A little harder than I thought.

**First off, sorry I haven't posted a blog in a couple days. It has been not available, and I got lazy yesterday and today. Which will be explained in a blog or two.**

I woke up at the Borden's and made a good breakfast. Milk, cereal, fruit, chocolate pie, ice cream, and skittles. I definitely couldn't complain. I let the girls sleep in and finished up my route on the computer. When they finally woke up, I got to talk to them for just a little while, then packed up and headed out.

I thought the day would be super fast. The first 30 miles were bookin. I definitely made great time on those. The weather was super good and felt great as well. I got off of highway 111 and turned onto another road. That is where things got a little difficult. I started going into a lot of curvy climbs. It was incredible out. It was really really pretty. The mountains were clean. That is the only word I can use to describe them. It was just really clean. The smells, the air, the forests themselves. It was splendid. I ended up climbing for a solid hour to the top of this valley. I then hit 8% grades all the way down. That is so fun. These roads were super curvy too. Since there were no cars, it was just a really serene ride. It was down into the Sesquatchie Valley. This was by far one of my favorite rides. It was just cruising and great.

The climb out was a little rough. It was also an 8% grade climb. I made great time on it though for that kind of climb, since my hill crank was working.

At the top of the far side was a little truck selling tacos out of the back. A little portable taqueria. So delicious. I payed 5 bucks and ate a good amount in incredible tacos. It was one of the highlights of my day.

I went as fast as I could, hoping to get to Cleveland, TN for the night, but never made it. I found some awesome woods on the side of the road near Georgetown, TN. I slept so well. It was just a really pretty day. The only problem was I think I started to get an infection in my eyes. They became super sensitive to the light, so I couldn't get my contacts to stop freaking out. They also got really hard to see out of when I was wearing glasses, cause there was no UV protection. That was kind of bummer. They didn't hurt, but they wouldn't stay open. It was kind of funny.

Don't think you are better at riding bikes then you are, or old old old men will pass you while you are riding. It might be embarrassing.

Surprise

I woke up with Dad yesterday morning, and we went to the continental breakfast downstairs. We got to spend another 3 hours together that morning. We bypassed the Nashville traffic by taking my bike and his car to one of the people he works with. While he was talking to them, I went and did some maintenance on my bike. I have been riding without front breaks for about 1000 miles. I decided to fix those for when it started to get mountainy again.

He took me down to Lebanon, TN and we went to McDonald's for some coffee and another bite to eat before I left. It was really good seeing him. Can't wait to see Mom either in a weekish.

So I left from some run-down old bar's parking lot. It was a 67 mile ride to Marianne's house in Cookeville. What a great ride. First, I did it in about 5 hours, so I finished WAY ahead of when I planned to be there. Second, it was so pretty. It was certainly one of my favorite days of riding. I was biking through these really small mountains with awesome views the entire way. I had lunch on a closed bridge over a beautiful little river with mountains surrounding me on every side. I saw a ton of cliffs, a bunch of dear. It was just a great ride. Not too hot, and pretty fast.

I got to Cookeville, and I didn't really remember how to get to Marianne's house. She met me at a local ice cream place, (which was super good, waffle cone, yah.) and we went and saw the trains in the middle of the square. It is apparently the only touristy thing to do in Cookeville, so now that it is off the list, I am going to consider myself a local.

We raced back to Marianne's house, she in her car and me on my bike. I would have won, but she swerved over the double yellow line and got right in front of me at a red light. That is called cheating if you are curious. Play by the rules.

I hung out at Marianne's for a while, and then her mom made such a good dinner. Barbecue chicken, veggies, rolls, fruit, and this unreal chocolate pie with ice cream. I thought my brain was giong to explode it was so rich. A homemade meal is a beautiful thing.

We went to Walmart so I could restock on a couple of things, then headed over to Poet's Coffee, the local coffee place. I got a Diablo, which is a coffee with steamed chocolate milk. Really great. Marianne and I played banana grams for an hour. All of a sudden, I feel these hands over my eyes. They were girls hands certainly. I was more than slightly confused. I turned around, and there was dang KELSEY MOODY. It was awesome. She had been texting Marianne the entire game of banana grams,(which is upsetting, because I thought I was playing well against her, but really she was just delaying to keep me there for Kelsey. Which means I actually suck at that game. Dang it)But she was in Knoxville and came to visit for the night. What a great surprise. It doesn't help that I was beyond tired, and felt like a zombie. But it was great to see them both.

We got back to the house, and I fell asleep on top of the covers on my bed. I woke up the same way. So I was pretty passed out. They are still asleep, so I should go wake them up.

What a great surprise.

509 miles from the coast. I am getting pretty close.

Who is your daddy?

Yesterday, Oh what a day. I woke up from crazy dreams, and the ticks. uuugh. Ticks everywhere again. I had a few on me, not attached, just on me. I do not like them.

Anyways, I was biking along, the weather was great, when I get a call from good ol' Uncle Bruce. He was just asking where I was, what my route was, etc. When he dropped this little nugget of gold on me, he says,"You know your dad left for Nashville this morning?". Hmm, I didn't know that. It turns out I was directly North of Nashville in Kentucky, and was heading towards Nashville this very day. So, I give the old man a call. Poppi, (my dad) says he is a few hours from Nashville, and says he can arrange a hotel for us through his work. I said delightful. I biked super hard for the next 6 hours getting to the border of Kentucky and Tennessee. I said Kentucky was the armpit of the United States. I got some crap about that from some people so let me clarify. Kentucky is really hot, and really moist. That is the reason I said that. The ride was actually one of the prettier ones of my trip. Not many cars, lots of rolling hills through huge forested areas. I saw a bunch of deer at a couple creeks. Overall, a really pretty section of the state. But... Super hot and super humid.

Well, I get in a little over a hundred miles for the day, and end right on the border of Tennessee and Tucky. Dad came and got me from the hotel (I didn't have to bike through the lightening storm, which was nice.) It was really great to see a familiar face since Denver. He said I looked crazy. I haven't looked in a mirror in a while, so I have a pretty windburned face, hair was everywhere, beard was splaying out all over the place. Quite a sight for the old man, I know.

