bicycletrip

we made it!

2006-11-15T19:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Blog Readers,
We are here! Here we are! In Southern California! We've been bowling, eating citrus fruit and today we went on a relaxing, lightweight, uphill road ride to a casino for a free lunch buffet.
Before getting here we rode through dry saguaro cactus stands, deserted desert ranches, dried out rivers and washes, rolling mounds of sand dunes, and a city built completely of RVs. Riding bikes through 600 miles of the desert has been an entirely unique experience.
All in all, this was a cool trip.

2006-11-15T18:55:00.000-08:00

wow oh wow

2006-11-09T14:21:00.000-08:00

well after a few days in tucson we reluctantly left the day after the dia de los muertos parade which is huge. thousands of people, fire-eaters on stilts and crane dancers were highlights. on the road out of tucson we noticed a sign for biosphere 2 and wow it was biosphere 2 lots of wackyness and weirdness in the middle of nowwhere.
more later

tucson

2006-11-03T11:18:00.000-08:00

we rode 1600 miles to Dallas and then time warped across the west Texas desolation to Tucson on the amtrak
now here we are, there are cruisers, mountain bikes, the lycra clad road warriors, and... we have seen at least three extra-cycles! Biking is very popular here. It is warm and sunny, and flat with giant mountains protruding from the horizon. We sampled some desert delicacies, eating fresh dates (which are actually a grain) at the farmers market and got tamales to go and the usual serving(s) of coffee and next for today is further exploration of this neat town. Bye! Judy

2006-11-03T11:09:00.000-08:00

judy cooking

building our bikes up at 330am in the tucson train station

HALOWEEEEEEEEEN HALOWEEN

bike traffic in tucson

pictures

2006-11-03T10:57:00.000-08:00

us with good ol' jack daniels

glasswork at the bathhouse in hotsprings arkansas

the mississippi river (200 yards from the casino)

me cooking behind a house in hazen arkansas

the closed for winter waterpark campsite of ours

texxxass

2006-10-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

yup, thats right, we are in texas. home of the headwind and lonestar beer. the headwind i am familiar with the lonestar, unforchantly not. two days in tx, two days in dry counties. just my luck. anyways i havent written in a while because judy calls my blogs boring. oh well. last night we stayed and a waterpark/campground that was closed for the season. it had a wicked snake run that would have been wonderful to have my bmx. anyways next stop dallas. i will keep you updated on the lonestar situation. pictures also will come soon. it seems every computer we come to is on lockdown. blame them not us.
-john

our roads

2006-10-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

We have seen all kinds of roads: divided highways with wide shoulders, commercial thoroughfares lined with fast food chains, barely paved county routes... and our usual and favorite: a two lane road dotted with gas stations or groceries that travel straight through the center of small towns.

halfway?

2006-10-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

We crossed the Mississippi at dusk last week to enter a sad scene in Helena-West Helena. Schools, churches and groceries were boarded up, a factory was shut down, gas stations were selling booze and night was quickly approaching. We pedaled 13 miles into the dark to find a campground, then got picked up by a disabled vet and his girlfriend who warned us about Arkansas wolverines.
We ended up staying in a casino, which was another totally weird scene, waiting out the rain and pedaling over the bridge again.
Then to the Arkansas state fair: the gravitron and Adam Miller were highlights!

2006-10-18T06:16:00.000-07:00

I rode in my big ring through all of Alabama, but I found out that Mississippi does have some hills. When I crossed the state line I saw an armadillo. We had already seen at least a dozen flattened on the pavement, but this was a silly creature with a mouselike face, turtle shell back and smooth snakeskin underbelly. He wobbled through the grass to one of the archeological mounds, which are another mystery.
We have been finding ok campsites. Nothing like the abandoned house or deconstructed bulldozer I found when I biked across NC. Last night we stayed at mountain biking trails on the campus of Ole Miss. I'd say my diet has changed more than my usual sleeping accomodations. Everything I eat now comes wrapped in shiny paper; high fructose corn syrup is usually the second or third ingredient.
Bye, Judy

six states

2006-10-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog Readers,

We have pedaled into our sixth state after zig zagging around the southeast.

We left Chattanooga on a quiet road. Stench of fish rotting on riverbank pushed at us through uphill headwind, green canopy shading still summer sun...then ....that night became winter. We wore almost every article of clothing the next day and after our visit to the distillery in a dry county we turned south to alabama, where the rain has hit. We covered about 60 soaking miles yesterday then got picked up by a truck for the last 20 into Tupelo where we dried off in a hotel room!

John is having an enjoyable time and I am learning a lot. Bye! Judy

Somewhere between terrible and miserable

2006-10-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

Dear Blog Readers:

For those of you who know me, you understand that I like to ride my bike.
That assumption is being challenged.

We had a great time in Athens and my time back on the bike has been spent feeling somewhere between terrible and miserable.

But that is about to change!
I found that consistently snacking keeps my energy level up. Also Fennell moved my front racks and panniers to his bike, which lightens my load.

Yesterday was pretty great. We had spent the night at the greenway in Ellijay, GA and got up to ride in the rain up GA's biggest mountain. With four false summits it was a reminder of the Parkway. Eventually we went screaming downhill at 4o for 8 miles.

The rest of the day was a mix: Riding uphill in the downpour through congested traffic into Chattanooga for Thai food, my dad, and his sugar coated birthday cake.

Tomorrow: the jack Daniels distillery. Our first attempt at touristing was derailed by the cost prohibitive TN aquarium; $23 a pop.

Goodbye, Judy

still in athens

2006-10-09T06:04:00.000-07:00

we are actually planning on leaving athens today. the extended rest here has been pretty good, getting to see and catch up with old friends. also got to ride bmx bikes for a little bit which was a welcome surprise. yup.

athens ga

2006-10-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

we are now in athens ga. visiting with jared and mike. last night we were treated to a wonderful homecooked meal full of goodness and veggies for judith

judy "reading" a picture book
near saluda nc
send off on winklers creek

finally updated

2006-10-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hello!
we are currently in anderson sc. so far we have seen judy tumble down a grass enbankment after running into me at 2mph; we have descended down one of the most scenic roads either of us had ridden newar saluda nc (pictures to come soon)anyways time to grab lunch and get going again our next stop is athens ga
bye bye

plans

2006-09-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

the plan is to leave september 30th, yup. from the creek