2500 miles

Riding in Missouri is FUN!

Yesterday, I had my best cycling day ever, not just on this trip, but ever.

I thought I'd like flat Kansas the best, but this is way better. Missouri provides variation. Riding some parts of the route is like going on a roller coaster: As you roll down, you get enough speed to take you uphill, without pedalling or with just a little bit of pedalling, and then you go down again.

And then there are the really, really steep climbs: Challenging, but fun challenging. Terry, a bicyclist I have bumped in to quite a few times during the last days, says you need to imagine a wall dressed with tarmac to understand what we are faced with quite a few times a day. Seen from a distance, those hills seem impossible to cycle and I can get completely light-headed just by looking at them, but so far I haven't fallen off of a single one of 'em :-)

It is not like in the Sierras or in the Rockies, where the climbs took most part of the day. The climbs here sure are steep, but very short in comparison, so you'd be cycling standing up, giving it all you've got, exhausting yourself if necessary, because you know that within a reasonable amont of time, you'll be going downhill again, and you'll be rewarded with not only a couple of minutes of good rest, but also a nice breeze. And then you will be up for some tough climbing again.

Also, what I like about this type of cycling is that you won't use just your legs. Your arms, your abs, and your back will all work together to get you up that hill and to stay in balance on the bike. I haven't felt this physically strong in years (1994?), so you can imagine the boost!

When I met Terry later in the afternoon I realized he had experienced the same: cyclists' high all day long.

(The double shot of espresso and the large quantities of maple syrup I had with the MacDonalds hotcakes for breakfast might have helped.)

Anyway, I totally recommend Missouri for bicycling!








But today, we are resting.

911. What's your emergency?

Even if I have watched enough episodes of CSI and similar series, and even if that might have given me the impression that crime happens every day to everyone in the States, I never really thought I'd be calling 911 during my time here. So last night when I did, it kind of felt surreal.

And a little dog caused it.

When I arrived at the Inn I was planning to stay the night, it was getting dark. There were plenty of dogs, because this Inn specialized in guests coming there to hunt, but the dogs were all locked up. All, except one.

She seemed nice enough, at first. Tail wagging and all. But as I moved towards the house where I expected to find someone to show me to my room, the locked up dogs apparently disapproved and started barking terribly, making the loose dog changing her mind about me. She would not let me get to the house. And talking to her just seemed to make her mad. And despite all the barking and growling no one came out of the house.

After a while, I decided to retreat. Camping in the woods all of a sudden seemed to be a great idea. But as started to back off, the loose dog made it clear that she wouldn't let me go in that direction either. She would't let me move in any direction.

So, with pepper spray in one hand, and knife within reach, I started making phone calls. But no one picked up at the Inn. No one picked up at the Police station. And the Sheriff apparently had gone horse riding into the sunset, because I had no luck there either. The dog started to act more and more aggressive, growling at every tiny move I made. She had me pinned.

If you call 911, they do pick up. And they do send a police car, even if the emergency only involves one dog and an anxious Swedish bicyclist who doesn't wish to use her pepper spray because of the risk of blinding that dog. But I never got to see the officer they sent. The owner showed up a quarter of an hour after the phone call, and the vicious, growling little creature of a dog all of a sudden turned into a cute little pet.

Here she is. I kind of like her behind bars.

Last night in Kansas. Heading for Missouri tomorrow.

When the route provides lots of uphills and downhills, you might drag the bike up and then just roll down. I guess that was what I did during the first weeks of this trip, because my knees were fine.

In Kansas, however, I have cycled and cycled and cycled, and now those knees of mine are complaining. I will NOT make the same mistake I made last year when I just ignored the pain and kept going. And I really don't have to: I am six days ahead of schedule.

Having more time and thereby also the possibility of letting my body decide the pace, are two of the first positive things on this years cycling holiday, in comparison to last years when I hurried around the Baltic sea. Another two are that the tarmac here generally is better and the drivers more considerate.

But I don't need to compare this year with last year to find positive things to mention. I just love it here! Sometimes, though, I feel surprised at what I enjoy. I promised a list of positive things, so here we go:

1. Walmart. You can get almost anything you want at a low cost and there are Walmarts even in smaller towns. Yesterday, I even found carbonated mineral water (and it wasn't expensive Perrier). Thumb's up.

2. Early mornings. I do not yet have a "favorite spot", but I certainly have a favorite time of the day. If I get going at 6 am or earlier, every place is the best place. It doesn't matter if I am in a town or out in the desert or up in the mountains, if I am alone or if there are plenty of cars around, I just can't stop grinning. Going early is always good, and the earlier the better.

3. Elderly ladies. They come up to you anywhere (outside a library, outside a shop, at the gas station...) and invite you to their homes and take care of you as were you their beloved grandchild. And they are sharp and cool. Tonight I'll be staying with Ruth and her cute poodle Miss Penny.

But actually, I could just as well have said "People in general" because there are just SO many incredibly nice people helping me out every day. Like Kat, the talented photographer, who I stayed with last night and who actually managed to take good pictures of me cycling with my little Samsung...

I will list ALL my hosts in a posting later on... There will be pic's too, but you'll have to be patient... :-)

Among those positive things, I also would like to mention another couple of food items that I enjoy but forgot about in my last posting.

Mountain House freeze-dried food is easy to prepare in the tent and their lasagna is an absolute favorite for breakfast after a camping night.

