Eating The Elephant

Bike Trip Movie Finally Finished

2011-02-11T11:41:00.004-05:00

Ok rock stars,

I finally finished the movie of the New Orleans to Canada bike trip, entitled "One Thousand Hills".

I had to break it into two parts, located here:

http://vimeo.com/19733135

http://vimeo.com/19819059

I would embed the video here, but it wouldn't be in HD, so use the links above.

2011 DC to Pittsburgh Bike Trip

2011-02-07T12:33:00.007-05:00

Time for the 5th annual DC to Pittsburgh Bike Trip. This trip consists of both the 3 1/2 day bike trip up the C&O Canal Towpath trail (183 miles) from DC to Cumberland, as well as the additional 150 miles from Cumberland to Pittsburgh. Thus, people can do the whole trip, or just the portions that they are interested in. The plan is to leave DC on Thurs, 9 June afternoon (meet up around 4PM at Chain Bridge), with the Pittsburgh people coming in by convoy Thursday morning. Leaving DC after work, we will do about 20 miles on Thursday, about 60 miles (each) on Fri and Sat, and the remaining 40 miles of the Canal on Sunday. From Cumberland, anyone heading back to DC will catch a ride (pre-arranged) back to DC, so that they will be home at a reasonable time for work the next day. Anyone heading further on towards Pittsburgh will continue for another 2.5 days (60 miles/day average) and get in on Tuesday night.

I have biked the canal 9 times, and it is a delightful bike trip. The path is level (except for 10 ft rises at each lock) and is packed dirt/gravel. You are in the woods pretty much the whole time, which is nice, but there are small towns every 30 miles or so where you can eat or restock. The Canal is a National Historical Park, so it is well maintained and there are free hiker/biker campsites (clearing with well water pump, porta-potty, picnic table, and fire pit) every 10 miles or so. Additionally, there are many interesting natural/historical sites along the canal that make for a fun break from biking.

I've only done the GAP 5 times, but this section is also great - the trail is smoother and has more towns than the Canal, but is still in the woods. The GAP also features the "easiest" 2000 ft climb you will ever do, a number of tunnels, the Mason-Dixon line, and the Eastern Continental Divide.

If you are interested in bike touring, this makes a great introduction. For this trip, it sounds like there will be a large Pittsburgh contingent and a generally large group. Hopefully, we are looking at a big rolling party like last year (19 people at one point) - don't miss out!

Still curious? Here is a link to pictures from last year's trip:

https://picasaweb.google.com/sonofshantytown/DCToPittsburghMay2010#

And here is a short summary video of the trip:

2009 C&O Canal/GAP Bike Trip from Eric Hittinger on Vimeo.

Canal/GAP Trip - Things to Bring

2011-02-07T12:30:00.002-05:00

There is not that much equipment that is critical for this trip - just the camping basics, really. Some people (poor Co-ops) like go cheap-and-light. Others (professional engineers) like to travel with fancy, high-tech gear. Either style works fine. This trip is a great time to try out experimental camping gear arrangements, if you are so inclined.

Things each person will need (I strongly suggest):
-Bike (mountain or hybrid, not road bike... also, it can be cheap and crappy - my bike cost $120 at Walmart 8 years ago... note that bikes can also be rented pretty easily)
-Panniers / storage for your stuff (you can buy/borrow panniers, a trailer, or just put your stuff into bags that you bungee onto your rack - there are many options that will work depending on how fancy you want to get)
-Food (snacks and a few meals, and more if you don't want to do restaurants)
-Tent (or space in someone else's)
-Sleeping bag
-Proper clothes (probably 2 sets of clothes, plus rain and cold gear - this is plenty. You can get "high tech" clothes or just wear old t-shirts)
Inner Tube - in case you need it - chances are someone will have a flat, and it could be you.

Things you probably want to take (or ensure that someone takes for you):
-Flashlight
-Headlight/tailight (in case of night riding)
-sunblock/bug repellent (I don't use it, but I take it anyway)
-personal hygiene stuff
-TP (not everyone needs a whole roll, but you don't want to run out either)
-money
-bathing suit

Other things to maybe take:
-Leatherman
-duct tape
-short rope
-pump
-matches
-camera
-pad and pen
-"blue" polyethylene tarp
-extra cords/straps
-towel

I will be taking a whole bunch of bike maintenance stuff, but everyone should make sure that they have at least 1 inner tube for their bike.

The costs for the trip depend mostly on how fancy you want to get with the equipment. You can get a passable bike at Walmart/Target for $125 (make sure it has mounting holes to mount a rack), and a good bike will be hundreds of dollars. Buying a bike rack (needed for most people) will cost you about $30. Transportation back to DC will probably be about $85 a person. Campsites are free, and the remaining costs depend on you - you guys already know how much a meal in a restaurant costs if you want to go that way (I highly suggest restaurants), and the equipment above ranges greatly in cost from nothing (if you borrow it or already have it) to big bucks.

Getting in Shape for the Bike Trip

2011-02-07T12:27:00.002-05:00

As far as being in shape/getting in shape for this trip: I should start by saying that 60 miles in a day sounds like a lot, but isn't too bad over the course of 14+ hours of sunlight. You will need to be in shape, but you don't need to be an athlete (I am not). Anybody in good health who has practiced a bit on a bike should be able to do this trip, but I will say that the more you ride now, the less pain you will be in during the trip.

My suggestions for "training" for this trip are:

1. Ride a bike often - the best way to get in shape for bike riding is to ride a bike (unsurprisingly).

2. Remember that the goal here is distance, not speed - If you drop your speed a little when riding, you greatly extend your endurance (on long rides, I try to maintain the cardiovascular equivalent of a brisk walk)... I have actually found that I have had trouble getting myself to go slow enough on long rides.

3. Practice going long distances - At least once, take a weekend day and do a 50 mile (or more if you want) ride. When you do this, remember to take your time, maintain endurance (not too fast!), and bring food. Remember to eat! Make sure you eat before you go and probably at least once during the ride - your body will thank you. It actually is a little tricky to get yourself to keep eating/drinking, but that is the mindset that you need.

4. Try your equipment set-up - Put all your gear on your bike as you plan on doing it on the trip and go for a ride. This will give you the feeling for how the load will affect your handling, inertia, and speed. This is a good thing to do a week before the trip: you can have everything packed and actually see how much stuff you have and how it handles.

2011 Canal/GAP Schedule

2011-02-07T12:22:00.004-05:00

This is the approximate schedule that we have done a few times (and it has worked pretty well) and will try to follow once again. The Canal milemarkers for various stops are given in (parentheses). There are many restaurants, but people will still need to bring some of their own food (dinner the first night and 2 breakfasts). A bunch of granola bars will do the job for these meals, if you can stand eating a bunch of them.

Day 1 - Thurs, 9 June (dinner on trail)
Leave from Key park (or so) around 3:30PM
(15) Great Falls
(21) Camp here

Day 2 - Fri, 10 June (breakfast+ on trail)
(55) Brunswick (lunch)
(60) Harpers Ferry (ice cream, snacks)
(72) Shepardstown (dinner)
(79) Camp here

Day 3 - Sat, 11 June
(84.4) Detour to Williamsport
(100) Williamsport (breakfast)
(112) Ft. Frederick
(~114) Detour onto WMRT
(124) Hancock (lunch)
(141) Little Orleans (dinner)
(144.5) Camp here

Day 4 - Sun, 12 June (breakfast+ on trail)
(156) Paw Paw tunnel
(166.7) Oldtown, MD
(184) Cumberland (lunch) - DC people get a ride back from here
(GAP 16) Frostburg (dinner) - Camp here

Day 5 - Mon, 13 June
(GAP 32) Meyersdale (breakfast)
(GAP 63) Confluence (lunch)
(GAP 74) Ohiopyle (dinner)
(GAP 75) Camp at Ohiopyle

Day 6 - Tues, 14 June
(GAP 91) Connelsville (breakfast)
(GAP 116) West Newton (lunch)
(GAP 135) McKeesport
(GAP 150) Pittsburgh (dinner)

People starting in Pittsburgh can get a ride with us on Thursday morning, and we will probably do the same thing we did last year (rent a one-way car for transporting people and a one-way truck rental for transporting bikes). We will also arrange a ride from Cumberland back to DC on Sun afternoon to take DC people and their bikes back.

I Actually am Working on the Bike Trip Movie

2010-12-09T18:25:00.003-05:00

And I have proof!

A trailer:

One Thousand Hills Opening/Trailer from Eric Hittinger on Vimeo.

I am trying hard to get this thing done by Christmas, but I don't know if that will happen. Regardless, I do want to get it finished, so it won't take much longer than that.

Awards and Superlatives for the Qualitative Crowd

2010-08-30T16:02:00.009-04:00

So, we also spent a lot of time talking about our favorite places/ events/ etc. and have generated thew following list describing some of the Best/ Worst/ Biggest/ Most-est things of the bike trip:

Favorite town/city: Aberdeen, MS
Worst town/city: Shiloh, TN
Favorite State/Province for bike touring: Ontario (Honorable Mention: Ohio)
Worst State/Province for bike touring: Tennessee

The Jason Haserodt Award for Monster-Related Greatness: Rachael
The "Sasquatch Hands" Award for Smelliest Gloves: Michael

Best Bike Bling: Shira
The Perfect Bike Award: Serenity (Rachael's bike), for no bike problems of any kind

Eric
Favorite Biking Snack: Corn Nuts
Favorite Biking Drink: Chocolate Milk
Favorite Quote: "You guys must like sweating. I'll sweat to make money, but I won't sweat for free." (Random dude in Alabama)

Rachael

Favorite Biking Snack: cracker sandwiches/ fruit set in Jello
Favorite Biking Drink: Tea
Favorite Quote: "Pardon me, I don't mean to be rude- but, what's your purpose?"

Shira

Favorite roadkill: Armadillos
Worst roadkill: dogs
Favorite drink: 44 ounces of Dr. Pepper
Favorite snack: Krispy Kreme (preferablly left on a table by someone else)
Favorite quote: "You guys sure do have an aroma about you" (Postman in
Crump, Tennessee) and "Well, you're still kind of homeless" (Manager
of grocery in Coffeeville, AL)

Bill

Favorite roadkill: unknown things
Worst roadkill: dogs
Favorite drink: Tea [ed.: Bill refers to what is know in the north as "Sweet Tea"]
Favorite snack: Krispy Kreme, Cheetos, and Fritos

Facts and Figures for the Quantitative Crowd

2010-08-12T22:30:00.003-04:00

A semi-random selection of facts and figures about the bike trip:

Trip Details:

Total distance: 2177 miles

Total time: 36 days

Total time spent riding: 190 hours, 8 minutes

Total Climbing: 55,000 feet

Average speed: 11.45 mph

Average riding time: 5.3 hrs per day

Daily mileage: 60.5 miles/day

States visited: 9

Canadian provinces visited: 1

Longest day: 100 miles

Shortest day: 32 miles

Fastest speed (Eric's bike): 40 mph

Bike Details:

Flat tires: 12

Broken spokes: 3

Cost Details:

Total Cost: $4,007.23

Average cost per person-day: $33.67

Average cost per person-day in Canada: $47.36

Average cost per person-month: $1,010.23

(These costs do not include the gear or initial train ride)

These statistics are interesting to compare to the bike trip that I took with Jason. On that trip, we had a significantly higher daily mileage (17 miles per day more), but just about the same average speed (11.85 vs. 11.45). The difference was made up in time on the bike: on the last trip, Jason and I rode about an hour and a half more each day. The daily costs worked out to be about the same on the two trips. I think that some of this may be due to economy of scale, since we had several more riders this time. Oddly, we had more flat tires this time, even though there was less person-miles covered.

The Content of the Future - Tomorrow!

2010-08-12T00:44:00.003-04:00

The bike trip is officially over. We are back in Pittsburgh and will be focused on putting everything away, getting back to work, and enjoying a non-hobo lifestyle. But do keep checking this space, as I plan to put up some interesting stuff in the next few weeks, including summary info about the trip, a better edited picture gallery, and videos from the footage I have collected.

But for now, it is late and I am tired and still smelly. A shower and my bed await.

Exactly Like America (Except Not Quite)

2010-08-08T12:12:00.003-04:00

So up here in Canada, they have a whole country of their own, with roads and money and everything. Instead of Dollars, they have Canadian Dollars (which are worth almost as much). Instead of miles, they have kilometers (which are about half as much). And instead of Outback Steakhouse, they have Turtle Jack’s. But there are a few differences, which I sort here into those that I like and those I do not:

The good:
-Cars are generally more polite around bikes. While they are willing to pass you, they usually do so in a safer way.
-The baked goods (breads, mainly) at grocery stores are of much higher quality. I attribute this to the French influence in Canada.
-Stores no longer ask “Credit or Debit”, since they apparently don’t have a distinction on the retailer side in Canada. I like this mainly because I have never understood why there is a distinction made on the retail end and the question has always annoyed me.
The bad:
-Campsites in Canada seem to be generally so high-class (which also means $$$) that you are forbidden to put up clotheslines. You guys need to rein that in a bit.
-The town/city system is absolutely baffling. We frequently are welcomed into towns/cities that are several miles (sometimes dozens of miles) away, on the other side of 2 closer towns. Or welcomed into a city, then into a second city, then the first city again. What is up with this?
-The junk food distribution system is second-class. They don’t seem to have adopted the super-sized gas station model of the US (at which you can find everything from breakfast cereal to donuts). Also, their McDonald’s are lacking some of our favorite things: fruit smoothies and sweet tea.

