May 31 Update

I have not posted since staying in Buckhorn so here's an update.
I left Buckhorn and climbed in the cold and damp for several hours until I started to descend into more open country as I approached Booneville, Ky. I still had a good deal of climbing to do in the days' 66 miles of riding. Outside of Berea, I had a tough climb up a heavily traveled two lane road to Big Hill, Ky. The shoulder was only about 18 inches wide and I had to share it with a foot wide rumble strip. The road became four lane before I got into Berea, and I found out why Big Hill deserved it's name. I dove down this big sweeping curved hill at up to forty miles an hour as cars whizzed by at twice my speed.

I made it to Berea Ky. On the 27th and camped behind the Fire Station there. Also camping there was another T-A rider, Ian from Victoria, Canada. He's 55, quite fit, and had done a good bit of touring. We started out together the next morning. He is a lot stronger than me on his bike so I sat in and drafted whenever I could.
Ian is doing most of his own cooking, so I stopped in Harrodsburg, Ky. for lunch. I don't usually take food pictures, but this meatloaf sandwich was as good as it looks. I hope Ian enjoyed his beanie weenies. I was not sure if I would see Ian again, but I caught up with him in a couple of hours. We camped that night under a picnic shelter in a city park in Springfield, Ky.

The next morning we headed out for Whitemills, Ky., about 70 miles away. At the Whitemills Volunteer fire department, we caught up with my buddy, Malcolm, who had taken the Mammoth Cave detour to spend the night with his dad, who had driven up from Florida to see him. A volunteer fireman brought over a six-pack of beer and offered us the use of his car. We did not use the car, but the beer hit the spot.

I spotted this field full of Roosters along the way. We stopped and talked to the owner, who said he had about 300 fighting roosters, which he sales all over the world for cock fighting.

So now, Malcolm, Ian, and I have been riding together for three days, averaging a little over 70 miles a day. It's been great having company, but they are wearing me out. I can stay with them on all but the steepest hills where they usually out climb me. And there are some steep hills. Some of them I can only climb at 3 mph, and I can walk up them at 2.5 mph. I find its better to let them slip away and catch up with them when I'm over the top.

The next night we stayed in a fire station in Utica, Ky. The convenience  store down the road sold pizza and mutton burgers, I had both. Last night we stayed in a Methodist Church in Marion, Ky. It is a large church, and very pretty inside, but, a dwindling congregation, I think. Tonight, after a very hilly day we are in a Methodist church in Goreville, Ill.

Tomorrow we head for Chester, Ill. On the Mississippi river, which we will cross on Friday morning. (I have to stop and think what day it is, I'm looseing track.

We've been getting up about 5:30 to be in on the road by 6:30. We usually stop at a country store around 8:30 to eat breakfast, and again around noon for lunch. Malcolm and Ian tend to cook more than me, I'd rather just buy something.

The scenery has been very nice, but I have not taken many pictures the last few days. We crossed the Ohio river on a small ferry this morning about 8:00. Entered Ill. At a place called Cave In Rock. We've not been too keen on going out of our way to see notable landmarks, our line is we can see them on YouTube.

 O

Ohio River ferry

Malcolm and Ian at White Mills fire station

Me at White Mills

May 24 update

Today I'm stuck in a McDonalds, waiting to check into a  motel to get out of the rain. Actually, the sun just came out, but I can't check in until 4:00. I only got 26 miles in before the rain began today. I may be stuck in Hazard for a day or two, they are calling for a good bit of rain, and riding all day in the rain is not as much fun as you might think. Below is an update I wrote yesterday and can now copy into my blog. I'll try to include a few pictures as well.

