Day One

Wow, what a send off. We had family, friends from the parish, Gerry and Nancy Hardison our missioners in Africa, who are home for the month, Bodie, one of our actual parish dogs and The Rev. Canon Suzi Holding who came to bless our bikes and douse them with Pacific Ocean Water. All these fine folks came out at 7 a.m. to send us on our way and we are most grateful.

We also had the pleasure of Stuart Sale's company, who knew several shortcuts to reduce the steepness of parts of the climb. He was very gracious supporting us as we road with our bikes loaded with gear. He is actually much faster than we are. Thanks Stuart.

Our original hope had been to get to Pine Valley, but the combination of heat and the long hill into Alpine had us stop over there again. We went further up the hill to a little "apartment" hotel place with nice people. Few amenities, but a nice room and a great bathroom.

We were glad we stopped as the winds from the East picked up about an hour later and would have made the last part of the ride into Pine Valley difficult. So here we sit, writing and pondering dinner.

Lunchtime spot..... Jack in the Box. Dinner is as yet unclear.

Vagabond Priest asked what the contraptions are we are riding. They are called Recumbents and are basically bikes that do not irritate one's bottom, hands, shoulders or neck. They are the most comfortable bikes to ride... slow on uphill, but great on level ground.

Last Minute Preparations

So we are less that 15 hours from launching out trip. Lots of last minute packing and loading the bicycle. As of now the bike is 90% loaded. I took it for a test ride to make sure that it was balanced, and it was ok. I just wish I could dump more weight.

Dave and I had lunch with Gerry and Nancy Hardison getting the latest news from Kenya. Our Mothers' Union Orphans project is now in 40 of the 41 parishes. It is flourishing as is the Liberty Initiatives Network, the development related projects. As is always the case some things advance and others stall.

Here we are after a good local lunch!

T minus 43 hours

So the rule of all things is that when you go to do a little job it becomes bigger. In the first few days of our ride we will go up to 4,100 feet and then scream down the east side of the mountains on the 8. So I decided to install new brake pads a simple enough chore. In the process I discovered my rear brake was itself bad... a piece fell out that should not do that. So I bought and installed a new brake. When I went to reattach the cable that makes it stop, it was bunged. So first thing this morning the bike is at the bike shop getting new cables for the trip.

So I am now lining up the electronics and charging everything. Washed out my panniers and they are drying. Clothes are in a pile and will get packed. So everything is on schedule except for the trip to the bike store.

Dave and I will get together to look at maps today and then tomorrow I will have lunch with the Hardisons to bring them up to speed.

Oh, and I was working on the brakes when the ground began to move and dance about in the earthquake! What fun. Turns out one of the centers was Jacumba Hot Springs where we plan to spend our second night. Woo Hoo to an auspicious beginning.

Preparing for Crossing the Continent

Dave Brown and I have just eight days left until we launch our cross country ride. We will go from San Diego's Dog Beach to Virginia's Yorktown, mostly along cobbled together parts of Adventure Cycling's Southern Tier, Grand Canyon Connector and TransAm path. The most significant departure will be riding I-40 / Rte 66 from Ash Fork, AZ to Joplin MS. Should be a delightful ride as we capture all the lost glory of Rte. 66.

Welcome to Cycle Centric

Greetings cyclers, I have gathered a peleton of interesting and informative cycling blogs and resources to inspire and inform. I will be keeping this blog more active as I get ready for my cross country ride. Thanks so much for stopping in, enjoy what I have gathered.

Mike

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New Human Powered Vegicle

Yesterday I test rode the prototype of a new Human Powered Vehicle (HPV). Named ElliptiGo it uses an elliptical trainer motion to drive the read wheel. So you ride in a standing position, looking much like a Segway rider while shushing your feet forward and back.

It takes a few minutes to adjust to the new set of muscles and movements, but it really does cruise along pretty well. Production models will be out shortly so I will have a chance to ride one of those too. I'll put up a picture of me on the ElliptiGo a bit later today.

I am back to posting here

It has been awhile since I have written here. So with a major cross country ride coming up, this is a good time to start preparing everyone for what's to come. One piece is a new website called MapMyRide.com which has its own Iphone application. So here is the map of my ride today.

