May 29th Nevada, MO to Iola, KS (that's right- KANSAS!) 62 miles

Frances the dog

Kansas! (Not as flat as one might think)

We ended up taking yesterday off again, due to a combination of things but mostly feeling sick & having some work to do on the bikes. We went to Wal Mart to buy a full sized pump, and what do you know the little sucker broke before I even had the chance to use it. I was really surprised, I thought Wal Mart was known for their quality products. We stayed at a little motor inn that was probably quite glorious in the 50s (it even had sparkles in the ceiling! honeymoon suite!). One thing we have noticed is that the words "pillow" and "sack of gravel" are very loosely interchanged hear. I'd pay an extra 5 bucks if one of these places could just have a decent pillow!

Today we took off from Nevada and made it into Kansas! We're still waiting for this so-called "flat" terrain, although we think it's starting to level out. The headwinds are a little challenging, as is the heat, so we are going to try and make early starts & not get caught in the afternoon heat.

While we were riding today, this stray dog (Frances) appeared out of nowhere and ran along side us for over 10 miles. Even when we were making speeds of 18 mph, she kept up. Every now & then she would dart off and go roll around in some water, but then she'd be right back by our side. We fed her a bagel & wished we could find her a good home... eventually she darted off to chase alongside a runner.

Tomorrow we should finally meet back up with our route on the Transamerica trail. We're glad we took the way we did & really enjoyed all the people in Missouri, but we'll be happy to be back on the maps so there isn't so much guessing work involved. Hopefully we'll hit some tailwinds and before you know it we'll be in Colorado!

May 27 Clinton to Nevada, MO 85 miles

Osage River (all the rivers in MO have brown water)

Our longest day of riding yet! The first 25 miles started out nice & smooth and we were glad to be back on pavement. We stopped at a general store for fresh donuts and a little break, & then got back on our bikes only to find ourselves in the tail end of the Ozarks. Unexpected hills are always a pleasant surprise. They weren't near as challenging as the hills in Virginia, but they really slowed down our time. After about 60 miles we made it into El Dorado & took a lunch break. About 3 miles after leaving El Dorado mom got a flat tire, which took a good while to fix. Let me just say, when the bike shop people try and convince you that those worthless little hand pumps "work just as well as a foot pump" run away! It's always fun to spend 30 minutes just pumping air into your tire. After we finally got the tire fixed it started to rain & we had some nasty winds, so the last part of our ride kind of put a damper on the day. But we made it & went to a delicious Mexican restaurant that had the BEST maragaritas we have ever had at a restaurant.

May 25th Sedalia to Clinton, MO 40 miles

Tortuga

It rained most of the night, so we had the pleasure of taking down a wet tent in the rain. And then it rained all day, which was a drag because the dirt and muck got caked into our bikes (and our trailers, and my hair too apparently). We were glad to make it into Clinton to a hotel where we stayed for a layover day. It took a couple hours just to clean the bikes and the trailers, which wasn't so much fun.

Katfish Katy's to Sedalia, MO 62 miles

The amazing Leath family!

Home of the most delicious casino buffet

We left our campsite and rode 20 miles into the town of Boonville, which has a casino that we had seen advertise a buffet. What better way to spend our morning. I think I ate more than I ever have. On the way to Boonville we passed about 400 other cyclists, who had ridden from Colombia for this event called "Peddlars Jam." It was cool to see so many riders using the trail, although it would have been even cooler if they knew how to ride on the appropriate side.

When we got into Sedalia at night, we weren't sure where to eat, so I asked a woman who was staying at the same campground (the Missouri State Fairgrounds). She thought it was a few miles to get to anywhere, and very generously offered us some of their food (they were staying in a RV). So we went into the RV & Karen made us sandwiches and gave us chips & homemade cookies while we chatted with her and her husband, and their 2 daughters. Then, to top things off, she sent us off with 3 large heaping bags- 1 with waters and gatorade, another with cookies & crackers, and yet another with pastries for breakfast the next day! They were the nicest family & we felt lucky to have crossed paths.

May 23rd Bluffton, MO to Katfish Katy's 63 miles

A rock that has been used to measure flood levels for the past hundred years

Our humble abode for the night

The majority of the day was just riding. There wasn't a whole lot of food options, which is always a drag. One of the most traumatizing things we've experienced on our trip is SNAKES! I hate snakes! These long black creepers slither along the trail trying to soak up the sunlight. I actually ran over a snake in Virginia, and had to get off my bike so I could vomit. Along the trail we have seen probably over a dozen snakes, none of whom we want to be friends with. There have also been turtles, rabbits, and other wildlife.