We got back to the hotel and I had the most delicious shower I have ever had I think. It has been roughly a week since I have taken a shower. Yes it is gross, but the opportunity hadn't arrived. It took me three washings of my hair to get the matting and sweat out of it, and for it too be silky again. That is kind of yucky.

Dad took me to one of my favorite restaurants. It is in Nashville. It is called Monell's. If you like southern food, you have to go here. It is family style, so you sit at a table with complete strangers. I can boldly say that I out ate every person at the table by twice as much food. The menu was rocking. 2 types of salads, homemade peach preserves, fresh biscuits, cranberry relish, mashed potatoes, green beans, squash casserole, corn pudding, cornbread stuffing, pan fried chicken, baked chicken, fried pork chops, and banana pudding. I know I am forgetting somethings from the table, but that was roughly everything. If you imagine the Front Porch restaurant in Chester, but with all you can eat, that is what you have at Monell's. I felt terrible after I ate there, but was happier than could be.

Got back to the hotel and just crashed.

I should be in Clemson by Monday. Who is excited? ME!

All I wanted was a donut

Tuesday was another pretty uneventful day. I did another 100 mile day. I have just been cranking out high mile days so I can get to Cookeville by Thursday, where I am staying with my friend Marianne Borden's family.

Anyways, I woke up and a storm was looming. It had been raining all night. For the thirty minutes I was up, it wasn't raining at all, so I skipped making a hot breakfast and quiet time and packed up camp in the dry. Less than a mile of biking down the road, and I hit the rain. The rain isn't a bad thing anymore, because the temperature is in the 60's and not the 20's and 30's. It was pretty enjoyable. Yes, I was really wet. Yes, my sleeping pad was really wet. Yes, when I walked into the gas station to refill on water, I got semi-yelled at by the old lady at the counter for dripping water all over the floor she just mopped. No, I didn't feel bad because I needed water.

Again, the miles were uneventful. I crushed through southern Illinois with my new friend Peanut Butter and Jelly Cinnamon Raisin Bagel. I ate 4. I crossed the Ohio river, (which was beautiful where I crossed it, the the only structure around was the bridge I was on, so there were no businesses or anything. The Ohio wasn't super muddy either that day, like the Mississippi and the Missouri were. Really pretty). It stopped raining a while before I reached Kentucky so that was nice.

I met two interesting people that day. One was the owner of the cafe I stopped at for a burger for lunch. Pretty good burger too, for $2.00. She was telling me all the stories and showing pictures of the flood that had just passed through the area. It was up 6 feet on their house. It was nuts. I feel terrible for all the people that got hit by that. Just riding by, you could see how much damage happened to so many houses. It made me pretty upset. There isn't a lot you can do for them. Most of them didn't have flood insurance, so their houses were pretty wiped out.

The second person I met was at a gas station right as I crossed into Kentucky. "Phillips, they call me A.K. Phillips." Mr. Phillips was the old old old man, who was very bent with age. He had this crazy white beard that was about a foot and a half long. He walked up to me, introduced himself, and just started talking. I really had no idea what he was saying. He had a pretty thick accent. I stopped him and kind of just said, "I really have no clue what you just said." He started over for me. He was saying he used to be a teacher. He slipped a disc a few years ago, so he couldn't bike anymore, but now has a recumbent bike, so he bikes all the time. He told me he had knees of steel. He used to be a teacher, and on the summer breaks, would go for bike trips. He has biked to California and back, and has biked to Nova Scotia and back. He told me if I could get to Nova Scotia, I need to do it. It is beautiful.

Phillips, what a guy.

In the town I ended up in, there really wasn't a whole lot to choose from for dinner. I found a hole-in-the-wall donut shop. All I wanted was a fresh donut. I go in, see all the donuts, pick out the three that I want, and then my STUPID card doesn't work in their card reader. They don't do manual entry either. All I wanted was a delicious, hot, donut or three, which were laid out in front of me in a beautiful order, and could have none. If I worked there, I would have given me one. I was pretty upset. I used their wi-fi without paying for anything. Take that donut shop with a crappy card reader.

I biked to a little section of woods, and put up the old tent. No bugs. No rain. No problems.

Except I slept on a hump, and had crazy weird dreams all night.

Nothing Eventful

Yesterday was an uneventful day. I will keep this post short becuase not a lot happened.

Highlights:

I biked 100 miles, roughly.

I met a guy named Jamie doing almost the same route I am doing, but in the opposite direction. He is 26, and from Arizona. He shaves his legs.

I crossed the Mississippi, and it was beautiful.

Chester, IL is home of Popeye the sailor man.

The people in IL suck at driving.

I slept down a hill on the side of very steep road.

I got to talk to Miss Anna Nodvedt on the phone. She is doing awesome things this summer.

END

Too much chit-chat

Well, today I did not make the greatest time in the world. I only ended up doing 70 miles or so. I kept stopping and talking to people. I woke up to great weather, and started going. I stopped in a little cafe on the side of the Katy trail in a town I can't remember. They had an all you can eat country breakfast for $5.50. Such a great deal. I ate a ton of food. I ended up talking to the waitress and some locals for an extra 30 minutes.

Next, about 20 miles down the trail, I met two old men. They were out biking with their wives, who were currently going to grab the car. They were super interested about the trip, but I was the one asking all the questions. Skip, the oldest gentlemen, was alive during WW2. I spent a good hour listening to him talk about the blackout he used to be apart of when he lived up in Maine. He was super sharp still. He talked about how he was out skinny dipping with some friends when they heard all of the honks from people celebrating the end of the war. These guys were so funny. The younger man kept saying, "Well run me over." when I was talking about my trip. Hahah. I kind of want to start saying that.

I finished another 20 and came up to a bridge with two guys on it. They were doing an out and back tour through Missouri. As I was talking to them, over the course of 45 minutes, 4 other long distance bike tourers, none of which were riding together, came up on the bridge. It was the most random group meeting ever. We all exchanged information and are keeping in touch for the rest of our trips. Talk about the most random thing that has ever happened. I doubled the amount of bikers I have seen on the entire trip on a single bridge in the middle of Missouri. Weird.

