So we leave Adam in Kremtucky after a wonderful night of sleeping outdoors on the trampoline (not sarcasm, trampolines are comforatble as shit!) and head off to Rabbit Ears Pass that goes down into Steamboat Springs. It would be a 60 mile day, and still a great ride up to the pass. The only thing we were bothered about was there not being any water stops for a good part of the trip. Our fears were resolved when we passed a bike race heading the opposite direction, from Steamboat, about 20 or 30 miles down the road. We stopped at one of the race's pit stops and they were kind enoug to give us food, water, and energy fuel. That shit is good! They were going over a hundred miles in a loop back to steamboat that night.
So we were fine and topped the pass, where we met the continantal divide, yet again. By this time I'm pretty tired of crossing the divide and ready to be west of it, but what can you do? While I was sitting waiting for the girls to peak and group of hikers pulled up to start a trip and I noticed that they had a Play Ultimate sticker on the back of their car. They were cool, and offered me some food and stuff. I had just eaten, but the girls came up while they were still there and we all kind of needed some water so we talked to them a lttile bit and they were heading to Steamboat that weekend as well. They told us about this place they had booked for the weekend at the Strawberry Hot Springs, a great little place right on the mountain in Steamboat. Turns out they could only stay one night and offered to throw the cabin at us Sunday night, free of charge! Hell yeah we took 'em up on that, on the condition that we pass it on sometime in the future, which I can say I definitely don't mind doing. The place was about $100 a night so we were extremely grateful for it. More on that later.
So we ride down Rabbit Ears Pass, and awesome 7 miles of scenery and no pedaling, down into Steamboat a couple of hours ahead of schedule. I got there early so rode into downtown to check out the scene and ran into the bike race people again. Iris and Laura met up with Austin, so I had to ride back out of town to meet up with them and passed the number one guy in the race. They made it in no time! Anyway they give me directions to ride up the mountain a little bit to where we were going to stay that night, which wasn't Austin's but some friends of his, Bill and Dori, who own an amazing house overlooking town with a meditation pond out back, fire pit, hot tub... the works. The home was truly beautiful, and Bill and Dori had done most of the work themselves because they are awesome!
We showered up there and went out to dinner (thanks again Austin!) at a nice little Italian place on the main Street. Then we went to a bar on the river that was very nice where I learned of a new drink... forgot the name,Russian something or other... but made with ginger beer and vodka, and it was delicious! From there we popped in the liquor store and met one of Austin's friends who we bought a bottle of double espresso vodka from. That stuff is tasty. We went back to Bill and Dori's and hangout with Bill until all of the vodka is gone and then until all of the gin is gone as well... Good times. Bill has got crazy stories, hopefully you can hear them sometime.
We say goodbye to Bill and Dori and recover to go to the hot springs later that night. This place was amazing. You can get naked past dark, which some of us did, and they have hot and cold pools you can jump back and forth in. We cooked some good chicken outside of our tiny yet awesome cabin and met up with Austin's friend form the liquor store. We ate and drank and were merry. Austin's friend danced all night to make sure the terrorists didn't win, and we found him in the morning still grooving out on the balcony. I'm glad too, we can't let those damn terrorists win.
We were then off for Craig, America!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Raft Guides are cool
We head out of town through Golden on our way up the front range of the Rockies. We wanted to go farther, but we ended up in Idaho Springs the first night out, only about 35 miles away. That was pretty disheartening, but Laura was feeling some altitude sickness at the end of the day and riding any farther was just not an option. So we went to a bar in town that Iris had been to the week before (when we were in Boulder, she was hanging out in Denver) and hung out watching karaoke. We met some raft guides living there for the summer who offered to put us up for the night. The raft guide crew was a good one to run into that night, the town was really small and except for them there wasn't a whole lot going on. They were working for the Arkansas River Rafting Co., which I though was pretty cool. I also went out with some of them and did that thing we do under a shady bridge, the first real time I felt like a hobo. There would be plenty more times like that ahead...
So we kept going up the hill in the morning towards Loveland Pass, Elev 11,996 ft. We stopped and ate at a little bar in Georgetown where Terrell's mom worked in the 70's. We head on to Loveland Pass, which ended up being a bitch but very beautiful the whole way up. It got really cold, as well, as we kept hiking. We met the manager of the Loveland slopes and he let us get some water at the bottom, which was a lifesaver because we were all out. So then we rode down to Keystone, an 8 mile drop to 9300 ft and awesome the whole way, though I couldn't feel my hands at the bottom... So we had some Tuaca shots to get the juices flowing again.
We finally get in to Frisco after dark and head to Tom's place, which was extremely comforting after the day we had. Hot showers and a huge meal got us ready to continue on to Kremmling, Co, the next day. We ended up having to ditch our bikes in Keystone because the free transit wont carry bikes after dark, they obstruct the headlights, and head back there in the morning to start the day. It was a nice ride past the Dillon Reservoir and off through the scenic mountains of Colorado. We followed a river all day that day, downstream, which was a good change of pace from the last two days.
We only went about 55 miles, and it would have been less but we needed to detour through a nothing town called Heeney for water midday. I ended up going to the only place in town still open, the Master Bait Shop, for some water and got attacked by a dog... in the bait shop. It didn't bite me or anthing, but it got damn close. The thing that really pissed me off was that the owner of the shop and the dog was telling it "good boy" after it attacked me. Then she looks at me and says "That's just what she's trained to do, what are you doing in here?!?" still kind of pissed (at me) that her dog got defensive and apparently not realizing that she ran a fucking Public place of business. I told her I just needed some water because I was out, to which she promptly responded "We work on on well water and I don't have enough to spare. You can buy some though, if you want." What a Bitch! I was especially surprised because our maps led us through ths detour and the businesses that the map gives are all biker friendly.
After not buying water and getting the Fuck out of that place, I ran into a lady down the road who let me use her hose. She explained that the store she owned went out of business and it was the one that bikers used to go to all the time for water. She was lovely, and it was really too bad her place went under, but she was getting old and losing help. Anyway we left the town and met up with three other girl bikers from Europe at the crossroads... Shit I wish we were going the same direction. One of their derailers had busted and she was stuck in 3 or 4 gears for a couple of days. I did what I could to fix it but could only manage to add another 3 gears. While I was fixing that another touring biker from England came by, making 7 of us total at the same crossroads! That's pretty extrordinary, especially considering we hadn't seen any other touring bikers in weeks.
So we keep going on to Kremmling, Co., also known as Kremtucky. Apparently, many famous country music singers keep ranch houses there. I remember hearing Willie Nelson, among a few more. Anyway we go to the park in town cause there's a band from Louisiana playing that night that we wanted to catch. I posted up at the bar until they started playing, and Iris and Laura came in after a while. This place had a "beer garden" that might hav ebeen the best in Colorado... Pics coming soon.
Iris strikes up a conversation with the guy at the bar, another raft guide working for the Arkansas River Rafting Co. Ha, small world! We played some horseshoes and got to shootin the bull while watching this band from the beer garden. He was a pretty down home guy by the name of Adam, and Adam let us sleep at his little place where all the other guides lived. He cooked some for us and built us a fire and we pollished off the cherry moonshine that we got from Praderborn. That stuff was wicked, apparently the juices in the cherry completley switch with the alcohol because the actual liquid wasn't that bad but the cherries were strong as shit!
As it happens, we end up hearing from the raft guide from Idaho Springs and he met up with Adam a couple of weeks later and they traded stories about putting up some crazy cross country bikers. They both offered to float us down the river as well, but it ended up not working out for us in either place. Oh well, we still had a great time hanging out! So close to Steamboat now, and only two more passes!
So we kept going up the hill in the morning towards Loveland Pass, Elev 11,996 ft. We stopped and ate at a little bar in Georgetown where Terrell's mom worked in the 70's. We head on to Loveland Pass, which ended up being a bitch but very beautiful the whole way up. It got really cold, as well, as we kept hiking. We met the manager of the Loveland slopes and he let us get some water at the bottom, which was a lifesaver because we were all out. So then we rode down to Keystone, an 8 mile drop to 9300 ft and awesome the whole way, though I couldn't feel my hands at the bottom... So we had some Tuaca shots to get the juices flowing again.
We finally get in to Frisco after dark and head to Tom's place, which was extremely comforting after the day we had. Hot showers and a huge meal got us ready to continue on to Kremmling, Co, the next day. We ended up having to ditch our bikes in Keystone because the free transit wont carry bikes after dark, they obstruct the headlights, and head back there in the morning to start the day. It was a nice ride past the Dillon Reservoir and off through the scenic mountains of Colorado. We followed a river all day that day, downstream, which was a good change of pace from the last two days.
We only went about 55 miles, and it would have been less but we needed to detour through a nothing town called Heeney for water midday. I ended up going to the only place in town still open, the Master Bait Shop, for some water and got attacked by a dog... in the bait shop. It didn't bite me or anthing, but it got damn close. The thing that really pissed me off was that the owner of the shop and the dog was telling it "good boy" after it attacked me. Then she looks at me and says "That's just what she's trained to do, what are you doing in here?!?" still kind of pissed (at me) that her dog got defensive and apparently not realizing that she ran a fucking Public place of business. I told her I just needed some water because I was out, to which she promptly responded "We work on on well water and I don't have enough to spare. You can buy some though, if you want." What a Bitch! I was especially surprised because our maps led us through ths detour and the businesses that the map gives are all biker friendly.
After not buying water and getting the Fuck out of that place, I ran into a lady down the road who let me use her hose. She explained that the store she owned went out of business and it was the one that bikers used to go to all the time for water. She was lovely, and it was really too bad her place went under, but she was getting old and losing help. Anyway we left the town and met up with three other girl bikers from Europe at the crossroads... Shit I wish we were going the same direction. One of their derailers had busted and she was stuck in 3 or 4 gears for a couple of days. I did what I could to fix it but could only manage to add another 3 gears. While I was fixing that another touring biker from England came by, making 7 of us total at the same crossroads! That's pretty extrordinary, especially considering we hadn't seen any other touring bikers in weeks.