May 23 update

After I left Elk Garden, I discovered that my seat post was loose and letting my seat gradually get lower. The change was so gradual that I did not realize that it had dropped about and inch, and was probably at least partially contributing to the sore on my butt. I tried to tighten the clamp that holds the seat post in place, and managed to break off one of the bolts. I stopped in a hardware store in Honaker, Ky. and was able to find the bolt I needed, but still needed to remove the old bolt. The store owner pulled a new vice out of it's box and pulled down a hacksaw off the rack, and I was able to saw a slot in the end of the broken bolt where it stuck out of the clamp. Then I removed the bolt with a screwdriver. I then realized that the clamp was bottoming out before clamping the seat post tightly enough, so I bought a canned Pepsi, drank it, pulled out my swiss army knife and cut a thin strip of Pepsi can out and wrapped it around my seat post. I bolted it tight, and now as I write this update, two years later, I'm still riding my bike with my improvised shim.

I rode my last day in Virginia and spent the night at Breaks Interstate Park on the Virginia/Kentucky border. it's a beautiful park of about 4000 acres with a motel, restaurant (unfortunately not open for the season yet),campground,pool,lake and stables.I had a nice conversation with the camp host, a local fellow who retired from coal mining. He told me that he worked in a mine under the mountain we were sitting on that extended more than 9000 feet from the entrance. That would not be for me.
Today I spent my first day riding in Kentucky. Unlike Virginia, the valleys (hollars) are narrow, but the theme is the same, up a creek till it runs out, climb up a ridiculous grade to a gap, fly down the other side and repeat. I got five of those in today. Also, unlike Virginia, eastern Kentucky is poor. Lots of ramshackle houses and trailers and tiny towns with most of the stores falling in and abandoned. They do have a very efficient garbage disposal system though. They simply put it out by the "crick" and the next big rain disposes of it. There are wonderful rivers all through this area that are littered with trash.
I had read about the dogs in Kentucky chasing riders, but I only had one encounter today. Just as I started up a steep hill a pretty good sized black Shepard looking dog with one blue eye came snarling out at me. I knew I couldn't out run him so I got off my bike and prepared to defend myself. I've got a can of Halt dog spray, but I decided to go with the oak stick under my bike frame. As soon as I pulled it out he decided to go on back home. There's no shortage of dogs, but most of them are tied to trees in the front yard. The residents here seem to prefer a big mongrel mix instead of the ubiquitous pit bulls I've grown to love.

From Breaks Intrastate Park I had a 66 mile day to Hindman through a series of tiny and poor communities including Elkhorn City, Ashcamp, Hellier, Lookout, Vergie, Melvin, Bypro, Bevinsville, Dema, Pippi Passes, Mallie, and finally, Hindman. I spent most of the long day in the rain.
I got into Hindman wet and cold and expecting to stay at this hostel sponsored by the Hindman historical society. The phone number was on the ACA map and there were several signs along the way. I called and only got a nice voicemail saying they were away from the office, so I made my way to the hostel. I had to push my bike up this steep driveway about a quarter mile to a house that looked barely inhabited. No one answered when I called out, although the door was open and a radio was playing. The place struck me as some kind of bizarre Hansel and Gretel theme park. I hustled on down the hill and went in search for a place to spend the night. Hindman has a bit of an arts thing going on, and the first place I stopped was at a luthier workshop. I explained my situation, and the luthier gave me a name and number to call. I called and talked to Randy who was out for a hike, but said he would swing by and show me how to get to his house where I could spend the night. Apparently Randy does this on a regular basis. In any case, that's were I am tonight, in the dry with my cloths washed and dried, and a bed to sleep in. Karma is definitely going to require that I start doing more for other people.

Randy fixed me breakfast this morning and sent me on my way. He's a big nature buff, and was headed out to collect mushrooms with his dog, Jack. As it seems with a lot of people in the mountains, he's into music, plays guitar and banjo. His son is a jazz guitarist and is studying in Greensboro. Randy was a bit of a odd duck, but only in a good way. I hope the same can be said for me.

I've been very careful about brooching the subject of politics, because I know where the sentiment of most people up this way lie, but I have found a few

Typical scenery in western Va.

 My office for the day

No one around to take my picture

enlightened souls. The ones I have talked to have been very cautious about who they are around and how loudly they speak.

