- 13/09/2003 - 123 kms Black Lake, New York
There are two bridges from Cornwall to the US... On the Canadian one, I crossed toll free thanks to the Canadian toll collector and had no hastles from the US customs' guy on the second bridge. I was still following the St. Lawrence Seaway so the road was pretty level and went well. By late afternoon I was in Morriston about 100 kms from Cornwall... THe only motel was closed for the season, the same for camping at the State Park, so I pushed forward to Hammond... Nothing there, but a garage owner told me that camping was possible at Black Lake, so I had dinner in town and then went towards the lake looking for the campground... Well, it was pretty much a dump, but they had hot water and I could have a shower... So I settled for the night.
- 14/09/2003 - 88 kms Adams
In the morning, the water wouldn't work... so no showers and no flushing the toilet... I picked up my stuff and left early.
The weather was hot and humid, with a strong headwind... so the cycling was difficult. The terrain was also quite a bit hillier. Had a nice breakfast at a road side cafe just past Redwood, a beer in the afternoon and then I settled at a small village center hotel (the only one I had seen so far) in Adams.
It appears to me that most of the towns and villages in Northern New York State are slowly dying. Few hotels and motels, a lot of commercial real estate empty and a lot of abandoned houses... Reason heard is people want to move south... The owner of the hotel in Adams says the no-smoking law in NY State is killing the bar business... but she wants to move south as well... if she can only sell her hotel...
- 15/09/2003 - 92 kms Syracuse
Got up early, had a nice breakfast of blueberry pancakes, got ready and left early. It was overcast, humid, but not hot. I stopped in Pulaski for a break and to hit the internet at the public library... They were really nice... But then, coming out of town, I was chased by a mean black dog barking loudly... It kind of soured my experience of Pulaski... Honestly, if people can't control their stupid dogs... they should keep them leashed...
In the afternoon, it started raining a bit so I took shelter in a park in Central Square... and then cycled on to Syracuse... Route 11 comes in through a slum neighbourhood... not very pretty... Anyways, I found the Youth Hostel and settled in for the night... I was the only guest and the people manning the place were weird... But the price was right and Syracuse was big enough to appear to offer something to see on a day off... so I ended up staying 2 nights...
- 17/09/2003 - 128 kms Binghamton
Well, I was glad of leaving Syracuse as there wasn't much there... It took me 10 kms to get out of town and the next 15 kms were mostly uphill into the Adirondak mountains, but once I was on higher grounds, it was mostly level with small ups and downs... The day was beautiful, the cycling superb... Stopped mid-day at Homer, a pretty little town, where I had a nice homemade sandwich from a corner grocery, and settled for the night at a sleazy motel in Binghamton.
- 18/09/2003 - 125 kms Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
In the morning, it was all foggy... but it soon cleared up... Binghamton was pretty blah... lots of road work going on so everything was pretty much a mess... Getting out was fairly easy and 18 kms later I was in Pennsylvania.
The scenery along route 11 in Pennsylvania is just superb. The road follows a river in a valley, with forests and hills on either side to provide shade... Not much traffic, and a good shoulder, what more can one ask for ?
At Scranton, I wasn't too impressed, so I decided to push on to Wilkes-Barre for the night... A smaller place suited me better, though Wilkes-Barre is still pretty big... I would have to spend 2 nights here because hurricane Isabel is forecasted to cause high winds and heavy rains the following day...
The next day, it was windy, but not that windy... There was a bit of rain, but nothing heavy... I could have cycled, but all the hype because of Isabel made me unsure... and at the end of the day, it hadn't been so bad... Anyways, I spent the day wandering around town... There's a Masonic Temple in the center of town, and it's set up as a fallout shelter.... Pretty paranoid, eh ?...
By the way, I found a knife in the sheets of my bed at the motel where I stayed... Weird ? Kind of makes you wonder about who stayed there before I did ?
- 20/09/2003 - 181 kms Perdix
The day, though starting quite foggy and remaining so till noontime was fine and the cycling went well. I originally intended to get to Liverpool (about 140 kms) where there was a camping, but when I got there, they wanted $21 for a tent site... so I figured that I'd rather pay a bit more for a motel and continued on... Well, I found myself passing through a "blacked-out" area from the Isabel storms and all the motels and restaurants (and other businesses) where closed for lack of power... I finally found a motel open, but they wanted $30 for a room with no electricity nor water (hot or cold)... So I resolved to cycle out of the blacked out area... By the time I reached an area with electricity, it was getting pretty dark and I couldn't see any accommodations anywhere around, so I asked a service station manager if I could pitch my tent behind his facility and I ended up spending the night between a railroad track and a 24 hrs service station... A bit noisy but the price was right (free) and I still had a good night's rest...
