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Bike Across the
America USA with Peter
June 19, 2001
Hello Everyone, I'm doing great, the journey has been excellent so far. Today is day 15
and I'm in St. Louis, Missouri. After two weeks of straight riding, I'm taking a day off
to be a tourist. St. Louis is a great town, really beautiful and nice folks here. I rolled
in yesterday afternoon and rode my bike through the "Arch," as my passage
through the gateway into the West. Also caught the Cardinals vs. Cubs last night, great
ballgame, got to see both McGwire and Sosa hit homers.
Staying at a Youth Hostel here in St. Louis, and have stayed at couple of them in the
last 2 weeks as well. A couple of motels here and there and also some nights in my tent at
State parks and such. Pennsylvania was a roller coaster of hills, the highest summit at
over 2900 feet. Took some sweat to hump it through that state. Did stop for a tour of
Frank Lloyd Wright's "Falling Water" which was really enjoyable.
Ohio, Indiana and Illinois flattened out and I really started to make some good time,
over 100 miles a day sometimes. I get going early, and then take a break around lunchtime
and sit out the heat in the shade or in a restaurant somewhere with AC, then some more
riding and I'm usually off the road by 5 or 6.
Met some great people along the way so far. Some kids in West Virginia asked me if I
was "runnin' away" Fellow in Illinois said he knew a guy who rode his horse
across the country. and the middle of Indiana, I stumbled into Joe's Pizza Place and
Pickin' Parlour, where I played Bluegrass guitar all night with Joe himself, Jim (75),
John G. Hall the Mayor of North Vernon, IN, a fellow with no lips or teeth they
affectionately referred to as Uncle Lizard, and about most of the rest of the town. They
liked me so much they all chipped in and paid for me to stay in a hotel in town instead of
me having to pitch my tent.
Seen some beautiful scenery, Lots of lakes and rivers and muddy creeks. Misty mountains
in West Virginia, and dark storms rolling over the Mid-West plains. Strangest piece of
roadkill so far was a whole fish right in the middle of Illinois. Good 18 inch Trout it
looked like. One time in Ohio, traffic on the little 2 laner came to a complete stop
because of a horse standing right in the middle of the road all by himself.
I hope you're all well, I think of you all in my travels, and thanks for your well
wishes. Please feel free to pass this e-mail along to anyone who might be interested...
On the road, Peter
June 25
Hey everyone, Thanks for your e-mail's it's great to hear from y'all. I'm passing
through Wichita, Kansas, making good time as luckily the prevailing winds aren't too bad.
They are pretty stiff, but are coming from the South and not the West, so I can feel them
coming across, but they don't slow me down too much. If the road bends a little to the
South-West, it slows me down a bit, but when it bends to the North-West I can feel myself
speeding up again. Sort of like sailing a boat. Nothing like pedaling across Kansas into
a gusty headwind that reeks of manure though.
Since my last newsletter, I rode through the Ozarks, and the rolling hills of Missouri.
Beautiful country out there. I only hit one bit of heavy rain so far, and was able to wait
it out under the awning of a little Baptist Church on top of a hill. One thing I noticed
about the little cemeteries in the country is that almost every single grave has fresh
flowers on it. I think this says a lot more just than that people don't move far from
where they grew up. Means they really remember and love their friends and family who've
passed on.
I've done some more camping and also stayed at a few places with beds and walls. Pulled
into one little motel in Owensville, IN that had an autographed photo of country singer
Charlie Daniels (Devil went down to Georgia) in the office. With the autograph made out to
the motel. Haven't stayed anywhere that classy since, but found a real nice Bed &
Breakfast in Iola, KS, where they baked fresh banana cake in the evening and had a huge
breakfast in the morning, and they even filled my water-bottles.
Meeting lots of great people, including a lady whose brother biked across the country
last summer. And I met two bikers yesterday, Brendan and Alison, a husband and wife from
Marquette, Michigan, who were headed East and had been on the road since San Francisco.
