Fueled by burritos and solar power.
I meet a cyclist who moved from California to Oklahoma. When asked how the locals treat her, she doesn’t seem to understand why I’m asking the question. I guess it’s not a problem here. In Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath”, an Oklahoma family travels to California on Highway 66 to start a new life. Almost …
“Did you go over the rainbow bridge?” “Um, I think so?” “Did you stop at the little store in Riverton?” Was I supposed to? “I think I missed that.” Mater, from the Cars movie, is Route 66-shaming me and I’m loving it. I don’t have the heart to tell him that I put no effort …
I cross the Mississippi for the last time and find myself in Hannibal, Missouri, home of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home, Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse, Mark Twain Cave & Campground, Mark Twain Commemorative Pothole… Missouri is a non-stop roller coaster ride with constant, short, steep hills up to 13% grade. I’m grateful to have sunny …
A head pops out of a passing vehicle and screams, “Tax fucking all scum, doob!” in my general direction. A cannabis policy recommendation? Am I being insulted? My cold-addled neurons finish rearranging the phonemes and I get “That’s fucking awesome, dude!” The head is commenting on the bike. I flash a smile and a wave. …
I’m so tired of everything being smothered with cheese. I’ve been eating at roadside establishments more often lately just to get indoors to warm up. The touch of local color is great but every menu for the past week goes, “beef, chicken, beef, pork, beef, Greasy Grilled Cheese Sandwich.” Imagine my relief to find this …
I cross the St. Croix River into Prescott, Wisconsin. The ACA route has me following the east bank of the Mississippi for the next three days and it looks like I won’t be crossing back into Minnesota. I seize the opportunity to collect my selfie with the Welcome to Minnesota sign that I didn’t get …
I stop to fix my third flat tire of the trip. This time it’s a slow leak caused by a thin wire in the front tire. Not bad for 2300 miles (3700 km). I have another 3000 miles (4800 km) ahead of me so I’m nearing the midpoint of my tour. I’m heading to St. …
I’m off bike trails and back on rural roads again. Seeing a lot of huge lawns being mowed on riding mowers… oh, right, today is Sunday. The days of the week have become irrelevant. The smell of freshly cut grass reminds me of my first paying jobs when I was twelve, cutting much smaller lawns …
It’s sunny again and looking to stay that way for the next three days. I definitely like cold and sunny better than cold and rainy. I get to talking with another recumbent rider on the bike trail and he comes around to asking me where I’ve been sleeping at night. It turns out he is …
Mary, my Warmshowers host, coaches me on doing radio interviews, “Just have fun with it.” She is the recently retired executive director of the Bemidji Community Food Shelf and has done a bunch of them. The BBC interview goes well, I think. Tim Wheeler is a pro interviewer and makes it sound easy. It was …
SOLAR ebike 