their newly born children might I add!)

Tomorrow, I'll be riding my final day of any serious length... to Fisher, IL, where I played soccer as a younger guy in high school. I think it'll be around 50 miles or so, but it's a bit sad for the trip to be near its end. I think the strangest part will be riding into Gibson on Saturday (by the way, I'm arriving on Saturday now), and then trying to figure out what to do/where to go next. Most of this trip has been mentally fueled by this concept of getting there. There being Gibson City of course. But when I arrive, I imagine I'll feel at a bit of a loss with what to do with myself.

Once I get to town, I'll have about a week so I am thinking about taking advantage of the opportunity to do some biking around Ford County. As weird as that sounds, I think it'll be pretty nice to get some pictures and just revisit some places near where I grew up.

By the way, in case what you're wondering what I look like with way less hair than a few days ago, heres a photo with my sister and her husband Sam.... They headed back to West Layfayette this morning after a great trip through Western Illinois and Missouri! Thanks to them both and for their support (and awesome support shirts). I will say however, having a bit less hair has helped the ventilation in my helmet!

So as another aside, people often ask... what do you think about when you're riding? That's a good question. Some days, I really don't think about much... if you can imagine those animations of men's brains where it's literally a blank slate. Well there you have it. Yet, I think cycling is pretty mind-consuming. You have plenty to contend with, thinking about how fast you're going, keeping your balance, avoiding traffic, trying to look cool in spandex... that's alot to think about. There have been plenty of days when hours go by and miles melt away and I have nothing mentally to show for it. However, after being on the bike for so many days, I think I've gotten a bit better and multi-tasking. So I often have little mental debates (with myself of course) on a number of thought-provoking issues such as the health care debate, gay marriage, or what cows think about when I pass them and they stare at me. This is what keeps me occupied for most of the day. Actually, I thought it would be good for me to keep mental notes of some of this stuff, so I actually bought a little voice recorder when in Montrose, CO so I could keep notes (it's hard to write when you have two hands on the handlebars)... However, like many people, I cringe at the sound of my own voice.. so I've yet to listen to the notes, maybe I'll do that when I arrive to Gibson and don't have much else to do.

Ok, those are my random thoughts for the evening. Hope all is well and ride safely.

2009-09-03T08:54:00.001-07:00

Change of plans: may arrive to gibson on saturday, stay tuned

Havana, Cuba, and Little America & Tshirts

2009-09-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

First! T-shirts will be made once I get back to Gibson, if you happen to be interested in them, please be sure to let us know! The design and link to the order form can be found on this previous blog post.

So today's ride was a bit shorter from Galesburg, IL to Havana, IL ~ 63 Miles. It was a nice ride via some country roads and some unpredicted gravel roads. A pretty quick day relatively speaking and I was in Havana around 3pm. The roads were pretty narrow, but there is nothing like the good fun in having a truck drive past you at 60mph and getting sucked into it's wake. (this isn't scary as it sounds, when it drives past you, it kinda gives you a good pull).

But the trip today was filled with plenty of small towns, some of which had fantastic names such as Little America (which in fact was very little), Cuba, IL (I waited out lunch so I could go visit Cuba in hopes that some enterpreneural spirit would be selling Cuban sandwiches there. Unfortuntaely, there were no Cuban sandwiches. But there was a BP selling my favorite... peanut butter crackers.

So eventually after Cuba, I eventually landed in Havana (I couldn't find Pyongyang, IL), I got in a bit early so I thought it would be nice to go around and explore this little town which is about the same size as Gibson City. Nice little town with a bustling downtown and a riverfront park.

So I've been needing a haircut for about the past 3 weeks (of this 5 week trip) and I found my opportunity today downtown when I saw the local barber pole. I walked in and explained my situation and told the guy what I usually got. I proceeded to let me know "Oh yeah, don't worry buddy, I know exactly what you mean" Hah, famous last words that my former hair heard.

At any rate, I think I could pass for a military cadet, but I guess it's easier to lose a few ounces of hair than it is to try to lose any weight off of my trailer/bike. You know it's bad when your hear someone say "don't worry, it will grow back fast".

So tomorrow will be a shorter day again from Havana to Heyworth. I'll probably avoid US 136 due to traffic and that the back roads are typically just more pleasant. I'll be staying with my old high school friends Matt and Shawna who just purchased their first house in Heyworth! Also, looking forward to seeing some old high school friends for dinner tonight.

OQUAWKA! - first night in Illinois too

2009-09-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little sleepy tonight, so I imagine this post won't be incredibly long. Which is fitting since my day wasn't too incredibly interesting. However, before going into any serious details about today's ride, here are just some asides and initial reflections on the trip. It's almost over. So sad.

I would say that my journey is pretty much broken up in my mind as the 1) California/Nevada - getting the body in shape, serious heat, and long stretches of nothing 2) Utah - physical pain, dry air, and beautiful canyon landscapes 3) Colorado - low oxygen levels, green hillsides and mountain peaks, nice roads and interesting meetings 4) Eastern CO, Kansas, Missouri - flat but scenic, life moves slower, people are generally nice or genuinely scared of people in spandex, small towns with lots of character, 5) Illinois - feels like home and recognizing familiar
landmarks.

So far, I've actually hit 8 states so far, lost 5 pounds, changed 5 tires, eaten at least 100 peanut butter crackers, burned one billion calories, ridden 2800 miles, and climbed about 90,000 feet of elevation. I should make that into some type of graphic.

So the last two days have been spectacular because Fern and Sam have been so nice to carry my trailer so I've been riding about 50 pounds lighter. So while I'm huffing through the bluffs of Western Illinois, my belongings have been getting a beautiful tour of Illinois, the Quad Cities, and other interesting things in the Mississippi River watershed.

Today as I said was fairly standard. I had a 98 mile ride today that started across the Mississippi River from Keokuk and crossed into Illinois. Some interesting highlights include seeing the origins of Illinois Route 9, which is the same road that I live on back in Gibson City (if you were to travel down that road for about 150 miles). I didn't exactly have many towns of any substantial size during the ride today, so my food choices were pretty limited. My meals between 8am and 5pm consisted of 2 packs of peanut M&Ms (2 for 1 deal at the gas station), a pack of crackers, some almonds, 2 bananas, 1 apple, leftover trail mix, red bull and water, oh yes and a nutrigrain bar. Not exactly the meal of champions, but it did hold me over until a wonderful dinner.

There were some very pretty sights along the way, including this covered bridge. (read the old school script over the entrance)

Here I am entering the town of Oquawka, which in my opinion has been the BEST town name by far on my whole trip. If the town was called Owauka, it would be kinda funny to me, but then they through in the Q to make it even that much more fun. Apologies if Oquawka means something very important and honorable, which I'm sure it does. But I still think it's a fun name to say for a town. I'm a bit envious. I wonder if the city council of Oquawka has to make formal statements on letterhead... I think it would be hard to take seriously.... " The people of Oquawka feel that..."

So this trip through Western Illinois has allowed me to explore plenty of small towns and places that I'd heard of but never had the opportuntiy to visit. For example, Monmouth College!
And I never would have gotten the chance to visit these small horses (insert proper name for these guys here) .
But the day ultimately ended in Galesburg. Nice little town which is host of the world largest rail yard (I haven't seen it yet... must not be THAT large). Tomorrow, I'll be headed south and east edging closer to Gibson. I'm hoping to make it to Havana (which can be found by going through Cuba, IL). The ride should take me about half the day as it's around 65 miles from here.

We're here at the Holiday Inn Express here in Galesburg, which might as well be a little slice of heaven. Hot tub and enormous continental breakfast. I should do dishes here just so I can stay a few more days.

Hope things are going well for you all and big thanks again to all of my friends and family for your help and support!

Paul

Keokuk, IA & Ride Status Updates!

2009-08-31T19:56:00.000-07:00

Good evening everyone! Today was a pretty monumental day. Not only did the bike make it's way into the destination state of Illinois, but it got a little excited and decided to knock out another state as well: Iowa. So this evening, I'm writing to you from the Mississippi River town of Keokuk, IA, my first time in the Hawkeye state. I'll tell you a bit more about the day, but first, a quick ride update.

So my legs, my bike, and the weather above have been really nice to me and I've been able to make some good progress. So I am actually planning on moving up my arrival date from Monday (9/7) to Sunday (9/6). ALSO, what I am thinking right now is that I'd like to invite anyone who wants to ride to join me on my last day ride into Gibson City. To make it enticing, I'm thinking about spending my last night in Fisher, IL (maybe on the soccer field for nostalgia reasons), then making it a short 10 mile ride into Gibson on Sunday morning. Just a thought to toss around. But I definitely think I can make it home by earlier than Monday. So for those of you hopeful or seasoned cyclists out there, feel free to take a Sunday stroll with me back to Gibson from just Bunny territory. If you're interested or have further suggestions, please let me know!

Here is my proposed schedule for the next few days, which is, as always, subject to change.
Tuesday: Galesburg, IL
Wednesday: Havana, IL
Thursday: TBA
Friday: Heyworth, IL
Saturday: Fisher, IL

Today's Summary: Louisiana, MO -> Keokuk, IA (via Illinois) ~ 93 Miles

So we (me, Fern, and Sam) were staying at the River's Edge Motel in Louisana, MO. I think the story of the Supawanich reunion in Missouri (Fern and Sam live in Boston, and me being from San Francisco) struck the heart of the woman who checked us into our room, so we were awarded with the riverfront room facing the Mississippi River. The room greeted us with this beautiful shot this morning when the sun was coming up. However, this picture omits the railroad tracks which also run along the river, just out of sight, that carries coal trains up an down the river at least once every 2 hours.... even at night... with whistles blaring. Well, the view was at least very nice.
The ride this morning through Missouri up to Hannibal (home of Mark Twain) was pretty brutal. Missouri hills look like Utah's but with trees and funny signs on bridges telling me that they won't collapse (read previous post). So it was up and down all morning and my altimeter looked like an earthquake meter had hit it.

Aside: even though rolling hills are beautiful, they are the bane for cyclists. Nothing is worse than throwing your whole body into pulling you up a steep hill, only to lose that altitude as another massive hill looms in front of you.

But once I rolled into Hannibal, it was time to check out some of the sights and historical places associated with Mark Twain.

So I must say. I imagine for some how visiting Mark Twain's boyhood home would probably pretty cool. But unfortunately, I don't think I ever read Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer or any other of Mr. Twain's books. So visiting didn't really have the biggest effect on me. But, maybe someday, I'll at least look at the pictures that I took and tingle inside just a bit. The bigger excitement for the day still layahead.

Illinois! Finally! After 5 weeks I finally made it back to the state of my roots. It's great to be back. As soon as I crossed over to IL, the roads flattened out, the winds came to my back, and the birds started singing again. Well the latter two things didn't happen, but I was pretty jazzed about being back. Also, this picture was taken on I-72. Yes, they let bikes on the interstate here! Just to cross the river at least. But you better believe that I was living up the moment and crusing along in the fast lane at a whopping 22 miles per hour.

So after a brief lunch stop in Quincy (site of one of the Lincoln-Douglass debates btw), I made my way north to try to make it to Keokuk because Illinois was getting boring. Actually, it's because I've never been to Iowa. I think I have this strange facination with people from Iowa. My sister put it like this: maybe it's because we think of them has the a little-quirky, but super geniunly nice people that resemble Canadians in the US. I just think I have this impression that they're the super rationale, practical, and progressive Midwesterners. So I wanted to meet some by visiting. However, by staying in Keokuk, it's probably not a fair representation since it's only a 1mile from illinois and about 5 miles from Missouri.... oh well. I tried.

