Joan & Mike's Bicycle Adventure

Final Thoughts

2007-07-22T19:07:00.000-04:00

OK, our bike trip is over, and we have been home about a week. So, now that we’ve had a little time to think about it, what did it all mean? Joan's just posted her final comments, so I’m going to address this from my personal perspective now.

If you are sitting on the edge of your seat, waiting to hear the two or three golden, glowing nuggets of “life truths” that we mystically uncovered during this trip, then I'm sorry to disappoint. That did not quite happen. However, the trip was indeed amazing, and I have come away from it with great satisfaction and some experiences and learnings that I will not soon forget. Here are 5 general areas that hit me as being important in summarizing the trip.

1) Completing the Goal / The Length of the Trip

Completing the trip, accomplishing this significant goal, definitely feels good. Having done it safely, with only a few minor scrapes and bruises between us over the 2 months of traveling, is a relief. But the scope and scale involved generates a few conflicting realizations.

When we talk with people about the trip, and the amount of territory we covered, it always amazes them. And to be honest, at times it still amazes us too. During the trip, when we were immersed in a place or event that was so obviously unique and far from home, we would jokingly ask each other two standard questions: “Where are we? And how, again, did we get here?” It was our way of verbally “pinching” ourselves, reminding ourselves of how bizarre the situation was. It seems almost impossible, when you look at the map of North America, that we really rode our bikes all that way.

The flip side, though, is that, with perhaps the exception of a few of the most challengingly hilly areas, any given day did not seem impossible at all. It was not a race, not a competition. Just ride your bike for a few hours, follow the map, pay attention to safety and the details, stop for a while if you need to, and you eventually get there. So, like any other large task, if you break it down and take it a step at a time, you do get through it.

And as wild as this trip may seem to some, it is nowhere close to being an extreme effort when compared to what other people out there are doing. We encountered people going from Virginia to Washington (state), from Maine to Oregon, from Vancouver to Newfoundland. All of these trips are easily twice the distance we traveled. We met people out there who were averaging 70, 80, or 90 miles per day on their trips, and read about one who rode the Rockies from the U.S./Canadian border to the U.S./Mexican border averaging 160 miles per day! We were told about the web site of a guy who is biking from Japan to England, following the ancient silk trade routes. This includes biking through the mountains of Asia and through areas of political instability – check it out yourself, it is www.14degrees.org. We have a good friend right here in our neighborhood who is running a full 26-mile marathon every month, her goal to run one in all 50 states of the U.S., and her husband is a triathlete. We have friends that we met on our Antarctica trip a few years ago who have run hundreds of marathons, or who run longer “extreme” runs of 30, 50, even 100 miles. So folks, there is a very wide continuum of challenging activities that people choose to do, and we are nowhere near the extreme edge of it, believe me.

2. Fun & Excitement.

Fun and exciting, it was. For starters, let me refer you back to the blog entry we submitted on June 13 entitled "The Joy of Biking and Traveling". For all of the reasons cited there.... seeing the country and the countryside, experiencing the natural beauty, feeling the physical exhilaration and sense of achievement, enjoying a simplicity of lifestyle, meeting the people..... this was a very positive experience. Sure, there were a few times when I might have questioned how much fun I was having at that moment. (Usually, at those times, a big hill was involved!) But when I step back and look at the whole thing, I know that it was really good.

We've been asked a number of times the question: "What was your favorite/best/most fun/etc. part of the trip. Each time, I’ve struggled to come up with an answer. Joan and I actually talked about it several times, trying to identify for ourselves what those high points were. The list quickly became much longer than what the questioners were looking for. So, our conclusion was that there have been many memorable people, places and events, but that no single one could possibly be promoted to the status of "The Best". Really, the experience is more like a mosaic, in which there are many, many pretty pieces, but the real beauty is in the whole. Sounds like a good dodge of the question, I know, but I think that it is true.

Maybe another way of describing it is that the best part was not so much about specific things, but rather the overall experience, the “feeling” of being out there on the road. Every day, literally, there was the excitement and the stimulation of new places to see, new people to meet. And there was an anticipation of the unknown. You just never knew what the next day, or for that matter, the next bend in the road, had in store. That made life feel very full and interesting every day. And now that I am home, that is the aspect of the trip I miss the most.

3. Learnings.

This bike trip has been a good “teacher”. For one thing, I have certainly learned (or in some cases, re-learned) a lot of geography! There is no better way to learn about places and their physical terrain than by traveling through them on a bicycle. In addition, you get to experience the culture of the places you pass through. On a bike, you can stop frequently and interact with the people. You are not insulated in the way you are when you travel by car. You hear the accents, you get the local vibes, you learn what the local agriculture, industries and highlight spots are. In some cases, we even learned a bit about the local social network (e.g., who does what in this town, who knows who, who gets along with who, etc.). In a funny sense, we appeared as “safe” people to talk to, and people were quite willing to talk with us about these sorts of things.

Then there was the route’s theme: The Underground Railroad. I learned so much about this subject during the trip. Reading the notes on the bike maps, visiting the historically-significant sites along the way, and reading sections of an excellent book that was recommended to us (Bound for Canaan by Fergus M. Bordewich) all expanded my understanding of this subject, and gave it a human dimension that I had never appreciated before. And as long as this bike trip was, the fact is that 150 years ago, thousands of real people covered all that same ground, under conditions of great personal hardship and with the constant threat of capture, torturous punishment, or death. They were dependent for assistance on a small, secretive and often uncertain network of "friends", who were themselves couragous to offer that assistance, embedded as they were in the broader intolerant or hostile society of the time. As we rode on our latest-technology, 27-speed aluminum bikes across paved, signed roadways, cell phones at the ready if we needed anything, we indeed had it easy! I appreciate all that much more now.

Finally, there were personal learnings. Proving that I could do this physically, and that I could adapt to this unusual nomadic lifestyle for an extended time. Learning that, in spite of my tendency to be a bit reserved in crowds of new people, that it was ok and rewarding to stretch a bit, take some risks, to open up and engage in conversation with people. That was a good thing for me.

4) The People / Inspiration given and received:

Throughout the entire trip, the people we met were wonderful. This was a theme that ran through all of our experiences. Again, look back at the June 13 posting on the “Joy of Biking & Traveling” for some detailed context on this. From Mobile to Owen Sound, in rural areas and cities, across all racial and ethnic groupings, our interactions with the people in the places we traveled were incredibly positive. Virtually everywhere we went, we found people had an interest in what we were doing, and were so free and sincere in offering us good wishes, prayers, support and tangible help. I think if anything, the experiences on this trip helped confirm, and in some ways restored, my faith in the basic goodness of people. I found I derived inspiration from this during the trip.

One interesting aspect was the number of folks we met who had an interest in taking on some similar adventure themselves. Often, we could see that light already shining in their eyes; other times, we may have started a little spark of interest for them as we talked. I remember in particular a couple we saw in Corwin, Ohio, and several people at different points in the trip who were out biking for the day and who rode up alongside of us and started asking detailed questions about the “whats” and the “hows” of the trip – these folks were clearly looking forward to trying bicycle touring at some time in the future. Or the woman near Angola, NY, who had just left her house and stopped her minivan in the oncoming lane when she saw us to offer us water and fresh fruit. When we told her about the trip, a smile came across her face, and she said: “I sure hope I get to do something like that after my kids get older!” Or others for whom biking was not necessarily an interest but other traveling adventures were. I suspect that all these people will make their opportunities whenever the time is right for them. I enjoy the thought that maybe we were able to help inspire in them a bit of enthusiasm for some such positive future endeavor.

Frequently, we would talk to someone who would say something like: “What a neat trip, but there is no way I could do that.” We’d tell them that, well, maybe they could if they start small and build up to it. Or, maybe this type of trip is not for them. Remembering that wide, wide, continuum of possible activity that people can engage in, and knowing that there are people doing things that we could never do either, we’d say: “Well, you don’t have to do a trip like this. Just figure out what would make a good, fun, practical activity or adventure for you, and go for that.” I remember talking with a woman in Niagara-on-the-Lake, in her 70s or perhaps 80s, who expressed appreciation for our trip, and said, “Wow, I cannot imagine ever doing that.” And then she said goodbye with a smile and continued on the very brisk one-hour walk that she does every day. All I could think was that she had nothing to apologize for…. She’d found her sweet spot on the activity continuum, and was very happily and productively living it. More power to her. I hope I do as well when I am in my 70s & 80s.

5) Sharing the Experience

Last but not least, I consider myself very, very fortunate that Joan had the ability, the interest, and the willingness to do this trip with me. Her blog entry “Bringing up the Rear” notwithstanding, the practical contributions that she made on this trip – her planning & organizational skills, her social skills, and her good common sense, were so critical to our success. The “joy of biking and traveling” were all the greater for me because she was there doing it with me. And most importantly, this has become a shared experience for us, one that we will now always be able to look back on and remember together. Someday when we are both sitting in our rocking chairs on the nursing home porch, we will be able to look at the pictures, talk about our memories of “that time we were out on the road on our bikes for 2 months”, and remember with satisfaction that we really did accomplish it together.

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So, those are my final thoughts. I mentioned the lists of the “best things” that Joan and I pulled together. Just to have them all in one place (as well as the "challenges”), I will list them below.

Beyond that, we may still come back and add a few odds and ends to this blog, as I know it is being shared with other cyclists now who are considering doing the same route, and there may be other things we think of that could be of value to them. However, for all practical purposes, this entry brings the trip, and the blog, to a close.

One final time, I want to express my appreciation to everyone who over the past couple of months looked at this blog, thought about us, checked our progress, or sent us messages of encouragement. It really helped to know that there was that support out there for us. Anyone who is thinking of doing something similar and has questions, please don't hesitate to contact the two of us at mikenjoan24@yahoo.com, or me at mikew24@gmail.com.

Thanks again,

--Mike

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The Bests:

-Mobile, AL: Sightseeing, the free bus system downtown, seeing the Captive Passages exhibit at the Mobile Museum – sobering.
-Visit with park ranger at Historic Blakely State Park near Spanish Fort.
-The Stagecoach Café in Stockton, AL, and their lunch buffet.
-Hubbard Landing Campground, near Stockton, AL. Great place, and wonderful, helpful people.
-The fried chicken place in Grove Hill, AL. Can’t remember its name and it probably was not that good, but given that we were starving, it was great!
-Coffeeville, AL: The Dairy Bar restaurant near town, and the campground on the Tombigbee River.
-Linden, AL: Getting lucky and being at a service station when the rain hit
-"Gert's Kitchen" restaurant in Epes, AL; Talking with Gert & her husband; Gert's famous Sweet Potato Pie
-Gainesville, AL: The mansions, meeting the Postmistress, and having "Hoop Cheese" from the General Store.
-The Aliceville Museum in Aliceville, AL – Interesting & thoughtful exhibit on the Aliceville camp for prisoners-of-war during World War II.
-Crossing the state line into Mississippi. Actually each state line crossing was an energizing mark of progress being made.
-Getting directions from the couple in the pizza shop in Columbus, MS.
-Seeing our friends, the Herolds and the Chamberlains, in Columbus, MS;
-Biking for a week with the Chamberlains through Mississippi and Tennessee – a very fun time!
-Historic cemetery in Aberdeen, MS
-Bill’s Hamburgers in Amory, MS. Since 1929.
-Pharmacy in Smithville with the “Best Floats & Smoothies”. And nice people too.
-Camping, canoeing, and taking a rest day at Tishomingo State Park in Mississippi
-“That darned car” in Tishomingo and Shiloh (Inside joke about the Chamberlain’s car, which we gratefully had access to during those days.)
-Woman who filled our water bottles with ice water when we were running low near Shiloh, TN, and provided a short tutorial on the history of her farm and the surrounding area.
-Touring the Shiloh National Battlefield Park in Tennessee.
-Main Street Grill, the restaurant in Saltillo, TN
-Seeing the pet deer with the red bandana
-Getting the last campsite at Mousetail Landing State Park (TN), on a holiday weekend. We were quite lucky.
-Successfully conquering the hills between Waverly and Grand Rivers, and feeling strong.
-Seeing buffalo herds in Land Between the Lakes National Park
-The Wood-N-Wave Bike shop in Grand Rivers, KY
-The Iron Kettle restaurant and dinner buffet in Grand Rivers, KY. (Part of the “Patty’s” complex)
-Buffalo steak at Miss Scarlett’s by hotel near Grand Rivers.
-Cave-in-Rock, Illinois: the Ohio River ferry, the historic cave, and meeting and hanging with Chris, the cross-country cyclist
-Starting the hog stampede near Morganfield, KY! The image still makes me laugh.
-Moonlight Bar B Q buffet – Owensboro, KY
-Cloverport, KY: camping on the riverbanks, guest of the town’s mayor; befriended by the ladies at the local pizza shop and getting a tour of the new town playground.
-Conquering the hills past Cloverport, and keeping the locals from getting lost!
-Pleasant surprise: The downhill past Edwardsville, IN to New Albany was not as steep as we had feared looking at the maps.
-Lucky again: Allowed to loiter at a service station when the big thunderstorm hit in New Albany, IN. Nice people there too.
-Fire Department personnel who helped us with directions in Clarksville, IN
-Mary, the helpful receptionist at the Fairfield Inn in Jeffersonville, IN.; Nice river views of downtown Louisville, and good selection of restaurants, from this hotel.
-Meeting 2 southbound UGRR cyclists and visiting with them for a while.
-Madison, IN. Interesting, historic town. Nice place to spend an off-day.
-Trucking to Dry Ridge, KY. Getting there 2 minutes before tremendous thunderstorm. Lucky again! Visit from Tamara at Dry Ridge.
-Touring historic Washington, KY.
-Visiting Zip in Ripley, OH
-Reaching familiar territory, staying in Batavia just before reaching home. Visit from Dave.
-Reaching home, riding down our street to the “welcoming committee”!
-Getting help from our local bike shop (Jim's Bike Shop) to replace the tail lights on both bikes, and to come up with a solution for a mirror for Joan. Huge improvements, thanks guys!
-Lucking out still again – having the park bathrooms available for shelter when the thunderstorm hit, just after leaving home in Cincinnati.
-The great rail-to-trail system of bike paths in southwestern Ohio!
-Visits with multiple cyclists in the Xenia area
-Malabar Farm & hostel, northwest of Butler, OH – great place to visit and stay; Malabar Farm Inn and the Produce Stand: excellent!
-Amish country in north/central Ohio
-Oberlin, OH: Great UGRR-related things to see. (memorial, safe house, quilt at senior center).
-Oberlin, OH: "The Bridge", a technology center run through the public library that provides a great, free service to the community.
-And while on that subject, the public libraries in all the communities we used throughout the trip, and the librarians who welcomed us and made the internet facilities available to us.
-Shaved Alpacas (?) in field. They were interesting, whatever they were.
-Cuyahoga Valley National Park, between Cleveland & Akron. Great bike trails, covered bridge, fruit market. Visits with couple embarking on a new exercise program, trail volunteers and people who know Owen Sound!
-Burton, OH: Don stopping to offer us a place to stay; Linking up with Annette and staying in her RV. Tremendous kindness and hospitality given to us.
-Ashtabula, OH: UGRR sites (esp. the Hubbard House), and seeing Lake Erie for the first time, knowing we'd crossed the U.S.
-Conneaut, OH: Great place for a rest day, on the shore of the Lake. Holiday carnival across the street from our motel.
-The vineyards of PA and NY along the Lake
-Stone lighthouse in Barcelona, NY
-Woman stopping to offer us cold water & fresh fruit
-Crossing the Peace Bridge; the helpfulness of the Canadian customs personnel
-Canada Day holiday celebrations in Fort Erie
-The ride along the Niagara River; Niagara Falls.
-Niagara-on-the-Lake: Touristy, but pretty. Almar House B&B & conversing with the other guests there; seeing the sunset on Lake Ontario; spending the day with cousin Fred & Danette, and seeing the Shaw Festival play “The Philanderer”.
-Vineyards, fruit and flower farms throughout southern Ontario
-Stoney Creek: Man who helped us with directions, and the couple who invited us in to their house for water, snacks and friendly conversation while it rained outside.
-Many cyclists out between Milton and Orangeville.
-Seeing the “Orangeville Special” train in Inglewood.
-Cyclist helping us with the best route to Orangeville after the detour
-Proprietor at the "Atlanta Motel" in Orangeville who went out of her way to clean the only available room, a smoking room, and made us feel comfortable. Very nice lady.
-The entire Orangeville-to-Collingwood day of travel: Great biking, beautiful roads, the wind farm, Dundalk and “The Junction” restaurant, Pretty River Valley Park, great tailwinds!
-The evening in Thornbury with Lou & Gayle Sage, and the jazz concert in the park with their friends Bob and Diane and Don and Shirley.
-Conquering the “Monster Hill” up to Walters Falls. With that, we knew we would be able to say we did the entire route without ever having to walk a single hill – we rode them all !
-The water-driven grain mill in Walters Falls
-Owen Sound…. We Made It !!! Harrison Park and the Black History Cairn.
-Owen Sound…. Dipping our wheels, learning the town.
-Lou, the Greyhound Station Manager in Owen Sound
-Jolleys Bike Shop in Owen Sound
-TJ’s coffee shop in Owen Sound
-The Habitat for Humanity crew in Owen Sound
-The trip around the peninsula to Oliphant and Joan’s aunt and uncle’s cottage. The visit with Aunt Marge & Uncle Frank. The driving tour of the Bruce Peninsula, including Cabot Head lighthouse and Tobermory.
-Making it home with the bikes by bus, with all of the logistics working out mostly as expected.
-The Smiths picking us and our boxed bikes up from the bus station after midnight!

The “Challenges”:

-In general for Joan: not having a working mirror during the first half of the trip.
-Missing Africatown outside of Mobile
-The hills of Purdue Hill and Grove Hill, AL, in the heat and with no food. Having to climb the final hill on fumes, as it started getting dark.
-Speeding logging trucks on narrow highways with no shoulders in Alabama.
-Handlebar Palsy and sore butts early in the trip, as our bodies got acclimated.
-The ant colony that invaded our pannier while we were “stealth camping” in Nanafalia, AL
-Navigating the streets of Columbus, MS -- tough streets during afternoon rush hour, and drivers not used to cyclists there.
-US 278 west of Amory, MS. Scary road with lots of traffic and no shoulders.
-Accommodations at the Saltillo Campground in Saltillo, TN.
-Cuba Landing Road – more potholes and bumps than the moon has craters!
-Panicky anticipation of the huge hills between Waverly, TN and Grand Rivers, KY.
-The hill north of Birdsville, KY, and the hill on Cotton Patch Rd., south of Weston, KY. About the steepest we would encounter.
-Cave-in-Rock Motel: So what did you expect for $28 per night???!
-Headwinds and squalls as we entered Owensboro, KY
-Lost in town, and pulling many hills, trying to find a motel in Brandenburg, KY. (Advice to other cyclists: make sure you have directions to motel in advance if you plan to stay here!)
-Bridge from Brandenburg, KY into Indiana – made Joan very nervous.
-Missed direction cost us 5 extra miles
-Missed seeing the UGRR museum in New Albany, IN
-Entry into Madison, IN via long steep downhill during rush hour
-THE BRIDGE from Madison to Kentucky….. narrow and busy. Anticipating it for a day and a half was worse than actually crossing it.
-Learning that the SB UGRR cyclists we met had crashed and had to end their trip.
-Cold camping night at Kincaid State Park in KY
-Travelodge in Delaware, OH – not the best for the price
-Flat tire on Joan’s bike in Erie, PA
-Detour in Dunkirk NY that forced us to do 10 miles on busy state route 20
-Figuring out the bike path in Buffalo
-Not being allowed to bring our bikes into our hotel room in several Canadian motels.
-Finally getting caught in real rain on the way to Stoney Creek
-Flat tire on Mike’s bike in Stoney Creek.
-Missing Dave’s house in Dundas
-Negotiating the detour before Waterdown, and having to ride the very busy Route 5 for 2 scary miles.
-Major detour at Forks of the Credit Road, on the way to Orangeville.
-Orangeville hill
-The strong winds throughout most of Ontario after Stoney Creek. When they were headwinds, they were difficult indeed.
-The “monster hill” between Collingwood and Walters Falls
-Head winds between Wiarton and Oliphant, while going to the cottage
-On bus trip home, the unexpected charges in Toronto and associated confusion regarding shipping the bikes; the delay (although not due to us or our bikes) in Detroit at US customs

The Second Half of the Trip and Final thoughts from Joan

2007-07-22T18:41:00.000-04:00

Although the second half of our bike trip (from Cincinnati to Owen Sound) started with a long and rainy day, we were SO ready to be back on the bikes and moving forward to complete this journey after a 10 day layover in Cincinnati. I was particularly happy because I COULD SEE AGAIN!!!! We may not have mentioned earlier in the blog that I was having trouble seeing well out of my bike mirror. The mirror that we bought for my new touring bike prior to this trip was positioned at the end of my left drop handlebar. Unfortunately, this positioning doesn’t work well when you have full panniers that block the view. I spent the first half of this trip (from Mobile to Cincinnati) very frustrated and nervous at not being able to see what was coming up behind me (remember all those big logging trucks in the South?). I tried a helmet mirror along the way, but didn’t feel comfortable with this design. Upon reaching Cincinnati and our own bike store (Jim’s Bicycle Shop), Tony recommended an oval mirror that velcros to the side of the left upper handlebar and sticks out far enough to allow me a clear view. THIS WAS WONDERFUL and made cycling on busy roads and left turns much safer and a whole lot more fun. The only downside was that the mirror interfered with my ability to wave to people from the bike while still keeping my hands on the handlebars. And so, regretfully, I had to terminate my “wave experiment” in the Northern States. So, we set out on the second half of the trip with a joy that was not too tempered by the weather and distance of the first day.

