Part 4

The last few days, whether it be due to weather or injury or both, have been rough, but for now things are starting to look better. I've had a bit of a problem with my Achilles tendon and have encountered some inclement weather, but I seem to be healing up and the sun's started to shine once again. We've covered some good ground across Illinois and the Mississippi River into Missouri and should be coming up on Kansas in the next couple of days. Here's what's been going on the last few days:

Day 15 - it was a cold and dreary day today. Yet another one of those days that you just want to be over with. The temperature didn't get over 45 until the last hour or so that we were riding. We hit 87 miles today to bring us to Murphysboro, Illinois. We met a group of 3 cyclists along the way headed from Virginia to Astoria, Oregon. Not too much to note today - Dre missed another turn but fortunately I was able to flag him down - I also had my first mechanical issues as my chain fell off my crank a couple times, but otherwise today was pretty uneventful. We should be passing into Missouri tomorrow.

Day 16 - today was a struggle. The last few high mileage days are starting to take a toll on my legs. My hamstring and Achilles are both fairly sore, so tomorrow will be an easy ride so I can try and recover. It was pretty windy today, but fortunately we had some warmer temperatures so it wasn't so bad pedaling. We crossed a very flooded Mississippi River today into Missouri and finished up in Farmington, Mo. Dre is still amazing me - he rode all 84 miles today on a 20 oz coffee, 5 scoops of peanut butter, a handful of dried fruit, and 5 fig newtons (he actually rode the first 50 miles on just the 20 oz coffee). I was also able to get in a much needed tune up on my bike today as we ran into our first bike shop along the route. We're staying at "Al's Place / Transamerican Trail Cyclers Inn." It's a hostel in the old Farmington, MO jailhouse. It's a pretty sweet setup - bunk beds, laundry rooms, showers and a full kitchen just for cyclists rolling through town. Oh and I can't forget to mention the Tyler Hamilton autographed cycling jersey hanging on the wall. Tomorrows forecast - light rain. Sounds like a great day for a short recovery ride.

Day 17 - today was the third rough day in a row - this time the weather was the culprit. It was about 50 degrees and rainy throughout the entire ride. On a positive note - we did have a 'shorter' day today - a mere 60 miles. I talked Dre into calling it quits early because of the weather and my ailing Achilles. Our original plan was to stay with some guy from our map, but when the locals suggested that we find somewhere else to stay we decided to post up in a hotel - somewhere with a bed and a warm shower after a cold day of riding. Today was our first day in the Ozark mountains and they actually aren't that bad at all - mostly just small rolling hills - not a while lot of climbing involved, but more like a roller coaster ride - you make one climb and your momentum

keeps you rolling over the next couple of hills. We came a bit south today into Ellington, Mo, but we'll be heading back westward tomorrow towards Houston, Mo. The weather is going to be cold and wet yet again, but hopefully back up in the 70s and 80s on Sunday and Monday - I can't wait. 

Day 18 - another tough one. I woke up around 4 am and could hear a monsoon outside. Fortunately, by the time we got started the rain had slowed to a very light drizzle. Unfortunately, though, my Achilles pain was pretty limiting. I made the decision early that I was going to cut today short and only went about 25-30miles. About 10 miles in I told Dre I just needed a day off for my Achilles. He wasn't sure he wanted to stop so short, so we then made the difficult decision to go our separate ways. He was worried about me getting into town safely so when I arrived I gave him a call to let him know that I had made it. Much to my surprise, about half an hour later he returned my call and informed me that he couldn't justify going any further with the weather being as inclement as it was on top of the mountain and he also felt bad for leaving me. So he turned around and came back - our partnership remains. I shut it down at about 1030 this morning in Eminence, Mo and have been stretching, icing, and massaging ever since. My leg is feeling better for now so I'm hoping it holds up. I'll continue to monitor it and make the stretching/icing a routine. It's been pouring rain all day since I stopped, but tomorrow should be a beautiful day to ride - back in the 70s with clear skies so hopefully my leg will be feeling better and up for a ride. I'm still ahead of schedule, but I'd much rather be out on the road.