So back to the story. I have this impression that Illinois country roads form a grid and are all paved. Well around Gibson City, they pretty much were. But out here in River country, things are a bit different. I thought I'd take a little shortcut, and the road went to paved, badly paved, gravel, and then huge gravel (impassible by road bike). My map said that I'd find freedom about 1.4 miles ahead, so at that point, the bike and I went on a little walk through the fields.

I'd like to refer to it as "cross-training" and not "getting lost". I did have an opportunity to make a few phone calls and be passed by an uninterested cable repair man that didn't seem to be bothered by the kid in spandex walking his bike across a bean field.

So after that little escapade.... It wouldn't be long before I made it into land of my curosity. Here I am entering Keokuk. As I was taking this picture, there were a few teens rolling their eyes and pointing. Hmm, not making a very good impression on these people so far.
But anyway, here I am. Iowa has been nice (as far as I can tell) so far. But I won't be here long. After I bankrupt the Holiday Inn Express Breakfast Buffet tomorrow morning, I'll be riding back to the Land of Lincoln and heading up through Nauvoo towards Galesburg (site of the country's largest rail yard)

So quick recap: I'll be getting to Gibson on Sunday morning and I hope you'll join me for the ride. It's short! 10 miles or so from Fisher back to Gibson. (for those from out of town, flights and amtrak are just a hop away from Fisher)

Looking forward to seeing you all and am also sad that this ride is nearing its end! Hope all is well back at home (where ever that may be). Finally, a huge thank you goes out to my sister Fern and her husband Sam for helping me out today with the trailer and keeping me well fed and supported! It's been great to have company and I hope they're not too bored with the schedule.

ride safely,
paul

2009-08-31T09:41:00.001-07:00

Crossing the mississippi river into illinois

Thanks Missouri, But I've Moved On.

2009-08-30T19:23:00.000-07:00

So I'm here at the River's Edge motel in Louisiana, MO (remember how I mentioned that Missouri seemed to not be able to think of creative names for their cities??)

And I was joined by Fern (my sister) and her husband Sam! Unfortunately, the boys couldn't make the trip and are back with the grandparents in West Layfayette, IN. However! They surprised me with these AWESOME shirts! It's hard to see from here... but the logos say "Team Supawanich - Pit Crew". They're pretty amazing, I'm very humbled. So I'm here with both Fern and Sam and went out to a nice dinner here in Lousiana and took a quick tour of the town. They'll both be with me for the next few days as we journey up the Mississippi River.

I'm pretty excited about this part of the trip. Not only are we close to Illinois, but this is the part of Illinois that I'd always kinda read about.. and looked at on maps, but I'd never been here.

Here are the shirts btw.

quick recap from yesterday:

So it turns out that the flat tire back in Washington, MO was a bit more trouble so I ended up spending at least a few hours there in town. That wasn't such a bad thing, it seemed like a nice town and the people there were really helpful. I went over to a local bike shop called Revelolution Cycle where the guys there were great and helped me get back on the road. But, by that time, it was close to 2pm and hadn't had lunch yet. So.... of course it about time to seek out some good local eats. Luckily for me, the huge double decker British school bus parked next door serving sandwiches seemed like a good bet, and it was.

So as much as I wanted to take my time through those last 40 miles of the Katy Trail, I was on a tight schedule. But I can tell you that there is quite a bit of Lewis and Clark and Daniel Boone history in that section, so if you do ever pass through that portion of Missouri, be sure to check it out. But all of that history was irrelevant because I had to bust it to St Charles so I could make it to the Cardinals game. Skyler would be picking me up near St Charles so we could get some dinner and head to the game. Big thanks to Shaun from GC for hooking us up with some tickets to the game!

After the game, I actually was able to catch Amy (wedding in two weeks) and Jenna (staying at their place with Skyler) at Amy's bachleorette party... I don't have any photos... not because it was anything improper, but just because we dropped in for a moment to say hello. No really. Regardless, getting into St. Charles on Sat was perfect timing to catch the game and say hello to all of the Gibson folks!

So this morning, I began heading northward along the Mississippi. So St. Louis has been one of the biggest cities I'd traveled to since.. maybe Pueblo, CO? Maybe even Sacramento, CA. And there is a pretty good reason for that. Big cities are great, even if you're on your bike. It's the suburbs that are the problem. Trying to ride your bike amongst Wal Marts, SUVs, curb cuts, and plenty of people that aren't used to seeing a road bike, trailer, and a cross-country tourer is not fun. Really not fun. That ordeal was then followed by about 30 miles of miserable country highway with no shoulder and plenty of fast moving traffic. yuck. But I made it through after cursing about the Missouri DOT for at least half of that.

However, the day redeemed itself after I got to around Clarksville, MO when a bike lane appeared and the Mississippi River appeared off to the right. Awesome! I was prety excited about seeing the Mississippi and the jewel of my journey, the state of Illinois just beyond it's edges.

Here are some shots from day:

the sign says "welcome to floodplain industrial park" - cute sign and a cute ideal... but somehow doesn't strike me as a very inviting sign for people to buy into your industrial park.

apparently MODOT thought it would be a good investment to buy signs to assure people that bridges with these signs are actually safe to drive on. Which leads me to believe the bridges without signs are "drive-at-your-own-risk?", maybe they should have instead spent that money on fixing bridges instead of buying signs with comforting slogans... also, have you seen the state of the bridge in the photo?? it doesn't even look that good in person.

Hello mississippi river!

As for tomorrow... heading northward towards Hannibal, then onto Illinois and north towards Iowa! Back to GC in about a week!

2009-08-30T14:53:00.001-07:00

At the mississippi river locks at Clarksville

2009-08-30T12:20:00.001-07:00

Phone fell out me bag on downhill, its still alive

Crossing Missouri and more

2009-08-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, sorry about the lack of posts in the past few days. I didn't realize central Missouri towns maxed out on population around 500 people and there are not too many public libraries with internet access around this part of the world. However, I did want to say that my time in Missouri has been great. I've met some of the nicest people on my trip and some that well... weren't as excited to see me. I've had a few awesome evenings and nice people to stay with near. So here's a quick recap of what's been going on.

Oh also... I'm off schedule as you may have realized. No particular reason aside from the fact that I'm getting a bit lazy and that I've wanted to explore around this part of the world a bit more as I'm not sure exactly when I'll be back to Washington,MO for a wander around. I still plan on being in Gibson on Sept 7th with maybe a swing through Iowa and perhaps Galesburg, IL.

Thursday (Clinton -> Boonville, MO) ~ 82 miles
So by the way, the people in Clinton, MO were SO nice to me and I hope that they're reading this. Not only did I get a chance to showoff their new downtown wi-fi, I was riding around town after dinner and had a couple (who were friend's of the Noellsch's back in Gibson City) seek me out and actually tracked me down. We chatted for a while, I believe their names were Larry and Bobbi? Then after that, it was getting a bit late and I headed back to my campsite (which was at the community fairgrounds) and was getting cleaned up, just in time to have another visitor. A woman (who I've forgotten her name...sorry!) brought her family over to check on me to see if everything was ok. This was the same woman who I'd met earlier in the day at the Clinton Chamber of Commerce. Awesome. Thanks Clinton, MO!

So anyway, back to the chase. I started my ride to Boonville on the Katy Trail. The Katy is an old rail line that streches across Missouri. It's great because it cuts through those insane hills that Missouri has (and doesn't advertise). The grades are capped around 4% and makes for a nice easy ride through the coutnryside. So I thought it would be a good idea to try the road for a little bit mid-day (I can average around 16-17 on pavement vs 12-13 on the gravel trail).... but of course I was scolded by my actions with some serious hills that knocked me out.... I was back on the trail shortly.

The trail is great for a number of reasons.... you can pretty much zone out and not worry about traffic and although it's not advised... the helmet was off to allow my head to feel real sunshine again which was wonderful. I passed through a few other notable towns including Sedalia, MO (home of the Missouri State Fair). Nice little town with a very cool downtown for it's size.

That evening, I spent the night in Boonville, MO (named after Daniel Boone) a very prominent figure here in Missouri. The trail itself has lots of history on it, including history of the towns that it passes as well as lots about the Lewis and Clark expeditions westward. I've been taking my time a bit more through here just to soak in some of the information. By the time I got to Boonville, it was pouring. Nothing like finishing off the day soaking wet with trail dust caked to your entire body. Yum. With the help of the Noellsch Family (who seems to know 1 of 10 people in the state of Missouri), they were able to set me up with the McVicker family of Boonville. They lived in a very pretty old farmhouse just a few miles out of town. I stayed there and was fed an awesome dinner (and breakfast... with cereal for which I was longing for).

Friday (Boonville -> Hermann, MO) 103 Miles
So I left Boonville again and can say that Friday wasn't terribly interesting, well at least not to write about. There are often days when I have so many things that I'm thinking... oh, I can't wait to write about this! Friday was not one of those days. The first 50 miles or so were uneventful and under a thick mist which pretty much soaked everything that I tirelessly dried the day before. Oh well.

But, I was going to be able to visit Jefferson City today! alright! Well that's what I thought. The Katy Trail dumps you off at North Jefferson City which is just on the north side of the Missouri River. Unfortunately, the only way into town is to take the highway bridge (pretty much like an interstate...) but with no shoulder. So I tried it. Went down the onramp and everything, until the 80 mile per hour traffic was literally inches away because the shoulder had disappared... thanks MODOT. So now I can say that I've biked up a highway onramp in the wrong direction. check.

Also, that side of the highway was a big void of any types of services. Luckily, I found a small golf course about a mile away that served food, and I ate plenty. Here's a shot of Jefferson City from atop the bridge.

However, my evening way much more exciting. I eventually made it to Hermann , MO , which is in the middle of the Missouri wine country that I did not know existed. I parked up next to these folks , Eugene and Patti from Troy, IL. My first encounters with Illinoians! Alright!

They were so nice and hospitable. We chatted until the evening about his love of music, their kids, and their awesome new camper. They even let me grab a quick shower inside (it was a very nice camper). Eugene had all kinds of great tidbits of knowledge so it was quite the education for me. They were staying in the area to do some wine tasting before eventually heading back to Illinois.Saturday (Hermann -> St. Charles) ~ 60 miles

So my day has been good so far, right up to the point where I entered Washington, MO and I was greeted by this screw.
So that's my trailer tire... which now has two green slime patches holding it together. It should be good , but let's hope it holds up until Gibson! I'll be headed to St. Charles today to be reunited with some Gibson folks! Exciting! I'll be meeting up with Skyler and Jenna tonight which will be awesome. I even hear that I may have a chance to catch the Cardinals game! What a way to end the week.

As for the next few days... the plan isn't quite set. I'll be meeting up with my sister Fern and her husband Sam tomorrow evening somewhere along the Mississippi and I'll be with them for a few days. Looking forward to spending some time with them and also seeing the sights along the Great River Road.

I'll leave you with this video of cows bathing along the Katy Trail... because I realize it's very relevant to this post.

