I've still got my massive backlog of pictures and stories to tell, but my laptop was destroyed in the accident so it might be a while before I can update.

So, I was hit by a truck yesterday while traveling south on rt 1. I'm ok other than a few sutures and plenty of bruises, but this is the end of the Longbike.

80 miles today. I'm halfway to Raleigh, and should arrive there sometime on Friday evening at the current rate. Knee is still hurting, but not too much.

66 miles on my first day out of DC. Wanted to make 90 miles, but my right knee is bothering me for some reason and I don't want to push it too hard.

Here's a name for a restaurant: Fukien Gourmet. This is followed closely by "lunch buffet"

Off towards the southlands. Next stop: Raleigh.

Apparently bus-internet is a gimmick and doesn't really work that well (at all), which is a shame, because I've so many pictures to post and stories to tell.

En-route to DC via bus! I've got a 10 hour layover in NYC, so I won't be arriving until approximately 1 PM tomorrow.

Bus ride from Boston to DC booked. I've got a 12 hour layover in DC, but hey, I'll have internet! (which means I can upload a mess of pictures to the blog)

Underway from Grand Junction at last! This train haven't wifi, so it looks like blog updates will have to wait a few days more, at least for pictures.

Colona to Grand Junction: 74.5 miles in 4:11 for an average of 17.7 mph. Its good to be devouring miles again.

Climber Mt. Sneffels today. Its my first fourteener!

Just watched the Pro Cycling Challenge crest Cerro Summit. A great change of pace from picking vegetables!

Buckhorn Gardens going-ons (abbreviated)

Well, I'm at the end of a busy week at Buckhorn Gardens. I've mowed, and I've harvested, and I've cleaned veggies pretty much all day every day. In addition, Farm Camp was this week, so I got to help out with a passel of rambunctious 7-10 year-olds. Today we made ice cream and mulched rows with hay, and I introduced the kids to the fun of making hay forts and tunnels!

I'm currently exhausted, filthy, itchy, and thoroughly enjoying myself. I'd post pictures, but my camera cable is currently a couple of miles away, so those will have to wait for another post.

Looking forward to the weekend, during which I intend to sleep, sleep some more, cook, clean my stuff, and possibly (but only possibly) climb Buckhorn Mountain and Storm King back behind the ranch.

Stories from the road: Grandfield, OK

I rode into Grandfield as the sun was slipping towards the horizon. A straight line demarcated the border between town and not-town. Inside that border, trees and buildings cast long shadows; a thing I hadn’t seen much of for the last several hours while crossing miles of open farm fields.  

I was hungry and low on supplies. My last planned stop, Randlett, turned out to be little more than a ghost town amid dried up fields, so I was glad for the chance to pick up dinner and supplies at the general store before riding on into the evening in search of a campsite. The periphery of town consisted largely of crumbling, boarded up buildings and abandoned equipment. I rode past cheap apartment buildings and an old man on a bike making his slow way over to the next neighborhood. 

The general store had little in the way of variety and nothing in the way of fresh fruits and vegetables, so I purchased a half gallon of ShurFine vegetable juice, a packet of jerky, and three slices of supreme pizza from the heated oven at the counter, then rested at a table in the front of the store as I ate. As I finished eating, an old man asked me if the bike out front was mine. I told him it was, and he asked me where I was going, expressing customary disbelief when I told him where I was and where I was going. We talked for a short while in front of the store, and then I rode on. 

A few hundred yards from the edge of town, I came upon a young woman walking down a side street. As I rode past her she called out to me “Hey!”

I turned and pulled into the side street. 

“Hey, you know where Sheldon is?”

I, riding a fully loaded touring bike, filthy from days on the road, and clearly on my way out of town said: “Umm, no…. I’m not from around here.”

She, slowly processed this, and regarded me with heavy-lidded eyes. “Oh, well I thought you looked like his cousin.”

“Nope, I’m from Florida. Riding from Florida to Colorado.”

“On that bike?!”

“Yep.”

“Dude, that’s pretty cool.” A short pause, during which she swayed uncertainly. “Hey, do you smoke weed?”