It's been fun talking to people along the way, they are generally interested in where I'm from, and where I'm going. Some seem quite envious.

May 22 Update

Hostel in Troutdale

View from hostel

Elk Garden Hostel and church

It's 1:00 on Monday in Haysi, Va. I'm at the public library taking a break. I had lunch a little convenience store in Sandlick. It turns out that a lot of these little stores have small kitchens where they make takeout food. They are generally way better than a McDonald's or a Hardee's. I drank two bottles of V-8 juice as well. My wife told me to eat healthy and eat plenty of vegetables. Two bottles equals 6 servings, so there you go Kathy. Actually I've been drinking a lot of V-8, and Maybe the best thing I've eaten all week was one of those huge loose kosher pickles from Kroger in Christianburg. I sweat so much I crave the salt in both these foods.

Here's what's been going on since my last post. I wrote these updates  when I didn't have internet, so now I'm copying them to the blog, or at least I'll try.

May 19, 2017
I'm writing this from the front porch of a bicycle/hiker hostel at the Troutdale Baptist Church. I only rode 37 miles today. I got here about 11:00 this morning, and decided I needed a good rest. Plus, I have two sores on my butt cheeks about the size of silver dollars. They are quite painful, I've had to wear double bike shorts for the last two days . I guess I will have to wait for callouses to form before they quit hurting. But enough scatalogical references, the real hurt is that my riding partner for the last 7 days went on without me. A nice young man, I'm going to miss the company. I probably will not see him again, he's stronger than me and has to finish by August 1st.

Here's what it's been like for the past few days. I'm writing on my tablet and I will copy my post when I find service. I mention this because I don't have my blog in front of me and I might repeat myself.  Anyway, the scenery has been beautiful. We've spent most of the last few days in the valley below The Blue Ridge Parkway, paralleling I-81. It's rolling country varying from lush open bright geen pastures to shaded roads running alongside rivers and streams. A typical stretch will follow a good sized stream along a wooded road, then, as the stream narrows the land opens up and the road rolls up and over ridges that run down to the stream. You follow this ever narrowing river, creek, brooke, trickle, until it finally peters  out and you finish with a sharp incline to the gap. We might spend an hour or more climbing up the valley, then spend 10 minutes going down the other side only to repeat the whole process again. The wild flowers and not so wild flowers in people's yards a really pretty right now. There is a constant display of Blackberry blossoms and wild geraniums with there lavender flowers standing up taller than the high grass gone to seed. The Black locust, sourwood, princess tree, and Catawba trees are in bloom as well. In fronts of houses along the way are large patches of Peonies, Irises, and roses in bloom. The gardens are tended and the potatoes are eighteen inches high.

I'm developing a good left side sunburn from traveling west everyday with the sun slightly to the south. I guess I'll need to turn around in Astoria and come back to even it out.

Today we left the valleys and climbed back into the mountains. After about 25 miles of ups and downs, it was all up through dense  shaded mountain forest, then a flaming downhill into Troutdale. Troutdale takes up about as much realestate as it does map space. There's the Troutdale Baptist church (newer one on the left and old frame one up on the hill to the right), a few houses, and an abandoned store, and, I'm told, a library and a post office. The library may be a misprint on the map. The Baptist church built this hostel for hikers and bikers. It has a bunkhouse with plywood bunks and showers in the back of the old church. They supply towels, and clean pillow cases for the pillows. There's a coffee pot with coffee, and a microwave. The portapotties are clean and there is running water outside. There are good people in the world! A couple of hikers drove up to stay at the hostel and begin hiking the next day, and later they drove off in search of a place to eat. They brought me a couple of cheeseburgers, when they returned, so no beanie weenies for me.

I also had a visitor from home today. My next door neighbor, Bill Meeker, went to Kentucky to pick up a new puppy, and he stopped by the hostel on his way home. It was great to see him.

