Chili Festival Winner!

Last weekend was the Middlebury Winter Carnival and Chili Festival. This was the third annual event which has gained Vermont State wide recognition. It has been picked as one of the top 10 winter events in the Green Mountain state by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. With the opening of the new Cross Street bridge the organizers were able to shut down Main Street for only pedestrian use. The crowd was estimated to be well over 3,00 people. The big event, the Chili Cook Off had 53 participants with almost 80 different chili entrees. Now that is a bunch of tums. Most entrants were restaurants with some coming down from Burlington. Attendees sampled the chilies and voted for the best. Our Chef Rob's entry of a venison chili gave Jessica's at Swift House Inn recognition as the best game chili. More exciting was it was picked 3rd in show or the third best chili out of 80. Stop buy and sample the chili as it will be on the menu!

Ride Across US Day 14

Well........I am somewhat sadly writing this post from home. Wednesday, Day 14, I rode from New Roads back to Baton Rouge airport, which was 45 miles, rented a car, drove to a bike shop, packed and shipped the bike, drove to New Orleans, spent the night and flew home. I had made the decision on Day 13. This was a good jumping off point and the next was about a week further. The challenges of a solo ride along this remote trail are many, as I've described. I never got "down", upset, or defeated by the numerous weather challenges, wrong routes, difficult roads, bad food, or lousy motels. In fact, on the road I felt great and really strong, and I started the trip in a much better condition than I had the previous trip. I was packed right, had all the right equipment, bike was tuned and I had prepared thoroughly. Having a great friend along the last time made the nights and meals fun and energized you on the road; you could share and motivate each other through hard days, support each other, and laugh at the day. Doing a solo trip you have none of that and that was difficult. Michele has been amazingly supportive and encouraging. Last Monday the Swift House received a 25 plus inch snow storm. Michele spent the next 3 days removing snow, which is my job, along with her work, my other tasks, and the guests. She did this without complaint, as usual for her. So I was struggling with what the impact of my trip was having and with why I had to be riding. I decided that right now there were better and more important things I should be doing. I did not want to be on the road any more. Biking and challenges were fine. Loneliness and not wanting to be there was another story. I am a very lucky person that can just say I do not need to be here and go home. My sons and their friends do not get to do that in their work!
So here I am, at home after the 45 mile "Ride of Shame" back to the airport. I am happy to be back and to have completed a 850 mile ride across FL, AL, MS and part of LA. In Baton Rouge I took my bike to a bike shop that was listed on the Cycling map: Dave's Bike Shop in Baton Rouge. Turns out that it is a one man shop: Dave in his garage in the back of his house. Nice set up and well equipped. Turns out Dave is not only a great guy of my age but a long distance cyclist. He had an article on the wall that showed he had completed the Lewis and Clark Adventure Cycling Route of about 2200 miles. He said to me "yes, but it took me three segment trips as I can't get away from my shop for more that 3 weeks at a time and miss my wife, so I do these trips in segments". Segments he says, not all at once? Wow, never thought of that, amazing! So.........anyone want to ride with me on segment 2 of 3, next year, across Texas on our way to San Diego?? I've done segment one!!

P.S. In the next few days I will be writing down some observations and thoughts about my trip. Things that are probably best left off a blog, about cycling, social comments, driver behavior etc. If you want me to send you a copy just e mail me or ask on the blog. Thank you to all that have followed me, I enjoyed your comments and support. Thank you for the e mails to Michele. I am off to fix a towel rack, I'm back!