As I opened my mouth to reply, a blue Chevrolet Aveo whipped off of 70 and onto the side street, tires crunching on gravelly pavement. A guy perhaps in his early 20’s, slightly heavyset with strong Native American features leaned out of the window and sharply addressed the girl.

“Hey, why weren’t you at the store? You said you’d go to the store then come back home! Why are you out walking around here?”

“I’m taking a walk, like I said I would!”  She replied, her voice rising. “I needed to clear my head;  get out of the house!”

“Yeah, well, you been gone for a long time, and you left the babies at home. They need you!”

“You take care of them for a while!” She spat back. “I said I needed to get out of the house for a while!”

He turned and regarded me for the first time, suspicion written on his face. “Who is this?”

“He’s riding his bike across the country. I thought he looked like Sheldon’s cousin so I called him over and we been talking about-”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He cut in. He threw the car in gear and began to turn around.

“Where you goin?!” The girl asked, her voice rising into a panicky whine. “Where you goin?!” Again.

“I’m taking the babies to Grandma’s. At least she’ll look after them. Not like you ever take care of ‘em anyways.”

He sped off. She turned, suddenly seeming to realize that I was still there.  “Uh, I… I have to go,” she said, her eyes wide for the first time. She turned and began walking rapidly away, down the gravelly street and back into the neighborhood. 

“Hope you have a good evening,” I called after her sadly. “Hope you have a good life,” I added in my mind.

I swung my bike around and headed west, gaining speed as I neared the edge of town, blowing past the invisible barrier separating town from empty fields, leaving the shadows of trees and houses and rusting warehouses behind. 

A few miles later, I stopped and turned around to regard the town. From distance, it looked like a smear of trees and houses sandwiched between endless plain and sky, walled in by the emptiness around it. 

I stood there for some time, watching a car leave town and make its slow way towards me. As it neared, it slowed down, coming to a stop in the middle of the road beside me. The passenger window rolled down to reveal two girls, who wanted to know if I was stranded, if I needed to use a cell phone to call for help. I smiled, replied that I was fine and thanked them for stopping. 

They drove off. I watched the town a while longer before I too, turned and rode towards the vanishing sun.

Thelongbike gets an itinerary

I just checked train fares from Grand Junction, CO to Washington, DC. Looks like it will cost about $230 and take around 48 hours to get me and my bike over halfway across the country. New trip plan: Work  and live at Buckhorn Mtn. Gardens with Jeremy for the next month and a half or so, with frequent trips and mini-tours to explore the surrounding areas. Then onwards to DC, where I'll visit friends and family and see the sights for a few weeks before touring the 1100 miles back to Pensacola FL. If I time it right, I might even be able to chase the fall colors back home!

Walking through downtown Ridgway when a man on a horse rode up. "You like drinks?" he asked. "Sure" I said. He gave me a voucher to a distillery and rode on.

I don't have internet access at the ranch, and won't be traveling much for the coming week, so updates will be limited.

I suppose that I should post something about my whereabouts: I'm currently staying at Buckhorn Mtn Ranch with Jeremy Kester.

Salida to Montrose

Its picture time! I don't have a whole lot of time to write up a narrative, but I do have a lot of pictures to share from the last few days.

After spending the better part of the day in Salida, I restocked on supplies and headed west on 50. It was late by the time I left town, so I opted out from a ride over a pass and dinner with Bobi and friends/family in favor of riding a few miles and a campsite by the south fork of the Arkansas.

The view from my campsite

The campsite of dreams

6 miles at 6% grade- you do the math

I passed a mining district on my way up- it was huge

As I gained elevation, the plant life changed dramatically

Moss blanketed everything about 10,000 feet

That's a thing

I got myself an ice cream cone to celebrate

My bike got another sticker

Looking East

Looking West

I don't have any pictures of the descent- for obvious reasons. It was fun though- an effortless 30-38 mph for approximately 8 miles.

The land smoothed out, though the elevation was still near 8000 feet

Thunderstorms were to the right and left of me, though luckily I managed to avoid them

Two red foxes were playing near this pen. Only one is visible in this photo

Gunnison!

A band was playing in the public park- I listened for a few songs before heading on

I camped in the bed of a partially dried out reservoir

I think it was about 25 feet below full

I wish I could do the landscape justice in photographs

I LOVE these signs

I rested for a while at the top of one climb

... and shortly arrived at another

Montrose!

