Some days are harder than others

We're in Virginia, our final state. It seems that the closer we get to the end, the more difficulties we encounter.

Although we've been chased by a lot of dogs, for example, I actually had to pepper-spray a persistent beast this week. I had passed a yardful of kids playing on a swing set and their dog suddenly gave chase. He was trying to bite my front tire and wouldn't take no for an answer.

Since then, we've gotten separated for half a day, had to re-route because of an interstate we weren't aware of, had to buy new tires for both bikes and one for the camper. Today, Suzanne is taking the camper to a repair place in Roanoke to see if they can figure out why the generator isn't providing power to the coach.

Oh, and today's headline on the local paper is "Heat tops 100-year record".
It's 100.

So, we're pushing on and Suzanne is a big help. She found us free showers yesterday and does the shopping and cooking without any instruction. Which we are less and less capable of providing.

There are about 6or 7 days of riding left.

Sights of KY

We like Kentucky (mostly)

We are nearing the end and wondering what life will be like when the ride is over.  Two months is a long time to do something and we've adopted a new lifestyle.  Of course, this lifestyle includes talking about reaching the end.  All the time.
 

Important note:  We haven't seen any dead armadillos on the road since we entered Kentucky.  The last one was actually right before the sign "Entering Kentucky."

A few days ago, we passed two young men on high tech touring bikes going the other direction.  They came from Virginia and were going to San Francisco!  Peter stopped and talked shop for awhile.  Nobody who rides can believe I'm on a mountain bike.  But I still like it for climbing hills and for rough terrain, of which there has been plenty every day.  They were fixing a flat tire.  I rode over 2000 miles before I had to seek air.


Alas, my rear tire finally wore through and I had a blow out yesterday after racing down an Appalachian hill in Kentucky.  Suzanne had to drive to a bike shop to get a tube for me.  It was a hot day of climbing and Peter was not tolerating the heat well at all.  We seem to take turns at being overwhelmed by heat.  It wound up being a short day- just 28 miles.  Mostly uphill.  Being chased by dogs.


We've been trying to capture our trip on film so that we can make a show for ourselves and to show to everyone.  Peter commented today that we take a ton of photos and snips of video, but it can't represent the depth and colors of the scenery, the feelings of the sweat and heat, or being pelted by rain, the panic of having a barking dog run 20 mph along side your bike, the desolation of seeing abandoned stores or mile after mile of trash on the road.  It's glorious to wind down the other side of a hill with the wind cooling you off and bumblebees bouncing off your chest and helmet. 

In Kentucky, there are beautiful farm spreads with pillared mansions and acres of corn.  We saw a pink and orange sunset over a small herd of black cows huddled up together in the grass, making a circle around the little calves.  When there aren't any cars, all you can hear is a riot of birds that sounds like a jungle.


Tomorrow, Virginia!

Peter and Karen are not on the same ride!

KAREN'S RIDING.  Karen rides down the road in complete control; usually barely breaking a sweat. Her riding clothing remains generally tidy.  She gets a spot of grease on her right leg every day, but this is due to the design of her bike rather than because of her riding style.  She has ridden her bicycle every single inch of this cross-country trip.  She has continued to pedal up even the steepest grades- never walking her bicycle even once!  She has not had a single flat tire. Karen sees everything in the landscape both near and far and can spot a penny on the ground while  hurtling down a grade at 30 miles and hour. She makes friends with all the animals we see that are still alive. People who talk to Karen tell her how fit she looks.Were this ride a Hollywood movie, her underscore music would be the theme from Rocky.

PETER'S RIDING. Peter rides down the road looking to all observers like he is either recovering from a fall or is about to have one.  He sweats profusely and generally looks rumpled.  There is usually bodily substances streaming from his ears, eyes, mouth, armpits, and his nose.  Peter pushes his bike up hills to keep his knees from exploding.  Peter has had so many flat tires he has lost track of exactly how many.   In Oklahoma (not his favorite state on the trip)  he had three flat tires in the same day... two of them occurring only 10 minutes apart in front of a stinky stockyard full of cows.  Peter has had a good day if he notices the cows by the side of the road and sees that the sky is blue. Peter runs over dead animals in the road because his attention wanders. People who talk to Peter usually want to know if he is ok or does he need help? Were Peter's ride in a Hollywood film, the music would be that frantic song they play at the circus when 12 clowns get out of a little tiny car.

