But before talking about this leg I must mention that I've actually concluded my riding and I'm currently in Aspen, CO. This will probably take some folks by surprise cause I should still be on the bike at this point, enroute to some exotic final destination in Florida or the tropics. However something has developed in my life very quickly during the past two weeks which sorta forced me to stop short of where I hoped to finish: I got a job! Before riding away from Columbus a few weeks back I though I would apply to a couple of jobs in cool places and see If I could snag anything and sure enough I did. I worked in Aspen, CO a couple summers back as an intern for Skywest Airlines so when I saw an opening there I applied and they said yeah. I really enjoyed Aspen before so I'm extremely excited to be going back. It is not a flying gig but this job will take me to an amazing place and will provide me opportunities to travel and find job opportunities elsewhere.
I'll elaborate more on this later on, just know that I'm no longer riding as I write this. Also know that if you make fun of me for not achieving Maine or Florida I will be forced to come to your house and hurt you. I've already gotten too much grief from many supposed "friends" so my list of people to hurt is already super long so don't make it any longer. With the Airline I will be able to travel for free so don't think I won't fly to your city and punish you with a punch to the face or a water boarding session with Cool-Aide. Not only will you not be able to breath, your eyes will also burn from the sugar.
That aside, here are the past 3 weeks or so of my trip up to the conclusion in North Carolina.
Riding Away From Columbus
I had spent approximately a month idle in Columbus so that first day out was a rough one. My legs were shocked to feel the weight of 45 pounds of gear once again since I had been riding the bike around Columbus unloaded. My bum was still molding into the new saddle I had put on while home so that was sore, and in general my physical condition had suffered greatly at the hands of all the food and beer I had consumed amongst family and friends. Yes, it was not my prettiest day. But I was treated at the end of the day when I rolled the bike up to Knox County Airport. It was dark out by the time I pulled up so I didn't expect to run into anyone out there, I just figured maybe I would set up my tent somewhere near by and sleep amongst the sleeping aircraft on the ramps and in their hangars. If I was lucky maybe I would smell like AV GAS or JET A when I awoke and I'd have that odor ingrained in me for the following days ride. They are both invigorating odors which scream "I'm all that is man, now pass me that bottle of Wild Turkey."
However I lucked out and I ended up getting an amazing place to stay, and meeting up with some awesome folks that evening who happened to be holding their monthly EAA meeting at the airport that nite. EAA is the Experimental Aircraft Association and there are chapters all across the US and world. Many of its members build their own aircraft so EAA helps advise home builders on their projects so that they will eventually get off the ground. In a larger scope the association is a huge advocate of General Aviation and all pilots out there flying, whether it be a pilot with a home built kit plane or some airline captain flying a product of Seattle, WA. Anyways, they allowed me to crash that nites meeting and they treated me as one of their own. It was a great reminder of why I love the aviation community so much. All I had to say was that I was a pilot and that made us friends. They even made sure I didn't have to sleep out in the cold that nite and got me set up inside the pilot lounge on a comfortable Lazy Boy. Thanks again to all my new friends at Knox County Airport (4I3). Look forward to flying up there sometime soon to visit with y'all.
Kind of hard to see how bad this is from the picture but my bike is covered with a solid layer of frost. This leg was at time's extremely cold and uncomfortable. There were several times between Columbus and Carolina where I lost most sensation of my toes. The nights could be just as brutal as the time spent on the bike out in the elements. I have not carried a sleeping pad with me at all this trip so the only thing between me and the ground is my sleeping bag and the footprint of the tent. The cold ground will suck the heat right out of your body in this situation and it made for some bad nites.
Funny sign I saw riding along the Ohio River just after passing into Pennsylvania. It was painted on the garage of a plumbing company.
Riding along the Ohio River was very pretty, I actually enjoyed it more than my time along the banks of the Mississippi. The city with the amazing skyline is Pittsburgh. I stopped there for two nites and had an amazing time with the Beckers who hosted me. They were a few years my senior but they gave me hope that growing up is not going to be that bad. I just hope I manage to stay that cool by the time I'm 30.