So we keep going on to Kremmling, Co., also known as Kremtucky. Apparently, many famous country music singers keep ranch houses there. I remember hearing Willie Nelson, among a few more. Anyway we go to the park in town cause there's a band from Louisiana playing that night that we wanted to catch. I posted up at the bar until they started playing, and Iris and Laura came in after a while. This place had a "beer garden" that might hav ebeen the best in Colorado... Pics coming soon.
Iris strikes up a conversation with the guy at the bar, another raft guide working for the Arkansas River Rafting Co. Ha, small world! We played some horseshoes and got to shootin the bull while watching this band from the beer garden. He was a pretty down home guy by the name of Adam, and Adam let us sleep at his little place where all the other guides lived. He cooked some for us and built us a fire and we pollished off the cherry moonshine that we got from Praderborn. That stuff was wicked, apparently the juices in the cherry completley switch with the alcohol because the actual liquid wasn't that bad but the cherries were strong as shit!
As it happens, we end up hearing from the raft guide from Idaho Springs and he met up with Adam a couple of weeks later and they traded stories about putting up some crazy cross country bikers. They both offered to float us down the river as well, but it ended up not working out for us in either place. Oh well, we still had a great time hanging out! So close to Steamboat now, and only two more passes!
$4 bus rides between denver and boulder
So first night in town was good, all said and done. The next day we venture off to Boulder to go meet up with Heather's friends from back home. These chicas are awesome, too. We meet Val, Crider, Cougar, and Gordy at the Reservoir in Boulder, which is like a little beach area where iz ok to drink and have fun. We end up partying with these girls, who also play ultimate, all week long. Except for Heather, who decided that grad school was more important than biking to the coast... BOO!!!!! Who needs grad school anyway?
So me and Laura just stay and kick it. Every time we tried to make it back on the bus to Denver, we failed miserably cause Boulder was just too cool. Gordy was also just bumming for the week cause she was about to leave for Europe, so we travelled around town a lot with her in the city. We went tubing one day, went to the dog park another, all around fun really. Squeeze came and met us later in the week and we all went tubing with some of her friends the day we actually made it back to the bus to meet up with Iris in Denver... Which also failed because Iris had already left for Boulder, so we pretty much just turned around and came back.
But not before meeting up with my buddy Tom who had been in Denver for a while now. We met up at the same bar that Squeeze's roomate works at and hooked up some free drinks. We rode around in Tom's very badass Entourage car to go have some tequila at this bar across town, then we went back to a place called Earl's where my other buddy, NicWhitesCarver, works as a manager. He hoked us up too, and by the end of the night we were plastered, yet again, and made it back to a party going on at Squeeze's. Tom also made it by Earl's for a drink, I think... but we lost him later. Thanks for the ride and the place in Frisco, though, Tom!! (He also ended up hooking us up with a very badass condo in Frisco a couple of days later... Tom's an all around badass, as it turns out.) All I really remember about the party is meeting some Australian guys and the bartender at Earls who happened to be friend of NicWhitesCarver and Squeeze. That and Squeeze was pissed I was "using" her room, even though nothing happened Squeeze!!!
Then Debauchery at GRUB followed, always fun. At an after party Laura ended up playing beer pong with Cougar and putting a naked lap on the line. Laura wins, and the Coug does her naked lap. Then, after some shit talking, we all decide to do another naked lap with five of us and a naked dog (we took Luna's collar off) who took out Laura around halfway through... Tearing the meniscus in her knee and bruising her patellar tendon... Good times!! She would keeping biking, though, for at least another leg of the trip (no pun intended).
What else... we also met another roomate of the house we were staying at, Claire... She did a half naked lap with us... One of her buddy's was staying in town as well that weekend, I think his name was Chris, and he was one of the other naked runners. There's a great bagel shop we went to all the time, i think Joe's... Went to the river on Sunday with the Okie crew and the girls tipped over almost everybody that floated by for about an hour... The Sunday night drama was truly a thing to behold, and we ended up crashing on the girls floor again with a few extra ultimate players... That's about it, we went back to Denver for one more night before we left on the road again for Steamboat Springs to see Austin!
So me and Laura just stay and kick it. Every time we tried to make it back on the bus to Denver, we failed miserably cause Boulder was just too cool. Gordy was also just bumming for the week cause she was about to leave for Europe, so we travelled around town a lot with her in the city. We went tubing one day, went to the dog park another, all around fun really. Squeeze came and met us later in the week and we all went tubing with some of her friends the day we actually made it back to the bus to meet up with Iris in Denver... Which also failed because Iris had already left for Boulder, so we pretty much just turned around and came back.
But not before meeting up with my buddy Tom who had been in Denver for a while now. We met up at the same bar that Squeeze's roomate works at and hooked up some free drinks. We rode around in Tom's very badass Entourage car to go have some tequila at this bar across town, then we went back to a place called Earl's where my other buddy, NicWhitesCarver, works as a manager. He hoked us up too, and by the end of the night we were plastered, yet again, and made it back to a party going on at Squeeze's. Tom also made it by Earl's for a drink, I think... but we lost him later. Thanks for the ride and the place in Frisco, though, Tom!! (He also ended up hooking us up with a very badass condo in Frisco a couple of days later... Tom's an all around badass, as it turns out.) All I really remember about the party is meeting some Australian guys and the bartender at Earls who happened to be friend of NicWhitesCarver and Squeeze. That and Squeeze was pissed I was "using" her room, even though nothing happened Squeeze!!!
Then Debauchery at GRUB followed, always fun. At an after party Laura ended up playing beer pong with Cougar and putting a naked lap on the line. Laura wins, and the Coug does her naked lap. Then, after some shit talking, we all decide to do another naked lap with five of us and a naked dog (we took Luna's collar off) who took out Laura around halfway through... Tearing the meniscus in her knee and bruising her patellar tendon... Good times!! She would keeping biking, though, for at least another leg of the trip (no pun intended).
What else... we also met another roomate of the house we were staying at, Claire... She did a half naked lap with us... One of her buddy's was staying in town as well that weekend, I think his name was Chris, and he was one of the other naked runners. There's a great bagel shop we went to all the time, i think Joe's... Went to the river on Sunday with the Okie crew and the girls tipped over almost everybody that floated by for about an hour... The Sunday night drama was truly a thing to behold, and we ended up crashing on the girls floor again with a few extra ultimate players... That's about it, we went back to Denver for one more night before we left on the road again for Steamboat Springs to see Austin!
To Denver!!!
Finally out of Kansas and into the even more barren Eastern Colorado. Luckily, Thomas' dad met us the last night in Kansas and we had a SAG wagon all the way into Eastern Denver. We were able to go a lot faster without all of the gear and made really good time. So we made it to Iris' friend's house where we said our final goodbyes to the Husky's (Thomas and his Pa) and we were able to shower and I got to play some good old legend of Zelda, Nintendo. Old school. So now its just Iris, Heather, Laura, and me still biking, soon to lose more... We all went out a little Mexican place and had margaritas. Iris was doing her best to stay awake (too much altitude, not enough attitude) before we left to go visit my friend Squeezy (aka Caitlin) who worked across town. We met up with SqueezWa and had some drinks at her place while Iris caught a nap in the car, trying to recharge for the fiasco that would happen later that night. So Squeeze gets off work and we decide to go downtown to go bust a move at some club or something. The race is off, with shots at the bar and Laura and Squeeze both have something to prove to the other about how much they can drink. Good times were had by all. So we start bar hopping and go to a place where Squeezy's roomate worked downtown. After some free rumplemints shots, its off down the road to I don't really remember where for still more rumplemints shots.
Squeezy proves her point. When the time comes to leave we are all pretty drunk and Iris' friend goes to get the car from down the street. Laura is belligerent and so we carry her to parking lot to wait for what seems like forever for Iris' friend to get back. She finally does, and she is major stressed out at this point by all the drunkenness and the fact that about 7 drunk people are about to climb in her car. Laura loses a shoe, somehow, and Squeeze lost her camera... All around hilarity. So we finally make it back to Squeeze's house and eat some delicious doritos and cream cheese to finish off the night, and then its off for a week in Boulder and GRUB!!!
Squeezy proves her point. When the time comes to leave we are all pretty drunk and Iris' friend goes to get the car from down the street. Laura is belligerent and so we carry her to parking lot to wait for what seems like forever for Iris' friend to get back. She finally does, and she is major stressed out at this point by all the drunkenness and the fact that about 7 drunk people are about to climb in her car. Laura loses a shoe, somehow, and Squeeze lost her camera... All around hilarity. So we finally make it back to Squeeze's house and eat some delicious doritos and cream cheese to finish off the night, and then its off for a week in Boulder and GRUB!!!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Kansas is awful, Lawrence doesn't belong there.
After a good July 4th week in Fayetteveille, it's time to hit the road again from Lawrence, Kansas. I love that place. We caught a ride there with Iris' mom and also picked up a couple of more people on our way. We leave with 6 folks, the original three plus Laura Gunter, my friend from St. Louis, a friend of hers who dropped out after a half day (knee problems), and a 16 year old kid named Thomas who lived Fayetteville. He would be on the trip with us to Denver where he met up with a church group for the week. We stayed with Iris' half brother and he took us out to a bar with a kick ass band.
So we obviously wanted to ride as far as we could each day to get the hell out of Kansas as soon as possible. We did pretty good the first day, around 85 miles, to right outside of Manhattan. We were at a gas station where we met a guy and his twin daughters who offered us a place to stay. They were pretty awesome and a nice little farm place outside of town. We cooked dinner and showered up and went to bed.
The next day was another 85 mile day to Concordia. We got into town late and it was raining pretty hard and we didn't really have a hit on a place to stay except maybe the city park. Iris was going to check that out and passed by a fire station that offered to put us in the extra rooms for the night. This place was awesome, it had showers, a computer lab, a huge TV, and we could make it home. We would be trying to find places like that a lot more along the way.
