So yes, New Orleans most certainly was a major improvement from the misery of southern Mississippi. After a week of nearly 500 miles in 100 degree heat without a day of rest, we decided to kick back a bit in the Big Easy. I believe my travelling companion left off with the margaritas and burritos,so I'll take off from there. So we made it back to the hostel to "rest up" for a big evening out. At this point we met Alan, a 6' 7'' Brit who the ladies throw themselves at. We got to chatting and he kept handing us brews and eventually we found our way to Bourbon Street. Naturally, good times were had- dancing, karaoke, shirts came off...pictures will come later. The next day, as Arlo Guthrie would say, we looked and felt our best, but luckily we didn't get a phone call from officer Obie, but instead we spent the day touring the french quarter, stuffing our bellies with cajun delights, and winning enough for dinner and drinks courtesy of Harrah's casino. Then we caught up with Jesse Daystar, another Lexington native and good friend, who is on a truly epic ride. He left Jacksonville a couple weeks back with a Habitat for Humanity Bike and Build crew, and is going to ride over 3000 miles building houses. Funny to cross paths in New Orleans. All in all it was a good day off, but we couldn't rest on our laurels for long. Today we headed north/northwest to the outskirts of Baton Rouge. Finally the wind was on our side, and we covered the 72 miles along the Mississippi River in just over 4 hours in the saddle. Funny to think of 72 miles in 96 degree heat as an easy day, but it wasn't bad. Now we've got 4 long days into Houston for the 4th of July.
1100 miles and counting,
Judah
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
New Orleans thumbs up: Mississippi thumbs down
Greetings from New Orleans, Louisiana. We got out of Mississippi in 3 days and it wasn't soon enough. But let me go back in time a few days. Mobile, Alabama ... now that was a time. We only had 40 miles to go into Pascaguala, MS the next day so we decided to enjoy ourselves that night and sleep in a little bit. We started out the night at Haley's Club. They had $2 High-Lifes and free crawfish on Thursday night. I mean free crawfish, how can you go wrong. They were delicious, we had a few, and not to mention a couple beers, before we decided to head down the street and see what else was going on. We got about a block down Dauphine St. when we got to this bar that was advertising free ping-pong. Well, Judah was sold and we went in. We got a pitcher and posted up at the table. We downed a couple pitchers and flirted with the bartender, who was particularly friendly. After about 2 hours and a couple pitchers, I started looking around and noticed a bunch of rainbow colored objects. I found this a little wierd, but didn't think anything of it. I then noticed the clientele, and all of the people I thought were little fat boys were actually not boys at all, but rather butch lesbians. We had been there for 3 hours and little did we know we were in the gay bar. Oh yeah, and the bartender thought we were a couple, perhaps why she was so friendly. It took me a while to convince Judah of this fact but he finally came to the same conclusion. We took a couple shots, had a good laugh and headed down the street. We ended up a this bar near our hotel. I ordered 2 Bud's and they were $5 a piece. I though this was a tad steep but oh well. Ok, perhaps my favorite thing about Alabama, free refills! Yeah, so we ended up on the wrong end of 10-15 refills.
Needless to say, the ride into Pascagaula was terrible. It was 100 degrees and we were still trying to recover. On the lighter side, we did finally make it to the gulf. We jumped in that afternoon and the water was just a warm as the lake in Tuskegee. Ok, so Jimmy Buffett sings a song called Pascagaula Run, about how it was a wild and wooly town. It was Friday night and we did not find what Jimmy was talking about so instead of taking a rest day there we decided to press on the next day to Gulfport.
Gulfport; I don't have enough terrible things to say about Gulfport. I understand that you town was ravaged by a hurricane, but come on; that was 4 years ago, get your shit together. We were expecting the glitzy casinos we saw just 15 miles before in Biloxi, but to no avail. We found nothing, I mean nothing. Oh yeah and we almost got hit by cars, probably 50-60 times. I can honestly say, I HATE GULFPORT. Luckily we only had 75 miles to New Orleans.
We got out nice and early this morning. But today might have been the hardest ride yet. 80 miles into a stiff head wind in a 110 degree heat index. But enough bitching, we finally made it. We called up Jesse Daystar, brother of Rania, who is do Bike and Build across America and is in town now (we are planning on meeting up later). He recommended this hostel, which we ended up staying at (actually were I am writing this blog). This place is awesome. We got our own room for like 40 bucks and met some cool folks. Grabbed some burritos and margaritas in the Garden District and came back just in time to see the US lose to Brazil in the confederation cup. Well, I am going to sign off for now, but we are planning on spending a couple days here in New Orleans; since we haven't taken a day of since Atlanta we think we earned it.
One last thing, we crossed the 1000 mile mark today. A little pat on the back in the comments section would be apperciated.
One more last thing; I am pretty sure the entire southeast economy is based on fast food and cash-to-payday loan stores. I'm glad I can call this region home.
100 degrees, 1000 miles and counting,
Steve
Needless to say, the ride into Pascagaula was terrible. It was 100 degrees and we were still trying to recover. On the lighter side, we did finally make it to the gulf. We jumped in that afternoon and the water was just a warm as the lake in Tuskegee. Ok, so Jimmy Buffett sings a song called Pascagaula Run, about how it was a wild and wooly town. It was Friday night and we did not find what Jimmy was talking about so instead of taking a rest day there we decided to press on the next day to Gulfport.
Gulfport; I don't have enough terrible things to say about Gulfport. I understand that you town was ravaged by a hurricane, but come on; that was 4 years ago, get your shit together. We were expecting the glitzy casinos we saw just 15 miles before in Biloxi, but to no avail. We found nothing, I mean nothing. Oh yeah and we almost got hit by cars, probably 50-60 times. I can honestly say, I HATE GULFPORT. Luckily we only had 75 miles to New Orleans.
