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August 29th 2010 - Last ever update!
Here at last I think is the photo of the Mississippi bridge at sunset. I hope it's been worth the wait! There are a few more pictures here of the Silver Comet bike trail, my unexpected and inauspicious nocturnal crossing of the Atlanta City Limits (more on that later) and some equally unexpected but slightly more auspicious friends made last night. So the plan last night was to camp at sweetwater creek state park, but upon arrival at the lovely venue I was told camping is not allowed, contrary to the rules of every other state park I have stayed at for the last month. I tried persuading the warden but he only threatened to call the cozzers. So I wandered off in the direction of a campsite he described to me, a little further into Atlanta. This proved elusive and as I followed the prescribed road, the looks of bemusement on the faces of the people from whom I asked for directions increased. The campsite could not be found and I started to look desperately for alternatives, mindful of the danger of cities and the warnings of a policeman I had asked diections from. Every secluded bit of grass or park which would normally have invited a sly bivvy, now only looked like a crack den or a gangsta's paradise... then it got dark. I stopped by a couple of huge churches hoping I might find sanctuary there. I asked if I could camp in the grounds (secretly hoping that I might be invited in to the coolth) but was snubbed by security both times and so I resigned myself to cycling the remaining 20 miles into the centre of the city and looking for a motel. As I was cycling along, I passed what looked like a drive in movie so I turned in to investigate. It was 'Invictus', being shown by a local church, so I asked the pastor if he would mind me camping in their grounds. The Emmanuel Lutherian Church were utterly welcoming and generous, allowing me to camp, offering me a bath, good company and food and drink (which included the first beer in 5 weeks). It seemed like a fitting end to the trip and emphasised a point in my mind that has been gathering clarity and force:
In the book 'The Alchemist' a shepherd boy sets off to find some treasure, a journey that lasts a lifetime. On the way he learns many valuable lessons but one in particular sticks in my mind. "When you want something with all your heart, the whole world conspires to help you achieve it". It sounds nice and I've always remembered it but I don't think I ever really felt it before now. There have been so many potential problems on this trip and so many dangers, but none of them have come to fruition. I have cycled safely and without unexpected toil for 3,520 miles. I have not fallen off, been knocked off, been eaten by wild animals (unless you count mozzies), had insurmountable mechanical problems, suffered illness or even significant aches or pains. I have met only good people and been offered much hospitality. I cannot help but have a profound sense that of all the trivial decisions I have made to eat in this diner or rest on that bench or sleep under those trees or stop at that bar, every single decision has taken me along the safe road and kept me from any one of the hundred catastrophes that could have happened under marginally different circumstances. The fact that the decisions seemed trivial to me at the time and yet their totality conspired to carry me in complete safety and relative comfort only reinforces a sense that it is more than either luck or judgement that has brought me here to Atlanta safely. And so it was last night. The fear and stress I felt earlier in the evening were only just what was necessary to bring me to the EL church and meet the lovely people there. The company of whom was immeasurably better than the peace of any state park or comfort of any motel.
A suitably philosophical note to end the trip on, for here I am in a nice hotel in the centra of Atlanta with plently of time to sightsee, pack up my bike and rest before the flight home. I am very grateful to everyone for their support and donations. So far you have raised over 900 pounds for an excellent cause, and it comes almost exclusively from my family and friends. Your messages, texts and emails while I have been away have kept me going and I don't think I could have kept going without the knowledge that such support was there. I think the final word should be to Matt for keeping the web page up to date, which he has done faithfully for 6 weeks. A true friend indeed and not a half bad web designer..... www.halogendesign.co.uk
August 27th 2010
So i'm in Cullman, Alabama now and I've now done my last 100 mile day - I think I can say now that I'm nearly there. I mean I have less than 200 miles to go and 4 days before my flight leaves, so I should manage that. The trip average to this point is 101 miles per day and 14.5 miles per hour. I met a nice man in the Moorville one-stop called Veejay who made me a cheese sandwich. He took some convincing that I wanted neither meat, dressing, grilling nor any other adornments to the sandwich and looked a bit confused when I ate it. It was gloriously plan and healthy after so much rich food. So thanks for the sandwich and the donation, Veejay, it beat the 'deep fried peach pie' I had had that morning by a country mile.
