Yes, I did it! I arrived in Savannah on Sunday afternoon. I made up my own route for the last leg of the journey, so I was able to finish a day earlier than anticipated. I left Myrtle Beach and rode 108 miles to Monck's Corner, SC. From there, I rode 80 miles to Point South, SC and then I did the last 80 or so miles to Abbey and Joey's house in Savannah. And that is that, folks. Thanks all for reading! If you want to see photos, email (karliceran@yahoo.com) or call me.
Love, Peace, and Bicycle Grease!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Beaches, Music, and Great People!
I left Southport, NC sometime after 9 am on Tuesday, and Paul rode out with me for a few miles, but then I was on my own. What a strange feeling that was after having ridden with others for so long. I found myself habitually pointing out potholes, sewer grates, and road debris as if there were actually somebody behind me who needed to know to avoid those road hazards! I truly discovered how much I miss Paul when I crossed into South Carolina and there was nobody there to take a picture of me doing something silly at the state line. I didn't even try for a self-portrait; it would never measure up.
Regardless, I am glad that I decided to continue to ride on rather than driving from Wilmington. I arrived in Myrtle Beach (about 12 miles off my route) around two in the afternoon. I went to Pat and Tom's house, but nobody was home, so the housekeeper let me in and showed me to my room. Shortly thereafter, their son-in-law, Colin, arrived home with one of his daughters, Audrey. Colin drew me a map to the beach, which is less than one mile from the house (eight tenths of a mile, to be exact). I then walked to the beach and went for a barefoot jog in the sand, and then I stood around in the warm waters of the Atlantic for a while. By the time I walked back, stretched, and showered, Pat had arrived home. I later got to meet the rest of the family as well: Pat and Tom's daughter and Colin's wife, Kristi and their two other children, Maggie and Sadie.
Pat cooked an amazing dinner of spaghetti with marinara, homemade pesto with basil fresh from the garden, portabellas, and a carrot shitake salad. It was so delicious, and believe me, I ate my fill! After dinner, Pat disappeared, and returned with a basket of fresh picked figs from the tree out back. My absolute favorite fruit! I was wide-eyed and overjoyed, for certain! During dinner, I learned that Colin is earning his MFA in Creative Non-fiction, and he's also really into philosophy, so we had plenty to talk about. We also got to talking about music, and as they live practically across the street from the House of Blues, I happened to notice that Pete Yorn was playing that night as I rode into town. They encouraged me to go, so again, wide-eyed and overjoyed, I jumped into Pat's convertible and she dropped me off at the show. For only $24, I got one crappy band, one decent band, and one amazing band...not a bad deal.
It was hardly a crowded house, so I got an awesome spot, general admission standing, right up front center stage. The first band, 16 Frames really bit the big one. If it weren't for the gorgeous bright-eyed bassist with curly blonde flowing locks, I would've have fallen asleep standing up out of sheer boredom. The band just wasn't tight, and they did nothing musically innovative. To make matters worse, the lead singer thought he was the coolest person in the world even though his voice was not impressive at all. Apparently they have a myspace page (who doesn't these days?), so you can check out their crappiness for yourself if you'd like.
The next band, Ben Jalen was interesting. They definitely had their shit together, and Ben had a lot of talent -- rocking the electric viola, keys, and guitars, and he had a pretty versatile voice. He was the only one in the band who looked like a normal person though. All the other guys looked like they had just walked on stage direct from the hair salon where they must have disposed of countless cans of mousse and hairspray. Also, all their rockstar clothes looked brand new, right down to their funny shiny shoes. It just felt so...contrived. Oh, and don't even get me going on the James Iha wannabe guitarist hanging out in the shadows stage left...
Finally, when Pete Yorn came out, he was so high energy (a drastic difference to when I saw him at Criminal Records last summer)! He probably had one of the best electric bassists alive -- this guy was all over that thing, and he was rolling cigarettes between songs, and then smoking them while he played and harmonized on vocals. Dude did everything with a smoke dangling from the corner of his lips -- that's talent. The rest of the band was really tight too and I was amazed at how well they pulled off four guitars on some songs. Pete played a lot of songs from musicforthemorningafter and Day I Forgot, and very few from Nightcrawler, which made me happy because I've had the hardest time getting into Nightcrawler since I purchased it back in December.
Also, at some point during the show, by strange coincidence, I met 4 people from Atlanta who had driven up for the show. They were standing behind me and I overheard someone mention Smith's Olde Bar, and so I turned around and struck up a conversation. I considered taking a ride home with them...just kidding!
The show went just past midnight, so by the time I got home, I was so tired and had such a headache that I went right to bed and slept until 8 am, having already decided to hang out in Myrtle Beach another day. I got up and ran to the beach, tore off my running shoes and ran the sand barefoot again, then readorned the shoes and ran back. After that, I spent most of the day chatting with Colin, Pat, and later, Tom, while Pat fixed me various delicious items for consumption like a berry smoothie, toast with peanut butter, roasted squash, beans, and brown rice. mmmmm mmmm! The day was taken up by more delightful conversations in philosophy as well as some talk about gender, women, and health and diet -- some of my favorite topics! It seemed like we were constantly handing each other books to peruse or writing down titles to look up. I love it! Later in the afternoon, I walked back to the beach where I sat watching the waves, and composing this blog on pen and paper to later be transferred to the computer.