80 more miles the next day to Smith Center. I liked this town a lot. There was a campground there which would have been fine to stay in, but other people wanted showers and whatnot so went to check out the scene. I was happy with camping, so me and Laura went to the pool to hang out for the rest of the day. After the pool closed, we ran to meet up with the others at the bar street and they had found us a place to stay with a painter named Chris(???) He was a nice guy and had just finished a house so was celebrating and bought us some beer and a pizza. We shut down the bar and slept in his back house, but the most ironic part was that the three who didn't want to camp ended up camping anyway behind his house. Apparently the back house was too hot, but I was too drunk to care, plus there was a matress, which I hadn't seen in a couple of days so I was all for it.
The next day was our first century day!!! Woohoo and shit! We made it into Oberlin that night pretty late and went to a pizza pie shop, really the only thing open in town. We asked around for a place to stay but we were just directed to the hotel down the road. We stayed in a tiny hotel room, so small we had to lock our bikes up outside. At least we had a warm shower, though.
The next day was pretty light, only about 70 miles, but it would be our last night in Kansas, so we were pretty ecstatic. We stayed in St. Francis, the last town before Eastern Colorado, with a high school physical education teacher named (???). His family was nice; there were a bunch of kids running around playing with neighbors when we got there. The town seemd pretty nice, too, especially in comparison to the tiny towns we had been passing in the last week. Thomas bought us all ice cream in celebration of finally making to Colorado, or at least being close enough.
Kansas is NOT flat. It's actually like a stair step up all the way to Colorado. We were just happy to be going less uphill when we did, and that was few and far between. The headwind was tolerable on most days, I remember only one bad day in particular. But I was so sick of seeing corn and wheat fields and nothing else I was happy to be in the Colorado desert.
So we obviously wanted to ride as far as we could each day to get the hell out of Kansas as soon as possible. We did pretty good the first day, around 85 miles, to right outside of Manhattan. We were at a gas station where we met a guy and his twin daughters who offered us a place to stay. They were pretty awesome and a nice little farm place outside of town. We cooked dinner and showered up and went to bed.
The next day was another 85 mile day to Concordia. We got into town late and it was raining pretty hard and we didn't really have a hit on a place to stay except maybe the city park. Iris was going to check that out and passed by a fire station that offered to put us in the extra rooms for the night. This place was awesome, it had showers, a computer lab, a huge TV, and we could make it home. We would be trying to find places like that a lot more along the way.
80 more miles the next day to Smith Center. I liked this town a lot. There was a campground there which would have been fine to stay in, but other people wanted showers and whatnot so went to check out the scene. I was happy with camping, so me and Laura went to the pool to hang out for the rest of the day. After the pool closed, we ran to meet up with the others at the bar street and they had found us a place to stay with a painter named Chris(???) He was a nice guy and had just finished a house so was celebrating and bought us some beer and a pizza. We shut down the bar and slept in his back house, but the most ironic part was that the three who didn't want to camp ended up camping anyway behind his house. Apparently the back house was too hot, but I was too drunk to care, plus there was a matress, which I hadn't seen in a couple of days so I was all for it.
The next day was our first century day!!! Woohoo and shit! We made it into Oberlin that night pretty late and went to a pizza pie shop, really the only thing open in town. We asked around for a place to stay but we were just directed to the hotel down the road. We stayed in a tiny hotel room, so small we had to lock our bikes up outside. At least we had a warm shower, though.
The next day was pretty light, only about 70 miles, but it would be our last night in Kansas, so we were pretty ecstatic. We stayed in St. Francis, the last town before Eastern Colorado, with a high school physical education teacher named (???). His family was nice; there were a bunch of kids running around playing with neighbors when we got there. The town seemd pretty nice, too, especially in comparison to the tiny towns we had been passing in the last week. Thomas bought us all ice cream in celebration of finally making to Colorado, or at least being close enough.
Kansas is NOT flat. It's actually like a stair step up all the way to Colorado. We were just happy to be going less uphill when we did, and that was few and far between. The headwind was tolerable on most days, I remember only one bad day in particular. But I was so sick of seeing corn and wheat fields and nothing else I was happy to be in the Colorado desert.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Missouri was easy
After Evansville the next big stop was St. Louis. We say goodbye to Chris and head out for Wayne City where the couple from the Winery picked us up. Nothing very interesting happened today except I found a bag of jawbreakers on the side of the road... and that was exciting. The floods did divert our route a bit and we had to take the freeway which wasn't as hectic as I thought it would be.
The couple, Brent and Beth Young, were amazing to us. They picked us up and we met most of their little girls, who were adorable!!! We ended up sleeping in the girls room in bunk beds, which was really cool and reminded me of when I had a bunk bed as a kid. They sent us off the next morning with Dairy Queen shirts (they owned one and a subway), good for me cause I only had one non-biking shirt at the time. Thanks so much for the hospitality!!!
So we were off to St. Louis, finally, and made it to Praderborn, a town with a bar and a church. We stopped in the bar and met a group of bikers (vrooom vrooom kind) called the Praderborn Rat Pack. They were really nice to us and gave us a bunch of paraphanalia including bandanas and coozies. One of the guys mailed us a bunch of cherry moonshine that we ended up drinking later in Colorado, more on that later.
So we made it around nightfall to Columbia, a suburb of St. Louis. We stopped at a bar there and waited for Mike Mertz to come pick us up. If you don't know Mike, you should. I met him through ultimate a couple of years ago and he is nothing if not a scholar and a gentleman.
We had a good night bumming around St. Louis until we got rear ended in the middle of the night. Our bikes were on the back of his car on a rack, and Iris' got pretty smashed up, keeping us in St. Louis for a couple of days while she waited for repairs. We really wanted to get to Solstice in Tulsa, so we hitched a ride with Addison, one of Mertz's friends, to the tourney and had a blast as usual at Solstice. Heather flew home and if she doesn't regret it, she should... You hear me Heather!!!!
Then a week of kicking it in Fayetteville and the dreaded Kansas was the next part of the trip. Don't worry, as soon as I get back home I'm taking the Katy (sp?) trail from St. Louis to Lawrence to make up for lost time.
The couple, Brent and Beth Young, were amazing to us. They picked us up and we met most of their little girls, who were adorable!!! We ended up sleeping in the girls room in bunk beds, which was really cool and reminded me of when I had a bunk bed as a kid. They sent us off the next morning with Dairy Queen shirts (they owned one and a subway), good for me cause I only had one non-biking shirt at the time. Thanks so much for the hospitality!!!
So we were off to St. Louis, finally, and made it to Praderborn, a town with a bar and a church. We stopped in the bar and met a group of bikers (vrooom vrooom kind) called the Praderborn Rat Pack. They were really nice to us and gave us a bunch of paraphanalia including bandanas and coozies. One of the guys mailed us a bunch of cherry moonshine that we ended up drinking later in Colorado, more on that later.
So we made it around nightfall to Columbia, a suburb of St. Louis. We stopped at a bar there and waited for Mike Mertz to come pick us up. If you don't know Mike, you should. I met him through ultimate a couple of years ago and he is nothing if not a scholar and a gentleman.
We had a good night bumming around St. Louis until we got rear ended in the middle of the night. Our bikes were on the back of his car on a rack, and Iris' got pretty smashed up, keeping us in St. Louis for a couple of days while she waited for repairs. We really wanted to get to Solstice in Tulsa, so we hitched a ride with Addison, one of Mertz's friends, to the tourney and had a blast as usual at Solstice. Heather flew home and if she doesn't regret it, she should... You hear me Heather!!!!
Then a week of kicking it in Fayetteville and the dreaded Kansas was the next part of the trip. Don't worry, as soon as I get back home I'm taking the Katy (sp?) trail from St. Louis to Lawrence to make up for lost time.
Hoosier Hospitality
We bounce from Louisville and immediately cross the border into Indiana and on the road to Evansville, two days away. Today was our first crash... mine. My front tire got caught up in the space between the road and some railroad tracks and I fell pretty hard in the road. As I was falling I looked for cars coming from behind me, which turned out to be good because it allowed me to fall and come out with only one scratch. No cars were coming, thank Jebus, but you knew that part.
So we stop at Hawg's Tavern bar on the way and have some crown shots... and some jello shots. The bar was a typical biker bar and the bartender, Caroline, ended up liking us and our story and hooked us up with everything for $5 plus sent us on our way with a dozen jello shots. I liked that bar.
That night we ended up staying in a little bed and breakfast/ vineyard called Scout Mountain Hideaway, owned by a guy named Mike who was a very cool guy. They had people coming in the next morning so we actually stayed in the barn out back, but we did get to use their hot tub and finish off the jello shots we picked up from the bar.
We leave the hideaway and are on the way for Evansville. On the way we stop at a vineyard for a tasting and it turns out the bartender knows Mike pretty well. He gets some grapes from Mike for the wine. We also met a couple there who had a couple of kids with them and they offer to put us up a couple of nights later if we were coming through their area. We would meet up with them later. We stopped a little while later for lunch and a guy comes up to us and asks us about the trip and all and says, "Yall ever heard of Hoosier hospitality"? He then throws down $40 and says "Well I'm buying your lunch, welcome to Indiana." It's like Southern hospitality, but in Indiana, I love it.
So we make it to Evansville and meet up with a guy named Chris who taught college there and was the ultimate faculty adviser for the college. He ended up taking us out and buying us dinner at a great little German brewery. Then we went out in town to 80's night at some bar in town and danced maybe had a drink or two... or three. The next morning we set off for the rest of Indiana.
So we stop at Hawg's Tavern bar on the way and have some crown shots... and some jello shots. The bar was a typical biker bar and the bartender, Caroline, ended up liking us and our story and hooked us up with everything for $5 plus sent us on our way with a dozen jello shots. I liked that bar.
That night we ended up staying in a little bed and breakfast/ vineyard called Scout Mountain Hideaway, owned by a guy named Mike who was a very cool guy. They had people coming in the next morning so we actually stayed in the barn out back, but we did get to use their hot tub and finish off the jello shots we picked up from the bar.
We leave the hideaway and are on the way for Evansville. On the way we stop at a vineyard for a tasting and it turns out the bartender knows Mike pretty well. He gets some grapes from Mike for the wine. We also met a couple there who had a couple of kids with them and they offer to put us up a couple of nights later if we were coming through their area. We would meet up with them later. We stopped a little while later for lunch and a guy comes up to us and asks us about the trip and all and says, "Yall ever heard of Hoosier hospitality"? He then throws down $40 and says "Well I'm buying your lunch, welcome to Indiana." It's like Southern hospitality, but in Indiana, I love it.
