Day 31: Michael "Michael Taylor" Taylor

Since a number of people have been requesting I post something, and I have some free time today, I'm going to give a short introduction about myself and talk a bit about how the trip has been.

Dank Haiku:

Hello, my names Mike

I really like to ride bikes

Got legs like bacon

For those people who don't really know who I am, my name is Michael Taylor. I've known Chris, Dylan, and Kody for quite a long time, but, being 3 years younger than them (1994 baby booboo), we never really talked until I moved into the same neighborhood as Chris this past year. We started hanging out and biking around a lot, which is where I was introduced to the bike tour. Having always been the adventurous type, I was all for it, and I quietly joined in on the tour.

I had no idea what to expect on the bike tour, but I can say that I am pleasantly surprised at how smoothly it has gone. Maybe it's just because we're cyclists, but I've seen so much generosity from people these past weeks. From simple waves of passing cars to people offering to pay for our dinner, each one brightens my day. We've met so many kinds of people but they all seem to share the same curiosity and desire to help people out. It's great! 

The amount of times I've heard a variation of "I wish I'd done this when I was your age" makes me both thankful and sad. I wish everyone had the chance to do a trip like this, and if you have the ability to I'd highly recommend it. It doesn't even have to be a bike tour, just some sort of travel that pushes you out of your comfort zone. The more people you meet and the more things you experience, the more you learn about how great the world actually is. Take time and travel.

Day 30: More Zarks

Yo yo mas. Spent last night in a city park in Houston where a bunch of local high school kids were bumming around and drinking. Dylan tossed the frisbee with them and learned that the area code we are in is the meth capital of the country! So that's pretty cool or something. 

Tis be our third day in the Ozarks- the place where we've been told by multiple people is the hardest part of the TransAm. We had a couple steep and long climbs today but overall the terrain was either flat or with a super steady incline. We still think hands down that the Appalachians will always be the most brutal. 

Pretty solid ride today. Except for Dylan and Chris jumping in a creek, not too much to see so we rode the 65 miles and got to a park in Marshfield by 3:30.

Since the terrain was pretty much the same all the way, I spent most of the ride talking to myself as if I were talking with Dylan about the military/role of government. Thought a lot about the relationship between a nation and it's government and what "nationalism" and "patriotism" mean to me. In a lot of ways, these first 30 days of tour have made me love this country more. But at the same time I question how much of my positive experience is due to the fact that I am an able bodied white male. 

Trying to savor the last 2 to 3 days of Missouri before we hit Kansas. Joon, the awesome solo biker dude thst rode with us for four days, said that he averaged only 6mph at 40 miles a day because of the brutal headwinds over there. Weeee!!

Kody

More fields

Love these Amish friendly signs

Day 29: Entering the Ozarks

Biked 60 miles yesterday to Ellington, MO. Went 70 today to Houston. Currently staying in a public park. We spent a couple hours yesterday at Johnson's Shut-ins State Park where we got to swim in the river which had a number of waterfalls to slide down. It was rad.

Missouri is absolutely beautiful; the rolling hills feature interesting rock formations, colorful fields embellished with several different wild flowers. The Ozark mountains are certainly a challenge but nothing compared to the Appalachians. The ride would be perfect if it weren't for Missouri traffic. Diesel pickup trucks will slow down just to dump black smoke on you as they pass, cars and RVs and trucks pulling horse trailers will buzz by you in the same lane, and some just hammer away at their horns as they speed by. It sucks. Missouri is my least favorite state by far because of its drivers. However, the scenery has been my definite favorite and I wish Missourians would spend more time appreciating the view more than they appreciate harassing the !@#$%^&* out of us. Whatever. It's all part of the journey and I still had a lot of fun the past couple days. 

- Chris

Four States In

After almost four weeks of being on tour, I finally have access to a computer and spare time to write.

Let's start with where I'm at now:

Currently staying in the historic county jail of Farmington, Missouri. It has been renovated into a very nice biker's hostel, complete with air conditioning, showers, beds, and wifi. What distinguishes this place from the others is its spacious layout, modern decor, and well kept bathrooms; offering its guests a wonderful homey feeling. Farmington is a nice little town that seems to be thriving--from what, I do not know. I got to visit the first music store I've seen, a locally-owned shop called Music Makers. The town also has a surprising number of other retail and food options as well, which is a rare convenience as of late. I'm glad that we decided to hide from the rain today and stay here. 

So what's been going on since the last time I posted (in the beginning of Kentucky)? Well...

The Trans America Trail--also known as U.S. Bicycle Route 76--creeps along each state via non-interstate roads, often taking us through the more rural parts of each state. Every so often, we go through a "larger" town (population ~10-20,000), giving us the chance to visit a bike shop or order chain pizza for once.