In the end, the Canadian bit has provided us with some of the most fun and interesting parts of the trip, as well as some challenging biking. Overall, I give the country an “A-“. Work on the roads a bit, get me better access to junk food, and that will come up a bit.

To Pennsylvania & Beyond

2010-08-05T21:35:00.002-04:00

Biking in territory that is familiar is really comforting after being far from home for weeks. We stayed at my childhood home in Ohio, and my father biked with us into Painesville. Yesterday I biked the same day of biking that I did three years ago when I joined Eric & Jason on their Northern Tier route. Familiarity is comfortable. As we move on from Ohio to PA I find myself excited to be approaching unfamiliar territory again. I am very excited about our upcoming bit into Canada. I've never been to Niagara and have seen very little of Canada. I'm shifting back into adventure mode.

Another one bites the dust (by Shira)

2010-08-04T14:50:00.003-04:00

After 1708 miles and 150 hours of biking, Neil (aka my right knee -- see photo) has decided he is done with this trip, so I am heading home. It started a few days ago (I am still running on bike trip time, which means that I can't quite remember any past dates or times) when the wrong combination of downhill, gravel, pothole, clipped in on a loaded bike and a right turn caused me to wipe out. Eric and Bill slowly siphoned weight off of my bike, until today, when I was riding completely unloaded (Eric was quite the site with all of my bags on his bike, in addition to the 130 pounds he was already carrying, pictures to follow). I'm not sure if it was the pain from my knee or the shame of riding an unloaded bike, but as soon as we hit Painesville, Ohio (no joke), Neil decided he would go no further.

In the spirit of the bike trip, like a real homeless person, I just got a ride to a shower from a cop (and learned that I have no criminal record!), and am enjoying the good will of the people of Painesville.

I plan on eventually completing the final 400 miles of this trip, let me know if you want to join!

Video Update #5

2010-08-03T21:23:00.003-04:00

Hey guys, we have biked almost all the way across Ohio, and have a video to talk about the trip. It includes: Purple People Eater Bridges, Rail trails, delivered feasts, and campground ducks.

Enjoy!

Underground Railroad Video Update #5 from Eric Hittinger on Vimeo.

Another Video Update

2010-07-28T22:57:00.002-04:00

Here is our latest video update. Also, new pictures are posted on the picasa page.

Underground Railroad Video Update #4 from Eric Hittinger on Vimeo.

eric

Biking Small Town USA (by Rachael/Rae)

2010-07-28T22:18:00.005-04:00

Adventure Cycling maps largely avoid large cities for safety and ease of biking. There is less traffic, and that's better for us bikers. So instead we are zigzagging our way through small towns. This has both ups and downs.

One trend is that we see more churches than gas stations, a lot of people in Kentucky are voting for Jesus in the local elections. In Mississippi and Tennessee a lot of places were closed on Sundays, and we were told that many places close on Wednesday and Monday afternoons for people to go to church. We didn't experience problems with the latter, but we do make sure we have dollars as Sunday approaches in case the only place to get cold drinks is a rare soda machine. This past Sunday we were welcomed by the Breckenridge Mennonite Church where we stopped to get water and use the restroom. The only store in town- closed.

Biking through small towns is preferable to all the crazy traffic of big cities, but it also gets me to notice the really small things and I find I have a childlike excitement for really little things. There isn't much going on, so anything out of the ordinary is exciting. One day I was excited to see a horse in the pasture trotting along as if to chase or follow us. It was among the highlights of the day. I find myself tickled to see so many butterflies and moths everywhere, everyday (it must be their season- there are tons of them!). I've been 'run into' by butterflies (as well as some less interesting and likable insects).

One nice thing about small towns with nothing for miles in between is that the people there are as interested in you as you are in seeing other humans. Between these small towns are farms, forests, and state parks, and stretches of rural America with lots of hills. As we approach a town I get excited because it often means we'll take a break. The towns are also a good way to measure progress and I find myself excited when I see signs that say "Reduced Speed Ahead" because it means we're a mile or two from town.

I've enjoyed riding through small towns in the South, especially meeting new folks. I find myself really excited to get to Ohio (we cross the border tomorrow). This is my home state. It's not that great, but it does have a special place in UGRR history- especially Ripley, Ohio (which we're skipping in our shortcut but I will go visit later to visit the home of John Rankin). It's true value is a return to what is familiar. I found myself really excited a few days ago just to see an IGA grocery store (there was one in my neighborhood growing up) and as I belted out the lyrics to an IGA add/song and felt immense relief and joy I realized how valuable it is to be in a place that is familiar.

As we travel through the middle-of-nowhere I have come to appreciate Dollar General and WalMart and Gas Stations. These places have what we need in places where we really need them. I find myself excited to hear there is a WalMart nearby, whereas I used to be morally opposed to shopping there. I probably won't shop there a ton when I return to civilization, but I understand why people shop there. I still wish they would change some of their business practices, but I realize that this opinion is a luxury that those of us with real incomes and many shopping options can afford to have.

Breaking into biking (by Shira)

2010-07-28T19:23:00.003-04:00

After pedaling for 1300 miles over 115 hours and 22 days, I think I've finally gotten the hang of this. In case you find yourself in a similar situation, here's how you know when you've been broken in:

1. Your discount rate for hills becomes negative. i.e. you would rather bike uphill now, so you don't have to later. In fact, you now hate going down hills because you are throwing progress in the garbage, and even worse, sometimes have to use your breaks.

2. You drink more calories than you eat.

3. You only start to worry if there are more than 3 dogs chasing you.

4. 6 donuts or less is considered a snack. 7 or more is a meal.

5. You are happy to see rain clouds and wonder why you bothered to bring rain gear.

Michael is Gone

2010-07-28T18:04:00.003-04:00

So, you heard it first on the Twitter feed, but wanted to hear it explained.

In Owensboro, KY, Michael had his Mom's friend Amy come out and pick him up from the motel we were all staying at. His Mom (JMN) drove over from Alexandria to take him home.

Big bike trips like this are sometimes hard (and sometimes tons of fun). The real challenge to such an outing is not (as many assume) the physical difficulty of getting on the bike and pedaling each day. Neither is it the obstacles along the way: heat, hills, dogs. The force that enables you to do the bike trip is one of attitude and a general control over your mental state. You have to find a way to accept the things that are happening, not battle them. You have to find a way to push through the bad times, trusting that there are good times ahead. And that is not easy, especially if you are 15 years old.

I have also noted in the past that a lot more people would quit bike trips if there was a magic "Quit" button on the handlebars that would teleport you back to your living room. In many cases, the fact that you don't have any choice but to continue (even in the US, quitting usually involves biking several hundred more miles) is the only thing keeping you on the trip. In this case, Amy was nearby and could pick him up (along with what must have been a suspicion that his Mom would drive out to get him), which provided an exit.

So, yes, it sucks that Michael quit the bike trip. But on the plus side, he did bike 1000+ miles from New Orleans to Owensboro, KY, and that is a pretty impressive feat on its own.

Biker Bios (by Shira)

2010-07-24T21:47:00.009-04:00

Hello faithful blog readers. Most of you probably know only one or two of the bikers on our trip -- here are some bios on the rest of us so you can keep up with the blog posts:

Eric: Age 30, unemployed graduate student, Pittsburgh, PA. Chief bike mechanic -- able to change a rear, drive-side spoke (and true the wheel) in 37 minutes flat, while swearing on the side of the road in 105 degrees. Dog slayer: in charge of pepper spray and knives. Ensures that we look as homeless as possible. Navigator.

Rachael, Pittsburgh, PA: Age 29, high school English teacher (the only biker with a job). Chief dog yeller, mom and historian. Chef. Reminds us that the slaves had to walk this route, with people trying to hunt them instead of dogs.

Michael: Age 15, unemployed high school student, Alexandria, VA. Chief boy scout and doctor. Can distinguish between sweat rash, bug bites and fungus, which is quite handy on a bike trip. Can tell you what kind of tick is on your leg.

Bill: Age 57, retired computer programmer, Nashville, TN. Found us on the side of the road somewhere in Kentucky. In charge of discouraging homelessness. Able to get lazy graduate/high school students to wake up at 5 am to bike. Chief electrolyte supplier.

Shira: Age 26, unemployed graduate student, Pittsburgh, PA. Other chef. Dog bait.

Our Dynamic Bike Group

2010-07-23T17:45:00.004-04:00

So we are now a group of 5, down from a group of 6 yesterday. This dynamic group operation is a side effect of the Adventure Cycling route that we are riding.

Let me explain: We are on a mapped route, for which Adventure Cycling sells great map sets. Of course, an unknown quantity of other people also buy the maps and bike these routes [as an aside: I am continually curious how many maps they sell and how many people actually bike the routes. In my experience on the Northern Tier and the UGRR, I would guess that there are maybe 25-50 groups on the route at peak season, but that is a WAG.] Thus, while the routes are by no means saturated with bikers (In my experience, only 1 in 3 store/hotel/camp clerks have ever seen people on bikes passing through), there are always other folks out there somewhere. If you get lucky (or use technology) you can run into them.

That is how we ran into Eric (another Eric, not me) and Bill. We found Eric on the internet through twitter (or rather, he found us). Shira was using the Adventure Cycling Underground Railroad hash for some of her posts and he found us through that. We met up with him in Waverly, TN and he biked with us for a day and a half, before setting off for points unknown. (Eric's blog is linked on one of the sidebars to the right)

We met Bill by chance, or something like that. Actually, we were hunting him (and his friend) for several days out of Mobile. At almost every stop we made, folks would tell us that there were two bikers just a day ahead of us (note that in some areas there are very few services, so bikers are pretty limited to particular stops). And each person would give us more information about them: how fast they were going, how old they were, etc. From what we heard, we expected that we would be able to catch up with them in a week or two, but after the first week the scent went cold. Three days ago, we were resting by a road sign on a snack break when Bill rode up. We quickly realized that he was one of the guys we had been tracking. We lost the scent because he went back to Nashville (his home), and lost his friend (who had to go back to work). So now Bill is biking with us, and is a great addition to our team. I'm not sure how long he will want to bike with us, but this sort of linking up by chance is a lot of fun.

Chased by Dogs by Rachael

2010-07-20T22:58:00.003-04:00

Tennessee is full of hills and dogs. Our technique for responding to dogs has improved, and the fear that I carried for the first two days of biking in TN has abated. This fear reminds me of many of the readings I’ve come across in both historic fiction and nonfiction alike. I’ll summarize some of the reading experiences that relate to both dogs and the Under Ground Rail Road.

1. The Slave narratives include a story of a woman (slave) who ran away. She was hunted with dogs, and when she was found the dogs attacked and ripped of her breasts. The teller of this tale goes on to say that the woman was able to have children, but had to have other women feed her children. I remember having trouble believing this story when I first came upon it. No more! There are dogs here on chains (thank god) who nearly choke themselves as we pass by. And the brutality/ferocity of dogs seems to increase as their numbers increase. Dogs have group think too…. The Slave Narratives have a complex history and I recommend anyone interested in reading about them to find the book Unchained Memories.

2. In the time traveling neo story Kindred a free Black woman is caught trying to help her husband (or lover?) escape to freedom. She is nearly killed by the dogs that are sent after the pair, stopped only because a man expresses his desire to purchase the ‘free’ Black woman.

3. Mississippi and other states had laws denying slaves and sometimes free blacks from owning dogs.

Video Update #3

2010-07-20T22:20:00.001-04:00

Hey guys, new pictures are up. Also, here is video update #3:

Underground Railroad Video Update 3 from Eric Hittinger on Vimeo.

Dog Days

2010-07-20T21:43:00.002-04:00

So we have entered dog territory, which is identifiable due to our increased use or rural backroads. We now have at least several dog encounters per day (an "encounter" being defined as when a loose dog comes barking and running towards us). Both Shira and Rachael have had dogs bite their bags and I have sprayed two dogs with the pepper spray.
The good news is that we have defensive weaponry and are getting increasingly good at anti-canine tactics. Each of us is equipped with pepper spray and bamboo stick (see picture). Of course, we also all are able to shout and kick at errant dogs as well.
As far as tactics, we have started using military tactics to defend. In risky areas, we ride in convoy and look/listen for dogs. When one is sighted (or, more frequently, heard), we call out the vector of attack ("Dog left!"). If we are changing tactics from just biking, such as stopping or engaging the dog, we call that out, too. This communication helps us identify and respond to dog assaults.
As to the exact actions, it depends upon the situation. Most loose dogs don't want to do anything more than run to the edge of the property and bark at you. While this can be a bit worrying, it isn't really a problem. We have also encountered lots of dogs that will chase you down the road and have encountered 1) spots with dogs coming from both sides of the street, 2) areas with continual loose dogs house after house, and 3) packs of dogs up to 10 in number.
Our responses range from yelling (which sometimes helps), stopping (which does a lot to make the dogs less interested in chasing you), taking out the stick and raising it (most dogs really do not like this and will turn around and run away), and the pepper spray (which is effective but difficult to use accurately).
We also spoke with two postmen who both said that dogs were a problem for them, but that pepper spray was very effective. They also both told us that the real problem is the dog that you don't see - that's the one that is going to bite you.