Day 19 - today went much better than the last few days. The weather finally cooperated (somewhat - we didn't have clear skies all day, but there was no rain so I can't complain) and my Achilles felt much better, not perfect, but better. The sun finallly popped out around 2 this afternoon for the first time in 3 days and the terrain was excellent. We had a couple of decent climbs earlier in the day but for the most part everything was rolling terrain today. We are also staring to run into other cyclists as well - one headed east from Colorado Springs and another fellow, who were camping with tonight, Peter (from Germany) headed west to San Francisco. We made it about 80 miles today in to Hartville, Mo and are camping in the lawn of the Wright County courthouse. I may be speaking too soon, but tomorrow should be a great day for riding - 80 and clear skies - I'm ready for anything other than cold and rain. Tonight is my first night camping since my very first night of the trip and I can only imagine that it will go better than the first night, but we'll see. In the meantime I've gotta catch up on my stretching. Until next time..

http://www.ridewithoutlimits.org/goto/Eric_Johnson

Part 3

Things are going well. Since my last post I've crossed my first time zone (from eastern to central), entered my 4th state, and covered over 400 miles (~280 in the last 3 days). The terrain has finally shifted from mountains to hills and, according to the experts, the toughest part of the entire trip (the Appalachians) is donezo. Here's how the last few days have played out, enjoy:

Day 10 - today Dre and I headed out of Chavies towards Berea. It was rainy, cold and windy- it was one of those days that you wanted to be finished before the start. We left around 8, I lost feeling in my toes around 9, and was separated from Dre around noon. Neither of us wanted to be out there in these conditions so we just kind of did our own thing - no teamwork. We stopped for brunch around 11 and the rain finally stopped. Just after brunch I backed off for a few miles and Dre got about a quarter mile ahead and missed a turn. I couldn't tell at the time that he had missed it because there were bends in the road in both directions, so I made the difficult decision to move on without him because covering extra ground in these conditions feeling the way I did wasn't feasible. I slowed down hoping that he might realize his mistake and catch up, and he did, about 20 miles down the road. So about 80 miles later we rolled into Berea, Ky - it's a really pretty place and definitely the largest city I've been to since leaving NC. We mingled downtown while we waited on our host Andy from warmshowers to pick us up and take us to his home for the night.. Dre had other plans - he thought it would be best if we just rode our bikes the extra 5 hilly miles to their house. So we rolled on and arrived at a quaint little house in the outskirts or Berea. Chili on the table and towels ready for our showers - the hospitality is never ending.

Day 11 - after a nice ham and egg breakfast with our host family we set off. We are officially done with the Appalachian mountains (which are apparently the hardest part of the entire trip) and are now just rolling through the foothills. We were planning in hitting around 80 or so today, but my achilles had other plans. I was a bit sore so we decided to take it easy.. Until Dre took us in the wrong direction. Fortunately I caught it only a mile down the road. Once we got back on track we headed in to Harrodsburg, Ky. We chowed down on some papa johns (the first chain restaurant I've seen since leaving Nc) and got a cheap hotel room. After some R&R and stretching we called it a day.

Day 12 - we headed out early today hoping to cover a good chunk of ground. It was on the chilly side for most of the day, but we covered a solid 97 miles. We rolled through the whiskey portion of Kentucky today and took a brunch stop in Bardstown, Ky where a lady gave us each 5 dollars for our journey. We also rolled through several Abraham Lincoln historical sites, but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of any them because they were all slightly off route. After a long day in the saddle, we finally arrived in Sonora, Ky. We're staying in the Thurman-Phillips guest home bed and breakfast. The home was built in the early 1900s and the majority of the furniture and fixtures are from 1910 or before (even a grandfather clock from 1840) - this place is super fascinating. If all goes well tomorrow we will hopefully be able to stay at a volunteer fire department in Utica, Ky. Regardless, we will be leaving the eastern time zone first thing in the morning.

Day 13 - we left the b&b around 830 this morning shooting for another 90ish mile day. Fortunately we were able to make it the full 90 into Utica, Ky. We went thru a small Amish community as we were leaving Sonora that was really cool - straw hats and horse drawn carriages everywhere. Shortly after leaving we crossed our first time zone into central standard time. We had very little for breakfast and didn't stop for lunch until around 130 eastern 1230 local and by this point I was extremely hungry (this was after riding for 65 miles on a nearly empty stomach). After lunch we met our first fellow cyclists on the road headed for Yorktown, Va from Illinois. Shortly after lunch we made it to our destination in Utica, Ky. We're staying at the Utica volunteer fire department. Evidently they have an open door policy for cyclists so we walked right in and found a couple mattresses. Tomorrows forecast looks promising so hopefully we'll be able to get in another good chunk of mileage. 