- 21/09/2003 - 137 kms Hagerstown, Maryland (flat rear wheel)
Got up early, packed up, ate some stuff from the service station for breakfast and left around 7 AM.
Just south of Harrisburg, I had my first flat (rear wheel) and while I was fixing it on the side of the road, an American driver stopped to ask whether I needed assistance... Americans are OK !...
Route 11 then went through Amish country... Nice and quiet, but few businesses, and I was getting hungry... Fortunately, after 50 kms or so, I was out of Amish country and restaurants started appearing...
The rest of the ride to Hagerstown was easy... Found a motel near the center, had a nice shower, dinner at a Bavarian restaurant and turned in... This motel even has a waterbed !....
- 22/09/2003 - 65 kms Winchester, Virginia
When I got up in the morning, it was real grey and looked like it was just about to rain... So I procrastinated and went to the library for its opening at 9 AM... Came back to the motel at 10 and decided to ride out since it was still not raining...
Well, I rode 65 kms before it started raining and settled for the night at the nearest motel... Not bad for a late start... I went through 3 states today... Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia...
- 23/09/2003 - 124 kms Elkton
The cycling to Front Royal went well, but oncee there, the visitor center advised me that the Skyline drive was closed because of fallen trees and power lines from hurricane Isabel... So I continued south on route 340, hoping to connect with the Blue Ridge Parkway at Waynesboro.
Well, 340 was all hills, up and down and hell... I think I would have preferred a 3,000 feet climb on the Skyline drive and then cycling the plateau to Waynesboro... unfortunately it was impossible... Once I reached Elkton, I had enough and decided to crash for the night...
- 24/09/2003 - 112 kms Montebello (Blue Ridge Milepost 27)
In the morning, the remaining 50 kms to Waynesboro went well. I was somewhat ambivalent on whether or not to cycle the Blue Ridge... So I procrastinated and spent some time at the public library... On my way out, a lady was looking at my bike and started a conversation... She had cycled the Blue Ridge with her husband on a tandem bicycle... Apparently, there are sufficient lodging and food businesses along the road so that it would even be possible to ride it without supplies or camping gear... So I figured that if they could do it, so then I should have no problem... She directed me to a nice diner (Weazies Kitchen) where I had a huge lunch and then I headed for the Parkway...
THe first part was obviously all up, as I had to get to the crest... about 2,000 feet higher than the valley below... I wanted to get to milepost 29 where there supposedly was a little restaurant and then I figured that I'd just pitch the tent in the woods nearby... By the time I reached the local peak at 3,200 feet, it was laready past 6 PM and I was beginning to worry that the little reestaurant would be closed... So at Milepost 27, I got off the parkway towards Montebello and crashed at the first campground I could find... The country store at the campground was closed, but a guy at a nearby house gave me some left=over pizza and iced tea... so I didn't crash hungry...
- 25/09/2003 - 62 kms Otter Creek (Blue Ridge Milepost 61)
The country store was open in the morning, so I had a breakfast of "junk food"... (can't really knock it as I chose stuff with super high calorie content)... Getting back on the Parkway was murder.... really steep climbs and I had to push my bike a couple of times... The Blue Ridge's grades are better...
At Otter's creek, I decided to call it a day even though my mileage was low... It would put me in synch with the food places and campgrounds and would give me a good rest before the next climb which was a whooper... So I set up camp, had dinner and turned in.
- 26/09/2003 - 42 kms Otter's Peak (Blue Ridge Milepost 85)
Started around 8 AM... and the road was climbing... from the lowest point of the parkway in Virginia, to the highest point... A 3,300 feet climb on a 15 mile stretch... To an altitude of 3,950 feet... It took me 3 hours...
At Thunder Ridge, near the top, I met 3 hikers who invited me to drop by their camp if I decided to spend the night at Otter's Peak... I got to Otter's Peak a little later and had a nice lunch of chili and pecan pie and decided to spend the night there... The prospect of some company in the evening was pleasant... And as I was setting up camp a little later, they came back from their hike... So I ended up having dinner with Miller Man, Smasher and Spirit (it appears that all hikers on the Appalachian Trail have nicknames) and spending the evening around a cozy fire and friendly conversation... Isn't this the Life !