I have had such a great time in Myrtle Beach, and I feel so blessed to have met this amazing family, not only for their generosity and hospitality, but also for the great conversations and exchange of knowledge. These are the kinds of people who I would love to have as friends!
Tomorrow, Tom has to go to Wilmington early, so I think he is going to drop me back on my route. Then I will ride about 110 miles that day, followed by three 75-80 mile days.
Savannah or bust!
Regardless, I am glad that I decided to continue to ride on rather than driving from Wilmington. I arrived in Myrtle Beach (about 12 miles off my route) around two in the afternoon. I went to Pat and Tom's house, but nobody was home, so the housekeeper let me in and showed me to my room. Shortly thereafter, their son-in-law, Colin, arrived home with one of his daughters, Audrey. Colin drew me a map to the beach, which is less than one mile from the house (eight tenths of a mile, to be exact). I then walked to the beach and went for a barefoot jog in the sand, and then I stood around in the warm waters of the Atlantic for a while. By the time I walked back, stretched, and showered, Pat had arrived home. I later got to meet the rest of the family as well: Pat and Tom's daughter and Colin's wife, Kristi and their two other children, Maggie and Sadie.
Pat cooked an amazing dinner of spaghetti with marinara, homemade pesto with basil fresh from the garden, portabellas, and a carrot shitake salad. It was so delicious, and believe me, I ate my fill! After dinner, Pat disappeared, and returned with a basket of fresh picked figs from the tree out back. My absolute favorite fruit! I was wide-eyed and overjoyed, for certain! During dinner, I learned that Colin is earning his MFA in Creative Non-fiction, and he's also really into philosophy, so we had plenty to talk about. We also got to talking about music, and as they live practically across the street from the House of Blues, I happened to notice that Pete Yorn was playing that night as I rode into town. They encouraged me to go, so again, wide-eyed and overjoyed, I jumped into Pat's convertible and she dropped me off at the show. For only $24, I got one crappy band, one decent band, and one amazing band...not a bad deal.
It was hardly a crowded house, so I got an awesome spot, general admission standing, right up front center stage. The first band, 16 Frames really bit the big one. If it weren't for the gorgeous bright-eyed bassist with curly blonde flowing locks, I would've have fallen asleep standing up out of sheer boredom. The band just wasn't tight, and they did nothing musically innovative. To make matters worse, the lead singer thought he was the coolest person in the world even though his voice was not impressive at all. Apparently they have a myspace page (who doesn't these days?), so you can check out their crappiness for yourself if you'd like.
The next band, Ben Jalen was interesting. They definitely had their shit together, and Ben had a lot of talent -- rocking the electric viola, keys, and guitars, and he had a pretty versatile voice. He was the only one in the band who looked like a normal person though. All the other guys looked like they had just walked on stage direct from the hair salon where they must have disposed of countless cans of mousse and hairspray. Also, all their rockstar clothes looked brand new, right down to their funny shiny shoes. It just felt so...contrived. Oh, and don't even get me going on the James Iha wannabe guitarist hanging out in the shadows stage left...
Finally, when Pete Yorn came out, he was so high energy (a drastic difference to when I saw him at Criminal Records last summer)! He probably had one of the best electric bassists alive -- this guy was all over that thing, and he was rolling cigarettes between songs, and then smoking them while he played and harmonized on vocals. Dude did everything with a smoke dangling from the corner of his lips -- that's talent. The rest of the band was really tight too and I was amazed at how well they pulled off four guitars on some songs. Pete played a lot of songs from musicforthemorningafter and Day I Forgot, and very few from Nightcrawler, which made me happy because I've had the hardest time getting into Nightcrawler since I purchased it back in December.
Also, at some point during the show, by strange coincidence, I met 4 people from Atlanta who had driven up for the show. They were standing behind me and I overheard someone mention Smith's Olde Bar, and so I turned around and struck up a conversation. I considered taking a ride home with them...just kidding!
The show went just past midnight, so by the time I got home, I was so tired and had such a headache that I went right to bed and slept until 8 am, having already decided to hang out in Myrtle Beach another day. I got up and ran to the beach, tore off my running shoes and ran the sand barefoot again, then readorned the shoes and ran back. After that, I spent most of the day chatting with Colin, Pat, and later, Tom, while Pat fixed me various delicious items for consumption like a berry smoothie, toast with peanut butter, roasted squash, beans, and brown rice. mmmmm mmmm! The day was taken up by more delightful conversations in philosophy as well as some talk about gender, women, and health and diet -- some of my favorite topics! It seemed like we were constantly handing each other books to peruse or writing down titles to look up. I love it! Later in the afternoon, I walked back to the beach where I sat watching the waves, and composing this blog on pen and paper to later be transferred to the computer.