So far the Katy Trail has been a nice diversion, although the riding has been a lot rougher than we expected. The surface is dirt and gravel, which has made it challenging to ride. There hasn't been any "smooth" riding and the vibration numbs our hands. But it has been fairly flat so I'll limit the complaining.

May 22nd Klondike State Park to Bluffton, MO 55 miles

The town of Hermann

A winery in Hermann

We ride 60 miles a day- we eat what we want

Pretty bridges

We left the state park in the a.m. and were accompanied by the park ranger for the first 30 minutes or so. He was quite fascinated by our trip. Apparently he met a family last year that was riding from Florida to Alaska. Umm, no thanks.

Of route about 3 miles was the town of Hermann, which is a really cute German town with several wineries and breweries. We stopped for a very long lunch and had that dessert you saw up there (we didn't actually eat much of it because the chocolate was sub-par) and strolled around town for awhile. Then we were back on route and made it to a private campground, Steamboat Junction. We went to set up camp but the mosquitos were so insane that we couldn't handle it. We had spray on, full clothes, and spray (with deet) on all of our clothes, and they still managed to suck the life out of us. So we decided to upgrade to a little cabin. Unfortunately the cabins had no bathrooms, and the walk to the bathroom was really far- so if you really want to know details of how we avoided more bug bites, just ask.

May 21st St Charles, MO to Klondike State Park, MO 40 miles

Mark & Walt from Illinois

Brewery that sat just off the Katy Trail. Overpriced, but a good idea.

We started out on the Katy Trail! Unfortunately we got a little late of a start, so didn't do too many miles. We stopped for lunch at a brewery in Augusta, which was just off the trail. We decided instead of going on further we would back track to a state park we had passed a couple miles earlier. At the state park we met Mark and Walt, two guys from Illinois who ride the length of the Katy Trail every year. We rode into Augusta with them in the evening & they treated us to dinner. We're excited to be meeting neat people again- so far Missouri has been great!

Missouri...

We can't download any pictures at the very modern library that we are at now, so we'll just give you a brief overview of Missouri & do some real entries later.
Right now we are in Clinton, Missouri, not too far away from Kansas! We spent 5 full days of cycling & are taking a day off to let our rear ends recover. The past days of biking were on the Katy trail, which is a gravel-ish path. Though it was nice to be away from traffic, we're looking forward to being back on the pavement where our bikes will actually get some speed & won't be covered in muck. Our experience in Missouri has been very pleasurable. We met some really nice people along the trail, which I'll go into detail about later. After today we will head southwest for a few days, and hopefully meet back up with the Transamerica trail in 3 days somewhere in Kansas. Our goal is to bike longer mileage days in Kansas, though we have found that our optimistic goals usually don't pan out as planned. But hopefully with a little cooperation with the weather, we'll get tailwinds and be able to truck right along. We'll keep you informed!
On a side note, we really appreciate comments & e-mails from everybody, even though we aren't usually able to respond. It's a bit time consuming to try and find computers & internet, so we like the feedback when we do get it- So feel free to comment more people!

May 18th Booneville to Berea, KY 60 miles

We had a fairly long day of riding with a long stretch with nowhere to stop, so we got to stop on the side of the shoulderless road and make PB&J bagels for lunch. The one really cool thing that happened (just when we needed it the most) was when a UPS guy stopped and handed us both bottles of cold water (since we had not had a chance to fill our bottles in over 45 miles it was a welcome reprieve).

We made it into Berea, which was actually a really cute little college town, with what appeared to be normal people. While we were stopped in front of a hotel trying to figure out where we were going to stay, a local guy, Jack, stopped to talk to us. He had done the TransAmerica trail the previous year leaving from Berea and going to Washington. He told us about a different route he took through Missouri, that is north off the TransAm trail & takes you for over 200 miles on a rail trail. It sounded really interesting so we decided to look it up. Given that we are both pretty fed up with Kentucky and not feeling like it is enhancing our experience being here, we opted to change up our route. We took a detour north, cutting off the remaining portion of Kentucky and starting in St. Charles, Missouri and taking the Katy Trail (look it up if you're interested- very cool) through Missouri, then traveling southwest through Kansas where we will re-meet our route on the Transamerica trail. We leave in the morning and are really excited & looking forward to the change. The trail has nice places to stop and stay all along it & wineries! Will update again when we can!