For those biking this route in the future: The dogs start in earnest after Fulton, MS and run at least as far as Waverly (where we are now - I will update this as we go further). I suggest getting a stick (bamboo from a side of the road bamboo stand is good), as this is very effective when combined with stopping your bike as a deterrent.

A Quick One While We're Away

2010-07-16T18:52:00.000-04:00

Hey guys,

We are staying in Aberdeen, MS which is a really nice town. We stopped here because they are having a bunch of events, starting with a charity auction/concert tonight, a church is being driven across town tomorrow, and an associated parade (which we will be in). We have met many of the local business owners, as we seem to be located at the center of town, and the newspaper guy wants to write up an article about us. Also, HGTV is filming abunch of stuff about town, including the church moving and parade, so maybe we will be caught on that, too.

EDIT: We have much more to report about how great this town is, but that will wait for a dedicated post tomorrow.

We uploaded some more geo-tagged pictures (check the top of this page), and this hastily made video:

Underground Railroad - Video Update #2 from Eric Hittinger on Vimeo.

eric

History Report

2010-07-16T15:14:00.005-04:00

We stopped in at the public library in Columbus, Mississippi.I had the opportunity to look at some really old documents, so old I had to put on gloves to protect the pages. I was given a book that was called a slave manual, but it really was a collection of legal records that state who bought slaves, when they were bought & that they were for the purpose of personal use and not to be resold. The only date I saw was for 1837, and the records didn't have the names or any real way of noting who the slaves were -which is telling and sad. After the fugitive slave act was passed (a federal law mandating that escaped slaves could be captured and returned to their 'owners' upon proof of ownership) it was dangerous for free black persons and escaped slaves because slave hunters and slaveholders would frequently kidnap or claim anyone because it was hard to disprove ownership. After this law was passed many free and escaped blacks moved farther North or to Canada, which is why our destination is Canada.

The underground railroad was at first completely unorganized, and made up of free blacks and even people who weren't against slavery but offered food or shelter to a fellow human being in need. The UGRR became organized by the cooperation of free & escaped African Americans and largely Quakers and very devout Christians. From my current research I have come across three heroes of the underground railroad. Harriet Tubman, William Stills and John Rankin. Harriet Tubman decided when her 'master' died that she would live free or die trying. She left her free black husband who was afraid to run away with her. She then traveled between 8 and 19 times back into the South to rescue slaves. She helped free some 100 slaves in order to fight int he civil war. William Stills was a free black man who recorded the stories of the slaves he helped escape (and in the process found his brother!). He was among those who assisted Henry Box Brown. John Rankin was a minister in Ripley Ohio who was among those who helped create the abolitionist movement by traveling throughout the country to speak out against slavery. Hew also publicly stood against slavery on his farm and protected and aided the escape of slaves from the slave state of Kentucky to Ohio and farther north.

Biker to Hobo (by Shira)

2010-07-15T17:10:00.004-04:00

When camping behind a grocery store in Coffeeville, Alabama, I had the following conversation with the store manager:

Shira: Thanks so much for letting us camp behind the store, we would have been homeless otherwise.
Manager: No problem, but you're still kind of homeless.

At that moment, on day 6 of our bike ride, I knew that we crossed the boundary into the land of the hobos (pictures to follow of the shantytown we put up behind the supermarket, complete with our laundry hanging on a shopping cart). I think we made the official transition 2 days earlier when we spotted a b0x of half eaten Krispy Kremes left in a gas station, and ate them without question. Later that night, the folks camping across from us gave us their leftovers for dinner, and we saved our leftovers of their leftovers for breakfast.

The next day, Michael fell asleep on a bench at a closed gas station.

The other day Eric said this to the rest of us, in all seriousness: "So I got some good advice from the homeless guy outside Wal-mart: non-dairy creamer is good foot moisturizer, corn startch is good for sweat rash". Hopfully we will be able to dispense some good advice soon.

Living Life on A Bicycle

2010-07-12T10:38:00.003-04:00

It is day six, and everything that has come before this trip, even recent events like sightseeing in New Orleans, seem so far away. It was at first terrifying to set off from New Orleans with 2,200 miles ahead of us. But now the miles are less daunting and having 300 hundred miles under our belt I feel a lot more confidant and upbeat. We are getting into our routines for setting up camp, cooking dinner, preparing breakfast and packing up camp.

After two or three days of flats, we’ve come to the beginning of the rolling hills here in the South. I decided very early on to enjoy the down hills. It would be very easy to hate all down hills because they demand that I go back up again (always). Finding peace with down hills (&up) is pretty important to keeping my morale up. So far I rocked an awesome hill going just over 35 miles an hour.

Part of the impetus for this bike trip was to gather information about the South, a place I’d never been to but as a Northerner have plenty of stereotypes about. Someone (from Mississippi) on our train ride said we’d find the best hospitality and we’d also find some ignorant people. So far we’ve experienced a lot of the first and very little of the second. I am really enjoying myself here, and I love listening to the accents of the locals.

Geography Lesson (By Shira)

2010-07-12T10:28:00.003-04:00

In case you ever take a road trip in the South, and find yourself without a map, here are some tips to figure out where you are:

1. Look at the roadkill: If you see mostly dead crabs on the side of the road, you are probably in Louisiana. Massive frogs means you are in Mississippi and Armadillos are the most common road kill in Alabama.

2. Look at the houses: If they are built on 20 foot stilts, you are on Louisiana. 10 foot stilts is Mississippi. In Alabama they are flat on the ground.

3. The dogs: In Louisiana they are fenced. In Mississippi they are big. In Alabama we have only been chased by Chihuahuas.

Finally, if you can't buy gas because all the gas stations are closed, you know that it's Sunday.

Video Update #1

2010-07-12T10:05:00.004-04:00

Hey guys, the web is slow here, so I'll be fast. There are new pictures (and I fixed the geotagged album link at the top of the page). Also, there is this video update:

Underground Railroad Video Update #1 from Eric Hittinger on Vimeo.

eric

The Aboveground Railroad

2010-07-06T20:46:00.001-04:00

Hey folks,

We took the train from DC to New Orleans, which was quite a nice experience. We are now in New Orleans, prepping to start out tomorrow. I don't have much time to write, but I will upload some pictures to the picasa gallery momentarily.

Train ride to The South (by Rae)

2010-07-03T18:16:00.005-04:00

Eric, Michael & I are taking the train from DC to New Orleans tomorrow. This is an exciting part of our journey. Not only are trains fun (and particularly better than flying), but this train ride is connected to the historical aspect of our journey. The adventure of biking across the country is very exciting; however, I am equally interested in exploring this part of our American History. As the "literary specialist" on this trip I am collecting poems, stories, and interesting information about slavery and the Under Ground Rail Road. I hope to have one little story/fact/poem per day of the trip to share with my fellow bikers.

On that note, our imminent train ride evokes images of Harriet Tubman, a woman/heroine who escaped slavery and risked travel into slave states in the South to rescue family members and other slaves. Despite having a high reward for her capture, Harriet traveled by train on a number of these journeys. And so, on our luxurious train ride, I will pause for a moment to remember this inspiring and courageous woman who risked her own liberty to help others attain their own. She is the only conductor of the UGRR known to risk her own freedom in this way.

How to Pack for Every Occasion (video)

2010-07-01T19:15:00.004-04:00

Hey everybody. I'm pretty busy here, packing and such, but here is a video showing all of the stuff I am bringing. This is filmed in standard definition and not edited really at all, and will reflect the type of short video "vlogs" that we will be posting during the trip.

Bike Trip Packing from Eric Hittinger on Vimeo.

eric

8 days left, and someone is worried... (by Shira)

2010-06-26T09:31:00.012-04:00

One more biker/blogger joining Eric and Rachael on this page. I'll be using this font to differentiate my posts.

Eric is worried that no one is worried (see previous post), so I am writing this to allay his fears (after all, if there's anything my people know how to do well, it's worry). I have two main worries: (1) my bike isn't fast enough, and (2) a Southern dog will eat me alive because my bike isn't fast enough.

In order to ease my anxiety, I've decided to spend the weekend making my bike faster instead of making myself faster by doing more biking. I already have a new set of skinny tires on my bike, so there's only one way left (that I know of) to add some speed to my bike: add more flames. So far I have spray-painted my bike black (thanks Rob!), and placed (one rhinestone at a time) one flame on it. I'm going to touch up some of the paint (while trying not to remove excess canal mud) and bling it out with a few more rhinestone-flames, so it will be in good shape to cross the country.

The next step is to shop for the ultimate dog deterrent. It's looking like mace is the winner so far (while my dad's suggestion of a water bottle with some ammonia in it was a close second, I think it is likely to ultimately do more harm to thirsty humans), but if anyone has experience with bike-chasing-killer-dogs, I'm open to suggestions.

11 Days Left and no one is worried...

2010-06-23T23:57:00.002-04:00

The counter on this page tells me there are 11 days left until the bike trip. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not really all that worried about the trip, having done all this before (and the England trip makes a nice distraction). But it seems that none of the other bikers are worried either, and that worries me.

And to be more accurate, the trip doesn't really worry me, but the implicit "leader" position does. When Jason and I went, neither of us really knew what we were doing, and spent a lot of time shrugging at each other and making arbitrary decisions based on limited information. So I am concerned that the other folks will look to me to make good decisions rather than poorly-informed guesses.

At the very least, I am quite good at reading the Adventure Cycling maps, so at least there's that.

Naming Conventions

2010-06-22T23:45:00.002-04:00

So I have a problem, and I need help.

When Jason and I biked across the country in 2007, we referred to the trip as the "Big Bike Trip". That name stuck and I commonly find myself begin long-winded stories with "On the Big Bike Trip...". But now we have a second "Big Bike Trip". What should I call it? "Big Bike Trip 2" (Or "II")? "The Underground Railroad"? "The One With Rachael, Shira, and Michael"?

But now there is another big bike trip, and I feel like a historian in the middle of World War II wondering what to call it. They had already had the "Great War", but now there was another pretty good war. The "Greater War" (note that this still leaves room for the "Greatest War")? Also, why didn't they just go with "Great War II" rather than go back and re-name the previous war?

Suggestions?

What is the best way to prepare for a cross-country bike trip?

2010-06-22T23:19:00.002-04:00

Answer: Little biking, busy with work, and 24 hrs (or less if possible) to pack. Or, at least, this appears to be a 2-data-point trend.

Before the last big bike trip, you may recall that I was working on a project which was due a mere 24 hours before our flight, leaving me with no time to bike or even think about the trip. Furthermore, you may also recall that I more-or-less had to quit my job. (Or, more accurately: I insisted upon going on the bike trip, which was neither approved nor rejected up to a few days ahead of time, which led to them half-calling my bluff by threatening to fire me if I was gone for more than 2 weeks. Of course, skilled diplomat that I am, I had already negotiated a job with a former office as an escape plan for just such an occasion.) This time things are more amenable with work (I love being a grad student), though I am heading out on Thursday to give a presentation at a conference in Cambridge (the one in England, not Massachusetts). When I get back, I have one day to pack my stuff up into the car and head to DC for The Traverse, and our train departs from DC half a day after that event ends. Thus it appears that in a similar way as last time, this bike trip is going to spring upon me without warning and that feels ok to me.

So we haven't been doing a lot of biking recently, though the DC to Pittsburgh trip must count for something. But I'm not too worried about this. They say (and I agree) that on a big bike trip, you tend to get in shape throughout the trip. Furthermore, we plan to start of relatively easy and work our way up to feats of strength.

Also, the packing for such trips is just too easy for me now. On any given day, I could probably be ready for a 6 month bike trip in an hour or two. So while we are organizing contacts and places to stay along the way and considering the number of rechargeable AA batteries to bring, that is really all gravy.

So while I am focused more on my Cambridge presentation, I am not really worried about the bike trip planning or packing. If the first big bike trip has taught me one thing, it is that problems are meant to be solved on the road.

Getting Ready (by Rachael)

2010-06-21T22:53:00.009-04:00

This post is being written by Rachael (aka Rae). I will be writing future blog posts here as well. I've changed the font a bit so that my 'voice' and Eric's can be visually differentiated pretty quickly.

We'll be leaving for New Orleans in a hot minute. We are gathering gear, maintaining our bikes, and ordering the last minute things we think we'll need. After changing our bike chains (which reinforced the ~~stereotype that girl spatial reasoning is crap~~ concept that practice improves spatial reasoning performance) and break pads this Sunday, we did a wee bit of hill riding followed by a simulated post bike ride meal.

As Head Chefs, Shira & I prepared to cook on the stove we'll be using for most dinners on the road. Our goal with this meal was to determine if we have sufficiently large pots for preparing meals for four (we determined that we can rather easily prepare enough food using two pots). To make the experience as authentic as possible we shopped at Right Aid to purchase the food to be prepared.

