The 411 - Mickey Slim's end of the world bicycle tour

across the midwest

2012-05-16T19:53:18Z

I reached Rapid City yesterday after riding across the plains to the first national park on my route, a 40 mile ride thru the badlands of South Dakota. I rode directly west for nine days out of Madison and there were some headwind sections but I also scored some tailwind. Only one day was particularly tough in the wind when I was hit with a steady NW crosswind of 25-35mph. I made good time and am enjoying a rest day today before rolling into the Black Hills tomorrow and then Wyoming.

]]>

I enjoyed meeting friends of Missy and Mark and my visit to Madison. On my way out I stopped for another visit to the Wilkies and Julie worked on my ankles. When my glasses screw fell out (missing nut) Steven rerouted my path out of town to get them fixed. And I found a great hidden camp area in a hollow after passing miles of open farmland.

The next day I climbed up from the Mississippi river into eastern Iowa. Then as I expected Iowa flattened out into a corn and soybean wasteland just like in the documentary King Corn. One night I camped at a nice campground at Pilot Knob state park and another I used warmshowers.org which brought me to JoAnne and Barry's in the resort town of Okoboji. These two places were great, they seemed to be the only oasis' amongst the barren landscape along rt9w.

During a Saturday morning trip into Sioux Falls for groceries I found myself on the wrong road in a pack of people running a 10k, forgot to take a picture of that. I was going to check out the downtown including the USSS.Dakota but realized the winds had turned good so I hit the road instead. The next morning I crossed the Missouri river after an entertaining breakfast at Brick House ice cream in Platte SD. I seem to socialize well with the over 50 crowd and this was a place full of characters and we all laughing about all sorts of stuff. And it was buffet style, bonus!

The countryside gradually became greener and more scenic after crossing the Missouri. Locals said there has been more rain and the colors of the landscape were great. I had a long tough day in the sun when I decided I wanted to reach Badlands to ride it the following morning. I started at 5am after not sleeping well and pushed a light headwind. I managed to cross the Indian reservation and opted for a motel in Interior to rest up for the badlands. I've never felt so much salt accumulated on my skin before, I've been buying the large V8's for electrolytes as well as my new favorite bike tour beverage: half and half ,which has 600 calories/pint. Later I heard that the Indian reservation I crossed has the highest murder rate in the country, probably best not to have bandit camped there.

I woke up recovered after a good night sleep and rode into the badlands before sunrise with Mary the chemist who is moving to Montana. She showed up at the motel and hour or so after me with a racing bike. We set our alarms for 4:30am and rode into the park by 6. The Badlands, like Addie told me, are spectacular. Its a geological paradise, I really enjoyed it there and took a zillion pictures. Mary turned back when the road turned to dirt and I continued on in the direction of Rapid City. I'm glad the buffalo didn't want to chase me as I navigated the loose road, 32mm slicks did get me thru but I had to be careful not to crash. Back on rt 44w Mary drove by on her way to the black hills. And now I am at Brad's apartment for a day's rest, he is another warmshower.org member.

Day 27 72 miles in 5:46

Day 28 89 in 7:43

Day 29 100 in 7:28

Day 30 99 in 7:12

Day 31 66 in 6:31

Day 32 120 in 8:21

Day 33 107 in 8:21

Day 34 103 in 8:40

Day 35 92 in 7:42

Tailwind to Missy's

2012-05-04T19:46:13Z

Had i been on my original schedule I would have battled headwinds last week all the way to Missy's in Madison WI but rolling a week late i was able to soft pedal and rest my irritated achillies tendon/ankles and still cover over 100 miles a day. Unfortunately this is Missy's busy week with papers due for grad school, but i'm not bored, because i'm in Madison, and I've never seen a city so bike friendly as this not to mention the great food.....]]>

Before departing Allen's we went to a soccer game at IU. Being one week late and missing the little 500 it was my consolation prize. Mexico's U21 team defeated IU in an entertaining game held at the same venue as little 5 and I passed as a college student to save $5 on the ticket. Allen provided Isaiah and I with additional entertainment when he cleared us into the VIP section and proceeded to push the metal barriers as close to the field as possible. Plus classic Allen driving and a 20oz prime ribs immediately followed by a 400m foot race back to the car. We even tried to obtain a culvert pipe on the way home.

First ride from Allen's i met Austrailians Scott and Jo-Roxy touring east to west. Then i talked to a guy about his stylin' motorbike and he proceeded to tell me all about places i need to ride in South Dakota with the pictures he took on his cell phone. The next morning a friendly Illinois couple paid for my double breakfast after i chatted with them at a diner! They wouldn't even let me pay the tip.

The tailwind felt like motorpacing, it was the free ride my ankles needed. Just idled my engine and let the wind take me north. I did sample some cross/headwinds in places but not much. On the third of four days to Madison my achillies and ankles started to clear up and seem to be on the mend....relief! I sure don't want to limp to Alaska. A visit to Steven Wilke, the network chiropractor in Madison, removed more stress and now my ankles have relaxed. While waiting for my appointment I watched weird al videos with his wife and son. Then my friend Adam emailed me about some obscure brand tendon/joint supplement and i found it within one mile of Missy's house. To top it off I scored a very illegal pint of raw milk in Wisconsin, as good as Flying Cloud but even sweeter! Guy from undisclosed farm has 100% grassfed Jersey Brown Swiss cross.

Last night I hung out with Missy's boyfriend Mark and had a great time, today I pedaled to school with Missy, she's working on a PhD in environmental studies. Catching up with her and talking about life with both of them has been wonderful. I think about how calm i feel now compared to when i was younger. I like what Missy says about getting old, she says its great because as you get older you gain an understanding of what really matters; i have to agree. And not only that, one gains stamina with aging, even though speed is lost. I'll be testing that out now that the big riding begins when I roll west from here in search of the national parks. I'm expecting big efforts across the plain into the wind and then more leisurely ride when i'm looking at the scenery that lies beyond.

