Waypoint
Start!

Waypoint
The Atlantic

Waypoint
Thank you the Newcombs!

Lunch
Rough start (snapped chain) but now exploring all the rolling hills in rural maine.

Swim? It is only 85 F today. Never thought Maine could be this warm.

Goodbye Maine

Supper
I just ate an entire flatbread pizza.

I met an interesting guy at the Saco river covered bridge. He was packing heat and claimed to be the warden of the Saco waterfront. It turns out that his name was Tony and he had biked across the country twice ( on a 1977 schwin supersport). One of his trips was with a girlfriend (now ex) that he "should have just buried her in the desert". The girlfriend took custody of tony's house in north conway and he lived in the woods for 95 days in the middle of winter. He claimed that left him just a little bit crazy.

Kancamagus pass: 9% grade
Not looking forward to the western mountains.

Out of the white mountains!
Tornado warning for parts of New Hampshire.

Supper

NH-VT border.

Vermont!

Lesson of the day
Just because the side up a mountain is paved, the way down could turn into a very steep and loose dirt road.
It is a bit intimidating feeling the entire loaded bike fishtail in the loose patches. My hands took quite the beating.

The white river

One of the only moments I saw the sun today.

Dear Vermont,
We despise your mountains.
-the legs

Finally made it to a working ferry crossing. Lots of flooding on lake Champlain.

Lots of nice mountains and lakes.

Long night camping. Lots of black flies and a malfunctioning wisperlite .

Adirondack museum

Lots of hogs on the road today. It was thunder weekend.

New head gear

Does anyone know what these purple boxes are for? I have seen them on trees in VT and NY.

Saved from being road kill!

Lunch

Easy day. Only 80.

Lake Ontario

Canal locks.....really cool tour.

Sunset on canal lock

Sunrise. Best time to bike.

The solar panel.

Farmland

Getting tired..... Long day.

And a flat :(

A bit far

New tires

Canada!

Scenic
Niagara falls

The border

You know you are biking across the country when........ You do 72 miles on your "off day"

Pennsylvania

Lodging
Tough day. Pretty hot and high winds. I ended up riding directly into the winds for most of the day. My fingers are numb from riding in the drops. I am at a warm showers site for the night.

Now entering Ohio. Time to turn south. Jumping from the northern tier route to the underground railroad route.

30 miles of greenway all to myself. It does not get any better than this.

Just was chased by 8 dogs. Sprinting is not fun on a loaded bike.

Amish country

Share the road

Great day today. I had no idea northeastern Ohio was so nice. Lots of rolling hills and farmlands.

Just passed the 1,000 mile mark (plus or minus a few)

And here comes the rain.....

Not too happy to find this in my brand new tires.

As I was changing my tire I noticed that I was missing on of the bolts that attaches the rack to the frame. It explains why I had been feeling slightly wobbly all morning. I made an impromptu fix with a zip tie. I stopped at the next bike store and got a replacement ( thank you Kim's bikes for not changing me anything).

Turning into quite the nice day

Best part of empty bike paths? No one to judge you for biking without a shirt. Got to get rid of the jersey tan lines.

I bought a new battery for my odometer. It has been acting funny the last few days. I also stopped at a really neat coffeehouse in London, Ohio. It was called the coffee peddlers and had a bike touring theme.

Strawberries on the go? I rode past a fundraiser for the trail system and they had a bunch of leftover food that they were kind enough to share with me. The biking in this area is so great-the trail system is amazing.

Great night of sleep in a backyard with lots of stars and fireflies.

I put my yellow jersey on the top of my paniers to dry and somehow it fell off. I back tracked for 15 miles but it was no where to be found.

Bike inspired ice cream. This area is great for biking. Lots of people out on the paths enjoying the nice day.

End of the rails to trails. I have been really impressed with Ohio's bike system.

My campsite......