How far we've come

Kentucky

It seemed like an immediate change in scenery when we got to Kentucky.  It's like a jungle!  The forest is so thick and the birds are so noisy!

The rabbits are huge here.  Not the little cotton tails of San Diego or the jack rabbits of the desert.  They are bigger that the average house cat!  The bunnies are cute, though.

There isn't much chance for Internet connection, even though the towns are closer together.

The hills are a little higher and when you get to the top and look out on the farms, it takes your breath away.  People in Missouri and Kentucky have these giant riding mowers and stake out their territory by Mowing It.  You can look out over acres and acres of grass with a picturesque farmhouse, horses, cows, and goats in the middle.  Acres and acres of dark forest border everything.  Flowers are blooming along the road and take over any field that is untended.  It's really pretty to see the lacy white sprays and goldenrod, interspersed with bouquets of white and yellow daisies.  There are lots of pink thistles.

Overall, the farms and homes are neat and well-kept.  Yards are trim and tended, with ceramic deer being the yard art of choice.  It's a stark contrast to some of the sights we've seen.  We've been pleasantly surprised and delayed because we've been taking a lot of pictures.  There are lots of old decayed barns, and lots of trailer homes...

It's humid and hot.  We slather up with sun screen and seal it in with bug spray and then after we ride for two minutes, the sweat starts streaming.  Yesterday it started raining, but it didn't really matter, because we were already soaked.  It was still pretty warm, and it wasn't windy, so we kept riding.  It didn't last long.


Brian met some locals.  While driving, he was passed by a big pickup with a confederate flag front plate and a large family sitting in lawn chairs having a picnic in the bed.  Then, at an intersection in the middle of corn fields, he was waiting at a gas station closed for the night.  A family drove up and seeing his California  plate, became quite chatty.  "California!  We don't get many a you all round here. We've never talked to someone from California before."  Brian said he discovered that they don't talk to many people in general and had a lot to say.  They had driven 15 minutes from their farm to but cold soda from the vending machine at the station. 

Brian's other encounter yesterday was at a sports bar.  While Peter and I were grabbing a shower last night, Brian dropped into a sports bar to see a basketball game.  Of course, they asked for his id.  The bar was crowded and the bar tender yelled, "California!"  So somebody paid for his beer.  In exchange, his id was passed around so that everybody could see a CA driver license.  One of the comments he heard:  "Lookit that!  The date is in a completely different place on theirs!"

Talking about our Trip

Peter loves to tell everyone about our trip.

He runs into the mini-marts to get ice and tells the clerks and the customers, the man fixing the coffee, innocent passers-by; etc.  "Hey- my wife and I are on a cross-country trip and just rode here on our bicycles from San Diego!"

The reactions have been varied.  We can always find people who think it's cool.  But not everyone does.  In the beginning of the trip, there were scoffers.  It was easy to see that they had been jaded by weekend athletes and bike clubs.  Also, there are those who take a look at us as if to say, "Huh.  Hope you have good medical insurance."  People thought we were nuts for trying to cross the desert in CA and Arizona.

When we reached Oklahoma, there were people who just stared and didn't say anything.  They could tell we weren't locals, of course, but it was almost as though they didn't really believe in California.  Like we could just as well have dropped off the moon. 

But there are also cyclists in OK.  They would stop when they drove past and ask if we needed water - and did I know that Peter was behind me walking his bike.  They wanted to know which route we had taken and where we were headed.  I got warned about loose dogs that were apt to chase bikes.  It's weird to be on a highway in traffic and suddenly have someone pull up and want to chat because they know you're not from the area.

Now we seem to be off the biking route.  People are not used to seeing bikes, and we haven't seen any riders on the road in a long time.  The roads are in good shape, but don't have much shoulder.  The drivers have to wait to pass us if another car is coming from the other direction.  We've been amazed at their patience and consideration.  We haven't gotten yelled at for awhile, which is great!

People we've talked to lately, if they're interested in the trip are amazed that we've come so far.  What we'll do when it's finished is starting to become a consideration.  Some people say they wish they could be in as "great shape" as we are; or that they could undertake such an adventure.  I've gotten more bold about telling people.  I've also gotten asked more, and it's easy to tell about the trip when somebody says, "Where are you riding from?"  It's fun to talk a few minutes with strangers and just see what people are like.


