Newsletter #7 - Suwanee River State Park to St. Augustine FL

Day 59-- 4/30/2019— St. Augustine FL—WE MADE IT!!! We spent our last night at a Quality Inn in Palatka, before riding in to St. Augustine as a group. We arrived at 10:30AM at Anastasia Island State Park for cold champagne and the chance to dip our tires in the Atlantic. Ken and Jimmie were there to meet Paul and I and we spent the next day with them at Palm Coast mailing our bikes and eating really fresh fish! We both flew home yesterday and are flush with the success of completing the coast-to-coast! Here is this biker’s view of the final five days of our cross-country tour:

Day 55-56– 4/26-27/2019–to Suwanee River State Park and Ichetucknee Springs Family Canoe Park FL — We rode all day out of Tallahassee mostly on hwy 90 with good shoulders and little towns. We stayed the night at "Spirit of the Suwanee Music Festival" grounds (basic), and rode into town for a really good southern meal at an old mansion. Next day we rode another 50 miles (we're blastin') to reach Ichetucknee State Park. Most of the group took kayaks out on the springs and looked at the turtles and alligators.

Day 57-58— 4/28/2019 — to Gainesville FL and on to Palatka FL — Our ride to Gainesville was only 48 miles, mostly on beautiful country roads. Gainesville is plush and spread out and we rode to the eastern side to stay with a Forestry professor and her husband on a 7 acre homesite. She made us 8 different dishes and we slept on their wrap around porch. The next morning we got on a Rails-to-Trails bikeway and rode through two sections of swamp for about 25 miles, or half our ride, to Palatka. Alligators, water lily flowers and more!

Despite my poor reviews of weather, the desert, and some bathrooms, I would urge anyone to ride across country if you get the chance! The combination of using your own physical effort while having time to learn from our country made me feel stronger and more resilient for the next challenge to say the least. Thanks for your support while I rode! Onward!

Newsletter #6 - Van Cleve MS to Tallahassee

Day 53-54 -- 4/24-25/2019— Tallahassee, FL—2700 miles total! Only 300 miles and five riding days to St. Augustine FL!! We have a layover day here and then we are ready to finish up the trip. The planned stay at a “bike hostel” was scrapped (greasy shop floor to sleep on) and we all bought our own rooms at a nearby Marriott. Our ages and careers of negotiation are beginning to show. Everyone is thinking ahead to the trains, cars, flights and bike boxes they need and the family members they will meet. Farewell dinner and lunch may be reduced. There is an underground movement afoot to stop buying dinner supplies/doing cooking rotations and to eat out for the last four nights (we supplement the $10/each per dinner allotted). Leaders Tom and Joe continue to be the best leaders I’ve ever been with, but we’ve seen some unusual campsites/weather and gauge our bets. Sunshine and good roads have been with us for the last couple of days. We are in good shape and tend to race each other to the next convenience store, with some riders plotting “off course” shortcuts. Others look for good barbecue lunches and buy cabins for the night instead of camping. Everyone gets a fair amount of ribbing whatever the choice. It’s been a heck of a ride! Here is this biker’s view of the last ,seven days:

Day 47-48 — 4/18-19/2019–to VanCleve MS and Dauphin Island FL — In Van Cleve, Mississippi area, most of the roads are not numbered and have people’s names: “Joe Batt” or “E. McHenry,” requiring our close attention to turns. It is relatively flat and we head through green forests with with no towns on our route. We have huge thunderstorms and more tornado warnings at night, and stay in an industrial hanger behind a Methodist church, being very thankful for Reverend Mary’s generosity. The next morning we head through more forests going a flat seventy miles down to Mobile Bay AL, and ride over a ten mile causeway and bridge to Dauphin Island. The island is rural and beautiful. We don’t know quite what to expect, but we camp out on a couple’s lawn. They are generous but own 10 small dogs who rule the place. Luckily it is a large lot and we leave to eat out for dinner coming back only to sleep. 

Day 49-50 —4/20-21/2019–to Pensacola and Milton FL — We pack up at 5:30 to catch the 8am ferry which is cancelled in high wind. We then put our bikes on the van and drive to other side. We start riding and cross over into Florida and see lines of cars by the beach waiting for the Easter bunny to drop from a helicopter. We have a glorious tailwind riding 45 miles in record time to Gulf Shores KOA. We camp on Perdido Bay and see dolphins playing at dusk. Next morning we ride through Pensacola and spend the afternoon riding fast on hwy 90. We pass through Milton in muddy forests to turn off and stay the night at Blackwater River State Park. Our campground and bathrooms are pristine!