Indiana, Indiana

I road 53 miles today from Madison, Indiana to New Albany, Indiana a suburb of Louisville. Unlike Madison, New Albany's down town is pretty depressed, although the community around St. Paul's Episcopal Church is nicely maintained. The ride was uneventful today.....NO LOOSE DOGS! How sweet to just ride and ride without having to stay paranoid about getting bitten.

As I rolled towards New Albany I stopped at a Huge Outdoor World Store and bought the last of my canine strategery tools: a whistle. Most of the guys in teh store suggested pepper spray or just shooting them. I allowed as how I really didn't want to hurt the dogs, just get the heck away. So we will see how the whistle works.

The dogs, however, do represent the sort of conditions under which slaved fled to freedom. My situation was mild by comparison, since I could sprint with the bike. On foot the sound of the dogs would have been more frightening.

More Canine Strategery

More Kentucky, more dogs. About every mile and a half as I road through the farms and villages. But today I had strategery. I carried dog biscuits, pepper spray, and a nice flexible stick. The biscuits worked in most cases, sprinting worked the rest of the time, so no dogs were sprayed in the preparation of this blog entry.
There was only one really mean dog intent on biting me, but I was able to shake the little sucker. It was draining though to spend a good bit of the day running from dogs, so I changed my route to take a busier road where people might have planned to preserve the life of their pet from traffic. Riding with trucks was better than being chased by dogs.
I am now in Indiana, Madison Indiana to be exact. Nice little town. Tonight was the water fight among competing fire houses. Main street was converted into the battle grounds as men used hoses to demonstrate superiority. A good time was had by all.
We found a lovely little restaurant, joeyg's that had one drunk and a singer before we came. We enjoyed a nice dinner, the drunk left to smoke, but never returned (much to the pleasure of the owners) and the musician was delightful. All in all a good day.

A day at the dog races.

No, I did not go to see dogs raced. I raced dogs to see whether or not I could move faster then them. In the course of the 60 miles I road today I was chased by no fewer than a dozen dogs. Big dogs, little dogs, quiet dogs, loud yapping dogs, dogs that seemed caught off guard, and dogs that were sitting waiting. In all my years of riding, I have never been chased as many times as I was today.
The ride from Maysville to Dry Ridge took me through a very depressed section of Kentucky. I ran into lots of nice people, but they seem to be struggling in towns that are emptying.
The area is one of rolling hills with some valleys and long descents to waterways. The flora is lush and green and apart from dogs and cows I saw almost no other animals. I gave an interview in Falmouth, KY when the local newspaperman saw me sitting on my lovely bike.
Back to the dogs. They helped me begin to become a sprinter! More than that to have a strategic plan especially on the hills, where I was at a distinct disadvantage. Only one dog got close enough to worry me, most others gave up at their property line or responded to a firm "NO!!!!".
Tomorrow I'll move into Indiana and pick up a new river way to follow.

Mt. Orab to Maysville

I cycled out of Mt. Orab this morning to get to one of the key spots on the Underground Railroad: Ripley, Ohio and then on to Maysville, Kentucky. Ripley was only about 30 miles down the road. At 9 am on a Sunday morning it was a quiet place, so I rode down to the water to look across at where so many slaves had crossed to freedom.

Kathleen and I linked up there briefly and she headed on south to Aberdeen and them Maysville so we could check in before any rain hit. Fortunately the rain held off. Climbing out of riverside Maysville I realized that once again, whenever you get a good descent like that coming into Ripley, you have to pay for it later.

I parked the bike and cleaned up and we went to see more of the sites using the car. I confess that his is not "pure" but it is our vacation so we will do as we please! We visited some of the slave holding places in Old Washington, toured through the sites in Maysville, places where there had been holding pens for slaves who were being sent south, etc.

The back to Ripley. We found there the homes of two giants of the Underground Railroad effort. John Parker and John Rankin. Parker was himself a freedman and his house sits right along the river. That meant that he was never free of the possibility of being grabbed and carried back into slavery. He openly served as one of the conductors on the URR and held many people reach other conductors to the north. Parker created an iron foundry and was an inventor who holds on of the first patents issued to an African American. Parker was known for his daring, in-your-face forays into Kentucky to free slaves and bring them across. He lived a double life, of sorts, even as his notoriety caused wanted posters to be hung in KY.