So we make it to Evansville and meet up with a guy named Chris who taught college there and was the ultimate faculty adviser for the college. He ended up taking us out and buying us dinner at a great little German brewery. Then we went out in town to 80's night at some bar in town and danced maybe had a drink or two... or three. The next morning we set off for the rest of Indiana.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Kentucky is Awesome Again
So we left from my Aunts house and biked about 70 miles south to get back toward Lexington. Our plan was to hit as many bourbon distilleries as we could before shooting west towards St. Louis. The next few days would be a beautiful ride. There were a ton of horse farms all over Kentucky with huge plantations and a bunch of old money. We made it right outside of Lexington and stayed at the Kentucky Horse Park camping grounds, the absolute largest campground I've ever been to by far. It had a pool, tennis courts, a huge bathhouse, the works. We got in really late so we set up and passed out pretty quickly so we could get out early to go to Louisville that night.
We left the park toward the distilleries the next morning. We only had time to make one, the Buffalo Trace distillery, which turned out to be really good whiskey. They used to be Ancient Age before getting bought out and upgraded. So we got some free whiskey and decided to hurry and get to Frankfort, the capitol of Kentucky, to eat lunch. We stopped by the best place we probably could have, Rick's White Light. Rick has to be one of the coolest characters we've met so far. This guy has been a chef for presidents, movie stars, a bunch of big people for a long time, but now owns a small corner burger joint that seats less than 20.
Rick was outrageous. We stayed and bullshitted with him for about 3 hours about politics, race, law, and a bunch of other shit. He got sued by a copyright infringement lawyer for selling "Derby Pie," which the lawyer convinced the courts was an owned name when it actually has been around since Rick started cooking. It is most definitely public domain, but Rick's lawyer really sucked and lost the case. And then the lawyer told Rick he owed him about $12,000 for legal fees, so Rick was pretty screwed. The most amazing part was his ability to laugh about it and to come up with a plan to get the money. He has a styrofoam cup in the restaurant that says "Rick's Legal Fund" and he figures if someone gives him $7 each day in the cup, he can pay them off in like 30 years or something. It's been working, the lady that sat next to me gave him his $7 for that day. She also gave him a bottle of wine, which he poured for us a little bit later. What a solid guy. If anyone is ever in Frankfort, it is by far the best place to be, though it is a little hard to find. Look for the sign that says "Ladies Welcome."
So we leave Rick to close up and head on to Louisville with no plan of where to stay. There really weren't any campgrounds close to where we were but we were pretty sure there was ultimate in town so we called King Kharl assuming that he would know most people in Louisville... He told us where to go to find summer league games that night close to the river. I left the girls to go find ultimate by the river, but didn't know exactly where it was at. So it get to the river and start riding down the road as I pass soccer field after soccer field with no ultimate and am starting to lose hope. It was getting late, after all. I decided to ride until my odometer said 80 miles and then I would turn around and figure something else out. My odometer reached 80.08 when I saw the first 7 on the line and it was like beacon of hope.
Their summer league was pretty good size with 12 teams and a cool director named Lumis (might be spelled wrong...) who I talked to at first about a spot to crash. He offered his, although we ended up staying with another player after a full night of drinking and debauchery. All you can eat pizza and all you can drink beer plus a facemelting band for $10 in Louisville on Wednesday nights, by the way. We partied there for a while and met up with our future host, Evan, who was a very chill guy. He was so chill that he convinced us to stay another day in town so he could show us around all the parks and the cool parts of town. We ended up lounging by the pool for a while after working out a bit and then checking out the town, which was one of those towns like Austin or Fayetteville that just seems out of its element compared to the rest of the towns in that state. It was a funky little place that was big on local business and had a nice little nightlife scene. So we went out again that night and met up with Lumis again to have a few beers and a bite. Thanks again Lumis and Evan!!! Yall made Louisville very worth the trip! We geared up to leave Louisville the next morning to take off for the plains of southern Illinois and Indiana on our way to St. Louis.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Poultry Days
So Jess drops off us the next day to catch our ride, and we make him pretty late for work in the process (sorry again!). The Asheville players who came down were really cool to pack us in pretty tight for the ride up to Versailles. They also convinced that I want to do a lot of hanging out in Asheville. It sounds like a Fayetteville-like area in North Carolina, except the mountains are bigger. So we arrive in Versailles at my first Poultry Days, which I had no clue was also a town festival with carnival rides and food and delicious chicken dinners on Saturday night after games. Bowers and I rode some rides that almost got the better of our stomachs, but we managed to not ralph on each other... yet... The camping was pretty good, too. It only rained the first night, and for some reason I was in Scott Brown's tent which we fucked up right before going to bed and so got a little wet. The second night I made it to my tent, and it didn't even rain that night, but I still woke up wet and in a puddle... that's so strange...
I got to play with UPS, I think for the first time ever, which was very cool. I already miss playing with every person on that team... except for Scott Brown. Ha, yust yoking, but he is a broken like he's on the mark lookin ass!!! That kiddie pool fucked that kid up! I'll see you in Tulsa though, I just bet... Thank you, Jon, for picking me up. I got that $30 for you somewhere, I think it fell out of my pocket on the ride or something...
So the tourney came to an end and we snagged a ride back to Highland Heights from a scrumptralescent (and I only use that name for very few folks) dude named Kevin, who happened to grow up about 5 minutes from my aunt's house. He has been away for a while in the service, but lives right above San Diego now and came back to visit his family and go to Poultry Days. It turns out he actually went to grade school with another cousin of mine (once or twiced removed) who I haven't had the chance to meet yet. Thanks for not only the ride, but for the shoes, too. They are perfect retro, purple and blue, Oasis tennis shoes. I swear I had a smaller version when I was a kid. Until now I've only had the bike cleats, which are getting pretty roughed up, so the shoes really saved my ass!
We made it back to my aunt's house and had a great taco night and promptly passed out only to wake up too late to get where were gonna go today. So, were gonna chill one more night before taking off to the bourbon trail tomorrow. I at least had time to catch up on my blog today, which has been a long time coming. I need to get a lot of pictures on this thing so I gotta quit writing, but keep checking and hopefully I wont wait a week before posting. Peace!
I got to play with UPS, I think for the first time ever, which was very cool. I already miss playing with every person on that team... except for Scott Brown. Ha, yust yoking, but he is a broken like he's on the mark lookin ass!!! That kiddie pool fucked that kid up! I'll see you in Tulsa though, I just bet... Thank you, Jon, for picking me up. I got that $30 for you somewhere, I think it fell out of my pocket on the ride or something...
So the tourney came to an end and we snagged a ride back to Highland Heights from a scrumptralescent (and I only use that name for very few folks) dude named Kevin, who happened to grow up about 5 minutes from my aunt's house. He has been away for a while in the service, but lives right above San Diego now and came back to visit his family and go to Poultry Days. It turns out he actually went to grade school with another cousin of mine (once or twiced removed) who I haven't had the chance to meet yet. Thanks for not only the ride, but for the shoes, too. They are perfect retro, purple and blue, Oasis tennis shoes. I swear I had a smaller version when I was a kid. Until now I've only had the bike cleats, which are getting pretty roughed up, so the shoes really saved my ass!
We made it back to my aunt's house and had a great taco night and promptly passed out only to wake up too late to get where were gonna go today. So, were gonna chill one more night before taking off to the bourbon trail tomorrow. I at least had time to catch up on my blog today, which has been a long time coming. I need to get a lot of pictures on this thing so I gotta quit writing, but keep checking and hopefully I wont wait a week before posting. Peace!
Kentucky!!!!!
Finally, out of Virginia and the tallest part of the Appalachians. Our first day in Kentucky was beautiful, and because we were off the map again, going towards Poultry Days, there were no outrageous hills to deal with. In fact, we went downhill most of the day, coming off of the bigger mountains. Virginia, bad. Kentucky, good. There were a lot scenic overlooks at the beginning of the day and rolling hills and fields the rest of it. We followed a river for most of the ride, which was also pretty relaxing.
We made it about 65 miles down the road to Prestonburg. Not too much going on there really. We stopped by the Dairy Cheer and had a burger because the sign said Smashburger which sounded too good turn down, and I had to take a picture for Jacob. I didn't even know he had his own burger... We stayed in a hotel again that night because Iris had a lot more work to do; she stayed up most of the night to do it which made it a tough ride the next day.
So we left the next morning for Morehead, which sounded like an awesome place to me. Turns out it was. Morehead College is there and it has a really beautiful, and surprisingly large, campus. We heard about a sweet bar there called the Road Runner from a lot of different folks so went to check it out. We were even more excited to learn that they had endless cups of beer for $8. That's why we were really depressed to find out that they closed over the summer because all of the students are out of town and the town pretty much dies.
Regardless, we met a guy on the street named Nate who was also on a bike so seemed like a good fella to talk to. Turns out he was. He offered to let us come up to his apartment and shower off and everything. Good work Iris!!! And thanks a ton Nasty Nate. We also met a couple of girls who lived across the hallway, Amy and Jane, who were really cool and let me cook dinner and breakfast and opened up their apartment to us. They had a test the next day, but still took us out and picked us up in between study sessions. They were amazing to hang out with. Thanks for everything girls, I hope you rocked that anatomy test!!!
So we left (begrudgingly) from Morehead the next day on the route to Cynthiana, a town about an hour south of my aunt's house in Highland Heights, which is right below Cincinnati. That ride was about 75 miles, so we were pretty happy about to get there and drink some huge beers at a Mexican restaurant for cheap. That's where my aunt came and picked us and the bikes up to go chill in Highland heights for the night. Thanks for all your help Ainee!!! We then called around to get a ride to Poultry Days from Cincinatti and Heather new some folks from Asheville, North Carolina, who were coming through the next day for the tourney. So our night was set, and after a great rendition of Piano Man by the whole team, happy to finally be traveling while not pedaling, we got some sleep and prepared for the tournament.
