Of Wildflowers and Sunsets (with a cool Rainbow too)

Friday, we played around with the GPS and fine-tuned the bike. When I said we had all the bugs worked out of the bike, Larry said “All but the big bug who’s riding it!” We had another great ride with Gary Friedman. I look forward to riding with him in Iowa in July.
Cooked Chinese for the Hart’s that night. Thank you, Orpha, for letting me invade your kitchen. Got a load of wash done and packed to take off on Saturday.
Yesterday was wonderful and way too long. 630 miles of long.
Left Dallas at 7 AM to begin the trip to Santa Fe. Took a TX state highway for about 250 miles to Amarillo. It was a two lane divided highway that narrowed and slowed every 10-15 miles to go through small towns.

In between those towns, there were miles of wildflowers. Although, I have included a picture, it can’t do the experience justice. There were patches of blue and orange, yellow and white that would sometimes stretch for a quarter mile. Gently rolling hills, not a cloud in the sky. It was lovely. Being on the state highway just seemed to bring me closer to the land. It was a quick 5 hours. Stopped in Amarillo for lunch and hopped on I 40 toward Tucumcari, NM. Love the name - a country song kept coming to mind - “Been to Tucson to Tucumcari, Tehachapi and Monterey, runnin’ the back roads so I wouldn’t get weighed” Not much after Amarillo but a wind farm that went on for a couple miles. Hit the 500 mile mark around 3 in the afternoon, and just decided to keep going. Turned north to Santa Fe on another state highway for the last 50 miles. It was raining around the region and you could see the showers stream across the panorama. Got a couple neat shots, but didn’t get the rainbow I was expecting.
Got into Santa Fe, checked into a Motel 6 and got in touch with my buddy Rich Freedman. Another Freedman, no relation to Gary. More on Rich tomorrow, since I will see him and his wife later today..
The scattered showers continued, so I grabbed my camera and went looking for my rainbow. OK, here it is, but it wasn’t as dramatic a shot as I wanted.

Went further out into the country to chase the sunset and I was able to get some pretty good shots. The colors out here are very vivid. The landscape is so exotic compared to the east coast, that I was just clicking in all directions till the light left. On the way back to the hotel, I saw that the moon is almost full, so maybe I’ll have an Ansel Adams moment while I am here in his town.

Grabbed a sandwich to take back to the hotel and played with my pictures for a while and crashed for the night.. Great day with a lot of good pictures and pretty scenery. And I have reached the next stop on my journey. Pretty productive. By the way, I found that you can click on the pictures to get a full screen look at my output today.
Woke up early today and finished this installment. The hotel doesn’t have anything but dial-up internet here. Since I am uploading the pictures, I’m off to Starbucks to use their WiFi network, then I am off for a bike ride before meeting Rich around noon.
Hope you are all well.

Dallas

Took my time getting out of Shreveport. The office staff at the hotel kept calling and asking when I would leave.
Don't quite know how to edit my blog. For instance, there was a couple of things I missed in that monster blog yesterday. Do I go back and add it or not? If you have been hanging on every installment here, you wouldn't read the changes. As a writer, I continually fiddle, so maybe this way of just getting it out and getting on is the best.
Anyhow - things missed.
1. Going through Louisiana, entered Bienville Parish. It made me want to get a Dave Robicheaux novel by James Lee Burke, great detective stories set in La.
2. The buffets here offer half off pricing to people over 50. They would probably lose money on me at full price.
3. Starting a set of funny photos to be put in a slow day blog. Got my first one yesterday. Betty's Stump Grinding...boy that sounds painful.
Anyhow, got on the highway and got to Dallas/Fort Worth without incident, except that hour traffic jam in Tyler TX. What a beautiful country East Texas is. Rolling hills and beautiful green countryside. Reminds me of Ohio,
Arrived at the Larry and Orpha Hart's in Dallas in time for dinner and catching up.

Larry has been my mentor on this bike journey. He got me started on the bike search and he is the man who knows his toys. He fiddled with my GPS and created a screen with all the statistics I need for a ride - cadence, heart rate, distance, speed and time. Now we have to figure out how to load this stuff into the computer to get the map of the ride and all the statistics to follow my progress.