I stopped at a McDonald's in St. Clair to get directions home. I talked to a couple there for an extra half hour.

So over all I just kept talking to people all day. The end of the day was me talking to a random guy on the side of the road. His name was Kelly Parke. I just asked if I could stay in his yard with my tent. He said sure. What an awesome dude. He ended up bringing me fruit, doing my laundry, giving me a few Gatorades, and even making me a delicious ham and egg breakfast. Talk about hospitality. Again, I am serious Kelly, if you are ever in the South, call me up brother, I am talking you out to dinner.

That was my day, just a whole lot of meeting people.

The Katy Trail

Woke up today, biked 40 miles to the Katy Trail. Nothing spectacular about the ride, it was really easy. I got to the Katy Trail and got really moody right when I got on it. I didn't like it at first. I was going to find a place with wireless to re change my route. (If you don't know, the Katy trail is a Rail-to-Trail bike path across the state of MO. It is an old railroad grade, now covered in crushed limestone, that traverses the entire state.) I ended up really enjoying the ride. It was a cool day, and I was averaging about 14 miles per hour. The Katy trail has lots of beautiful views of the Missouri River, and is covered in huge trees, with lots of tunnels. I passed through this tunnel called the Martin Tunnel. The first half was stone blocks, the second half looked hand carved. It was crazy huge.

I met a guy named Bruce while riding. We rode for an hour together just talking. It was really cool getting to talk to a fellow biker, and hearing what he had to say on life. He was a nice guy. He is training right now to do the Katy trail in one day. It is 240-ish miles. That is a really long day.

The highlight of my day came at the end. I was really tired when I reached Mokane, MO. I hit their little section on the Katy trail, and there were a ton of people out in the streets of little downtown Mokane. I pulled up the main street to grab a bite for dinner and there was a huge car show. Tons and tons of old cars. More importantly than the car show was the free fish fry they were having. I talked to some old guys, and they said to go to work on the 6 tables worth of food. So I did. Fried catfish has never tasted so good. I probably ate a pound of catfish alone. It was awesome. They would just bring it out in batches on a cardboard box lid. And people would hurry up and grab it, then you would have to wait for the next batch. It was community donated, so I ate a little something from everywhere.

The top three things there. The fish. This spinach-cheese dip which melted my face. And the best blackberry pie I have ever had. The best PIE i have ever had really. It was the most delicious pie I have ever put in my mouth. I couldn't get over it.

This lady came over to talk to me for a while. This was funny. She found out about my bike trip, that I was 21, and a student. She says, "follow me, I am going to introduce you to some college girls." That just made me laugh. She introduced me to her daughter and daughter's friend. Good thing she did too. Because of that I found out the route I was going to take was flooded in Missouri. They helped me figure out a better way to get across the Mississippi. So they saved me almost three days of extra riding. They were really nice also. Kind of country, which I miss. Can't wait to be back in Clemson.

The town of Mokane was going crazy right when I left it. I don't think the Sheriff makes it out to Mokane very often. It is a town of like 70 people. They were racing down the center of town like it was a drag strip. Tons and tons of old muscle cars. It was awesome.

I felt great after dinner, so I cranked out another 10 miles before bed. I found a little camping spot in Portland, MO for the night. I am right above the Missouri River, and the river is the same color as the sky. It is a mix of pink and baby blue. It looks like a river of cotton candy.

115 miles for the day.

I would love some cotton candy right now.

Missouri Backroads

I woke up this morning to cool 64 degrees, and overcast skies. This is the perfect weather combination for crushing miles. I biked 10 miles to Cameron, MO and stopped at a McDonald's to see the route for the next couple of days. McDonald's was over run by these little critters called middle schoolers. They should probably get that pest problem fixed. It was really funny watching them all interact. They are a herd of animals. Seriously, none of them did anything on their own. Parents, I am sorry I was like that.

Highway 36 was a super busy road through MO, and I just wanted to get off it. I planned a route to the Katy trail on some back highways. The going was awesome. It was still hilly, but the hills were shorter, so you could go down and then ride the momentum back up to the top of the next one. It was just a splendid day of riding. It was really pretty out. It stayed cool.

As I was biking, I found an Amish bakery, Die Brott Pann Bakery. I got a loaf of banana bread and three molasses cookies for 3 bucks. The banana bread was incredible, and the cookies tasted like chewy ginger snaps. The younger boy and girl at the counter stared at me like crazy while I was in the shop. After I payed, I ate outside, and I caught them staring at me through the window. The did the whole, "we weren't looking at you" charade, and then turned around. I guess they don't see funny looking guys in tights on a regular basis. They watched me until I left the parking lot.

I met a few people during the day, and they all told me to go to Waverly Apple Barbecue for dinner. So I did. I had a pulled brisket sandwich with chips and pickles, and freshly picked apple pie topped with homemade ice cream. I can say the brisket was in my top 3 favorite barbecue category. The pie was the best pie of the trip, without a doubt. That meal cost me 7 dollars. There was so much brisket on that sandwich, I was pretty full at the end of it. That is a huge sandwich.

I finished the day by talking to Kit for 45 minutes. We decided to kayak the Mississippi together. Any other guys in for next summer? I have all the gear, you just need to buy food. Let me know, it'll be another adventure.

5 people stopped while I was talking to Kit, to see if I was OK. I told them all yes. The last guy that asked me, Burr (that was his name, so cool), said I could sleep on this piece of woods on his buddies farm. So I slept there for the night.

1 day till the Katy Trail.

My New, Old Man Crush

I woke up and was pleasantly surprised with another headwind. I was getting super frustrated with the headwinds, since the wind is supposed to be coming from the West and it hasn't been. I cranked out the first 15 miles to Hiawatha, KS. After that, it got really flat. It didn't matter since I had a headwind, so I averaged about 9 milesperhour.

