I've been reading it too. It's amazing and certainly inspiring! René
On 4/25/10, happyriding <happyrid...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Thanks, Mike! I spent the last few days reading her trip report. > What a grand adventure! Here are some of my favorite quotes: > > -- > > I met one rollerblader this morning on a bike path in Portland, ME who > yelled to me, "Did you leave anything at home"? > > -- > > Before we go any further, I should tell you, dear reader, about how I > have no sense of direction. None. Besides that, I routinely miss > signs. This means that you can count on lots of extraneous adventures; > I can pretty much guarantee getting lost at least once every day. > > -- > > Fewer hills, but some of them were mighty big. I think I walked up 3 > of them. But as Moni Neville said once on the phred list, "I never met > a hill I couldn't walk." > > -- > > I was lucky to find this campground as there were no other > accommodations anywhere near. It's actually a golf course. Look at the > net right behind the table in the picture. The first tee is right > behind me. I am hoping I don't get brained by a ball. > > -- > > I should have titled this journal, "Creeping across America in small > increments." But I'm training on the road. At least that's my excuse > for now. > > -- > > There was some hairy riding this morning. Fast rush-hour traffic on 2- > lane roads with no shoulders, curves and hills. On some of the steeper > hills there was no room to wobble so I walked in the ditch with the > bike on the edge of the often broken white line area. I was glad to > get out of that area. > > -- > > Today was a challenge. It was pouring cold rain as I headed down the > road. About 5 miles into the ride a highway sign said I was riding > East, and as we know, I'm supposed to be headed West. > > -- > > But what a struggle! The terrain was easy - up and down small hills - > but my legs simply would not work today. I had to walk even the > smallest inclines and even pedalling down the other side was > difficult. Walking was hard, too. What on earth was happening? Food, > Gatorade, GU and electrolytes did not fix it. Finally, around the 10 > mile mark my legs kicked in a bit, but not at their usual strength. It > wasn't until I got into a hotel room that it dawned on me that the > problem was probably that I'd been riding for 7 days and needed a rest > day. So I won't be riding tomorrow. > > -- > > You will notice that I only did 13 miles today, but even that was an > accomplishment. Over the winter I had read CrazyGuy journals about the > killer hills in the stretch from Oxford through Bigelow Hollow State > Park and beyond, but truly, I had no idea. The hills were steep and > they were long and they were relentless and of course I walked them. > Walk 10 steps, rest, try to prevent the bike from rolling back down, > repeat. There were false tops to some of the hills, where just as I > thought I'd got there, the road would curve and there was another top, > and later, maybe another. When I actually got to the top there would > be a 1 to 2 mile descent, but I was so shakey I'd have to rest before > I felt competent to hurl myself down the hill. > > -- > > I had to quit at 24 miles because my left cleat was not engaging with > the pedal and I had some foot slips and near spills because of it. > Fortunately, I had an extra set of Speedplay Frog cleats. I think that > walking up those hills finally killed that cleat, although they were 6 > years old and quite worn down. > > -- > > It was another exhausting day of hiking up long steep hills (1421 feet > total ascent) that I couldn't ride and rocketing down the other side. > > -- > > I went into the police station at Sheffield to ask a question about > the map. The officer I spoke with used to be a racing cyclist but > can't ride now because he has knee problems. But here's the most > amazing thing I learned today. He will be having a procedure where > they grind up rooster combs, mix it with something, and inject it into > the knee. What?! This seemed so far out that I had to Google it, but > turns out it's an actual procedure. How did someone come to think this > up? Let's see - my patient's got bad knees and I've got this rooster > out there doing not much of anything, so... > > -- > > Not far from Sand Hill Park and still in the wind farm area is the > Erie Shores Wind Farm Interpretive Centre. I stopped to see what I > could learn. The wind turbine pictured above is just across the road > and you can go over there and pet it if you want. > > -- > > (At one town, Judy phoned up a classmate that she hadn't seen in 53 > years and was able to locate here. They spent the whole day chatting > and Judy spent the night at her house.) > > -- > > As soon as I arrived in Big Sandy I went into the bar, which was the > only establishment in town that was open. A highschool friend named > Grace once lived here and I had hoped to connect with her. Everyone in > the bar of a certain age knew her, but sadly she died 2 or 3 years > ago. > > -- > > As you can see in the picture, the shoulder is lovely as you start out > from Fort Benton, but it disappears completely 16 miles from Great > Falls. Moreover, you can't ride on the white line because there are > clumps of chipseal on it. So the only place to ride on this narrow, > heavily traveled road is in the traffic. I walked the bike in the > weeds for the bigger hills and rode when there were breaks in the > traffic on the flats. I had resigned myself to slowly progressing > toward Great Falls in this manner, just hoping to arrive alive. After > awhile I crested a small rise and observed a pickup truck parked in a > pull-out, and as I got closer a man got out of the truck and waved. To > my amazement, it was Hugh, one of my high school classmates who has > been following this journal, and seeing that I was probably going to > be traveling on this dangerous road had come out to rescue me! > > -- > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- Sent from my mobile device -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