Dinner consisted of macaroni & cheese made with two pounds of elbow pasta and the only cheese accessible -american cheese singles. This might sound gross but it ended up working a lot like Velveeta. Okay, it still sounds gross. We added a can of tomatoes and had a gourmet experience worthy of the road. The can of green beans intended for the mix was consumed cold while we were boiling the water for pasta. My family might disown me for saying this- but those canned green beans were really good! I'm feeling a lot more confident about preparing vegetarian meals that are palatable and nutritious.

Bike Trip Details

2010-06-15T13:21:00.004-04:00

Well, I realize that I haven't put any real details about the trip up yet. So here is the plan:

It looks like we have four riders: Me, Rachael, Michael, and Shira. Four is a good number, and I am now not being overwhelmed by girls.

We leave from DC to New Orleans on the train on July 4 evening (maybe we can catch some fireworks from the observation car?). The train was chosen because it provides a relatively cheap way of transporting bikes and gear. For $400 total, I can transport Rachael and I and three checked bags each (the bike counts as a checked bag) from DC to New Orleans. Included in the price is our own little 2-person room where the chairs fold into beds, and all of our meals. Compare this with the airlines, who only wanted $100 per person to take us to New Orleans, but wanted $200 per bike plus surcharges for the other checked bags. The train takes 24 hours to go from Dc to New Orleans, but we should be pretty comfortable with a room, the ability to walk around, and a laptop computer. Shira is taking a slightly different transport scheme and is getting a ride with Kelly, who just happens to be driving through the area at about the same time.

We will probably spend a few days around New Orleans doing the tourist thing, then we will set off for the Underground Railroad Route's official starting point of Mobile, AL. We will follow the official route the whole way up into Owen Sound (see map). As on the last bike trip, we will carry our food and camp essentially the whole time.

The only difference is that this time we plan on going a little slower. When Jason and I went across, we kept feeling the pressure of Time=Money and went quite fast (I recall biking through a Shaker village in New York, but merely slowed down enough to grab a quick picture). The whole trip should thus take us about a month if everything goes well, putting us in Owen Sound around 10 August. Of course, lots of things can change on a big bike trip like this, so don't expect the schedule to be clockwork-perfect.

Bike Trip Technology Roadmap

2010-06-07T12:52:00.000-04:00

So let's talk bike trip technology.

You may recall that on the other Big Bike Trip, Jason and I had a decent amount of technology: camera, camcorder, cell phones, even a solar battery charger. During that bike trip, we also theorized about bike touring "ultra-luxury" items, my favorite of which was a laptop computer. This would have enabled us to post on the blog, download photos, and communicate by email - a real convenience.

So this time, we are bringing a laptop. There are lots of good reasons for taking the laptop, but the primary one is to store data. This time around, we have several cameras plus an HD camcorder that records to SD cards (8GB per hour). I can easily imagine the photos/video from the trip being 100GB total, and SD cards are too expensive to buy 100GB worth (note that the video requires at least a Class 4 SD card due to high data rates).

But, once we have a laptop (and an external hard drive to backup the laptop, since these are pretty cheap and small), suddenly lots of options open up. Firstly, I can use my GPS to take tracks while we ride, then use the laptop to sync the photos and tracks to easily geo-tag all of the pictures as I download them (this sounds complicated, but is not). So we will have geo-tagged pictures.

Secondly, we can of course use the laptop to connect to the internet through Wi-Fi hotspots or through Rob's phone (which will work as a USB Internet bridge). Now things really get spicy. We can use the internet to put up blog posts and to upload the geo-tagged pictures. The Picasa tools for geo-tagged pictures allow people to not only see our photos, but to keep track of our progress on google maps, since we can display our pictures on a map rather than in an album if we want.

And, since my laptop already has Sony Vegas video editing software installed, plus all the videos and pictures stored, we can edit short videos right on the laptop and upload them to vimeo (and then link them to the blog). Also, Twitter messages can be posted by text message (from cell phones), so we will be able to do frequent short updates.

To make it easier for the viewing audience, I have centralized everything on the blog. The Twitter feed now gets ported directly to a sidebar on the right side (you should be able to see it now). The Picasa album posts the 9 most recent pictures to the top of the blog (right now there are some placeholder pictures). Also, for the lazy Facebook crowd, I have set blog posts (but nothing else) to upload directly to Facebook (If you are reading this on Facebook, know that the full bike trip info-blast is only available on the blog).

DC to Pittsburgh Bike Trip Finished

2010-06-05T10:38:00.003-04:00

The annual DC to Pittsburgh Bike Trip is now safely ended. 19 people biked the C and O Canal portion and 9 biked the entire trip. We had perfect weather and a good crowd with no slowpokes at all. We did, however, have significant bike issues including: a magically and suddenly warped wheel, one example of extremely dubious rack/bag mounting, another wheel which could not be convinced to stop throwing spokes, and a tire that was so frayed on the sidewall that the inner tube was literally poking out of it. Problems were dealt with as they came up (note to self: buy more kevlar spokes) and we kept right on schedule.

Because we had so many people, we tried out a new concept: a command system. We had four teams with four team leaders (Rob, Scotty, Ed, and Jason). People had to be on one of them, but could switch as desired. Each team could then decide their own schedule/breaks/pace. This seems to have worked out quite well, and even fostered some inter-team competition.

I'm not going to do a movie this year (though I hear a rumor that R might), but I will post a link here to our pictures (a mix of R's and mine). They are geotagged, though some of the locations are a bit off due to us not being in the same location at all times. Also, I will post links to other folks' pictures too, since we had such a big group and mainly did not take pictures of the same things.

Eric/R's Pictures

Josh's Pictures

Brinda's Pictures

News Flash: KFC Adds New "Sandwich" Just in Time for Bike Trip

2010-04-30T17:29:00.004-04:00

So, I saw an ad today for a new KFC "sandwich" (see picture) which has replaced the traditional "bread" with fried chicken slabs. If that isn't offensive enough, the contents of the "sandwich" are bacon and cheese.

My first reaction was: "Yikes. That sounds awful."

My second reaction was: "I hope we pass some KFCs on the bike trip."

These people need to advertise in Adventure Cycling magazine.

Whats going on with this place?

2010-04-30T15:10:00.002-04:00

If everything looks different and wrong, that's because I am re-tooling this blog in preparation for the Big Bike Trip II: The Underground Railroad. So, if you are looking for Canal/GAP stuff, don't worry. Its all still here, but you will have to scroll down to find it. Otherwise, keep an eye out here for new Big Bike Trip stuff coming soon!

2010 C and O Canal / GAP Bike Trip

2010-02-13T17:51:00.002-05:00

Time for the now-annual DC to Pittsburgh Bike Trip. This trip consists of both the usual 3 1/2 day bike trip up the C and O Canal Towpath trail (183 miles) from DC to Cumberland, as well as the additional 150 miles from Cumberland to Pittsburgh. Thus, people can do the whole trip, or just the portions that they are interested in. The plan is to leave DC on Fri, 28 May (afternoon) (meet up around 4PM at Key Park), with the Pittsburgh people coming in that day or the night before. Leaving DC after work, we will do about 20 miles on Friday, about 60 miles (each) on Sat and Sun, and the remaining 40 miles of the Canal on Monday. From Cumberland, anyone heading back to DC will catch a ride (pre-arranged outfitter) back to DC, so that they will be home at a reasonable time for work the next day. Anyone heading further on towards Pittsburgh will continue for another 2.5 days (60 miles/day average) and get in on Wednesday night.

I have biked the canal 8 times, and it is a delightful bike trip. The path is level (except for 10 ft rises at each lock) and is packed dirt/gravel. You are in the woods pretty much the whole time, which is nice, but there are small towns every 30 miles or so where you can eat or restock. The Canal is a National Historical Park, so it is well maintained and there are *free* hiker/biker campsites (clearing with well water pump, porta-potty, picnic table, and fire pit) every 10 miles or so. Additionally, there are many interesting natural/historical sites along the canal that make for a fun break from biking.

I've only done the GAP 4 times, but this section is also great - the trail is smoother and has more towns than the Canal, but is still in the woods. The GAP also features the "easiest" (note: relative term) 2000 ft climb you will ever do, a number of tunnels, the Mason-Dixon line, and the Eastern Continental Divide.

If you are interested in bike touring, this makes a great introduction. For this trip, it sounds like there will be a large Pittsburgh contingent and a generally large group. Hopefully, we are looking at a big rolling party like last year - don't miss out!

Still curious? Here is a short summary video of last year's trip:

2009 C&O Canal/GAP Bike Trip from Eric Hittinger on Vimeo.

2010 Canal/GAP Bike Trip - Things To Bring

2010-02-13T17:22:00.002-05:00

There is not that much equipment that is critical for this trip - just the camping basics, really. Some people (poor Co-ops) like go cheap-and-light. Others (professional engineers) like to travel with fancy, high-tech gear. Either style works fine. This trip is a great time to try out experimental camping gear arrangements, if you are so inclined.

Things each person will need (I suggest):
-Bike (mountain or hybrid, not road bike... also, it can be cheap and crappy - my bike cost $120 at Walmart 7 years ago... note that bikes can also be rented pretty easily around here)
-Panniers / storage for your stuff (you can buy/borrow panniers, a trailer, or just put your stuff into bags that you bungee onto your rack - there are many options that will work depending on how fancy you want to get)
-Food (snacks and a few meals, and more if you don't want to do restaurants)
-Tent (or space in someone else's)
-Sleeping bag
-Proper clothes (probably 2 sets of clothes, plus rain and cold gear - this is plenty. You can get "high tech" clothes or just wear old t-shirts)
Inner Tube - in case you need it - chances are someone will have a flat

Things you probably want to take (or ensure that someone takes for you):
-Flashlight
-Headlight/tailight (in case of night riding)
-sunblock/bug repellent (I don't use it, but I take it anyway)
-personal hygiene stuff
-TP (not everyone needs a whole roll, but you don't want to run out either)
-spare change
-bathing suit

Other things to maybe take:
-Leatherman
-duct tape
-short rope
-pump
-matches
-camera
-pad and pen
-"blue" polyethylene tarp
-extra cords/straps
-towel

I will be taking a whole bunch of bike maintenance stuff, but everyone should make sure that they have at least 1 inner tube for their bike.

The costs for the trip depend mostly on how fancy you want to get with the equipment. Bike rental is probably about $30 a day (this is a guess) or you can straight up buy a bike. A passable bike at Walmart/Target for $125 (make sure it has mounting holes to mount a rack), and a good one will be hundreds of dollars. Buying a bike rack (needed for most people) will cost you about $30. Transportation back to DC will probably be about $85 a person. Campsites are free, and the remaining costs depend on you - you guys already know how much a meal in a restaurant costs if you want to go that way (I highly suggest restaurants), and the equipment above ranges greatly in cost from nothing (if you borrow it or already have it) to big bucks.

Getting Prepared for the Bike Trip

2010-02-13T17:20:00.001-05:00

As far as being in shape/getting in shape for this trip: I should start by saying that 60 miles in a day sounds like a lot, but isn't too bad over the course of 14 hours of sunlight. You will need to be in shape, but you don't need to be an athlete (I am not). Anybody in good health who has practiced a bit on a bike should be able to do this trip, but I will say that the more you ride now, the less pain you will be in during the trip.

My suggestions for "training" for this trip are:

1. Ride a bike often - the best way to get in shape for bike riding is to ride a bike (unsurprisingly).

2. Remember that the goal here is distance, not speed - If you drop your speed a little when riding, you greatly extend your endurance (on long rides, I try to maintain the cardiovascular equivalent of a brisk walk)... I have actually found that I have had trouble getting myself to go slow enough on long rides.

3. Practice going long distances - At least once, take a weekend day and do a 50 mile (or more if you want) ride. When you do this, remember to take your time, maintain endurance (not too fast!), and bring food. Remember to eat! Make sure you eat before you go and probably at least once during the ride - your body will thank you...

4. Try your equipment set-up - If you can, put all your gear on your bike as you plan on doing it on the trip and go for a ride. This will give you the feeling for how the load will affect your handling, inertia, and speed.

2010 C and O Canal / GAP Bike Trip Schedule

2010-02-13T17:11:00.002-05:00

This is the approximate schedule that we have done a few times (and it works pretty well). The Canal milemarkers for various stops are given in (parentheses). There are many restaurants, but people will still need to bring some of their own food (dinner the first night and 2 breakfasts). A bunch of granola bars will do the job for these meals, if you can stand eating a bunch of them, or you can bring something more elaborate if you prefer.

