i cleaned up camp and started the day early. it was going to be a long day and i knew it. i had to cover quite a few miles and also be adjusted to the different time zone. the earliest i’ve started any day of my trip. i was out of the camp by 5:30. i went to the gas station to get some coffee and then reached for my sunglasses. crap. they were in the shower(i have to clean them quite regularly). i hurriedly rode back, since i took a shower the night before. boom. right where i left them. whew.

before i start writing about the day i would like to remind everyone that i am not only doing this ride for my own personal goal, but also to raise money for the livestrong foundation, that will be donated to cancer research. my family has had a strong history with cancer and there’s a good chance that someone you know has had their life affected as well. we can help support cancer research and donate money to this cause so that it may become more treatable or hopefully in our lifetime completely curable. my donation site is http://tiny.cc/cancerdonations

i an see that i am currently averaging 1400-1500 visitors per day and thought i am writing this for everyone to read, please donate if you can.

 

i got my second start before sunrise and pushed on. i couldn’t let anything slow me down. i wanted the miles done as soon as i could and the only way to make that happen was to start early and push hard.

before i knew it, i was in salem. salem is a place that looks like everyone all the sudden died and left it to rot. seriously. it was a little nostalgic though, giant motel signs in weird shapes, stuff like that. i got  a puncture between salem and cross city…it scared me. i heard a loud metal clanging like something big broke and then my tire started spraying air loudly. i yelled out “nooooo elsie parker!”(i guess i keep thinking about life of pi) and stopped immediately. i was sure my rim snapped and i was stranded. i looked around and didn’t see anything broken. strange. i laid elsie down and took the rear wheel off. couldn’t find a hole for a few minutes, then found it. it had a small amount of rust residue around it, making it an old rusty screw or nail that went through. it was a rough tear in the tire, so i’m guessing a screw. i pulled the tire off to see the screw went through the tire, both sides of the tube and penetrated the rim. as if my rear rim didn’t have enough damage already. i glued the tire hole shut, replaced the tube with one of my patched ones, put some air in it and popped it back on. a second later a motorcyclist pulled over to make sure i was fine. back on the road.

i got to cross city and saw a market and figured it would be a great time to stock up on a few things. i got coffee, a few bananas, an orange juice and some epoxy. i’m going to stop into a bike shop tomorrow to see if they’ll swap my rim for me and just warranty it like i planned on doing in chicago when i get back. if they won’t do it, i’ll put on epoxy and hope it holds. it was raining when i came out. i sat out in front of the store and ate a banana and drank the juice when an elderly man came up and started talking to me. after about twenty minutes, he said he didn’t think the other guy was coming back to help him with his flat tire. i offered to help. he didn’t have the right tools, but we made it work. when we were done fixing the tire, i asked if he was heading south. he said no. dang. well, better get back on the road in the rain.

i got to the next small town and talked to a cyclist on the trailhead that i was entering. he told me how long the trail was and that there were benches along the entire thing. a few minutes later the rain came on strong. really strong. i was riding and got a great idea. i could clean my bike drivetrain in the rain! i had been putting it off for a few days because of a lack of water source. today was a good day for it. i soaped, scrubbed and rode for a bit while it rinsed off. i did that three times. everything is sparkling on it now. it was the only thing i could do since i couldn’t gain speed in this storm that was above. when the trail came to an end, i got back on the road.

i was soaked. it had been raining for almost four hours. my shoes were filled with water, my rain jacket wasn’t holding up as well as it could have and it didn’t look like it would stop soon. riding down these straight flat roads is nice for that. you can see when the rain stops and starts for a few miles. it lightened up and eventually stopped. i was getting hungry and couldn’t wait to setup camp and get food cooking. i needed to stop and get water, and newspapers for my shoes. the first place that i saw had five dollar pizzas. i couldn’t help myself. i ate almost the entire thing. it was worth it. now i’ve got pizza for breakfast too.

with the rain slowing me down and helping the guy change his tire, i could have went longer. i did 107 today which was enough. i didn’t get many photos because of the weather. day 43 done.

i’m looking forward to tomorrow, having a place to stay with someone and stopping at a place that manufactures something that i bought on kickstarter(surprise again!). if i have the time, i may even surprise some people…

today was a good day. i started the day after waking up, making coffee, turning on some fleetwood mac, taking a shower and then cleaning up around the house that david(my warmshower) let me stay in. refreshing. i had the whole house to myself and there wasn’t another person for a few miles. i cleaned up, got ready and waited for david to arrive. when he showed up a little later, we talked a bit and he took me into town. he gave me some advice on my rear wheel and took a few photos for his guests to see. he gave me a route to take, advising me on roads and then told me where the change for time zones would be. we separated and i started riding.