The Appalachian mountains in Virginia and Kentucky were intense. Winding through narrow, shoulder-less roads as huge Mack trucks loaded with coal or lumber careen past us. Climbing up thousands of feet in elevation for hours in the blistering heat, only to descend the same distance in a matter of minutes going in excess of 40 miles per hour. Getting chased by dogs uphill. Harassing dogs on the flats and downhill. Jumping into rivers and streams to cool off. Having lunch breaks on the edge of cliffs and scenic valley overlooks. It was all an absolutely thrilling experience, albeit challenging.

As far as lodging goes we've had access to a variety of campsites, community centers, churches, hostels, and homes. I remember thinking in Kentucky about how nice some of the churches were in contrast to the poor communities that surrounded them. The middle of Kentucky was clearly more affluent by the freshly paved roads, modern houses, and sophisticated farm infrastructure. Plus these places were closer to the bigger cities like Lexington and Louisville. My most significant memory from western Kentucky was that every gas station we stopped at seemed to have a country store and diner attached to it. And in each one, you would see the old, retired regulars having their coffee and eggs with a lit cigarette holstered in an ashtray next to their toast. It was like going back in time.

Illinois went by pretty quickly. All I can really remember is just flat land and farms. As we neared Missouri's border we found a flooded Mississippi River, the surge pushing out far onto the banks. We crossed into our next state from Chester, IL (Home of Popeye) to here in Farmington. The topography is much more hilly that Illinois and will continue to get more mountainous as we come into the Ozarks. Afterwards, in Kansas, it will be flat and hot until Colorado.

I've been trying to figure out how to elaborate my personal feelings about the tour for the past hour, and I really can't put it into words. But I can say that there is no substitute for this tour. It's real life. My bike, my belongings, and I exist in the spaces that are immediately available to me. I take the good with the bad, and there is no matter more important than the present. It seems surreal in comparison to my everyday life before the tour; but it's actually more normal now than ever and I love it.

There. I hope to post again before we get to Colorado :p

- Chris

Week 3- Danville, KY to Carbondale, IL

It's day 24 and I haven't any "grand" revelations yet and I don't have my 6 pack yet. There have been some good days on the bike and some not so good. A few nights ago we accidentally ended up camping in the remnants of Tropical Depression Bill at a state park in Western Kentucky. Getting very little sleep due to my tent being pummeled all night by rain and wind, we woke up in the not so best of moods and ended up being the first day of the tour where I really didn't want to ride my bike. It's been a couple of days since then and for some reason I still feel a little on edge and mentally drained from the experience. Tonite the rest of the crew went out to eat and I knew that I needed to stay in and have some alone time off the bike. I feel like I need to do a better job of journaling and of having more me time off the bike. I absolutely love the dudes I'm traveling with and love the hang every day when we're done riding but I need to find that balance so I can feel my best. All a part of the tour!

Other than the weird mental stuff that I've been dealing with out here on the road for the past few days, we've had some truly magical trail moments recently. Last Thursday, we hit up the makers mark distillery and as we left, the skies got dark, the air got suddenly 20 degrees cooler, and the sky pummeled us with rain. An angel in his pickup truck stopped Dylan and invited us to wait out the storm in his garage. Dude ended up giving us 3 bottles of liquor and his dad even drove us 15 miles to where we were planning on camping AND THEN bought us all dinner. If there's anything I've learned on tour so far it's the refreshing reminder of the good in most people. Last night even we met Alfred who let us crash in his cabin in Southern Illinois, bought us Taco Bell, and spoke with us for an hour about life and the pursuit of happiness and all that. Didn't agree with all of it but it was nice to meet a dude with so much passion. Fave nugget- "Of course you're gonna wake up tired. You're biking across the country! Enjoy the tiredness!" For some reason I really needed to hear that after a week or so of not feeling my best. 

Anyways, we made it to our third state- Illinois! gonna be in Missouri by Thursday which will officially be the most western state that I've been to. Everything past here is brand new for me! So stoked. 

Thanks for reading this far if you are. I don't really know who I'm writing for yet but yeah! Bernie Sanders 2016

Love

Kody

KGlaze Week 2: We in Kentucky!

Ayyyy. Right now we are near Danville, Kentucky at the beautiful home of one of Michael's many family members. We're gonna be taking our second rest day tomorrow laying out at his family's lake house. Still blown away by the hospitality and kindness we've seen on this tour. Big shoutouts to Dr. Lee, Uncle Dave, and Miss Maya for hosting us this past week and allowing us to be in your homes, share stories of the trail, and to gorge on your food.

