6/30/12

The plan was to get an day start this morning  to beat the heat of the afternoon and because there was supposed to be thunder storms after noon according to NOAA.  However, when I checked NOAA this morning they changed the forecast and expected the storms before 9:00AM. A double check with the weather channel confirmed the change.  There was  yellow and orange satellite blob crossing the Indiana/Ohio border and heading straight for Toledo.  So I stayed put, enjoyed the 7:00AM breakfast buffet.
Sure enough, the rain stopped about 7:30 and I was on the road by 8:00.

I fought the wind all the way to the Rainbow Motel near Montpelier, OH and settled in.  It was sunny and warm all the way, but the wind kept me cool.  That may not happen tomorrow, the forecast is for calm.
I should make it Sturgis, Michigan.

6/29/12

The day started out badly because of a wrong turn.  I went left instead of right and ended up going around a 6 mile triangle and back at the start.  It could have been worse if it had been 6 miles without a turn that returned to start.  This will teach me to check my map in the morning instead of relying on my not so great memory.
The rest of the ride was uneventful and boring.  I arrived at the planned motel in Maumee (a Toledo suburb).  The motel, Americas Best Value, is clean and has the usual amenities and was only $42.00.  Just a quarter mile away was sports bar and grill with several local brews on tap.  Had an IPA and a porter from Great Lakes Brewery in Cleveland.  Dinner there was chicken pasta for only $8.00.  Great place, Flickers,  great staff and clients.  It may be a Midwest chain.  I'll keep a lookout for others.

6/28/12

Made it to the Sandusky KOA in good time.  Got an early start to beat the heat.  It was supposed to be in the mid 90s today and this afternoon felt like it.  The high pressure system that has been cooking the plains states is moving east and I am moving into it.  The forecast is for high 80s tomorrow so the trend looks to be going back down.  Also the wind is subsiding.
I was going to tent camp tonight, but after checking the weather and finding out that there was a 30% chance of rain and thunder storms tonight I opted for a cabin.
The laundry is done, folded and put away and its too early to call back home so its time to get something to eat and have a  beer.

6/27/12

I made to the west side of Cleveland in the suburb Lakewood.  Now that I am traveling south west, the wind figured it out and is coming from the south west; there virtually no real hills though.
I'm in a Travelodge took in the middle of some square brick, three story, apartment buildings.  The other side of the street, next to Lake Erie, is lined with high rise apartments.  On the lake side of the high rise across from the Travelodge is a deli cafe where I had a Ruben sandwich for dinner last night.
I will ride to Sandusky, OH (they may want to consider changing their name) tomorrow and stay at a KOA kampground.

6/26/12

The morning started out relatively cold at 52 degrees considering this the last week in June.  I had to break out my riding jacket.  Other than that, the ride was good.  I got an early start and by the time that NW wind started to really kick in I had reached Lake Erie and was going south east so the wind was to the side and even block a lot of the time by houses or trees.

I made good enough time that when I reached the planned destination, I decided to go another 15 miles to the next town.  I am now in Ashtabula, OH on Lake Erie about 17 miles into Ohio.

6/25/12

Today was a short day.  Only 52 miles but against a10 to 15 mile wind with gusts to 22 (ala Los Osos Valley on a summer afternoon).  Plus the hills I mention yesterday.  Only averaged 9.6 MPH.  I am now showered, laundry is done and my correspondence is almost done.  Sorry no pix today.  I'm going to the in inn bar and grill to sample the local brew and have dinner.

6/24/12

Yesterday I was only going to go about 55 miles but could not find acceptable logging and ended up on Pittsburg, 82 miles.  I discovered that the NHL draft was in town and there was a three game series between the Detroit Tigers and the Pirates so every bed in the area was booked.  I was trying to figure a way to hide out along the river for the night when a guy I had talked to earlier found me and said that a couple was about to check out of the Holiday Express so I called them to my name first in line for the room.  After some discussion about room cleaning and begging I got a room.  The down side is the price set a new record for room ransome on this tour.
After I got cleaned up I went out for dinner.  I happen to be walking with a couple that was also perusing the same establishments and ended up going to the same place and sharing a table.  They were John and Lois.  John had been in the Navy about the same time as I was and had been a university professor so we had somethings to start  conversation.  They were very interested in my tour and had a lot of good questions.  The greatest part is John picked up my tab.  He claimed they would be .  See the loving couple below.