before i start writing about the day i would like to remind everyone that i am not only doing this ride for my own personal goal, but also to raise money for the livestrong foundation, that will be donated to cancer research. my family has had a strong history with cancer and there’s a good chance that someone you know has had their life affected as well. we can help support cancer research and donate money to this cause so that it may become more treatable or hopefully in our lifetime completely curable. my donation site is http://tiny.cc/cancerdonations

i an see that i am currently averaging 1400-1500 visitors per day and thought i am writing this for everyone to read, please donate if you can.

blountstown is a small place, but it does have some livelihood to it. i passed through it quickly and saw the bridge to cross both the river and time zones. i was happy to have the bike lanes with me as well.

the bike lanes continued on for the day, all the way through every town and down every road. i was interested to see what the national forrest would be like. as i expected, it was beautiful. long roads with bike lanes, tree lined streets(actually forests) and no turning off the roads for my day. the forest was a combination of mostly pines and tropical plants/trees. i haven’t smelled pine this good since i was leaving washington. that pine smell was much different though. it was a sweet combination of wheat fields and pine. this one is pine, but definitely different.

i put on some headphones and sang while i rode through the forrest. i rode quite a bit today, but what is becoming normal. david had said that doing centuries every day was crazy, but i won’t be doing them every day(90 miles or maybe even 85).

the heat and humidity wasn’t so bad, but maybe i’m becoming accustomed to it. i was sweating a bit but i was also drinking as much water as i could. i stopped as often as i could, but for some reason the stores i was stopping at either didn’t have fountain machines or wouldn’t let me have ice water. just plain old normal water for me today…blah. it was nice to coast for a bit on flat land, but i had the wind in my face for a while, which wasn’t as bad as it could have been. it was a cool breeze, and not enough to keep me from gaining speed.

i’m happy that everyone keeps reading about my experiences. all is well and i’m having a great time. i took a few photos today, but i guess i was using my camera more than my phone. those will have to wait until i’m done with the ride. i can hardly wait to get to the finish line and see lindsey there. i covered just over 100 miles and made good time doing it even with the time change. day 42 done.

today was an emotional start. i woke up, cleared up camp, made coffee, relaxed, then got on my bike. i had a flat to start the day. rather than fix it in the dark, i figured i’d pump it up and ride until light to get into a parking lot somewhere. about five miles later, it was time to fix it. i have been putting off rotating my tires for about a week now, but i thought this would make a great time to do it. it was early, i had plenty of time in the day and i had a flat to fix. yesterday i noticed my rear wheel was out of true and today i could look at that as well.

i laid the bicycle down and removed both wheels. deflated and removed the front tire, and then the rear. when i looked at the rear wheel, i noticed something i didn’t want to see. my rim has a tear in it. it’s right by a spoke and there are three others near it that look like they are in rough shape. this sucks. i thought the pedals were the worst of the issues i would have. i can’t fix the rim being ripped. nobody can. it needs to be replaced. i put everything back together, rotating the tires so they could get a more even wear. i texted lindsey and she called, then the emotions came in a big wave. i got a big case of the feels.

i’m not sure if it was entirely the wheel that caused such a moment, but knowing that i’m nearing the end of this journey. i am about to enter the fifteenth and final state of the trip. i’ve been through so much and met so many wonderful people. i’ve found out more about me and my body, and i’ve had plenty of time to think about everything. it was a difficult way to start the day and definitely not how i had expected it to start.

cruising down the last stretch of alabama, the heat and humidity got stronger. it was my next big challenge. adapting to this weather over the past week has proved to be difficult. especially with becoming sick a few days ago. my throat is still a little sore, but i’ve basically recovered fully.

crossing the border from alabama into florida, i had to get on the interstate for a mile. i was nervous about it, since the cycling culture in alabama isn’t as welcoming as it could have been. immediately after crossing the border it was like night and day. the road was freshly paved and there was a bike lane on the interstate. it’s like they knew i was coming and had been on rough roads for so long. i stopped at the welcome center and they offered me a glass of orange juice. what a way to feel welcome. they even had free state maps. score one for florida!

as i’ve been to other states with similar roads, i was waiting for the cycling lane to stop. when it did, a sidewalk appeared. when the sidewalk ended, a cycling lane appeared. all the way to blountstown. i’m amazed at how great of a cycling road network is here and i’m excited to see more. google maps shows a ton of highlighted green roads that are bicycle friendly.

about twenty miles away from blountstown, i saw clouds forming. big clouds. i wasn’t interested in seeing another storm, but i couldn’t avoid it either. i kept going and eventually the storm was above me. when the rain started, i jumped off of my bike, put on the rain covers on the front panniers, then covered my wool blanket with the garbage bag i have. the rain was warm and felt good. it had was nice to have it rinse away some of the smell that i’ve developed over the past few days. you know it’s bad when you can tell you don’t smell good. normally you may notice when you’re in a closed area, like a restroom or something similar, but today it was just everywhere. i saw a walmart on the way and thought it would be a good place to stop for a moment. i went inside and remembered that i haven’t checked my weight since i started the tour. i had purposely gained 30 pounds a few months before leaving so that my body had fat to survive off of when i was riding. i knew i had lost some weight and it was time to check. i’ve lost a little over that amount. i’ll post the numbers as well as before and after photos when i’m done.

