Pittsburgh,KS to Chanute,KS

Today was a terribly hot day. I was absolutely exhausted upon reaching the campground in Chanute. While only having gone around 60 miles, I felt like I had gone a whole lot further. I immediately went to Wal-Mart and brought a $2.50 container of strawberry cheesecake Ben & Jerry's ice cream, found me some shade, and chilled out. The temperature was around 100 degrees according to my cycling computer. The humidity was around 60 percent. I felt like I was swimming in the air. I met a couple of cool people biking from San Francisco to the Yorktown. The tailwinds weren't helping them much. The only major problem with Kansas are the crosswinds and the tailwinds. Especially being a large moving object on a bike. There are really no trees in Kansas. Where there are trees you wont feel the wind, but without trees you better hold on tight and enjoy the ride. Also I was talking to this guy at met at Wal-Mart. He told me to beware of the Flint Hills. Whatever that means. Guess I will find out soon enough, I will be riding over them tommorow. I will add more pictures to my blog once I find better wi-fi and batteries for my camera. Here is a picture of my makeshift kitchen.
Peace

-RJ

Ash Grove to Pittsburgh,KS 90 Miles

After another hot day of biking,I'm in Girard, Kansas typing from the porch of a nice family's house. I am currently looking at the library across the street from where I am sitting. I arrived here around 3:00 PM my time. I went to Sonic and brought a strawberry milkshake and a large cup of water. I was exhausted. A policeman recommended that I camp out in the city park. This turned out to be a great idea. The pool was fantastic and the people I have met thus far have been Super Nice. I think that Kansas is the best state to bike in, based on my experience thus far. I plan to make it to Eurkea, Kansas by tomorrow. I will upload some pictures and add to the blog.

Here are some pics from today's ride

Until Tomorrow.

RJ

Day 12:Carbondale= Rest Day!!

Sunday is the designated rest day for group. Earlier this morning we went to a house where the occupent was suffering from MS. We cleaned up her yard and made everything look nice. It was a great experience giving back to the community. Especially for such a deserving person such a nice lady! We just got back to the house and I am now eating pasta, pork sandwiches, and Ice Cold Lemonade. I am going to write later on today about what is takes to be a "self supported" rider. After I take a nap and get some more good food in me!

Check back soon!



RJ

More Pics from the 1st Week

Photos Courtesy of the Fruit 66 Helmet Cam

Various Pictures from 1st 10 days

Eastern KY...Just before the storm...

Photos Courtesy of the Fruit 66 Helmet Cam

Video from 1st 10 days on the road

Videos Courtesy of the Fruit 66 Helmet Cam

Day 10 and 11:Marion to Cave in Rock 15 Miles-Cave in Rock to Carbondale,IL:85 Miles

Yesterday was a fairly easy ride. I started riding my bike down to the ferry a little bit earlier to get a head start on the MS group. We rode for a while then we went down to the Ohio River to wait for the ferry to arrive. It took a while for it to cross but it was well worth the wait. Goodbye Kentucky and hello Illinois. When we got off the ferry, a support group made up of family and friends greeted us and gave us watermelon and gatorade. Next we headed to the campground and took hot showers and chilled. After we waited a while, we then head off to the diner to eat. A mom of one of the guys, came down and brought dinner for us! That was sooo nice of her!

Today we biked to Carbondale,IL. We are going to stay here for a day then its back on the road through Illinois onto MO. We took off at 5 am to get a head start on the heat. Today was tough because all of the hills were extremely steep. I was very tired going up these steep mountains. I thought the worst was behind me. When I got to Carbondale, I immediately went to the Phoenix bike shop. The owner was very kind. He hooked me u with some chain lube and he did a quick check over my bike.

Seth, a rider biking with for MS, his parents were very nice to let us stay at their house tonight and tomorrow night. This is soo cool!

Good night check out the video in the next post

rj

Day 9 Utica-Marion

Just woke up from a good night’s sleep at the volunteer fire station in Utica, KY. My companions woke up earlier than I and ate 3 bowls of frosted flakes. Half the box was gone! We are headed off to Sebree, KY about 30 miles away. We will stay in some cyclist lodging there and sleep well! Upon arrival in Sebree we decided to push on ahead to Marion, KY. Once we got there my companions got a hotel and I decided to sleep in the park. While at the park I met Dylan and Devin Clarke. Dylan is my age and Devin is 15. We played some baseball and had a great time with DT, AP, and JP (all names of his friends). They invited me to stay with them for the night. Their mom, Alicia, is a doctor and their dad is a salesman. We had dinner, played some pool, and had a great time. It is so cool how you can meet such nice people while crossing the US by bike. This morning I woke up to the fresh smell of sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits. Now I am steadily typing away trying to play catch up since I have not had internet access in almost 2 weeks.

RJ

Two day summary: Day 7 and Day 8: Berea to Bardstown

Things have been going very well thus far. At this moment, I am in Utica, KY with Sebastian and Stephanie, two engineers who go to school at a technical university in New York. They are also biking cross country. I met them at the D & L Country Store when I became stranded from the Bike the US for MS group. Instead of going 50 miles with them, I ended up going 70 miles to Harden Springs, KY. Not good especially after biking 110 miles the day before, from Berea, KY to Bartontown, KY (10 hours on a bike!). Not to mention a very large storm was brewing in the distance. Arnold the store owner was very kind. He fed us pizza, tuna fish, cucumbers, and freshly picked onions. He has a lovely wife and daughter who we spoke with much of the night. The wife and the daughter made a tasty treat made of potatoes, powdered sugar, and peanut butter. We got a hot shower in then turn in to sleep. We slept outside under the pavilion to avoid the rain. I slept well then we got up early to go to Utica the next morning.