Day 51-52 — 4/22-23/2019–to DeFuniack Springs and Marianna FL — We are on empty rolling roads with good legs this morning and little traffic. We all stop at Crestview’s “Casbah Coffee,” fueling us for more fast riding. We continue on Hwy 90 to reach the Sunset King Lake RV Resort about 10 miles out of DeFuniak Springs. We camped on a grassy patch, with motorcycles, cars and trucks on the highway and coming into camp all night. We use their clubhouse to make breakfast. The next morning we get back on Hwy 90 and ride through the panhandle to Marianna and Florida Caverns RV Resort. We are the first group to use their new clubhouse and restrooms after the hurricane. This is a poor area made worse by Hurricane Michael October 2018. He cut a 50 mile swath of destruction. We really feel their loss when riding, looking at tarped houses and large piles of house mud debris and miles of downed forest. 

Newsletter # 5 - La Grange TX to New Orleans LA

Day 45-47– 4/15-17/2019— New Orleans LA —2300 miles ridden total! Only 700 miles and 13 riding days to St. Augustine FL!! Yesterday we rode up into Mississippi before driving to New Orleans for a two-day layover. New Orleans is huge, green, and a pleasure to explore. We stayed at the luxurious Madison St Charles. I got a new chain and cassette for my bike, Paul went to the WWII museum, and we all listened to street music, tried beignets, and walked the French Quarter and Garden District. We’ve had crawfish, gumbo,omelets—food on every block. Here is this biker’s view of the last eleven days:

Day 34-37–4/5-8/2019–to La Grange, Navasota, Cold Springs and Silsbee TX — We rode into Bastrop and out into two hilly, burned state parks. The day was highlighted by a stop at Winchester 1912 bar for lemonade and hot fries. We camped at a RV Park. Next day there were huge thunderstorms in the morning, but then tailwinds for riding through miles and miles of antique fairs from Rutersburg to Gay Hill (30 miles). We were too wet to stop with hundreds of pick-up trucks. We had more thunderstorms and a tornado watch the next morning. Only Dan was strong enough to ride in front of the storm. We reached colorful, well equipped cottages near Cold Springs. Next morning there were more tailwinds! And we rode a flat 75 miles to Red River RV Park with rain showers. We finished the day with amazing fish meal by Shannon and Denise. 

Day 38-40—4/9-11/2019–to Merryville, Oberlin, and Chicot State Park LA—Merryville had a historical museum and they invited us to stay in their yard. Local kids rode their bikes over to see us. One little boy asked Kimo where we were going. Kimo said “New Orleans” and the boy said “we use a car for that.” That night the museum prepared a huge dinner of Cajun specialties —gumbo, corn, desserts AND a full breakfast before we left. This was a very special small town; our intro to Louisiana. We rode two more long days through very small towns and flatter terrain. There were many fields of rice and crawfish. We camped in a city park, and next day rode through more prosperous looking farms and very poor, small towns to reach Chico’s State Park. We saw alligators in the swamp there and had a huge thunderstorm. Paul and Dan’s tents were destroyed. They ordered new ones to be delivered overnight.

Day 41-44—4/12-15/2019–to Simmesport, Jackson, Franklinton LA and Poplarville MS—Only 52 miles of farmland to ride through today. This is the world’s largest crawfish producing area. More thunderstorms forecast so we stayed the night in another church in Simmesport and dried out. Tom and Joe saw the huge storm coming and booked a Best Western in Stfrancisville. The next day, most of the group got in a good ride across the Mississippi. Luckily, the bulk of the storm went around us. Next day we had a wonderful ride through back roads to Franklinton. I learned that Paul is a “dog whisperer.” When a group of three dogs come out (who wants to chase bikes alone), he calmly says “hey big fella” and they peel off to side. If he is ahead and dogs come for me, he speeds up around and rides directly for their neck. If Paul sees dogs on a porch debating the chase, he holds up on finger like a pistol, and they stay there! We camped on the county fair grounds in Franklinton, and in a sketchy former FEMA camp in Poplarville before we headed to New Orleans.  

 What are you eating?— We may be eating a little too well (see pic below). Tom maintains an ACA software program that randomly selects two riders responsible for the evening meal, and for set-up and clean-up of supplies for our breakfast and lunch. The next day, another two riders are responsible. A chart for two weeks of duties are posted on “WhatsApp.” Naturally, some of us balked initially, mentally at this. Glenn announced the first day that the only thing he can make is “reservations.” However, over time we are all chopping vegetables, making pasta, frying meat and demanding berries with the best of them. Joe loves to shop and if we give him a list, he will find a good store. We each have our own mess kit. We each make our own sandwiches, and pack fruit, bars, and cookies.We’re up at 6AM, packing our tents and eating breakfast at 7AM. Of course we live by the weather, so we may eat out. Plus, on our bikes, we stop every couple of hours when riding especially if we see an unusual convenience store.