Day 20: 107 in 7:21

Day 21: 107 in 7:02

Day 22: 123 in 8:11

Day 23: 63 in 5:00

Day 24: 11 in 1:00 unloaded, city paths

Day 25: 6 in 0:40 unloaded, city paths

Day 26: OFF

productivity?

2012-04-28T20:00:53Z

My five days at Allen's have been great, it feels the same to live with them as when they lived in NH, like no time has past even though they moved 6 years ago. Its been a real treat to stay with the family and eat the food off this land all week long. I finished my list of little things to do and change to get my equipment just right before getting back on the road, but i wonder what good finishing a personal list does for anyone...]]>

Typical productivity results in a bunch of material stuff, less typical productivity might result in something of real value like Allen's biodynamic farm. What do we need all this stuff for? Perhaps to fill emptiness in our lives. I can imagine that living in a wild nomadic tribe must have been completely fulfilling by achieving high levels of community, real experiences, and connection to nature. Perhaps enslaving ourselves to material things allows us to fill these voids? But how real is that? Like the marine sharpshooter i met said life here is not reality.

I do not have the skill, or guts, to go live in the wild. Sometimes i do manage to avoid material things that require care. Why take care of something you don't need when you could take care of some cows which give you milk and meat. Easy for me to say i suppose, i can just pedal over to Bill's and milk his cows, feel good about it, and ride home with some milk and without shouldering any responsibility that goes with farming. Clean farming is so undervalued in the U.S., i just read a statistic that 30 years ago we spent 8% of our income on healthcare and 16% on our food. Now it has switched to 16% on healthcare and 8% on food. The quality of food matters to only a tiny percentage of our population even though the population is ill.

Too many material things lead to violence and suffering. But our society is arranged to require material things to live, especially if raising a family. No worries for me though because all that i am missing is a Cannondale supersix Evo. So the big question for me to ponder while i ride is should i get one this year in case the world changes enough with the end of the Mayan calender to stop Evo production, or should i risk it and wait for road bicycle standards to change to something like 135mm spacing with 12 speed cassettes and disk brakes? Or might disk brakes be better for the end of the world? In that case one must consider that the SuperX with disk brakes might be available for this cross season, before dec 21st. If only i had the Dalai Lama's email i could ask him what to do. I hope the answer will come to me in a spiritual vision during my westward journey. I'm not stressed over this dilemma, its more of a zen thing, like the eagle lyric "i've got that peaceful easy feeling, and it won't slow me down...." I don't remember what that song is about but i'm assuming its something aerobic.

Okay, enough of this useless philosophical stuff because as we know its all about the bike. Next entry will be about cycling!

Day 17: OFF

Day 18: OFF

Day 19: OFF

getting into the rhythm of travel

2012-04-26T22:20:03Z

I had a great stay in Rochester with the Myers. Speedwork with Keith, hanging out with the kids, checking out the flour city bakery renovations, listening to Jerry tell us stories while dining at two-vine packed my 2 days there with a week's worth of good times. Now I am spending 5 days with Allen and his family on his biodynamic farm that he created in Gosport IN. ]]>

It was an 8 day ride to get from Rochester to Gosport, just over 700 miles. The winds treated me well most of the time and it rained cold only one day. I was slowed down by irritated achillies tendons, cleat adjustments allowed me to limp them along but that got my back a bit tight. But it didn't dampen my excitement, i met some great people along the way like Joe from NW PA who i met while eating a pint of ice cream at a gas station. He invited me to camp at his house where i met his family. They fed me, i got a shower, and clean clothes. Another guy who started conversation with me was pushing shopping carts in a Kroger's parking lot. He is a marine sharpshooter and we enjoyed a long conversation about how living life in the United States is not reality. I never seem to remember the specifics but i feel like i'm internalizing what people teach me as i roll along. No whining about achillies tendon after his stories!

I expect that 5 days with the Kitchers will allow enough time for my ankles to feel good and be ready to roll. The farm is great, a trip to Bloomington was fun, Allen and i involved ourselves in a bit of mischief yesterday which was then exceeded by Isaiah who cracked the password to his principals computer and got suspended. The password was "password", ha! Nice one Isaiah! Looks like field work for you tomorrow.

Day 6: 23.5 miles in 1:23 with Keith (unloaded)

Day 7: 87 miles in 7:12

Day 8: 91 in 6:38

Day 9: 90 in 6:53

Day 10: 89 in 7:24

Day 11: 74 in 6:08

Day 12: 122 in 8:38

Day 13: 102 in 8:16

Day 14: 54 in 4:04

Day 15: OFF

Day 16: OFF

Some old guys can't see

2012-04-15T17:28:05Z

I made it to Keith's in Rochester exactly 2 years after the last time I showed up on a bike tour. I had planned to arrive a week earlier but had some trouble in Manchester VT when an elderly driver didn't see me, or my bright yellow trailer, and drove his car into the back of me.....]]>

I was just riding along the side of the road and without warning I was on the ground. The guy was so clueless that he continued on because he didn't know he hit me. Fortunately a pedestrian stopped him allowing me to get his insurance information. He had driven into the back of my trailer and hit my ass with his side mirror. That left me with a deep bruise on my left glute and a totaled trailer. The bike suffered a bent back wheel plus damage to shift cables. It took a week to recover and repair my equipment before I took off again, this time on the 4-11.

