Day 44 - The Victory Lap - King William to YORKTOWN, VA!!!

July 2nd, 2009

We didn't sleep much in King William. Partly because it was our last night on the RLPT and we were getting all emotional and were up half the night crying and stuff, and for me, partly because I had ditched almost all my gear (including sleeping bag and air mattress) in Charlottesville in favor of a crash and burn landing into Yorktown. So in true hobo glory, we slept on top of some picnic tables in the Pow-wow shelter (I regret not sleeping in the dugout canoe), and I shivered while contemplating taking Sam out and stealing his sleeping bag.

We woke up the earliest of any single day on the RLPT yet, 5:15 (!), to a magical land of mist (geeaz). The air was about 500% humidity and we could only see about 10 feet out of the shelter. Slowly the sun came over the trees and burned away the cloud we were sheltered in, and the day was set - crisp, clear, and beautiful for our victory ride into Yorktown! We almost couldn't tell a difference, it was just another day of riding. Wake up, pack up, caffeine up, and ride on. But I think once we started counting down mileage in our heads as usual, and realized that the number was under 50 for the rest of the trip, and that this was really the last 50 we would count down at all this summer, things started to change. We voted in a unanimous decision that to celebrate our last day we would need to pound some energy drinks right away. So at the first gas station we humiliated two energy drinks. (that means we drank them) I think Sam might have even crushed a 32 oz. gatorade, but I can't even tell anymore, the addiction has consumed his life so. We knew that Sam's mom, Mike, Julie, Christian, Chris, and Meggie were going to be at the beach at 12, so there was no time to waste today.

The road was flatter than ever the whole way, and we cruised to West Point, where glory was laid before us:
Our first glimpse of the almost-almost-Ocean. View from the bridge we crossed in West Point, looking down the York River (which runs into the Chesapeake bay, which runs into the Atlantic, duh!)

I had decided weeks earlier, that the only proper way to finish this thing would be flying an American flag on my bike. I envisioned a 15 foot pole lashed to my frame with a 10 foot wide flag fluttering behind, but it turns out that was unreasonable. We stopped in Williamsburg to find a flag. Now, if we couldn't find an American flag in WILLIAMSBURG, VA, 2 days before the FOURTH OF JULY, then I don't know anything anymore. But as it turns out, at least 3 trading posts in Williamsburg are harboring terrorists because they didn't have flags. And that's why we decided Obama needs to amend the Constitution to require every single store in America to sell flags.

Anyways, a UVA alum came to the rescue (of course) as I was purchasing a flag at the fourth store we tried. I was asking if he sold a flagpole to go with it and I told him about our trip and how we had just graduated, and he told me he was a UVA grad of the class of '80. He went in the back and brought out a flag attached to a pole and just gave it to me, since our trip was a worthy cause he said! He also just gave us a smaller UVA flag for free to fly along with it! I rigged up Old Glory to my bike and Sam attached UVA's flag to his pack, and we were finally ready for our nonstop 10 more miles to victory.
We sailed along the Colonial parkway the rest of the way in, a fitting finish for the final leg of the RLPT, and with each glimpse of the York river we got more excited. As we rolled into the beach area, we saw the huge bridge, plenty of delicious sand and water, and Sam's mom, but no friends! After another lap up and back down the parking lot we spotted the rest of them holding up a finish line of red, white, and blue streamers leading down the ramp onto a dock! We broke through it in a state of glorious ecstasy while being assaulted by water balloons and encouraged to keep riding all the way off the dock! It probably would have felt great, but I figured I shouldn't ruin another phone / ipod / lose 44 days worth of pictures by drowning my camera. The finish line was awesome and a fabulous conclusion to the trip, thanks guys!!
We baptized our bikes ceremoniously in the sweet waters of the Atlantic, and after judging the jellyfish content of the beach to be too high, headed to Meggie's pool for several hours. We were ridiculed by children and teens for our tan lines and lack of diving board "skills", but took revenge by showing them our drivers licenses. For the rest of the night we celebrated and grilled out at Meggie's, sharing stories, reminiscing of our good old days in college when we were young and beautiful, and lamenting the REALity of the real world.
RLPT by the numbers:

3,747.9 - miles
44 - days on the road
26- flat tires
3 - rest days
800 - 32oz. gatorades (Sam)
4 - dollars lost by Aaron in the Montana lottery
0.93 - lbs of cheese stolen by Ravens
8 - jars of peanut butter finished by Aaron
0 - # of sleeves on James' red jersey
7 - miles spent in Nebraska
8,530 - elevation of Sylvan pass (highest point on our trip)
11 - states
0 - dollars remaining in our bank accounts combined

Well we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Thanks so much to everyone who followed along and supported us, and anyone who is still reading / checking to see if we would get our acts together and finish writing our blog! We couldn't be more thankful for all the help people gave us in letters, care packages, places to sleep, food, thoughts, and prayers.

We may have to grow up, but the spirit of the RLPT will never die, rage on protestors!

Also, a lot of people have mentioned that they would like one of the t-shirts we made, so we're going to make another order from underground printing! If you'd like one, even if you think you've already told me, send me an email at ras6d@virginia.edu and let me know along with your size. They are going to be $18, and they're sweet quality shirts - American Apparel. Thanks!

Day 43 - Charlottesville to King William...Sort of - Maybe It's the 482 Days Talking But...

...oh hello there pringles can.

Distance: 164 km (It's Metric Sunday, honoring the Tour de France!)

So after a marvelous evening enjoying the Grand Marc hot tub courtesy of the recession (apparently the hard times have made Grand Marc unable to pay nighttime security guards), we slept in like the motivated champions we are. Thanks Ali for the place to crash! Aaron and I decided we couldn't leave the home of our dear alma mater without remembering our good ol' glory days with a trip to Bodo's. So we went with Ali and met up with Alli (haha) at 8:59am to indulge in some good ol' nostagia. Ahh, seems like yesterday we were here, laughing it up with our good ol' college buds. After giving a good ol' digestion punch to those breakfast bagels, we got outta good ol' (all right I'll stop) Cville, avoiding getting squished the whole way. Charlottesville, as progressive and self-righteous as it is, is a fantastically dangerous place to find yourself on a bicycle. Luckily, we didn't get destroyed and we at last made it into the Albemarle countryside.

The day was perfect, the road was open, and the scenery was glorious. And as usual, by glorious scenery I mean the road was generally heading downhill. But then I suppose a road lined with scenery like that in Bosler or Hima would be beautiful if it went on a DH. Still, Albemarle is very pretty (and you pay for every bloody ounce of it too) and the ride was just jolly. Of course, the fact it was the last full day of riding didn't hurt either.

We hit the town of Mineral and after debating the chance of any foodstuffs on the road ahead, we chose to follow a local's advice about the colorfully-named "Mineral Restaurant". Aaron had a grilled cheese and "all but one" onion rings. That essentially means that you get a plate of onion rings and then a loud smoky fella comes in and takes one for giggles. God bless America. He and his buddy came in and sat with us too, and we discussed the usual "You got that bike all the way from SEATTLE!?" and the not-so-usual "There's a chance you two could be my kids!" I had a calzone which was completely delicious but it was not nearly as interesting.

We left Mineral full on America and rode toward the labyrinth of country roads that tangle themselves north of Richmond. Up to this point on the trip, we hadn't really gotten lost. A few missed turns, sure, but not lost. Well naturally, on the last full day, we got ourselves pretty turned around. When you get on roads that even the finely drawn (EIGHT DOLLAR!) map fails to indicate, things get a bit tricky. After riding in a giant loop, we finally found a local sportsmen who directed us the exact way to go, and didn't even make us feel stupid either! What a great guy. We found our way out of the maze of roads and hit US Hwy 1 and pounded Rockstars and candy...of course. We steeled ourselves with dragon might and rode onward past King's Dominion and its 1/3 replica of the Eiffel Tower (ah memories) and kept moving toward King William.

About 8 miles from our planned endpoint, we came across a strip mall which beckoned us, yet again, with free Subway. So we procured our sandwiches (thanks once more Mom!) and prepared to hit the road for the final leg of the day. Simultaneously, a thunderstorm prepared itself to hit us for the final leg of the day, and after only two very fast miles of us trying to outrun the worst of the rain, we realized that the storm had dragon of its own and we stood no chance. Luckily Aaron spotted with his American Bald Eagle eyes a shelter situated well off the road, and we sprinted to it just as the rain really came blasting down. But as usual our heroes survived and spent the night on top of picnic tables under a shelter at a Pow Wow site. Typical. No easy sleep tonight, Yorktown in half a day!!!!

Also I apparently failed to take any pictures this day. Whoops.

Day 42 - Buena Vista, VA to CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA!

Each day in Virginia has built on the excitement of realizing our trip's glorious finish, and we swear we can smell the ocean from here. At this point we don't need any more incentive to get up early in the morning, we're so close! Thanks Sam's mom for the motel!! Man, has Virginia been treating us good or what?

