Frank's Coast to Coast Ride for Justin

  
After the rain delay yesterday I was anxious to get an early start today anticipating the same delays today. After a quick hotel breakfast I was on the road @ sun up. These morning rides are special. Riding through the contry side with the smells of fresh cut hay & newly plowed fields is priceless. Most of the world is still in bed & the quiet of the day is priceless. 

I broke the day up into 30 – 40 mile legs. Riding in this part of the country with a town every 10-20 miles takes a lot of the pressure off of packing supplies for the day. Unlike out west where you may ride 50 miles with no towns let alone a store to stop at. I will never take a Sheetz store or a WalMart for granted again. It was about 11.00 that the heat of the day kicked in. I made my way into the town of Hunington where I found a nice town park with a gazebo & a picnic table. I made my lunch of peanut butter & jelly, bananas & tuna fish. I rode on & made my way to the town of Decatur 107 miles done. These days don’t leve much in the way of spare time. By the time you settle in for the night & prep for the next day it’s time for sleep. I am now only 6 miles from the Ohio border. Monday my wife is heading to Edinboro in western Pa to meet up with me. I can’t wait! It’s been less than a month but seems like a year. 

The last few days have been on roads with poor shoulders to ride on & increasingly heavy holidY traffic. So tomo I will fight for my position on the road & hope to get to the 1/2 way point across Ohio.

To do it over this trip should be done in 3 months not 1, but I have responsibilities back home & a schedule to maintain. I know when I finish I will miss the ride. But right now I miss home!

 

 

  
I hit the road early this morning with a stop @ the McDonalds next door to the hotel. I talked to the locals having their morning coffee, discussing my trip, farming & the weather. I was in a rush to get ahead of a line of thunderstorms coming in from the west. I made it 35 miles to the junction of Rt 24 the route I will ride on pretty much all the way through Ohio. I just made it into a town as the skies opened up. I was on rain delay for 2 1/2 hours. I the. Set out on a course to the east with winds that neither helped nor hurt. My goal was Monticello IN 65 more miles away. I made it to a pull off @ the IN border where I had my lunch of peanut butter & jelly on flat bread, bananas & tuna. I took off & paced my way through the now headwinds, happy for my early departure this morning. The ride was actually nice with small towns lining the route atleast giving me the option for a rest or shelter from the rain. The rain held off & I made it into Monticello @ 5:00. 

Today I reached 2 milestones, getting through another state & now am in the eastern time zone! I found a WalMart & swung in & purchased my badly needed new tires. With storms forcast for the night I decided against camping & in BAD need of a shower I found a hotel & settled in. After some dinner I changed tires & installed a new bike computer ( my other one quit altogether 4 days ago). The comp is really a nice thing to have & I have missed it. 

 This part of the trip is amazing. Riding along some of the most amazing farm land, watching the farmers working the fields with equipment that is second to none. A real treat to a small town guy like me. I should be in Ohio on Sat & when I hit that border will feel like home. The desperation of this trip is behind me & I am now enjoying each leg of each day. Thanks for all the support & messages from back home . It helps more than you will know.

A shoutout now to the Canton High athletes @ shippensburg this week for track states, Randi Jennings & Noah Barnett & coach Morgan! Good luck guys , & enjoy the moment! 

 

I woke @ 5:00 & cleaned up my campsite & headed for the McDonalds for breakfast. I met a young McDonalds worker who was a former high school runner that was asking lots of questions about my ride. He asked how many calories I burned a day ( good question) & what I ate to sustain my energy? My answer was everything & anything! I wish I had better answers. As I set here tonight I am watching the Weather Channel showing a very large tornado going through Solomon Ks a town I passed through 7 days ago. With all the weather that I have fought on this trip I have managed to stay one step ahead of the real bad stuff. Today called for bad storms along my route that was one reason I wanted to get an early start today. More so than the storms, I really wanted to beat the heat of the day & the forcast high winds. I beat neither! The road today was 77 miles of the straightest road you have ever seen. Not one turn the whole way! With few towns & few services along the way I managed to find a shade tree & ate my lunch of peanut butter & jelly on flat bread, banana & water. I fought a stiff quartering headwind that got stronger as the day went on. The temp reached 92 degrees & unlike the 103 days in the dessert, this stuff makes you sweat. But @ the 77 mile mark I turned northeast on rt 54 for the last 18 miles with the largest tailwind I have had yet. It was like magic. I made my way into the town of Gibson City & settled into the ONLY hotel around for miles. This place will no doubt receive the prize for the worst place I have ever stayed, hands down. I will not go into the details as there is no way my description could do it justice. OK one detail – I had to plunger the plugged toilet, & clean the shower. And it’s the first time I wore my Crocks shoes in a hotel shower!