I must say that even though riding in the South proved to be a good experience because the people were so hospitable and the countryside so beautiful, the roads in the Mid-West and North seemed safer for bikes. Paved bike trails, backcountry roads, wide shoulders, and official bike lanes made our travel easier. And, I don’t know where the trucks go in the North, but they were seldom on the roads suggested by Adventure Cycling! OK, there were a few exceptions (especially in Canada) where I wondered who in the world planned this route and would we get off this road alive but the majority of the time, we had easy going, if you didn’t count that darn escarpment in Canada!

Another difference between the South and the North is the level of interest we would raise while riding through a small town. In the South, we were definitely a novelty and many a conversation was started by locals asking where we were going and to question our sanity about biking NORTH. They were truly concerned about us and interested in our story. Leaving Cincinnati with loaded down bikes and obvious strange travel attire, we garnered hardly a glance and no comments whatsoever from the passersby. Of course that was a rainy Friday morning and most normal people were focused on their commute to work – poor things. But this indifference, or tendency to keep to one’s self, or not ask personal questions, continued throughout the rest of our trip. Now if we initiated the conversation, they usually were very interested and open to conversation but rarely were we approached spontaneously (except Don in Burton, Ohio, a fellow cyclist, who stopped his truck in the middle of a busy road to offer us a place to spend the night!). I’m sure that it was also partly due to the much larger number of cyclists out on the road – we just weren’t a novelty anymore. But even the road cyclists out for their morning constitutional (who looked like sleek race horses next to our pack horse bikes), rarely slowed down as they passed us or inquired about our loaded bikes and plans.

And so we traveled on, the weather increasingly cooler and great for biking and all of the hills bearable, or better. I am proud to say that neither Mike nor I walked a single hill. Our bikes did great with their low gears – you just keep spinning with your head down so that you don’t get too overwhelmed at the sight of the hill in front of you!

Now we are home. It feels good to settle in, get back to work, and have regular communication with family and friends. I must admit that I find myself looking at the world in a slightly different manner. I am more aware of how happy I can be with a simpler lifestyle and how easy it is to waste our natural resources without thinking. I want to spread the word about cycling as an excellent form of exercise as well as a way to conserve. I need to bike. A few days ago, I felt an overwhelming urge to get on the bike and sweat. I grabbed Mike and we did some miles on the new bike/hike trail near our home. It felt good. Now, we need to figure out what’s next. I did learn from this long distance trip that a nomadic life would not be good for me long term. I need friends and family and a community and work and a passion to grasp hold of. But I was also reminded how much I enjoy traveling with my husband and how much we enjoy unique adventures and meeting new people. Cycling will continue to be a part of our lives, and another long distance trip (or 2 or 3…) is probably in our future but right now, it is most important to me to focus on “finding home” and that passion or passions that will take us to the next phase of our lives together. Stay tuned.

Joan

Catching up: Summaries & Photos - July 7 - 17

2007-07-17T17:00:00.000-04:00

Because we had such limited access to the internet in our last week in Canada, we had to forgo the daily summaries for those final days of the trip. For the sake of completion, here they are now. Also, since I now have the luxury of working from my home PC, I have integrated the relevant pictures into this section.

(Click on any picture below to enlarge, then click the BACK button on your browser to return to this blog.)

Saturday, July 7: Milton to Orangeville, 43 miles.

We had expected this to be a relatively easy, shorter day, with a few challenging hills, but ones we felt ready for. Instead, it turned into another trying day. It started well, with great biking, great roads, great weather in the morning. Then we started hitting some hills, and some serious winds that would only increase as the day wore on. Much of the time, the winds cut across our path, but occasionally we would turn or the winds would shift and we'd be going headlong into them. I expect that some of the gusts we hit were in excess of 30 or 40 miles per hour. One time in particular, I remember going down a hill relatively fast, and a sudden blast of headwind hitting in such a way that it felt like it was stopping me in my tracks. Other blasts from the side made the ride precarious at times -- such cross-winds bother Joan in particular.

In spite of the winds, we made reasonable progress, until we ran into a detour, which forced us up a large and very steep hill. This was the hardest climb we've encountered since Tennessee/Kentucky. At the top of the hill, we were preparing to follow the detour back towards our route when another cyclist happened by, and stopped when he saw us consulting our maps. He looked at our map, saw the direction we were about to go in, and said that's crazy, it is much faster to Orangeville going this other way. He suggested we just throw that crazy Adventure Cycling map out... at which point I gave out an involuntary cry of "NO! We can't do that!". (That bike map has become in some ways the single most important item we carry!) However, in this case, we were willing to take his suggestions as a better way to recover from the detour. He sent us down a very nice road that went directly to Orangeville..... and he said it would go over a few "hills and dales" to get there. Well, we found that his "hills and dales" included one humongous hill right before getting to Orangeville, but we made it up, and in retrospect, his suggested route was better than what we would have done otherwise.

Once getting to Orangeville, a cute little town, we rode down the main street, and saw a large wedding just letting out of the church, with a bagpipes being played in front of the church. Looked like quite a ceremony. Then we got to the hotel we had planned to use, only to see a "No Vacancy" sign. Turns out every hotel in town was booked up, due to this wedding. But, fortunately for us, the woman said she had just had one cancellation, so we got that last room. (A smoking room, but she made a valiant effort to clean it and make it workable for us.) So, this unexpectedly long day, with more hills, obstacles, and uncertainties than we'd expected, came to an acceptable end.

One last amusing item from the day... on two occasions today, we were asked by curious people where we were going. "Owen Sound", we said. (At this point, we are within a hundred miles of it and everyone is quite familiar with where Owen Sound is.) "Owen Sound???!!!" was the amazed reply. "You're going all the way to Owen Sound on bikes???" Needless to say, their frame of reference opened up considerably when we told them where we had started!

Sunday, July 8. Orangeville to Collingwood, 65 miles.

As opposed to yesterday, this is a day we were expecting to be hard, but which turned out to be great. We were nervous because we knew we had over 60 miles to do, with very few stores or services available in this stretch, on a Sunday when what few shops there were could be closed, a few hills to deal with and a HUGE descent from the top of the Niagara Escarpment at the end. Also, the weather report was that this was to be an unusually hot and humid day, temperatures expected to be as much as 35 deg C. (95 deg F.). But as it turned out, this ended up being one of the best, most interesting and enjoyable days of the trip!

We got a very early start out of Orangeville, on the road by 6:30 am. The weather forecast turned out to be completely wrong. It was cool, cloudy, windy, and threatening rain from time to time. For the first 5 miles out of Orangeville, we were heading due west, and directly into the wind. It was awful. But then the route turned toward the north and stayed primarily north for the entire day, which meant cross-winds vs. headwinds -- a tradeoff we gladly made! We made great time. The roads were excellent biking roads, and in fact we past many other cyclists who were out for their weekend morning rides.

As we neared the town of Dundalk, we passed an immense wind farm. Huge 3-bladed rotors rising up out of the fields, each probably 200 feet tall, spread out as far as you could see. And given the winds today, they were definitely producing a lot of energy! At one point, I tried counting all the ones in view at the time, and counted 26. I know that there were more than that off in the distance. It gave a sureal appearance, these futuristic structures turning smoothly and silently, towering over traditional farms and 150-year old farm houses. It was as if giant aliens from another galaxy had landed!

The other thing that we noticed in this area was the building style of the homes. Almost all of them were red brick, 2-story structures with a relatively square footprint, and white bricks placed in patterns along the building's corners or in stripes across the face to give decorative flair. Most had a single chimney coming out of the center of the roof, probably connecting to numerous fireplaces on the interior of the house. Some of these houses and a few churches had dates inscribed in them, and all seemed to date from the mid- to late-1800s.

The farm fields were primarily planted in hay, corn, or wheat, but we started seeing some crops we did not recognize. One was dense plantings of stalks about 2 feet high, topped with bright yellow flowers that turned the field brilliant with color when they were in full bloom. This turned out to be canola. Another was a low bushy plant with white flowers, which turned out to be potatos.

We reached the town of Dundalk at 9:50 am, with the skies starting to darken and threaten. This was the only intermediate town on the route today that had any hope of having a restaurant or service station. As we entered town, we stopped and asked a couple of women on the street if there was anything open, and they directed us to "The Junction", a restaurant they thought opened at 10. Sure enough, we found it, and it seemed to be the place to be in Dundalk on a Sunday morning. People were waiting out on the street for its doors to open. We parked our bikes under an overhang in front of the building, and waited for about 5 minutes, chatting with a farmer who was waiting in his pickup truck, an obvious regular. As soon as the doors opened, we entered with the crowd, and sat down. Five minutes later, a heavy downpour began outside. Once again, our luck with the rains was perfect. Knowing that this was our only restaurant opportunity of the day, we ate well, and by the time we were done, the rain was over.

As we left the restaurant and prepared to get back on our bikes, we had another conversation with a very nice man who gave us some background on the wind farm we had passed. The windmills are only about a year and half old, and there was considerable controversy around their construction. Towns people were worried about their appearance, noise, cost. Local indiginous Indian tribes objected on more spiritual grounds, concerned conceptually about harnessing the wind. But the economics of the project eventually won enough people over. Owners of the properties on which they were built received a generous 1-time payment, plus will receive annual payments based on the revenues in the future. The rotors operate 24x7x365 -- winters cause them no problem. There seems to be almost no noise whatsoever. While the jury is still out on how successful they will be, they certainly appear to be working out very well so far, with all but perhaps the Indians' concerns seeming to be addressed satisfactorily. And it helped us mentally..... if we were going to have to contend with riding our bikes through all this wind, it was good to know that at least someone was getting some benefit from it!

Leaving Dundalk, we headed east and north. Everytime we rode east, the wind was behind us, and we just flew! Then came the big descent. Downhills are normally fun for Mike, but a source of some concern and work for Joan, as she wants to control her speed more and must ride the brakes harder. This particular descent, however, was serious work for both of us. It was so long, so steep, and the road so bumpy and broken in places, that you really had to keep the brakes pumping. We dropped over 600 feet of altitude in the first 3 miles, then another 500 feet in the 9 miles following. We rode long stretches without ever pedaling a stroke. The route took us through the Pretty River Valley Provincial Park, and the scenery was outstanding. At one point, we surprised a large coyote standing in the middle of the road, who just trotted down the road for awhile after seeing us, before bounding off into the brush. Once down the steepest section, we had one flat straightaway to the east, and with the tailwinds, we were amazed to find ourselves cruising at 17-19 mph with practically no pedaling. This was really, really fun biking! If the entire route from Mobile had been like this, we'd have finished this trip weeks ago!

Finally, we came to the outskirts of the town of Collingwood, and it became quickly obvious that we were no longer in rural Ontario. We were suddenly surrounded by million-dollar houses, and soon thereafter, were in a suburban district of gas stations, hotels, a WalMart, an A&P Grocery store, and lots of cars. This is a town that is on the boom as a resort area. A wide array of ski runs (all green right now, of course) could be seen coming down the Escarpment, and resort villages were in place and new ones being built in the valley below them.

That Escarpment, we knew, represented the last really big challenge for us, for tomorrow, our final travel day.... we will need to climb 800 feet of it, 700 of that in a 4-mile stretch, to get to Owen Sound. We found a bike store there in Collingwood and went in to talk with them, to see if there were any locally-known "magic" routes that could help us bypass this huge hill. But no, unless we want to ride on a dangerous, high-traffic route, we are going to have to climb this hill. So we resigned ourselves to that fact.

That evening in Collingwood, we were treated to a wonderful time by Lou & Gayle Sage, parents of Bill Sage, who I used to work for and with at P&G. Bill helped us get in contact with each other. Lou and Gayle took us to their home in nearby Thornbury, and then to a jazz concert in a local park, where we had a picnic dinner, met a number of their friends, and had an absolutely great time. It was also a super way to get local perspectives on this very interesting area. Lou & Gayle, thank you again for your hospitality!

Joan, Lou (seated in the chair) and Gayle (next to Joan) take cover under a tree, along with the Sage's friend Diane, as the rains fall. The live jazz music in the park, being performed from under a covered pavillion, continued without missing a beat.

Monday, July 9. Collingwood to Owen Sound and the end of the UGRR route, 44 miles.

So this is it. What started almost two months ago, on May 12, will be completed today. Rather than feeling the warm, fuzzy glow however, we found ourselves this morning transfixed with apprehension of what the Inaugural Group folks called the "monster hill" that was now facing us. We had actually seen it from a distance when driving with Lou last night, and it did not look that bad. But the elevation profiles on the map clearly show this to be about the biggest single climb of the entire 2100-mile route. Saving the best for last, I guess.

The first 9 miles out of Collingwood were easy, riding along the Georgian Trail, a level, hard-packed gravel trail that paralleled the shore of the Georgian Bay. (By the way, I've been saying all along that Owen Sound is on "Lake Huron". It is, but more specifically it is on the Georgian Bay. The Bay is part of Lake Huron, but is almost large enough to qualify as a 6th Great Lake. Locals identify more readily with the Georgian Bay, and "Georgian" is applied as a regional name throughout the area.) Here is a picture of Joan riding on the Georgian Trail.

From the Georgian Trail, we could look up to our left, and see the summertime view of the many ski trails that run down the side of the Escarpment.

Then we hit Route 40, turned left, and started to climb. We went up about a hundred feet steeply, then the road leveled off, but we could see the big hill off in the distance. It still did not look that bad, but as we rode, we began to realize how far away the hill still was, and that our view of its height and steepness was deceptive. A bit closer, the hill was still in the distance, but we could pick out trucks making their way up and down it, looking like little specs, and lending some perspective to just how big this hill was. Then as we finally neared it, we saw that there was a significant downhill right before it..... which meant that we would just have that much more of a climb to make to conquer this thing. From the base, looking up at the 2-mile stretch immediately in front of us, it seemed impossibly steep, especially the second half of it.

So, as we have done on a hundred lesser hills before this, we put the bikes in their lowest gear, and started to slowly plug away. And as before, we slowly made progress up. We had some headwind in addition to the climb, but somehow we just got through it. Then, just as we hit the steepest section, what do we see coming up behind us but two other cyclists, a husband and wife, out for a morning ride. As they passed us, we had a brief conversation. They live in the area and ride this route frequently. "You do this on purpose?? For fun????" Of course, they were not carrying loaded panniers like we were, but I was still duly impressed. And they seemed to appreciate the story of our trip as well. They went on and soon disappeared over the hill ahead of us, but their "visit" had provided some nice conversation and encouragement for us, and eventually we crested the hill ourselves, and then stopped to rest. Looking back the way we came, you could see the hill we'd just come up, and far below and in the distance, the blue waters of the Georgian Bay. A beautiful spot. The photo below shows Joan reaching the top of the hill. Because you really cannot see down over the crest in this photo, it really does not do justice to the steepness.

At this point, we knew that the last really big obstacle on the trip was behind us. We still had some ups and downs to navigate through, and some wind to deal with, but it was now just a matter of time before we would be done. We stopped for lunch at the town of Walters Falls, and did an impromptu tour of a grain mill there that we were told about at the restaurant. It was built by a resettled African American in the 1800s, and still operates today on 100% water power, following that original design. Very interesting to see.

During the last miles into Owen Sound, it was a very strange feeling, knowing that the end of the route was close, and trying to wrap our minds around what these moments meant. As we entered the town of Owen Sound, it was sort of like coming home to a place we'd seen on maps and thought a lot about, but had never been before. We looked for a "Welcome to Owen Sound" sign to take a picture, but to our disappointment, never saw one. We just suddenly found ourselves in the southern outskirts of the town, and then soon after, at Harrison Park, where the route ends. We entered the park, which is quite big, and had trouble at first locating the Black History Cairn, which is the official end point of the UGRR route. We did find it with the help of a nice woman (from Dundalk -- yes, we know that place!), and read the associated signs and markers there. We intercepted a nice couple, Don & Mary, out for a walk and they graciously agreed to take our picture there. (Included in our posting on July 10.) We talked with them at some length about the trip, and then..... we captured the final statistics from our bike computers, reset them, and headed off into town to find a motel. For the first time in almost 8 weeks of travel, we no longer had a defined route to follow, nor a specific point to pick up from tomorrow. That part was now over.

Our bikes at rest, at the end of the UGRR route:

Tuesday, July 10. Owen Sound.

The traveling of the UGRR route was over, but there was much still to do. This day would be one of some sightseeing and taking care of the practical arrangements for getting home.

-We went to the Greyhound bus station, and made arrangements with Lou (the fantastic station manager there) for tickets and confirmed the transportation details for our bikes;
-We went to Jolley's, the local bike store (which is excellent, by the way), and they gave us 2 bike boxes to pack our bikes in for the bus ride home. They also provided consulting on the best biking route to take up to Wiarton, which is where Joan's Aunt & Uncle's cottage is near. We plan to make that trip tomorrow.
-We took the bike boxes back to the Greyhound station, where Lou happily agreed to store them until we were ready to actually disassemble the bikes.
-We found our way down to the waterfront, and did our wheel-dipping ceremony, our front wheels into the Georgian Bay. No one can say that these bikes did not make it all the way from Mobile Bay to the Georgian Bay now! Tegan, a sailing instructor who was doing summer classes for kids along the shoreline there took the photo. (See July 10 posting.)
-Went to find the BME (British Methodist Episcopal) Church, which dates from the 1850s and served the needs of the founding black community in Owen Sound's early days. Unfortunately, the church is closed, and may be about to be moved. But we took pictures in front of it to capture the moment.

A block away from the church we found a tent erected that was serving as the headquarters for a Habitat for Humanity build that was taking place down the street. We started talking with the staff and volunteers there, and had a really great time with them. They asked us lots of questions about our trip, and gave us some excellent perspectives on the real-life logistics of doing the fine and meaningful work that they do.

The day also included a number of other errands, and by the end we felt we knew a little bit about this town first hand. Then it was time to go back to the motel, and prepare for another travel day -- to the cottage.

Wednesday, July 11: Owen Sound to Oliphant, 43 miles.

Joan's Aunt and Uncle have had the cottage in Oliphant for over 50 years, and Joan remembers visiting it as a young child. We had several route alternatives to choose from to get there from Owen Sound. (Now that we no longer have a bike map to follow, we need to make all the basic routing decisions ourselves!) We chose to take a longer and more scenic route going, essentially doing the circumfrence of this roundish part of the peninsula, following the coastline all around. On the way, we passed a house with a series of trees out front that had that most amazing and intricate carvings of faces in them. Definitely worth a photo stop!

As we got further away from the town of Owen Sound, we could see the mouth of Owen Sound Bay, where it opened into the Georgian Bay.

It was a very nice ride most of the way, albeit with a climb up a part of the Escarpment again. Getting tired of seeing pictures of us climbing hills? Well, too bad, we had to climb them, so we're putting them in the blog! :) Anyway, I like the Georgian Bay in the background here.

Then, near the end of the day, we once again had to head due west, and into headwinds. Some of the gusts this day were as strong as any we'd seen. Coming across some of the hilltops and directly into the wind, it was almost as hard work as it was climbing some of the serious hills. Finally, though, we reached the western coastline, turned south, and rolled down the road to the cottage. And thus began what would prove to be an absolutely delightful visit with Aunt Marge and Uncle Frank.

The cottage:

Sunset, July 11, as seen from down the road from the cottage:

Thursday, July 12.

Absolutely NO bike riding to report for this day! We were treated by Frank and Marge to a wonderful car tour of the entire Bruce Peninsula, during which we went up the east side of the Peninsula, stopping at Hope Bay, Lions Head, Cabot Head (where we toured the old lighthouse), and then drove up to the town of Tobermory at the northern tip of the peninsula. This was a very picturesque boating/fishing village, and a lot of fun to see. Had we wanted to continue on to northern Ontario, it would have meant a 2-hour ferry ride from this point. Returning to the cottage, we came down the western side of the peninsula, so by the end of the day, we'd been around the whole block there. A great day!

Lighthouse and lighthouse keeper's quarters at Cabot Head:

This was an amusing sight..... this rocky little "vacation island" was apparently claimed in the name of the Queen!

And this was a lucky photo shot. This was in Tobermory. Just as I was snapping the picture of the ferry, bow lifted to unload the cars, a sea gull flew into the field of view, and is seen superimposed in flight in the foreground.

We pose with Joan's aunt and uncle in Tobermory:

Friday, July 13. Oliphant to Owen Sound, 31 miles.

