Riding from NYC to SF

Epilog: sitting on the dock of the bay

2009-08-12T11:48:00.006-06:00

Few logistics issues as we spent our first none ridding day in San Francisco: Julia, the niece of my cousin Jean-Philippe, brought me the box with my bike bag, so I can take it back on the plane: very cool of her. Jon's place was transformed in a shop floor so Gerry could figure how to box it in an obviously too small a box; and there it is shipped now back to Connecticut.

It's time to sit back and enjoy the area, my favorite town in the US. If ever you feel like taking a long trip on a bicycle, thru the US or elsewhere, here are some of my after trip thoughts:

Long distance on a bicycle? Tips, my humble experience...

* Trailer or panniers?
Crossing my experience with Gerry's, the trailer seems a good option:
- although panniers seem to be lighter, they require a stronger bike frame; and Gerry (tall and strong himself) experienced quite a few problems with his rear wheel: he had to change 3 times the rear rim along his trip.
- trailer is lower, more aerodynamic, can be easily detached, faster to pack and you then do not need to get a special bike
- still handling a trailer implies to adapt your riding a little as mentioned.

* Tires, tubes and wheels
I had my tires wrong. Gerry managed to make it with just three flat tires through out his trip whereas I got 25! Kevlar, tube protectors (such as Mr Tuffy)... there's a better way. The front tire does not wear as much as the rear and it can therefore be different. Plan for a set of spare tires before leaving as it can be a hassle to find the right one on the way. Also my "home-made" hybrid bicycle (a mountain bike with road tires) is based on 26 inches wheel and the choice of road tires is more limited than if I had had 700 mm wheels. Also plan that tubes wear in the long run: some of the flats I had were just the tube getting to old.

* Behind the stage...
Getting an ergonomic saddle can be wise in the long run. Gerry would also use Bag Balm for his sensitive skin. I used Nivea creme (for my face as well!) and Tiger balm. But don't think that ridding is just a pain in the butts! It's also a pain in your legs, hands, arms... ;)

* Practicing, before, after?
I did not train before leaving: it's not a race. Yet practicing with the whole setup usually helps to minimize its weigh: the rule is "you always pack too much". Once done, it is very important to carry on riding a little (30 to 50 km, twice a week) to prevent blood circulation issues in your legs. And Marin county is just great for that!

* Safety
The flag behind my trailer makes the cyclist more visible. You can also get flags to put directly on a bicycle. Glowing colors of tee-shirts and jerseys are very useful as well. Eventually, 99% of drivers are careful and pay attention to cyclists: you still need to be very attentive to the 1% remaining.

'East to West' or 'West to East'?

One of the many comments that Gerry and I got on the way is that we should have ridden West to East; it would would have been easier. The dominant winds are blowing from the west and statistically we get more wind in the face riding towards the west.

First, if the point is to make it easier, I would not ride at all. The whole point of this trip is neither to make it hard for some kind of a pleasure. In my case, it was about taking a path that so much marked the history of this country. Traveling towards the west is meaningful and in those tough moments, battling against the wind on the way to Dubois I recall thinking that it must have a lot harder for these immigrants going after the frontier on trails, with wagons and horses, family and belongings.

Also as Gerry usually points it out, it good to train for a long while on the flat lands of the mid-west before getting to the Rockies. From his experience, he even had as much wind from the west as from the east. And you must feel twice betrayed when you get to ride into east wind!

Then, I enjoyed progressively riding into the wide open. You start from New York City and ride thru regular 'European' towns, a bit of countryside as well. Little by little as you get to the mid-west, you come across with these open fields of corn and wheat: your horizon already widens. And it really expands as you get to the west and far-west, riding in the desert: I guess I would have been thrilled to ride right away long distances into such wide open and deserted areas!

Eventually, it's great to end up in San Francisco and the bay area, especially Marin county.

"Ooo, I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time"

Teaming up with Gerry

2009-08-10T07:56:00.008-06:00

Riding this last week with Gerry has really been great. First as from a biking prospective, roads in California are rough and it felt safer riding them together. We also managed to alternate riding in front to get us going into the South wind that blew quite a bit along our way south in California.

But most importantly because I had a great time with Gerry, his friends and family: Donna & Dan in Sacramento, Julio & Tracy in Discovery Bay, John here in San Francisco. Many thanks to Gerry and all of his relatives.

And yesterday, we crossed the bridge we had been riding towards for exactly 9 weeks (63 days for me / 62 days for Gerry).

What a nice way for a bearded hermit to get back in touch with civilization!

Here is an overview on the map of this last week and overall trip:

View Larger Map

In summary and few figures:
- 9 weeks exactly to go from New York City to San Francisco (e.g. 63 days including rest days)
- exactly 6,500 km ridden, e.g. 4,040 miles
- 334 hours and 29 minutes on the bike
- average day stage: 103 km
- 25 flat tires
- 3 new tires
- over than 2,300 pictures taken
- population of the smallest town in which I stayed: 2
- number of States in which I rode: 12
- countless memories

The bike, the trailer and the biker feel great and they will have to carry on riding a little in the next days or weeks as it is very important not to stop at once. That's a good opportunity to visit San Francisco and its surroundings.

Thank you to everyone who supported me along this trip and indirectly supported Theophile along his other path. He still has some steps to get through but we all wish 'beaucoup de courage'.

Gros bisous à ma mascotte, Théophile.

Message for Theophile

2009-08-09T19:15:00.004-06:00

Coucou mon Theophile!

Here is a little message for you and in French... I hope you will here most of it despite the poor quality of the sound.

Bon courage mon bonhomme, bisous et à bientot!

Our San Francisco welcome committee

2009-08-09T18:48:00.008-06:00

We wanted to get to the bridge by noon. Marin county is quite bike friendly and, on a Sunday morning, it feels like a highway of bikes riding from Novato to Sausalito.

The area is hilly as well; we got slightly lost, bought a map and made it an hour late.

Our welcome committee was there, John with his camera, Julio with a sign and two bottles of Champagne. Good that we had our tuxedo-like gears on !

There we are, past the bridge, in San Francisco. We spend quite a long time enjoying the moment, drinking champagne, talking with Julio, John, even passers-by, and admiring the landscape of the Golden Gate as the fog clears away.

Done.

Three flats in Napa Valley

2009-08-09T00:03:00.010-06:00

It seems that wine tasting makes riding a little more troublesome.

As from Napa, we felt quite close to Novato where we wanted to be tonight, we took ou time riding thru the vineyards of Napa Valley. The landscape is curved with plenty little hills on which spread these rigorous straight rows of grapes. The wind blows, warm and soft, and continuously; which is one of the key ingredient of the success of these wines.

This valley has earned the reputation of producing some of the best wines in California and in all the US. The mediterranean climate makes it especially good for the vineyards to grow and it really feels like riding thru south of France as we go along. We stopped at Luna that Gerry likes especially and at Artesa for a visit of their facilities and another wine tasting.

It was around 4:00 pm when we started to head towards Novato some 25 miles / 40 km away. We got one sign wrong that got us onto a detour back towards Napa County. Then my front tire went flat and as I pulled over the side of the road, I run into a bunch of goatheads that punctured my two other tires: three flats at once!!

My tubes are wearing: I had another flat on road 37 a few miles away from Novato. It is high time that we cross this bridge.

More info:
* Paris judgement: how a British merchant spread the word about California wines

Our last pass?

2009-08-07T20:00:00.001-06:00

The landscape is still dry and flat as we need to go around the east side of the bay to reach the northern part where vineyards expands in Napa and Sonoma valleys. The pass of the day was 'John A. Nejedly' bridge, a little steep, windy and heavy traffic:

Once again the traffic was heavy and there were often no shoulder on the road, which makes our experience riding thru California one of the less enjoyable of our whole trip. This is quite of a surprise as we expected California to be rather a progressive State in this area of cycling.

But we made it to the Valley and got to Napa as the sun was going down on the hills.

Discovery detour

2009-08-06T22:24:00.011-06:00

Gerry has planned a little detour for our ride to Discovery Bay where two friends of his live, Julio and Tracy: south to Stockton, then west to Discovery bay. Interestingly the wind blew from the south in the morning, calmed down around noon and then blew from the west.

Our ride got us into an amazing area of homes developed in the so called 'Sacramento - San Joaquin river delta'. This delta where both rivers meet into a maze of canals that can lead you down stream to the San Francisco bay; or up stream to Stockton or Sacramento.

Julio and Tracy live right on one of these canals. Her sister Amy is visiting as well with Stewart.

We had a great dinner on their terrace overlooking the canal. From time to time, a boat would cruise by. Of course we also told plenty details on our ride, especially to Stewart who has been thinking of a cross-country ride for quite some time now.

Cool place, nice people and great hospitality. 'Merci beaucoup!'.

More info
* Wetlands in California

Story telling

2009-08-05T20:52:00.004-06:00

Breakfast is one of the best moment of the day: pancakes, sausage, eggs & coffee taste great before a good ride. We share our stories with the waitress and some retired old men that hang here every morning.

We had to head up early today as we wanted to be in Sacramento tonight, some 85 miles away from Chico. Some relatives of Gerry were to host us tonight and we had to make it in time. And we made it a little after 07:00pm, despite the heavy traffic on the second half of Hwy 99, the strong south wind during the whole day, the dust and drought... and two flat tires.

And our effort are rewarded by great hospitality at Donna & Dan's in South Sacramento! Great diner, great company and talks! Gerry loves to tell his stories, especially the hassle he had with Apple in Des Moines IA to tease Dan that has been working there since '92.

Showers, a bit of laundry, we should be in great shape to hit the road tomorrow again. Thanks a lot to Donna & Dan for hosting me, not to forget their dog Max.

Note: today I also breached 6,000 km ridden since I left NYC.

Riding amok

2009-08-04T20:48:00.000-06:00

Old route 99 got us down from Red Bluff to Orland, thru some dry areas with yellow grass and a few trees, thru groves with irrigation, thru pines and eucaliptus, yet with a little south-east wind in the face (the wind you notice is always in the face).

As we get to Orland, we come across with another long distance bike rider. His equipement and bike seem unsofisticated though, as if he would be going for a week-end trip.

- "Where are you heading to?" he yields at me from the other side of the road.
- "San Francisco... and you?"

He started his trip in May from Washington state and rode down along the west coast till San Diego. He's now riding up north again and wants to head to Salt Lake City... and other cities like Denver, Saint Louis, and eventually ride back home to Michigan in October.