But not before playing some old school Bubble Bobble with my cousin Jess, something I haven't done in an least 10 years. Fucking Awesome. And thanks for the ride, too, sorry to make you late for work cousin!
We made it about 65 miles down the road to Prestonburg. Not too much going on there really. We stopped by the Dairy Cheer and had a burger because the sign said Smashburger which sounded too good turn down, and I had to take a picture for Jacob. I didn't even know he had his own burger... We stayed in a hotel again that night because Iris had a lot more work to do; she stayed up most of the night to do it which made it a tough ride the next day.
So we left the next morning for Morehead, which sounded like an awesome place to me. Turns out it was. Morehead College is there and it has a really beautiful, and surprisingly large, campus. We heard about a sweet bar there called the Road Runner from a lot of different folks so went to check it out. We were even more excited to learn that they had endless cups of beer for $8. That's why we were really depressed to find out that they closed over the summer because all of the students are out of town and the town pretty much dies.
Regardless, we met a guy on the street named Nate who was also on a bike so seemed like a good fella to talk to. Turns out he was. He offered to let us come up to his apartment and shower off and everything. Good work Iris!!! And thanks a ton Nasty Nate. We also met a couple of girls who lived across the hallway, Amy and Jane, who were really cool and let me cook dinner and breakfast and opened up their apartment to us. They had a test the next day, but still took us out and picked us up in between study sessions. They were amazing to hang out with. Thanks for everything girls, I hope you rocked that anatomy test!!!
So we left (begrudgingly) from Morehead the next day on the route to Cynthiana, a town about an hour south of my aunt's house in Highland Heights, which is right below Cincinnati. That ride was about 75 miles, so we were pretty happy about to get there and drink some huge beers at a Mexican restaurant for cheap. That's where my aunt came and picked us and the bikes up to go chill in Highland heights for the night. Thanks for all your help Ainee!!! We then called around to get a ride to Poultry Days from Cincinatti and Heather new some folks from Asheville, North Carolina, who were coming through the next day for the tourney. So our night was set, and after a great rendition of Piano Man by the whole team, happy to finally be traveling while not pedaling, we got some sleep and prepared for the tournament.
But not before playing some old school Bubble Bobble with my cousin Jess, something I haven't done in an least 10 years. Fucking Awesome. And thanks for the ride, too, sorry to make you late for work cousin!
Kentucky bound.
So we leave Abingdon for the pass, called The Butt, and the roads are pretty normal except for right before the mountain there is a huge 6-7 mile downhill that we coasted to the bottom of. We actually stopped and had to make sure we were going the right way because we were told it was going to get pretty rough before the actual pass. It actually wasn't bad at all. It might have been the mountain we had already done, or just a couple more days of conditioning, but we were over the pass before we knew it. The direction change cost us about 10-15 miles, but shaved off about 1500 feet and a 3.5 mile 8-9 grade hill. That's pretty much as steep as you get.
We were finally on the other side of the mountains, so we thought. There were actually a few great downhills on the way to Elkhorn City, our first city on the map in Kentucky, but they were paired with some steep ass uphills as well. They weren't as long as earlier, but short and steep can be worse, especially when your going slow at the end of the day. As we get closer to the state line, the hill keeps going up and up and we are dog tired. We finally make it to the top where there is a campground at the state line called Breaks Interstate Park. What a beautiful place, even despite the fact we had to go uphill for about another mile after getting to the park itself. We met some other folks doing the same trail at the entrance to the campgrounds and they had a SAG wagon, which is when one of the bikers drives all the equipment and stuff from stop to stop. That would be nice, no gear on the bike and a ride to whatever you want... but it still seemed like cheating.
This last day in Virginia had to be one of my favorite rides. The locusts out here are in full throttle, and going into some of the valleys the noise they were making was deafening. They are pretty hard to avoid hitting on downhills, too, when your going 30 mph or so. And they hurt, really bad. I caught a small bug in the eye earlier and thankfully bought a pair of sunglasses for this stretch. I would hit 2 or 3 at a time sometimes. I caught one dead on ole righty and actually had to stop to recover... Shoulda worn a cup.
We were finally on the other side of the mountains, so we thought. There were actually a few great downhills on the way to Elkhorn City, our first city on the map in Kentucky, but they were paired with some steep ass uphills as well. They weren't as long as earlier, but short and steep can be worse, especially when your going slow at the end of the day. As we get closer to the state line, the hill keeps going up and up and we are dog tired. We finally make it to the top where there is a campground at the state line called Breaks Interstate Park. What a beautiful place, even despite the fact we had to go uphill for about another mile after getting to the park itself. We met some other folks doing the same trail at the entrance to the campgrounds and they had a SAG wagon, which is when one of the bikers drives all the equipment and stuff from stop to stop. That would be nice, no gear on the bike and a ride to whatever you want... but it still seemed like cheating.
This last day in Virginia had to be one of my favorite rides. The locusts out here are in full throttle, and going into some of the valleys the noise they were making was deafening. They are pretty hard to avoid hitting on downhills, too, when your going 30 mph or so. And they hurt, really bad. I caught a small bug in the eye earlier and thankfully bought a pair of sunglasses for this stretch. I would hit 2 or 3 at a time sometimes. I caught one dead on ole righty and actually had to stop to recover... Shoulda worn a cup.
Holy Frijoles!!!
We left the hotel with a route change that ended up cutting out a bunch of unnecessary miles and unnecessary mountains on our way to Poultry Days. I really wanted to make that tournament because I'd never been before and I heard so much about it. It was a 60 mile day and we decided to go get some Mexican food that night. The night before, at the hotel, there was a Mexican place but it closed down too early for us to go, but we still had Marg's on the mind all day long.
We finally show up to Abingdon and find the Mexican place, which was closed on Sundays... So we found another one (Marg's on the mind) about three miles away. The margaritas were great after dinner and drinking biking was the last thing we wanted to do. By this time it was getting dark and the pass over the next set of mountains was really close to town and the campground was still 10 miles down the road toward the pass. I wouldn't have minded going to the campground in hindsight, it was almost a straight drop downhill the whole way, but we didn't know that at the time and heard that it might be a rough ride to the campground. So Iris begins asking around for a yard or some other nearby place to camp and all of the people lived even farther than the campground so that was out. She eventually asks the Mexicans and they let us camp in the back of the restaurant, where there is a little field by the parking lot.
The cops that came by that night to check us out were really cool, and actually weren't trying to mess with us at all. They were looking for three men who were supposedly in the area, and Iris and Heather really didn't fit that description. They did tell us, however, that this was the first time they'd ever seen someone in a tent in the middle of town and that they would keep an eye us later, which put my mind at ease after discovering there three suspects running around
Abingdon.
Almost to Kentucky!!!!
We finally show up to Abingdon and find the Mexican place, which was closed on Sundays... So we found another one (Marg's on the mind) about three miles away. The margaritas were great after dinner and drinking biking was the last thing we wanted to do. By this time it was getting dark and the pass over the next set of mountains was really close to town and the campground was still 10 miles down the road toward the pass. I wouldn't have minded going to the campground in hindsight, it was almost a straight drop downhill the whole way, but we didn't know that at the time and heard that it might be a rough ride to the campground. So Iris begins asking around for a yard or some other nearby place to camp and all of the people lived even farther than the campground so that was out. She eventually asks the Mexicans and they let us camp in the back of the restaurant, where there is a little field by the parking lot.
The cops that came by that night to check us out were really cool, and actually weren't trying to mess with us at all. They were looking for three men who were supposedly in the area, and Iris and Heather really didn't fit that description. They did tell us, however, that this was the first time they'd ever seen someone in a tent in the middle of town and that they would keep an eye us later, which put my mind at ease after discovering there three suspects running around
Abingdon.
Almost to Kentucky!!!!
A Night with the Mayor
Leaving from the caverns towards Christiansburg was awful. It was steeper than the entire mountain range we crossed, but only for a mile or two. I would say it was an 8 grade, which, for those who don't know, is steep as shit. But it was early enough for us to make it up and still make a 70 mile day out of it. We had originally planned on camping again, there was a KOA right outside of Wytheville, but we shot straight past it and down a hill for about 2 miles before realizing that we that we did pass it. We were tired, but we opted to go another 10 miles into town rather than go back uphill. It ended up working out.
So we get to the edge of town where there are a bunch of hotels and stuff and Iris and Heather planned on checking all of them out to see if we could a discounted rate and I decided to go into town and see if there was anything going on. It was Friday night and the town was sizable so I had my hopes up. I asked around and got directions to the only bar in town, the Turn One Bar, on the other side of town, and wanted to go check it out. On my way to the bar, I passed an outdoor concert in the middle of town. I rode up to two 16 (18) year old girls taking money at the entrance to check it out. They said it was a beach band from Myrtle and that they had $1 beers inside, which pretty much sold me. So I went on in and beers ended up being $3, but after around the 80 miles that I put in, i didn't mind too much.
So, I was standing in the beer line when an older guy in a great looking American flag shirt came up and asked where I was from and what the final destination was and all that and we talked a while about our plans in town and everything. This guy was really nice and told us to talk to the beer servers, most of whom worked for the recreation center in town, and they could tell us where to get free showers and a place to camp for free as well. So I got my beer and chatted with this really cute hippie girl for a while and got directions to the showers and campgrounds. The guy in the shirt came back up and made sure we knew where everything was and at the end of our conversation said, "Well I happen to be the mayor of this town, welcome to Wytheville!" I was kind of taken aback, but let him know that he was the best mayor I'd ever met and thanks for everything he did.
So Iris and Heather end up making it to the concert a little later and I introduce them to mayor and before I know it Trent (that's his name), being impressed with Iris' charity venture, invites us to stay over at his house that night and even says he'll give us a sober ride later that night! Not being able to turn that down, we get directions from him and make plans to go to the only bar in town that night. We end up hitching a ride there from the Budweiser guy who was serving beers at the venue, and he says he can fit the bikes and beer in the back of the beer truck. Our night is set with one sweet ride in the back of a beer truck to Turn One.
