Day 65

7/19/16 San Francisco, CA, about 10 miles.  This will be the last blog post about a riding day.  I had already made it to San Francisco on Day 64, but being tired, and with the lack of fun going through urban areas with a loaded bike, I didn't ride across the city to the Pacific.  I did that on Day 65.  I spent most of the day visiting sights with my mostly unloaded bike.  In the afternoon, I rode my bike through Golden Gate Park and down to Ocean Beach.  There, I put my feet in the Pacific and washed my face with its water.  I proceeded to go back to my friend Devin's apartment and slept for 14 hours.

Fin.

Day 64

7/18/16 Davis, CA to San Francisco, CA via Vallejo Ferry, about 67 miles.  Riding out of Davis through endless orchards and fruit farms was beautiful.  I saw many other cyclists on the way, and there is a town called Winters about 15 miles west of Davis with a coffee shop frequented by Davis cyclists doing a 30 mile out and back.  The day continued nicely as I began hitting the San Francisco suburbs around mile 30.  Continuing on, a headwind began to pick up and by mile 45 I was heading straight into a strong wind.  I eventually reached Vallejo, where the housing developments and later urban development blocked the wind.  I got to the ferry dock at 3:20, in time for the 4:00 ferry across San Francisco Bay into San Francisco.  I'd have liked to bike all the way to Oakland for the shorter ferry ride, but I heard that the Vallejo Ferry is a beautiful ride, and I'll be living in the area for 5 years, so I can always go back and bike Vallejo to Oakland.  Made it to San Francisco and met up with my friend Devin for dinner.  Devin worked at the Federal Reserve during my first year there and is now working in San Francisco.  He was the first familiar face from before the trip that I have seen since leaving Virginia.  I dipped my feet in San Francisco Bay after dinner.  We got ice cream at Ghirardelli Square before heading back to his house in the Mission District.

In some respect, the trip is now over.  But I still need to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge, bike to the Pacific, and bike back to Berkeley (this time via the Oakland Ferry).  So there will be a Day 65 and probably a day 66, depending on when I do all that.

Day 63

7/17/16 Folsom, CA to Davis, CA, about 42 miles.  Started the day riding along the American River Bike Trail, a heavily used bike trail connecting Folsom and Sacramento.  In Sacramento, I saw Sac State, the California Capitol Building, and the California Museum.  Afterward, I left for Davis, the self proclaimed best city for biking.  Davis is also the first city since leaving northern Virginia on Day 5 that was familiar to me, having visited UC Davis while touring grad programs.  In Davis, I stayed with Robb and Nancy.  Robb is the mayor of Davis.

Day 62

7/16/16 Kirkwood, CA to Folsom, CA, about 84 miles.  Woke up this morning in the Sierra Nevada, a beautiful place to wake up, with a huge descent ahead of me.  I had spent most of Kansas and eastern Colorado climbing up to over 4,000 feet of elevation, and the day prior climbing another 4,000 feet to over 8,000 feet of elevation, only to lose almost all of it and return to near sea level in a single descent from the Sierra Nevada.  Then, about two miles into my ride, my rear derailleur cable snapped.  This means that my rear gear was forced into the highest gear, rendering my bike basically useless.  I was fortunate to have bought spare cables back in Damascus, VA on someone's advice, but I had never replaced a cable before.  I spent the next hour and a half trying to figure out how to switch a cable by trying new things and unscrewing all kinds of parts, as lack of cell service in the mountains removed the lifeline of phoning a friend or using Google.  Finally I figured out how to replace the cable, and it worked!  My bike was rideable once again.  I continued my way down the mountain, flying past breathtaking vistas on my way into California's San Joaquin Valley.  Finally, at about 70 miles into my ride, just outside of a town called El Dorado Hills a suburb of Sacramento, I ran into a wonderful strip mall with a Peet's coffee shop.  I had an excellent iced latte there and celebrated the success of making it to the urban parts of California.  I continued on down beautiful roads towards Folsom, where I'm being hosted by a family, the mom and dad having ridden across the country back in 1994.

Day 61

7/15/16 Dayton, NV to Kirkwood, CA, about 64 miles.  I've made it to California and to the top of the Sierra Nevada!  No more mountains, no more state borders.  I'm planning to get to the Pacific in four days from now.  This morning I went through Carson City, Nevada's state capital.  I didn't stop since there didn't seem to be much going on except people commuting to work.  The last town I got to in Nevada was Genoa, where I stopped for breakfast, but not before stopping for a picture in the town park right as the sprinklers went on, leaving me soaked.

I crossed the California border on a small side road that had more local road cyclists than cars, riding right alongside the Sierra Nevada mountains which surround Lake Tahoe.  I crossed the California border on that side road, meaning I only got a small post for a California sign, but it's better than no sign (such as in Maryland, Virginia, and Illinois..).  Right after crossing the border, I began the climb over Carson Pass through the Sierra Nevada.  The climb was about 4,000 feet from bottom to top, bringing me to an elevation of around 8,600 feet, the last time I'll even be at over 1,000 feet of elevation after I descend tomorrow.

At the top of Carson Pass, the road intersects the Pacific Crest Trail.  I got to meet some hikers and was offered some food by trail angels at the top.  Trail angels are people who help long distance hikers with food and water, and the ones here help cyclists too.

I intended to go to a campsite, but after finding a campground that was full, I decided it would be more fun to camp across the street right beside a lake surrounded by mountains.  This wasn't before being offered by two people at the campsite interested in my trip to share their site, but as it's my last night that I plan to camp, I thought doing so beside beautiful Caples Lake at the top of the Sierra Nevada would be too good to pass up.

Day 60

7/14/16 Middlegate, NV to Dayton, NV, about 96 miles.  Got an early 6am start today and the riding conditions were great.  I passed by Fallon Naval Air Station, where Navy pilots are trained, and got to see many military jets flying around.  Just before Fallon, I met two cyclists Amrit and Ajit from Nepal who are cycling around the world.  They have been through India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, and are now following a similar route across the United States as myself.  I got to Fallon, about 46 miles in, at around 10am, just in time for breakfast.  Fallon is where the population of Nevada starts to increase as I approach Reno and Carson City.  Fallon is also where the Adventure Cycling Association's Western Express route changes from Section 1 to Section 2.  This is the route that I have been following since Pueblo, and it means that I am now on the final section, Section 1 (the maps go West to East, so Section 1 is last for me).  Another accomplishment: by longitude, Fallon is west of Los Angeles. 

About 20 miles past Fallon, I came over a hill with a view of the Sierra Nevada, the mountain range sitting on the border of Nevada and California.  I saw a few peaks which could be on the California side, which means that I might have seen California (after consulting with maps for a while, I think there is fairly high probability that at least one peak is in CA).