After I was crashed I spent the night at the Battenkill Sports, the local bike shop, where owners Robin and Amy Verner took good care of me, feeding me good food and telling me bike touring stories from India, Australia, Thailand, and all over the US. It was nice to meet great people after the accident had left me feeling deflated. I stopped at their place for the night on my second attempt, making a short but enjoyable first day (day 1b). On the way out I stopped at orchard hill, flying cloud, and ate pastries with Addie and Eliza in Walpole. Everything felt timed right this time.

My first camp night was at the edge of the Adarondacks just past Gloversville and the second night I stopped a bit earlier than I needed to when I found a great spot on the northern shore of lake Oneida. This is where a second old guy didn't see me. I had just parked my bike about 30 feet off the doubletrack and started writing in my notebook about the great spot I had found to camp when I heard something walking behind me. I looked over my shoulder expecting to see an animal and instead it was an elderly man walking the double track. I hadn't heard him approaching because the waves were too loud. I was in plain view just 30 feet away with no coverage, (except for my bight yellow trailer, ha!). I watched him and he never looked up at me, just stayed hunched over looking at the ground. He turned around and walked back, never looking at me, so I assumed that he didn't see me. If he saw me before I saw him I would have expected that he would have looked again. This time not being seen worked out and I enjoyed the prime campsite.

I found some fast roads to reach Rochester on day 4. It's good to visit the Myers family, eat, relax, and cruise around Rochester with them. I don't expect to cover mileage like this the whole way because the winds have been good to me thus far. I imagine that I will pay the price for heading west between here and Yellowstone. 7 hours a day of riding should be enjoyable although headwinds in the midwest could be punishing. My ride is all tricked out to be aero with the BOB trailer and a drybag on my rack mounted in a streamlined position using a piece of skateboard. More on that later. Next stop is Allen's near Bloomington Indiana.

Day 1: 56.1 miles in 4:37

Day 2: 90.9 7:22

Day 3: 88.8 7:09

Day 4: 108.7 7:35

Day 5: OFF

the (somewhat epic) finale

2010-04-29T11:49:37Z

As I walked around Plainfield (Plainfield has to be one of the best places to live in VT) I kept hearing reports of big snow the next day so i changed my plans. I wasn't going to wait for good weather, but instead ride as far south as I could. I was ready for some epic pedaling.]]>

After Red Hen I pedaled up rt 100B in the cold rain, reminicent of the time I rode it with Allen. Except colder, it was below 40F. It turned to wet snow and my hands needed something better than the gloves I had (already using plastic bags in my booties). Waitsfield had nothing good. But then I found some heavy gore-tex gloves at the Warren general store for 40% off, score! And I needed them within 2 miles of when i bought them as the soaking wet snow cooled me off going over Granville notch with 40 more miles of snowfall to go. Brandon gap proved challenging to my drivetrain, icing up my cassette and derailleur. I missed my Rohloff at this point as i moved the derailleur by hand and was frozen out of some gears. Without the new shifting springs in my ergolever i would have not been able to shift at all with the ice, or with my new bulky gloves. At least the snow landing on the road was still melting.

There was a lull in the precipitation by west Rutland and i continued to charge south, now on the scenic route 133, that along with Brandon gap, was used for the Killington stage race. When I reached rt 30 in the center of Pawlet right there in front of me was a wood fired pizza shop!

I went in and immediately realized this was the real deal. Real pizza just like at pizza night here at OHill. Owner Deana Mach was standing there cranking out 450 prebake crusts for wholesale out of the most impressive pizza oven i have ever seen that her uncle made from 9000+ firebricks. Its solid, 100% firebrick, nothing else, with a fire chamber underneath and a groove in the back of the floor where the flames come up and out. When making prebake crusts she likes it at 1000F and just puts a fire in the back.

Watching Deanna bake reminded me of Noah. Precise and fast, hard to get a picture, especially with my camera lens fogged up after coming inside from the snow. I dried all my clothes at the oven and ate a ramp fiddlehead sausage pizza. Deanna suggested I camp out back so I set up my tent and came back in for another pizza, a masterpiece made from prosciutto, mushrooms and greens. Dare I say it, her pizza is a little bit better than ours. She also has one of those copper top dome mobile pizza ovens. She knows what she is doing.

And once again baker is a cyclist. Deanna told me about her bike tour of Argentina including Patigonia, the coolest place she's ever been. We talked for 3 hours about baking and cycling before I had to go to sleep.

Pawlet must be the other best place to live in VT, along with Plainfield where i left that morning, 115 miles apart. The pizza shop is attached to the general store which is built OVER the flower brook. It's post card perfict. I've been here once before and know that the surroundings are too, when you can see them.

But I didn't stay long, I woke up, ate leftover pizza and duck eggs, and took off into the snow. It was raining in Manchester where I stopped for a quick bite at a heath food store before climbing out of town. In walked a baker delivering his bread and it was Jed from Rupert rising. Jed had called Noah a few times for advice a couple years back so I introduced myself and we talked a while. He makes good bread, Noah approved (note to Jed: that doesn't happen often). Jed is a mountan biker. I cannot emphasize enough how imortant it is to ride bicycles if you want to produce good bread.

The climb out of Manchester proved challenging. A couple miles from the top the roads became slick, I let 40psi out of my tires. When i heard grinding pavement I would dart off the road into the snow and let the snowplows by. I had to take my glasses off because they were all froze up so I had stinging blurry eyes instead. On the descent I tried to stay below 12mph so i held the brakes. But then i heard grinding metal, my front pads were gone! That left me squeezing the icy rear brake the rest of the way at 20mph+ unable to stop. Fortunately the road turned wet before i expected, it had been a scetchy 5 miles.