May 17th Hazard to Booneville, KY 43 miles

Mmm, hamburger helper.

The shelter complete with shower & bathroom

Daily milkshake fix

We're starting to get really discouraged and fed up with Kentucky. It was one thing in Virginia to have to deal with terrain that we are hardly in shape for- but at least the people were friendly & we felt safe. But here in Kentucky we feel unsafe, creeped out by the toothless smokers staring at our spandex laden booties, the road are narrow and very isolated, the trash is heavy, and the dogs are ruthless. All in all we could say that no, we are not enjoying this portion of our trip. It was more riding, more hills, more of the same. The highlight of the day was a milkshake at the Dairy Bar. We did make it into Booneville, where there was a nice church that had built a shelter for cyclists & a nice grass area to pitch tents. We were the only ones there & felt a bit isolated. Ready for a change!

Top Most to Hazard, KY 45 miles

We were able to get an early start and get the heck of CreepMcVille. We are having an overall hard time with Kentucky. Everybody & their nephew smokes here, there is trash and roadkill all over the side of the road, trailers propped up on cider block, and a blatant inhumane treatment of animals. The dog where we stayed last night cowered as if waiting a beating, and had no social skills whatsover, which is really hard for us to handle. We even saw some dogs that were in these tiny little cages like chicken coops above ground! They all bark & bark when you pass, which is annoying enough, but there are so many that run out that I've started carrying my mase in my left hand every time I ride through a town (note town= strip of trailers). In general we have noticed that the people are fairly disinterested, unlike in VA where everybody was friendly & curious. The general apathy is a bit disheartening & we're not particular fans of the riding through this area. We rode into Hazard, KY, and stayed at the Daniel Boone Motor Inn. Talk about doing things you never thought you would! In case any of our clothes were smoke free from the night before, after staying at the Daniel Boone Inn they should all have a nice layer of smoke interweaved into the very fibers. Nothing like turning on the air conditioning only to have smoke smell fill the room. Such a charming habit.

To get to Hazard we had to ride for a bit on the 80, which is more or less like riding on the I-5. Traffic was thick & the road was grated with all sorts of coal and rock debris on the side. We felt all safe and warm and fuzzy inside. But we did make it, & we did stay in a hotel (so no chance of little McFreakerson trying to get into bed with us).

May 15th Breaks to Top Most, KY

We made it into Kentucky today which means we are over 550 miles into our trip. Wahoo!
The second we made it into Kentucky we started to notice a difference. There is trash all over the sides of the road, and trailers galore. Every home has either a dog tied to a chain, or in a small coop, or running free to chase bikers. It is really unnerving to be pedaling along at a decent cadence then to all of a sudden turn your head and see Farfel running at you with nothing but bloodlust on his mind. The dogs in Kentucky are ridiculous!!
We had a goal to reach a certain destination, but at 6 pm we were more than 20 miles away still (we got a late start due to really heavy fog in Breaks). We ended up meeting a guy at a mini mart who told us that we could pitch our tent on his aunt's property. So we rode up to his aunt's home, & when we got there she invited us in to stay in her extra room, for which we were very grateful. She lived in the house with her husband & grandson.
We showered & felt a little better and went to bed early. At midnight I woke up to her grandson trying to get in bed! I asked him what he was doing and he said "Sorry I forgot y'alls was here." And stumbled out of the room, obviously piss drunk. It was really weird but we figured maybe he was just drunk and disoriented. THEN twenty minutes later he barges right back in! Let me just stop to fully paint the picture. Little twit was in NOTHING but his boxers, smoking a cigarette, & barges in the room and ask "Can I lay down with you?" while trying to get under the covers. Mom told him no (obviously) and asked if it was his room) which he said yes (although earlier he had said no) and asked again if he could lay down with us!!! What the huh?
Needless to say it took me more than a couple hours to fall back asleep.
I did feel really bad, because the woman was really sweet and made us breakfast the next morning, but we were more than happy to get the heck out of there!!

