20 miles uphill...

I road 55 tough miles. I'm camped out behind an american legion in lakeside california... Which is an irony, since I don't see any lakes. I was hoping to go further, but I was pretty wiped. The vets were kind enough to let me pitch a tent behind their legion hall. I also went in after a brief rest and enjoyed a couple beers and watched some football...
God bless us all...

Begin... Dog beach

Went in circles for first 10miles around bay. It is a nice day to go in circles. san diego vs kansas city ... I rode past stadium 30min before kick-off. I don't recommend this to anyone who might ask...

Arrival in san diego

This is after reassembly... arrived in s.d. @11:00am
Checked in by noon. Ate cheap authentic mexican...
switched sram chain with new shimano chain... seems much better...
All packed now... Will start in a.m. after breakfast... More tomorrow ...

Where's Scott's Bike

Headline News:

FedEx Truck Crash Scatters Hundreds Of Packages on Highway

My bike was routed through Ft Worth Texas where this happened... turns out my bike was on shipment just ahead of this one.

Waiting...

The Southern Transcontinental Bicycle Route

This ride begins in Sandiego and ends in Saint Augustine. It is approximately 3200 miles. It passes through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Florida.

My bike and some camping gear was shipped to the Days Inn Seaworld (which is approx 1 mile from start). I depart from Yaeger airport Sat morning @6:40am. I hope to arrive in my hotel room about 1:00pm (CA time).

I'm planning to install a new chain after reassembling my bike. I hope to give it a brief test run that evening. I'll go through all my stuff and pack it up and then try to sleep. I should depart the next morning after a really huge breakfast.

Last minute changes and packing

I changed the cassette and chain -- but the chain was too short... I spliced in links from old chain, but it still felt rough... I had no time to tweak anything. I had to take racks, pedals and wheels off to pack. I used tent, sleeping bag and misc camping gear to insulate/pad frame and wheels.
Boxed well and shipped out Friday. Dang...
Talked w/ Bill Nottingham at Charleston Bicycle re: concerns. He allayed my concerns and gave me the nicest blessing I could have received. In a nutshell, to have the time of my life.

Please go see Bill Nottingham at Charleston Bicycle if you ever plan to buy a bicycle or gear!

Holy Crap!

I called two "luxury" services (not with serious intent) that pick up and deliver sports equipment like golf clubs and bicycles to vacation destinations. To guarantee delivery on 9/28 to my hotel in San Diego, I would have to have (had) everything packed and ready for pickup today (Argh!). Furthermore, It wound cost 350 bucks! and that's for the budget luxury service -- Holy Crap!

I called the hotel and made sure they would recieve my equipment for my stay - they said no problem. I have to do some last minute work to the bike: lube and cleaning of the bike. Also, I planned to put on new tires and tubes, a new cassette and chain. I can't get the parts til wed.

I should be able to pack up the bike thurs w/ some of my camping gear. I called fedex to check on packing restrictions... no sweat w/ bike box and approx weight of eighty pounds. To guarantee delivery I must have it to them by mon morning. I plan to get it to Fedex this Friday afternoon. Estimated costs (w/insurance) is $150... So much for luxury services...

Looks like I'll be slumming around on my old Trek after wed.

Showtime is close...

Ride of tears

The lady who owns the rambunxious little (@#$%^&) puppy that did this to my leg is an unhappy and unfortunate (@#$%^&) woman from duck, wv. To begin with she had at least six little (@#$%^&) puppies running loose. When confronted about being bit by one of her dogs, she said she wasn't responsible - and that I couldn't prove that it was one of her dogs...
Bless (@#$%^&) her...
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This was furthermore an unpleasant ( @#$%^&) ride since I was harrassed by two spirited (@#$%^&) youths driving a primer gray 80s era monte carlo. They proceeded to drive by four times honk their horn and wave (flip me off). I was likewise harrassed by two other like-kind(@#$%^&) locals .
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Eighty tearful miles...

He wanted to eat my leg...

... but changed his mind.