I woke up this morning and grabbed a donut that Sam's mom had left us, and of course got back in bed to eat it, because there's nothing like a bed donut to start your day. (It's kind of like the magical experience of the shower-brew) Cody "wakes up" and rolls over and demands in a sleep-stunned mumble, "what are you doing!??". I reply, "I'm eating a donut". He is incredulous, and rolls back over mumbling "Gaaaaad!!" Apparently the appalling donut-in-bed combined with the early time was too extreme for his mind, and when I recounted his reaction to him 20 minutes later he didn't remember it.

We knew we had a 4 mile climb right out of the motel to get up onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, and after experiencing the intensity the Appalachains brought coming out of western Kentucky we were mentally prepared for a climb up Everest. Of course we took precautions: Cody secured his failing shoe-sole with bright blue duct tape and pounded a mountain dew, I'm pretty sure Sam finished half a gallon of limeade, and I ate macadamia nuts. I'd say we over-prepared mentally for the climb, and to control the excess mental-energy we were left with at the top we each solved pi to 200 digits in our heads, typical.
The Blue Ridge Parkway was beautiful, and the weather was perfect! It did follow the RIDGE line, so there were some healthy ups and downs, but we were home now so it didn't matter. There was also very minimal traffic which made for a nice cruisin ride. We passed a group of 60-70 bikers over about 8 miles who were all wearing purple jerseys and were on a youth-group type trip from Indiana to North Carolina. As Cody described them, the first sets of bikers were drafting like champions so hard they didn't have time to lift a finger, the middle groups waved and said things like "you can do it!", and the last groups panted and said things like "kill me!". The last part of the BRP was a beautiful hill of our favorite type--down, and I almost jumped off my bike at 35 mph when I saw a 3-4 foot snake of some kind slithering across the road in front of me.

Coming off the BRP down Afton mountain was an even steeper and straighter downhill, and if not for the traffic I'm sure we could have pushed 90 mph. At the bottom of the hill we were now in very familiar territory - the road we take to ski practice every week (!) - and we could smell Charlottesville, home sweet home! We blazed into Charlottesville and did no less than 30 victory laps around the statue of Thomas Jefferson in front of the Rotunda. We reminisced about our good ole days at UVA and how we were young once. Oh college, I remember those days so well, somedays it feels like it was yesterday, ahhhhh...
Take that TJ! Shazzam!!

We received a glorious and wonderful welcoming in C-ville by all of our friends who were still in town (and some who weren't!) Thanks Ali for taking us in! The RLPT remembers you in its will for your hospitality. We showered at Ali's and then stuffed ourselves at Cici's like we used to in the good ole days (college). More people met up back at Ali's place for festivities and finally, the G-Marc pool and hot tub. We really couldn't have asked for a better night with friends, home sweet home, a relaxing hot tub, and tracing the origins of words back to Romulus and Reemus (typical UVA, don't worry about it).

Day 41 - Cowboys and Dinosaurs and No Free Ice Cream - Blacksburg (sort of) to Buena Vista

A sponser approached us but we declined to maintain our family-friendly image

Distance: 90.0 miles

We left Jon's house at the early hour of 10 am (whoops) and Jon graciously shuttled us back to where he picked us up the night before. Our bikes were still at the IHOP in the same condition we left them in, so that was a pretty solid victory that easily made up for our increasingly late start. It's fun to win without doing anything. It also made us feel a little better about missing out on Megan F....Transformers. We navigated through the morning Christiansburg traffic toward 460, only to find that it fancies itself an interstate these days so we had to pick our way through the business route so we wouldn't get pulled over. So after several U-turns (a nightmare on a busy 4-lane road) we finally escaped the grasp of the Doubleburg situation and hit a much more relaxing (specifically downhill) situation. We rode through the green forests, hills and fields until we came to Elliston, a typical tiny-town-due-to-gas station-presence. After reloading our dragon fuel tanks and a lovely sit in the cool Virginia shade, we hit the road again toward Roanoke.

Now, Roanoke is a pretty decent city, it has all of the good and bad you'd expect of an urban center of its size. However it is not exactly bike friendly. Not even close actually. Fortunately our route was fairly straightforward and we didn't get R-U-N-N-O-F-T the road by any trucks or cars or frenzied BMXers. Still, for all its faults in the "Don't squish cyclists" category, Roanoke does have some seriously great saving graces. Specifically, Sheetz. This gas station/MTO food establishment hybrid is one of the best things to hit southwest Virginia since plumbing, and we made our way to Sheetz like it was the promised land. The existence of $4 footlong subs is close enough to bread from heaven anyway right? So we destroyed our lunch is typical RLPT fashion, sat around and groaned about it for awhile, and finally got back in the saddle for the second part of the day.

I don't care who you are, it's impossible.

Fortunately we made it through most of Roanoke before lunch so as soon as we left Sheetz we were back in the country, full of trees, mountains, and Highway 81. Pressing onward we passed through a great deal of familiar territory, a rather surreal experience as we slowly moved our way through land we've collectively seen as least 284 times from a car window. It's a little different when you see (and earn) every bloody inch of that ground. We eventually came to Natural Bridge (serious ATT) to take a quick rest and were rejected in our attempt to accrue ice cream free of charge. Also they had at least one statue featuring a cowboy riding a dinosaur, and as a history scholar I've ascertained that cowboys did not even LIVE with dinosaurs, much less ride them. Natural Bridge, you need to try researching once in a while. Leaving the gross anachronisms behind, we then headed toward Buena Vista (pronouced Byoo-nuh Vi-sta, not Bway-nah Vee-sta, this is Murica)

Finally after riding wildly (see photo) though the woods toward our destination, we made it to a huge park where we met my mom who generously prepared a colossal spread of edibles, which we tore into with much vigor and barbarism. After many tons of chicken, watermelon, and strawberry yogurt pie, we were finally ready to call it a day. Thanks Mom! We moved on the Buena Vista Motel, where we once again relished some showers and real beds. Good night sleep--Blue Ridge Parkway tomorrow and CHARLOTTESVILLE!

Day 40 - The RLPT grows! Cody's guest appearance, Abingdon, VA to Blacksburg, VA

Distance - 106.5 miles

Casey's parents made us a delicious breakfast in Abingdon, and it was with great pride that we welcomed Cody onto the RLPT 09. He was brutally inducted by 106.5 miles on his first day. Fortunately, he performed like a champ after we guided him towards stronger biking through massive caffeine consumption. Casey and her dad were nice enough to drive us back into Abingdon where they picked us up the night before (thanks Casey!), and we set out with pleasant weather, favorable wind, and some nice flat road for the most part riding up route 11. Cody brought new life and energy back into the RLPT which felt great, and finally I could stare at somebody else's back all day! Cody rides 50% of the time with no hands, swings aggressively at low hanging leaves, taunts passing wildlife, and still manages to keep up with us on his hybrid road bike / mountain bike. His nose was also sunburned because Casey forgot to put sunscreen on his nose, which is of course her responsibility.

In Marion at a gas station we saw the largest RV ever created, must have been at least 60 ft and it got 6 gallons to the mile. We ate a fantastic lunch again on Cat's KFC coupons in Wytheville and drank at least 3 gallons of mountain dew a piece. The mountain's dew powered us forward until Draper's mountain, where we almost saw the end of Cody. Cody pulled through though, and we cruised down one of the more righteous down-hills of the trip into Pulaski, where would we encounter one of America's finest heros - a true champion of the road:
Yeah, he's towing a push lawnmower on that scooter, GBA. We snacked a bit while observing this man, and then 20 more miles to Christiansburg where we met my friend Jon who's working there for the summer. He invited us to see Transformers 2 with a friend, but given the lateness of our arrival and the long day, IHOP and the Endless Pancake Situation (EPS) were even more attractive to us than Megan Fox. IHOP treated us very well despite restaurant temperatures approaching absolute zero, and Jon took us back to his place where we watched the obligatory Michael Jackson tribute after tribute and paid our respects. And Jon has some amazingly comfortable couches, which Cody fell asleep on 2 seconds before even laying down. EPS-coma and 106.5 miles set in soon after for Sam and I.

Day 39 - Smell that Salty Air! Maybe... Yeaddis, KY to Abingdon, VIRGINIA

The long-awaited posts are back and will be coming at your face throughout the next while until we're done. We aren't quitters, gol!!

Distance - 103 miles

We awoke in the luxury of the fellowship hall of the Cutshin Bible Church at the abysmal hour of 5:30 so we could make it to Abingdon in plenty of time for lake fun. Also we wanted a taste of our future lives as domestic adults and Good Housekeeping cover boys (you're going down Jbros).

Oh geeaz.

So we cooked some eggs and sausage in a cast-iron pan and crafted us some seriously serious English muffins. Also featured was cream and sugar with a dash of coffee and a 2 liter of dragon which didn't last long due to our ravenous addiction. After getting loaded on sugar and dragon power, we said goodbye to our shelter and we once again truly thankful for such unwarranted kindness of strangers.