Break Interstate Park

This is my "I don't want to ride up another hill!!!!!!" pained expression

Doing laundry in Breaks

May 13th Elk Garden to Breaks Interstate Park 50 miles

Breaks Interstate Park- 5 miles from the Kentucky border

Elk Garden United Methodist Church

Today was yet another day of hills (seems like it will be the common theme for this trip). We stopped at the post office in Honaker to send home some more weight (and any decent clothes I had left) where we ended up staying for an hour because everybody stopped to talk to us. The people in Virginia are so friendly!

We had a big hill (or mountain) after Honaker and then a nice curvy 6 miles downhill into Council, VA where we stopped and talked to an older couple that was picking some nasty greens off the side of the road (apparently edible- though I doubt it). They told us when we got into the town of Davenport to stop at the post office & have the post master ring up to the diner which is only open when there are customers- and the cook would whip us up a meal. So we did. Oh small towns.

We made it through some more tough riding and into Breaks Interstate Park, where we took the next day off again.

May 12th. Wytheville to Elk Garden United Methodist Church 72 miles

Cooking dinner in the church kitchen at Elk Garden United Methodist

Countryside

Taking a break on the 5 mile ride up Clinch Mt.

After researching the maps a bit yesterday, we decided to take a shortcut that would cut 20 miles off our route, and hopefully detour around a few mountains. It was still hilly, but the start of the day was more enjoyable and we were in a little more populated areas. At lunch time we stopped in a little town called Marion. We were at Subway to eat lunch when we met an older gentleman who we stopped and chatted with for awhile. He offered us some advice on our route & actually ended up buying us lunch! Then we went to the bike shop in Marion, I believe it's "Dean's Bikes" which is operated by an older guy and it had to be the best bike shop ever. They were incredibly helpful & a nice change from the standard bike shop (which is usually staffed by a bunch of dudes who think they are so incredibly awesome for riding fixies & don't give you the time of day). After we got a new tube in Diane's trailer & filled up on air we were on our way.

After about 50 miles we were pretty pooped. Our trailers are SOOOO heavy & they make going up even smaller hills (which we haven't seen yet) a challenge. Unfortunately the last 20 miles was the hard part of the day. We had a 5 mile climb up Clinch Mountain which seemed like it would never end. We didn't make it in until 7:40 at night. Luckily, out in the middle of nowhere, there is a little church that allows cyclists to stay anywhere in the church & have full use of their kitchen & even some food stocks. We porked out on Spaghetti-Os and crashed in the church sanctuary which had nice padded carpet.

May 10th. Radford to Wytheville, VA 45 miles or so

Sorry for the delay in updating. It's hard to find both a computer to use & the time to keep this constantly updating- but we're trying!

We left the comfort of a home (and 4 wheels) in Radford, VA and rode to Wytheville. We were anticipating a little less hilly terrain, but alas it was not in the cards. At lunch we stopped to eat lunch & met Dave & Dennis, two guys who are riding westbound to Missoula, MT. We figure it is probably the last we will see of them, given they are much faster than us.

In Wytheville we were planning on camping at a city park that lets cyclist stay for free. However their bathroom was pitch black with no light, and we felt a little sketched out, so we opted to go to a super cheap hotel for the night. The next day when we woke up it was pouring down rain, with rain in the forecast all day long. We decided to take another layover day & I actually ended up sleeping 4 more hours in the morning, so it was probably much needed.

May 9th Camp Bethel to Radford, VA 71 miles

Today was another grueling day of hills, hills, & more hills. It was raining when we packed up camp today (imagine that) & rained for about the first hour of the trip, and then was brutally hot & humid the rest of the day. It was another hard day mentally, because the hills just don't seem to want to stop, but my legs don't seem to want to pedal.

This evening we are staying with another amazingly generous family who has opened their home to cyclists to stay overnight. They are not even here and they are letting us stay!! And use their washer & cook, etc. It's people like this that make this trip so unique, because you just don't tend to meet random friendly strangers when you are driving a car (and if you do they are probably slightly creepy). We're both incredibly grateful to have a bed for the evening, since I'm pretty sure neither of us slept more than 30 minutes straight last night.

So far, besides the daily rain (which is driving me nuts, and frankly I find too much rain a little depressing) Virginia has been great, with some of the friendliest people & really pretty terrain - although I would be inclined to trade some pretty for some flat.

