Annie's Big Bike Adventure

As a footnote, the Final Four (aka scenic group or DFLs) often had good intentions to get ‘in early’ but always found great excuses for exploring America, as summed up here.

• A few bloody hills (Mount Hood, Ochocho Pass, Keyes Pass, Dixie Mountain, Tifton Mountain and Snall summit, Summit Pass, Togwotee Pass,Black Hills, Adirondacks, Apalachian Mountains, Green Mountains and Hogback Mountain) for a total of 110,000 feet of climbing.
• Spectacular scenery, in particular Mount Hood, Grand Tetons, Continental Divide, Cave of the Winds National Park, Missippippi River, Niagara Falls, Erie Canal (bike paths), NY churches (and many of them), VT covered bridges, Bennington monument and Hogback Mountain.
• Pursuit of business opportunities (Dayville, OR General Store ($325k with store, house and pool), desolate West Point Service (to entertain Mormon’s, Potato farmers and the occasional cyclist), Hell’s Half Acre (for potential Bison Burgers), DQ (to repair in Ripon), Michigan Land Auction (near power station!) and potential employees for a day at Niagara Falls TGI Friday’s (short lived!).
• Waterfights....
• Meeting fascinating people including Juniper Guy (http://www.juniperguy.com/), Marvin (of the Rasberries), DQ Curt, the Mandelas Lady and Grandpa. Most inspiring was self-supported Larry – we met him twice. Chatting with Amish on a few occassions who are sprinkled across the Northern States.
• A few wrong turns (most notable a painful but memorable 11 mile detour) which also included some road rash!
• All things related to DQ (off-roading DQs, helping hand in DQ and double dipping (two in one day DQs) .
• State signs! (The talents of setting a camera timer and balancing it for a group photo).
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• Any technology to be tinkered with – including cameras falling into toilets, transforming to self-propelled rockets or performing 'houdini' acts. Capturing ‘must have photos’ of tunnels and the Michigan pothole. Perhaps one too many photos (total taken 3,646!).
• Animals of all shapes and sizes (elk, deer, moose, bear, bison, prairie dogs, racccoons, rabbits, frogs, fish (hatcheries), snakes, pigs, turkeys, cows and horses. Dead or alive. With added distractions of practicing the fine art of ‘cow whispering’. Only a few dogs occassionally quickened our pace.

Fruits (and vegetables) of labor (raspberries, blueberries, wildberries, pears, apples, cabbage, asparagus, alfalfa, ginseng, cucumbers, peas, beans, carrots, potato and just about any other fruit or vegetable). And of course, ‘corn stalking’ or was it stalking corn?

• Trains, planes and automobiles (and a boat as well) – All shapes and sizes – stopping or distracting us including many antique cars (including Corvairs), crop dusters and numerous freight trains. Timing was not always on our side as we even had to wait for a drawbridge (for a boat to pass)!
• Shopping at the Dollar Store for chalk, squirt guns and American flags - all necessities of the serious cyclist.
• Looking for luck (aka Pick a penny up and all the day you have good luck!).... Think we had a total of $3.13 collected of various coins and bills. At one point, I found 30 cents within 2 miles and had thoughts of funding my trip.
• Tacky tourists traps – The Dells, Outlet malls and Wall Drug (along with the 1500 miles of advertising sign to go with it). Getting my head around good ole American laziness (drive thru cigarette store, stand alone Espresso shops, all you can eat buffets).
• 'where is that bike helmut' revelations - 5 miles too late!
• Of course, 'valet'ing the bikes
• Napping in more than a few places including Magnolia, Port Byron, the golf course, under any shady tree and most notably picking up positive vibes on the Optimist Bench!
• Meddling with moody Mother Nature (and some nasty thunder and lightening storms – especially in Waseca, WI).
• Anything Red, White and Blue in the spirt of Patriotism and Lois’ scrapbook! It’s alive and well across the States (mailboxes, gas tanks, wood carvings, call boxes, you-name-it, its red, white and blue!)!
• Great bike paths (on or off the official route maps) – Casper, Elroy/Sparta (and visiting Bikin Ben of Sparta), Houston (and the one we could not find), Worthington with ‘wrong-way-Abe’, Windmill to Brantford (off-map), Erie Canal (off-map and not easy!) and Mohawk-Hudson trail.
• Hay Jumping (Evil Knevil style).
• Flower picking (and naming) - Stopping to view and smell the wildflowers as well as amazing manicured gardens.
• Lost in construction!
• Debating politics in Ripon without taking party lines and still remaining friends.
• Water towers (my all time favourite: The Big Smiley!)
• HOT FOOT - oooooooouuch!!! Must stop now!
• Train Spotting - a UK sport that I imported as an excuse to stop!
• Trip entertainers - Requested as the ‘cell phone’ singing Happy Birthday Quartet (yes me!) at SAG stops. Along with team sing alongs of ‘Rooster’, ‘This land is your land, this land is my land’.... etc, etc.
• Entertaining fellow riders with practical jokes and then only to realise there was no one left to fool and nothing left to do but ride on!

Sibling sitings (Lois sitings in Wisconsin and Ogrady sitings in VT, NH and MI)

Sleepless nights (with no energy to ride)– Blog, blog, blog.... A great trip diary....