It's day 17 and we've biked over 800 miles. I have a righteous bike tan but no six pack yet. Since my last post, we took our first rest day in Damascus, Virginia and met up with some super great friends of ours that were awesome enough to come visit and frolic in a river with us. We've left Virginia, the pillaging climbs of the Appalachians, and the surreal barrenness of eastern Kentucky. Eastern Kentucky was really something. We traveled through some of the poorest counties in the country and it was really something to see how much of the land seemed completely forgotten; I've never seen so much trash on the sides of roads, in people's front yards, and I've never seen so much abandoned, run-down property in general.

I tried to read the Bible for the first time! But failed. Too tired each time I tried to read. Maybe one day.

It's really cool to see the scenery start to gradually change as the big climbs of the Appalachians have been replaced by rolling hills and farmland. It's dope to see so many cows! (SkiM) Really getting excited to start seeing some brand new territory for me once we get further into Kentucky. So far, as beautiful as it has been, I've been pretty familiar with the views since I spent so much time in North Carolina/Virginia area growing up. Can't wait to see all the new! So glad our route takes us through the middle part of the country and not through any big towns.

Random thoughts and things:
-No dog bites yet but have been chased by about a dozen loose dogs in Kentucky.
-Didn't have service for four days and it was awesome. Once I got it back, I really didn't know what to     do with it.
-Berea, Kentucky is a dope town.
-Watched the news this morning for the first time of the tour. Don't miss it.
-Thought I would have more inspiration at this point for songwriting-y/writing things. Haven't really had any desire to listen to music at all really except to distract me from a couple of hills.
-Days are really starting to blur together. Don't really know what day of the week it is anymore!
-Starting to miss some people in my life/wishing I could share this experience with more of the people I love. It's funny who stays on your mind once you're away from "real life."

LOVING IT! Wish I could post pictures but my phone is currently in a bowl of rice! Thanks to the monsoon we biked through today.

Love
Kody

Virginia is for lovers, Kentucky is for...?

Well we have crossed over our first state lines; bye-bye Virginia, and hello Kentucky. It's hard to believe we've already been on the road for 14 days. Thinking back on our experiences so far, it's been one hell of a ride. We met another cross-country cyclist, Joon, who rode with us from Lexington to Damascus, VA. We've stayed everywhere from campgrounds to bike hostels, churches, and public parks. I've had to fix two broken spokes, a broken chain, and a flat. We've climbed countless mountains and I've gone faster than I've ever gone on a bike on multiple occasions. It's just been an absolute blast.

Last night we stayed at the Hindman Historical Society Bike Hostel where we met David, our host. When we arrived, he was waiting with a tray of sweet tea. He then ushered us to the patio where there was cold beer and snacks, and then he did our laundry while we showered. He later cooked us an enormous dinner followed by an equally big ice cream sundae with a shot of Kentucky brandy as a nightcap. He's about to make us breakfast before we head out. This has been the nicest place we've stayed so far, though we also spent the most money for accommodations here (which isn't saying much since most of them have been free so far).

The generosity and kindness demonstrated by the TransAmerica bike community is quite profound. Listening to stories of hostels that have been around for 20+ years, and reading guest book entries from the hundreds of bikers who come through every summer is a humbling reminder that this journey would be much harder without the periodic blessing of a warm shower, hot meal, and a dry place to sleep.

Uncle Dave's Feast

I'm excited to experience more of Kentucky. The locals so far have been really nice--notably more friendly than most of the people we'd come across in Virginia. Thankfully (perhaps related?) liquor stores are much easier to find here. We keep hearing about loose dogs, and that's pretty intimidating. But hey, I've been chased by dogs before. Let's just hope it doesn't happen on an uphill. Also Kentucky is very beautiful, much like Virginia, though they have some differences in topography. The litter, however, on the sides of the road here is pretty outrageous.

Anyway, I'm excited to see more and share it on the blog, so until next time..!

- Chris

KGlaze Week 1

Mannnn, I don't even know what to say about this first week.

i really like this house

It's been something. Rundown: it's Day 9, we've biked around 350 miles so far. We're staying with a wonderful host in Radford, Va who let us use his car and eat all his food and COFFEE.  I'm feeling good. Up till now, I have not been feeling good.

On Day 2, we landed in Ashland, VA in a thunderstorm, set up our tents, and it was actually the worst I've felt in years. I was shaking from dehydration, sunburn, and fresh with a stomach thing that I must've stolen from Dylan, and was pretty mentally devastated from it. On Day 2 I thought I would already have to take a day off. I was pretty miserable, haha. Everyone kept saying "what an experience this is" and I was too sick and down to think that saying was cute. I just wanted to feel better. (But now that I'm feeling good, I can already look back and be like, "LOL I was a little quiet sad boy!")  BUT with a little help from my friends, I rallied through four days of stomach catastrophes making me wake up dizzy and made it. If I was alone, I definitely would've taken a day off. Moral of the story: people are good, friends are good, drink water till it hurts.

