Sea to (Almost) Sea For Water

This is my first post  about why I'm riding, and here's where to  donate to Water Life Hope .  The ride is complete, but it's still possible (and wonderful) to donate.  I'll do a couple of more entries, one with equipment reviews for those who might be contemplating something similar and another about  Warm Showers .  Then I'll close the blog.  Might open another one if we do something else interesting, but this one will be done.  Thanks so very much for reading this one.  It was really fun to have you with me on the ride. Most of the group.  Let to right: Matt Yurman, Paula Grad, me, Steve, Jude Lomas, Al Greenberg, Mike Martinez. Missing Gardner Neely,  Henry Slack, John Cargile, Andy Blakemore, Charles Shapiro May 17: Dallas to Decatur, 44 miles. Steve and I woke up in Carol's guest room.  It was time to get home.  I prepared to ride one last time: make peanut butter sandwiches, put hydration tabs in one...

This is my first post about why I'm riding, and here's where to donate to Water Life Hope .  We'll be finishing the ride tomorrow.  If you have an urge to donate to this fundraiser this might be a great time. Steve and me with Julia's sculpture of Jimmy Hightower in Cedartown May 14: Guntersville to Weaver by bus, Anniston to Cedartown by bike.  47 bike miles. We followed our plan, busing it through about 50 miles of poorly-designed Alabama roads.  As we got closer to the Chief Ladiga/Silver Comet Trail we cheered up.   Almost home, and we get to ride a wonderful trail that we're lucky to have nearby. It had been a while since I'd ridden this far west and there had been improvements.  Carol and I rode by bike-share depots, benches and past all sorts and conditions of people using the trail.  One woman had three long-haired foo-foo dogs on leashes, all four of them looking remarkably alike.  We went through fields, past Jack...

Alabama the Beautiful This is my first post about why I'm riding, and here's where to donate to Water Life Hope .  Donating is the most fun you'll have all week. May 12: Joe Wheeler State Park, Rogersville to Huntsville, 37 miles by bike 13 by bus. Yesterday's ride convinced us that the Strava Global Heat Map  was better than the Google bike map routes, so we decided to stick to Strava for the trip into Huntsville.  The first bit of the ride was peaceful.  It was Sunday morning in the country.  With no Episcopal churches nearby, Steve and I headed out with our little handmade route. The first part of the route was wonderful.  Locals grinned and waved to us from pickup trucks as they went by.  We passed St. Paul's Missionary Baptist Church, with a prominent and incongruous "No Trespassing" sign in the driveway.  The parking lot was full anyway, and the place actually looked friendly enough.  When we stopped to check the map two body...

This is my first post about why I'm riding, and here's where to donate to Water Life Hope .  Thanks to the many of you who have donated.  And today's another chance for those of you who haven't. End of the road, at the moment. That's Judy in the middle. May 9: Cape Girardeau to Collinwood, TN by bus Cape Girardeau was terrific, mostly because of our Warm Showers host Judy.  She took us on a flood tour -- plenty of it to see, and filled us in about Cape Girardeau in general.  Her grandmother designed the big and beautiful house she lives in.  Judy's mom grew up there, and so did Judy.  Judy came back about 25 years ago and is rehabbing the place a bit at a time.  She does her own plaster work, and it is impeccable. Even though we were happy to reach the Mississippi, we were unsure of our next steps.  Carol needed to get home more quickly than anticipated.  We were also coming up on a stretch of Adventure Cycling Association...

This is my first post about why I'm riding, and here's where to donate to Water Life Hope .  We're nearing the end of the ride -- grab your opportunity to donate.  It's a decision you won't regret. I took this one for my Serbian pals.  Might look familiar. May 5: Sullivan to Park Hills, 26 miles by bike and 25 miles by bus From Sullivan we took off across the tail end of the Ozark Mountains.  It's a very different feel.  Route 66 parallels major roads on most of its length, and the traffic that wanted to go faster went there: 1-40, 1-44, whatever.  Impatient people were accommodated elsewhere.  There aren't freeways going across the Ozarks.  Everybody's on the same roads. We left Sullivan on a Sunday morning.  The earliest service at the local Episcopal church was at 10AM, so we decided to skip.  Bad choice.  Turns out that off-road vehicles are a big thing in the area.  The roads were swarming with bearded men in ...

This is my first post about why I'm riding, and here's where to donate to Water Life Hope .  You won't know how much fun you'll have donating until you do it.  Truly. Sleeper.  Not Kidding. May 3: Lebanon to Rolla, 65 miles. This was supposed to be a 48-mile ride.  Oops.  It dawned on us when we rode by a sign saying "Rolla 44 miles", 20 miles or so into the ride.  It was my mistake and Carol was kind and gracious about it.  We rode past a "Welcome to Twin Oaks" sign at one point.  We didn't have time to stop and check it out, but I looked online and the Twin Oaks of intentional community fame is still in Virginia. Town names don't surprise us anymore, but they still amuse.  Sleeper has to be one of my favorites.   I like to think that there's an Episcopal church there, but they were too busy fulfilling their Sleeper identity to get the sign going. And then there was fabulous Uranus, Mo.  Turns out it's a tour...

This is my first post about why I'm riding, and here's where to donate to Water Life Hope .  We're in the last thousand miles of our ride -- it's going fast, so if you've been wondering when to donate this is your moment.  And extra thanks to those who have given already. Steve with James Allen, bike guy extraordinaire at the Pedaler's Bicycle Museum May 2, 2019: Springfield to Lebanon, 40 miles by bike, 13 miles by bus. A week in Springfield -- that's what we ended up doing.  Our Warm Showers host, Paul, simply gave us his AirBNB house for a couple of days.  We lived in gracious splendor, and popped in on his church's Earth Day festival.  Steve slept most of the time, and we realized needed more time to get well.  Our host needed his house back. Things got complicated as I quickly got whatever Steve had.  Carol remained healthy but her bike needed drivetrain help, including brand-specific parts that complicated the fix.  So it just too...