Ride safely and have a great weekend.
Paul

2009-08-28T10:46:00.001-07:00

Cruising the Katy trail in the rain

2009-08-27T15:17:00.001-07:00

Crossing I-70

Missouri Media Blitz

2009-08-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

So it's been fun 24 hours since my last post. I've made it into Clinton, Missouri after about a 75 mile ride from Nevada this morning. My time in Nevada was great! I was able to stay with a lady named Wanda, who took me in for the night and fed me a fantastic dinner and filling breakfast. Follow this one if you can... Wanda was the mother of my high school friend's dad's college roomate. Regardless, she was super hospitable and made my evening in Nevada quite memorable. She was telling me all kinds of stories from her 82 years in Southwest Missouri. Here's a picture of Wanda right after she did a few laps around the block on the bike, she didn't even break a sweat. Ok she didn't really ride the bike, but she did joke about it.

So anyway, I woke up this morning around 6:30 and eventually hit the road around 8:00am. As I was pulling out of Nevada, I witnessed a car that had some keys fall off of the top. I picked up the keys and contemplated a chase to give them back... but obviously after 31 days on the bike, you realize that you're not faster than cars. So I searched around for the PD and turned thoses things in.

Today's ride was pretty uneventful. No one told me Missouri was so darn hilly... seriously, I might as well been back in Colorado. But it was pretty no doubt. I was passing through the area just to the west of Lake of the Ozarks and the scenery was quite nice. I stopped and took a few pictures, including this one.

Also, I stopped along the way to read a history sign and also saw a guy working on his camper. I offered to help him out, which he declined. But all of the sudden I found myself agreeing to watching his dog while he went to town to get a part for the truck. Wait a minute, how far is town? how long was I going to be standing there waiting for him? What's the dogs name? All questions I should have asked beforehand....

Well make a long story short, he was gone for only 20 minutes or so... while I debated leaving, I stuck it out because the beagle was too cute to leave alone.

Another thing, I love the Midwest because people call it Pop and they sell Dr Pepper in droves.... I have a weakness for that stuff and luckily it doesn't exist in great numbers out west like it does here. Here's a small photo of heaven... DP for 50 cents.

So I rollled into Clinton around 3:30 and decided that I would stop in the Tourist Center for a few maps and a hello. Boy did I get a greeting. They were very hospitable and put me to work right away. Apparently, they've been waiting for a cyclist to pull through for a while so they could get a photo opp showcasing their new free downtown wi-fi (wait a minute.... how come I'm paying $1 for the internet at the library....). So after some discussion, we went out to the town square (biggest in MO btw), to get the photo opp.

Here I am (and other local Clinton-ens) enjoying the new wi-fi on my internet enabled phone... (which isn't actualy mine...)

Also, when I was in Nevada, Wanda had called the local paper, so I actually was interviewed while there as well. (Check the Nevada Daily Mail in the next few days for my breakout article in Missouri). So at this pace, I'll have to figure out how to be in the news tomorrow as well... for some reason I'm thinking that I would have to do something illegal to keep this pace up...

Anyways, I'll be at the fairgrounds tonight camping under the pavillion. It's supposed to rain, so I'm hoping it'll cool things down a bit before I hit the Katy Trail tomrrow!

Ride safely,
Paul

Hello Missouri - updated!

2009-08-25T11:21:00.000-07:00

mmmm .... biking through Kansas.

So actually, I'm taking a short break in Fort Scott, KS on my way to Nevada (pronouced nah-vay-da), MO. Tonight, I'll be staying at a friend's parent's-friend's mother from Gibson City, thank you to Phil Noellsch for helping me out with the contact!

The day has started off pretty well, it's getting a bit hot out there, but admittedly, it's still much cooler here in eastern Kansas than normal. But again, it's probably getting into the lower 90s today. So last night, I camped up in a motel in Iola, KS (birthplace of General Funston if you didn't already know, another world first in accordance to my blog post yesterday). It was nice to be able to leave my stuff behind and take a stroll around town. I did in fact check out the actual birthhome of General Funston and brushed up on some of my American History while at it. Also, on my innocent little walk around town, I managed to find another Dairy Queen, where I purchased yet another Oreo Blizzard...mmm so good.

[quick flashback! - here are some of those photos of the world's first signs of Kansas., there were more, but I forgot to take photos... the thirld one points out that Bronson, KS is the site of the world's first horseshoe throwing contest in 1909, there is no word if there was a second.

[back to the original story]

After that, it was back to the motel for some Family Guy and some rest. I woke this morning a bit later than normal and packed up to head out. Now, I'm offically off of the marked route according to the American Cycling Association, so it's been interesting to see what the roads would be like and what other gems I would find. So I headed east on US Hwy 54 through a small town called "Gas" and another small town which claimed another world first, the first horseshoe throwing contest in 1909... who knew? I sure didn't.

I arrived in Ft Scott around noon, just in time for lunch. After a very brief visit to historic fort scott, I came looking for this libary, and also stumbled across Holly's Hot Dog stand. Holly had just moved back from Sacramento, CA and in addition to a job at the hospital, she also decided to open a hot dog stand, which is decidedly less stressful and more social. She treated me to two hot dogs and a drink which really hit the spot. While on lunch break, I also had a chance to chat with a few other locals from Ft Scott, Joanna, the county clerk chatted with me and threw out some other historical facts about the area. Did you know, that Ft Scott's National Cemetary came before Arlington? yep, I didn't. So anyway, my lunch experience today once again reinforced that people here in the midwest are great and It's been great to be back. Big thank you to Holly and her father Bob!

Also, just as a side note, I forgot how big the bugs are here. Yes, California has bugs, but california bugs would be like bringing your smart car from Berkeley and parking it next to the horse hauler f250s from Kansas. Bugs here are big. I think i may have welts from them smashing into me along the highway. Yesterday, a dragonfly hit me square in the face and it felt as if someone threw a tennis ball (slightly less round and fuzzy) at my face.

[update] - So hey! I'm in Missouri now. things seem to be slighlty cheaper and people seem to be slightly more taken back by the asian guy on a bike with the bright neon vest. Here's me trying to do something slightly more interesting with the Missouri sign... sometimes you just don't win.

Also, I seem to think that they have trouble with memorable events here... so they differ to other states for city names., or there is a giant wormhole-like portal to the rest of the United States here in Missouri.

So anyway, I hope you all have a great afternoon and looking forward to hearing how things are going.

Paul

Oh yes, P.S. a little city planning history... So I've strangely found that many of the small towns here in eastern KS / western MO have big squares in the middle of them with the shops around them. Much like the Law of the Indies planned cities in the Spanish-influenced west. I can't exactly figure out the origin of these, unless it was some undocumented planning of the old frontier forts. Pretty interesting though. Except, I was pretty saddened to see that even here in Nevada, MO, they've used much of that civic space for vehicle parking.... ugh.

2009-08-24T18:27:00.001-07:00

ReDeveloping a weakness for dairy queen

We're (Almost) Not in Kansas Anymore...

2009-08-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

Oops, forgot the camera cord back in the room so no picture posts today... there wasn't anything too out of the ordinary besides the dragonfly that appeared to be the size of a small crow and the cows wading for fun. So welcome back! It's 4 weeks and 1 day into the trip and things are going well. I'm camped up in a cheap motel here in Iola, KS and am checking out the local digs such as the library and the senior center. The ride today was pretty easy going, 86 miles, partially into the wind, but it wasn't too bad overall. Still passing plenty of Kansas oil wells, cattle farms, and narrow-shouldered roads.

Apparently, if you're a town in Kansas, you feel the need to be the best at something. Very American. It's kinda like how if you win the NBA, you're the world champion, strange. So since we're here in the heartland, I guess it's magnified. Already in Kansas, i've passed towns that have boasted to have the largest st. patrick's day parade in the world, the the largest watershed basin in the world, the world's capital of prairie chickens, and today the world's capital of hay, and then there was that town Greensburg, KS (that got devestated by the tornado last year) that boasted the world's largest hand dug well. All very important, but all very strange that they're advertised on the sign. I guess when your largest tourism generator is college basketball, you need to be creative.

So back to riding. The pavement here in Kansas has been pertty good aside from that there is typically a 6" shoulder beyond the white line. Luckily, Kansasians seem to be good at giving cyclists plenty of space. I haven't had too much trouble as far as crazy drivers. Once in Colorado, some guy yelled something at me. Today, some guy in the opposing lane tried to lob something at me (I'm not exactly sure what it was or if it even came close), but two incidents in 2200 miles seems to be a pretty good track record.

In other news, I broke out the GPS and it indicated to me, as the crow flies, that I'm less than 500 miles from Gibson City! How cool is that. Well I think it's pretty cool, even though I'm sure by as the road drives, it's a bit more distant.

Ok, so I think that's it for now. Time to scour through town to see what type of nourishment options I have. The Chinese Garden across the street from the motel seems filling... but not appetizing.

Ok, that's it for now. happy monday.

2009-08-23T17:50:00.001-07:00

Camping at a gas station, nice kittens though!

Newton, KS ... REST DAY! woohoo

2009-08-22T19:24:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I rode about 105 miles from Larned, KS into Newton, KS. A welcome sight because it would be where I would be taking my first day off the bike since Carson City, NV. Woohoo, AND Catherine would be flying into Wichita to greet me once I got to town.

But first, a quick summary of the day in Larned, I did want to say my

previous day in Larned was pretty fantastic. I got to town and smashed a foot long Subway sub as soon as I got to town (around 4pm). After cycling all day, it

's amazing how you can devour nearly anything and have it feel like you just had a handful of popcorn. Larned was a great little town with really nice people. I st

opped by city hall to register for my campsite. The park on the southwest of town was the nicest that i'd stayed in so far. However, the city pool was closed since school was in session. So my bath would have to be a sponge bath under the water faucet.

hopefully they're not being corrected in the same classrooms...

Here's a quick tour around my campsite:

So yesterday was the long haul to Newton, KS. I got rolling out of Larned around 730am and loaded up on food because it would be about 55 miles until the next town. It was a nice ride and passed through a few wildlife refuges which were quite pretty filled with all kinds of birds, frogs, and cattle wading in ponds. After a quick lunch break in Nickerson, KS, I moved onward to wrap up the day in Newton. I got in around 5pm, just in time to meet Catherine, who had just gotten into town.

With the rental car, we actually went back up to Hesston, KS to meet up with my riding friends for the past few days, Judy and Jerry, who were staying at an RV park there. We invited them to dinner and brought them back to Newton with us for a stellar german buffet, which was a fantastic way to put some calories back on.

After a great filling dinner, it was time to hit up the local Dairy Queen for a DQ Blizzard (my first in years...) and yes, it was awesome.

Today (Saturday, Aug 22nd) - was a rest day in Newton/Wichta, KS ... we're staying at a Days Inn where I took full advantage of their continental breakfast. Not too exciting, but I spent the day in Wichta picking up a few supplies here and there. i'd been running out of camping fuel, and finding a proper air pressure guage for presta tire valves is pretty hard out in the plaines.

Cat and I spent the time walking around downtown Newton, which actually is a pretty impressive town for the 10,000 some people that live here. Oh yes, I took a much needed trip to the Laundromat today too. Probably the most important thing i did actually.

Tomorrow, I'll be back on the road. I realize that I've trekking a bit off schedule, but as of now, I should be able to make it back to Gibson by Sept 7th, depending on weather. But even with that, I can alter the path through Illinois to make it there on time.

Cat will be leaving mid-day tomorrow which will be quite sad. But I'll see her again back in Gibson for Amy's wedding. After she leaves, I'm planning on taking a short day and trying to make it to El Dorado, KS to camp for the evening.

