The Final days

Total distance 4720 Km (~ 2926 Miles)

Average 127 Km per day.

July 8 164Km

Today’s Points 1 Total Score 5

Without getting all sentimental

I made it to Diane’s today. Another long hot day in the saddle. I was seeing spots and weaving on the road for a while. I think I might of gotten a little too hot. They tell me it was 102 F out today. It didn’t feel that bad and in the shade, with the wind from my moving bike I never really felt like I was biking on the surface of the sun. But I took a needed break in the shade of a church lawn before I made the final push into the familiar.

The land naked

The places that we live, the places we grew up in, the places that we always would go visit; these places with their bars and grocery stores, restaurants and, houses, we feel that somehow these places are special. That somehow out of every place in the universe our version of a Grocery store is more special than any other. When I travel and especially when I travel by bike I see the land naked, for what it is without the rose colored glasses of familiarity. I see the towns and the spaces between towns for what they really are. All the same! WallMarts on that space of land that was the edge of town 20 years ago, downtowns that are just getting back to up and running after the death of the downtown years ago, and the proverbial railroad tracks separating us from them. These images of modern America, like a 21^st century Norman Rockwell painting, give an image of America that we all understand. But today when I was coming back into areas that I have seen before while living in South Carolina last year, there was sense of place, home, and comfort in seeing a store familiar things but a sense of loss knowing that it was just like all the other things I’ve seen. In the end it is only the people there that make places worth living in.

I am reading the David Sedaris book Naked, I like his writing style.

July 7 161 Km

Today’s Points 0 Total Score 5

July 6 158Km

Today’s Points 0 Total Score 5

Georgia doesn’t believe in maps

For some reason the entire state of Georgia does not have any maps. Everywhere else that I have traveled has had rest areas, welcome centers, tourist info centers, and if nothing else maps in the gas station. Here in Georgia, I have checked most of the gas stations along the way. One this morning had maps, that you could buy of course (I didn’t of course). The rest of them don’t have any. Maybe it’s because nobody wants to come to the low country of Georgia and the people that are already here think this is God’s country so why would they want to go anywhere else. In any case nobody can enter or leave the state with the use of a map.

July 5 151 Km

Today’s Points 0 Total Score 5

Out of Florida and into Georgia to a Hardees

I ate at a Hardees today. I thought I would give it a try. I try the rest of the fast food places. None of them really make me feel good. So I thought I would give Hardees a try before they go out of business. The thick burger was good but very greasy and in the end, just a fast-food burger. Not really worth it. I think that one of these days I am going to learn that the fast food burgers just aren’t worth the hassle. Cheap, yes. Fast, yes. Disgusting, yes. Greasy face, yes. Belly ache, yes. I even got dizzy and thought I might fall off my bike. Let’s see tofu and peaches try to do that.

July 4 0 Km

Today’s Points 1 Total Score 5

Gainesville and more rest

July3 0 Km

Today’s Points 1 Total Score 4

Gainesville and rest

The Final days

Total distance 4720 Km (~ 2926 Miles)

Average 127 Km per day.

July 8 164Km

Today’s Points 1 Total Score 5

Without getting all sentimental

I made it to Diane’s today. Another long hot day in the saddle. I was seeing spots and weaving on the road for a while. I think I might of gotten a little too hot. They tell me it was 102 F out today. It didn’t feel that bad and in the shade, with the wind from my moving bike I never really felt like I was biking on the surface of the sun. But I took a needed break in the shade of a church lawn before I made the final push into the familiar.

The land naked

The places that we live, the places we grew up in, the places that we always would go visit; these places with their bars and grocery stores, restaurants and, houses, we feel that somehow these places are special. That somehow out of every place in the universe our version of a Grocery store is more special than any other. When I travel and especially when I travel by bike I see the land naked, for what it is without the rose colored glasses of familiarity. I see the towns and the spaces between towns for what they really are. All the same! WallMarts on that space of land that was the edge of town 20 years ago, downtowns that are just getting back to up and running after the death of the downtown years ago, and the proverbial railroad tracks separating us from them. These images of modern America, like a 21^st century Norman Rockwell painting, give an image of America that we all understand. But today when I was coming back into areas that I have seen before while living in South Carolina last year, there was sense of place, home, and comfort in seeing a store familiar things but a sense of loss knowing that it was just like all the other things I’ve seen. In the end it is only the people there that make places worth living in.