So we get to the bar and Bud guy buys us all Jager shots, maybe one too many, and there is a great punk band playing when we walk in. They covered some good songs and I was definitely headbanging for a good part of the night. So we make it to last call and call Trent to come get us and the bikes, which is good because I tried to get on the bike and ride and failed miserably. I probably wouldn't have made it out of the parking lot much less into town. On the way back to his place we get pulled over by a local cop, who thought that he might have stolen our bikes that night. He told her, "I sure did, along with bikers that came on them!" Being the mayor, nothing came of it, and we arrived safely at his house just in time for the girls to take showers and me to safely pass out on the couch after a short stint on the bathroom floor... thanks for putting on my pants girls!!!
So Trent gives us a ride in town the next day to the library so the girls can do some more work. At this point, both Iris and Heather have a bunch of computer shit due, and haven't had a lot of time to work on it yet. So we decide to get a hotel in town with wireless so they can work and I can chill in a hot tub and a pool. Add to that Waffle House right across the street. Awesome.
So we get to the edge of town where there are a bunch of hotels and stuff and Iris and Heather planned on checking all of them out to see if we could a discounted rate and I decided to go into town and see if there was anything going on. It was Friday night and the town was sizable so I had my hopes up. I asked around and got directions to the only bar in town, the Turn One Bar, on the other side of town, and wanted to go check it out. On my way to the bar, I passed an outdoor concert in the middle of town. I rode up to two 16 (18) year old girls taking money at the entrance to check it out. They said it was a beach band from Myrtle and that they had $1 beers inside, which pretty much sold me. So I went on in and beers ended up being $3, but after around the 80 miles that I put in, i didn't mind too much.
So, I was standing in the beer line when an older guy in a great looking American flag shirt came up and asked where I was from and what the final destination was and all that and we talked a while about our plans in town and everything. This guy was really nice and told us to talk to the beer servers, most of whom worked for the recreation center in town, and they could tell us where to get free showers and a place to camp for free as well. So I got my beer and chatted with this really cute hippie girl for a while and got directions to the showers and campgrounds. The guy in the shirt came back up and made sure we knew where everything was and at the end of our conversation said, "Well I happen to be the mayor of this town, welcome to Wytheville!" I was kind of taken aback, but let him know that he was the best mayor I'd ever met and thanks for everything he did.
So Iris and Heather end up making it to the concert a little later and I introduce them to mayor and before I know it Trent (that's his name), being impressed with Iris' charity venture, invites us to stay over at his house that night and even says he'll give us a sober ride later that night! Not being able to turn that down, we get directions from him and make plans to go to the only bar in town that night. We end up hitching a ride there from the Budweiser guy who was serving beers at the venue, and he says he can fit the bikes and beer in the back of the beer truck. Our night is set with one sweet ride in the back of a beer truck to Turn One.
So we get to the bar and Bud guy buys us all Jager shots, maybe one too many, and there is a great punk band playing when we walk in. They covered some good songs and I was definitely headbanging for a good part of the night. So we make it to last call and call Trent to come get us and the bikes, which is good because I tried to get on the bike and ride and failed miserably. I probably wouldn't have made it out of the parking lot much less into town. On the way back to his place we get pulled over by a local cop, who thought that he might have stolen our bikes that night. He told her, "I sure did, along with bikers that came on them!" Being the mayor, nothing came of it, and we arrived safely at his house just in time for the girls to take showers and me to safely pass out on the couch after a short stint on the bathroom floor... thanks for putting on my pants girls!!!
So Trent gives us a ride in town the next day to the library so the girls can do some more work. At this point, both Iris and Heather have a bunch of computer shit due, and haven't had a lot of time to work on it yet. So we decide to get a hotel in town with wireless so they can work and I can chill in a hot tub and a pool. Add to that Waffle House right across the street. Awesome.
The Mounatin, The Frat House, Dixie Caverns
What can I say??? This day was absolutely gorgeous. The uphill sucked but there was so much to look at it really didn't matter much. I just chugged a lot of hammer gel fuel and burned to the top. The best was the downhill at the end, where we dropped almost 2000 feet in a mile or two. I had to break to keep it at 30-35mph, 5-10 mph over the speed limit, and almost went off road more than once. Awesome.
All said and done we still made a 50 mile day, which pretty good when a lot of it was uphill. We decided after the mountain to keep riding on to Lexington, home of Washington and Lee University. It's a small campus but fun, and graduation was the following day so the town pretty busy. We ended up staying with Chris, a member of the Chi Psi fraternity.
And the frat house was awesome. They had a full game room with arcade style games and a huge screen TV, free sodas and powerade in the kitchen, and topped it off with a stripper pole in the basement. Awesome. They also happened to have a Razorback hat in the computer den that somebody found in a dumpster and decided to save. I think we were meant to be there... This conviction was strengthened even more by the fact that I found a strip steak in the fridge of the guy's room we stayed in. He had moved out the week before and the steak was set to expire the next day. It was fate. I hauled that steak 70 miles the next day, keeping it on ice in my handlebar bag until the next evening.
We ended up right outside of Christiansburg, the last location on our first map, at a camping spot called Dixie Caverns. We talked to the people and they ended up letting us stay for free because we were biking for Iris' charity, so that was phenomenal. I cooked the shit out of the steak that night, despite the fact that it was already turning.. Luckily, I had picked up some spices the day earlier so I just smothered the teak in garlic seasoning and cardamom. Awesome.
All said and done we still made a 50 mile day, which pretty good when a lot of it was uphill. We decided after the mountain to keep riding on to Lexington, home of Washington and Lee University. It's a small campus but fun, and graduation was the following day so the town pretty busy. We ended up staying with Chris, a member of the Chi Psi fraternity.
And the frat house was awesome. They had a full game room with arcade style games and a huge screen TV, free sodas and powerade in the kitchen, and topped it off with a stripper pole in the basement. Awesome. They also happened to have a Razorback hat in the computer den that somebody found in a dumpster and decided to save. I think we were meant to be there... This conviction was strengthened even more by the fact that I found a strip steak in the fridge of the guy's room we stayed in. He had moved out the week before and the steak was set to expire the next day. It was fate. I hauled that steak 70 miles the next day, keeping it on ice in my handlebar bag until the next evening.
We ended up right outside of Christiansburg, the last location on our first map, at a camping spot called Dixie Caverns. We talked to the people and they ended up letting us stay for free because we were biking for Iris' charity, so that was phenomenal. I cooked the shit out of the steak that night, despite the fact that it was already turning.. Luckily, I had picked up some spices the day earlier so I just smothered the teak in garlic seasoning and cardamom. Awesome.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
June Curry - The Cookie Lady
Afton is only 20 miles or so from Charlottesville so we had a pretty easy trip to the cookie lady's place. We left pretty late and caught an afternoon thundershower during rush hour traffic, so it was pretty good we picked up the rear flashing lights (lights lights...). We crawled up a pretty long hill to get there, a lot of which I had to walk because I'm a punk. We had the mountains the next day to look forward to so I figured I'd save my legs as much as I could.
We pull up to June's two houses at the top of that hill, the first being the "bike house," where all the bikers stay, and the second being her house. Keep in mind, this is the last stop before the first big mountain trek of the trip, so people need to get rid of as much weight as possible. We stop at the first house to drop off gear and all, and are all blown away by the sheer amount of shit everywhere! Bike gear on the ceiling, walls, floor, photographs an postcards from literally all over the world lining every bit of previously open space. It was awesome, and truly a historic place for any traveling biker. We also saw "that guy," that we met the shop the previous day, whose name is Daniel and he's from Costa Rica. He was staying at the house as well, and is planning on traveling through the South to Arizona... mid summer... good luck buddy.
Next we go up to the other house to say hello to June, one of the sweetest women I've ever met in my life. She used to bake cookies for all the bikers coming through, but she is pretty up in years now and can't get around as much as she'd like to. She was born in the bike house and has lived there all her life, which is a pretty impressive one. I won't go into too much detail after that or else my post would be way too long, but I will hopefully be able to upload a video of her and the bike house.
We pull up to June's two houses at the top of that hill, the first being the "bike house," where all the bikers stay, and the second being her house. Keep in mind, this is the last stop before the first big mountain trek of the trip, so people need to get rid of as much weight as possible. We stop at the first house to drop off gear and all, and are all blown away by the sheer amount of shit everywhere! Bike gear on the ceiling, walls, floor, photographs an postcards from literally all over the world lining every bit of previously open space. It was awesome, and truly a historic place for any traveling biker. We also saw "that guy," that we met the shop the previous day, whose name is Daniel and he's from Costa Rica. He was staying at the house as well, and is planning on traveling through the South to Arizona... mid summer... good luck buddy.
Next we go up to the other house to say hello to June, one of the sweetest women I've ever met in my life. She used to bake cookies for all the bikers coming through, but she is pretty up in years now and can't get around as much as she'd like to. She was born in the bike house and has lived there all her life, which is a pretty impressive one. I won't go into too much detail after that or else my post would be way too long, but I will hopefully be able to upload a video of her and the bike house.
Finally, a college town with a bar.
We left the gas station relatively early for Charlottesville to try and make up some time. It was around 55 miles away and ended up being a pretty easy ride. We seem to be getting shape a lot quicker than we thought. So when we hit town we go to the bike shop there to check it out and it was probably the worst shop I've ever been to. They didn't really offer to help us when we came in and charged Iris $10 to tighten one screw... The name of the place is Blue Wheel Bicycles and don't go unless you have to. Unfortunately, we did have to get some rear lights because of the fog in the mountains so had to do business with them after much chagrin. While we were at the shop, however, we did meet a guy outside who happened to be doing the same route as us but lost his map sometime earlier. We let the guy copy ours at a place next door, the National Institute of Social Norms, which if anyone knows what is please let me know... More on that guy later...
So, we leave, and Iris happens to know a guy she met in D.C. who currently rents an apartment in Charlottesville. He was out of town but we stayed with his roommate, Blake, who was a real cool guy. We cooked dinner for him and got him a sixer for putting us up. We also met his friend Matt who was a bike tourer as well and had done a 20 day ride from Canada to Alaska. He told us a story about a 12 hour, 3300 foot elevation day they had to do because a guy's bike got lost for a day on the plane ride. It made our upcoming mountain ride seem a little easier...