As usual, the headwinds picked up again.  My pace slowed and I barely thought I could make it to Dayton.  The final 15 miles took almost 3 hours, on flat terrain.  I got a flat tire at one point (first since eastern Colorado) and while fixing it, a driver pulled over to help.  He's a mountain biker and explained the wind to me.  Apparently as the sun warms up the air in California's central valley, the air rises causing higher air pressure in California than Nevada.  This causes air to get sucked over the Sierra Nevada and blow strongly to the east.  I'm now glad to have an explanation as to why I've spent every afternoon in Nevada with hot air blowing in my face.  The good news is that I've been breathing California air.

Day 59

7/13/16 Austin, NV to Middlegate, NV, about 63 miles.  Today would have been an easy day if not for headwinds.  Nonetheless, I made it to my destination of Middlegate.  I met two eastbound cyclists on the way, Noah, who is riding from Portland, Oregon to Maine, and another from France, who is riding from San Diego to Montreal.  Middlegate is a town of 17 people, but it has a highway stop with a small restaurant and motel, and I'm camping outside.

Back when I was further east, I used to comment on which major Midwestern cities I had gotten west of by lines of longitude as a marker of progress.  Today, I can do the same for major West Coast cities.  By longitude, I am now west of San Diego, California.

Day 58

7/12/16 Eureka, NV to Austin, NV, about 68 miles.  The day started off very well.  I was moving quickly for the first 25 miles.  Then the headwinds started.  At first they weren't so bad.  I got up the first small climb of the day, and met two Norwegians going from LA to NY on the descent.  They were fixing a flat.  While chatting with them, holding my bike, a huge gust came that blew so hard that I lost balance trying to hold my bike up and fell over with my bike into the street.  After we chatted for a while longer, I kept going.  The winds had picked up considerably, and they were coming from straight ahead.  I was going on gently sloping uphill terrain at below 4 mph.  It was exhausting.  I was relieved when I finally got to the big mountain at the end of the day because it meant that the mountain would block the wind.  And it did help, although it was an exhausting climb given my state going into the climb.  The mountain was double peaked, with a second climb after the first descent, but finally I made it to the top of Austin Mountain, the final significant climb on route before the Sierra Nevadas in California.  That felt great.  I ended the day in Austin, a mountain town just a few miles down from the peak of Austin Mountain.  I met a guy named Gary there, who is walking across the country from Point Reyes, just north of San Francisco (he plans to take two years, though will stop in the winter to do something else and then go back to where he left off next year).  I'm camping in a city park tonight, with one week left until my planned arrival in San Francisco.

Day 57

7/11/16 Ely, NV to Eureka, NV, about 76 miles.  Woke up this morning to 33 degree temperature.  Decided to sleep in.  After the sun warmed things up a bit I got going.  Finally it wasn't too windy, and with a daytime temperature in the 70s, it was perfect for riding.  One of the best riding days so far, if not the best.  Got many thumbs ups from passing cars and waves from motorcyclists as well.  Ended the day in Eureka, which has a mostly boarded up downtown, and I really disliked the restaurant that I ate at.  Camped in a city park for the night.

Day 56

7/10/16 Baker, NV to Ely, NV, about 62 miles.  Got an early start to avoid headwinds, leaving around 5:30.  I still had headwinds, which required me to take frequent breaks as I was struggling even on the parts where the terrain was relatively flat.  Nevada has interesting topology, with big mountain ranges running north to south and long valleys in between.  That means lots of up and down, but I actually enjoy it since the passes are not very steep, so it's just pushing up for a while and then a nice long descent.  I ended in Ely, a former mining town that now has many closed up shops and lots of cheap motels and a few casinos.  I camped out in an RV park.

Day 55

Milford, UT to Baker, NV, about 82 miles.  Crossed my last state border til California, although that was just before town.  Today was a long, hot, and windy day with three small mountains.  There are no services between Milford and Baker, so I carried extra water, and I definitely needed that.  Went through four water bottles plus two sports drinks, and drank a lot more after getting to town.  I also passed a town called Frisco, UT, a former mining town that's now abandoned.  I saw a boarded up hole in the mountain that could have once been a mine entrance.  In Baker I met three eastbound cyclists Del, Engin (sp), and Derek, going from San Francisco, CA to Newton, KS, about half of the country.  They helped me with tips about the coming days through Nevada and California.

Also, I am of the suspicion that my speedometer loses track of a few miles each day.  The sign and map says there are 84 miles between Milford and Baker.  I will go with my speedometer in terms of calculating mileages, although I'm fairly certain it undercounts by about a mile for every 30 or so travelled.

Day 54

Cedar City, UT to Milford, UT, about 56 miles.  Had a great tail wind that pushed me most of the day.  I barely knew I was going uphill til I was near the top of the only hill of the day.  Cruised down at about 20 mph and had what I think is my fastest daily average so far at about 13.9 mph.  I got to town at around 2pm and spent the night in a motel.

Day 53

Cedar City, UT, 0 (3) miles.  Took a rest day in Cedar City.  Went down to the bike shop to get a new chain and brakes and a tune up.  Walked around the local college campus, Southern Utah University, which has a really cool Shakespeare theater.  Spent most of the rest of the day napping.  Joe, Jacob and I went out for Thai food.

Day 52

Panguich (Red Canyon), UT to Cedar City, UT, about 68 miles.  Cycling is not always a safe sport, and there are very high risks involved.  Please always wear a helmet, and when riding on highways with trucks, always have a rearview mirror.  These are the safety precautions that I take.

Today I woke up to a freezing cold morning.  The desert is a cold place at night.  Got started early and spent most of the morning going up Cedar Mountain, the last time I'll reach an elevation over 10,000 feet.  The 4,000 foot climb with strong gusting headwinds was long and slow and took most of the morning and afternoon.  The top had some great views of Cedar Breaks Canyon, although I was running late so I didn't go into the park area where I could get the best view.  The descent through huge canyons was beautiful, but also incredibly scary.  There was heavy traffic, lots of sharp curves, steep grades, a narrow road with no shoulder, and of course that headwind which required rebalancing at every gust and turn, which is tricky at high speeds.  I held onto the breaks for most of the descent.  I got to my destination in Cedar City around 5pm, where I'm staying with a Warm Showers host named Joe for two nights.  Jacob was already there.

I started this post with safety tips, and the reason is because I learned that Jacob wrecked on the descent from the mountain, and his bike was totalled so he will have to end his trip.  He was going at high speeds down the mountain when a truck coming around a corner passed too close.  It didn't hit him, but Jacob got caught in the draft and lost control.  He luckily was not badly injured, but he had some bad scratches to his elbow and knee.  The front wheel and fork of the bike took much of the impact.  A pickup truck stopped to check on him so he was able to hitchhike to Joe's in Cedar City.