Now it was time to get down to the business of getting home. Uncle Frank and Aunt Marge graciously offered to drive our gear back to Owen Sound for us and meet us there, so we simply had to ride our unloaded bikes back. We did so following the more direct route the bike store had recommended. It was a great route, and with mostly eastward travel we had wonderful tailwinds. We made it back to Owen Sound in just 2 1/2 hours. We rode straight to the Greyhound Bus Station, retrieved our bike boxes from Lou, and then, after a moment of thought and a deep breath, started taking our bikes apart enough to fit them into the shipping boxes. After all these weeks of depending on these bikes, and having them deliver for us so well, it just seemed kind of wrong to do this. But sentimentality aside, the time had arrived. We turned a corner of the bus waiting area into our workshop, and had lots of people come over and inspect, express interest, and offer help. Before long we had 2 packed boxes, and no longer had our bikes to ride. We left the packed bikes with Lou overnight, and Joan's aunt and uncle met us there, took us to do some final shopping for the bus trip home, and then dropped us off at our motel. A couple of times that night we looked around our room and momentarily panicked when we did not see our bikes there! Then we would remember that we were in the "end game" now, and that it was ok.

Saturday, July 14. Owens Sound, ON to Cincinnati OH. Nearly 1000 miles in one day!

We took a cab from our hotel to the bus station at 7 am, stopped at TJ's, the local coffee shop for an english muffin and hot chocolate, and by 8:30, we and our bikes were on the bus and heading for home. Along the first part of the trip, we crossed roads and intersections that we remembered being part of our route days before, and we could not help but look at them in fond memory. We changed busses in Toronto, then crossed into the U.S. in Detroit. (Customs officials had a fair amount of interest in our bike boxes initially, but then satisfied themselves that they were what we said they were, and we were allowed to pass.) We made it home to the Cincinnati Greyhound station at about 12:20 am (Sunday), and were met by our good friends Dawson and Tamara, who had brought their pickup truck. We just loaded our bike boxes into their truck, and they drove us home, bringing this odyssey truly to a close.

One of the main streets of Owen Sound, shortly before we boarded the bus home. The ribbons are decorations that have been put up in advance of the 150th anniversary celebration that the city would be celebrating the following week.

We arrived at the Cincinnati Greyhound station a mere 17 hours after leaving Owen Sound. Our friends, Dawson and Tamara, were good enough to make the midnight run to pick us up! Our bikes, packed in their boxes, are loaded in the back of the pickup.

Home a day now, we pose with the still-boxed bikes, just prior to setting about the task of unpacking and reassembling them.

The bikes are now unpacked, and back to their old selves. Here we are, just returning from our first ride around our neighborhood. We are thinking about how good it feels being back on the saddle, and wondering what the next bike adventure will be!

Catching up: Photos from June 29 - July 7

2007-07-17T14:00:00.000-04:00

(Click on any picture to enlarge, then click BACK on your browser to return to this blog.)

Scenes from our relaxing off-day in Conneaut, Ohio on June 29:

Back on the road, traveling through the Pennsylvania and New York shoreline areas off Lake Erie, much of the land was devoted to vinyards, supporting a significant wine-making industry there.

Historic stone lighthouse in Barcelona, New York. It was built in 1829.

While we went through areas with a lot of economic vitality, we also saw signs of businesses from by-gone eras that have not survived. Below, a drive-in movie theater and a failed shopping center, both abandonned to overgrowing weeds.

Our bike trip goes international. Mike, crossing the Peace Bridge from Buffalo, NY to Fort Erie, Ontario.

A view of the Buffalo, NY skyline, as seen from across the river in Fort Erie, ON.

Posing with Niagara Falls as the backdrop, as millions before us have done.

Mike's cousin Fred and his wife Danette, from Rochester NY, paid us a July 4th visit in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Here they are in front of some of the many flowers on that city's main streets.

The wine industry appeared to be very strong in Ontario as well. This vinyard was just west of St. Catharines, Ontario.

On the edge of the Escarpment, overlooking the cities of Hamilton and Stoney Creek.

In Dundas, ON, we thought we'd lost our way for a time. We were supposed to turn left off the road and onto a bike trail, but could find no easy way to the trail. We saw only this set of stairs that led up to the bike path, which ran on an embankment 20 feet above the roadway. Then someone pointed out that there was a groove alongside the staircase that you were supposed to wheel your bike in to get it up to the path. It worked, but the designer was obviously not thinking about people with heavily-loaded bikes when he or she conceived of this!

One of the big surprises for us was how large the flower and fruit growing industries are in southern Ontario. We saw many, many groves and plant nurseries like this one as we rode through the countryside.

For those familiar with the U.S. TV program "The Beverly Hillbillies", they will remember the opening of the program where the family is shown in their old jalopy truck, moving to Beverly Hills. All their wordly possessions were packed onto the truck, which was loaded to the brim, pots and pans, etc. just hanging off the back of the truck. Well, we often felt that way on our bikes. Here is a typical morning start. Still-damp clothes that we washed out in the motel sink the night before are fastened by bungi cord to the back of our bikes, along with a baseball cap and an extra bottle of gatorade here. On mornings such as this, we would hit the road humming the Beverly Hillbillies theme song!

Owen Sound -- MADE IT!!!

2007-07-10T13:52:00.000-04:00

Well, here we are in Owen Sound, and very suddenly, we are done. Sort of. Yes, we have now completed the full 2059.4 miles of the UGRR route, biking an actual 2260 miles in the process.

We finished up yesterday at about 3:30 pm at the "Black History Cairn", a monument located in Harrison Park here in Owen Sound. This morning, we have ridden through the town, and down to the waterfront, where we did our front wheel dipping ceremony in the waters of Owen Sound Bay.

Our plans from here are to do a bit more sightseeing around Owen Sound today, and then tomorrow to ride on up to Joan's Aunt & Uncle's cottage near Wiarton, Ontario to visit them. We think it will be perhaps a 30 mile trip. We plan to be back in Owen Sound on Friday, and will take the bus out on Saturday, transporting our bikes and ourselves at unbelievable speed back to Cincinnati in one day!

So, how do we feel? To be honest, a bit numb, kind of like when we had arrived in Cincinnati after the first leg of this trip. But there is a sense of completion that we are now beginning to realize, and that feels very, very good.

We will take some time between now and when we return to Cincinnati to pull our thoughts together, and will post some final messages then. Mainly, though, we wanted to post this message to let everyone know that we did make it, and were still well and in one piece!

Thanks again for all the continued support!

Posing at the Black History Cairn, the terminus of the UGRR bicycle route.

Dipping our wheels in Owen Sound Bay, the ceremonial end to the ride.

Collingwood, Ontario -- ONE DAY from Owen Sound!

2007-07-08T22:34:00.000-04:00

Over the last 2 days, we have left the areas that are all relatively close to the Toronto / Missassagua / Hamilton metropolis, and have cut across the rural sections of Ontario northwest of Toronto. Tonight, we are in Collingwood, ON, a major recreational center on the shore of Lake Huron. We stand 2016 miles into the UGRR route, 2217 miles overall. And, unbelievably, one day away from our destination of Owen Sound!

We have only limited time tonight, but mainly, I just wanted to post the note now that we are well, had an absolutely excellent day of biking today, and that in spite of some final massive hills tomorrow, we are now within striking distance of our final destination. More details to follow later.

Milton, ON

2007-07-06T22:23:00.000-04:00

We are in Milton, Ontario, a small city west of Toronto. We are about 1910 miles into the UGRR route, and 2110 miles biked overall.

Today was a much tougher day than we'd anticipated. We started out in Stoney Creek, and ended 53 miles later here in Milton. To begin with, we slept in later than we'd planned. Then, I found that I had a flat front tire as we were getting ready to leave the hotel. So clearly, we got a later start than we had expected.

When we did leave, we rode up the escarpment and out of Stoney Creek on the only really viable road, which was very busy with morning car & truck traffic as we trudged up the hill. But there was just enough shoulder on the roadside to allow us to do this, and we made it up, feeling strong going up the hill, and were back onto the quieter roads that made up our route in that area.

We stopped at a bike store in Ancaster and bought a replacement inner tube for the one I'd used to repair my flat. As we were leaving, two guys pulled up with loads on their bikes that clearly identified them as long distance travelers, and we struck up a conversation. They are going from Maine to Oregon.... a trip far longer and more aggressive than what we are doing. Fun talking to them.

Then we reached Dundas, and this ended up bringing a whole string of frustrations. First of all, we wanted to try to find the house of Dave, the person we'd met at the B&B in Niagara-on-the-Lake. We found his road, in fact, it was right on our route, but we could not find his house..... it was as if his address had been skipped. We may have misinterpretted, but were disappointed not to be able to find him. We did, however, have the opportunity to go down and up the escarpment again. Oh boy! Then, we found that a key intersection on our route was closed due to construction, a possibility we'd been warned about, and so we needed to find our way around it. We did a modified alternate route from what Adventure Cycling had recommended, from the point where we had been looking for Dave's house, and found another very steep part of the escarpment that had to be climbed.... by far the hardest climb we've had to do since before arriving in Cincinnati. At the top of the hill we found a nice shady spot in a little country cemetery, and rested there.... an odd image, but it was calm, peaceful, and rejeuvenating. And we needed that, because the next part of our alternate route was to ride a couple of miles on an extremely busy high-speed highway, with only narrow shoulders. Emotionally draining, but we did it with great care, and soon found our way back on our route again.

The rest of the day.... about 20 miles worth.... was spent on roads that varied from nice country to busy 2-lane rush hour traffic-filled. They also varied from the occasional nice, smooth riding roads to the more frequent bumpy, broken surfaces that I imagine the freezing weather every winter causes to happen around here. By the time we reached our hotel, we were tired, and our bodies felt pretty jostled.

But, that is all behind us now. We've had nice showers, a nice dinner, and are about to get some sleep. Tomorrow we really head into rural Ontario, destination Orangeville. If all goes well, we hope to be in Owen Sound in 3 days now.

More updates as time and computer access makes possible.
--Mike

Hamilton / Stoney Creek, Ontario

2007-07-05T17:37:00.000-04:00

We are well, and continuing to make progress. We are in the town of Stoney Creek, which I think is part of the greater city of Hamilton, Ontario. We are currently at about mile 1865 of the UGRR route. Total miles biked so far: about 2055 miles.

Here's our update of the last few days:

Tuesday, July 3: We went from Fort Erie to the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Total miles that day was about 41.... a lighter day than usual. This was a really fun route, as we biked the entire length of the Niagara River, from where it forms at Lake Erie (at Buffalo, NY / Fort Erie, ON), all the way to its mouth where it empties into Lake Ontario. All along the way, we could look across the river at the U.S., as the river forms the border along that section. The first part of the river is very quiet, but then the current quickens and clouds of mist appear in the distance..... Niagara Falls. Until that point, the roads and bike paths were almost empty, but at the Falls, the chaos and the crowds of tourists suddenly appeared, and we had to walk our bikes through the main viewing sections. Fun to see the falls again, took all the obligatory pictures. Then we continued on our way, eventually reaching Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) that afternoon.

NOTL is one of those towns that has huge numbers of historic buildings and homes, and has focused on preserving them. Very quaint, flowers everywhere, a very tourist-oriented downtown section, but nice. We stayed in a very nice bed & breakfast there, and had an enjoyable time talking with the hosts there and with the other guests. We also got some interesting education about the history of the town and the dubious role that the United States is seen having played in that region during the War of 1812. In that war, the U.S. was fighting the British, and Canada was of course still a colony of the British Empire then, so quite a bit of fighting occurred here. The U.S. captured the fort and the town and held it for some number of months, and then burned it as they left. Later, British/Canadian forces defeated the U.S. forces to keep them from seizing Ontario territory. Interesting reading all of this with the local flavor. It would be interesting to see how this is all treated at Fort Niagara, less than a mile away across the river on the U.S. side!

Wednesday, July 4. Just as the Canadians celebrated their independence day a few days ago, now the U.S. does! This is the day that we chose to take as an off day, staying in NOTL, and when my cousin Fred and his wife Danette came from Rochester, NY to spend the day with us. We had a great time! We wandered the town together, toured a fort, and saw a play ("The Philanderer") that was being done as part of the Shaw (i.e. George Bernard Shaw) Festival. Very entertaining and well done. We also found a couple of UGRR-related sites in the town, actually, two homes of African Americans who came north into Canada and who settled in NOTL. Fred and Danette left that evening after a very full day, and we really appreciated their coming over and the spending the time with us!

Thursday, July 5 (today): Today we have done about 50 miles, traveling from NOTL to Stoney Creek. We look at today as the start of the final phase of this trip. Today we headed in toward the heart of Canada, away from the border, the start of the final push toward Owen Sound. The day started out with sunny skies, but soon the rain clouds came, and we rode through as much rain this morning as we've experienced on any other day during this entire trip. Thank goodness that it was not too cold, but still the rain jackets were a big help. Along the way we saw many nurseries (where all those flowers in NOTL come from!) and tremendous numbers of fruit farms..... Cherries are what are primarily in season right now, and they are fantastic - roadside stands everywhere. Unbelievably, the next major crop will be peaches.... there are tons of peach trees here. (We thought those were limited to the south.)

The other major physical feature we encountered today was the Niagara Escarpment. We keep hearing about this, everyone commonly refers to "The Escarpment". Now we understand better. Most of Ontario seems to be located at an elevation several hundred feet above the level of the Lakes. When travelling from the towns on the shoreline to points inland, there is a very steep, well-defined plateau that you must climb to get there. The hills we will encounter on the remainder of this trip are essentially going to be those resulting from our route going down, then back up, the escarpment. Tonight, we've descended down the escarpment to get to Stoney Creek, where we will stay the night. Tomorrow morning, we will have to navigate back up the escarpment to continue our route.

I cannot close without describing some personal interactions we had today. First, upon leaving NOTL, we had a very nice closing conversation with one of the people, Dave, who had stayed in the B&B with us. We really enjoyed our conversations with him, and as he lives in Dundas, a town we go thru tomorrow, maybe we will see him there. Then, as we got close to Stoney Creek this afternoon, we hit a detour due to road construction. We were stopped on the side of the road when a very nice man called out to help. He is heading tomorrow, it turns out, for a 17 day canoe trip in Thunder Bay, in the upper area of Lake Superior -- quite an undertaking -- and seemed to appreciate our trip quite a bit as well. Then, a few minutes later, we were biking closer to Stoney Creek when the rains came again. We happened to be biking by a house and the couple who lived there invited us in out of the rain.... bikes went in their garage, and they treated us to drinks, cookies, cheese, smoked bacon, and some delightful conversation. And some additional helpful local directions! Mary and Peter, thank you again for your hospitality!!!

OK, that's it for now. Beginning tomorrow, we will be hitting more rural areas in Ontario, so not sure what the ability to get computer access will be. But all is going very well, we are overcoming the little obstacles (rain, escarpment, detours, etc.), continuing to enjoy the route, and starting to get really excited about seeing our destination and what sounds like the beautiful surrounding areas come into view! By the way, we do have one objective beyond Owen Sound now.... Joan's Aunt and Uncle are currently at their cottage in Wiarton, about 20-30 miles beyond Owen Sound. We cannot get this far and not visit them! So, that is in our plan before we finally call it quits and head for the bus station.

Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada

2007-07-02T20:56:00.000-04:00

Yes, this trip has officially gone international. We crossed over into Canada this afternoon, and are staying in the town of Fort Erie, just across the Niagara River from Buffalo, NY. What makes this especially interesting is that today is the day Canadians are celebrating "Canada Day", their Independence Day. (Usually July 1, but this year it fell on a Sunday.)

We are currently at about 1785 miles along the UGRR route, and have ridden 1965 total miles.

Summarizing the last several days is pretty easy:

Saturday, June 30: The remainder of that day after Erie was pretty uneventful..... we made the town of North East, PA as planned. Total miles ridden that day was 54.

Sunday, July 1: We rode into the State of New York (our 9th state on this trip). This was a very difficult day, in that we had strong headwinds almost the entire day. It was also very cool, generally a good thing, but the winds made it actually cold, especially when the sun went behind the many clouds in the sky that day. Nevertheless, we actually made it a little further than expected, to the town of Angola, NY. Total miles: 58.

Monday, July 2 (today): Our objective today was to ride hard and get through the downtown sections of Buffalo, across the bridge and through customs during the middle part of the day, so as not to have to contend with any rush hours in the city. That all worked as planned. We had a nice morning of riding along the Lake shoreline, got our first views of Canada across the lake as the Lake narrowed near Buffalo, and we hit Buffalo and the border by around 2 pm. Crossing was pretty easy.... we got special attention from Canadian customs officials as we were the only bicycles coming across today! Actually they were very nice and helpful.

Our next spot on the itinerary is the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. It sits at the north end of the Niagara River, on the shore of Lake Ontario. It will be about a 45 mile ride tomorrow, which will also take us past Niagara Falls. We will stay in Niagara-on-the-Lake for 2 days, and on Wednesday my cousin Fred and his wife Danette will come from Rochester, NY to visit us for the day, and take in a play with us at the annual Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake. We're really looking forward to their visit!

Erie, Pennsylvania

2007-06-30T14:31:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update while we have the chance. It is mid-day on Saturday, and we happen to be at the library in Erie, Pennsylvania.

-We are currently at about 1680 miles on the UGRR route, and about 1835 miles actually ridden.

-Yesterday (Fri. June 29) we spent the day as a rest day in Conneaut, Ohio, and had a great, relaxing day. Got some extra sleep, did some leisurely walking around the marina, out the rock jetty around the marina, and along the beach. Then, in the evening, we went to the town carnival that opened for the weekend, and watched a couple of local talent shows, including one American Idol-styled singing competition. Lot of fun in a true small town Americana setting.

-Today (Saturday, June 30) we crossed over into Pennsylvania, and reached Erie in time for an early lunch. When we left the restaurant to resume riding, Joan found she had a flat tire..... the first flat tire on the trip! We replaced the inner tube with one of the spares we carry, found a bike shop here in town, and bought a new tube to replace the spare we'd used. The tire itself seems to be ok. One flat every 2000 miles..... that is a frequency that we can live with!

-Also notable is that about 30 minutes ago, we passed the intersection in Erie that marks the end of the 4th UGRR map section, and the start of the 5th section. This means we have now made it onto the final map section for the route!

-Now that we are up around the Lake, we are clearly in a different climatic area. The weather here is much cooler than what we've been used to ...... highs in the 70's and low 80's. It is like beautiful fall weather, clear, sunny, but with a crispness in the air. Makes us wonder a bit as to whether we've packed sufficient warm things to wear for further north in Canada. I guess we will find out.

-A note about the Underground Railroad and a learning that we've had on this part of the trip. I'd also thought about the UGRR as being primarily significant in helping people move from the southern states that supported slavery to the northern states that did not .... i.e., across the Ohio River. What we've been learning on our ride through Ohio, particularly northern Ohio, is how critically important the UGRR network was in the north as well. Escaped slaves were still in considerable danger even after they successfully left the "slave states", because slave trackers actively searched for them, and because the Fugitive Slave Act passed by Congress prior to the Civil War compelled people in the north to help return escaped slaves to their masters. This also helps us understand why Canada was such an important part of the equation.... it represented the only really true place of freedom for many of these people. We are finding that there was considerable danger and many serious incidents and confrontations between escapees and those that wanted to turn them in, as far north as the Canadian border. Hence, the safe houses and assistance throughout the north was a very important part of the UGRR.

Ok, that's it for now.... must hit the road again. We intend to make it to the town of North East, Pennsylvania by this evening. More later as we have the opportunity to post.

Next set of Pictures

2007-06-29T10:12:00.000-04:00

Here is the next set of pictures that we thought might be of interest..... (Click on any picture to see it enlarged, then click BACK on your browser to return to this Blog.)

Joan is dwarfed by the hill that she is descending. This was just north of Malabar Farm, enroute to Oberlin.

Oberlin, OH. The Underground Railroad memorial on the campus of Oberlin College.

Oberlin, Ohio. This unassuming house served as a safe house during the UGRR days. There were secret crawl spaces in which people were hidden until they could safely continue their travel.

Oberlin, Ohio. We just happened upon this mural pained on the side of a small computer store building.

The Underground Railroad Quilt, made by senior citizens and kept at the Senior Center in Oberlin. Each panel was done by a different woman, and has its own meaning and symbolism.

Riding along a normal rural road, Joan noticed these very odd-looking animals in a field. We think that they are alpacas that have been sheared, but we still are not sure. Looks to me like something out of a Disney movie! (Susan K, what do you think???!)

As we reached the Oberlin area, the hills gave way to very flat expanses. Some roads ran straight as an arrow for 3, 5, even 7 miles. If you are lucky enough to have the wind at your back, you can just fly down these roads.

Covered bridge in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This is a beautiful park located between Cleveland and Akron, OH.

Now this got our attention. The sign was on what was otherwise a very normal-looking farm. The young bull behind the building got very interested in us as we stopped to admire and photograph the sign, and came over to the fence to say "hi" shortly after this photo was snapped. We declined to come in and visit, though. (Click on this picture to enlarge so as to fully appreciate the sign! Then click your BACK button of your browser to return to the blog.)