So Blake took us out that night to a bar called Coupe Deville that had $2 pitchers on Tuesday nights, which would have been sweet but we were there on Monday and they were $8... Should've camped longer... I just wanted to go out and find a place to stay but all the girls were getting hit on by a multitude of popped collars which made things difficult... We ended up going to another bar called Three and closing it down after some car bombs. Everyone took a taxi back but I was kinda feeling good and wanted to wander around... Ended up in a magnolia tree a couple of blocks away from the house and spotting a McDonald's before getting back to the house. Thank god for chicken sandwiches at 3 in the morning...
The next day we chilled around the house for a while so we (the girls) could get some internet stuff done and Iris needed to mail some weight back home; the mountains were getting closer and we all had a bunch of unnecessary shit. We tossed the disc a little and left for Afton, a foothills town only 20 miles down the road. We didn't leave til 5 because of all the shit we had to do but still had time to make it. That was the day we learned that it rains in the evenings around here and we probably should've left earlier... We get on the road and no more than 15 minutes later it starts coming down heavy. It was during rush hour, too, which made things interesting. We finally made it to Afton, after getting buzzed by a few cars and honked at and flipped off more than once, to the most amazing spot I've ever seen in my life.
Next post... The Cookie Lady.
So, we leave, and Iris happens to know a guy she met in D.C. who currently rents an apartment in Charlottesville. He was out of town but we stayed with his roommate, Blake, who was a real cool guy. We cooked dinner for him and got him a sixer for putting us up. We also met his friend Matt who was a bike tourer as well and had done a 20 day ride from Canada to Alaska. He told us a story about a 12 hour, 3300 foot elevation day they had to do because a guy's bike got lost for a day on the plane ride. It made our upcoming mountain ride seem a little easier...
So Blake took us out that night to a bar called Coupe Deville that had $2 pitchers on Tuesday nights, which would have been sweet but we were there on Monday and they were $8... Should've camped longer... I just wanted to go out and find a place to stay but all the girls were getting hit on by a multitude of popped collars which made things difficult... We ended up going to another bar called Three and closing it down after some car bombs. Everyone took a taxi back but I was kinda feeling good and wanted to wander around... Ended up in a magnolia tree a couple of blocks away from the house and spotting a McDonald's before getting back to the house. Thank god for chicken sandwiches at 3 in the morning...
The next day we chilled around the house for a while so we (the girls) could get some internet stuff done and Iris needed to mail some weight back home; the mountains were getting closer and we all had a bunch of unnecessary shit. We tossed the disc a little and left for Afton, a foothills town only 20 miles down the road. We didn't leave til 5 because of all the shit we had to do but still had time to make it. That was the day we learned that it rains in the evenings around here and we probably should've left earlier... We get on the road and no more than 15 minutes later it starts coming down heavy. It was during rush hour, too, which made things interesting. We finally made it to Afton, after getting buzzed by a few cars and honked at and flipped off more than once, to the most amazing spot I've ever seen in my life.
Next post... The Cookie Lady.
The cop was nice, at least...
So we left from Mechanicsville after a hearty breakfast from the Throckmorton's (Travis' family) and headed for Bumpass, some little Podunk town with a campsite. Donna gave us some bananas and granola for the road and we told her to try and convince Trav to get in the car, so to speak. Travis showed us the way out of town and we said our goodbyes and all that stuff, and told him to come with us one more time... Still waiting for that phone call...
Anyway we rode about 30 or so miles, about 4 miles out of Bumpass, when the weather turned for the worse and we stop to look for the exact location of the campsite when a guy pulls up in a beamer with a little phone headset thing and says if we want, we can camp in his carport he has built right next to the gas station he owns, which was right around the corner. Mike was his name, and we all said thanks and rode up to the carport right as the rain started coming down. The name of the gas station was Route 76 Market and this carport place was especially for bikers on the route, free of charge.
So we set up shop and cook a ton of ramens and have our first get drunk in the tent night. We bought a pack cards the night before and tried to play five card draw at first, betting shots, of course. My hand was sweet, two aces, two 10's, and a jack. Bets go around and everyone seemed pretty confident, but I traded the jack for another ace and raised the shot count a little more. I ended up winning and the girls had good hands, too, Iris with two kings and two 10's and Heather with three kings. That's when we realized we bought a pinochle deck and all drank anyway. After that we tried to play down the river, Memphrica Micah's game, but I couldn't remember all the rules, so we all drank anyway. It was pass out time after that.
The next thing we all hear is "Sheriffs office!" and headlights were coming through the rain flap. The cop apparently didn't know about the whole carport deal and so we all gave him our IDs and told him about Mark and told him to go look at the sign at the front of the door that says "Bikers welcome to camp under the carport." It took about 30 minutes total because apparently the Arkansas system was down so he couldn't look up Iris' or my records, but eventually left and told us to try and get some sleep... ASS... So we did get some sleep and headed out for Charlottesville in the morning.
Anyway we rode about 30 or so miles, about 4 miles out of Bumpass, when the weather turned for the worse and we stop to look for the exact location of the campsite when a guy pulls up in a beamer with a little phone headset thing and says if we want, we can camp in his carport he has built right next to the gas station he owns, which was right around the corner. Mike was his name, and we all said thanks and rode up to the carport right as the rain started coming down. The name of the gas station was Route 76 Market and this carport place was especially for bikers on the route, free of charge.
So we set up shop and cook a ton of ramens and have our first get drunk in the tent night. We bought a pack cards the night before and tried to play five card draw at first, betting shots, of course. My hand was sweet, two aces, two 10's, and a jack. Bets go around and everyone seemed pretty confident, but I traded the jack for another ace and raised the shot count a little more. I ended up winning and the girls had good hands, too, Iris with two kings and two 10's and Heather with three kings. That's when we realized we bought a pinochle deck and all drank anyway. After that we tried to play down the river, Memphrica Micah's game, but I couldn't remember all the rules, so we all drank anyway. It was pass out time after that.
The next thing we all hear is "Sheriffs office!" and headlights were coming through the rain flap. The cop apparently didn't know about the whole carport deal and so we all gave him our IDs and told him about Mark and told him to go look at the sign at the front of the door that says "Bikers welcome to camp under the carport." It took about 30 minutes total because apparently the Arkansas system was down so he couldn't look up Iris' or my records, but eventually left and told us to try and get some sleep... ASS... So we did get some sleep and headed out for Charlottesville in the morning.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
June 2, 2008
First of all there is a lot I left out in my first post... we were pretty short on time. Most importantly, I need to say thanks to James Cheek, who let borrow te bike I'm using for this little shindig. You rock buddy! Next thanks to my sponsor, Phat Tire Bike Shop on the Bentonville square and Brish Brosh and not Stoner Matt. They hooked up all my gear at a great price and got me ready to travel, and Stoner Matt did not, ass. Anyway I really appreciate the help and I will see you guys soon. Saucy, play frisbee so we can kick it in Colorado and Ohio this summer!
So, After leaving Williamsburg we went into Jamestown, which is nothing but a tourist attraction these days. We thought it was a town with camping and food such, but that's false as hell. The camping site closed down and so we were basically stuck at sundown with about another 10 miles to go to civilization. We figured we could ask around and find a yard to throw a tent up in or somthing but the closest houses were pretty suburban and the people weren't to helpful, but did point us to a 4-H down the road. We rolled over there and talked to the camp counselors for a second, to no avail, when a car pulled up and a guy and his wife asked us if we needed a place to crash for the night. He happened to see us bike past him earlier when he and his wife were walking on the trail. I remembered waving to him a little earlier. We all figured a guy with his wife and dog couldn't be too shady and so we went back to their place for the night.
And what a sweet little spot... The guy, Marco, and his wife, Jessica, were big Christians and they had an apartment around the back of their house they used for hosting missionaries and bible groups and whatnot. Marco is actually a pastor at Living Proof Baptist Church in Williamsburg that he founded a couple of years back. Anyway, the apartment was fully equipped with a shower and beds and pretty much everything we needed. He even brewed us some coffee in the morning, which is becoming quite a regular pattern. The next morning before he sent us off he gave us the watchmaker speech, which any good pastor would do, so we didn't mind, and we set off for Mechanicsville.
It was a pretty ride, and a lot of this ride was trail so we didn't have to worry about traffic. We made it about 33 miles or so and stopped to snack at a gas station that was still about 35 miles out of mechanicsville. There was a lady at the gas station we talked to for a while who recently found out she had cancer and how it changed her to a more natural way of life. We talked about a bunch of natural soaps they made locally and sold at the gas station and I bought a really good bar called Dragon's Blood that smells like Patchoulli and other natural herbs and stuff. Am I a hippie??? So she leaves and we are all rested up and ready to go.
So we left the gas station and about a mile down the road my chain gets stuck in the gears and like an ass I try to force it out break my only chain. Mechanicsville had the closest bike shop that was worth a damn so I planned on getting my spare stuff there, but I probably should have planned that a little better... Anyway I was stuck and the girls kept going because there was a storm coming and we were in BFE with no place to stay. So I walked the bike back to shop and sat on a rock and tried to hitch a ride. The woman happened to have returned a little earlier and comes up to me on the rock and asks what happened so I tell her the story and that I'm trying to hitch a ride to anywhere down the road with a bike shop. She tells me that's too dangerous and that she can get me to Mechanicsville, which is a suprisngly short ride in a car, so we take off. That was the best bar of soap I've ever bought.
The lady, Dee, was really sweet and we talk about her owning a cable company in the past with a bunch of Jamacains under her (figuratively) but she was in a car accident that put her down for a while so she had to give up that job. She had been drafting for the city for a while but then got laid off because of the economy, and was currently unemployed and does a ton of kayaking, which is what brought her along our path that day. So we get to Mechanicsville and there is an awesome little bike shop called Pedal Power (www.pedalpowerbicycles.com) where Dee drops me off after I buy her a tank of gas. The mechanic there, Travis, is a really cool guy and shows me how to fix everything up and replaces a cable and bunch of other stuff that he doesn't charge me for because again, he's a really cool guy. We end up talking about the music scene around Richmond and Fayetteville and both are really in to Yonder and other jammy type bands from the Northeast who stop in both places. I ended up kicking it at the bike shop for a couple of hours waiting on Iris and Heather to show up and it was my job to find us a place to stay in Mechanicsville. I had asked Travis earlier if there was a campground around town or some other reasonable place to stay and the closest one was about 20 miles away, so we were pretty screwed. The next logical question, then, was where the closest bar was to meet some friendlies. Apparently all the bars in Mechanicsville suck and are full of rednecks who we probably didn't want to stay with... screwed again.