We got out nice and early this morning. But today might have been the hardest ride yet. 80 miles into a stiff head wind in a 110 degree heat index. But enough bitching, we finally made it. We called up Jesse Daystar, brother of Rania, who is do Bike and Build across America and is in town now (we are planning on meeting up later). He recommended this hostel, which we ended up staying at (actually were I am writing this blog). This place is awesome. We got our own room for like 40 bucks and met some cool folks. Grabbed some burritos and margaritas in the Garden District and came back just in time to see the US lose to Brazil in the confederation cup. Well, I am going to sign off for now, but we are planning on spending a couple days here in New Orleans; since we haven't taken a day of since Atlanta we think we earned it.
One last thing, we crossed the 1000 mile mark today. A little pat on the back in the comments section would be apperciated.
One more last thing; I am pretty sure the entire southeast economy is based on fast food and cash-to-payday loan stores. I'm glad I can call this region home.
100 degrees, 1000 miles and counting,
Steve
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Title: 103!?!
That is not just the temperature but the distance we rode yesterday. That’s right, we did our first century ride from Greenville, AL to Atmore, AL which is right on the Florida line, so we are finally getting down to the coast. Let me start by saying I was feeling terrible yesterday when we started. I was hoping to maybe catch a ride south, but to no avail, so we had a long day ahead of us. We got on some backroads and let me tell you, when you get off the main highway in Alabama the roads turns quite interesting. Well, we made our first stop in Beatrice and met the Mikey Stearns of that town, and by that I mean the Prince of Beatrice. This guy knew everybody and told us exactly what we need to do and where to go. After we rocked awhile in front of the country store we headed out for Monroeville. He did warn us about Falkenberry Hill, probably the biggest hill in south Alabama. It amounted to a little less than Padgetts. But we got to Monroeville and had some lunch at the Courthouse Café. The waitress was rocking one of the best fem-mullets I have seen in a while and after 5 or 6 glasses of sweet tea we were off again. At this point I told Judah, “ I may regret saying this in 5 or 10 miles, but if we are going to do a century ride, today is the day.” Luckily the road flattened out and we made great time down into Atmore. One interesting thing of note: a big rat ran across the road just as we passed by and ran directly between my wheels. I would have been super pissed if I hit it and took a tumble, it was that big.
There was not much going on in Atmore, so we hit up the Pizza Hut, checked the nutritional facts at the door and I proceeded to eat an entire medium pizza. I figured since I burned at least 5000 calories during the ride at 2500 calorie pizza was just a drop in the bucket. Oh yeah, we did put a few Miller High Lifes on top of that.
We slept in a little this morning since we were doing a measly 50 miles into Mobile today. It was super humid on the ride, but we made it into town around noon. After a quick shower we headed down to Dauphine St., the main drag here in Mobile. We grabbed some lunch at the Hurricane Brewing Co., let me just say I love the name and the décor. Judah ordered a Floating Car Pale Ale and I got an Insurance Adjuster Amber. It’s great they can have a sense of humor down here. We are now at the public library, then off to get a razor for a quick shave then to dinner. Hopefully, we will have a few tales to entertain all of you tomorrow when we get to Pascagula, MS.
Living the dream,
Steve
There was not much going on in Atmore, so we hit up the Pizza Hut, checked the nutritional facts at the door and I proceeded to eat an entire medium pizza. I figured since I burned at least 5000 calories during the ride at 2500 calorie pizza was just a drop in the bucket. Oh yeah, we did put a few Miller High Lifes on top of that.
We slept in a little this morning since we were doing a measly 50 miles into Mobile today. It was super humid on the ride, but we made it into town around noon. After a quick shower we headed down to Dauphine St., the main drag here in Mobile. We grabbed some lunch at the Hurricane Brewing Co., let me just say I love the name and the décor. Judah ordered a Floating Car Pale Ale and I got an Insurance Adjuster Amber. It’s great they can have a sense of humor down here. We are now at the public library, then off to get a razor for a quick shave then to dinner. Hopefully, we will have a few tales to entertain all of you tomorrow when we get to Pascagula, MS.
Living the dream,
Steve
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Hot + Humid = Awesome
Ok, so I changed the equation a bit from the weather channel's report, hot + humid = miserable. But yes, the last few days have been record breaking heat here in south alabama, which for those of you back home in Virginia means about 20 degrees hotter than the hottest day you can remember.
So taking off were my travelling companion left off, after a big night in La Grange (ZZ Top was right about the girls down there), we took off bright and early headed for the border, the chattahoochie river, and our first time-zone change of the trip. Somehow we covered a ridiculous 50 miles before 9:15 in the morning. Naturally we thought it would be the perfect opportunity for our first century ride, but what we didn't realize is that in summer in Alabama from about 9-12 in the morning you can basically add a zero to the hour and that's the temperature. So by 11AM it was already 110 degrees and rising, not to mention the heat index. At this point, we were around Tuskegee, home to a big lake, which we naturally decided to dive into. To our surprise, we had jumped into the hottest freshwater lake in the world, little bubbles made there way to the surface as the water began to boil. We hopped back on the bikes and headed west to a town named Shorter, a suburb of Montgomery known for the Victoryland casino, aka the boulevard of broken dreams. On our long walk up said boulevard, we hitched a ride from Tom, ironically an ethics professor at Troy University. Tom took us under his wing and taught us not only about ethics but also about the intricacies of betting on greyhound racing. We left down $40.
Today was a long hot trek into even hotter southern alabama. We dodged a few bullets (and tractor trailors) outside Montgomery, and then made our way south to Greenville, AL, meeting a number of memorable folks all flabbergasted when we said we were going to Texas. They had never seen cyclists before much less cross-country tourers. Some promised to pray for us; others just shook their heads and said we were crazy. Once again the mercury rose to unprecedented levels, and we sweated faster than we could drink water. Luckily a cool down is in the forecast- only a high of 97 tomorrow. Oh, and we're still averaging 17.5.
Half-way to San-Anton!