Day 14 - after crossing into the central time zone yesterday we still managed to wake up on our routine eastern time schedule so we got a early start this morning. The weather was ok - slight overcast and super windy. My legs were starting to feel pretty rough from the last couple days so I was just going through the motions trying to knock out my third 90+ mile day in a row. Of note for today was passing by another Amish community and crossing the Ohio river by ferry into Illinois, my 4th state. After docking in Illinois we made the short trip over to Elizabethtown, Illinois where we'll be staying for the night. Tomorrow could potentially be yet another 90ish mile day into Murphysboro, Illinois - as long as the weather holds out.

http://www.ridewithoutlimits.org/goto/Eric_Johnson

Part 2

Overall I would say things are going great.  I'm on schedule, the scenery is so beautiful and the people are super friendly and hospitable - the Kentucky dogs on the other hand, well that's another story. I'm pretty exhausted at the end of each day, but I'm trying to stay fueled as best as I can, eating anything I can when I can, and sleeping around 9 hours each night. I'm drinking around 80-100 ounces of water a day at bare minimum.  I've teamed up with a fellow cyclist and North Carolinian and we're clicking through the miles as best as we can. Here's a tid bit about my last few days:

Day 7 - things went pretty well today. I made the trek from home over thru Damascus Va. all the way to Rosedale Va. I spent the night in the sanctuary of the Elk Garden United Methodist Church. The people there were super friendly. They actually host cyclists passing thru the area almost every night.  At first I was a bit anxious about this being my first night away from the comforts of NC, but about an hour or two after I showed up at the church I met a fellow cyclist, Dre, who is also making the trip to San Fran - and actually, by chance, I already know Dre - he's from Burlington and I actually met him on a training ride about a month ago passing thru Elon - small world, huh? We decided to team up for now, as it looks like we're on the same schedule. We were in for a treat tonight, though - the church had a concert with a group of world renowned musicians from New York. They played selections from artists/composers such as Faure, Brahms, and Schumann among others - it was incredible, but I'm still trying to figure out how these folks ended up on Rosedale, Va.

Day 8 - today was a 'blah' kind of day. It was my first time riding with Dre and it was pouring rain pretty much the entire day.. at least until we stopped - go figure. It was nice actually having someone to ride with but Dre was killing me - he is a master climber and would put a 50 meter gap on me in no time. Fortunately, though, I'm a better descender so it evens out. Oh yeah, and the guy never eats - he eats like one meal a day and seldom snacks. But it's been nice having a riding partner for sure. We made it about 65 miles to Lookout, KY to the Freeda Harris Baptist Center. They offered us a place to sleep on their gym floor on some cushioned gym mats. I also got my first shower in two days today - two actually, if you count all the rainfall. We're hoping to get in about 85 miles or so tomorrow and about 75 the next day which should land us in Berea, Ky. 

Day 9 - Dre and I hit about 85 miles today. We finished up in a small town called Chavies, Ky, about 80 miles from Berea, Ky. Today's ride was pretty tough, starting out with a big climb only 10 minutes in. We were rolling along pretty well though despite the hilly terrain - only 6 hours in the saddle. Once again we'll be stayin at a church - this time at Chavies First Church of God. I can't stress enough how generous the people are out here - this place wasn't designated on our map as a potential place to stay like the previous two churches were, but as we were passing by we figured we might as well stop and give it a shot and not only are they allowing us to sleep in the basement of their church, but two girls (who I'm guessing are the pastor's daughters) just brought us vegetable beef stew and water - it's like they could read our minds. Oh, and the weather today - warm with a slight breeze - perfect!