I fueled up on a Northend Butcher sandwich in Brattleboro (best sandwich around) and gave Kevin a Mach crust sample because Deanna had mentioned she wanted to get in there. I'm Mach's new self-appointed eastern rep who tells potentail buyers that the crust is the best you can get, its just squished from being in my trailer.

But I forgot to fill my bottles, no problem, I'll just stop in westmoreland at my favorite water stop. No Jackie and Kelsey today, Dawn and Alyssa instead. I told them some travel stories.

Then I had a huge headwind to Walpole over the bumpy roads. Needing 260 watts to go 10mph on the flat was zapping me fast so I stopped at Burdicks to recharge. The dark hot chocolate was great (no milk, all cream, my friend Hannah who works there knows how to make a proper hot chololate) but the two rasperry tarts proved too much leaving me light headed. The powermeter indicated that all was well despite my questionable balance. By the time I reached orchard hill I felt normal again, but tired, and ready for some rest and some flying cloud milk. The northeast tour in April had been much better than I had hoped it would be.

day 21 115.1 miles in 8:08

day 22 94.6 miles in 6:59

tour was 1665 miles in 18 days plus 4 days off. i wish i had full powertap data, oh well.

note: replacing the harness cable solved the data dropping problem so the hub electronics did NOT get contaminated in the harsh conditions.....go powertap! and one month after the tour i would finally meet Randy George when we judged a bread baking contest together

finding E-rok

2010-04-26T16:11:52Z

Plainfield is a great little town in central VT. I just sat in a cemetery with three other people (erik, Heidi, someonelse) on a beautiful sunny morning and ate an apple pie for breakfast. Erik's new place is a quarter mile from the center of town where there is a natural food coop, a couple great restaraunts, book store, library, and a bunch of places that make a nice community setting. But when i was looking for Erik I was headed to Calais, I only found him in Plainfield by chance.]]> I rolled out of the Gilson's at noon and picked up some food in town on my way back to Canada. Even though the Milanaise mill was closed i still wanted to enter the New Hampshire from the Canadian border at the top of rt3. I made it within 20 miles of the border crossing before stopping to camp. I started to feel some head cold symptoms, probably Lyme moving around in my body as my ankle had cleared up allowing me to move cleats (and saddle) back to my usual position.

The next day I arrived at the great north woods but not after some tough climbing and the first flat tire of the ride, within sight of pavement after miles of dirt. And the climb up to the border was tough, 1k at 15%. I couldn't help but think of the granite state of mind video as i rode in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX7nQrCgALM

The great north woods had trees and lakes and nothing else for 15 miles, i liked it. Except for the cold; it was cold, I had a cold, and it turned out to be a tough day. My right ergo springs died leaving me with craptacular shifting. I got tired early and stopped for camp once I reached Maine on rt 26 to rest and fix the shifter. But I had the wrong wrench with me...ooops. But thats okay cuz later it would set me up for the essentail timing i needed.

The next day was spectacular. Clear skies as I rode grafton notch, evans notch, and the kancamagus highway. I took about 50 pictures of great scenery and camped 4 miles west of kancamagus pass. I rolled the rest of the way into Lincoln in the morning and spent an hour or so changing the ergo springs (if you ride campy always carry ergo Gsprings in your wallet :) The weather was great again, I finished off rt 112 and entered VT via woodsville on rt 302, the same road Allen and I toured 4 years ago.

But I had to turn off the 302 to find Erik. I had a description of his location in Calais and a phone number that had been diconnected. It turned out that timing would be critical although I had no idea of that. After I rolled off rt 232 I found myself in Marshfield VT getting water at a gas station. As I sat there eating apple and cheese a woman at the gas pumps started talking to me about touring and such. The conversation shifted to baking and Orchard Hill pizza nights when she mentioned she was going to make pizza in a clay oven. I said that I was going to visit the guy who inspired us to make a pizza oven at OHill and she asked who that was. Erik Guillard of course. The woman (Angela) said that's who she was going to make pizza's with and that Erik had moved from Calais (the location i was going to look for him) to Plainfield. 30 minutes later I was taking a shower at Earthwalk, Goddard college where Angela, Erik, and Erik's girlfriend Heidi work. Good thing i was an hour behind my usual progress after fixing my ergo lever because the timing for that encounter had a window of about 3 minutes!!!

That night I sat around a campfire talking with 10 or so people and eating a bunch of Erik's sourdough pizza topped with ramps and some roasted root vegetables. And then it was only a 2k ride in the dark, under the moonlight, to get to Eriks yurt. What a great day!

From here I plan on only three more rides of about 70 to 80 miles each. Tomorrow to Brandon gap via Red Hen (maybe I'll get my first factory tour!!), wednesday to Kelly Stand area, then home. The weather forecast is rain and cold, maybe even some snow showers again. But I can't complain after all the great weather I've had on this April ride.

day 16 62.2 miles in 4:37

day 17 93.2 miles in 7:08

day 18 101.3 miles in 7:36

day 19 70.7 miles in 5:01 at 164avwatts, kj

day 20 off

1028 miles to the Holiday Inn Montreal!

2010-04-22T13:55:02Z

I rolled in to Newport VT yesterday to stay a night with Scott Gilson who I haven't seen since he graduated highschool 18 years ago. So much to catch up on, 18 years is a long time. Scott was a senior when i was a freshman and he made sure i didn't get beat up by the upperclassmen. Which was challenging because i was a wise guy, pushing people's buttons even though i was small (only 90 pounds at the time)...easy target. Scott did a great job....thanks man!]]> these days Scott works for border patrol and he has lots of great exciting stories about rounding up large numbers of people sneaking across. Some crazy stuff too. It was great to finally see him and meet his family. His wife Jen had a hearty delicious meal ready when I arrived. Her strawberry spinach salad was so good that I ate salad, on a bike tour! And creme brulee for dessert, yum!