- 27/09/2003 - 60 kms Roanoke (Blue Ridge Milepost 121)
The cycle from Otter's Peak to Roanoke was fairly easy and overall downhill, though there was approximately 3,000 feet of climbs... And I decided to spend the night here in a motel, as they're forecasting rain, thunderstorms through the evening and night... And sure enough, as I was getting out of the grocery store, the clouds burst and I got totally soaked on my way back to the room...
So far, I've cycled about 121 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway, to a maximum elevation of 3,950 feet, but with a total climb of about 11,124 feet... Not bad for a guy with a pin and plate in his hip... !
- 28/09/2003 - 77 kms Rocky Knob (Blue Ridge Milepost 168)
In the morning, the weather was fine and the cycling went well... No big hills, but still a total climb of some 5,700 feet. I was aiming for Rocky Knob campground but knew there wasn't any camp store for food at that location... So I stopped at a little motel/restaurant just off the parkway near Floyd and had a hearthy dinner there (and bought some stuff for breakfast). It was a really neat place, though not a pub, it had all the characteristics of a small village pub... It seemed to me that everybody knew each other and talk was continuously going on from table to table with people frequently changing tables... They were all nice and curious as well about my cycling (as they all saw me arriving by bicycle...). A gorgeous girl even kissed me when she found out that I cycled all the way from Montreal... It doesn't get better than that.... !
After a while, I left to go to the campground, and to my surprise, there was another touring cyclist camping there, so I set myself up at a site next to him. Ron is a banker from Virginia on a week's vacation, trying to cycle to Blue Ridge to Cherokee (or as far as he can get during his vacation). We chatted a while and when it got too cold (about 5 deg.C.) we each retired to our respective tents.
- 29/09/2003 - 79 kms Galax (Blue Ridge Milepost 215)
It was cold in the morning as well, and without the benefit of a hot shower, we both rushed to get cycling as quickly as possible hoping to warm up that way...
We cycled all day together, that is I'd press ahead at my pace for some 10 or 15 kms and then take a break for a few minutes waiting for Ron.... He was at a disadvantage carrying his baggage in a trailer... I do think that a trailer is slower than panniers, especially on hilly terrain...
It was really nice to have company... We stopped at Orchards Gap for lunch at a little country store just off the parkway... Ron almost got his pinky stuck in the neck of a bottle of cider trying to stuff waste paper in the bottle... It was a riot...
Since it was going to be cold again we stopped for the night at the only Youth Hostel on the parkway, and found ourselves to be the only guests... It was a fine and warm place, even had my laundry done... I don't know why Youth Hostels are so underused in the US... Though maybe my sampling is too small...
- 30/09/2003 - 79 kms Glendale Springs, North Carolina (Blue Ridge Milepost 259)
Another sunny but cold day... and Ron and I cycled together again... It all went well... I thought that it appeared to be warming up a bit, so we decided to camp that night at a campground in Glendale Springs... A private one, off-parkway, with hot showers.... !
Two nearby campers, Ron (another one) and Misty, (a very religious Baptist couple) invited us over to their site for a dinner of stew and we had a religious discussion (to which Ron and I were very diplomatic...), and when it got dark and cold (and boy ! did it get cold...) we turned in...
Ron wants to sleep in a motel for the next night...
- 01/10/2003 - 60 kms Blowing Rock (Blue Ridge Milepost 291)
By the time Ron and Misty got up and offered us breakfast, I had already eaten, but Ron (my cycling buddy), accepted.... We then got started.
The cycling went well, no majot uphills, but still climbs totalling over 4,000 feet. At Blowing Rock we decided to call it a day.
Blowing Rock is a touristy mountain retreat village. Reminds me a lot of Banff, but smaller. We took a motel room and had dinner at a pub... Nice... and at least we wouldn't be cold tonight...
- 02/10/2003 - 69 kms Spruce Pine (Blue Ridge Milepost 331)
We got up and got ready and left around 9 AM, when the sun had had a bit of a chance to warm the air above freezing...
On the first hill outside of town, getting back up on the parkway, Ron complained of painfull thighs... He didn't feel good and didn't think he'de be up to the climbs for that day... So Ron decided to quit here and I continued on alone...
It was cold, but the climbs weren't as bad as they appeared at first. THe cycling went well and I stopped for lunch at Linville Falls and then continued on for the next climb and dip before stopping for the night at Spruce Pine where I took a motel room as they were forecasting a low of 27 deg.F. (about -5 deg.C.) for the night...
By the way, I got a bit worried when I noticed today that my right ear and cheek were all swollen... I must've got bitten by some bug, or else lightly froze the right side of my face... We'll see in a few days how it develops...