On the back of his bike, a sign reads "bike ride for life, help prevent teen suicide". He tells us about his wife who passed away after a cancer and Angela one of his daughter who decided to somewhat follow her. He hands me out a flyer that ends with these words: "Please be a sponsor for my cause or donate to any agency that deals with children. We can make a difference. Thank you for being part of my journey"

Sacramento valley

2009-08-03T20:41:00.000-06:00

Tonight we made it to the Sacramento valley which river will lead us towards the eponym city from where the gold fever spread in 1849.

Although it does not feel yet as if we were in California from the landscape, we know now that we are thru with the Rockies and the fire smoke that we breathed today again. We are also thru with the narrow and winding road that took us from 4,500 ft down to 500 ft in the area of Redding. We are thru or at least we hope with the crazy traffic on highway 299 where we experienced in 21 miles between Montgomery Creek and Bella Vista more close cars and trucks than in 3,500 miles to get here.

Here we are in the famous central valley of California!

Make a left

2009-08-02T20:13:00.001-06:00

Remember the way? It's straight to the west and when you get to Oregon, you make a left to head south to San Francisco. That was this week in Riley. Don't miss the crossroad: there's just a store and a little post office across.

Even though I still have 329 mi / 530 km to go, it looks like I am getting closer:

View Larger Map

The bike, the trailer and the rider are doing well; and we have friends now riding with us:

Fires on the Sierra

2009-08-02T18:01:00.000-06:00

We decided to head west again towards Redding. Mcarthur could be a good destination for the day. As we got to the top of the hill where the road leads you down into a large valley, we found some kind of a 'California smog'. We hardly could see the other side of the valley where more hills were expecting us tomorrow.

As we got closer to Mcarthur, we figured that some forest were on fire. The waitress from Chatty Kathy's told us that there had been quite some storms and lightning the previous night. With the drought, some of the woods went on fire and there would be 98 of them around.

Coincidence, again!

2009-08-01T16:46:00.004-06:00

As I was riding out of Jackson, I had met with Jerry who was taking a break from his ride to San Francisco. We had talked for half an hour and had been thinking that we may meet again.

Today, I had settled my base camp in Wagon Wheel Motel for my day off. As I was riding off the motel, I come across with a long distance cyclist, all equiped in yellow. I turn back; so does he... that's Gerry just passing by in Alturas on his way to Canby.

"Hey!". We talked, exchanged ideas on how we wanted to get to San Francisco: we at least agreed that we wanted to avoid fancy ways... and just get there now. We decided to ride together the next days, an innovation for me. I am his third riding partner on his trip.

South wind

2009-07-31T16:59:00.005-06:00

Back on highway 395 heading south: after just 15 miles, I am riding in California! Not much difference as I carry on along the Goose lake that also dries out.

Yet it feels like getting real close to the destination of my long trip. After stopping in Davis Creek for a hot dog, I got back on my bike. I thought the wind was supposed to come from the west. A little south wind seems to tell me: "you aren't done yet riding to San Francisco..."

Sunrise on the desert

2009-07-30T16:39:00.000-06:00

The desert is quite chilly when you get going a little before 6:00 am. The sun just showed up above the horizon.

Silence is everywhere; real silence. I spot a coyote crossing the road a hundred yards / meters ahead of me.

There I am ready for an 85 mile / 137 km ride on Hwy 395 until Lakeview. I want o be there early enough in the afternoon to avoid the wind that picks up then; and still take the time to enjoy the unusual scenery:

On the left inside of the road, some cowboys have settled: few houses and facilities to handle their cattle at the end of a dirt road. The place is called Juniper.

Lake Abert is like an inland sea in the middle of this desert. Its northern part is drying in the sun whereas hundred of seagulls gather along the shore and cry. With the typical smell of drying mud, it feels like riding along the sea.

Wagontire café

2009-07-29T17:32:00.000-06:00

Highway 395 is lonely and streches between Riley and Lakeview where I am heading. It's a long long ride in a deserted area; no town to cross, no house in the distance, nothing over 113 mi / 181 km. Not even birds singing; the wind or coyotees howling is the most you may hear.

28 mi / 46 km south from Riley, I hit Wagontire: a place with just a café, few rooms and even an air strip. Cherry has recently taken over the place and is running it. I decided that this would make a good place to stop for the night in the middle of the desert.

She offered that I use one of the empty rooms instead of my tent; which is especially nice as the weather seemed to be stormy and windy tonight. From time to time, I hear a car darting along the highway; and then nothing. Time slowes down.

It feels great spending this evening in the middle of the desert, like on a boat in the middle of the ocean and away from everything.

"A desert road from vegas to nowhere,
some place better than where you've been..."

More info:
* Wagontire Café

Word of mouth

2009-07-28T17:32:00.006-06:00

Yesterday I stopped in the lonely gas station of Harper along hwy 20/26. As I talk with an old lady, Brian the owner of the gas station confirmed me that three girls on bicycles passed by few days ago. After Pennsylvania and Fairfield ID, we still seem to be on the same tracks.

Today after riding two passes, I 'find them' again in Buchanan. There's a little museum and gallery of art craft, right at the bottom of a downhill. As it is the only place to stop on the 58 mi / 93 km between Juntura and Burns to get a refill, I guess all bikers still brake (grrr...).

The museum looks more like an Antique shop but it's full of fun old staff. Here is my favorite, "a buffalo skull found in Malheur lake when it went dry in 1932" says the sticker.

The lady also has a guest book for people to sign and as I browse through the previous pages, I find 'Liza, Melissa and Freda: biking coast to coast'. So I investigate it and find out from another lady, a regular customer of the gas station, that she had talked to them and still had somewhere the link to their web site.

So they truly exist and that was not just a plot to get me to ride faster.

Btw info:
* By the way, I just made it to the Pacific time zone as well, that is 9 hours difference with Paris, France

'Malheur'?

2009-07-27T16:23:00.000-06:00

This eastern county is named 'Malheur', which inspires also the name of the river which valley I followed today. I guess the name was given by some French pionneers and its meaning was just forgotten to the point that in Vale, the drugstore is also named after it:

On the other end, note that even the less French speakers I have come across remember the meaning of Teton National Park.

Nevertheless for our happiness, the Malheur river has digged a canyon thru the red hills that spread between Vale and Juntura and the road winds along the river to discover cliffs and steep slopes of rocks surrounding a green valley with seldom ranches.

I wonder sometime if Indians warriors are not hiding right on the top of theses hills overlooking the road.

More info:
* Extracted from Malheur county website: "The name Malheur is French for 'bad hour'. Legend has it some French trappers and traders were in the area searching for furs. Their trip was unsuccessful and they were attacked by Indians, a portion of the party was killed and others wounded. Because of the misfortunes of their trip, the French named the river Malheur, or loosely translated, 'unhappy river'."

How cute!

2009-07-27T14:16:00.002-06:00

Riding bicycle allows to surprise quite some wild life along the road, with yet the paradox that deers don't flee with cars; but do as I pass by with my bicycle.

However, as I spend quite some time also watching the shoulder of the road on which I ride, I also see animals that fast cars would miss; snakes for instance, three so far.

Here is my morning surprise riding up the Vines Hill pass:

Since a morning in Ohio when I pulled a little too hard on the mosquito net of my tent, there had been a hole big enough to let my little finger thru. I fixed it tonight.

'Born and raised on the Oregon trail'

2009-07-26T20:36:00.006-06:00

The Oregon trail splits in multiple trails. One of the them is the so called "Goodale's cutoff" that I have been following these past days.

And there I am tonight in Oregon, at Vale, where the Oregon trail is almost a way of life.

Yet the destination of these emigrants was rather the north west of Oregon, in the area of Portland; which meant that they were not yet done. Nor I am. Here is the progress on the map:

View Larger Map

For this weekly review, the bike and the biker seem to be doing well.

Real cowboys!

2009-07-26T18:39:00.008-06:00

And cowgirls! You may be biking along Wyoming and Idaho, even on back roads, it's not that easy in the country of cowboys to come across with cowboys actually horse riding. By chance, my path came across today with the Canyon county fair.

It was early morning and families from around the county were getting there for the third and last day of this event. Exhibition of animals, music, food and... rodeo; actually junior rodeo this Sunday morning!

Laura just next to me helped me with the rules: in a limited amount of time and attempts (which depends on the category), the little calf's got to be caught. Her daughter is running in the junior girl division.

And there it goes with the various divisions:
- Senior Division: Ages 14-18
- Junior Division: Ages 11-13
- Pee-Wee Division: Ages 8-10
- Mini-Mite Division: Ages 7 and under... as young as 3 or 4 year old!

I guess you need to be born cowboy or cowgirl.

More info:
* Idaho Junior Rodeo

Just around the corner

2009-07-24T10:58:00.003-06:00

When I was in Fairfield, and this morning in Mountain Home, I heard again about these three girls riding from New York to San Francisco. Remember? They stopped in the same Sinclair gas station two days ago the lady tells me.

I was told that they would take the Interstate towards Boise, and not the nice back roads I had been planning. Nice, yet longer: my detailed map shows also a back road that runs along the Interstate for 19 miles.

That's enough to convinced me to ride the remaining 17 miles on the Interstate. There it goes for 10 miles until I get to this road end.

There's no one around to ask. I ride to another intersection and try to stop a car; the first one doesn't, the second does stop: "you just go this way, you will get to a Y crossroad and you take this one" says the lady as she points it with her left hand. "it's just around the corner here".

The road was running over a slight hill so I figured that 200 yards / meters away, I would find my corner and make a left towards the road that leads to the Interstate.

Yet passed the bump, there was just a long long road and I rode for 2 or 3 miles / 3 to 5 km before I get to a curve. The other branch of the Y is a dirt road that leads towards the hills in the background.

I guess when you live in such open spaces, you develop of different sens of distances.

Oops!... I did it again

2009-07-23T15:50:00.012-06:00

The light on Fairfield was soft as I left early this morning, quite confident that I will have my breakfast in Hill City, some 14 mi / 22 km ahead, on the way to Mountain Home.

Nevertheless when I got to Hill City, the 'city' seemed quite minimum. Oh sure, it must be hidden behind the hill, hence its name!

No one around, just cars from time to time heading fast on highway 20 in both directions. On the left side of the road, a lonely phone booth: Oh sure, they deliver!

Eventually I came across with an old man and another chap. I could at least refill my bottles. They confirmed that Hill City was just a bump in the road; although it had been bigger when he was young and breeding cattle was bigger. Fairfield which is left today with just one gas station had four at the time.

The next town was my today's destination, some 43 mi / 69 km ahead. After more than 6 weeks on the road and various experiments, I arrogantly assert that "riding is easier if you have well slept and properly eaten breakfast".