This dog quickly became my best friend after a quarter mile uphill pursuit. I stopped to rest and he came tentatively up to me. He was wagging his tail. Not long after we sat down, a nearly identical dog appeared.
The second dog was a little harder to win over... seeming more suspicious of my bicycle.


We ultimately enjoyed a friendly moment together watching the sun set on a ridge between kanawha and lincoln county.


Sixty Blissful Miles...

Macho Man

Today I replaced the ballcock and works in Ruths toilet.

Pensive anticipation

I'm starting to get a little nervous about my trip. I'm scheduled for a flight out of Yaeger airport on the 29th. I have a reservation at the Days Inn at Sea World (cheapest in San Diego) same day. I've got my bike box ready for packing. I'll be installing a new cassette, chain, tires and tubes this weekend. I'll road test super clean and super tune everything before packing it up.

All this anticipation and my natural predilection for guilt feelings have me in a neurotic state.

Too bad, Nancy-Boy!

Went for a 40 miler last evening - it was actually cool. The sensation of cold seems so foreign after the last two months.

I'll try to write something more stimulating tomorrow...

Gear, Stuff and approx Weight

Clothes: 2 long sox, 1 short sox, 3 underware, 3 tshirts, 2 bike shorts, 1 reg shorts, 1 sweatshirt, 1 turtleneck, 1 long underware bottom, 1 sweat pants, 1 hoodie, 1 casual long pants, 1 peters jacket, 1 nylon rain suit, 1 stocking hat, 1 pr cloth gloves

-> 15 lb

 

Hardware / Tools: 2 tubes, 1 tire, toolkit, tire repair, kevlar spoke, camp knife and knuckles

-> 5 lb

 

Camping/ Shelter: Sleeping bag, thermal mat, 1 man tent, backpack

-> 11 lb

 

Cooking: EtOH stove, ethanol, mess kit, matches, lighter, all purpose soap

-> 5lb

 

Food and water: Dry goods, 1 or 2 canned items, misc power bar and average 1 gal water / fluids (try to have enough for 1 full day and night - 2 full days when known to be in sparse territory)

->15lb

 

Hygeine and 1st Aid: Wipes, soap, towel, 1 roll TP (all purpose paper/ wipes), toothpaste/ toothbrush, comb, betadine sol and oint, 4X4s, conform, tape, 15 blade, pickup, iris, needle holder, nylon suture

-> 2-3lb

 

Worldly Items:  camera, iPaq/Phone, SD disks, solar charger, maps, wallet

-> 2-3lb

 

Total -> approx 55-60lb

 

 

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Guestimated Costs

Bicycle $1299.00
Panniers 0.00 front, rear and handlebar pack from 1985
Sleeping Bag 80.00
Thermal Pad 25.00
Tent (1man) 0.00 from 1990's
ETOH stove 15.00
front rack 20.00
front and rear lights 25.00
camera 150.00
solar charger 30.00
bike shorts (2pr) 40.00
clothes / shoes 0.00 what i have
tools 0.00 ditto
road expenses 1500.00 20.00/day X 60d + 300.00 misc
flight out 195.00
hotel at start 100.00
???? ?
_________________________________________
total $ 3479.00

.... let's round things out to $3500.00.
Now that this unpleasantness is addressed let's stick w/ funner topics...
to come: camping and road gear, shipping and packing bike and gear to start point...

Biking and floating

Labor day... Biked approx five miles up the lower falls portion of coal river and launched my kayak and paddled back. It was a great recovery day.
Check out the beast head on the drift wood... Quite majestic, eh?

Pitch black

Yesterday, I rode 102 mi from procious wv to strange creek and back. I felt pretty good. It was mild, less stinkin' hot than it has been...
I felt pretty good, but it got dark about two hours before I was finished. I was in clay ... And had to traverse elkherst rd along the elk river to get back to the truck. It was pitch black and humid. My glasses kept fogging. I couldn't see more than 10-15yds ahead of me. I ran off the road only once...
I got back to the truck at10:30.
... A great ride...