I have had such a great time in Myrtle Beach, and I feel so blessed to have met this amazing family, not only for their generosity and hospitality, but also for the great conversations and exchange of knowledge. These are the kinds of people who I would love to have as friends!
Tomorrow, Tom has to go to Wilmington early, so I think he is going to drop me back on my route. Then I will ride about 110 miles that day, followed by three 75-80 mile days.
Savannah or bust!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Oh, if only I could stay in Wilmington...
So, Wilmington was such a cool place to hang, but I'm not supposed to tell anyone that because someone I know doesn't want a surge of people trying to move there. Actually, I probably liked Wilmington more for the company I kept while there than for the actual lure of the beaches.
To back it up a little, Paul and I got to Kitty Hawk, got a hotel, and immediately went for a swim in the Atlantic. Oh, how refreshing it was to dive into those waters! I felt like I truly accomplished what I set out to do. From Kitty Hawk, we rode on through the Outer Banks, making amazing time because it was all flat and touristy, so there wasn't much worth stopping and seeing. We did stop and check out the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, which was alright and teeming with tourists. We also stopped by Jen's friend Kim's art gallery, which was awesome. I bought one of Jen's cards and talked to Kim who was so high energy and really excited to see us. By the way, Jen is Bryan's girlfriend (Bryan who stayed behind in Colorado to go to Telluride).
We arrived in Wilmington on Friday afternoon and stayed with Jen. She actually came to pick us up at a Burger King in town because we apparently rode 10 miles past her house near Wrightsville Beach when we rode all the way into downtown Wilmington. By the way, the ride to Wilmington sort of sucked because I got two flats in one day. That's more than I've had ALL trip. That puts me up to 3 flats total. It was enough to convince me to buy two new tires in Wilmington.
Jen was so cool! She took us out to dinner Friday night to this fabulous restaurant called Nikki's, where tempeh and tofu abound, and we met her friends Elizabeth, Chiaki, and Matt, who were also very very cool people.
Saturday morning, I woke at 6 and ran to the beach, walked along the ocean, and ran back. That was a great way to start the day. Then Jen introduced us to Migun, which is this heated jade massage bed system. I was immediately drawn to it, but Paul still hates it and remains skeptical. If I had the money, I would buy a Migun bed for my home...oh wait, if I had a home and if I had the money, then I would buy a Migun bed for my home. Needless to say, I made two more visits to Migun during my stay in Wilmington. We also got to hang out a lot at the local food co-op called Tidal Creek. I became a recognizable regular there in no time. Over our three and a half days in Wilmington, lots of Kombucha drinking was had, for certain. I think at some point during the day, we watched the extended version of Dances with Wolves, during which I took a 3 or 4 hour nap. On Saturday night, Elizabeth, Matt, and John came over and we ordered pizza and played "Scene It?" Women vs. Men and the women kicked ass!
On Sunday, I just hung out and did a whole lot of nothing. We rode over to the co-op and Jen bought me brunch, which was again, awesome of her! I also got to cook dinner: tempeh reubens with braised greens. Jen's friend Jim came over and he brought some delicious Pinot Grigio and seemed like a really nice guy.
On Monday, Paul and I rode with Jen to the beach and then up and down the ten mile loop to make a 20 odd mile ride. Jen was kicking our ass on her 650's! Man, I thought I was in better shape by now. Oh, but she did have aerobars and skinnier tires and she's training for the Florida Ironman...On our ride, we also happened upon Jen's sister and boyfriend who were also out for a ride. They seemed nice as well, but it's hard to really get to know someone when you're sweating out a 20mph pace on a humid morning.
Today is Tuesday and we hung out in Wilmington all day. I went for another run this morning, and then we went to Migun and checked out the other health food store in town, where Jen FINALLY let me buy her lunch. Then Jen drove us over to Paul's cousin Jill's house in Southport, from where I am composing this. We were going to ride the 20 miles to the ferry with Jen, but it started pouring down rain, and so we caught a ride with Jen.
It felt surreal to be leaving. I almost felt like I could've settled down in Wilmington for a week and then just caught a ride to Savannah, which Jen and I talked about, but the weekend she would drive me to Savannah conflicted with her volunteering at the children's triathlon, and I said, "Do it for the kids, Jen. They're more important. I can just keep pedaling." Anyway, I really had a blast with Jen and all her friends, and I hope to return for a visit sometime. And, I cannot thank Jen enough for all her generous hospitality!!!
Jill and her boyfriend Billy are very cool. We've been chatting out on the front porch, and just relaxing.
Tomorrow, I say goodbye to Paul. It will be sad; I'll really miss him. Really. Then, I will ride down to Myrtle Beach, where I will stay a night with Pat and Tom, a couple that Paul and I met on the ferry that took us off the Outer Banks to Cedar Island. They got to chatting with us, and invited me to stay at their place in their guest room right on the beach. From there, I will ride four solo days to Savannah, where I will finally hang up the bike for a while and kick it with my dear dear friends, Abbey and Joey.
Wish me well, as I brave highway 17 alone...
