I LOVE Marathon, Texas

It was actually a bit chilly today on the ride from Sanderson to Marathon, Texas, which made the ride so great today. Sharon, the owner of the Roundhouse Café in Sanderson, opened her shop early to serve us breakfast, so I got started on a very full stomach. I started out on my own while most of the others were still eating; I was trailing Bennett, Blaise, and Fred. I rode about 15 miles before catching up to Fred, who, like me, had been enjoying the views and taking pictures. We rode for just a bit together before he dropped back to take it easy. After stopping at Judy’s van for a banana and some water, I rode with Crystal, Brian, Callie, Ash, Davide, Dan, and Allison for the rest of the day (with a few breaking away at one point). We played 20 Questions and named infamous people in alphabetical order to keep ourselves occupied. The last 15 miles were just amazing; I was averaging 20 mph and the scenery was like the desert vistas seen on TV. It was awesome.

In Marathon (which now joins Lander, WY, and Missoula, MT, as my favorite towns), I shopped at the local bookstore and bought a couple good reads, checked out our awesome motel (the Marathon Motel and RV Park), and had lunch at Johnny B’s. I talked to several locals and other visitors (Joan and Bill, Alta and Rick, Angelo, and Deborah).

Today was great. Tomorrow’s ride is to Marfa, which will be about 56 miles.

 

104 miles, a water-tower shower, and saying goodbye to a rider

I’m making this quick because it’s another long day tomorrow (estimated at 105 miles). We’re staying just outside Holly Grove, Arkansas, tonight, at a campground called Maddox Bay in Lawrenceville. Apparently the campground we had reserved in Clarendon is meant for RVs—meaning no bathrooms or showers—so we found this campground in Lawrenceville in the past couple days.

Today’s ride was 104 miles, but I honestly could’ve ridden much farther today if I had had to. It was a good day with a couple sour points, but by the end of the day it had turned into a pretty great ride. I almost got into another crash early on; my tires got stuck in a deep groove  and I just barely made it out without toppling over. It was pretty scary, I must say, and I rode about five miles past that and then had to hop off the bike and clear my head.

I rode with Tyler and Brian for quite awhile as well. The big news is that Tyler is leaving the trip. He decided yesterday that with the way the trip is set up, he’s just not having that much fun and therefore it’s not worth staying. I think we’re all bummed that he’s leaving, but we’re glad he’s making the best decision for himself and his wife.

At about mile 60 or so, I started riding with Blaise, Callie, and Fred, and soon after joining up with them, the four of us spotted a water tower off to the right of the road that was spewing water from the side. It was freakin’ hot out there today, so without too much discussion, we all decided that we’d try to see if we could get closer to the tower and possibly get an afternoon shower.

Once we got off our bikes, Blaise noticed the many signs on the (open) fence surrounding the tower that said something to the effect that crossing the fence boundary is equal to a federal offense. He shouted the news to us and Fred promptly walked over to the building next to the fence and charmed the ladies inside. They told us they wouldn’t call the cops on us if we passed through the gate, and they gave us five minutes, so the four of us hustled through the gate and over to the freezing cold shower. It felt amazing, and it was totally worth the 40+ miles of riding with soggy shoes.

Observations: I still have not seen a live armadillo, but I’ve seen plenty of dead ones. The area around the Mississippi River has tons of dragonflies. I saw my first bayou today, and then it seemed as though they were everywhere I looked. Arkansas is the most humid state we’ve been to yet. I saw a fish doubling as roadkill today just inside the Arkansas border.

Now, off to a bunk bed (with a supplied pillow and linens!) in an air-conditioned cabin. In Arkansas. That’s right, folks—I can now say I’ve been to Arkansas. Awesome.

 

Back on the saddle…and the storms are a-brewin’

After sleeping at the creepy motel in Guin (pronounced GYU-in), Alabama, I woke up excited to get back on the bike. My leg still hurt, but I didn’t think I could ride another day in the van. It can just be so boring, and seriously, one can only sleep so much in a car.