95 miles in today & 52 miles from the Indiana border. A strong day tomo will have me a good way across Indiana & it still looks like the Pa border the first of next week. Make sure to keep Justin in your prayers & keep the kind donations coming.  

  
Back somewhere in Kansas a farmer asked me how many miles you got out of those bike tires? I really didn’t have & answer for him. So if he’s reading this post I have that information for him. 2018 miles ….exactly! I started off early today making my way out of Quincy & out of the river valley. It was a perfect day for a bike ride. I rode for 3 1/2 hours & took a short break in Mount Sterling a nice little farming town. I left there & was making great time on the pretty flat 2 lane road. This road had NO shoulder & traffic seemed to have a difficult time deciding how & when to pass a bicycle. I appreciate their over caution but when your riding off of the white line walking a tight rope of asphalt they have plenty of room to pass by. But they don’t! As they hang back instead of making the pass it forces the rider to ride with one eye in his mirror & the other on the narrow shoulder, greatly limiting the riders option. So that’s when I was forced to ride through some loose stone kicked up on the road. And this is where I center punched one of these stones with the front tire, giving me my first flat tire of the ride. As I had the bike inverted on the side of the road changing out the front tube I made a startling discovery. The rear tire had NO tread left. None , bare cords all the way around. I finished the front repair & decided to ride to the next town 10 miles up the road to address the rear tire. I plumped into a town park under the shade of a tree ( it did hit 90 degrees today) and I changed out the rear with my only spare cold up tire. With no bike shop or even a WalMart close I will be looking to buy a new set of tires asap.

I made my way up rt 24 then onto rt 136 into the town of Havana on the Illinois River. The river is alive with barge traffic, something you don’t see everyday out our way. I found a campsite on the outskirts of town right on the river. Perfect. With 89 miles in today I set up camp & set watching the barges go by & the locals fishing the river. This day got me about 1/4 across the state. A good day by my standards.

  

When I got into my room last night I found that I was to tired to leave & forage for food. So sat in my room eating peanut butter & jelly sandwiches & tuna from a can. I was pretty whipped. I found a magazine in the hotel lobby dedicated to the up coming “Bicycle Across Missouri” or Big Bam Ride coming up in a few weeks. I had been asked by people I had met the last few days if I was going to be doing this ride? I assured them that this would probably be my last pass through the state for a while. But their ride did look like fun! They take 6 days instead of 2 1/2 & have a party & concert every night of the ride ending with a huge party in Hannibal @ the end. The ride goes basically out the same route I did except it goes off of the 4 lane whenever possible onto paralleling secondary roads. It stops every night in each town that I stopped in. Maybe next year?

At breakfast this morning I met a local guy who was back in town for a funeral. I told him I was pretty exhausted from the 4 lane riding & that I was going to head north & join up with a 2 lane route that would take me to Quincy. He warned me that it was pretty hilly & I would do good to stay on the flatter 4 lane. But I decided that the routing advise I have taken from “non bikers” all though well meaning, hasn’t worked out so far.

So I headed north to join up with rt 168 in the town of Shelbyville. A very beautiful morning to ride. As I headed east on the tight rural 2 lane I soon found that the local guy knew his roads pretty well. These were some real hills by any standard, but the trade off for the beautiful country side was well worth it. As I arrived in the various towns along the way I found no stores or good rest spots so I rode on for 42 miles non stop. I joined up with rt 24 another 4 lane, but for the 12 miles that it took me north I enjoyed a great tailwind, something that I had forgotten how nice it was. I made my way across a very TIGHT bridge crossing the Mississippi & on into Illinois . 59 mi for the day . Landing here for the day was good as my legs need a little rest. 

Today I am a few miles short of 2000 miles done. My schedule of getting to western Pa. may be a little optimistic by will see how it goes . There are storms in the forcast and so far I have managed to stay ahead of them. A few days to cross illinois & Indiana & I think Ohio will feel like I am almost home!

 

 

Sorry for the late post as I had “network”issues last night & no communications.