To back it up a little, Paul and I got to Kitty Hawk, got a hotel, and immediately went for a swim in the Atlantic. Oh, how refreshing it was to dive into those waters! I felt like I truly accomplished what I set out to do. From Kitty Hawk, we rode on through the Outer Banks, making amazing time because it was all flat and touristy, so there wasn't much worth stopping and seeing. We did stop and check out the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, which was alright and teeming with tourists. We also stopped by Jen's friend Kim's art gallery, which was awesome. I bought one of Jen's cards and talked to Kim who was so high energy and really excited to see us. By the way, Jen is Bryan's girlfriend (Bryan who stayed behind in Colorado to go to Telluride).
We arrived in Wilmington on Friday afternoon and stayed with Jen. She actually came to pick us up at a Burger King in town because we apparently rode 10 miles past her house near Wrightsville Beach when we rode all the way into downtown Wilmington. By the way, the ride to Wilmington sort of sucked because I got two flats in one day. That's more than I've had ALL trip. That puts me up to 3 flats total. It was enough to convince me to buy two new tires in Wilmington.
Jen was so cool! She took us out to dinner Friday night to this fabulous restaurant called Nikki's, where tempeh and tofu abound, and we met her friends Elizabeth, Chiaki, and Matt, who were also very very cool people.
Saturday morning, I woke at 6 and ran to the beach, walked along the ocean, and ran back. That was a great way to start the day. Then Jen introduced us to Migun, which is this heated jade massage bed system. I was immediately drawn to it, but Paul still hates it and remains skeptical. If I had the money, I would buy a Migun bed for my home...oh wait, if I had a home and if I had the money, then I would buy a Migun bed for my home. Needless to say, I made two more visits to Migun during my stay in Wilmington. We also got to hang out a lot at the local food co-op called Tidal Creek. I became a recognizable regular there in no time. Over our three and a half days in Wilmington, lots of Kombucha drinking was had, for certain. I think at some point during the day, we watched the extended version of Dances with Wolves, during which I took a 3 or 4 hour nap. On Saturday night, Elizabeth, Matt, and John came over and we ordered pizza and played "Scene It?" Women vs. Men and the women kicked ass!
On Sunday, I just hung out and did a whole lot of nothing. We rode over to the co-op and Jen bought me brunch, which was again, awesome of her! I also got to cook dinner: tempeh reubens with braised greens. Jen's friend Jim came over and he brought some delicious Pinot Grigio and seemed like a really nice guy.
On Monday, Paul and I rode with Jen to the beach and then up and down the ten mile loop to make a 20 odd mile ride. Jen was kicking our ass on her 650's! Man, I thought I was in better shape by now. Oh, but she did have aerobars and skinnier tires and she's training for the Florida Ironman...On our ride, we also happened upon Jen's sister and boyfriend who were also out for a ride. They seemed nice as well, but it's hard to really get to know someone when you're sweating out a 20mph pace on a humid morning.
Today is Tuesday and we hung out in Wilmington all day. I went for another run this morning, and then we went to Migun and checked out the other health food store in town, where Jen FINALLY let me buy her lunch. Then Jen drove us over to Paul's cousin Jill's house in Southport, from where I am composing this. We were going to ride the 20 miles to the ferry with Jen, but it started pouring down rain, and so we caught a ride with Jen.
It felt surreal to be leaving. I almost felt like I could've settled down in Wilmington for a week and then just caught a ride to Savannah, which Jen and I talked about, but the weekend she would drive me to Savannah conflicted with her volunteering at the children's triathlon, and I said, "Do it for the kids, Jen. They're more important. I can just keep pedaling." Anyway, I really had a blast with Jen and all her friends, and I hope to return for a visit sometime. And, I cannot thank Jen enough for all her generous hospitality!!!
Jill and her boyfriend Billy are very cool. We've been chatting out on the front porch, and just relaxing.
Tomorrow, I say goodbye to Paul. It will be sad; I'll really miss him. Really. Then, I will ride down to Myrtle Beach, where I will stay a night with Pat and Tom, a couple that Paul and I met on the ferry that took us off the Outer Banks to Cedar Island. They got to chatting with us, and invited me to stay at their place in their guest room right on the beach. From there, I will ride four solo days to Savannah, where I will finally hang up the bike for a while and kick it with my dear dear friends, Abbey and Joey.
Wish me well, as I brave highway 17 alone...
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Jammin' and Rollin'
Wow, after enjoying a jam session of guitar, bass, banjo, and drums at Acorn, we had another jam session in Lauren's room as she and Andrea rocked out some Mirah tunes. Then Lauren and I stayed up until after midnight talking. Not super smart when you have an early morning of riding ahead of you. I still managed to get up just after 7 am, hang around Acorn for a while watching Sabrina try to stir the oil back into a 5 gallon bucket of natural peanut butter and going through last minute photo opps. Wow, it was hard to say goodbye, or maybe "see you later." I gave big hugs to Danielle and Sabrina (who are staying at Acorn for the summer and totally rock) (Thanks for the chocolate Sabrina!) and then Lauren drove me and Paul to Mineral where I gave Lauren a big hug and Paul and I hit the road.