August 26th 2010
With apologies, I attached the wrong photo to the previous update. It was supposed to be the Mississippi bridge, but is actually me having a shave in a lake in Kansas about 10 days ago. Well I'm almost in Alabama now and I don't know whether it was anything to do with the weight of the watermelon, but my back wheel has been having some problems. The cones came loose quite suddenly and the wheel started slewing all over the place. Then a couple of spokes snapped. So I spent a happy couple of hours in a bike shop this morning fettling the thing and it seems to be running smoothly again. I had another lovely camp last night by a lake so I managed to get a wash too, though I was a little concerned when something not particularly small started nibbling my toe. I was out of the water like a shot! The nights have been pleasantly cool these last couple of days and I have managed a little sleep. Luxurious! There's another photo here of me jumping into another lake, so sorry for the repetition, but the cool of the water is such a blessing, and I have time for so little else apart from riding or eating, both of which are considerably less photogenic!
August 25th 2010
In 'oxford' mississippi having lunch after having 3 breakfasts already. One of which was an entire watermelon, a substantial infringement of the rule 'never eat anything bigger than your head'. I was sitting down having second breakfast in a disused petrol station and this fella turned up in a pickup truck that was dull of watermelons. It was obviously his patch but he was very friendly, though his accent was so thick I could hardly tell what he was saying. I thought the watermelons were too good an opportunity to miss so I bought one, to the man's amazement. I realised why when he came back from his truck carrying this monstrosity that he said was a small one. It was about two feet across. Never mind bigger than my head, it was almost bigger than me! . Anyway, I ate as much as I could and put the rest in a bag and heaved it into my panniers and wobbled off down the road, Rehydrated if a litte bloated as well. Just 350 miles left now and the weather has cooled off- though it is headwindy and for some reason I have had 5 punctures in the last 2 days.
August 24th 2010
I've stoped just a few miles short of the Mississippi to recover after having done 90 miles this morning. I have resorted to motels twice this last week to escape from the heat at night and I have felt quite a bit better during the day as a result. 'Better' does not really mean 'good' though as the cycling is unrelenting. I can escape the heat at night thanks to the credit card but there is nowhere to hide during the day and the miles are very difficult. I am inside the last week of cycling now and though I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, it seems a long way off. 600 miles off to be exact! Oh, and hello to everyone at Westerhope Methodist Church!
August 21st 2010
Well I clipped the top corner of Oklahoma and am in Arkansas now (9th state), glad to see the back of the wind and the flat of Kansas. It's actually nicer to have some hills and corners for variety. The scenery round here is quite English - rolling hills and little patches of woodland. It's bloody hot again though and sleeping at night is proving particularly difficult. The only vaguely appropriate temperature is between 4am and 9am, so by the time it is cool enough to sleep, it is time to start riding again. It's rather wearing. Last night I got up at hourly intervals to go and swim in the lake to cool off, but the lake itself was pretty warm and I had to dive down to about 6 feet to get to the coolth. Oh for some crappy english cold and damp!
August 16th 2010
I've just woken so in greensberg, kansas. Another town that was devastated by a tornado a few years ago. Kansas has particularly stunning sunrises and sunsets and the riding yesterday was cool and wet for a pleasant change! The head wind is relentless though and I used one of my days in hand to hide from it! I'm now one day ahead of schedule but right now sending this message rather than getting on my bike because it's still a raging gale out there. I was fortunate enough to meet pamela stewart in a bike shop the day before yesterday when it was 39 degrees and windy and she offered to let me stay in her air conditioned basement which was most appreciated and gave me a chance to recover. Thanks for all the messages of support and donations from friends and family back home. It is making a big difference and really helping as the riding is getting particularly draining at the moment in the heat and the wind. It seems harder riding here than the highest mountain passes!
August 13th 2010
Colorado continues to be flat and hot. I've been getting up at 5 and seeing some gorgeous sunrises and riding till midday, snoozing and sending these updates till the evening then riding again in the evening. I camped last night at the John Martin Reservoir State Park which was absolutely gorgeous and utterly deserted. I swam in the lake at sunset and watched a thunderstorm in the distance. It was lovely! Not much to speak of on the roads though, unless you want a description of the roadkill?!2100 miles done now and 'only' 1300ish to do!