i rode through the rain and called my warmshower(david) at the place he had mentioned. he came to the store and picked me up, then drove down a side road and turned into a very hidden driveway. there is a house he owns, that he’s been working on and fixing up, and it was mine for the night. he even brought me two beers so that i would feel more welcome. since my early arrival, i’ve eaten, showered, did some sewing, reorganized my gear and  cleaned up. there was a storm that passed over, somewhat heavy, and the power had flickered off for a moment. it didn’t matter. i feel very comfortable and am ready for a good nights rest.

crossing into florida marks the last state i will be in for my tour. fourteen states have come and gone, and now i’m almost done. i’m sure i will have more emotions over the next week, but i can’t avoid those either. now that i’m in blountstown, i can follow my itinerary and finish in seven or eight days. of course i will slow down once i get to the keys, so that i can meet lindsey on time. i’ve covered another century today and it felt great to get some speed on the flat lands in florida. i can hope for good weather the rest of the ride, but i know rain here can be unpredictable. day 42 done.

i know, i keeps saying it. i started late. bethany(my warmshower) had made me breakfast, and i slept in, and we had also talked over my route. it’s not going to be a great weekend for riding because it’s a holiday weekend and i’m right between everyone and the gulf of mexico.

lindsey suggested i stop at a bike shop to talk about my pedals. i didn’t because it’s not been convenient until today. bethany told me that i should stop at her favorite bike shop, montgomery multisport, as it was also on the route i had planned for the day. it wasn’t directly on the route but it wouldn’t have made a big issue to stop there. i had started late and didn’t think i had the time(an extra five minutes, i’m ridiculous) but then accidentally(subconiously?) made a wrong turn and ended up by the shop. i rode up, but they were closed. that’s fine, i’ll just keep moving. then someone opened the door. they asked what they could help with, and i explained my situation. i asked if they had any old pedals sitting around that looked like they may last a thousand miles so that i didn’t have to roll with these walmart ones. he began looking around while we talked. the pain in my legs and hips is probably caused by these pedals, being that they have an adapter/extender bolt on them so they fit. that makes your feet about 1/2-3/4 on an inch further out on each side. that will basically make your entire body sore. he found a pair of pedals that i could ride with, we put them on and i was on my way! thanks again to those awesome guys at montgomery mutltisport (montgomerymultisport.com) for going out of their way to open early just to help.

i got back out on the road and it felt great to be clipped in again. a few miles further, i passed an oncoming cyclist. every time i think i won’t see another for a while, i see one. i yelled out good morning and he kept going. after i went around a corner and another mile, he pulled up next to me. we talked for a bit while riding(sorry i’m slower: gear, etc.) his name was jay. when we came to an intersection, we talked for a few minutes and i looked to see where to go. another cyclist pulled up. his name was greg. after not seeing anyone on a bike for the entire state of alabama, i’ve almost reached the border and i see two in the same day. we all took photos with each other for social media posts and wished each other well on our rides.

through the day my hips didn’t hurt anymore, but my legs are still sore, probably from so much work lately. on one of my longer stretches that was avoiding higher traffic roads, i went around a corner to see a store. i didn’t think there was going to be one for another ten or fifteen miles. i pulled up, saw three guys out front drinking beer, and it just seemed appropriate that i do the same. i went in and got a tall can of beer went out front and relaxed with some guys for about a half hour. it was hot. it was humid. the beer and conversation was great. before leaving they warned me about the afternoon shower at 4:00. it happens every day in september and it was right on time.

i rode more. i recalculated my route because i decided that i would go southeast instead of just south. i knew there wasn’t any way that i’d make it as far as i wanted, but i did give a good effort and hopefully by camping early i can make up for the miles with ease tomorrow. only about eighty miles for the day. day 40 done.

i couldn’t sleep in. i knew it had to be an early day. thankfully i had went to sleep early last night so that i could get the rest i needed. i woke up at 5:30a, coffee, cleanup and packing only took about a half hour. i sat for another half hour to read the news i have missed while sipping the coffee.

i grabbed my bicycle and got on the road. it’s been a few days since i got a good early start. i function best in the early morning. i can get stuff done before you’re awake. so i rode. i started early, and i pushed hard. i had 88 miles to go to get over to the warmshower house in montgomery. i wanted to arrive early afternoon.