Hope all is well for all of you, and ride safely.

Welcome to Kansas!

2009-08-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

So I made it into Kansas yesterday and it looked remarkably like eastern Colorado. However, the roads improved and more people seemed to wave. ahh the midwest. It's been a fun time so far. After a quick stop in Tribune, KS, I blew past my original goal city (Scott City) and made it onward to a small town called Dighton, KS. Great little town. I rolled in around 5:30pm and made camp at the city park. I was joined by Jerry and his wife Judy, of whom I spent some time with the other day. They have been so so nice to me. Not only did they feed me a great dinner last night, they also brought some blueberry pie and ice cream! They'll only be on the road for another week or so before heading back to Petersburg, IL

So about last night. We met this older retired gentleman who lived across from the park who was sitting outside enjoying the night air. We chatted for a while and asked him if he knew where we might be able to find a shower in town. After some discussion, we determined that heading over to the truck stop to check it out. Mr Hubner (the retired gentleman) decided to give us a ride. So we cruised around town (Mr Hubner, Jerry and I) in his 1970 chevy pickup, going about 5 mph, over to the truck stop, which ended up being about 500 yards away. Then once we figured out that the showers were locked up, our next bet was the town motel, which again, we were offered a ride, which we did not refuse of course, but again the motel was another 700 yards away.

But a nice shower was a great way to end the day. Yesterday was a big one, longest of the trip so far at 127 miles. And it was my 21st day straight on the bike. Yes, I'll be ready for a break very soon!

So I pitched my tent in the city park and it seemed like everything was perfect for a great night's rest. I fell asleep around 10pm and was just on the brink of sleep when I woke up to a sound, (you know when you're half asleep, your judgement wasn't the best).... but it sounded like something smoldering (burning)... so I got up and jumped out of my tent in a hectic flash... well it wasn't really ALL that bad.... but it was the park sprinklers... which proceeded to soak my tent as soon as I jumped out. So I was partially relieved my tent wasn't on fire, but partially annoyed that now I was having an unannounced rain shower. Also the winds that night were really strong, I remember waking up a time or two with my tent at a 45 degree angle. Oh well.

So today, it's off to Larned, KS. The winds are favorable again but I am hoping for another 100 mile ride today. I'm taking a quick little break in Ness City, KS to use the computer, but will jump back on the bike here in a moment. Trying to make it to Newton, KS by tomorrow (Which is still quite a distance). But Catherine will greet me there and we'll be able to hang out and I'll finally be able to take a day off on Saturday!Best to you all and hope you're having a pleasant Thursday so far.

Ride safely.

2009-08-19T17:38:00.001-07:00

126 Miles today, in Dighton ,KS

Last day in Colorado - day 20something

2009-08-18T14:40:00.001-07:00

So last night I spent an eventful evening in Conastoga Park in Ordway, CO. Ordway was definately welcoming to touring cyclists and they even let me take a shower in their high school locker room. (see photo below...) how come all high school locker rooms look the same? It was pretty hilarious getting the grand tour of the school, but the principal was very nice and hospitible.

So after a wonderful shower and a trip to the library, it was time to settle into my new home at the park pavillion. I was staying at the pavillion because it was supposed to storm pretty hard that evening and it seemed like a pretty defensible fortress from the high schoolers who seemed to be a bit troublesome. Every time I woke up, I really felt that I was camping at Gibson City's North Park... which is a hilarious proposition when I think about it. I saw lots of heat lightning that evening, but the storm that was supposed to be never really came.

The next morning I woke up around 730 and gathered my things. I hit the road for Eads, CO (about 60 miles away) around 830 and had a slight tailwind at my back. It was pretty cloudy which made for great cycling weather. If you were ever wondering where old railcars go to die, don't ask any longer, they come to Eastern Colorado. I passed at least 20 miles of abandoned rail cars.

Later on the ride, I was passed by a couple of nice guys who pulled over to give me some of their harvest. Which was really awesome. They provided me with a canteloup (sp?) and some tomatoes, which I managed to secure to my bike rather craftily in my opinion.

So here's me after 23 days on a bike. I look pretty much the same and I think I weigh at least close to the same. You can't tell, but this is from on top of one of those abandoned rail cars. Talk about a disappointing shot from above.

Around 11:30, I pulled along side this gentleman, Jerry from Petersburg, IL. I rode alongside him for a few miles before stopping for lunch. He and his wife Judy had been riding from Oregon and they treated me to a great lunch and some stories from their ride so far. After lunch, Jerry and I chatted for the remaining 20 some miles into Eads, where we'll both be staying tonight.

Unfortunately, it looks like rain here in Eads. I'll be sure to update tomorrow once I make it to Kansas! Long ride tomorrow, 100+ miles.

small towns... oh they're the best.

2009-08-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

So today I rolled out of Pueblo a bit late and again into a not so fun headwind, but i put the headphones on and that made the ride all that much better. Nothing makes you feel more American than riding through farmland jamming out to John Mellencamp.

This post will have to be quick, but I just got to Ordley, CO and the town has been SO great to me already! I now have a little permit to camp in the local park, they let cyclists go shower in the high school (oh the memories)...(I have a 4:30 appt with the principal for my shower..which is why this needs to be fast) and their local library has a guestbook for all of the passers by! Fantastic. So I'm pretty excited to be here. However, I hear some pretty serious storms may be rolling through tonight, so I'm hoping to find some good shelter in the park pavillion. We'll see how it turns out. I'll be sure to take photos.

Also, the supaonabike story made it into the News-Gazette! (Thank you to Jean Noellsch for the article). Click here for the link

Hope all is well elsewhere. Until again. Ride happy.

Welcome to the Flats - Pueblo, CO

2009-08-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

Well here I am in Pueblo, the hilly portion of the trip ended yesterday and I am relieved to be done with it! Yesterday was pretty rough, I had headwinds for most of the day and the journey from Salida, CO to Pueblo was around 102 miles and had about 3000 feet of climbing. I think I was mentally checked out of climbing days since I went over Monarch the day before yesterday. However, I wanted to push through the day and start of today (Monday) on flat ground. The trip from here on out becomes more interesting. For the first portion of the trip, I had cycling maps which lead the way and provided me stop by stop information about what towns had to offer. Now, It's me and the little GPS and my eastward compass leading the way. I'm less worried. From here on out, I'm more likely to find towns, people, water, (the essentials) much more often. Also, there are about 50 different ways to get from point A to point B from here on out, whereas cutting the wrong way through the mountains could lead to sheer misery.

I got into Pueblo pretty late last night and was riding with my lights on as I got in after dark. I found a cheap (but rather shabby motel) right off of I-25. Catherine did a little searching for me and found me the great deal. I grabbed a footlong sub for dinner and retired around 11pm. I was debating whether or not if I should take a rest day here in Pueblo. But after my morning so far, I think I'll be leaving town here shortly. Not a whole lot going on and I haven't been overly impressed with what I've seen so far. I'd rather push for another town on the route that looks a bit smaller. I'm thinking I'm going to break up my next ride (to Eads, CO) which was slated to be 128 miles, and perhaps ride today to Ordway which is about half-way there.

Here's the sunset from last night showing those pesky mountains behind me. Unfortunately, when I took this picture, I was still about 8 miles from town.

Alright! Welcome to Pueblo!

So from here on out, weather, storms, and wind will become the prevailing factors. I'll be checking the forecast reguarily and hoping for the best for the upcoming weeks!

On another unrelated to biking-but related to transportation note... apparently Chicago is expanding its el system! hooray for transportation planners.

Video Updates!

2009-08-15T22:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've done any video updates... so here are a few from the road!

Crossing the Blue Mesa Lake

Canyon ride between Montrose, CO and Gunnison, CO

Then it rained:

Wildlife...

I don't know where this guy came from, I passed him pretty much in the middle of the Utah desert.

Day 21 - On Top of the World - Salida, CO (now with photos!)

2009-08-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

[note... I added the photos and video a bit late... sorry if they are sporadically placed!]

Greetings friends, I hope you are all doing well this weekend! Since my last posting (I believe it was in Dolores, CO?) I've covered some serious ground and have broken some records for my ride. A funny coincidence happened. A high school friend (Beth Wurmnest) just happened to be in Montrose, CO as I would be passing through, and her mom back in Sibley, IL put us in contact. It was perfect timing as she was only in town until today, but I was able to stop in and hang out with her on Thursday evening/Friday morning.

But getting there was a bit of an ordeal. Montrose, CO was about 120 miles (over two mountain passes) from Dolores... Well I'd never tried to go that far (with or without a trailer, or with or without elevation) in my life, but hey, I thought I'd give it a go. I got out of my campsite around 7AM and was on the road. Surprisingly, the first mountain pass was over 10,000, but it felt relatively painless since the roads here in CO are far more gradual
than anywhere else I'd been. Also, I think I'd been mentally preparing myself for a marathon day since the night before. I made it over the 1st pass then back down for lunch. I didn't actually have a chance to stop for lunch until around 2:30PM. After a quick stop in Sawpit, I headed back up to Dallas Divide for the 2nd pass which I summited around 5PM, all in all, I was able to make it into Montrose by roughly 7pm. Whew. Beth treated me to a great dinner and I got to hang out with her co-workers too!

The next day was from Montrose to Gunnison (all of these little cities have been awesome btw, would love to come back and hang out). On my way out of town, I stopped by Cascade Cycles in Montrose to get a top-off on air for the tires. I got chatting with Alan, the store owner, and found out that he had spent a good portion of his life in Rantoul, IL (about 20 minutes from Gibson City). Furthermore, he was a land-use planner out in California for a while too. So after a late start, I got moving for Gunnison. It was a beautiful ride aside for the 25 minutes of which I got poured on (in the middle of a canyon btw). It was a bit percarious with traffic, but things turned out ok. After the sun came back out, I rode by the Blue Mesa Resivoir (beautiful) then drifted into Gunnison, which is a cool little town which is the home of Crested Butte (ski resort). I stayed in a small motel run by a Polish guy from Chicago and went over to the Flying Burrito for dinner where I had the opportunity to debate politics with one lady, then talk to another couple's adventures in Ecuador.

Today, was another 65 miler from Gunnison to Salida, CO. The big deal for today was that I'd be climbing over the infamous Monarch Pass (11,300'). So as far as I'm concerned, once I get pass that, the Rocky's are toast. Well during the climb today, I definately could feel the altitude and had to take a few extra breaks, but again, the grade wasn't too steep and I made it to the top around 1:30. The BEST part was the descent back down to 8000' (Salida). I didn't have to pedal one bit for about 22 miles as it was downhill and I had the grace of a 20 mph tailwind rollling into town.

So I just got to Salida and it again seems like an awesome little outdoors town. I'm staying in a hostel (Simple Lodge). My host John seems like a nice guy. I'll be hanging out here in the Library until my stomach tells me otherwise.

(late insertion) - I can't remember the guy's name, but this guy owns this tiny little bike shop here in Salida. I stopped by just in time for their evening get-together where he and his fellow friends offered me a beer and some of their evening bbq! The folks in this town love their bikes!

Also, I looked at the calendar. I want to say the date that I'm shooting to arrive in GC is September 7th.

Hope to chat again soon,
Paul

2009-08-14T19:19:00.001-07:00

Colorado is awesome, But got poured on today, staying in gunnison Tonight and will summit the divide tomorrow

2009-08-13T13:39:00.001-07:00

Telluride, CO !

