Day 10 to 14 and into Kentucky!

Day 10 was our easy/rest day. We woke leisurely and went into downtown Christiansburg (approx 6 shops). The coffee shop had excellent wifi (and paninis) and thats where i wrote most of the last blog entry. We headed to Radford, about 15 miles away after kick out time at our Budget Inn. We heard in Troutville that a 'Doctor Lee' let's cyclists stay at his house for free. We got to Radford at 2pm so went for lunch at the Riverside Grill where we drank 5 pints of Virginian Stout and were pretty pissed. We got to the Lee's around 7 and they were the greatest couple. They let us camp in their yard and use their kitchen and showers. An amazing act of hospitality that I am seeing often on this trip. They even gave us the keys to their car so that we could go to the restaurant (Norah had sobered up by then). Good rest day!

Day 11 We left Radford with an aim to get to Whytheville where cyclists can pitch tents in the Town Park for free. This was a very windy day and very overcast so spirits were down. An Arby's breakfast did not improve morale. The scenery was great though as the woodland gave way to wider pasture lands. Top old guy and shop owner, Bryson gave us some tips on trapping and selling furs at one of our rest stops (his coffee tasted like mud though). We arrived around 7 and went up to an Italian restaurant that served some mega portions - great as we were starving!

Damascus was our target for day 12. Super cold start - down to around 4 above freezing. My sleeping bag and tent was not good and keeping the chill out. We got going and had a good mornings ride. We stopped in the afternoon for an hour talking to a group of people running a Church Fundraiser in the small community of Sugar Grove. Good chili dogs! We pushed on through arguably the best scenery so far. Flat, long grass fields ringed by the heavily wooded Blue Ridge mountain range. 8 brutal miles of climbing to the town of Troutdale followed by a few miles more until the greatest downhill road section of my life. Super fast and long (5 miles at least) of steep downhill, twisting down the side of the forest valley to Damascus. Definitely a go pro moment (but I don't have one). Amazing. Damascus is super chill, good wilderness/holiday vibe. Met some Appalaccian Trail hikers. They aren't as scary as the rumors have it (but still a bit weird). Few cold cans of poor Coors Lite/Busch and laundry and then bed.

Day 13 Damascus to Rosedale started slow. We stayed in Mojoes coffee shop for hours and then finally left at 10.30. I bought a thermal sleeping liner so hopefully that will keep me warmer at night. We want to cover a short distance to more free accommodation 35.5 miles away. We ended up having to go over White Top mountain which was incredibly debilitating. In 3 miles I climbed 1500 feet. Constant switchbacks made sure this took over an hour. Brilliant climb though with dense forest on either side of the road. Plugged some music in and growing up it. The church was also great - the parishioners had left lots of food for spent cyclists like us to cook (in our case Mac and cheese and steamed veg). Getting to sleep was a little creepy after making jokes about stigmata, exorcism etc. my catholic upbringing playing on my subconscious.

Day 14 Rosedale to Lookout (Kentucky) on Memorial Day. This was a big day, especially after yesterday's climbing. 62 miles to cover, across the state line, to another church in the town of Lookout in Kentucky. Started well with a couple of quick descents and then another long climb up 'big A mountain'. The downhill again was fast with sweeping turns and great vistas of the surrounding mountain ranges. Later in the afternoon we repeated the pattern as we went around the Breaks state park. Three times we had brutal long climbs followed by super fast (40mph at least) downhills. I need to get new break pads soon. We hit the state line and were ecstatic - lots of photos! So pleased to have done the first state. Quick 15 miles to the rest stop where other cyclist are also stopping for the night and sleep before tomorrow's run deeper into Kentucky.

Days 6 to 9

The last few nights have been spent camping in areas with no wifi (or sometimes no signal). This is a quick catch up post - the main news is that I am Christiansburg, 387.5 miles from Yorktown and am at the end of the first map!! Here's the highlights of the past four days.

