In The Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia......

The daring duo have made it to the Blue Ridge Mountains; another 50 mile day but at a far slower speed as the mountain roads are so steep. We decided a bit late in the day to head up onto the Blue Ridge Parkway thinking we'd have enough time to get to the tiny settlement of Love. We soon realised that we had bitten off a bit to much as dusk started to descend and visibility dropped.

To top that we asked a family in a car how far it was to Love, the driver said you've still got a few miles to go and by the way I'm an off duty sheriff and last week in the exact spot where your standing two people got shot by a gunman and one died, so you'd better get off the mountain quickly.

We pedalled like mad, downing bananas and energy sweets to keep the legs spinning eventually arriving in a holiday cabin park in Love. No one was about so we pitched the tents got a brew on and some chilli and crashed out, totally exhausted from our mountain riding.

We are starting to get more and more dog attacks and Kentucky doesn't have lease laws so things will get scary when we get there. With this in mind I've invested in some pepper spray, so beware mutts!

Highlights of the day included traversing the foothills and cycling onto the ridge line of the Appalachians, amazing houses, long white picket fences, lovely people winding their car windows down as they overtake and asking all about your journey and wishing you a safe and pleasant journey, visiting the PYO peach, cherry and strawberry orchard and drinking huge fresh strawberry smoothies then finding out after a chit chat that the boss lived in Tiverton for 5 years, chatting with other couples at the PYO who were in awe at our loaded bikes and our journey, chatting with Harley riders on the Ridgeway who were convinced my rear hub had a motor in it! Taking a photo of the mile long freight train as we waited at the crossing and the driver waving and giving us a honk on the klaxon, chatting with the owner of the country store and buying hot dogs for lunch. Visiting the Cookie Ladies bike museum ..........

The books that inspired me to do this journey always mention how travelling by bike brings you closer to the people of the country your travelling through and you get treated differently than a normal tourist. From the first 5 days of this journey I can tell you that every word of that is true!

Thanks to everyone for there comments on the Blog and Facebook, as well as the generous donations, sorry I can't reply to everyone, but they are very much appreciated.

Stu xxx

Amazing Hospitality!

I'm still cycling with Tony from Oregon and we've made it to Charlottesville VA just as a huge thunder storm kicked in.

The last view days have been exhausting riding in blistering temperatures but the scenery we have seen on route and the people we have met have been awesome.

Tony is a member of Warm Showers and you can literally ring up cyclists in the town your heading to and they will put you up for the night! We came up trumps and were put up by Clyde and Carol, a lovely couple whose amazing family home was our palace for the night, they even took us out for a lovely Mexican meal and paid. It is this amazing hospitality that seems to be the norm in America! (pic above Carol outside her house)

The next nights accommodation was another show of amazing hospitality, this time from the Mineral Volunteer Fire Department, Engine Company 2. Met by Stewart the Station Chief we had a guided tour and then we were offered to pitch our tents out back or sleep in the huge function room on our bed rolls. We went for the indoor option! We even had use of showers, laundry and the obligatory ice machine, great for making ice packs to strap on to aching knee caps!

A French cyclist, Etienne turned up at the station, he was on his way up to Washington from Mexico. After chatting with me and Tony for half an hour he looked at me and said ....I,ve never seen anyone as big as you cycling across America... and then carried on with his travellers tales. Oh what Gaelic charm I thought!! Maybe I could go for a biggest bloke to cycle across America Guinness record!!

That's all I've got time for at the moment, totally exhausted after another great day in the saddle. Lots of new photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/jalicat/sets/72157623720628744/

The next few days will take me to the Blue Ridge Mountains and some steep hills to conker, should be fun!! 

First Day On The Road

I’m sat at a camp site on the banks of the Chickahominy River, 7 miles west of Jamestown VA, on what has been a great first day on the Trans Am.

Leaving the sanctuary of the Holiday Inn and riding my bike out onto some busy fast roads was a baptism of fire, but so far I’ve been rather impressed with the attitude of American drivers towards cyclists, the Brits could learn a few lessons!

Having accidentally binned my Google Maps route map from the hotel to Yorktown, I relied upon my legendary photographic memory to lead me onto the correct road. Within 30 minutes I was lost! Later, with directions from a Park Ranger I was soon heading off road through a woodland cycle track and I eventually arrived at George Washington's camp site used during the Battle of Yorktown in 1781

This formed the start of an historical trail down into Yorktown. My knowledge of American history is dire and I pulled up next to the French cemetery and further along the French gun batteries and asked myself the ignorant question…. What were the French doing here? I’ll have a Wikipedia session when time allows and find out.

Cycling into Yorktown it seemed like I new the place; my research had involved reading lots of Trans Am Blogs from other riders and they all had the standard Yorktown monument picture at the beginning, or end of their Blog, so here's mine. Kindly taken by two Dutch girls who I met at the monument, who were also starting their Trans Am today

There is also the small matter of the rear wheel dip in the Atlantic, for which I called upon the photographic expertise of the Dutch Transamers once again.

After taking the photo I slyly tried to glean more info about the French and their big guns, to fill my knowledge deficit, without appearing to be thick. It was greeted with a shrug as they had also visited the French cemetery and gun batteries and asked the same question. May be the Dutch National Curriculum is the same as the UK’s, or the three of us happened to be taking a sicky off school on the day they did the “French Blast Big Guns In America circa 17c” lesson! Answers on a postcard please!!