300 MILES OF NO CARS!!! Somebody Pinch Me Cause I Must Be Dreaming
So the next dozen or so photos document the ride between Pittsburgh,PA and Washington, DC. There are two trails which combine to form a continuous path of more than 300 miles between the two cities. The Great Allegheny Passage is an old railroad bed which runs between Pittsburgh and Cumberland, MD. Then the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Trail takes you the rest of the way into DC. The C&O path is actually an old tow path used by mules to pull canal boats up and down this old waterway. Saw some amazing sights along the way on each of these paths. The best thing about these paths, aside from the fact that I didn't have to worry about cars for over 300 miles, were the gentle grades each path used as they traversed the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountains. Each was at or below 1 % of grade and the paths saved me a great deal of painful climbing with a loaded bike. Most cross country touring cyclists will tell you that the Appalachian Mountain range is actually much more difficult that the Rocky Mountains because of the constant up and down relief and the high grades which you see in them. I was very fortunate to have these trails indeed.
The one down side about these paths, as this picture shows, is that they are not paved. Most of the time I was happy with the crushed limestone and packed clay I had under the wheels but at times it got really bad. I had one flat in the 300 miles of primitive trail due to an encounter with a section with large chunks gravel but that was all. The ride is definitely more suited for a mountain bike or unloaded road bike but it still worked.
Here I am at the Eastern Continental Divide just prior to arriving in Cumberland, Maryland. Topped out around 2800 FT where I crossed the divide. It was nice to see some terrain again since it had been almost 3 months since riding away from the Rockies. I was expecting some great views of the surrounding terrain once I made it to the top of my climb, however a low overcast shrouded the mountain tops that day so I didn't get to see much of anything. It was pretty neat riding through such thick mist and never being able to see more than 40 FT or so around me.
These benches would normally look out onto a great panorama of the mountains surrounding Cumberland. They just aimed into nothing the day I passed by them.
The C&O Canal Trail is just under 190 miles and terminates just short of downtown Washington, DC near Georgetown University. This picture is near mile 1, taken just as I was riding away from Cumberland.
The trail took me through Paw Paw Tunnel which the canal once used. It was almost 4000 FT long and was very dark inside. Sorta freaked me out.
Rode along the Appalachian Trail (AT) near Harper's Ferry, West Virgina since the AT and C&O path intersect and mingle with eachother for several miles along the Potomac River. I was excited when I began to see trail markers for the AT since its something I have kicked around in my head since reading a book about it last summer. I had actually considered attempting the AT instead of doing the cross country bike tour, but biking made more sense after finishing up at UND. With the bike tour accomplished and under my belt, attempting the trail now has more appeal than ever. Technically and physically it would be much more challenging than self contained bike touring and I think that is why it appeals to me so much.
I enjoy challenges that make me question if I can even accomplish them. I wasn't 100% sure I could ride my bike coast to coast when I first considered the bike trip so it made sense to give it a try. I don't know if I could drink an entire gallon of milk in 10 minutes without losing my stomach so I would consider giving that a try one of these days. There is this thing called the beer mile which involves running a mile and at every quarter mile chugging a beer. I know a few people who have done it with impressive times and also managed to keep everything down. I think I'd like to see if I could do that someday under 8 minutes. Hopefully you get my point about attempting things which may be unattainable cause I don't want to embarrass myself any further with more examples of stupid things I'd like to try.
Well I have serious doubts about my ability to hike the 2300 miles from Maine to Georgia with a 50 pound backpack in the wilderness. I don't know when I'll have the chance to attempt it but I'd like to give it a shot sometime in the next 3 years. It takes about 5 months to through hike the entire thing so finding the time for an attempt will probably be a challenge in itself. There is one condition which would have to be fulfilled if I were to attempt the AT. I would insist on having a friend do the hike with me. I'll admitt that there were times on the bike where I would talk to myself because I was so isolated and cut off from the world. I know if I spent 5 months out in the woods by myself I would never be the same up in the head. Think Tom Hanks in the movie Cast Away with his volleyball friend Wilson. There is a good chance I would develope an inappropriate relationship with my camping stove if solo for weeks at a time. If for no other reason, I'd enjoy a partner so when a bear starts stalking us on the trail, maybe it will choose my trail partner and not myself.