Joe is an awesome host.  I learned about him from my friend James who came here on his cross country bike trip last year.  Joe took us out for pizza at an awesome pizzeria which had the best pizza I've had on this trip (and better than most if not all that I've had in my life).  After dinner, Joe took us to the less touristy northern edge of Zion National Park, where we saw the awesome cliffs of Zion Canyon.  It's a sight that really needs to be experienced.

I'll be staying in Cedar City for two nights, then I'll begin my planned 12 day ride to San Francisco on Friday.

Day 51

Escalante, UT to Panguich (Red Canyon), UT, about 58 miles.  Today was a very cool day.  Jacob and I continued to ride past Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument into strong headwinds.  After lunch in Tropic we headed up to Bryce Canyon City, where we left our bikes and caught a shuttle into Bryce Canyon National Park.  Bryce Canyon is stunning.  We walked around the rim of the park taking in the views.  After we saw the canyon, Jacob wanted to keep riding, but I wanted to stay and hike.  We split up and I went on a short but awesome 1.3 mile hike called the Navajo Loop Trail which went down into the canyon.  Afterward I went back into Bryce Canyon City and had dinner and continued riding for about 10 miles to Red Canyon Campground, where I'm camped in a canyon.  The nearest town is Panguich, about 11 miles from here.

Day 50

Fruita, UT to Escalante, UT, about 74 miles.  Happy July 4th!  Today was a big day in many ways.  First, it had some of the best landscapes.  This morning I started in Fruita within Capitol Reef National Park and saw Chimney Rock.  I later climbed Boulder Mountain, one of the most difficult mountains yet, and then descended along The Hogback, a stretch of steep road on a ridge with huge canyons on either side.  I finished the day going through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  The second way in which this day was big is that it was probably the most challenging.  I'll have to consult with Google at some point, but it had what I believe to be the most elevation gain of any day thus far, and very steep roads going up Boulder Mountain and winding through the canyons.  There was also a hailstorm at the top of Boulder Mountain, but luckily I had just stopped to take a picture and there was a small shelter nearby.  Third, I met two more cyclists.  One going east (but doing a loop going back towards LA after Pueblo) named Jim stopped under the shelter with me during the hailstorm and we chatted briefly.  Then at the bottom of the mountain, I met Jacob from Berlin, Germany who is going west to San Francisco and eventually finishing in LA and we happen to be staying at the same place on Wednesday evening.  We rode together for the rest of the day and will ride through to Cedar City on Wednesday.  Fourth, I have met a big milestone: I am within 1,000 miles of San Francisco.  I now have an expected end date of July 19, which includes fourteen more days of riding and one planned day off in Cedar City.

Day 50

Fruita, UT to Escalante, UT, about 74 miles.  Happy July 4th!  Today was a big day in many ways.  First, it had some of the best landscapes.  This morning I started in Fruita within Capitol Reef National Park and saw Chimney Rock.  I later climbed Boulder Mountain, one of the most difficult mountains yet, and then descended along The Hogback, a stretch of steep road on a ridge with huge canyons on either side.  I finished the day going through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  The second way in which this day was big is that it was probably the most challenging.  I'll have to consult with Google at some point, but it had what I believe to be the most elevation gain of any day thus far, and very steep roads going up Boulder Mountain and winding through the canyons.  There was also a hailstorm at the top of Boulder Mountain, but luckily I had just stopped to take a picture and there was a small shelter nearby.  Third, I met two more cyclists.  One going east (but doing a loop going back towards LA after Pueblo) named Jim stopped under the shelter with me during the hailstorm and we chatted briefly.  Then at the bottom of the mountain, I met Jacob from Berlin, Germany who is going west to San Francisco and eventually finishing in LA and we happen to be staying at the same place on Wednesday evening.  We rode together for the rest of the day and will ride through to Cedar City on Wednesday.  Fourth, I have met a big milestone: I am within 1,000 miles of San Francisco.  I now have an expected end date of July 19, which includes fourteen more days of riding and one planned day off in Cedar City.

Day 49

Hite, UT to Fruita, UT, about 87 miles.  This morning had some beautiful riding but steep climbs.  I had a light breakfast and spent 50 miles rushing to the next town, Hanksville, so I could get some food.  There I found an awesome gas station with a burger restaurant inside that had veggie burgers.  I had two veggie burgers and a large milkshake.  After that I had some energy to ride to Fruita, right in the middle of Capitol Reef National Park.  I had to fight through strong headwinds coming from a nearby storm, slowing me by about an hour, but the storm did provide some shade, so perhaps it was a fair trade.  I got to the campsite in Capitol Reef and it is beautiful.  Did a short hike up a cliff to watch the sunset.

Day 48

Blanding, UT to Hite, UT, about 78 miles.  Utah has some interesting landscapes.  Went past huge cliffs and rock formations sticking straight out of the ground.  It's really cool to see.  The desert is a beautiful place, and it has a sweet smell to it.  There were some clouds this morning and light sprinkles which kept it cool.  There were no towns on the way to Hite, and by the afternoon it got very hot.  The store in Hite was closed when I got there and the heat was getting to me, so I tried to go right to sleep.  As I was lying in my tent, two people drove into the ranger station that I was camping at to dial 911.  They had been hiking in a canyon and they went into a pool of water about 10 feet below the trail and some members of the group couldn't get back out after an hour and a half of trying to get them out.  Only the two who showed up had made it out.  The nearest town was 50 miles away and the sheriff took 1.5 hours to arrive.  It was getting dark at that time and I don't know how the story resolved.  There was talk of needing a helicopter to get them out of the canyon.  In that time two people showed up in a car supporting their friend going east across the country on a road bike.  He showed up a bit later and we talked for a while before they went off to camp just down the road.  He's getting a PhD in Computer Science at Stanford.

Day 47

Dolores, CO to Blanding, UT, about 79 miles.  Made it to Utah today.  The cliffs and canyons in this area are just magnificent.  There was cold rain all day, and it poured rain for about an hour, but this is probably preferable to the desert heat that I'll soon experience.  In Blanding I'm staying in a motel again to avoid camping in possible thunderstorms tonight.  The rain system should be gone after tomorrow, but hopefully some clouds will linger behind to provide shade.  I talked to an employee at the hotel in Blanding and he grew up in Parsippany, NJ, a town not too far from where I grew up.