I took a rest day at Paul Smith and went to a couple classes with Addie. They made some good food in her chefs class but one dish in particular was exceptional, some sort of lamb with prunes and apricots. We chilled that evening and I ate a lot of free food from the caf, and Clare gave me some really good cookies from her baking class for my ride to Montreal.

The ride to Montreal featured sunny skies, flat roads, and some tailwind sections. At the border I stopped and waited at the window for a bit an no one seemed to be there. So I knocked on the window and within five seconds the guy was there, he must have been sleeping. Crossing the Saint Lawrence river to get into the city was a challenge. Instead of looking for a bridge that allowed bicycles (which it turned out would have taken a LONG time) I just went for it over the devided 4 lane highway bridge with no shoulder that i was at. Once i was up the bridge I was into some traffic and doing 30+mph with the aid of a tailwind and the draft from passing trucks. I got off it as fast as I could, what a rush!

Once I made it to downtown I found the Holiday inn that my highschool Jazz band stayed at for a competition back in 95 when i was a seinor. It was exactly 15 years ago to the week, during april vacation. It was of particular significance because I flushed a sea crab down the toilet which clogged it and ultimately got out highschool banned from that particular hotel. I had to stay for the night. My name was not listed as banned, they gave me a room, and even took my picture in the lobby with my bike.....sweet.

Keith (chef from Rochester) told me to eat at a restaraunt called the Au Pied de Cochon so the reception guy called them up and made a reservation for me. And it was great. I got the steak tare tare and sat at the bar where i could watch the cooks. They were flying, making so much food that i wanted to try but could not fit in me. The tare tare with fries left me stuffed.

The next morning the weather was great so i got the hotels breafast buffet, bought some groceries, and boogied. Eventually, it took a while to get out of the suburbs with my limited map of the area. Asking directions a few times got me onto a great bike path to Chambrey (i think) and then onto the flat roads to Newport VT. One guy even rode with me a while to show me the way out. It got a bit hilly as I approached Newport VT where there is a town called Bolton (in Quebec).

Data is coming in from the powertap again which is registering about 80% of the time. Good enough to get samples while riding and i'm able to calculate the missing kjs. here's the last two days

day 14 103 miles in 6:24

day 15 101 miles in 6:45 at 167avwatts, 4190kj

my plan for the rest of the trip is to ride to Milan QC to see the Milanaise flour mill who makes most of the flour we use at orchard hill. Edit: scratch that, just got a call from Sophie at Milanaise and they are in Montreal for a trade show (i was just there), mill closed this week, logistics! I missed cannondale factory too! So perhaps i'll go back into canada for a bit then head south to the white mountains and west into central and southern VT before returning home. I hope the weather is good, its been great most of the way!

mission accomplished

2010-04-19T10:57:55Z

Addie just went to class with her 7" Shun santuko, for the first time, and that means mission tupper lake was a success. And it was quite easy i must say, but for such ease everything had to time out perfect so here's my journey from Rochester.....]]> The weather was great in Rochester as Keith and i cruised around the suburbs doing stuff like going to a great sausage specialty shop and a yoga class with Carla, that was good for my ankle. After Yoga Keith whipped up a 5 star seafood extraviganza meal (no exaggeration, he is a top chef) as I enjoyed playing with his kids, who know how to have fun like they're supposed to (without TV/computer). There was salmon, mussles w/sausage, shrimp in some sort of asian stock, potatoes cooked in duck fat, veggies, wow.... It was amazing, I took pictures.

The next day I was charged up and ready to roll, especially after a killer breakfast of duck fat homefries, bacon and eggs. The weather was great that morning as i pedaled east along lake Ontario, often with a tailwind. One especially picturesque village on the lake is called Pultneyville. At noon the clouds rolled in and by 1 it was raining, but still warm. As the afternoon progressed it rained harder and got colder. When the rain eased for a bit i set up camp in some fir trees 10 miles east of Rome NY. Apparently the fly on my tent needs a new waterproof coating. It was 40F and i was wet. Wool clothes and synthetic sleeping bag kept me warm enough to sleep okay.

I woke up and it was still wet so i packed up fast and got breakfast in Rome. Riding warmed me up except my feet which i warmed in the diner and i dried my shoes and booties by filling them with newspapers. As I approached the adirondacks it started snowing and my powertap started dropping a lot of data which inspired me to stop at a bike shop to buy a cheap cyclocomputer.

The guy at the shop directed me to the local diner where I met Donna and Jim from Utica eating lunch. They had seen me riding a ways back and we talked for a while. They suggested a motel they were going to that was cheap at Racquette lake and called to make me a reservation. It wasn't quite as far as i wanted to get that day (sub 100 miles) but a chance to dry out my tent and sleeping bag would be ideal. It turned out to be the right thing to do, the next morning it was 32F and there were still wet snowflakes falling as i sat at the picnic table outside the motel making breakfast on my omnifuel. It would have been a cold cold night in a wet tent.

Early on my ride there was snow on the ground but the storm eased as i approached Tupper lake where I had a mission: retrieve the Shun santuko I bought for Addie last year that was stolen by some punk from tupper lake. Its an very high quality japaneese chef knife. As I rolled into town i asked a guy who was out for a walk with his wife where the locals eat on a sunday. I figured from there i could ask people where this guy might live and at least check in the phone book. Then I told him i was trying to find so and so, he said, "i work for the post office, he lives at ........." and gave me directions to his house. I was psyched, thanked the man, and charged up the road at 300+ watts which had me calmed down by the time i reached the house a couple miles later.

