The Day After

What a fantastic reunion to see my sweet Debbie and beautiful daughters Amanda and Amber waiting for me at the ocean when I rode in yesterday. I was filled with so many emotions I could hardly contain them,I felt like crying and laughing all at once. It seemed so surreal to have actually finished this journey. I talked earlier in the trip about how we can all do more than we think we can, it is true. I never could have dreamed a trip like this was possible two years ago. Being here in Savannah reminded me of a quote from Forest Gump "life is like a box of chocolates, you have to open them to see what your going to get" I think that is profoundly true. We have to try things and not be afraid to fail. We will not be judged by how many times we fall down but how many times we get up. That is the amazing part of this life experience, Ron who was the oldest person to ever do this ride at 76 yrs, said everyday " It's A Great Life" how true.
  Yesterday as we poured the water from the Pacific Ocean we carried across the country into the Atlantic it made me think about the conclusion of this chapter and the start of the next. It made me think about Ray Riccard from Carson City who we lost in Oklahoma and his family, life is beautiful and fragile. It made me think about a loving Father In Heaven who is riding with each of us on our own personal journey's. I will be a better man than the one who left a month ago, I will be a better father, brother, son, friend, uncle, husband than the person I was. Your support has meant the world to me. Your comments have lifted me up when I was so tired I did not know how I could possibly do another mile. I am now blessed with a new family that I experienced this journey with as we laughed and cried together and grew to love one another. I now have a better understanding of how a solider  can sacrifice his life for a fellow solider. I will miss my new family and wish them every happiness and God's love.
  I finally had my first accident  yesterday when a fellow rider crashed into the back of me at a stop sign. The only thing that got hurt on me was the borrowed rear wheel, which was badly bent. Not even a scratch on me as I fell to the cement. Lou scraped up his right knee and hand, I know he felt terrible. A special thanks to Debbie who helped make this dream possible, to Amanda and Amber for all their support with this blog and each of you for your prayer's and support. Dad thanks for the help with the car, and Mom thanks for worrying about me. Love you all.

Life Is Good Ride On

The Atlantic Ocean and The Finish

Hooray, Yippee, WooHoo ,Halalua, Praise The Lord,
   It finally happened I made it across America this afternoon almost 2900 miles in 25 days riding. It has been said there is a big difference between the fantasy of riding a bike across America and the reality  of doing it, I can tell you that is so true. I will keep this short tonight and expound  more tomorrow with my thoughts and wrap up. Thanks to all of you for your love and support, it made a difference. Thanks for being a part of my ride.
   Life Is Good Ride On

The Soggy Bottom Boys

It poured last night in Perry, 3 and 1/2 inches overnight. As we left this morning it was misting and the front was once again moving in behind us. At the first break it was raining moderately and getting ready to dump on us. Within 10 minutes all hell broke loose and it poured. I actually loved riding in the rain, it was cool and felt refreshing to me. You hardly had to drink, just open your mouth. All of the streams were flooding and in places water was washing over the road. We once again had the wind in our face, what a surprise. The climbs were non stop, hill after hill after hill followed by another hill. At this point the wind, the hills and the rain are all just a minor blip on the radar screen. I was riding up some hills at 20 mph and doing 25 mph on the flats into the wind. I use to hate the hills but now I am getting use to them. We went thru the town of Eastman and witnessed a lot of downed trees and power lines from this storm. Today Lou went thru a deep puddle and hit a rock he could not see which caused him to crash. He scraped his knee, elbow and shoulder. We are in Vidalia Ga. tonight the home of sweet onions. Only one day left, only 104 miles till this journey comes to its conclusion. I will have a lot of mixed emotions tomorrow, mostly happy ones. Thanks again to all of you for your support.

  Life Is Good Ride On

Fort Benning

I can hardly believe  there is just two days left, can it really be? In some ways it seems like a lifetime ago that I left for California . As we left Columbus Georgia this morning we rode on a beautiful bike lane along the river that separates Georgia and Alabama. I could see fish rising in the river and blue herons waiting to catch them. We then entered Fort Benning and got to ride thru the base. The base is extremely large and well manicured. It was so cool to stop and read the monuments, it was very reverent. Georgia is a beautiful state and at the crest of every hill you see another hill or so it seems.
  We did have a close call today on a small two lane highway. We were on a highway with a 10 inch wide shoulder  and had a car come right at us in our lane as he was passing other cars. The only place we could go to keep from getting hit head on was the ditch. Lou who I was riding with crashed in the ditch but was not hurt. I managed to stay upright. What an idiot, he was also in a no passing zone. Some people just don't care. We had the same thing happen 5 miles later on the same highway. A group of us went to The Cracker Barrel for dinner tonight because it was right next to our motel, the food tasted so good because we were starving. We also had a tee shirt swap tonight which was a lot of fun .  I am so excited to see Deb and Amanda and Amber on Friday. Thanks again to all of you for your love and support, it has made a difference.