This week of riding has been beautiful. Western Virginia is absolutely gorgeous as we've spent the last five days biking through some serious rolling hills. It's crazy biking through all of this and looking in every direction and seeing something beautiful. (I wish I could make that last line sound more poetic but whatever) On day 6 we spent all day climbing up to and on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I coasted at about 5 mph all day listening to The Books and all the ambient nature-y music I could find and felt something good.

  

Campsite in Catawba, VA

Our legs are super tired and we're looking forward to our day off either tomorrow in Wytheville or the next day in Damascus. I've been super surprised and blown away by the hospitality we've seen so far. We've only had to for real camp 3 times so far. We've had two amazing families open their houses to us, a volunteer fire department, a church, and the cookie lady- a legend on the TransAM trail.

Day 9! Feeling good mentally.We'll see how my legs feel in an hour. WEEEEE

KODYYY

Chris

on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Stealth camp at Virginia Military Institute

awhh yeah

The First Week

It's 5:00am and we are currently stealth camping in Lexington at the Virginia Military Institute. Yesterday was a huge success for us: We rode 27 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway, climbing to over 3200' of elevation. Then we descended down, which was a blast, and rode 22 miles into town and celebrated at Tong's Chinese buffet.

Yesterday was also the first day since Monday that it wasn't raining. My clothes still are not dry, and they smell quite bad. This has been our biggest problem thus far as the rain and cold just makes it really hard to keep going. At least we have lucked out and have only had to camp in the rain once so far. On Tuesday we stayed at a Volunteer Fire Department in Mineral, VA. In Charlottesville we stayed with a young couple named Baker and Christina via WarmShowers (thanks guys, it was really awesome of you to have the four of us on such short notice). And the night before last night we stayed at the former home of June Curry, The Cookie Lady, in Afton. Her house has been the best place we've stayed so far. It's basically become a museum, filled with thousands of postcards and other memorabilia from all the riders Mrs. Curry has helped from the 1970's up until she passed in July of 2012. I don't know exactly how many cyclists have come across her home and hospitality, but an article in one room said that the town celebrated her 10,000th rider in 1998. Staying in her home recharged our spirits and allowed us to power through the mountains.

Also our favorite person we have met on the tour so far has been a young lady named Lauren who we ran into on the Blue Ridge Parkway. She was taking a break off the Appalachian Trail (doing it solo!) in the middle of a huge ascent when we ran into her. She happened upon some cold beer from Trail Magic and shared with us. It was awesome and she was super cool.

This first week has been really crazy, and it's been hard to find the time to work on the blog. But I will still try to post as often as I can. We are having a ton of fun. We will be in Damascus, VA in two days where we will be taking our first day off.

Cheers!

- Chris

The Start

I am currently laying in my tent at a campground in Ashland, VA. It's 6:08am and I've hardly slept a wink from the heavy thunderstorms that rolled over us all night. These same storms interrupted our ride yesterday as we tried to make it to Bumpass (lol).

The first two days of the tour have been interesting. For one, we didn't get our bikes back from Amtrak until 11:30am on Sunday--and they weren't assembled and ready to go until 1:30pm. We were lucky in that our friend from Tallahassee, Rachael Thompson, was driving up to DC the same weekend. She helped us get our bikes (she even had her bike rack that I gave her a year ago) and stuck around to send us off! Having such a late start put us at our first destination (Willis United Methodist Church in Glendale) at sundown, but fortunately when we arrived we were greeted with warm showers and a huge pasta dinner.

The ride so far has been absolutely beautiful. After leaving the Atlantic coast, we biked past huge fields of golden grain and seemingly endless rows of corn. A paved bike path on the John Tyler Memorial Highway gave us a pleasant ride for nearly 30 miles I'd say. On the second day (yesterday), the roads became a bit more hilly as we passed through Mechanicsville and the thunderstorms (and some hail!) started during our lunch in Ashland. Though it's been quite beautiful, it has also been very hot and the effects on our health are quite clear. We are learning as a group that we need to make a concerted effort to leave earlier and beat the heat. There are a lot of adjustments to make and many things to consider before one can simply bike 60+ miles a day and drag along 30 pounds of gear with him/her. We are getting the hang of it and I feel confident that we will be able to maintain said pace by the end of the week.

Also, did you know that Ashland is also the (self-proclaimed) "Center of the Universe"? Pretty bold if you ask me.

- Chris