The good news is we are through one of our maps! There are 12 total maps that cover the route, and we are over 370 miles into the trip

May 8th Lexington to some Campground, VA

We took a layover day in Lexington yesterday, which was a very cute little town. We spent the day doing laundry, eating, going to a bike shop to get me a kickstand, eating, sent some of our stuff home to try & lessen the load (didn't work), and slept in a bed.

Then we left the next morning (May 8th) and had a fairly pleasant ride (although still mostly uphill) to a really nice campground. We stopped in another cute little town, Buchanan, for milkshakes & got in early and set up camp. Along the way we saw another couple who is doing the trip on a tandem, and then saw two more men at the campground who are doing the trip.

It started raining just as we went into our tent, and rained and thundered all night long. We have yet to be in Virginia a full 24 (or even 12) hours without rain.

May 6th Afton to Lexington, VA 65 miles

Probably the least foggy shot I could take

Not a happy camper

We tried to make an early day, but ended up with our first flat on the trailer, & then chatted up the cookie lady some more & didn't get out until well after 10:30. The majority of the ride was on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which I think may be my equivalent to a bikers hell. There were hills that I did not even know existed! We spent 95% of the day climbing and climbing. The hills were so steep that our pace was pretty much non-existant. The hills in Virginia & through the Appalachians are supposed to be the most challenging on the route, and they are exceeding that expectation. Unlike the Rockies which gradually incline, the Appalachians are just plain steep, & by the time we get to the Rockies we should be in pretty good shape to climb (our highest peak will be almost 12,000 ft near Breckenridge, CO).

The real bummer of the entire day was that the Parkway is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous, but once again it was raining, and so foggy the majority of the day that we didn't even feel it was safe to be riding. At the exit of the parkway, there was a descent into the town of Vesuvius that was 13% grade. Normally I would excite over a downhill, but this descent was matched with horrible switchbacks on a narrow highway, with our trailers pushing us down. The entire drop was terrifying and I'm pretty sure our hands almost fell off from clenching the breaks so tight.

We still had another 22 miles to go after that & it was really dark and gloomy, so the whole day kind of stunk, but we made it into Lexington (late) for a layover day.

May 5th Charlottesville to Afton, VA

Inside cookie lady's "bike house, & water station below for passing bikers

Monticello, home of President Jefferson

We went to Monticello, Thomas Jeffersons home in the morning and did the whole tour there. By the time we got ready to take off riding it was already 1 pm, but we were planning a short mileage day so didn't think it would matter than much. Wrong. It started raining literally 5 minutes after we left town, and rained the duration of our ride. The ride was basically entirely uphill, and we missed a turn & ended up being on a busy highway for the better part of it. The end of the ride was up Afton Mt., which was a steep incline.

We stayed the night with June Curry, better known as "The Cookie Lady." In 1976 when Adventure Cycling first started the Transamerica route, June & her father offered water and cookies to some tired cyclists & since then she has been providing food & shelter. She lives in an old house on the top of the hill by herself, and there is a second house which is dedicated to housing cyclists and is filled with thousands of postcards she has received from people who have stayed with her and various other memorabilia. She was a really sweet old lady- she's 88!- who probably would have told us stories for days if we had the time.

Day 3 Mechanicsville to Charlottesville, VA

Passing by Lake Anna, a 17 mile lake with amazing homes on the shorefront. 

Monument from back in Jamestown

A hawk eating some supper. Delish. 

The Governors palace in colonial Williamsburg

We were really dragging our feet starting out today as there was a thick blanket of gray fog covering us, and they were calling for 90% chance of rain & thunderstorms, so we were both feeling a little bit Debbie Downer-ish. But once we started riding it was another nice day of riding through some beautiful green farm land. And it never did rain. Just shows you how the media negatively influences things. 

We encountered our first fellow TransAm rider, an older guy from the Netherlands riding solo who stopped & asked us for some directions. He was riding NY to LA, following the transam route until Pueblo then diverting south. He was on a Mt. bike which makes me cringe just thinking about it, but more power to him.

We're in Charlottesville now which is a college town. We are going to try and ride back a few miles tomorrow to Monticello to see the home of Jefferson, since we came through too late this afternoon to visit. And then we are up for some intense hills (or I guess they call them mountains) the next few days. Hopefully tomorrow we will make it to meet the infamous cookie lady, a woman who has been providing food, water, & transportation for cross country cyclists since 1976.