U-Tour: Greg and Heidi's USA Bicycling Adventure

Still workin'

2013-06-29T15:47:00.001-05:00

On the slideshow

And the "thank you's"!

Home

2013-06-14T15:31:00.000-05:00

We are going home today!

2013-06-14T06:23:00.001-05:00

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

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

Hello WI!

2013-06-13T15:01:00.000-05:00

Been a long time...

Jane Addams Trail!

2013-06-13T13:30:00.000-05:00

15.1 mi till WI

Lunch in Freeport IL

2013-06-13T12:39:00.001-05:00

North end of Hennepin Canal Bike Trail ...

2013-06-12T13:02:00.000-05:00

in the daylight.

Night riding

2013-06-12T09:22:00.001-05:00

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

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

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

Lunch in Wyoming

2013-06-11T13:37:00.000-05:00

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

Creation stories

2013-06-11T09:52:00.001-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People in America

2013-06-11T09:25:00.001-05:00

There are a LOT of poor people in America.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The weather

2013-06-10T21:10:00.001-05:00

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

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

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

The NSA is Awesome!

2013-06-10T19:42:00.001-05:00

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

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

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

America is so funny.

Saw one of these billboards today

2013-06-10T18:39:00.001-05:00

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

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

Path in Peoria

2013-06-10T15:33:00.000-05:00

Illinois

Sprints with Eddie

2013-06-10T08:16:00.001-05:00

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

100 days on the road

2013-06-09T21:11:00.001-05:00

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

Banana Split!

2013-06-09T12:09:00.001-05:00

108 miles!

2013-06-08T19:47:00.001-05:00

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

Ode to the 18

2013-06-08T06:06:00.001-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

Long live the 18!

But God bless my 27...

Not the best patch job ...

2013-06-07T09:08:00.001-05:00

Wow

2013-06-06T21:19:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So thanks.
Y'all are amazing.

Some things we've learned from the U-Tour

2013-06-06T11:09:00.001-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

11. Avoid rush hour.

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

13. We've met so many nice people.

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

A day off gives time to fix things

2013-06-06T10:14:00.000-05:00

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

Benefiting from the kindness of friends and strangers, again

2013-06-05T17:32:00.001-05:00

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

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

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