I just crossed into Kentucky

It was mentally challenging heading east for most the morning. There are very few bikable bridges across the Ohio river and I was forced to head back east for a little bit. Lots of short nasty hills once I was in Kentucky. I ran into a few issues with food availability.... I could not find a grocery store anywhere I was passing through. It is hard to find any food you want to eat at gas stations.

Dealing with two issues today: leg cramps and really bad road signs.

I am spending the night at point park.... Nice view of the river.

Lodging
A good end to a rather painful day. My left quad is still hurting..... I think it was a combination of poor food and lack of water in the morning that led to the cramping issues. I am surprised how little there is in these small towns in Kentucky, even the corner stores are out of business. I took some long breaks today and meet some nice people. Two ten year olds on bmx bikes tried to get me to race them around the block.....I lost. I stopped short today (70 miles) to hopefully give my legs a bit of a rest. I am staying at the town park (with the permission of the town police) which is on the Kentucky river and had a really nice sunset.

Indiana..... It is going to be a wet morning. A thunderstorm is rolling in.

Breakfast
Breakfast. Coffee and blueberry muffin......all that I am missing is the cheerios.

Really bad lighting storm all day. I am hiding inside. Hopefully it will clear up a little in the afternoon so I can dash to Louisville.

The people I was trying to stay with in Louisville fell through at the last minute. I decided to just continue west. It is getting sunny and super humid.

Scenic
Blunk knob = one of best climbs of trip. 4 straight miles of tight s-curves climbing on a narrow road through really beautiful woods. Can't wait for the downhill. I wish there was someway to track total elevation.

Mi casa.

Interesting that you can pass into a new time zone and not realize it for two days.
Super windy and hot today.

The ice pack.

Joining up with the transAmerica cycling route. Going to follow it until Colorado. It is a popular way to cross the US and I am excited to meet some other cyclists.

The coolest thunderclouds. Just had five minutes of intense rain and wind and then it was over.

Camp
My view for the night

A bit of a stressful night. Another thunderstorm rolled in around midnight. I had to quickly set up the tent. Even so, this was one of the best spots I have ever camped at: I saw a great moonrise over the hills last night and was woken up to a bight sunrise. It looks like it is going to be a nice day.

Hiding from another thunderstorm at mcdonalds. Mediocre food but great free wireless.

Ferry crossing to Illinois.

Camp

Marble sized hail is quite loud when it hits the tent

It is still raining/thundering really hard. I have stayed put for the morning. It is silly to go out and be miserable and wet on the bike when I am (relatively) dry. It is ridiculous how many storms this area has had in the last few days.

I should find a bike shop

Camp
Not the best camp.... It is pretty buggy.

I need a shower.

The home town of popeye.

Crossing the Mississippi river.

Missouri!

Hostel
Al's place. A bike hostel in a former jail house. I get my own cell for the night.

I took the morning off in order to get my bike fixed. It got a new shifting cable and the cassette was tightened (the locking mechanism was so loose all the sprockets were wobbling). I am glad I stopped. Apparently, this is the last bike shop on the route until Colorado. They had no bright jerseys unfortunately.

I am at Johnson shut-ins state park. It is a really neat place. They have a really impressive interpretive center. The ozarks are not that bad so far.

I am really hoping I will see a southern flying squirrel.

2K finished

This was one of the nicest areas that I have seen so far. The hills are crazy though. I got up to 45 mph on one of the long downhills.

Amazing stars tonight. Very little light pollution.

Tall fire tower.

I hate dirt detours

Camping in front of the courthouse. Small towns are great for cyclists.

I can not believe how windy it is today.

Replacement jersey.

I just had an awful experience. I was riding along and a car was approaching in the opposite direction. A rabbit emerged from the bushes on the side of the road and darted across. It got about halfway, hears the car, turns and runs back to the bushes. Unfortunately, this is exactly where I am riding my bike. With two terrible bumps, the bunny made contact with both wheels. I am pretty sure that between the rabbit and me, I am the one that was more traumatized by the experience. When I glanced back, the bunny looked like it wad momentarily stunned but then quickly recovered and hopped to the side of the road.