More info:
* Oops!... I did again

Small is beautiful

2009-07-22T14:28:00.003-06:00

After a good night sleeping and a proper breakfast, I felt radiant as I left Arco to Carey, just 44 mi / 71 km away: I knew that I would want to extend my trip a little further. Yet I was not too sure where I would be able to sleep tonight.

Passed the craters of the moon, Carey, Picabo ('shinning waters' in native american), I made it to Fairfield, a small town of 395 people on highway 20 on the way to Mountain Home.

I like this kind of small town out of the over-organized world that we are used to in larger cities. There's a building of the Forest Service as you get there and it invites visitors to ask for information. I went to the ranger for a campsite in Fairfield:
- "you are welcome to camp at our town park if you want"
- "do you have showers as well?"
- "no we don't... but there's an RV park with a somewhat old laundromat... you find one there... they are not exceptional but..."

And that works. I found the shower in a wooden building that looked abandoned; found also the park along a dirt road, just across from a little Church. It feels like in the former time, say when my father was "young, free and handsome", when you could go camping in the field of a farmer. I guess there were not so many people touring during their vacation.

My tent setup, I laid in the shade of a tree. A little squirrel came to investigate this new neighbor.

Adopt a highway

2009-07-21T15:23:00.006-06:00

You find it all over the US roads, at least those I have been riding so far:

And it was some kind of a mystery for the French that I am. Sure, today between Idaho Falls and Arco, there was just a long lonely highway of 66 mi (106 km), bushes and three 'buttes' as they are called.

And it's not this so called "lost river" that could help the highway feel a little less lonely. Anyhow, the Idaho Transportation Department has developed a volunteer program for groups or organisations to 'adopt' a 2 mile section of highway. By 'adopting' it is meant that the volunteers will clean their corresponding section of highway; and get their name on a sign.

All kinds of organizations adopt it to serve their community: churches, boy scouts, employees of a company, individuals... You can also decide to pay a company that will do it for you... but "c'est pas du jeu!"

My little 'mont Ventoux'

2009-07-20T18:21:00.013-06:00

This Saturday, the Tour de France 20th stage will end up on the top of the 'Mont Ventoux'. I therefore had my little 'mont Ventoux' this morning, as I took the Teton pass out of Wilson. It is 9 km long with a 6 km section of a 10% grade. Right, it does not compete with the real one! ;-)

But here in Jackson Hole, it is some kind of a little legend as many people warned me against the steepness of the slope. They even have a climb race and it's this Saturday, the day after (corrected) the Tour de France will reach the 'mont Ventoux'.

From what I was told, the best one make it in less than 30 minutes. I made it in 1h and 20 minutes... but got there before BOB... you know, BOB... my trailer!

Detailed notes:
* As I did not find that many information on this ride, I consolidate here some of my experience.

* To get to the Teton pass, there are actually two roads available, the old one closed to cars and the regular one. I therefore took the old one. The ride through the old road leads you in the middle of nature; birds are singing; the view on Jackson Hole gets better and better as you go up... you just need to spin a bit.
* The valley floor elevation is 6,234 ft / 1,900 m. Wyoming highway 22 gets you from Jackson to Wilson and then to the Teton pass (8,431 ft / 2,570 m).
* The Teton pass is 5.6 mi / 9 km away from Wilson village by the old road. The steep part is 3.7 mi / 6 km long.
* From Wilson, you can find the old road by riding the Wyo highway 22 for a little less than a mile (1,500 m) (there's even a bike path on the left side of the road). On the left, you then find a road leading to the 'Trail creek trailhead' (elevation: 6,480 ft / 1,975 m).
* Again for a little less than a mile (1,500 m), you get to a parking; in the back of the parking, there's a gate: once you pass it, you are on the old road and it gets a lot more steeper.

* As you go up, after 1.2 mi / 2 km, the steepness gets softer for a little rest. On the contrary, 0.6 mi / 1 km further, it gets tougher for few hundred yards / meters.
* Eventually the road gets to another gate and a few hundred yards / meters further, the old road joins with the new road and you get to the Teton pass.

* Generally speaking the quality of the asphalt is good for road bikes. I only experienced some gravel on the paved road after the second gate.

* Going down towards Idaho, there's only one way: the new road. It is pretty steep for about 2 miles / 3 km. I stopped several times to let my wheel cool down.

Rodeo & jetset

2009-07-19T18:31:00.005-06:00

Jackson WY was my target for this week: from what I was told by other bikers on my way, this town is some kind of a 'St Tropez' in the country of cowboys and rodeo. Stars and politicians fly into the airport just a few miles away. The national parks and outdoor activities make it attractive to many. The town is nice, well put, with plenty art galleries and outing opportunities; and quite touristy of course.

I end up this afternoon in Wilson, just a few miles further on the way to Idaho. Here it is on the map at the end of this 6th week:

View Larger Map

On the biker side, it's been the toughest week since the beginning, especially with the stage from Riverton to Dubois that worn me out. The bike & trailer seem to be doing well.

More info:
* Jackson WY
* To attend a rodeo show in Jackson: apparently, it's on Wednesday and Saturday... I missed it.

Be bear aware

2009-07-18T18:11:00.005-06:00

Good opportunity for another day off: Grand Teton National Park is just south from the renown Yellowstone and offers a magnificent landscape of mountain range:

It also hosts plenty wild life other than the many tourists that visit it during the summer. Therefore the rangers teach you in handling this wild life, especially the bears at the campground. For instance, the brochure says poetically:

"A leaf fell in the woods,
The eagle saw it,
The deer heard it,
And the bear smelled it."

'Be bear aware' it says everywhere. On my campsite, I have a dedicated 'bear box'; a big iron box rooted to the ground in which I have to put away any smelly items like food, toiletries, water bottles, trash... To be on the safe side, I even included my dirty clothes.

With Sandy my neighbor in the hiker & biker section of the campground and two other bikers, we decided to be beer aware as well.

Exit the 'Mississippi valley'

2009-07-17T15:22:00.003-06:00

It's been a few days that little by little I have been riding up the mountain. Some days, you hardly notice it but still you can read that the elevation of the towns you get to is increasing. Some others with a strong wind and some more steepness, you know it the hard way.

Nevertheless, Dubois is 6,940 ft high (2,115 m) and road 26 runs thru Togwotee mountain pass 9,658 ft high (2,944 m) very close to which the Wind river springs at the other end of this lake by the same name:

I entered the Mississippi river drainage basin more than a month ago, when I was in Pennsylvania around Curwensville. This pass marks also the limit of the 'Mississippi valley', including its many affluents like Missouri crossed in Omaha, Nebraska. This limit is known on the west side of the country as the 'continental divide'.

The upcoming rivers will not eventually flow into the Mississippi and therefore into the gulf of Mexico; but rather into the Pacific ocean. And that's another confirmation that I am now right in the middle of the Rocky mountains.

Note:
* From a biking point of view, the average steepness is less than 2% which is not that big of deal. As the road goes up and sometimes also down, the steepness is a little greater but never gets into the 10%. It's just a long way up.
* There were some road work as almost reached the top and the procedure is that bikes should be carried in the pilot car that directs traffic from one end to the other of the works. Still I managed to avoid the pilot car and rode to the top; even hide a little in the woods where the Wind river springs. Yet for the second portion of road work, down-hill, I had to load my bike and trailer in the pick-up. I wasn't happy at all and gave the poor lady driving the car a hard time about biking, freedom, lawyers, responsibility... Oops, sorry.
* On the way down, I met with Bruce and Ryan Pesch, father and son, riding up to the continental divide. Exchanged info. And they made it to Lander that same day... with the wind!

Speechless

2009-07-16T15:09:00.003-06:00

Yep, I was speechless when I reached Dubois, Wyoming; stoned by the magnificient sceneries of Wyoming as I rode along this long river, getting into the mountains up to that winter sport little town?

Or rather stoned by the front wind I rode against for more than 35 mi (50 km)? No surprise that they called this river 'Wind river'.

Into the wide open

2009-07-15T14:52:00.000-06:00

It was chilly this morning, at around 5:30, when I hit the road. Slowly but surely, the altitude is rising as the road takes me towards the Rocky montains. Wyoming offers wide spaces of prairies hardly bounded by the horizon. A dirt road crossing, some cows or horses in the fields, a ranch in the distance or few hills are most of the entertainement you get on the road.

Yet today, I knew that I was heading for long day on the road as the map showed just few towns on the way to the next important one, Riverton, some 120 miles away.

Still I had planned to stop in Powder River to take my breakfast: it seemed big enough on the map to host at least a gas station. After riding some 35 miles (50 km) it felt like reaching an oasis when I spotted the sign of a gas station in the distance. When I got there, a paper on the door read 'out of business': the next gas station is 20 mi ahead...

Eventually I found some kind of a breakfast in a small shop headed by an old lady 10 miles further. There was nothing there other than that and bunch of rusting cars. I made it to Riverton having crossed just 3 towns with at least one shop open in 133 mi (213 km).

Although the road runs through the open wide, it offers great scenery such as this canyon, Hells Half Acre,

or just past Boysen State Park,

And I bet that in the winter time, when the immensity is covered with snow and blown by the wind, there are even less tourists and crazy bike riders around. I guess inhabitants develop a sense of belonging to this infinite land of Wyoming which also translates into this humoristic sticker:

Off the road trip

2009-07-14T20:07:00.010-06:00

I was so enthousiastic about last days landscapes and encounters that I kind of forgot to take a real rest. I started to pay it on Monday; and the upcoming days are quite challenging: so Bastille day is the occasion for a holiday off the road in Casper, WY and to take a deeper look at the city.

There's this exhibition of Jorge Santos at the Nicolaysen Art Museum. Here is 'road trip with pets' for instance:

"Animals take control" mentions the museum flyer. Hum?

It feels like a truck driver

2009-07-13T17:28:00.004-06:00

I mean a real truck driver; not a wannabe truck like...

... but a truck with a real trailer, such as this one!

I have acquired some experience now riding my single wheel trailer behind my bike and it's not always that simple to handle. Generally speaking, it's nice, easy, fun. Yet in some situations, it may get a little tricky.

On the trailer, it says that the limit speed is 40 km/h. Of course, you soon want to test this limit and I did it just once, the first day. As you go fast with a heavy cargo, breaking can become quite tricky. And somehow going down steep roads becomes as complicated as going up. I would even recommend having disk brakes to enhance braking with the trailer (I don't have such brakes).

I especially feel like a truck driver when I am trying to park my bike and trailer. Try to ride backwards for a few meters and you suddenly realize the skills of a truck driver.

Say you are in the middle of the countryside and you have a sudden urge to admire the landscape while wistling. You can not just let your tricycle on the ground as you may do with a simple bike: all wheels are in line and you need to find something to hold it against which may delay your wistling for a while.