Day 1 - Fri, 28 May (dinner on trail)
Leave from Key park (or so) around 4PM
(15) Great Falls
(21) Camp here

Day 2 - Sat, 29 May (breakfast+ on trail)
(55) Brunswick (lunch)
(60) Harpers Ferry (ice cream, snacks)
(72) Shepardstown (dinner)
(79) Camp here

Day 3 - Sun, 30 May
(84.4) Detour to Williamsport begins
(100) Williamsport (breakfast)
(112) Ft. Frederick
(~114) Detour onto WMRT
(124) Hancock (lunch)
(141) Little Orleans (dinner)
(144.5) Camp here

Day 4 - Mon, 31 May (breakfast+ on trail)
(156) Paw Paw tunnel
(166.7) Oldtown, MD
(184) Cumberland (lunch) - DC people can get a ride back from here
(GAP 16) Frostburg (dinner) - Camp here

Day 5 - Tues, 1 June
(GAP 32) Meyersdale (breakfast)
(GAP 63) Confluence (lunch)
(GAP 74) Ohiopyle (dinner)
Camp at either Ohiopyle (GAP 74) or Connelsville (GAP 91)

Day 6 - Wed, 2 June
(GAP 91) Connelsville (breakfast)
(GAP 116) West Newton (lunch)
(GAP 135) McKeesport (dinner)
(GAP 150) Pittsburgh

People starting in Pittsburgh can get a ride with us on Friday morning, and we will probably do the same thing we did last year (rent a one-way car for transporting people and a one-way truck rental for transporting bikes). We will also arrange a ride from Cumberland back to DC on Sun afternoon to take DC people and their bikes back.

The Belated Canal/GAP Bike Trip video

2009-11-25T10:45:00.003-05:00

Ok, I actually finished this a while ago, but never posted it here on the blog. But here it is, functioning as a summary of our trip, an advert for next year's trip, and an educational video about life on the trail (you can click over to Vimeo if you want to see it in a bigger size):

2009 C&O Canal/GAP Bike Trip from Eric Hittinger on Vimeo.

2009 Canal/GAP Bike Trip Summary

2009-04-13T18:23:00.004-04:00

This year, we're doing the usual 3 1/2 day bike trip up the C and O Canal Towpath trail (183 miles) from DC to Cumberland, with an added 150 miles from Cumberland to Pittsburgh for those interested in extending the trip a bit. The plan is to leave DC on Thurs, 23 July afternoon (meet up around 4:30PM), with the Pittsburgh people coming in that day or the night before. Leaving DC after work, we will do about 20 miles on Thursday, about 60 miles (each) on Fri and Sat, and the remaining 40 miles of the Canal on Sunday. From Cumberland, anyone heading back to DC will catch a ride (pre-arranged outfitter) back to DC, so that they will be home at a reasonable time for work the next day. Anyone heading further on towards Pittsburgh will continue for another 2.5 days (60 miles/day average).

I have biked the canal 7 times, and it is a delightful bike trip.... the path is level (except for 10 ft rises at each lock) and is packed dirt/gravel... yes, you are in the woods pretty much the whole time, which is nice, but there are small towns every 30 miles or so where you can eat or restock. The Canal is a National Historical Park, so it is well maintained and there are *free* hiker/biker campsites (clearing with well water pump, porta-potty, picnic table, and fire pit) every 10 miles or so. Additionally, there are many interesting natural/historical sites along the canal that make for a fun break from biking.

I've only done the GAP twice, but this section is also great - the trail is smoother and has more towns than the Canal, but is still in the woods. The GAP also features the "easiest" (note: relative term) 2000 ft climb you will ever do, a number of tunnels, the Mason-Dixon line, and the Eastern Continental Divide.

For this trip, it sounds like there will be a large Pittsburgh contingent and a generally large group. Hopefully, we are looking at a big rolling party - don't miss out!

2009 Bike Trip: Things to Bring

2009-04-13T18:15:00.002-04:00

There is not that much equipment that is critical for this trip - just the camping basics, really. Some people (poor Co-ops) like go cheap-and-light. Others (professional engineers) like to travel with fancy, high-tech gear. This trip is a great time to try out experimental camping gear arrangements, if you are so inclined.

Things each person will need (I suggest):
-Bike (mountain or hybrid, not road bike... also, it can be cheap and crappy - my bike cost $120 at Walmart 6 years ago... note that bikes can also be rented pretty easily around here)
-Panniers / storage for your stuff (you can buy/borrow panniers, a trailer, or just put your stuff into bags that you bungee onto your rack - there are many options that will work depending on how fancy you want to get)
-Food (snacks and a few meals, and more if you don't want to do restaurants)
-Tent (or space in someone else's)
-Sleeping bag
-Proper clothes (probably 2 sets of clothes, plus rain and cold gear - this is plenty. You can get "high tech" clothes or just wear old tshirts)
Inner Tube - in case you need it - chances are someone will have a flat

Things you probably want to take (or ensure that someone takes for you):
-Flashlight
-Headlight/tailight (in case of night riding)
-sunblock/bug repellent (I don't use it, but I take it anyway)
-personal hygiene stuff
-TP (not everyone needs a whole roll, but you don't want to run out either)
-spare change
-bathing suit

Other things to maybe take:
-Leatherman
-duct tape
-short rope
-pump
-matches
-camera
-pad and pen
-"blue" polyethylene tarp
-extra cords/straps
-towel

I will be taking a whole bunch of bike maintenance stuff, but everyone should make sure that they have at least 1 inner tube for their bike.

The costs for the trip depend mostly on how fancy you want to get with the equipment. Bike rental is probably about $30 a day (this is a guess) or you can straight up buy a passable bike at Walmart/Target for $125 (make sure it has mounting holes to mount a rack). Buying a bike rack (needed for most people) will cost you about $30. Transportation back to DC will probably be about $85 a person. Campsites are free, and the remaining costs depend on you - you guys already know how much a meal in a restaurant costs if you want to go that way (I highly suggest restaurants), and the equipment above ranges greatly in cost from nothing (if you borrow it or already have it) to big bucks.

Getting in Shape for The Bike Trip

2009-04-13T18:12:00.002-04:00

As far as being in shape/getting in shape for this trip: I should start by saying that 60 miles in a day sounds like a lot, but isn't too bad over the course of 14 hours of sunlight. You will need to be in shape, but you don't need to be an athlete (I am not). Anybody in good health who has practiced a bit on a bike should be able to do this trip, but I will say that the more you ride now, the less pain you will be in during the trip.

My suggestions for "training" for this trip are:

1. Ride a bike often - the best way to get in shape for bike riding is to ride a bike (big suprise).

2. Remember that the goal here is distance, not speed - If you drop your speed a little when riding, you greatly extend your endurance (on long rides, I try to maintain the cardiovascular equivalent of a brisk walk)... I have actually found that I have had trouble getting myself to go slow enough on long rides.

3. Practice going long distances - At least once, take a weekend day and do a 50 mile (or more if you want) ride. When you do this, remember to take your time, maintain endurance (not too fast!), and bring food. Remember to eat! Make sure you eat before you go and probably at least once during the ride - your body will thank you...

4. Try your equipment set-up - If you can, put all your gear on your bike as you plan on doing it on the trip and go for a ride. This will give you the feeling for how the load will affect your handling, inertia, and speed.

2009 Canal/GAP Bike Trip Schedule

2009-04-13T17:49:00.002-04:00

This is the approximate schedule that we have done a few times (and it worked pretty well). The Canal milemarkers for various stops are given in (parentheses). There are many restaurants, but people will still need to bring some of their own food (dinner the first night and 2 breakfasts). A bunch of granola bars will do the job for these meals, if you can stand eating a bunch of them.

Day 1 - Thurs, 23 July (dinner on trail)
Leave from Key park (or so) around 4:30PM
(15) Great Falls
(21) Camp here

Day 2 - Fri, 24 July (breakfast+ on trail)
(55) Brunswick (lunch)
(60) Harpers Ferry (ice cream, snacks)
(72) Shepardstown (dinner)
(79) Camp here

Day 3 - Sat, 25 July
(84.4) Detour to Williamsport
(100) Williamsport (breakfast)
(112) Ft. Frederick
(~114) Detour onto WMRT
(124) Hancock (lunch)
(141) Little Orleans (dinner)
(144.5) Camp here

Day 4 - Sun, 26 July (breakfast+ on trail)
(156) Paw Paw tunnel
(166.7) Oldtown, MD
(184) Cumberland (lunch) - DC people get a ride back from here
(GAP 16) Frostburg (dinner) - Camp here

Day 5 - Mon, 27 July
(GAP 32) Meyersdale (breakfast)
(GAP 63) Confluence (lunch)
(GAP 74) Ohiopyle (dinner)
Camp at either Ohiopyle (GAP 74) or Connelsville (GAP 91)

Day 6 - Tues, 28 July
(GAP 91) Connelsville (breakfast)
(GAP 116) West Newton (lunch)
(GAP 135) McKeesport (dinner)
(GAP 150) Pittsburgh

C and O Canal Campsite Guide

2009-03-22T11:06:00.039-04:00

So this long blog entry is my little piece of public service for those planning on biking the C and O Canal. I know that when I first went along the Canal, I was able to find some descriptions of the campsites but no pictures or anything that gave me a real feel for them. Hopefully this guide can serve as a planning tool for those who are doing the Canal for the first time or as a memory tool for those who are trying to recall where that "really neat" campsite was or which one had the lockhouse right next to it. This guide only covers the Park Service campsites along the way (there are private campgrounds as well). To learn more about biking the Canal, I would recommend two books: "The C&O Canal Companion" and "Linking Up: Planning your traffic-free bike trip between Pittsburgh, PA and Washington, DC". I carry both of them any time I bike the Canal. Finally, I should note that there are a few campsites that I do not yet have pictures of (I hope to fix that this summer). The missing campsites are all in areas where I normally bypass the Canal (the Slackwater/Williamsport bypass, or where the Western Maryland RailTrail runs parallel).

To start off, the C and O Canal is a National Historical Park and is thus maintained by the Park Service. Importantly, this means that the camping is free along the Canal. Campsites are located right on the trail every 5 to 10 miles of the Canal's length (with a few longer stretches here and there). Each campsite is basically a clearing with a picnic table, fire pit, port-a-potty, and a well-water pump. Many of them also have access to the Potomac River (though it is often muddy access).

Starting on the DC end of the trail, with pictures beneath each entry (Canal mileage in parentheses):

Swain's Lock (16.6) - This first campsite breaks a few of the Canal campsite rules: it is accessible by car and has running water (up near the lockhouse). Because of it's location and accessibility, this site often has many campers (occasionally of the loud/drunk variety), but is sufficiently sized for many groups. Finally, there is a secluded (secret) site here separated from the others - go into the camping area, then head down towards the river and upstream, follow the little path you find until it ends at this separated campsite.

Horsepen Branch (26.0) - Standard campsite in the woods, though it is pretty narrow and right on the trail. I frequently camp here since it is a good short ride from DC but far enough out that it is not crowded.

Chisel Branch (30.5) - Standard campsite.

Turtle Run (34.4) - Standard campsite.

Marble Quarry (38.2) - Standard campsite. The site has a section that is clear of trees and gets sun in the afternoon.

Indian Flats (42.2) - Standard campsite just past the Monocacy Aqueduct (0.2 miles).

Calico Rocks (47.6) - Nice deep campsite, lots of room for a large group.

Bald Eagle Island (50.3) - Standard campsite. Caution: railroad is near to the site and can be noisy at night.

Huckleberry Hill (62.9) - Standard campsite, somewhat crowded against the trail.

Killiansburg Cave (75.3) - Standard campsite, but crowded against the trail. Also, not much room here for any sizable group.

Horseshoe Bend (79.7) - Standard campsite. Best place to camp before the Slackwater detour at 84.4, since Big Woods has a water supply issue.

Big Woods (82.5) - This site is notable because, as the C&O Canal Companion says, "the water pump is rather inconveniently located a fifth of a mile downstream". This makes fetching water a chore. Note that this is also the last site before the Slackwater detour.

Opequon Junction (90.9) - Standard campsite. (no picture)

Cumberland Valley (95.2) - Standard campsite. (no picture)

Jordan Junction (101.3) - Campsite relatively close to Williamsport. Supposedly has a funny smell sometimes because of a nearby tannery.

North Mountain (110.0) - Standard campsite on the side of a hill. Looks like a nice place to camp, though I have never stayed here myself.

Licking Creek (116.0) - Small campsite removed from the trail a bit.

Little Pool (120.4) - Nice secluded campsite between the Potomac and Little Pool.

White Rock (126.4) - Standard campsite. (no picture)

Leopard's Mill (129.9) - Standard campsite. (no picture)

Cacapon Junction (133.6) - Standard campsite with nice view of two rivers and some railroad bridges. This is opposite the point where the Cacapon River enters the Potomac. (no picture)

Indigo Neck (139.2) - Campsite at the foundations of an old lockhouse (and lock).

Devil's Alley (144.5) - Nice campsite opposite a good size mountain that you can climb on if you have extra time. Also, good (non-muddy) access to the river at this campsite.

Stickpile Hill (149.4) - Nice site in the woods. Has a small bridge over a ditch, which makes it even more fun.

Sorrel Ridge (154.1) - Large campsite at a lock. Note that the sign is missing, though it would be pretty hard to miss the campsite itself.

Purslane Run (156.9) - Standard campsite.

Town Creek (162.1) - Possibly my favorite campsite on the whole Canal, Town Creek is many times larger than most of the other sites. Additionally, the view of the river and mountains opposite is great.

Potomac Forks (164.8) - Campsite at the point where the Potomac forks into the "North Branch" and the "South Branch". This campsite is situated at a lock with a standing lockhouse and a railroad bridge. The canal is watered here (with many water lilies growing in the Canal) and has a number of small wooden bridges.

Pigman's Ferry (169.2) - This campsite is a fenced-off area surrounded by farmland. There are not many trees here, so shade will be harder to find.