- 03/10/2003 - 88 kms Asheville (Blue Ridge Milepost 382)
Got started around 8 AM and it was still freezing... From the start, the cycling was all uphill, so I warmed up, even sweating profusely, pretty quickly. The problem was that if I stopped for a break I would get really cold very fast...
I took my first real break at Crabtree Meadows, 8.5 miles and 1,500 feet up. There was a little restaurant at the Park Service Visitor Center, and as I got in an elderly couple (from Florida, going to Maine) asked me if I wanted to sit with them they'd pay for my breakfast... Well it was a pleasant conversation... They were mostly curious about my cycling... I had hot chocolate with pancakes and lots of syrup...
I then started on the real climbing... 3,700 more feet to an altitude of 5,500 feet... By 3 PM, I was at the top and then it was mostly downhill... but Oh!, so cold... for 15 miles or so to Asheville where I planned to spend the night...
- 04/10/2003 - 116 kms Balsam (Blue Ridge Milepost 443)
The morning started with 15 to 20 kms of small ups and downs followed by a whooping 4,000 feet of climbing back up to an altitude of 5,500 feet to the top (or nearly so) of Mt Pisgah where I had lunch at the Visitor Center. The cycling was then downhill or level for a bit and a second leg of climbing began... Another 2,500 feet or so to the highest point of the parkway at 6,053 feet...
On this second climb, I really got pooped out whithin the first 1,000 feet of climbing... And suddenly, I'm startled by a car honking behind me... I motion the car to pass beside me, but get more honking in return... So I stop and turn around to see a woman behind the wheel of a car motioning me to get off the road... Well, that really got my goat and I showed her the finger, got back on my bike and started cycling again.... Honestly, you can't expect all the cyclists on the parkway to get off the road every time a car wants to pass... Especially when the parkway has signs all along itself for sharing the road with bicycles... All the other cars so far didn't make a fuss and passed besides me or waited patiently when the way wasn't clear to pass.... Well, this lady followed me for about 6 miles honking all the time... and I was as obstinate as she was and kept cycling on... Other cars were bypassing both of us, switching lanes but the woman just wanted me to get off the road... It got me mad... the adrenaline started to flow and gave me just the second wind I needed to keep on going uphill...
At some point, we came to a straight stretch and the woman decided to pass me while honking loudly... Well, good ridance !... I still had enough adrenaline flowing to get me to the top... Then it was the long downhill to Balsam village where I expected to find an inn or campground off the parkway and ended up camping...
It was my best cycling day on the Blue Ridge... about 70 miles... 6,500 feet of climbing...
- 05/10/2003 - 51 kms Cherokee (Blue Ridge Milepost 469)
Well it wasn't as cold last night, but sleeping beside a flowing stream was very humid for some reason... Nevertheless I slept well and was ready for an early start on this last leg of the Blue Ridge Parkway...
It was uphill from the start for a gain of 2,400 feet, then a bit of a downhill, and another climb of 800 feet and a long, almost 15 miles, downhill into Cherokee... About 30 miles overall with climbs totalling about 3,700 feet... A short day, but I had earned it after 20 days or so without a break... So I would stop in Cherokee...
Entering Cherokee was a riot... A really commercial, touristy Indian reserve... With stalls and shops everywhere selling mocassins, pottery, jewelry, boiled peanuts, etc... There's even a casino...
I found a cheap motel, took a shower and went to the visitor center... No internet in town... I also asked the Indian attendant if there was a restaurant in town where i could sample native cuisine and was answered that they ate the same as everyone else and pointed me to a Ponderosa Steakhouse... Well I ended up at an All-you-can-eat Southern cuisine buffet place which wasn't bad at all....
Well, I made it ! The whole Blue Ridge Parkway... All 469 miles and climbs totalling 48,000 feet.... That's almost twice the height of Mt Everest...
- 06/10/2003 - 96 kms Murphy
Heading now southwest towards Atlanta, the first part was easy... Downhill to Bryson... Took a break waiting for the public library to open and hit the internet... The next part was harder... Up and down into another valley.... I knew I wasn;t through with mountains yet... Then it was a beautiful cycle, mostly level following a river (up-river though) through the Nantahala Park... I made a stop at a river rafting center for lunch. Out of the park, it was another up and down into another valley and then an easy 30 kms mostly downhill to Murphy...
I could've cycle some more, but it increasingly looked like rain was about to fall, so I settled for the night at Murphy.