Formalities over and done with I did a few laps of Yorktown soaking up it’s amazing historic buildings and then took to the Colonial Park Way, a lorry free route that hugs the coastline of the York river before heading inland to Williamsburg and Jamestown. The road was nice and wide, tree lined and punctuated with tidal inlets and wading birds.

Thinking I had probably seen enough olde worlde American houses in Yorktown, I almost bypassed Williamsburg, glad I didn’t! The place is a town stopped in time, early 1600’s I think (damn day off school showing me up again)! Everyone is dressed in authentic period costumes and the many buildings that form the town have all been restored to there original glory. This could have quite easily been tourist tat but it was truly a living museum and time machine.

Leaving Williamsberg an oldish American couple stopped me and asked how far I had rode, I told them and then explained my plans and they were just overjoyed, it was a real z list celebrity moment and we chatted for some time. Really made my day and as I headed down into the edge of Jamestown I was grinning all over my face.

I didn’t explore Jamestown as I really had od’d on history but instead headed towards the Capital Trail, a partially complete designated cycle route through some lovely countryside. This route took me to the camp site I’m at tonight.

Thinking my day was probably all done I had a last surprise when two cyclist arrived on the camp site and introduced themselves as Jack and Sue, the advance guard and organisers of a cycle touring group who were on a weeks “learn how to cycle tour” course. They invited me over for dinner and I popped by for a hotdog and beans and had a good chat with the group. They were a lovely bunch and it really made my evening. They were really interested in my trip and Jim the group leader is a Trans Am vet and gave me a few good accommodation and general touring tips. My Rohloff hub also grabbed the attention of a few of the group who had never seen one.

I couldn’t have asked for a better start to my trip, I’ve already seen the legendary generosity of the American people and the scenery has been stunning. Lets see what tomorrow brings.

Night yawl

(Tune in next time for the 60 mile 90 degree scorcher with Tony from Oregon, who lands us in a beautiful all American family home for the night and we even get taken out for dinner! Lifes tough on the road)

Tra la la la Amereeca...

Thoughts so far...

Bloody volcanoes...... 3 hour flight delay then re routed via Iceland, Greenland, Nova Scotia for a 9 hour flight.

Crap flight, sat next to bog, narrow seat, elbowed in head regularly, two forces guys with me chatting about bikes.... 3 large blokes + 3 small seats = contortionism, oh and broken Video system! Nice crew though and bike arrived intact, but come on Virgin... sort it!

1 hour queue at immigration very friendly and my first "Have a nice day".

Limo taxi drive of 160 miles with Gentleman Taxi's, give Tom Peyton a ring on 804 839 8400, he's also got a mini van for groups with bikes. His rate wasn't much more than a Hertz one way car rental and believe me after a day of travel being picked up at Dulles and dropped at the start of the Trans Am is great and worth every $. Thanks Tom.


Arrived at Holiday Inn, fell to sleep next to lap top writing emails!!!..... What a day! zzzzzzzzzzzz

The breakfast lady in the hotel (Hazel Nassell !!) has now given me the grace of god and blessed my journey!!!! Shame she didn't bless the rubber omelet!

Just got into the lift with a guy I did a double take, Nick....a young American lad I know from http://www.crazyguyonabike.com starting the ride today. We'll probably meet up on route...


The power of the tiniternet strikes again!

In the 70's outside, but I'm in my room building my bike!

Police sirens, honking train horns and adverts for miracle religious "debt cure" holy water on TV....

This can only be America!


Have a nice day.......

Boxing Day!

Well I should really be a lad of leisure in my new found life of self imposed unemployment. But sadly since leaving work it's been non stop packing, cleaning and procrastinating in readiness for the big Trans Am adventure.

Today was probably up there with the best of them, as I decided to pack my bike for the flight. A day of tedium was about to unfold!

Recipe

1 Bike
1 Large box
1 Roll gaffa tape
1 Roll fragile tape
1 Strapping kit
5 Pieces of pipe insulation foam

Take bike and pull to pieces.
Drink coffee, eat crumpet.

Cover bike in insulation foam.
Strap together with gaffer tape.
Drink coffee.
Eat toasted sandwich.

Stuff bike into box.

Sprinkle with assorted bike paraphernalia.

Drink coffee.

Eat toasted tea cake.

Voila.
A baggage handler, flight friendly, packed bike! Fingers crossed it arrives in Washington DC in one piece!
Eat Chilli Con Carni.

Cool Cartography

I was starting to panic a bit, my collection of 12 Trans America cycling maps from the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) hadn't turned up and with mother nature showing whose boss, I was thinking that the ash cloud crisis may see me heading out to the states without them. Panic over, my delivery turned up today!

These maps will make life on the road for the coming three or four months all the more bearable. Rather than just being your usual OS style map, these specially designed cycle maps are brimming with cycle specific information and cultural and historical facts for the area, as well as climate data.

The route elevation profile is a double edged sword, yes it lets you know the climbs and descents that are ahead of you, but when it's something like the 11,542' Hoosier Pass, the temptation to stay in my sleeping bag may prove to much. Not having to worry to much about navigation will mean I can enjoy the ride more and soak up the scenery.

Seeing the maps in front of me must be one of the last remaining reality checks, the count down to the 9th of  May is on, only an Icelandic volcano can stop me!!