10/30/2022 0 Comments Flashbacks: Missouri & IllinoisMissouri: Setting the scene: Eryn and her bike fully loaded, Louisa strapped next to the bear canister. Riding on a two lane divided highway heading west on Highway 36 between Pershing State Park and Cameron, Missouri. Large rolling hills and zoom zoom traffic (Read Part 2: Missouri post for more details). I approach an intersection and hear yelling along the lines of “hey!!!!!” and I see two bicycle tourists frantically waving their arms to get my attention. They were probably like me. On the road for a long time. Lonely. Wanting another person-biking-long-distance encounter. However, they were on the other side of the zoom zoom divided highway and I was zoom zooming down hill. The most they got from me was a wave, but it would have been nice to chat. An hour or so later, another encounter. As we all know, I had more than my fair share of men thinking they’re nice yet coming across creepy to this young solo female cyclist. Up the road, I see a subaru parked on the side of the road and a guy taking pictures of a farm field. There was nothing inherently interesting about this particular farm field. When I get closer, he steps into the pavement in front of me and says that he’s a photographer and asks to take my picture. So many thoughts. A total rando - a man - with a fancy camera - asking to take my photo - I give permission, but I don’t take off my helmet nor sunglasses nor stop my music (a totally cursed playlist from Bronte and the song playing was about geometry). I don’t even smile. I was sort of going for the ‘people in National Geographic’ vibe. Looking back, was I in any inherent danger? No. But, I wasn’t going to even get close to that line. He gives me his email so after my ride I can request the photos he took of me: and here they are. I am astounded. They turned out so much better than I was ever thinking they would. Photos I would seriously frame and keep in my house. Photos courtesy of Douglas Adesko Photography, LLC Illinois:
In my time this past weekend reminiscing on my bike tour, I remembered a video Laurie and Dave took of me before stopping for a break to chat and eat chocolate pie (Read Land of Lincoln post for more details). This video brings me joy - because Laurie and Dave are also bicycle tourists and know what it feels like to be on the road - and they know the type of media (photos/videos) bicycle tourists want. Additionally - I cannot view myself in third person, so it is cool to see what I look on my bike from the perspective of other people. I do not have the paid version of weebly - hence the weebly.com part in the URL - and thus cannot add video to posts like I do with photos. Here is a link to the video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LnB1AizYMT7uv7bmqoEVmqsgtpHEezIA/view?usp=sharing
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7/2/2022 0 Comments Ranking State ParksAs I was reviewing my trip from Virginia to Nebraska, I surprised myself with this list of State Parks I stayed at. I have high state park standards ;) so this was an easy list to make. Best!!
7/1/2022 0 Comments The states ~Ranking the states on my bike tour: Best 1. Missouri 1.5. Colorado 2. Iowa 3. Tennessee 4. Illinois 5. Kentucky 6. Nebraska 7. Virginia Worst Missouri: St. Louis was very bike-able. The fact that I was on a bike path ¾ the way across MO is amazing. Astounding. Shows us that bike-infrastructure is indeed possible. The people I encountered in MO were all nice : ) the biking culture of the state was refreshing. Loved the historic aspect of following the Lewis and Clark route west. Colorado: this state shouldn’t even be on this list because I didn’t technically ride in Colorado, but I still traveled there on my route, so it gets 1.5. I just really really like Colorado. From the dry heat (no humidity!) to the outdoor culture to the hiking. Aunt Becky and I went hiking at Berthoud Pass – my new favorite hiking spot. There’s something calming about the state of Colorado. Iowa: 20 miles in Iowa and it was good. Not much happened – no news is good news. Gave me hope for the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa in the future. Nice views from the Loess Hills. Tennessee: Less than 10 miles in Tennessee, and didn’t talk to anyone when I biked through this little snippet = time of my life. I adored TN when I drove through the state in FEMA Corps, so my little bit of biking through was great. Illinois: It was flat. Large sky that felt like I was in a snow-less snow globe. In the middle of the list because of the great interaction with the tandem bicycle tourists; however lower because of the sketchy-ass American Legion campground I stayed at. Kentucky: Road signs confusing. Mile markers made no sense. Naming of rivers and lakes also had no rhyme or reason. People were nicer than in Virginia but still not the nicest. Felt like I was going to get hatecrimed. (Two pros to the state: seeing Hailley and visiting Mammoth Caves National Park) Not a fan of their state parks. Nebraska: badbraska. Very hot. At the state line when I took the photo with “Welcome to Nebraska” I picked off 2 ticks. Badbraska bacteria-ey dirt had me get three antibiotics. Too much corn. Virginia: rude for the first day of my trip to be 92F. The people of VA overall … were not nice. Yes, here and there people were kind, but overall not nice interactions. Not a fan of their state parks at alllllllllll. The roads all had like 3 names each and sometimes a paper map, street sign, and google maps didn’t say the same name. 6/30/2022 0 Comments Fast moving ColoradoThe day of my gravel road crash, I spent a lot of