  Life Is Good Ride On

Georgia On My Mind

We left Prattville Alabama today headed Columbus Georgia. It was warm this morning with a warning of hot around the corner. We all rode out together, which is unusual. The fast riders hung back a bit speed wise and rode with the slower riders for a change, it was nice. We had 114 miles and 3000 ft. of climbing to do. I am tired today and my butt and legs are sore. Right after the first sag stop I felt like I could not make my legs work, they were on strike. After climbing a 14 percent grade hill I found out why. My wheel had cracked and gone out of tune which was causing the wheel to rub on the brake pad, the wheel would barely go around. The rough roads take a toll on everything including your body. 

We rode thru Tuskegee Alabama today, the home of the Tuskegee Airman, the black pilots. The college there was beautiful. We saw not one other white person while we were there.

No dog chases today, but the wind was in our face all day. It looks like the wind is going to be in our face for the rest of the ride. Oh well 3 days left, I am so ready to be done and see everyone. Today was hard on me.

Life Is Good Ride On.

Sweet Home Alabama

You get a real sense of where a lot of the country music comes from when you bike these back roads in the south. The churches all have little billboards, today many were announcing graduation open houses with food and preaching. The smell of honey suckle blossoms continue to permeate the air, it is truly Mother Natures perfume. We were up in the pines most of the day and had a number of big trucks come by loaded with logs. I also saw a number of hunting leases and deer blinds. Today was our 3rd largest climbing day of the trip. Someone told me we have now climbed enough to have climbed Mt. Everest three times. I was so tired and sore this morning I did not even know if I could ride. When I went back to my room to change after breakfast there was quite a battle brewing in my head. I finally decided to give it a go and I am so glad I did. It was a strong day for me, with God's help I was strong. The dog escapades continue with one near miss today and a half dozen other chases. I was asked by one of the veteran riders if I would collect the tip for the staff from all the riders. I think he sees me as friend to all. I did have a car follow behind me for over a block today making me nervous, as they finally came around a woman yelled out the window"nice legs" I am not sure how many teeth she had, I smiled and said thanks.

   I did go by a house today with at least 25 chicken cages with fighting chickens inside the cages. Thanks for all of your love and support. Only four more days, wow.

Southern Sunday

Today is Mothers Day and I have been thinking a lot about the Mothers in my life as I ride thru this beautiful countryside. I have been able to wish Happy Mother's Day to several women as I rode by. The day started out cloudy with 90 percent humidity. Everything felt wet, then the sun came out and really heated up. We rolled into Alabama today about one and a half hours into our ride. Just 2 states left. Alabama is so pretty with pines, hardwoods and mountains. It seems people in general in Alabama take better care of their places. I saw so many nice places with ponds and lots of land. Another sense you get on a bike is sound, you hear the birds, dogs, cows and so many other sounds that you do not hear in a car. The ride was really tough today with lots of climbing, it is my least favorite type of riding. The hills wear me out. We only had 5 dog chases today, again the people in Alabama do a better job of controlling their dogs.
    It amazes me how many different churches I ride by each day, this truly is the Bible Belt . I like the south very much it has a sense of its history.

   Life Is Good Ride On

Man's Best Friend My------?

Woo Hoo what a day, where do I start. I guess I will start with last night at the motel hell. We stayed at the worst Day's Inn I have ever seen, but that's another story. I went to bed around 9:30 last night and woke up having a night mare. I dreamed a large man jumped on top of me in the dark in my bedroom. In trying to gain any advantage  in the fight I felt his face and was trying to gouge out his eye's. I was awakened by a sharp pain in my left bicep which was being gouged by my right hand thinking it was the intruders eye. How weird  is that? Then I woke up again starving and ate my left overs at 1:30 in the morning, strange night. 

It was beautiful  this morning, cool and sunny as we headed out for the day. It did not take long for the dog games to begin, within 10 miles we were chased 11 times by pissed off dogs. There were pit bulls, Dobermans, German shepherds, and Rottweilers just to name a few. The girls were so scared they could hardly ride anymore. Every time one would come after us all hell would break loose as we sprinted to get away. I heard plenty of swear words from the Brits and Aussies. It made me laugh so hard each time when it was over. Fortunately for us, none of them came after us while we were going uphill. When it comes to biking rural Mississippi dogs are quite a challenge .