The Hubbard House in Ashtabula, OH. Code named "Mother Hubbard", it served as a terminus point on the UGRR. You cannot see it in this picture, but the house backs up to the shore of Lake Erie, where transfers of escapees to boats took place for their passage to Canada. The house now contains a museum which I expect is very interesting, but unfortunately is open only certain days of the week, and not the day we passed by.

And so here we are, on the shore of Lake Erie. We stopped here, somewhere between Ashtabula and Conneaut, to take stock, remembering dipping our rear wheels in Mobile Bay, and thinking about the full breadth of the country that we have covered to get to this point.

Conneaut, Ohio -- One week after Resuming our Trip

2007-06-29T09:44:00.000-04:00

We are now in Conneaut, Ohio. We arrived here yesterday after the 64-mile trip from Burton. We've now done 1650 miles of the UGRR route, and about 1800 miles of actual biking.

Conneaut is a very pleasant resort town on the shore of Lake Erie, and right on the Ohio / Pennsylvania state line. After 7 days of travel, we are choosing to make this our first rest stop since being back on the road. So today will be a day off, and we will resume traveling tomorrow (Saturday).

Yesterday, (Thu June 28), we left Burton early (after a very comfortable night in Annette's RV!), and rode some fabulous country roads through some extensive Amish communities. It threatened rain most of the morning, and by late morning we hit several bands of rain as the air turned perceptably colder. Later though, the clouds passed and the sun came out.

We then hit the Western Reserve Greenway Bike Trail -- a nice rail-to-trail path much like those in the Cincinnati area. This path took us to Ashtabula, Ohio, which has quite an UGRR history to it. A number of markers commemorating the UGRR events were placed along the bike path, and then our route took us near the "Hubbard House". This home was a terminus point for a number of the UGRR routes. It sits on the shoreline of Lake Erie, and would be used to stage fleeing people from where they would get transportation from sympathetic boat captains across the lake to Canada. The final part of the day we rode along the shore of the Lake to Conneaut.

The hotel we are staying at is called the Lakefront Motel. It is basic but clean, and has a great location, sitting atop a small hill overlooking the Conneaut marina and the Lake beyond. The proprietor arranged for us to have an extra large room with a kitchenette so that we would have room for our bikes. I think we will enjoy spending the extra day here.

Some photos after resuming our trip

2007-06-27T19:43:00.001-04:00

We left our house in Cincinnati very early in the morning of June 22 to begin the 2nd portion of our trip. An hour after leaving, having just made the bike trail near Newtown, the skies turned very threatening, and a storm was obviously bearing down on us.

As luck would have it, we found ourselves at Avoca Park, and took shelter in the bathroom building.

The worst of the storm passed, we were left with a morning-long steady rain. Here we model the rain gear we've brought with us..... the first time on the entire trip we've needed the full set of garb.

A short distance up the bike trail, we see unintended symbolism for the Underground Railroad Route! The bike path is part of the "Rail to Trail" network, in which old, unused railroad lines have been paved over to create the trails. (An outstanding concept and program, by the way.) Here the road has developed potholes which expose the railroad track that still lies beneath the asphalt.

Leaving Delaware, Ohio, we find unexpected construction along the route. But no mere road closure is going to stop us!! We were able to ride past the barricade, under the idle construction equipment's arm, over the semi-paved portion of road that had been worked on, but not yet completed, and on to the other side, where we were again on our way. (The alternative would have been a detour of about 10 miles!)

We spent Tuesday night, June 24, at Malabar Farm, near Butler, Ohio. This is a very innovative farm created by author Louis Bromfield in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, which introduced radical-at-the-time concepts of organic produce and environmental sustainability on the farm. It was publicized and quite famous at the time, to the extent that Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall chose it as their wedding / honeymoon spot! It is now a state park, and is operated as a continued working farm by the Ohio Dept of Natural Resources. This is the livestock area that is open to the public.

This is the hostel on the grounds of the farm, where we stayed the night.

Near the entrance to the farm, there is a produce stand, where veggies grown on the farm are displayed for sale. The stand is unattended. The produce is kept cool and fresh by cold spring water, and sales are done on the honor system.

Mike, filling his water bottle from the spring.

Throughout central Ohio, we passed many places in which there were significant populations of Amish people. Here, a horse and buggy is parked near the center of town in Jeromesville, OH.

A little later, we caught sight of this huge load of hay being drawn by horse, as two men work atop the load to distribute the hay.

Burton, OH

2007-06-27T19:04:00.000-04:00

We are now in Burton, OH. This is at about the 1590 mile point in the UGRR route, and our bike mileage totals are now at about 1735 miles.

A quick recap of the last two days:

Yesterday (Tuesday, June 26), we started out by taking some time to see the sights around Oberlin. We spent the morning seeing the UGRR memorial on the Oberlin College campus, a private residence that had been used as a safe house in the days of the UGRR operation, and an absolutely fantastic quilt at the local senior center that was made in tribute to the UGRR and Oberlin's role in it in 1983. Well worth the time seeing these UGRR-related items, and just enjoying the feel of this nice little college town. We finally hit the road at about 1:30 pm, and made it only to Medina, OH by the end of the day..... about 34 miles. But that was ok. The morning was well-spent, and getting 30 miles behind us in the afternoon was good.

Today (Wednesday, June 27), we set out from Medina, heading toward the Burton area, actual destination unknown, but expecting to camp somewhere in the area. We planned to make fast time today, but our journey was interrupted (very pleasantly) numerous times by people we met along the way.....
-a group of workers at a high school, doing summertime maintenance;
-2 women on horses riding through Cuyahoga Valley National Park;
-a couple of bikers at a fruit stand in that park who had a great story: She just celebrated her 5th anniversary free of breast cancer, and she has just quit smoking. The two of them have now started biking to reduce weight. They were still going through the transition pains of all this, but were quite proud of their progress, as well they should be!
-a couple who have family in the area of Canada we will be biking through near Owen Sound, who looked at our route and said that it is a beautiful route to take, worth the hills of the Niagara Escarpment that we will have to deal with!
-a couple of park volunteers who travel up and down the Erie Canal Tow Path Trail on bike with bike repair and medical kits..... a nice service that we are happy exists, but which we are also happy to not need!

So, lots of fun and interesting interactions along the way.

Then, as we were just about to make our way up the big hill to Burton, tired after our 50+ miles and not certain still about where we would stay, a man (Don) in a pickup coming the opposite direction stopped when he saw us, and offered us a place to stay at a house he has in the area. However it was 3 miles in the opposite direction, and so we thanked him, but declined. We did not want to backtrack, and wanted to get the Burton hill behind us today. He then suggested a friend of his in Burton who has a yard we could use. He called her, and she said "sure, send the cyclists over". We made our way up the hill to the town, in advance of what appeared to be a threatening thunderstorm, found this woman's house, and she (Annette) could not have been nicer! Turns out that both Don and Annette are cyclists, marathon runners, and kayakers, and so had more than a little empathy for us on our current trip. Annette made the two of us, dropping in on her in such a peculiar way, feel so very welcome. We stowed our bikes in the protection of her garage. She has an RV in her driveway which she has made available to us, and we will have great accomodations in there tonight. Then she allowed us to use her bathroom to take showers. And it was fun just chatting and getting to know her a bit. Don and Annette, we really appreciate your thoughtfulness and hospitality!!!! Thank you!!!!

OK, that brings things up to date on the last 2 eventful and really positive days. Tomorrow we plan to bike about 60 miles to Conneaut, which is a town on the shore of Lake Erie, and right on the Ohio/Pennsylvania state line. Current thinking is that we will make that be the place for our first rest day since being on the road again. Will decide for sure when we get there.

More updates as we have the opportunity to make them.

Oberlin, Ohio

2007-06-25T18:33:00.000-04:00

Yes, we are back on the road now, and are doing fine. This is the first day since leaving Cincinnati that we have had effective internet access. We are in Oberlin, Ohio, and have just completed 4 very good days since resuming our trip. We are 1505 miles into the UGRR route now, and have logged about 1640 miles of actual riding on the trip. We've gone through some startup pains again in our first couple of days, with some sore muscles, seats, and knees, but now we are back in the groove, and feeling strong.

One interesting point we just noted this evening.... in addition to having hit the 1500 mile point today, we also see that Oberlin is just about 10 or 15 miles from the shore of Lake Erie. Therefore, if our objective had been simply to ride across the country, south to north, we would be 10-15 miles from completing that now!

Here are a few snippets of interest to catch up on the last 4 days.

Friday, June 22: We left our house at about 6:30 am, with the objective to get through all the roads and onto the bike trail before the morning rush hour started. It was very strange to lock the door to our house, climb back on our bikes, and ride away!

Friday proved interesting because we encountered more rain on this day than we did during the entire month traveling from Mobile to Cincinnati. We were 7 miles from home, just onto the bike trail, when the skies turned dark and ugly, lightning and thunder and winds started, and it was obvious we were in for a storm. At that point we were just passing a small park, and so we found a cinderblock restroom building, and took shelter there. We moved the bikes into the bathrooms, pulled out our rain jackets, and sat under the overhang and watch as the storm hit in all its fury. After about an hour, the worst of the storm had passed, but we were left with a steady rain, so we donned our full rain suits (jackets and pants) and started riding. The rain lasted for about 4 hours, and we were able to continue through it without much problem. It was pretty chilly, but as long as we kept moving, we were able to stay warm enough. We made it all the way up the bike trail to Xenia, OH, where we stayed the night. Total distance for the day was about 65 miles.

The other point to make about this day is that the bike trail north of Cincinnati is familiar territory for us, so this was traveling in a well-known area for us. It was a bit weird, we felt sort of like locals, and sort of like transitory travelers.

Saturday, June 23: Because we were still on bike trails and things were pretty flat, we decided to make this a long day. We traveled 81 miles, and ended in Delaware, OH for the night. On the way, we came across a local bike club conducting a bike ride event. We got to talking with some of the organizers, and they became kind of excited when they heard we were doing the UGRR trip. One of them had been tapped as a local expert rider by Adventure Cycling and had provided consulting when they were constructing the route, and then again helped conduct the Inaugural riders through the area when they came through. He actually gave us a few alternate route suggestions which we took.... not sure it was any shorter, but it was on some really nice, quiet, picturesque back roads. Lots of fun.

On this day, we also encountered two sets of cyclists on the bike paths who rode with us and talked with us at length about the trip. One was a single guy who wants to do long distance touring at some point. The other was a couple on a tandem bike who were on vacation and biking the paths of Ohio. Interesting conversations!

Once we arrived in Delaware, we called our son, Dave. We were about 30 miles north of where he lives in Columbus, so he drove up to see us and have dinner with us.

Sunday, June 24: When we left Delaware, it was again quite cold with some light rain. It never really rained much this day, but it kept starting and stopping, and we were never really sure what to expect. We put on and took off our rain jackets several times..... it was as if the rain czar was playing games with us!

We had reserved a room for this evening at Malabar Farm, which was originally (in the 1940s and 1950s) a very environmentally innovative, sustainable farm, and which is today a state park. VERY interesting place. To get there, though, we had to negotiate some serious hills.... the first we had encountered since the end of our Mobile to Cincinnati leg a couple of weeks ago. We've been spoiled by bike paths and flat land! But it came back to us, and we made it up and over ok. Total mileage for the day was 56 miles.

We spent the night at the farm in a hostel that is operated there. The person who runs it is Barbara Dolezal, and she could not have been more hospitable! It was a great place to stay, with lots of history and items of interest all around, and we'd like to come back some time and spend more time.

Monday June 25 (today): Left the Farm and immediately had a series of serious hills to deal with. If we were not sure we were back in the groove before, we know it now! Once we passed those large hills, we spent the rest of the day going through rolling hillsides, and traveling through Amish country. We saw many signs of the Amish lifestyle in the areas we rode through: horse & buggies, Amish men in their traditional dress out working in their fields, children playing in their front yards, laundry hanging out on lines to dry. Vegetable stands with organic produce and brown eggs for sale, and Amish-made furniture for sale. While stopped on the side of the road for a lunch break, we met a young Amish man who was walking by, and had a nice conversation with him.

So that brings us up to date. We are in Oberlin tonight, having done about 58 miles today. We are staying in a hotel across the street from Oberlin College. There are a number of UGRR related sites and points of interest here in this town that we have started reading about. But at this point, the major story is that we have been able to put some 260 miles behind us over the last four days, and feel like we are hitting our stride again, moving along in this second phase of our trip.

More to follow as we have other opportunities to update.

From Joan’s Perspective (or “bringing up the rear”)

2007-06-21T22:28:00.001-04:00

We are now more than halfway through our bicycle odyssey and I thought that some people might be wondering “Where’s Joan?” Well, bringing up the rear! And a nice vantage point it is, too! Seriously! While Mike is busy up front reading the map, watching out for dogs, doing his mental math exercises, and on the lookout for the best bathroom and food stops, I meanwhile, get to daydream a bit more. Sure, I occasionally call out directions to him from my own map so that he thinks that I am focused on the tasks at hand but then my mind wanders to other things….Who lives in that amazing little house with the garden down by the river? What would life be like living here in the Deep South? WHERE is home for us and WHAT will be my next passion in life? It really is a huge gift having this opportunity to reflect on such simple and complex subjects in such a beautiful and ever changing setting. Not that I now have answers to my most important questions but the thought process has been growthful and therapeutic.

I don’t think that I would have written such positive words at the beginning of this journey! Our first 1-2 weeks were tough and I wasn’t so sure that this was going to be a good experience. Traffic, heat, hills, and the daily grind took its toll – especially on me. In addition, I struggled with the discrepancy between Mike and me. Mike was stronger, could carry more weight on his bike and still pull the hills. Mike was braver and sped down the hills and past trucks as quickly as a carefree child. I, meanwhile, made my way down steep hills in a more cautious manner, braking carefully and thinking all the time about my children, who still needed me, I was sure! I quaked when large semi trucks blew by us as the force of their air would literally shift my bike sideways. Mike had the energy at night to check over the bikes, capture his mileage statistics, and write in this blog. Some nights, all that I could do was take a shower, check in with my clients/friends/family through email or phone calls and collapse into bed. As a rather independent and physically fit woman, these differences rattled me a bit. But, I pretty quickly came to accept his lead on this journey – and to appreciate his strengths, patience, and willingness to accept the added responsibilities. And to love him even more for it.

For all the challenges incurred on this trip, there have been an even greater number of benefits. We have been able to see a side of Americana that many never have an opportunity to experience. The local people are so interesting to talk with and almost all demonstrated warm small town hospitality – especially those in the South. And I know this because I conducted a very scientific experiment from my bike. When a car would pass me on a back country road going in the opposite direction, I would lift my fingers from the handlebar in a “wave”. I “waved” to 10 cars in a row, taking note of how many responded to my sign of friendship with their own return wave. I also distinguished between men and women. In the South (Mississippi), 9 out of 10 drivers responded favorably while further North (Kentucky), only 7 out of 10 drivers showed a positive reaction. More men than women waved in both states. I hope to continue this experiment as we make our way further north. So, you see, I have my own mental games to help pass the time!

And, so, we begin again tomorrow. I am eager now to get back on the road. It feels awkward here in Cincinnati. I can’t be a good friend/mother/daughter/social worker with this trip incomplete and hanging over us. We look forward to the simplicity of road and to the challenges ahead. I no longer feel so much like an imposter as a cyclist. We have earned our stripes and feel comfortable on our bikes (even though I still don’t think that we could repair a chain or true a wheel! Sorry, Tony!). We have a routine now and feel much more confident in our abilities and roles. Neither of us has walked a single hill and our goal is to complete this hilly 2000+ miles riding all the way. When locals ask us where we have come from and where we are going, their amazement and words of “Yer going to Canada on them there bikes?” makes us puff out our chests and ride a bit taller in the saddle (at least until we get around the next bend in the road!). We accept these accolades even though we are fully aware that what we are doing is NOTHING compared to what many others have accomplished in their own physical feats – our friends in the Antarctica marathon group are testimony to that. But it feels good and we feel healthy, and I’m perfectly happy “bringing up the rear”.

Continuing on to Canada

2007-06-17T19:10:00.000-04:00

OK, it is official. We plan to continue our trip to Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, and complete the remainder of the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route.

All has gone well with the myriad of things we needed to take care of here at home this past week. We will be in Washington DC for a day this week to celebrate with Mike's mother as she receives an honor for volunteer work she does (way to go, Mom!), and then will return here to load up our bikes and hit the road again.

We expect to be leaving our house on our bikes on Friday morning, June 22, and will rejoin the northbound UGRR route in Milford, Ohio (approximately 10 miles from home).

Let me briefly recap the route that we will follow. We will begin by largely following the great network of bike trails that exist in Ohio, angling northeast through the state. The route will pass west of Columbus, go between Cleveland and Akron, and will hit the shores of Lake Erie at Ashtabula. It will then follow the lake shore east through Erie, Pennsylvania, to Buffalo, NY. In Buffalo, we will cross over the Peace Bridge into Canada, and will follow the Niagara River on the Canadian side of the border past Niagara Falls to Niagara-on-the-Lake (on the shores of Lake Ontario). The route then heads west, following the shore of Lake Ontario past Hamilton, then turns north and northwest, eventually reaching Owen Sound on the shore of Lake Huron. The total route is about 800 miles (1275 km) long, with about 275 of those miles being above the border in Canada.

Here is the list of all the cities and towns that we will be passing along the way. (Click on the document to enlarge it, then hit your BACK button on your browser to return to the blog.)

We are really looking forward to this, more than we thought we would. We had half-expected to get home, and not even want to look at our bikes again! But instead, we feel like we have left a task only half-completed, we miss the days and the adventures out on the road, and we feel a real energy for continuing. Especially while we have all of our traveling "systems" well-honed now and fresh in our minds, and the callouses on our rear ends still in place!

As before, we will do our best to update this blog with our status as we have the opportunity to do so.

More Photos from the First Leg

2007-06-16T23:20:00.000-04:00

Here is a more extensive selection of photos from the Mobile-to-Cincinnati portion of our trip. (Click on any photo for a larger view, then press BACK on your browser to return to the blog.)

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Hubbards Landing Campground -- where we camped on our first night of the trip. The owners were delightful and very supportive. The Inaugural Ride members had told us they were treated very well there, and so were we.
May 13, Day #2 of our trip. On recommendations from the campground owners at Hubbards Landing, we fill our water bottles at Red Hill Spring, north of Stockton, AL. Water flows at the rate of 60 gallons per minute. The plaque is inscribed: "Dedicated to the wayfarers who, for unknown generations, have passed by this way and refreshed themselves with a drink from this spring, and to those yet to follow".
Coffeeville Campground, outside of Coffeeville, AL. Our campsite was on the banks of the Tombigbee River, and we enjoyed watching a few barges work their way past us, leaving artistic-looking ripples in their wake.
Coffeeville Campground, May 15 -- our tent's mosquito netting works! This interesting bug was on our tent screen when we awoke that morning.

Coffeeville Campground, May 15 -- a crow greets the early morning a short distance from our tent, with the mist-covered Tombigbee River in the background.

Through the deep south, we saw all types of houses. Stately mansions, with land still being worked, well-kept remembrances of the old South.....
.....abandoned reminders of by-gone generations and departed families from a different era......

.... and new lake-side dream homes that baby-boom retirees are building in increasing numbers.

Gainesville, AL was a really cute town. It's outskirts were filled with wonderful, well-kept mansions. It's downtown was small -- you can see that City Hall is almost as big as the small grocery store there. But there were many people out on the streets, and the place seemed alive in its own way. Based on the recommendation of the town postmistress here, we tried some local "Hoop Cheese" from this grocery store.

Throughout most of Alabama, one of our biggest fears surrounded sharing the roads with the logging trucks. Logging is a huge industry there, and these trucks, filled with their massive loads, are known to barrel down the highways. We were able to capture a photo of one making its way at low speed through the streets of Aliceville, AL. And later (below), we found a parking lot with a loaded trailer that I posed in front of to convey the size of these things. But nothing can communicate the sensory experience of having one of these things rush by you at high speed while you are biking along the side of the road!

Being a fan of the Beatles, I thoroughly enjoyed this billboard in Aliceville, AL.

Aliceville was the site of a large Prisoner of War camp during World War II, and was "home" to thousands of German prisoners at that time. A fascinating museum chronicles this time period, and has a tremendous amount of memoriabilia, as well as videos of first-hand accounts by towns people and former prisoners. Ann Kirksey, director of the museum, was very nice and informative, and posed with Joan for this photo as we were preparing to leave.

A fascinating old historic cemetery in Aberdeen, Mississippi had grave stones from as early as the 1830s. One Revolutionary War veteran is buried here. This section held Confederate war dead from the Civil War.

Also at the historic cemetery in Aberdeen, this row of graves were all children of the same parents. They span a period of about 25 years, and each had died at an age that ranged from a few days to perhaps 3 years old. Those were hard days back then, but you wonder what the full story on this was.

Swinging bridge in Tishomingo State Park in Mississippi. Built in 1939. We had taken an off-day at this park, and canoed that day with our friends the Chamberlains on the small river that flowed beneath this bridge.

