Rest Day, Well Sort Of...

Time: 2:06:54 Total Distance: 760.0 miles Today's Distance: 39.8 miles Avg. Speed: 18.6 mph

If you happened to notice the huge jump in Avg. Speed it's because I took that bags off today and just rode in and around D.C. for fun. It's a beautiful city here and I got to see all of the sights, unfortunately my camera is not working today, probably because it was soaked while riding into the city. But at any rate I took a ride down Massachusetts Ave. which really didn't remind me of home at all and then I crossed the Potomac into Va just because I wanted to see Arlington etc.

All and all it was a good rest day here in Washington, and after the riding I went to see a soccer match at the local pub with my new mates, two kids from Bristol and then crashed when I got home to the Hostel. It was a good day.

Batlitmore, MD to Washington D.C.

Time: 6:55:43 Total Distance: 720.2 miles Today's Distance: 70.2 miles Avg. Speed: 10.1

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY! I would frankly prefer that it never come back but I'm sure it will. Sorry this is so late the youth hostel I stayed at in D.C. was without a computer and I lacked the motivation to find one elsewhere.

So the ride into D.C. from Baltimore was really rough, it started out nice enough with a clear sky and a warm wind at my back, but it was not to continue. About a half an hour or so after I left my freinds' place it started to get cloudy and then with no warning it started to down pour. The deluge continued until I got to the Hostel in Washington at which point it abruptly stopped, really I'm not making that up...

Now the major event of the day was getting lost which took an hour or so, and then once I finally got going in the right direction I hit a patch of ice under a bridge (it was that cold) and fell hard, I actually cracked my helmet. Fortunately I was okay and just got up and brushed myself and my bike off.

Columbia, Pa to Baltimore, Pa

Time: 6:48:53 Total Distance: 650.0 miles Today's Distance: 78.9 miles Avg. Speed: 11.4 mph

Today was I great day, I got up at 6:30 and was out the door and down the road by 7:30. The first 20 miles where brutal I climbed from 200 feet to 800 feet decended back to 200 and then up to 800 and repeated that about ten times!

The rest of the day I was on flat ground with nice weather and the best part was at the end of the day I got to Baltimore and got to stay with my friends Jack and Evis in their beautiful apartment, it's always nice to see old friends when you're on the road.

Rest Day

It was pouring when I awoke so I just curled up and went back to sleep. I finally got up around 12:30 and told the the manager of the ironically named Four Seasons Motel that I was staying another night.

Warwick, Pa to Columbia, Pa

Time: 6:03:57 Total Distance: 571.1 miles Today's Distance: 69.4 miles Avg. Speed: 11.4mph

Today it rained, I got lost again, and I was sour so I only took one picture...

Norristown, Pa to Warwick, Pa

Time: 4:45:17 Total Distance: 501.7 miles Today's Distance: 50.6 miles Avg. Speed: 10.6

Today was tiring I didn't have to travel very far but it was a fairly hard day none the less. I woke up sort of late and rolled around in my plush king sized bed for a few minutes moaning and trying to rationalize a few more minutes of sleep. When I finally did get out of bed I went and helped myself to a huge complimentary breakfast and hit the road.

The terrain was fairly flat with a few hills but I was tired already so when I found out that the campground was at the top of a two mile long hill my heart sank and then climbed 600 vertical feet...

Also I got lost for an hour, lost my gloves and basically wanted to go home.