riding out of brent, alabama in the morning along an alternative route(not 82) was nice. quiet, low traffic and shaded. the humidity started early causing me to sweat a lot. i drank as much water as i had, waiting until the next small town to refill. i felt much better riding today than in the past few days. there were only a few small towns to stop in to refill water, so i had to make sure and stop at all of them.

i arrived in wetumpka from the advice of my warmshower, thinking i could avoid the traffic of the montgomery. as i got closer, the traffic picked up. i crossed a small bridge, then made a right and the traffic was much worse. no curb, no sidewalk, just speeding cars. it wasn’t easy, but i still had about twenty miles to go.

i got closer to the warmshower(bethany and dave) and let them know i was arriving. i had made the 88 miles all before 4pm. it made me feel good, but my legs were still sore for some reason. hopefully that doesn’t continue. my warmshower ordered dinner for me, which was a delicious bbq baked potato. we talked about bikes, touring, all sorts of stuff and they told me about their recent trip to yellowstone.

i thought about my ride over the past 39 days today. how far i’ve come, how many people i’ve met, what i’ve seen, just everything. it was a lot to think about. i’ve been on roads where less than a car a day drive, i’ve seen things on my route that don’t get the chance to be appreciated as often as they should. i’ve met some amazing people. it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be over soon, but it will be. i thought i knew a lot about what i was doing and myself before, then i learned more. i still feel like i’m not as prepared as i could be, even 39 days into my ride.

it was an uneventful day, dealing with heat and humidity without much scenery. i’ve pushed a bit hard and made a decent set of miles today. day 39 done.

with the worst of the sickness/nasal congestion behind me i was more hopeful of today. the miles that i had to cover were the worst of it, or so i had thought.

i woke up late after sleeping in, attempting to let my body recover a bit. i made a cup of coffee and took a quick shower trying to get as much as i could from the cost of the campsite. the first thing i found when leaving was a series of huge hills. that’s not how i wanted to start the day. i thought it would be an easy start. oh well, i’m not going to get through them just by looking at them. after a few miles, i turned onto 82 towards tuscaloosa. it wasn’t an easy road, but i imagined that it would get better after i was through the city. after all, it was a major road to get to montgomery.

the humidity here is hard to get through. it doesn’t help that it was in the mid 90s today either. by noon, i had only covered about 15% of my day, where on average i’m usually closer to 50%. i couldn’t get speed. i couldn’t get over the hills. my entire body is sore. i’m hoping that it’s just from being sick, not from my previous days centuries. i’d love to continue doing those, but my body won’t let me right now.

after coasting along the sidewalks of tuscaloosa trying to navigate the best way through the western side of the city, i came back to 82. it was worse. there’s no shoulder, not even the paint can stay on the road from the white lines. it doesn’t help that it’s a logging route, where the logging trucks all seem to go as fast as they can. some moved over, some didn’t. it has to be the most dangerous road and route that i’ve been on yet. i stopped at the first gas station a few miles away. after a few moments of being heckled by the guys sitting around there, the ups guy said that i should take the next right, go past a few stop signs, then turn left. that would keep me off 82 for about eight miles. sounds good to me. it worked out perfect as well. once i got back on 82, a mile or so further, there was a shoulder. not a great one, but it’s better than having to ride left of the white line.

i continued on for another stretch, slowly. everything combined was draining me all out. it was only about ten miles until my next “big” town. i pushed on. i even cut off early to take more back roads. if i can’t pick up speed, i shouldn’t risk myself further on this road. i saw a walmart and decided to stop. i purchased a jar of goober grape, the peanut butter/jelly combo stuff. it’s easy to keep, since it doesn’t need refrigeration. i also got a loaf of bread. while sitting in front of the store making sandwich after sandwich, one of the cart guys says “heads up!” and tosses me a bottle of ice cold water. it was genuine kindness. i thanked him repeatedly, and he kept moving. i was ecstatic. cold water and sandwiches. my kind of lunch.

i left and stopped at the pizza hut for a refill of my water bottles and realized how much time had passed since i left the campsite. there wasn’t any way that i would be able to make it all the way to montgomery today. i had 124 miles to cover, but i had only made it about 50. i decided that i would get past brent, alabama and find somewhere to camp. as i reached closer to the eastern edge of the town, a guy pulled over and we talked for a moment. he asked if i would like to camp in his yard. he didn’t put off any creepy vibes and seemed normal, so i agreed. i needed the rest. he’s a police officer that works in tuscaloosa but lives in brent. he only lived a few small blocks away, so i rode over. i setup camp in his yard, then he asked if i would come in for dinner. i said sure, then scurried over to my bicycle to find the cleanest shirt that i had. all of them are musty. the rain that was a few days ago still hasn’t completely dried on my front bags and now all of my clothes smell like a wet dog. the humidity won’t allow them to dry during the day, and the same goes for night. i picked the least smelly one, grabbed a pod of laundry soap that lindsey had given me and rubbed it all over the shirt. now it smelled closer to wet dog soap. i guess it would have to do. i went in and immediately apologized for my smell, but explained that this was the cleanest item i had to wear. no big deal. everyone was fine with it. i sat and had dinner, offered to clean up and was told not to worry about it. we watched baseball for a short time and i had to leave so that i could get more rest.