Day 6 started as we cooked up pancakes for breakfast and headed out around 9.30. We cycled past the University of Virginia where graduation ceremonies were kicking off. We also went past the statue of Lewis and Clarke who had started there pioneering exploration from this point. We stopped at a food store for second breakfast (potatoes and grilled chicken for me) and kept going on through mist, peach orchards and horse paddocks. It seems that many shops along the route are very accommodating to route 76 cyclists. At Whitehall we stopped to chat with the worker in a village store and sign their bicycle log book. It was 15 miles further to 'the cookie lady's house' at the top of Afton mountain. The lady (June) had died the previous year and had let cyclists stay at her house for over 30 years. The place was still open for cyclists to stay overnight. Afton mountain was horrific - winding, super steep grade switchbacks for a few miles. Very tough, especially after already riding over 40 miles. Was exhausted when I arrived at the top. Great to be able to lie down! A little later in the evening Ben from Melbourne came in too so three of us stayed the night in the house (which is covered in bike postcards, cuttings, mementos...).

Day 7 had been the one that I had been anxious about for a while now. The elevation profile suggests a gain (and drop) of over 2000 feet over a total 30 mile stretch. If it wad like Afton mtn then I didn't think I would be able to get over it. Norah and Ben cleaned up their bike chains and then we left at 8.30 to get stuck in. Visibility was very low on the highway stretch to get onto the Blue ridge parkway. Quite hairy with the traffic but once we got onto the parkway the traffic lightened. The fog didn't! Visibility now reduced down to 15 or 20 meters. At least we couldn't see how long the climbs were so we just put our heads down and kept spinning up the hills. In the end the gradient wasn't too bad, and Ben caught us up. All three of us stuck together and ground up the ascents. It took 6 hours to go up and then we had a blistering 3 mile downhill into the town of Vesuvius where the road completely drops most of that elevation gain. My brakes were squealing around tight bends, a fall on that downhill would definitely corn beef your arms and legs to the bone. Food stop at Gerties country store where we wrote our names on the walls and then camped at the Mallard Duck camp/RV site. Brutal day but it was done.

The next day I was starting to feel fatigued from the past two days of climbing. The first few miles from camp to the historic town of Lexington were peppered with hills that took some effort to get over that morning. On one we met Brandon who had cycled from Boston. All four of us headed into the town for lunch and we took our time, not leaving till 12.40. We had mind blowing scenery of the blue ridge mountains in the background as we rode through the valleys. Norah had a spill outside the town of Buchanan but nothing more serious than grazes and bruises. We kept on to the town of Troutville where they let you camp in the town park and shower at the volunteer fire station, all for free. We had the added bonus of Norah's aunt Mary driving in and buying us dinner. Ben then nipped to a gas station to get some veers to celebrate the last few days of tough riding.

By day 9 I think we were all felling a little demotivated and slack. We took a long time to break camp (10.40) and then stopped for coffee at subway in Daleville. We didn't really get going until 12.30. The roads were also relatively busy all the way into Christiansburg and pretty hilly. We also had to take shelter twice from sudden thunderstorms in the late afternoon. Both times we ducked into roadside barns that were quite grim and muddy. There was a long and steep incline that sapped my strength as we rode (slowly) into the town at 7.30. We booked into a motel with some shady characters. A quick shower and a ton of Mexican food at the restaurant across the road cheered me up immensely. Over a big glass of beer we looked back on the fact that the first map section is complete and we really are riding across America!

Day 3 ending, day 4 and 5

Before I go into day 4 and 5 I want to close out day 3. We had left Mechanicsville and rode the last ten miles worrying about the black clouds in front of us. We pulled into an RV site just south of Ashland with seconds to go before the storm started and dumped heavy rain for an hour. We were forced to eat ice cream in the office watching the Weather channel with an 18 year old (half dead cat) called Charlie. Excellent hosts, these American camper types. This day wound up being our longest and hottest so both Norah and I were pretty beat and I turned in quite early.