We went for a great 25 mile bike ride today. I was a bit afraid to ride with these guys. Would I embarrass myself? Well, the answer was no. They took it easy on me, but we moved along pretty well. Long rolling hills and a bit of wind, but very enjoyable. I needed this ride. The last few times have been hard to get on the bike. There has been too much to do and the work while on the bike has been just that - work and not enjoyable. Today was great. Good pace, great weather and only minor pain in the knee (I'm icing it now).

Went shopping after lunch. Got a hard disk to back up pictures on the road. Also stopped by REI to get a sleeping mat for outside camping.

Then we stopped by Richardson's Bike Mart to meet the owner Jim Hoyt. This man was a godsend in getting me information on the bike. He refered me to Belmont Bikeworks in Boston. They gave me very expert advice, but Jim has still been there to answer questions. He gave me a bike jersey and wants to be kept abreast of happenings on the road. If I have any questions...I'll call. What a neat guy that has been in this business for 40 years including a stint at Schwinn as a VP. Gave it up to get into retail. Now he just owns a little bike shop in Dallas (HA! over 130 people work for him). The place is the biggest bike store I have ever been in.

Went to the Apple Store to get a little iPod Shuffle for the ride. Now I have to work on my music for the road.

Anyway, I am tired tonight. We had a great meal and now I'll finish this and get to bed.

Hope all is well with everyone. I'm having a ball.

Of Blogs and Bugs and Bikes

Outside Shreveport, LA
I got a call this morning from my sister Monica asking if I got sucked up into the tornados that have been around the Midwest today. I haven’t updated the blog for a couple days since I left Durham, NC. Both of the last two nights, I haven’t been able to hook into the hotel wireless. I’m too far away from it in my room. So, this morning I am sitting in the lobby getting this out.
Actually, I really don’t know that anybody is reading this. Nobody is leaving comments. I’m writing this as if my mother at least is reading this. I am keeping my language in check. The blog is fun, but I am not always fresh enough at night to do this, so I am writing as I get up in the morning.
The storms are bad this morning. I woke up to a thunderclap that shook the building and set off the car alarms in the parking lot. The rain is coming down pretty hard now, so I am not in a hurry to get on the highway. Walking to the lobby, I realized I have not seen that gray/green tornado sky for a very long time.
I have spent a lot of time by myself, alone in the car, talking and singing to myself, with occasional phone calls when a stray thought is too good not to share - at least I think so, but the recipients might question that. Anyhow, I seem a little silly this morning, so forgive me

A Couple Thoughts from the Road:

The outline of LA looks like a fat Italy

If I buy a Powerball ticket in Mississippi, can I redeem it in RI or do I have to come back to West of Nowhere to get rich? I guess I could rent a jet to get back here.

Best Joke heard so far (from Brianna):
How many kids with ADD does it take to change a light bulb?
I don’t know. How many?
Let’s go ride bikes
(May be better verbally)

Highest price for regular gas so far - $2.79 Tank fill $89 (new record)

I went through two states that I have never hit before, Mississippi and Alabama yesterday, along with Georgia and Louisiana. The only three states I have left to cross in the contiguous 48 will be Montana, N and S Dakota, which I will get on the bike. I still have to hit Alaska and Hawaii, and I have only been to Europe and Asia, so there is plenty more travel in my future. I’m thinking Morocco for my next foreign visit.
The bugs have been obliterating my windshield. I cleaned it yesterday - not an easy job. Most cleaners/squeegees at gas stations are about a foot shorter than they should be to get all the van windshield. Anyhow, I cleaned it and then a HUGE bug splattered on the windshield and left an ugly mess about the size of a softball right in the middle of the driver’s side. I had to stop and clean it off again. The van is no longer white, at least in the front. It is a grimy brown, pink, and gray mess. If you didn’t know what it was, you could mistake it for an impressive impressionistic piece of art. However, I know better than to take too close a look.
I gave Matt a call as I was going through Jackson, MS. I was playing Charlie Daniel’s Ballad of the Uneasy Rider and getting into the mood. OK, I wasn’t “tokin’ on a number” and it was Tuesday afternoon, not Saturday night, but it was as close as I could come. The boys always liked this song. I think it was the line “Had ‘em all steppin’ and fetchin’ like there hair was on fire and their asses was catchin’” that got them. Anyhow, it was good to connect. Thank God for cell phones.
Really enjoyed driving through LA. It was great country and really peaceful, not much traffic. I was playing Jack Johnson on the iPod and it suited the mood and the region perfectly. Maybe the only better choice would have been Buckwheat Zydeco, but I don’t have any of that.
Anyhow, I haven’t gotten the camera out for a couple days and I wanted to get some good shots at sundown, but the clouds from the approaching storm blocked things out. I took a couple shots along US 80, which parallels I 20. Nice country, but hardly a spectacular shot.
I worked on the bike this morning. I realize that my complaints on my last post may have seemed like whining, sorry about that. I do enjoy the maintenance. It is rather Zen to be working on it and get it into smooth, silent shape. In fact, I want to buy the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for the trip with the boys. It seems rather appropriate. I am enjoying the maintenance as much as the ride.
I have to get going now. It’s time to check out and Dallas awaits. I will get back on here again soon.