Ride Across US Day 13

The second forecast round of severe thunderstorms came through very early in the morning and did not dissipate until about 9 AM. This delayed my start until about 10:30 but what a very comfortable place to be delayed, the Wildflower B&B. The weather was now beautiful, clear and cool. Not to have an uneventful day I had to first detour about 20 miles off route to the south to Zachary LA just north of Baton Rouge. You see I was all comfortable sitting talking with Michele, I stood up forgetting my glasses were on my lap. My first step was on the glasses snapping the fish line that holds the lens in. No problem, ride to the nearest Walmart eye care center get them fixed. The Adventure cycling route is on some highways but mostly back roads and small towns. The ride to Walmart was along a somewhat busy highway with wide but terrible shoulders, not a problem just ride. Arriving at the Walmart I walked the bike into the entrance lobby while many watched in surprise, had my glasses fixed, for free and had lunch at Subway. Back on the road and headed north east to rejoin the route. There is a supplemental Cycling route on the Adventure Trail route that goes into the Baton Rouge Airport so I quickly picked that up heading out. My day was going to be a short ride again because of the weather and glasses delay, oh well. I road to St Francisville, a very pretty river town and took the ferry across the Mississippi. The river was high and muddy, as were all the rivers around this region many were expected to flood in the next couple of days. I ended the day about 5 miles further in the town of New Roads which was along a false river. These are large lakes that have been left when the Mississippi has made one of its many changes. I had a nice room in a 20 room motel associated with a restaurant. Yahoo, a restaurant, which was on a float on the lake. No dinner at a gas station tonight. Today's observation; Shoulders of roads are an interesting part of the road, mostly ignored by drivers. What they are is a collection area for whatever comes off of or out of vehicles. I have passed by enough spare parts to build a car, I often wonder where all those big bolts come from. You better keep your eyes on the shoulder ahead or be surprised what you hit and I have. There are things that I've passed that need to be left off the blog!

Bike Across the U.S. Day 12

What a crazy day! I left the motel at 7:00 a.m. after a great night's sleep. After going 40 hours with almost none I needed the sleep. Maybe not enough sleep, though; instead of looking at my map I knew that I would just turn left, oops! Should have been right. Anyway my first turn was at 3.5 miles on the map which I now was looking at. The turn had no markings so a car came up and I asked the route number, she did not know but confirmed the town I wanted was 20 miles in that direction which was what the map said. I passed a cross route and river check point and the mileages were close. After a very fast 24 miles in less than 2 hours the mileage for the town was wrong and so was the name. I pulled out the iPad and yup I was heading west but on a different route and was now about 10 miles south of where I should be. Did I say that I was racing to get 85 miles to beat the severe thunderstorm warning, again, for later in the day? So I called in my support team (Michele) and she helped me plan a route. Then while I was riding she looked for accommodations in 2 towns that were short of my goal. She called 2 B&Bs to see if they had rooms. In the meantime I was peddling to get there and beat the storms. As luck would have it, I got my first flat tire, the rear one as usual! Being out of tire change practice, I replaced the tube and was on the way in 45 minutes. About 2:00 the thunder started and in the middle of nowhere there was an old building with a front overhang; the building seemed to be abandoned. I pulled under and the storms let loose. I followed the storms on my iPad and called the B&B that Michele had called and made a reservation and explained I was stuck. I was there for 2 and a half hours with amazing close lightning and thunder. I have not seen it rain that hard that long. After awhile the Innkeeper called and asked if I wanted them to come pick me up, which was amazing. I said I would hold out as long as I could. So after many cars passed by and just looked at me, a good samaritan pulled up, rolled down the window and said "Is my gas tank on this side?" I said "no, the other side"; he rolled up the window and drove off. I laughed so hard! There was finally a break and I rode the 12 miles in an hour to a wonderful Inn, the Wild Flower Inn, in Clinton LA run by Annette and Glen Brady. I had the whole house to myself as they do not live there. I found that it had rained 3.5 inches in that storm passage and then rained another 1.5 inches through the night. Observation from the road: a large sign that said "Don't wait to go to church until six strong men carry you into church".

Bike Across the U.S. Day 11

Wow, 36 degree night in the tent. I have a high tech lightweight sleeping bag my son Ryan lent to me. It is rated to 40 degrees comfort and 31 degrees lowest. Well it should be rated at "if below 60 degrees you damn well better be sleeping inside with this bag"! I spent the night with pants, socks, a long sleeve shirt and my fleece in the bag with a borrowed blanket. By the end I had 2 pairs of socks, 2 pants, my rain pants and rain coat and fleece hat. I did not sleep at all but survived! So it was a very slow morning, getting warm and letting the gear dry out. Got on the road at 11:00 with a very meager goal of 20 miles to Bogalusa, LA. When I arrived there after a somewhat slow ride, highlighted by a few dog chases (again nothing serious), I did not like the town and particularly the lodging options. So at 3:15 and with 2.5 hours of daylight left I headed to Franklinton, LA, which was 24 miles. I rode my hardest ride yet and made it there in 2 hours with only one short 5 minute stop. It was worth the ride; I found a nice and clean motel with a Chinese Buffet within walking distance, again. So there was a sign on the road at an entrance to a dirt road, which said no trespassing and if you did they would shoot you on sight, wow. Well I was really tired and passed out for the night. Wait to you hear about day 12!