I am reading the David Sedaris book Naked, I like his writing style.

July 7 161 Km

Today’s Points 0 Total Score 5

July 6 158Km

Today’s Points 0 Total Score 5

Georgia doesn’t believe in maps

For some reason the entire state of Georgia does not have any maps. Everywhere else that I have traveled has had rest areas, welcome centers, tourist info centers, and if nothing else maps in the gas station. Here in Georgia, I have checked most of the gas stations along the way. One this morning had maps, that you could buy of course (I didn’t of course). The rest of them don’t have any. Maybe it’s because nobody wants to come to the low country of Georgia and the people that are already here think this is God’s country so why would they want to go anywhere else. In any case nobody can enter or leave the state with the use of a map.

July 5 151 Km

Today’s Points 0 Total Score 5

Out of Florida and into Georgia to a Hardees

I ate at a Hardees today. I thought I would give it a try. I try the rest of the fast food places. None of them really make me feel good. So I thought I would give Hardees a try before they go out of business. The thick burger was good but very greasy and in the end, just a fast-food burger. Not really worth it. I think that one of these days I am going to learn that the fast food burgers just aren’t worth the hassle. Cheap, yes. Fast, yes. Disgusting, yes. Greasy face, yes. Belly ache, yes. I even got dizzy and thought I might fall off my bike. Let’s see tofu and peaches try to do that.

July 4 0 Km

Today’s Points 1 Total Score 5

Gainesville and more rest

July3 0 Km

Today’s Points 1 Total Score 4

Gainesville and rest

The lost coast of Florida

July 2 170 Km

Today’s Points 0 Total Score 3

Money

I found $60 dollars today, a 50 and a 10 on the side of the road making it a good day. This along with the 100 from Bill Tom, and the 35 from other people plus some odd change, adds up to $200. So lately I have actually been making money. Who knew that going on tour could be a money making venture. Typically I spend less than $20 a day, mostly on food. I try to avoid restaurants as much as possible because of the poor calorie to dollar ratio although McDonald’s dollar menu is tough to beat.

More rain but I made it to Gainesville where I am staying with a friend for a few days. Hurray to be resting

July 1 170 Km

Today’s Points -1 Total Score 3

My ass is so sore

Maybe it’s the rain, maybe it’s the long miles I’ve been putting in every day, or maybe it’s my bike seat, but my but is the most sore it has ever been. Every night for the past two weeks I haven’t been able to sit down comfortably. I’m told that the wet, sweaty, dirty shorts will do this. All I know is that after Gainesville, I hope that the rest of the bike, and the smaller miles will make it more bearable. Suggestions would be appreciated.

June 30 158 Km

Today’s Points +1 Total Score 3

Bill Tom from Cut and Shoot

After a long day in the saddle, it was raining as I came into a small Florida fishing town. It was raining so I stopped underneath a hotel awning where some guys were grilling out. I got to talking with them. They were oil spill cleanup workers. They worked on boats putting out boom, sausage like buoys that are supposed to keep the oil away from the shore. They offered me a beer, then some food, and pretty soon they offered me a place to stay. Great guys, all from Texas. Very friendly warm and welcoming. Texans are really nice people. Chris and Colt let me stay in their room and this Bill Tom from Cut and Shoot Texas told some wild stories. So animated. Told stories with taking a breath spilling beer everywhere and wiping his tobacco spit on his pants. Bill Tom was a marine and loves his country. He loves his countrymen, and God. But he was a racist, that talked openly about cutting and killing people. I am not sure how much of it was true but I am glad that I was white and was on his good side. I’m not sure how friendly they would have been to me if I had been black. Bill Tom gave me $100 and I told him I would read the book of Mormon.

