Tag: california bicycle touring

Bike Paths in Ohio

Day 32 – Richmond to Columbus in Ohio – Bike Paths in Ohio

Ohio Sunrise

It’s a low foggy mist as we roll our bikes out of our room at the Knight’s Inn at Richmond in the pre-dawn darkness. Riding east through town along the Old National Road, we stop for calories at a c-store at the intersection with I-70, lamenting the late starts that go with cycling in September.

While traffic is heavier than we’d like, the fog lifts it’s skirts a few miles out of Richmond, and we’re treated to a rich and lustrous sunrise over the fields of western Ohio. The thick air adds a muted quality to the beauty, and the traffic shrivels in my mind as I let myself fall into the unfolding wonder along the horizon. I’m at the top of a rise, with a long, gentle downhill slope in front of me. There’s a farmstead on the right side of the road, a modern silo and grain machinery reaching up through the light mist that lays across the field. The rich reds and oranges of the morning sky pour themselves over this bucolic scene.

A sailor might take warning at this red morning sky. In the back of my mind I know it could foretell the rainy day the forecasters are predicting. In my heart and soul, this unforgettable morning sky is one more reminder of how lucky I am to be out here, in and amongst the universe as it unfolds.

Ohio Sunrise

Every day the sun rises, often in the sort of spectacle I’m witness to this morning. If the sunrise isn’t particularly wonderful, then perhaps it’s the sunset. If not the sunset, then maybe some other magical nugget the world is sharing. Soaked in the beauty of the morning, I realize that beauty like this only feels rare to me because my life keeps me focused on the little details in front of me every day. I get up, have my breakfast, commute to work, pour my energy into something there… Continue reading “Bike Paths in Ohio”

Rick In Kansas

Bicycle Trip People

On my recent bicycle journey from Kansas to Annapolis, I met quite a few really interesting folks. I’m doing a series of posts on these wonderful and interesting people, and this is an installment in that series. While there are others I met along the way as well, these are the ones who I was able to spend enough time with to get a feel for their story.

 

Rick in Kansas

My first day out on this leg of the trip started in Council Grove, Kansas, and ended up in Ottawa, Kansas. There isn’t a lot in-between. It’s a pretty lonely stretch of road – perfect for cycling really. On that first day, I had a cross wind, though it wasn’t terribly strong. I had trained well for this ride, and was feeling strong, so I pushed myself hard on that first day.

It was only about a 70 mile day, and while it was hot, it wasn’t over 100. I figured I was pretty safe pushing hard, and not at much risk regarding water. Continue reading “Rick In Kansas”

Day 8 – Twentynine Palms to Parker

Bicycle Touring in the West - Day 8 – Twentynine Palms to Parker

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”
  ~ Stephen King, The Gunslinger

I lay awake and look at the clock beside my bed. 3:59 AM. I’m waiting for the wake-up call.

I’m not sure why I ever do this – ask for a wake-up call or set an alarm. Most of the time, I don’t use an alarm at all, but if I want to make sure I wake before 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning, then I’ll use some sort of alarm. But when I do, invariably, I’ll wake a minute or two before the alarm, and wait for it to go off.

I remember the exact day this started for me. I was probably around 11 years old or so, and we were spending a week in a cabin on a lake. I’d forgotten any sort of alarm clock, but wanted more than anything in the world to get up at 5:00 AM to go fishing. My folks let me take the old rowboat out into the cove by myself to fish, and the independence of taking a real boat out onto the water by myself was overwhelming intoxication to an 11-year-old boy who loved to fish. Continue reading “Day 8 – Twentynine Palms to Parker”

Day 7 – Resting in Twentynine Palms

Bicycle Touring in the West
Day 7 – Rest Day in Twentynine Palms

“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”
  ~ Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A.A. Milne

Falling asleep last night, I’d thought I might try and “sleep in” this morning. Silly thought, as I was probably falling asleep about 8:30 at night, to the sound of a loud and boisterous party out by the pool. Normally this would have kept me from sleeping, but for whatever reason, I was able to sleep through most of it, waking occasionally but falling back asleep.