August 12th 2010
Nothing much to say today except that it's hot and flat now!
August 12th 2010
Well I camped at the top of the hoosier pass last night with the clever idea that I would have only downhill to do today. I did not forsee the extreme cold at 11,500 feet though! I also failed to forsee how unbelievably cold it would be descending first thing in the morning - even when I was wearing all the clothes I have with me!
Last night was prertty spooky too. At about 2.00am I was awoked by blood curdling screams from nearby - they sounded human but were quite regular - about every 20 seconds and I had no idea what they were. I sat bolt upright and grabbed the bear spray and contemplated escape strategies, none of which seemed to be effective from the unknown peril. As it was the screaming stopped after about 10 mins and I fell back to sleep.
The next morning I found out from a waitress at the diner I had breakfast in that they were the mating calls of the mountain lion.... I'm still not sure how frightened I ought to have been!
Also when I was lying shivering in my tent this morning I heard some rattling, like the snake we found the other day and then some muffled squeaking that became rapidly more pathetic then stopped... I guess that was a snake having it's breakfast too!
WellI'm out of the mountains now and it's unbelievably hot. Will camp at Pueblo lake tonight and have a cooling swim there.
2 days ahead of schedule now!
August 9th 2010
I'm in Walden, Colorado now, still keeping going despite a sore knee. I met up with a scottish cycle tourist called lindsay and we have been cycling together for a few days. He is frightened of snakes though and yesterday we met a rattlesnake that I videoed and he ran away from! It was quite a big on - maybe 3 or 4 feet long! I am reaching the inevitable conclusion that my 'beard' (such as it is) is not going to improve with age and so I am preparing to remove it.
I've ridden around 1600 miles now and i'm still a day ahead of schedule, bit the winds blowing the wrong way now so that may change soon. 2 days left in the mountains and then it's basically downhill all the way to atlanta. They are the highest mountain dfays though, up the Hoosier pass to 11,500 feet. I had a fairly terrible day a few days ago and was cowering from a fierce wind in a rest area in Wyoming when Dale Shetler, a one armed motorbiker from kansas came in and started asking me the usual questions followed by the usual exclamations. I told him words to the effect that I would rather die than get back on my bike right now. He said what I was doing was a good thing and gave me a generous donation for the charity. He told me to 'hang in there buddy' which made me feel a bit bad, so I went out into what had been a headwind only to find it had turned just enough to be a tail wind and it blew me the last 35 miles of the day. That was a special moment!
There are some outdated pictures of the hail and some significant borders. I'll try to take more interesting ones in the rockies!
August 6th 2010
I'm in Dubois, Wyoming at the moment having some lunch and pleased to have managed the towogtee pass (9,300') this morning without incident! I came through yellowstone yesterday and that was beautiful - greenery and animals and spectacular geological activity - I'll send some pictures through soon! I met a couple of hippies there too. One toothless old real life version of 'Cleetus the slack-jawed yokel' (from the simpsons) - don't worry I didn't give him the web address! and a younger couple who kept calling me 'dude' and offering me marajuana and saying 'hey - sharing is caring dude'.I have a couple of easy (ish) days before i get to the rockies, and then it's basically downhill all the way! I felt pretty jaded yesterday but seem OK today, so hopefully I'll manage to stay one day ahead of schedule in case of emergencies.Phone's still dead though, sos sorry for not replying to messages!
August 4th 2010
I cycled south through montana and beuatiful sunshine. I cycled for hours without seeing civilisation and then about 200yards before I arrived in a small village the tremperature dropped by about 25 degrees c and it started hailing bullets! The little beggars bruised my arms and my head and were the size of .... erm.... big hail! I legged it towards the nearest cover and was beckoned inside by two very hospitable people. Reinhold got pretty battered but the only real casualty is my phone, which did not survive the thrashing. 2 hours later it was beuatiful sunshine again!I'm in yellowstone now and about to go and do some erious relaxing in a hot pool. Easy day today, just 60 miles. previous 3 days have all been 120 miles+!