Iron Mountain (175.4) - Large, deep campsite.

Evitt's Creek (180.0) - The trainyard here is so close that you can see the trains sitting just across the canal, which means occasional noise at night.

NationBuilders Bike Route

2009-03-18T21:26:00.007-04:00

So I have been working on a bike route which I am calling the NationBuilders Bike Route (link here). The route is themed after Early American industry (Canals, Railways, etc.) and was inspired by my realization that by traveling the C and O Canal, then the Great Allegheney Passage trail, you would be pretty close to the Erie Canal and were starting to make a big loop along historical industrial routes that are also conveniently bike-friendly (about a third of it is on trails). For the portions that are not covered by the above routes, I use rail trails or Adventure Cycling Routes to patch the gaps. I have personally ridden about 75% of this route and can say that it contains some really great areas. The only problem is that the route is suprisingly long: 1500 miles (!).
The route basically goes like this, starting from DC (but you can start anywhere you want):

1. Leave DC on the C and O Canal heading towards Cumberland. The Canal is 183 miles that requires almost no riding on roads (hopefully they will raise enough to connect through at the Slackwater area). The trail is flat, in the woods, with occasional historical sites or small towns. I can't say enough good things about the canal - easily my favorite place to bike.

2. At the end of the Canal in Cumberland, MD, you can pick up the Great Allegheney Passage, which is a rails to trails crushed limestone path going about 140 miles from Cumberland to Pittsburgh. This is also a nice route - slightly easier rolling than the canal and slightly more civilization than the canal, but you have to pay for camping.

3. Next is the Pittsburgh section, which I patched together from the excellent and free Bike Pittsburgh bike map. Just outside of the city (Coraopolis), you pick up the route laid out in the Cleveland/Pittsburgh Connector (a map set available from Adventure Cycling). We use this route for 57 miles into the Lordstown area.

4. At this point, you can pick up the Western Reserve Greenway, a 42 mile rail trail that runs straight as an arrow north until it hits Astabula on Lake Erie.

5. At Astabula, you can pick up the Adventure Cycling Northern Tier route, which basically runs along the lake on decent biking roads. This route heads through Buffalo and into Niagara Falls (Well, not "into" Niagara Falls...).

6. From the Falls, you can continue along the Erie Canal all the way to Albany (350 miles). The Erie Canal has bike paths for some portions and local roads for other portions. Regardless, it is a nice ride through many small towns along a still-active Canal.

7. From Albany, I invented a 50 mile route along the Hudson River that takes you south to meet up with the Adventure Cycling Atlantic Coast route in Rhinebeck. From here, Adventure Cycling takes you through mid-state NY, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, and into DC (while avoiding NYC, Philly, and Baltimore).

I would really like to do this route at some point, but it is probably a good month of riding on a mountain bike. The one great benefit that the route has is that many (many!) people live close to it and could therefore do the entire trip without having to fly or ship a bike - you can just roll out from your house, then roll back in a month later!

Canal Trip Summary

2008-04-16T18:44:00.003-04:00

We're going to do a 3 1/2 day bike trip up the C and O Canal Towpath trail (183 miles) from DC to Cumberland, MD from 24 to 27 July, staying overnights at campsites along the Canal.... The plan is to leave the DC area Thursday after work and do about 20 miles on Thursday, about 60 miles (each) on Fri and Sat, and the remaining 40 miles or so on Sunday. From Cumberland we will catch a ride (pre-arranged outfitter) back to DC, so that we will be home at a reasonable time for work/school the next day.

I have done this trip 4.5 times, and it is a delightful bike trip.... the path is level (except for 10 ft rises at each lock) and is packed dirt/gravel... yes, you are in the woods pretty much the whole time, which is nice, but there are small towns every 30 miles or so where you can eat or restock. The Canal is a National Historical Park, so it is well maintained and there are hiker/biker campsites (clearing with well water pump, porta-potty, picnic table, and fire pit) every 10 miles or so. Additionally, there are many interesting natural/historical sites along the canal that make for a fun break from biking.

For this trip, mostly Co-ops are going to come, but others are invited.

Canal Pictures from Past Trips

2008-04-16T18:24:00.003-04:00

Canal: Stuff to Bring

2008-04-16T18:16:00.004-04:00

Things each person will need:

Bike (mountain or hybrid, not road bike... also, it can be cheap and crappy - my bike cost $120 at Walmart 6 years ago... note that bikes can also be rented pretty easily around here)

Panniers / storage for your stuff (you can buy/borrow panniers, a trailer, or just put your stuff into bags that you bungee onto your rack - there are many options that will work depending on how fancy you want to get)

Food (snacks and a few meals, and more if you don't want to do restaurants)

Tent (or space in someone else's)

Sleeping bag

Proper clothes (probably 2 sets of clothes, plus rain and cold gear - this is plenty. You can get "high tech" clothes or just wear old tshirts)

Inner Tube - in case you need it - chances are someone will have a flat

Things you probably want to take (or ensure that someone takes for you):
Flashlight
headlight/tailight (in case of night riding)
sunblock/bug repellent (I don't use it, but I take it anyway)
personal hygiene stuff
TP (not everyone needs a whole roll, but you don't want to run out)
spare change
bathing suit

Other things to maybe take:
Leatherman
duct tape
short rope
pump
matches
camera
pad and pen
"blue" plastic tarp
extra cords/straps
towel

I will be taking a whole bunch of bike maintenance stuff, but everyone needs to make sure that they have at least 1 inner tube for their bike.

The costs for the trip depend mostly on how fancy you want to get with the equipment. Bike rental is probably about 30 dollars a day (this is a guess) or you can straight up buy a passable bike at Walmart/Target for $125 (make sure it has mounting holes to mount a rack). Buying a bike rack (needed for most people) will cost you about $30. Transportation back to DC will probably be about $85 a person. Campsites are free, and the remaining costs depend on you - you guys already know how much a meal in a restaurant costs if you want to go that way (I highly suggest restaurants), and the equipment above ranges greatly in cost from nothing (if you borrow it or already have it) to big bucks.

Canal: Getting in Shape

2008-04-16T18:11:00.002-04:00

As far as being in shape/getting in shape for this trip: I should start by saying that 60 miles in a day sounds like a lot, but isn't too bad over the course of 14 hours of sunlight. You will need to be in shape, but you don't need to be an athlete (I definitely am not). Anybody in good health who has practiced a bit on a bike should be able to do this trip without issue, but I will say that the more you ride now, the less pain you will be in during the trip. My suggestions for "training" for this trip are:

1. Ride a bike often - the best way to get in shape for bike riding is to ride a bike (big suprise).

2. Remember that the goal here is distance, not speed - If you drop your speed a little when riding, you greatly extend your endurance (on long rides, I try to maintain the cardiovascular equivalent of a brisk walk)... I have actually found that I have had trouble getting myself to go slow enough on long rides.

3. Practice going long distances - At least once, take a weekend day and do a 50 mile (or more if you want) ride. When you do this, remember to take your time, maintain endurance, and bring food. Remember to eat! Make sure you eat before you go and probably at least once during the ride - your body will thank you...

4. Try your equipment set-up - If you can, put all your gear on your bike as you plan on doing it on the trip and go for a ride. This will give you the feeling for how the load will affect your handling, inertia, and speed.

Canal Schedule

2008-04-16T18:06:00.003-04:00

So here is the approximate schedule that we did last go round (and it worked pretty well). The milemarkers for various stops are given in (parentheses). There are many restaurants, but people will still need to bring some of their own food (dinner the first night and 2 breakfasts).

Day 1 - Thurs (dinner on trail)
Leave from Key park (or wherever) in afternoon/evening
(15) Great Falls
(21) Camp here

Day 2 - Fri (breakfast+ on trail)
(55) Brunswick (restaurants here)
(60) Harpers Ferry (restaurants Here)
(72) Shepardstown (restaurants Here)
(79) Camp here

Day 3 - Sat
(84.4) Detour to Williamsport
(100) Williamsport (restaurants Here)
(112) Ft. Frederick
(~114) Detour onto WMRT
(124) Hancock (restaurants Here)
(141) Little Orleans (restaurants Here)
(144.5) Camp here

Day 4 - Sun (breakfast+ on trail)
(156) Paw Paw tunnel
(166.7) Oldtown, MD
(184) Cumberland (restaurants Here)

Moving Pictures (Alternate Title)

2007-10-28T10:05:00.001-04:00

[UPDATE] Now that I have learned about the greatness of Vimeo, I suggest viewing the videos here instead of at google videos. The quality is much better.

Ok rock stars,

The bike trip movie has finally been finished, printed to numerous DVDs, and semi-successfully loaded up onto google video. It turned out quite nicely, so if you want to really see what the trip was all about, the movie will do better than the blog did (or at least suppliment your understanding).

Now, we have a big stack of DVDs here and I would highly suggest that if you have any feasable way of getting a DVD from J, R, or myself, that you do so and watch the movie on DVD. We have plenty of copies, and can easily make more, so just ask one of us. The quality of the DVDs is quite high and the quality of the web videos is somewhat low. But, if you are impatient or probably won't get around to getting a hard-copy DVD, here are the videos:

Chapter 0 (Opening)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Also, it appears that the voting audience has decided that they wanted me to do a real full-blown eric-blog. Well, I'm still thinking about it. I'll let you know...

You Want Pictures?!

2007-09-13T23:10:00.002-04:00

Well, here's all the pictures you can handle:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jason.haserodt/BikeTripAcrossAmerica200702

The Mighty Prius

2007-09-13T22:52:00.000-04:00

For those who doubt the the Prius is indeed larger on the inside than on the outside, I present startling new evidence.

On the ride back from Rhode Island, we fit three people (me, Rachael and Jason) in the car as well as both bikes and all our gear (and some of R's luggage) for the ride back to DC. Amazing.

Just the Facts, Ma'am

2007-09-10T22:40:00.000-04:00

Ok,
so for those of you who love statistics and rankings, here is a breakdown of the trip.

Riding Breakdown:
Total Miles: 4195 (lets call it 4200 for argument's sake)
Total days of trip: 59
Total days riding: 54
Total time riding: 354 hours 11 minutes
States visited: 15
Canadian provinces visited: 2
Average miles per day: 77.7 miles/day
Average hours biked per day: 6.55 hours
Average speed: 11.85 mph
Longest day: 138 miles (the last day, into RI)
Shortest day: 35 miles (going up Logan Pass in Glacier Park)
Fastest speed (eric's bike): 45 mph
Best roads (state): Illinois
Worst roads (area): Buffalo, NY and surroundings

Bike Breakdown (this is a pun):
Flat tires (total): 7
Broken Spokes: 7 (all on Jason's bike, rear wheel, non-drive side)
Rear Derailleur Falling apart: 1 (Jason's bike)
Loose pedal bearing: 1 (Eric's bike)
Lost objects: 1 each East German Handkerchief (Jason), 1 each blue high-tech underwear (Eric)
Objects taken away by Canada (or "surrendered to the crown", as they say): 1 pepper spray "dog repellent"

Cost Breakdown:
The costs below reflect the money I actually spent during the trip, but include everything during that time. They do not include the cost of my bike or the camping gear (fairly considerable), which I already owned. This is just the money that I spent, and doesn't include Jason's expenses.

Cash Spent: $1400
Credit Card Purchases: $2100
Plane Ticket: $300

Total Expenditure: $3800
This is pretty good, considering that my original estimate was $5000.

Now That the Elephant Has Been Consumed...

2007-09-08T22:45:00.000-04:00

What should I do with this blog? I have a few more things to post here yet about the bike trip (statistics from the trip, edited movies, links to a much larger selection of pictures, etc.), so don't stop checking. But after all that is done, I'm not sure what to do with it, so I have set up a poll to the right.

I could just abandon it as it is - it was meant as a way to tell people about my exploits on the bike trip, and it has served that purpose, but that is essentially over.

I could keep it going as a bike touring blog, discussing biking, future (shorter) bike trips I take, bike gear/technology, camping, etc. If I went this way, it would be updated more infrequently than during the trip, since I really would not have tons of relevant stuff to talk about.

Or I could turn it into "eric's blog", since I don't have a blog. In this case, it would become only marginally about biking, and mostly about books, video games, pirates, and monkeys (probably).

So, let the people decide! Vote in the sidebar on the right!

PS3: The Ultimate in Luxury Bike Touring

2007-09-04T11:17:00.000-04:00

While biking, we spent some time discussing what additional luxury items would be nice to have on the bike trip. We decided that the two most useful luxury items would be a cooler (for meats/cheese and drinks/beer) and a laptop (for amusement and WiFi Inernet access). But I figured that for the ultra-luxury bike tourist we needed something more, so I bought a PS3. Seems reasonable.

Ok, so we are actually not taking a PS3 biking, but I did buy one (on amazon) back in Rochester.