His dad answered the door, i explained that his son might have a knife that i bought my friend as a gift, they went and got him, he came downstairs and gave me the knife. I thanked him and left, it was that easy, I was pumped, riding thru the crappy weather payed off. It probably took me a total of 20 minutes between talking with the postman and talking at the house. Then I rode the rest of the way to Paul Smith (Addies college) and gave her her knife back, woo hoo!!!!

I must say routes 28 and 30 thru the middle of the Adirondacks disappointingly flat! And the hills that there were were quite easy. I think the mountains in this part (couldn't see them, clouds) are quite spread out and the roads weave thru and connect lakes. I bet the best place to ride out here is rt 73 and the Keene NY area that I drove with Chloe a couple months ago. That section looked amazing in the clouds it must be even better in the sun. We even found an "orchard hill" road in Keene (NY) that day! Someday I hope to see this place on a sunny day, the Adirondacks look spectacular from Vermont looking across lake Champlain. And perhaps tomorrow it will be nice when i ride to Montreal to find the Holiday inn. Okay, its time for me to go to Addies chef class and EAT :)

day 10 116.4 miles in 8:11 at 160avwatts, 4612kj

day 11 estimated 82 miles in 6:20 (powertap dropped data)

day 12 74.8 miles in 5:26

day 13 off

rollin'

2010-04-15T13:01:44Z

It took two rides to reach Rochester NY from state college PA. I had a few tailwinds and not much straight on headwind along the way but I really think its that I'm riding myself into shape. Plus the BOB is especially fast in certain conditions almost like its not even there.

Woke up to a frosty morning and some ice in my water. Powertap dropped data intermittently for a while, maybe there is some moisture in the hub, hope it continues to work most of the time because its a fun toy to have with me. My new fueling approach (especially after Becca's dog ate a pound of my pemmican) is hamburgers. They cook up fast, easy to digest, and burn a long time. Stopped twice for burgers on my way from PA to Rochester and didn't feel hungry once. The first one i got from Big Papa's in Canisteo NY was especially good. Yum.

The terrain became easy approaching Rochester and the miles were ticking by, i knew i would reach Keith's before dark. Except for the part when i got lost in the hood. There was a bit of a rough area after i missed my turn and after a while i asked how to get back on track. I went went west down a side street with the sun in my face to reconnect to my route. Ahead four big (black) guys, all taller than me, wandered out into the street right in front of me, and all i could do was sigh, i had been riding for eight hours. If it started to look bad i planned to try and bowling ball my way through with help from my BOB weight, there was nothing fancy I could do towing a trailer and it was too late to turn it around. But just as i reached them the closest two paused and I rolled thru in a straight line.

Today i'm enjoying a day with Keith Meyers and family. We plan to cook food, hang with the kids, and go to a yoga class. I hope it makes my ankle feel good. It's been significantly better than day two back in virginia but with a potential 4 week lyme flare up period coming early next week i know it could become irritated. Also there is some restriction in my hip and a hop in my pedal stroke at times. I'm aiming to reach Addie in three days of riding, rain and snow showers in the forecast as i get into the Adirondacks. Brrrr

Day 6 off

Day 7 106.4 miles in 8:17 at 169avwatts, 4971kj

Day 8 118.3 miles in 8:29 at 158avwatts, 4617kj

Day 9 off

]]>

the 411, in 2010, CANCELLARA!

2010-04-12T11:02:11Z

first things first: Cancellara is a machine. I wonder how fast he could go across the cobbles with a full BOB in tow. probably faster than me without one

I arrived in State College PA on my birthday (4-11), one day faster than i expected due to tailwinds during at least a part of each day. I'm at Rebecca Donaghue's home, a runner friend from the highschool days who after a decade of injuries is healthy. And flying, she was 2nd at the Falmouth RR (only one Kenyan could beat her) and almost made the olympic team. She says that she will be able to compete during her thirties like she wanted to during her twenties. Excellent. I'm going to watch a hard track workout today before i take off and run a bit with her if my achillies tendon is okay with it

]]>

My dad rode with me for the first hour as I rolled north out of Danville VA, halfway across North Carolina border. I felt good until it reached 90F late afternoon and I cracked climbing up rt 43 to the Blue Ridge parkway to find camp. The climb up Twin Otters is 4 miles long and 8-12%, a tough way to end my first hot ride of the year. I should have known the climb would suck when i noticed on the VA gazateer that the mountain before Twin Otters is called "Suck Mountain". But what really could have sucked that day is if the butter that liquified spilled in my trailer. A little butter got out of the bag and spread itself around some of my stuff but if three sticks of butter spilled it would have been a terrible mess.

Days two and three I progressed further than expected due to tailwinds and the route i chose being so direct, perhaps more direct than the highways would be. First stop was Natural Bridge where i attempted to see the bridge without paying the $14 and was stopped by some angry Virginian guy. I didn't realize you had to pay and had just bombed down the access road on my bike ignoring the do not enter sign. I chose not to see the bridge because $14 seemed too much.

But that was fine with me as I saw plenty of quality scenery riding thru the Shenendoah Valley looking at farms with great pastures and the Blue Ridge mtns. And the Natural chimneys were free to see. Ate lunch at a nice place in downtown Lexington called the "Southeners Inn" and found Joel Saliton's Polyface farm. Joel was really busy (probably too busy to talk to some random guy) so I just said hi and filled my bottles for camp a few more miles down the road. Didn't know what to talk to him about anyway.