The terrain was amazingly FLAT!!! We rode about 55 miles in no time and pulled up to the Mackey's house around 1:30pm. We are staying with the Mackey family: Carol, Clyde and their sons Isaac and Noah just north of Richmond,VA. Clyde was so so so kind and generous when he drove us into Richmond and gave us a tour of the city then took us to a rockin' health food store and paid for our purchases!!! One exciting thing is that although I was bummed to miss out on the late brunch at Acorn and Sabrina's vegan cinnamon rolls and Lauren's vegan pancakes and soysage, I was thrilled to find a vegan cinnamon roll at the health food store in Richmond. The Mackey family is so great and I am so thankful for their hospitality!
Paul and I plan to hit Kitty Hawk in the Outer Banks in just two more riding days, so it doesn't look like I'll be able to post again until I get to Wilmington, NC. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying the flat terrain and the Atlantic Ocean!
The terrain was amazingly FLAT!!! We rode about 55 miles in no time and pulled up to the Mackey's house around 1:30pm. We are staying with the Mackey family: Carol, Clyde and their sons Isaac and Noah just north of Richmond,VA. Clyde was so so so kind and generous when he drove us into Richmond and gave us a tour of the city then took us to a rockin' health food store and paid for our purchases!!! One exciting thing is that although I was bummed to miss out on the late brunch at Acorn and Sabrina's vegan cinnamon rolls and Lauren's vegan pancakes and soysage, I was thrilled to find a vegan cinnamon roll at the health food store in Richmond. The Mackey family is so great and I am so thankful for their hospitality!
Paul and I plan to hit Kitty Hawk in the Outer Banks in just two more riding days, so it doesn't look like I'll be able to post again until I get to Wilmington, NC. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying the flat terrain and the Atlantic Ocean!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
More skinny dipping, hippies, organic veggies, and more!
I'm having such a blast at Acorn that I really don't want to leave, but tomorrow, we must move on.
In the meantime, I enjoyed waking early yesterday morning and going for a nice run down the dirt road through the woods. When I got back, I worked in the garden all morning, picking cucumbers and okra, weeding and making tomato cages. While we were harvesting okra, we found some nice looking eggplants that were ready, so we picked those and later I got to exercise some of my culinary skills as I was asked to prepare the eggplant dish for dinner. I tried to be creative and went with herb crusted eggplant medallions in a maple balsamic reduction. Very fun and delicious!
Also, after lunch yesterday, we took two cars full of people over to Twin Oaks (the sister community here, which is much larger. they make hammocks, tofu and soysage, and they have their farm for their businesses) At Twin Oaks, we went skinny dipping in the pond. It was so refreshing after a hot day in the garden! Paul was the only one who refused to get into his skinsuit, so he swam with his boxers, but the rest of us happily swam and sunbathed au natural.
This morning, Lauren, Danielle, Paul, and I woke up at 4am to go to Charlottesville for the Farmer's Market. When I got up, the sky was amazing! I could see every star in the sky! We loaded up the van and drove to C-ville (as they call it around here)and listened to Mirah through the crappy speaker on my mp3 player the whole way. Good times. The market in C-ville was great, and fairly large. I met lots of cool vendors, got some organic bagels and vegan muffins, and ate my fair share of cucumbers. Paul and I wandered around town for a while and visited Integral Yoga Natural Foods where I enjoyed a kombucha. I also saw some flyers for Yogaville programs, which reminded me of my friend Tali who is there now. I called her husband Yoram, and it was so good to talk to him. It always feels amazing to hear someone say they love you and they miss you!
Now I'm just chilling at Acorn. I just finished making a wallet out of an old tube. (BOB got a flat somehow in Lauren's van, so I used that tube) It's a rough, but functional prototype, and I plan to make more in the future.
Lauren and I have been reminiscing about old times and giving each other mad hugs. She just makes me so happy; she's such an amazing person. I've also been so blessed being in the presence of some incredible people in this community. I finished reading Sandor Ellix Katz's latest book, The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, and that, combined with being at Acorn, has really re-inspired me to get back to community, local food, and a more self-sustaining lifestyle. I already have plans brewing for container gardening and the fermentation station!
In love with life!!!
In the meantime, I enjoyed waking early yesterday morning and going for a nice run down the dirt road through the woods. When I got back, I worked in the garden all morning, picking cucumbers and okra, weeding and making tomato cages. While we were harvesting okra, we found some nice looking eggplants that were ready, so we picked those and later I got to exercise some of my culinary skills as I was asked to prepare the eggplant dish for dinner. I tried to be creative and went with herb crusted eggplant medallions in a maple balsamic reduction. Very fun and delicious!
Also, after lunch yesterday, we took two cars full of people over to Twin Oaks (the sister community here, which is much larger. they make hammocks, tofu and soysage, and they have their farm for their businesses) At Twin Oaks, we went skinny dipping in the pond. It was so refreshing after a hot day in the garden! Paul was the only one who refused to get into his skinsuit, so he swam with his boxers, but the rest of us happily swam and sunbathed au natural.