I'm now sitting in the Horsefly Brewing Company. They have $1 tacos on Mondays, so I'm availing myself of that special and having a couple of beers in the process. Jeremy Kester and a friend of his are riding into town as I write this, and I'll ride back with them to the farm where Jeremy works. Once there, I'll rest up and work around the farm until I figure out what I'm doing and where I'm going next.

2000 miles and an 11312 foot pass in one day! I've crossed the divide, and its (mostly) downhill to Montrose from here.

Colorado- it begins

Once again, its been a long time since a proper blog update. I've many stories to tell from the road in Oklahoma and Kansas, but they will have to wait. Why? Because I am in Colorado, and I'm more fascinated by and excited about mountains than anything else so far on this trip.

It begins- 7/24/12

I'm taking hwy 50 pretty much all the way across CO, and it follows the Arkansas river closely, especially as it gets closer to the mountains. In wetter times, the river is apparently prone to flooding, so the little towns along the plains have levees to keep the river off main street.

Levees at 5000 feet. As for the spiky things, I have no idea

The river is almost entirely dry near the Kansas border, so I slept one night in the riverbed between the highway and the train tracks.

The river has so little flow at this point that it couldn't float a kayak

As I neared the mountains, I began to see cumulus clouds again. For most of my ride through Oklahoma and Kansas, the skies were clear.

Weather! These storms put on a good lightning show one night

I'd originally intended to stay in the Pueblo area for a day to rest up, but upon examining a topo map, I saw that major climbs would not occur until after Salida, almost 100 miles further along the road. So I passed through Pueblo in 30 minutes and didn't look back.

This is what I saw of Pueblo

And this is what I saw leaving Pueblo

The mountains rise abruptly from the plains

There aren't many good places to camp on the plains, so I ended up riding a little farther than I'd intended that day- 111 miles took me all the way to Canon city, where I camped in a creek bottom on the edge of town.

This wasn't nearly as secluded as the picture suggests- I had a clear view of 50 from my hammock

Canon City is pretty much the gateway to the mountains- I left town and immediately began climbing.

Downtown Canon City

Unlike most rivers, the Arkansas gets bigger as one goes upstream. All through the mountains the river is large enough to support a whitewater rafting industry- I lost count of the vendors I passed as I rode West on 50.

Following the Arkansas River into the mountains

I encountered my first rainstorm in over 1000 miles as I rode up 50. It was cold- I rapidly became chilled and my knees began to hurt, so I pulled over and rested at a little country store in Cotopaxi. The girls who ran the place let me warm up over the grill and rest there while waiting for the rain to let up. Two cups of coffee and a hamburger later, the rain was mostly done and I resumed my journey.

Rain at 6000 feet

Safe haven from the storm

Some miles later, I encountered a first on my journey: I was refused water! I stopped at a little general store and asked if I could fill my water bottles, only to be told that there were no taps I could use. I asked if I could fill them in the bathroom and was told "we don't have a public bathroom". At some point it became clear that the lady wasn't going to let me have water no matter how nicely I asked, so I rode a couple of miles on to the next store to get my water. Anyway, if you are ever driving along 50, be sure to give this place my regards.

Here be the inconsiderate

I didn't quite make it from Canon City to Salida in one day- my knees were hurting and I was tired, so I camped on BLM land about six miles outside of town.

About 200 yards upslope from 50

I know that slope doesn't translate well into photos, but that was STEEP

Today I rode into Salida, and I might be a little bit in love with the place. Half the downtown is closed off for a bike race, everyone is either riding bikes, walking, or roller blading, and the downtown park is gorgeous.

I agree with the sign

Possibly my new favorite town

I stood on the riverbank to take this photo

Beer and pizza for lunch with a bike race for entertainment

I finally picked up some hiking shoes

I'm writing this post from the Salida public library. I met a lady named Bobi at the local bike shop who invited me to join her friends and family for diner up in the mountains later on. I was planning to relax around town, but if I can motivate myself to ride up into the mountains and over a 9000+ foot pass, I may go join them this evening.