In the wind, especially side wind, the trailer gets also somewhat delicate to handle, amplifying the push that you already get on the bike itself. Sometimes, you get this side wind effect from heavy trucks running past you and it happened a few times that it pushes me out of the road onto the shoulder.

Yet the best thing with this little black and yellow trailer on one wheel is that everyone likes it. Some people driving stop to discuss it. And you can even carry some personal items with it.

More tips:
* Have disk brakes
* Wear a stronger tire on the rear wheel of the bike as it handles the weight of the biker, the weight of the trailer as well as propels the whole tricycle. I currently use (which seems to be a good combination):
- front wheel: Bontrager road warrior select slick, 26 x 1.25
- rear wheel: Michelin city, 26 x 1.4
* Get a spare tube also for the trailer; you can also get flat tire with it.

A step into the Frontier

2009-07-12T18:29:00.008-06:00

Do you remember in "Dances with Wolfes" this dialog between Kevin Costner and his superior?

Major Fambrough: You wish to see the frontier?
Lieutenant Dunbar: Yes sir, before it's gone.

As I got yesterday to Wyoming, I spotted the apparition of the 'Frontier'; not so much "the zone of land beyond the region of existing European occupation" as it does not exist anymore, rather what is left of the myth: a supermarket?

Anyhow it felt good entering the Great West this week and ride thru these new hilly and rocky landscapes that look somewhat like a movie.

Here we are now on the map, more than halfway thru now:

View Larger Map

On the bike side, 8 flat tires this week... I'm getting pretty good at changing a tube in the sun on the side of the road. I try to avoid riding in the grass or rough shoulders. I also found the spare tires I was looking for at Sonny's in Scottsbluff; and took advantage to buy 2 extra tubes and three repair kits. Be on the safe side!

More info:
* The Frontier

Tips to find a 'cool place'

2009-07-11T18:44:00.002-06:00

I mean 'my cool' type of a place. Sometimes you are just lucky and the place comes to you by some kind of a magic.

But in many American towns, it's difficult to find these places that have not yet been swallowed away from the downtown into the outskirts that you can only reach by car. Often, downtowns are almost dead and you will find most of the activity along one or two highways that get you in and out of the town.

Anyhow, to find a cool place to spend a little time around lunch and checking emails, one easy way is to google it by the name of the town + 'wifi' or 'coffee'; which I did yesterday morning.

Emporium Coffeehouse & café: I check the reviews and aside from the many praises, I read this "I guess they think this is France or something (you know little portions)". Sure, I've got to test it. And sometimes, the magic finds you again.

Ron and Sara own the place. He is finishing tiling the patio with Mike his son as I get there; yet he welcomes me as a French traveler, offers me coffee, introduces me to the Chef, the waitresses and his place. In the evening, they have a special event with a little band; as I decide to come, he invites me to join his family table.

Sure we had a very nice diner with Ron, Sara, her father, their daughters Alex and Jess, Mike and Emily his fiancée. And the table carried on growing as more friends came around... not to forget Louise the most affectionate artist I met so far ;-)

This morning, they invited me for breakfast at their home. We shared a good time chatting about food, websites, 'art de vivre'... until the beginning of the afternoon when it was time for me to take off towards Wyoming: "When (not 'if') you come to France, I will take you to good places I enjoy, like L'étoile du Berger or Monjul"

(Where are you Alex? Not on the picture... working at Emporium...)

More info:
* Emporium Coffeehouse and Café, 1818 1st Ave Scottsbluff, NE 69361 / T.(308)632 6222
* And by the way, the portions are normal. It's not about the quantity but the taste and enjoying a good time with friends. But that's just the opinion of a biker that currently burns more than 4,000 calories a day.

A welcome sight

2009-07-10T07:10:00.001-06:00

As a migrant thru the country, on the Oregon and California trails, I had been told that I should expect this famous landmark in the American West: Chimney Rock.

Already in Broadwater, the keeper of the gas station gave me a Nebraska quarter with the Chimney Rock on it. It was on the other bank of the North Platte river, past Bridgeport.

As I got to Bridgeport, the lady from the visitors bureau instructed me on the Chimney Rock: it was not just a geological curiosity; but a landmark that migrants on the trails had been expecting to signal the end of the prairies as the trails became more steep and rugged heading west towards the Rockies. It also meant that they were one third thru their journey from Missouri towards California.

The clouds were low and dark this morning when I left Bridgeport. I even expected to get some rain. As I rode towards Scottsbluff, little by little, it appeared to me in the distance thru a fine mist.

More info:
* Chimney Rock in Nebraska (apparently there would be another one in North Carolina)

'I believe I can fly'

2009-07-09T19:55:00.007-06:00

East wind is great! As great as I cursed west wind few days ago in Iowa.

This afternoon, I extended my ride initially intended to Broadwater till Brideport. I was riding fast with a nice little east wind, sometime slowing down to 30 km/h ;-)

And the scenery was just gorgeous! There were these hills in the distance on the right...

and the prairie on the left side of the road, where the North Platter river flows.

Note: so I was in a good mood to also breach 2,000 mi since I left ;-)

More info:
* I believe I can fly by R Kelly

Oshkosh

2009-07-09T10:25:00.004-06:00

Today, around 11:00, I arrived in the small town of Oshkosh; 887 people according to 2000 census. It is also the capital of goose hunting according to the city limit sign

There's also a coffee roastery that ships its products across the US and Canada, Mark Ferrari, run by Mike Piva. I had lunch there and of course an expresso.

But what's so special about this little town of Nebraska?

In Oshkosh, I am exactly half way thru my ride from New York City to San Francisco.

Most unlikely?

2009-07-09T08:05:00.001-06:00

Does getting two flat tires at the same time gives you good luck?

Anyhow when I started this morning from a campsite on the northern side of Lake Mc Conaughy (just north from Ogallala), a quite strong wind was blowing from the north, occasionally slightly against me.

After changing two tubes and one tire, I got to a small town, Lewellen, looking for a breakfast place. A lady tells me that I can go back to the gas station at the entrance of the town, "or there is this place just here that provides coffee and rolls". That will do it!

I don't know exactly when I arrived and how much time I spent there. It's an old barn, initially built to be a speechless movie theater, some one hundred years ago. It has been used for almost everything since, even a greasy body shop. Today, it combines an art gallery, a coffee place (with wifi!) where you can also have lunch. It's peaceful and as the place has been opened for just 5 weeks, mostly local people come here.

"It has something of a bike trip" told me Cindy, the lady that owns it with her brother Dennis. "I want it to be a slow place"... something of Nicolas Bouvier I presume.

More info:
* The Most Unlikely Place, 205 Main Street Lewellen, Nebraska 69147

Which way thru the Rockies?

2009-07-08T20:29:00.002-06:00

As I am approaching Ogollala, Nebraska, I need to make sure that my road thru Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon is the right one. The guy of the Motel where I stayed last night in North Platte gave me a Road Atlas which is quite detailed.

The alternative is going thru Colorado, Utah and then Nevada, riding the so called "loneliest road" that runs all the way to Reno. It would be a good opportunity to pay a visit to Lake Tahoe. And it's also 400 km shorter that my other option.

View Larger Map

Yet the north option is supposed to be less hilly as the mountains west of Fort Collins. And it would take me thru Teton National Park and a few other forests. It's probably not as hot and desert as Nevada, although a portion of Oregon between Ontario and Lakeview might be quite similar to north Nevada.

There I am in Ogollala where the roads split; one more hour to think of it as I also entered the Mountain Time zone today. My northern option thru Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon should be confirmed.

Here starts the west

2009-07-07T20:55:00.001-06:00

Historically, the 100th meridian separates the east side of the country where no irrigation is needed from the west side where it is needed. I have seen irrigation before I cross the meridian though.

Cozad is a small town right on the meridian and I went thru it today. Is it a coincidence? I have to admit still that in the 10 or 20 miles that followed I noticed some changes in the scenery, with less corn fields and already some prairies and few hills in the distance.

No surprise then that I get to North Platte in the evening, the home town of Buffalo Bill. I gave a try to stay at the camping next to his ranch; yet no shower, no running water. I am not yet that of a cowboy!

More info:
* 100th meridian
* Buffalo Bill

Note:
* When I reached North Platter, I had breached my 3,000 km ridden since I left NYC; and ridden my longest ride as well: 174 km.

Incredible Kearney !

2009-07-06T16:05:00.011-06:00

I borrowed the slogan to the Indian Ministry of Tourism. I usually don't write about the nice and spontaneous welcome I get in some places; for instance when I was offered campsite and diner as it happened in South Whitley, Indiana. Yet here is another example of incredible hospitality as I got today to Kearney, in the middle of Nebraska.

Anytime I come across with a bike shop, I check if they have the tire I am looking for: Hutchinson 26 x 1.2 Top Slick. Although they seem to be referred in US type of sizes, they are difficult to find (by the way, European sizes are easier to find for road bikes). So once again I check at Kearney Cycling. He does not have it. But as he sees that I am riding cross country, he calls right away a shop in Scottsbluffs, NE where I should be at the end of the week; and manages with the other shop to have it ordered. Nice!

Then I get to a coffee place to have a drink and check my emails. The place is definitely cool, a mix of Indian yoga, artistic gallery, bio products, and self-development activities. As I am about to pay, the lady behind me overhears my conversation with the waitress about my cross-country trip and decides to pay for me. Although I am somewhat embarrassed, there is nothing to do. Thx very much to her!

I need to find a campsite and pay a visit to the visitors bureau: the campground is out of town, south-east and I have a long day tomorrow rather north-west. The better alternative is to take a motel in town and ensure a good night sleep. As I have booked a room at the Midtown Western Inn they directed me to, the phone rings at the reception: Paty from the visitors bureau offers to pay for my room!

Last the owner of the motel pays me beer as I am finishing my diner at the restaurant just next to the motel.

Waoo! Incredible hospitality!

More info:
* Kearney Cycling & Fitness 2216 Central Ave Kearney, NE 68847
* Elements 2100 Central Ave Kearney, NE 68847
* Kearney visitors bureau

On the California trail

2009-07-05T18:40:00.007-06:00

Past Omaha, I came across with this sign that reminds us that gold-seekers migrated along part of the path that I am taking. The greatest migration in American history started at various points along the Missouri river, and among them, Omaha.

So this confirms that, if I am not yet there, I should be heading in the right direction:

View Larger Map

My estimate despite a slight change of methodology ;-) tells me that I should be 42% thru (all details day by day).

On the bike side, I was quite happy to find a spare tire in Lincoln that could well help me in case I get rough roads like gravels.