my streak of centuries didn’t last as long as i had hoped, but there’s always other days to do it again. 124 was a goal that i shouldn’t have tried to shoot for to begin with in my condition. i finished the day with 55 miles, making the day tomorrow shorter as i’m staying with a warmshower in montgomery(!). day 38 done.

today was enduring. being sick and riding a hundred miles didn’t sound ike a great idea when i woke up, and when i got on the roads of mississippi to start riding, it was worse.

as much as i want to leave early to avoid riding in the dark, i need the sleep so that i can recover a little. i slept in until 6:30 because my body won’t let me sleep later from so many other early days. i rode into fulton, mississippi rather than avoiding it, adding another six miles on my trip because i wanted to get some medicine. when i got to the store i looked over the medicine selection and determined that it was a bad idea to get anything due to the adverse effects it could have on my body. it may make me feel slightly better, but at the same time, my body may react differently to it.

i crossed the border into alabama and looked at the map. there were only three towns that were on my ride today and i needed to make sure to stock water at each of them due to the heat and humidity that the day was going to have. just before entering guin, alabama, my right pedal started making a clicking noise. that’s no good. that was the same one that wore out a few days ago when i had to buy new pedals. i opened the cap on the end and looked inside. it was dry. i guess the people that make pedals for bell just don’t understand the importance of grease. there was a fine metal powder inside, indicating that the pedal had started rubbing so much that it was deteriorating. i put a bit of oil inside, which i didn’t want to do. my oil is about halfway gone, but it’s expensive oil for chains, not really something that you would use on a pedal. oh well. any sort of lubrication is better than none.

just before the border, a guy pulled over in a truck. maybe i looked sick, tired, or just interesting. we talked for a few minutes and he offered some ice water. he told me that it was rain water and it was the best thing in the world. i drank some and it was good. his big question was: “so you’re out riding around the country, living free, nobody tells you what to do, nobody owns you?” i don’t know if it was because i was in the south, but i immediately thought of slavery when he asked if anyone owned me. it’s true, i’m living free, without people telling me what to do. the late burt shavitz, creator of burts bees, had a documentary created about him a year or two ago. one of the things he said in the film is “no ones ever owned me, no ones ever going to own me. you can rent somebody, but you can’t buy them.” thinking about that, we parted ways and i had to keep on riding.

i stopped at guin and talked with the attendant in the gas station. i couldn’t remember what the town was that i was going towards. i couldn’t remember what camp i stayed at last night. things are really a big blur today. after looking through my map again, i remembered i was heading towards tuscaloosa. he recommended a shorter way, that had less hills. when i looked at his route on my map, i saw it was about twenty miles longer and there were more hills. i told him that mine was faster and showed him the grade chart. he seemed surprised. he then told me to be careful at the lake lurleen state park because they have been finding alligators around there. someone had let a bunch of baby alligators loose into the lake.

i rode another few miles and laughed a little. there’s a town next to guin called gu-win. i wondered how often they get mixed up and confused with each other. the pronunciation seems like it would be the same.

the next town i stopped and refilled ice water in mcdonalds, but didn’t want to stay for too long since i had many more miles to go. it seemed like i wasn’t making any progress, like the harder i rode the slower the miles passed. i feel exhausted.

i rode another twenty miles and stopped in fayette, alabama. from here, it was about forty miles before camp and nothing in between. my body is sore, but my back is really sore. it could have been the way i slept or just riding a bike for the past 3300(ish) miles. i have advil with me and took three of them while texting with my sister for a few minutes. she was just checking in and wanted to make sure that i was doing okay. i like that. aside from lindsey, people don’t regularly check in. it makes me feel like people still care. after not really being around many people that i have created a bond with, it definitely becomes lonely riding a bicycle on the road.

i was happy that my day didn’t have any dirt roads, because a different bolt on my rear rack has become sensitive to them. it starts to shake loose and i have to tighten it. maybe i’ll put some loctite in it like i did with the others. the wear is definitely showing on my bike in various places.

