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Going Cyclic

Name: Going Cyclic
Address: San Antonio, TX, US
Telephone: +12108674024

This page is about my bicycle trek across the US of A, traveling the Trans American Trail from Astoria, OR to Yorktown, VA. Adventures Await!

12/28/2018

New and old trailer tires. And cleaned Kona Big Rove.

12/28/2018

Doing bike maintenance today. Anxious to get back on the road! This is the bikes rear tire just about bald. The trailer tires hardly had any rubber left, nearly opaque. I patched several tube leaks and replaced 2 tubes as I didn't have enough patches to repair all the holes. When I degreased the chain I was shocked to learn that it is silver... The last repair is the front shifter and I have to order the part. I need everyone of those twenty gears!

12/23/2018

Beyond proud of my daughter Samantha graduating from Texas A&M and commissioning in the US Army. Hoooah! And very thankful for the bike ride which greatly assisted me in fitting in my old uniform. Go Samantha! Gig'em.

12/11/2018

Sandy and I have been busy since reaching Vegas! We bought a truck the night we arrived and hauled tail to Denton, TX. We followed Hwy 93 which was out route to bike out when we begin again. Thank God I drove it! It's a bicyclists death trap. Scary road. So on trip back out we will recon Hwy 95 which, besides rumble strips, has been good to us.
After visiting daughter Shelby we grabbed up daughter Samantha and booked it to Isle of Palms, SC for the family Thanksgiving. We also stopped at Fort Jackson, SC to visit Sam's first duty station. Pickle ball, Tennis, card games and too much good eating went very fast. Before you knew it we were back on the road to Texas.
Then Sandy and I took off for Florida after loading the biggest truck I could rent. My respect for truckers has gone way up! We were blessed to visit family and friends for a few days. And now we are taking off for Samantha's graduation and commissioning this Friday at Texas A&M. Whoop!
I'm missing the road already. And the weather has me worried. Driving through Flagstaff and Albuquerque we saw snow on the ground... So we have decided to go as far south as we can!
Merry Christmas to All! I'll try to update out status as we figure out what we are going to do. Bike repair is first on the list!

11/14/2018

Sorry for the delayed post. Sandy an i booked it yesterday covering 49 miles in 3 hours! Vegas baby. We went straight to a rental car place, loaded the rig and hotel'd up. Then we headed out to buy a car to get us back to Texas and tow our affects to Florida. We lucked into a great dealership and new friends Mario, Sergio, Jessica and Kimberly. Hitting the road for Denton and holidays/ Samantha's graduation. We will be taking at least a months break before heading back to Vegas to continue our journey. Whoop! Excited to have wheels and a break. The bike needs major repairs. Started the morning with 3 flats...

11/13/2018

Monday was the worst riding day of the trip so far. The wind was howling out of the North north east, pretty much in our face. Had a hard time breaking camp because of it. Tried to ride but no bike lane and inability to control/pedal forced me to walk for miles. And my faucet was working really well regardless of how much medicine I take. Cold too! Finally finished thev1,000ft climb by nuclear test site and the Hwy opened up to divided double lane and huge bike lane. Still ate the wind till around 3pm. Sandy was fussing even after many breaks. So we pulled into Indian Springs to eat hot food at the only restaurant in town not on the air force base. I was more of a bar so they let Sandy come in. We shared a great burger, beer and stale cigarette smoke. Getting dark so we hustled out of town and found a great camp on the open range. 48 miles to Vegas! Please no east wind tomorrow....

11/13/2018

With the wind at my back and hood bike lane we were booking it. Big Sand Dune was several miles off the road at atvs driving all over it, so we stopped to get a photo and take a break. Big mistake! As we were loading back up I noticed a trailer tire was low. Then I stuck myself with a tiny cactus growing out of the travel on shoulder. Sneaker buggers! That's what got the tire. Down to one patch now. Bike rear tire is leaking probably due to hidden cactus. After many miles of traveling south we turned east and our beneficial tail wind hammered us. Near the end of the day we also lost our good bike lane. Luckily we found a good drainage ditch to get off road because it was getting cold and dark.