Days 2 and 3 Duke

Made my way from Fredricksburg to Durham NC on Saturday. Stopped over the VA/NC border to do some biking. I think I rode in both states.
The sun was out (I got some burn) and full Spring. Flowers and birds are out in full force. This is great after the 40 degrees and rain that we have been having in New England.
The bike ride was nice, but the hills are a lot tougher than the bike path in RI or the stationary bike in the gym.
I am playing with a lot of new technology on this trip. I have a GPS/Heart rate monitor and cadence indicator. The GPS is cool, but I haven't gotten all the things working. It was nice though to push a button to say "Get me back to my start point" and it charts out a map and beeps before the turn comes up. This is as good as what I get from Hertz's Neverlost without the annoying voice.
Made it down to Durham in time to meet some friends from Duke Diet and Fitness Center for dinner. I first started going there last May to lose weight and get in shape. I have been back several times and met some really great people from many different walks of life that are doing the same things around diet and exercise that I am. We had big crowd for dinner to send off Dan, who was leaving to go back to NY after being here since December. It is a big challenge to keep doing the healthy things as we get back in the real world. At the DFC, they cook and portion the meals and you have plenty of time for exercise and planning how to stay healthy. Not so when life and work get in the way.
Went for another bike ride on Sunday and the hills didn't get any flatter. Didn't use the GPS because I was playing with it to try to get the heart rate monitor going and ran down the battery. Oh well, I had enough other things to deal with. This is a new bike and there are a lot of adjustments to work on. I am tinkering with the seat height to ease knee pain, but it is affecting my height on the handlebars, so I am trying to find out which is the most comfortable. Oh yeah, and this is a new seat to break in. New pressure points on the butt. I am having trouble locking into my left toeclip. The final problem was a front brake that kept rubbing and I think you can see, it wasn't just getting on the bike and going. I was out 4 hours and probably only spent 2 on the seat pedaling. I finally got so fed up that I caught a bus back to the car. That was weird, as this bus was clear out in the country and totally unexpected.
Enough complaining about the bike. Those are days that you just get through and the weather was nice. I used plenty of sunblock, so no damage there.
Went to a DFC friend, Maggie Dobbins's house for dinner. Sorry, I didn't bring the camera, so no picture. we had a great time catching up. She has moved to Durham to continue the work with the DFC and seems really happy here.
This morning, Monday, I am cleaning up emails, adjusting bike problems and going to the gym to work out before getting on the road for continuing the trip further south.

Day 1 - A Social Whirl

Left RI at 9 AM and drove down to Summit, NJ for lunch with some friends.
The first stop was Will and Ted's (pictured above Will, Tracy and Ted). I thought it highly appropriate to start my excellent adventure here. Will VonKlemper and Ted Pamprin formed a consulting business several years after the movie Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure came out. I don't know how may times they have heard "Excellent, Dude!". They have tried to refer to themselves more formally - American Catalog Partnerships or even reverse the order - Ted and Will. The public keeps the order the way that comes natural.
Ted was the man that started J Crew. The owner, Arthur Cinader, set him up while he was running other companies. It wasn't till the company grew and became fun that Arthur started running the business. Ted soon moved on to several other start-ups before he started consulting. I met Will at J Crew. He was the CFO when I ran marketing for the company in the early 90's. Great, smart people.
After a great lunch, I hopped into the van and drove 4 more hours to Baltimore. I decided the time might be right to connect with my niece, Brianna. Serendipity - she was home.