Tomorrow will hopefully be our first experience with warmshowers.org once we arrive in Berea. To be continued.. 

http://www.ridewithoutlimits.org/goto/Eric_Johnson

To begin I will explain the title of my blog - one, one coco full basket:  the title came from my good friend Chantal Woodard.  It is a Jamaican proverb that is used when one takes on large tasks that must be completed bit by bit.  Obviously it's a fitting title for my 9 week, 3,500 mile journey.

That said, I'm currently on or slightly behind my 65 mile per day schedule.  I'm not worried though because I'll likely be right back on schedule tomorrow.  I've come about 370-380 miles in 6 days and am set to leave NC tomorrow morning (April 16).  My shortest day came today, a mere 15 miles, and my longest day on Saturday, around 85 miles with hilly terrain.  Also, side note, let it be known that every ride so far on this trip has been longer than any bike ride I had ever done prior to beginning this trip.

So far, things have gone pretty smoothly.  It's been a huge help having family and friends offer me meals and places to sleep along the way, with the exception of the first night.  Speaking of the first night - that was definitely the 'roughest.'  I started out that morning around 10:30 and rode a grueling 80ish miles in about 85-90 degree weather.  I asked myself what I was getting myself into every minute of the 6.5 hours that I was in the saddle.  Alas, I arrived at Bladen Lake State Park. While breaking for dinner (wheat thins, peanut butter and an apple) I met two elderly ladies doing their evening walk.  At the time I had yet to decide what I was going to do for lodging that night, but they assured me good camping was about half a mile down the road at Jones Lake State Park.  When I arrived at the lake, the park ranger informed me that it would be 20 dollars per night for camping - my initial thought was 'no thank you,' or some version of that.  After some chatting the ranger walked off, and so did I - straight across the road into the woods where no one could see me; I walked into the woods, dropped my belongings and set up camp.  I forgot to check the ground where I set my tent up at, but once I laid down for some shut eye I soon realized that I had, in fact, placed my tent conveniently over a pile of sticks (where my hips were) and a small stump (right at my head).  I was too tired to relocate.  Nonetheless, I got a few hours of rest and headed out for day 2.

Day 2 went really well.  I was ready to hit the road early because I could no longer sleep.  It was a nice, cool, short day.  And by short I mean 60ish miles.  I was able to get in to my friends house in Coats, NC around 1:30, get a nap and a much needed hot meal.  Also of note on day two was the sweet lady at the gas station in Ammon, NC who gave me 10 bucks right out of the register to help me out along the way.

Day 3 was my first day riding in rain.  Fortunately, I only had about 30 minutes of rain throughout the entire day, but the all-day cloud cover was very nice and refreshing.  Finding two four-leaf clovers didn't hurt the day's mood either.  The only scare came just as I was entering Chapel Hill - entering campus I pulled out my ipod to snap a picture, I laid it on my handlebar bag for a moment, and when I looked down about half a mile later to use it I realized that it had fallen off.  Fortunately, though, when I went back it was still on the side of the road.

Day 4 was another long one, only this time it wasn't the heat that left me exhausted at the end of the day, but the hills just outside of Carrboro and Winston-Salem.  I left Chapel Hill heading towards Lewisville/Winston-Salem, NC around 9 am and arrived in Lewisville around 6pm.  Eight hours in the saddle, riding through the ghetto of High Point and down Main St. in High Point definitely warranted a couple beers around a campfire with my friend's dad. 

Day 5 was really, really difficult.  Definitely the most physically taxing thus far.  I left Lewisville around 9 and rode very conservatively knowing that my first day in the mountains would be very brutal.  It ended up being around 75 miles with about 10 of that straight up a 10% incline.  Once I made it into the high country, I threw my bike down, ate as much of my food as I could and laid helpless on the side of the road for about 15 minutes.  After much contemplation, I decided to finish out the last 10 miles to my grandparents house, but not before stopping again for about 20 minutes, still trying to recover from the 2,000+ foot climb in elevation.  I've had my fair share of hard workouts, but I'll admit, that one ranks up there with the best of them.

Day 6 - I knew yesterday was going to be difficult so I had planned on today being an easy recovery day.  That said, I only went a total of about 15 miles today and have been trying to recover in the comfort of my own home/bed. Today marks the last day that I'll have the comfort of having family and friends around and tomorrow my comfort bubble is sure to be popped.

I'm looking forward to the next 8 weeks.