The forces all seemed to be alligned there. Sony just did a $100 price drop (but this isn't as benign as it sounds: After announcing a $100 price drop (to $500) for the 60GB model and introducing a new 80GB model (at $600), Sony subtly stated that they would be phasing out (read: discontinuing) the $500 60GB model - meaning that soon the only model available will once again be $600). My Xbox 360/PS3 vascillation has more recently been leaning more towards PS3, more due to my annoyance with Microsoft than affinity for Sony. Particularly, Microsoft's persistance in charging $50/year to play online and their attempt to expand this "service" to computers. Also, Sony seems to earnestly want to make the PS3 a multimedia box, whereas the Xbox seems to be doing the bare minimum. Also, the current deal of getting 8 Blue-Ray movies free with the system (5 from the Blue-Ray consortium and 3 from amazon), which is worth about $200, pushed it over the edge.

So soon I'll have a PS3. And, yes, you can come over and play.

I Just Biked in From Seattle and Boy Are My Legs Tired!

2007-09-04T10:12:00.001-04:00

Well, we did it (essentially). We performed a series of absurd tasks and are now in RI. We were supposed to come in later today, but made a last minute decision yesterday at lunch to turn 2 days of biking into one super-long day. So yesterday we got on the road late (9 AM, thanks to late biking the days before), did one of the hilliest days yet (curses to Central Conneticut), finished 137 miles, and got in at 11:30 PM. That will probably stand as the greatest bike feat for a while.

So all we have left to do today is to go to the ocean, which around here is essentially everywhere.

Q: What Can You Get for $0.40 These Days?

2007-09-04T10:09:00.000-04:00

A: Enough gasoline to fuel your camp stove for an entire cross country bike trip. Seriously, its like a loaves/fishes type miracle.

Damn the Torpedoes - Full Speed Ahead!

2007-08-30T23:07:00.000-04:00

And we are now moving quickly towards our end goal. Tomorrow, we break off the comfortable Adventure Cycling maps and head (somewhat) into the unknown. The plan is to follow the Erie Canal until Albany, then play it by ear, maybe head south for a while along the Hudson, or maybe go straight for RI. We are now headed to the Ocean State with all deliberate speed, so expect us in 5 or 6 days.

Threading the Needle

2007-08-30T22:55:00.001-04:00

So we are in Rochester, NY right now and will tomorrow be leaving the comfortable Adventure Cycling Maps. We will follow the Erie Canal through the magic pass of NY State - check out the picture below for the surprising valley through upstate NY.

Afterwards, we will probably head straight for RI, but I'm just not sure right now.

Thought for Food

2007-08-25T21:56:00.001-04:00

More interesting food stories.

Earlier in the week we bought a bag of 6 bagels for breakfast the next day. We decided that the bagels, which were in a sealed bag inside another bag would be ok out on the picnic table overnight. But in the morning there were gone. We both secretly suspected that the other person had eaten them in the nighttime and searched through our bag (in case we accidentally put them away) and all around our camp. But we couldn't find any trace of them. In the end we decided to eat junk snacks for breakfast. While eating, Jason spied a plastic bag about 150 feet away. There were our bagels (or at least 4 of them). I guess some animal had dragged them 150 feet then ate 2 of the 6 bagels. Jason ate another 2, but I abstained from the cursed, or at least suspicious, bagels.

Also, here is a picture of some food that we did not eat.

Eat Your Heart Out, Gerry Canavan

2007-08-25T21:26:00.001-04:00

So we are in Cleveland. Events including the following:

1. Stop at Thwing to buy Case sticker for bike. Find out that Case now has a new logo. Or perhaps I should say, "a new new logo". The new logo is not the bent paper clip/fat man carrying a surfboard that appeared around 2003. No, there is an even newer logo now that everything in the school has finally been covered with the old new logo. For those keeping score at home, the new new logo is a stylized version of the old sunset logo. Anyway, I at least got my Case sticker really cheap since it had the old new logo on it.

2. Pose in front of my old building, Kent Hale Smith.

3. Go to Tommy's and perform my usual ritual. This includes putting my name on the list along with the note "in Mac's", then go next door to Mac's and buy current issues of Adbusters and Philosophy Now magazines. After getting seated, order coffee shake, JJ with some grilled chicken "cut up and thrown in there" (with associated hand motion), and order of fries.

There is just something extra fun about doing the same familiar stuff while on a cross-country bike trip.

The Lighter Side of Iowa

2007-08-16T22:16:00.000-04:00

First, a picture of a sign in a bar here. Poetic in a way.

And Secondly, a picture of the huge tree branches that were in our way on a bike path. It took us about 5 minutes to carefully carry the 2 bikes through this morass.

Left at Muscatine

2007-08-16T22:08:00.000-04:00

Update.

So we have been meandering around Minnesotta and Iowa, following the river (the Mississippi). Iowa is very hilly. Remember this. I mean very hilly. And wet. Don't forget.

We are in Iowa today, but will be in Illinois tomorrow. After another 50 miles south, we will make a left turn in Muscatine and cruise straight east. No more messing around. Expect Illonois and Indiana to fall in the next 5 or 6 days.

The Syrup of Freedom

2007-08-16T21:57:00.000-04:00

Popeye : Spinach :: Eric : High Fructose Corn Syrup

We have learned a lot about food, and have beccome experts on what to buy and eat from gas stations. Some things of importance:
-In the Iowa area, there is a tendency to have a fixed price (usually just over a dollar) for fountain drinks. Ever wonder who drinks the 44 oz sodas? I do. And sometimes I get a refill (my largest soda hit was 64 oz).
-Jason found one gas station where he got a 44 oz milkshake. I'll leave you to ponder that one. And, amazingly, he drank the whole thing.
-Hot dogs are very cheap. At one gas station, they had a deal where you get a 32 oz fountain drink and 3 hot dogs for 2 dollars. And they had Sobe Energy on tap, and fixings for the hot dogs. We immediately cancelled our dinner plans.
-Little Debbie "Oatmeal Cream Pies" cost $1.29 for a dozen. Thats just over 10 cents each! And the first ingredient is not oatmeal, but high fructose corn syrup - it used to be a sweetener, but is now a food.

As this post seems to attest, we have mostly hit rock bottom as far as food is concerned. Cooking is going down, high fructose corn syrup is on the rise.

Long Time, No Blog

2007-08-12T10:30:00.000-04:00

Ok,

We have no been posting alot recently, but here goes a quick update:

The last week of riding was very nice, since we have actually had to slow down in order not to get into Minneapolis too soon. We have gotten to the point where going 70 miles makes for an easy day, so we generally get in around 3 PM and sit around.

I am right now in Orlando, as we are all on our vacation from vacation. Brian got married yesterday, and Jason and I will continue where we left off tommorow.

And now I have to go...

Spoke Too Soon

2007-07-30T23:03:00.000-04:00

Ok, we finally had a real bike failure worth talking about. Yesterday, while riding, Jason got a flat which we promptly fixed (that makes 4 flats total). But while fixing it, Jason noticed that one of his spokes was broken. This was no problem, as it allowed me to make use of my kevlar emergency spoke (see picture). So we rigged up the emergency spoke and loaded the wheel again, only to notice that the wheel was way out of true (out of plane) and was rubbing on his brakes each rotation. So I did a quick field-truing of the wheel and Jason rode on it for 2 days into Minot, ND, where we were able to get a replacement spoke. I noticed that after fixing up his wheel, Jason was riding much faster. Since there seems no reason that his flat would cause a broken spoke, and I suspect that it had been broken for days and the rubbing of the brakes had been the cause of his recent trouble keeping speed. Ever since the repair he has been going a fair bit faster.

In Minot, we went to a bike shop where the guy confidently measured the spokes and gave us the wrong replacement spoke (the ones he said were right were too short). Luckily, we also bought some other spokes (for a different part of his wheel) that worked, but were still shorter than they should have been. Finally I trued up the wheel, and actually did a pretty good job of it. On the road repairs: no problem.

Also, this is what my legs look like after doing battle with Jason's wheel (Click for zoom).

The Wicked Witch of the... East?

2007-07-30T22:52:00.000-04:00

So every book, guide, map, and local person states that the wind in this area (the plains) blows predominantly from the West. But we have found this to be very much not true. We have been on the plains for 6 days and have seen wind every direction from North to South (by way of East), but have only seen a wind from the West one, weakly, for 2 hours. The favorite direction is definitively from the East, which is exactly how it "never" blows, and coincidentally the direction that is the worst for us. It seems that every day it should change to the dominant direction (it has to blow from the West sometime, right?), but it never does.

Also, why isn't the land flat yet?

For Those Keeping Score at Home

2007-07-25T00:44:00.000-04:00

We have been on the road for 17 days now and here is the tally of bike repairs needed:

Flat Tires:
Jason Rear Tire (Bent wire in tire): patched
Jason Rear Tire (Screw in tire): patched - needed 2 patches
Eric Front Tire (Staple in tire): patched

Jason derailleur jockey gear fell off on road: pieces gathered, reassembled, later went to bike shop to get it loctited

Eric grinding in drivetrain: brought to bike shop, crankset reassembled (retightened)

Safe Havre

2007-07-25T00:22:00.000-04:00

It turns out (and we knew this going in) that we are doing this whole trip backwards. Instead of starting out in familiar territory, where the land is relatively flat and we know many people, we flew to Seattle and started there. The weather, animals, and bugs are all foreign and somewhat strange. The first pass we did (Washington Pass) was the single highest climb of our entire trip (and incidentally, the first mountain pass either of us had ever done). And the longest stretch of the whole trip without a know friendly face was the stretch between Seattle and Shelby, MT (2 weeks). By the end of the trip, through Ohio and New York, we are going to have stops every day or two and be cruising through early autumn weather in familiar and fairly level ground.

But for that reason, it was delightful to meet Cindy (a distant relative of Erik (not me, note the "K")), who greeted us with ice cold Powerade, cooked us dinner, washed our clothes, had beds for us to sleep in, made us breakfast, and gave us cherries for the road. That was a huge boost after our terrible day yesterday.

Now we are in Havre, having finished 104 miles today. We are staying in a church that Jason hooked up for us. This is quite important, as it turns out, since the mosquitos are really bad here. I killed at least 50 going to and from dinner, and at one point I could see 6 at one time on my legs. Indoors is good.

Oh, and some folks had requested that we google map so that people can follow along with us, but this is probably too much work for us, since we have a very busy schedule (any time I am not actively doing something, I stop to think of what needs to be done, and there's always something). But the best bet is to look at the Adventure Cycling map page for our trip. This can easily be matched up with google maps.

For fun, here is a picture of a "Used Vehicle Lot" that we passed.

No More Messing Around

2007-07-24T00:50:00.000-04:00

Ok rock stars,

anybody who thinks we have been moving quickly so far is in for a surprise. We have been going up and down mountains, touring through beautiful places. We have gone north, east, south, west, north, just rolling around visiting every neat thing in the area. Well, all that is changing now.

We are now headed express across the plains, straight as an arrow, East. And we plan on making some good time. So hold on to your hats for the section I like to call Minnesota Express. I have a date with a plane on August 9, and I have no interest in missing it.

The Salt of the Earth

2007-07-24T00:46:00.001-04:00

So another new thing: salted bodies. With the massive sweating we are doing, along with the dry air, at the end of each day our clothes and skin are coated with salt. In the clothes, it appears as salt stains, and on the skin it appears as legitimate, salt-packet-style crystals which feel a lot like sand on the skin. Jason sweats more than me, and thus gets a better harvest, but we both have noticed this.

Gross.

The Bubble of Determination

2007-07-24T00:20:00.000-04:00

"If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!"

-Kipling

So, awful awful times today. Awful. Really bad.

As of today, we are on the plains. Great, we thought, no more mountains. And we were hoping that the prevailing winds from the West, along with the smooth earth would help us sail right along. But we were wrong.

We did 96 miles today, insisting that we show up in Shelby, MT. The 100 degree heat was bad, but nothing that we hadn't dealt with before (Everywhere we go, people say, "Oh, it's never this hot around here - but they say the heat will break in a few days." We've been hearing this for weeks as we drag the heat across with us). What also hurt in a new way was the 75 mile stretch with no services, not even a tree for shade in the aforementioned heat. But what was completely debilitating was the 20 MPH headwind (coming from the SE, another unlikely meteorologic event) for the entire day.

When we rode, we struggled to maintain 10 MPH ground speed into the wind. When we stopped, we had no shade and flies would immediately swarm around us. As we came into Cut Bank, both of us were ready to fall off our bikes. At the diner, I couldn't eat much, as my digestive system (a non-essential function) had shut down a while back.

And we still had 25 more miles to go. It was very hard to get ourselves up out of that diner and haul our bodies another 25 miles, but we did it. About 10 miles into those last 25, my water ran out, and my emergency water had acquired the strong taste of burning plastic and was undrinkable without vomiting. My front tire, due to a staple found earlier in the day, was getting increasingly flat. The headwind was getting stronger, trucks kept whizzing by our elbows, and I was very very tired. And all I wanted to do was dump my bike and sit by the side of the road and cry. But there was no time for that. I figured that I would either ride that bike into Shebly or die on the road, and I didn't really feel like dying.

Then a train went by us, and gave a few long toots on the whistle for us. And though it sounds stupid, it is little things like that, knowing that some totally unknown person is cheering you on, that makes you go. And we did. Jason, also feeling a few shades past death, came up and we waged war on the wind. For a little while there, it was just him and me, battling the wind in a little bubble of determination. In the end, things like drinkable water and inflated tires take a backseat to utter determination. They say that the spirit/mind gives out long before the body does, and I think we got a little taste of what that means today.