Then I met Don. Don is my new favorite old guy. He is what I imagine Chip and I would be if we were combined and 40 years older. He is about my size, so a small guy. "A small piece of leather, but well put together."- Charnise Mangle's dad. He has this crazy gleam in his eye that says, "I am about to go on an adventure. And nothing is going to stop me." He had a mischievous little smile that didn't want to tell me everything he has done, but he did after I asked him. It was because I was so excited. Don is from Springfield, Illinois. When Don was 59 or so, he was diagnosed with cancer and then promptly beat it in the next two years. I don't know much about this, because we didn't talk about it much.

When Don turned 61, he retired. Fifteen days after he retired, he went to his wife and said, "Honey, I am leaving tonight to go and hike the Appalachian Trail." Her response was, "OK, see you tomorrow dear." Don then went to the store, bought a lot of stuff, got on a plane, and hiked the AT in 4 and a half months. If you know anything about the AT, you know this is an unreasonable fast pace. Most people do it in 6 months. He got home, and his wife said, "Wow, you really did it." That was all she said.

Next adventure for Don was a cross country bike tour from California to Virginia Beach. His wife went on this one with him. Don then did the West Coast bike tour. Don decided that he wanted to start running marathons, so he tried a couple during this period of biking. He realized that he loved them, so he continued to run them. He ran one every month for 4 years. Don has run 56 marathons, one in every state, and 4 different countries. Don, in the middle of that, paddled the Mississippi River in a canoe from the top to the bottom with his wife. He also hiked the Pacific Crest Trail on the West coast solo.

When I was talking to Don, he was on his third bike tour, doing the Lewis and Clark Trail. Don does about 85 miles a day. He has half the gear I have. He wears cargo shorts and a t-shirt and tennis shoes and a floppy cargo hat to ride in.

Don is now 67. He has done all of this in 6 and a half years. I talked to Don for over 30 minutes on the side of the road. He also used to be a screen printer (Graphic Comm anybody?). I thought my trip was a crazy one, Don is the most ridiculous human I have met on this trip.

My day got better at this point.

I found Dairy Barn, and got the best strawberry malt I have possibly ever had. It was a restaurant in a barn. And super good.

I crossed the Missouri River.

I entered Missouri.

I hate the roads in St. Josephs, MO.

I got a free bike tube from the owner of the bike shop in St. Joe's. Thanks Shaun, from Forces of Nature Cycling.

I slept in a ditch that night.

The highlight of my day was Don.

　

So close, just get me out.

I woke up from a very good night's sleep. No bugs last night, which is great. There were a few residual bloodsuckers from where I didn't shake the tent out great the first time, but no new bug friends.

I got on the road pretty early. I made a stop at the grocery store. People here are so nice. I talked to 8 or 9 different people about the trip and stuff. It was awesome. So many people look at me and go, "where yah headin?". I tell them SC and they always look like they are about to pass out or throw up. It is pretty funny. It is consistent too. Everybody does it.

I rode about 100 today. Not a lot went on. They highlight of my ride was a Sonic in Seneca, KS. I was so excited. The first Sonic of my trip. I got those two junior breakfast burritos and a medium Lemon Berry slush. Classic. And delicious. The slush made my stomach hurt, and I got a crazy brain freeze from it, but it was so worth it.

I finished the day in Fairview, KS. There isn't a whole lot in Fairview, KS. I ate at a restaurant called Philly's. Philly's is owned by Phil. A drunk old angry fat man. He was awesome. All he wanted to do was drink and hug the customers. Funny guy. I couldn't understand a thing that he said. The food was surprising good and a large amount. I got boiled cod fillets and three sides and a desert for 9.50. It was good. I asked Phil and the waitress if they knew of anyone who would let me put up a tent for the night. Phil called some guy who runs the park in town and said that I had permission to stay there. This was an interpretation from the waitress. I seriously couldn't understand anything that Phil said. The only thing I got from him was it took him three years to name the restaurant... and he named it Philly's. Really original Phil, really original.

I got to the park and met a younger couple with kids as I was setting up the tent. I told them why I was staying there and said the only thing that would make the night better would be a shower. Well Chrisy and Dave just walked me across the street to there house, told me where the shower and towels were, and went and finished their walk with their kids. They said if I was done before they got finished, just shut the front door so the dog doesn't get out. What a cool couple. Letting some sketchy, smelly, crazy, park-dwelling man (me) use their shower. That is sweet. First shower in 4 days, and it felt glorious.

I slept super well. I talked to Miss Kathryn McCutchen last night, which was super cool. I haven't talked to her in a while. She just got back from a mission trip in Haiti. That's crazy. I've been telling her to do an international mission trip for almost 3 years now. She finally listened. You are welcome Kath.

I am 31 miles from Missouri. Get me out of Kansas.

Let's do the 100 item challenge everybody. Look it up. Bet you can't do it.

Insectopia

I should have listened to my dad. Dad, you are right, I needed bug repellent and a mosquito net. You also forgot to mention that I needed a flame thrower and a 20 gallon bucket of insecticide.

I woke up to every bug that lives in Kansas within 20 feet of my tent. Over a hundred ticks on my rain proof outer and helmet (wadded up in a ball out side of the tent.) More mosquitoes than there are atoms in the body just chillen on the outside of the tent, waiting to go insect vampire all over me as soon as I came out of the tent. A few hundred spiders (*exaggeration on this last one, probably 20 spiders) about an inch in size just hanging out on my bike. It was like the vampire guild of insects decided to have it's annual meeting with dkal as the chairman.

I don't know how I fended them off. I did get bitten quite a lot, and had more than one tick clinging to me when I got out of there. BUT, I have never broken down camp faster than that. I think all the yelling actually fended some of them off. By yelling, I mean screaming like a little kid.

It was a lot cooler today than yesterday. It was 99 instead of 100. That was a joke. It was super hot again. I just busted through the miles. I did 60 by 1 o'clock in the afternoon. I got a sweet phone call from Charizard and Slammer (aka Chai-baby and Tom Don, aka Charnise and Thomas). What a happy phone call. I have decided to slightly change the route, and finish the trip at camp with them. It is still on the ocean, just a little bit South of Charleston. I am super excited.

