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Day 7 of The Bike Journey to California
Day 7/May 20/0 miles(VACATION DAY)
I’m at my dads and just loving the time I get to be here. It’s an amazing feeling to be able to see everyone as I travel and an even greater feeling to hug my family after my biking up to their door. I had woken up on this day and almost instinctively jumped on my bike. Almost forgot where I was!!! I got up after being shaken awake by my little sister, Maia. The day was going to be a good one. Time with family and no mileage quota to fill. We ended up spending the day getting a front pannier setup attached to my bike so now more of the weight will be off of my bike and on my wheels. It will help a lot with the hills. I spent the day just hanging around with the family and just doing the lounge around thing with Dad. 4 oclock came around the corner and I was off to my metal concert! Sabaton was going to be playing and I had a VIP ticket! I went to the concert and met some really cool people from PA That had driven to the concert. Their names were Max Paszek and Melanie Stoup. I got along really well with them and we had a blast at the concert. Max got a pick from the guitarist! After the concert I stayed around and met the band members. It was a good feeling to have them sign all my stuff. I left that concert with a Sabaton flag, 2 of their Live Albums, and a Sabaton patch. All autographed. I gave one of the Live albums to my dad and he was so excited about it. The day was good and I’m looking forward to more days on this adventure. Thanks everyone! Jamie
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Day 6 of The Bike Journey to California
Day 6/May 19/??Mileage
This day was a major blur. I woke up at 3 am Saturday morning and just started biking. I biked and biked and only stopped for water and food. I was on a mission and that mission was Baltimore. I was trying to get there for two reasons that included Sabaton (a metal band that downright rocks) and first set of family. (My mom, dad, and sister.) I bike for about an hour and passed Scranton. Didn’t even bother stopping in. Just kept chuggin. I sped through some small towns, getting plenty of confused looks and waves. Everyone that I did say hello to was always fairly cheerful, but I didn’t really have any deep conversations. The day went by with me biking and applying sunscreen. Wasn’t going to have my day halted by a wicked bad sunburn. I got into Reading after about 5-6 hours and stopped only to refill on water and grabbed some breakfast. Peanut butter covered Snickers bars with cereal. (Thank you Katherine Dickson!!) As I biked through this day, I wanted to stop and see so much, but the idea of being in Baltimore by mid-afternoon was soo enticing. And sure enough, through zoning out and letting the miles fly, I made it to Baltimore by 4:30!!!! I had gone through tons of backroads and had crossed the Susquehanna river to get where I was. I talked to some of the police officers in Baltimore that were biking around and they were awesome. They were happy to converse with me about my trip. Apparently the police force in Baltimore invested in bicycles and they spend the majority of the year just biking around rather than driving. It makes sense with the amount of congestion on the roads. I called my dad and exclaimed that I was only fifteen miles away and he immediately suggested I make the last run to his house. I finished my dinner and hopped right back on the bike. Pulling onto his road just felt so satisfying. Over 700 miles finished already on this trip… It felt so invigorating to know that this trip was going successfully. Thanks for reading. A small blog about Sunday is up next. Jamie
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Day 4-5 of The Bike Journey to California
Day 4 and 5/May17-18/215ish miles
These two days are in one blog, because they might as well be one whole day. For about 42 hours, I biked from Glens Falls, NY to Carbondale, PA… It was exhausting and there is going to be a lot in this entry and I apologize if its not much fun to read. I know it sure as heck wasn’t fun to bike… I started late on Thursday morning, leaving from Glens Falls headed as fast as I could down a massive hill towards Saratoga. I went down and down until I came to a lavish community and it brought me to a gas station where I decided to refill on water and supplies. I walked in the station and asked for the bathroom and when I came out, there were three women working there that wanted the details on why I was carrying so much stuff. While talking, I grabbed two Arizonas from the fridge goods and headed to the counter, still explaining what I was doing. The three of them were eating it up. I was surprised by all the enthusiasm that was coming from them and I think at the time, I may have taken the first bit of it as sarcasm due to just beginning the day. They were really nice and one of them asked why I was taking so many drugs. hahaha Before I left she apologized, saying that she didn’t know anyone who could give me more drugs. I laughed and went out to my bike and she came out and talked to me a little longer about the rest of the New York route. She warned me of some upcoming hills and hard parts in the path. I thanked her and headed on my way. I was barely into the day’s trip and already I had opened up some great conversations and was kind of thinking the day was going to be a good one. The rest of the ride to Albany was literally nothing. My stops were only to breathe and collect botanical info for a fall semester class. I kept biking and crossed the Mohawk river and hit northern Baltimore. I spent three hours there and talked to my dad on the phone while eating cold ravioli on doritos for dinner. My dad and I decided that this trip is not about me