Bike Across the U.S. Day 10

I have great ideas of what to write while I'm biking and then at the end of the day fatigue seems to dull those thoughts. Well, today started at a chilly 45 degrees. I was up and on the road when there was just enough light, at 6:25; my goal was 90 plus miles to a town with a motel. I gave that goal up at about 10 o'clock. To bike in the cold I had several layers on and even after the sun came out in the afternoon I still had to keep most on, because I never really got warm. I started with a long sleeve athletic shirt with high neck which zips up, then my riding jersey, then a fleece jacket and my very bright yellow rain jacket. I wore long "spandex" over my riding shorts then a baggy pair of riding shorts over them, a head band and full finger gloves. I was warm and I will get another opportunity to dress like this as tomorrow it should start at about 38 degrees. So about that 90 mile goal: cold temperatures, head winds most of the day, and a road surface which is gravel with oil or tar over it. The surface is rough, you chatter along and it also takes away speed and requires more effort. Had that about a third of the day. I just could not push through. My only option was a campground, a very basic RV park. Did I say very basic? I called ahead and they said there was a restaurant just outside the camp. Well, when I arrived there 30 minutes before sundown, the restaurant was closed, yikes. So I rode back a mile to a convenience store, got a sandwich, chicken, and snacks. Raced back, set up the tent, ate in the laundry room, which was the only place with lights, showered, and am now doing the blog, in the laundry room. It's cold!! The manager came out so I could pay and offered a blanket which I accepted. So today's ride was all back roads and will continue that way for some miles. There was only one gas/convenience/ restaurant in the 70 miles, then again here at the end. Some observations: in FL dogs were usually in fenced yards, with all the old cars. Here in MS dogs are loose. Today I had several pursuits but no serious efforts, and once there were 4 at once. They did not have much of a coordinated attack so I easily foiled their effort. You should hear about the 5 very large and well coordinated dogs that chased me in ND on the last trip; very close and scary. I forgot to tell of yesterday's first for me. On one road a very large pig which was fenced in a large yard ran up and down the fence making noise; first time for a pig pursuit. Wonder what he would have done with no fence? Well I am reluctantly off to the tent, geez!

Bike Across the U.S. Day 9

Every day is a new challenge! Woke this morning to heavy rain and a forecast of severe thunderstorms for afternoon and evening. The rain let up some so I headed out from Mobile with a 90 mile goal to a campsite. This is the only campsite for the next 180 miles, and did I say rain? The rain was intermittent so not bad to ride in. At 47 miles in the town of Vancleave MS there was a nice library so instead of pulling out the iPad I went in and checked the weather. The radar and forecast looked bad and severe weather was soon to arrive. After this town the next place was 40 miles. So I called the RV camp in Vancleave and he had a campsite for $30 or a cabin for $40; a cabin!; another miracle. Soon after getting into my cabin the storms hit. This looks to be the same weather system to give Vermont a foot of snow tomorrow. In a 10 by 10 cabin with a bed and bunk beds made of 2 by 4s, one light bulb, a bath house you don't want to go in, can of Chef Boyardee, can of Pringles, yogurt, a piece of pecan pie, diet coke, country music playing on the iPad Pandora, and a great call from Michele. Could be a lot worse! I passed over a bridge over a river. Someone was building a large building, maybe a house on top of about 150 floating 55 gallon drums tied together! I guess that is a Mississippi House Boat. There were a few houses already built next to it. My observation from the road: Out here in the middle of nowhere, which will be most of the route, there are small gas station/stores about evenly placed so as to make a "convenient" place to stop. They always say yes when I ask to use the rest room, all sell beers by the individual can, and sell fried chicken. I know why we call them convenience stores, well at least why I do! My seat might be gaining on the saddle.