Florida

June 29 148 Km

Today’s Points 0 Total Score 3

The People of Florida

As far as I can tell the people of Florida, are a hodge-podge collection of every sort. Of course we think of the beach babes and the beautiful people that didn’t want to move to California. But the largest group of people that I see are the leftovers. The carnies that quit their job in the traveling fair and are now living the skin cancer, perma-smoking life. They came here in their youth, when the world was there oyster and never left and have turned into a clam. Then again there are the rich people, and the tourists that make the state almost unbearable but we have all experienced those people and they aren’t as much fun to talk about. The beach collects all sorts of people.

Wheres all the oil

June 28 157 Km

Today’s Points 0 Total Score 3

Oil Shortage

As I traveled along the coast, I was ironically hoping to see the oil spill. Unfortunately I never saw any oil so far. I am told it is out there, but personally I haven’t seen any oil yet. In my head the oil spill was so large that there was no water left in the gulf, it all was replaced with oil. Obviously this isn’t true. And I didn’t know any better I would say that there wasn’t a spill. But there are reminders of it all over the place. Clean up crews are stationed on most of the major boat docks, the floating barriers are seen in the water, and I hear stories about the spill from many people. While walking along the beach today, I heard a kid say, “I don’t see any oil”. We all are expecting to see disaster and are disappointed when it fails to disast. In the end, life here will go on and I have hope for the life that lives down here on the gulf.

June 27 158 Km

Today’s Points 1 Total Score 4

Mississippi Beaches

Leaving New Orleans, I went what seems like forever before I reached Mississippi. I biked past dark. The coast highway, had a fantastic sidewalk that went right along the ocean so for 40 miles all I had was ocean and sand on my right, the road and the continent on the left. I traveled through Bilouxi at night which was fun, with all the bright lights of the casino. Overall it was a pretty good day.

across the mississississippipppi river

June 25 126 Km

Today’s Points 1 Total Score 3

Welcome to the Big Easy

Woke up in Houma, LA and biked down a four lane highway, towards New Orleans. A ferry ride across the Mississippi makes me an easterner again. I found a hostel and am going to have some huricans and overpriced beer tomorrow.

June 24 155 Km

Today’s Points -1 Total Score 2

I think I am looking homeless

I have been trying to take showers and stay clean, but unfortunately this form of travel does not lend itself to cleanliness. No matter how hard I try, my clothes always smell, I have bike grease on my legs, and I in this heat I am covered in sweat. This appearance is now affecting some of my interactions with people, some restaurants/coffee shops try to get me out the door faster than normal. And the kicker is, I went to a Best western tonight, it was dark, I was tired, it looked like it was going to rain, ants and mosquitoes were making a pincushion of my legs, and I just wanted to sleep. So I went to a this hotel, and asked the lady if I could get a room, she looked at me and said, no we don’t have any rooms. All of them are full. I walked away not believing her. I think she wanted to say we don’t have any rooms for people like you. If she only knew who I was.

sorry for all the words

June 23 155 Km

Today’s Points 0 Total Score 3

The oil spill is hiring. Anyone without a job should come down to Louisiana.

June 22 145 Km

Today’s Points 1 Total Score 3

Talked to an oil man

I talked to a guy that works in oil. Louisiana has three businesses down by the gulf, oil, fishing, and shrimping. Russell, I think his name was, is in charge of looking after the wells oncethey are drilled. Now he has 7 wells he is looking after. The best one produces 700 barrels of oil a day, and 100 barrels of water, (salt water). The well also produces a gazillion gallons of natural gas (simply referred to as gas). The water that is collected needs to be injected into a landfill. The oil needs to go through a separator, to separate the oil from the gasoline, and benzene, and other stuff. The gas is pressurized and pumped all over the country, in the natural gas pipelines that we see everywhere. So those of us that use natural gas stoves somehow are connected to these pipelines all the way down here in Louisiana.