Bike parked at a lock along the canal just outside of DC. This one is operable and can still raise and lower boats.
Washington, DC
Made it into DC just in time for Thanksgiving weekend. I hadn't been to DC for several years so it was nice to catch up with the city. I was fortunate to have a friends place to crash at during my stay, otherwise I don't know if I would have been able to stay more than a day or so since it's so expensive.
Had to stop by the Federal Aviation Administration's building to wave and say hi.
Rode over to National Airport to watch airplanes take off and land. Despite being in a city like DC with so many things to do and a handfull of free museums I still had to ride out to the airport and creep on airplanes. Pretty sad if you ask me.
Bird hanging out at the Lincoln Memorial
Lucked out with this picture. Had an amazing nite checking out all the memorials and government buildings all lit up that evening.
The DC Metro. As a self proclaimed public tranit junkie, I would have to name DC's Metro Rail system as one of the best I've ever been on. It's easy to use and understand, its lines offer high frequency service, and you can get just about anywhere in DC on them.
The next couple of pictures are from a side trip I did over to Dulles to check out the Smithsonian's new air and space mueseum. It was without a doubt the best collection of aircraft I have ever seen. All aircraft were in great condition and all were of historical significance. I spent 4 hours just pacing around the place and I probably could have killed a couple more hours out there. If you ever have a couple of hours to kill while on a layover in Dulles take the bus over to the museum. It's free because your taxes have helped finance it.
At the museum they had these raised catwalks all over the hangar so you could view the aircraft from above. There were these signs all along the handrails warning people not to have children on their shoulders so kids didn't go on unattended flights. I laughed when I saw the signs, I just hope the signs were proactive warnings by the museum, and not in place due to actual flying children.
My amazing thanksgiving dinner I put together for myself. The cranberry sauce really made it feel like an actual holiday meal. I also used some self control and only got a pint of ice cream when I really wanted to get the half gallon tub of ice cream.
Before riding out of town I had to get my picture at the Whitehouse with the bike. The family who I asked to take my picture were actually from Rochester, Minnesota. The temperature that day was probably around 40 F so most folks were bundled up pretty good but me and those folks from Minnesota were in light jackets and all smiles with 40 F. When you come from Arctic hell on the northern plains you learn to appreciate those 40 F days.
Southbound: Virgina & North Carolina
Since I really didn't know anyone between DC and Florida, prior to leaving DC I jumped onto a computer to see if I could get any hosting for the upcoming 700 miles to Florida. I've mentioned the warm showers website I use to find hosting before in my writing but it's been a while so in case you need to be reminded, it's this great site where people can offer accomadations to touring cyclists. A warm showers host can provide a touring person like myself a place to sleep, shower, and resupply, among other things. Most of the folks who are part of this web community are other cyclists so typicaly they are very interested in what you are doing and have similar experiences to share with you. In my opinion, the only bad thing about warm showers is that it choose to call itself warm showers. I typically won't even tell people that I use a website called warm showers to find hosting since it sounds sort of dirty.
Anyways, I was able to get in touch with some amazing hosts in Richmond, VA and Raleigh, NC and it made the last week or so of my trip really awesome.
In Richmond I stayed with some folks my age who attended/or had attended Virgina Commonwealth University. It wasn't long after walking into their appartment that I realized how similar they were to me and my own roomates back in North Dakota. They had goofy random objects all over their place and lots of stuff with cats on it. Then we watched this movie called Kitten Party which had kittens just roaming around a room for an hour and a narrarator describing how cute they were and all the cute things they did. As much as I enjoy cats and kittens, it's rather disgusting to know that such a video exists.