Bike Across the U.S. Day 8

Wow how a day can change. I got a 6:40 start under a severe weather advisory for winds gusting to 35, fortunately from my back. What a way to start; a great and fast ride off the base then along the shore. However, when there were cross winds on some of the sections, they were a challenge with being blown into traffic and having to lean into the wind. On one very high causeway crossing I was being blown toward the side railing and peddling up hill so steering straight was just not possible, so when cars went by I had to stop. It was either being in traffic or near the railing and I am really afraid of heights. The route had me taking a ferry across the southern Mobile Bay. At a Visitor Center I learned the ferry is not running due to winds. So now it is the Adventure Cycling Alternate route up to, around the north of, then through the city of Mobile. My arrival into Mobile was late afternoon, rush hour, Friday night and during the Mardi GRAS celebration. Oh yes it started raining at 3:00. For rain I have pannier covers and total rain gear. I covered all except I did not wear the rain pants. Then with darkness approaching, I'm still peddling west out of Mobile, and I called Michele to search for a motel while I kept peddling. I find a motel and go in and the lady answers the phone and says "I think he is standing right here"! So after 93 miles of hard peddling, some of the last miles into the wind, and now darkness, Michele and I find a hotel. That is the first time in either of my bike trips I've called Michele to help. These are my problems but I was out of daylight! I had spent part of my previous day off planning the next several days and I never considered the ferry not running. You just never know out here! At the visitor center I ran into another cyclist on the same route. He was a retired Naval Officer living in MD and a USNA graduate one year prior to me. What a small world! After we parted I realized we were in the same USNA Company when I was a Plebe (freshman). His plan is to use 70 days, mine is 35 (I'm already behind). After being cut off with a car turning right in front of me and several honking horns, near the end I was riding through the deserted dock areas of Mobile. Looked like a place where criminals would go to get rid of the evidence. A truck stops right in the road in front of me and a man gets out and waits for me. He wanted to make sure I was OK and knew were I was going, wow. So........the saddle battle seems to be at a draw right now. To bed for me; tomorrow's ride looks to be in very heavy rain, yahoo!

Biking Across the U.S. Day 7

A day of rest. " So I woke up this morning" and decided, I have a fabulous room, best bed, in a comfortable place, with AL, MS and LA ahead. If you take a day off take it at a good place or a comfortable place. I'm tired and my entire body is sore: seat, hands, arms, shoulders, legs and knees. I'm hoping this will be the only full day off. The truth is that right now for me it is a mental day off. I really need to get caught up. The daily routine takes a full 16 hours with being out on the road at least 10 hours. You start to feel like a machine. And yesterday's 93 miles was intense, the last half particularly. You can do funny things in your head riding solo. Days off are busy but with more sleep. So I've planned the next several days, which will be interesting and challenging. I will have to camp; the next 350 miles have only 4 towns with motels and they are not spaced for a ride, in fact one stretch is 160 miles. It appears that I really will be out there. I got a rag from the housekeeper and have cleaned my bike. The gearing becomes a mess and needs cleaning often but there is no time daily. I've shopped to resupply, getting caught up on emails and some Swift House business. I will wash clothes and repack the bags and bike. I now have time to make some adjustments for packing and the bike. Staying on this Naval Air Station is interesting, because I started flight training here in 1973. It's changed a lot but is the same also. Many young prospective Aviators around, which is nostalgic for me, but I've retired and moved on to what I feel a much better and happier life. I've left the Navy for our son and his generation. Observation from the road: Did you know that when you are on a bike and a car goes by and someone is smoking in the car you can smell the smoke, even with windows of the car up, geez????

Biking Across the U.S. Day 6

DeFuniak Springs to Pensacola: started the morning in the fog again, which makes for a cool ride. I wear a long sleeve athletic shirt under my always visible iridescent yellow jersey. Also started with my rain jacket of the same yellow. It was Hwy 90 almost the whole day; just put my head down and peddled the relatively flat road. Cycling map went off 90 at one point but by staying on it I saved 5 miles which would be important for this day. I ate at 10:00 and 2:00 again with snacks in between and that seems to work for fuel and rest. By 1:00 I was at 60 miles so I was on track. Starting at Milton the traffic became difficult: 4 lanes, which is okay because there is a shoulder but lots of traffic and many streets and business lots going onto the Hwy. That is a dangerous combination, cars turning off and onto the road in front or behind you. I am amazed at the number of drivers who are turning onto the road who are talking on the phone. I look them in the eye to make sure they are looking and give thank you wave passing by. Sometimes they just pull out. When this happens there is another wave I want to give, but is not advisable on a bike and alone. It's really important to be very polite on a bike!! Then the road was a 10 mile race track entering Pensacola with lots of traffic. The 16 miles along scenic Hwy and through Pensacola was great and I finished at NAS Pensacola where I started my career as a Navy Pilot. I'm staying on base and considering tomorrow off. So observations for the day: along this part of the route you could play Bingo almost any night of the week but Wednesdays look the best. A 6-day observation: do you know how many "cutesy" names people can come up with to name hair salons, even in the middle of nowhere! And, I have only had 2 minor dog chasing incidents. But one was what I call the "sneaky dog"; after passing their house they run as fast as they can from behind you and do not bark until on your tire. Happened once on the last trip and already this trip. The surprise scares the $&@/ out of you. I scream and peddle really fast; you'd be surprised how fast you can go. I did stop at a bike shop just outside the base. Before I left I had gearing (rear cassette, small and middle chain wheel, chain and cables) replaced along with tires. After about 250 miles I started to have shifting problems; rough shifting in the 2 lowest gears of all chain wheels which I knew was stretched cables which I could pretty much adjust myself, but then I could not use my 3 highest gears. The chain would just bounce all over. The bike shop fixed it, (hopefully fixed it). There is another bike shop in 20 miles but then none for a few hundred miles. That's the technical update for the riders. I still had plenty of gears to work with but want them all! Which later I will definitely need.