11/11/2018

Well, today hasn't started well. Another flat and a low tire on the trailer. Rear tire leaking and I'm down to 2 patches. Broken front derailer has decided it wants to be in low range. Trailer tires are shot. These next coming couple of days could be interesting.

11/11/2018

During the night we were robbed! Knowing it was going down into low 20s I brought all food and water into the tent. Sandy ate all her food so I left her bowl by the bike. Well, it was long gone in the morning. Maybe a Raven or something rat like got it. Oh well, on on. And rumble strip moron was at it again. Now he had them 6 inches from road edge forcing me to ride in roadway. This was going to be my max day as it was all down hill. Sadly a south headwind and rumble strips slowed us way down. During a break at a large drainage underpass I found 3 driver licenses from 3 states with a similar looking woman. Knowing something wasn't right I pocketed them to turn into the sheriff later. I was considering a turn into Death Valley but the road was washed out 2 years ago. Whew! Finally pulled into town of Beatty and saw RV park sign with hot spring baths. Yes! And of course they were closed. Bummer. Then a welcomed sign Motel 6 3 minutes ahead. Well, 45 minutes later we pulled in and watched UT beat TX Tech. The town of Beatty is over run with wild Asses. Sandy and I went out around 6pm and ran into one right outside the Hotel. They and their manure are all over town. Kinda funny.

11/11/2018

Friday found us climbing still in the town of Tonopah and stocking up on supplies. It looks pretty desolate till Vegas. Rumble strips finally gave way to no strips and we were booking it a across the desert. Great day of riding and easy climb into a cool rustic town of Goldfield. We crested the pass then flew down into the valley before finding a place to bed down behind the last hill. We saw our first non bird animal in days and Sandy gave the donkey are strong talking to. We also noticed Yucca plants, which added to the scenery.

11/11/2018

Thursday morning started off cold with a north wind blowing. Sadly, after a great day we now turned east then northeast eating or fighting the wind. And the moron rumble strip operator was at it again. Aggressive truckers also thought it okay to pass forcing me off the road. Finally later in the day we turned south aided by the wind but hindered by rumble strips. A long climb into Tonopah and I decided I had had enough! Cold and a bit tired we chose to hotel up.

11/08/2018

Great day to bike! Gentle north wind pushing us along with no clouds and 60 degree temp. We camped out last night on a rifle range. These guys shoot everything and leave it all behind. You could call it a dump, but we enjoyed camping there. Was hoping for a hot meal somewhere but 62 miles (personal best!) And the only restaurant was closed. I met Jeff in the town of Mina, 71 years young and very informative. While standing on the corner DJ stopped with a car problem. She was distraught as her 84 year old Dad Bill was going into emergency surgery in Vegas. Jeff pulled out his gorilla tape and led us in prayer over DJs car, DJ and father. Later there was a decent climb followed by long downhill. We were booking it! Somehow my awesome shoulder disappeared across the salt flats, but I was pushing the big gears and only stopped if oncoming traffic coincided with over taking traffic. Google Maps tried to ruin my day by turning us down another road that turned into unpaved road. Thankfully a street signed warned me the pavement ends in 21 miles. So here we are bedded down in a drainage ditch trying to get out of the 20+ knot north wind. And it's getting cold tonight. Brrrrr. I drove the tent pegs deep.

11/07/2018

Tuesday started bright and cold. My trusty Google Maps wanted me to go on the east side Walker Lake. Thankfully a local ran out and stopped me, explaining that's a dead end road and you'd be lucky to make it in a 4 wheel drive. Thank you Sir! So south we went on Hwy 95 and I'm pleased to announce the rumble strip operator was much more proficient or sober giving me ample room on the shoulder 90 percent of the time! Walker Lake is huge! Surrounded by rugged mountains. A sign said "20 Mike Beach" and I believe it. We spent most of the day riding by it. From my camp south of it I can still see the lake. The town of Hawthorne had a Safeway so we stocked up on fruit and salads. Easy ride with only a few knucklehead drivers. We are getting thumbs up signs from northbound 18 wheelers. 5 or 6 days out of Vegas if road and rumble strips stay same. Tomorrow's forecast is highs of 51, which is way cooler than what we've experienced so far. Sandy likes to hunt the chipmunk sized ground squirrels. Not much else to interest her. No cows, horses or other livestock to back at.