i stopped at one more store that i was surprised to see open. it was about ten miles from camp. i got a beer and refilled my water bottles. the cashier asked if i liked chicken and i said of course. she asked if i wanted some, because they were closing in a few minutes and it would be otherwise wasted. two breasts and a drumstick went into a styrofoam box and i secured it to my bike. i was thinking i would eat it when i got to camp. a few miles later the road turned to dirt and hills. sigh. i’m so done with dirt roads. i’m so done with hills. i am excited for the days of florida where it’s flat. lindsey tells me that i’ll miss the hills when i’m there, but i doubt it. my legs don’t agree with the past few days of centuries and hills. one or the other they say. so i knew i had five more miles on this dirt road and it was dark out. the moon hadn’t yet come up. i stopped, sat down in the middle of this dirt road and ate my chicken in the dark. it was really peaceful, but i imagined that if someone were to come down this road how crazy i would look. covered in sweat, bicycle on laying on its side, no shirt, eating fried chicken in the middle of the road. yes, i probably looked crazy.

i got to the campsite and they were in the process of closing the booth. the woman inside opened the window and said “campsites are $32”. to me, that’s crazy. in tennessee i was paying $8. the most expensive site i’ve had was at the koa, which was $34. this place better be luxurious. she told me that the state parks inside alabama were all this price. i let her know the trends of pricing that i’ve come across in the united states, and also informed her that it was the most expensive state park i’ve been to. when i finished complaining and making jokes about how there had better be a free breakfast buffet, i went and setup camp. i’d like to say that it was a beautiful park, but it’s so dark i can’t tell. i went to take a shower and almost fell asleep standing up. it was a long day and i needed rest.

i rode 106 miles today, making it the the third day that i’ve traveled a century. 300 miles, three days. not bad considering how sick and exhausted i feel. maybe tomorrow will be an easier day. according to my timeline, if i continue to ride a century everyday, i’ll arrive in key west on the 10th. i can’t do that, because lindsey won’t arrive until the 15th. when i get closer to southern florida, i’ll be taking some rest days, maybe just doing 50 miles or so for a few days. it will be nice to have some rest. i can’t wait. day 37 done.

my body is sore. i’m sick. it’s been getting worse for the past few days. yes, it sucks, but i’m going to have to push through it.

when i was leaving chickasaw state park, i looked closer at the map. there was a trail that i could take that would be easier, and maybe more scenic. sure, i’ll go that way. after going about a mile into the trail, it suddenly became very hilly, steep hills, hills that i had to walk up. it didn’t save me time.

a few hours later, a few miles later one of the roads turned from pavement to gravel to chipstone, to sand and mud. that road was also a road that i couldn’t get through on my bike, but didn’t want to backtrack for an additional five miles. google, you’re really killing me today.

the tennessee roads have been great, shoulders/bike routes on the highways, great upkeep and just friendly people. when i crossed to mississippi, the roads changed. i was on a highway with a bike route, however it faded to gravel right after the mississippi sign. the roads here are not in good shape. i’ve only been here a day, and i’m considering it as one of the worst states for road conditions.

i’m moody, i apologize. after losing stuff yesterday, getting rained on, then trying to dry off today(still), i realized my favorite jerzey from ten speed hero is now gone. i called the campsite and they sent someone to look, but no dice. also, i got a flat tire today. also there’s an issue with my derailleur that i couldn’t work on last night because it became dark too fast. also i’m sick. i really want everything to be fine, just relax on the beach with a drink. google maps says i’m getting closer, 1000 more miles. i can do this. i can do it quick.

i finished a century today, making it two days of centuries, hopefully 10 remaining. it’s going to be tough with being sick and waiting for daylight to work on the bike. day 36 done.

everything is wet. the idea that i had to start the day didn’t work. my itinerary said i should go to memphis. i looked at the weather as i do almost every morning and saw that there were storms all over memphis and directly west, that would be coming to me all day had i gone south. i made the decision to head southeast, more efficiently toward the destination.

beginning the ride i traveled south and came to a small town. i would stop for water, maybe a snack. the two gas stations were closed, well, one was out of business. i went into a restaurant and someone told me that the dollar general was open. it was a few blocks away, so i made the trip. i got water and a few snacks. while loading everything on my bike, i forgot to put the snacks away and they were on my rear rack. a few miles later i stopped to grab one, but then realized they were on my rack. which they no longer were. dang. couldn’t backtrack and get them again. oh well.