Judah
So taking off were my travelling companion left off, after a big night in La Grange (ZZ Top was right about the girls down there), we took off bright and early headed for the border, the chattahoochie river, and our first time-zone change of the trip. Somehow we covered a ridiculous 50 miles before 9:15 in the morning. Naturally we thought it would be the perfect opportunity for our first century ride, but what we didn't realize is that in summer in Alabama from about 9-12 in the morning you can basically add a zero to the hour and that's the temperature. So by 11AM it was already 110 degrees and rising, not to mention the heat index. At this point, we were around Tuskegee, home to a big lake, which we naturally decided to dive into. To our surprise, we had jumped into the hottest freshwater lake in the world, little bubbles made there way to the surface as the water began to boil. We hopped back on the bikes and headed west to a town named Shorter, a suburb of Montgomery known for the Victoryland casino, aka the boulevard of broken dreams. On our long walk up said boulevard, we hitched a ride from Tom, ironically an ethics professor at Troy University. Tom took us under his wing and taught us not only about ethics but also about the intricacies of betting on greyhound racing. We left down $40.
Today was a long hot trek into even hotter southern alabama. We dodged a few bullets (and tractor trailors) outside Montgomery, and then made our way south to Greenville, AL, meeting a number of memorable folks all flabbergasted when we said we were going to Texas. They had never seen cyclists before much less cross-country tourers. Some promised to pray for us; others just shook their heads and said we were crazy. Once again the mercury rose to unprecedented levels, and we sweated faster than we could drink water. Luckily a cool down is in the forecast- only a high of 97 tomorrow. Oh, and we're still averaging 17.5.
Half-way to San-Anton!
Judah
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The Dirty South
Greetings from La Grange, GA. I apologize for not keeping up with this thing everyday, but we have had trouble finding a computer that was convenient. So let me fill you in on the last week; sit down this could take a while. So the last time I checked in we were in Lake Wylie just outside of Charlotte. I was expecting a tough 90 mile ride, but I was feeling stronger than ever and as Judah said, we rolled through the upstate to Greenville. Uncle Jay and aunt Phyllis put us up for a couple nights. We had a great spaghetti dinner to replenish those Carbohydrate stores the first night and then we took a little walking tour of downtown Greenville. I was actually very impressed, it had a cool little scene going on down there and there was a big waterfall right in the middle of town.
The next day was our first off day so we slept in until 9ish which felt really nice. Aunt Phyllis was off to a golf tournament early in the morning and Jay was at the gym. When he got back, that was when the real golf tournament began. I mean this thing rivaled the US Open. Me, Judah, and Jay; 18 holes at Frankie's Fun Land, winner take all. It was a tight battle at the turn, as I led both of the J's by 1 stroke. As we made our way onto the back 9 Judah quickly lost focus as the group of 4 12 year olds behind us began taunting him mercilessly (little did he know, Jay and I paid the little bastards off to get rid of our competition). So it was down to 2. It was a battle all the way to the end, but Jay took the title by one stroke. I guess all that "experience" really pays off. That night, the boys feasted on some delicious barbecue and then Jay left for the gym again and Judah and I were given the keys to the Lexus (a bold move on Aunt Phyllis's part). We ended up going downtown and checked out a couple of the local watering hole. We were pretty unsuccessful on finding the party. I guess everybody was at the Keith Urban concert down the street. We would have gone but we didn't have any cowboy boots, we didn't want to feel out of place. So we headed home around 10, which was definitely in our best interest anyway.
We woke up early and Jay gave us a ride out of the Greenville traffic which we greatly appreciated. We still had about 85 miles to go to get to Athens, GA. We knocked out the first 70 no problem and had a little lunch at the Hardee's in Danielsville. I would like to go on record and say that Yvette is by far the finest and friendliest fast food employee I have ever met. At this point it got real hot, I'm talking 95 degrees and we still had 15 miles to go. It was pretty much hell (little did I realize what the next day would be like). As Phil Ligget might say, "I died a 1000 deaths on the road to Athens."
Despite the ride we had a great time in Athens that night. We started our crawl around town at The Village Idiot (totally fitting). We met quite a character there named Big Tom. He was sort of a mixture of Brandt Wymond and Jake Gentry at 60 years old, overall hilarious. He recommended about 3 different bars all with incredibly hot bartenders, the man does have good taste. Tom's favorite line, "Marriage is the number 1 cause of divorce." On our way home from the bars we hit up a hot dog street vendor. After eating that little slice of heaven, I decided it was ridiculous to go all the way to Texas, because I had just found Valhalla in a hot dog and I was going to go to UGA instead.
We got a late start the next day (hard to imagine, I know). We had about 60 miles to go to Rania's house in Doraville, GA, just inside the beltway in Atlanta. We figured since we had been doing 80, 85 and 90 mile days, 60 would be no problem. Well... 60 is still 60 and its worse when its hilly, there is traffic and it is approaching 100 degrees. Absolutely, the worst day I have ever had on a bike. It is my new benchmark for how awful I feel, "well, I still feel better than on that ride to Atlanta." Rania had to work that night so Judah and I walked over to the Mexican restaurant near by and went home to call it an early night.
After the excruciating ride we decided to take a day off in Atlanta which was awesome because there was a free music festival in town. Rania got the day off and we went over to the show about 2pm. Yeah, its called Hot-lanta for a reason. Pretty sure the mercury topped out above 100. But not to fear, we downed plenty of Red Stripe to stay cool. It was actually a pretty decent line up as we caught the Head Hunting Swamp Monkeys (or something like that), Jupiter Coyote, Rusted Root and Guster. I had a really great time and it was probably the first time all trip I really felt like I was on vacation.
