2023 GART

by the numbers: 3,300 miles approx  (actual mileage won't be known till i remap the trip.  i don't use a tracker) 55 days total.  i left mora campground on jun 26th, arrived in pittsburgh aug 19th 46 days actually spent riding 9 rest days total:  2 in seattle, 1 in missoula, 1 in casper, 1 in lincoln and 4 in columbus 3 rest days during the 46 days getting from seattle to columbus 70 mpd avg. per riding day:  60 mpd avg. including rest days  2 century days, shoshoni to casper and rochester to prarie creek, and several 90+ days 12 nights @ warmshower hosts (missoula2, butte, casper2, chadron, lincoln2, omaha, brayton, davenport, rochester) 2 nights @ friends (bruce in bozeman, mollie in cedar rapids) 5 nights camping, gorilla 21 nights camping, designated 2 nights in hotels, 4 nights in hostel (seattle and dubois) 5 nights with ana 2 times caught under sprinkler systems in city parks 20 breweries visited unknown number (but alot) of coffee/tea sh...

2:30 in the morning and i was awoken by bright car lights shining in the tent.  i waited for them to turn and face away, but instead the next thing i knew there was a flashlight on me and a police officer asking how i was doing.  "just fine, thank you, i'm dry and out of the storm."  he told me the 'park' was closed.  hard to deny since i was sleeping right under a sign that indicated it closed at 11pm.  he asked if i was homeless and called in my driver's license.  i told him i was cycling cross country, been on the road for over 50 days, and he figured i was probably pretty tired by now.  after my id check came back clean, he told me he didn't have a problem with me sleeping there, wished me good luck and left. 10 minutes later, as i was drifting off, i suddenly heard an animal snort.  twice.  i turned on my flashlight, waved it around, but didn't see anything.  i slid back down into my sleeping bag, but it took a while to fall back as...

i spent four days in columbus with ana not really doing much except recharging.  eating, drinkin, resting. and it was quality time with my daughter.  it's rare, in fact i don't think it's ever happened, that we are alone together for an extended time, with no agenda, no where to be, nothing to get done.  once i got over my initial adjustment, it was very nice to be with her, in her environment, seeing the woman she's grown into.  ana is the one daughter that doesn't cook much, so we went out to dinner each night and had lots of time to talk. but come thursday, it was time to hit the road again and complete the trip.  a little over 200 miles, three days of riding, to pittsburgh.  rain forecast for thursday evening only, otherwise all sunny, but no where specific to camp along the way, no warmshoowers, no campgrounds.  i would have to trust to finding spots along the trails. and most of it would be trails except for a couple of 10-20 mile breaks....

sometimes it's amazing what one finds in america:  st. sava, a serbian orthodox church in merrillville, il.  just makes one wonder. heading southeast, diagonally across indiana on flat country roads. the city of new orleans "pulls out of kankakee, past houses, fields and farms". the kankakee river travels a fairly straight path, i think someone must have done that to it. this county, as are others in the midwest, is fighting over fields being converted into solar panel farms. energy, a different kind of crop but just as vital as food. the fingerhut bakery & cafe in north judson.  the heart of the heart of the heartland, middle america. it was a long ride, but the forecast was for rain that night so i pushed on to rochester where i had a warmshower.  my host owned a house i could stay at though it appeared he didn't.  turned out he was a fireman and was working the nig...

as usual, up early, packed and on the road.  decent enough sleep and no interference from the authorities.  a couple of quick miles and i was back on the trail.  nearest breakfast was in richmond, in. about 35 mi down the road on the ohio border, but there was a gas station in only about 8 mi. where i could get something to tie me over.  losantville.  small rural community where everything is a dollar:  with a dollar general, dollar tree, and family dollar huddled together.  and a run down, 2-pump gas station at the crossroads of two 2-lane highways, u.s. 35 & u.s. 36.  the store was a monument to packaged, processed 'food'.  and i went down that hole with a cup of hot chocolat (no tea!) and a fried apple pie.  that gas station provided me with one of the truly surreal american experiences, maybe it was all the sugar i was ingesting.  i sat in a chair outside in front of the gas pumps, at a crossroads in rural indian...