Total so far: 3307.9 miles
I'm in Kentucky now. As I get nearer to the point at which I will re-enter normal life, I thought I'd share with you some of the things that become the "new normal" when you're a touring cyclist:
- You use the same soap for everything, be it washing your body, hair, dishes, laundry, or whatnot.
- To dry your laundry, you hang it off your bike. I wash some clothes by hand every night, and by morning they're still very much damp, so the only way to get them to dry is to have them hanging off the back of my bike in the wind and sun all day long
- You don't have any clue what the day or date is. Every once in a while I have to mark a date for a campsite registration form, and I have no idea. The other day I was mystified that a store was closed at 10 am, only to discover that it was actually a Sunday.
- You reject foods that don't have enough calories. At the store, I'll see products that proudly boast they only have 80 calories per serving. Only 80?! What good is that gonna do me? I want several hundred!
- You go to sleep when the sun goes down, even if that means 8 pm. These days I cheat a bit and read with my light a bit later, but I still go to sleep pretty early.
So the readjustment will be hard!
As usual, I'll end with a few pictures:
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| The Popeye Museum in Chester, Illinois, home to Popeye's creator. |
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| The raccoon left his mark on my bag... |
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| Moonlit ferry crossing of the Ohio River |
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| The Ohio River at sunrise |
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| I made it to Kentucky! But it'll take me some time to get across. |
Glad to see you are as far as you are. In your future is another mountain range, which I hope goes well for you. The weather has cooled off making it good for cycling, but maybe it will be cooler than you like. I love your observations about cycling life. I would guess you'll appreciate the little niceties of living off the bike trail when you finish. Ride Alex Ride
ReplyDeleteJean Ralley
Hey Alex! So cool to see how far you've gotten. I realized that I hadn't checked this blog since your first day, so I checked it again and it's great to see how you're doing! I must say, I love that seed art of Bachman :) But besides that, it looks and sounds beautiful (except the rain of course). I was wondering, how do you get your internet? Just find the local libraries or use your phone...?
ReplyDeleteEmily Jane Philby
I am a little nervous about the Appalachians, as they're said to be much harder than the Rockies, mostly because the roads are so steep. I would actually love the weather to warm up a bit because it has been so cold at night and in the morning... and I'm worried it will just be worse in the mountains. There are a few things about this ride I won't miss, but I'll be sad when it's over.
ReplyDeleteEmily Jane,
ReplyDeleteThings are going well. I'm in Kentucky now and loving it. I get my internet at the library because my phone isn't smart enough to do it...