One of the many turtles we encountered in the middle of the road. We saw this one on May 24 on our departure from Tishomingo State Park in Mississippi.

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. We paralleled, and crossed numerous times, the Tombigbee and the Tennessee Rivers throughout most of Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. These rivers were seen as guiding highways for escaped slaves in the days of the Underground Railroad.

Shiloh Battlefield Park in Tennessee. I've never been one to be particularly interested in Civil War battle histories, but this was a very interesting and moving place.

This sign just struck us as funny. The road ends in a sloping public boat ramp on the Tennessee River.

In the Land Between the Lakes National Park, which straddles Tennessee and Kentucky, there are herds of buffalo in the fields along the road. The next day, in Grand Rivers, we feasted on buffalo steak, a common delicacy here.

North of Grand Rivers, KY, thistle provided bright purple coloration along the road.
Many times along the route, we would just be taken with the picturesque scenery on one side of the road or another. The green, undulating hills here grabbed my attention.

No, this is not a medieval tool of torture. This is a hay rake. We saw many being pulled behind tractors, raking cut hay into long rows so that it could then be gathered into the rolls you see in the fields.

The ferry that operates on the Ohio River between Kentucky and Cave-in-Rock, Illinois is the only means of travel and commerce between the two states at this point along the river. We are standing in Kentucky, looking across at the town of Cave-in-Rock. It was so named for a cave that served as the central point of operation for a band of river pirates here in the late 1700s.

They mean what they say out here!

Mike on the road, surrounded by farm land.

Mike negotiating a hill.....

Water lillies on a small lake, east of Owensboro, KY.

One of the beautiful things about traveling by bike is that you have time to stop and read the roadside historical markers. This was in Northwestern Kentucky, near where Abraham Lincoln lived as a child, before moving to Illinois. Some fascinating stories are captured this way.

Cloverport, KY, June 3. We were invited to camp by the town's mayor on property he owned, right on the banks of the Ohio River. Late afternoon sunlight lit up the surface of the river. It was a beautiful spot.

At the end of each day when we reached our destination, Mike captured the statistics from our bike computers into a log book. Here he is performing the task on June 3 in Cloverport, KY.

Joan on the road, in the rolling countryside near Wolf Creek, KY.

Joan, working her way up a hill. A bend in the road gave me the unusual opportunity to catch her photo from the side.

One of the cattle "stampedes" that the appearance of our bikes caused in the pastures alongside the road. A still photo does not do it justice, but these guys were running at full speed.

New Albany, Indiana, June 5. One of the few times we hit serious rain. We took refuge in this service station. Despite the sign, the manager and clerks here welcomed us to loiter there as long as we needed to so as to wait out the storm.

The bridge over the Ohio River, viewed from our hotel room in Madison, Indiana. A very narrow 2-lane bridge with lots of traffic and no shoulders. We took an off-day in Madison, and so for a day and a half we stared at this bridge in nervous anticipation of it. It had us intimidated right down to the moment we made our move to cross it.

The bathroom in our hotel room in Dry Ridge, KY. Because we only had 2 sets of biking clothes, most evenings we would hand wash our clothes from that day, and let them dry overnight in the bathroom, so they would be ready to wear again the day after next.

During the trip, there were times when allergies bothered Mike, causing some annoying sneezing. Even the road signs seemed to recognize the problem.

Kincaid State Park, preparing to set up camp on June 9. Did all that stuff really fit on those two bikes?

The Harriett Beecher Stowe Museum in Washington, KY. This is the house she visited in 1833 when she witnessed the slave auction of which she would later include a description in "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

Riding down our street toward our home, the end of the long first leg of this journey.

The Welcoming Committee when we arrive home. From right to left, Sue (our neighbor), Dave (our son), and Gary (the man spreading mulch that day at Sue's house!)

The Joy of Biking & Traveling

2007-06-13T00:36:00.000-04:00

Midway through our trip this past month, one of our friends wrote and commented that in reading our blog, the trip sounded pretty "grueling". Later that same day, we went through the town of Joy, Kentucky, a truly enjoyable little town near the Ohio River, across from Illinois. The combination of these two events got me thinking that maybe I was biasing the blog entries towards all of the difficult aspects of the trip, and was not giving a balanced view of the positives. Now that we are home for a while and I have time to reflect, I will take the opportunity to describe some of those aspects of this cycling trip that have truly been joyful. There are many.

First and most basic of all, riding a bicycle really is fun. And doing it out in rural, natural settings can be really beautiful. Examples:
-Riding in the early mornings. You know it will be a hot day, but it is relatively cool now, and there is a brightness and a freshness in the morning air that makes you feel alive. There are no human sounds to be heard. Only the birds and the noises of the crickets and insects in the woods and in the tall, dew-covered grasses that you pass. Those insect voices will be stilled later during the heat of the day, but they are dominant and almost musical in the early mornings.
-Riding across the wide open fields of corn, wheat, soybean, tobacco. Fields stretching to the horizon in every direction. Perhaps a tractor at work off in the distance. The road stretches out like a ribbon in front of you over a rolling landscape for as far as you can see, and there are no vehicles on the road, save your bikes. You feel like the world is yours.
-Entry into towns happens the way it used to happen before Interstates and limited access super highways and "Exit" signs. After riding for miles along rural roads, you catch sight of the town's water tower peeking above the tree line off in the distance. Ride a little further, and you see a road sign: "Reduced Speed Ahead", signifying you are approaching civilization. Then you see a town limit sign, or maybe one that reads "Entering Police Jurisdiction", and then a "Welcome to ....." sign erected by the local Rotary Club or Chamber of Commerce. A few houses and stores appear, perhaps the road turns from 2-lane to 4-lane, there are people on the streets, and you are suddenly "in town". The process happens in reverse as you leave town and find yourself back on the rural routes, heading for the next town down the road. You get this very human, very spatial picture of the entity that the small town is. You have just gone through the "Mayberry" of the old TV days. It's nice.

There are physical joys of bike riding.
-When you are riding well, you just feel good. Those long stretches when your legs are cranking the pedals with a steady rhythm, the bike in the perfect gear so that each stroke provides power but feels comfortable, an effort that feels good and not overly strenuous. You feel in synch, as if you, your bike, and the road are all one.
-Those gentle downhills where you coast smoothly and effortlessly through the world of scenery that surrounds you. Your legs resting as gravity moves you along, cool breeze in your face.
-And then, those long hill climbs up -- the ones that invoke the word "grueling". But as you climb those hills, ever so slowly, there is the sense that you are making progress. You are giving that good effort, sweating the good sweat, and you realize that you are conquering this hill. And when you finally reach the top, stop for a short rest and a drink of water, you look back down in the direction you have come and appreciate the mini-goal that you have just achieved.

Then there is what I call the "Joy of Simplicity". When you are traveling by bicycle, life seems to be reduced down to the basics in a way that I find completely refreshing. A world of concerns, worries, and material things seems to be removed from your thinking, and you focus all of your energy and attention to those priorities that will get you safely through your journey. Your bike. Your body. The road you are on, and the traffic situation you face. Where you will be able to replenish your water supply, get food, go to the bathroom. Your possessions are just what you can fit on your bike. I find that being immersed in just the basics in this way clears the cobwebs in my head in some sense, and is a real rejuvenating experience.

Finally, there is the joy of the people you meet.
-The interactions on the road, the literally hundreds and hundreds of waves, nods, friendly toots of the horn, and verbal "hellos" that we received while on our bikes has been amazing. Young and old, men and women and kids, people in cars or pickups, farmers on tractors, pedestrians, drivers of 18-wheelers -- these roadway connections have been made with so very many people. And they just make you feel good.
-The conversations when we are stopped at a convenience store, a restaurant, a hotel, etc. have been really fun and rewarding. We have received so many expressions of true interest, friendliness, wishes for safe travels, and offers of help. Most people seem fascinated to learn about this bike route, its historical and symbolic aspects, its physical aspects, and we enjoy telling people about it. Similarly, we took away much in terms of seeing the regional cultures play out, learning about each area we travelled through, local industries and histories, daily life patterns, etc.

We met a few folks who, when they heard about our trip, suggested strongly that we should be carrying a gun to protect ourselves. From what? From all those crazy people "out there", they would say. (I remember reading that Ken Lyon had received similar advice on his cross-country trip a number of years ago, so this is not just a recent phenomenon.) I don't want to minimize this.... there are indeed a few dangerous people running around, and there have been one or two situations on this trip that, while I would not consider dangerous, were uncomfortable enough that we quickly removed ourselves from the setting. But I remember getting this advice about guns from a very nice waitress in Mississippi who had the TV in the store tuned to CNN or FOX, and the newscasters were reporting yet another insane shooting incident somewhere in the country. THAT was her window on the world of the people "out there". What I wanted to tell her was that on this trip, we are traveling "out there", and she herself was one of those people "out there". If there is anything that has impressed itself on us during this trip, it is the basic goodness of people, all kinds of people, so incredibly diverse, but all basically good people. In the world of mass news-reporting, where it is the anomalies that are elevated to the status of the headline news of the day, it is worth reminding ourselves that those are indeed the exceptions, and that the vast, vast majority of people "out there" are decent, hard-working, well-meaning, good people.

What can be more enjoyable than that?!

We're home! Mobile-to-Cincinnati Leg is Completed.

2007-06-12T14:08:00.000-04:00

Yes, indeed, I am writing this from the comfort of home. We arrived home at about 10:40 Tuesday morning. We found our son, Dave, and our neighbor, Sue, waiting on the street as we rolled up, a nice little welcoming committee! It was very odd to just bike through our neighborhood, down our street, and to our house, after all this time.

To quickly update the last few days since the last blog entry:

Sunday June 10: The overnight at the campground at Kincaid State Park was quite cold, and caused us in the middle of the night to put on our rain jackets and rain pants to get some extra warmth. In the morning, there was a tremendous amount of condensation on the tent, but we just packed it all up wet, and hit the road by about 8:10 am. Our objective was Maysville, Kentucky on this day. We had to navigate through about 50 miles of pretty significant hills, but we managed them all pretty well. We got lost via a missed turn once, but with helpful directions from some nice local residents, were able to recover and get back on route without having to do a lot of backtracking.

We arrived in Old Washington, KY (residents simply call it Washington) late afternoon, and found an impressive array of very old, very original buildings dating back to the late 1700s and early 1800s. One was the original home of Marshall Key. Marshall's daughter attended college in Cincinnati with Harriett Beecher, and Harriett came to visit her friend at her home in 1833. Marshall was a slave owner, and took the girls to see a slave auction there in town. It made an indelible impression on Harriett, and formed the basis of the slave auction description that she would years later include in her book "Uncle Tom's Cabin". On this day that we visited Washington, the house was closed, but Joan went into the Visitor's Center, explained our trip on the UGRR route, and a very nice woman took us down to the house and gave us our own personal tour. Very interesting.

By the time we hit the road again, the other Underground Railroad-related museum we had wanted to see in Maysville, just down the hill from Washington, was closed. So we bypassed Maysville, made our way across the bridge over the Ohio River, and entered Aberdeen Ohio. There we had our choice of only very low-end motels. We picked one and spent the night. We were at least now back in our home state.

Monday, June 11: We left Aberdeen and biked the 8 miles or so to Ripley. We're beginning to close circles with this trip. This is the same Ripley Ohio that 6 weeks earlier we had gone to see, and to meet the group of inaugural riders who had just arrived there on their trip. We had a very nice chat with a man, a resident of Ripley, who we had talked to that day 6 weeks ago, keeping our promise to come see him when we did the UGRR route ourselves. Upon leaving Ripley, we had 2 hills to contend with which on the map looked mammoth. We are obviously getting stronger with these hills now. The first one was really no problem at all -- long and high, but the grade was not too steep, and we were able to climb it without much stress. The second one was a bit more challenging, but still quite manageable. Beyond the hills, in the town of Georgetown, we were joined by a local rider, Greg, who showed us a great back road that enabled us to bypass a very busy road. He continued to ride for perhaps 15 miles with us along our route, and we enjoyed his company.

Then, we closed another symbolic circle.... Weeks ago, when we did some training rides to get ready for this trip, we followed the UGRR route maps backwards from Cincinnati in a couple of 45 mile segments. Well, we were now hitting those roads that we rode back then. Now, from this point on, all the roads were familiar, we'd done them before!

We arrived in Batavia, just about 15 miles away from home, but it was getting to be late in the day, Cincinnati rush hour was starting, and so we booked a room at a hotel there, and stayed the night. So close to home...! Dave, our son, who came down that afternoon from Columbus to be on hand to greet us at home the next day, met us at the hotel and had dinner with us. Very nice to see him!

Tuesday, June 12 (today): We waited for the morning rush hour to end, and got on the road at a little after 9 am. An hour and a half later, we were pulling onto our street, and found ourselves home. I'd like to say that the emotions burst and flowed over, but to be honest, I think both of us were feeling just kind of amazed, and a bit stunned by what we were completing. I suspect that it will take a little time to process all of this. I will say that it is very nice being home, seeing our friends, reintroducing ourselves to our cats, and having what feels like a sudden tremendous array of clothes available to wear!

So, at this milestone point, here are the basic statistics:
-We have completed the first 1260 miles of the UGRR route. In so doing, we put 1377 miles on our bikes.
-The trip took 31 days. We left Mobile on May 12, arrived home on June 12. Of these 31 days, we biked 27 days, and took 4 days as off-days.
-On the average day, we biked just under 50 miles, plus some around-town riding after arriving at our daily destination. Elapsed pedaling time averaged just under 5 hours each day (This does not count time we were stopped to rest, eat, etc., nor the riding around after we'd reached our daily destination.) We averaged 9.9 miles per hour. Our daily maximum speeds were typically about 30 mph for Mike, and about 26 mph for Joan. (Yes, Mike is wild and crazy on the downhills.)

So, the big question is: What's next? As I said before, we want to think through carefully whether or not to embark on the second leg of this route up to Canada, but that process has started and our initial thinking is that we will in fact do the rest of the trip. We have about a week and a half of personal and family affairs, and work items for Joan, to take care of, and assuming all that goes well, we are tentatively planning to depart for Canada sometime shortly after June 20. Final decision will be published here, and of course, if we go, the story will continue.

Mid-day in Falmouth, Kentucky

2007-06-09T11:56:00.000-04:00

It is mid-day on Saturday, June 9, and we are spending a few hours in Falmouth, Kentucky, before biking a few more miles to Kincaid State Park, where we plan to camp tonight. Falmouth is at the 1118 mile point of the UGRR trail, and as of this afternoon, we've logged about 1250 miles total on our bikes.

Yesterday, we resumed our travels from Madison, Indiana. After taking a day off, we crossed the Ohio River back into Kentucky, crossing a very narrow bridge that we had been anticipating with increasing fears over the last couple of days. It is worth a little more detail about this bridge transit, just as a way of communicating the small things that become big things when you travel by bike.

This bridge was built in 1929, has no shoulders, just 2 narrow lanes, and carries all the cross-river traffic for the entire area. This means lots of traffic, including heavy trucks. Our map contains a warning that the bridge is very narrow, but does not give any advice as to what to do about it! We could see the bridge from our hotel window in Madison, and watched it during the day before, trying to figure out the traffic patterns. Also talked to the hotel people to get their advice. We finally chose a time shortly after 7 am to make our move across it.... after most of the factory shift traffic had passed, but before the peak truck traffic began. With a tension you could cut, we positioned ourselves in the parking lot of a service station near the start of the bridge, and waited until there was a quiet spot in the traffic, and then bolted onto the bridge. Realize that the term "bolt" doesn't really apply, because the bridge is sloped upward, and creates a hill for cyclists that really limits the speed with which you can ride over the first half. "Trudge" is a better word. We trudged up the bridge incline, and thankfully, relatively few vehicles appeared behind us. And fortunately, even fewer cars came in the opposite direction, which meant that cars behind us generally had the ability to pass us. One very large truck passed as well. A few times we knew we were holding up cars behind us, but they all seemed patient enough to wait for the opportunity to pass us, and we realized we just had to be ok with this. Soon, our half-mile ride across the river was over, and we pulled up safely in a parking lot near the Kentucky end of the bridge. There we sat for a few minutes, letting our pulse rates get back to normal before continuing on.

The other interesting thing about yesterday's travel was the weather report: A major front was expected to move through the area by mid-day. Our objective was to try to get as far as we could toward Dry Ridge, KY, our destination for the day, before the storms hit. So, we really cranked! Fewer, shorter stops. Biking with a purpose as the winds shifted and the skies darkened behind us. Fortunately, those shifting winds meant tail winds, and we really made good time, taking care of 2 large hills in good order, completing 52 miles and making to the first hotel we could find in Dry Ridge at 1:20 pm. At 1:22 pm, the skies opened up with a torrential downpour!! We were quite lucky.

Now, safe and dry in Dry Ridge, we had the very pleasant event of a visit from our good friend, Tamara Smith, who drove the 42 miles from Cincinnati down to Dry Ridge to see us. It was great to see her. And we got to ride in her car!! We had dinner together at the Cracker Barrel, she took us to the Walmart where we did a little shopping, and all in all we had a really nice time visiting. Thanks, Tamara!

Ok, so today is a relatively short day, only because there is no other place to stay between here and Maysville, and we can't make it all the way to Maysville today. So Kincaid State Park, camping, it will be tonight, and then a solid travel day tomorrow should bring us to Maysville, just across the river from Ohio. We are indeed getting there!

Animals: Dead or Alive

2007-06-07T12:24:00.000-04:00

Ok, here is another entry of the "general musing" variety. While we were riding with the Chamberlains, Jim suggested we may want to do an entry on road kill, since we encounter so many dead animals along the side of the road. Let me expand that theme to cover the live variety of animal encounters as well.

Let me also do a disclaimer at the start. Those of you who know Joan and me well know that both of us enjoy and have a lot of respect for animals. You also know that I, at least, have a bit of a "Far Side" comic sense of humor. So, if what follows may seem a bit mean-spirited toward our fellow creatures, it really is not intended to be.

OK, animals we have encountered. Certainly, since we are traveling routes through such rural and undeveloped areas, we frequently encounter animals as we bike. As we roll down the road, we are accompanied by a continual progression of birds and loud bird calls (mostly warning calls, I assume), and the rustling sound along the roadside as animals there detect our approach and scurry for safety into the underbrush. Most often, we hear the rustling in the bushes and grasses along the side of the road without ever getting sight of what the animal is. But at times you do catch a glimpse. Small birds and squirrels often are the source of those scurrying noises. But we have also seen rabbits, chipmunks, snakes, groundhogs, large birds (herons, hawks or turkey vultures) and deer start as we pass by. We've flushed grouse and covies of quail. Just yesterday, we had a coyote cross the road in front of us. In Alabama, I saw a very slow moving armadillo crossing the road. So slow-moving, that I clearly understand why one sees so many of these creatures dead along the roadside.

And that is a good transition point to the subject of road kill. The sad fact is that many, many, many animals meet their end on the roadways, hit by fast-moving vehicles. And in rural areas, there is no sanitation department to come along and clean them up. So the shoulders of almost all roads we ride serve as an ongoing inventory of the doomed fauna in the area. You cannot bike for long without encountering this. We have seen some domestic dogs and cats alongside the road, but they really are in the minority. Most have been wild animals -- especially those slow-moving varieties. Armadillos, Opossum, Racoons, Turtles, and Snakes are most frequently seen. We've also seen birds, a duck, and deer killed along the roadside. And then, there are the countless carcasses that are beyond recognition. Mind you, we don't dwell on looking at these, in fact, often it is best not to look too closely. On the other hand, you do need to watch for them, just to avoid hitting them. In addition, I have learned to spot them up ahead, and to start holding my breath when I get to within 15 feet of them, to avoid the odor that frequently comes with them. All in all, a sad subject, but a reality

Now, back to the live animals and some stories. There have been a number of interactions with animals as we have ridden that have struck me as pretty interesting or funny. (Many are of the form of the animal being surprised and scared by our sudden unusual presence. Sorry, this is where my sick humor comes out.)

-I have mentioned in a previous post about horses and cows in the pastures we pass. Almost all seem extremely interested in our pass-bys. I love to call out a friendly "Hey, guys!" to them. They look up, usually very curiously, sometimes run to follow us, and occasionally run to get away from us in the form of a mini-stampede. Just the other morning, though, we passed a hog farm, and caused a hog stampede! I didn't even realize that they were there until they began running. But they were quite agitated by the sudden appearance of these odd cyclists, and proved that they really can run pretty fast. Sorry, but I found it very funny.

-While in Tennessee, we were riding on a woodsy road with a few homes scattered throughout, and I suddenly see a full-sized deer with a red bandana around its neck darting out across the road in front of me. Then I see a woman outside her house up ahead. I slow and ask her if I had seen what I thought I'd seen. She said yes, that that was her pet deer. She'd had it for over a year. I apologized for scaring it, and she simply said "That's ok, she'll be back."