The only bad thing about Richmond was this flat tire I got just as I was heading out of town. Pretty wicked. 5th flat of the trip. No other mechanical breakdowns.
Then there was Raleigh. What a badass town. I was only planning on staying for a day but ended up hanging out for 4 nights. Since there are so many universities within and surrounding Raleigh it is a relativley young town so the nite life is great, and it seemed to be a pretty progressive city. The hosts I ended up crashing with were amazing and they hauled me around town to check out lots of cool stuff. Up till now I have attempted to avoid saying I enjoyed a particular host compared to all the rest. It almost devalues all the amazing experiences I've had with other hosts and all the things others have done for me. However, the folks I stayed with in Raleigh were great and I have to award them with the title of "Hosts of the Trip." I plan on trying to make it back there one of these days to meet up with them again, just need a good excuse to fly back out there.
Thanks again to Dave, Marianne, and John. You guys are the bee's knees. I think that's a good thing.
My bike among the herd of other amazing steeds at Dave's place.
The chicken house in the back yard. I pretty sure only cool people keep chickens in their back yards. So for all you vegans out there don't think I'm actually your friend, I'm just pretending to like you.
Took the bus to some of the surrounding cities around Raleigh, including Durham, (aka: Dirty Durham) Chappel Hill and a few spots in between. Anyways, while in Durham I found this sign on the side of an old Tobacco building.
It was while in Raleigh that I heard back from SkyWest and learned I had a job in Aspen. I had 10 days to finish up my trip before I had to be in Denver for training. After researching the route and distance I had left till Florida I was still optimistic that I could make it to atleast Jacksonville Florida in 8 or 9 days. It was going to be pushing the envelope however and I knew if I experienced any headwinds, breakdowns, weather, or any other kind of delay I would come up short. Once I departed Raleigh I rode South to Fayetteville, NC and made a quick stop to visit a friend from back in Ohio. I then rode to the coast to intercept the coastal roadway which I planned on riding all the way into Florida.
It was the night I arrived at the coast that something very terrible happened, it got really cold. The weather system which had moved in had brought temperatures in the teens and penetrating winds with it. Forecasts showed that things were not going to get much better anytime soon either. The cold ran all the way down the coast and into Florida so it wasn't like I could just keep riding South and expect the temps to get any better.
While in North Dakota I often rode in the negative digits. As long as the snowdrifts were not too bad, I would ride my bike. All I needed was packed snow or hard top to ride on and and I'd be fine. Even on those -30 or -40 degree days I would still ride my bike into class or work, so cold weather typically dosn't stop me from riding the bike. This time however, I was anything but prepared for cold weather riding. I had been expecting 50 or 60 degree weather from the Carolinas all the way to Florida, which are typically the seasonal averages. I didn't have wind proof gloves, warm pants, or a good hat to keep my ears protected. My riding shoes were my greatest enemy in the cold weather since they were designed for warmer weather. They are designed to vent and not insullate so the wind and cold cut right through them. The camping supplies I was carrying were not suited for cold weather camping either. At no point during this trip had I carried a sleeping pad with me since I really didn't mind sleeping on hard ground or grass. In warm weather that worked just fine, but with no issulation between me and the ground I would lose a lot of body heat while in the sleeping bag. I had already experienced this on several cold nites since leaving Columbus and it sucked. I would constantly be rotating my body in the tent since whatever was touching the ground would get cold quickly.
After a cold nite in the tent I woke up to a bitterly cold morning in Wilmington, NC. I rode South out of Wilmington and took a Ferry back to the mainland once I reached the tip of the island I had been riding on.
Once I made the crossing back to the mainland I immediatly went to a coffee shop and had to begin considering my options. That particular day I had only made it about 5 miles before I couldn't feel my toes anymore and my hands went numb. If this was what I would be up against during the next 3 or 4 days I knew my pace would suffer and I would come up short of Florida. I considered Savannah, GA as a possible final destination but even that would be a long shot with the weather I would be dealing with. I started to give into thoughts of just calling it quits in North Carolina. I cringed at the thought of giving up so far North when I had plans to make it as far South as Florida. I decided to go outside and get back on the bike to see if it had gotten any warmer but it hadn't. I quickly retreated to a bar to grab a bite to eat and give more thought to what my options were.