- 07/10/2003 - 91 kms Dahlonega, Georgia
It didn't appear to have rained much during the night, but in the morning it was very foggy, and I cycled most of the morning in heavy fog...
The whole day was up and down... significantly !... By the time I got to Dahlonega, I was so tired that I decided to call it a day (I should have eaten lunch somewhere and might have had more energy... But I was eager to get out of the mountains and didn't realize that they stretched so far south...). Dahlonega is a somewhat pretty but touristy 'gold rush' town.... It made a good stop.
And by the way, it must have been a bug bite... after a few days, the swelling in my right ear and cheek returned to normal and no other ill-effects appeared.
- 08/10/2003 - 107 kms Atlanta
The cycle from Dahlonega to Atlanta was a breeze... It wasn't exactly level but the ripples were diminishing and each hill was slightly lower than the previous one so the momentum I would gain coming down a hill would almost carry me to the top of the next one....
I made it to Atlanta at about 3:30 PM and found Leo's house. I sat in their back yard and had a little snooze while waiting for them to come back home.
It was very nice being with friends in the comforts of a home... I ended up spending 3 days there resting, being wined and dined, reading stories to Caroline (Leo and Linda's young daughter). Linda's mother, Eugenia, even came for a visit... I hadn't seen her for a few years...
- 12/10/2003 - 93 kms Ashland, Alabama (plus 100 kms by car heading west of Atlanta)
During my 3 days in Atlanta, I figured on a route to cycle out of Atlanta. It looked all right, but then I figured it would be easier to take the Atlanta metro (MARTA) system out of Atlanta... Then, wouldn't you know it... Leo suggested that he drive me out of Atlanta and wouldn't let me refuse...
Well, Leo nearly drove me out of Georgia... Actually, 5 miles east of the Alabama border, near Tallapoosa, Georgia. I then cycled south west into Alabama and settled for the night at Ashland...
On a side note, there's a grocery chain in Alabama called the "Piggly Wiggly"... Neat, huh !
- 13/10/2003 - 135 kms Montgomery
It was sunny and warm in the morning, cloudy and humid in the afternoon... The cycling went well... The route Leo had suggested was pretty, but was taking me into more hills... So I decided to head due south out of Ashland and get out of the hills...
I went right through Montgomery. The traffic was very light. I found a cheap motel just at the city's south end and spent the night there.
- 14/10/2003 - 140 kms Evergreen
As I was getting out in the morning, it started raining...Not long, but just enough to wet the asphalt... At first, the cycling was fine... relatively flat, cloudy so a bit cool... but then, a southwest wind came up and cleared the clouds, and it got hot..., the road got hilly..., and I was fighting a headwind...
By noonm I had reached Greenwood (about 65 kms) and was tired. I had a small lunch and left again. Leaving Greenwood, a german shepherd started chasing me and as he crossed the road, he got hit by a car... It's a shame as he was a beautiful animal, but if he's undisciplined he should be leashed... I did feel a bit guilty though...
At Georgina I decided to sidetrack into town. There wasn't much there, mostly black and poor... To get back on the highway, I tried to stop a car to ask for directions but none would stop... honestly, are they scared or what ?
Later on, passing MacEnzie, a bulldog or something similar started chasing me and I strongly wished that he get hit by a passing car as well... didn't even feel guilty about this one...
At about 3 PM it got cloudy with intermittent drizzle... At some point I tried to stop and hide under a house's porch, but couldn't approach any because of the dogs... But it didn't rain long and I only had about 30 kms more to go for Evergreen, where I spent the night.
- 15/10/2003 - 130 kms Bay Minette
THe cycling today was a breeze compared to yesterday... Sunshine all day, a bit cooler and less humid, practically no wind and more level though with still a few hills. I stopped at Brewton for a break and then continued on. South of Brewton, cotton country started and I was passing fields of the stuff... Nice little bushes less than a meter tall with little white fluffy flowers... The sides of the road were also littered with little fluffs of coton...
I arrived at Bay Minette around 5 PM and decided to spend the night here... This is mainly a fishing town and I had a dinner of oysters and catfish... all battered and deep fried... What a shame....
- 16/10/2003 - 126 kms Pascagoula, Mississippi
I got up early and was on the road by 7:30 AM. It was a bit cool, but sunny and the cycling went well... It took me 40 kms to get to the edge of Mobile and then I had to waste 10 kms to avoid a tunnel under a river and into town... The tunnel was just too narrow for my comfort...
Once I was downtown, I headed west on route 90 (called Government Street)... and what a beautiful street...Huge old trees line both sides and practically cover the road.. Behind the trees are beautiful mansions...