Day 46

Telluride, CO to Dolores, CO, about 63 miles.  I've now finished riding through the Rocky Mountains.  They were truly spectacular.  I started this morning with a cold rainy hike on the Jud Wiebe trail in Telluride.  After I finished that I had some breakfast and took off on my bike up the rest of Lizard Head Pass, my final Rocky Mountain pass.  At the top I met two cyclists from France, one going from LA to Seattle in a roundabout way to see the West, and his father who joined just for part of the trip from Cortez, CO to Denver.  The descent from the pass was very cold and rainy.  I shivered the whole way down to Rico, the first town after the pass.  After getting lunch there I kept on going, with a gentle descent from the Rockies all the way to Dolores with some on-and-off rain.  I met a guy named Mike on the road who has been living off his bike for the past 7.5 years.  He was on his way to the Grand Canyon.

Day 45

Ridgeway, CO to Telluride, CO, about 46 miles.  I had to ascend 1.5 mountain passes to get to Telluride, Dallas Divide and the first half of Lizard Head Pass, but it was well worth it.  Telluride is an incredibly beautiful town nestled in a small canyon surrounded on three sides by mountains.  When I got there it started raining, and I soon found out that the campsite was full.  I opted to stay in a hotel.  When the rain let up a bit I rode around town with my bike and then took a free gondola ride over one of the mountains to Mountain Village, the ski resort area next to Telluride.  There was a free concert there that drew a big crowd.  On the gondola ride back I met with a cool family from Fort Collins staying in Placerville back down the mountain, and they invited me to stay with them although I had already gotten a hotel room.  A rainbow had started to form and when I got off the gondola I discovered that it was a triple rainbow!  It was exceptionally beautiful.

Day 44

Gunnison, CO to Ridgeway, CO, about 86 miles.  Got an early start out of Gunnison and the day began riding alongside a beautiful resevoir at the Curecanti National Recreation Area.  On the other side of the dam from the reservoir is a huge canyon called the Black Canyon, which the Gunnison River flows through.  I met another group of cyclists coming from San Francisco and heading up to New England over a five month trip.  Stopped for lunch in Montrose.  When I was leaving, the sky looked dark and I was concerned about rain, but after waiting some time and no rain came I kept riding.  The ride to Ridgeway brought me closer to the San Juan Mountains, a huge subrange of the Rockies in southwest Colorado.  As I was riding, I could see rain over some mountains to my right, and over some mountains to my left, but the clouds formed a dome over me and brought no rain.  I ended the day at Ridgeway State Park just a few miles north of the town of Ridgeway.  The campsite has a beautiful view of a lake and the San Juan Mountains.  Alex and Ashley, a couple camping at the next tent site invited me for dinner, and we had a great conversation over some food cooked over a campfire.

Day 43

Gunnison, CO (Crested Butte), 0 miles.  I planned to ride out to Montrose this morning, but over breakfast the owner of the hostel Amy told me about awesome hiking up in Crested Butte.  I'd heard about Crested Butte and how beautiful it is, but it being 25 miles off route I didn't think I would make it.  Then Amy told me about the free bus and I was sold.  I left my bike in Gunnison and took a bus up to Crested Butte.  It's an amazing resort town surrounded by mountains.  I took a shuttle up to the main mountain, Mt. Crested Butte, and hiked back down into town, a short and easy but beautiful hike.  Took the bus back to Gunnison at the end of the day.  Overall it was an incredible day.

Day 42

Salida, CO to Gunnison, CO, about 64 miles.  Started the morning by climbing Monarch Pass.  Monarch Pass is where Highway 50 crosses the Continental Divide.  The Continental Divide is where water collecting on either side will flow in the opposite direction.  This is the highest elevation that I will climb to in the entire trip, at 11,312 feet.  The climb itself was long, with over 4,000 feet of elevation gain from Salida, but not too steep.  At the top, I met another cyclist doing an alternating supported tour of some national parks (she rides one day while her husband drives, and then her husband rides the next day while she drives). 

On the way down, I was met with some very strong winds which made the descent tricky, since I had to adjust my balance at every turn in the road, so I couldn't go too fast.  I did meet a group of three going up the other side, one couple from the UK going from San Francisco to New York, and a guy going solo from San Francisco to Pueblo.  At the bottom, I met two more cyclists, one doing his own week-long loop from Salida, and one doing a mountain bike race down the Continental Divide.  The rest of the day after the mountain was mostly flat, but a strong headwind made it long and slow.  Ended the night at the Wanderlust Hostel in Gunnison.

Day 41

Westcliffe, CO to Salida, CO, about 48 miles.  The scenery just keeps getting better.  Going through the Rockies really is spectacular.  Everything up until Pueblo just doesn't compare.  Day 41 had me riding through the Wet Mountain Valley between the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Wet Mountains, and later through a canyon carved by the Arkansas River.  The descent from the valley to the Arkansas River canyon was the single best piece of riding that I've ever had.  My jaw was open the entire time in wonder that land could look like that.

I ended the day in Salida, a medium sized mountain town that has an awesome downtown.  It's their Art Walk weekend, which draws a lot of tourists and means that downtown is filled with cool art stuff.  Salida is the type of town that I'd say definitely visit if you want to see the Rockies.

Salida also lies at the eastern base of Monarch Pass, the highest mountain pass that I will climb to cross the Continental Divide.  That will be my goal for the morning.

Day 40

Pueblo, CO to Westcliffe, CO, about 58 miles.  I began climbing into the Rockies.  At around 28 miles I reached Wetmore, a small town at the base of the Wet Mountains where I began my climb over a pass through the mountains.  The pass had me climb over 4500 feet to over 9000 feet of elevation, by far the longest single climb I've done on a bike.  The climb was challenging, and the worst part is that I was surrounded by a swarm of flies who bothered me throughout the ascent.  Nonetheless, the scenery in the Rockies is breathtaking.  Arriving at the top of the Wet Mountains, a more distant range and one far more beautiful comes into view, called the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  Descending into Westcliffe, I got an awesome view of this the Sangre de Cristo range.  Luckily, I won't have to climb these mountains.  Rather, I will spend a day riding north through the Wet Mountain Valley to the next range north, where I will climb over a pass through that range.

In Westcliffe, I saw a Shakespeare in the Park performance of King Lear.  It was my first time seeing this play, and doing so while surrounded by the mountains made it very fun to watch.

 

Day 39

Pueblo, CO, 0 miles.  Took a rest day in Pueblo to see the city.  Pueblo has some nice cafes, a big library, and a riverwalk.  In the afternoon, I went paddle boarding out on the Pueblo Resevoir.