This morning, Lauren, Danielle, Paul, and I woke up at 4am to go to Charlottesville for the Farmer's Market. When I got up, the sky was amazing! I could see every star in the sky! We loaded up the van and drove to C-ville (as they call it around here)and listened to Mirah through the crappy speaker on my mp3 player the whole way. Good times. The market in C-ville was great, and fairly large. I met lots of cool vendors, got some organic bagels and vegan muffins, and ate my fair share of cucumbers. Paul and I wandered around town for a while and visited Integral Yoga Natural Foods where I enjoyed a kombucha. I also saw some flyers for Yogaville programs, which reminded me of my friend Tali who is there now. I called her husband Yoram, and it was so good to talk to him. It always feels amazing to hear someone say they love you and they miss you!
Now I'm just chilling at Acorn. I just finished making a wallet out of an old tube. (BOB got a flat somehow in Lauren's van, so I used that tube) It's a rough, but functional prototype, and I plan to make more in the future.
Lauren and I have been reminiscing about old times and giving each other mad hugs. She just makes me so happy; she's such an amazing person. I've also been so blessed being in the presence of some incredible people in this community. I finished reading Sandor Ellix Katz's latest book, The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, and that, combined with being at Acorn, has really re-inspired me to get back to community, local food, and a more self-sustaining lifestyle. I already have plans brewing for container gardening and the fermentation station!
In love with life!!!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Lisa is awesome!!!
Wow, Lisa driving SAG for us was incredible. Paul and I blasted away almost 300 miles in 3 days on our bikes that were light as feathers while all our gear rode happily along in Lisa's trunk. She stopped every 20 or so miles so we could refill water and make pb & j sandwiches, and on top of all that, she was just a really really cool person, and I'm glad to have met her.
Today, we rode with our gear again and it really wasn't that bad. We did 60 odd miles in about 5 hours, but we definitely felt the difference, especially on the hills. We veered off route today and rode 6 miles into Louisa where my friend Lauren came and picked us up. Now, we are staying for two days at the commune/farm where she lives called Acorn. What's funny is that when she picked us up, she drove us back the extra six miles we had ridden through the hills and on to the farm. Damn!
Let me also just add that I love love love love love Lauren, and I've really missed her and it's so awesome to be spending some time with her and to have gotten to her the way I did.
So I've already met lots and lots and lots of great people here, and there will definitely be more to follow.
Until then...
Today, we rode with our gear again and it really wasn't that bad. We did 60 odd miles in about 5 hours, but we definitely felt the difference, especially on the hills. We veered off route today and rode 6 miles into Louisa where my friend Lauren came and picked us up. Now, we are staying for two days at the commune/farm where she lives called Acorn. What's funny is that when she picked us up, she drove us back the extra six miles we had ridden through the hills and on to the farm. Damn!
Let me also just add that I love love love love love Lauren, and I've really missed her and it's so awesome to be spending some time with her and to have gotten to her the way I did.
So I've already met lots and lots and lots of great people here, and there will definitely be more to follow.
Until then...
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Thursday the 12th Proves Worse than Friday the 13th
It's been a long while, and here I sit on a Saturday night at the Baja Cafe in Damascus, Virginia. Yes, I'm already in Virginia!!!
Here's the news:
From Chester, IL, we rode to Carbondale, IL, a nice university town, lots of hippies, you know how I love hippies! We stopped in at the co-op there and it was awesome and rocking the local food scene. I had some kombucha!!! Then at just the right moment we rode over to the best bike shop in town and there was Len, didn't think I'd see him again. He was thrilled to see us, and he invited me to his big shindig in San Francisco in September when he finishes his trip. Len has since headed north on the Underground Railroad trail to the Northern Tier to end in Bar Harbor, Maine. After we talked to Len, he rode on to the next town, and I checked my email to see if one of the warmshowers contacts had gotten back to me. Indeed he did and said he was out of town, but if we didn't take anything from his place, it was unlocked and we were free to stay. So, we stayed at this guy Ben's place in Carbondale. Wow! He was out of town alright, the electricity had been shut off, it was stuffy and humid in his upstairs apartment, a sink full of crusty dishes, rotting avocado shells stacked up in the kitchen. Very interesting accomodations... That night, there happened to be a concert in the park, so Paul and I went to check that out. It was some half decent band from Chicago that played a few Lucinda Williams covers, so that redeemed them.
From Carbondale, we hauled 100 miles in the heat to Sebree, KY where we stayed in an incredible church hostel (The First Baptist Church). It was soooo nice, mattresses and all. Len also caught back up with us for the night.