We then hit the road which immediately started uphill for several miles and changed its mind into a sick downhill. Finally being in the Appalachians meant some nasty, merciless ups but some of the most fun and fast downward runs we'd had on the entire excursion. I highly recommend it. We came to a creek at the foot of Pine Mountain, the beast standing between us and Cumberland, the last significant town in Kentucky we'd see. After brief rest, we began the push up Pine, probably the closest thing to a real challenge we'd had so far. After all, while the Cascades and Rockies are higher and more rugged than the seemingly gentle Appalachians, the eastern roads show no sympathy and go straight up without pity. So after only a few absolutely wicked miles up, we reaped the fruit of our labors at the top, relished our potential energy, and went blasting downhill into Cumberland at speeds scientists descirbe as "Holy Crap!"

We took another break in Cumberland to refuel ourselves and procure a VIRGINIA map! It was even laminated! So after slamming a 32 oz Gatorade and a Big 100 bar, I was ready to rock. Aaron somehow can fuel himself simply with heavy metal songs, so we had to move fast before he remained still too long as the power of chainsaws and Civil War cannons is frequently difficult to contain. We biked up more mountain roads straight up the side of Black Mountain, the highest point in Kentucky (A fact we didn't figure out until the day before, go us). Unfortunately, that wasn't really a challenge either but it sure was pretty! And we found a Kentucky state sign! AND WE FOUND VIRGINIA!!!

Made it to the homeland!

Finally reaching our home soil was a feeling that is incredibly difficult to describe to anyone who hasn't experienced a long and strenuous journey to do so. There was a sort of relief involved, but not a relief that the trip was ending, just a very light feeling. Like I said, it's a tough thing to relate. Just know that it was totally AWESOME!! And then the downhill. I realize I don't shut up about these things, because when you have over five miles of 7 to 10% grade on twisty and turny roads after you earned the right to ride it, you tend to get excited. Deal widdit. With our eyes on the prize, we flew down into valley below through Appalachia and into Norton, where we punished a Burger King with the fury of a thousand Joey Chestnuts. We pressed on along 58 toward Abingdon, up, over, and down hills. After another dragon/gatorade stop, we crushed the remaining 28 miles without stopping, drinking, or even breathing. Oh yeah.

We finally hit Abingdon where Casey and Cody met up with us and hauled us to Casey's lakehouse. The food was marvelous, the lake was great and felt so good I decided I'd rather stay in it instead of actually successfully water skiing. What a champ. A night with friends and delicious foods and comfortable beds is hard to beat. We leave the next morning with Cody as a celebrity entourage, hooray! More posts on the way, don't stop raging kids!

Day 38 - The Perfect Storm - Somerset, KY to Yeaddis, KY

Distance - 98.8 miles

We woke up at 6:00 with the best of intentions. We were going to get on the road early and not be biking until sunset as usual. But as luck would have it again, we opened the door to see the perfect storm formulating outside, and the weather channel showed a healthy amount of red and deep red blobs directly over top of Somerset.
After filling up at the continental breakfast, we decided the proper thing to do was go back to sleep. So we did, and woke up two hours later and got our standard not-too-early-start, but good news was that the perfect storm had passed!

For the morning we rode on a large beautifully paved shoulder with gradual inclines, descents, and friendly fellow road-goers. The hills slowly became larger and the inclines steeper, and we plowed full speed ahead with the confidence of the North Cascades, Rocky Mountains, Rockstar, and Metallica combined, fearless in the face of the Appalachians. It turns out though, that the Appalachians are kind of rough. The Appalachians, or at least the roads over them, are ruthlessly steep and curvy in many places, much more so than the super-graded-highways blasted through the Rockies and the Cascades that we took.

We ate some bananas at an IGA grocery store in London, KY, and nearly hijacked a Vault truck that was in the parking lot, but restrained ourselves. We chatted with some older folks in the food court-ish area about our trip who almost literally fainted when we told them we had started in Seattle 38 days ago. They gave us some advice on the roads in our future, and one man assured us we could not make it the 100 miles through coal-country to where we planned to end today. He also gave us a friendly reminder that we were in Wildcat-country, and that Wahoos were to beware in such surroundings. Even 600 miles from home at this point seemed relatively close to us, and the draw of the sweet Virginia border was enough to keep us going faster than ever!

On the way to lunch we encountered two inexcusable displays of atrocious driving. Each time I was in front of Sam, and forced to stare stupid right in the face. Atrocious driver #1 decided to pull out from a stop sign directly in front of us when we were flying across a flat road, requiring an abrupt deceleration to avoid an inbred-collision situation. Atrocious driver #2 requires a bit more explanation, and several minutes of silent thought on your part as you struggle to comprehend driver #2's person. We're flying along another flat road, not 30 minutes later, and we begin to pass a store with a long parking lot connecting to the road along its entire side - so you can pull into the parking lot at ANY point along its length. Nearing the end of the parking lot, a horn begins to blow on the vehicle behind us. I say to myself, aha, this is surely the horn of a neon-accented Geo Tracker (N-AGT). Yes, it is, and tis occupied by 2 older she-beings. Now here, I'm not going to make any generalizations concerning gender and driving, so stop asking about it. ANYWAYS, The N-AGT flies up alongside our incredibly handsome and streamlined drafting charge, horn-a-blasting, and without warning (or blinker mind you) swerves almost through me into the latter portion of the parking lot. While swerving, the she-craft begins to brake suddenly and aggresively across our path, as if to further ensure that I would become another blood-splattered accent on the N-AGT, and that Sam would become another mangled accent across my person in a vicious 2-biker pileup. Alas, we survive. If not for cat-like reflexes, and 4 well suited sets of brake pads, Sam and I would probably have had to fight two old ladies.

I know you're saying to yourself, that WAS atrocious! Unthinkable! Egregious! We agree with you, and would like to hear which incident the real world finds more atrocious: The N-AGT Atrocity, or the Great Raven Cheese Incident of 2009?

Ok, so we are over it, and onto lunch in Hima. Now, Sam and I are going to boast a bit and say that we think we speak fairly good English. Despite our confidence in this great language however, we had some serious trouble understanding the Hima dialect. A man confronted us outside the Hima store and asked us about our bikes (we think). And when you are pushing your third or fourth "what?", "i'm sorry?", or "haah?" in response to a question, you just have to make an educated guess as to what he said and factor in some body language / facial expressions / # of teeth visible at point in time, and make an answer. So the conversation went on an unstable foundation of understanding, and we believe we exchanged at least some information with him. While we ate our lunch outside the store, we further tested our language skills by attempting to interpret the shout-versations going on across the street and around the store. Strike three, Kentucky, strike three.

After lunch the roads became VERY steep and winding, and made us feel like lesser Lances through the French Alps. Every pedal through the Appalachians felt more and more like home though, and it felt good!
Sam has gotten into the habit of pre-melting the snickers he eats.

In Hyden we ate at a very charming little cafe run by 2 really nice young people. They sat and talked with us about the RLPT and were very excited for us, but unfortunately we still didn't get our food for free. We loaded up with some dinner supplies and a crucial 2 lbs of Fig Newtons at a grocery store in town, with plans to camp out somewhere in a small town later on the road. We were approached in the store by a pastor of a local church who insisted on putting us up in a church for the night, and made many-a-call right away to inform the Cutshin Bible Church up the road that we were coming.

We were so surprised by the hospitality and generosity that basically pounced on us that we could hardly even get a word out before we were being greeted into the church after a few more miles of biking. There were kids and moms rolling out of the church when we pulled up saying things like "oohhh there they are!", "they're here!", as if the whole town had received the announcement we were coming. They were awesome people and they fed us leftover hotdogs, chips, soda, and fudge from the youth group meeting that evening. They brought over towels for us to use the church showers, food to cook in the morning before we left, and even set up the coffee machine so all we had to do was press the button in the morning! Unbelievable. Thank you Yeaddis.

I think I just wrote too much for one day.

James Day 43 - Yorktown, Va

The End.

I made it the short hop from Richmond to Yorktown. I'll make a longer entry later, for now here is a picture.

Day 37 - Most Non-Sequitor Blog Ever - Munfordville, KY to Somerset, KY

Distance: 80someish miles?

Sorry for not posting in several fortnights, it's tough to find both sufficient time and internet access these days... but who cares, this is the RLPT!

Back to the land of Kentucky.... we left Munfordville in the pretty morning fog. Did you know that nowhere in the tourism brochure do they mention the especially large number of "crazies and klan members"? Weird. I was especially hungry since a raccoon came in the night and stole the pound cake I bought. He even threw my fork on the ground. What a jerk, I think about him every time we pass a squished raccoon on the road, and hope it's him. Whatever, I'm tired of talking about it.