Tomorrow I'll leave early with a fairly short 40 miles in front of me to a Church at Meadowview on the other side of Damascus. I'll probably eat lunch in Damascus, but it is trail days weekend there, so it will be very busy..
What's a travel blog without a description of the people you meet! Day before yesterday we met a mother and her 16 year old daughter from Texas doing the Trans-Am (henceforth the TA). We met a newlywed couple from England doing  the TA for their honeymoon. I met a broke and homeless 51 year old guy from West Virginia in the Wythville  park where we stayed last night. I try to help people like that when I can, so I gave him some money. When I started to walk uptown a little while later, he asked me to bring him some beer. I told him no, he would have to get it himself and drink it somewhere else. I didn't want to abuse the hospitality of the town letting us camp in the park. I don't think the less of him for wanting to spend his money for beer. Everybody wants a little pleasure in life, and when you are that hard up you take what you can get. One thing that has struck me in these tiny hamlets we have passed through is how beaten down the residents seem to be. Young and old, you see them get out of there cars, head down and grim faced, going into the one and only store in town for there morning coffee or cigarettes. This morning we were sitting in front of a place like this when this old man in a rusted out pickup truck drove up. He gave us the once-over reserved for bicyclists in spandex and neon yellow, crunched open the door, lifted his left leg out of the truck with the help of his arms, and said to us in the slowest, deepest drawl you've ever heard, " Bicycle,......I used to ride a bicycle..... Ten speed.... Ride it up to????? "(unintelligible). He shuffled on into the store with his untied clodhoppers and we continued to eat. Just as we were leaving, I had my back to him, but I heard him mention to Malcolm that he is 79 years old. And you wonder why I'm out here doing this!


May 21 update
I'm taking the day off. I got in to the Elk Garden Methodist Church yesterday about 4:30 in the afternoon. I had a pretty hard ride of about 56 miles, including one very tough climb of 1500 feet in three miles. The Elk Garden church is a beautiful brick church built in the 18 hundreds about 30 miles from Damascus. They have been hosting bicycle tourists for at least 20 years. When I arrived, there was a sign on the door welcoming me in and instructing me to make myself at home, take a shower, and help myself to the food in the well stocked kitchen.
I took a shower in the outside shower stall (cold water only), got a ginger ale out of the fridge and sat down to read. Some time later, a lady drove up and began unloading supplies for a breakfast for the newly graduated high school students of the church (2). Sarah (her name) and I moved tables around and put out decorations for the event. She graciously invited me to join them for breakfast, and I  of course accepted.
I got a good night's sleep on the church sanctuary floor. The floor was carpeted, and the room was quite and peaceful. This morning I rolled out of bed, put on my least objectionable attire, put my stuff away, made coffee and waited for the crowd to arrive. I love pot luck meals, way more good food than the crowd can possibly eat. They made sure I put aside a big plateful for later in the day.
The church service started at 10:00 (early so that the minister can get to his second church afterwards). I sat in the choir loft and sang with the other four choir members in attendance. We sang a couple of hymns I had never heard before, and of course there was no practice beforehand because of the breakfast, but I thought we sounded as good as could be expected. The preacher preached a very good sermon based on the concept of the holy spirit, then left us to finish up while he traveled to his next gig.
So now I'm alone in the church, reading and letting my sore butt heal, while I wait for the rain to move on and I can start out fresh and dry in the morning.
Here are a few random observations about my trip so far.
I have found the motorists to be generally more considerate in Virginia than back at home. With only a few exceptions, they have passed cautiously and waited patiently for the opportunity. Even the bane of all bike riders, pick-up trucks and muscle cars,  have shown unusual restraint. Maybe it's just because they are used to seeing bicycle tourists on the roads. In turn I have tried to be considerate of them by moving to the right when it's safe to do so, and often pulling over to stop and let them go by. I usually try to wave as they go by as well. One thing I would love to hear as a car approaches from behind is a gentle toot on the horn. When did the car horn became a tool to be used only to exhibit a drivers displeasure with someone else. Anyway, I hope my good experiences with drivers continues on into Kentucky and beyond.
We live in a sadly fearful society, and it's refreshing to have people like the members of this congregation open there doors to me and welcome me with no reservations. I know there are bad people out there and there can be dire consequences if you cross their path, but overall, statistically, the chances of a bad encounter are rare.