Colorful Colorado - Day 17 - Dolores, CO

2009-08-12T19:01:00.001-07:00

Greetings friends, I'm writing to you this evening from the cozy comfort.. or something of the type... RV Park in Dolores, CO. I rolled into town around 4pm today just in time for the local farmers market. Dolores is a great little town and I wish I had a few more days to stick around here. Once I got in, I sat down for a drink and chatted with an older couple from Flagstaff who came up to the area for a week of camping. I went over to grab dinner at a local place and had a young gentleman from the area join me. His name was Joe and he made furniture down in Cortes, CO. We chatting about the trip and the area, the weather, etc. Really nice guy.

The place that I'm staying (camping) seems to have it all for camping, warm showers, laundy, internet... maybe I should just hang out here for a few days. However, I wanted to post some video this evening ,but the computer at their location may have been purchased in the elder Bush's presidency.

As for my ride today, things started off great. I got out by 7:30am and was off towards the east with a cool breeze behind me. The day started with a 1000 foot climb out of Blanding towards Monticello. But of course, something came up. My trailer tire went flat about 7 miles into the trip. The trailer tire is a bit problematic since the size is much harder to find (for the tube and tire). But for this fix, the hole was small enough that I was able to use a patch and was back on the road in about 20 minutes.

However, the big excitement for the day was crossing into Colorado. It took me a bit longer than I originally imagined. But I finally made the crossing sometime around lunch and stopped in Dove Creek, CO (which is a big farming town... that looks oddly like the midwest) for a great Denver omlet. Here's me indiciating that yes, I'm in my 4th state.

Also, later in the day I passed through Yellow Jacket, CO. (I wish I would have brought a little BUZZ to take a picture here in this town). It's funny, I passed through on this same highway with my parents in the summer of 2004 and I think I have a picture with this same sign then. I'll have to go back and check. But, I had to take the opportunity to take another little jump photo.
Tomorrow will be a long day. Coincidentially, a high school friend Beth Wurmnest now lives in Montrose, CO which is along my route. I was originally going to try to make it there tomorrow. However, I realize that is going to be a bit of a stretch (120 some miles over two serious mtn summits). So, we'll see how far I actually make it. But it will be great to catch up with her and see her new shop there in town.

All else is well. I am really thinking I need to take a day off the bike soon. Waking up each morning has not been a full recharge. So depending on the weather (it may rain soon), I may be taking a day off somewhere in Colorado.

2009-08-12T13:59:00.001-07:00

Greeting from yellow jacket, CO, Death to rolling hills!

2009-08-12T10:34:00.001-07:00

Hello colorado!

utah, oh so bittersweet. (boulder, hanksville, lake powell, blanding, ut)

2009-08-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

So from my last post, my parents are off and away, safely back in Georgia. But before they went they sent me off on my bike. Here we are enjoying some crisp 10,000' air in Cedar Breaks National Monument (just to the east of Cedar City, UT).

So sorry for the lack of posts over the past few days. I've had no access to a computer and my legs have been in agony over what is the state of Utah. Someone should put a big asterisk next to the welcome sign that says "cyclists: bring lots of icy hot". But despite the big climbs, unmarked cow-catcher things, and hot arid air, Utah still is awesome, and is probably my favorite place of all to camp and be outside.

So I've been on the road for about 3 or 4 days since my last post, and when you're on the bike for about 8-10 hours a day... you keep thinking to yourself, wow. I sure can't wait to talk about this or that, but now that I'm sitting here comfortably in the Blanding, Utah library, with my sandals and non-bike clothes on, I can't seem to remember all of those good ideas. Luckily, I took lots of pictures, which will hopefully help paint an interesting picture of the last few days.

So the trip to Boulder was a doozy, 95 miles and about 4000 feet of climbing that day. Not to mention I was scolded by the elderly postmaster at the post office in Henrieville, UT for "picknicing" on their property... apparently against federal law, but she wouldn't have known that I was even there had I not come in to chat with her to be friendly. strange. Apparently, Boulder, UT was the last town in the United States to have its mail delivered by automobile. Why you ask? Because building a road there was nearly impossible! When they did build that road, they decided to make it absurdly steep as indicated by the photo below. (they should add a yellow sign that shows a guy pushing his bike up the hill)...

Here I am trying to climb the "grand staircase" at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. There were quite a few summits that day, but the overall riding was really great as we were riding the outskirts of Zion and Bryce Canyon National Park.
Here I just decided that jumping was getting boring and I needed a new approach. I actually tried to jump off of my hands, but as you can see that didn't get me too far. Notice too, that I have lots of layers on in this photo because it was a brisk 40-50 degrees at the top, as compared to my ride today which I was baking in the Utah desert.

So I finally made it to Boulder, UT! (this was on the 8th I believe), it was a great little outdoorsy-earthy town. I met some local hikers on my trek in that evening and that steered me clear of any motels and instead to this little primitive campground just outside of town (literally, an unmarked dirt road off the highway), but it was a great little spot that even came with a small mtn creek nearby (which was my bath for the night)

My next day would be to Hanksville, UT. Which would be about 80 miles away after a monster climb out of Boulder from 6700' to top out around 9600'. I stopped in Torrey, UT on my ride in and chatted with a group of motorcyclists who seemed interested in my ride. One of them even gifted me a beanie (I told them it was cold in Boulder), and then a sticker for my bike. They were both really nice and they interviewed me for a blog site they go to called itsallaboutthebike.com. They headed back to Park City that evening.

People ask me alot if its lonely riding solo. Well, on the ride itself, it can be a bit boring. But even people that go riding together don't usually ride side-by-side. However, I've really had a great chance to meet and talk to a good number of people on this ride so far. In combination with my couchsurfing hosts as well as random people along the way. In Boulder, I met a young guy named Matt who just had graduated from University of Denver and was camping for the night right before starting a 14-day outdoor adventure school in Boulder, I met Mike and Paul, who were from Luxembourg who were on a 3 week adventure through the Western national parks of the US. Last night I met Pete who was from South Africa who was motorbiking with his wife across route 66 and back, then there was Al who was from Monterey, CA who was passing through Utah. Everyone really has been really nice and it's great being out here where there are plenty of other passers-through who are curious to swap a story and have a conversation.

The other day I passed through Capitol Reef NP, which is super impressive, but looks similar in nature to the other NPs of Utah (Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands, Arches), below here I am riding in Capitol Reef with a mere feat of camermanship.... not really, but I just hope that no one runs over my camera as it sits on the side of the road with the self-timer on.

I spent the night in Hanksville, UT, which is a little town of about 400 people. I was pretty beat when I got to town and I was really hoping for a small little motel. When I rolled up to one, the sign said no vacancy, so I proceeded to turn around. However, a woman came out and told me to come in and let me know that they were closed on sunday... but they had a room available, and it would be no charge.. talk about a reward at the end of a long day! (Whispering Sands Motel in Hanksville. thank you so much!) In addition, my friends from Luxembourg of whom I mention earlier were staying in town as well and they came over and we chatted for a bit.

The next day was supposed to be a rest day... but it ended up being a still challenging 55 mile ride down to Glen Canyon and Lake Powell. Here's route 96 crossing over the Colorado River as it feeds Lake Powell (which is held back by the Glen Canyon Dam a few hundred miles away in Page)
I was able to run down to the lake to wash some clothes and take a nice swim for a while. I got there pretty early (around 2pm) and was hoping to take a nap, but wow. It was hot, so there was no chance of that. For lunch, they had a small ranger station up the way with a snack stand. I haven't had a hot pocket in at least 10 years.... but when you're hungry....wow those things are good. (I had the pepporoni pizza kind) Below is a picture of my setup for the evening with lake behind me, it was a great quiet site with a great view of the stars in the evening.

I couldn't help myself but get a jumping photo with the mtns in the background.

So my friends from Luxembourg mananged to pass me again in their travels around the West (I'm pretty slow compared to their ride), so we snapped this photo on the incline on the way to blanding. I think they're on their way to the Grand Canyon, so I wish them the best!

So thats the story so far. Tonight I found a motel for $28 in Blanding, Utah, so I'm taking advantage of a warm shower and a bed to sleep in for the night. I'm pretty exhausted at the moment and am contimplating a rest day (I've biked every day since Carson City on 7/30)... But, maybe I can make a little progress towards Colorado tomorrow. We'll see. It's a slight climb up to Monticello, but then It'll flatten out for a day or two. I hope that the blog has been interesting to read so far, I wish I could post more often and put up more video, but it's been difficult getting access to a computer and better yet, a computer that works properly.

For the moment, I'm still thinking that I can make it to Gibson City around the 6th of September... but who knows what the weather will bring between here and there. The weather so far aside from a day in California has been perfect. I look forward to the days ahead and hope to hear from you. Feel free to email me or txt me if you have questions!

2009-08-09T19:38:00.001-07:00

Utah is beautiful But the hills are crazy steep! 14% Grade? Who does that! No computer at the moment, But got a free nights stay in hanksvill!e

brrrrr it's cold up here.

2009-08-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

I had a bit of a late start this morning but was out and rolling around 9am... I think I was procrastinating because I didn't want to climb out of Cedar City. But once I got rolling, it was a beautiful trip up to Cedar Breaks National Monument. On the ascent, had a great view of Zion National Park to the south and then had a new max on the altimeter as I crossed 10000 feet for the first (of two) times on the trip. But wow, is it cold up there. It was probably in the 50s which isn't so bad until your bombing down the backside of the hill at 40 mph. At that speed your toes start going numb and your teeth start chattering... but it feeels oh so good to be making some serious mileage and to not be pedalling.

The climb actually wasn't so bad, that is largely due to the fact that I wasn't pulling 50 pounds of trailer weight and that it was still early. I summited around 1230pm and was into Panguitch by 230pm. It's a quaint little town with the one flashing re

d stop light and a few antique stores. Tons of motels due to its proximity to the national parks. Actually, came on just the right day since it's Friday night and the big event in town is the movie night in the park.... well except that I'm lame and tired and will be sleeping by 10pm.

On my way down the backside of the hill, I did have a pretty fabulous tailwind, so I took some video to represent my joy.

Tomorrow will be a big day as the parents will be heading back to Atlanta. It was great to be able to spend some time with them and that seriously helped keep me fed and kept the trailer off my bike for a few days. Tomorrow, I'll be pulling my normal weight plus about 5 days of breakfast lunch and dinner. yay.

Hope all is well and have a great weekend!

Utah has it in for me...

2009-08-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

So after yesterday, I thought my Utah karma balance may have shifted back to zero. But, I was wrong. So this morning, I woke up super-special early, just to get out before the winds picked up. (the forecast predicted winds of 30-40 due north by noon with gusts up to 50. For bikers going south, that's not such a good forecast. So this morning I had my first pre-dawn ride, leaving at 5:50 MST before a 6:15 sunrise. It was pretty great riding in the countryside under moonlight with the sounds of those huge insect-like irrigation sprayers all around me. The winds were still against me, but at a manageable 10 mph or so.

Today would be a special day as it would be the first time I'd crossed the path of a place where I had been before during my previous life as a Georgia resident. But Utah wasn't going to let me do that anytime fast. After around 9:30am, the winds picked up significantly, and at one point, I really thought time had stopped as the winds were howling around 20-30mph, and I was still 6 miles out from Cedar City.