On the biker side, I need to manage more and more the trip in the long time: I had a painful muscle strain in my left calf on Wednesday that I managed by pedaling slower, with the tip of my foot pointing towards the ground. I believe that was partly the result of a bad night at a noisy campground next to Interstate 80; partly some enthusiasm as I rode a bike trail out of Des Moines.

More info:
* The legend of the California trail

To the French American friendship

2009-07-05T18:26:00.005-06:00

As I was searching for a campground in York, Nebraska, I came across with Tom in a gas station. Gas stations are like a second home to me and to plenty Americans who take their breakfast there.

However, Tom is working for the town of York; he mows the grass. He is also interested by History.
- "Thanks for helping us out during the Revolutionary war" he tells me as I explain that I am coming from France.
- "Thanks for helping us out of the second world war" I replied somewhat thinking "it always feels good the beat the English...".
- "We have close to here towns named after French, like Lafayette, Marquette..."
- "Yes and I have even seen Napoleon. But we have avenues named after Americans like Kennedy, Roosevelt..."
- "You are the first French guy I meet you know... good to meet you!"

Tom gave me a souvenir ticket from a Husker's football match at the Memorial Stadium, big stuff in Nebraska!

- "And you are travelling with just that all across the country?!" he said pointing at my little trailer. "You are some kind of a hero!"
- "Oh no, just a little crazy."

This is my gift to him and to the friendship between American and French people.

Bringing the world to Nebraska

2009-07-05T06:23:00.004-06:00

Although Omaha is more known, Lincoln happens to be the capital city of Nebraska and also has a University campus within the downtown itself, which makes it very nice to ride thru. The sport teams such as football (Huskers) or volley ball, the Memorial Stadium are some sort of a spin off from the University.

Yet yesterday when I came back a little earlier from the show, I came across this program on TV (Oops I watched TV!) by the E.N Thompson Forum. A lady, Sarah Chayes, was giving a speech about her vision of Afghanistan. Living and Working in Kandahar since 2001, she presented her point of view of what she thinks would be needed; unconventional and argued vision (if you have an hour, it's really worth it).

Let's put it this way: although the city seems lively and pleasant to ride thru, I did not expect to find that interesting a program so far west in the plains of the mid-west (I mean, that we do not get on French TV...).

More info:
* Speech of Sarah Chayes at E.N Thompson Forum in March 4th '09
* E.N Thompson Forum

Biased comment: so a University is not just a place to go on strike and play revolutionaries. It can be also a forum where you learn, you exchange ideas and you think. Hum?

And here is the trouble maker

2009-07-04T21:59:00.002-06:00

It was just a little challenging to attend such a show in the Lincoln Memorial Stadium: two comedians opened it and then came Larry the cable guy.

As the show went on, from one comedian telling jokes to the next one, I was dragged into more western English accent and humor. I laughed at the first one and did not understand a single joke of the last one tonight star.

But all Nebraska people here seemed to enjoy their July 4th event.

Tempest in a teapot

2009-07-03T13:03:00.001-06:00

As I arrived in Lincoln NE, I overheard in several occasions this discussion about the regular July 4th fireworks being moved to July 3rd, because of a Cable Guy giving a big show at the Memorial Stadium, home of the Nebraska Huskers.

Well, there were storms in the evening, the July 3rd fireworks were canceled and I was glad to have a motel for my July 4th break.

Three bridges for a day

2009-07-02T19:51:00.011-06:00

Everyone has his daily little concerns. For you it may be to meet the deadline of this memo that you have to hand out to your client. In my case, I was concerned this morning by works on bridges. It may sound somewhat odd and from another time.

From Griswold IA to Omaha NE, road 92 runs across number of rivers and of course the bridges need to be maintained from time to time. Yet in the country where car is king, a detour of 5 or 10 miles is not an issue.

I came across with signs "road closed" but carried on: before taking a detour, I want to give the shortest way a chance. It's the third time since I left NYC that I come across with works on bridges. Two days ago, I could not cross the remaining 30 meters which forced me to take a several mile detour.

Yet it went quite well today with the two bridges I had to cross as they had built a temporary facility in dirt. And I was quite happy not to ride the extra 10 miles!

Yet the most exciting bridge was definitely the third one, an elegant pedestrian bridge across the Missouri, which also signs the border between Iowa and Nebraska.

The nicest bridge I've come across so far allowed me to enter Omaha, Nebraska.

More info:
* Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge

Are your riding the Ragbrai?

2009-07-02T13:21:00.006-06:00

I had not really heard of it until I got away from larger cities such as Iowa City or Des Moines. Yet in almost all the small towns I go thru, I am asked that question.

The Ragbrai is an annual tour across Iowa and in most towns, this is the only occasion to see a bike rider; 10,000 to be more precise. At the same time, as I get to the western side of Iowa, on road 92, you can ride 35 km (24 mi) admiring the large open and hilly landscape and not going thru a town.

From time to time, the main road crosses dirt road; a pickup truck is easily visible in the distance by the dust it raises on its way. You can also come across with a house, most likely a farm.

Even some birds do not seem to be used to seeing cyclists around. From time to time, one of them flies right above me, screaming rather than singing as if it was warning the other birds of something strange on the road.

More info:
* The Bike league
* Bike Iowa

Most famous cowboy

2009-07-01T15:26:00.003-06:00

Hey poor lonesome cowboy, I left your hometown this morning.

He was rather riding horses than bicycles. He was born here in Winterset, Iowa. The main street has been called after him, John Wayne, and you may even want to visit this tiny house where he was actually born.

Talking of celebrities: I rode very close to Dixon, Illinois where Ronald Reagan was born. A bike trail has been called after him. Whereas you can find plenty birth places of famous people around the US, did you notice that their death place almost always end up somewhere around Bel Air?

Talking of Bel Air, I heard that Mickael Jackson would have died. Did the news got thru to you despite the so many things taking place around the world?

More info:
* Winterset, Iowa

Where is the next 'Feria'?

2009-06-30T15:10:00.001-06:00

Of course it's a State capital, so you have a Capitol, a business district, a University, nice parks and bicycle trails, nice bridges across its eponym river, and even a State flag and city name that both seem almost French: Des Moines.

Yet the real attraction is the State Farmground.

Although it was not active, I rode thru the barns for the different sorts of cattle: you can hardly imagine how this large market can feel when filled with live animals and people.

Not to forget that it must be also quite festive as just next to the market, there's a loop for stock car racing and the usual eats & drinks. I'm looking forward to next opportunity to see one live.

Let's go west then.

More info:
* Iowa State Fair

Gone with the wind

2009-06-29T14:01:00.009-06:00

Or rather against the wind: I left Amana this morning, with a slight west wind that got stronger and stronger as I rode thru the morning.

Amana was established as a colony around 1850 and it gathers today 7 Amish villages. Yet, whereas some Amish people make very little use of technologies such as car, sometimes electricity... and dress in a traditional way, the Amana Colonies look rather like a traditional village of Europe, with some old houses in the center and regular houses the back streets.

You can even drink a very decent coffee and browse Internet thanks to their wifi connection. On the week-end, it gets a little touristy. It's a good purpose for a bike ride from Iowa City, especially if you can take advantage of the west wind to come back.

Yet for the little girl I know that would enjoy dressing like a traditional Amish, you'll have to find another Amish settlement.

More info:
* Amana colonies

Nico is back on the bike

2009-06-28T20:22:00.005-06:00

Lance, are you really?

Hey Lance! It's my third week on the bike and I did not see you so far. In several bike shops, I saw this little sign though. I guess you are getting ready for this ride in that little remote country whereas the real adventure is here!

Lesson #4: don't push too hard, take your time
After three weeks biking, I start to build some experience on a longer distance ride. Over a few days, it is fairly easy to push yourself a little harder; but at the beginning of this week, I started to feel concerned with a pain I had behind my right knee. By adapting my way to pedal (softer, spinning more), drinking a lot, I think I managed it so far. Although I have ridden along 6 states ans more than 1,200 mi (2,000 km), I am just 32% done and still have to ride thru 6 states.

Tonight I stay in Amana, an Amish colony just west from Iowa City in Iowa. This ends my progression for this week:

View Larger Map

A day off (the bike)

2009-06-27T14:55:00.013-06:00

Yet I had to work a little on my bike: a leak yesterday (which made me realize that one of the spare tube I had did not fit my tire), my rear tire ruined last Tuesday... I had to find some parts in Iowa City. And the town is quite pleasant to walk thru.

Despite many towns I have been thru, downtown is quite lively, thanks to its University and student population. You can find squares or streets with people walking along, 'cafés' the way the French like them, and bars of course!

How about this beer I had never heard of? Fat Tire. On their website, they offer to trade your car against a bicycle!

Navigating the Mississippi river

2009-06-26T20:25:00.000-06:00

The Mississippi river drainage basin is somewhat a large "valley" between the Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains. I entered it around Curwensville in Pennsylvania: that was actually the Ohio drainage basin that then flows into the Mississippi river.

It's been quite a ride since as the "valley" spreads across 40% of the US territory. No doubt that it was a greater challenge at the time of the pioneers: Zadok Cramer wrote then one of the first travel guides to help people navigating the Ohio river, find the right settlement spots. The first edition of the Navigator was issued in 1801 and it got so popular that 12 editions followed in 25 years to enrich it and correct it.

Before getting to Moline in Illinois, I crossed the Rock river, one of the many affluents of the Mississippi river. Worth waking up early, isn't it?

Of course, as you ride along the Mississippi river, you have to get a picture of one of these traditional paddle boats (by the way, the bicycle trail in Moline is very nice): just a proof that it's actually the Mississippi river.

Across from the Mississippi river is Davenport in Iowa, linked by a few bridges and a dam that controls the flow of the river:

More info:
* The Navigator by Zadok Cramer, the actual text
* Mississippi drainage basin
* Ohio drainage basin

Note: tonight, I eventually reached Iowa City after a ride of 97 mi, my longest since I left.

Interstate 80

2009-06-25T19:29:00.000-06:00

Another one that runs from New York (almost, it starts 4 miles away in New Jersey) to San Francisco. I have so far been traveling along I-80, yet not on it as "non motorized vehicles are not allowed".

Tonight, I was discussing with Tim my expected itinerary thru the next states and especially the Rockies. Tim is a former truck driver, with a good load of experience of the road. The "great salt flat" west of Salt Lake City is not a good idea to ride thru. Even with a truck, he would be especially careful in case in gets a flat tire. Tim is also projecting a long bike ride. It could have been this year; may be next year.

Though Interstate 80 runs thru the salt desert and I know that our routes will most probably split as we get further west. By the way, we met and crossed today for the first time.