I went to this incredible steakhouse for lunch. It was a 7 dollar all you can eat buffet. I think I might have put the place out of business. I ate a very large amount of food. I can't control the ol' metabolism, so I am putting down vast portions of sustenance. Seriously though, this place was off the chain. They had this broccoli and cheese soup that I SWEAR was made with real clouds. It was the fluffiest, lightest soup I have ever had. I had 4 bowls. It was so good, I had a bowl of it for desert. Seriously. It you are ever in the middle of nowhere Kansas, on highway 36, and see a steakhouse with a 7 dollar lunch buffet, go in and get the broccoli soup. Unbelievable.

I was super sluggish after I ate so much. It took me longer than I would have liked to bike the last 30 miles to Belleville, KS. But here I am. I talked an RV park owner into letting me stay there for free, as long as I don't use the electricity. I am currently sitting at the local library, using the Internet, and am about to go to bed early so I can wake up and beat the sun. I want to do a 108 mile day tomorrow, hopefully.

1,082 miles from Clemson.

1,323 miles from finished.

Life is good.

I am salty.

It's getting hot...too hot

After I wrote the last blog post, I got ready for bed. It was so hot. I ended up sleeping in a pair of shorts just lying on my sleeping pad with nothing else. Around 4 in the morning is when I decided to put a t-shirt on to warm up a bit. I don't honestly know how I slept.

I got up early, went to the store, then headed out. I was cranking out miles while it was still cool outside. But man, that sun got pretty dang hot. I know that I keep coming back to the sun, and how hot it is, but it is just so dry. I don't see sweat, because it just evaporates immediately. I am sucking down liquids like nobodies business. The salt from the sweat just cakes up on my arms and face, so I have these white streaks across my skin. I am also starting to smell pretty funky, so I think I am on the point of unwelcomeness when meeting people. I hope that I get that far.

One of the highlights of my day was when Miles Bryan, aka Miles dreads (in my phone, may his dreads rest in peace.... I should change it to Miles LETTUCE) gave me a call to make sure I wasn't dead. He was concerned for my safety. I really do love getting calls from friends just seeing how I am doing and talking. It is really great. So Miles, here is your shout out, you are the man.

I got to Phillipsburg in good time. I went to my new favorite restaurant, the Chubby Pickle. I had a bowl of chili and a hot pastrami sandwich. You know a place is good when they don't accept cards. Well since that is all I had, they told me to just go to the ATM at the gas station next door. The card I have is super worn out, and only works 1 in 5 times. It obviously didn't work in the gas station, so I sulked over to the Chubby Pickle and told them I couldn't get any cash out and to cancel my order. I was super upset, since I had been looking forward to this meal since I saw the restaurant online the day before. As I was leaving, the lady in the kitchen said, "keep 'im here, the meal is on us." So, I got to stay and eat for free. I talked to the waitress and the cook, and told them about the trip, why I was doing, etc. They said that the meal was there contribution to my having a crazy life and God bless. I really loved they gave me a free meal. It was probably the best pastrami sandwich I have ever had. That is my favorite sandwich, so it is saying something.

I was still hungry, but couldn't really order anything else from them, so I went to Pizza Hut. Little known fact, a town could be 12 people in population in Kansas, and probably still has a Pizza Hut in it. It is in every single town I have passed through. It is kind of nuts. I got the Hershey's Chocolate Dunkers. I ate the whole order. Chocolate covered dough that you dip in chocolate... this is why people are overweight.

I rode my bike another 4 miles down the road, and found a little copse of trees in a farm. I decided to stop there for the night.

BAD. IDEA.

It was down hill so it took me three trips to get all my stuff down there, plus getting it all over the barbed wire fence. I was down there for maybe all of 2 minutes when mosquitoes started evaporating out of nowhere. I just hopped in my tent without the poles in it and talked to my mom for a while. I also talked to Greg Stephens which was pretty cool.

I put on my big boy pants (there are no real big boy pants, this is a little term I made up for Man'n up.) and went and set up the tent as fast as possible. I only got eaten alive about a billion times. But no squitos got in the tent. I slept like a baby.

It is about to get more buggy.

It's always good after the bad.

I woke up to a bunny rabbit this morning. A giant bunny though. I am talking the Hercules of bunny rabbits. He was just doing his thing in the field next to where I was camping. He looked like a horse though. Seriously, he was giant. I packed up camp and got as far as I could with my tire. I would ride for 5-9 minutes. Then spend 2-3 minutes pumping it back up. I did this for over an hour. It was getting a little tiresome to say the least. I finally rolled up to a tiny Baptist church in the middle of nowhere. They were in the middle of service, so I just sat on the front bench for an hour. A guy named Shane came out during the service and we talked for a little while. He said he could try to arrange a ride for me to get to St. Francis. I said splendid.

Ina Mae. Pronounced like Anime. One of the sweetest old ladies I have ever met. This lady is a rock everyone. She drove me 35 miles to St. Francis, which is 65 miles in the wrong direction of her house. We got to talk a lot about Jesus, which was awesome. She was kind of crazy. An old farmer's wife. She told me about all of the adventures she used to have when she was younger. I came to realize it was the only vacation her and her husband took in 45 years of working a farm. It was for one week. They toured the entire eastern USA. She was great. She won't find this blog, so she won't get mad at me for putting her name online. She said she didn't want to have part in this "silly Internet thing" (referring to my blog/the Internet in general).

We got to St. Francis, and pulled into the Hilltop General Store. The shop owner pulled out a phone book, and we called my trip saver, Les. Les is a huge HUGE guy. Not ripped, just a big man. But this guy loves to bike. He brought me a spare tire, two tubes, and a patch kit. Worth about 90 dollars. The tire was brand new. Those folding tires that I put on my bike, which took me both tire irons to peel on and off, yah, he pulled them off the wheel with his bare hands. What a man. We set the bike up, and I was good to roll out. He was a great guy. Apparently his son made a bike that is hand-powered. Then pedaled it to the top of a 14,000 ft mountain in Colorado. That is absurd. Les, thanks again so much man, you saved my trip for sure.