Finished the novel I was carrying, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenence" by Robert Pirsig (I met a guy in Pennsylvania who knew Pirsig's nephew)
great book that makes me think next time I'll do this on a Motorbike. So I needed a new
book. I came across a little junk store in Bronson, KS and found J R R Tolkien's "The
Hobbit" for 50 cents. Good story about adventure I figured. Paid the owner, a guy
named Bill, two quarters and he asked where I was headed. When I told him, he gave me back
my two quarters. He said if he wasn't 76, he's like to join me.
Went to the horse races yesterday, in Eureka, KS. saw the Quarter Horses and another
race where they go four furlongs. I wonder how many furlongs I've gone so far? 1680 miles,
I'll let someone else do the math.
Anyway, Colorado is next, wish me luck and thanks for all your support everyone, it
means a lot to me as I make my way on down the road.
Peter
June 28
Hello again everyone, and thanks for so many replies and messages of encouragement. The
trip continues and I find myself in Dodge City, Kansas. Today I visited Boot Hill, so
named in the 1870's because that's where they buried all the unfortunate victims of the
street fight shoot-outs. The graves were so shallow the rumor was their boots would stick
out of the ground!
Kansas rolls by, The land is so flat and expansive I literally feel like I'm riding
across the surface of a big map. I've been really lucky with the winds, they have been
primarily from the South and not from the West.
Today I veered North off of Highway 54 towards Dodge and the wind carried me there in
no time! Went from a 13-15 mph to about 18-20 with no more effort.
Saw the world's largest hand excavated well yesterday in Greensburg, KS. It's basically
a big hole in the ground 109 feet deep and 32 ft across that costs a buck and a half to
climb to the bottom of. Also in Greensburg they had a big old meteorite that weighs 1000
pounds that some farmer found. Shame I only spent one day there.
Camped out at a little "fishing lake" last night. In Kansas, I suppose
because they're so landlocked and there aren't a lot of big rivers, they have these little
"fishing lakes" in some towns, which are basically little ponds they stock with
fish. They have little parks there and you can just pitch your tent for free too.
Learning to read maps and what to look for. For instance there's a big difference
between a town of 1000-5000 and a town of 5000-10,000. Town of 15,000 or more has all the
fast food chains, plenty of hotels, restaurants, probably even a bike shop, maybe a movie
theater. 10,000 is about the same but more spread out, and less chance of a bike shop or
movies. 5000 has a fast food and a grocery store, maybe 2 or 3 motels. 1000: one
McDonalds, 2 gas stations, maybe a motel. 500, no fast food, maybe a diner, post office,
and gas station. 100 or less, a church and a tractor repair shop with a vending machine
out front that doesn't work and dogs that aren't on leashes.
And while I'm on the subject, let's talk dogs. I've met plenty so far, some I've been
introduced to, like Rascal from Ohio, B.B. from Missouri, and Benji from Kansas, and
others with whom I've crossed paths less formally. Most of them like to bark as I ride by,
they pay no notice to cars, but they bark at me. And most of them are on a rope or fenced
in a yard. But some are as free to roam God's Green Earth as I am. C'mon dog owners, give
me a break! Besides they could be run over by something much bigger than me! The little
ones, terriers, dachshunds, small beagles, they can do about 10-12 mph. Bigger dogs, like
retrievers, labradors, shepards, collies, boxers and sheepdogs can do about twice that
speed. Luckily I can usually hit a sprint of about 25 if I have to, so most of them will
just run along side for a while then get tired. I pray I don't encounter some Hillbillies
who raise greyhounds. The dumber dogs come right at you and you veer and then roar on past
them, but the smarter ones set an intercept course for you about 20 yards down the road.
I've had up to a half dozen of them trailing me at once. One time in Missouri, I was
passing a yard with the usual plastic kiddie pool out front, no people in sight. Six (6)
dogs of all different sizes and breeds all come yelping and splashing and bounding out of
the pool to give chase. I almost fell off my bike laughing but managed to find the speed
to get out of there.