-Turtles. An interesting side note is that Joan and I discovered soon after we were married that we both had raised box turtles as kids, and we both have a little soft spot for turtles. So, whenever we see a turtle trying to cross the road (a clearly risky situation for the turtle), we stop, get off the bike, pick the turtle up and carry it across the road to help it along. A few days ago I found a huge turtle, and as soon as I picked it up, it let loose with about a quart of pee. I cannot believe how much that turtle had inside him! Not sure how I avoided it, but I managed not to get wetted by this impressive stream. And I left the big guy safe and sound in the grass on the side of the road he was heading for.

-Early in the trip, I remember biking down a road, and seeing a bird up ahead flying across the road, circle a patch of grass on the right side of the road. It took its time to find exactly the right place to land. He obviously did not see me though. He landed just as I was about to pass that spot. I saw him land, look up, see me, and then with a screech that in bird language probably was the equivalent of a blood-curdling scream in horror movie, fly off in terror as my bike rolled on the road past the spot.

-Dogs. Actually, this is a pretty serious subject normally. Dogs represent one of the greater risks for bicyclists on a trip like this. We heard from the Inaugural riders some real watchouts about dogs, as the group had some serious problems with them. Out in the country you have to be very wary of dogs that are loose, protective, and potentially vicious racing out to attack you.

Thus far, we have found that we definitely attract the attention of most dogs, and most bark at us, sometimes really violently. Most of the time, though, the dogs are not mean, but are only barking because we appear as a strange entity (I'm not even sure dogs recognize us as people on bikes) and a possible threat to their territory. By yelling strongly at them "NO! STAY!", most of them stop or back off. If that does not work, I wear a sports whistle around my neck that I will blow at them loudly. I actually had my first chance just yesterday to use it with 2 dogs that were barking around my ankles, refusing to listen to my voice commands. A short loud blast from the whistle rendered them both silent, trying to figure out what to do, and giving me time to move away. The third step in fending off a dog attack if the whistle were not to work is to give the dog a spray from a small can of dog pepper spray that we carry. Fortunately, we have not needed that yet, but we're ready, just in case.

A humorous case example of how voice commands, and a bit of surprise, works .... when traveling with the Chamberlains, a dog came out ferociously barking behind Mary Beth's bike, and never saw me following her. I yelled out at it, and it stopped in its tracks, obviously totally surprised to see me rolling down the road toward it, its tail went between its legs, its bark turned to a literal crying wimper, and it ran home. That'll teach him!

Then there are dogs that are hard to take too seriously. I know small dogs can bite, but some dogs are so tiny that when the bark at us it is funny in and of itself. Then there was the dog at a farmhouse that barked at me and came racing toward me.... with a tennis ball in his mouth!

-This story had to do with a cat. Riding down one road, I saw a cat amble from the left, slowly and nonchalantly cross the road in front of me, obviously unaware I was coming. I started braking, and called out in a friendly voice "Hi kitty...". It looked back at me over its shoulder, and a wave of pure terror crossed it. It looked just like a scene out of an animated children's cartoon: The hair on the cat stood out in all directions, its legs started running but it did not really move for a moment, and then like a bullet it flew across the road and to the saftey of some bushes.

-Finally, a potentially scary event that happened a few days ago, that ties in the live vs. road kill themes here. I was rolling pretty fast down a hill, and saw a squirrel sitting in the road in front of me. Unlike the dozens of other squirrels I've similarly encountered who quickly race away when they see me coming, this one seemed mesmerized in a trance, and just sat there staring at me. As I got closer, I started braking hard, and yelling at him "LOOK OUT!!!" I moved right of where he was, as there was no way I could come to a full stop in time. I could not move further away for fear of a sudden swerve at that speed causing me to go out of control. Fortunately, just as I was about to pass him, he chose to bolt away from my bike and not into the direction I was moving. I know a collision would have been bad for him, and quite possibly for me as well.

In summary, you never really know what critter you are going to see around the next bend, but alertness is needed to catch those quick interactions, moments of humor, and to avoid potentially nasty situations.

Madison, Indiana & Plans for the Trip Home

2007-06-07T10:39:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, we rode from Jeffersonville to Madison, Indiana. It was a 61 mile day. We are now at the 1046 mile point in the UGRR route (just about half way!!!). We have logged about 1170 total miles on the bikes since leaving Mobile.

We have chosen Madison as the location of our next rest day, and so are staying here today (Thu Jun 7). Before today, we had ridden 7 consecutive days, averaging about 55 miles per day in that time, and we decided it is time to rest the old legs for a day.

Yesterday's trip was good, although long. We just seemed to move more slowly than usual, but we accepted that as ok. We worked our way out of the Louisville area, still along the Indiana side of the river, and passed a huge shipbuilding complex as we rode. Very interesting. Then later in the day, we met two cyclists traveling in the opposite direction, southbound, on the UGRR trail. They are traveling the portion from Ohio to Tennessee, where they will veer off and head to their destination in Memphis. We encountered them in the middle of a hill, they going up, we going down, and we all stopped right there in the middle, stood on the side of the road, and had a very nice conversation. Fun to compare notes!

Once reaching Madison, we found it to be a fascinating, very historical place. Tremendous numbers of very old houses throughout the town, and a nice library where I am sitting now. This afternoon we will go to the visitors center and see what we can learn about the place.

I referred in a previous post to our tentative plan for this next week, which should get us back to Cincinnati. Tomorrow, we will cross the Ohio River back into Kentucky, and ride a fairly long day to Dry Ridge, KY, which is due south of Cincinnati. We will use Saturday and Sunday to cover the approximately 70 miles of pretty aggressive hills between Dry Ridge and Maysville, KY. We will camp somewhere in the middle on Saturday night, and stay in Maysville on Sunday, hopefully getting a chance to see something of this interesting town. Monday we will cross the Ohio River into the state of Ohio, and expect to get close to home, but not all the way home, by that evening. Will probably stay in Batavia. Tuesday would be a relatively short ride home.

That is the plan, all subject to change, of course. But with that laid out, we suddenly see more purpose in each day's destination. I think that this next phase will be interesting from that perspective.

Then, once we are home, then what? Well, to be honest, the decision is not fully made yet. We would both like to continue the trip on to Canada. But we are going to reserve a little time once we are home to check in on the real world and our real lives, and make the decision of whether to continue and if so, when, with some careful thought. We'll update this blog until we get to Cincinnati, and then again when we know the answer!

Jeffersonville, Indiana

2007-06-05T21:18:00.000-04:00

We are now in Jeffersonville, Indiana ... one of the towns across the Ohio River from Louisville, KY. We are at mile 988 in the UGRR route now, with 1110 miles overall logged on our bikes.

In addition to feeling good now about the progress we see ourselves making on the map, tonight brings a couple of other aspects of change that we are internalizing. First of all, we find ourselves sitting in a major metropolitan area for the first time in quite a while, with a view of a big city skyline across the river, and surrounded by people who live in this major urban setting. After biking through rural and small town areas for the last 3 weeks, this change has really hit home for us today. Not sure if there is even a value judgement associated with this.... it's neither good nor bad, just very different. It makes us appreciate the diversity of environments we've traveled through.

The second aspect hit as we checked into our hotel room this afternoon, and started wheeling our bikes around the building to take them into our room. There, a short distance from the hotel, was one of the bridges going across the river into Louisville, and on the bridge was a road sign for..... Cincinnati! We both stared at it and started laughing. We feel like we are now in striking distance of home!

Ok, here's a summary of the last several days, and a few notable items of interest.

Sun, June 3: This was a day when we set out from Owensboro, KY, without knowing where we would sleep that night. The next town with a hotel was about 100 miles away, and the closest commercial camping spot was 66 miles away, across some very significant hills. We were pretty sure we would not be able to make that in one day, so we focused on the town of Cloverport, KY, as one that was about mid-way, and showed restaurants on our map, just no lodging. We figured we could perhaps plead our case with someone there to find a place to pitch our tent for the night.

The ride there was beautiful. Beautiful weather, beautiful roads, practically no traffic. We passed some interesting historical sites associated with Abraham Lincoln's early days in Kentucky. We noted the changes in the countryside, now large expanses of corn and wheat fields, vs. the pine forests and soybean fields we saw further south. And great little towns along this route paralleling the Ohio River. By the time we hit Cloverport, we'd covered 56 miles, and had gotten a few of those hills out of the way. We actually ended up getting two offers for setting up our tent. One from a very nice woman who owns a restaurant in Cloverport. The restaurant was closed for the day, but she was there and offered for us to set up our tent behind her store. We thanked her, and went further downtown planning to come back later, only to be greeted by the town mayor in a pizza shop on the riverfront, who offered for us to set up our tent across the street on land he owned in an absolutely beautiful parklike setting on the banks of the Ohio. We chose that, and it turned out to be a very comfortable spot for the night. And it was great to simply sit there and enjoy the late afternoon, watching the river.

Monday, June 4: We got up extra early, because we knew we had an aggressive ride over some very hilly terrain that day. We broke camp, and went to a local breakfast spot before getting started, and had some fun conversation with a group of "regulars" there in the restaurant. One was Randy, who lived in Owensboro, worked as the minister of music at the Baptist church in Cloverport, and who had been born in Brandenburg, KY, our destination for the day. So we spent considerable time talking with him about the route we were planning to take, and hearing from him how bad the hills were going to be. He said he'd be driving later in the day to Brandenburg, so would look for us on the road.

We set out, and started hitting the hills as promised. The first couple were large, but not too steep, and so not so bad. Then we hit the first of 3 really difficult ones. We were about 25 miles into our day's journey, and 3/4 of the way up this hill when we see a pickup truck coming in the opposite direction.... Randy driving it. We stopped and talked, and he was giving us the bad news that we were going the wrong way.... Brandenburg was in the direction we were coming from! Well, we all got out our maps, and in the end, discovered that it was Randy who had taken a wrong turn, and was heading back to Cloverport without realizing it. So, we provided the function of helping the locals out with directions! (Not to be too hard on Randy, who is truly a nice guy.... I think the normal route from Cloverport was to take another main highway. I think he was taking the backroads just so he could see us and offer us some moral support. So, he was going a route he was not particularly accustomed to.)

We did accomplish all 3 of those "bad" hills, plus many others that seemed to get "badder" as the day wore on, and got to Brandenburg late in the afternoon, only to find all sorts of problems trying to find the hotels. Lots of helpful people trying to give us directions, but things were not falling into place, and every new direction in the town had us going up another steep hill, with incredible head winds. We were getting exhausted by the time we finally got to a viable motel, a Super 8. We parked the bikes in the motel room after logging 61 tiring miles, and feasted on Taco Bell because it was within short walking distance of the hotel!

Tuesday June 5 (today): We slept in late today, and the extra sleep did us good. We waited for the morning Brandenburg rush hour to finish before setting out. The first order of business was to cross the Ohio River into Indiana, which we did. (State #6) The bridge was a bit unnerving, but after that, the riding was good. A couple of big hills early, and a huge downhill that was not nearly as scary as we were afraid it might be, and then all of a sudden we were in the Louisville suburbs, navigating on suburban streets. We were perhaps 8-10 miles away from our destination when the skies started to darken, the wind picked up, and we found a service station/convenience store to take shelter. We parked our bikes under shelter and bought some snack food while we watched the rain, thunder and lightning. The manager and the clerks at the store were fascinated about our trip, and went out of their way to help us out. (e.g., calling the motel we were to stay out to make sure of directions for us, etc.) After the storm, we set out again, only to find that our map had some omissions in them, and we had to stop at a fire station to get clear on directions. In the end though, we pulled into the hotel we are in tonight, having logged 50 miles, and feeling very good.

We now have the rough outline of a plan for the next 7 days that would have us get into Cincinnati a week from today. Having that plan identified, and then seeing the Cincinnati road sign this afternoon, is making the closure of the Mobile-to-Cincinnati part of this adventure feel suddenly very real.

Sorry, I had no idea how long this was going to run. I'm running out of time on this borrowed computer, so let me post this now. As always, thanks for the messages and comments!
--Mike

Owensboro, Kentucky

2007-06-02T21:09:00.000-04:00

Today, we reached Owensboro, Kentucky. We are about 835 miles into the UGRR route, and have put a total of about 940 miles on the bikes since our departure from Mobile almost 3 weeks ago now.

Notable also is that with Owensboro, we have reached the end of the 2nd of the 5 map sections for the route. Starting tomorrow, we will be on map section #3. That one ends in Cincinnati! Still just a rough plan right now, but we think we have about 9 more days of travel and at least one more off day before reaching Cincinnati.

Ok, a quick update of the days since we left Grand Rivers.

Thursday, May 31: We left Grand Rivers early in the morning, traveling out on a road which was much busier than expected, but soon that gave way to the small, rural, low-traffic roads that we want to see. It was great riding, except that it was a day of intermittent drizzle and light rain showers most of the way. At Carrsville, we hit the Ohio River, and we had to stop and note that symbolic moment. Across that river was the objective of freedom that all those people traveling the Underground Railroad 150+ years ago were striving for. On bikes, it was a long way, so we can only imagine what that trip felt like to those who had to travel secretly on foot, by night.

As it turns out, we actually crossed the river this day. The only place to spend the night was on the Illinois side of the river, in a town called Cave-in-Rock. We reached it by taking a ferry across the river, thereby adding a 5th state to our biking saga, and completing 52 miles for the day. And we found that this town has quite a history. There is a large, impressive cave in the rock cliffs there overlooking the river, from which the town derives its name. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, a very ruthless band of outlaws used that cave as their base for river piracy. They would intercept river travelers, take them to the cave where, if the travelers were lucky, they would simply be robbed. A large number were apparently murdered in that cave. Now the entire place is a state park, and the movie "How the West was Won" was filmed in part here and immortalized this historical fact. What a difference a couple of centuries makes!

The other interesting event of that day is that while waiting for the ferry on the Kentucky side, another bike traveler pulled up behind us. His name is Chris, and in between the end of his Peace Corps assignment and the start of a job hunt, he decided to cross the U.S. (East to West) on a bike, by himself. He left Yorktown, Virginia about the time we left Mobile, and hopes to make the Oregon or Washington coast by early August. We enjoyed spending some time with him talking, comparing notes, and appreciating the fact that his trip is about twice as long as ours.

Friday, June 1: We took the ferry back across the river into Kentucky, and resumed our route. We went 38 miles to Morganfield, KY where we spent the night. We had intended to go further, but hit a humongous hill in the morning, probably the steepest and toughest we've encountered yet, and we found ourselves wiped out by about 1 pm.

Saturday, June 2 (today): We traveled from Morganfield to Owensboro, a total of about 64 miles. A longer day than usual, but the terrain was mostly flat, so it was easier for us to do. However, it was very hot and muggy, and we went through almost all of our water and Gatorade by the time we arrived. Also, when we were about 6 miles out from Owensboro, a line of what looked like squalls hit the area, with lightning and thunder in the distance. We never got more than a short light rain, but were greeted with sudden tremendous headwinds as the weather front moved through. Those final few miles took a lot of effort, and we were very happy when we reached the hotel!

OK, so bottom line, we continue to make good progress and are doing well, albeit having some days in which we feel pretty beat. Tomorrow we start with our new map, showing the next 400 miles of the route, the final panel of which is the city of Cincinnati and home. That looks pretty good to us!

As always, thanks to everyone for the emails, comments, and overall expressions of support!

Selected Photos from the Road

2007-05-31T05:29:00.000-04:00

Here are a few photos taken from the road during the last 2+ weeks:

The first 2 photos are ones Joan and I took of each other on a rest break, somewhere along the road between Livingston and Aliceville, AL, on May 17.

May 20, Columbus, Mississippi. Our friends Bonnie & Steve snapped photos of Jim, Mary Beth and the two of us, as we get ready to ride off as a foursome:

May 22, between Fulton, MS and Tishomingo State Park. Jim or Mary Beth snapped this one of us together:

Joan has just topped a really significant hill, and still has a smile on her face! May 27, on the way toward Waverly, Tennessee.

Mike, with the rolling hillsides of the Land Between the Lakes area as a backdrop. This was near the Tennessee - Kentucky border.

Photos: Accomodations

2007-05-30T16:55:00.000-04:00

When we arrive at our destination for the day, we are lucky when we are in a place that has a motel. We don't require anything fancy, but a bed and a shower and proximity to a restaurant sure is a plus!

If the motel has laundry facilities on the premises, that is great, as we have to wash our clothes at least every other day. If the motel does not have laundry facilities, then we look for a laundromat in the town. This one is in Grove Hill, AL.

When we cannot make it to a town with a motel, then we look for campgrounds. Some are in interesting, pretty locations, like this one outside of Coffeeville, AL, on the banks of the Tombigbee River.

Some are in idyllic settings, like this one in Tishomingo State Park, in Mississippi.

And some are, shall we say, a bit make-shift, like this spot in Saltillo, MS.

Selected photos - Start of the trip

2007-05-30T16:00:00.000-04:00

Here are some of the photos we took at the beginning of the trip.

(Click on any photo to enlarge, then click "Back" on your browser to return to this blog.)

May 11, 2007: All of our worldly possessions for life on the road for the next month or so are laid out on the bed in our hotel room in Mobile, AL, the night before the start of our ride.

Here are our bikes, loaded and ready to go.

Here's a look at the maps we use. Purchased from Adventure Cycling, specific to the UGRR route, each map has 14 map blocks, each representing about 30 miles, and show the roads to take, turns to make, major landmarks, locations of service stations, hotels, campgrounds, grocery stores, etc. They are fortunately printed on a heavy laminated stock and weather well, because we find that we are handling them often! The entire UGRR route takes 5 map segments like the one shown below.

The official starting point of the Unground Railroad Route: The corner of Royal and St. Louis Streets in Mobile, where prior to 1860 an active slave market was located.

Upon leaving downtown Mobile, we crossed Mobile Bay, and saw the USS Battleship Alabama, permanently docked as a museum in Battleship Park.

And we took the opportunity to do a ceremonial dipping of the rear wheel of our bikes in the waters of the Bay. The trip will be completed when we dip the front wheel of our bikes in Lake Huron at Owen Sound, the end of the route.

Grand Rivers, KY

2007-05-29T19:19:00.000-04:00

We are in Grand Rivers, Kentucky tonight, 685 miles into the UGRR route, with about 775 total miles logged on our bikes since leaving Mobile about 2 1/2 weeks ago.

Since this is our first opportunity for internet access in a while, I will do some catchup in a moment, but a few items are notable at the outset:

a) We have now entered our 4th state on this trip.... we hit Kentucky today.

b) Over the last 3 days, we completed some of the most challenging terrain we've seen so far. Our maps show the profiles of the hills and valleys, and we've been looking ahead to this section just completed for over a week now with more than a little anxiety. The last 3 days have indeed proven to be very challenging, yesterday being the toughest day with 12 huge climbs during the course of the day wearing us down, but we did complete it all. With those sections now behind us, we are feeling MUCH better!

c) On the map segment that we have now moved onto, the top portion shows none other than the Ohio River! What a sign of progress! We've followed the rivers, first the Tombigbee through Alabama and Mississippi, then the Tennessee River over the past week, and now we are reaching the river that signaled the dividing line between free and slave states at the time of the Civil War, and the line beyond which those fleeing slavery were targetting in order to gain their freedom. AND, this happens to be the river that flows past Cincinnati! So, all good signs that we are making progress on this trip.

Now, a quick recap of the days since our last update:

-Friday, May 25, we toured the Shiloh Battlefield with our friends Jim and Mary Beth, and it was fascinating. We then said our goodbyes and thank yous to our friends, and rode a little over 20 miles that afternoon to Saltillo. We found a really nice restaurant there (Main Street Grill), and a "camping" site that was just not prepared for tent camping. They did their best to accomodate us, but it proved to be an "interesting", somewhat loud night, and we were very happy to depart the next morning!

-Saturday, May 26, we rode about 33 miles to another camping area, this a very nice state park (Mousetail Landing). We rode like crazy to get there as early as possible, since this was a holiday weekend and camp sites were expected to fill up. We got there at 1 pm, and were extremely lucky to get the very last available camp site!

-Sunday, May 27, we rode 53 miles to Waverly, Tennessee. This was one of the days we were worried about.... 4 or 5 huge hills on this route, and one section of road that was in terrible repair and bumpy beyond belief, but we started the day early, and got through it.

-Monday, May 28 (Memorial Day) -- this was the most aggressive day in terms of terrain, as described above. We were quite worried about this one going into it. But by taking it slow and steady, using Ken's advice of keeping the stress off the knees (See comments on the "Kvetching" entry), and thanks to a great little shop at the top of the worst hill where we were able to rest and get a nice sandwich, we got through it and made it to a hotel in Dover, Tennessee. Pretty darned tired at the end of the day, but a very big day completed.

-Tuesday, May 29 (today) -- Another day that appeared from the map to be very difficult, especially in the first half. The hills were a bit tough, but this route took us through the "Land Between the Lakes" National Park, and the roads were great, the scenery beautiful, and the traffic very light. All in all, not too bad, but we are REALLY glad to be here in the hotel now, and to know that all of this is now behind us. By the way, there is a good bike shop here in town, and we went there immediately on arriving and got a few things tuned on the bikes. They ride great again!