I cranked out another 40 miles. I am now in Atwood, KS. For dinner, I don't know why I was so hungry. I ate a large supreme pizza from Pizza Hut, and then went to the grocery store and ate a quart of moose tracks ice cream. That is pretty disgusting. I still can't believe how hungry I was. I found a cool little park in Atwood. Lot's of trees and a little lake. I got to talk to a lot of friends last night, which was really nice, since the last two days have been a bummer. I am excited to ride hard now, and am ready to get out of Kansas too.

Less than a week ago... 6 Inches of Snow.

Today.... 100 Degrees.

It don't make no sense.

　

Oh, and I finally got the oatmeal I needed.

Not the best of my days

I woke up early this morning to a sleeping bag soaking wet. I didn't account for the dew buildup that would happen, so that was pretty funny. It was also funny that it dried as soon as I put it in the sun. It is bone dry our here. Fletcher got up and things didn't look super good. He was having trouble with his knee again. We were breaking down camp, and I noticed that my front tire was completely flat. That wasn't a huge deal, so I spent 20 minutes fixing it up. I now had two spare tubes to get me to St. Joseph, MO. We started to bike and rode about 8 miles. I stopped to talk to a Young life parent about camping. When I finished, we decided Fletcher's knee wasn't going to hold up for the whole trip. We spent a little time trying to figure out what to do. I ended up biking back to the race track with him that was across the street from our stealth camp site.

First thing I did was go get a pulled barbecue chicken sandwich. Overpriced like crazy, but was actually incredible. It was really really good. Fletcher got plans to get back to Denver, and I talked to my mom and dad to make sure there were no projected tornadoes for me in the next three days. Tornado Alley, you know how that is.

I went off on my own again. The weather was kind of hot, and the hills were rolling. I didn't make great time that day. I stopped in a little town to get some water. A lady told me there was a spigot out back that bikers use all the time, so I rode my bike to fill up. All my water bottles full, I start to ride back to the main highway a rock's throw away. Something was certainly wrong. My tires are covered in the little things. Both tires are flat. With all the weight on the bike, this prickly thorns (which I have come to find out are everywhere in Kansas) pierced multiple spots in both tubes. So I spent an hour putting new tires on. I start riding again, and an hour later, I look down and my front tire looks like a Jelly donut (this is the phrase I gave to an almost flat tire, not quite flat, but very squishy). There was a problem with the rim tap inside my front wheel, so I was getting these slow leaks in my front tube. I pumped it up, and biked another 5 miles. Didn't feel like pumping any more, so I found a little copse of trees for the night, and set up camp. With the 3 flats for the day, I was officially out of spare tubes. I had a flat. And I only biked 46 miles for the day.

Not a great day.

Reunited and it feels so good

Fletcher and I are finally ready to ride together again. I got up super early today to double check the route we are taking and to clean up the bathroom and living room of Bailey's house. I made a little breakfast and then made sure Fletch was up. We got out bikes packed up in about an hour, finished cleaning, and double checked the house to make sure we didn't forget anything. Then we were off.

First stop, the grocery store. I keep forgetting to buy oatmeal for breakfasts. And it is making me really upset. I love oatmeal in the mornings, yet I forgot to get it again. So dang. I managed to get the raisins to put IN the oatmeal. Just didn't get the oatmeal. If you look at the word oatmeal closely like I am doing right now, it is a weird looking word. Oat and Meal. That is kind of funny. Oatmeal. hmmm.

We got on the road. The hardest part of yesterday was getting through Denver. It is a pretty wide city. The bike path's are actually just lesser trafficked roads, so we had to navigate our way across the city through back roads. We have a map of Denver's bike routes, so it wasn't terribly hard, but we had to stop every 10 blocks to double check if we were going to hit a dead end road or not. That was pretty funny. We met this biker named Jon, and he took us on this one route the entire second half of the city, all the way out to highway 36, the road we needed. He was super nice. He rode way out of his way to help us out.

We rode for a little over an hour and then stopped for lunch at a diner. They had a pretty good chicken fried steak. Not the best of the trip so far, but top three for sure. As we were leaving the city/diner, we passed some area where they train jet fighters. There were two jets doing formations, crazy barrel rolls and flips and tricks a hundred feet off the ground. Nuts. We stopped and watched them do that for a little while. It was crazy.

Highway 36 is pretty boring. If you look it up on a your handy dandy google maps app, you can tell that it is a straight line from Denver to where ever, for hundreds of miles. And that is the road we are on for a good ways. True to the map, it is certainty in a straight line, and it doesn't deviate much. That kind of stinks. The shoulder is huge and smooth though. In that aspect, I think it is the nicest thing I have ridden on besides the bike path in Jackson, WY.

With it being so flat, with no trees, we slept in a ditch tonight. I don't know what kind of animal digs multiple 1.5 foot wide holes in the ground in multiple locations, but I really hope I don't find out tonight when I sleep under the stars. We are hoping to be in Kansas tomorrow. That is about a hundred mile day. It is going to be good. I can't wait to get home in a couple weeks to the 100 degrees with 100% humidity. Wait, I could definitely wait for the second half of that statement.

It is good to have Fletcher back on the ride. We had pillow talk for a good hour and a half last night. It will be nice having real talk on a regular basis again. Not that I wasn't happy before, it was just different, a good kind of different. We listened to music and saw a gnarly sunset before bed. It looked like an inferno.

I am sitting next to some cactus as I write this. Pointy.

And away we go.

Yesterday was another great off day. I figured I needed two after the beating I gave my legs on Tuesday. It was good to be able to recover. I woke up early and biked about 9 miles to the other side of Lakewood, over near Denver. I met up with my buddy Jared Draper from Clemson. He took me out to eat at this little breakfast place called Breakfast on the Edge. So cool. It was on a little lake, with downtown peaking up on the other side. I got the huevos rancheros, my favorite breakfast dish. It wasn't the very best I have ever had, but it was certainly in the top three huevos I have tasted. Jared and I got to talk about the wedding he had the other day (congrats again big man), about the trip, and about hiking the 14,000 mountains in Colorado.