At the bar I made the decision to ride the bike 30 miles South the next day to Sunset Beach, NC and that would be the end. I choose Sunset Beach because that is where my family has done reunions every other year since I was just a little critter. I was looking forward to ending the trip somewhere special, I figured it would be in Key West, or some oil covered beach on the Gulf side of Florida, but Sunset Beach worked too since it has always been a very special place for me and my family.
With tommorows plans decided, I still had to figure out what to do with myself that nite. The bar I was at was called Fishy Fishy and I'm lucky I stumbled into that particular one. I gathered input from the bar tender and some patrons on where I might find a good spot to camp at somwhere near town. They had given me a few good ideas on nearby beaches where I could probably make camp, but before I could make it out of there to hunt down a campsite I was offered something better, a guest bedroom.
My hosts were amazing and made the last nite of my trip a special one with a good meal and a hot shower. Recall that earlier in the day I had taken the ferry to get back on the mainland. Well as it turned out my host Mary Beth is actually a Captain for the State Ferry system which I had used. I enjoyed picking her brain about nautical stuff since I've never really been around or involved in boats or maritime stuff. I will say that after chatting with her I do aspire to have a sailboat someday. I suppose it would make more since for me to have my own boat since I will always be poor and will never be able to afford a plane. Thanks again to Mary Beth and George!
On the mainland just prior to Sunset Beach. Just beyond the road closed sign used to be a single lane swing bridge. It closed a month prior to my arrival after the brand new overpass was completed.
The Atlantic Ocean.
Prior to riding out towards the beach I bought some food and beverages to celebrate the end. It was a great feeling to just sit on the beach and listen to music while thinking about what I had accomplished. Since it was so cold out I had the entire length of the beach to myself with the exception of two walkers. I enjoyed the solitude but I would have loved to have had someone to talk to right then after finishing up.
I really didn't have to wait that long for some company however cause mother came to deal with me later that nite. Once I figured out that I was going to call it quits in NC we thought it made more since to just have her come pick me up rather than shipping the bike back to Ohio and me flying directly to Denver. It would give me a chance to grab clothes and other stuff from back home prior to heading to Denver then Aspen. After having been so independent during the entire trip I didn't like the feeling of resorting to the parentals to do such a big favor for me, but it was much appreciated. With that said, perhaps the greatest lesson I learned on this trip is treat your parents good, especially mom, or else they might make your life hell. Thanks mom.
The next day we did the official "Dipping of the Tire" ceramony which coast to coast cyclists do. Here are some pictures of it. Also, since beggining this trip I have promised myself that once I did make it to the other Ocean I would go for a swim, regardless of the weather or circumstances. Had I found an oily beach in Florida I would have gone in. If Jaws had swallowed 20 swimmers in the week prior to my arrival in Key West I would have gone for a swim. Nothing was going to stop me from celebrating 4600 miles of bike riding. So with temperatures just under freezing and wind chill driving the temperature down an extra couple degrees, I went for a swim in the ocean.
Chasing Sea Gulls
Back home, resting up with a cat on my chest. It's a good feeling
Well this is all I got for now. I plan on doing one more blog entry sometime during the next week or so to wrap up my thoughts of the trip. I plan on including what I've learned from this trip, If I learned more about life and what I want out of it, and other deep thoughts like that. I've given a lot of thought to the things I want to say to wrap this thing up but I still need a little more time. I will probably try to make you cry or give goosebumps so be prepared. I will also give you fair warning that it might get somewhat preachy. I don't like getting up on the soap box that often and telling people how to live their lives, it's rude and annoying, but I might do a little of that.
So please do check back one more time.
Bye for now from Aspen, CO.