After a 96 mile day yesterday, I rested pretty good last night & after a quick hotel breakfast this morning I headed out to another day of rolling hills & straight 4 lane roads .It was a nice day with clear skies & temps reaching the low 80s. I made it 3 hours before my first break under a highway overpass. Then it was about 35 miles to the town of Macon where I stopped @ a McDonalds for a break & food. Riding the 4 lane is fine for making good time, but very boring.  The wind is still not my friend and it is to the point that you actually look forward to facing an up hill climb on the road as it blocks the wind for a time as you climb. The temp today reached the high 80s & I could feel it! My bodies thermostat is still not used to this, but it is still preferable to riding with gloves, pants & a jacket. You stay alert by constantly being on the lookout for the typical road debris of broken glass, broken tarp & tie down straps, misc bolts, roadkill & the remains of blown truck tires.
I finally rolled in to the town of Shelbine with 86 miles done. My plan was to camp @ the “city Lake” but when I stopped at the local gas station I found that they were not opened until Memorial Day weekend. But a few hundred feet up the road was a hotel, that proved cheap & clean.

Missouri as it turns out is an interesting & beautiful state, just not where I am riding! I have missed the birth place of Walt Disney, J.C.Penny & Mark Twain. The reason I missed all of this is because of riding on a 4 lane & being in a hurry. Done correctly one should do this ride with atleast 3 months set aside to really see the country. I will admit that I have been in a bit of a rush. But I will consider this trip a warm up ,with the promise to do it again someday when I have 3 months to give it. Maybe when I get old. 

I spent the night in the yard of my host Mitch in Atchison Ks. I broke camp @ 4:00am in the dark & made my way to the all night McDonalds for breakfast & to clean up. Mitch was a great host who I did not get to spend much time with, but hope to re visit him someday. 

The mission today was to just chew up as many miles as possible to position myself to exit Mo. by Monday. The route started off by crossing the Missouri River & working my way up the river valley to St Joseph . I worked my way through the city onto busy Rt. 36 a 4 la e non descript highway that goes all the way west to east through the state. This road rolls along straight as an arrow. Up one long hill & down another. The weather was good with temps in the high 70s & a 10 mph headwind. The terrain & landscape was like western Pa. Think Rt 22 between Altoona & Pittsburg. The traffic was weekend heavy, & just a grind. I ended up in the town of Chillcothe  where I found a room for the night. I unloaded my packs & dried out my my tent & bags from the previous night. 

My new goal is to make it to Edinboro Pa. by Memorial Day weekend. Rain & storms are forecast for the next few days so we will see how the schedule holds up. 

Unlike Kansas , Missouri doesn’t seem to try & take credit for much of anything. It seems it’s purpose seems to be only to connect Illinois to Kansas. Kinda a bridge state if you will. 

 

My riding @ this point has become a matter of autopilot . Mount up & ride / rest / repeat. Some stretches are better than others, some worse. When I got to the hotel tonight I checked in then set in a chair in the lobby & fell asleep! Exhausted . But tomo I will ride again. Prayers for Justin & thanks for all the support from back home. I was disappointed to hear of the low turnout by the Canton Roadrunnes Club for the Sat morning “breakfast Run”. I gotta get back home soon & get the club back on track. Jezz. Their like a box of kittens. They are fine until you take your eyes off of them, then they start crawling out of the box!

 It’s not that Kansas was a tough state to cross, it’s just that it played a little hard. And it’s big. So today I put the land of Pawnee Rock, The Barb Wire Hall of Fame and all the claims to the Wizard Of Oz in my mirror.

  
I started the day out with a radio call in to WHGL Wiggle 100 our hometown radio station to talk with Shane, Kristie & my buddy Bill Holland, who is helping head up the cause for Justin. The call in finished (thanks Wiggle you guys are the best!) I headed out under overcast skies for a long day that would should carry me out of Kansas. I made a stop in Saint Mary’s a small down just 14 miles down the road to purchase a battery for my bikes computer that has decided to quit. From there I headed due north for 25 miles before turning east. This day was spent on roads that could only be described as a roller coaster. Up a short hill maybe 1/4 mile & down the other side then repeat. This was all day! It sounds bad but you kinda got into a rhythm , working just hard enough & gearing down all the way up the one side and then allowing the extra weight of the loaded bike & light petal strokes to carry you 1/2 way up the next. For about 50 miles I would say that the energy used was about a push. Even money if you will. The next 48 miles or so was more intense with longer, steep climbs. But all in all it made for a great workout & I arrived in Atchison, the birthplace of Amelia Earhart , on the Missouri River @ 5:00. 89 miles in. A good day. I am camping tonight in the backyard of a “Warm Showers” host family located right in town. I hope to hit the road early tomo & get through Missouri in 2 1/2 days.

I hear of rain back home tomo. I hope that this does not cause the Canton Roadrunners Club any delays or to postpone the Sat breakfast run. Put on Yer big boy rain pants boys!