Day 38

Ordway, CO to Pueblo, CO, about 52 miles.  Had only a short day today so Rens and I got off to a late start.  We left Ordway close to noon.  We ran into an Italian cyclist coming from San Francisco who warned about heat in the desert.  That will be fun.  Anyway, the winds were excellent and we rode to Pueblo in just a few hours.  After getting to Pueblo, Rens split off to go onward, as his route will take him north to Astoria, OR.   I had originally planned to spend two nights in Pueblo, but my place to stay fell through and a motel would be too expensive, so I also decided to leave town for a campsite.  Just as I was leaving Pueblo, I was met by Donald, a Pueblo resident riding home from work, who asked about my trip.  I told him about my trip and he offered to have me stay at a house next door that he is trying to sell, just a few blocks from downtown.  Couldn't ask for better luck!  I met his family and ate pizza.  We later went down to the Arkansas River for bodyboarding.  I wasn't very good at it, but had a blast doing it.  When I got back, Donald's neighbor from New Jersey came by with some leftover pizza from their dinner and some granola bars.

Day 37

Sheridan Lake, CO to Ordway, CO, about 86 miles. (Note: speedometer stopped working for the last five miles so there will be five fewer miles recorded at the end of the trip.)  Today was hot.  The terrain began to change, with some sunflowers and small cacti and desert shrubs lining the road.  Had another flat part of the way.  Towards the end of the day, I had a homemade cinnamon roll from a cafe in Sugar City which was really great.  Just after leaving Sugar City, the outline of the Rockies appeared on the horizon.  Now I'm getting ready to climb!  Rens and I are staying on a ranch in Ordway tonight owned by Gillian, where I got to feed goats, horses, and birds.

Also, I missed a milestone from yesterday.  I am now in Mountain Time.

Day 36

Dighton, KS to Sheridan Lake, CO, about 99 miles.  Made it to Colorado now!  It's still very flat.  And hot.  I also passed 2000 miles for the trip.  Now I have the mountains to look forward to.

Day 35

Larned, KS to Dighton, KS, about 95 miles.  Woke up to some heavy fog.  Rens and I quickly reached Fort Larned, my approximate half-way point.  We ran into many racers throughout the day, and were passed by large trucks carrying even bigger pieces of farm equipment.  Finished the day in Dighton, where we met a group of supported eastbound TransAmerica cyclists.  Two milestones today are passing the half-way point and completing Section 8 of the TransAmerica trail.  I'm also just shy of 2000 miles now with 1998, but that's a milestone for tomorrow.

Day 34

Newton, KS to Larned, KS, about 107 miles.  Left this morning from Newton with Rens and Karl, two other westbound touring cyclists.  Karl split off after breakfast to stop at a post office in a nearby town.  Rens and I continued on to Larned, but not before I had another flat.  It was a hot and tiring day as always, but we had some great coffee drinks after.

The Cookie Lady

It's been a while since I posted a story not about my riding days.  This one is about June Curry, also known as "The Cookie Lady."  June Curry lived in Afton, VA, a town I went through back on Day 7, until she passed away in 2012.  In 1976, when the Bikecentennial (the ride which first charted the TransAmerica Trail) first passed through Afton, VA, June found hungry cyclists in her small town and started bringing them cookies.  Over the years, as more cyclists passed through, she continued to bring them cookies and let them stay at a nearby property that she owned.  That property became the TransAmerica Bike Museum, and June Curry became known around long-distance cycling circles for her hospitality.

The Adventure Cycling Association, the organization which evolved from the Bikecentennial, began issuing an award in her name for people or places that are especially hospitable to cyclists.  One of those awards was won by the town of Farmington, MO, where I stayed on the night of Day 25.

June Curry's story can be found on her Wikipedia page:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Curry

Day 33

Newton, KS, 0 miles.  Took a rest day at the Newton bike shop.  Met some racers and some other touring cyclists.  One named Karl will join tomorrow just for the morning, although he will be making an early planned stop.  Rens will also join me tomorrow.  I'm a bit bummed about missing great tailwinds today, but there will supposedly be more tomorrow.

Day 32

Benedict, KS to Newton, KS, about 116 miles.  Left Benedict early and had some great tailwinds.  Waved to one passing touring cyclist going east.  Then a second passed and he stopped so we could talk.  He's coming from San Francisco and he talked about how beautiful Colorado and Utah are.  Went for my first 100+ day, but got a flat at about mile 97.  Since there's a bike shop in Newton and the leak was slow, I decided to refill the tire with air and kept going.  I had to refill it one more time.  Got to Newton's bike shop and met up with Rens, a cyclist whom I had last seen in Damascus, VA.  The bike shop has an awesome hostel for us to stay at, and is currently hosting cyclists on the TransAmerica race, which is a race following the TransAmerica trail from Astoria, OR to Yorktown, VA.

Day 31

Girard, KS to Benedict, KS, about 49 miles.  I stopped at a grocery store listed on my map in a small town called Benedict.  The store is owned by a Messianic Jewish pastor named Joe, who offered a free ice cream and a soft drink, and hosted me for the night.

Day 30

Golden City, MO to Girard, KS, about 59 miles.  Had an early breakfast at Cooky's in Golden City before hitting the road towards Kansas.  All I can say about this part of the country is that there are a lot of corn and wheat farms and that it is very flat.  Pittsburg was my first stop in Kansas, where I went to a bike shop for a few parts.  I saw some people on an Adventure Cycling Association van assisted tour taking a rest day in Pittsburg.  I only talked to Dave, who told me about their trip west.  Ended the night at a Lutheran church about 11 miles outside of Girard.  That leaves two milestones today, crossing into Kansas and completing Section 9 of the TransAmerica trail.  Section 8 will end in Alexander, KS, which I will consider my halfway point.

Day 29

Fair Grove, MO to Golden City, MO, about 66 miles.  Entered a new geographic region.  Came up a hill about 5 miles west of Pennsboro and the rugged hilly terrain changed to flat land.  Ran into three cyclists Larry, David, and Russ doing a two day out-and-back trip who camped out at the city park with me.  Also got free pie from Cooky's in Golden City.

Day 28

Houston, MO to Fair Grove, MO, about 79 miles.  Had an early start from Houston this morning.  A cat came to my campsite this morning looking very thin.  It was very friendly, but I wish I had some food for it.  I got a thumbs up and some honks in support early after leaving Houston.  Stopped in Hartville for lunch at a grocery store.  After I left, I saw a touring bike outside of a Subway.  Stopped in to meet Jean-Paul, a cyclist from France who had taken route 66 from LA.  Continued on to Marshfield, where I decided to stop at Subway for dinner.  It started storming hard while I was there, so I stayed put for a few hours.  As soon as the rain let up, I continued on to Fair Grove.  I stopped in a gas station across from the campsite, and someone gave me a BodyArmor sports drink, saying it's better than Gatorade.  My back tire again somehow went flat while I was in the gas station.  While fixing it, someone in a pickup truck asked if I needed a ride somewhere.  I declined and kept on patching.  Later on, someone named JD came by and started talking to me and offered to buy me an ice cream cone.  Overall, even with bad luck with flats, I've found awesome people who help make things a little better.