Newsletter #4 - Marathon TX to Austin TX

Day 32-33, 4/3-4/19 —1700 miles total—Austin TX—We are half way across the U.S., baby!! The ride to Austin from Johnson City is a 50-mile orienteering feat of turns and different types of roads from if you are on a bike.There are Texas Bluebonnets (lupine) and Indian paintbrush blooming everywhere. Longhorns and exotic deer are behind high wire ranch fences.  Here’s this biker’s view of the last nine days:

Day 24-27-3/26-29/19- to Marathon, Sanderson, Seminole State Park, and Del Rio TX- This area is all along the border in Southwest Texas. The high desert is unchanging. The headwinds whip our bikes by day and our tents at night. The clouds keep it cool; dead-looking ranch follows ranch, and we see abandoned towns deserted when the “new” diesel railroad came to town (the hotels remain). The birds are happy and loud—Vermillion flycatchers! The white pickup trucks of the border patrol whiz by going to and from their elementary school-sized compounds. A state trooper stops us to tell us to stay “far right” on bone jarring chip-seal roads (the truckers are complaining). The Seminole SP is beautiful...up a big hill. Judge Roy Bean ruled this area in the mid-1800s. Our day to Del Rio is the last day we will see brown desert. We wind down across the Amistead Reservoir with RV compounds and stay at a Motel 6. The laundry breaks down after 4 loads of wash and we discover a Texas favorite: Whataburgers. 

Day 28-29–3/30/-4/1/19-to Camp Wood and Vanderpoool, TX - Flowers! Grass! Stunted Oaks! We’re still up 1500 feet and are using all our winter clothes and sleeping bags and liners. We are in “hill country” which can be as steep as the Santa Cruz mountains. We attack with gusto and enjoy the views. Both Big Oak and Lost Maples campgrounds are green with good, hot showers. We start to see wineries. The ranches offer exotic animal hunting. The weekend brings out strange Honda clubs and Harley groups.

Day 30-31–4/2-4/3/19- to Ingram and Johnson City TX -A beautiful day of hill riding, through more exotic animal ranches with solid, large limestone houses. We ride along the Guadalupe river with summer estate after summer ranch. We stop at a great little town named Hunt, close to our campsite along the river. Next morning we are frozen with frost on the tents and our hills to Johnson City (Lyndon’s home town) just seem like too much. Paul’s bicycle rim fails and my nose blowing gets worse. I see a Mercedes on the road—we must be getting close to Austin! 

More on our group—Gayle asked if there were only five left in our group of 13? No, we are all here! We are all retired, ages 58-74, most married with 40 offspring total (lots to discuss):

Alan-Health Inspector, married to NPR’s Corva Coleman, from MD. Andy-Gear Box manufacturer, from MO. Dan-Areonautics engineer, Cal-Poly grad, very strong rider, from CA. Dave-Sacramento sheriff, x-marine “been married all my life, just to different women” good humor guy, from CA. David- realist Accounting professor, from MT. Denise-Physical therapist, strong rider, from MI. Glenn-Accountant, worried from DE. Greg-medical device engineer, things always breaking, strong rider, from MN. Howard-Intl Tax Lawyer, efficient from MD. Kimo-Consultant for UN, strong rider, very helpful from NY. Shannon-Mines manager and county manager , strong rider from AZ.

...and then there’s Paul and I, doing well although needing fresh horses and a rest day. Finally, our leaders, Tom and Joe are just the best. They are organized, thinking ahead and have a plan for everything. They are also retired. 

Newsletter #3 - Mimbres, NM to Marfa, TX

Day 23-3/25/19 —1200 miles total—Marfa, TX—A great little arts hub in west Texas, and a wonderful place to land on a layover day. The Judd foundation is here in old military hangers. Plus cousin Wally tells us our uncle helped direct GIANT here with Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, and Rock Hudson. We spring for the only  available hotel, St. George, which is 5-star based on the bookstore alone. The light and clouds are outstanding. We are out of the mountains! The last two days were 70+ milers, and I no longer know if any pain is unique or just normal for riding.  Here’s this biker’s view of our week:

Day 16-3/18 to Mimbres, NM—A short day cycling beside huge, active copper and silver mines. We climb up and hold on tightly as we head down to small towns. Our campsite is a dried grass, windy RV campground that has a good cactus gardener and resident miners. Big ranches on both sides of the road. Tonight it is 29 degrees with everyone putting on all layers and sleeping bags. We are at 5880 ft. Elev.

