Ike's Farm

I had a very pleasant ride to Gettysburg today. After meeting my host at his farm, I pedaled up to the battleground, but rather than dwell on the Civil War, I got a few history lessons about the 34th president, Dwight Eisenhower. Until today, I did not know the only home he ever owned was here in Gettysburg. I took at Park Service bus to visit his farm and later spent some time in downtown Gettysburg. I got to visit a game shop called NerdHerd. It just opened in May and is completely run by a group of high school students. I spent some time talking to them and wished them well. My lack of bags, having left them at the farm, prevented me from bringing home any souvenirs from their shop.

This evening, I reviewed my route for tomorrow with my host, and after some local insights, all my turns will fit in one index card. It's just under 60 miles, and with an early start, I should get in before the day gets too hot. This time tomorrow, I'll be sleeping at my brother's house...

Maryland by ferry

I'm in Jefferson, MD. I stopped for a quick coffee so as not to beat my host to his house. I'm heading there shortly, it's only about half mile away. Tomorrow is the ride to Gettysburg, followed by a Wednesday ride to E-town to see my brother, sister-in-law, and their kids.

Got to ride Historic White's Ferry and to C&O Canal today. It's been a good day, but I'm looking forward to dinner and some rest. More tomorrow.

Sleeping in a bed again!

Short note from Bristow, VA...after three nights camping, under stormy skies and clear ones, I have a bed tonight. I've spent the afternoon and evening with a great warmshowers host here in Bristow. Tomorrow I'm riding to Frederick, MD, and will be on a ferry to cross the Potomac. I'll also ride a bit of the old C&O Coal Towpath tomorrow, so I'm not done with gravel just yet. Just a few sub-60 mile days left before I reach E-town to visit my oldest nephew and husband family. Stage 1 of this tour is winding down. It'll be great to spend some time with family before starting stage 2 to Connecticut.

250 Harleys

Short ride to Mt Airy today. When I arrived, I found 250 Harley riders intown on a run from Gettysburg to Oak Ridge, TN. That made downtown pretty busy, so no workshop sandwich at Snappy Lunch. Instead it was lunch at Barney's Cafe followed by dessert at Miss Angela's Pies. I had a good time chatting with both locals and Harley riders, and my picture should soon be on Floyd's Barber Shop webpage. There were a couple downpours while I was downtown, but I wasn't riding, do they didn't bother me. Just good excuses to stay inside.

I think I found the perfect store for my nephew. It was a toy store with only cars and trucks. Lots of John Deere tractors of all sizes. Really friendly staff there too. I thought about picking something out, but then remembered I would need to carry it about 450 more miles, that ended that idea.

Tomorrow is a 70 mile day to Cascade, VA where I have another warmshower host. After that, it'll be time to camp through Virginia.

Bike Museums and BBQ

With just 56 miles planned for today, I got off to a leisurely start, after coffee with my warmshower host. He suggested that I stop at First Flight Bikes in Statesville, NC and am I ever glad he did. First Flight is a bike shop with a museum in it. In the main retail space, there are 100 vintage bikes, from pennyfarthings to 3- and 5-speed Schwinns with banana seats to time-trial bikes. Upstairs is the heart of the Museum of Mountain Bike Art and Technology. Modern and vintage bikes, parts, posters, jerseys, bike fitting machines, trophies, you name it. A great way to send an hour 30 miles into my day.

At the end of my visit, the guys running the shop, Jeff and Wes, suggested I get a bite to eat at Greg's BBQ. That wad the second piece of good advise I received today. At Greg's, I had second breakfast, biscuits and gravy, with coffee and lots of ice water. The ladies working at the restaurant were interested in hearing about my trip, so I shared my story. When they said they would love to try some bike travel, I suggested they talk to Jeff and Wes, and mentions that they were the ones who pointed me to Greg's. When it was time for me to hit through road, the ladies refused to let me pay. When they asked if they could tie a picture of me, I quickly said yes and suggested we do it with the bike. I think all of us came away happy from that stop.

From Greg's, it was a 25 mile ride through beautiful country roads to reach Yadkinville, NC. Without a warmshowers host nearby, I decided to treat my self to a room with a pool. After cleaning up, I took a nice, relaxing swim before dinner. Tomorrow's ride is even shorter, just 34 miles to Mt. Airy, aka Mayberry. The ladies at Greg's recommended Aunt Ben's for dinner. Think I'll give it a try.

This can't be June!

Two days in a row with temps in the low 80s and no humidity to speak of...in the Carolinas? Who could have predicted it?

Well, after doing a bit of bike maintenance before bed, and a good night's sleep, great coffee and breakfast greeted me, along with temps in the 60's. After finishing my packing, and saying goodbye to some amazing hosts (who have biked toured in almost every state), I set off on today's adventure. I rode through Cowpens, SC (site of a Revolutionary War battle) before passing along the backside of an outlet mall on my way to the Peachoid. I'll let the interested reader look it up. Then miles and miles of backwoods through SC and NC on my way to Newton, a picturesque little town where I'm again staying with warmshowers hosts.

After 4 straight 70+ mile days, I'm going to take it a little easier for the next two. I'm 80ish miles from Mayberry, and I'm breaking that into 2 days of riding so I can whistle my way to Floyd's Barbershop and the rest of Mt. Airy.

The cold front giveth and the cold front taketh away

A cold front passed through South Carolina last night, which meant today's ride started with a temperature of just 79 degrees and very low (for June in South Carolina) humidity. Both great improvements over yesterday. To make up for that, Mother Nature threw in some stiff headwinds, Uncle Geography threw in a few long hills, and I threw in a few missed turns.

Coming out of Anderson this morning, I missed a turn at Vandiver Road, and only noticed when I-85 showed up. Luckily, since there was an interstate, there was a MacDonald's with free WiFi. Turns out I missed the turn 4 miles earlier, but with just 4 turns, I was able to get back on my original route.

Later in the day, I chose poorly at a couple of unexpected forks in the road. I was way out in the country, on county roads, but the people in South Carolina are very nice, and gave me directions when I needed them that never involved backtracking. Despite my goofs, I only managed to add about 4 miles to Google's route.

I've now safely arrived in Spartanburg, where I'm staying with lovely WarmShowers hosts. I've cleaned up, put on non-cycling clothes, and accepted the offer of a beer. Tomorrow's goal is Newton, NC. It should be about 75 miles, similar to today, but with a little less climbing.