I wish I had learned to play the piano, this is the second church where there is one right here with me, and I can't play it. Maybe I'll take lessons when I get home, just what I need, another hobby.

May 16 update

May 16, 2017 update. We left "love" about 8:00 this morning and had a tough climb up to Montibello where we had a very steep descent down to Vesuvius. just before starting the descent, Malcolm broke his front disc brakes cable. The descent was very steep, with a 10% plus grade in places, and very curvy with rough pavement. We started down the hill which is about 3 miles long and drops about 2000 feet, and agreed to stop and cool the brakes several times in the way down. So, about halfway down, Malcolm had gone ahead completely out of sight, and I'm really concerned about him. I come around a bend and just below me is  a steep driveway up to an old cabin. This driveway is as steep as Tim Foley's, if you've seen his you will know what I mean, but if not, let me say you can barely ride up it. This driveway below is also a very rough, rutted, dirt incline. As I come down the hill I see Malcolm up this driveway about a hundred and fifty feet working on reattaching his panniers. He had bailed out just like one of those run away trucks on the interstate. He could never have made the next curve just 100 feet farther on.

I stopped and helped him get his stuff together and he decided he would flag down a pickup truck to get him down the mountain. I rode on down and waited for him in Vesuvius. When he got down, we went to lunch at Gerti's diner in Vesuvius. It is an old filling station with about 7 ft ceilings. The reason I mention the ceiling is that it is completely covered with names, dates, and addresses of AT hikers and Trans-Am riders. Malcolm's hands were still shaking when we got up to leave.

When we got in to Lexington Va. We went to a bike shop to replace his brake cable, two women came to the bike store with a flat tire. They are also doing the Trans-Am. They had three flats about ten miles west of Lexington, and someone picked them up, brought them back to Lexington, waited,then took them back to where they had to stop. I changed the tube for them and showed them how to do it properly. They were a mother daughter duo from Texas. The mother looked to be early forties, and the daughter was 16. They passed us later in the pickup truck and we caught up with them later. We rode with them a while, but eventually moved on ahead. They started riding this morning farther West than us, so they were going on past where we are staying tonight. I'm sure we will see them again.

Tomorrow we plan to go to Radford Va., About 80 miles. There is not a good place to camp there, so I called my old high school Biology teacher, Jim Blakney. He lives in Pearisport and is going to pick us up and put us up for the night.

May 16, 2017

May, 14 2017
Here's the latest play by play on my trip. I don't have internet where I'm staying tonight, so you won't see this post until I can find service.
I spent my first night in a little Methodist Church outside of Richmond.  About six that evening, another rider pulled in to spend the night. His name is Malcolm Foley from Florida, but is a grad student at Alabama. We've ridden together the last two days. We did seventy five miles yesterday and spent the night beside a barbecue pit in Mineral, Va. Today we did about seventy and ended up in Whitehall, Va. Today was very tough, lots of hills, a headwind, and it got pretty hot around Charlottesville. By far the worst part was around Monticello, where was  a steep winding grade on a narrow road with lots touristy type traffic.
We are lunch at Moose's cafe beside Moose's gun shop. There was a lot of Moose bling as well a good bit of pro-gun signage like "Guns welcome, please don't use them unless you need to." I had the pot roast, and no shots were fired.
 We  are camped at the Whitehall community center, no shower, a cold water hose pipe, and no toilet. Right across the street there is a little country store where I bought a six pack of Rolling Rock and two cans of Beanie Weanies. As you can see, cross country touring is not quite as glamorous as you might have expected.
Tomorrow we have a short mileage day, but very tough. We have a very steep 16 mile climb up to Rockfish Gap on the blue ridge parkway, then about 16 more tough miles on the parkway. We may stop there or take a hair on fire descent down to Vesuvius, Va.
May 15, 2017
Made it to a crossroads called "Love, Va. 34 miles, could not have gone an inch farther. Hours of grinding away at four to five miles an hour followed by mere minutes of heart stopping descents.  Pulled into this campground around 2:00, are lunch and rested. Had a good dinner tonight. Boiled a pound of macaroni, added the cheese powder and a can of Campbell's beef and vegetable soup. Um, um good.
Another rider pulled in about 3:00. He's from New Zealand. Jay is very fit, he did in 3 what took us four to ride. We will probably all leave together tomorrow, but he will soon a distant memory.
I don't have internet or cell service here, so Kathy, I hope you are not to worried about me. By the way, Jay took a picture of a bear in the woods on his ride to here today. Do you know what a bear calls the pepper spray I have to fend off dogs?  A condiment.