Breakfast
Breakfast: oatmeal and lots of sugar.

Entering Kansas.

Glad to have some nice flat straight roads today. It gave me the chance to stretch the legs and make lots of progress. A storm is rolling in.... I better quickly set up the tent.

Wind is on my back. It is great to be able to ride fast.

No turns for next 65 miles.

Snack
Snack time.

Today's total distance

The prairie

My feet were hot.

The view for the last few days.

Really hot today..... 104 F. I am taking an afternoon siesta in a park.

New position for the solar panel in order to catch the late afternoon sun.

I just crossed into the mountain time zone

Colorado!

A whole lot of nothing. Not a great time to daydream about ice-cream.

Starting to see the mountains

The wet mountain pass. It was a really cool canyon but a brutal climb.

The summit at 9000 ft. I was riding into 35-40 mph winds. It was faster on the way up. I kept being blown all over the road. I stopped early and made friends with some locals. Westcliff is a really neat small town.

I just passed the 3K mark.

The continental divide

Dillion pinnacles

Great bike path going into ridgeway, CO. It is a great little western town....and the inspiration for true grit.

Tonight's view.... It may be the best yet.

Telluride

Lizard head pass. Elv 10,222.

Utah!

Swimming is great in the desert. You don't need a towel since you are dry the instant you get out. I am going to be in the canyonlands for the next 2+ days, so updates may be sparse.

A late night riding through the desert. The landscape reminds me of the spaceman spiff cartoons. You can really feel how vast and empty the desert is at night.

Double bacon cheeseburger

Hiking in capital reef national park with Allison.

4th of July in Boulder, UT. Much smaller the colorado one (the town had a population of 270). For such a small community they were really talented. The town hosted a open mike/talent show and there were lots of great musicians. I met a guy who brewed his own beer and he filled one of my water bottles. It was really good for a home brew.

Lodging
Staying in luxury tonight. It is really hard to say no to a free hotel bed after being on the road for this long.

Bryce Canyon N.P.

Not quite hiking appropriate footwear.

Bike path sign..... Good downhill ahead.

The cedar breaks. Great downhill for ~25 miles. Started in the snow and finished in the desert.

Hydrate!

My tent-mate. We are experiencing a bit of separation anxiety.

Nevada!

Route 50: "the loneliest road in America"

Riding along the old pony express trail.

Swim
Evening swim at Walker Lake. A refreshing end to a desiccating day.

California!

Mono lake

Yosemite valley

Man vs. Machine...... Don't place money on the bike. It is a long story but here is the cliffnotes. As I was cruising through yosemite, my cassette (back gears for all the non bikers) was not spinning freely. After much confusion/frustration, I noticed that one of the bolts connecting the rack to the frame was rubbing on the cassette. Further inspection revealed that the head of the bolt had sheared off which allowed the bolt to uncontrollably tighten. By cross threading the broken bolt with a nut I was able to tighten it enough to make it to the next town where I was able to get the bolt replaced. After so many miles it is not that surprising that things are falling apart.... everything only has to last a few more days.

I think I have done more climbing the last 3 days than the entire time east of the Mississippi.....at least it has been quite scenic.

Moonrise (full?) over the lake

Me+the bottom of one of the largest trees in the world

Broken spoke......

Thanks to everyone who stopped and gave me a ride......It only took five rides to get to a bike shop. I definitely pick the worst places to break down.
My apologizes to all the loyal followers about the lack of updates. I have had extremely limited cell coverage in the mountains.

Rolling again! A fabulous downhill through an oak filled canyon. Lots of twisting turns down two thousand feet with almost no cars.

Airport
Hanging out at the Keene helitack fire station. The firemen were kind enough to let me shower, share their dinner and camp on the lawn but i was unsuccessful in getting a ride.

Wind farm = 43 mph downhill

Smog!

DBar

End
Brunswick, Maine to Diamond Bar, California. 4843 miles. Ride complete.