Day 27

Ellington, MO to Houston, MO, about 70 miles.  Today was exhausting!  Started the morning with a flat tire, and after thinking I fixed it with a patch, discovered that my hand pump broke off the air valve on the tube after inflating it all the way.  Luckily I'm carrying two spare tubes.  Had to replace it.  Before I left Ellington, a woman at a farmer's market gave me a garlic clove and said to use it for bug bites.  The day continued with biking through the Ozarks.  The Ozarks are a series of small but continuous mountains.  They were beautiful to ride through, and contained some fantastic scenery.  Nonetheless, I felt exhausted from the climbing and the heat.  Had some fans though with a few friendly honks and cheers from passing drivers, and some locals who were very interested in my trip sat by me at lunch and gave me some very helpful pointers.  Ended up in Houston, in Texas County, MO, where I'm camping in a city park.

Day 26

Farmington, MO to Ellington, MO, about 69 miles.  Started out at 7am and was happy to have an early start.  Made it about 4.5 miles out of town before I realized that I had forgotten my water bottles.  That led to a 9 mile round trip back into town to retrieve them.  Bad start, but by lunchtime I had entered Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park.  It was very beautiful, and there was a sign for a convenience store that I would stop at for lunch.  The convenience store happens to be beside a river that people swim in.  I went in and it was an awesome relief from the heat and riding.  Best experience of the trip so far.  Continued on to my destination through the beautiful state park as well as a national forest, Mark Twain National Forest.  So far, Missouri is shaping up to have some beautiful riding.

Day 25

Chester, IL to Farmington, MO, about 48 miles.  Crossed the Mississippi in the morning, but not before first seeing the Popeye statue.  Crossing the Mississippi put me into Missouri, my sixth state.  Saw one more Eastbounder today.  Got to Farmington, which has a really cool bike hostel.

Day 24

Murphysboro, IL to Chester, IL, about 41 miles.  Made it to the Mississippi River!  I took another short day to sleep in and also because there are no good places to stay between Chester, IL and Farmington, MO, about 45 miles away.  Chester is also a cool town with a Popeye theme, due to it being the hometown of Popeye's creator, E. C. Segar.  I was hosted by an Eagles lodge, a fraternal organization, and met five more westbound cyclists there!  They've formed a temporary group of five, but originally three are riding solo, one from Ohio, one from Tennessee, and one from England, and a couple from New Zealand are riding on a tandem.  I plan to ride with them to Farmington.  That makes 33 long-distance cyclists that I've seen so far, 23 Westbound and 10 Eastbound.

Day 23

Goreville, IL to Murphysboro, IL, about 38 miles.  Took a short day today.  Last night, an animal was scurrying around behind my tent which kept me up for a while.  It was finally scared off by an unexpected thunderstorm, which kept me up longer.  Woke up late with a bad headache and worse cold symptoms causing my body to crave rest, so I decided on a shorter day and a stay in a motel in Murphysboro for the night.  I took a nap by a lake mid-day, which was very relaxing.  I saw two pairs of cyclists today going eastbound, one pair on a tandem and another pair on two two-wheel recumbents.  I've also reached a new milestone, having completed Section 10 of the ACA's TransAmerica Route.

Day 22

Marion, KY to Goreville, IL, about 71 miles.  Crossed the Ohio River this morning by ferry from Kentucky to Cave In Rock, Illinois.  Today was very hot and I've had a cold which was at its worst today, so overall it wasn't a great day, aside from the ferry ride.  I went off ahead of the Penn State group that I was riding with through Kentucky, so I'm now solo camping outside of Goreville.  I saw three more cyclists today, all going east.  One appeared to be solo, and two were riding a tandem.  Going across the country on a tandem is truly incredible.

Day 21

Utica, KY to Marion, KY, about 69 miles.  I'm now further west than Chicago!  Also passed two eastbound cyclists on the road.  Staying in a Methodist church in Marion tonight.

Day 20

Big Clifty, KY to Utica, KY, about 66 miles.  Hit my thousandth mile today!  I'm also now in central time.  The family we stayed with in Big Clifty made us an awesome breakfast this morning of eggs and biscuits, and also we had some leftover spaghetti.  Ended the day in Utica, where we're staying at a volunteer fire station.  There's a cyclist named Henry staying here who biked from San Francisco and is heading to New York.  He's originally from Germany and currently lives in Australia, after also having lived in South Africa for some time.  He is filled with stories of biking, his two kids, and apartheid in South Africa.

Day 19

Springfield, KY to Big Clifty, KY, about 75 miles.  Hosted by a wonderful family in Big Clifty tonight.  They made us spaghetti for dinner and brownies.  I've been very impressed by the hospitality that people have shown to us.

Day 18

Berea, KY to Springfield, KY, about 75 miles.  It's great to be out of the Appalachians!  The riding is a whole lot easier.  Took a three hour break in Harrodsburg, which had an awesome Cafe and dessert shop called the Kentucky Fudge Cafe.  Stopped by a state park which is the sight where Abraham Lincoln's parents and grandparents lived, complete with replica homes made from some of the original wood.  While still in Kentucky, I'm now west of the Ohio-Indiana border.  Camping in a city park in Springfield tonight.

Day 17

Booneville, KY to Berea, KY, about 48 miles.  I've finally made my way through the Appalachians!  Came down off of a huge hill called Big Hill with awesome views.  Wish I'd been able to take a video of the descent.  We also went through Daniel Boone National Forest.  Ended the day in Berea, a cool little college town which is home to Berea College, known for being the first racially integrated college in the South.  I am camping outside of a fire station, where cyclists are welcome to stay.

Day 16

Hazard, KY to Booneville, KY, about 47 miles.  Another short day of riding through Kentucky.  Nothing too eventful about today in particular.  I met two more TransAmerica cyclists, bringing the total to 18, far more than I expected to meet so early in the trip.  I'm now further west in longitude than Detroit, and also I realized that yesterday I made it further west than I'd ever been by car, that being Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH.  I'm camping in the backyard of a Presbyterian church in Booneville with six other cyclists, the Penn State group and a couple of former marines sponsored by warriorexpeditions.org.