time on the phone with various friends and family trying to decide my next move and route west. After much mental anguish and deliberation, I came to the conclusion that I will pack up my bike and drive to Denver, Colorado, where my aunt and uncle live. This was not an easy decision to make, but it was the necessary one. 95-115F temps in Nebraska. Soaring temperatures in the west – the state of Colorado was telling people not even to go outside to mow their lawns. Residual wildfire smoke from Arizona. That’s definitely too hot for me to safely bike. I made a second decision to make the decision on the rest of my trip west when I was in Denver. People who bike around the world skip whole countries out of safety, and others who have attempted a similar route to mine have been stopped before due to high heat / wildfires. Kayla so kindly drove me to the Lincoln Airport, where I picked up a rental car. The stars aligned with pride month and the rental agency gave me a sweet Subaru Outback. I wasn’t worried about the price of the rental, because it was equivalent to the amount of money I would have spent on camping/motel/food/etc in 2 weeks biking across Nebraska – instead spending it in two days. 2 cups of coffee and 7 ½ hours later, driving across the whole state of Nebraska and half of Colorado, I was in Denver. It was an easy drive; I like driving and vibing to music. Absolutely screamed along to every one of Xana’s songs on her new album “Tantrums.” Very therapeutic. I didn’t admit it to myself when I was driving, but I subconsciously made my decision on the rest of my ride to Oregon. And even now, typing this in Wisconsin, it hurts to say: I stopped my ride. At this time, I’m not riding to Oregon. It’s too hot out west. Biking 1700 miles alone takes a mental toll. I’m lonely. I’m ready to go home. I am at ease with my decision since it is more from extraneous forces rather than my legs giving out. The friends and family I break the news to are relieved and supportive of my decision. My aunt and uncle are elated that I’m spending a week with them in Denver. While in Denver, we get ice cream, go hiking, take a visit to urgent care, go hiking again, visit urgent care once again, walk around the Denver Zoo, and root for the Avs in the Stanley Cup final vs Tampa Bay. It turns out that the badbraska (thanks, Bronte for coining that term and now I’m stealing it) dirt has extra special bacteria and my road rash required three (3) types of antibiotics because it wasn’t healing. To conclude my week in Denver, I buy an Amtrak train ticket to Chicago to get back to the Midwest. My Mom would drive to a connecting train station just south of the Illinois/Wisconsin border to pick me up. On paper, my ride on the California Zephyr going east was 19 hours. The train was 3 hours late arriving in Denver, and 2.5 hours late arriving in Chicago – resulting in Eryn booking it through the Chicago Union Station to get a ticket for the Metra and narrowly missing the train to my pick-up location. As my journey across the United States comes to an end, I want to say thank you for everyone who has followed along, given me words of encouragement, and helped me while on the road. I couldn’t have done it without you. Don’t worry – I’m not finished posting about my trip yet. There’ll be gear reviews, best state parks list, and ranking of states, to name a few 😊 6/27/2022 0 Comments High hopes for NebraskaI definitely had high hopes for Nebraska. My ride from Waubonsie State Park in Iowa to my cousin’s house in Lincoln Nebraska was largely uneventful. I crossed the Missouri River for the final time on bicycle. I took a picture with the “Welcome to Nebraska” sign. Biked on another busy road. Temperature wasn’t too hot. Legs felt good. Went on a detour with no detour signs. Made it to Kayla’s before she had to go to work. It was awesome seeing Kayla again. I planned to take a rest day in Lincoln to get my bike into a bike shop, hang out with my cousin, rest my legs, and plan the rest of my route. I took my bike, dear Rory, into Cycle Works in Lincoln for a much-needed new tire and derailleur adjustment. My standards for bike shops are pretty low – and this bike shop was very cool. The guys in the shop were super helpful. Immediately they gave me multiple rear gravel tires to choose from – and before I knew it my bike was getting work done. I took this time to walk around the bike shop and look at all the expensive bikes and gear. There was a pink women’s salsa gravel bike that sparked my interest. The price tag made me cough. It was $5,500. It was a beautiful bike, but I’m not sure if I could ever justify spending that much on a bike. As I buy new/used outdoor gear as needed, I’m trying to get my items as colorful and obnoxious as possible. There were bright colored flat pedals. They were awesome. When Kayla got home, we visited the bison bison at Pioneers Park. We said hi to the bison and told them what we’ve been up to. Nebraska heat is no joke. On my rest day, I was getting messages from concerned friends and family regarding the Nebraska and general out west heat of the Colorado/Wyoming/Idaho area. I took their concerns into consideration, determined to make my way to Oregon. As I planned my route across Nebraska, I stuck to the side roads next to I-80 where there were campgrounds, gas stations, and people. I planned shorter days, because even though it’s flat, it’s super hot. - - - spoiler alert: tw: blood & road rash - - - (press the read more button below) |
Author: Eryn corinthCyclist. Feminist. Outdoor enthusiast. Tree hugger. Archives
October 2022
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