More info:
* Interstate 80
* Great Salt Lake Desert

The Old Faithful

2009-06-24T17:37:00.007-06:00

Am I suddenly pulling you 1,300 mi (2,000 km) ahead of this trip, to the Yellowstone National Park where the most renown geyser regularly throws its hot water and smoke into the air? Nope.

Here is a little diversion from my daily stories that takes us back in time, 23 years back: in the middle of Illinois, just North East from Peoria, Metamora is a little town where my American family leaves. With Greg, Cindy, Natalie, Monica and almost Valerie, I had then the chance to travel across the mid-west, from Utah, thru the Yellowstone National Park, Mount Rushmore, the Bad Lands, (Wall Drug as well!)... back to Illinois.

Today, we manage to re-unite again as they drove from Metamora to meet me in Ottawa. We talked about the good old time when we had been enjoying traveling across some of the country together.

And we manage to re-unite every 10 years or so; not as often as the eruptions of the Old Faithful though.

More info:
* The Old Faithful geyser
* Peoria IL is often referred as "mainstream America": a little more about it.

Note:
* By the way, I breached today 1 thousand miles ridden since I left New York City.

Matter of time

2009-06-23T14:58:00.001-06:00

Today was a very special day on my bike trip, that I should experience only three times along my way: I lost one hour. As the country is rather big (this, I really start to understand it), it is divided in four time zones. And I just switched from the Eastern time zone to the Central time zone.

The interesting aspect is that it did not happen as I crossed the border between Indiana and Illinois; it happened within Indiana, leaving Jasper county and entering Newton county.

Hum, let's look on the map a little closer. Counties are more or less square-like shapes. The county right south from Newton country, Benton county, is in the Eastern time zone whereas Newton county is in the next time zone, the Central time zone.

When you have only this to think of as you are pedaling thru the fields, you imagine that there could be some kind of a political statement there. First, a county can decide on its time zone, which reminded me that each county has its own Court and is an important component in the making of the US democracy. Then, Newton county decided to stick with Illinois time and not Indiana time.

As I rode thru, and that was not just the effect of the heavy sun today, I noticed that the fields were getting even larger and I saw large dairy farms like never before. Of course, I am getting to the wide open fields of Illinois and its mass production of cereals!

I crossed the border from Indiana to Illinois and got into a small village by the name of Hopkin Park. It looked like a rather poor neighborhood. As I rode by, I waved hello to these peasants working in their fields:

More info:
* After a quick check on 'What time is it in Indiana?', it looks like the proximity of Chicago attracted some of the northern counties on the border with Illinois to use the Central time zone.
* Counties in the US

Our daily breakfast

2009-06-22T13:40:00.001-06:00

As I ride quite a bit, an ideal start of the day is to ride around 20 km and stop for a good breakfast in a place where I could get a 'Lumber Jack'. That's at least how they call it New York but I've seen it also called 'Big B'. Essentially it's few pancakes, the big thick american ones with maple syrup, sausage, eggs and you can add coffee and orange juice.

Unfortunately, I don't get to find it each and every morning as I had it this morning. I stopped in Silver Lake and at the crossroad was that good place "Kieffer's Iron Skillet".

Some local people have their breakfast there; have a talk before heading to work. And it tastes the good old food of the countryside, where the pancake are twice as wide and thick as what you would get in New York.

At the end of each table, against the wall, there's a little wooden case with a booklet: on the cover, it reads "Our daily bread". I pick one and open it. Each day has a page so I open it on June 22nd and read:

"Versailles was made the capital of France by Louis XIV in 1682 and remained the capital (except for a short time) until 1789 when it was moved back to Paris. [...]"

Oh you were expecting me here today; I guess we had to meet. It carries on explaining how Louis XIV was difficult to access whereas God invites His people openly to come to his throne.

No direct information about the church issuing the booklet. Yet the coincidence was amusing enough for me to take this little "daily bread" booklet with me on my journey.

A milestone on Lincoln highway

2009-06-21T17:13:00.006-06:00

As I rode towards downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, I came across several times with memorial signs of the Lincoln Highway. On the Harrison Street Bridge, a milestone invited me to my weekly status on the way to San Francisco:

Let's look at it a little closer: the Lincoln Highway is the first coast-to-coast highway originally established in 1913 and it would link New York City (Time Square) to San Francisco (Lincoln Park). In Fort Wayne, the milestones shows that New York is 724 mi (1,165 km) away whereas San Francisco is 2,660 mi (4,280 km) away.

But of the I do not plan to ride on the steps of the Lincoln Highway as it runs thru southern states such as Colorado, Utah, Nevada that are not on my projected itinary.

Nevertheless and according to this milestone, San Francisco is 3,384 mi (5,445 km) away from New York City. As a comparaision, my estimate with GoogleMaps on my projected itinary makes San Francisco 3,100 mi (5,000 km) away from New York City; still a little shorter.

The original Lincoln Highway had to wind quite a bit around the country and it had been realigned in many places to shorten it.

Nevertheless, tonight I stay in South Whitley, a little west from Fort Wayne, which ends my progression for this second week:

View Larger Map

So eventually, according to my definite benchmark Googlemaps, I should have ridden 1,080 km (671 mi) and I would still have 4,000 km (2,486 mi) to go; that's roughly 20% done.

Yesterday I had to take care of the bike (realign some breaking pads, look foor tires I still haven't found). Today, I started to take care of the biker as I feel a little pain behind my right knee.

"Qui veut aller loin ménage sa monture"
(if you have an equivalent in English for that, Claire?)

More info:
* My detailed mileage day after day
* Everything about the Lincoln
Highway
* The Official Lincoln Highway Association

Not just a park, an open church

2009-06-21T09:12:00.001-06:00

In the center of Fort Wayne, Freiman square is both a square and a nice park, with a Calder sculpture on one end.

Yet on sunday morning, at around 10:30 am, it also becomes a church where Pastor Ron Bodendorf has been offering prayers, hot dogs and soda pops for 7 years. When I rode in, they were also putting away the equipment of a little band that had been playing.

Intriguing enough, I talked to Pastor Ron and some of his folks helping him. They offered me to share some food with them and, as he did it for this young man coming to him, Pastor Ron gave a word of prayer, wishing me a safe and sucessful trip to San Francisco.

No riding today

2009-06-20T17:57:00.006-06:00

"It is found again.
What? Eternity.
It is the sea,
Gone with the sun."

from 'Eternity' (Arthur Rimbaud)

On the road

2009-06-19T16:24:00.008-06:00

We played hide & seek today, the rain and I. It was expected around 03:00 am but I only heard it come around 05:00 am, still in the distance. I was counting the delay between the lightning and the sound to evaluate the distance of its rumbling advance (number of seconds x 300 m = estimate for the distance of the storm).

As hail was expected, I had been recommended to set my tent under a tree. But with lightning, it's not that wise... What a dilemma? I folded everything and found a hard shelter to finish my night on a bench. I was already on the road indeed.

So the rain did not get then and when I escaped at around 08:00 am, I spent my morning in some kind of a race against it, trying to catch up with the blue sky in the distance.

Got caught a little before 11:30 am, on road 613 between Leipsic and Continental. Not much though. And after lunch, I was on the road again, I mean THE road:

There I was, a few decades later, on the steps of the beat generation, reading Jack Kerouac in one hand, steering my bike with the other hand and declaiming 'On the road':

"The air was soft, the stars so fine, the promise of every cobbled alley so great, that I thought I was in a dream."

Except that this road 66 is just a State road and not the mythic US Route 66 that for the most part does not exist anymore. It would not even run thru Ohio, nor Indiana where I ended up tonight.

More info:
* Jack Kerouac
* Quotes of 'On the road'
* US Route 66

Strawberry fields forever

2009-06-18T16:57:00.011-06:00

And not just strawberries, corn and wheat as well.

After few days in Ohio, it gets pretty obvious that the road is flatter and straighter. A quick look at a map shows how suddenly the roads get orientated east to west, north to south, as you cross the border from Pennsylvania to Ohio. As the land gets flatter, the fields get bigger and so do the farms, to the extent that the most modern ones may slightly look like a chemistry plant.

This little house along the road told me that the west wind can be pretty strong.

The weather forecast is talking of hail storm for tonight. Yet the end of the afternoon has been sunny and the sky has cleared. But "everything is possible, we're in Ohio!"...

I guess this is just an invitation to even wider spaces (wilder?),
"Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to
Strawberry Fields..."

Think positive

2009-06-17T16:51:00.005-06:00

Rain is good for the green fields of Ohio.

Still it rained quite a bit today which gave me the opportunity to try some of the equipment I had plan to cope with rain. The outcome is
1. Wet,
2. Eventually, the solution remains the pancho, not techy but efficient.

This mmorning, the weather forecast was about rain for the coming days in Ohio. Just like sailing, you need to handle the weather as part of your trip. There is no storm that lasts forever; but half an hour is already long considering the quantity of water you can get here on your head.

At a local level, storms can be quite sudden. The sun may break thru the clouds but it may still be pouring with rain. It may stop suddenly for 20 seconds and start again. Weird!

When I arrived at Country Stage Campground, I was welcome and invited by a nice bunch of campers to have diner with them. Richard and his wife were giving their annual diner there: a Thanksgiving kind of diner in June with plenty carbohydrate to better ride in the rain tomorrow.

More info:
* Country Stage Campground, Rd. 1031, Nova OH

The enlighted rider

2009-06-16T18:43:00.008-06:00

Road 224 crosses Ohio East to West in an almost straight line. As I was ridding, I noticed in the distance the silhouette of an unusual bike rider, on a "recumbent" as they call it. As I get closer, I can see his many bags on the rear of his recumbent. He must be a traveler:

- Hey! Where are you going?
- Colorado! And you?

We stopped and talked for a while. He was not only the first long distance rider I came across with, he is certainly the one who has ridden the longest distance I will ever come across with: he has crossed the US around 15 times so far!

His name is Hans, Reverend Hans Myors. He leaves in Georgia, 4 months a year and spends the other 8 months on the road, riding thru America, going from places to places, from churches to churches. He speaks enthusiastically of his life on the road.

Yet no time to get into the mystery of his ministry: he has to be in Colombus in two days, which is leading him south from road 224. Our roads split there. We carry on our trips at each other respective pace.

More info:
* His website: www.pedalprayers.org
* More specifically, his various trips
* And advices on bike touring

We're closed

2009-06-16T18:01:00.006-06:00

Riding thru Youngstown OH reminds me of this ads once published in Seattle, a long time ago, when the city was depressed: "Would the last person who leaves Seattle please turn out the lights".

I was just looking for a breakfast this morning, riding thru downtown Youngstown. From a distance and apart from the road which was in a very poor state, it looked like any other downtown, with high buildings to give it the look and feel of a place for business.