I’m not a particularly good sleeper, often waking to the slightest of sounds, generally not able to go back to sleep if I get out of bed in the middle of the night. Under normal circumstances, I usually start waking up by 5:00 AM, and on this trip, I’ve been out of bed by 4:00 most mornings. So this morning, “sleeping in” means I’m able to stay in bed until nearly 5:30 AM. Which represents a very good night’s sleep.

Early morning is absolutely my favorite time of day. There aren’t many souls up and about early, so it always feels like I’ve got the cosmos to myself. Well, maybe not the cosmos, but this morning I at least the hotel lobby and breakfast area. I read while the breakfast counter is set up, and enjoy a very quiet and peaceful breakfast outside in the cool shade by the pool.

After a couple hours, some youngsters start to stake their claim to the pool, and I head back in to the breakfast area to enjoy a little “second breakfast.” There are quite a few folks in here now, and listening to the chatter around me, I’m able to deduce that along with the wedding party that stayed here last night, there was also a small group of young men from the nearby Marine Corps training center staying at the hotel while doing some training. There is every indication that some of the young Marines got to know some of the wedding party as the orbits of their respective parties seemed to intersect last night.

Isn’t love grand? Well, maybe not love, but at least everyone seems to feel better this morning. Well, OK, maybe not better in all respects – there are clearly some hangovers being carefully nursed. Well OK, in the case of the Marines, their leader seems none too tender with them in his “nursing” of their hangovers. Continue reading “Day 7 – Resting in Twentynine Palms”

Day 6 – Victorville to Twentynine Palms

Bicycle Touring in the West
Day 6 – Victorville to Twentynine Palms

“It is only when we silent the blaring sounds of our daily existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts.”
  ~ K.T. Jong

Determined not to be surprised by the earlier sunrise, and highly motivated to log as many miles as possible in the wind-free early morning hours, I’m wheeling my bike out of the motel in Victorville at the earliest hint of light. I make my way east on Bear Valley Road, where traffic is light this time of morning. The shoulder is good in places, less than good in others, and I’m told that during busy times, this road carries very heavy traffic.

Connecting with highway 18 east of town, I follow this road into the little town of Lucerne Valley, where I stop at what will likely be my last available water supply for 50 miles or so. Here, I leave highway 18, and head further east on Old Woman Springs Road. (It’s also called highway 247, but that’s a boring name…)

The traffic on highway 18 is starting to pick up a bit by the time I leave it, and the traffic on Old Woman Springs Road remains very light early on this Saturday morning. It’s a beautiful morning, and while a bit of wind is swirling around, it swirls so that at times it’s in my face, and at times at my back. While there’s no shoulder at all on this road, the lack of traffic makes this a small concern.

If there was any doubt before, there can be no doubt now – I’m in the desert. And I begin to notice something, or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that I begin to notice less of something. It starts with a curiosity I develop about a chirping I keep hearing on both sides of the road. I wonder what sort of bird might be so abundant out here in the desert, and stop several times to sit still and watch for the bird. Continue reading “Day 6 – Victorville to Twentynine Palms”

Day 5 – Frazier Park to Victorville

A Bicycle Tour Across The West:
Day 5 – Frazier Park to Victorville

Mad Dogs in the Desert
“Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time. “Which dog wins? The one I feed the most.”
– Comanche Elder speaking of the inner struggle of good and evil
 

The motel I stay at in Frazier Park (technically the town in Lebec I think) is clearly a trucker’s motel. I’m in the common breakfast area at 5:00 AM, and at that hour, it’s full of truckers already. I don’t exactly fit in seamlessly in my spandex and bright yellow windbreaker, but after a few odd looks, the truckers seem to accept me in their space.
I realize we’re not that far from LA here, and many of these guys probably have deliveries to make in the LA area, and are getting an early start to try and beat traffic. Clearly this hotel isn’t a “holiday and recreation destination”…

It’s quite cold this morning – around 35 again – and I really don’t have gear for that temperature. I’m confident this is a short inconvenience at this altitude and hour. The elevation is something around 4500′, which is “in the mountains” in this part of the country. My first half-mile or so is a little climb, which I’m grateful for to warm up a little, but after cresting the pass, it’s a bitter descent for a few miles in the icy air. Yesterday morning, the temperature was about the same, but I was working steadily. This morning, descending through the icy pre-dawn air, my fingers ache and I’m shivering pretty significantly. Continue reading “Day 5 – Frazier Park to Victorville”