   I rescued a little box turtle off the road today, I guess that was my good deed other than helping get the girls past the dogs. Mississippi is beautiful, rolling hills, lots of hardwoods and pines, and a lot of water. Most of the rural black population seem to be far better off than their cousins in the cities. They have nice homes and lots of room. I am not sure what they all do for a living but they seem to be getting by ok. The different smells today made the ride more fun as you use one of the senses you don't use seeing the country in a car. There were fragrant blossoms on the trees, the smell of fresh cut hay, the earthy smell of dirt as the fields were being plowed. There was the sweet aroma of burning wood and even bacon coming out of some houses. We did have one herd of playful cows race us as we rode by. You see so much more on a bike as you slowly ride along. Speaking of slow we did 138 miles today with our third largest climbing day so far. The roads were rough and steep, so the day seemed to take forever, over 10 hours on the saddle is a long time. The wind was also against us all day, I sure wish it would change direction soon. Love you all.

Life Is Good Ride On

Snakes Alive, Dead Frogs, and Snapping Dogs

This morning started out very soggy after it rained all night. As we were riding out of Brinkley Arkansas  heading for Sanobia Mississippi I came across a beautiful full grown copperhead warming himself on the side of the road. He was very much alive. I have never been so close to one, it was thrilling. The country side was very rural with rice, wheat, corn, and cat fish rearing ponds.  The people have been very nice everywhere we go, they are quite curious about us. At one stop along the road I took a picture of a dead frog that had literally croaked. The ride was quite a mixture of conditions  from misting to strong head winds some sun and mostly clouds. We did 116 miles with some decent climbing at the end. We are all getting much stronger so we have not been as trashed at the end. Tomorrow will be 138 miles with 5800 ft of climbing, it should be are last really long day.

  Mississippi is really poor and it seems to be mostly black. It is interesting to think this is where many of the civil rights fights took place. You can still kind of feel those lingering sentiments. The Mississippi River bridge we rode over was really high. The river itself seemed turbulent and very muddy from all the rain fall. I rode with Lou again today, he is from Michigan. I have had a bit of trouble helping him enjoy the journey. Lou has not taken one picture this whole time. Today there were at least 5 dog encounters. One yard had at least 10 dogs and they all came after us. I had a large brown dog come after me at another  farm and it did its best to bite me, just grazing my calf. The two women on the trip have been terrified by the dogs. Monique was bitten in Tibet last year and had to get rabies shots. The attitude  has been up beat and this is a good group of riders. We entered our 7th state today. I miss all of you.

Life Is Good Ride On

Brinkley Arkansas

I felt really well this morning after a fair nights sleep. My knee did much better today thanks to k tape strips. I watched a you tube video on how to apply them and it really worked. The first part of the ride today was special and I really enjoyed it. The country side was so pretty with lot of trees, lakes, cows and horses. I saw 3 small box turtles on the road and sure would have liked to bring one home, they are so cute. I was strong on the bike today coming into the morning sag stop 1st and also the lunch sag 1st. The wind after mile 60 until mile 73 was a strong head wind. My guess was between 20 to 35 mph. The roads were flat so I excelled today, it was a lot like the conditions I ride in all the time at home. Some good riders could not keep up with me today. We only covered 103 miles today which was pretty moderate and I was in by 3:15, Yea!
    At lunch sag a homeless fellow by the name of Will came over to talk with me. He said he had ridden a bike across the U S 4 times, but now he just walks. He left and went to sit at a picnic table across the parking lot by him self. I went inside  a service station to get ice and use the restroom. On the on the-way out I gave him all of the money I had which was not much. He asked if he could have a sandwich , so I went and fixed him a plate full of food and took it to him. No one else would even talk to him I felt bad, the poor guy maybe had 6 teeth left but he seemed happy and grateful. He asked that God bless me and keep me safe, and I thanked him and said good bye. I have been very blessed to have such a wonderful supportive family and friends.