Day 17-3/19 to Caballo State Park, NM- It is Insanely cold in my tent with frost on everything. I dress in bathroom and leader Tom encourages us to ride to “Living Harvest” a restaurant run by local LDS church for the best breakfast I’ve had in my life: Coffee, eggs, homemade breads, cinnamon rolls, sausage, bacon and all you can eat for $6.50! We are headed up to Emory Pass, elev 8200 ft. Due to hip I ride up in van but get out and ride once over the top, down into a restored mining town, Hillsboro, The weather is bright and perfect for pictures. I ride through the desert till I reach the state park. We camp in the “overflow” campground which is eerily below a huge dam and lake holding back the Rio Grande River. 

Day 18- 3/20/19-to Las Cruses, NM-Las Cruces is 63 miles away and we’re still going downhill! I use Ibuprofen and short stops every 10 miles! All is well and Paul is tolerant. We ride with farm tractors and pickup trucks...through the town of Hatch, known for chilis, and on thru fields of Pecan trees and cotton. We eat lunch outside an abandoned bar in Radium Springs (also abandoned). The head and side winds are stiff at 15-25 mph. Finally, we reach a good KOA campground overlooking the city of 200,000. Everyone is settling in and coughs, aches and gear problems seem on the decline, or maybe it is just better weather.

Day 19- 3/21/19-to El Paso, TX - Our group of five riders: 2 x-marines, Glen (navigator), Dave (valet & kindness), then Paul, me, and David (accounting professor and realist). We head out on a 20 mile “shortcut” through pecan and cotton fields. Our first stop is a small Mexican market in San Miguel, owned by a kind lady, who gave me a tour of her attached, immaculate house, with a stove from 1930, just her size, and her coffee and magazine set on a 1950s stainless kitchen table. It makes my day. She sells homemade burritos for the farmers and carries all essentials (see pic). We ride beside the dry Rio Grande, until we reached the outskirts of the big City. There are big hills and lots of traffic for 20 miles and we ride in a determined single file line. The “wall” extends through the whole city and we ride under a huge overpass, which is also the port of entry for Mexico, lined with trucks. We stay in a hotel and eat out at an impressive shopping center. 

Day 20-24–3/22-25/19-to Ft.Hancock, Van Horn and Marfa,TX—Three more days of 50-75 mile rides and one more day pecan and cotton fields, before we hit miles and miles of desert. In Ft. Hancock we stay inside a concrete block community church sanctuary and use the high school bathrooms. The church leaves us oranges, apples, muffins, and chocolate cake, plus we have a great meal cooked by Kimo and Glenn in the church kitchen. Our stop in Van Horn is a dusty camp out, leaving a film on everything AFTER riding 70 miles on I-10. We are thankful for our 75- mile ride with slight tailwind and 1% incline on hwy 90 to Marfa and the St. George Hotel!  

Newsletter #2 Toto Basin to Silver City

Day 15–3/17/19 —755 miles total —WE ARE IN SILVER CITY, NM!!! Whoosh! The weather is governing our lives. We have ridden through five bouts of hail, winds 25-40mph, 40 degree temperatures with black skies and heavy rain going uphill 3000ft. Paul is strong and goes through this stuff, I try to act like it is perfectly acceptable and keep up, but I had to take the van three times this week for partial rides. Character building. I’m beginning to look forward to Texas? Here’s this biker’s view of our week:

Day 10-3/12 to Toto Basin—From Usery Mountain Regional Park we ride through flowers and desert uphill over the pass and onto hwy 87. The rain starts, but we have on our Showers Pass pants/coat and continue uphill. Tom, who rode self-contained 3months through Alaska, pointed out black skies behind us and put on another jacket. We take note. The rain,winds & hail get tougher and we find five of our group at an underpass. Paul and I ride on but do not make it over the pass, before the van asks us if we want a ride. Yes, we do! We made half of the 6400 ft. Climb. We find 3 more cyclists at a bikers bar 13 miles from our “Inn” and four more ride to the “Inn.” We slept in 80 degree heat and dry everything overnight.