The next day, we rode to Rough River Dam and along the way, Paul and Dave took a shortcut, but I decided to stay on the route, and thank goodness I did. The shortcut turned out to have several steep hills, whereas the route was moderately hilly. I also got to go through the town of Whitesville, where the people were very kind and generous. One man bought me a juice, and two guys offered me a ride, but I took their wishes for a good journey instead. When I caught up to Paul and Dave again later, they were sitting down having some beers with some hillbillies. I sat down for a cold glass of water. The rednecks offered for us to stay for dinner and feast on a variety of meats on the grill like raccoon and turkey and goat and they were also going to deep fry some vegetables and fish. Paul and I passed and went on to camp, but Dave stuck around and met us at camp later.
The next day, we rode to Hodgenville, KY and on the way, we met three guys who were doing a supported ride from San Diego to Virginia Beach to raise money for children of Gulf War soldiers who died in combat. Two of them used to be Navy Seals. We also stopped at a roadside stand and I got some local fruits and veggies. That night, we were going to camp in the park, but we all went to a Mexican Restaurant, and on the way back to the park, Paul and Dave stopped for ice cream. I kept going back to the park, and while I was talking on the phone to my friend Alex (hey Alex!), the guy locked the gate to the park, so I was locked in and Paul and Dave were locked out. In the end, we decided to pass my stuff (gear and bike and me) over the fence and we just camped behind the high school. Go figure after I got out, two women who lived right there and must have witnessed the whole thing asked if we wanted to the gate opened because they could get it opened and they said the guy who locked it was a crazy case. The whole situation made about as much sense as the mullet one of the women was sporting, so we declined their offer and just stayed behind the high school.
The next day we rode to Harrodsburg, KY where we met the Youth Minister of the Methodist church there and he told us we could camp in the churchyard there. Nothing too exciting there, except that we ended up at the police station the next morning filing a report...
From Harrodsburg, we rode to Berea, KY where Paige came and picked us up and we stayed with their family, who I had contacted through warmshowers. Paige and Andy, and their daughters, Clare and Lillian were great. Paige made vegan Boca burgers for dinner and oatmeal in the morning. She even went out of her way to buy me soy yogurt and soy milk. Andy told me all about his life and his work, which was quite interesting. I watched George of the Jungle with Clare and Lillian showed me her garden that Paige helped her start. Clare is in second grade and Lillian is going into middle school (she was so excited!) Before we left the next morning, Paige gave us all pages from a coloring book that Clare had colored for us. They were so great, and they left a good lasting impression of Kentucky.
From Berea, we officially entered Appalachia. We started with rain the whole day and the climbs just got worse and worse as the day went on. In case you're wondering why I haven't been tallying my flat tires, it's because I haven't had any until about 25 miles outside of Booneville, KY. That's right, my first flat of the whole trip, and of course on the rear tire. I changed it with lightning speed and we kept rolling. That night we stayed at a campground in Buckhorn, KY near the bottom of the dam.
Then it was Thursday the 12th....gasp!....As we were set to leave Buckhorn, I discovered a broken spoke on the cassetted side of the rear wheel, of course. We worked on it for almost two hours and the new spoke just would not thread. Turns out that the idiots at the bike shop in Eugene cut my spare spokes too short. Paul had the ingenious idea of creating a temporary spoke by cutting one of his longer ones and bending it to hold its place and it worked, I've been riding on it ever since. I was hoping to get it fixed here in Damascus, but the bike shops here are sorry little tourist rental shops, so I'll keep riding it until I encounter a decent shop. More on Thursday the 12th....gasp!....As we're riding along, Paul's front tire was making weird noises, so he stopped to check it just before a descent, and the sidewall of his tire was ripped and his tube was busting through, rubbing his brakes, and about to explode on him, so he had to change out to his spare tire. Then just near Hazard, KY, Dave was having shifting problems. At a stoplight, he looked down, and saw that his bottom bracket had come loose and a bearing had actually fallen out, but luckily was sitting right there on his crank where he could grab it and pull over and fix it. Thursday the 12th....gasp!....
Friday the 13th, we rode with no real problems. Paul and I had to walk up a hill for the first time. It was liberating and humbling and really fucking steep all at the same time.
And here I am in Damascus. Tomorrow is a rest day and Paul's friend Lisa is coming down from Cincinnati, OH tomorrow to drive SAG for us for three days to get us through the mountains. I cannot wait. These hills are going to be so much more fun on an empty bike. Thanks Lisa!!!
One thing I've learned: when things stop being fun, figure out how to make them fun!
Here's the news:
From Chester, IL, we rode to Carbondale, IL, a nice university town, lots of hippies, you know how I love hippies! We stopped in at the co-op there and it was awesome and rocking the local food scene. I had some kombucha!!! Then at just the right moment we rode over to the best bike shop in town and there was Len, didn't think I'd see him again. He was thrilled to see us, and he invited me to his big shindig in San Francisco in September when he finishes his trip. Len has since headed north on the Underground Railroad trail to the Northern Tier to end in Bar Harbor, Maine. After we talked to Len, he rode on to the next town, and I checked my email to see if one of the warmshowers contacts had gotten back to me. Indeed he did and said he was out of town, but if we didn't take anything from his place, it was unlocked and we were free to stay. So, we stayed at this guy Ben's place in Carbondale. Wow! He was out of town alright, the electricity had been shut off, it was stuffy and humid in his upstairs apartment, a sink full of crusty dishes, rotting avocado shells stacked up in the kitchen. Very interesting accomodations... That night, there happened to be a concert in the park, so Paul and I went to check that out. It was some half decent band from Chicago that played a few Lucinda Williams covers, so that redeemed them.