Delaware Water Gap, PA to Norisstown, PA

Time: 8:13:45 Total Distance: 451.1 miles Today's Distance: 102.7 miles Avg. Speed: 12.5 mph

I got up at 6:30am packed, ran into town got a quick tasty breakfast, and was riding by 8:00am. My goal was to reach downtown Norristown PA but I only made it as far as the out skirts by dark and I could go any farther because the traffic in bad in town and I didn't want to get hit by a car. So I started looking for a place to stay, the only place was a Marriot and they wanted $250.00 a night but the manager took pity on me and gave it to me for only $75.00

Otisville, NJ to Delaware Water Gap, PA

Time: 5:24:54 Total Distance: 348.4 miles Today's Distance: 63.0 miles Avg. Speed 11.6 mph

Today was another rough day I got up made a great breakfast of rice and beans, then I went into town and got some provisions, but apparently no where near enough, because I ran out in the middle of a nature preserve with night coming fast, so I couldn't stop to cook, so I starved! I was so pissed I seriosly just wanted to quit this tour so badly...UGH! But I got over it and made it into the Delaware Water Gap, which is a town in Pennsylvania, there I found a hostel for hikers on the Appalachian Trail, it was in the bottom of a church and cost only $3.00 a night. It's was Awesome.

Poughkeepsie, NY to Otisville, NJ

Time:4:58:26 Total Distance: 285.4 miles Todays Distance: 54.6 miles Avg. Speed: 11.0 mph

I got up sort of late around 8:30am and got out had breakfast and was on the road by 9:30am I didn'tn feel so great because of that crazy all night ride I pulled so I didn't ride as far as I had wanted to, I rode through some boring country side and through one sketchy town where I saw the victim of a drug shoting laying on the ground surrounded by cops and EMT's it freaked me out so I rode really fast until I hit sleepy Otisville and set up camp in it's cozy ten dollar a night camp ground were I met Fred the owner an older man with lot's of interesting stories.

Hiding Behind a Log to Poughkeepsie, NY

Time: 3:57:03 Total Distance: 230.6 miles Today's Distance: 45.0 miles Avg. Speed: 11.24 mph

I slept behind my Log hiding avoiding detection until 2am when some dirt bikers flew by up the trail and I lost my nerve, I got up packed up and headed down the road before the could come back and relize I was there. So I rode 45 miles to Poughkeepsie and then across the river to Highland where I found a dirt cheap motel and took a picture of my sun burnt slep deprived face, and slept a lot...

Storrs, Conn to Hiding Behind a Log, NY

Time: 10:05:12 Total Distance 185.6 miles Todays Distance 120.2 miles Avg. Speed 12.0 mph

Ugh... Oct. 18th was a long day. I woke earky got a warm delicious breakfast with Jason and hit the road I rode for 75 miles and started looking for a place to stay but couldn't find one, I searched for 45 miles and then gave up at 10:30pm. I found a dark path through the woods and layed down behind a log and slept.

Upton, Mass to Storrs, Conn

Time: 4:57:03 Total Distance: 65.42 miles Today's Distance: 65.42miles Avg. Speed 12.5

Today was rough, my Mom and Robin left me in Upton Mass at 1:30 which was great except I needed to really make time to get to Storrs before night fall, but the landscape had other plans... Connecticut has so many hills I love riding and I love hills but when I have a destination I need to reach before the sun goes down it can be pretty rough. I felt as though I was always going up hill and indeed I was I rode up a huge hill and then down a tiny one, and then simply repeated alll day. At the lowest point I was at five hundred feet and at the highest I reached 2000 feet, needless to say trying to do that fast it hurt, alot.

I didn't reach the UCONN campus 7:00 pm it was dark and it's a huge Campus but I managed to find my friends Jason dorm and we are right now waiting for his RA to show up and then we're going to get something to eat, which excites me to no end I have burnt 8000 calories today. So I'm goning to get out of here and get something to eat.

Lee

Finally Leaving

So the day is finally upon me I have completed my last days of work represented by these two low quality week old photos and I am ready to go. In fact as I type I have just finished packing and wieghing the bike which if you are interested wieghs 80lbs!!! Ugh that is a lot of wieght to lug up all those hills.

How to Reach Me

Hey Everyone, I'm leaving on this coming Friday and I won't have access to a computer all the time, I will post when I can and check my e-mail, but if I don't get to checking it you can reach me by phone my number is 508 560 2190.

