On the Road Again (with a friend)

After a week of making and eating good food and fixing bikes, I am on the road again.  I am joined by my friend Alexander , who will be with me the rest if the trip.  We followed the Blue Ridge Parkway north for 100 miles, and went up some serious uphills, but in reward we had stunning views and some spectacular downhills.  We are now cutting northwest meet up with the TransAmerican Trail.

Warm Showers

Last night, for the first time, we made use of an online site called WarmShowers.  It is a network built by and for cyclist, where people can offer up their house with the promise of at least a warm shower.  For Alexander and my first time, we got significantly more than that.  On the site you can see where there are houses in your area, and call or email to see if they are available.  We found the house of a woman called Stephanie, and she was happy to host us for the night.  When we pulled in, we learned that Stephanie was actually about a week away, having biked from CA toward her home since May.  Her housemate, Sherri, was happy to host us in her stead.  She told us to come on in, put our clothes in the wash, and think about what we wanted for dinner while taking a shower.  When we came out we found a table with fruit, delicious bacon-wrapped chicken and pepper, and chips with guacamole.  Pizza was later added to the mix.  We chatted and ate, and Sherri mentioned that she had a hot tub.  Our eyes widened. 

We slept in a bed that night, and woke up to find coffee, and travel snacks arranged on the table.  We left early in the morning after much thanking and cheer.  It was our first time using Warm Showers, but I don't know if we can ever top that experience.

A good meal under any terms

Thoughts on Fancy Gear

I am riding my Grandpa's bike, with my Grandpa's panniers.  This has earned me not a few whistles of surprise and admiration, and perhaps a few raised eyebrows that say "and you are still alive?"  For all that, it is a good bike that wears its years well, perhaps better for being built before carbon fiber was a thing- back when durability was the watchword of the bike industry.  But that does not stop me from covetously eying the all-systems-integrated carbon fiber heavy-as-a-butterfly bicycles in the windows of the bike shops I pass.  I myself converted my pedals to clipless and am trying to find a cheap way to convert my shifters from drop tube to bar end.

It can be hard to tell when you are being manipulated by popular opinion, and not following your own values and logic.  To be honest, I did not have any problems with my former pedals and cages.  I could wear whatever shoes I wanted, and slip in and out of them with ease.  But I had heard that clipless was the way to go- it would put my feet in just the right place, I would pedal more efficiently, and a myriad of other convincing and enticing reasons.  I admit, it is nice to snap in to my pedals, and I do find myself pulling up as well as pushing down, but the score for falling down before and after these fancy pedals is as follows.  Cages: 21 days, 0 falls.  Clipless: 3 days, 4 falls.  Alexander tells me this is just because I am new to them, but for the sake of both my wallet and my elbows, I am going to pay special attention from now on what advancements I hear about and then want, and what advancements I Viaduct
 could to be done before I realized someone else already thought of it. 

The following images are me trying to cycle circles around Alexander going uphill, only to eat it because I was clipped in.  The other times I fell were valid, though.

 

So far I have gone 1444.8 miles, and I am writing this from the Watauga Public Library, in Boone, NC.

Recent highlights:

• Stopping for lunch at Christa's, a little deli off the parkway and having one of the best sandwiches of my life.
• Bombing a four-mile hill at 35mph past gorgeous vistas
• Exploring the Craft Center outside of Boone, and convincing Alexander to buy the most beautiful mug.
• All the overlooks on the parkway, especially off the Viaduct
• The holy grail of dumpster finds: semi-frozen ice cream, and loads of it