We went toward Greensburg, and almost got obliterated by a passing cement truck which was unnecessary and kind of scary. When we made it we stopped at a grocery store with the very same truck parked outside. Aaron and I discussed beating the driver up and throwing him in the mixer, but then decided that 25-to-life right after college is kind of a waste. You get off this time Mr. Cement Mixer Guy, just don't try anything like that when I'm old and grumpy or it'll get ugly.

We pedaled on through the green hills of Kentuckyland until we hit Colombia, a charming town with a rather large roundabout situation around the town square. The surrounding buildings all had curio shops and local restaurants; I thought it was pretty sweet and wished more American towns had giant traffic circles with no lines painted on the street. And yes that is a semicolon. Naturally we explored the small-town flair by hitting a Subway because we still have free Subway money!! Following a record-breaking sandwich challenge, the RLPT rode to a public library where we internetted and updated this thing!! Aaron had to lure me away with a 32 oz Gatorade, which was of course a successful operation, but by that time it had been three hours since we first stopped...yikes!

We pedaled our faces off the rest of the day since lunch took several geologic ages and paused only briefly to pursue the dragon and punch the Eastern Time Zone in the face! Naturally a thunderstorm whacked us but Aaron's dragon-infused powers kept it mostly at bay, and we had an almost dry ride into Somerset. We stayed at a Regency Inn "Curry or Cigarettes, Choose your Scent" which was probably a good idea, since severe thunderstorms came through and totally bombarded the area later that night. We rolled over the Golden Arches having learned nothing from West Yellowstone, and loaded up on burgers and television. And then Michael Jackson died. Pretty eventful I'd say.

The rest of the posts will unfortunately have to go up after we're done, sorry. So many good things to tell though, stay posted!

As we near the end, we are pretty thrilled to hit our destination. But they say the journey is the reward, and it's totally the truth! Gotta run and grab Bodo's, RLPT out!

James Day 42 - Richmond Va

I woke up at Doug's place at around noon, and got on the road about 2:00. I was tired. Thanks again to Doug for letting me crash there, I appreciate it.

Let me pause here and say that I stayed with Doug Friesema in Charlottesville, and I am staying with my other friend Doug Scott in Richmond. From here on when I say Doug I am referring to the latter.

Back in the spring one of my training rides was to bike to Doug's place in Richmond so we could go to a gun show. It was sweet, and this coming weekend we will be firing that gun in the woods at inanimate objects. This gave me a unique opportunity to compare my fitness level now with what it was before the trip, because I would be biking the exact same route. I will say that I am in much better biking shape now (obviously). It took me less time to get there than the first trip, and when I arrived I wasn't completely worn out. It's nice to have evidence of physical benefit from the trip.

Doug was kind enough to cook me a tasty dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, which I washed down with a tall, cool glass of HBO on demand. If I had access to Entourage (an HBO original series that must have been created by Jesus himself) all the time, I would never get anything done. It is the best show ever. Doug and Kay (his girlfriend and also my friend from Roanoke) went to the gym, but I declined and instead stayed and watched more TV. It's good that I'm almost done because if I had more than 1 day left, I might just stay here for a week or so. I am currently enjoying internet access to update this blog and check facebook every 5 minutes.

Tomorrow I will be arriving around noonish in Yorktown, where I will get some food with Mike Awesome before starting my return journey to Richmond and then Roanoke. I'll be posting a joyous announcement via iPhone once I reach the beach. I'll also provide a picture so you know I'm not just making it up.

62 miles to go.

James Days 39, 40, and 41 - Blacksburg, Roanoke, and Charlottesville

So I've been a bit slack in updating my progress, but I am back in familiar territory and the end is in sight. The past 3 days have been somewhat surreal because I've been biking through places that I know well, or have biked before. It feels a lot more like the training trips I did in the spring than the end of the trip. I've also had three nights inside with a bed and a shower, which is amazing.

The ride to Blacksburg was interesting. I was woken up at 4:00am by people driving into the park. I don't know why they were hanging out in a park 2 hours before the sunrise, but one of them drove off in the car down the walking path. It wasn't made for cars. One of them decided to take a nap on another picnic table in the shelter I was in. I was a little concerned. Thankfully I didn't get stabbed/robbed/touched in weird ways by them, and several hours later I left small country Virginia in the fog. The day was nice to ride in, it stayed cloudy for a long time so it never got too hot.

In Blacksburg I stayed with my friend Matt. He had to work that night, so I took a shower and then went and chilled at Red Robin until he finished. It's about as interesting as it sounds, so Ben (who was also working that night) let me borrow his book by Anthony Bourdain, which was actually really good. I'm thinking about buying it when I get back. Katherine came down from Roanoke and we all went out. The one thing I like about bars in Blacksburg is the 32oz beers you can order. Finally, I don't have to get up quite as soon to refill. While the night was fun for me, it probably wouldn't be as much fun to read about, so I'll spare you the details. It did end with taquitos from 7-eleven though, so you know it's good.

The ride to Roanoke is essentially downhill, so the next day was a pretty easy ride. There were a good number of construction projects that were new since the last time I was in town, so it was a nice day. Getting home felt really weird, because it was a combination of relaxing from the biking and doing chores around the house. That night I went to eat with my mom and grandma at the Homeplace. If you have never been there, you are missing out. The last time I ate there was before I took the MCAT, and I'm pretty sure it was the only reason I did well. It's family style dining, so you sit at a table and they bring the food to you. They have fried chicken, ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits and apple butter, green beans, coleslaw, fried apples, baked beans, and to wash it all down pitchers of iced tea and lemonade. The best part is it's all you can eat, so if you run out of something they will bring you more. I was in heaven.

It was hard to get up the next morning, but I had to get to Charlottesville. I took the Blue Ridge Parkway most of the way there, and it was probably one of the most beautiful parts of the trip. The temperature was perfect, and even though there was a lot of uphills, I think it was one of my favorite days of biking. Charlottesville was packed full of people I haven't seen in a while, so it was a blast to come back. Doug was kind enough to let me stay at his place, which worked out well because it was on the way out of town for Richmond. We all went out to Boylan that night for flip the dealer and table shuffleboard. It used to be that you flipped a coin, and if you guessed right draft beers cost 25 cents. Unfortunately, it's now $1 if you win the flip instead. I felt a little cheated. After I had had enough 'carbo loading' at the bar, we made the obligatory trip to Little Johns for subs. As per usual I ordered the largest sub there, but was only able to finish half of it because my eyes are bigger than my stomach. The good news is that I then could finish it for breakfast in the morning, along with the stale chips. Only two more days left!

Alive, Well, and Super Lazy

Hola chicos!

For your information, since I know you're dying to know, the RLPT is still alive and doing great. Better than ever even. We even picked up a celebrity guest in Abingdon! However, we are too tired and lazy to deliver a quality update, so we decided that instead of giving you second-rate reading experience we'd hold out until Charlottesville to give you the multisensory explosion that is our standard write-up. Lo siento. At least the map is up to date!

By the way, we'll be in Yorktown on Thursday, July 2 at approximately 12pm. Get ready to rage like never ever before.

Spread it on!

James Days 37 & 38 - Salyersville, KY & Richlands, VA

I left Bob's place without much enthusiasm, as I go longer had home cooked meals and soft beds ahead of me. The day was nice again though, which helped motivate me.

While originally I had planned to go to Prestonsburg, this was not deemed acceptable by the weather gods. About 40 miles out, I stopped at a gas station and was pinnned down by a severe thunderstorm for over an hour and a half (hail, lightning, etc.). Finally the lightning died down and I biked 20 miles to Salyersville, but didn't have enough daylight left to get to Prestonsburg. The icing on the cake was when the power went out on the block with all the fast food and gas stations, meaning I couldn't buy anything because all I had was a debit card.

The next morning I slept in a little (past 7:00) but again had a pleasent day to greet me. I made it past Prestonsburg, an soon was greeted by a glorious 'welcome to Virginia' sign. It feels amazing to be back in my home state, and finally I feel like the end is in sight. I felt so good that I made it the 115 or so miles to Rochlands, Va, which had been my goal after Prestonsburg anyway. When I got to the park in town I met a couple families that were having a picnic, and they gave me half a pizza, a 2 liter of coke, ad a bag of ice. It felt like Homecoming.

This is also the last night I'll be camping out. My schedule is as follows:
Saturday 27th: Blacksburg (Ben and Matt)
Sunday 28th: Roanoke (my house)
Monday 29th: Charlottesville (if you're in town holla at me)
Tuesday 30th: Richmond (Doug)
Wednesday 1st: Yorktown

After I arrive in Yorktown I will be turning around and biking back towards Richmond, and Doug will give me a ride to Roanoke. Then I will celebrate our nation's birth by getting rowdy over the 4th weekend.

James Days 35 & 36 - Lousiville & Lexington, KY

The past two days I have had good motivation, as there were houses, showers, and beds waiting for me at the end. The heat has also calmed down a bit, it's now in the upper 80s instead of the upper 90s.