11/07/2018

Fort Churchill was commissioned in July 1860 to protect emigrants. Way cool as it was a big post but only was around for 10 years. Situated right on the Carson River. The cottonwood trees were beautiful. Coyotes were very active all night and Canada geese woke me up. When I opened the tent Sandy shot out after a rabbit. Wonderful morning and great place to visit. We were now heading south on Alt 95 when our challenge began. Wide shoulders which should be great but the "rumble strips" took up over half the shoulder. That forced me to ride on the very edge with a 1 to 3" drop into loose gravel. Otherwise one tire of the trailer was hitting the strip, or I was hitting the strip. And these strips are bone jarring on a bike! The rumble strip operator was clearly inept as he wandered all over the place. Worst was he went dead center on a guard rail uphill section forcing me into the travel lane. On another uphill I was riding the edge an spun out falling into the travel lane head first. You've never seen a 55 year old guy cuss and move so fast! Luckily for me no traffic and no damage. I started to ride out in the travel lane forcing traffic to cross the center rumble strip to go round. I'd only pull off if there was approaching traffic. We made 41 miles but it was way Stressful and slowed us down

11/07/2018

Sunday was laundry day. Then grocery day. Finally hitting the road around 1pm. Hwy 50, the Loneliest Highway was pretty busy. Good shoulders and a cross wind. We chugged it pretty well. We saw lots of horse manure which just have been wild mustangs. The trailer got a flat and I stopped in front of a nice white vinyl fence to fix it. The home owner rode up on a 4 wheeler and offered help. Super nice guy and I could tell he was disappointed. I felt bad too but the job was nearly done and we needed to get some miles in. FYI, I observed earlier that the trailer tires were showing a lot of wear. They are officially bald with dry rot cracks. And there are no bike shops between here and Vegas... We continued our journey to Fort Churchill state park as it was getting dark, which seemed early to me. Great day on the bike.

11/04/2018

I met the wall yesterday. Decided to take a full day off to recover. My pinkies and ring fingers are partially numb. But my biggest problem is hemorrhoids, which have plagued me since beginning our journey. Gross I know, but they have me sidelined right now. And I'm about to kickoff a remote ride to Las Vegas. 433 miles and what looks like small to no towns. I do not want any problems especially a medical one. If memory serves this was my second full day off since beginning 26 Sept. Time to buckle up and get on with it... Sandy seems a little off too. Not eating her food (but will eat mine!) and moody. Maybe she needed a break also.

11/04/2018

And the downhill continued the next day! Looking West back toward the mountains it was very intimidating looking at their height and ruggedness. We were booking it to Carson City and Nevada's state capital. It felt like we were flying with only one climb all day. Nice! Carson City looks like a fun town. We camped at a campground in town that was really more of a trailer park. The people were nice though.

11/04/2018

Again, fantastic weather greeted us as we continued our climb. Now we had some views! We finally made Hwy 88 which had more traffic but good shoulders and courteous drivers. Up up Up! But the incline was mostly manageable so I didn't have to walk the bike too much. Met some nice folks from Po***ck Pines at Tragedy Springs and he politely asked if I'd be offended if he smoked dope. He didn't ask me if I'd be offended I that he drove off impaired... We reached the summit late in the day and had to press forward due to looming darkness. We flew off the mountain at a frightening rate, finally bedding down in Hope Valley. It got down into the 20's that night. Brrrrr!