trying to strong-arm the US. It’s about making the journey from one side to the other and seeing those family members that I have not usually been able to. A lot of my family is spread out all over and I really want to see them, but at the same time, I cannot see the US if I’m racing past everything I come across. I mean, how can you see what is merely a blur? I need to take the time to digest what I’m seeing and what I’m doing and I haven’t been fully doing that over the past 5 days. So when I start returning East, I am only going to bike certain parts of the trip. I havent decided which ones yet, but that will come in due time. Anyway, back on topic, I left Albany expecting to be at the border by midnight. Not happening. I got on Route 7 heading south and got to Schenectady and Rotterdam. Both were Sketchy. As. Hell. It was starting to get dark, I knew no one, and I knew that there wasn’t anything I could do except keep peddling. I continued until I got out of town and out on Route 5 heading west because a certain part of Route 7 was prohibited to bicycles. I got to 103 where someone told me that would take me to 30 which was, indeed, what I needed. I took 103 and got onto 160 to cut over to 30. This is where things got messed up. I was not expecting to be cold, scared, and tired on a hilly backroad leading to the smallest town I’ve ever been in. And that says a lot since I’ve lived in both Indiana and Vermont. This town disappeared when I blinked and before I knew it I was heading out of town. I found a solid concrete railing with some grass behind it and decided to take a nap to warm up and rejuvenate whatever energy I could. Upon waking up, there was a fire chief standing over me smiling. He was just happy I was alive. I described what my goal was and he suggested I get a move on if I wanted to make it to the border by morning. He also said I could continue sleeping, but everyone knows the phrase that Jason and I wear out, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” So I jumped up and tied everything down and wished the fire chief a good day and started peddling. I put my sweater on because regardless of it being summer, it was frigid out and now I was going down steep hills. I crossed over 20 and head more and more on 30 until eventually I hit the border. It wasn’t as satisfying of a feeling as I thought it was going to be. It was just “look at all the biking ahead of me that is just going to be bland.” And it was bland. I biked all the way to Carbondale through much frustration and exhaustion. I just wanted to get closer to Baltimore. I wanted to get to a point where I can reconnect with my dad and change some things about my trip. And I’m getting there. I’m stopped at Archbald State Park and looking forward to tomorrow because it means getting even closer to where I want to be. My trip is going to evolve for the better in the next few days and it will be a lot of fun. Promise. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed yet, another entry into the blog. Love you all. Jamie
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Day 3 of The Bike Journey to California
Day 3/May16th/65miles
This day was not as bad as yesterday by any chance. But I still got rained on and still had to bike in it. I started the day in Ticonderoga and headed towards Albany. Due to more of the Adirondacks, I only made it past Glens Falls into Moreau. I had bagged all my gear to protect it from the rain. I wasn’t having that happen twice in a row…. So I left Ticonderoga a little late, around 12, and took 22 south rather than 9N south based on a guy telling me that 9N would take me through more mountains than 22 would. I got into more mountains quickly on 22 south and stopped at a place called the Big Apple Diner and they agreed that it was much better that I took 22. I was relieved but scared of what I could have ended up in over there on that side.I kept chugging and eventually came to the very small town of Whitehall which is home to the US Navy. I stopped there for a little bit to avoid some rain and a guy came over acting excited. He was saying how I’d come a long way and that I had made really good time. Turns out he saw me biking in Putnam, which was the beginning of the mountainous territory, and it was about 20-25 miles back. it was so mountainous, that it took me three hours to bike over it all. I thanked him for helping motivate me and he headed out just as another older man came over and asked me some questions about where I was headed. He look weirdly at me and said I was crazy, but bold. Then he chuckled and said, “Like Doritos!” I started laughing so hard told him those were my favorite chips. He said they were his too, so I went inside and bought a small bag of Doritos. It was a calling. lol I left Whitehall after thinking the rain had subsided and biked right into a thunderstorm. I got some footage of it, but it started down pouring right on me and it was thick rain. I kept peddling because the clouds had an opening up ahead and if I got through that, then I would be out of the rain. Sure enough, after about an hour, it stopped and I was able to let my clothes kinda dry in the wind. I started getting discouraged about two hours into this part of the ride, because I was realizing that I wasn’t anywhere near where I was scheduled to be. Even from where I am in Moreau, I’m still a good 30 miles from Albany. I know the mountains slowed me down, but I really gotta make some better progress if I expect to make it all the way to CA. I’m just getting a little discouraged is all. Believe it or not, I end up with a lot of thinking time on this trip and I have been weighing some options for this ride. I think I’m going to change part of the trip. I’m still going to go all the way to Florida and then all the way to California, but I don’t know if I’m going to bike the whole way back.. There’s a lot I want to do on the way back, like visit my mom and sisters and other awesome family members. I don’t know yet. It’s not set in stone yet, but we shall see what comes of it all after I get a little farther into this trip. Seriously, I love you all and hope you are enjoying these entries. Jamie