Day four was a big day as I traversed the back roads and steep hills to cross from West Virginia to Bedford PA to see the Cannondale factory where my CAAD7 was born. Of course it wasn't open on a saturday, logistics, oops. Before leaving WV i had a $4 breakfast that fueled most of my 8 hour ride. 2 eggs, sausage, and 2 massive pancakes that took me until 3pm and a bit of a stomach ache to finish. Lesson: you only need to order one pancake in WV! The climbing was tough, up and down 10-17% grades most of the day. But the scenery and weather (and pancakes) were enough to keep me rolling and motivated. I really liked western Maryland. Finished the day with 4688kj on the powermeter (depending on my efficiency thats about a 5000 calorie ride, i think)

Day 5 was fairly easy, flatter and shorter. Started off with a 8 mile section of the Martinsberg stage of tour de toona. Lots of memories from that race, it doesn't seem like its been 7 years since i was here last. I think it was the first race i did on my CAAD7. Before reaching state college i took a nice indian cave tour.

It hasn't been hard to find places to camp. I was a little nervous as I rode into West Virginia where the road signs are full of bullet dents and there are no trespassing signs plastered in the trees but i found a great spot. The one night it rained i was set up in time. And the only ticks i've seen were just 3 on the first night outside my tent.

So far so good with the lyme. Energy levels have been good especially on the hard day. My right ankle/achillies started to get sore on day two so i moved my cleats back 1 cm and that worked for now. When I walk down stairs I feel the achillies clunk, no pain though and I'm looking forward to the next week of pedaling.

Powertap data

day1 83.8 miles in 6:40 at 154 avwatts, 3642kj

day2 78.2 miles in 6:18 at 149 avwatts, 3080kj

day3 96.0 miles in 6:44 at 155 avwatts, 3702kj

day4 99.2 miles in 8:05 at 164 avwatts, 4688kj

day5 68.8 miles in 4:59 at 139 avwatts, 2383kj

northeast tour starts tomorrow

2010-04-06T15:45:52Z

I just tested out my BOB ibex trailer for the first time today. It rides smooth no hands but shimmies my CAAD7 while out of the saddle at high(er) speeds. Started to smooth that out, i should get used to it.....
]]>
My lyme disease seems to be going away. i had a rough December and January followed by a great February and March with one flare up at the end of March that left my right ankle/achillies a bit fragile. Hopefully it will be solid while I ride. This will be the first real test for my body since getting sick. Last year I went on a short tour with Eric Gullaird and others in Northern VT called the superhero bike tour. More than a dozen cyclists dressed up like superheros and rode around helping people for a week, good times. I will try to post some pictures of that in this entry when i get home.

This route starts at the VA/NC border where my parents bought a house. From here I will head north to Montreal to stay at the Holiday inn that i got my highschool banned from 15 years ago. On the way i have potential "business" to settle in Tupper Lake NY. After Montreal I will head home to SW NH, probably thru the white mountains. I have a short list of people to visit along the way and plan to blog a few times. I can't imagine there is as much to blog about as in Europe with Oracle Jen, but who knows.

I am using a lot of the same gear as in Europe. But not everything. I have a new primus omnifuel stove that i think will be great and i have some new 340g innov8 off-bike shoes that are hightop and waterproof. Jen told me to get a puffy jacket so i did, a stylin' lightweight down, from mountain hardwear of course. I rigged up some quick release SKS raceblade fenders that i hope will work good. I modified 2 pairs (4 sections) to give me full coverage and they mount under the trailer for better aerodynamics when its not wet. Swapped out my Putney jersey for Matt DeCanio's SU13 kit, he's racing in France, go Matt! (he says he quit maintaining the SU site last week) Also running a powewrtap SL, it looks bad ass with a BOB skewer and 30c tire. hopefully the data won't be wimpy, and hopefully the blog will be good, not boring like how much my stuff weighs.

the 411, in 2009

2009-04-11T00:44:35Z

I doubt there will be any touring for me this year. Even though my bike is ready with new mavic disc rims, narrower tires, and new sleek fenders, I am not. It appears that my breakdown in the pyranees was not me being a wimp, but actually the beginning of lyme disease...]]>

Lyme is all over the world, don't assume its just in the northeast U.S. Only half the cases of lyme show the bullseye rash so when you go bike touring be sure to check yourself for ticks! And it doesn't have to be a deer tick (although that is the usual "vector?"), it can be any tick. I might even carry antibiotics with me next time despite my strong anti doping stance. I sure am taking a lot of 'em now! Plus a bunch of herbs.

After I returned home my health continued to decline until I couldn't walk in February and I had to stop working. At that point my friend Eric Guillard suggested I might have lyme and after some thought it made sense. Even more sense after I read up on the disease. Due to late detection it has established a strong hold in me so its going to be a project to get it out. So far I have been improving, slowly. After six weeks I started to work again and even rode the trainer a few times for a half hour. That's to help fight the lyme by circulating blood (with antibiotics and herbs) into my otherwise stagnant leg. It still hurts, can't ride outside. But I can walk okay if I am careful.

Next year? Bike tour to Lyme Connecticut? Probably not. I would prefer a ride starting here and going around Nova Scotia, or a month in Iceland, or perhaps the big one (la vuelta a South America) if Nat Faulkner exhausts his ironman bug and puts that one together. Oracle Jen already went touring this year on the Iditarod trail with Kyle on Surlys with 4" wide tires. Yes, I am jealous. Not only did she get to go touring, her bike has 4" tires!

statistics

2008-10-07T20:00:22Z

Just went and saw the palace and cathedral in Madrid and walked back to the youth hostel where some college age people start talking to me when they find out I'm from the states. They ask about the economy and I tell them I dunno, Ive been sleeping on the side of the road for three months but its fun to get to speak English........

]]> ......one girl says the US stock market crashed a couple weeks ago, not sure if that's true, but it did make me think about some things. A guy asked me if I have a job when I get back and I'm pretty sure I'm all set on that. Last winter I would joke with the guy who I work with/for, Noah at orchard hill breadworks, that its "time to ebay my racing stuff before the economy tanks".....um, maybe I was right. And its possible that I went to Europe just in time if its not affordable in the future. I think I swung this trip for around $40 per day plus airfare. Nat claims that we will be touring South America for less than $10 per day so looks like that's the next trip.