We plan to stay here 2 days, taking tomorrow as a rest day. Grand Rivers seems to be a cute town, located at the top of the Land Between the Lakes area. If you look at a map, you will see that the two elongated lakes that form this area are actually the Cumberland and the Tennessee Rivers, each dammed on the north side to create the long lakes to the south. Beyond the dams, both rivers continue to flow north into the Ohio River. Understanding this geography, one can then understand the origin of the town's name "Grand Rivers".

I think that after the last 6 days of travel, we'd be happy with a rest day just about anywhere, but this area, this town, and this hotel are all really nice, and will make for a great place to relax for a day.

Speed & Distance

2007-05-29T19:18:00.000-04:00

One of the features we have on our bikes are "bike computers". They tell current speed, and maintain basic statistics. The overall odometer tells total distance traveled. Resettable trip odometers, average speed, maximum speed, and biking-time-elapsed are all statistics maintained since the last reset. The computers work simply. There is a magnet attached to one of the spokes on the front wheel, and a sensor attached to the bike frame next to the wheel. Each time the magnet passes the sensor, another rotation of the tire is counted. When calibrated for the size of the tire, the device calculates the distance traveled. To those not familiar with biking, this might seem like a nice little discretionary bell or whistle. In reality, the computer serves as a vital tool as we travel. We could not easily do without them.

Obviously, the computer is the source of the information we have been providing as to how far we've traveled. More importantly, though, we consult them continuously during our rides as we follow our route map. Key landmarks, turns, etc. are all identified on our maps based on distances. The map tells us things like: "From the town of Coatopa, go 7.5 miles, then turn right on Bluffport Rd /Country Route 21." The computer helps us figure out where we are, and when we should be anticipating the next turn or landmark. And since some turns are on roads that are unsigned, if you can't track the distance traveled, you could become seriously lost!

The speed feature of the computer serves as an important calibration point for us as we travel. We have generally been averaging 9-10 miles per hour during the course of a day. We are not particularly strong or fast riders -- others may laugh at those speeds. But the point is that we know that that is us. And so when we have a long stretch moving at 12-13 mph, that signals some pretty good progress. Climbing hills can bring us down to 6, 5, 4 or even 3 mph, and we just learn that that is part of what makes up the average. In general though, knowing approximately how you are doing on speed, and knowing how much further to your destination, allows you to calculate that all-important "how much longer 'til we get there?" number!

(By the way, at 3 mph, you might wonder how you can even stay upright on a bike. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure either. I do know that at that speed, you are going slow enough that bugs land on you while you bike. I guess they assume you are walking!)

Maximum speed is mainly a fun statistic to know. Building up speed going downhill is probably a topic all on its own. The speed may seem very slow and boring when in a car, but when you exceed 20 mph on a bicycle, you are in for a sort of sensory adrenaline rush! Now, we are not into trying to set downhill speed records, especially with our heavily-loaded bikes, and usually we just coast our way down (vs. pedaling like madmen to go as fast as possible). If there is any doubt about our stability, we apply brakes on the way down. Still, at various points along the way, we have each hit maximum speeds into the 30's. It makes up a bit for the fact that we may have climbed that hill at 3.5 mph in the first place!

Finally, and this is more of a facet for me (Mike) than for Joan, but the computer also serves as a source of mental gymnastics to occupy time or take my mind off the pain of a long ride. I find myself doing the arithmetic in my head to figure out distances and times between different landmarks. And on those really terrible days, when I am struggling up what seems like the 50th consecutive massive hill, my legs aching, the mid-day sun baking, the crest of the hill seemingly never getting any closer..... I watch the most detailed distance counter on the computer tick off, ever so slowly, the 1/100ths of a mile. I have even calibrated that to the number of times I crank the pedals in the lowest gear. (Tamara & Dawson, don't laugh!) It takes about 12 turns of the pedal to get me another .01 mile. And so I count my pedal turns: 1, 2, 3, ......, 11, 12 -- another .01 mile (52.8 feet, or 16.25 meters) behind me! This mental approach may not be for everyone, but somehow it helps me get up the hills.

National Public Radio story

2007-05-25T07:51:00.000-04:00

Recall that Allison Keyes from National Public Radio rode that one day with the Inaugural Group in Cincinnati. Here is a link to the story she did on the route, and the group who was riding it. It aired, I believe, last weekend on All Things Considered.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10254829

Shiloh, Tennessee

2007-05-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

It is Friday morning, May 25. We have stayed the night in Savannah, Tennessee, a few miles off the UGRR route from Shiloh, TN. We have covered about 490 miles of the UGRR route so far, about 550 miles overall logged by our bikes.

We are doing well. We have had an absolutely fantastic time biking with our friends, Jim & Mary Beth, and will be sad to say "goodbye" to them when they head back to Huntsville later today. Just a quick recap of the last couple of days: On Tuesday (May 22) we traveled 36 miles from Fulton to Tishomingo State Park, in the northeast corner of the state of Mississippi. We had excellent roads and excellent traveling that entire day, a few impressive hills near the end of the day. A short portion of our trip was on the Natchez Trace parkway, a beautiful road that goes about 450 miles from Nashville, TN to the town of Natchez in MS. The state park at Tishomingo was beautiful, and we had a great campsite on the shore of a small lake there. Jim and Mary Beth had had their car dropped off in advance for them here, so they had their camping equipment available, and we had access to a car to drive around to restaurants, etc. What a luxury!

We decided to take another rest day, and stay in Tishomingo an extra day. We spent the day Wednesday relaxing in the morning, and then went on a really nice canoe ride in the afternoon. In the middle of which we found a place to swim in the river and use a rope swing that allowed us to swing out from the riverbank and plop in the cool water. Lots of fun. Yesterday (Thu, May 24) we traveled from Tishomingo to Shiloh, Tennessee. Joan and I biked it through, a total of about 63 miles. Jim & Mary Beth, drove their car with their bikes directly to Shiloh, left the car there, and started biking the route southbound until they met up with us. We found each other almost exactly at the Mississippi / Tennessee state line. They then turned around and led us back to Shiloh and their car, from which their ferried us and all our bikes to the hotel here in Savannah for the night.

This morning, they will drive us all back to Shiloh. Shiloh, for those who may not know, was the scene of a huge battle during the U.S. Civil War. Over a 3 day period in 1862, 25,000 men died in battle on these fields. Today, there is a large national memorial park, with monuments and explanatory markers located throughout. In biking through just a small part of it at the end of the day yesterday, it appears to be very extensive, and quite a somber place. Jim has been here before, and will give us all a tour of the place by bicycle this morning.

After the tour, we will bid the Chamberlains "farewell" for now. It has been so much fun spending these last 5 days with them and sharing a good part of this bicycling experience with them. And we will then continue our trip north on our own again.

A quick note about the days ahead..... we can tell that we will be having a few days of camping again, as we head up towards the "Land between the Lakes" area of Tennessee/Kentucky. So we will likely have some more days when we appear to drop off the "radar screen". We will do more updates when we can.

Again, thanks for all your comments and messages of support!

Fulton, MS and a major milestone

2007-05-21T22:57:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, we had a great time with our Huntsville friends, and then on Sunday, we bade good-bye to Steve and Bonnie and continued to travel with Jim and Mary Beth, as we had planned. We've had two really good days together, last night staying in Aberdeen, MS, and tonight staying in Fulton, MS. We are at about the 400-mile point in the UGRR route now, and have ridden over 450 miles total.

Riding yesterday was the fastest paced day we'd had yet. We had smooth roads, few hills, and a tail wind that enabled us to cruise most of the way. We enjoyed seeing an historic cemetery and some very impressive 19th century homes around Aberdeen. Today was a bit hotter, longer and harder, but still a very good day. We had great roads leaving Aberdeen, but had to endure a not-so-fun heavily traveled road for about 6 miles until we got to the town of Amory. In Amory, we stopped for an early lunch at "Bills Hamburgers", which apparently has been a town institution since 1929. Then, about 9 miles further down the road, we stopped in the town of Smithville at a pharmacy / soda fountain for milk shakes and root beer floats, and had some delightful conversation with the employees there. Fun experiences, and really enjoyable doing this with our friends!

The big milestone accomplished is that Joan and I have reached the end of our first map segment! The Mobile, AL - Fulton, MS map segment is the first of the 5 map segments for the UGRR route. So, starting tomorrow, we will be officially traveling on the 2nd map segment. Sometimes, you just have to celebrate the little things!

We expect to be staying in the Tishomingo State Park tomorrow night, and possibly longer, so we may again be out of touch for a few days. Will add more when we once again have internet access. Thanks again to everyone for their interest and notes of support!

Kvetching

2007-05-20T07:11:00.000-04:00

"Kvetch" is a Yiddish word that my parents would use good-naturedly around the house when I was growing up. To kvetch means to complain. "Oh, quit your kvetching!", my parents would say if I might be whining about something or another. Well, this section is devoted to the aches and pains we've been experiencing on this ride, and readers may well be tempted to say: "Duh.... what did you guys expect if you were going to do a bike ride like this???? Quit your kvetching!" You have every right to say that, and if you are so inclined, you can feel free to just skip this section!

Ok, for those who are still with me, here are some thoughts around our physical complaints from doing this long bike ride. The first thing everyone might think of is that the legs will hurt. Well, surprisingly, legs are generally not the issue for most cyclists. Our legs have been holding up pretty well. They certainly get tired by the end of the day, and the quad muscles can feel a little sore, but basically, our legs are fine.

Of a little more concern might be the knees. Joan's been feeling her knees a bit more than Mike, but it is more like a dull ache at the end of the day, vs. anything more acute. We are both very aware of our knees as we ride, and ANYTIME we feel any sort of twinge of pain, we back off of the pedaling a bit.

A problem Mike has had is with his shoulders and neck. He was fighting some neck pain and stiffness before the trip, and the position of leaning forward on the handlebars, but keeping the head up and looking forward, creates some neck and shoulder stress and some pain, particularly near the end of the day's ride. Interestingly, though, when not riding, his neck is actually feeling a little better vs. before the ride. It may be that the ride is actually strengthening the neck and shoulder muscles, a good thing.

Now, at the risk of getting too personal, let's talk about rear ends for a moment. Riding a bike all day, every day, means that your rear end and the bike seat are going to become intimately familiar with one another, and your rear end WILL feel some pain. One point to make is about the type of bike seat you use. We upgraded the seats on our bikes to be easier on our rears, plus we got seat posts that have some give to them, like little shock absorbers. This has helped us, but has definitely not eliminated rear end pain. A second point to make is that we, like most cyclists doing longer distance rides, use special cream on our rear ends each morning before our ride. A product called, creatively, "Chamois Butt-R", seems to work well, really cutting down on the abrasion you feel. In spite of the above measures, though, we still wind up with pain, especially in the bones of the buttocks at the end of the day. We were told by a couple of the riders in that inaugural group that we should give it 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, they said, that pain will go away. Well it has not been a full 2 weeks yet, and the pain in the rear is still there. But it is something we can live with.

The physical issue that has been most troublesome for us, and which frankly has the greatest potential of causing us to have to end the trip early, is with our hands. We are experiencing what is sometimes called "Handlebar Palsy", and it is actually quite common with long distance cyclists. The pressure of the hands against the handlebars all day, absorbing the road shocks from the ride, has over the last week begun to pinch the ulnar nerve in our hands. The symptoms are not painful at all, but rather consist of tingling and numbness of the ring and little fingers, and a loss of strength in the hand. I feel it mainly in my left hand, Joan in her right. During our layover day on Saturday, we visited a bike store in Starkville, MS, and talked to the proprietor there about strategies for riding so as to take pressure off of that nerve. We also bought new bike gloves to help. We are finding that, with that one day of rest, and then being conscious of riding with less pressure on the hands during the last 2 days, our hands are beginning to feel better. We're hopeful we can manage this and continue to ride. If not, the only real remedy is to stop riding for a few weeks, which will resolve the hand problem, but would certainly change our plans for this trip. We remain hopeful and determined at this stage that we can make it work, but won't ignore this if it really ends up becoming more of an issue.

Ok, that's it for now. I will now quit my kvetching!

Columbus, Mississippi: One Week Completed

2007-05-19T07:42:00.000-04:00

We are now in Columbus, MS, in a very comfortable hotel, and feeling terrific!!! This is our first full day off -- no riding today! And today, our friends from Huntsville, AL will be arriving to join up with us. More on this in a moment.

We are at about the 320 mile point in the UGRR route. We've put about 360 total miles on the bikes since leaving Mobile one week ago this morning. Two days ago, Day #6, we traveled from Livingston to Aliceville, and that was probably the best biking day we have had on the entire trip. Absolutely phenomenal roads! Gently rolling hills through beautiful rural America, virtually no traffic on the roads. We stopped in the very small town of Epes, AL, where the UGRR inaugural riders had told us that they had had great sweet potato pie. We found the place, Gert's Kitchen, had a nice chat with Gert and her husband, ordered veggie Omelets and, although it was only 10 am, that sweet potato pie, and it was great! Eleven miles further down the road, we came to the town of Gainesville, AL, an incredibly cute little town where we stopped and had an extended conversation with numerous town residents and the postmistress, and on her recommendation, bought a couple of slices of "hoop" cheese (a local cheddar) along with a fresh bottle of gatorade. This is the kind of traveling we were looking for, and we really enjoyed this. Later in the day, we picked up some head winds which made the biking a little harder, crossed the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway again, and rolled into Aliceville.

Time out here to make a few points. One, the fact that we keep crossing the Tombigbee River is not coincidence. The people who were trying to secretly make their way north along the Underground Railroad were taught, word of mouth, that their best route was to "follow the drinking gourd" (their name for the Big Dipper constellation and the pointers to the North Star), and to follow the rivers to get there. The Tombigbee River was a major route north for them.

Second point, our final approach to Aliceville was on one of those very heavily traveled state roads, SR 17, where we just had to ride in the shoulder wherever possible. Lots of trucks. In particular, lots of Logging Trucks. We have found that the logging industry here is huge. We were told by one truck driver that 60% of the U.S.'s logging needs is met by products coming out of this area. We have passed numerous paper and wood processing plants, and the larger state roads around those plants carry a continual caravan of logging trucks. Trucks filled with huge (50-75 feet long) trunks of yellow pine, extending far beyond the back of the truck, and other trucks, empties, returning for new hauls. We have also passed huge tracks of timber lands, filled with pine, other sections that had already been harvested, looking pretty trashed with the debris of unusable trunks and branches, and still other sections that have obviously been replanted, a young crop of pine trees taking hold. Our most immediate interest in all of this is the awareness of the trucks for the sake of safety, but the bigger picture is quite interesting. By the way, the logging trucks have a reputation of thinking that they own the road, and barreling down the road faster than even the longer-distance truckers. They DO indeed go fast, but we have found them all to try to give us a wide berth when they pass. We do the same for them, and we seem to be able to coexist on the road just fine. But experiencing the blast of wind coming from one of those trucks rushing by you is something that you don't easily forget.

Final point: Our backcountry riding took us past many pastures filled with cows and horses that had obviously never seen people on bikes before, and their reactions have been humorous. They definitely take note. Often, those lying down will stand up, sometimes curiously, other times with a start. I've enjoyed calling out to them, just saying "hello" as you would to a puppy, but they are not sure about us! On a couple of occasions, we found a whole herd go into a mini-stampede as we passed. Yeehaw!!!

Aliceville, AL. On entry into the town, we saw two historic markers, one noting an old Coca Cola Bottling Plant that used to be there, the other noting that this was the location of a camp for German Prisoners of War during World War II. That we found interesting, and decided we'd try to find out more. After a little hassle trying to find a hotel (the UGRR map listed 3 hotels here, but 2 of them are actually in another town 20 miles away! The 3rd one was there, though, and worked out just fine), we rode around the town a little, found the library, and had a great dinner and a restaurant in a historic house that was built by one of the wood company owners in the early 1900's. The next morning, we went to the Aliceville Museum, a large part of which was dedicated to the POW camp, and it was fascinating. Well worth taking an hour out and seeing. The curator there was extremely accommodating and informative, and we learned what it meant for the POWs to be shipped overseas as prisoners, not sure how they would be treated, the towns people, fearful in advance of these prisoners coming into their community, and how the two groups found their own equilibrium in the situation. We saw a video that had been made with first person interviews with people who worked there, and with former German soldiers who were interred there. Very, very interesting.

Day 7 (yesterday) was supposed to be a short, easy day, 33 miles from Aliceville to Columbus MS. It was a beautiful day, beautiful roads, everything was great, except.... head winds. A very stiff wind was in our face most of the day, and really made the biking hard. But we made it in, and now have our day off, and the arrival of our longtime Huntsville, AL friends to look forward to. The plans are that Bonnie and Steve Herold are driving MaryBeth and Jim Chamberlain and their bikes here to Columbus this morning. We are going to take a hopefully quick trip over to Starkville, MS, about 25 miles west of here, to go to a bike shop to get some adjustments made to our bikes, and then the 6 of us will enjoy a visit here today and tonight. All will stay here in the hotel tonight. Then, in the morning, Bonnie & Steve will return to Huntsville, and the Chamberlains and we will load ourselves back on our bikes, and we will progress up the UGRR trail as a foursome for the next 4-5 days. We're really looking forward to all of this!

"Road"

2007-05-18T18:25:00.000-04:00

Given we have a day off today, we have time to share some general musings. Here is one.

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I have heard it said that Eskimos have over 100 words for "snow". Snow is such an important part of their environment, and subtle differences in the type of snow has such a significant effect on their day-to-day lives, that those differences warrant different words. It occurs to me that an analogous situation exists for bicyclists regarding the concept of "road".

Subtle differences in the texture, surfacing, and condition of the roadway, which one would never notice when traveling by car, can make huge differences in the comfort, and often in the safety, of your bike ride. Here are some of the examples that we've encountered in our first week, roadway surfaces and conditions which, if we were interested in trying to develop a new dictionary, would qualify for their own separate words.

-Smooth asphalt: generally means a smooth, comfortable ride

-Blacktop: similar to asphalt, but in extreme heat, the tar can begin to liquify and stick to your tires.

-Concrete: Usually smooth when in good condition, but frequently the dividing lines between the concrete blocks cause repetitive bumps as you cross them.

-Composite surfacing: When consisting of small pebbles in the composite, the surface is usually pretty smooth and easy to ride on. Composites of larger stones make rougher surfaces, and cause significant vibrations on the bike and on your body.

-Patched/repaired roadways: These will have different sections that were surfaced at different times, and often make for ridges and bumps when riding from one section to another.

-Roads with potholes or pitted surfaces create their own obvious problems for bikes.

-Dirt roads: We did get a little experience with this a few days ago, on our way to Coffeeville. On some sections of the road, the dirt was tightly packed, and pretty easy to ride on. Other sections had loose dirt or sand which caused our tires to lose traction and stop. Some sections had embedded rock in the dirt, which meant more bumps, but at least stability under the tires.

-Gravel: I'm not talking about gravel roads here, but rather paved roads that have occasional pools of gravel on the roadway. This is a real potential hazard, as the gravel can make the bike slide out of control. We continually look for gravel and give it a wide berth when we can.

-Debris in the roadway: rocks, wood debris (the logging industry is huge here, and the volume of lumber trucks on the roads is incredible. Some roads have wood chips, bark, twigs and sticks everywhere on them.) Broken glass presents another obvious issue for the bike tires.

-Railroad track crossings: Besides causing bumps for bikes riding over them, railroad tracks can present a hazard if they cross the road at such an angle that the bike tire could run nearly parallel to the tracks. Then the tire could get caught in the ruts along the rails and cause an accident. We always try to adjust the direction of our approach to train tracks so that we hit them as close to perpendicular to the rail as possible.

Road shoulders carry their own variations of conditions, and because we try to ride in the shoulder where possible, this has a lot of relevance for us as well.

-The best shoulders are those that are simply extensions of the smooth roadway, separated only by the painted white line. The wider the better!

-Often, the shoulder is made of lesser quality materials, e.g., coarser composite, compared to the roadway, and offer rougher riding. Then, we ride the road when it is clear and move into the shoulder when a vehicle approaches from the rear.

-On most large state roads in Alabama, shoulders consist of rumble strips -- diagonal grooves in the pavement designed to awaken a driver whose car has drifted off the roadway and onto the shoulder. Great idea, but really bad for bike riding. Again, we ride the road when we can, but there were some very busy highways where we just had to put up with the bone-jarring ride on the rumble strips in the shoulder.

-We have learned to expect more debris in the shoulders, especially the concrete shoulders on bridges. I should also note that when crossing a bridge, mounted up on the bike, the bridge railings often look precariously low. We try to not ride too close to those railings, not ride too close to the traffic, and still avoid any debris or broken glass.

So, as Eskimos apparently do with snow, we find ourselves continually assessing and evaluating the road under our bikes. Those road conditions, along with the traffic conditions around us, determine our second by second decisions as to where to ride, how fast, when to stop, etc. Seems like a lot to think about, and it is, but we are finding it is beginning to come second nature to us now.

Livingston, AL

2007-05-17T06:06:00.000-04:00

We are now in Livingston, Alabama, 5 days into our trip, and we are doing well. Livingston is just off the published UGRR route, near the 230-mile point of the route. We have put about 260 total miles on our bikes since leaving Mobile. This is our first time having computer access since our last post.