I should be in Colorado in 2 days. I am taking a slight detour to Garden City, KS
tomorrow for some repairs. A slight wobble in my rear wheel was getting more pronounced so
I pulled into a bike shop here in Dodge. The mechanic, nice old guy named Larry found a
slight crack in the rim near a spoke. He didn't have any 26 inch rims in stock so he
called the bike shop in the next town over (88 miles away) and they have the wheel I need.
Shouldn't have any problem getting there tomorrow, as I'm not even sure how long my rim
has been cracked, but I want to get a new wheel before I hit the mountains and deserts. I
talked mountain routes with Larry from the bike shop and when I told him the pass I was
planning on taking over the continental divide, he said "Been there, done that."
and assured me it's ridable. Looking forward to it, but 10,000 ft. elevation doesn't sound
like a stroll down the Yellow Brick Road!
Thanks again everyone for all your support, and I hope to talk to you all again soon.
Peter
July 2
Hello again , this time from Alamosa, Colorado.
First off, I'm happy to report my repairs went well in Western Kansas. My rear wheel
was wobbling a bit so I took it to a bike shop in Garden City, KS and an excellent
mechanic named Randy helped me out. He replaced the entire wheel and rim assembly, and
also noticed that the metal bead on my rear tire was starting to tear through the rubber.
Not long till the sidewall would pop over the rim and blow out the tube. So a new tire
too, they even had one to match my front. Randy told me he'd once cycled from San
Francisco to Atlantic City, so I was glad my bike was in his hands.
Rode on to Colorado from Kansas and encountered what was the worst of the "Dust
Bowl" in the 1930's. A bare stretch in Colorado of almost 200 miles between the
border and where the mountains actually begin. I was again somehow graced with good winds
and made it across in good time. One day I biked all day and only saw one town, which had
one store in it, which was enough for me. Saw prairie dogs, antelope, and bison. Was
riding along and saw a pickup truck stopped in the road. nearby two little kids who looked
about 9 or10 and where dressed identically were chasing a cow down the road.
Their dad was in the truck. I stopped and asked if they needed help, not that I had my
cattle lassoo handy, and that cow looked pretty quick too. You'd be surprised. But the man
told me it wasn't his cow, he just wanted to get it out of the road so no one would hit
it. Ok, so I rode on and pictured the scene a few minutes ago. "Hey boys, hop on out
thar and git that cow."
I'll never forget as the land began to roll into hills, when I rounded a particularly
tall one and saw the mountains for the first time after a week or so of riding across the
plains. Breath taking. I made it to the town of Trinidad and set up camp near a lake. The
next day I began my ascent up Cuchara Pass, 9900 ft. elevation.
30 minute time limit at the library here, and people are in line. sorry!
To be continued...
July 12 Hello everyone,
Hailing you this time from the red rocks of Oak Creek Canyon, in the cozy little town
of Sedona, Arizona.
To continue my story from my last e-mail, I was just starting up the passes of
Colorado. Rode through forests and canyons, past high mountain lakes, and I met two bikers
from Denver guy and his girlfriend, also on their way up Cuchara Pass. They had a lot more
gear than me, (and a flat tire) so I moved on past them after chatting for a bit. They
were biking all over Colorado and wanted to eventually cross America, but they said their
dream was to bike Chile. Made it to the summit where legend has it, the local Indian
tribes would gather once a month and dance and sing stories. The Brave with the best dance
and most courageous story would rise into the air with the smoke from the fires, and turn
into a great Spruce tree. And the summit pass is covered with a great spruce forest.
Riding down the other side was fantastic, curvy little switchback roads, tall trees on
either side, I rode for an hour without even pedaling.
The next day I crossed North La Veta Pass, almost as high as Cuchara, and camped out in
the back of an RV park in the San Luis Valley, where they grow potatoes. The following day
I rode into South Fork and prepared myself to cross the Continental Divide. I was just
about finished with my morning break, when a guy on a bike approached me. "you going
up?" he asked. "I'll ride with you." And he introduced himself as
"Racer Rob." Rob was an ex-Ski bum from Telluride, who now just drove around
Colorado with his bike in the back and hopped out to cycle up the passes. He'd rode almost
all the major ones. It was nice to have someone to ride up with and talk to, as we climbed
to 10,800 ft. I managed to keep up with him pretty good too, considering my bike was
loaded up for cross country, with my camping stuff, panniers, and about 6 bottles of
water, and Racer Rob was sporting a Guerciotti, Italian Racing bike with no luggage that
probably weighed as much as a shoe.