About an hour after leaving Haubstadt, I started running into bikers going the other way. There were probably about 100 of them spread out over the next 30 miles. I talked with some at a gas station, and they were with TRIRI (Tour Riding In Rural Indiana). It's a group thy organizes multi day tours through parts of Indiana, providing places to stay, meals, and other bikers to go with. They didn't have to carry anything on their bikes, though.

Later, after lunch, for the first time on the trip, I was truly scared I was going to be hit by a car. I found out later that there was some sort of delay on 64 East, which meant eveyone got off and drove down the single lane road I was biking on. I had tractor trailers passing me with inches to spare, while cars and truck were compng the other direction. And there were no shoulders. There was a creek to one side and a rock wall on the other. It sucked in a big way. This was all but forgotten later at Andy's house. Shower, clean clothes, good food, and a nice bed can do wonders.

The next day was really nice. Rolling countryside, sunny, and only 70 miles to Bob's place. I passed bikers again, this time it was Bike And Build people. Weak. If I had been biking for over 20 days and was only in Kentucky, I would be really depressed.

I had another great dinner, courtesy of Bob's mom. Since it was the opening night of the new Transformers movie, we went to see that later in the evening. I loved it, but it may have been because Megan Fox was in it, I don't know. Two nights with a bed have spoiled me, the next couple days will be a pain.

Day 36 - Watch out for them Crazies! - Madisonville, KY to Munfordville, KY

Distance - 120 miles!

DAANG! I know what you're thinking America, 120 miles is FAR! You are right, and we are tired. And by tired I mean our bikes are tired, we don't get tired. But speaking of deceiving roads, we tacked on some extra distance this morning when Madisonville tricked us into taking a wrong road. Our sharp, inherent genius manstincts quickly led us to correct this mistake, and be on our way. Madisonville and we aren't speaking any longer.

We stopped in Central City (which is in fact not in the center of the State, Country, County, or any other entity we could discern), because Sam has an addiction. It is similar to my addiction to gambling, but his is to 32 oz gatorades. He has between 30 and 40 gatorades a day, and sometimes he hits me. I've started drinking gratuitous amounts of 32 oz gatorades too so he will like me more. Help.

In Beaver Dam we stopped at a Dollar General because there was an add for a six pack of Mountain Dew(dragon) for only $1.50. And it's not like we needed 3 Mountain Dews each, but come on this is a once in a lifetime deal.

We cruised along the "Kentucky Scenic Byway" until lunch, which I'm not so sure was particulary scenic, but I have to say there is significantly less roadkill than in Missouri, which is where all the turtles and armadilloes go to die in the road. We ate in Rosine at the general store, which claims the origin of bluegrass music. I'm not extremely educated on the history of bluegrass music, so I don't want to offend anybody with the claims of Rosine, but bottom line is that bluegrass is a big deal there. And the town has like 50 people. And a delicious cheeseburger. We consumed a healthy amount of pistachios from the Townsend care-package, and turned green.

After lunch we passed through Do Stop, Kentucky, but did not even think about stopping. This is a protest tour, not a do-what-the-city-tells-you-tour, gol. In Leitchfield Sam cured the craving with 32 more ounces, and I rigged up the bike saddle 4.0.2 with a shamWow and a shirt rubber banded to my seat for extra cusioning. Come on I've been sitting on that seat for 36 days now, gettin a little sore!

After the break we pressed on the last 30 miles to Munfordville, and panicked when we realized it was getting too dark, so we sprinted the last 13 miles and no cars could catch us and we were fine. Sam pointed out that we could have made it to Munfordville earlier if we had jetskis for the Green River. We are considering getting jetskis and strapping our bikes to the back for the future. Then when we're not on the water we'll strap the jetskis to the back of our bikes.

Munfordville was closing down when we rolled in, but we scored drinks and food at an IGA that was still open (with a righteous deal on Powerades), and settled in the city park. There were at least 4 raccoons vandalizing seperate trash cans in the park when we got there. One gave me the stink eye. I threatened him.

After we finished making dinner in the picnic shelter, a lady rolled up in a truck. She asked us if we had seen her ex-husband, becuase she was stalking him. We gave her all the information we could, and she gave us a pack of baby wipes and 3 pre-soaped paper towels, and her phone number "in case we needed her to pick up anything from town for us". How bout that Southern hospitality? She also told us to watch out for the Klan, and the crazies, and left us. Uh oh.

Now when people ask us where we're going and we say Virginia, we have to specify that we've already come from Seattle, so we don't look like whimps. We're getting extremely excited for the homestretch and all the hospitality waiting for us just past that sweet Virginia state line!

Our schedule for the remaining days:
6/25 - Somerset, KY
6/26 - Hazard, KY
6/27 - Abingdon, VA (!)
6/28 - Blacksburg, VA
6/29 - (around) Buena Vista, VA
6/30 - CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA
7/1 - King William, VA
7/2 - YORKTOWN!!!!!

ShamWOW!
Love, Aaron

Day 35 - Well, We're in the Kentucky Lottery Jurisdiction at Least - Carbondale, IL to Madisonville, KY

How do I get almost all the state lines? Whatever, I'm over it.

Distance: 179 km

The RLPT left Carbondale in high spirits, mostly due to the marvelous hospitality we received there--thanks again Nicole! After rolling out of the home of the SIU Salukis, we followed 13 east toward the state line and passed Marion along the way. Until this point, I found that for better or worse, most of the towns, villes, burgs, and opolises we'd seen were fairly unique in some manner. Some were clearly meant for tourism like Cody or Osage Beach. Others were progressive college towns with their own particular flavors like Bellingham and Missoula. Others like Norris or Rock River were unique in their sheer almost non-existence. However, Marion was the kind of place I've seen a gazillion times, fast food and gas stations lining the main drag spreading out from under the interstate. Not that I don't appreciate the convenience of such a selection of services (especially after the vast nowheres in the west), it's just interesting to see a very different approach to the aid of the traveler...this is the east.

Back in Realityville, Aaron and I continued moving toward Kentucky and stopped for lunch just short of the state line in Shawneetown (home of Arthur J. Frondflinger*, the King of the Hobos). We hit a Dollar General and had a super healthy meal of:
Sam- Half gallon of OJ, block of cheese, pack o' trail mix.
Aaron- Full gallon of sweet tea, PB w/ bagel and beef jerky, but mostly that dang tea.
So as you can imagine, we felt RAD starting up again. Good thing the state line was only three miles away!

Not that you would have known it. We crossed another huge bridge, this time over the Ohio River which makes IL/KY border, but there was no state sign. There was a county sign, a mileage marker (which by the way, Kentucky does by county, not by road. You could easily see 'Mile 13' a dozen times on the same road. I could make a joke here but I will refrain from saying anything hurtful regarding Kentuckians inability to count over the number 20), but no state sign. We weren't 100% sure we were there yet until we saw a lottery sign. Come on Kentucky, get your act together!

But seriously, Kentucky has been good to us--mostly. We moved on through Sullivan toward Providence (our original destination) and hit up a CVS where I found the shining dragon once again. Aaron and I spent at least an hour perusing the "Love" section of the greeting cards and decided on purchasing enough so our girlfriends can get at least four love letters from us every day for the rest of the summer. Haha yep.

Having been fueled with the dragon once more, we went to Madisonville, a good-sized town with a Subway! This is important because the rents bequeathed a ton of Subway dollars to us, and so we ate our faces clean off. Thanks M & D! So that was just jolly! Before we left we stood outside the restaurant discussing our plans for sleeping when some rather sour-looking folks of the, ahem, non-University of Virginia variety began giving us the stink eye. It doesn't take too much imagination to figure out how the average redneck feels about two young males clad in tight colorful garments that show off our talent and personalities, so we decided to just book it and figure it out later.

Fortunately, we found a YMCA across the street and inquired about staying there. The kind fellow at the front desk told us that this particular YMCA couldn't do that, but he did give us soap and shampoo to take showers and let us hang out in the game room until we went to sleep right beside an outdoor shelter on the property. Props to him, I regret not remembering his name.

Anyhoo, twas a solid day, and we're finally caught up on our posting. Have a HARDCORE DAY!!!

*not his real name because I don't want the railroad bulls finding him out but mostly because I forgot it.

Day 34 - Living the Dream (LTD) - Murphysborough, IL to Carbondale, IL

Distance - 8.0 miles!!

Today James arose with the roosters in the early morn, so that he could be on his way flying solo. The schedule of the real world bore too hard on poor Yamez, and demanded he get back one day earlier than us.

Murphysborough took hot and humid to the next level. When you are laying sleeping-bag-less, motionless on a slab of concrete in the middle of the night, in only shorts, and STILL sweating, you know it's hot. I think we also hit a new mosquito bites per hour max during the night.