We headed out this morning with no particular destination in mind. We got on the MARTA, Atlanta's metro rail, about a mile from Rania's house and took it all the way south to the airport to avoid riding through the city. While the map at the airport looked extremely confusing it was surprisingly easy to get out headed south again on rte 29. About five miles into the ride, we caught up with Tony. He is a PE teacher and football coach in Palmetto, GA. We ended up riding a fast pace line for about 20 miles before Judah and I pulled off for breakfast. He told us this was the first time he has ever ridden with other people, much less drafting and pulling in a pace line. It was awesome and a really great way to start the day. Well, we put in some big miles again today, logging about 70 as we made our way down to La Grange. It was hot, (starting to see a theme here) but I was feeling pretty good and Judah got stronger through the day.
We are going to cross into Alabama tomorrow, another state and another time zone which is pretty exciting. Only a couple more days until we hit the coast, I can't wait.
Staying cool in the Comfort Inn,
Steve
PS. Love you Pops, Happy Fathers Day
The next day was our first off day so we slept in until 9ish which felt really nice. Aunt Phyllis was off to a golf tournament early in the morning and Jay was at the gym. When he got back, that was when the real golf tournament began. I mean this thing rivaled the US Open. Me, Judah, and Jay; 18 holes at Frankie's Fun Land, winner take all. It was a tight battle at the turn, as I led both of the J's by 1 stroke. As we made our way onto the back 9 Judah quickly lost focus as the group of 4 12 year olds behind us began taunting him mercilessly (little did he know, Jay and I paid the little bastards off to get rid of our competition). So it was down to 2. It was a battle all the way to the end, but Jay took the title by one stroke. I guess all that "experience" really pays off. That night, the boys feasted on some delicious barbecue and then Jay left for the gym again and Judah and I were given the keys to the Lexus (a bold move on Aunt Phyllis's part). We ended up going downtown and checked out a couple of the local watering hole. We were pretty unsuccessful on finding the party. I guess everybody was at the Keith Urban concert down the street. We would have gone but we didn't have any cowboy boots, we didn't want to feel out of place. So we headed home around 10, which was definitely in our best interest anyway.
We woke up early and Jay gave us a ride out of the Greenville traffic which we greatly appreciated. We still had about 85 miles to go to get to Athens, GA. We knocked out the first 70 no problem and had a little lunch at the Hardee's in Danielsville. I would like to go on record and say that Yvette is by far the finest and friendliest fast food employee I have ever met. At this point it got real hot, I'm talking 95 degrees and we still had 15 miles to go. It was pretty much hell (little did I realize what the next day would be like). As Phil Ligget might say, "I died a 1000 deaths on the road to Athens."
Despite the ride we had a great time in Athens that night. We started our crawl around town at The Village Idiot (totally fitting). We met quite a character there named Big Tom. He was sort of a mixture of Brandt Wymond and Jake Gentry at 60 years old, overall hilarious. He recommended about 3 different bars all with incredibly hot bartenders, the man does have good taste. Tom's favorite line, "Marriage is the number 1 cause of divorce." On our way home from the bars we hit up a hot dog street vendor. After eating that little slice of heaven, I decided it was ridiculous to go all the way to Texas, because I had just found Valhalla in a hot dog and I was going to go to UGA instead.
We got a late start the next day (hard to imagine, I know). We had about 60 miles to go to Rania's house in Doraville, GA, just inside the beltway in Atlanta. We figured since we had been doing 80, 85 and 90 mile days, 60 would be no problem. Well... 60 is still 60 and its worse when its hilly, there is traffic and it is approaching 100 degrees. Absolutely, the worst day I have ever had on a bike. It is my new benchmark for how awful I feel, "well, I still feel better than on that ride to Atlanta." Rania had to work that night so Judah and I walked over to the Mexican restaurant near by and went home to call it an early night.
After the excruciating ride we decided to take a day off in Atlanta which was awesome because there was a free music festival in town. Rania got the day off and we went over to the show about 2pm. Yeah, its called Hot-lanta for a reason. Pretty sure the mercury topped out above 100. But not to fear, we downed plenty of Red Stripe to stay cool. It was actually a pretty decent line up as we caught the Head Hunting Swamp Monkeys (or something like that), Jupiter Coyote, Rusted Root and Guster. I had a really great time and it was probably the first time all trip I really felt like I was on vacation.
We headed out this morning with no particular destination in mind. We got on the MARTA, Atlanta's metro rail, about a mile from Rania's house and took it all the way south to the airport to avoid riding through the city. While the map at the airport looked extremely confusing it was surprisingly easy to get out headed south again on rte 29. About five miles into the ride, we caught up with Tony. He is a PE teacher and football coach in Palmetto, GA. We ended up riding a fast pace line for about 20 miles before Judah and I pulled off for breakfast. He told us this was the first time he has ever ridden with other people, much less drafting and pulling in a pace line. It was awesome and a really great way to start the day. Well, we put in some big miles again today, logging about 70 as we made our way down to La Grange. It was hot, (starting to see a theme here) but I was feeling pretty good and Judah got stronger through the day.
We are going to cross into Alabama tomorrow, another state and another time zone which is pretty exciting. Only a couple more days until we hit the coast, I can't wait.
Staying cool in the Comfort Inn,
Steve
PS. Love you Pops, Happy Fathers Day
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Tour-Ready in Five Days
So after a successful evening of muskrat hunting and a good night’s rest on Gwyneth Paltrow’s bed, we got up to confront our longest day yet- roughly 90 miles from Lake Wylie to Greenville, SC. Somehow the longer the ride, the faster we seem to ride, and we covered the 90 miles of rolling hill country in just over 5 hours, stopping only to stuff our bellies with hearty portions of biscuits and gravy, steak and eggs, and fried chicken. Now I can understand the Michael Phelps’ diet. Despite a few minor issues trying to keep the food down, we averaged a ridiculous 17.5 mph, our fastest pace yet. Cars tried to pass us, but their measly engines could not keep up and they were forced to draft behind us. Once again we made it to our destination well before planned, and proceeded to take advantage of Jay and Phyllis’ incredible hospitality by stuffing ourselves with food and beverage. Today we will be headed to George Hincapie’s shop to challenge him to a race before the Tour de France. Perhaps we may even get an offer from Team Columbia. I doubt they can offer us enough to leave Team Traveller, though. Oh, and it’s nice to have gears again.