11/04/2018

After Bill turned me loose on the Mormon Emigrant Trail Sandy and I began our assault on the Sierra Nevada mountains in earnest. The Trail was a nice wide road steadily climbing, forever seemingly. Little traffic thankfully so Sandy was able to walk when I couldn't pedal. We came across a logger and he said "that's a mighty long hill your climbing Buddy". And was he ever correct! With all the trees you couldn't really tell how high you were. We set up camp off the road and had a pleasant evening.

10/31/2018

Yesterday was idyllic. Weather unbelievable and awesome bike trails past Placerville. Then disaster struck when we broke an axle on the trailer. Disaster turned into a huge blessing when I met Bill and hid lovely wife Abby. After trying to fabricate a temp fix we gave up and enjoyed a couple beers followed by an awesome salmon dinner, hot shower and a warm bed! Bill was so kind as to drive me to Home Depot where we (mostly Bill) built a new axle assembly. He then took me to Safeway to stock up and pointed me down the road to take to the Mormon Emigrant Trail. Bill's parting words were don't miss the turn or you'll end up back at my house. Somehow I feel if I do mess up I'd be happy I did! Many thanks Bill and Abby. The photo of Sandy is the trail we broke down on.

10/30/2018

Yesterday was spent gearing up for our assault on the Sierra Nevada mountains. We stocked up on food and water, extra ultra bright headlamp and more stove fuel. And I discovered hauling that extra weight about did me in! And that's before hitting real mountains. I'm going to have to compromise on the quantity of water I'm hauling and trust that my water filter will work in a pinch. Made a boneheaded mistake and went left when I should have gone right to Hwy 88, so now I'm stuck with riding to Placerville and Hwy 50. 50 had mixed reviews from cyclists I spoke with. I'm sitting in Logtown enjoying electricity, coffee and breakfast burritos before pressing on. Google says I'm 72 miles from Lake Tahoe and only 7,500ft to climb... And I lose 3,000ft. I may have to push the bike a lot but I'm determined to put max effort into getting over these bad boys. Weather forecast is good for next 5 to 7 days, so I don't care how long it takes.

10/30/2018

Sandy is the pig of sleeping bags! If it gets really cold I'm in trouble. Tried to buy a dog sleeping bag but couldn't find anything. A lady suggested one of the kids Snuggles or Mermaid thingies. Will look in Placerville.

10/30/2018

After cycling over to Beales Point campground we were terribly disappointed in the amenities. No map so you could find anything, no food lockers, shower door unlockable and filthy dirty. All that for $28 cash... three times the most expensive state park so far and the worst one. Go figure...

10/29/2018

Sacramento! Beautiful! Bike trails everywhere. Capital grounds unbelievable especially with the wide assortment of trees. Loved the American River Park trail. Pushed on up to Folsom riding bike trails almost all the way. Stopped to watch a spirited soccer game then into the campground. When I asked the young ranger the hiker/biker fee he said there was none! While welcomed that didn't seem right. So at 830pm a ranger informed me I had to move immediately as the park was closed. He helped me find where I needed to be and we broke down camp in record time and rode another 45 minutes to our camp site. Still a great day.

10/29/2018

On On to Hwy 128! Great weather, as it had been since leaving the coast. Tons of cyclists out and it's a challenging ride. Sandy and I took a break overlooking the reservoir and it was so steep that when she did her business it literally tumbled down the hill! Very pretty and I didn't take photos because I was trying to make it to a hotel to catch the Gators game. The photo is looking west from where we came out of the mountains. On into Davis, CA. And Motel 6.

10/29/2018

Gary, the Camp host at Ritchey, kindly warned me of how dangerous hwy 128 was getting out of Napa valley. So I rode into the town of Napa to inquire expert bike shop advice. Sadly they said the best and safest way out was 128, now 15 miles behind me. Hwy 121 cuts to 128 in about 9 miles so we decided that was the best plan. Worst decision ever! The horizon shot back over Napa was a spot I was stuck at for an hour waiting for a break in the traffic. Horrendous climb with no shoulder. Horrible, but most drivers were very safe and courteous. And as usual, when you are almost up the top a good Samaritan stops to help. At the bottom or middle I would have gladly accepted, but not at the crest.... Another big mistake. Then another driver stops me to ask directions! Mind you I pouring sweat leaning way over just to get leverage on the bike and tons of Friday heading out of town traffic behind her. She must have AT&T also. Desperation time now, nearly dark and no place to bed down. Literally the hills are almost straight up and down. We spied a hole into a ditch so we plunged in. Hiding the bike I wasn't sure I'd be able to get it out in the morning. Sandy was super jittery which added to scary feeling. In the morning I found Javalina jaw almost under the tent.