The rest of the cycle was pretty blah... The road was far enough from the coast that you couldn't see the water abd the places I went through were basically commercial... Alabama turned into Mississippi and by the time I came to Pascagoula I decided to call it a day.
Though Pascagoula wasn't very interesting, I decided to stop here rather than rush forward and miss what could be interesting places ahead...
- 17/10/2003 - 94 kms Waveland
Got up early again and cycled to Ocean Springs and took a detour downtown... What a pretty little village... very artsy !
I then cycled on to Biloxi... What a disappointment !... Casinos, hotels, motels, fastfood places... and lots of traffic... Really commercial and touristy... Gulfport, Long Beach, Pass Christian... All the same... A 40 mile stretch of white sand beach, lined with casinos and hotels... And the water's not even clean...
New Orleans was too far to reach before dark and I was told I wouldn't find anything (motel or camping) at Pearlington, so I decided to spend the night at Waveland.
- 18/10/2003 - 93 kms New Orleans, Louisiana
The cycle to New Orleans was all flat, sunny skies, no wind... so it went well and I reached the Youth Hostel there around 1 PM... Pretty fast !... I'll be spending a few days here resting...
The Youth Hostel here's not too busy... but unlike Syracuse and the Blue Ridge ones, I'm not the only guest... So I had a few other travellers to talk to, a pleasure... But also experienced disappointments as someone else drank the milk I had bought for breakfasts... When I left a note on the fridge requesting that the culprit identify his/herself, I got the reply (also left on the fridge): "It's me, do something about it...". That note was obviously unsigned... Pretty pityfull, isn't it ?
In New Orleans, alcoholic beverages can be sold all day (24 hours) and drunk on the street (if in a plastic container)... So it's the ultimate party town... Many guests at the hostel would come back in the wee hours of the morning, very drunk if not sick... Every morning, most businesses and residents can be seen hosing down the sidewalk and street in front of their property... In fact, the sidewalks, especially in the "French Quarter", are sticky with spilled beer....
Anyways, I spent two and a half days cycling and exploring New Orleans..., sampling cajun food (gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish, shrimps, spicy sausages, boudin, red beans and rice, ABITA beer, pralines...), and generally just resting. New Orleans is not that big (about 500,000 people) and it's a dirty town... So I wasn't entirely unhappy about leaving... The weather forecasts for the week was favorable and I would be leaving on Tuesday morning...
- 21/10/2003 - 124 kms Baton Rouge
It was a beautiful morning and I left early. It took me a long time to get out of New Orleans... as it just spreads and spreads... BUt once I was out, the scenery was beautiful... Through bayous (swamps filled with egrets, blue herons, turtles... didn't see any alligators though), sugar cane plantations and then oil refineries.... Most of the villages I was passing through were uninteresting, so I only made rest stops. When I got to the edge of Baton Rouge near the end of the afternoon, I decided to call it a day... I'd spend the night here and visit the city a bit in the morning.
- 22/10/2003 - 120 kms Opelousas (flat rear wheel, changed tire)
In the morning, I cycled through Baton Rouge... It's a pretty city (about 200,000 people), quieter and cleaner than New Orleans... I shoud've spent more time here, but decided not to... Cycling out and heading west, I passed through more sugar cane plantations and then more bayous... It got really hot and cycling was against a small headwind... So it was some work... I called it quits at Opelousas and settled for the night. Opelousas could be a nice little town, but like many others I've passed through, the center appears depressed with most businesses vacant...
- 23/10/2003 - 137 kms De Quincy
When I was ready to leave in the morning, I noticed that the rear tire was flat... I patched the tube, but the tire showed its thread at many spots, so I changed the tire also... That tire was on the rear wheel since my return from my European Tour... so it lasted me some 8,000 kms, 4,000 of theese loaded... Not bad !
The cycling was realtively easy... Level ground, no headwind... but then the terrain started rising... Which got me out of the bayous and into huge rice fields.... and then pine forests and forestry industries...
- 24/10/2003 - 92 kms Port Arthur, Texas
In teh morning was heavy fog (really heavy !) so I waited for it to lift... But at 9AM, the fog was still sitting so I left anyways... An old man selling fire logs on the side of the road yelled at me that the road wasn't safe in this weather, but I continued on anyways... By 10:30 AM the fog had lifted and it got hot and humid... I was better off in the fog....
All day, the cycle was against a headwind and at times I struggled to maintain a speed of 15 km/h...