We started out for Utica around 7:30 AM this morning. Today was basically uneventful. I saw the MS truck past me, but I didn’t feel like stopping especially after yesterday’s experience. I just trudged on and stayed with Sebastian and Stephanie. There are a lot of big trucks on the road, but with the three of us biking in a straight line, it makes things a lot safer! Upon arrival to a convenience store in Utica, a man, who I believe to be the fire chief, asked us if we needed a place to stay tonight. We immediately nodded our head in unison. We brought some ice cream and snacks then headed off to the fire station for some hot showers. We made pizza and presto pasta for dinner. Now I am about to head off to bed. My fingers are numb and not functioning properly. Good night…..

Day 3: 60 Miles

Day 3: Today was, according to Dale, the hardest day of the trip. Four of us left early to have breakfast in Elkhorn City, KY. We each had a hearty plate of biscuits and gravy. Also we had 2 sunny side up eggs, 2 sausages and coffee all of a low price of 6 dollars. After that we had to ascend 4 mountains while going 70 miles. The downhills were amazing but oddly enough my camera stop recording after the first one. This sucks! But the day was excruciatingly hard either way. The uphills were very steep. Most were 10% grades. I was tired like a dog on the first couple of hills but the last 2; I rode up like a champion. I just kept a consistent pace and let the rest fall into place. Most of the KY people are friendly and kind. The exceptions of course are the truck, school bus, and tractor drivers. Each of these, at one point, ran me off the road. We met some nice locals at a firestation in Council,KY. They were having a car wash/bake sale. I felt the need to patronize them by buying a chili dog with slaw and a homemade apple pie for only $2.50 total. We continued to bike through KY until we reach Hindman, where we stopped at a church for the night.

So Far So Good

RJ

3,634Miles to a cure

Day 2:Rosedale,VA to Breaks Gap, VA:46 Miles

Today was a interesting day. While the ride was only 46 miles, it was a TOUGH day. I started up the mountain sporting my Fruit 66 Jersey along with pepper and the rest of the group. The first part of the climb was cool because there was not a lot of climbing, mostly downhill with a couple of short uphills. The second part of the climb was nearly IMPOSSIBLE for a fully loaded touring bike. Their was a straight uphill climb that really made me work hard to work my way up. My bike is holding up very well thus far. I haven't had a single repair made!(Knock on wood!) Tomorrow will bring more challenges since we will be biking through the eastern part of Kentucky. Eastern Kentucky is known for its vicious dogs,coal trucks, and high crime rate. We plan on biking right on through Eastern Kentucky in order to get to the western portion of the state ASAP! So far so good. I will be adding more pictures in video when the Wi-Fi gets ALOT faster. Right know I am sitting inside of the Lodge at the Breaks Park campground. Although advertising free wifi, the wifi is slow as dial-up. But I can't complain because I'm on the road biking cross country with a great group of guys and gals!

Day 1:Cross Country Tour: 88 Miles:Rural Retreat,VA to Rosedale,VA

Today I started from Rural Retreat, VA. My dad drove me out there (no wait! I drove.lol.)from our home in Goochland so that I may meet up with my new cycling group. Before, I had set out to go solo but as the trip neared; my parents became increasingly nervous about the trip. Soon after that, I found a group called “Biking the US for MS”. Basically this is a group of about 22 cyclist each biking across the US to raise money and awareness for Multiple Scroisis. The cyclists are supported by a support van that carries everything the cyclists will need for that day. In addition to the supported cyclist, there are 3 unsupported cyclists including myself. A guy named Pepper and a guy named Rich. We started off from Rural Retreat and ended in Rosedale, VA. We biked approximately 88 miles. The best part of the trip thus far was the long sweeping hill that goes to Damascus. While being a little scared at times going down the hill, I thought that the distance went well. Once in Damascus, Pepper treated us to pizza since it was his home town. It never hurts to have hot pizza waiting for you! From then, we went onto Hyters Mountain, were we forced to bike 4 miles over a very steep mountain, There were absolutely zero flat spots to rest while going up. Upon arrival to the top we received a very warm welcome from the team!

Just got my caps from Waltz Caps and my Jerseys from Zaavy Banners in the Mail Today!

I just got my cycling caps from Waltz Caps and my Cycling Jerseys from Zaavy Banners. I am very happy to have received them today because tomorrow I hope to embark on my cross country bike ride with the "Biking the US for MS Team" starting somewhere between Charlottesville and Blacksburg,VA. I decided to bike with them because their are going to be many people who are biking "Self-Supported" along with them. I figure I can connect with someone biking self supported and pace myself along with him/her. I can't wait to finally leave!

RJ

KIETH-FABRY COMES UP BIG!

Liz Kieth and Debra Swartz from Kieth-Fabry Photographic Solutions have done an excellent job of supporting my cross country bike ride for autism awareness. Kieth-Fabry has donated their printing services for the needs of my bike ride. I am extremely grateful for the Kieth-Fabry Team.

Thanks!

RJ BARNES