I rode the first 16 or so miles by myself (which isn’t uncommon for me), and then I stopped at a roadside restaurant (Gilbreath’s Country Cafe, I think) for some breakfast. Chad, Crystal, Bayla, Ash, and Allison had just sat down to eat, and soon after I arrived, Blaise, Callie, and Fred showed up as well. I just had to try the mysterious “chocolate gravy” on the menu; we couldn’t figure out if it was just chocolate colored or if it actually had chocolate in it. Turns out that chocolate gravy is just a bit thicker than Hershey’s chocolate syrup and tastes very similar. Almost everyone had a bite, and Fred asked if I was going to finish it. He ended up eating about half of it (I’d already eaten some French toast).

I took off by myself again after breakfast; by my next break, at mile 25 or so, my leg had started to ache, and I was about out of water. Luckily Judy and the RV (with Frederic and Sebene, our camera peeps) had both stopped, so I was able to fill up my water bottles, be interviewed by Frederic, and dance to some music by Prince that Sebene had blasting in the RV. While I was there, Callie and Fred showed up (Blaise had stayed behind to help Chad with his seemingly neverending flat tires), and we ended up riding near each other for awhile after. I ended up getting pretty far ahead of them and was on my own again for awhile when I found Nick pulled alongside the road in Red Bay, Alabama.

I took a picture of the Mississippi sign (as well as a sign with the “Alabama state line” sign, ’cause I kinda missed the last one) with Blaise, Callie, and Fred, and the four of us ended up stopping at the Belmont Cafe in Belmont, Mississippi. The cafe was packed with people who had probably just attended church, and it seemed as though everyone in there turned to look at us when we walked in. The food was delicious, and the owners and employees were especially kind. We took pictures with them and told them about the ride (while also missing a rainstorm) and then we were off.

The ride was about eight miles longer than we thought it would be at the beginning of the day, but it was a nice one. We stayed at the Piney Grove Campground in Dennis, Mississippi.

There was a HUGE thunderstorm last night, which started at 3.30a and lasted for about three hours. There wasn’t any silence for about an hour and a half. I’ve never heard a storm so loud, so near, and so long in my life, and at times the thought of getting struck by lightning actually crossed my mind. Also, since yesterday was so hot and humid, I (like many other riders) decided to go to bed without using the rain fly on my tent, so not only was the inside of my tent pretty wet just 30 seconds after the storm started, but my bags, shoes, phone, and all of the clothes I had hanging on a clothesline to dry were absolutely soaked come 6a.

I tried to think of the advice my dad would give me, and I really didn’t think he’d think it’d be a good idea to ride in a thunderstorm (though the rain had stopped by the time we were getting ready to go, the sky was still filled with thunder and lightning), so I, like 14 other riders, decided to ride in the vans. Good thing I did because even though the day seemed to clear up, when we got to Hickory Flat, there was a cloud in the sky that looked like an enormous tidal wave. I actually asked Bayla, “What if this is Armageddon?” to which she repled, “Finally! I have been waiting forever!”

The eight riders who cycled today were Blaise, Fred (who no one can seem to track down, since he doesn’t have a phone on him and was riding alone), Doug, Davide, Bennett, Chris, Matt, and Francesca.

Oh, and since my phone was in the rain for awhile last night, it’s pretty much out for the count at this point, so don’t worry if you don’t hear from me for a couple days. I’m going to buy an iPhone and have it shipped to one of our upcoming hotels, I think. Maybe then I’ll be able to take more photos and upload them on the blog, as well as blog more in general.

Tonight we have a sort of impromptu event in Memphis, Tennessee. I’ve never been to Tennessee, so I’m really excited to go to another new state. It’ll be about a 50-mile drive there, and Francesca’s brother, who works at the bar we’re going to, has offered us free dinner. We probably won’t get back until 10.30p or so, but we only have about 60 miles to ride tomorrow, so it shouldn’t be too bad.

I really appreciate the comments, so keep them coming!

 

Philly cheese steak: check

I’m so tired, and I’ve had so much on my mind to write, but now that I’m sitting at the computer I just want to close my eyes, lie on this comfortable but very small Holiday Inn mattress, and fall asleep.