We started day 4 early again with clear skies. This day was our first taste of riding on quieter back roads less populated with cars. The previous days have taken us on pretty fast roads, sometimes two lane highways at points. We rode onto a small hamlet called Bumpass after 33 miles. The only food available was fried chicken and burgers which we ate in the searing sun (88 degrees). Took an hour break before leaving for last 15.5 mile section to Mineral, an old mining town. Excellent scenery through a man made lake Anna and then arriving around 2.30 to pitch tents behind the volunteer fire brigade and to go off exploring this two street town (was tempted by the massage but declined). This was a great days riding and the best so far. Oh yes and we almost ran over a really mean looking turtle (so we kicked it off the road for its own good) and there are these little locust type insects that keep flying into my face.

The night was a disaster though as freight trains ran 100 yards away from the tent. One every 3 hours in the night would go through blowing its fog horn. Mixed with the high humidity equals a frankly crap nights sleep.

Day 5 started with rain that broke the humidity. I'm prepared with my raincoat and some stupid looking shoe covers so it was actually nice to have a break from the risk of sunstroke. Today continued going along the back roads, past more wheat and corn fields and horse paddocks that we saw the previous days. We had one dog incident today where a dog chased after Norah for a bit. I forgot to mention a couple of dogs came after me on day 3. People seem to leave their dogs free to roam and chase anything on the road!

Total distance for today was around 45 miles. The valleys today were longer leading to some really fast descents (30-35mph) but there were and equal amount of thigh sapping/heavy grunting power climbs too. Very enjoyable but I am under no illusion how hard the gradients will be when we hit the Appalachians properly in a couple of days. Today ends well in one of Norah's friends houses in Charlottesville so I get a warm shower and a bed to make up for last night (and help digest more southern BBQ pork).

Day 1, 2 and most of 3 in revolutionary (and civil war) Virginia

I had arrived back into New York after ending 2 weeks in Australia. The flights took a total of 20hours but I had no trouble at LA immigration or in NY. Only a couple of nights in NY to help with jet lag symptoms and then it was time for me to meet up with Norah my riding partner. A final blast down the west side highway towards Penn station and then the LIRR to Babylon. Meeting there we quickly secured the bikes and started driving to Yorktown to stay the night at a cyclist only lodging, hosted by the Grace Episcopalian church. An anticipated 7 hour drive ended up being 11 hours after breaks, rush hours and road works. John, one of the parish members stayed up to just before midnight to let us in though. What a star. Also the logging was a actual house that's used for parish events and guests. Pure luxury after a full day in the car and it was just for us.

Actual cycling The Trans Am started at 9am. Norah, her fiancé Andy and I went down to the beach to ceremonially dip the wheels in the ocean. We then started cycling a slow pace to help us get used to riding with the weight on the bikes. Yorktown is a historic revolutionary town and looks beautifully preserved. We went onto Jamestown and Williamsburg before finishing for the day.

Williamsburg was the highlight with a fully reconstructed colonial centre where it appears that if you own one of the properties you are then obliged to wear clothes from that same era. A pain when tourists gawp at you whilst you try to mow the lawn or go to the shops I'm sure.

Then onwards to the Chickahominy river campsite to stay the night on day 2 after a leisurely 30 miles to kick off the journey. A great spot that has a great riverside view and allowed for some relaxation. A very early night at 9pm listening to the wind rustling the trees before day 3.

The day started enthusiastically and early with us leaving camp at 7am. Unfortunately this meant that no shops were open for breakfast. We spurned a homely looking gas station after a few miles then didn't see anything for another 25 till we got to Glendale. A healthy lunch of chicken burger and orange juice. Luckily we have now stopped just outside Mechanicsville to get some (hopefully better) food at a Panerra bread in the middle of an outlet centre. We have another 10 miles to get to our campsite - I am a little concerned that today's 60 miles might have been a little too much too soon. Lets see tomorrow when we try to hit the town of Mineral.