I passed through a beatiful area around the Louisiana/Texas border... Bayous (swamps) with sand instead of mud.... Pretty neat... Aside from that, the scenery was pretty bland... As I was nearing Port Arthur I was passing more and more huge refineries and though I wasn't attracted to the area I decided to spend the night at Port Arthur since I was getting too tired to cycle another 30 miles (50 kms) to the next place, Winnie (with apparently nothing in between)...
- 25/10/2003 - 52 kms Winnie
In the morning I headed off towards Winnie. The cycle started fine but then it started drizzling intermitently and the cloud cover was getting fuller and darker... By the time I got to Winnie, I was seeing the glow of thunderstorms ahead, so I decided to call it quits for the day... Got a cheap room at a motel to wait out the storm... But in the end it didn't rain all that much and I could have cycled some more... Ah well... it gave me a little bit of rest...
- 26/10/2003 - 81 kms Galveston (ferry from Port Bolivat to Galveston)
In the morning it was very cloudy, so I procrastinated till about 9 AM to see whether it would rain or not... I didn't, so I left hoping to get to Galveston without getting too wet...
I had a nice backwind till High Island, then it started drizzling (but it wasn't too bad) and the wind was now sideways... THe road followed the beach most of the way. It would have been nice if sunny and warm. Also it is legal to camp anywhere on the beach here, but with this cold and rain, forget it !
At the end of the road, there was a free ferry to Galveston Island which took 20 minutes to cross to. I found the Youth Hostel there and settled in. It's actually a motel with a section reserved as a Youth Hostel. So it's pretty nice and the people managing it are fun... So I'll spend an extra day here and check out the island.
Galveston was settled first by pirates (Jean Lafitte). It's basically a large sand dune that now is a pretty commercial beach resort... However, the interior of the island is pretty quaint with beautiful mansions and the like... But a day spent here is more than enough.
- 28/10/2003 - 131 kms West Columbia
Galveston Island is like 50 kms long, so it took me a while to get to the western end. There, a toll bridge takes you to the next island (they let me pass for free) also made of sand... The scenery was mostly beaches surrounding grasslands with small cactuses... The cycling was tough, fighting headwinds, and by the time I got off these islands and unto Freeport, I was tired... But Freeport didn't appeal much to me (basically just a collection of refineries and chemical plants with homes to house the workers) that I decided to push further. Since it was too late to get to Bay City before dark, I made for West Columbia, which was a bit unproductive since I was now going northwest... but at least it got me to route 35 which I would be following till Corpus Christi (and the wind was at my back).
I stopped for a break at Brazonia and made it easily to West Columbia where I settled for the night.
- 29/10/2003 - 134 kms Port Lavaca
I was out early and started fighting wind from the start and all day long...
The road scenery was of more refineries, rice and cotton fields and cattle ranches... Flat... A bit of Ocean as I passed by bays on the Gulf... So not too much to keep me busy which was fortunate since I had to keep my eyes on the road... Horrible at times with coarse gravel stuck in a bit of asphalt... Potholes... etc...
Having started out early, I wondered in the morning about accommodations if I pushed further than Port Lavaca... But by the time I got there, I had had enough !
- 30/10/2003 - 107 kms Aransas Pass
I woke up late and didn't feel too good... I think I'm getting a cold... So I started out late and it was now hot and humid... Fortunately, it got cloudy and I was spared the full heat of the sun.
The road was flat but I was still fighting a strong headwind. The scenery wasn't too interesting either... Straight as an arrow and huge flat fields on either sides. More of the coarse gravel in asphalt and the strong headwind made it difficult to maintain 10 kms per hour at times.
At Rockport, my original destination, I was tired and checked out some motels... but they were expensive for what they looked like, so I decided to push further to Aransas where I found a little motel that was very reasonable and managed by a very nice lady, so I settled there for the night...
- 31/10/2003 - 130 kms Kingsville
Had a lazy morning and didn't leave too early, but once I got started the cycling was fine... I think I avoided the cold before it really caught on... The wind was more at my back than front so it wasn't a fight anymore though it was still hot and humid.
At Port Aransas, I spent a little time chatting with the owner of Island Cycles. The guy makes interesting art with old bicyles and parts... then cycled the lenght of Mustand Island on my way to Corpus Christi.
At Corpus Christi, I checked out the 3 bike shops as I was looking for a spare Panaracer tire... None had them, but one offered to order and have it shipped to Brownsville so that it would be there by the time I would get there... However, he was way overcharging for both the tire and the shipping and I declined his offer... I'll manage and if I have to overpay, I'll do it if its an emergency... At this point it would just have been a nice thing to have...