i rode for about twenty more miles and my right pedal that has been slowly acting up seized. it wouldn’t move. i laid the bike down and disassembled the pedal as much as i could with the tools that i have. i saw the impending part inside. a bearing had come loose and was rubbing on the nut that holds the pedal together. i didn’t have a socket that would fit in there to loosen it and put it back in place. i loaded it with oil, opened a screwdriver on one of the multitools that i found, used another to hammer it a little. i popped it back, further away from the nut, added more oil and tried again. i got it good enough so that the pedal still moved, but wouldn’t function properly until i got to a bike shop. i looked on maps to see where the closest one was. there were three motorcycle shops in friendship, tennessee, but no bicycle shops. the nearest one was in jackson, tennessee. 55-60 miles away. i doubted that the pedal would last that long with the slow rolling hills and terrain to cover. the closest store that may have something was walmart. i carefully rode the remaining five miles putting as much pressure and weight on the left as i could so that the right would function the way there. i got in and saw two pairs of pedals, neither of which would fit my crank arms. dang. as i scanned the shelf, i noticed one more pair that also had an adapter with them. success! i took them to the register to see that they had been mispriced from $29 to $7. i didn’t say a word. i went out and began to change them. a curious employee came to talk and wondered about my trip. i asked him when the clouds of gnats would stop, as they were sticking to me and everything on my bike. he said they never end. hahaha. i asked how they keep their windshields clean, to which he replied: “we don’t”. fair enough. the delay of the pedals wasn’t something that i wanted to deal with, especially so far from a shop. my shimano dual sided pedals probably got 15k miles on them, so i’m happy that they lasted as long. i’m not giving up on them. i had texted bailey, a friend from my favorite bike shop in chicago(comrade cycles) and he said that the bearings weren’t serviceable, but they were replaceable. i’ll take them in for some service when i return.

continuing on my way i was happy to find that there was a bike lane that ran most of the length of friendship along the road i was taking. it wasn’t being used by anyone else, but i’m glad it was there. i looked further on my route to examine where my next few turns were and saw something amazing. bill murray road. no way. seriously? out here in the middle of nowhere? i had to get a picture with it, after all, no one will ever believe you. it was on my route, and i had a few minutes to spare. when i arrived, i looked for the sign. the only one i could find was fire house road. no bill murray road. someone at google maps had a good time with this thinking that it wouldn’t be discovered. screenshot is in the photos below.

i merged onto us route 412 and saw something out of place. a bike route sign. the highway has a bike route sign on it. the shoulder is probably 15 feet wide, nicely paved, and this highway is a bike route. that’s great. i’m happy with that and rode it happily.

a short time later i saw some heavy clouds to the south. i stopped at the dollar general again(they’re very common here) and picked up a drink. i sat out front, watched the clouds and looked at the weather. the storm would stick around jackson for five hours or so, directly where i was heading. the thunder that followed the lighting was loud. it reminded me of when i was with alexei in south dakota when the thunder sounded like it was ripping the sky apart. the rain was so light that i figured i could ride through it. about a mile later it was a huge downpour and i had to take shelter. a closed car dealership was a nice shelter, seeing that they had power outlets and rocking chairs under the awning was even better. i sat and waited for the storm to lighten. another unexpected delay.

once it had lightened up, i rode more. the rain started again but i decided to push through. after all, if i’m going to get wet, i’ll be wet. there wasn’t any stopping it as i was already soaked. the rain felt nice from the humid and sticky weather, plus it rinsed the bugs off of me. i stopped about ten miles later at a combo gas station and mcdonalds to use the restroom. when i had refilled my water bottles, a woman came up and asked if i had a few moments to discuss what my experience was and a few other things. she asked if i had ordered, i said no, and she offered to buy me food. thanks! i shared my experiences with her and she was very interested. she’s hoping to do a ride soon that would be her and a few others crossing the country stopping at the rotary clubs to do fundraising for als(forgive me if that’s incorrect). i told here the issues that i’ve run into, the advice that i’ve picked up and my opinions on how i’ve done. she said: “i wish there was a website that could have told me as much as you have about bike touring…”. my reply was simple, i have that website, it may not have everything, but it’s definitely got more than i expected to learn. i gave her my contact info and we parted ways. i need to go through my bags because i know i’ve got more cards somewhere, i just can’t find them.

i started riding again and reached for my second handkerchief so that i could wipe away some rain and sweat. gone. where was it last? i pulled it out when i stopped to change pedals. i’m losing things today! the storm slowed me down, the pedals slowed me down, i keep forgetting to put things away. i’m glad i haven’t lost anything that i need, but the food and handkerchief would have been nice to keep. this makes for three things that i’ve lost. my rain jacket in sloan, iowa is the first thing.

i rode more. i was about twenty or thirty miles from jackson, riding through the rain and a gentleman slowed down to see if i was okay. he offered a ride the remaining way, even though it was out of his way. i graciously accepted, knowing that i wouldn’t have made it to the campsite before 10pm with all of the things that had happened. we talked about bikes, touring, what setups he has, what setups i have, camping and many other things. his name is allen posey, and we became fast friends. he told me about how he used to camp at chickasaw state park when he was a kid and hadn’t been there in many years. he seemed excited to see how things have changed. we made our way there and the campsite is great. the lake is beautiful and oddly enough, there aren’t mosquitos. it may be the rain, but i feel like they would have come out already since the rain has stopped.