The Trans America kit list

So every blog for cycle touring I have read has a kit list. This has been extremely useful for me. As I am heading to Australia first I need to have my panniers packed and ready to go this week. So, as the Knicks take on the Celtics on TV, here's what I packed so far:


On the Bike:
Fuel Belt cross bar bag
Sunlight handlebar bag
2 Ortleib rear panniers
2 white led front lights
1 red rear light (although I might get another)
Specialized helmet (with another light on top!)
2 insulated 24oz water bottles
A two man tent (a bit old and a bit heavy unfortunately)
Sleeping bag
Roll mat

Tools:
Small bottle of bike lube
chain cable lock
4 spare inner tubes
Tyre levers
Swiss army knife
Hand pump
Head torch
Small roll of duct tape
Bike spanner
A few Allen keys
Pack of self adhesive tube patches

Clothing:
Pair of flip flops
Rain pants
Rainproof shoe covers
Rain jacket (shell)
Swimming trunks
3 pairs of socks
Underwear
3 tshirts (made of sweat wicking material)
1 pair of tracksuit pants
2 pairs of shorts with padding
1 pair of basketball shorts
1 longsleeve cycling jersey
1 fleece sweater
1 casual shirt
1 pair of jeans (although I might jettison these on the journey)
1 reflective vest for poor visibility days/nights
1 pair of thin gloves
1 pair of fingerless riding gloves
1 skull cap
1 cycling cap

Electronics:
SLR with 35mm lens
Cheap point and shoot
Gorilla pod tripod
ipad for internet access
ipod for on bike music
earphones
Old school clam shell phone (7 days of battery!)
Chargers for all the above!

Other:
Factor 50 suncream for body and a suncream stick for lips
Compass
Sunglasses
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Nail clippers
Deodorant
Shower gel/soap
Razor
First aid kit (plasters, assorted tablets)
Antibiotic cream
Ibuprofen tablets
Some electrolyte tablets to mix with water
XL travel towel
Combination padlock
Pack of matches
Some safety pins
Spare batteries
Little unbreakable (apparently) travel mirror
A knife, fork and spoon (taken from my cutlery set)
American Cycling Association maps

Have I forgotten anything? I think I may need:
a simple sewing kit
possibly some pepper spray for angry, snappy dogs
chamois cream
couple of bungie cords to hold the tent/bag/roll mat down to the rack
spare brake pads
body wipes

Pic from sbnation.com

E is for Electronics

Its just over 5 weeks to go now and final preparation is underway. Now this is going to be one long long trip and I will have a lot of time to myself. I like photography and am interesting in making some videos of the trip to preserve a feeling of how it felt cycling across a continent. I am traveling relatively light so have been thinking how I can combine everything together. So far here is my thinking...

I already have a Nikon D3100 which is relatively small for an SLR. I have the kit lens and a 35mm that I will probably take with me for photography. I was really mulling over buying a Go Pro or a Contour Plus but have instead decided on another path (mainly due to not wanting to spend $400 on the new gear).

I need a good mini tripod that I can use for this trip and for any subsequent backpacking or hiking that I will do later this year. After some research the best option was the Gorilla Pod Zoom SLR. Sturdy and able to hold the SLR steady.

I already had an old Samsung TL350 point and shoot that can take HD movies so will use this on the bike somehow to take action scenes. Because I didnt get a Go Pro I also wanted a way to try out using the Gorilla Pod either as a monopod substitute or even hold the camera to the bike (although I anticipate a lot of shake). Using the ball head on top of the Gorilla Pod will make this easier to achieve.

Thankfully I went to B&H in Manhattan and received excellent advice. The Gorilla Pod was $49.95 on its own. The same brand ball head is $39.95 but I have two cameras. I need two quick release plates or else I will constantly be switching the plate between cameras which will be annoying. Joby (makers of Gorilla pods do not sell plates by themselves).

The answer was to get a Benro ball head that fitted on the Gorilla pod which uses standard fitting plates, I was able to get the ball head for $38.99 and an Oben quick release plate for $12.99. Perfect solution and real props to the B&H salesman who helped me out.