-Judah
Monday, June 15, 2009
High on the Hog
Greetings from Lake Wylie, SC. We just crossed another state line and it feels real good to be down here in the Palmetto State. We got hooked up with a place to stay for tonight. One of my Mom's good friends from high school (might have even been a boyfriend if I heard correctly) lives down here on the lake. Me a J have our own house, yes that's right, someone trusted us with our own house for the night. This isn't just a house, I would call it a lakefront villa, probably the nicest place I have stayed in a long time. In fact Gwenyth Paltrow stayed in this place when she was making the movie Shallow Hal. Jeff, our host, is a photographer and artist and has been all around the world taking pictures of wild animals and cowboys (really one in the same).
After resting up this morning and some failed fishing, Jeff took us out on the boat for a tour of the lake. He showed us the sights and regaled us with a few tales from my Mom's high school and college days. It sounds like The Judge (my grandpa) was just as much of a hard ass as The Colonel (my dad). Though it did sound like a few of the other Cherry Hillers were a bit crazier than my Mom (that may or may not include some of our blog followers). Jeff took us out to dinner and we shot the shit for quite a while. Here is my personal favorite Jeff story, "So just before the last game the Patriots played at Foxbrough, I was working on a commercial with Drew Bledsoe. When we were done he brought down a couple buckets of golf balls and we hit drivers into the stands. When the played there last game a day later they were really sucking it up. I was watching ESPN and the announcers notice the fans were throwing things onto the field. After 5 minutes the announcers realized it was golf balls. The same balls Drew and I hit up in the stands yesterday."
When we arrived at the villa there was a list of helpful tips for operating all the toys in the house. The list also mentioned that Jeff had been having a problem with muskrats on the shore, and if we felt so inclined to grab the shotgun out of the closet and take down a few. Obviously we had to check it out and there was a a shotgun and shells. Needless to say after I finish up the blog we are going hunting, wish us luck. Well tomorrow we have a long day in the saddle, heading over to Greenville, SC to stay with my aunt and uncle. We will take our first zero day there, so we will catch you on the flip side.
Beautiful places and Smiling faces,
Steve
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The Queen City
We both just completed the longest ride of our lives. We knocked out 85 miles at 17.1 mph. That is absolutely ridiculous. We we averaged that for 40 in the county we would be stoked. It is great being down here in the flat lands. Lets get back to this morning; Lori gave us a ride out of town to Old Greensboro Rd. a favor we are forever greatful for, yeah that and the biscuits and gravy she made for us this morning. Perhaps, the best host I have ever had. I would say this may have been the best bike ride have ever had. We were out in the country with no cars, a far cry from 220 of the past couple days. We rolled throught Lexington (home of Hokie wildcat quarterback Cory Holt), and then on down to Salsbury. We had a great lunch at Matson's. I throughly enjoyed the country fried steak and Judah ordered a pound of chopped barbacue. We put down 1 lb hamburgers yesterday and he figured the BBQ would be no problem. Little did he know they would give him about 5.5 lbs and we left we a large container of BBQ. 20 miles down the road, after JB's lunch had almost come up twice we got rid of the remaining 3 lbs. At this time we were in Kannapolis, NC where they have Dale Earnhart Blvd., guess what the road number is: 3. Well, at this time we still had about 30 miles to Anna's house so we pushed on. As we came into Charlotte we passed Lowe's Motor Speedway, home of the Coca Cola 600, pretty exciting stuff. After that, well we had to roll through 20 miles of suburban hell, mall after mini-mall after mall. Not the best riding conditions. But we finally got into Charlotte and made our way to my friends Anna and Becca's house. We had a fanstastic cookout, and we got to burn shit in their backyard, that is what I call entertainment.
Anyway, tonight is the True Blood season premiere so I am pretty excited about that. I know some of you may be wanting a little more excitement from the two of us wild men, but you try riding 85 miles and then going out and getting wild. So far the hospitality has been great, everyone has been awesome, you know, putting us up and feeding two hungry fellas. Tomorrow we are only riding 15 miles over to Lake Wylie. It will be nice to get some R&R and even out this jersey tan. We will check in soon, have a great one.
The king kool lounger,
Steve
Anyway, tonight is the True Blood season premiere so I am pretty excited about that. I know some of you may be wanting a little more excitement from the two of us wild men, but you try riding 85 miles and then going out and getting wild. So far the hospitality has been great, everyone has been awesome, you know, putting us up and feeding two hungry fellas. Tomorrow we are only riding 15 miles over to Lake Wylie. It will be nice to get some R&R and even out this jersey tan. We will check in soon, have a great one.
The king kool lounger,
Steve
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Maters and Taters
We have come 120 miles since my last post and I am definitely feeling it in my quads right now. I don't know if I have ever put back to back 50+ mile days in before, let alone three. Other than the expected soreness, everything is going well. I say well, but Judah has been riding on only 2 gears for the last 100 miles. As we got to Boones Mill, VA he was complaining that his rear derailleur would not shift down. That left him switching between only the big ring and the small ring on the front. Oh yeah, it was really hilly yesterday so you should not envy his situation, or mine either for that matter, I had to pull on the front (let him draft off of me) almost the whole way. But what is truely ridiculous is how easily and cavalier he dealt with the situation. We got to Martinsville last night and when I asked him what he wanted to do he said, "Well there is not bike shop here, I can definitely make it to Greensboro," and he did. Even more rediculous we averaged 15.6 mph for 67 miles yesterday and 17.2 mph for 51 miles today, and I thought we were going to take it easy.
So, we stopped in Rocky Mount, Va for lunch yesterday, but ended up just going to the library to look up bike shops. Google recommended Brandon's Bicycle Repair (a shady establishment to be sure) in Martinsville. Well, we followed the directions to Brandons and found a rather non-discript looking home in a subdivision. This did not look like a bike shop. So we asked the neighbor if he knew Brandon, in the strongest southern draw I have heard in a while, "I don't know no Brandon, and I reckon that fella over there don't fix no bicycle."