After we ate, we went for a little ride around the lake, just to see things. His only advice was, "So, the geese don't move when you ride at them... so be ready for that." Luckily I escaped any encounters with stubborn goose-mates, so the ride was awesome. I felt like a feather without all of my stuff strapped to the bike. We went over to where he lived, I got to see the missus, Lizzy. They are both super happy and it was great to see them. Oh and Jared stabbed himself to the bone with a knife the other day in his thumb, I thought that was funny too.

I rode back and did a little research for the trip at the house. We grabbed our bikes and went down to the bike shop to hang out for a while. We ended up staying there for 2.5-3 hours. Somewhere in that area. I got spare parts, I got fitted for my bike (but somehow in my ignorance, my set up was perfect, so there was no adjusting that we had to do to make me fit the bike any better. That was weird.), I went and ate a yummy bagel from Bruegger's, and I read 3 bike magazines. The guys at the shop were crazy cool. I got some free stuff from them, some hydration tablets and what not.

Fletcher and I were talking about what we wanted to do for dinner, Dave offered to take us out with his wife. Of course we said yes. We went back to the house for a little while and they came to pick us up. Brief side note, while we were waiting, I had a wild animal encounter. We are staying on Green Mountain, and there is apparently wildlife that roams the area, even though it is heavily populated. I came face to face with a fox. Now at first, I thought it was Mr. Fox, from Fantastic Mr. Fox, the movie. Then I remembered that he lost his tail in that movie, and this fox had his tail, so it wasn't him. But he walked about ten feet away from me and just stood there, staring. So I just stood there, and stared back. Then went into freakout/ primal mode and started to walk towards him for some stupid reason. Guess who the alpha animal was. Wasn't him, that's for sure. Ran away like a little baby. You just have to glare them in the eyes, gets them every time.

We went to some local tap house. I had this burger that would melt your face off.

- 1/2 pound burger

-Cheddar Cheese

-Root beer Pulled Pork

-A huge onion ring

-and the Taphouse Secret Sauce.

I will buy a plane ticket for that burger. It was that good. Seriously. That good.

It was really great talking with Dave and Francie. We talked about bikes a lot of dinner. My favorite argument that happened though was when we talked about Barbecue. Dave thinks that Kansas has the best Barbecue... Fletcher and I and Dave were in a legitimate yelling match about Southern (mainly Eastern TN/ Western NC) Barbecue versus Kansas on the patio of this porch. Francie was just shaking her head laughing. It was pretty awesome. Kansas isn't even on the list of states that are recognized for even making barbecue. Come on Dave... Really? Really Dave?

That's what I thought.

Today we ride. From this house it is all downhill to Tennessee. I think that I can see the ocean from the back porch.

Maybe not.

What a cool off day.

So first off, before we continue, I wasn't attacked by an animal. For all of those people that have expressed concerned about my being attacked, it was a snow storm. I was bored and wanted to see if anybody could solve the riddle, without being told that it was a riddle. SOOO, I was in a crazy snow storm, not attacked by a wild animal. Read it again, it will probably make more sense. Annnyways.

Today will be a short blog.

I woke up. My legs hurt really bad. It was a long day yesterday. I guess they didn't hurt, they were just sore. I made a huge breakfast, and got to talk with Bailey (Fletcher's sister) for an hour before she went to work. We watched Beverly Hills 90210 on the Soap network. What a ridiculous show. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but it did make me laugh.

Fletch and I hung out at the house for a couple hours just mapping out the ride for the next couple weeks and watching TV. We are roughly 1200 miles from Murfreesboro, and 1500 miles from Clemson. We want to be through there in two to three weeks.

I then took my first nap in about a month. And it was GLORIOUSSSS. I slept on my arms crumpled up underneath me. I didn't move for an hour and a half. Let's talk about crazy dead arms and painful reawakening. I had cramps in my wrists. It was pretty funny. The nap was so needed though. I loved it.

Willy C finally came up from Colorado Springs and it was incredible to see him. I have missed him a ton, so it was awesome to see him out here in Denver. I will only get to see him once, maybe twice, for the next year, since I have the internship in the fall.

So the three of us went out to a local Italian place, hole in the wall. Just plain yummy. Cafe Jordona. It was a ton of food, with a decent price. Urban Spoon rated it high in Denver, number 9 I think. I would go back there for sure.

The best part of the day happened when we rolled over to Invesco at Mile High (where the Denver Broncos play football.) Erick is the man. Even though we got there late, he still came and met us at the gate and got us tickets to the game. We sat in the thick of the Mexico fan section, so we of course cheered for Mexico. We met some people around us and screamed like crazy folk when Mexico scored a goal. It was so sick. I want to go to a World Cup match like crazy. Erick came up to the seats after the second half and I got to talk bikes with him for a while. This guy is awesome. He used to do IronMans, and just follows around soccer games for his job with Napa. We talked bike tours. He is so enthusiastic about life, and it is pretty awesome to see. So Erick, whenever you are in East Tennessee, Northern GA, or West SC/NC, make sure you call me man, so we can meet up. It was sick to meet you.

Willy C gave us a ride home, and now has an hour and a half drive back home before he has to work in the morning. It was a great day. Great friends and great experiences.

My eyeball sockets are dry. Which means it is time for a good cry, or bed.... I choose bed. Goodnight.

PLOG

I don't have a ton of time to upload photos, but here are a couple to keep the masses satisfied (to stop them from yelling at me.) I will try to load some more later, it is kind of hard, you might have to wait till the end of the trip. Thanks y'all.

Fletcher and I before the trip, in Corvallis.

When I got into Wyoming.

The view into Jackson Hole, from Teton Pass.

When I got into Colorado yesterday. Super happy, and kind of beardy.