10/29/2018

Finally finished Blue Latitudes and can give away 5lbs! But the lady checking me out of the KOA refused to give me a discount and then proceeded to insult me on my camping ability, physical fitness, etc. If I said the sky was blue she would have corrected me. When she kindly offered my KOA campground info and locations I said no thank you. KOA you can KMA! Never again. On On into beautiful Sonoma county. Hot air balloons at dawn. Easy ride into Napa county and Ritchey Creek campground $6! We met Sam and Joanne from British Columbia and they share wine, campfire and good cheer. Joanne is a runner and she told a story of running a trail when she rounded a corner she literally bounced off a black bear! Funny.

10/29/2018

Lovely breakfast in the town of Navarro where we met Jessie, a local medicinal ma*****na grower. He explained that the wild west in Garberville wouldn't be tolerated in Navarro because of other industry and high powered artists. Wine Country at last! At the winery I stopped at for water they had Apple and pear trees dropping fruit on the ground. I ate 2 of the loveliest pears. Easy ride until coming out of the valley then a pretty grueling push up the windy mountain. Pulling into Cloverdale I decided to reward us with a hotel. Ha! Way too expensive for a flea bit place, so on we pushed and once again running out of day light. Luckily we found a KOA campground Sign! Across the Russian river we go and up a mile and a half of 17percent grade in darkness. Where the heck is the KOA!!!!!? Killer climb and I was just ruined. And the sign says $56 to tent camp no utilities. Grrrrrrrrrr!

10/29/2018

Great day on the Lost Coast with good sunny Weather! Relatively easy ride from Ft Bragg to Mendocino then inland. Pretty coastline and last photo was of a too friendly sea lion trying to trick Sandy into coming in the water. Feeling good we pushed east on hwy 128 towards Navarro River Redwoods State Park. As twilight crept in again we pushed harder to find the campground. And when we did we discovered that it's closed! No problem says I, there must be another campground near by. I was wrong. So in near darkness we pushed off the road into a grove of noble redwoods and set up camp. And of course there is evidence that the bums have done that too as there is trash everywhere. Sandy found a pile of human excrement and did what labs do... I almost made her sleep outside!

10/29/2018

Today I had to decide to ride to the Lost Coast of California or to stay inland on hwy 101. Inland looked more desolate but easier. The clincher was my need for cell phone coverage, and as usual AT&T was emergency calls only. After a mile or two of downhill to Leggett my ordeal began. Steep steep steep winding climb of the coastal mountains. The sun shinning in Leggett turned into overcast and cool, almost too cool. Finally cresting and long downhill only to face another steeper climb. At a home, which were very few, we were attacked by a miniature collie and a bulldog. They expertly immobilized me by biting my front bag and trailer. After much screaming and cussing at them I remembered Shelby's excellent advice of squirting them with water. Presto, instant release! 30 yards uphill away Sandy joined in by barking at them. Brave Sandy.... Finally reaching the coast near Rockport and I ran into a couple from Austin. Nice to see brave Texans out here. Very hilly along the coast with brief steep drops and instant punishing climbs. Exhausted by the time we pulled into MacKerricer State Park. The camp hosts decided to torture Ben (Maryland rider) and I by accidentally trapping a racoon around midnight. All I know is there was a momma racoon trying to get her baby out of something metal. 10yards from my tent! Poor Ben had a pi**ed off racoon knock his bike over on his head. Sandy wanted to get them but the racoon I saw looked as big as me when I opened the tent. Tough biking day and interesting evening. And Ben had the same awful experience in Garberville.

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