Sam and I took the day off and lounged around the Murphysborough / Carbondale area. Needless to say, after a couple weeks of sweating through Kansas, Missouri, and into Illinois, our clothes were begging to be washed, so the first thing we did was visit the Murphy Pride Laundromat. On the way to the Laundromat we checked our second of two mail drops at the post office to find a beautiful care-package from Sam's parents! We washed almost everything we owned and dug into all the Townsend's treats (thanks Townsends!!). I tried to wash my cell phone again but Sam wouldn't let me.

Sam's girlfriend Cat sent him a gift card to the 17th street BBQ in Murphysborough, the World BBQ World Champions of the World in 1990, 1992, and 1994, so we ate there for lunch and met the family of another one of Sam's rafting friends from his West Virginia job. The BBQ and ribs were DELICIOUS (thanks Cat!!), and it turns out the Schmidt's other daughter Nicole has a place in Carbondale. They graciously offered us her couches and air conditioning for the evening, so we got a jumpstart on the next days biking by riding a hefty 8 miles to Carbondale. It was the easiest 8 miles of our lives.

We took care of some crucial bike maintenance at a shop in Carbondale, and used the library for a bit. Turns out the librarian is a psychic, and before I had hardly spoken to her she ordered me to go sign the cross-country-biker-log-book before I could use the computer. I was pleasantly surprised by her psychic powers, so I signed the log book and tried not to let her read my mind any more, lest she steal my identity.

Nicole made us an awesome dinner of chicken / sausage / pasta, and we enjoyed some brews while catching up on some beautiful TV laziness with her, her brother, and her roomate Cameron.

It was a fantastic day of relaxing, and sometimes it makes us wonder what its going to be like waking up for multiple days in a row, without 100 miles of bike riding to do. Our routine is very fine tuned at this point, and sometimes you don't even notice 30 miles go by (especially if you are riding the dragon, or if you have something like an airconditioned destination to look forward to!)

Tomorrow we say our quick and heartless goodbye to this fling that was Illinois. Look Illinois, it was fun while it lasted, but we could just tell from the beginning that it wasn't going to work out.

Toodles!
Aaroune

James Day 34 - Haubstadt, IN

This morning I said a very tearful and hug-tastic goodbye to Aaron and Sam. As they went to enjoy the sights, sounds, and pools of the greater Carbondale area, I pushed on ahead alone so that I can make it to Yorktown by July 1st.

For this interested, my route will take me through Louisville (Andy's house), Lexington (Bob's house), a couple nights through KY and VA, then Matt's place in Blacksburg, my own house in Roanoke, Doug's place in Richmond, and finally Yorktown.

Back to today. I went to the post office as it opened at 8:30, where I received an amazing care package from Adrienne (thank you so much, it was perfect). With that to boost my spirits I set off on my way through the heat toward Harrisburg. While I will take the heat over cold and rainy any day, it still isn't fun to have sweaty palms while biking. Not to mention sweat running down your face, or fighting a losing battle with chafing (I won't go in to details).







One more state: check.

Southern Illinois and Indiana are both what I wanted Kansas to be: mostly flat, with a couple turns and cities to keep it interesting. I didn't go up anything that deserved to be called a hill all day, and I loved it. Hopefully tomorrow will be much of the same.

A little after lunch I stopped a Super Wal Mart and bought half of a watermelon. It was so refreshing that it's getting its own paragraph.

A guy outside a gas station talked with me about the trip for a while. He was skeptical that
1. My bike would make it to Virginia (it will)
2. It's possible to bike in these temperatures (clearly it is)
I eventually just left him even though he was still asking questions. He can deal with it.

It was still fairly early when I got to Cynthiana, my original end point for the day, and there were no stores in town, so I pushed on for 7 more miles and saw a glorius sign: pizza buffet. It's easier to get me to eat at a buffet than to get an alcoholic to drink, so of course I went there. I got full but didn't take it to 'thanksgiving uncomfortably hard to breath' full, which is quite am accomplishment for me. The park doesn't have running water, but it has a bathroom and it's actually cool out tonight, so I can't complain. I'm looking forward to a shower tomorrow at Andy's place.

Day 33 - Babymamadrama: Our harrowing brush with real life - Potosi, MO to Murphysboro, IL

Distance: 106 miles

Happy Summer Solstice!

The midwest is neat because it has "Emergency Snow Routes" and somehow 90 degree mornings also. Yes, I know it's summer (first day!), but shut up. The hot hot mornings are at least enough to force you out of your already burning sleeping bag and make you do stuff. Like run to Wally World and slam some OJs and doughnuts! (Did you know that if you sit in one of those little shopping buggy things, people will give you the strangest looks?) We left Wal-Mart feeling like we HAD saved money and lived better so its was greatalicious. Riding was pretty typical until we found Farmington and a White Castle.

None of us had ever been to a White Castle before, but we were pretty sure they served cheap food, so we stopped for a pre-lunch situation. Apparently White Castle's thing is sliders (midget burgers for us non-PC folks) and GRATUITOUS use of the word "crave." Seriously WC, this crave thing is getting pretty craving annoying. Still it was good (I kept it at 2 burgers, Aaron had around 56) and we pressed on.

Suddenly the road turned all angry again and we found ourselves up, down, and all over the place on the way to Ste. Genevieve. We made it halfway and consumed our team's 457th and 458th 32oz Gatorades (where I accidentally walked into a furniture place looking for drinks) and pressed onward to town. We found a Save-A-Lot (I got homesick for at least 3 seconds) and totally ate lunch there. After several peanut butter jars, a gallon of Actavia yogurt (I am REGULAR), and a huge muffin, we were ready to go again. We pushed through the hill regions until we hit the Mississippi floodplain, which was gloriously flat and godawfully blazing. I'm pretty sure the heat index was in the severals of hundreds.

Finally we saw the huge bridge spanning the Mississippi in Chester--a pretty significant structure! When we hit the Illinois side, we were greeted with at least forty signs practically yelling that we were in the land of both Lincoln and Popeye.

I hear that Illinois and Indiana quarrel over who has more right to Honest Abe's memory. I hope that one day I too will be famous and awesome enough to have states argue over who had greater influence and connection with me.
North Carolina: Sam Townsend was born and spent 3 of his most formative years here! That was one righteous 2-year birthday party!
Virginia: He was essentially raised and educated here. He even graduated THE UNIVERSITY. We get to have the statue of him!
Nebraska: He had lunch and totally hit the loo here once!
...and so it would go.

Anyway, we met up with my good friend Casey at a park just east of the mighty Missississississippi and she very kindly gave us many homebaked goods, which we dealt with unmercifully. Thanks Casey!!! After our brief rendezvous in Chester, we said our goodbyes once again and hit the road toward Murphysboro.

Like most late afternoon rides, this one felt really long and extra hot (TWSS teehee). We found that Illinois also has some sneaky hills and we were thoroughly angry at them. Still, we finally made it, and soon took shelter in the local Riverside Park. We sat and began preparing our various dinner foods when a large family also joined our shelter for a Father's Day picnic. We discussed our journey and they were very much impressed, apparently enough to give us tons of delicious fresh catfish. We of course ate ourselves silly and continued speaking with some of them.

James eventually went to sleep at a different shelter while Aaron and I continued hanging with the other visitors. Somehow (I don't really know how or when exactly) we found ourselves at the fringe of what can only be described as babymamadrama, and boy was it fierce. We wanted to leave but we really couldn't without completely running away, and these colors don't run. So we slowly packed our stuff while the spat continued in the most vibrant of manners and eventually secured our escape. Whew! Too much real life at one time!

We made it to our 100 degree mosquito infested shelter and went to sleep, the last night with James--and the iPhone so our posts will naturally be less frequent. Don't worry, we aren't dead. It'll be Aaron and me carrying the RLPT torch from here on, so make sure to rage double hard and double awesome for us. Day off in Carbondale tomorrow, Hoowah!

Day 32 - Iberia to Potosi, Mo

Distance - 106.5 miles

Iberia was already warm in the morning. It was only going to get worse in the day. Let me jump ahead and explain that the heat index got up to 109, and I saw a bank sign give am actual temperature of 99 at one point. Hot and sweaty was the game today. For a long time we enjoyed biking on no shoulder with cars racing past, but luckily the traffic didn't last too long. What did last was the hills. I think we did more total uphill climbing than we did in the Rockies, and here the ups are significantly steeper than anything we have done so far. Nevertheless we trucked through it all, and the second half of the day was a nice trek through the Mark Twain National Forest, and a break from all the hills.

Upon our arrival in Potosi we went to the nearest grocery store, but before going in we spotted a Super Wal-Mart off in the distance. The allure was too great so we went there to get our food. We sat down on the sidewalk outside the store like hobos and consumed our dinners, each of us washing it down with a half gallon of either strawberry or chocolate milk. We still aren't sure if that was a great idea or not, because it was still pretty hot out. Also, in Missouri, Wal-Mart really does sell everything.