  Life Is Good Ride On

Conway Arkansas and Scary Situation

Everything felt pretty good this morning as we prepared to leave Fort Smith heading 123 miles to Conway. There was a head to shoulder cross wind of about 10 to15 mph. Arkansas  is a beautiful  state and I got to enjoy that beauty today. We rode in a saddle between two mountains on each side of us. Everything  was going along routinely  until about mile 50. At that point I was riding in a 6 person pace line on the shoulder of the highway. As we came to an intersection  where we had the right of way I was sitting in 4th position in the line. The first 3 riders went thru the intersection without really looking, as I started into the intersection a car was coming right at me at a high rate of speed. He either did not see the stop sign, was drunk, was asleep or having a medical problem. I waved my hand and caught his eye as he locked up his brakes and skidded to a halt in the middle of the highway. I swerved very quickly to my left and cleared his bumper by inches. The people following me thought he was going to hit me for sure and said the only thing that saved me was my quick reaction  to swerve out into the highway around the skidding car. It happened so fast, I know God protected me. The man appeared to be in some kind of trance, he would not even look up as the riders behind went to his window. Witnesses said that if I had not gotten his attention the man would have been killed by an on coming truck from the highway when he ran the stop sign. It was a close call, my only of this trip.
  An hour later I had a big grey pit bull with a head the size of a basketball come after me. I was tired but put on a serious sprint to get away from him. I can not even imagine the damage he could inflict. I did have a bit of pain in the patella tendon in my right knee. I guess it is inflamed from over use, I will need to ice and take anti inflammatories for a few days. Brian came to Conway to have dinner with me and he got to meet a lot of the riders. We took Rich, Rose, and Monique with us to a really nice  Italian place, it was a lot of fun. It was so good to see Brian and hug him. I really appreciated him taking the time to come see me. I love Brian he is a great brother in law. It sounds like one more decent day before bad weather sets in. We will ride by a lot of the damage tomorrow from last weeks tornado. Thanks for your prayers and support, it does make a difference.

Life Is Good Ride On

A day of rest

I was so excited last night knowing I did not have to get on my bike today I could hardly go to sleep. Of course I was up at 5:15am as normal and could not sleep in, some habits are hard to kick. The day was spent doing laundry, breaking down and cleaning the bike, and doing a bit of shopping. Some people actually got on their bikes and rode 15 miles to stay loose, can you even imagine? Had lunch with Martin who has been with us since California and was flying home today. He is a great rider and was very good to me, kind and encouraging. I will miss him.
  I had dinner tonight with Rose and Rich from England . Rose is 22 and just got her degree in international affairs. Rich was a journalist for the BBC for many years but now owns a production and training company. Rich walked out of the meeting with the Chaplain  the morning Ray died because of all the religious  talk. He said he used to believe until he covered the slaughter  in Rowanda between the Tootsies and Hootus . So much death and depravity how could God let it happen? We talked politics and religion, it is quite interesting  to see how sectarian  the Europeans are in general. I really like them, they are kind and funny. Last night at dinner there was a baseball game on TV  and I was trying to explain all the rules to Rich, it was quite entertaining.
   Simon from New Zeland  asked Rose how many international  affairs she has had at the young age of 22. He is quite a character . Someone mentioned it was Cinco de Mayo yesterday and he wanted to know what that was, I told him it was the day all Mexicans got drunk and ate Mexican  food. His response  was " That is a holiday I can whole heartedly support" He is assuredly the biggest personality on this trip. It has been a wonderful day of rest. We leave in the morning for Conway, Ar. Approximately 122 miles. It will be the first of 10 straight days of riding.
   Better get some sleep. The picture is of me and Rose at the Arkansas State Line.

Life Is Good Ride On

Fort Smith and a much needed day off.

We left Mcallister Oklahoma this morning and headed for Arkansas  our sixth state of the ride. I felt decent this morning but tired. My backside hates to get on that hard little seat each day and I always feel a bit nervous knowing the challenge that awaits. It is hard to comprehend riding a 115 miles at least almost every day. I remember the first time I rode 24 miles out to Fremont and back and how sore I was and what a big deal I thought it was. It truly is the case that the nature of the event does not change but we do. We had much less climbing today and only 106 miles. People along the way have been very kind and curious about what we are doing. Today I must have seen 25 dead armadillos along the road along with numerous snakes, turtles, rabbits coons, skunks, birds and others. Sometimes the smells  are hard to deal with. I still find it very sad when you see the flowers and markers along the highway, most seem to be young people. The roads were very ruff today and would shake you pretty good. Did I mention the temp at noon was 100 degrees. I went thru 10 water bottles and was still thirsty. It helps a lot to wrap ice up in my bandana and tie it around my neck. Everyday my jersey is covered with salt stains it is pretty funny. We had a little help from the wind today and I averaged 17.3 mph over the 106 miles. As we got into Fort Smith we had a man follow us in his pickup for 3 miles to our motel. His name was Jim and he was a local biker who was curious about our ride. He wanted to give us inter tubes  and anything else we needed. I took 2 inter tubes and thanked him. What a nice guy.
    When we ate dinner at Chillies  then went back later for dessert the manager gave us a free gift certificate. People really are good at heart. All is good, a day of rest ahead for the final leg of this epic journey. The final push will be 10 straight days with no break. Better get some sleep.

  Life Is Good Ride On