I was even a little excited as this was meant to be the biggest city I visit since I left NYC a week ago. Yet when I got to the main avenue, all shops seem to be closed; or rather seemed to have been closed for a long time.

In Pennsylvania, I have already been thru some depressed towns like Hazleton or New Castle yesterday. But it was not as depressing as Youngstown this morning.

It's 9:00am, there are very few people in the streets and sure they don't look like business people heading to work in a bank. I find one place that look like a restaurant: the room is dark and filled with empty tables. At the counter, the waitress is talking the only presumed customer. They don't serve real breakfast, the English type of breakfast you enjoy before biking for a day.

Although they tried to direct me to another place, I never found it. And I took the road towards the south. A guy I talked to in a gas station explained me that the town had been great in the 50's with a good mix of cultures and communities. The steel industry was strong then and it was known as the Steel Valley which extends between Cleveland, OH and Pittsburg, PA. The steel business has moved out of Youngstown. And so has the other businesses; they went south of Youngstown where you can get a decent breakfast.

As I was riding south, I came across with this group of Pro Life, chaplet in hands, praying in loud voice along road 7.

More info:
* Youngstown
* Steel Valley Authority

Hello Ohio!

2009-06-16T10:56:00.004-06:00

Here I am half a mile past the border of Pennsylvania and Ohio. There was not even a sign to mention it, probably because I was ridding the bike trail that runs from New Castle to Lowellville.

This monday evening, this nice little town hosts a "typical american car show" as it was recommended to me by another bike rider: music from the 50's, food and drinks, and a gentle crowd walks thru the field paved with fancy cars.

Yet it was around around 7:00pm and I needed a place to camp. I checked with the local Police and they let me throw my tent on the field by the fire department: tonight I will sleep in Ohio.

Cumming's candy shop in Butler

2009-06-15T21:43:00.001-06:00

Time has stopped at Cumming's candy shop. Almost. Already from the outside, it looks slightly different from regular shops; attractive. Tom is the third generation owner; Jason helps me an expresso and a muffin.

That's a real expresso like it's usually difficult to find them in the US! The beans are roasted in Pittsburg, in the traditional american way; I mean slightly more than what we usually roast them back in France.

The candy has been established in 1903 and was last remodeled around the 40's. It's a little dark; you can seat in the second half of the shop on dark wooden benches facing each other apart from a table.

It originally started as a candy shop until after the war, you started to get soda and ice cream. For more than 10 years, you can also drink coffee.

Yet the most exciting piece is the huge mechanical cashier machine. It seats on the side of the candies and Jason told me that from time to time, Tom still runs it.

More info:
* Cummings Candy and Coffee, 146 N Main Street, Butler, PA 16001 T.(724) 287-3287

Scary figures along the road

2009-06-14T11:36:00.021-06:00

Last Wednesday, that one almost scared me...

Yet today I've been looking at other figures: this is exactly the 7th days that my ride towards San Francisco has started and I took this Sunday off (biking) to reconcile some facts (and to rest).

View Larger Map

I have ridden more than 700 km (440 mi) in a week; yet when I compare it to the distance I should have ridden according to Google Maps (544 km / 340 mi / option: 'walking'), it looks like I have ridden roughly 150 km (90 mi) that are not "west efficient". Hum, scary figures?

In other words, I estimated to 5,100 km my trip from NYC to San Francisco. If I apply this first experience, it would rather take me 6,700 km. Hum, hum...?

Let's think of that while I do my laundry.

Of course, I got lost a few times. And there's the distance to go and get back from the place where I camp (15 km today, one way!).

Yet a closer analysis day by day outlines that the back roads prove to be inefficient in my progression towards the west.

Hum... I guess you're right Jim:
"There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees"
(from 'The Trees', The Rush)

More info:
* BicyclePA: roads nice to ride and indicated along the way. I took road V but I can't manage to get hold of this PDF map (their ftp thing seems weird...)

Bikers in Kittanning

2009-06-13T11:26:00.000-06:00

It's apparently not just a tradition from Daytona beach to have bikers gathering. On the week-end, it is already pretty obvious that they are more numerous on the road. When I stopped for lunch in this lost Deli next to Burnside, I already came across with some of them.

The street along the river of Kittanning was closed for their gathering: Harley's mostly but not only. It's a whole business in this little and quiet city, 40 miles north from Pittsburg, PA.: some are trying to sell their bike; you can buy accessories, t-shirts, food, beer and get tatooed on the spot.

As a biker myself, I still notice that the profile of the biker is very different whether the bike has an engine or not.

Routing strategy thru Pennsylvania

2009-06-13T11:13:00.004-06:00

Lessons #3: back roads are too winding and their maps are too uncertain to be biking efficient

For sure, ridding back roads is more enjoyable as there are fewer cars and they allow to have nice views on the countryside of Pennsylvania. Moreover they offer the proof that McDonalds and Starbucks have not yet reached every corner of that country. Neither Internet, nor wireless phones, as people often argue it there.

Yet at the same time, they are difficult to rely on as they are cut by numbers of smaller roads; their name or their direction change whereas it doesn't really show on the map.

In other words, I got lost once again and I even felt that I couldn't get out of a maze where roads were winding in every directions and people were difficult to understand.

Anyhow, Pennsylvania network of roads seems to have been designed in a very European and old fashioned way. I try to think how difficult it must have been then, when the pioneers first travelled thru Pennsylvania, thru the woods, the hills, crossing creeks and rivers.

Dam(ned) it!

2009-06-12T10:34:00.000-06:00

Road 192 runs smoothly in some kind of a valley that leads almost to State College, the town where the Pennsylvania State University was settled in 1855. And this morning, past one shower, the sun came out and it was a fine pleasure to let the bike go its way along this road that even got less busy after Center Hall.

Yet something somewhat went wrong when getting to State College. My front tire seemed to have a new leak and I had a hard time stopping while ridding a steep downhill on a quite busy road. Pum-up to make it go a little further. Heading then to Philipsburg, I could not find better way than road 322 which turns into a busy expressway for several miles. It is not formally forbidden to bikes; yet it's a lot less enjoyable to ride on the side of the road with cars passing by.

After fixing my tire at a gas station and exiting Philipsburg, I mistook a road and I was back in Philipsburg... Damned it !

I decided to ask my way to a family standing in front of their house. Tim and Judy where very helpful to explain me the way to Curwensville. As we talked a little, Tim got quite excited when he learnt that I was ridding to San Francisco: he offered me to have a word of prayer to wish me a safe trip; which we had with his wife on the side of the road.

Back on the road: up the hill, find the barn, then the church, make a left... no this is wrong come back... there is the road to Curwensville and its dam where the camp site is located.

Just 12 miles to go, it shouldn't be long now to get to the dam. But in Curwensville I took the wrong side of the lake that avoids the dam. Damned it!

Eventually the proper way offers a pretty steep hill to climb up and down into the recreation area; I still can't find the camp site. Did I miss a road on the right? Damned dam!

More info:
* Philipsburg seemed a depressed city
* Curwensville

In the very middle of Pennsylvania

2009-06-11T09:05:00.001-06:00

I just crossed the middle of my map where it folds; and looking north and south, I am in the very middle of this almost rectangle state. Few miles before I got to Rebersburg, I saw this sign and came across with a little kid heading back from town on a little trailer pulled by a poney.

In Rebersburg, the lady who keeps the grocery store lives in Lavonia, a village I went thru right before the middle of the map. She tells me about these three girls she just had for lunch an hour ago. They are students and they also ride bicycle from NYC to San Francisco. It 's a highway of bicycle here!

Still these girls dropped the opportunity to spend the night by a remote cabin that Louis J. Peachey, an Amish entrepreneur, has few away from the town. He runs a quite big factory that manufactures wood pallets and I meet him in his office. We talk. He draws me a map; explains me the way to his cabin.

There's a lot going on here! On the way, I come across with the setup of a consignment auction to take place on Saturday. Quilts, crafts, oak & pine furniture, tack building supplies, trees, shrubs & other nursery items, lawn furniture... everything is to be auctioned for the benefit of hospital bills.

I park my bike against a house, next to a window. Sara is cleaning it, getting the room setup. She tells me more about the auction.
- I was told that Amish food is very good and I should test it. Where can I find any?
- We'll be serving food here in this room on saturday
- Sure, but I'm travelling and I'll be gone by then. Any shop or restaurant ahead of this road?
- Don't know... here, we'll be serving pizza, burgers and french fries...

More info:
* Centre Pallets LLC, Louis J. Peachey, 118 Pallet Dr Rebersburg PA 16872 (814) 349 8693
* Amish in Pennsylvannia

Encounters in Lewisburg

2009-06-11T08:56:00.001-06:00

As I was going thru Lewisburg, I saw this bike shop and stopped to get a new spare tube. I also wanted to check for break pads; although I don't really need new ones now, it's not necessarily easy to find the right shape and quality that won't melt on the wheel when you break hard, with the trailer and it' already warm outside.

The shop keeper goes thru a bunch of boxes and mostly come across with used pads. He gives them to me:
- Keep them in case, they may help you.

As I come out, the guy next door looks at my trailer and we start to talk; trip, bikes, trailer... He welcomes me in his shop and offers me a drink
- No just get it, it's for your cause.

His name is Chris. We talk about Bone Marrow Donation. He tells me about growing his hair and cutting them from time to time to make wigs for those people going thru cancer treatment. That's his cause.

More info:
* Corner Pizza & Deli, 225 Market street Lewisburg PA17837 (570) 524 2158
* Lewisburg

Ho Butt !!

2009-06-10T19:42:00.005-06:00

This is the local way to say "hey buddy !!"; the red neck way as I was told.

As I was ridding along Susquehanna river towards Danville, looking around for a campground, I found a very welcoming place in Jeff's garden to throw my tent; and he even offered me to take a shower!

His friend Jerry is here as well. They're both big fans of jetskis and work on one of them, fixing the engine. They buy a jetski there, some parts over there, fix them, ride them on the river, sell them back. It could almost be a business.

They told me about "red neck" type of people as they call themselves, a modernized type from the north: laid back, easy going, like to fish and hunt a little in the woods; they enjoy drinking bears while listening to country music, living in the countryside. If I got it right, further into the woods than "red neck" is called "hilly belly".

We spent our time in the garage around mechanical parts. They showed me this hydrogen generator that they have plugged onto their car engine. It's saving gas by half according to their own experiment: and it feels so good to beat the system and the big oil companies!

Many thanks to their "red neck" hospitality !!

More about country as recommended by Jeff & Jerry:
* Don't take the girl by Tim McGraw
* Old red by Blake Shelton

Note: this post was written while seating on a quad in Jeff's garage and talking to Jerry and Jeff. Very cool guys!!