Yesterday:

Got on camera on CBS’s The Early Show several times. Talked to Harry Smith. He said he bikes in Central Park four to five times a week and that what we’re doing is something he’s always dreamed of doing. He also told me, “Hydrate your ass off” when I told him I was doing the southern route.

I also met a girl named Natalie. She was with the Scleroderma Foundation group, and they were also in The Early Show crowd. She explained the severity of the disease, and I was just touched to have met her. As I was leaving, she called out after me and brought me a parting gift. This is a perfect example of the kindness of strangers. Natalie, thank you so much.

We departed from Columbus Circle, at the southwest corner of Central Park, at about 9.30a and rode on a bike path up to the George Washington Bridge. I wanted to stop and dip my rear wheel into the Hudson River, but everyone was going so fast, and since I didn’t really have a good indication of where we were all headed, I decided to keep pedaling. And for quite a while, I was keeping up with the pack and averaging a pretty high mileage per hour.

But at one point yesterday, I did get my first flat tire of the trip, and then everything went downhill. The lovely riders who stopped with me (Andy, Katie, Jonathan, and Matt) were really nice about waiting. Andy, who’d already had two flat tires by that time in the day, kindly took over the flat-fixing duties. And then the three older gentlemen (David, Roy, and Fred) rode up and stopped as well. The eight of us ended up getting confused with the cue sheets, but it wasn’t long before Lauren called me and wondered where I was. See, the sweeps (the two designated people each day to be the very last riders) were with her, but she was ahead of us. Big problem. So it was crazy trying to catch up with them and then get lost with them. Finally, Matt decided to just look up directions on his iPhone and lead us. I mean, we did figure that since the sweeps were with us, we were the farthest group back. Much to our surprise, our group was the first to reach the destination! We rode 66.31 miles (well, I did), and another group rode about 90. Thank goodness I got that flat tire.

When we got to the hotel, many of us went to the pool and hot tub and soaked for awhile before heading to the grocery store to stock up on food.

There were other things I know I wanted to mention about yesterday, but I feel like I need to type about today before I fall asleep (by the way, it’s only 7.46p).

Today:

The cue sheets today were much more clear, and Blaise, Callie, and I didn’t get lost. For awhile, Francesca and Dominic rode with us, but they ended up taking off at different points.

The route wound us through Princeton (which is an absolutely gorgeous town), where I got a new sticker for my bicycle. It’s from Small World Coffee, just down the road from the university campus.

We also rode through a waste management area. I’ve never seen working landfills before. The signs on either side of the area read “Waste Management Welcomes You.”

By the time we rolled into Philadelphia proper, I had put 64 miles on my bicycle and was ready to get out of my cycling shoes and hop in the shower. We had an event tonight, at Cavanaugh’s, so I raced over to the Liberty Bell to catch a glimpse of it before we took off on our bikes for the event. There were no appetizers tonight, so Blaise, Callie, Katie, Dominic, and I walked around the corner to get Philly cheese steaks. I’d never had one before, and I have to say, they’re pretty good! I went with the traditional Cheese-Wiz and onions.

When we got back to Cavanaugh’s, we decided to go hunting for some ice cream, and Francesca decided to join us. Blaise asked a woman on the street where a good ice cream shop was, and she about flipped out in her rave about this shop a block over called Scoop DeVille. Matt, the owner (manager?), gave all of us free ice cream (thank you, Matt!), which was absolutely delicious. I had the vanilla fudge ice cream in a waffle cone. And now I’m well fed and completely exhausted.

Tomorrow’s scheduled route is 98.8 miles, which means it’ll most likely be a century. It’s also the day our group of 42 splits into two groups of 21. The northern route will head west to York, Pennsylvania, and the southern route will head south to Baltimore, Maryland. I’m so sad we’re saying goodbye to Callie. The four of us (Blaise, Francesca, Callie, and I) have gotten along really well these past couple days, and we sure will miss her on the southern route.

I’m trying to think of more things to type, but I’m too focused on staying awake.

On to Baltimore!