But that's for chilly mornings. For the very warm afternoons there is ICE CREAM. When I reach the town I intend to stay the night after a sweaty day of cycling, I always get into the first gas station I see and buy a Sandwich ice cream, which I always eat in the shop (they have air condition...) while I chat with whoever sold it to me. That way I get information about where the library/swimming pool/city park/camping/motel is, or whatever I need to know, while the risk of hypothermia is lowered and the chance of survival is increased.

And on the subject of food: A former American student of mine (he's still American, just not my student anymore), listed a number of American food items he figured I should try. Getting a task to carry out made me surprisingly happy and I had the list printed for me in a library. Like an eager Golden retriever I went to fetch the stuff.

Once at the store, I managed to grab the probably most service minded store staff person I've ever met in my life. She immediately saw the great importance of my list and my task and went and got me a basket to put everything in and then took me on a tour. We got everything except for the frozen yogurt with chocolate mint chips. I'll get them later.

The Coffee Cake (which was gooood, as were Reece's pieces) made me go buy some milk too. I drank at least half a gallon yesterday. I will get another half a gallon tonight. I bet Ruth has a fridge.

2000 miles

It is with mixed feelings I realize I am more than half way across the US. On the one hand, I want to reach my goal (that's kind of what goals are for...), on the other hand, I don't want this holiday to end. Ever.

Life is so good right now.

Kansas might be a bit dull looking with all its corn fields. It is all flat and you can see for miles in any directions - but all you see is more flat and more fields with corn. However, flat equals nice and easy bicycling. I can all of a sudden make 70-80 miles a day and still arrive where I want to stay the night during early afternoon.

There has been a couple of days with extreme moist heat (yep, over 100 degrees again...), but last night there was a heavy thunderstorm and lots of rain that cleared the air so that we could all breath again this morning. There were clouds too, all day today. Breathable air AND clouds, it's almost too much.

There are quite a few things I enjoy about being here. I thought I'd publish a LIST, that would explain why I would like this holiday to go on for not just another few weeks but maybe for another few years. But, then I couldn't stop myself from organizing the list and ended up with lists instead.

List of good FOOD:

1. Big waffles with maple syrup
2. Small waffles with maple syrup
3. Big pancakes with maple syrup
4. Small pancakes with maple syrup
5. Maple syrup on a spoon
6. Maple syrup on my fingers (might actually be no 1, when not mixed with alcogel or sun screen)
7. Maple syrup straight out of the bottle (OK, I haven't tried it yet, but I am looking forward to it)

And then there is food that lacks maple syrup, but some of it is good anyway:

8. BLT sandwiches (BaconLettuceTomato - they always come grilled with mustard and mayonnaise and are great! Rustys wife, Sheri (?) made me the first and the best in California, but the ones you can get at Subway are also quite edible)
9. Hamburgers from other places than fast food places
10. Salted red skin peanuts (to make you drink more and you always need to drink more!)

List of good DRINKS:

1. Red Bull (I had no idea it tasted so good - stupid commercials made me NOT try it before...)
2. Anything from my cooler on a too warm day (but especially raspberry yoghurt)
3. Milkshakes (for some reason I had never had one until this trip)
4. Dubble espressos with just a little bit of latte milk - if you order this in the States, you get a standard Swedish coffee (with milk), which is great!
5. Coke - I know I can have it in Sweden too, but on a bicycle tour it is guilt free, as John would have put it. And so I can drink a lot of it.

There are more things I enjoy. I'll make a non food/drink positive list for the next posting.

But food is goooood, especially when you can stuff your face with it and still loose weight. My long lost ribs are starting to show again. (Well, at least when I am lifting my arms over my head, holding my breath at the same time - which I gladly do when given some privacy and a mirror.) I haven't seen those ribs since my veggie days, and they sure are welcome back.

Western Express - Check!

I am in Pueblo, where the Western Express route ends. Tomorrow I will continue on the TransAmerica Trail.

It is time to start chewing miles, and I have just had some more music so I feel quite up for it!

1500 miles

Colorado hasn't so far been anywhere near as dramatic or beautiful as Utah, but the lower temperature makes this place so much more bikeable. Just a couple of days away from the unbearable heat of the desert, it started to rain - it was actually pouring down - but the wet and the cold I can deal with. I am used to that from having lived in Gothenburg for nearly 15 years :-)

I am over the Monarch Pass. No biggie. The climb took long but was very nice, nothing like the climbs in Utah. I could cycle all the way up, which felt good (esp with all the cheering motor cyclists - I'm such a sucker for attention! :-) ). However, it was the highest summit to get passed on this bicycle tour across the States (and probably the last until I reach the Appalachians).



Speaking of summits: How would you translate that to Swedish? If one is talking about the summit of a mountain, it would of course be 'topp'. But the summit of a certain route...? I know it can be explained, maybe with "hogsta punkten av..." but is there a good word for it?

And speaking of translations: How would you translate 'bonnbranna'? Again, I know it can be explained, but is there a word? What I am talking about is sun tan on arms and legs (most likely), showing that you have been out working rather than sun bathing at the beach. The Swedish term 'bonnbranna' would directly translate to something like 'farmers tan'.

Anyway. I've got cyclists tan. It looks really weird.

Exit Utah - Enter Colorado

After a final couple of rough days in the desert, I treated myself to a day with only 25 miles of cycling and a motel room. I also tossed away/sent off some stuff that I hope I won't need, so now going uphill has become easier.

Today's cycling was longer, but the route was a nice and gentle one (and there were clouds in the sky!!), and when I reached my Warmshowers host in Dolores, she took me to a restaurant where I had my first proper meal in five days.

So, plenty of luxury in one go!

Now I am looking forward to the next challenge: The Rocky Mountains.