I took some video, but after reviewing, I realize it doesn't really do the wind justice (I should have realized this, as yes, wind is invisible...) and in retrospect, it just makes me look like a big wimp. However, there was one mental highlight as I was pedalling fruitlessly into the gale, three huge tumbleweeds blew by me.... kinda like this video... note... this isn't really my video... but it gives the same effect. Just for visuals... just imagine around 0:13 some guy on a bike goes crawling by from right to left on the screen. That would be me.

So tomorrow is the biggest climb day of the ENTIRE trip! I'm excited. Climbing I can do.... dust storms and headwinds .... not exactly my favorite. However, the elevation profile is a bit daunting...
yikes... 4,500 feet. sounds lovely eh? more to report tomorrow.

Welcome to Utah... the welcome mat was not out.

2009-08-05T19:57:00.000-07:00

The Nevada desert, there are plenty of sights to see, including endless miles of desert if you're into that kind of thing. The sunset last night was however, particuarly great.

Today was a rough one... this morning I left from the Border Inn (which is rightfully named as it sits in pure isolation) on the nevada/utah border on a journey into a new state, Utah. Unfortunately, after great successes in Nevada and no serious breakdowns, it seems as if my luck came out a bit short on my first day in the SkiUtah! state. I righted my ship (bike and trailer on a road due south on the 85 mile trek to Milford, UT.

Right from the start, the Border Inn never seemed to leave my rear view mirror because I was headed directly into a 10-20mph headwind... (when you're on a bike... these things really make a difference), so instead of cruising along at a blistering pace of 15-18mph, I was stuck headdown into the wind going around 9mph... it makes for a long day. However, I was greeted with this little joy of artwork a little bit in, which made all the difference :-)

As I left Nevada, I was anxious to explore Utah, and hope that this state had a few more moving souls as compared to the last. But I suppose this goal would have to wait until I ventured further inland. No people around these parts of Utah. That headwind I mentioned? Yeah, that lasted for about 50 of those 75 miles without services. But the pavement sure was nice.

Welcome to the Dust Bowl! I had heard about these dust storms, but they were ususally associated with some 9th grade social studies story about people crossing the great plains in search of Fort Laramie and the Oregon Trail. But no, they apparently happen in Utah too. Luckily, no cyclists were harmed in today's dirt crossing. However, my rear tire didn't make it through the encounter, and Utah served me up my first flat of the ride... not so bad considering the ride is about 700 miles in so far. Of course, it had to happen in the valley of dust.

I tried to cover up my face to protect myself from the dust, I then proceeded to go to Milford and rob banks.

For some live action video, check out these clips from my last days in Nevada.

here's one of the dust storm... and my finger covering the lens... sorry about that.

I'll be reporting in tomorrow from lovely cedar city, ut!

2009-08-05T18:26:00.001-07:00

Goodbye nevada, Hello utah and absurd head winds.

Ely, NV

2009-08-03T20:54:00.000-07:00

Ely (pronounced E-Lee) is the biggest thing going on in Nevada since Fallon... today was an easy 40 miles and i came in and crashed for a few hours and am about to do the same here in a minute. But, I wanted to upload some of the less-fun moments of the ride so far.

Fundraising Progress...

2009-08-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

Also, apologies that I haven't been able to update my fundraising progres... I think I am around $3700... however... I really don't know at the moment. Once I have some more time at the computer... I'll get this updated!

nevada..... don't let las vegas mislead you.

2009-08-02T20:06:00.000-07:00

So I'm sure tons of people have been to Nevada... whether it's a vegas trip or an overnight stay in Carson City to spent the better part of the weekend in Lake Tahoe. Sure. Nevada is a pretty cool place. I can speak firsthand after biking through it over the past three days and it is actually pretty incredible. Their motto is "wide open" and that it is. So it is pretty spectacular to see an endless valley of absolutely nothing as far as the eye can see. But after about an hour, that novelty wears off and then you get to be in my position where you're spending the better part of your days riding into the sunset on an infinite stretch of highway that leads to another infinite piece of highway that slowly fades into the horizon. So someone told me to watch out for Nevada because it will be 100 miles between trees. haha funny. no really. Yesterday, i biked 63 miles without seeing anything suitable enough to draft a shadow or hide behind to take a potty break.

seriously. don't come here without bringing enough water to survive or enough music on your ipod to keep you sane as you pedal across the great basins. But really, it's not that terrible, it is quite relaxing while biking as you can see cars coming from both directions for at least 10 miles.

Right now, we're hanging out in Eureka!, NV (another mining town) which is quite the bustling metropolis with a population of 400 (as opposed to Austin, NV from last night with a population of 100). However, being a small town guy myself, I really do enjoy visiting these places. People are friendly, and have plenty of good stories to tell from around town. Today's ride was a bit long at 102 miles, but I'm going to try to tuck in and get a good night's sleep tonight.

So here are some photo highlights from the past day or two.

Here's our little accomodation in Austin, NV. A great little motel run by a couple who entertained us that evening with some guitar and provided us some homemade desert. They had an awesome little screened in porch where my parents and aunt hung out for the evening. (By the way. a huge thanks to my family for supporting me through Nevada... riding without the trailer has been a dream)

So to continue with the jumping hysteria... I've decided to jump in the positions of the summit names.... here, I'm trying to be a little antelope... i didn't seem to attract any others... perhaps my others will be better.

Here I am eating some pancakes...

check it out! me and nevada. we're buddies now. I've kept it company for at least the last 80 miles in this photo.
Austin, Eureka, Ely... that's where I'll be in the next few days.

I'm the dude in the silver state while airborn. days 3.5-5

2009-07-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a few days... apologies, but wi-fi access is apparently quite the novelty here the Silver State, where gambling and open nothingness prevail. But! It has been an eventful number of days. Since my last message in Shingle Springs, I ran into a few other x-country cyclists (coming from VA going westward) I totally smashed the Sierra Nevadas, well... they smashed me at times too.. experienced hail, rain, and a great burger all in the same day, and lost (and re-found my wallet.

To zip you forward to the present, I'm now about 380 miles into the total trip and staying at a lovely Super 8 motel in Fallon, NV (home of the Fallon naval air station, and top gun apparently) My parents and my aunt have been escorting me through Nevada which has been awesome. Today was the first day being supported which was AMAZING after doing the Sierras lugging 65 pounds of weight in tow. I left Carson City this morning around 7am with some serious tailwind and was averaging about 20 mph the whole way to Fallon. My total mileage for the day was 112 miles which should put me on good pace for the trek to Austin, NV tomorrow. For th ose that know me, the fact that I mispaced my wallet is no huge surprise, but it did provide a fair bit of anxiety around here for about 2 hours. Legs are still holding strong and spirits are high. I'm not sure what the highs were today... but it seemed hot and my stellar tan lines can prove it.

Here are some photos below to document some of the fun times.

So Somerset is one of the small towns on day 3 between shingle springs and bear lake (until I hit the rockies, I will refer to that day as the "slog day" as I spent 11 hours slogging up and down the hills for 11 hours at about 5 mph. But this guy here seemed to be down on his luck, as he was asking everyone going into the store for work and odd jobs. He came and chatted with me and let me know he just needed a way to get his can of beans open so he could eat his breakfast. I had no job, but I did carry a can opener. Once I opened the can, he kept saying to me "you're the dude!", he said it at least six times... so there you have it. carry a can opener, and you too can become the dude.

Bear Lake and campground... I actually was pretty hesitant about staying here because it was 4 miles off the road and an 1000' decent to the lake (riding a bike downhill, when you know you have to go back up is like ... well, i'm not sure how to relate it... maybe like having someone making dinner while you're sweeping? maybe not. But anyway, it was the last campsite for at least 20 miles, and i sure wasn't about to try to go another 20 miles at that point. But, taking a dip in the lake was probably the best way to end a long hot day. The campsite was also pretty stellar, I made myself a little fire and ate my dinner listening to my ipod. The gents in the site next to me came over, well at least the grandfather came over and chatted. Nice guy from Sac, he was 69 years old and apparently that night, was the first night he'd ever camped or slept outside for that matter. Wow. But a really nice guy who offered me some marshmellows, which I happily accepted. I slept well that night and was gifted the next morning with a ride with Rick, the camp host who offered to shuttle me back up to the main road with my bike.
So back in the day (meaning roughly 13 years ago) I started long jumping for school... and well since then, I've just really liked jumping... and jumping makes for fun and happy photos.. (btw, check out www.jumpbecause.com, So, you will probably notice a theme for many of my photos of me leaping for happiness or just jumping because it's fun and makes me think I'm not on the latter end of my twenties. So below... here is me jumping because silver lake looks awesome.

Here is me jumping because 8575' sounded like a more round number to be at...and... that the first mountain range of the trip was OVER!

Did I mentioned that it hailed? it hailed. on the same day as the photos above... strange.
Goodbye budget crisis and Prop 13. Hello gambling and no property taxes!
That's it for now. In the meanwhile, I wanted to say a big hello and thank you to everyone who's still reading and supporting! Hope to report in from eastern NV or western UT soon!

2009-07-29T16:10:00.001-07:00

Getting rained on in nevada, i thought this was a desert?

2009-07-29T14:57:00.001-07:00

Carson pass, elev 8573, Its hailing.

2009-07-28T12:31:00.001-07:00

3000 Feet and climbing

Days 1 and 2 (Davis, CA and Shingle Springs, CA

2009-07-27T20:13:00.001-07:00

So days one and two have been tough slogs through heat and some elevation, but I would say have been a success so far. Day one started with a meetup at the house around 8AM where a few wonderful souls showed up to send me off and ride with me for a while as I began the journey across country. Rebecca, Ian, and Stefanie came along until El Cerrito del Norte BART while Joel made it with me all the way to Winters, CA. By the way, so I totally forgot that what weather in the central valley is like. When I say that, I really mean that I forgot temperatures above 100 degrees even existed in Northern California. So as my blog post stated yesterday, it was nearly 102 or something in Winters, which made the last 10 miles to Davis rather hellacious. However, upon arriving in Davis, I was informed that my host (through couchsurfing) would be enjoying the spectacle of beer kickball and I was asked if I would like to join. So when I rolled up at 7:30pm in my bike spandex, I joined, but I didn't necessarily look like I fit the part.

But my hosts (andrew and julia) were awesome and could not be more hospitable. They lived in an apartment in Davis and took me out for the best burger in town and a drink. I hope that they'll have a chance to visit San Francisco again so I can return the favor.

Day 2:
Did I mention it was hot? This time, I didn't have the benefit of starting in the cool fogs of San Francisco, but instead started with the sweltering heat of the Sacaramento marshland. However, it wasn't so bad at 8:30AM, and I made it to visit Arnie at the Capitol Bldg by noon. (sorry, I'll rotate this eventually).. but the ride from Sacramento to Folsom via the American River Parkway was beautifl and carefree without traffic.

So if you were following me via SPOT, you might be able to tell I took a few wrong turns here or there, but largely the navigation went well. I made it into Folsom around 1ish and took a quick ride through Historic Folsom (which was devoid of people or any activity)... but was very charming and pretty to look at. I GPSed the nearest grocery store to have my afternoon graze for which I enjoyed for at least an hour.

After lunch, came the afternoon slide... meaning, my energy levels slowly slide into the basement with the sweltering heat and the climbs into the lower Sierras. Even though where I'm at now is roughly at 1400', it felt so much worse than that number leads on.