Had a great hour with my adventurous niece. A couple years ago she decided that she wanted to leave Oregon where she grew up and see the East. She chose Baltimore and simply moved. No job, no place to stay. Just pick a town and fly there. How cool is that? and how many people would actually do it? I mean aside from her parents that did it going the other way 30 years ago. She got an apartment the first week and now works at a museum and tends bar. Busy and she's having a ball. It's always nice to see that happy lady.

Didn't stay long though. Got a couple more hours under my wheels and pulled into Fredricksburg, VA around 10:30. 510 miles and 13 hours door to door. Played with this blog, but had trouble with the multiple pictures. Gave up in exhaustion and went to bed around midnight.

I'm now off to breakfast with a map to plan my stop for my ride today on my way to Durham, NC to visit some friends from Duke.

I'M OFF!!!

I wish I was starting my bike trip today. I mean getting on the bike and pedaling west to Oregon. It is a beautiful day here after a brutal week of storms.
I wanted to take a picture of this day, but the camera is packed along with everything else. The computer is the last thing to go.
I will stop in NJ for lunch today and hopefully end up somewhere around VA tonight. I'll post from there if I get an internet connection.
On the road again.

More Like It

The rain stopped for now. For those who weren't too impressed with little stumps sticking out of the water in my earlier post, I thought I would put in a pic of the same dock during quieter times.
This is a view out the back of my sister's family house in RI. I have been staying here since November, when I came back from China. No, seriously! I'm sure there will be more on that story during my future posts. Pray for good weather for tomorrow!!

I got to get going

The weather here is getting (staying) horrible. It has been a very weird Winter/early Spring. Training has been tough outside between the late cold and snow and recent flooding monsoon/Nor'easter we have had and will continue to have through most of this week. The docks are under water and the high tide won't be for another hour. Too bad the van isn't already packed. I would be heading for higher (and hopefully drier) ground.
Since I just got the bike, I wanted to put more miles on it before I left. If I have any questions for the bike experts, it's better to do it in person than by phone from the road. Oh well, back to the boring exercise bike again today. :o(

Bike II

"WOW!!" I wish I had counted the number of times I said that on my ride today. I just seemed to float out there. Hills just flew by and the downhills were heaven. I have been riding a fat tire bike for so long that I forgot what skinny tires do for rolling resistance. WOW!!
Maybe it was the toe clips. OK, I spent a lot of time getting my cleats into the clips at the beginning, but they had no trouble breaking outwhen I needed to stop. The transfer of power to the pedals is awesome as the power is transferred better on the way up in the pedalling as well as the way down too. WOW!!
LOL, my trouble right now is getting my shoes off. These are not really shoes. They are more like cross country ski boots. The top latch actually has a gizmo that ratchets the grip tighter. Well, I can't remember how to release those latches. I may just have to wear these into the shower. WOW!!
The other thing is that I am buying and trying out a lot of new apparel for the trip. I have found a lot of Under Armour shirts that I will bring. My problem is shorts. I have a pair of bike shorts, and I have a couple more pairs on order. I decided to try a pair of padded bike briefs that turn any pair of shorts or pants into bike gear. They worked alright, but I couldn't get over the image of Depends. That's what they looked like and I want to wait a few more years until I use those. I think I will keep these for emergencies, and I'm not talking the incontinent type of emergency either. WOW!!
Anyhow, the maiden voyage is a success. I'm looking toward a few thousand more miles on this bike. It just feels right. WOW!!