I asked Russell, what he would have done differently about the oil spill that happened in the gulf. He said he would have had some “heavy mud” ready to plug up the pipe. From what I understand heavy mud is a very dense mud solution that plugs the oil well while it is being drilled if something started to go wrong.

The platform for the well was an old platform but the well that actually broke was a new well that was being drilled

To drill an oil well, they drill roughly a 15 inch hole and put pipes in as they go down the keep the hole from filling in. After let’s say a 1000 feet they decrease the hole size and drill a slightly smaller hole. The new (slightly smaller) pipe is slid down inside the larger upper pipe. They do this for the entire length of the well, which can be up to 20,000 feet.

Once the well is in place, a release valve, (150 feet below sea floor) is installed. In case anything goes wrong the release valve can be turned off the oil stops flowing. The release valve was not installed yet on this well because it was still being drilled.

According to my friend Russell, this was business as usual. They were taking many of the precautions that they always do for drilling, just with this well they got into an oil field that was larger than they expected and that’s why they ran into problems. Russell says that as long as we are drilling for oil this will continue to happen.

We need to stop using this stuff. Try driving one less time today.

June 21 156 Km

Today’s Points 1 Total Score 2

Those lost souls that we see

Tonight after I left the last town of the day, while I was looking for my resting place for the night, I noticed a dog was running after me. To use the word chasing would conotate that he was trying to get me in a bad way, which isn’t true, I got the impression that this dog was interested in me for some other reason. I got the impression that this dog had something to say to me. Something important. Maybe a warning about some impending danger that lies up the trail for me. Maybe it was about some great spot to camp for the night. Or maybe the dog was a metaphorical adventure trying to chase me down and shake me up. Or maybe the dog was lost, lonely and was looking for a firend. Somebody to sleep with at night, and share meals with during the day. From the dogs point of view, I was a beacon of hope, a city on a hill, a friend, a companion.

. So I pedaled away from this dog. And with nothing around except oil rigs, cows and fences, the harder I pedaled the greater sense of desperation that I got from the dog. He couldn’t keep up and was abandoned by a lonely stranger on a lonely road. Eventually I got far enough ahead of the dog that the gdog stopped

I left you. I left you and never will know what you wanted to tell me. I left you to fend for yourself. I left you because if you were all those things that I think you were, once I said hello to you I knew I could never say goodbye. I am sorry I left you, may you find food, water and shade tomorrow and a home the day after.

It was a simple yet profound experience for me, I guess I have been on the road to long.

It smells like oil now and its so humid that fish can breath the air.

words from the trail

June 20 165 Km

Today’s Points 1 Total Score 1

I guess I have some words of advice from the trail.

1. Make sure you are not planning a trip that is going to be too hot (or too cold or wet). Texas was a bad idea. I wake up every morning before dawn and race until about 11:30 when it becomes too hot. Then I take a break until about 5 when the shade of the trees makes biking tolerable again.

2. Find a way to clean up daily. It may seem obvious but if you don't, wash yourself and your clothes regularly, you will develop some weird rash on your legs. Or at least I did. This is why your mother always told you to take a bath.

3. You may want to invest in an adventure cycling book (http://www.adventurecycling.org/)for the trip that you are going on. I never did but in hind sight it might have been a good $20 investment.

4. Don't carry too much stuff or too little. I packed a bit too much in the beginning and ended up mailing some extra clothes home after a week or two. You can always pick up some more essentials in towns along the way.

5. You will quickly learn that small "one horse" towns don't always even have a horse, or a gas station, or a grocery store, or water for that matter. Unless it is real city, don't assume that you can get things that you need.

6. The water proof panniers that I have work great

7. The computer is awesome, It keeps me connected with the world and gives me something to do when I am waiting out the heat or the rain.

8. It takes me about 2 weeks of touring before my legs are no longer sore. Any training you can do before the trip will make the actual trip more enjoyable. My butt still hurts, I think it is the seat, or the shorts or the sweat from the hot weather. If you figure out how to solve this problem, let me know.