i plan on attempting to do centuries every day for twelve days, but we’ll see how that goes with weather and my body. this was supposed to be the first day of it and i did get a short ride, so maybe i’ll start tomorrow. i’m happy to be drying out in my tent after a nice warm shower and great conversations all day with everyone. tennessee has been a nice place to visit and i’ve met some excellent people, i just wish there was something we could do about those gnats. i would have had more photos, but i didn’t want to pull out any electronics in the rain. day 35 done.

today started simple. i had a pretty steady course to get through the rest of illinois, kentucky and then into tennesee. winding down the side roads was easy. low traffic, after all, there aren’t many people that want to go into cairo and i believe that the ones that did want to go were still sleeping when i left camp.

i had about fifteen miles before cairo and they blew by easily. i was warned that the bridge from illinois to kentucky in cairo was narrow. thankfully there wasn’t any traffic. so little that only two cars passed me over the entire bridge, which i believe is around a third of a mile long. the two that passed waited patiently for other cars in the other lane to go, just like normal traffic. i was amazed at how easy it was. i stressed out over nothing.

into kentucky had one hill at the first town, which i climbed and saw a gas station and determined i would need a coffee to congratulate me on another state passed. it was delicious. the last time i had coffee was around four days ago, in st. charles(thanks kelly, again). i figured it was time to get more instant coffee since i had run out sometime in south dakota. i’m not excited about it, but hey, it’s got to be at least comparable to the gas station coffee. right around the corner from the gas station i saw another cyclist. gasp! i keep thinking that i won’t see any others touring, and then get surprised. he seemed just as surprised. his name is eagle and he had mentioned that he was touring for roughly two and a half years. he was heading toward st louis and i gave him my travel advice from the few days that had passed.

riding through western kentucky was amazing. i never thought i would say that i felt kentucky was beautiful, but really, it is. the trees everywhere were nice for shade and they all had vines covering them. i started trying to guess what they looked like shape-wise, because some of them definitely had character. my favorite was a gorilla on one knee. i should have taken a photo of it, but it’s okay.

about halfway through my kentucky voyage, i was flagged down by a car. a woman jumped out excitedly and said, “you look like you need a map!” i said sure, and we began talking as she pulled a bundle of maps from her trunk. her name was norma pruitt and she is the executive director for the kentucky great river road national scenic byway. she mentioned that they are trying to get more trails for bicycles, pedestrians and atvs put in, which would be great. i’m all for touring on trails, especially if they are along scenic byways. i talked with her and her husband about my travel and he seemed inspired that i was riding for charity with the livestrong foundation. he has a rare disease that is hereditary associated with hsp(heridetary spastic paraplegia) and pls(Primary Lateral Sclerosis). he also is working on spreading the word of his issue as much as he can, while he still can. i felt for him as he mentioned his children also have a 50% chance of developing the same issue and currently there isn’t anything that can be done to cure or prevent it. norma gave me a t-shirt that promoted the great river road in kentucky and it is nice. i chose a medium shirt over a large because i’m currently wearing all of my large shirts very baggy. i can fit into a medium easily. we took a few photos together and the should be around the internet any moment(check here: https://www.facebook.com/promote.ky) they suggested that i stop at the columbus state park a few miles down the road. there was a story about how twenty five years ago someone had traveled the entire mississippi river stating that the best view they had was from a gazebo that is on top of a hill in this park. i had to go check it out. it was amazing. great view and great tip. i’ve got a photo below, but more on the camera, which will all come at a later date.

the remainder of kentucky seemed to go by quick, all up until the last few miles. the wind was in my face and i couldn’t do anything about it. it was a nice cool breeze, definitely welcome in the heat. as i came closer to the tennessee border, there were groups of bugs like gnats that were everywhere. the only thing i could do is be thankful i had on my glasses, keep my head down and mouth shut. when i stopped, i realized they were sticking to my sweaty skin. hundreds of bugs, all over me, some dead, some alive, all sticking to me. i couldn’t help but think of how much i wanted a shower.

i stopped at a restaurant around the corner from the campsite to have dinner. fish buffet! when i had finished, i realized i should never go to a buffet for anything. i had four platefuls of food, two deserts and a bloody mary. i. was. stuffed. i really hope i don’t feel this bad tomorrow, i don’t even want to move. the heat and humidity definitely don’t help. i just want to feel less stuffed, even hungry like i did earlier. reminder: don’t eat so much you fool.

all totaled i rode around 80 miles. i felt accomplished once again, even with the few people that i talked to saying that i had quite a ways to go. i’ve been through the mountains and i’ve rode about 2800 miles. the last 1400-1600 shoudn’t be so bad. unless the storms are rough. currently i am between a storm from the west and another from the southeast. hopefully they will hit each other and cancel out? i heard the one from the southeast will get interrupted by the mountains and go towards the east coast. i’d be fine with that, as the wind from the other will carry me swiftly southeast. day 34 done.