So while I was outside putting my bags back on my bike, ole Trav comes out and tells me that he called his parents and they have a pace for us stay in a little room behind his garage. Fuck yeah, and this is right before the girls get in town. It's only the second day of riding and they pulled out 67 miles so were tired as hell. So Trav gets off work and we go find the girls and ride to his house and chill out for a little bit. We meet the fam, Bob, Donna, and Barkley, the dog, and Bob gives us some good beer and we all get to shower again which is pretty lucky considering that accomodation comes few and far between, and we got it the first two nights in a row. His dad was rebuilding a Landrover from I think the 70's and we helped him put on the windshield and the hood and bullshitted with him for a little longer and proceeded to chill out in the garage.
It turns out that Travis is a huge Grateful Dead fan, moreso than myself. Am I hippie??? It was funny because we were talking about the Dead and I mentioned how much more I liked to hear different live shows, for various reasons, and as I'm saying that he pulls out a cd case choc full of live Dead shows from over the years so I get to rip a ton of them onto the laptops we have. Very sweet find in Mechanicsville. So we all go out with Travis that night to a place in Richmond that has about twice the amount of beer as Brewski's and play some pool and drink some beers but eventually call it an early night. It was a hard ride for two of us... The whole night we are trying to convince Travis to hop on a bike and come with us to Oregon, or at least for a week or two. He's only 21 and doesn't have shit to do but be a mechanic at a shop and mentioned he was looking for a change, so we figured this was the perfect oppurtunity. His parents were even down like a clown! His dad left for the store and said, "When I get back I want Barkley to be here and Travis to be gone." I think he actually thought about it for a while, but ended up not coming with us that night. We did exchange info, though, so his parents might drop him off with us in a couple of days; we're just waiting for the word.
Next post, Mechanicsville to camping in a carport at a gas station in the middle of nowhere and getting harrassed by the cops!!! Stay tuned!
So, After leaving Williamsburg we went into Jamestown, which is nothing but a tourist attraction these days. We thought it was a town with camping and food such, but that's false as hell. The camping site closed down and so we were basically stuck at sundown with about another 10 miles to go to civilization. We figured we could ask around and find a yard to throw a tent up in or somthing but the closest houses were pretty suburban and the people weren't to helpful, but did point us to a 4-H down the road. We rolled over there and talked to the camp counselors for a second, to no avail, when a car pulled up and a guy and his wife asked us if we needed a place to crash for the night. He happened to see us bike past him earlier when he and his wife were walking on the trail. I remembered waving to him a little earlier. We all figured a guy with his wife and dog couldn't be too shady and so we went back to their place for the night.
And what a sweet little spot... The guy, Marco, and his wife, Jessica, were big Christians and they had an apartment around the back of their house they used for hosting missionaries and bible groups and whatnot. Marco is actually a pastor at Living Proof Baptist Church in Williamsburg that he founded a couple of years back. Anyway, the apartment was fully equipped with a shower and beds and pretty much everything we needed. He even brewed us some coffee in the morning, which is becoming quite a regular pattern. The next morning before he sent us off he gave us the watchmaker speech, which any good pastor would do, so we didn't mind, and we set off for Mechanicsville.
It was a pretty ride, and a lot of this ride was trail so we didn't have to worry about traffic. We made it about 33 miles or so and stopped to snack at a gas station that was still about 35 miles out of mechanicsville. There was a lady at the gas station we talked to for a while who recently found out she had cancer and how it changed her to a more natural way of life. We talked about a bunch of natural soaps they made locally and sold at the gas station and I bought a really good bar called Dragon's Blood that smells like Patchoulli and other natural herbs and stuff. Am I a hippie??? So she leaves and we are all rested up and ready to go.
So we left the gas station and about a mile down the road my chain gets stuck in the gears and like an ass I try to force it out break my only chain. Mechanicsville had the closest bike shop that was worth a damn so I planned on getting my spare stuff there, but I probably should have planned that a little better... Anyway I was stuck and the girls kept going because there was a storm coming and we were in BFE with no place to stay. So I walked the bike back to shop and sat on a rock and tried to hitch a ride. The woman happened to have returned a little earlier and comes up to me on the rock and asks what happened so I tell her the story and that I'm trying to hitch a ride to anywhere down the road with a bike shop. She tells me that's too dangerous and that she can get me to Mechanicsville, which is a suprisngly short ride in a car, so we take off. That was the best bar of soap I've ever bought.
The lady, Dee, was really sweet and we talk about her owning a cable company in the past with a bunch of Jamacains under her (figuratively) but she was in a car accident that put her down for a while so she had to give up that job. She had been drafting for the city for a while but then got laid off because of the economy, and was currently unemployed and does a ton of kayaking, which is what brought her along our path that day. So we get to Mechanicsville and there is an awesome little bike shop called Pedal Power (www.pedalpowerbicycles.com) where Dee drops me off after I buy her a tank of gas. The mechanic there, Travis, is a really cool guy and shows me how to fix everything up and replaces a cable and bunch of other stuff that he doesn't charge me for because again, he's a really cool guy. We end up talking about the music scene around Richmond and Fayetteville and both are really in to Yonder and other jammy type bands from the Northeast who stop in both places. I ended up kicking it at the bike shop for a couple of hours waiting on Iris and Heather to show up and it was my job to find us a place to stay in Mechanicsville. I had asked Travis earlier if there was a campground around town or some other reasonable place to stay and the closest one was about 20 miles away, so we were pretty screwed. The next logical question, then, was where the closest bar was to meet some friendlies. Apparently all the bars in Mechanicsville suck and are full of rednecks who we probably didn't want to stay with... screwed again.
So while I was outside putting my bags back on my bike, ole Trav comes out and tells me that he called his parents and they have a pace for us stay in a little room behind his garage. Fuck yeah, and this is right before the girls get in town. It's only the second day of riding and they pulled out 67 miles so were tired as hell. So Trav gets off work and we go find the girls and ride to his house and chill out for a little bit. We meet the fam, Bob, Donna, and Barkley, the dog, and Bob gives us some good beer and we all get to shower again which is pretty lucky considering that accomodation comes few and far between, and we got it the first two nights in a row. His dad was rebuilding a Landrover from I think the 70's and we helped him put on the windshield and the hood and bullshitted with him for a little longer and proceeded to chill out in the garage.
It turns out that Travis is a huge Grateful Dead fan, moreso than myself. Am I hippie??? It was funny because we were talking about the Dead and I mentioned how much more I liked to hear different live shows, for various reasons, and as I'm saying that he pulls out a cd case choc full of live Dead shows from over the years so I get to rip a ton of them onto the laptops we have. Very sweet find in Mechanicsville. So we all go out with Travis that night to a place in Richmond that has about twice the amount of beer as Brewski's and play some pool and drink some beers but eventually call it an early night. It was a hard ride for two of us... The whole night we are trying to convince Travis to hop on a bike and come with us to Oregon, or at least for a week or two. He's only 21 and doesn't have shit to do but be a mechanic at a shop and mentioned he was looking for a change, so we figured this was the perfect oppurtunity. His parents were even down like a clown! His dad left for the store and said, "When I get back I want Barkley to be here and Travis to be gone." I think he actually thought about it for a while, but ended up not coming with us that night. We did exchange info, though, so his parents might drop him off with us in a couple of days; we're just waiting for the word.
Next post, Mechanicsville to camping in a carport at a gas station in the middle of nowhere and getting harrassed by the cops!!! Stay tuned!
Friday, May 30, 2008
America What???
Hey all!!! So I'm finally on the road taking America down one peg at a time. Take that bitch. We just did the back wheel dip thing and left the Atlantic ocean from Yorktown, Virginia. It was a nice little spot with a short walk to tiny manmade beaches full of questionably legal women... Beautiful. There were a bunch of old pirate ships that shot off cannons last night, which I unfortunatley missed, but I did get to see them float atound today. They were pretty impressive sail boats.
Anyway I missed my 7:45 flight from Tulsa, of course, which I'm blaming on Casey Boy for not answering my phone calls. Ha, gotcha bitch! But seriously, thanks for the ride buddy! I didn't get in until 12:30 and then had to take a taxi 40 miles to Yorktown. Down another $70, but it could have been worse if I wasn't a haggling like a Pikey looking ass! I also lost $85 getting my truck towed the night before I left. I actually thought for a little bit about leaving there until I got back, but my bike was in the back. On that note, if anyone sees Patrick Moss around tell him to gimme my money, I need that shit.
So we are in Williamsburg, Virginia now, home to Williams and Mary College at a little coffee shop called Aroma's. They just shot some cannons from somewhere nearby, too. They really like their cannons around here... We are on our way to Jamestown now, just another 11 miles or so, so I gotta run. Peace, talk to you later!
Anyway I missed my 7:45 flight from Tulsa, of course, which I'm blaming on Casey Boy for not answering my phone calls. Ha, gotcha bitch! But seriously, thanks for the ride buddy! I didn't get in until 12:30 and then had to take a taxi 40 miles to Yorktown. Down another $70, but it could have been worse if I wasn't a haggling like a Pikey looking ass! I also lost $85 getting my truck towed the night before I left. I actually thought for a little bit about leaving there until I got back, but my bike was in the back. On that note, if anyone sees Patrick Moss around tell him to gimme my money, I need that shit.
So we are in Williamsburg, Virginia now, home to Williams and Mary College at a little coffee shop called Aroma's. They just shot some cannons from somewhere nearby, too. They really like their cannons around here... We are on our way to Jamestown now, just another 11 miles or so, so I gotta run. Peace, talk to you later!
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