So we cruised into Martinsville, perhaps the steepest and hilliest city I have been to. Stopped for some refreshments at the Marathon station, and as we would find out later that night this was probably the hottest spot in town. We ended up bunking down at the Super 8, luxury accomodations for a reasonable price. Grab some dinner at the Super China Dragon Buffett, at the time, perhaps the best meal of my life. Not because of the quality of the food, but just the hunger in belly. That evening we went looking for the Friday night excitement in the Henry County seat. Let me tell you, there ain't a damn thing going on in Martinsville. On our way home we took a different street then we came in on, and this was an interesting experience. While I never scared or sketched out, we were definitely not welcome there. But, so much for Martinsville, its time to hit the Tar Heel state.
We rolled south today on 220, a tad sketchy a time with tractor trailors rolling by 1 foot away at 70 miles an hour but we had to get to Greensboro. Had a great day of riding and averaged 17.2 mph like I said earlier. The highlight of the day (other than seeing our friend Lori) was stopping at the Maters and Taters produce stand in Madison, NC. We stocked up on some fruit and Mt. Dew. The proprietor was an amiable 65 year old woman, who had probably never seen 2 boys in riding shorts and jerseys. She was amazed we where headed for Texas, and straight away asked Judah if he was going to Mexico. I guess old ladies can always see that wild hair in us young fellas.
We rolled into Greensboro in a shade under 3 hours. Lori was more than hospitible, giving us a much need shower and giving us a ride to get Judah bike fixed. We stopped at Friendly Bikes where the service was awesome. If you are ever in Greensboro and need a bike, need to get a bike fixed or just shoot the shit about riding, these are the guys you are looking for. We got fixed up in 20 minutes and were off for downtown. Got some lunch at Natty Greens Brewery. JB and I each downed 1 lb burgers with ease (he did have a little trouble with his pasta salad). We came on back to Lori's and grabbed a couple naps as Lori made us dinner. Absolutely can't argue with that service.
We are headed for Charlotte tomorrow, which will take us close to the 100 mile mark for the day. I am real glad it is flat down here and Judah finally has gears again. Check in with all of y'all tomorrow.
Moocher extraordinaire,
Steve
So, we stopped in Rocky Mount, Va for lunch yesterday, but ended up just going to the library to look up bike shops. Google recommended Brandon's Bicycle Repair (a shady establishment to be sure) in Martinsville. Well, we followed the directions to Brandons and found a rather non-discript looking home in a subdivision. This did not look like a bike shop. So we asked the neighbor if he knew Brandon, in the strongest southern draw I have heard in a while, "I don't know no Brandon, and I reckon that fella over there don't fix no bicycle."
So we cruised into Martinsville, perhaps the steepest and hilliest city I have been to. Stopped for some refreshments at the Marathon station, and as we would find out later that night this was probably the hottest spot in town. We ended up bunking down at the Super 8, luxury accomodations for a reasonable price. Grab some dinner at the Super China Dragon Buffett, at the time, perhaps the best meal of my life. Not because of the quality of the food, but just the hunger in belly. That evening we went looking for the Friday night excitement in the Henry County seat. Let me tell you, there ain't a damn thing going on in Martinsville. On our way home we took a different street then we came in on, and this was an interesting experience. While I never scared or sketched out, we were definitely not welcome there. But, so much for Martinsville, its time to hit the Tar Heel state.
We rolled south today on 220, a tad sketchy a time with tractor trailors rolling by 1 foot away at 70 miles an hour but we had to get to Greensboro. Had a great day of riding and averaged 17.2 mph like I said earlier. The highlight of the day (other than seeing our friend Lori) was stopping at the Maters and Taters produce stand in Madison, NC. We stocked up on some fruit and Mt. Dew. The proprietor was an amiable 65 year old woman, who had probably never seen 2 boys in riding shorts and jerseys. She was amazed we where headed for Texas, and straight away asked Judah if he was going to Mexico. I guess old ladies can always see that wild hair in us young fellas.
We rolled into Greensboro in a shade under 3 hours. Lori was more than hospitible, giving us a much need shower and giving us a ride to get Judah bike fixed. We stopped at Friendly Bikes where the service was awesome. If you are ever in Greensboro and need a bike, need to get a bike fixed or just shoot the shit about riding, these are the guys you are looking for. We got fixed up in 20 minutes and were off for downtown. Got some lunch at Natty Greens Brewery. JB and I each downed 1 lb burgers with ease (he did have a little trouble with his pasta salad). We came on back to Lori's and grabbed a couple naps as Lori made us dinner. Absolutely can't argue with that service.
We are headed for Charlotte tomorrow, which will take us close to the 100 mile mark for the day. I am real glad it is flat down here and Judah finally has gears again. Check in with all of y'all tomorrow.
Moocher extraordinaire,
Steve
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Lex Vegas to the Star City
Well since it is the first day of travelling we will treat you to two entries today. I started the day at 8am with a clean bill of health from old Doctor Bob, and then proceeding to quickly return home and nap the rest of the morning away. Luckily my amigo was able to go all black ops on the administrative staff at the high school and duck out around 11, so we could finally begin this journey. As we set out a dark and ominous sky gathered around us. We made it to the Moose Lodge, a mere 5 minutes into a 2 month expedition before we were forced to take shelter from the deluge. However, as the torrent subsided we hit the road again, getting pretty wet in the process. Not 10 minutes later the skies clear and we did not feel another drop for the remander. But we did have some nice wet feet to show for our trip through Possum Hollow. We took Plank Rd. (always on the lookout for Plank Rd. bandits) to Rt. 11 and down to Roanoke.