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Day 2 of The Bike Journey to California
Day 2/May15th/50 miles… 8(
So, not going to lie, today was horrible. and I mean horrible the most extreme degree. I didn’t sunburned, I got rained on.. ALL DAY. It rained from morning to night with a few 20 second breaks. That wasn’t enough to allow my stuff to dry though. Everything in all my bags got soaked. Nothing survived. I ended up in Ticonderoga to finish the day’s biking, but that was only the halfway point for where I was scheduled to be. The Adirondack mountains are beautiful, but I don’t suggest anyone bike them unless they are looking for a very difficult ride. Ok, let’s talk about the good stuff for a minute. Going through Charlotte, VT was by far the best part of the day. At this point, I was already soaked though. I stopped in at a place called the Little Garden Market and had the best panini I’ve literally ever had. The guy there was named Rik Carlson. He was awesome. We talked for awhile and he really helped to motivate me for the day ahead. I continued biking after leaving the shop and headed towards the ferry to get into Essex, NY. I was not aware of how much trouble it was going to be to get from there to Port Henry. I pulled up to the ticket booth and was acquainted with a man who seem kinda sketchy. I asked him how his day was going and he responded with, “I don’t know you, why get personal?” I laughed and told him my name was Jamie and that I was biking across the states and he paused before saying his day was good. As I started to head towards the ferry he muttered, “good luck”. I got on the boat and both of the people on there were demanding that I get into the warm room up top. I did so and they were both very kind. They were very excited for me and they wished me luck after I left the boat. I was not familiar with the area at all, so I asked a lady running an antique shop for directions and she told me that Albany was 130 miles away and that was it. Not very talkative.. lol I started biking uphill going south towards Albany in hopes that I could make it close to there, but quickly found that it was going to be impossible. The hills were around 25-30 grade and some were consecutive. (Impossible to bike) I had to readjust the stuff on my rear rack numerous times and got very aggravated at it all. I may or may not have swore at the inanimate objects a few times…. It took me a long part of the day to get to Westport, but I did it. There was a shop called Ernies and I grabbed some chips and talked with the locals before heading out. Port Henry came along after much difficulty and there was no where to stay so I was forced to keep biking to Ticonderoga. It was getting late and I had twenty miles before I would get there… (In the Adirondacks, thats 2 frickin hours…) I got into Ticonderoga and was kicked out of the Mcdonalds because they were closing at 11 and proceeded to stay at the Super 8, so that I could dry out my gear. I am now heading towards Albany and hoping the Thunderstorms stay away from me. They will be welcome in the southern states but not right now. Let’s all hope today is better than yesterday. Thanks for reading. I love you all. Jamie
Day 1 of The Bike Journey to California
Everyone that follows me, I want to ask you a favor. I want people to see this, so if you like it, please reblog it so others can read it. I want people to see what I see as I go on this journey. Much Love. Jamie Day 1/May 14th/96 Miles Top Speed: 68kmh Vermont is definitely home to more than meets the eye. (No I didn’t see any Transformers, Jason.) I started off the bike ride being seen off by friends , family, and colleagues from Lyndon State College. It was a great start…The trip got difficult as I biked up the massive hill past GoodFellas. It was horrendous and it took me a long time to lug myself and my 200+ lbs up it. The ride down, though, was exhilarating. I stopped at Marty’s to break and saw GirlJamie (Graves) for the first time since we graduated! I left and as I was about to keep on biking, I met two more cross country bikers that were from England. Their names were David and Elzbeth (not a typo). They were awesome. The couple was set to go all the way through the north to Seattle. Their path, at the moment, was going to Hardwick so after talking for awhile, we parted ways and I continued trekking on Rt 2. This entire ride was filled with up and down terrain that I had biked before, but with all the extra weight, it was extremely hard to keep myself going. I stopped outside Montpelier and picked up some super cheap produce. Some carrots, an apple, and an Arizona. Seth. lol As I left Montpelier, there was a stoplight that had turned green and I stopped to adjust my backpack and a guy sped right through his red light. I will be triple checking intersections now. hahaha! Things went great until I reached an even bigger hill heading towards Williston that I had to walk my bike up. I literally almost died from exhaustion. The ride brought me to Burlington after much stress and wear on my joints. Overall, today was a good day despite the rain. I met a lot of very nice people and I hope that many more of the days ahead are just as enjoyable. The day ended perfectly by stopping for dinner at Sweetwater’s (I think) and getting to stay the night with Tori and one of her friends. Thank you all for reading. I will post again soon. Jamie
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