June 19 145 Km

Today’s Points 1 Total Score 0

words from the trail

June 20 165 Km

Today’s Points 1 Total Score 1

I guess I have some words of advice from the trail.

1. Make sure you are not planning a trip that is going to be too hot (or too cold or wet). Texas was a bad idea. I wake up every morning before dawn and race until about 11:30 when it becomes too hot. Then I take a break until about 5 when the shade of the trees makes biking tolerable again.

2. Find a way to clean up daily. It may seem obvious but if you don't, wash yourself and your clothes regularly, you will develop some weird rash on your legs. Or at least I did. This is why your mother always told you to take a bath.

3. You may want to invest in an adventure cycling book (http://www.adventurecycling.org/)for the trip that you are going on. I never did but in hind sight it might have been a good $20 investment.

4. Don't carry too much stuff or too little. I packed a bit too much in the beginning and ended up mailing some extra clothes home after a week or two. You can always pick up some more essentials in towns along the way.

5. You will quickly learn that small "one horse" towns don't always even have a horse, or a gas station, or a grocery store, or water for that matter. Unless it is real city, don't assume that you can get things that you need.

6. The water proof panniers that I have work great

7. The computer is awesome, It keeps me connected with the world and gives me something to do when I am waiting out the heat or the rain.

8. It takes me about 2 weeks of touring before my legs are no longer sore. Any training you can do before the trip will make the actual trip more enjoyable. My butt still hurts, I think it is the seat, or the shorts or the sweat from the hot weather. If you figure out how to solve this problem, let me know.

June 19 145 Km

Today’s Points 1 Total Score 0

and on the 8th day God Created Texas

June 17 145 Km

Today’s Points 0 Total Score -2

Mentally I reached a conclusion today, that I don’t enjoy doing this. I would rather do many other things with my time and my life. This constantly moving, constantly going, never in one place and never in the same town for long, starts to wear on your soul after a while. I thought that the excitement of traveling and finding out what lies beyond the next corner would overcome this, but unfortunately the wonders of the world are not enough to triumph. There is a restless feeling that you get when you wake up in a hammock in a strange park day after day. In addition, it is hotter than an oven after 10 AM everyday and we are still just in the preheat cycle. In hindsight I would offer this piece of advice: if you really feel the need to go on some adventure, do it before the feeling passes. Those dreams that we have when we are young are not the same we have when we are older. Such is life, such is the way of the world. Lastly, McDonalds internet doesn’t always work that well. But then what do you expect from McDonalds, it’s a cheap hamburger shop. So I actually got to send this from a gas station with WI-FI

June 16 142 Km

Today’s Points -1 Total Score -2

June 15 155 Km

Today’s Points -1 Total Score -1

On into Oklahoma

June 14 127 Km

Today’s Points 0 Total Score 0

The unspoken rules about how to pass a biker

Being a long time biker, I would like to inform those of you that are not cyclists how to pass a bicycle in a car. I like it best when I am given it ample room (½ a lane) and the car simply proceeds on by, without really slowing down or making a big production out of it. You don’t have to use your horn, I am keenly aware of the sound of your engine and tires coming up from behind. If you did want to give a “love toot”, simply tap the horn while you are still 2-3 seconds behind me. You do not have to slam on the horn as you are coming up beside me, that is unless you want to see me jump and then swear at you. Also, it is somewhat nerve wracking and intimidating when the car or more often the large truck doesn’t want to pass when they can’t see far enough ahead. But to be followed by the extra polite car a ¼ mile until I make it to the top of the hill, is almost more frustrating than being passed with less than adequate room. You don’t have to be my support car in the tour of France. I am not in a race and obviously you want me to go faster or else you wouldn’t be following so closely.

