Biker to Hobo (by Shira)

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

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)

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

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

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)

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)

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