Day 15

Wheelwright, KY to Hazard, KY, about 49 miles.  Had a late start today as we had access to an awesome range of breakfast food at the Baptist church in Wheelwright.  Kentucky has been a fun state to ride through.  It is known by cyclists for its loose dogs.  On two occasions, a group of dogs rushed out into the street barking.  The riders I'm with tell me that at the Cookie Lady's house, which also serves as a makeshift cross-country bike museum, someone had donated a sword and named it the "Kentucky Dog Slayer."  So far I've only had to use my air horn once, although I've yelled at the dogs a few times.  Even if the dogs here aren't the best, I've found the drivers to be very courteous in sharing the road here, moreso than other states that I've been to.  The people have been very friendly, and often people wave or say hi as we go by.  Tonight, the group of Penn Staters and I are staying with a Warm Showers host named Izzy.  He lives in Hazard with two cats.

Days 12, 13, and 14

It's been two weeks and I've finally gotten out of Virginia!

Day 12: Took a rest day in Damascus, VA.  Talked to some more AT hikers, each with an interesting story to share.  My friend James, who had met up with me previously in the trip and whom I biked from Vancouver to San Diego with three years back, came to visit.  I was initially planning to ride to his house 35 miles over the Tennessee and North Carolina borders, but ended up saving the 70 mile round trip, but also failed to visit North Carolina and Tennessee on this trip.  Oh well.  James brought me some supplies that were shipped to his house, and filled me up on some touring knowledge before parting.

Day 13: Rode from Damascus, VA to Elkhorn, KY, about 81 miles.  I finally crossed the Virginia/Kentucky border!  Virginia is known as one of the most challenging states, with very steep climbs up hills and mountains.  This day will probably be one of the most challenging of the trip, with two mountains and three steep hills adding up to a mountain in height.  Crossing the Appalachians isn't easy.  Ended the day camping by the river in Breaks Interstate Park just over the Kentucky side of the border.

Day 14: Rode from Elkhorn City, KY to Wheelwright, KY, about 40 miles. 
Another challenging day with two more mountains plus a steep hill.  I've now crossed the most challenging part of the Appalachians, and what will likely be the most challenging segment of the whole trip.  It started pouring just after getting to the top of the second of the day's mountains.  Luckily there was a closed store at the top with an awning that we waited out the storm under.  A few from the Penn State group that I have been riding with got soaked while still coming up the mountain.  We went down the mountain once the rain stopped, and decided to cut the day short.  We were lucky that the father-daughter pair, now a day ahead, had found a welcoming Baptist church with showers and beds to spend the night in.  We got in touch and ended up staying at the same place.

Days 10 and 11

Day 10: Blacksburg, VA to Wytheville, VA, about 62 miles.  I've figured out how to reset my speedometer so now I can get more accurate mileages than reading the map.  Started the day going along the Huckleberry Trail between Blacksburg and Christiansburg.  Christiansburg marks the border between sections 11 and 12 of the TransAmerica Bike Trail, a significant milestone.  I had an awesome lunch in a town called Drapers, a country style buffet where I loaded up on mac & cheese.  One of the workers there claimed that he and a friend initially started the Huckleberry Trail.  My own waiter was an awesome guy who wants to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT) next year.  As I was leaving, I saw the Penn State group go past.  Joined up with them for the rest of the day and camped out in a city park in Wytheville.  We ran into another cross country cyclist at the park.  One of the Penn State guys' dad came from North Carolina to meet us and got us all dinner at a Chinese buffet.  I eat so many calories from all the cycling, so buffets are great.  I am often still hungry after two full meals.

Day 11: Wytheville, VA to Damascus, VA, about 58 miles.  Finally hit the point where we can stop moving south and start heading west.  The day started out badly.  My joints were in pain, from my right Achilles tendon to my left knee.  Strong headwinds and rolling hills made me feel that I would need to take a short day.  We made it to an awesome Amish country store at Rural Retreat that fueled me for the rest of the day.  There was a big mountain between Sugar Grove and Damascus, Mount Rogers, which looking at the map had me feeling nervous about whether I would make it.  It turns out that the mountain was one of the best parts of the trip.  Less steep than the little country hills throughout Virginia, low traffic, and lots of forests on both sides of the road.  After a relatively easy ascent, we had a beautiful descent through wooded switchbacks next to a stream, where I would often exceed the speed limit on my bike.  The bottom of the mountain put me right into Damascus, an awesome town where cyclists meet hikers on the AT, where we stayed at a mixed hiker/biker hostel.

Days 8 and 9

Day 8: Rode from Buchanan, VA to Blacksburg, VA, about 60 miles.  Rode with the father daughter pair to just before Blacksburg.  They continued further on from there, trying to keep a fast pace to get to Seattle in one fewer week than I'm going to San Francisco.  I stayed in Blacksburg, home of Virginia Tech, with Seth, a friend of a friend.  Seth had an awesome meal prepared for me, and has a cool house set-up with a bar that he built.  Earlier in the day, we stopped for lunch in a small town called Catawba, only to find that the one restaurant in town wasn't open.  Luckily, my friend James, who was driving back from his own bike tour from State College, PA to Burlington, VT, and an old friend from my Pacific Coast tour who inspired my trip after he crossed the country last year, planned to meet up with us at our lunch stop.  He offered to shuttle us to a nearby gas station serving cheap pizzas, saving us a few miles of extra riding.

Day 8: Took my first rest day since leaving Arlington.  Walked around Blacksburg and the Virginia Tech campus and ate a lot of food.  There is an awesome vegetarian restaurant named Gillie's where I ate both breakfast and dinner.  As an aside, I have found the Shenandoah region to be incredibly beautiful.  I have been impressed by awesome mountains and rolling hills and valleys, and the small college towns along the way.  I skipped a planned stop in Charlottesville, which I hope to visit someday, but Blacksburg and Lexington are both exceptionally beautiful.  The only downside to this beauty is difficult cycling terrain, but hopefully it pays off later on in the mountainous west.

Rick in Lexington

I'm taking a rest day today, but while doing it, I thought I'd take a moment to begin sharing some other stories.  The "Day x" posts will give a brief day-by-day synopsis of my trip, but I will occasionally post more stuff about things I see or people I meet on the trip, not necessarily in order.

The first story will be about Rick in Lexington, VA.  I rolled into Lexington on Sunday with a group of five.  As we waited for the sixth, a local cyclist named Rick rode up on his bike and started chatting with us.  Rick was incredibly excited about our trip, probably moreso than any of us were (given we were exhausted).  He had ridden the Bikecentennial in 1976, a large organized cross-country bike ride which inspired the TransAmerica trail or Bike Route 76, the route I'll be following for most of the way into Pueblo, CO.  Rick gave us advice, helped us with basic bike maintenance, and took us to a place with a water fountain to fill up our bottles (that place was Sweet Thing, the ice cream shop which I mentioned on Day 7).  Rick wanted us to keep moving, and had a catchphrase "let's roll," which he'd repeat while hopping on his bike over and over even while some in the group weren't yet ready.  Rick rode about 5 miles out of town with three of us and showed us a shortcut to Route 76.  He seemed to know many people in town, saying hi to just about everyone.  He also seemed to be picking up litter off the street.  Rick was a cool guy.