Ground and Pound

So the title of this blog has nothing to do with anything. I will be honest, I have no idea why I just wrote that. Tuesday was a hard day. I wanted to get to Denver in one day from Laramie, which was roughly 120 miles. I woke up to sub 32 degree weather (as you may know from my ice covered sleeping bag). I made some oatmeal and hot chocolate then got on the road. The day was finally super pretty. It was clear blue skies, and I had a decent tail wind for about two hours. I got to the border of Colorado pretty quickly, which was exciting. That section of highway 287 through northern Colorado is super gorgeous. It was huge rock towers, massive valleys, and huge mountains in the distance. It was just really nice. It was cold, so I had all of my winter gear on. As I headed South, I slowly kept shedding layers until I was just in a long sleeve and cycle pants. That is where I stayed at for the rest of the day.

I got into Fort Collins and was a little upset. It was such a cool little town, and I would have loved to explore it a little, but the traffic was terrible. I ended up riding on the sidewalks a lot. The roads were really busy all the way from Fort Collins to Denver, but the shoulders were really big, so that was good too. I loved how many fixies I saw Fort Collins. I could live there solely for the indie scene. (I am joking). But they did have a lot of really cool shops and restaurants that I wouldn't mind checking out one day.

I ended up getting really sunburned today, even through my shirt. I got blisters on my arms from the sun. I called my nurse friends just to make sure that I didn't somehow have skin cancer, or need to go to the doctor. (I am cancer free as far as the blisters are concerned.) Also, I don't know if you have ever sunburned your lips, but that might be the most painful thing ever. My bottom lip is a little sunburned, and it is pretty terrible. It hurts to open my mouth too far.

Denver was funny. People don't like you driving on the road at all, even though the shoulder was 10 feet wide, and I was on the far right. I got a couple fingers from some younger guys, which I politely returned with a huge smile and a wave. least that made me laugh.

So what was supposed to be a 120 mile, turned out a lot longer. I got lost twice, because the roads in Denver were poorly marked (at least they were in the Northern part of the city). The second time, the road I had directions for was Coors Street. What I needed was Coors Drive, a completely different road. Why on earth you would name streets the same thing with different road descriptions is beyond me, but I wasn't a happy camper. I left at 8 o'clock yesterday morning, and rolled up the Fletcher's Sister's house at about 8:50 p.m. Welcome to a terribly long day. Too long.

I think I might have robot legs.

I did about 140 miles today. I went through all of Wyoming in 5 days and 2 hours.

Seriously, robot legs, I am telling you.

Monday- The day of material blessings.

Monday was good. It was just a great day for me. I woke up at the KOA and packed up camp. As I was leaving, I went into the office to see if there was anything I needed to do to finish checking out. Jim, the owner, told me to just leave and I would be good to go. He said if I wanted something to drink before I left, to go into the back room. We went back and talked for a bit. He had these packs of hot cocoa that they give kids when they leave the campground. He told me just to take them, because the adults always drink coffee, and usually don't let their kids have any hot cocoa in the morning. So I got to try 8 different flavors of hot cocoa over the course of two days, because he let me have all the flavors. Dark Chocolate and Chocolate Graham were my two favorites. He also gave me a ton of cookies for the road. So free breakfast there.

Material Blessing 1

I left Rawlins and went on the Interstate for 22 miles to get to the highway I needed for my route. When I got off onto highway 287, I stopped at a gas station for some more lip stuff. (my lips were SUPER dry and chapped.) This truck rolls up next to me, and this guy yells out, "DUDE! I keep seeing you man." or something along those lines. I was thinking, what the heck is going on. Well I ended up talking to this guy. His name is Erick Cedeno. He is from Panama, and has crazy cool dreads. He is a biker too, and is wanting to do a tour of the West Coast soon. But Erick works with Napa Auto Parts, the sponsor of a ton of International Soccer Programs. He tours the country following games as a rep. Well I was talking to him, and I dropped my glasses right as he was stepping on them. Hahaha (my fault definitely). He felt terrible, so he bought be a new pair in the gas station, which was awesome of him.

Material Blessing 2

Well I found out all of this about the soccer game stuff, and found out he was heading to Denver that day for a game. He invited me to come hang out at the field. So Mr. Erick is giving Fletcher, Will Cannon, and I some sick tickets to the Mexico vs. New Zealand soccer game tonight at Invesco Field in Denver. Isn't that crazy. I am pumped.

Material Blessing 3

So I left there and headed out through the Medicine Bow National Forrest. The tail winds were blowing between 30 and 45 miles per hour. If you have never biked in that kind of wind, it is wild. It pushes you up hill, which doesn't even make sense. I didn't have to do anything for 60 miles. I pretty much just sat there. Once I started to head South though, that sucked pretty bad. It is impossible to bike with a perpendicular 45 mph wind. I kept getting blown into the opposite lane, which was pretty funny, until I started to see more traffic than I would have liked. I ended up just getting off the bike and walking it. Well a van pulls up and offers to take me the last 6 or 7 miles into Laramie (which would have taken me the rest of the day walking). I accepted and Randy and his wife took me to Laramie, which was super nice of them. They are from Arkansas, live in Rawlins, and on their days off, just drive around looking at countrysides and mountains. What an awesome day off. So they took me to a McDonald's so I could get wireless, and as I was getting out, Randy hands me 20 bucks and tells me dinner is on him. I tried to say no, but he kind of just drove away at that point, while I was still holding the money. So that was the last I will ever see of Randy. Thanks for two days worth of food Randy, you are the man.

Material Blessing 4

I left Laramie hoping to get the last 26 miles or so to the border of Colorado/Wyoming. I ended up getting a flat tire (AGAIN DANGIT), about 5 miles outside of town. A flat tire in itself isn't such a bad thing, just a quick 20 minute fix. The bad thing was I was out of tubes to repair the flat tire. When I discovered this, I sat down and began my self-pity cry, when Sam drives up. Sam is just some dude who goes to school in Laramie, asks if I need anything, and chucks one of his spare bike tubes(that miraculously are the same size I need) at me and just drives away. Pay it forward. That is all he says. Sam, you too, are the man.

Material Blessing 5

That was my day. I slept on the side of the road, under the stars. I woke up with a sleeping bag covered in ice, and happier than I think possible.

The stars were unreal.