We made a quick stop in Buchanan, where we were suprisingly besotted by the local ladies. But alas we still had miles to cover. As we made our way into Troutville, we passed six AT thru-hikers looking to hitch a ride back to the 'noke. Naturally we pulled over and offered our assistance. One on the handlebars, one sitting side-saddle on the top tube and one piggy backing. It was only 15 miles no problem for two indominable spirits like ourselves, but those pansy hikers would have none of it, so we continued on alone.
We had an interesting trip navigating the city (as you know, me and J are not what you would call particularly metropolitan) but finally made our way to friend Cori's house. She graciously put us up, gave us a shower and cooked us dinner. Let me tell you, can't beat good friends. After dinner and a glass or 2 of wine, I agreed to let her do my tarot reading. While she is no witch doctor, it was a really interesting exerience.
Tomorrow we are off to Martinsville, VA about 50 miles down the road and home to the Most Exciting 5/8th of a Mile in Nascar. It's great to finally be out here and doing it. Couldn't ask for a more perfect start.
Off and rollin',
Steve
We made a quick stop in Buchanan, where we were suprisingly besotted by the local ladies. But alas we still had miles to cover. As we made our way into Troutville, we passed six AT thru-hikers looking to hitch a ride back to the 'noke. Naturally we pulled over and offered our assistance. One on the handlebars, one sitting side-saddle on the top tube and one piggy backing. It was only 15 miles no problem for two indominable spirits like ourselves, but those pansy hikers would have none of it, so we continued on alone.
We had an interesting trip navigating the city (as you know, me and J are not what you would call particularly metropolitan) but finally made our way to friend Cori's house. She graciously put us up, gave us a shower and cooked us dinner. Let me tell you, can't beat good friends. After dinner and a glass or 2 of wine, I agreed to let her do my tarot reading. While she is no witch doctor, it was a really interesting exerience.
Tomorrow we are off to Martinsville, VA about 50 miles down the road and home to the Most Exciting 5/8th of a Mile in Nascar. It's great to finally be out here and doing it. Couldn't ask for a more perfect start.
Off and rollin',
Steve
Free at last
I will start out by saying that it has been years since I have written more than a paragraph in the English language, and I cannot compete with the wit and humor of my travelling companion, but I cannot fight the peer pressure any longer, and I have been convinced to write my first blog entry.
So finally I was able to escape the wonderful world of post-student high school, four fruitful workdays full of truly meaningful discussions and arguments between teachers and administrators who were ready for summer vacation months earlier. Needless to say after a morning full of powerpoint presentations on how to increase student and teacher morale, I found my own solution- to sneak out a bit early and embark on the epic. As a symbol of the beginning of the journey, I cut off my two month beard, and look like a teenage once again.
After a quick lunch, last minute packing, and photo shoot, we were immediately put to the test by a torrential downpour in the first mile of travel. We laughed at mother nature's vast underestimation of our resolve, and continued southward, wet-feet the least of our worries. At our first pitstop, we charmed the Buchanan gals and nearly lost focus on Texas, but somehow refocused and headed off to Roanoke at a blazing speed-15.6 mph average over 53.5 miles despite stop and go city driving for the last ten. Then a dinner that couldn't be beat and some fine 7-11 refreshments as a suiting end to the first day.
Siguiendo el camino hacia el sur,
Judah
So finally I was able to escape the wonderful world of post-student high school, four fruitful workdays full of truly meaningful discussions and arguments between teachers and administrators who were ready for summer vacation months earlier. Needless to say after a morning full of powerpoint presentations on how to increase student and teacher morale, I found my own solution- to sneak out a bit early and embark on the epic. As a symbol of the beginning of the journey, I cut off my two month beard, and look like a teenage once again.
After a quick lunch, last minute packing, and photo shoot, we were immediately put to the test by a torrential downpour in the first mile of travel. We laughed at mother nature's vast underestimation of our resolve, and continued southward, wet-feet the least of our worries. At our first pitstop, we charmed the Buchanan gals and nearly lost focus on Texas, but somehow refocused and headed off to Roanoke at a blazing speed-15.6 mph average over 53.5 miles despite stop and go city driving for the last ten. Then a dinner that couldn't be beat and some fine 7-11 refreshments as a suiting end to the first day.
Siguiendo el camino hacia el sur,
Judah
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Adventure Eve
We have finally reached departure date and it couldn't have gotten here any faster. We are all packed up and if you saw what we were taking you would not think we were planning on riding all the way to Texas. Judah was talking to some friends early and mentioned we would not be back home until late July. That is awesome, cause that is a long time from now. You live in Lexington for a certain amount of time and a nice long break from the county sounds real appealing. Obviously, we had to tie up a few loose ends today, like selling my kayak, going to Coinstar, and saying goodbye to Ms. Karen Lou (my other Mawma).
Well this morning I was woken up by a phone call from the dentist office reminding me I had an appointment tomorrow at 8am. I had totally forgot, but at least my teeth will be clean and I will be styling and profiling for the trip. Watch out ladies, two incredibly handsome men with clean teeth will be coming to a southern city near you. We ended our day with a nice little dinner at the Ruby Tuesday's with our folks.
Anyway, the journey starts tomorrow as soon a Judah can bust out of that high school. We are headed to Roanoke which should be about 50 miles, not a bad first day. Luckily we did not leave today, because about the time we should have hit Troutville they got smacked by a tornado. Tornado's in Virginia, really? Anyway, it looks like rain, so it should be a nice way to start the trip. Signing off from the lunatic fringe, only 1700 miles to go.
Up the road,
Steve
I promise I will get ole JB to add an entry tomorrow.
Well this morning I was woken up by a phone call from the dentist office reminding me I had an appointment tomorrow at 8am. I had totally forgot, but at least my teeth will be clean and I will be styling and profiling for the trip. Watch out ladies, two incredibly handsome men with clean teeth will be coming to a southern city near you. We ended our day with a nice little dinner at the Ruby Tuesday's with our folks.