Luckily, my host tonight is Tom and he was generous enough to give me a lift from the main road to his really nice place in Shingle Springs. Tom has done quite a bit of traveling in the past few months so we were swapping stories about that and spending time with his two dogs Elvis and Turbo. He also made a pretty stellar dinner which hit the spot after today's long ride.

Here's Tom and Turbo (Elvis was being scolded for getting burrs in his fur)

Well here' to day one and two. Days 3-5 will be rough, lots of climbing, not alot of civilization, and tired legs. I'll be sure to post via my phone and again when I hit Carson City, NV.

Paul

2009-07-27T18:29:00.001-07:00

If you are following my spot tracker please disregard the help message! Just a Test. Just fine in shingle springs,CA

2009-07-27T13:37:00.001-07:00

Folsom , CA Like Folsom prison? 102 degrees But sunny!

2009-07-26T16:54:00.001-07:00

Winters, CA. 102 Degrees, Something is not right here

2009-07-26T13:29:00.001-07:00

Day one, lunch, fairfiEld, ca, Its hot

supa on a bike. finally.

2009-07-25T21:49:00.001-07:00

So enough talk already... time to start riding. I leave tomorrow morning around 7:30AM and am hoping for a few people to join as well! I'm not really that nervous... I'm just wondering where I am going to stay in Davis tomorrow. There is a campground in Winters near the river about 15 miles from Davis, but that sure makes for a long day 2. Maybe I should just do the campground. It looks great from pictures.

So based on some present stats:
My current weight 158, we'll see how that changes 5 weeks from now... Also, I determined my baggage to round out to be around 50 pounds (not including the trailer. As far as I know, that's pretty good. In the last day or so, I made the decision to bring along my camp stove, so that added a slight bit, but not much. I'll be averaging around 40-50 miles on high elevation days and 80-90 on the flats. It looks like the ride will be the coldest somewhere in CO, (Gunnison, CO, yesterday's low was in the 40s... yikes).

Here are some photos documenting my setup: This first photo on left shows pretty much all of the stuff that I'm bringing.

Here's a list of some of my gear (I'm missing a few things here and there)

And finally there, a nice clean looking setup. This baby will be piling down those Colorado mountain grades like it was nothing.

So until I post again, I hope this message finds you all well and thanks for your messages, supporting words, contributions to the ride! I'll check in when I can and be sure to check on me to make sure I'm actually making some progress: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=00tqrjYQYFhYCWe0hZubTHJe9fdl0T5CQ

To read while I'm gone...

2009-07-25T08:08:00.001-07:00

So... in my absence, I'm sure that you all will be longing for my masters of literary work and grammatical perfection, so I thought I'd at least list a few awesome websites which I always find interesting (as a city planner, and a cyclist) Feel free to enjoy and pass along!

Planetizen - planners go here, early and often.

Streetsblog - articles related to everything on a street (e.g. people, cyclists, built environment, etc...)

Infrastructurist - physical stuff and pretty pictures live here

Crazyguyonabike - you think I'm crazy? check out the bike touring stories here.

Leaving.... tomorrow

2009-07-25T01:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, so I'll spend some time to actually write a legitimate blog post (have I ever done that actually?) I'll try my best. My writing should actually be better since I've spent the last 3 weeks of work intensely working on a conference paper that I had to figure out how to condense from 11,000 words to 5,000... (for some reason that reference of Gov Arnie and the knife and scalpel to the state budget comes to mind).. Now I can understand why it's not quite as easy as that... Well. back to the topic. Today is July 25th, let me think if anything that revolves around this date. I will be getting married in 9 months from yesterday, yesterday was my last day of work, work will begin again in 6 weeks from today. Just for some other fun date facts... after this ride concludes, my timeline coming back to San Francisco will look like this: Sept 12 - Amy's wedding, Sept 13 - fly back to San Francisco (without a place to live as of now), Sept 14 - start a full time job. Yikes, that to me sounds more scary than the bike ride itself. Also, some other tidbits. I decided to weigh myself today and will take a photo tomorrow. I'm really curious about what this ride will do to my body. Hopefully it won't just wither away. More to come on that tomorrow.

So! About the bike ride itself! I'm very excited. From what I can tell, at least a few people will be able to make it on Sunday morning and will ride with me for a little bit. I wasn't too keen on having a big super-sendoff... I don't think it's my style, kinda like how some people don't like to have birthday parties, well that's me too. But, I think it will be nice to have a low-key gathering for those who actually are interested in riding, otherwise... there just isn't a reason to be up at 7am on a sunday.

I have my bag pretty much set, but I'll be going to the store today for some odds and ends... postcard stamps, luggage locks, food in general. Should be an interesting day. But I'm also ditching the rest of my belongings at some point, the car, the laptop, single-speed.... tomorrow i become a nomad.

Some fun things have happened in the last few days. So yesterday, I recieved an email from Jean Noellsch, a mother of a high-school friend who would be doing a write-up for the News-Gazette (champaign,il newspaper). So it sounds like they're going to publish an article about the ride and the fundraising... super! It was fun to be interviewed. But really, it was more of a conversation and catching up on their family among other things. But fun none the less.

Non-bike, but transportation related, I ate it on my skateboard coming back from work on Monday. However, major injuries were avoided... but the whole fall happened because I was trying to take things from my office at work, and as a result, totally overloaded my bag, which threw off my balance... you see where this is going

And finally, my GPS tracking device works! Feel free to track my progess and see where I'm at during the ride. If for some reason the device stops moving for a long time you should do either:

A) text me to tell me to quit being lazy and to start pedaling
B) call the authories

It's here: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=00tqrjYQYFhYCWe0hZubTHJe9fdl0T5CQ

Ok, I think I'm spent for the night. It's been a long week and my writing becomes less clear as I push further towards 2am. Thanks for reading, and be on the lookout for a pre-ride post later this evening before the big Sunday ride.

Paul

quick post!

2009-07-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

so. real quick, just got back in town from a 5 day trip to Atlanta. Nice time, loved being back. Hung out with the fiance and met up with the people at the Atlanta Bike Coalition! Fun. Summer. Awesome.

So I also realized, I've been basing my emotional clock on my timer on the bottom of this screen. Oops. I realized that I had it having me leave on the 31st, when in fact I'm leaving on the 26th. So 10 days just went to 5. That's more like it. Yikes.

T-Shirts - Now Available for Pre-Order

2009-07-16T17:22:00.000-07:00

front pocket

back center design

Hey everyone, after working with Torri and Tommy at TNT Signs and Designs of Paxton, we now have a design for production. The cost will be $25 and the proceeds will go to the beneficiaries below. The shirts will be produced in central Illinois. However, if you would like a shirt shipped to you, please let me know!

If you're interested in a pre-order, please fill out this form: (please only complete if you are committed to buying a shirt!)

Training with the Trailer (Finally)

2009-07-13T00:03:00.000-07:00

So this one will be short... but I think I'm all geared up now. Just wanted to send some shots of the beautiful bay area and my rig/bike. I was a bit nervous after tiring out yesterday doing the Grizzly Peak loop.... so adding an extra 70 lbs didn't seem like it would be a good idea, yet it wasn't so bad. The BOB tracks well and just felt like i was riding a road bike with two flat tires (when going up hill), which is totally doable.

So these shots are both taken from the East Bay, the first one is at Sea Level near Emeryville, and the second is on Grizzly Peak Blvd above Oakland.

t-shirts : coming to a festival near you!

2009-07-09T00:07:00.001-07:00

So I don't know all of the details yet, but with some super support and help from Miss Riley back in Gibson City and Torri back in Paxton, it seems like t-shirts to help raise funds are nearing a possibility! No specific word quite yet, but stay posted. I'm not sure if they'll be available online, (perhaps via cafepress eventually)... here is a proposed idea of back and front:

Huge thanks to those who have recently donated and especially who have gone out of their way to help promote the cause!

Ride Fun Facts

2009-07-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I am proud to say that I've become one with my GPS device. So originally, the purpose of this little guy was to provide me the escape button in case at any particular time I needed to bail out to the nearest hotel or mcdonalds to break my daily rationing of clif bars and my sleeping bag. However... wow. I tell you, I now have my whole route mapped out from start to finish. AND it's all on a little interactive box that's 3" x 2". Amazing.

But this basecamp software that I'm using allows me to do all kinds of fun things: and here they are:
TOTAL MILEAGE: 2848 Miles

and better yet! I now can see my first elevation chart. woot.

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

Greetings independence day revelers! Just wanted to say greetings from East Central Illinois. I flew into Chicago yesterday and got to catch up with some dear high school friends and now am downstate after a lovely amtrak ride to Bloomington. So right now, I'm sitting on the couch looking out the window at the beautiful central illinois rain. I'm just imagining that this is what it'll feel like in 2 months after visiting on my bike. It's kinda weird for me to think about it and begs the question? If i'm here now, why would I want to do it again, but on a bike? we'll leave that one open ended.

So 4th of July is my favorite holiday by far. What else could you ask for, grilled food, family and friends, and a fireworks display, all centered around a non-discrimatory, secular holiday that you don't need to celebrate at night and can start the day out with a 5K or some other athletic event. love it.

So this afternoon, I'll be headed to Gibson to catch up and relax with some of my good high school pals and then perhaps to Sibley, IL (which is 1/4th the population of Gibson, which is 1/150th the size of San Francisco), to catch the big fireworks display. However, it's raining, bummer. Last time I was here for the 4th in 2003, it also rained... hopefully I'm not bringing bad luck to this town. If so, I should claim my final destination as Paxton or maybe even Fisher.

But as for now, I hope you all have a fanatastic independance day and party safe.

Sub-30 days and counting!

2009-07-02T22:53:00.000-07:00

So I must admit, this photo is a bit dated and it was when I wasn't recovering from a leg injury and it was when the state of california actually had a budget. Nonethless, you can imagine, that if you fast forwarded a year, and i had a better tan, this is what I would look like training for my cross country ride!

However! neverfear, I now can start to say my leg is getting better, and never a better time than 28 days before the beginning of the ride! So I apologize for not writing more often, but these past few weeks have a been a bit hectic with being out of town last weekend (South Carolina) and this weekend (Illinois). I'm also trying to wrap up my current job while preparing myself for a move out of my house. whew. So yes, It's been a bit crazy. However I've had a few accomplishments!

1. I have my trailer now (it's fantastic, I can't wait to start training with it)
2. I just made wedding save-the-date's last night... not bike related, but glad to have gotten that started.
3. Fundraising just passed $2500.... however, it's starting to stall a bit, only $1500 more! We can do it!
4. I have *almost* all of the stuff I need minus a cap, bear spray, and a few other random things that will make every last day of those 6 weeks less painful
5. I hear zip-ties are a cyclists best friend. Luckily they were $2 for about 100 of them today at walgreens. oh how life is grand.

Also, I want to give a shout out to my friend Torri Godsey who has been working with me on a potential t-shirt idea! more to come soon, but hopefully it will work out.

Ok, I think that's it for now! Please let me know if you have comments or suggestions!

supa

accumulation of stuff..

2009-06-23T20:43:00.001-07:00

So as July rolls around the corner, I keep checking my "days till ride" counter and see that it is drifting closer and closer kinda like when you wake up at 6:30 then snooze then all of the sudden it's 8:45? Yes. That's about how I'm feeling at the moment. So as of now, I am at 38 days out and I still am for all practical purposes physically disabled, waiting for my knee to heal (it was injured waiting for a hamstring to heal, which was injured trying to capture the flag from face-painted bandits in downtown Oakland)...sigh.

