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.