John Rankin was a Prebyterian Minister who was encouraged to leave his home in Tennessee because of his views on slavery. He was bold enough to preach them aloud. He connections with people in Ripley and went into debt to build a house there. We visited just as Sunday hours were closing, but got to stand on the hill looking down at the river crossing. Rankin made it his life's work to help as many slaves as possible find freedom. Slaves from throughout Kentucky knew to cross the river and then climb the hill to Rankin's house (now called Liberty Hill) where he helped them disappear into the forest for the trip to Canada or to the communities of freed slaves in southwest Ohio. Rankin lived for many years with a bounty on his head.

We had a powerful day, standing where giant souls stood and worked. It felt like standing on the bank of the Jordan that place of liberation for Israel. Here, people found liberty, but at far greater risk.

Mason to Mt. Orab

London to Mason

It seems that my trips are doomed to begin in rain. Yesterday it was 93 degrees and I had good practice in avoiding dehydration. But as soon as I took off today a misting rain began. I zoomed through town and found the head of the trail. It is a wonderful trail, peaceful gorgeous. Local folks like to do birdwatching along it. It moves you through towns and their old railroad stations.

Hopping on the Freedom Trail

We finished our work in Columbus at the General Convention and the next morning I was ready for my trip to explore the Underground Railroad route. I headed out of Columbus along Broad Street which became route 40. It is always interesting to watch an urban area morph to a suburban and then rural. Within 8 miles of downtown I began to hit fields.

The first stop was West Jefferson, a little town slightly to the southwest of Columbus. I missed a turn and continued out 40 until I was north of London, then headed south to link back in.
London is a lovely little town and was setting up for a festival that brought cyclists and cobra cars to town. London has the start point for a 120 mile converted rail right away, but that's tomorrow's story. Spent time in the library and found some great information on the URR. They moved through many of the towns that the bike path goes through.
Spent the night at the Alexandra Bed and Breakfast, which Kathleen had found. Quaint little place, but very friendly.

This picture cannot adequately show the ducky do!

Getting Going in Columbus

My longbike and I have arrived in Columbus, Ohio for the Episcopal Church's General Convention. DHL did a great job shipping my bike and I can heartily endorse the Air Caddy (www.shipbikes.com) bike shipping box. Since I could break my bike in two, it fit into the Caddy with just a little tweaking.

Columbus is mostly flat. I put my bike together today and took a nice long ride around town. First I checked out the Convention Center and the Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation booth where I am helping. They work on the Millenium Development Goals that mesh with our Kenya work.

I roll my bike out of the Exhibition Hall and into the big empty hallway leading up to where the meetings will happen. Almost instantly two people stop to talk about the bike and then a thrid drifts up. Guess what? They are all long ditance touring riders. Think on this synchronicity: empty hall in Columbus and three cyclists and NO ONE ELSE. Amazing, just like our experience riding down the cost. One woman, in her mid sixties has just finished a norther tier crossing of the US with her hubby. The second guy rides a Linear and the third guy loves to ride from South Bend to Baton Rouge. I was just amazed.

Headed out and found North Market...great deli sandwhiches Dave! Then off to check out the west side of town. I took a side ride down the river path but it was covered with duck poop> I mean a LOT of duck do. Not really fun for riding or running.

Tomorrow more riding and Convention set-up

The Next Long Ride

Ok fans I know we have been a little quiet here. I have been having a hard time getting out for any exciting rides. But I am planning a post General Convention ride that will go from Columbus, Ohio to Mobile, Alabama. This is about 825 miles and readdy covers almost 80% of the North to South distance between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico!
The ride will take me along the Ohio and Tennessee river valleys through towns that we stops on the underground railroad. I am looking forward to the adventure of it.
I will be shipping my bike to Columbus rather than trying to take it on the plane. So I will have it for riding around Columbus during General Convention.
All in all I am quite excited.