Day 3 (Monday). Monday was as good a day as Sunday was challenging. After that hard day on Sunday, we took the morning of Monday off. Took the time to get a good breakfast & lunch, found a laundromat to wash our clothes, and found the library where we checked email and entered our last blog posts. We biked in the afternoon, altering our plans to do a shorter ride, to Coffeeville, AL. The roads were some of the best we'd seen, beautiful rolling hills, where the downhills more than compensated for any uphills. Very fun riding!!! At one point, we chose an optional short cut which was identified on the map, but which required that we cross 1.5 miles of dirt road. That was a bit of an adventure. Much of it was ridable, but in some places the accumulated sand was so deep we had to walk our bikes through it -- a little tough given the weight. But we got thru it ok. At Coffeeville, we road an additional 4 miles out of town to a campground where we stayed the night. It was a beautiful place on the banks of the Tombigbee River.

Day 4 (Tuesday) (Subtitle: Stranded!) Tuesday brought some renewed challenges. I (Mike) found myself with bike problems that morning, problems with shifting gears. Virtually impossible to proceed this way. (Why the sudden change one morning, I don't know.) Anyway, we spent a good part of the morning at the campground working on the cable adjustments, riding around in circles in the parking lot to test it, etc. Finally got the gears to the point where the bike was, while not ideal, at least ridable. Interesting learning here is that there are NO bike shops anywhere close to the towns we are passing thru down here. (The maps had warned of this... they were right!) Closest shop with a mechanic was in Mobile, which we were certainly not going back to. The next one up ahead is in Starkville, MS, about 25 miles outside of Columbus. Our plan now is to catch them when we meet our friends in Columbus on Saturday. In the meantime, I am ok riding as is.

Because of losing riding time on Tuesday morning, though, we were not able to get as far as we wanted to that night. That meant being in the middle of nowhere for the night. We set our objective for a store at a major intersection on the route, got there at about 5:20 pm, only to find that the store closed at 5! But 2 nice gentlemen there directed us into the small town of Nanaflia, where another store was still open. We went there, replenished our supply of water and gatorade, and got the recommendation from the store owner of a good, safe place to set up our tent, on the grounds of a church just outside of town. It was an excellent place, and we had our first, successful experience of impromptu camping.

Day 5 (Wednesday) was a 50 mile ride to where we are now, Livingston. Some more great biking roads, especially during the morning. We encountered our first rain of the trip that day. Fortunately the worst of it hit while we were stopped at a service station, so we took advantage of eating and talking to folks while under cover. When the hard rain gave way to gentle rain, we donned our rain jackets, packed up our key things (camera, phones, etc.) in plastic, and continued on down the road. This was an excellent first test of our "rainy weather systems", and for the most part it all worked out fine. The only real discomfort was cold wet feet, but that passed once the rain ended, perhaps a half hour later. This also gave us experience riding on wet roads. One clearly must slow down and use extra caution, but it was all common sense, and very workable. At one point during the day (fortunately, the rain had stopped by then), our route crossed the Tombigbee River again, on a very scary bridge with some very heavy truck traffic. Assessing the situation, we quickly concluded that we did not need to risk trying to ride this. We crossed the road and walked our bikes across the bridge in a wide shoulder, facing oncoming traffic. Much better! The rest of the ride went well, although for some reason the hills, while not big, felt a little harder than those in the morning.

So here we are now, in Livingston, at a Comfort Inn hotel, with nice room, shower, an in-house laundromat, a computer in the front lobby, and a Subway and a Burger King right next door. Who could ask for anything more???!! We find ourselves doing well, beginning to feel the wear of hard, successive days of biking, and looking forward to being able to take a little time off. Today our plan is to bike about 55 miles to Aliceville, and then on Friday it is a short 33 miles to Columbus, where we will meet our friends, take care of my bike, and get a little time where we can take a rest from pedaling.

More as we have the opportunity to enter it. Thanks everyone, for your comments and emails -- it is really fun to see those and to have that occasional contact with the "outside world"!

Heat, Hills, and Hunger

2007-05-14T13:02:00.000-04:00

We left Hubbard's Landing with goodbyes and thank yous. And thus started Day #2, which by the title of this you can tell brought us some challenges.

This was Mother's Day, a quiet Sunday which we figured would be good traveling on some roads which normally could be busy with some truck traffic through one stretch. From that perspective, this was a good choice. Relatively few vehicles on these roads. On the other hand, we learned that the towns we were going through: a) are extremely small -- more like little crossroads than towns; and b) the few commercial services that exist there are completely closed down on Sundays.

The route we took had many hills, some of them really large, and the temperature was in the 90's F (32-35 C). We found one open gas station / convenience store where we were able to buy gatorade, bread and turkey slices. After 45 miles, we had gone through 4 gatorade bottles and 4 water bottles, and were down to our last swallows of water in the last bottle when we finally pulled up the last immense hill and entered the town of Perdue Hill, where we were anxious to replenish our resources, maybe even stay the night. Sorry, this was not to be. Not only were there no hotels or campgrounds here, but the combination gas station/post office / convenience store was closed. The only good thing is that it had two working vending machines with cold drinks there, and there was a very fine bench under the shade of the gas station roof in front of the store. We got some drinks, literally bought the one machine out of its supply of bottled water, took our shoes and socks off, stretched out on the bench and rested for about an hour. The best closed shop I've ever experienced! Oh the other good thing is that this was the first place we'd been to in the last day and half that had decent cell phone reception, so we were able to phone "happy mothers day" greetings to my mother, and Joan was able to receive them from our kids.

At 4 pm, the temperature was still high, but beginning to drop just a bit, and we dragged ourselves back onto our bikes and set out for Grove Hill. Just another 17 miles down the road, according to the map. We had one absolutely outstanding downhill ride from Perdue Hill down to the Alabama River, but we found that what goes down must eventually go back up. There is a reason that Perdue Hill and Grove Hill have the word "hill" in their names. The hills would have been difficult work anyway, but after the long day we'd already had, and no food besides our little turkey sandwiches and some handfuls of gorp (peanuts/raisins/M&Ms mixture), this was truly a very, very hard 17 miles. Climbing up the last huge long hill we expected to see a town around every bend, but it was like a cruel hoax.... each bend would only bring another bend or small rise (small rises were beginning to feel like big hills in their own right). Finally, as dusk began to set in, we came into the town of Grove Hill. And low and behold there was an open convenience store and a fried chicken fast food restaurant called Chesters. We'd found an oasis in the desert!!!! Quickly, we ordered a chicken dinner, which they boxed and bagged for us, bungee tied it to the back of our bikes, bought 2 more bottles of gatorade, got some extra bags to more securely tie down our food from a nice young man who was there watching us through all of this, and then rode as fast as our weary legs could go down the main street of Grove Hill to the other end of town where we found our hotel, just as true darkness fell. We collapsed into our room, and had the best fried chicken dinner this world has ever known!

Day 2 was in the books, thankfully. Just under 70 miles covered in a mere 7 hours and 33 minutes of biking time. Ugh!

On the Road! (And some philosophy passed on)

2007-05-14T12:29:00.000-04:00

The trip has officially begun! We are writing this from Grove Hill, Alabama, after having completed two full days of riding, covering 107 miles of the route so far, and logging an actual 124 miles on the bikes (riding to our accomodations each night, around town riding, wrong turns, etc. mean more miles than what the route actually shows.)

We are doing fine. Compared to the places we've been through since leaving Mobile on Saturday morning, Grove Hill (pop 1438) is a very good sized town, and a friendly place. The first two days of riding have been very different, so I am going to do two separate postings. This one is about Day #1.

We left Mobile at about 7 am Saturday morning, very excited and filled with anticipation. The "butterflies" that we'd felt the previous couple of days were gone... we were just ready to start. The early Saturday AM departure was planned to avoid any heavy traffic on the big city downtown streets and the bridges that cross the bay. Riding was good, but by the time we got out of the city and past the town of Spanish Fort, we started hitting hills. We took a break at Blakely State Park and had a nice conversation with the park ranger there. The heat as the day wore on made riding a lot of work, but we made it to Stockton by 2 pm. We found the most fabulous restaurant, the Stagecoach Cafe. They had a luncheon buffet of great food, and did we eat!! True southern cooked vegetables, pot roast & chicken, desserts, and lots of southern sweetened iced tea. It was great! Super friendly people, too, all very curious about the trip we are doing.

We then went on to the campground at Hubbard Landing, which was recommended by the Inaugural Group riders when we saw them in Cincinnati. The campground is on a lake, and has been owned by brothers Harold and Jimmy Byars since 1950. These folks could not have been nicer. They remembered the first group from a few weeks ago, and just went out of their way to make us as comfortable as possible.

That evening, with our tent set up, we went and sat on the porch outside the campground office and just talked and talked with Jimmy, his wife Frances, and nephew Paul. Fine people. And the primary piece of advice / philosophy given to us by Alvin, the group leader of that first group of riders, came back to me. He said that you can ride the route and be a tourist, or you can be a traveler. A TOURIST is someone who goes and sees and takes the memories and experience home with them. A TRAVELER gives as well as takes ..... gives in terms of the interactions with the people he/she passes. The local people in the towns one rides through are generally friendly and very interested in the bike trip, this route that many have now heard about, and the people who ride it. They truly want to talk and interact. We are making it a point to take the time to do so on this trip, and already it is making the trip all the more meaningful to us.

We're in Mobile

2007-05-11T16:41:00.000-04:00

We left Cincinnati yesterday, our bikes and gear packed in a rental van, and had a very smooth trip south. We stopped for the night a little south of Montgomery, Alabama. This morning, we came the rest of the way down to Mobile. We checked into our hotel here, unloaded our bikes and repositioned our front wheels and seats that we had had to remove for the trip down, and returned the rental van. This afternoon, we've been doing a little touring of downtown Mobile. It appears to be a very nice, friendly city. And quite warm, temperature-wise!

We will spend the night here tonight, and then will leave early tomorrow (Saturday) morning, the idea being to negotiate the big city streets and highways of Mobile when the traffic is at its lightest.

The idea has hit this afternoon that we are here now with our only "wheels" being our bicycle wheels, and so the trip is about to begin, and the reality is hitting home.

Thanks to everyone for all of your good wishes and statements of support.... and for your comments that we should be careful. Indeed, we appreciate and have internalized your concerns. Rest assured we plan to take this very slowly and very carefully.

We will write more when we get to another computer, somewhere up the road.

--Mike & Joan

Inaugural UGRR Cyclists in Cincinnati

2007-05-09T19:14:00.000-04:00

Today, the inaugural riders started their day at East Fork Lake State Park, and rode a ceremonial ride to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in downtown Cincinnati. Members of the Cincinnati Cycle Club joined them for the ride, along with staff members from the Freedom Center. Joan and I attended, and rode with the group. (Click on the photos to enlarge. Hit BACK on your browser to return to the Blog.)

In attendance was Allison Keyes, from National Public Radio. She rode with the group today, and will be with them during the ceremonies at the Freedom Center on Thursday. She is doing a feature story on the trail, its purpose, and this group's ride. She expects it to air on either All Things Considered or Morning Edition within the next couple of weeks.

Below, part of the group of riders, taking a time-out near Mariemont.

We stopped at the Harriett Beecher Stowe House on Gilbert Ave., and were given a short tour.

When we reached the Freedom Center, the group pitched their tents on the grounds behind the Center. Paul Brown Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Bengals, is in the background.

By the time we rode home, Joan and I had covered about 26 miles, our final training ride. Now it is time to finish packing and get ready for our departure in the morning.

Visited Ripley, OH & Met the Inaugural Riders!

2007-05-08T16:25:00.000-04:00

The UGRR route is a very newly-established route, and the first official group of riders is conducting a ceremonial inaugural ride of the trail right now. These folks left Mobile on April 15, and as chance would have it, they are arriving in the Cincinnati area this week. They reached Ripley, Ohio, on Sunday, and yesterday (Monday), Ripley put on a formal welcoming ceremony for the group. Joan and I traveled to Ripley yesterday for this occasion.

Ripley is a small, very historic town about an hour east of Cincinnati on the Ohio River, and holds a very important place in Underground Railroad history. Two houses in Ripley are especially notable. The Rankin house (shown above) was the home of Rev. John Rankin, who personally assisted as many as 2000 people to freedom during the Underground Railroad days.

The second house was the Parker house (shown at left), home to John P. Parker. He was born a slave, worked to purchase his own freedom, and acted as a "conductor" under very dangerous conditions to help many people cross the Ohio River to their freedom.

While visiting Ripley, we were able to meet the cyclists on this first ride. They were very gracious in spending time with us, sharing their experiences from the ride so far, and giving us pointers about what to expect when we set out ourselves. In addition, since some of these riders were actually responsible for a part of the project of creating this route, we got to hear first hand about the work and the philosophy behind the route, and the partnership that took place between the University of Pittsburgh and Adventure Cycling to make it happen.

At right, Joan poses with Mario Browne (L) and Dr. Stephen Thomas (R), both of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Minority Health, and both active leaders in the UGRR bike trail project. Beyond commemorating an historical heritage, their interest in the UGRR route was in encouraging minorities to adopt healthy, exercise-oriented lifestyles as a way of overcoming today's statistics of disproportionate health issues in the minority groups in this country.

Below is a group photo of all the riders we met. Adventure Cycling provided the tour leaders, Alvin, leaning on the bike (front center), and Joy, 2nd from the left in the middle row. This was a very diverse group. One man is from Japan, a number of others are from the west or east costs. The oldest member of the group is 76 years old!

While at the welcoming ceremony in Ripley, this man and his two young sons came riding up on this triple-tandem bike. They were wondering what the gathering was about. It turns out that they are from Boise, Idaho, on a cross-country tour of their own, and they suddenly generated much interest in their own right!

All told, a very interesting day, and incredibly helpful to us as we try to get our minds wrapped around what is ahead of us!

Web Links to Articles on the UGRR Trail

2007-04-29T00:18:00.000-04:00

For those of you interested in reading more about the Underground Railroad bike route, see these links:

Adventure Cycling News Release:
http://www.adv-cycling.org/news/2007ugrr2release.cfm

Yahoo News:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20070312/ap_tr_ge/travel_trip_freedom_route

USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-03-08-underground-railroad-bicycle-route_N.htm

Similar articles have appeared recently in a number of other newspapers. We've seen copies from papers in Cincinnati, Richmond VA, and Pittsburgh PA.

The Route (Part 1): Mobile Bay to Cincinnati

2007-04-26T15:21:00.000-04:00

(Click on document to enlarge) -->

Here are the towns through which the Underground Railroad route travels between Mobile and Cincinnati. As you can see, this will be an exploration of true, small-town America!

Note that the bike route crosses the Ohio river 3 times, once from Kentucky into Indiana, just west of Louisville, a second time back into Kentucky from Madison, IN, and finally north again from Kentucky into Ohio east of Cincinnati, near Ripley, Ohio. The main reason for this is that the Ohio River was the dividing line between "slave" and "free" states, and major Underground Railroad activity occurred all along this corridor in the 1850s just prior to the U.S. Civil War. The route tries to incorporate as much of this historically-important area as possible. Obviously, individuals seeking their freedom just crossed the river once!

As it approaches Cincinnati, the route doesn't actually go into downtown, but stays east and goes into the Cincinnati suburban town of Milford. However, a "spur" map is provided that riders can follow into downtown Cincinnati to visit the Harriet Beecher Stowe House and the Underground Railroad Freedom Center. From Milford, the primary route will continue from Milford up the Little Miami bike trail to Xenia and beyond. (We will worry about this part of the route later!)

Photos from our Training Rides

2007-04-25T22:31:00.000-04:00

Here we are, with our bikes fully loaded as we plan to have them configured on the actual trip. This was taken on April 20, during one of our training rides. We encountered a nice fellow rider on this road who offered to snap the photo for us.

And below are a couple of "action" photos we took of each other.

Initial Posting - Reason for Establishing this Blog

2007-04-23T12:18:00.000-04:00

As many of you have known, Joan and I have been planning another major adventure, this time a ride by bicycle across a significant part of the country. Since I just recently summarized this in an email message to someone the other day, let me extract some of that for this first posting, to give some background on what we are doing.

Evolution of the Plan:
Our initial thought was to ride across the U.S., Pacific Ocean to Atlantic. In fact, this was the plan, sort of, for when I retired and had the time to do such an extended trip. However, now that the time is here, we decided we do not have the time (with Joan's continued work commitments), nor possibly the energy, to take that on. However, we are going to more modestly cross the country south-to-north.

The Underground Railroad (UGRR) Route:
Some of you may have seen an article recently in your local newspaper (similar articles have appeared in a number of cities) about a new bike route being inaugurated by the Adventure Cycling organization, called the Underground Railroad route. It goes from Mobile, Alabama to Owen Sound in Ontario, Canada. Total length is about 2100 miles (3360 km). Starting on the street corner that was the slave market for Africans coming off the boats in Mobile Bay in the early 1800s, it follows the path that so many took north in search of freedom, passing key historical landmarks along the way. Owen Sound is the northernmost settlement founded by freed/escaped slaves, and is celebrating its 145th anniversary this year. So, this seemed to be an inspiring and a sufficiently-challenging objective for what we had in mind. And if we enjoy it enough, then maybe there is a lateral cross-country trip sometime later in our future, who knows.

Our Plan:
Cincinnati is a little past the midway point on this route, with the Freedom Center being one of the key attractions. So our plan is to rent a van one way, leaving here on May 10, drive our bikes down to Mobile, turn the van in there, and essentially, ride home. We figure it will take about a month to get back to Cincinnati. We would then stay here for a couple of weeks, give Joan a chance to catch up with some of her clients, and then, assuming we still have the wherewithall to do it, we would get back on the bikes and complete the northern section.

Along the southern section, we have plans to meet up with some friends of ours from Huntsville AL, and a couple of them will ride with us for 3-5 days. Similarly, I have a cousin in Rochester NY, and he and his wife may ride a day or two with us, but if not, hopefully will at least be able to come and meet up with us at one or two of our stops. So those will be nice events to look forward to along the way.

Our Bikes, Our Training, and Logistics:
For those of you who may not be that familiar with the bicycling hobby, we ended up getting new bikes for this enterprise. We got touring bikes (Canondale T800s) from Jim's Bike Shop (an excellent shop!) in Cincinnati. Touring bikes are designed for longer distance riding and carrying loads. We did change the gearing from the standard gears that normally come with these bikes to lower gears that will enable us to handle hills more easily. They come with rear racks, and we bought panniers (like saddlebags) that will hold our stuff. Because this is an unsupported ride, we don't have group organizers to haul our things, so we have to carry whatever we will need.

Now that the weather has finally turned nice, we've been able to get out on the roads around here and do some practice rides. Over the last few days, we did two trips, each of about 45 miles on real roads, with our bikes loaded as we expect to have them loaded on the trip. We actually traveled on the roads that the UGRR route will follow as it approaches Cincinnati, so it was as good a test as we could get. We were a bit tired at the end, but felt really good about the quality of the bikes under the load, on the hills, etc. We also got a bit more comfortable riding in serious traffic. Although Adventure Cycling has directed the route to follow largely rural, low-traffic roads, there are still times when riding in traffic cannot be avoided, and that actually is our number one concern about the trip, riding safely in those situations. But it helps as we increase our confidence level in our bikes and how they handle.

What we will take with us:
The one other point I'll mention is that the process of deciding what we are going to take with us has been interesting! Figuring out how to live for a month at a time on just what you have on the back of your bike, and then figuring out how to keep the weight of that stuff to a minimum, has indeed been a challenge. We took our first shot at what we thought was a really aggressive effort to go light, piled it all up and weighed it, and then started chucking more stuff out! I was feeling like a payload specialist for NASA, trying to optimize a payload down to the fraction of an ounce! We are pretty close to what we think will be workable now, about 25-30 lbs of stuff on each bike, which trust me, is not a lot of things. Besides clothes, this includes a tent and sleeping bags (because we cannot be guaranteed there will be hotels where we're going), first aid kit, bike tools, camera, maps, etc., etc. I guarantee that our wardrobe on this trip is going to be pretty limited!

OK, so that is an introduction into what we are planning to do, and where we are in our preparations at this point. We will try to keep this updated as best as we can with our progress once we start. Note that we WON'T be traveling with a computer, and we don't have email-capable cell phones, so we will be able to update things only as we find public libraries to get access to the internet along the way. So, if you don't see anything new here for a while, don't worry, it's just because we are somewhere out in the middle of nowhere! And of course, if any of you are so inspired to add comments to this blog, or to send us an email, we'd love to hear from you!

--Mike

P.S. Ken and Carol Lyon from Cincinnati did a cross-country (Pacific-to-Atlantic) bicycle trip over 10 years ago. Joan and I met with Ken and Carol in our early planning stages for this trip. The practical experience and advice they shared was very helpful to us. They also kept a journal during their trip. This was in "pre-blog" days, but the communication objective was much the same. Their journal.... their "ramblings", as they call them, is still available at their website, and offers interesting perspectives on bike touring, as well as a good story to read.
See it at: http://lyonhouse.us/