A sad note about Jay: We found out later that he was hit by a car in Colorado and badly injured. Saw a picture of him in the hospital, tubes coming out of him in all directions. Things can happen out here.

May 16, 2017
I'm in Lexington Va. Waiting on bike repair for my friend. More about that later. It's about 1:00 and we have 28 miles to go today. Hope I can post again tonight.

living it up in Whitehall

May 12th First day on bike

I
I left Yorktown about 7:15 this morning. I stopped at the monument to get a picture of me and my bike, but had to resort to a picture of only my bike. It seems that there are not many tourists out and about in the rain at 7:15 in the morning. I guess I could have taken a selfie, but selfies make my head look freakishly large. I had better luck down at the waterfront for the obligatory dipping of the back wheel in the water.

It rained on me the entire 65 miles I rode today. I had planned to go about 75 and camp, but lucky for me I checked the weather yesterday and arranged to stay at Willis Methodist church outside of Richmond. What great hospitality: the door was open when I got there, there is a nice shower with big thick towels,  a Keurig coffee maker, and food in the kitchen.

Speaking of Methodists' , I stopped at a church in Charles City (an apparent misnomer ) where they were selling barbecued chicken dinners. I ate half of a very large chicken for lunch.

The first 25 miles of the route today was on the Colonial Parkway. Like other pathways I have ridden on , it was nice,but a lot of people use it for a bypass in the mornings. The traffic thinned down to almost nothing after Williamsburg. One thing I didn't like about it was the paving. It was paved with small cobbles about the average size of a quarter to about a silver
dollar. They were embedded in concrete which had somewhat eroded away, making for a very bumpy ride.

The next 35 miles was on the Capital Trail, which is a very nice green way  from Jamestown to Richmond. I'm glad I rode it today, because there are 1500 riders signed up for a ride on it tomorrow. I learned this from Wayne who was helping set up the event at Charles City. Wayne looked to be about my age, and he told me he did the Trans-Am route in 2014. He said he had a great time and envied me for my trip.

My travel necessities

I'm almost ready to leave on my big adventure.  Here is a list of things I'm taking.
Sleeping bag
Tent
Air mattress
Sleeping bag liner
Jet boil stove
Fuel for above
Extra batteries
Maps
Fire tablet
Cell phone
Battery pack to recharge phone and tablets
Front and rear lights for bike
Various cords to charge all above
Cup
3 water bottles
2 extra water containers
Inflatable pillow
Tooth brush and toothpaste
Alleve claritin and tums
Misc. Baggies
Razor and shaving cream
Swiss army knife
Bike lube
Dental floss
Extra reading glasses
1 spork
Toilet paper
Handiwipes
Flashlight
25 feet of 3/16 rope
4 cloths pins
Soap and shampoo
Sun block
Bug spray
2 spray cans of Halt (pepper spray for dogs and people but perhaps only a condiment for bears)
Bandaids and ointment
Butt lube for long days in saddle
Baby powder for the same
Matches
Money
Credit card
ID
Pencil and pad
Sun glasses
3 pairs bike shorts
3 short sleeve jerseys
Light weight bike jacket
Rain jacket and pants
Fleece vest
4 pairs socks
Bike shoes
Light weight canvas shoes
2 pairs light weight shorts
2 tee shirts
Bathing suit
2 pairs underwater  That's underwear (damned auto-correct)
2 hats
Helmet and rain cover
1 small light weight towel
Coffee
Peanuts
Peanut butter
Crackers
Ramen noodles
Bike cable lock
Spare tire tubes bike tools and patch kit
CO2inflater
Sportscoat slacks tie and shirt  (not really)
That's about it. I think that all this with 3 full water bottles will weigh about forty pounds, and my bike with the empty panniers front and rear will also weigh about 40 pounds. Can't wait for the. Hills.