Glacial Motion

2007-07-24T00:14:00.000-04:00

So we had a great time in Glacier National Park. Hiked up to Avalanche lake, camped, biked over Logan Pass (up Going-To-The-Sun Highway), and coasted down the other side. Great stuff, and not too hard, given our two short days through the Park.

My only complaint is their non-bike friendliness at the Park. It cost us $24 to get in (one Dollar less than an SUV full of people), $10 to camp (the same price as an RV), and the highway over the pass is closed to bikes from 11 AM to 4 PM (though this is somewhat understandable for safety reasons).

And we ate at an amazing restaurant (Johnson's Family Restaurant) in St. Mary's on the East entrance to the park.

Uphills and Downs

2007-07-23T23:53:00.000-04:00

"If someone tells you that something is indescribable, you can bet that they're going to have a go at it anyway..."

Its a bit hard to convey what a trip like this does to you. Whereas regular life is a tightly moderated bubble of mediocre satisfaction, this trip is a huge roller coaster of highs and lows. Just like the terrain that we go through, there are some moments that are just amazing and great, and other times when it seems like life is so awful that you just want to cry. And its amazing what a good shower or meal will do for you after a long day of biking in the heat.

So if we seem a bit schizophrenic, this is why.

Also, here's a picture of us at the top of Logan Pass (Continental Divide).

Update: Chocolate Milk is the New Pink

2007-07-19T22:49:00.000-04:00

So it turns out that I am not crazy. We ran into another biker going the opposite direction on the Northern Tier and had dinner with him. During dinner, we mostly both had our maps out - us telling him what good stuff was coming up for him and he telling us what was good on our route forward (very convenient, this information exchange). But during dinner, when I ordered my usual chocolate milk, he noted that he had heard from other people that it was a great energy drink. Thus, outside conformation.

Also, Jason has switched over and will now do chocolate milk or shakes with me.

Bike Maintenance Vindication

2007-07-19T20:33:00.000-04:00

So back in Idaho, I took my bike into a bike shop to be checked out as the drive train was making a little noise (Jason needed some loctite on his jockey gear bolt). I suspected the crankset (the axle bearing system), but I have no real way to get in there with the tools I have (I would have to carry a lot more tools to be able to do crankset work, and this stuff never really fails catastrophically anyway). The guy told me that everything was fine except that my chain was way too grimy and had gotten stretched. His gauge essentially said that I was past the point where simply replacing the chain was possible (essentially, saying that the chain and the rear sprockets would both need to be replaced at once). This made me unhappy, since I thought that I had been keeping good care of the chain and was making sure that I would replace it before it got too stretched. He suggested that I just ride it till it breaks, then replace the whole drivetrain. (For those not in the know about drivetrains: The chain will stretch and wear over time, and will also eventually start to wear down the teeth on the sprockets (front and rear). The best thing to do is to replace the chain when it gets a little stretched (since this is cheap), thus saving the wear on the sprockets. If you wait too long and the sprockets get worn down, then a new chain will not be stretched enough for your worn sprockets, and the chain will slip - thus you have to change both the chain and sprockets (which costs more).

But today we are in Whitefish, Montana, just outside of Glacier National Park, and we stopped at another bike shop, since my drivetrain had been making increasing amounts of noise (new, intermittent clicks started to appear 2 days ago, and have gotten stronger with time). The guy said he was pretty sure it was due to a loose crankset. He also measured my chain and said that it didn't seem too worn to him. I had him disassemble/regrease the crankset and change the chain, since this was due soon. In the end, the reassembly of the pedal bearing got rid of all the noise, and the new chain doesn't slip at all on the existing sprockets, so the chain was not too worn either. 2 points for eric.

Prius With a Gun Rack

2007-07-19T20:27:00.000-04:00

ok, so the title here is a bit of a bait and switch, as I did not actually see a Prius with a gun rack, but one of the things I have noticed during this trip is that there are a ton of Priuses (plural of Prius? Possibly Prii?) out in rural Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Second to pickup trucks, this is much of what you see. My original theory was that Washington state, being a fairly "green" place, had some sort of tax incentive to buy them, and that's why we were seeing them all over. But the Priuses have persisted even into Montana, so I am stumped...

Is the Northwest so "green" that even the rural folk buy Priuses? Is there a multi-state tax incentive? Are they useful for farm work in some unknown way?

Crossing Over - with Jason and Eric

2007-07-16T14:32:00.000-04:00

We are just now feet from the border with Idaho. We have finished all for of the Cascades passes and have only 1 more big pass (Logan Pass in Glacier National Park). We are going for a long ride today (about 90 miles), but the going is nice a flat, so no problem. We still can't post pictures (though we have some really nice ones), but will do this ASAP.

Chocolate Milk is the new Pink?

2007-07-16T14:23:00.000-04:00

We are now into high food mode. We've been eating four big meals a day and always eat fat and meat and desserts (The all-you-can-eat diet, essentially). This is really no suprise. But the big suprise is that gatorade is become somewhat less palatable for me. But I have found an even better substitute.

After riding for hours in the hot sun, I have found that a big container of chocolate milk really hits the spot. No joke. It sounds like it would be awful, but it combines the two things I crave after a long ride: water and fat (and has some sugar to boot).

So I'm thinking that I should get the milk industry to pay me to try to break them into the sports drink business - a chocolate milk drink to compete with gatorade. Jason has suggested the name: "Udder Energy".

Passes Past

2007-07-12T17:21:00.000-04:00

Ok rock stars,

We have now gone over Washington Pass (elevation 5,477 ft) in blaring heat during the hottest day on record. We were sustained most of the way by icy cold (literally) water from streams running down the mountains. After filtering the water, it was freezing cold and delicious. During the hottest part of the day, with no shade, thin air, and a 4 MPH pace, we decided for safety (and sanity) sake to hide from the sun under a bridge next to a creek. The creeks there were amazingly cold - even biking past one would lower the air temperature about 20 degrees. After a few hour break (and a dive into the water - cold!) we got back and finished the ascent, in perfect time to coast down 18 miles of downhill (only a few very short bits of pedaling). Now that was fun.

Before this we had been climbing up through the Cascades, which are monsterously beautiful (we would post pictures, but the computer at this library doesn't permit it). We have been camping every night and cooking our own food except last night when we treated ourselves to a nice room and meals.

So far we are both a bit beat up physically, but in good spirits (except for the deathly heat). The equipment is all working fairly well - I have a sqeak in my drivetrain somewhere and jason is having some trouble getting a good hand position due to the geometry of his bike. Thus far things are looking good. We have exceeded our planned distance each day so far, and have conquered (I believe that this is the appropriate word) the largest ascent of the trip. We have three more ascents to do - one a day for the next three days (we will go and do the next one right after finishing up here on the Internet), and a fourth ascent in about a week. After that it should be smoother sailing.

Bottom line: It is hot, but we're doing fine.

Working Without a Net

2007-07-07T23:26:00.000-04:00

So we are off. The date: 7-7-07. At 4 AM we woke up after a brief nap to get shuttled to the airport, making our first flight. 12 hours later, we showed up in the SeaTac airport with crossed fingers hoping that all our gear came through ok. After getting all our bags ok, we waited hesitantly for our bikes, before realizing that they were actually going to come down the baggage ramp (these bikes were essentially naked and ready for any damage that the world would throw at them)! I dove into the steel "landing area" that the ramp dumps into and did my best to "catch" the bikes. Luckily, in the end there were only minor bruises on the bikes and we spent 2 hours putting everything together, checking the gear, adjusting the brakes, etc. After getting a few hours of sleep on the plane, I felt much better and ready to rock.

So we set out on bike to visit with Brad's parents, The Emersons. It was only 20 miles or so of riding, and the weather was great. And the first thing we saw as we came around the corner was Mt. Rainer - huge, snow covered, and beautiful. The picture doesn't even convey the hugeness of it. That was great. It really hit that we are really here, with no real backup options, everything we have on our bikes. We are now operating without a net.

So the report for the day: total mileage: 17 miles, weather great, equipment great, morale great.

If we can keep this up for 8 more weeks we will be in business. And I also happened to have my first clipless-pedal related fall on my bike (as I was stopping to look at a trailside map), but I fell lightly into the grass, so no big deal.

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

2007-07-06T21:40:00.000-04:00

I had an awful, awful day today. Definitely ranking up there with the worst. I was told that I was being dishonest and sneaky in the way in which I was leaving the office and taking this bike trip, and of all the things that could have been said to me, this hurt the most. I have pondered continually over the past 18 months what is the right thing to do, and have gone out of my way to do it, even when it has negative effects on my life. So that is the nastiness. But it is now over.

But I suddenly felt a bit better when, on the ride home, I saw a car with a bumper sticker that said, "Not All Who Wander Are Lost". A tremendous phrase that so well describes my thoughts about the trip, I had half a mind to completely change the name of the blog (but I won't, since the funnier current title is more my style). Not all who wander are lost, but there are few that seem to know the difference.

The reactions that people give when you talk about biking across the country are widely varying. Some people simply look at you blankly, clearly cannot compute this information, and say, "Wow, you're crazy.", just as if you had announced that you were running for King of the Moon on the '08 elections. There are also some people who "get it". You can immediately tell from their eyes and their comments. But the majority of people seem to fall into another category: apathetic. These folks don't understand the motivation for such a journey, consider it a waste of time and money, and are not in any way impressed by it (not that the point is to impress people - it's just that they don't see it as any sort of challenge, as if you planned on spending nine weeks buying beer and throwing it out of car windows).

And this has been my problem at work: unimaginative bureaucrats that view this trip as an odd request (abnormal = bad) rather than as a personal challenge. They feel that approving this kind of thing would be a big favor, and see no value in it. Well, I didn't set out to do this as a passing fancy - I am doing it because it is a challenge, to see if I can, to meet the people and places of America, and to come back a better, stronger person. As Kennedy said of the journey to the moon:
"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win."

How to Pack for Every Occasion

2007-07-04T20:47:00.000-04:00

So it is really a bit of luck combined with a torrent of technology that allows the modern bike tourist to actually pack an entire self-contained world on their bike. Apart from refilling on food twice a week and water a bit more frequently, Jason and I will be entirely self-sufficient (though this doesn't mean we will be ignoring the benefits of civilization when they appear). In fact, we are touring pretty "heavy" and are bring some luxury items like a camcorder and a Go board. Numerous people have asked me how I cram all this stuff onto my bike, so I made a few quick movies to describe what I am bringing and how I pack.

So, firstly, I have a touring bike (named "The Iron Giant") with front and rear racks, full fenders, three water bottle cages, and clipless pedals (see the picture above for a good approximation of what it will look like in a few days).

As to the videos mentioned above, they can be seen here: first, second, third, and fourth. And thus is my packing.

Elephant Eating

2007-07-04T13:42:00.001-04:00

So, I named this blog "Eating the Elphant" for a few reasons. As the quote at the top of the page says, "Biking across the country is like eating an elephant - you just do one little bite at a time." I think this is an appropriate description of the process, and one that everyone can understand. Secondly, I have learned that pioneers heading west in wagon trains spoke of "Seeing the Elephant" - this is what it was called when someone gave up, turned around, and headed back east. Well, I don't plan on getting spooked by that elephant: in fact, I am intent on slowly devouring it. So this blog, assuming that I keep it updated, will be the public log of my gastronomical journey while eating that elephant.

And a few words about what makes a trip like this happen. Certainly, it has a high cost in terms of both money and time. Jason is taking a leave-of-absence and will simply not be paid for the duration of the trip. I had to quit my job and get a new one in order to do this trip. Why? Well, the first episode of project pedal really has it down (if you are able to watch this, I think you should). As he says, its about attempting something that you have a very real chance of failing, and slowly, over time, proving yourself wrong.

Now for some nuts and bolts. We fly out to Seattle Saturday morning. From there we head north to Anacortes, then straight east. We will be following the Northern Tier route most of the way, but will diverge somewhere around Ithica to head southeast through Conneticut into Rhode Island. We have full camping gear and plan on mostly camping and occasionally staying with the friends, friends of friends, and uncles of friend's co-workers that we have along the route. As for food, we plan on doing a lot of cooking on our own.

Blogged Down

2007-07-02T21:48:00.000-04:00

Ok rock stars,
Many of you know my policy on blogs. Some of you may not. My policy is that 99.4% percent of blogs are made by jerks who have nothing of value to say and are simply polluting the already polluted streams of the Internet with shouts of "Me! I'm important! Listen to what I have to say!". So, despite the "encouragers" who have said, "Eric, you should have a blog - if I got really bored, I might read it and that would be mildly entertaining", I have until this point stayed blog-free. But at least for the next 9 weeks, I will have something interesting to talk about and the popular opinion has spoken ("Hey, are you going to have a blog or something for your trip?").

So here it is: The Cross-Country Bike Trip Blog...

In case you haven't been following the eric-related news, myself and my friend Jason are going to be biking across the country from Seattle to Rhode Island starting on July 7. We will be self-supported and camping most of the time. Posts to this blog may be intermittent and crappy, but its pretty much the only way you will be able to keep track of us, so you'll just have to deal.