I remember one documentary that Noah and I watched once while shaping bread called "Money as Debt" that explained the history and basics of banking in a way that I really liked. But then it went on with some crazy ideas of an ideal economy that would work thru an honest system......rrriiiiiiight (think of Dr Evil saying right).

So heres the stats,which I may add to when I think of more

distance: 8106km (5033 miles)

duration: 12 weeks

nights in campgrounds: 6

nights in hotel or motel rooms: 10

youth hostel nights: 8

days off including Oracle Jen's walks: 9

tires used: 3

tubes used: 3

chains used: 2

dt spokes broken: 6

wheelsmith spokes broken: 0

cost per day including airfare: will figure that out when I get back

estimated calories per day: 6000

butter intake: 1kg per week

beef intake: way way less than ideal (I missed my Rosie)

starting body weight: 73kg

current weight: less than 70 I bet (69 when I got home)

Jen went right and I went left

2008-10-06T14:34:14Z

it was the plan we had made the evening before. Jen stays in Spain 11 days longer than me and has the opportunity to check out the north coast while I have a flight to catch from Madrid....and on the way it was my turn to struggle....

]]> After a great ride out of Valence I managed to catch Jen's cold. Kinda hard to quarenteen oneself from someone that you're sharing dishes with and no hot water....oh well. Not surprisingly Kyle had managed to get sick right away when he was with us. Only three days of suffering for me; sore throat then sinus pressure. I managed to still enjoy the cliffs, gorges, and canyons that we saw in France. And drafting Jen thru narrow French village streets was fun, reminded me of tour coverage on TV. I rode okay for two days, the third I cracked and we rested in a monistary rennovated into a hotel that we found in a quaint little village called Alet les Bains 100k from Spain. It had midevel ruins, a house that Naustradamus might have lived in, and, most importantly, steak taretare at the local casino.

Some things have become old on tour, like navigation. Especially in France signage is randomly terrible. More than once we went to the office of tourism to find our way out of town. And then there's my spoke problem. Even though I am not using the rear (disk) brake at all I managed to break three more spokes. Of course when they break at the nipple you have to take off the tire and rim strip. And for one outbound left spoke I had to take off the rotor which takes some time on a rohloff, with the shifter box and chainstay brace thingy in the way. I think (hope?) there is such a thing as downhill spokes that are 2.4mm at the nipple.

So I got better fast and we enjoyed an easy day into Spain. As we entered the Pyranees we met up and rode with Andy Gordon from England. He was bandit camping and traveling light (admittedly he was getting cold at night). At one time he raced for GT and was ranked 25th in the world on mountain bikes, but that was in the early 90's. "When you could still get results like that without dope" as he put it. When asked he said he thought the top guys at the time were on the sauce (our heros J.T. and N.O. I suppose) he said he thought so. When Andy was 22 he had to stop racing because he came down with chronic fatigue.....for TEN YEARS!!!! Oh man that's rough, I can sympathize with him cuz I had it for two years, not fun. That's how I got into the whole healthy eating, my kilo of butter a week and plenty of raw beef. I can't imagine 10 years of no cycling.

The gorges in the Pyranees are awesome. I took some pictures. Some places reminded me of the Rockies of Colorado and others of the Gila forest in New Mexico. Jen said one area was like Northern California. Definately quite arid and I used plenty of sunscreen to keep from drying out. One campsite was at the edge of a canyon....nice.

Then I had a second tough spell with a sore back. And during two days over two ports per day in the Spanish pyranees...ouch. But I toughed it out and saw more great scenery. Apparently we were only a week behind the Vuelta a Espana as we rode rt 260 west for three days. Many climbs had names like Contador, Sastre, and Valverde freshly painted on them. And for some reason Nick Noyens was painted all over one port, I thought he was Belgian.

And suddenly we were going our seperate ways the next day, I felt kinda sad. It had been quite an adventure with Oracle Jen over the past 12 weeks. I jotted down the directions to Madrid from her map and left her my dragonfly. The next mornoing we rode 35 k's before parting ways. It was a crisp sunny morning that featured a Llopis sighting in a remote village with a population of 40 (smaller than E Alstead) and then I rounded up four spanish horses that were loose in the road with my bike. I think I could have been a cowboy, if cowboys rode bikes.

The mornings are cold and the sun comes up after 8am here cuz the time zone didn't change since we entered Poland. I ride with all my warm stuff for a lot of the morning. After parting with Jen it was scenic for a bit then became quite descolate and remote. Dry ground, not many trees and plenty of wind. Ocassionaly very nasty wind. Then the Banesto ATM told me my debit card expired...ooops. I still had 21 euro and my credit card and made it to Madrid, checked into a youth hostel (I hope its quiet at night), and am resting before the flight home.

Thanks for reading my blog and thanks to Chris Li at the Bikeway Source (Bedford MA) for hosting it. Be sure to check back for photos in a week ot two and some gear review. Velocity rims and DT spokes sure will get some harsh comments from me :) But there will be lots of good review like rohloff, mountain hardwear, ibex, tout terrain, etc that may intrest you. And maybe Jen will write us an entry to tell us where she went. Maybe she met Big Mig and he towed her BOB for a day (I would be very jealous if I missed that). I'm sure he could have gotten some euros out of that Banesto machine for me! If anything exciting happens in Madrid I will let you know. But there will be no more biking cuz there is a shuttle to the airport.

And Go Nat! He's doing ironman on Jen's birthday this weekend. His goal: 9hrs. Go Nat go