Day 11-3/13 to Apache Gold Casino, Cutter, AZ—Another 5115 ft of climbing and riding beside beautiful Theodore Roosevelt Lake. We hit more cold rain and wind and find everyone having hot chocolate at a visitor center. I overstressed my hip yesterday and I can’t walk very well, so I get in the van to go over the pass. We go to the Apache Casino to check out the camping area, which looks dreary in wet high wind. All of us quickly decide we can split a few rooms at the motel. Only leaders Tom and Joe camp. It is 30 degrees at night.

Day 12 - to Safford, AZ—Our breakfast and lunch fixings are set up in the lobby. We start on our 70 mile route through Indian reservations with small towns named after Chiefs Bylas and Geronimo. We are still in high desert with only cactus and small bushes. Eventually we reach Thatcher and have ice cream. We zoom into Safford and camp at the rundown Sunrise RV Park with an active duck pond nearby.

Day 13 - 3/15/19 - to Lordsburg, NM— We expect to ride 76 miles today, and start out on a newly surfaced road! Soon we hit 35mph headwinds and manage to ride 20 miles in 3 hours. Paul and I find David P and Alan sacked out on the gravel by an abandoned car. I decide to wait with them for the van. We are picked up and find most of the group hunkered down one mile further. We roll into the Lordsburg KOA with 40mph winds. We quickly sign up for 3 cabins ($17/ea) and a trailer instead of our tents. We eat at a roadside diner.

Day 14-15 - 3/16-17/19 -to Silver City,NM—We wake up to sleet and wind. The skies are black in the west. Wisely we all put our bikes on the van except for Paul and “pro” Dan Jones. We had hoped to ride over the Continental Divide today on hwy 90. We head up hwy 90 and the winds and snow get very heavy. The highway patrol follows us. Paul gets in the van at mile 10, Dan at mile 12. We turn around carefully and pass a pickup truck turned upside down. They close the highway behind us. We drive a large loop around to reach our layover town, Silver City, elev. 5400ft. We stay at the wonderful Art Deco hotel, The Murray ($30/ea). This is a town of artists and bike riders. The “Tour of the Divide” and “Southern Tier” routes both come through Silver City. The sun comes out!!

Newsletter #1 Our First Week! We Ride Into Phoenix, Arizona

WE ARE IN PHOENIX!!! We are more than one tenth of the way to St. Augustine, Florida! Now, on day 8, our first rest day, we’ve got a whole new set of habits, from organizing our bags, snacks, when to take breaks, and how much to wear. And of course, Eat something, enjoy the terrain, and get back on the bike. Here’s a short breakdown of the days:

Day 1- to Alpine—We dipped our wheels at Ocean Beach and then wound through the bike paths and started climbing. Some people got a little lost. Others were frustrated with our Garmins, and quite a few said the written map directions did not match the route plotted. This would all be resolved in the next couple days, when we realized we just had to pay close attention. We climbed 3000 ft, and dragged into Veijas Indian reservation campground. It was cold, by a stream. Who knows what we ate. Went to bed at sundown.

Day 2 -to Jacumba Hot Springs—started out riding on I-8 (seriously?!) through the the mountains and then got off on an old stage road, hwy 79, continuing up through the mountains 4084 ft total, and then winding SE till we started seeing Border Control buildings 10 miles from the border, and white pickups and humvees here and there. Finally, from up in the hills, we could see an amazing thick, steel fence running forever, about 18 ft high. Sheep were grazing on the other side. We stayed at Jacumba Hot Springs Spa with great rooms and “A” showers. With a population of 560, everyone knew we had arrived. It was David P.’s and my night to cook, but they were renovating the store. We got to eat in the restaurant! We still had to get up at 5:30, get our things out to the van, and set out breakfast and lunch.

Day 3-to Brawley—The morning light was beautiful as we wound out through the desert, but soon each of us had to hold onto our bikes for our lives as we rode 10 miles down the In-Ko-Pah Gorge with 25-35mph winds and 6% grade on I-8. We continued on a rough desert road that went through wide places in the road with names like “Plaster City.” We had a stiff tailwind and covered the 63 miles quickly.

Day 4,5,6 to Blythe, Salome and Wickenburg—-The next three days we were feeling better about riding and we rode through 200 miles of desert interspersed with large farms. I include a few pictures below of our first 420 miles. We spent two nights in Phoenix and are very thankful for Jared and Colleen’s help getting to REI, new tires for Paul, and the chance to see cousins, Wally, Teresa and Patti!

Twenty-Two Days till Southern Tier Ride Across the U.S.

This is a test of our new blog. On March 4 Paul and I will be riding across the country from San Diego, CA to St. Augustine, FL. Two weeks to go!!!