Trip the Bike Fantastic

Sorry for the repetitive title, but the bike is so cool. It truly is fantastic!!
I picked the bike up late Thursday and I was busy with other errands yesterday. Today I will get on the seat and ride. It is a beautiful day and it isn't raining or snowing for the first time this week.
Actually, the bike is the easy part to get going. The other piece, my GPS and heart rate monitor is very complex. I may need my son to show me how it works. He handles the programming of remotes in the family. I learned enough to know I had to charge it, so I will play with this another day.
My new technology to discover today is my toe clips. I have used other toe clips in the past, but they have been cages, not true clips. I have the SPD pedals with he cleats on the shoes. Getting in and out of them will take mindful attention till they become second nature. Till then, I risk falling off the bike if I forget I am lashed to the pedals.
The bike has been specially built for me. It is a Co-Motion Americano. I choose a deep almost Forest Green. It isn't flashy and that's OK. It may not attract the uninformed bike thief. It has all the best components for the trip I will take.
I am in awe of the bike, but then I become truly awed by the amount of time I will spend on this machine in the next few months. All the other paraphernalia I have acquired to do this trip is dwarfed by the need to have a good, reliable, comfortable conveyance.
Enough for today. Off we go!!

Vantastic

I will post my first picture on this blog of our new van. It is actually used. It has 22,000 miles, but it is in excellent shape.
It is soooo BIG!!! And WHITE!!! We are going to have to do something to give this some character. We had a ceremony around the keys. Matt collects key chains and we got one with a baseball bat for a fob. We may get one with bicycles for the other set.
We will also name the van in the near future. We thought of having a contest, but the name will come from our banter. Josh sounded very Zen when he said, “We will know when we have the name."
We are debating the name of our website. When we get that, we will design a logo for the trip. Maybe we can get a couple of those magnetic signs to attach and give this van some color.
I took the back two bench seats out yesterday and then we had the holes in the floor to fill. You could see the pavement through the holes. I got some bolts today and if it ever stops snowing, I will put them in. Then we can start packing.
The tank is 35 gallons, which translates to $100 each time we fill it up. I figure we will spend about $3,000 on gas on this trip (10,000 miles - 10 miles per gallon at $3 per gallon) I promise not to freak every time we pull up to a pump.
Enough for now. Today I go get my bike.

Here we go.
We are 1 week away from taking off for the West Coast. Tomorrow I pick up our new van and the new bike. I will take about a month to get out to the start of the trip. Here is my itinerary:

April 20 - Dallas, TX
I will visit Larry Hart and his family. Larry has been instrumental in getting this trip off the ground. He is a long time rider in the RAGBRAI which we will do in July.
We plan on taking a couple rides around Dallas to keep my conditioning going. I'm really looking forward to getting to some warmer weather.

April 27 Santa Fe, NM
Visiting Rich Freedman, a longtime friend, formerly of Boston. Never been to Santa Fe. Have heard good things about it and have been threatening to go there for years.
This location will give me an opportunity to bike some hills (mountains) from a base of over 7,000 feet. If I survive, it will be good training for the start of our trip, which begins in the Cascades of OR.

May 5 - San Diego, CA
Where else should you celebrate Cinco de Mayo? Numerous friends and 1 sister in the area. It will be a great time.
The hills and terrain there will be similar to our start in OR. Looking forward to some rides with significant mileage.

May 12 - Eureka, CA
Plan on being with my mom for Mother's Day. We will have a chance to visit and fine tune the details for our combination sendoff party and Mom's 85th birthday. The plan is to have the party June 3 with a first day on the trip starting June 4.

May 15 - Medford, OR
The end of the trip to get our bike journey underway. My sister Mary Pat lives here. The scenery is beautiful and hopefully the weather will cooperate allowing me to take several rides before flying back East.

May 16 to 29 Boston, MA
Fly back to Boston for the last details before the trip. May 20 is a party during the Catalog Conference. Ted and Will of ACP have graciously offered to provide a sendoff with friends that will open up checkbooks to support the charity and the trip.
Josh graduates May 26 at UMASS Amherst.

May 29 - Medford, OR
Fly back to the West Coast for the last prep before the journey begins June 4.

That's the overview as of today, April, 9. I'm sure things will change. We'll keep you updated as we progress along the way. Josh is working on our website and he assures me it will be ready in the next several weeks.
Bon voyage, bonne chance, bon depart - we're out of here!!