  
Today was a good day. Not a great day. Just a good solid day. Today’s goal was to position myself to be able to make it out of Ks on Friday. The trick today was to navigate the various route changes through Junction City & Manhattan Ks. Fort Riley’s military base sets square in the middle of the route & is a challenge to transit. And yes I screwed it up! Ended up on a dirt road for about 4 miles that ended with carrying my bike through a field & up a hill, over the guardrail to a 4 lane highway that I rode for 9 miles !

I only ended up with 62 miles today, but that’s all I needed to get me within 83 miles of the border. Threat of rain in the distance made the choice of where to stop was made easy.

Now some suggestions to you if you ever run into a biker @ a restaurant or gas station etc. Did you ever watch an old western movie where the cowboy walks into the saloon @ the end of the day, dirty, sweaty, & tired looking? Well that’s the biker @ the end of the day. You should just treat him like a stray dog. Be nice to him but don’t try & hug him. He may just bite. No matter what your opinion of his endeavor , don’t Say “wow that’s nuts” or “why?” – if he has to explain it to you……you still wouldn’t understand! And whatever you do don’t say “wow, you got a long way to go huh”! Yes I do & I don’t need you to remind me.

Hope for good weather tomo & after getting out of Ks I can almost see home.

 

If this trip is to be a religious experience  as some said it was, today I went to the church & stood @ the altar.

Last night when I called home my wife must have sensed the desperation in my voice. She told me today she said a prayer last night for me & one for Justin.She just asked for good weather for me, not to cure my cold. She’s not greedy!  It would be impossible for me to put into words what today was. I told my wife last night that I just wanted THAT day, that day  you just wanted to enjoy a bike ride. Well today was that day. I prepared for the day like every other day, & carefully opened the hotel door waiting for the wind driven cold rain to greet me. But to my surprise I opened the door to sunshine & no wind? Odd. I mounted up & headed out @ sunrise to the local McDonald’s to breakfast & coffee. Leaving the McDonald’s parking lot I stopped @ the end of the drive & almost ran into a biker coming down the street. He pulled up to me & said “what the hell are you doing?” Mitch was a rider that left OceanSide riding somewhat the same route as I . He was from NJ 58 years old & animated in only the way someone from from NJ can be. In our 5 minute conversation he told of how this was his 5th trans America trip! We traded stories of the brutal winds, cold & rain etc. He was being followed by a support crew that he said “was the only thing that kept him alive through these conditions”. He informed me that he rode alone (fine with me) & we wished each other luck, took some pics, shook hands & left. Interesting guy.
 

I headed out of town, my goal was to try & make it to Salina Ks 80 miles up the road. Like I said this was a religious day. I rode 43 miles without stopping. Sunshine, no wind 70 degrees. The day my wife had prayed for. I stopped in Ellsworth Ks @ a small diner for a break & sat with an 87 year old local that shared stories of Ks life. Great guy, great stories. Back on the bike I headed east on the senic Rt K -140 up & down the rolling hills. I guess I was scared to stop riding in fear that stopping would piss off the biking gods & they would crank up the wind machine again! So I rode without stopping all the way to Salina 83 miles in. I stopped @ a DQ restaurant for a snack & met with another local Bill Henry. Bill was a retired farmer that has a son who owns a truck repair shop down the road. His son had also ridden his bicycle from Anchorage Alaska to Jacksonville Fl. What are the chances? The only way to describe riding today was like being a runner training with leg weights on for the past 4 days & now running without them. Effortless ! I rode with my head up taking pics, & taking in the beauty of the day & the country around me. Going into this ride this was the day I had imagined. Perfect. Not wanting to waste any of this perfect day I rode on all the way to Abilene, 107 miles in. The way that you can tell that you are having the perfect biking day is when you don’t want it end. I did not want this day to end. Abilene Ks is the home of Dwight D Eisenhower. An old cattle town on the historic Chisholm Trail. Reminds me of one of our old lumbering towns back home. Nice place. Reaching g town I rode around the downtown taking in the sites. Like I said, I didn’t want the ride to end.

Thank you to my wife for the prayer. I only hope Justin had as good of a day. I am now only 139 miles from Mo. & will be there by Friday. Ahead of schedule now. My cold has seemed to subsided & I can’t wait to get on the road tomo. What a difference one day can make!

I also must apologize to Ks for picking on it yesterday . This is a beautiful state with some of the nicest people you would ever meet. I think I may miss Kansas after all ! Thank You biking gods.