Current location: Ca_on City, elev. 5300 feet. Miles ridden: 111. Physical state: extreme exhaustion. Campsite: some hobo camp in a half burned up creek bottom.

I'm well over 1700 miles as of today and should hit 1800 tomorrow. The plains rise steadily as I ride west- I'm at about 4000 feet right now.

72 miles today. I'm 75 miles from Pueblo and plan to reach it day after tomorrow. Taking it easy before I hit the mountains, which I saw on the horizon today.

Yesterday I passed a hitchhiker shortly after entering Colorado. Today, I met that same hitchhiker at a gas station and we conversed for some time.

64 miles today. I'm camped in the riverbed of the Arkansas river tonight- it is easily my prettiest campsite yet.

Colorado!! Tailwinds again at last! Also, I just saw my first prairie dog colonies.

I'm not yet to Colorado but I did just enter the mtn standard time zone. About 28 more miles to go to Colorado.

I'm riding west on hwy 50 into a strong headwind. Averaging only 8 mph. Its going to be a long hard day if I want to make it to CO before tomorrow.

91.3 miles today. Tonight I'm sleeping under a bridge in the bottom of a dry irrigation ditch. Nowhere to hang my hammock, but at least the dirt isn't too hard

"You will obtain your goal if you maintain your course"- fortune cookie from a chinese place whose buffet I just demolished.

1600 miles. I'm riding through corn and soybean country- endless miles of irrigated fields. Should make it through Garden City this evening.

While eating breakfast at a little Mexican place in Liberal I was introduced to menudo by J.J. Moreno, a traveling marketing specialist in from Texas. Its good!

Where I've been in MapMyRide

I just mapped out my trip thus far. Check it out here!! I'll be updating the route periodically to reflect my progress.

Towns in this part of the world have clearly defined edges. I just walked to the edge of Liberal and am looking out over the plains to the East.

'round Ft. Worth

Heading North from Cleburne on 171 I stopped for lunch at Del Norte Tacos in Godley. The place was pretty awesome, both from a food and atmosphere standpoint. Its only about 30 miles outside of Fort Worth too, so if I'm ever in that part of the world again I'll try to drop by and get more delicious bbq.

The country really opened up a lot around this point, and for the first time on the trip I really felt like I was in alien territory. I suppose it was probably spillover from the nearby cities, but the amount of wealth on display in the form of huge, ornate gates, fences, statues, ranch houses and trucks was kind of disorienting when compared with the relatively impoverished rural regions I had been riding through.

I need a panoramic camera

The natives in these parts like their lawn ornaments large

I'm sure plenty of people want pictures of the culvert I slept in that night, so here it is.

I guess you could call it a low point in the trip

After culvert night, I rode up through the LBJ National grasslands, which proved to be such a waste of time that I didn't even get any pictures, and on through Bowie where I think I ate at a Subway before moving on. I enjoyed a lovely tailwind heading north on 81, and camped beside a train trestle a few miles from the Red River.

Ranging out from Waco

So, it turns out that internet is hard to find in rural Texas and Oklahoma. Who would have thought it? I've got a lot of catching up to do, so I'll try to break things up into a couple of posts.

After leaving Mexia, I rode on to Waco where I obtained a replacement tire at Outdoor Waco. Most of Waco that I saw was a little on the run down and scruffy side, but the downtown section on the river was pretty nice- a number of little shops and green spaces gave it a good feel. The people were super nice as well- everyone in Outdoor Waco was friendly and I ended up hanging around and chatting for a while with Trinity, the shop manager for a while after I got my tire changed.

I'm glad this place exists

This is one of the nicest footbridges I've ever seen

Someone really doesn't like Planned Parenthood. Surprise surprise

I didn't get very far outside of Waco before stopping for the evening- I was tired and didn't know when I'd find the next decent place to camp, so I jumped at the opportunity to camp in a little creek bottom a few miles north of town.

The next day I continued on through small towns and backroads.

This place is the one stop for everything in Flynn

A day or so north of Waco, the country really began to open up

I had some difficulty finding campsites from this point on, but I lucked out two days out from Waco and found a really nice campsite on some floodplain outside of Cleburne.

This picture really doesn't do the campsite justice- it was super nice.