June 13

155 Km

Total points 0

Not the best day. It was hot and the road was long. In the end I could think of all kinds of things that I would rather be doing than biking towards Mexico in the middle of summer. Here are some of the ideas that I came up with today. Be with Diane. Cook food on a real stove. Plant a garden. Fix mom’s old motorcycle. Volunteer at something, anything. Relax. And many more that I can’t think of at the time. If Missouri doesn’t end soon this trip is going to be boring, cause once you’ve seen one corn field you’ve seen most of the others.

June 12

133 Km

Total points 1

Finished the KATY trail and at the end ran into Mark. He let me sleep in his back yard and his wife made some delicious chicken noodle soup. It rained most of the afternoon. Not the best day not the worst. Mark asked me a question a lot of people ask. So what do you do when you get a flat tire, or the alternative to the question, how many spare tires do you have with you. Nobody ever asks if I have spare pedals or spare chain, or even any tools but they all want to know about the tires. But to tell you the truth that is the one of the things that does break often. So far this trip, I have had no flats, but I have broken two spokes which I was able to fix.

June 11 Day 11 120 Km

The Birds

At about 5 AM every morning birds start going at it, non-stop, saying wake up Josh. Your missing this day. Wake up. And every morning at about 5:01 AM I shake the sleep from myself and open my eyes. A little sore, a little tired, and moderately excited to ride bike again. So, after I pack up my things (a 30 minute chore), I hit the road. Off to exploring the world.

Points +1

June 10 Day 9 125 Km

The Point System

In all of the travels that I have done, I have always allowed for a backdoor out, an excuse for me not to go through with it. In some ways this allows me the freedom to only do things that I truly am excited about. But at other times it offered me an opportunity to get out of some experiences that I am sure would have been amazing, the peace corps for example. On this trip I have a fairly elaborate exit strategy. Each day is given one of three different point values. +1 for a good day, 0 for a neutral day, and -1 for a bad day. The running total of the points determines my “happiness factor”. Points are awarded or subtracted according to following 3 criteria; the landscape, the people that I interact with, and my physical and mental condition. When I reach -10, I am going to seriously consider cutting my losses and going home. Yes I know how dorky an elaborate points system is to determine how much fun I am having, but give me a break I am a physicist. Today was a neutral day, 0 points, although I didn’t really want to be biking this morning.

I am staying Mexico Missouri tonight. Ironically Mexico is a lot closer than I originally thought.

Week 2

June 9 Day 8 150 Km
The People that we meet

Today I met Al and Darb, two recent graduates from Brown University. They too are on a bike journey down the Mississippi to New Orleans. I rode with them for almost all day. Some days I wake up and have no idea of the people I will meet. As in life we really have no idea of where any of this is all going. But we are all traveling there at the speed of time. The bike trip just makes it a little more visible because you go from strangers to friends in two seconds and handshake.
Staying in Hannibal MO the previous home of Mark Twain. Maybe just as in Twains time it’s not filled with the classiest of people.

June 8 Day 7? 110Km
OIL SPILL
So the farther that I go on this trip the more excited I get about going down to Louisiana and help clean up the damn oil. And although it is not a journey around the world it is definitely something that I would be excited about doing. It may offer me to pursue a career in the EPA or FEMA, government agencies that I believe do great work. I also believe that large agencies such as this need intelligent science minded people that can handle difficult confusing data.
I would also like to remind all of us that the oil spill caused by BP is partially all of our faults. BP was drilling the oil for all of us. Anyone that drives a car, eats a hamburger, and does practically anything else was going to be using BP’s oil. Therefore I think that instead of pointing fingers as to whose fault it was, we should all accept partial responsibility, fix the oil spill problem and make efforts to try get ourselves off the damn shit. I believe that we should all ride more bikes. Sorry for the rant but when it runs through my head for 6 hours straight I get a little worked up. \
PS, It rained this morning
PPS, I got wet.