Today was a much shorter ride although fairly long in time due to difficulty in following the bike paths through Pittsburgh.  I am in a much simpler and cheaper motel in New Castle, PA.  Tomorrow will be Meadville, PA.  Pennsylvania has some significant hills and tomorrows ride will have several and a head wind.  Looks like a repeat of the Texas hill country.

6/22/12

The night before last I stayed in primitive Paw  Paw Tunnel campground.  There was another bike tourist next to my camp site, Paul. We talked for awhile and found out that we both did work in audio.  Well last, night after I had checked into the Trail End Hostel, Paul showed up looking for a place to stay the night and decided that the Hostel was the best buy in Frostburg so he stayed.  We went out an sampled a couple semi local brews and had dinner.  I also found out that he had ran a cross America two years ago.
We took off together this morning on our way to Ohiopyle, PA.  It became apparent that I tended to ride faster than Paul and he stopped and took pictures of everything so I got way ahead of him.  We did reconvene for lunch and lodging.  He will be making a detour tomorrow to visit friends and I am trying to contact a warm showers host in West Newton, PA so we probably will not meet up again since we are going in different direction after Pittsburgh.
The exciting event for me was getting caught in a short thunder storm.  I dodged under a very leafy tree to get out of the rain.  Eventually the leaves became saturated and there was as much water coming down under the tree as out on the trail so I took off again and didn't get too wet by the time the rain stopped.
Today's pictures should be self explanatory.

6/21/12

The trip today started out badly. My rear wheel picked up a stick or something on the trail and it jammed between the tire and the fender causing the fender to buckle eventually stopping forward movement. No crash or damage to anything other than the fender. With the aid of a multi-tool, a zip tie and a half hour and on the trail again. However the last dozen or so miles of the towpath amounted to dodging mud puddles and tree roots. I was relieved to finally reach the end in Cumberland. The first 15 miles of the Allegheny Passage followed the Western Maryland Railroad's scenic train route to Frostburg and it is all up hill but only 2 or 3 % grade so it was relatively slower than the level towpath but the surface was much smoother so the section was more pleasant experience than the first part of the day. I end up in the Hostel section the Trail End Inn. Nice! Now for; today' s photos: The first two are of a restored C&O Canal boat on display in Cumberland. The next one is of the tourist train that goes between Cumberland and Frostburg (in Frostburg) and the second is of the historic Frostburg RR station.

6/20/12

The high lights of yesterday's trek, more of the same.  I made it to Williamsport, MD, visited the information Center and got maps of both the C&O Canal towpath and the Allegheny Rails-to-Trails Passage.  The maps I download from the web before I left were terrible and weighed much more than these official maps.  I jettisoned  the old maps.
I ended up in Motel 6 in Hagertown even though it was 5 miles off course because it was $20 cheaper than anything in Williamsport and had a real grocery store.
  Tonight I am in the Paw Paw Tunnel Campground, right next to the towpath, about 25 mile east of Cumberland, MD and across the Potomac from Paw Paw, WV.  No civilization between here and the end? of the towpath in Cumberland.  I'll go to Frostburg,  MD tomorrow which is on the Allegheny Passage.

Now for a photo round up.
I took a couple more pictures of the lock gates that I believe are clearer.  The first is of a lower gate in the open position.  The second is the upper gate in the closed position holding back the up stream water.  According to one of the information placards, the lock operator opened and closed the gates by himself.  Notice that the closed gate doors are not parallel when fully closed making it easier to open.  The actuator beams are also much longer than the doors are wide giving a mechanical advantage.
The lock operator was on the job 24/7 and lived at the lock site in a house provided by the company.  See the 3rd photo of one of better preserved houses.  Most are just foundation rubble although a few of better preserved can actually be reserved and rent for a night.  They are maintained by volunteers and furnish with original furniture.
The next photo is of the acquiduct at Williamsport.  It is fairly typical of the condition of the acquducts that carried the Canal over large streams.  Notice that the up stream side has fallen away from age and floods.  The down stream side was also the towpath and wider.  All of them serviced.
Lastly a picture of a Potomac River dam.  This one has the unique name of "Dam 5".
P.S. No signal. Posting will be on 6/21/12

6/19/12

I was going to update on today's journey but I just learn that my dear friend, fellow runner and weekly lunch companion, Neil Wilcox, has died and I am too saddened to cope with the task.  Maybe tomorrow.