Thinking Big

Last night I watched a Nova  episode on PBS about the construction of a new railroad tunnel under the streets of London. The technical aspects of the undertaking were truly remarkable, and the cost was astronomical, but there were long term benefits to the people of London that will last for hundreds of years.

This morning I had to go to Huntersville give platelets. I left my house at 6:20 and arrived at the Red Cross at 7:10. The traffic was terrible all the way, and the view of I-77 as I crossed it was appalling.
But, this post is not a rant about traffic, instead it is a lament about our country's future.

I look around at the rest of the world, England, China, Dubai, Korea, Japan, you name them, they are moving forward, while we seem to be standing still, or even going backwards. While other countries build huge bridges, fast rail systems, modern bridges and highways, we debate how and if we should spend money simply to repair our aging infrastructure .

While almost every civilized country in the world recognizes the necessity of universal health care, our congress bends over backwards to destroy the meager program the Obama administration ushered in.

After World War Two, veterans were offered a free college education, in the sixties segregated schools were abolished. Today, students rack up huge debts for a college education to get a job that pays no better than high school education level jobs of the fifties and sixties. Segregation has been reestablished under the guise of neighborhood, private and charter schools.

It seems we can no longer think big. Our nation has become mired in the swamp of conservatism. The mantra of the conservatives is to cut taxes and deny benefits to the sick, poor, and uneducated, and to hold on to whatever assets and and advantages they have, and to hope that their advantages will endure. As long as they have a good job and employer paid health insurance, or are independently wealthy and can afford all the health care they need, what good does it do them to provide for others. After all, as I have quoted Voltaire often in the past, "the comfort of the rich requires an abundant supply of the poor".

The only area where we make big strides is in our military. It's not enough that we have, by far, the most advanced and expensive military in the world, we must increase our military might at the expense of the well being of our citizens. But what good is an axe if there are no trees to fell. Our military adventurism has burdened our country and the world with the casualties of war. In the end, our military will not protect us from ourselves.

Trans-America 2017

May 1, 2017

I'm almost ready for my first and last really big travel adventure. Home repairs and house painting will have to wait, birthdays, weddings, funerals, and my coffee klatch will have to go on without me.
I've got a new bike, sleeping bag, tent, and rain gear, and I'm soon to be headed west.

I plan to leave Yorktown Va. on May 12, and be in Astoria Oregon around mid-August. The route I am taking is the Trans-America route established around 1976. It is a well documented route with maps and information published by the Adventure Cycling Association. Here is a link to there web site: www.adventurecycling.org . Thousands of people have ridden this route, and I hope to be one of them. The route leaves Yorktown, winds it's way across Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and then into Colorado where it turns northwest through Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and across Oregon to Astoria on the pacific coast. Here is a link to a route map on the adventure cycling web site. https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/adventure-cycling-route-network/interactive-network-map/ This is an interactive map that you can zoom in on to closely follow the route.

I am traveling alone and self-supported. I plan to mostly camp, or stay in shelters provided by civic organizations and churches along the way and occasionally sleep in a motel or hostel. Here is a link to the type of places where I hope to stop for the night. http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/pic/?pic_id=660923, and here is a link to the hospitality I hope to encounter on my trip. This is a sign outside the Elk Garden United Methodist Church near the Virginia/Kentucky border.http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/pic/?pic_id=658353