Every place we've been though, there have been mini-mart clerks that Peter has breathlessly gushed to about how far we've come and where we're going, only to have them blankly say, "The ice is over there."

Downside of Missouri

We have a lot of mosquito bites, in spite of DeepWoods OFF.

We didn't find a lot of wifi in Missouri.  Even McDonalds wasn't always a sure thing.
Our last day of riding in MO was eventful.  The morning was hot and overcast.  We rode the rolling hills ant stopped in the booming metropolis of Dexter at McDonalds.  (It had no wifi.)

We ate lunch and went in for an ice cream.  Came out and someone had unscrewed our compressor hose connection and stolen it - right under the watchful eye of our faithful driver, Hanz, who was playing a game on his cell phone and texting in the camper with his cap over his watchful eye.  Oh well. They could have stolen our bikes.  So we figure it was probably a one-legged thief with an inflatable prosthetic.


Almost as soon as we started riding after lunch, it started raining.  Since we had noticed the clouds, we had our rain gear.  Since we had noticed the clouds, we had instructed Hanz to wait a half hour and then pass us and wait again, in case we needed to get inside.  Which meant that Hanz left immediately and was at the next stop 10 miles away by the time the wind whipped up a huge dust storm and the rain was in torrents.
We ducked into a video store to wait it out.

Which was sad. The manager was very nice and wanted to hear about our ride a little.  The store was a chain, "Family Video."  He asked if there were FV stores in California.  He has aspirations of managing a West Coast operation.  He kind of took it the wrong way when we told him that there weren't many video stores in CA.  He took it to mean that the field is wide open for him....


It kept raining, but the wind stopped, so we finished out the rest of the 50 miles in our fashionable yellow jackets.  It wasn't cold.  Hanz unfortunately got lost and drove around all afternoon.  Good thing gas is so cheap and we're rich.  <= Example of Sarcasm.

Crossing the Mississip

We made it across the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers earlier this afternoon. Driving to Nashville to swap drivers - Hanz for Brian.
We have hit the 2000 mile mark!
Peter

Missouri Sights

Southern Hospitality

Oklahoma was the most bicycle-unfriendly state we've found.
People in Missouri love us!

There is less trash on the side of the road, and drivers are more courteous.  Even though there still isn't any shoulder, drivers will wait behind us until it's safe to pass.  Unlike SOME places where drivers sneak up on us and honk and then have the passenger yell, "Get off the road!"  at us.

We've had many people pull up and ask if we need water.  I've had many people pull up and let me know that my biking partner is walking his bike, but looks like he'll be along soon.

This also seems to be the state of the mean, unfenced, unleashed dog.  I've been chased here almost every day.  So far, I've grabbed the pepper spray, but haven't had to use it.


Yesterday, we passed a funeral procession going the other direction, and then came to a stretch of bad dogs.  We weren't riding together at that point, but had been trying to warn each other about the dogs and report back using walkie talkie when we had safely passed.
Peter had a slightly different experience than I did.  Not only was he chased by a dog, but he was also chased by a goat.  Luckily, the funeral director had returned and was ready to drive the goat and dog off with his SUV.  He pulled over to chat with Peter about his own biking adventures.  Peter overcame his shyness long enough to get us invited to the funeral home for showers!

We made it to the funeral home, which was a little short of our goal for the day, but we got to take showers and do laundry.  Plus we got a tour of Doniphan, MO, including the boat dock at the Current River, the pizza place, our host's home - where we had pizza and beer, and Hanz got to do some shooting - and - the most exciting part, we got a tour of the funeral home and got to see what a funeral home director does.  A win-win for everyone.

We spent the night in the camper, plugged in to funeral home electricity.  It was so cool.  We invited our new friend to come to California, but he says he doesn't think he'd ever do anything THAT crazy.


At the Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan, MO  with our host Spencer.

Glad to be moving on

Peter says the best thing about Missouri is that it's not Oklahoma.  

Hanz says it's humid and he is staying in the air conditioning as much as possible.

The shoulders are wide, the wind isn't blowing, and the drivers are courteous.  So far, there is a lot less garbage on the road.  Except that each day (so far) I've seen a pair of discarded tightey-whiteys.  At least their litterers change their underwear every day.

Today we missed  a turn and went about 12 miles the wrong way.  Hanz found us any way, and  when Peter figured it out, Hanz said he figured we had just changed the plan.  He later started calling if we were late to a stop.

We re staying in an RV campground tonight.