The park we chose for the night was nice in that it had all of our demanding living requirements: water, a bathroom, and a picnic shelter. Aaron took a 'shower' under the water spout, which actually looked quite refreshing. Just before going to bed, a cop rolled up with a dog in the back that was going nuts. While he called his supervisor to see if we could stay, a second cop pulled in. Apparently we warrant backup. They let us stay, which just reinforced in our minds that we can get away with anything.

Day 31 - Weaubleau, MO to Iberia, MO

6/19/09

Distance - 84.3 miles

The Weableau motel/inn/cabins, while sketchy and questionable by normal standards, was a sweet sweet luxury to us. The air conditioning worked like a magical charm, and although the sink grumbled violently when the shower was on, the shower was still a beautiful thing. The cabins claimed to be "recently remodeled", but the bright shag carpet, rusty ol' refrigerator, and tattered recliner begged to differ. We slept in a bit, enjoying the clean sheets, and Sam completed stage 3 of his Saturn V jettison discharge sequence by sending his broken pannier back to Virginia with mom, on track for a crash landing into Yorktown!

For the first time in weeks, we woke up in the morning to feel the wind blowing strong--DIRECTLY in the direction we wanted to go. We praised the wind gods and sacrificed a turtle as offering. Although we had the wind with us again finally, ye olde sun was still relentless and it was one of our hottest days yet. We were sweating out the water almost faster than we could drink it in.

The roads in Missouri have been ok, although the turtle roadkill count is easily in the 60-80 range, and I think we've also started to move towards roadkill of the more exotic variety, including several armadilloes, some snakes, and one huge frog. They all provide exciting obstacles if not gruesome spectacles.

We took refuge from the heat in the Camdenton KFC for lunch, and Sam and I once again chased the elusive dragon by crushing endless mountain dews. I think Sam might have even touched the dragon. After lunch I received my routine 60-mile flat tire and fixed it on the side of the road. My tires are definitely just getting too thin, and after 5 flat tires in 4 days, I can't wait for the next town with a bike shop to get some new tires!

The last part of the day on the road from Osage Beach to Iberia had NO SHOULDER AT ALL, so we had some nerve-racking riding next to cars, but hopefully we have some better road tomorrow. Some guys in Kansas told us that Missouri roads get the worst reports from cross-country riders. We didn't want to believe him, but we'll see how the next 2 days go!

We found the Iberia park, cooked up some delicious pasta dinner, and settled in under the shelter to watch the town high-schoolers do laps around the park in their pickup trucks for the next 3 hours, which is apparently the customary Friday night past-time. I guess we enjoyed it, because we got to experience short clips of music, fading in and out as they drove by. Notably, Miley Cyrus, which is Sam's favorite.

-posted by Aaron

Day 30 - Chasing the Dawn into the Roadkill State: Iola, KS to Weaubleau, MO

Distance - 107.5 miles

Like a Saturn V rocket, my situation is systematically breaking apart as this journey progresses. By the time we hit Yorktown, I expect to be riding in just Speedos and on a unicycle. But hold on a second and I'll explain the process in a moment.
We left Iola bright and early, and after fueling with the infamous "Double Croissant Initiative," I met Aaron and James at a nearby gas station. There we ran into a local reporter for the Iola Register and she gave us a brief interview and photo session, a cleverly disguised excuse to look at our muscles.
After yet another successful GFI, we made our way east along 54 toward the state line with a gentle tailwind helping us along. I especially appreciated this kind gesture made by Kansas, and we were able to split up on good terms and are still close friends and still talk.
From here we crossed into Missouri (The Sho Nuff State) and pressed on to the town of Nevada (ne-VAY-duh). Just before we got lunch, Stage One of my structural jettison process began. I hit a bump turning into a parking lot that was immediately followed by a sound eerily similar to a cat getting pulled through a Gutenburg Printing Press. Except that this sound was a bad one.* My rack snapped on one side this allowing my right pannier to gleefully lodge itself in my wheel. Awesome. But luckily during lunch I was able to fix the bloody thing with duct tape and iron will. Problem solved! Maybe...
Remember that the day's heat and humidity were totally out of control (imagine being on the Magic School Bus during the "human body" episode and running out of gas/magic in Ralphie's armpit). We needed relief. So we decided to hit the pool at El Dorado Springs, so we pressed on for many a sweaty mile without incident. HA! Don't tell me you believed THAT! Aaron's tire bit the dust in town and I hit another bump initiating Stage Two of my release sequence, specifically the total breakage of the right side of my rack. However, both Aaron and I limped our way to the pool anyway because that's the kind of men we are! Naturally we made it at 4:58, two minutes before closing time, but we took our shirts off and so the lady at the counter HAD to let us in-that's just the kind of men we are. The staff let us swim and jump off the high dive (!) as long as we promised not to drown and as long as they could stare at our muscles. We decided that was legit, because let's face it, that's the kind of men we are.
Eventually we had to depart, and Aaron (God bless him) carried my detached booster (pannier) for the thirty mile ride to Weaubleau, a little town in the western edge of the Ozarks.
Aaron's mom, Kathy, once again helped us magnanimously by putting us in the Weaubleau Motel and treating us to dinner at Smith's Restaurant and Berry Farm in Collins. There we unmercifully executed many a country-fried steak, pork tenderloin, cobbler and pie. There were no survivors. We returned to the motel and enjoyed the luxuries of modern living quite thoroughly.
I was able to send my pannier back with Kathy (thanks again!!!) and now I am traveling Spartan style with minimal everything. Makes for a lighter load anyway.

Also, I love seeing trees again, we take them for granted in Virginia.

* I don't really enjoy seeing cats go through printing presses.**

Live to ride, ride to live,
Sam!

**hahahahaha

Day 29 - Emporia, KS to Iola, KS

6/17/09

Distance - 80.2 miles

The morning did not start off too well for our bikes. I was greeted in the morning by the old mysterious morning flat tire. After I fixed that, on our way to the grocery store Sam realized that the new cleats he got for his shoes aren't the right size for his pedals, and the tension adjustment scew stripped out while he tried to make them work. On top of that it was already like 9,000 degrees and only 8:30 in the morning. We tried to console ourselves with grocery store doughnuts because we heard somewhere that you can eat away your sorrows, but it was no use.

So after 22 miles into the small town of Madison, spirits were low and the neighborhood pool gleamed like the gates of heaven. We decided a swim / sketchbot 5000 would be a perfect cure for the day. Turns out that James is allergic to water and refreshment, so he decided to go on to Iola without us and we'd meet up later. Sam and I busted down the gates as soon as they opened and enjoyed some quality pool time that threw us back to our childhood. Sam got yelled at for running where he was supposed to walk and I couldn't find my mommy. There was about a 2:1 ratio of lifeguards to drownees, so we felt safe.

We ate a classic RLPT lunch of bread, peanut butter, granola bars, etc by the pool, and then used the nearby library for some precious free Internet time before heading out. We started 2 cow stampedes on the way to Iola, which was a new afternoon record. It's actually very exciting, all you have to do is yell and wave your arms as you pass the cluster o' cows, and sometimes if they get confused enough they will stampede alongside you until a fence won't let them go further.

We met James at the park in Iola, which easily had the best selection of play structures so far (props, Iola) and slept out from underneath the shelter and enjoyed the stars.

We've been really surprised to learn how many people are actually reading the blog now, and we want to thank all of you for the support!! Keep the comments and the advice coming! And we were actually hoping to pull a forest gump and roll into Yorktown with like 50 people on bikes behind us. So here's what you need to do: quit your jobs and meet us in Charlottesville in a week and a half, get a bike, protest the real world! Details to come...

-posted by Aaron

Day 28 - Abilene, KS to Emporia, Ks - The Stuffening

Sam enjoying some classic Kansas flatness.

Distance - 106.7 miles

Last night we had the great fortune of witnessing a high school couple breaking up in the picnic shelter acrost yond stormy park. It was a very lucky occasion, sort of like national geographic spotting the snow leopard in attack mode in the Himalayas. Even better, the sky was storming it's brains out, adding to the drama of the situation.

Our destination today, Emporia, had two great things in store for us: a good bike shop and the ever delicious Applebees - to which we had a gift card (thanks again mom!!). Basically we had to change our route to end at a city with an Applebees, that's how important Applebees is. Applebees. James left us bright and early, worried that we would get to the bike shop too late, and Sam and I said goodbye to Abilene shortly after around 7:30am, our earliest start of any day so far! We happily peddaled along with chicken fingers, cheeseburgers, mozzerella sticks, and brewtuses dancing through our minds. I've been working hard the past several days to catch up on the flat tire count, so I tallied up another flat within the first hour of riding. The wind was finally blowing out of the southwest today, so we knew we would FINALLY get a bit of a tailwind once we turned east around lunchtime. And tailwind we did receive! Having a tailwind while biking is a glorious luxury, and we finally hit some classic Kansas flatland after our lunch stop underneath the shade of the Kansas Department of Transportation Area Three Nothern Yard Tree #5.