The summit still had snow on the sides of the road, and some folks from Pagosa Springs
said they were sending someone up there to get snowballs to throw at the kids the next day
at the 4th of July parade. There were lots of tourists at the top, and when you roll up to
the to peak of the Continental Divide on a bike, you are an instant celebrity. Everyone
wanted to know our story and talk to us. A nice older couple in an RV refilled our water
bottles and wanted to adopt us. Soon enough we zoomed down the other side and we were just
outside of Pagosa, and Racer Rob was about 100 yards ahead of me and he fell off the back
of his bike. Now after mountain biking in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Massachusetts, I've
seen and had my fair share of spills of a bike, but Racer Rob just fell straight off the
back, a new one for me. When I caught up, he was already standing and unhurt, but the bolt
that holds his saddle to the seatpost was sheared off. It only took us a minute to flag
down a guy from Texas with a truck, who only had room for one, so we put the bike on top,
we shook hands, and that was the last I saw of Racer Rob.
I made it into Pagosa Springs and was pleased to discover it lived up to its name. It
was the home of several hot mineral springs that bubbled up from the rocks and collected
in pools. A nice long soak was just was I needed.
Visited Chimney Rock the next day on my way to Durango, where I watched the 4th of July
fireworks from the roof of a Youth Hostel with a bunch of other travellers from all over
the world. As the fireworks reached a creshendo, some guy started singing the Croatian
national Anthem. And the owner's 3 year old son kept running around repeating an off-color
remark in Slavic some hostelers had taught him.
Next day I rode to Mesa Verde, after a short stop to the "Reptile Reserve"
roadside attraction, which was a big snake pit run by a guy who must have been related to
Steve Irwin, the Crocodile hunter from the Discovery Channel. He'd once rode his bike to
Oregon and was fun to talk bikes with. He had about 80 rattlesnakes he got from all
different sources, some purchased, some donated and some from house calls. The Locals
would call him up and say "Help! there's a Snake in my garage!" He doesn't
charge them anything to come and get them, he just gets to keep the snake. And I'm happy
to say that's the closest I've come to any rattlers on my trip so far. Though his son was
glad to point out in a book for me the different kinds of rattlesnakes I'd be most likely
to encounter on my trip West.
Mesa Verde was fantastic, all the cliff houses built into the sides of the canyons 7000
years ago. Great tour by a neat old guy with a long white ponytail. Camped out the next
night in an RV park in the back of an Indian Casino, where they give you a complimentary
roll of nickels for the slots. Then across the four corners into Navajo country Arizona.
Those color pictures of Mars from the NASA robot could have been filmed out there. Not
much to report of out there, but that's sort of what's nice about it. The Mesas and
plains, and red rocks. And the occasional Coyote, or a small herd of sheep walking down
the middle of the road. No people around, but always a sheep dog, keeping watch. He'd
growl a little and watch me suspiciously, but wouldn't give chase and leave his flock.
At last I made it up to the South rim of the Grand Canyon, where I spent two days, just
enjoying the view. There were giant Condors circling in the updrafts, and Antelope hiding
in the shrubs along the rim. I was sad to leave, it was so beautiful, but I eventually
shoved off and headed South for Flagstaff. Along the way I stopped at Valle, home of a
full size recreation of the Flintstones' Bedrock City. Strange. I was riding through a
particularly nice pine forest when a minivan passed me, pulled over and a frantic mother
came running out and asked me if I knew where 253 was. I showed her my map, but it didn't
help. "Thanks anyway" she said and noticed the darkened clouds and a few
raindrops starting. "careful riding, you should get indoors" and she drove off.