Gear and Final Prep.

Wow, it's finally starting to feel real, I will be leaving the island in only a couple of days, I've been talking to friwnds around the country lining up places to stay and buying the last few odds and ends before I go. I'm taking tommorrow and thursday off to get everything packed and clean up the house I'm cat sitting (don't worry Deborah it's clean it just needs a little polishing) and then I'm gone.

I've been biking a bit more with the bags on to get the feeling of riding my bike with all the weight, it' s a huge difference between empty and loaded so I really need to get more used to it. Well bye for now, I'll try to post the first night after I leave; I'm planning on staying with a friend so I'll have internet. Here's a picture of the island, I think I'm going to miss the place.

My Plan

It's been difficult to plan this trip, there were just so many variables to consider, gear, route etc... But I have finally laid my plan and I am ready to exicute it. I will be leaving the island of Martha's Vineyard where I live on a 9:00am ferry friday the 17th of October. I'm being driven to Upton, Massachusetts to get off of Cape Cod, I originaly wanted to ride the whole way but the two bridges off the cape are limited access highways which means it's illegal to ride a bike on those roadways so I'm being drive off the cape. Once I've made it to Upton I will be following the American Cycling Association's maps to Florida and then riding West until I hit the Pacific. The American Cycling Association is a group that promotes riding bikes as a way of travelling cross country, and there maps are compiled out of back roads and are designed to be bike friendly and along low traffic routes. So that's it in my next post I'll review what I'm taking with me as far as gear is concerned and about what I'll be upto until I leave next week.

Now That I know where I will be heading I'm going to use this space to shameless beg for a couch to sleep on or a back yard to pitch a tent in. So if you live near, or know someone who lives near one of the town I'm about to list, and you or they would be willing to put me up and save me a few bucks, please e-mail me or have your friend e-mail me.

Massachusetts: Upton, Dudley

Connecticut: Windsoor Locks, Winsted, Canaan

New York: Millerton, Poughkeepsie, Middleton, Port Jervis

New Jersey: Belvidere, Lambertville

Pennsylvania: Delaware Water Gap, Norristown, Philadelphia, Valley Forge, Bowmansville, Manheim, Columbia

Maryland: Baltimore, Reistertown, Washingtown DC

Virginia: Dale City, Fredricksberg, Cedon, Richmond, Hopewell, Disputantaisle, Wright, Suffolk

North Carolina: Sunbury, Mount Gould, Plymouth, Pinetown, Aurora, Newbern, Jacksonville, Surf City, Wilmington, Shallotte

South Carolina: Conway, Pleasant, Hill, Andrews, Charleston, Walterboro, Yemassee

Georgia: Clyo, Statesboro, Reidsville, Patterson, Folkston

Florida: Callahan, Jacksonville Beach, St. Augustine

What I'm Doing

Over the past couple of years since highschool and inbetween semester of college I have been travelling the world, or at least the parts I have been able to afford. After highschool I lived in Spain and used that time to travel in Europe a bit, I've travelled to most of the US states with the exception of the deep south. My goal is to return to Europe soon specifically to Belgium, however before I do that I have one last thing to do in the states.

In all of those places I've been to I've ridden my bicycle; I've been an avid cyclist for just about as long as I can recall, recently however (since I discovered racing) I have become especially obsessed with making cycling not just a hobby but a way of life. A few months ago I sold my car because I hadn't used it since spring. And now I'm going to ride my bicycle down the east coast and then across the country, as a way to stay in shape during the racing off season and finally cross the southern US off my list of places to travel.

So that is my plan, I will hopefully over the next 2-3 months travel almost 5,000 mile on my bicycle and emerge from my trip with a good aerobic base for the beginning of next year's race season and be able to hold my own when I make it to Europe.

This photo is of me out in Wyoming during one of my prior wandering, it's not really on topic, but it's the only picture I have of my self right now.