August 2nd 2010
August 1st 2010
Been busy since the last message, i've been to canada, through idaho and now in montana. Crossed a time zone, the continental divide and the two highest passes in the northern rockies. Had some gorgeous wild camps and as soon as i get near the internet i'll send some pictures. Not camping so wild now due to the place being infested with bears. I net and very good man in a bar last night who insisted i stay at his house or he would not be responsible for any bear-related consequences. So thanks to mike and tracy and their family for their hospitality - and advice to get some pepper spray at the next available opportunity! The countryside is just absolutely stunning here despite the worries and it's an absolute joy to ride through. I'm about a day ahead of schedule now.
July 29th 2010
A huge thank you to Faye and Dean - whose daughter Janice i met at the farmers market - for their hospitality. They offered to let me stay and i got a shower and cleaned my clothes and they fed me copiously. I feel like a human being again! Had a comedy moment yesterday when i dropped my water bottle on the way up the sherman pass. It landed a few feet behind me so i decided to roll back and pick it up, but being a cylinder on a slope it started to pick up speed and i ended up doing a crazy backwards downhill cycle to catch it
July 29th 2010
July 27th 2010
Yesterday was unspeakably hard, as predicted! The climb was 87 miles in total, and ok the first 30 miles were only just up hill, but the rest was definitely up hill! I was riding for 9 hours and only just managed to enjoy the descent to mazama. I camped rough last night. A bit rougher than intended really - i fell asleep before i had put my tent up or even got into my sleeping bag. I woke up in the middle of the night being feasted upon by the local mozzies so i retreated to the my sleepig bag. I've done 15 miles this morning and stopped in winthrop for some food. I asked in the bakery for something savoury and got some quizzical looks so i settled for a danish about the size of wales and some cherry coke. Think this should see me to the top of today's hill - loup loup summit at 4000ft!
July 26th 2010
Well the journey got worse! - i left my mobile in the cab that took me from the airport to the the terminal in seattle. That was a couple of hours of wor that i could have done without after 24 hours travelling! I got to dana's bicycle b and b at about midnight and got four hours much needed sleep before jet lag woke me up. Dana made a fantastic breakfast and yesterday i rode 120 miles through the beautiful islands that lead to sedro wooley and now i'm camped by a river lying in my tent with my heart pounding because yesterday was exhausting, but today will be much harder - 100 miles but 10000 feet of climbing, the hardest of the trip i think! Many thanks to bill boylon who i met on the ferry and made a donation as well as giving some good local advice.
July 24th 2010
Thanks to colleagues who have supported the charity - donations are now over 600 quid! After a frantic end of term i finally set off for the airport but left my bank card at home. After sorting that out i left my passport on the first plane i boarded. Then i realised i had forgotten to extend my travel insurance for the full duration of the trip. I had to call from the airport pretending that i hadn't set off yet to arrange it, which was difficult when there were so many tannoy announcements going on in the background! The second leg of the flight was over booked so we were delayed whilst the airline tried to incentivise passengers to defer their travel until tomorrow. Now waiting in toronto for my connection. Can't wait till all i have to do is cycle!
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July 16th 2010
The total amount of sponsorship donated has now passed £500 - plus £180 raised by Grandma in her coffee morning! Thanks very much to everyone for their generosity, messages and support. One week to go now before it starts......
July 10th 2010
I raced in James Block's 'Summit to Sea' challenge this saturday. The original plan was to run the snowdon horseshoe, cycle down to Betws-y-Coed and round the Marin Trail, on to Trefriw then kayak out to sea. The weather was so typically Welsh that we did a shorter, low level run instead and then picked up the rest of the route from the start of the Marin. The bike leg was probably my strongest section, getting round the course in just over 1 hour 32 minutes. This is a good indication that i'm getting stronger on the bike, but the question of endurance is still tantalisingly unanswered.....
June 25th 2010
After competing at the Kayaking World Championships in Spain I have finally started to get some serious miles in on the bike - Here's a picture taken at the Velodrome in Manchester last saturday. I still have not ridden over 100 miles yet this year so I'm pretty nervous about the mileage I'll have to do next month!