Great advice I thought, I'm about two hours from Valle and two hours from Flagstaff with
nothing in between and she suggests I "get indoors." some people just don't get
the fact that I'm riding on a bicycle.
I did indeed get rained on, but by the time I made Flagstaff it was dry again. I found
a bike shop which I needed, as my front brake cable was fraying. Nice young guy who knew a
lot about bikes replaced the cable and also suggested I put some new brake pads on as mine
were pretty worn, and I was about to ride from Flagstaff, elevation 7000 ft, to Sedona,
elevation 4000 ft. As the road dove into Oak Creek Canyon, in the crookedest set of
switchbacks I've seen yet, I was glad I sprung for the new brake pads too.
Camped out along the canyon valley last night, tall pine trees all around, and a little
mountain spring to get your water. The Proprietor of the campsite was a guy named Tom with
whom I sat and talked with for a while. He's from Louisiana and told me about the time he
talked his best friend out of killing himself. Later that night we started to get a little
more rain and the couple next to me in an RV came over and invited me to dinner in their
camper. Will and Carol from West Arizona, who were both truck drivers almost retired and
looking forward to it. Carol said "when I saw you over there eating crackers, it
broke my heart!" So I enjoyed a hot meal with them as we talked for hours about
travelling. And they'd been almost anywhere I could think of.
This morning Carol was over to my site with some coffee before I left and headed into
Sedona, where the road follows a little creek all the way into down the canyon. Beautiful
red rocks of the canyon mesas all around.
Hard to believe I've been on the road 5 weeks now, and I should be in LA in another
week or so. Thanks again to everyone for your support and kind words of encouragement.
The big question I seem to be getting a lot now is What am I going to do when I get to
the Pacific Ocean? honestly, I'm not sure. I don't think I'll be turning around and
heading back on my bike. Most likely I'll go for a swim. Guess I'll see when I get
there...
Peter
July 23 Los Angeles
Hello everyone, I've made it to Los Angeles, I arrived on July 18, after 44 days 3519
miles 14 states passed through 4 time zones 10,800 ft maximum elevation 4 flats 2 new
tires 1 new rim 2 new brake pads plus a brake cable and 20 lbs lighter (me)
I rolled down from the mountains in Southern California to arrive at Dana Point, which
is about an hour south of LA along the coast. I pulled up to The beach, dismounted, looked
at the Pacific, and then had an ice cream cone.
Throughout the trip, I imagined what it would be like finally make it to the ocean and
now here I was, no fireworks or big welcome wagon, just the casual crashing of the waves
on the beach. Also, throughout the trip I'd pretty much decided I was only riding there,
not back, but I have to say, it wasn't until that very last day, when I began to realize
the trip was just about over, that I actually considered just for a minute, cycling the
return trip...
But no, not this time. I'm returning back to NYC in a few days. On an airplane. My
faithful and reliable blue bicycle has been disassembled and crammed into a box to be
shipped back East. So my cycling trip has come to an end, and by any measure it was a
great success. One of the best experiences of my life.
My good friend Ray picked me up from the beach, I've left my bike in his loft and been
a bipedal tourist this week. Been to several beaches, Huntington, Venice, Laguna, Newport.
Visited Hollywood, caught a movie at Mann's Chinese Theater. Saw Pasadena, been hanging
out in Chinatown and J-town. LA is a big place, kinda hard to see everything or even get a
feel for it in a short time. And I've been violating a major rule here too, I've been
walking and taking public transportation (which is very reliable.) Very "New
York" of me, as I don't have a car. Everyone in LA drives.
So I'm enjoying myself, but looking forward to getting back to the business of leading
a fairly normal lifestyle again, where you sleep in the same city every night, and wear
different clothes everyday, instead of the opposite.
I'll most likely keep this e-mail address active until I get a new one from a new job
or something, in which case I'll let you all know, so you can still reach me here for a
while.
Many thanks to you all for the moral support, which helped make this trip possible, and
thanks to all the good people along the way, who made it worthwhile.
Peter
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