Corpus Christi's a pretty big town and didn't appeal too much to me, so I got out and headed towards route 77 accross farm country... Reached Driscoll at route 77 than followed it till Kingsville and settled for the night.
- 01/11/2003 - 120 kms Raymondville
I had a long stretch to cycle today, so I got up early and was out just after daybreak. The 20 miles to Riviera went well and I had a cold Coke and filled up my water bottles since there wouldn't be anything else for the next 60 miles or so...
Most of the way was straight and flat... with very small rises and falls, following a railroad track alongside mainly grassfields with scrubby shrubs and cactuses and small trees here and there... About halfway through, it started raining and I saw overhanging (over the highway) branches from trees on the side of the road... So I headed there to shelter from the rain... To my surprise, there was another cyclist there... Doug, from Vermont (but he drove to Corpus Christi and had only cycled from there) who was headed for Mexico and Belize as well... We chatted a bit and cycled together when the rain was passed. At Raymondville, we decided to split a motel room and settled there for the night.
- 02/11/2003 - 75 kms Brownsville
In the morning, we cycled from Raymondville to Brownsville together. Directly against the wind, it was a short cycle but a tough one...
Doug was intent on crossing over to Mexico right away, while I wanted to spend a night here to give me a chance to hit the internet (I didn't know how easy it would be to do in Mexico), mail a package home, do a laundry, etc... So we parted. THe company was fine while it lasted... But, hey ! we'll probably cross each other again south of the border...
Anyways, I made it through the United States, north to south. It took me 4,564 kms (4,446 kms in the US) and 10 days shy of two months...
So, hmmm... My overall impressions of the US ?... Well, it's a huge country ! With a diverse territory... 260 million people and yet so much empty space (empty of people, not of natural features...) To my tastes, it can be ugly as hell such as the dying small towns and slums around the larger cities, yet some sights are very beautiful such as the stately southern mansions, Adirondack mountains or pristine Gulf Coast beaches...
Cycling the US is a breeze with the excellent road network, frequency of services along the roads and general courtesy of American drivers... It's not cheap though. Accommodations are pricey, even camping is expensive (a tent site runs at around US$20/night, $14 in state parks but that's without showers or hot water). Food is expensive as well for the quality (simple and unimaginative mostly) though they make up for it in sheer quantity (servings are huge and many all-you-can-eat buffets) which is probably why there are so many overweight Americans.
Though I've travelled the US extensively in the past (other than by bicycle), this was my first time cycling through this country and it was never as evident how much the US is designed around the American people's love affair with their automobiles... In fact, it's highly impractical outside of very large cities (and then again...) to live in the US without a car.
Towns and villages have practically no services such as restaurants, accommodations, stores, etc... at their core. These are all situated at the periphery, on huge lots with huge car parks, near highways... and the real estate at the core where these businesses used to be is most often vacant and falling in desrepair... Even if you wanted to walk the few miles to the grocery store at the periphery, you'd have to walk on the shoulder of the road (if there is a shoulder) since there is no sidewalk...
With the exception of very large cities, you very seldom see people outside... They live sheltered in their homes or workplaces and commute in between sheltered in their cars... A lot of restaurants are fast food and drive-through. It's the ultimate in "coccooning"... Don't even try to stop a car to ask for directions... If they're already stopped, such as a red light, they'll likely not even roll down their window for you. I've even wondered if any car would stop should I have an accident and lay unconscious on the road (but I'm probably exagerating)... Is it fear that drives people to shelter to such an extent...? An interesting question, isn't it ?
How warrior like the American culture is also became evident to me on this trip. The sheer number of memorials, war equipment displays, gun shops, ... is staggering. Even the smallest village has a militaary recruitment center... Which begs a parallel question : Is this warrior character also drive by fear ?
The American people is also very religious with churches of all denominations everywhere, and they practice their religion and often seek out discussions on religious matters... They're also a bit of a prudish people (at least in small town America) which makes me wonder at the very liberal character portrayed through much of their exported culture (art, movies and litterature)... Then again, this is a country which enacted prohibition (against alcohol) in the past, had a communist witch hunt, was very anti-abortion, etc....
Yet, there are exceptions... and I've talked with hikers, campers, other cyclists, small store and business owners who've struck me as very warm, welcoming people and open-minded people...
So I can only conclude that the United States of America is a collection of contrasts in it's scenery, people and culture... which makes for a very interesting visit...