6/18/12 A

I forgot some photos from the short and brief pass through a corner of Washington DC. The first was take by a fellow bike tourist I met just before crossing over the Potomac River. I wanted to make sure that everyone knew I was really there and not lounging on some Pacific isle and had a surrogate traveling in my place.
The other two are taken by me as we went around Lincoln Memorial. One in each direction.

6/18/12

Nothing really new today just stuck in Brunswick for a rest/rain day.  The motel does have an exercise room so when I get through with this installment I will try to exercise some muscles that are neglected on a bike.

I want to explain some of the photos in yesterdays blog.  A couple photos try to show the canal in different stages of maintenance/decay.  On the southern end near the population centers of the Washington area, the canal and locks are fairly well maintained and may even be functional in few cases.  But, as you go north, there starts to be areas where trees and other natural debris has fallen into the canal.  Eventually the canal increasingly has little or no water and has fairly large trees growing in it and sometimes resembles a bog or swamp.
Another, more fascinating feature are the locks and gates used raise and lower the barges.  The locks appear to be about 12 to15 feet wide so the barges were not very big.  Probably about the size of a semi truck trailer.
The gates are large double door like  and the up stream water keeps them close.  To open them there are large and long timber beams that either horses or very strong men pushed to open.  The upstream gates opened to fill the lock; the barge was pulled in the gates were closed and lower gates were open to let the barge enter lower canal segment.
Fascinating.  Wish I could see it in action.  Unfortunately most of the gates have long sincedisappeared.

6/17/12

Yesterday was another hilly journey until the outskirts of Washington area then it leveled out or was mostly down hill.  I spent over 20 miles on bike trails including 4 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath, the one I came to Washington to ride on.  I had to leave it until today because there is no access to food or lodging for long stretches on the towpath and the day was getting on.  After much research and 5.5 miles off route I settled on the Highland Inn in Arlington since it was the cheapest but still more expensive than any place up till now.
In the morning the first thing was to get food for the day so that I could stop at any of the little camping spots that were spaced about every 5 miles along the canal.  As it turns out NOAA is forecasting rain tonight and tomorrow so here I am in Brunswick, MD at the Green Country Inn tonight and I will probably be here tomorrow night.  The challenge Wednesday is whether to ride the gravel and dirt towpath after the rain or bypass it for a day to give it a chance to dry out.  Stay tuned.
Below are some images of parts of the canal and path.

6/15/12

After weeks of mostly flat cycling,  today was a throwback.  I thought I was back in the Texas hill country.  Over thirty miles of up and down with very little conservation  of energy  with momentum carrying the bike over the next hill.  Add to that was the increased wind.

Even with the negative riding conditions, I made it to Fredericksburg and  picked up my general delivery package at the post office.  It contained maps for the rest  of the tour which I had put in a prepaid priority  mail box which Emillie Gunsaulus mailed when I got close enough to Fredericksburg to pick it up. However the best part was the care package of Emillie's special chocolate chip cookies inside with the maps.  What a sweet heart.   Already, there are some missing.
Tomorrow I hope to be in, or beyond, Washington DC.

6/14/12

<p>The journey from Edenton NC to Suffold, VA and the ride today from Suffold  to Richmond were more less uneventful except for a north to northeast wind both days and a few sprinkles of rain today.  So I am in the Snow White Motel in Chesterfield VA which is about 8 miles south of downtown Richmond VA.  Tomorrow I hope to make it to Fredericksburg VA where I will pick up a care package of the rest of the .maps I will need to complete the rest of the USA circumnavigation.
Here are few observations that I have been pondering.  They are not eternal truths, just things that seem to be different to what I am used to in California.   I do have admit that the experience of us Californians, especially along the coast is different that a lot of citizens in the rest of the country. ;  friends in Arizona refer to California as the land of fruits and nuts. 
With that said, here are the observations:

Loging Trucks
Ever since eastern Texas there has been a constant flow of loging trucks.  They haul a load of long but fairly skinny pine logs.  If any of you followed Gary's blog, you would have learned that through out the south east, from eastern Texas to here in central east Virginia, pine trees are not just  forest but a crop.  They are harvested,  turned into paper at paper mills,
Replanted, a lot of times in rows, and in a out 20 years, reharvested (they grow fast down here). They grow tall and thin.