From Carbondale, we hauled 100 miles in the heat to Sebree, KY where we stayed in an incredible church hostel (The First Baptist Church). It was soooo nice, mattresses and all. Len also caught back up with us for the night.
The next day, we rode to Rough River Dam and along the way, Paul and Dave took a shortcut, but I decided to stay on the route, and thank goodness I did. The shortcut turned out to have several steep hills, whereas the route was moderately hilly. I also got to go through the town of Whitesville, where the people were very kind and generous. One man bought me a juice, and two guys offered me a ride, but I took their wishes for a good journey instead. When I caught up to Paul and Dave again later, they were sitting down having some beers with some hillbillies. I sat down for a cold glass of water. The rednecks offered for us to stay for dinner and feast on a variety of meats on the grill like raccoon and turkey and goat and they were also going to deep fry some vegetables and fish. Paul and I passed and went on to camp, but Dave stuck around and met us at camp later.
The next day, we rode to Hodgenville, KY and on the way, we met three guys who were doing a supported ride from San Diego to Virginia Beach to raise money for children of Gulf War soldiers who died in combat. Two of them used to be Navy Seals. We also stopped at a roadside stand and I got some local fruits and veggies. That night, we were going to camp in the park, but we all went to a Mexican Restaurant, and on the way back to the park, Paul and Dave stopped for ice cream. I kept going back to the park, and while I was talking on the phone to my friend Alex (hey Alex!), the guy locked the gate to the park, so I was locked in and Paul and Dave were locked out. In the end, we decided to pass my stuff (gear and bike and me) over the fence and we just camped behind the high school. Go figure after I got out, two women who lived right there and must have witnessed the whole thing asked if we wanted to the gate opened because they could get it opened and they said the guy who locked it was a crazy case. The whole situation made about as much sense as the mullet one of the women was sporting, so we declined their offer and just stayed behind the high school.
The next day we rode to Harrodsburg, KY where we met the Youth Minister of the Methodist church there and he told us we could camp in the churchyard there. Nothing too exciting there, except that we ended up at the police station the next morning filing a report...
From Harrodsburg, we rode to Berea, KY where Paige came and picked us up and we stayed with their family, who I had contacted through warmshowers. Paige and Andy, and their daughters, Clare and Lillian were great. Paige made vegan Boca burgers for dinner and oatmeal in the morning. She even went out of her way to buy me soy yogurt and soy milk. Andy told me all about his life and his work, which was quite interesting. I watched George of the Jungle with Clare and Lillian showed me her garden that Paige helped her start. Clare is in second grade and Lillian is going into middle school (she was so excited!) Before we left the next morning, Paige gave us all pages from a coloring book that Clare had colored for us. They were so great, and they left a good lasting impression of Kentucky.
From Berea, we officially entered Appalachia. We started with rain the whole day and the climbs just got worse and worse as the day went on. In case you're wondering why I haven't been tallying my flat tires, it's because I haven't had any until about 25 miles outside of Booneville, KY. That's right, my first flat of the whole trip, and of course on the rear tire. I changed it with lightning speed and we kept rolling. That night we stayed at a campground in Buckhorn, KY near the bottom of the dam.
Then it was Thursday the 12th....gasp!....As we were set to leave Buckhorn, I discovered a broken spoke on the cassetted side of the rear wheel, of course. We worked on it for almost two hours and the new spoke just would not thread. Turns out that the idiots at the bike shop in Eugene cut my spare spokes too short. Paul had the ingenious idea of creating a temporary spoke by cutting one of his longer ones and bending it to hold its place and it worked, I've been riding on it ever since. I was hoping to get it fixed here in Damascus, but the bike shops here are sorry little tourist rental shops, so I'll keep riding it until I encounter a decent shop. More on Thursday the 12th....gasp!....As we're riding along, Paul's front tire was making weird noises, so he stopped to check it just before a descent, and the sidewall of his tire was ripped and his tube was busting through, rubbing his brakes, and about to explode on him, so he had to change out to his spare tire. Then just near Hazard, KY, Dave was having shifting problems. At a stoplight, he looked down, and saw that his bottom bracket had come loose and a bearing had actually fallen out, but luckily was sitting right there on his crank where he could grab it and pull over and fix it. Thursday the 12th....gasp!....
Friday the 13th, we rode with no real problems. Paul and I had to walk up a hill for the first time. It was liberating and humbling and really fucking steep all at the same time.
And here I am in Damascus. Tomorrow is a rest day and Paul's friend Lisa is coming down from Cincinnati, OH tomorrow to drive SAG for us for three days to get us through the mountains. I cannot wait. These hills are going to be so much more fun on an empty bike. Thanks Lisa!!!
One thing I've learned: when things stop being fun, figure out how to make them fun!
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