Feeling like Lance Armstrongs x2, we cruised along to Strong City, Kansas. I know what you're thinking, how did they know? And yes, we did take our picture underneath the city sign. It was about (sketchbot) 5000 degrees outside and 200% humidity, so we took the opportunity to awkwardly eat some snacks while standing in the ailses inside Stong City's beautifully air conditioned gas station.

We have a suggestion for Kansas and Colorado roads: please don't make your rumble strips extend the entire way across the 8 foot shoulder of the road! Completely unnecessary, and it means we either have to suffer over the hand and butt-numbing rumble strips, or get honked at by vehicles for riding in the road, and I'm getting tired of having to beat up belligerent truck drivers, geez.

Anyways, we made it to Emporia, found Yamez at the bike shop, and set out for the promised land (Applebees). It was a 2 for $20 entree deal that included an appetizer, so James crushed 2 entrees himself and Sam and I split the deal. I told them it was my birthday 16 days ago (which it was), and they sang to me and gave me a free dessert! Oh the promised land indeed. We left feeling like we wanted to die (a good thing in this case I guess), and used the Emporia State University Library for some free internet, thanks Emporia!!

We're staying in the 50 acre Peter Pan Park, underneath a picnic shelter big enough for 250 people, pretty nice place if you're a hobo!

Day 27 - Beloit to Abilene: Advent of the Sketchbot 5000

Distance: 433,488 ft (82.1 mi)

All right kids, I have a real computer now so I can type like I really mean it. Hooray!

We rolled out of Beloit shortly before 9am, and after AT LEAST 1.5 arduous miles, we took a break at a gas station featuring really cheap breakfast sandwiches. Yes. We then rolled onward toward the Hwy 36 and 81 intersection, where we once again came upon Drew & Jeremy, the cyclists we saw the other day! We teamed up into the mighty yet ever controversial
five-man slipstream for the next 15 miles to our next turnoff. We stopped under an overpass in true hobo fashion and shared some stories for a bit, then cried for several fortnights and parted ways.
We turned south on 81 and moved toward Minneapolis (boy were WE ever lost) but luckily figured our way toward Bennington. We had to turn on a "county road" which might have been just dandy for a car but for bikes was more like riding an insane massage chair on the railroad tracks. Still, we finally made it to the beautiful little town only to find all our chances of food were closed on Mondays. TYPICAL. So we settled at the city park where we polished off the food we had (James and Aaron were all right, but I only had a 1 pound block of cheddar cheese). It wasn't that bad though, the cheese had melted into a fine fondue consistency and was quite a delicacy. However, the real charm of Bennington was its COMMUNITY POOL!
Aaron and I eagerly forked over the best $2 we have ever spent, and we totally hit that pool up! We felt only slightly awkward because everyone there was either under 9 or over 35, besides the lifeguards, but we went into Sketchbot 5000 mode and stopped caring. The pool unbelievably refreshing, but more importantly, we totally showed up those kids with our diving board techniques, they had no chance. Leaving the pool with refreshed bodies and spirits and supercharged egos, we gave a happy goodbye to Bennington.
The afternoon was less exciting until we landed in Abilene, but let me tell you, it was HOT. And really really really humid. To achieve this sensation you should: A) Submerge yourself in a nasty hot tub. B) Use a Ham and Cheese Hot Pocket as a snorkel. That ought to do it. Anyway, Abilene. Originally, we intended to go another 17 miles, but we had to buy groceries first so we wouldn't starve. However, Zeus had other plans. After exiting the store with a giant loaf of cheese bread, two cans of ravioli, a pound of strawberries and a zillion Little Debbie Star Crunches, I noticed the sky had darkened. A lot. Then rain started to fall. A lot. So we took refuge in a gas station to wait it out, but the lightning refused to let up. We soon decided that 17 miles in that weather would be catastrophic, so we instead rode several blocks to a park in a residential area.
There were 2 picnic shelters, but unfortunately the better of the two was occupied by a young couple very clearly in the process of breaking up. (Call me heartless, but it's pretty funny when you're not involved) So we commandeered the other area, and ate our dinners while watching the lightning and commenting of the painful process occurring in the other shelter. (A tornado watch is perfect weather to break off a relationship in, don't you think?) We thoroughly enjoyed each for around 3 hours (seriously), and hit the hay for our early rise the next day.
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
We woke in the middle of the night to a coyote stepping to us all hard-like. That wasn't fly so we told it to git. I was half asleep during this altercation, but it mostly consisted of James hissing and hollering at the animal while it stood there, probably as confused as I was. I'm pretty sure there was a wrestling match in there but I've been known to not be fully aware of the world when I wake up suddenly. Haha.

Well, that about sums up Day XXVII,

Day 26 - Prairie View to Beloit

Distance - 101.2 miles

Prairie View offered a nice nights sleep; we stayed dry even though it was pouring. The only casualty that night was Aaron's phone, which was accidentally left out in the rain. Bummer.

We had a sweet Pizza Hut lunch buffet in Smith center, but we soon learned that buffets are not as enjoyable when you have to get back on the bike afterwards. Grumblings were had but not enjoyed by all.

Right about Lebanon, KS, we stopped at the Center of the Contiguous United States. It's essentially where the US would balance if it were a cardboard cutout. And by 'stopped at' I mean we went to the sign off the road that was 4 miles from the actual center. I'm not biking an extra 8 miles, but you're more than welcome to.

This was not our only amazing sight this day. For later in the afternoon we passed through Cawker City, home of the worlds largest ball of twine. It's housed beneath a shelter and looks more like a dome now than a ball, but it'll do. Every year they hold a twine-a-thon and add more to the ball. They really don't want to lose that title, or there really wouldn't be anything left in the town. The only other business around was the Ball Of Twine Inn, and that would go under with the twine.

The land continued to be rolling and un-Kansas like until we hit Downs. The last 20 or so miles (including the stop at the twine) were fairly flat, and a nice end to a long day. We finally hit Beloit and looked around for a place to stay. There was a park off the road, but we decided we could find something better (with bathrooms), so we continued down the road until we found the Beloit Sports Complex next to the high school. Beloit must be pretty good at sports, because this was an impressively large place. A little later, (but before we had unpacked, thankfully) a cop came by and told us we could stay in the basement of the municipal building because it was going to be stormy. We told him we would rather spend the night in jail, but he wouldn't let us, so we settled for basement/tornado shelter that conveniently had workout mats on the floor for extra padding while we slept. It's always nice to have an indoor space to sleep in, especially when there is a microwave for my oatmeal the next morning. I have to say that this was probably the 2nd nicest gesture of hospitality we have had (it would be pretty hard to beat Helena).

Day 25 - Bird City, KS to Prairie View, KS

Distance 105.8 miles




Sleeping in Bird City, Kansas was a lose-lose. You could either sleep zipped up in the sleeping bag and boil alive, (literally sweating - it was a hot night) or sleep outside the bag and get eaten alive by the skeeters. I chose to do about half and half to maximize my sweaty mosquito-bitten situation. Actually besides the skeeters the park was really sweet, and all the people really nice. People in Kansas have to be nice though because you don't want to be mean AND from Kansas do you? That is also a lose-lose. People in Wyoming however are not concerned about this.

I think we had a slight headwind today, but great sunny riding weather again! Tons of perspective going on out here in the sunflower state. There is a rule in Kansas that roads can only have 1 curve in them per 50 miles of straight stretch, so it makes for a lot of long vanishing points. Also, although Kansas is on average flat, we have been doing our fair share of climbs and falls over a rolling landscape, not quite the stereotypical flat pancake, at least where we've ridden so far.

We ate a delicious delicious lunch at Subway thanks to a gift card from mom (thanks mom!!) After lunch we encountered a rattlesnake (one that finally wasn't roadkill) on the side of the road. We figured Joel had given us enough advice on distracting deadly snakes so James went ahead and gave it the kiss of death. In Norton we saw the same 2 guys from yesterday who are biking from San Francisco to New York City and talked to them for a while. They've had much better luck with flat tires than us, maybe we need to get some of the nice fatty tires they have!

We've also come to the conclusion that every town has a park, no matter how small, which has been crucial for our hobo experience. Even ol' Prairie View, Kansas where we are tonight. So far there are no skeeters here (keeping our fingers crossed!) and we have express permish from the county policeman to use the facilities and get our slumber on. So unfortunately we aren't technically hobos tonight. We're trying as hard as possible to look the part though with our 3 and 1/2 week "beards".

Also, thanks so much dad and diane for sending the t-shirts we had made to Otis! We are now officially a protest tour because we can roll into diners wearing our matching RLPT uniforms.

Today we hit the 2,000 mile mark! That's 4 hours of flying in a plane, 33 hours of straight driving in a car, 25 days of pedaling on a bike, or several years of rolling if you are the rolling Baba. Put THAT in your brains protestors!

-posted by Aaron