In terms of editing of pictures or creating videos I had to lay out some bucks. Initially I was looking at one of the chrome books but have instead plumped for the ipad mini with 64gb. An indulgence but something that will allow me to access my Barnes&Nobel books from my Nook, will allow skype video calls with girlfriend/family/friends back home and hold my music collection all in the tiniest and most exquisite package. (Have to be careful not to lose it, break it or get it nicked). iMovie and iPhoto are a total combined $10. Great value for relatively good editing software.

The only thing now is to test it out by getting some interesting footage and trying to edit it on the ipad. Hopefully the weather is good this weekend and I can organise a quick jaunt around Brooklyn.

10 weeks to go

Last Thursday the American Cycling Association maps arrived and I eagerly ripped open the envelope to have a first look at them (I'd had a few drinks beforehand for a work function so was in a good mood!).

Pulling them out I have 12 mini maps that are jam packed with info, something that was overwhelming at first. After a quick glance this has driven home the enormity of the challenge ahead and made me feel my first real pangs of anxiety.

These have passed and changed again back to excitement. I watched the video below on how to read the maps and have also cross referenced the first map with some of the blogs to gauge how far others rode in the first weeks. Its helping to give me some sense of what it will be like when I set off from Yorktown.

Now its time to really step up the training.

Maps in transit

After an early night I woke up early to start getting my shit together. First on the list is buying the maps for this trip. I have had my eye on them for the past 9 months but this morning was when I pulled the trigger. Total cost for the entire Transamerican route was $138 including priority mail. Should have them delivered by this time next week.

Also whilst being on the adventure cycling association they have a pretty nice video created by one of their partners. Some very good tips in here and delivered in a quirky way.

As soon as the maps arrive I will start making an inventory of the remaining gear that I need to get (pocket knife, handlebar bag, compass etc) and to make sure all flights are booked in and out of the US.

Provisional start date is now May 13. Just over 2 months to go!

For some extra inspiration on these cold winter nights I have found that someone uploaded the whole BBC series of "the man who cycled the world" on YouTube following Mark Beaumont as he cycled from Paris around the world back to Paris in 194 days 17 hours. (He is only a year younger than me but did this when he was 25)

The end game (ship or sell?)

I havent started yet, Im still 3 monts away but I did tell my boss that I am quitting and will be moving to Australia. Its really time to start putting my money where my mouth is. So, whilst avoiding strenuous training (note the lack of posts about riding lately) my mind has turned to the myriad other parts of the trip. Today I have mostly been thinking: what am I going to do when I hit my destination?

Once I finish out on the west coast I will choose either to jettison my gear, chiefly the Trek, or decide to ship it over to Melbourne. Whilst shipping will be expensive, I think its going to be more cost efficient than selling the bike in a fire sale and then buying a new one in Oz. The question is, how to send it...

Seems to be a toss up between FedEx/UPS and dedicated bicycle shipping services. A root around the internets has found a few good starting points that I will investigate further on the road:

http://www.adventurecycling.org/features/shippingbikecases.cfm
http://www.bikeflights.com/bicycle_shipping.aspx
http://www.shipbikes.com/International.html

Shipbikes also can sell decent bike boxes. I have to weigh up how much packaging (and insurance) will be needed to send the bike without incurring risk of damage. Dont want any dents in the frame (or worse).

In fact these articles have helped provide some good background on previous peoples attempts at shipping
http://www.bicycle-touring-guide.com/bicycle-shipping/
http://lovelybike.blogspot.com/2012/06/shipping-bicycles-delicate-matter.html
http://www.thecityedition.com/Pages/Archive/2010/Yosemite_Trekker/Post_060310.html (pic from this page below)

I think for now this is about as much as I will look into it. As long as the cost is something around $500 this will be the way that I will go. Selling the bike on craigslist at the end of the journey for next to nothing would not be the nicest way to end the trip!