I seem to  notice a lot of road names in the country that are named with a person's name.  Roads are named with familiar  names all over but these road names have first names and sometimes middle initials.

Also I have noticed many small cemeteries that are obviously family cemeteries because most of the head stones have the same last names.  I mean sometimes several little cemeteries in each community.

6/11/12

I was planning to go to Plymouth, today but due too a miscalculation, it was not as far as I thought so I pushed on to Edenton and got a motel room because according to the latest guestament there is an 80% chance of rain tomorrow.  The ride was very easy fast today with a friendly tail wind.
Wednesday should be much better weather wise and I will try to reach Suffolk, VA.  Gary is there tonight but I believe he will most likely try to out run the storm and leave in the morning.

6/10/12

<p>The last couple days have been fairly uneventful. The terrain has been flat (except for bridges and freeway overpasses) and the wind has been largely from the side or back.  My average daily MPH has been either 12.7 or 12.8.
After the nice stay in the Brunswick Beaches Campground in Grissetown, NC I stayed in a real KOA kampground in Wilmington, NC.  It was one of the best I have been in for its facilities and its staff.
Last night I stayed in the only game in town in Pollocksville.  I had intended to stay in a campground in Maysville but there were no tables, water or power at the tent sites and they were a hike to the restrooms (my bowls sometimes have a shorter fuse than that hike).
Tonight I am in cheap but acceptable motel room in Washington, NC.  I have been cooking fast dinner in my little propane fold up stove and pot on the side walk outside my room.
I will be in Plymouth, NC and may be stuck in a motel there for a couple days because of an approaching storm.
The weird town name of the week is Chocowinity, a small town 3 miles south of Washington.

6/7/12

<p>I made it weather is clear and the wind was not a big deal today so I am in a former KOA campground in North Carolina.
Barbara got up early this morning and we had breakfast together in a nice little cafe in downtown Georgetown; western omelet an grits......yum

6/6/12

Although this may sound like a stuck record, for those who remember what that phrase means, I had another rain delay this morning and it just pored for the whole morning.  Luckily  I checked weather radar image before I took off.
Tomorrow they are forecasting no rain instead 20% or 30% so I feel confident that there will little or no rain.  To repay Barbara for putting up with me for over 4days we are going out to dinner in beautifully downtown (literally) Georgetown.
Tomorrow I hope to make about 65 miles to a RV park  north of Calabash, NC.

6/5/12

Friend-in-Law, Barbara, didn't arrive home until Saturday evening so I decided to stay until Tuesday morning instead of Monday to spend more time getting to know each other better.  I checked the weather Monday night and Tuesday morning was still a go.
This morning it started raining before I was able to get started and it has rained intermittently all day and tomorrow morning is now departure time.

Sunday we went to Huntington Beach State Beach and walked a couple miles.  The beach is somewhat similar to  Oceano or Morro Bay Atascadero beach in that it is backed up to sand dunes.

Monday we took a tour of the historic district on a tour trolley with a very knowledgeable guide/driver. We saw dozens of huge colonial type mansions some of which once be longed to state and federal politicians including a state governor and federal senator.

Since Barbara grew up in Georgetown and area it seems everywhere we go she meets someone she grew up with and/or knows.

6/2/12

My friend-in-law's cat is very friendly and has a special warm weather hair cut.

6/1/12

Tonight in Georgetown SC.  I am in the home of my daughter-in-law's mother. I will probably be here through the weekend. Today's ride was wind aided was the best daily average MPH so far on the tour.  Woo Hoo.
Last night at the warm showers host home was very good and aided by the addition of two other tourers take for a more lively discussion.  The bicyclers started in Miami and were headed to New York but were going to spend some time investigating Charleston.
Speaking of Charleston, here is a shot of the Arthur Ravannel bridge that crosses the Cooper river.  It is about 2 or 3 miles long and includes a separate pedestrian and bicycle path with lanes for the walkers and two lanes for bikes, one for each direction.