Bike Across the U.S. Day 5

Chattahoochee to DeFuniak Springs. I was woken up with a call from Michele singing Happy Birthday. What a great way to start the day. Also a surprise to me was she said it was 7 am and my iPhone alarm was set for 6. Well since the time zone change was 1 mile up the road, I guess my phone had a Central Time zone tower, so I was late but was riding by 7:35, or 6:35 in Central Time. I had a great ride, eating lunch twice and snacks often, which kept me fueled. I was dragging by the 12:30 lunch (second lunch) so I stayed for almost an hour and the rest really helped. I really cruised for the last 30 miles for a total day of 85 miles, which is where I want to be. Of course the 2 motels in DeFuniak Springs were full so I went off course 1.5 miles and found an OK motel for............$34.95 and they had a guest laundry, finally after 4 days! So I walked to a local steak house for my birthday dinner splurge! I had the "fabulous" $8.95 all you can eat buffet, 5 trips worth; hey it's my birthday. Tomorrow to Pensacola where I started my Naval Aviation career. So the observation for today is that armadillos should take the same advice I have for snakes. The battle: this morning the saddle was winning; by afternoon it was a draw; I believe due to numbness on my side. We will win this one, soon I hope.

Bike Across the U.S. Day 4

I got a much better start today, leaving Monticello at 7:25. Looks like the earliest start I will be able to get is around 7:10 now as the sun is just up. Sets at about 6:30 p.m., which can make the day challenging. By about 3:00 I need to be well on my way to get to my goal. Today is the first time I've gotten to where I wanted to be. No camping for tonight as thunderstorms were forecast so I'm in a motel in Chattahoochee. Nothing that you would stop at unless that was all there was. And there will be many more towns where I have no choice. I relearned a lesson last night. I planned to ride Rte 90 instead of the route to Tallahassee as it would save over 20 miles. So I asked my very nice Innkeeper at the B&B what the road was like and if there was a convenience store along the way. Very nice drive and a wonderful little store. So that was the wrong question. I should have included does the road have shoulders and what time does the store open. Answer would have been all but 6 miles and it opens at 11:00 a.m. So again today there were several small towns and many more churches. I should be writing down the names of these churches. Food stops were scarce. Out of desperation for food I went in one in which I quickly decided to only eat packaged items and the bathroom was the worst I've ever seen,yuk. So today after a fast 29 mile start, the first time that I got off the bike was a disaster! I always get on and off on the left side. In this case the left parking lot sloped left, so when I lifted my right leg over, it caught on the top tube. It was a slow motion fall on my back, onto a curb with the bike on top! As I lay there for a time no one asked if I was OK, amazing. I lost some skin on my elbow and forearm. This happened in Tallahassee so there was a Walgreens across the highway so I have more bandage material now to go along with what I brought! They sold nothing for damaged pride. The roads had many small hills today and I did travel 72 miles, so I'm getting the miles up. An update on the saddle seat battle: it seems to be a stalker right now which is encouraging. So yesterday a record was set with a house that had 14 cars in the yard, looked like few would run and there was a close second today with a 12. Today's on the road observation: I saw a flashing yellow light ahead in the distance. Distance is much different on a bike, took me 7 minutes to peddle to it, geez! Oh yes, I have not paid more that $11.00 with tip for any meal. Tonight's only choices were a Chinese Buffet or Subway, so the all you can eat buffet was...................$7.29. More tomorrow!