Day 7

This will be a longer post, all referring to Day 7.

Rode from Greenwood, VA to Buchanan, VA.  Today turned out surprisingly well!  Started the day looking forward to rain and my first big climb up the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The campsite that I stayed at last night didn't afford me much sleep, after I was woken up by some people outside around midnight. 

I got an early start at around 7:30, and climbed a short but steep hill at the base of the mountain to Afton.  I passed a house with three bikes loaded with touring gear, and found a whole house full of people cycling across the country, 10 in total!  The house was that of the late Cookie Lady, a woman who opened her home to cyclists until her passing in 2012.  The home is still managed by friends of the cycling community.  One of the groups staying at the house is a group of four fellow Penn Staters (one is currently a student, the other three just graduated this year, so I'll refer to them as the Penn State grads) who are also planning to finish in San Francisco.  Another group is a father and daughter pair from and biking to Seattle.  The guy I missed at the campsite the previous night also stopped by. 

There was some debate about whether to take the Blue Ridge Parkway up the mountain, or to go around the mountain.  Going around the mountain involved busy highways, but with the mountain covered in fog, I wasn't sure that would be any safer.  I joined the Penn State grads and the daughter from the father and daughter pair to take the highway around the mountain (the father went up the mountain). 

We made it to my destination of Lexington with much daylight left to spare.  We stopped for ice cream at Sweet Thing, which will probably rank as my favorite ice cream shop due to the awesome homemade waffle cone, and because ice cream tastes so much better after riding.  One member of the group of Penn State grads had a friend at the local university Washington and Lee, so that group stayed there.  I was invited to join the father and daughter pair at the motel they were planning to stay at 22 miles up the road in Buchanan, so not wanting to waste the daylight, and since the rain so far had been light, I joined them at the motel.

Overall, it was a very exciting day and I'm glad that I found so many great people who are also crazy enough to ride bikes across the country.  I think I will have riding companions for most of the rest of the trip.

Distance ridden: about 75 miles.

Day 6

Rode from Culpeper, VA to Greenwood, VA.  When I left, there was light rain which continued most of the morning.  The road was very hilly, and I rode for about 6 miles on a dirt road with continuous small but steep hills.  The sky stayed overcast, but towards the end of the day, I approached the Appalachian Mountains and had some amazing views (didn't stop for photos, unfortunately).  About 10 miles out, I finally linked up with Bike Route 76, probably the most well-travelled cross-country bike route, going from Yorktown, VA to Astoria, OR.  I will follow Route 76 most of the way from here to Pueblo, CO.  I ended the day at a campground, where there is another cyclist staying who is riding across the country.  I unfortunately didn't get to meet him.  Distance ridden:  about 70 miles.

Days 3, 4, and 5

Day 3: Took a day off in Arlington to spend my last few days in DC.  For the second time, I brought too much weight on a bike tour.  Got rid of some old gear and bought a few new things from REI.  Replaced my old 7 lbs. tent with a 2 lbs. tent.  The bike now rides much smoother after dropping some weight.

Day 4: Stayed in Arlington again.  I rode the metro out to New Carrollton station with my bike so I could finish the bit that I missed.  I like to think of it as "uncheating," albeit I went without my gear so the bike was lighter, and it was a beautiful day as opposed to the cold rainy one on Day 2.  Riding in from Maryland made me appreciate the bike-friendliness of DC's roads.  Distance ridden: about 15 miles from New Carrollton, MD to Arlington, VA.

Day 5: Rode from Arlington, VA to Culpeper, VA.  It was a beautiful day and riding was great for most of the day.  Northern Virginia had wonderful bike paths taking me the first 15 miles.  There was a stretch of 11 miles with heavy traffic and a tiny shoulder that I had to ride off the road for a while to avoid trucks.  The rest of the trip was full of beautiful country roads winding through Virginia.  About 10 miles out from Culpeper, I was met by an awesome view of the Appalachian Mountains in the distance.  At present, I am Couchsurfing with David and Sarah in Culpeper.  They made an awesome taco dinner with homemade tortillas, and now we are watching Into the Wild.  I'm resting up now, with three days of rain to look forward to.  Distance ridden: about 75 miles.

Days 1 and 2

Day 1 took me from Rehoboth Beach, DE to Annapolis, MD.  It was a beautiful day outside with few clouds.  The peninsula across the Chesapeake was surprisingly rural with farms and fields most of the way.  Strong headwinds slowed my pace considerably.  I made it to the bridge leading to Kent Island, where a shuttle picked me up to get me across Kent Island and Maryland's Bay Bridge.  From there, I rode to Annapolis in the dark, getting there just after 9.  In Annapolis, I was hosted by an incredibly kind woman named Cindy who made ravioli and one of the best salads that I'd ever eaten. Her son DJ and their two incredibly friendly dogs Cooper and Ben also kept me company.  I rode about 90 miles.

Day 2 took me from Annapolis, MD to Arlington, VA.  It rained all day, and some poorly routed Google Maps directions had me riding on the sides of highways with small or no shoulders.  Overall, it was an unpleasant day.  I ended up aborting the plan to ride all the way into DC and rather opted to follow my printout maps which took me on some more local roads and suggested that I take the metro from New Carrolton.  I'm happy that I did that because across from me on the train was a man named Dave who once rode from Montreal to Key West.  He also went through Rehoboth Beach, and recounted his experience hitchhiking on the back of a flatbed truck across Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  I rode about 25 miles.

I'll be taking the day off tomorrow, which is well timed due to some expected rain.  I think that I've packed my bike too heavy, so I'll likely ship some extraneous items back home.  On Thursday and Friday, I plan to make my way south to Charlottesville, where I will pick up bike route 76, which will take me all the way to Pueblo, CO, minus a few detours.

Day 0

I spent tonight in Rehoboth Beach, DE with my parents and sister.  Rehoboth Beach is a typical Atlantic beach town reminiscent of those I visited on the Jersey Shore as a child, and located just a short ferry ride from my home state of NJ.  I played a boardwalk carnival game and had cheap pizza followed by soft-serve ice cream from Kohr Bros.  Tomorrow, I will ride to Annapolis, MD for the first day of my trip.

(Note:  I am having trouble uploading photos from my phone.  I will update with pictures later on.)