Words

June 6 Day 7 116 Km
Waking to bike, biking to sleep

Wake up early 5 AM, so it is cooler, and there isn’t as much wind. Bike as hard and as long as possible. By 3 PM I am pretty tired, hungry and hot. Looking for a place to rest for the night. Gather food, set up camp, get water, find a campsite, fix bike, and sleep. It really isn’t a very exciting life. Maybe it is Iowa, maybe it is my painful knees, or maybe it is me following a faded dream, but something doesn’t seem quite right with this trip. Day 1 no fun.


June 5 Day 5 116 Km
Who we interact with

This trip is more than sightseeing. It is about getting to know the people that live in the places that I am visiting. It is about slowing down and interacting with people for fun. Not because I have to but because I love talking to people about their lives. And they are all too eager to share. Today I talked to a hippy couple about the magic crystals that bring Rain at the rainbow festival each year, an older lady about how totem poles should be allowed in her town, and a man whose wife is dieing of cancer. He was crying as I left. I don’t know if I was an angel or the devil with the words that I shared with him. What I got from him as I biked away was that life is short and cancer will kill us all someday.
Camping in a five dollar campground. Did my laundry in the shower with me, and shaved my face. Clean (kind of)
Tomorrow -> more Iowa

Wisconsin to Iowa

Week 1

First How do I make these maps interactive. Or link them to a interactive map.

June 2 Day1 60 miles
Leaving Home

Left parents with Mona and Dad. Same old story, those hills and farms just don’t change. All that changes is the cows get replaced with younger ones every few years.
When Mona and Dad turned back it was very anti-climactic. Like two fighter planes abandoning their escort. They left just as it started raining. The rest of the ride to Jared’s was wet. Not the best day for a start but Jared said that at least now I know how bad it can get.

June 3 Day2 45 miles
WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS

I have noticed that while talking to people in Wisconsin they all want to know why I am doing this. In other parts of the country they want to know other things but here they need to know the why. Obviously someone couldn’t possibly be doing this just for fun. He must be riding to stop cancer and fight global warming. So as long as I get these questions I give them the reason why. I am doing this to try to get more people to ride their bikes. For the exercise for the lack of gasoline involved, Hell for the fun of it. A day on a bicycle is not an all bad day.
Went to a church and stayed there tonight. I got to talk to the two church ladies, the minister and even the newspaper. I felt like quite a celebrity. They almost all asked why.

June 4 Day3 45 miles
THE FIRST REAL DAY
There is something about sleeping inside which breaks the continuity of the trip. Something about the waking up on the couch kind of well rested, having breakfast and coffee like a normal person and going about my daily business which is so unfamiliar to traveling by bike. Today I woke up outside and biked outside and will sleep outside. Ironically a good day is by this criteria is when you get to shit in the woods before 7:30 in the morning. A great way to start every day don’t you think.
Biking down Hwy 80 it was great watching the river get bigger and the sandstone cliffs grow as I descended into the valley. I haven’t been going as far as I normally do. I am trying to rest my body, mostly my knees, from getting to injured. The start of every tour always put aches and pains on the body that you normally wouldn’t feel. I stopped a little early in the town of “Hub City”. Two bars and no churches. Is this Wisconsin.
Tommorrow -> ?

Week 1

yeah a map (not exciting though)

First day is out of the way

Dad and sister biked with me for a while from home south. the first half of the day was nice. Then when they left me, it started raining. Maybe it was good that the rain came on the first day. In a way it showed me what it will be like on bad days.

I made it to Jared's house and was pretty tired and sore.

Still working on getting maps on the blog
Peace jsoh

Columbus and Magellan

With all of the final preparations still underway, hopefully by tonight I will be officially on the road. First stop, my sisters house on the other side of town.

I am constantly wondering if Columbus and Magellan were as prepared as this. I would imagine that just like me they were scrambling at the last minute. Every bike race, car race, test, presentation, and trip I have ever gone on has been a hodgepodge collection of last minute crucial details.

See you on the road
Josh

1 week till I begin

I have been getting almost all of my things in order over the past month. Getting this blog going is one of the final things.

Hello World

Initial Posting

Nothing exciting has happened yet