Anyway, the journey starts tomorrow as soon a Judah can bust out of that high school. We are headed to Roanoke which should be about 50 miles, not a bad first day. Luckily we did not leave today, because about the time we should have hit Troutville they got smacked by a tornado. Tornado's in Virginia, really? Anyway, it looks like rain, so it should be a nice way to start the trip. Signing off from the lunatic fringe, only 1700 miles to go.
Up the road,
Steve
I promise I will get ole JB to add an entry tomorrow.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Where you goin'?
Goin' South. Actually, tomorrow I will be headed north. I'm meeting with Saunders up at JMU. We are going to be discussing power data, biomechanical efficiency, and pro and cons of protein supplementation. Sounds like fun doesn't it? I will also be hitting up the Shenandoah Bike Co. to pic up some sweet shades for the trip and any other odds and ends that I just have to have.
Today I did a nice little ride over Big Hill. I saw a kid riding the other way in a Kelly Benefit jersey. It always bothers me when I am riding in the county and pass someone on a bike I don't know. I mean there is only so many of us. I was feeling a little sluggish today, probably in response to the celebrations this weekend, or maybe just laying in the river for 3 hours drinking beer yesterday. Could be a bit of both.
Anyway, the trip is only a couple days away now. Which is good because a travel blog is pretty pointless unless you are actually traveling, seeing people and meeting the sites. Finally, to everyone that wished us luck, thanks for all your support. I'm sure we will use up all that luck and then some somewhere down the road. I'll check in soon, and try to get that vagabond partner of mine to do the same.
Just three days,
Steve
Today I did a nice little ride over Big Hill. I saw a kid riding the other way in a Kelly Benefit jersey. It always bothers me when I am riding in the county and pass someone on a bike I don't know. I mean there is only so many of us. I was feeling a little sluggish today, probably in response to the celebrations this weekend, or maybe just laying in the river for 3 hours drinking beer yesterday. Could be a bit of both.
Anyway, the trip is only a couple days away now. Which is good because a travel blog is pretty pointless unless you are actually traveling, seeing people and meeting the sites. Finally, to everyone that wished us luck, thanks for all your support. I'm sure we will use up all that luck and then some somewhere down the road. I'll check in soon, and try to get that vagabond partner of mine to do the same.
Just three days,
Steve
Friday, June 5, 2009
Schools out for Summer!
Greetings one and all. My associate Judah gave his last final today so the teaching is all done and we can now turn our focus solely on the long march south. Being that school is out, there will no doubt be a celebration tonight. My expectations for the evening: first, we will feast on the finest meats and cheeses in all the land. The mead and ale shall flow as freely as the James River in flood stage, and will be brought to us by an incredible beautiful yet suprisingly approachable beer wentch (think St. Paulies Girl). Being that this is Lexington, its highly unlikely but a gentleman can always hope.
My brother came into town this weekend in preparation of the Tour of Tucker County in West Virginia. It is ranked as one of the top 10 hardest races in the country. The race consists of 37 miles with 14 miles of climbing. Better him than me. If you would like to check out some pics and results of the zebra suited speed demon, you can check him out at teamtraveller.com. We went for an hour or so ride today in the rain. I really felt like I was battling the elements, good training for the months to come. Oh yeah, he's real fast. I just tried to hang on his wheel. A futile task to say the least.
I picked up the handlebar bags yesterday, so we are all gear-up. Now its just time pack up, move a couple more fridges and get on the road. Tomorrow is graduation for Judah and he will be dressed to the nines in his academic regalia. Anyway, six more days, I can't wait.
Up the road,
Steve
My brother came into town this weekend in preparation of the Tour of Tucker County in West Virginia. It is ranked as one of the top 10 hardest races in the country. The race consists of 37 miles with 14 miles of climbing. Better him than me. If you would like to check out some pics and results of the zebra suited speed demon, you can check him out at teamtraveller.com. We went for an hour or so ride today in the rain. I really felt like I was battling the elements, good training for the months to come. Oh yeah, he's real fast. I just tried to hang on his wheel. A futile task to say the least.
I picked up the handlebar bags yesterday, so we are all gear-up. Now its just time pack up, move a couple more fridges and get on the road. Tomorrow is graduation for Judah and he will be dressed to the nines in his academic regalia. Anyway, six more days, I can't wait.
Up the road,
Steve
Thursday, June 4, 2009
T-minus 1 week
Well, we are finally closing in on departure. All of this waiting around and training rides and fridge moving just makes me want to hit the road today. However, my partner in this expedition the charasmatic, sauve and slightly infamous Judah Brownstein, still has one more day of teaching the children. Apparently someone does not suscribe to my motto "Only suckers work on Friday." But getting back to the point, we are heading out for Texas in one week, destination: The Alamo. mode of convence: bicycle. Yes, you heard that right, a bicycle. We are riding down to the gulf coast during hurricane season and through Texas in July. If you are thinking that is the greatest idea ever, well you are not alone. We just really wanted to up the ante and challenge ourselves a bit.
Preparations are going well. We have been riding almost everyday and I am down to a svelte 170 lbs. Most of the gear has been purchased, I even broke down and bought a GPS. Friends have bent guilted into letting us stay with them along the way, a decision they may soon regret. And a sufficient amount of bragging has been done to shame ourselves into making it the full measure. Now its just a matter of counting down the days and keeping it on 2 wheels and we will be off and running (technically riding, but whatever). Now its off to Charlottesville to pick up the some handlebars bags. Take it easy all.
Up the road,
Steve
Preparations are going well. We have been riding almost everyday and I am down to a svelte 170 lbs. Most of the gear has been purchased, I even broke down and bought a GPS. Friends have bent guilted into letting us stay with them along the way, a decision they may soon regret. And a sufficient amount of bragging has been done to shame ourselves into making it the full measure. Now its just a matter of counting down the days and keeping it on 2 wheels and we will be off and running (technically riding, but whatever). Now its off to Charlottesville to pick up the some handlebars bags. Take it easy all.
Up the road,
Steve
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