Up & down

2009-06-10T18:53:00.011-06:00

Had a hard time to get up today; a hard time as well to get down on my bike seat. Took a run downhill from the campground to Jim Thorpe downtown.

Exiting this once coal mine city is a long way up the hill thru the curves, sweating in the morning sun. Little up, little down and thru the countryside,

... thru the woods,

... and thru this small town of Mainville.

And there are still a few hills to ride up and down as I go west thru the Apalachian Mountains.

I found my way in Nazareth

2009-06-09T17:39:00.000-06:00

Of course I could as well have been to Bethelhem,

but I chose to head for Nazareth as I felt that I could find there a mean to communicate with beyond (the Atlantic obviously). And at Nazareth, this nice Café Deli had free wifi.

If you should juge a place by visiting its bathroom, no dout that it ranks #1 in the vicinity; and the food is good; and the wifi is free; and the people are helpful.

I was then heading for Tamaqua; still a long way from Nazareth where I had stopped to grab a sandwitch. As I was talking with the owner on the best way to head for Bath, he suggested me to rather go to Jim Thorpe. It was a little shorter distance and I was getting late. And the place was more interesting to visit. And when I arrived in Jim thorpe, I was happy to have followed this local advice.

More info
* Copiers Inc. Café Internet Deli, Ph: (610) 365 8459
* Pennsylvania: The Keystone State
* Jim Thorpe PA, the coal mine city, or one of in the area

Personal note to the owner of the place:
* I forgot to take a picture of you and your place; if you send it to me at nicointheus (at) gmail.com, I will publish it (400 x 300 minimum)

Lost in transportation

2009-06-09T12:21:00.004-06:00

Lesson #1: A road atlas is not detailed enought to get your way without the highways.

I will have to buy a map for each state as I get along my trip. Therefore I was a little lost around Newark. I asked my way few times, also went in some wrong paths; it therefore made my way longer than it should have been, may be 20 more km.

As I stopped nearby a Fire Department, looking at my map for few minutes, a firewoman came out to help me. She's nice and enthousiastic. Her name is Tony and she has ridden across the US with her motocycle, in 6 days. She said that she took her time and enjoyed. So she puts me back on my way, "it's gonna be hilly".

That's right: as I move in-land, the road starts to go up and down, as I cross the green countryside of New Jersey. Little houses, some of which look like farms; forest, small prairies, on this sunny day, I now value the rain we had for so many weeks.

Lesson #2: When a rather sophisticated woman driving a powerfull SUV tells you "it's pretty hilly ahead", it is !

Lost again again, at a crossroad, I ask this lady. She shows me the way to Hackettstown. But right, after riding 90 km, it is hilly !

More info:
* Went thru Morristown
* Stayed at Stephen State Park

For the anonymous truck driver

2009-06-08T20:00:00.001-06:00

Getting out of the industrial area of Jersey City is not that easy when you just ride a bike. You have to take two iron bridges with no sidewalk or bike lane and the flow of cars and trucks is a little heavy this monday morning.

The first bridge has three lanes so it works out pretty well as cars and trucks leave the right lane and use the 2 others. Yet the next one is just 2 lanes and I am a little worried to see so many vehicles coming along. Behind me there's this big white truck. I can see him in my side mirror. Hum... And I notice that the driver is not trying to come over me. On the contrary, he has turned on his warnings and drives at my speed, protecting me from the flow. So cool !

When I exit the bridge, I make a right on the first exit. So does he. We get to a traffic light and I wave at him to thank him. He's a big black guy, my then guardian angel on that road. Many thanks to him.

More info:
* Two bridges to cross the water

Take a last look at the wild side

2009-06-08T19:00:00.001-06:00

With a bike, a trailer and its cargo, crossing the Hudson river towards New Jersey can be a bit of a challenge. Subway? Bridge? After a last cup of coffee with Rachel at her home,
- Bye bye
- Have a safe trip
- Meet me in San Francisco with Angela...
I have chosen to head to 39th street where boats can take you across to New Jersey. Many people use it every day to come and work in Manhattan.

The lady drives pretty fast down the Hudson towards Paulus Hook, nearby Liberty State Park. On the New Jersey bank, this park offers a nice view on Elis Island, the Statue of Liberty and on the other side: the financial district of Manahattan.

I am ready to take the road. I am going west.

More info:
* Ellis Island

Base camp, D-1

2009-06-07T20:42:00.011-06:00

There are plenty projects going on here. We are at Skyloft where I initially settled in New York and Rachel welcomes me.

Thomas carries writting his book about innovation. Plenty pages are spread on the walls of the loft. The nineth rule of innovation says: "you'll never always be around". Right!

Rachel is being creative as well !

Last day to get ready, packing, planning the next few days... And I need to give a try to the whole system, bike, trailer and cargo; so with Mickael (better known as Micky Picky), we go for a quick ride in New York.

And here it is in motion:

Bike, trailer & cargo

2009-06-03T08:37:00.009-06:00

As the pioneer would ride the Midwest, pulling their carriage filled up with their belongings, here are my bike, my high-tech trailer and my cargo:

Among other things:
* Tent, sleeping bag, flat mattress
* Clothes for biking and off-bike
* Few tools
* Camera, netbook
all packed in dry bags.

And just for the pleasure (unfortunately I am not yet sponsored by Asus), here's the ads for the netbook:

More info:
* My bike, Univega Alpina 5.4 Special Edition
* My trailer, BOB Yak
* My favorite provider, Decathlon
* A good store in NY, Paragon

The rider and his folks

2009-05-30T19:55:00.025-06:00

The rider
* Nicolas, European (species: French), 41, engineer (he knows how to change a tube), in love with his kine therapist.
* Bike: bought more than 10 years ago, a mountain bike with road tires, no sophisticated technology, still looks great in my eyes
* Trailer: BOB Yak, brand new, the dream of a kid

Yet a rider is nothing without the support of his folks

Route strategist: Alexandre
As my personal "Nicolas Bouvier", Alexandre is not only slightly Swiss, a world traveler and a great writer (he also translates this blog to French!!); he has a strong experience in eXtreme physical events such as Le Marathon des Sables.

Kine therapist: Claire
The mechanic of the rider, whether for his body or for his soul, Claire is also my muse and my home.

Sophrologist: Laurent
This adventure would not look like a real achievement if I did not have my personal sophrologist to assist me in developing a good combination between my mind and my body. Wherever I am, Laurent often calls me a good joke. That will be my sort of laugh yoga !

Survival guru: Rachel
Rachel grew in LA and now leaves in NYC where I met her. Thanks to her, I managed to survive the jungle of NYC. She also tough me many tricks to survive in the mid-west... I wonder sometimes if she's ever been there?

Last yet not least, my mascot: Théophile
He is the son of my sister Pascale and I wish that each kilometer I will ride is like a "Go Théophile Go ! " for him.

Schedule & route

2009-05-30T07:32:00.010-06:00

My departure is planned for Monday June 8th. My bike and trailer are almost ready.

With GoogleMaps, I have drafted my route to San Francisco: from New York directly towards the west (and not towards Niagara Falls as initially planned), New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio... along Erie lake, keep going west little rider... Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon... make a left... California.

View Larger Map

Three months is 90 days. There are 5,000 km (3,100 mi) end to end. So, considering that I should not ride once a week, that's an average of 65 km (40 mi) per day.

More info:
* Actual - Detailed route & statistics
* Adventure Cycling Association
* Climate maps

Three steps to help

2009-05-29T15:27:00.031-06:00

Théophile is my nephew. He's 9 year old. He's a cool little guy, fond of his many hippos. When he was 5, Théophile was intensively treated for leukemia and mostly recovered. End of April '09, we learnt that his leukemia was back and he started a second treatment.

Of course every case is different and Théophile is well taken care of in France at 'Hopital Trousseau', a pediatric hospital in Paris. It so far involves chemotherapy and radiology.

Still his case is not isolated. You certainly know people in your family or relatives who are going through similar struggles. If you want to help such kids in their treatment against leukemia, here is an effective and easy way in just three steps

1. Get informed about leukemia and bone marrow donation
The challenge is the following: in some cases to cure leukemia, you need to transplant some bone marrow. Yet matching bone marrow are very rare and therefore the more people are registered for potential donors, the greater are the chances to find a matching donor.

More info:
* Leukemia on Wikipedia
* US registry: National Marrow Donor Program
* France registry: Le don de moelle osseuse

2. Make a financial contribution
As it costs around $100 to perform the blood analysis and enroll one person in the registry, your financial contribution can help growing the national registry.

3. Become a potential Bone Marrow Donor
By enrolling to your national registry, you will be among the many people who have already committed and one day, you may be contacted by a doctor if your bone marrow is compatible.

Registering is a great commitment that can lead to give you the chance to save a life !

Riding for bone marrow donation

2009-05-28T18:02:00.005-06:00

The world has changed but our ambitions remain the same: live a better life. The frontier we are after today involves better living together. Did you know for instance that somewhere in Europe or in the rest of the world, someone can be about to save the life of a little American?

In 2005 when my nephew Théophile went thru his first leukemia, I got interested in bone marrow donation. Leukemia is a blood disease. One way to cure it lays in bone marrow transplantation. Yet the probability that a donor is compatible with a patient is so tiny that a huge number of potential donors is required. Therefore countries are helping each other to increase the number of potential donors: according to the World Marrow Donor Association, "over one-third of patients transplanted with hematopoietic progenitor cells from an unrelated donor receives their cells from a donor in another country".

I therefore decided to take the opportunity of this road trip to promote this effort that concerns us all, whether we are from the West or from the East, the North or the South: registering for bone marrow donation.

More info:
* Three steps to help
* Report about bone marrow transplantation

Why go west?

2009-05-28T05:59:00.019-06:00

I'm not used to living on the East side. I mean on the East side of a continent.

In Long Island, I often get confused between East and West. It doesn't match my instinct that you should go East to find the ocean.

Three months of spare time and a bicycle should be enough to go West and find the Pacific ocean.

Let's say, from New York to San Francisco; along the great lakes, thru the hills, plains and montains of this country with the size of a continent.

Ah New York ! The town where so many immigrants landed; and abroad the symbol of the American dream. San Francisco, the most European of American cities. It was the destination of so many of these immigrants, as Blaise Cendrars describes it in "L'Or" or John Steinbeck in "East of Eden".

The world has changed tremendously since. Traveling is easier and we move so fast that we miss so many of these little things that make a big difference. Inspired by Nicolas Bouvier, I want to offer me the luxury of slowness. If only I could be as sharp an observer as he was.

Continued:
* Ride for bone marrow donation