However, in my rest, I have been developing and acquiring my gear list... which has been rather exhausting and expensive. It's also a little weird, because I'm accumulating all of this stuff that I supposedly need, yet I am going to have to haul every last ounce of it across the 2500 so miles and 15000 feet of elevation. Sounds like a great to to become a nomadic bicyclist.

Here's my gear list so far, without the nitty gritty cyclist details
2 new tires, 4 new tubs, 1 new trailer, 1 used hiking GPS, 5 new cycling maps, 1 new bike rear-view mirror, 1 new pair of bike shorts, 1 used solo tent, 2 new sets of brake pads, 1 new bike multi tool, 1 bottle of dry lube, new tire levers, spare chain connector....whew. My trailer comes in on the 26th so that'll be a real treat figuring out how all of that plus 2 sets of normal clothes, shoes, and normal people toiletries will fit into a small duffel that I'm going to be pulling around like it's my livelyhood. I wonder if people I pass on the highway will think I'm homeless? Actually, in the midwest that might not be such a bad thing since people might actually bring me into their home instead of throwing dimes at me.

Anyway, after all of this, I hope that when I roll into Gibson in early September I'll be presentable. I don't imagine I'll smell like a bed of roses when I roll in after 40 days on a bike. Maybe somehow on the ride I'll figure out how to overcome body odor and sweating, that is a rather long time I suppose.

supa.supporters workout CD now mixed...

2009-06-21T21:33:00.001-07:00

...with the following tracks to keep your workout going for nearly 2 full hours! With a small donation of $50 (or more), you could be the proud owner of these continuously mixed compilations of new (and old favorites)!

Suparemix 06.21.09 Part A - (Continuous 55:02)

1. Stand Up - Ludacris
2. I Know You Want Me - Pitbull
3. Satisfaction - Benny Benassi
4. Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas
5. I Did it For Love - BoA
6. Just Dance - Lady Gaga
7. Calabria 2008 - Enur
8. Dancin - Aaron Smith
9. Balie On Me - Flosstradamus
10. Go Girl - Pitbull
11. Stronger - Kanye West
12. Jump Around - House of Pain
13. Heart of a Champion - Nelly
14. Infinity - Guru Josh Project
15. Modern Times - Steve Forest vs. Chriss Ortega
16. Miles Away - Madonna

Suparemix 06.21.09 Part B - (Continuous 53:30)

1. Gypsy Woman - Crystal Waters
2. Everytime We Touch - David Guetta & Chris Willis
3. Love Takes Over - David Guetta & Kelly Rowland
4. Just a Little More Love - David Guetta
5. Day 'N' Night - Kid Cudi
6. Let Me Think About It - Ida Coor
7. Round and Round - Mischa Daniels
8. Love on My Mind - Free Masons
9. Like it Like That - Sharon Phillips
10. Rock This - Bob Sinclair
11. I Like the Way You Move - Bodyrockers
12. One Night in Bangkok - Global DJs
13. Dreamer - Janice Robinson
14. Temperature - Sean Paul

As of now, I have formats in mp3 and m4a online but also can burn copies to mail!

Days 1-39 (Berkeley, CA through Gibson City, IL) Mapped and Routed (now passing via the Katy Trail)

2009-06-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

Just a few new updates... as to people's suggestions, I'll be heading northward to pass the Katy Trail. I've also coded places where I'm being supported so far (in green)

I now have a complete route map... well at least waypoints. I haven't really figured out how to get from the Mississippi River back through Illinois without crossing ACA Routes from the Misssissippi River Road to the Northern Tier... I'd rather cut straight across Illinois to shave off a few days...

So speaking of shaving off a few days. I'm a little concerned about being able to make it in enough time.. well the latter part of the trip should be ok, but I seriously think that those first few weeks are going to be rough... oh well, maybe I should skip the SF 1/2 Marathon. I hate copping out of it though. Well, at least I can pick up the t-shirt on Friday.

Check out this guy's blog, He's doing a very similar trip solo (Vallejo, CA to Iowa).... sweeeet.

View Supa Cycles America - Fall 2009 in a larger map

New Goal, Let's Break $4000!

2009-06-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

So the decision has been made. I'm shooting to break $4000 in the next 44 days. To help with this goal, I've created the following sponsor levels to lure you and your friends to donate towards these very worthwhile causes:

$50 [supa.supporters] - Workout CD mixed by me and mailed to the comforts of your home audio system

$100 [supa.sponsors] - Name on my sponsor board (attached to my bike) as I cross the country

$200 [supa.stars!] - All of the above + a signed print of your choice from along the bike route

$500 [ridiculously.awesome] All of the above + a gift sent to you from along the bike route and a personal chore at your home/work (if you're near Atlanta, San Francisco, or Gibson City.

Thanks! Have a great rest of the week!

up the ante.... should we go there?

2009-06-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

In consultation with some friends, there has been the question of... why $2500? why not $5000?? Well... people have been very generous to data and I am seriously considering upping the goal amount to.... $4000. What do you all think? Should we go for it?

We've broken $1000!

2009-06-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

After just under a week of fundraising, we've broken the $1000 mark! Thanks so much for everyone who has been so generous in giving to these two causes. People have emailed me with some pretty awesome stories and reasons for wanting to give to these causes. Largely entertaining and fun to read too!

In the past week, I bought a new solo-tent off of craigslist and got to give it a test run this past weekend at Yosemite. Just enough room for my body and to sit upright. I think I got it for a pretty good price considering it will be my rent and home for the months of August and some of September.

Route planning is on the move. I've plotted out my route through the Sierra Nevadas and the Rockys up through Kansas. However, still trying to figure out the way between Kansas and where I'll enter Illinois. More details to come.

On a side note, I took a beautiful trip up to Yosemite this weekend and climbed Half Dome. The weather was great in the morning but less favorable in the afternoon. So, if anyone has ever climbed half-dome, it's a strenous hike that is topped off with a 45-degree scamper/climb/rappell to reach the summit. My friends and I feel a bit frazzled from the whole experience as someone fell and was killed less than 3 hours after we summited. It's just a reminder how we need to take every action we do with care and our surroundings with respect. Whether it's a mountain or a moving vehicle, if we do not treat these things with the respect they demand, we can cause great injury and suffering to ourselves or those around us.

Also, just to throw a bit of media in the mix. Here's a great video for any of you who have gotten a bike stolen before... Showing how easy it is to break a chain lock. Thus, the reason why everyone tells you that u-locks are the way to go.

Thanks everyone for all of your wonderful support so far! More details as they come along.

Fundrasing! Day 1 - $415

2009-06-10T23:43:00.001-07:00

So the big rollout of the fundraising campaign begun today. $415! (~16% to $2500!) So we may not be striping any new bike lanes yet or purchasing land for new fields... But! That will purchase at least 20 new soccer balls or help subsidize bicycle safety classes, and that's a start. Big thank you to everyone who contributed today and got the ball rolling for the fundrasing effort!

So exciting news, I got started on the bike route planning today. I have a few hard deadlines that I need to meet:

July 27th (day after the SF 1/2 Marathon btw...) - Leave Berkeley
August 20-21 (Wichita, KS area to meet Cat)
September 12th (Gibson City, for Amy's wedding)...

So those dates aren't too rough, that should give me enough time to get across to the Midwest. However... That Aug 20-21st date is going to be a challenge. However, I think I can do it. With a few 110+ mile days in a row once over the Mtns... I think it's a winner.

Also, I've gotten a verbal confirmation that I'll be having some roadie help along the way through parts of Nevada, whew!

Campaign is On!

2009-06-10T00:20:00.000-07:00

After a few days of prep work, I've begun the fundraising drive! A huge thank you goes out to Taylor Hirose, a Delta Chi alum, who posted the first donation of $40 to the FCYSC less than 30 minutes after the first email went out!

These past few nights have been late ones as I've been trying to get all of my ducks in a row and type manuscripts. Tomorrow, I'll be sending out 10 fundraising letters to local bike shops (in Berkeley, Champaign, IL and Atlanta, GA) letting them know of my fundraising idea and asking for their support. I am hopeful that some will respond, but also understand that these shops likely have many other local charities that they respond to more frequently, but I suppose it doesn't hurt to ask!

Awesome! So my first set of cycling maps came in today. That will *hopefully* safely navigate me between here and Pueblo, CO. I haven't had a chance to look at the maps in detail yet, but now that most of my letters are out, I really need to focus on the route planning and logistics! Not to mention moving out of my place, storing my stuff for two months, finding a place for when I come back, and starting a job the day after I fly in (and after a friend's wedding in Gibson)... whew.

On that note... I'll use this space to plug for my favorite topic... urban planning:
http://www.planetizen.com/node/39143

work tomoroow. Need to be awake in 5.5 hours. hmm.

Fundraising... Route Planning... Sub-55 Days to Go

2009-06-08T23:04:00.001-07:00

It's been a hectic last few days. I've gotten in touch with both of my beneficiaries and it sounds like everyone is completely on board, so that means full-speed ahead from here through July! I am still trying to get fundraising letters and everything in line to hopefully roll out by Wednesday, when I will launch the full campaign!

On another front, route planning is going slowly but steady. As of now, I think I'll be joined by my supportive and lovely parents for a few days between Carson City, NV and however far in NV they're willing to go.. Also, Cat will be meeting me near Wichita, KS for a day or two. I'm waiting on my adventure cycling maps to come in to do some more serious planning, but until then... route planning is on hold.

I think I may be most excited about planning the last portion of the trip where I'll be off the standard touring trails to bridge the gap between the TransAmerica trail and little Gibson City in East Central Illinois. I have some of this figured out, I think Clinton, areas near Rend Lake, and Cahokia mounts are on the schedule...

Comments? Suggestions? Let me know! T
Thankssss

now comes the work...

2009-06-06T01:21:00.000-07:00

So it's been a super hectic week with work and other responsibilities... but now (as the counter states), I have 57 days to plan a fundraiser, 2500 miles of roads, 35 nights of lodging, and some infinite number of calories to be consumed... hmm.. it all of the sudden feels like crunch time before finals week again. Well did some research for a few hours tonight, and at least I have my last 5 days semi-planned through central & southern illinois. I have already determined that buying a new solo-tent and bike trailer are going to set me back a few hundred. But on the bright side, plenty of camping will mean plenty of cheap nights on the road. My thinking as of now is perhaps camping every 3 nights or so and supplementing that with some couch surfing and maybe a motel here or there.

It's On!!!

2009-06-03T23:08:00.000-07:00

So, after 12 months of wondering if this trip may actually work out... the stars have aligned and I have definitively decided to bike cross country at the end of this summer. As for now, I only know a few things.

1. I'm leaving July 31st.
2. I'm trying to raise $2500 (total) for two organizations (Atlanta Bike Coalition, Ford County Youth Soccer Club - where I grew up)
3. As of now, I'm doing this solo
4. I'll be starting in Berkeley and ending in Gibson City, IL.
5. I'm going to need some helpppp! Would you like to join for a part? Suggestions for places to stay/see?

As of now, I'm still trying to figure out the logistics for quite a few things. Food, lodging, where to keep my stuff while I'm gone... the list goes on. But, for now. keep posted. I'll be posting more as I figure things out!