This is actually happening

"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late"- Bob Dylan

Its been a second since I've mentioned anything about this trip. For one thing, I began to doubt that it would actually happen. It seems that some employers don't really like it when you take 2 weeks off to cycle across the state. Go figure. So it was a challenge to acquire the time off, but finally I have it. Thanks to many good friends stepping up and helping a girl out.

I am so grateful for all of the amazing friends and family that I have. If you have not subscribed to my blog yet, please do. Expect more updates now that I actually know this is going to happen.

bike love,

Jules

How to survive as a lycra-wearing liberal in the middle of cousin-kissing get-r-done USA.

Christmas weekend. I traveled home to see my Dad and friends, spend family time and what not. Of course I had to bring my bike! I wasn't gonna miss out on a chance to ride on some flat land for a change. Christmas day I road a ten mile loop through the country. I must say that I never appreciated the views around here by car as much as I did by bicycle. I pedaled past goats farms and horses grazing in fields. Beautiful, and very peaceful.

However, this is a very different part of the state. This is Nash county. Of the population that own bicycles, I would have to say that the majority are little children who just ride around in their driveway. The roads here have little to no shoulder, so I was forced to take up the lane. The motorist response was one of the following:

1. Slam on breaks, honk the horn, and then pass making sure to accelerate in an angry manner.

2. Just ignore me and whiz right passed me, giving me very little space.

3. The was the occasional kind, considerate person who slowed down, passed, and waved.

I have found that when cycling in these parts it is best to avoid the large pick up trucks with over sized tires, rebel flags, deer silhouettes, multiple antennae with tennis balls impaled upon them. These particular motorists i think found it sport to try and run me off the road. Especially watch out if the horn plays "dueling banjos"....yipes.

Another thing to be weary of is the amount of unfenced dogs that will come running out to the street. I am not certain of the leash laws in this county. It makes me angry to see this not because they are chasing me, but that the people that own these dogs dont seem to care if they are hit by a car. I did have one dog try to bite my back wheel, but I was able to get away.

Luckily, I made it through my ride alive and unscathed. It is a shame that their are so many roads that are unfriendly to cyclists. It also seems that in areas like this, the vehicles people drive are much bigger. Therefore making Nash County an environmental disaster.

20-miler, I barely even know 'er

A hair-brained idea, or hare-brained (where does that term even come from?) apparently 1548 meaning "having a hair-sized brain" or "with no more sense than a hare". Education. So I rode to Swannanoa today. A small town about 12 miles east of Asheville. A comfortable truck stop commonly referred to as "Swannanowhere". This town contains a decent pub with fun games in the back yard, a metric shit ton of fast food joints, and a hippy summer camp college.

Nevertheless, I wanted to ride 20 miles. I set out from the river arts district at about 1:00 pm. Went south on French Broad to Choctaw, across to Biltmore ave. Biltmore Ave is a very busy street full of hospitals and a bunch of whatnot that it seemed like every fucking body was eager to get to. I took up the right lane and rode at a decent pace, however there were still the occasional assholes who seemed to stomp their feet and throw a fit because they had to pass me. I have taken to blowing raspberries at these folks. One immature move for the other :)

Once off of Biltmore I picked up Swannanoa River road for a 3 mile ride on a two-lane road with no shoulder, eeep! Terrifying at times, especially UPS/Fed EX trucks seem to have no knowledge of how much space they actually take up. I have decided to purchase a classy helmet mirror. I noticed that I do spend quite a bit of time turning around (glancing really) to see what is coming up behind me. This throws me off balance and actually puts me in danger of falling/drifting into traffic. No good. Yes, buying a mirror.

Once off the tiny tiny road I urned onto Azalea for about 4 miles (?). This takes you by the WNC Nature center, the dog park, and a bunch of micro farms that I found to be so adorable. For a second I imagined I was cycling in some rural European farm country...not so much. The beautiful quiet road opened up to hwy 70. Otherwise known as Tunnel Road, hwy 70 runs 2,385 miles from eastern NC to Arizona. The majority of the road is two-laned and rather calm, however not this particular section. Google maps new biking directions have a few kinks. I dont think this particular stretch of road is safe for cyclists. Speed limits of 55 mph....people (like myself) often surpass this. Terrified, but I kept on.

I reached my destined milepost, turned around and sprinted for the calm roads again. Whew. This is the longest I have ever been on my bicycle. When I take my trans-NC bike trip I will cycle 3-4 times this distance. I clearly need some practice because I was exhausted to the point that I could not pedal up the final hill on Biltmore. I got off my bike and walked, no shame. Later on that night I went to a holiday party and could not keep my eyes open, quite unlike me. I was slightly disturbed by this. The last thing I want is to be a drag to folks for the next 6 months. However, I suppose I will get used to it, and people that really care about me will understand.

Thinking about training.

I am not an athlete. If I was a lucky girl who could remain 120 lbs (something I haven't seen in a while) without eating healthy or exercising....I would live it up and never leave the couch. Well, I suppose it isn't something to consider lucky. This morning it was 13.5 degrees with a 5 degree wind chill. This has become a common thing in Asheville... When I am startled awake by my cell phone alarm, I am not thinking about getting out from under the covers, going outside wearing Lycra, and going for a ten mile ride. No, I am thinking about internetting with coffee, or maybe reading until it's time to go to work, anything but going outside in the cold.

People with money usually try to remedy this with a gym membership. I did this for a while, it was not for me. Exercise should be free. So, then the only clear option for me is to stop complaining. If I repeat to myself that "people all over the world do this, there is no reason that you can not" or "hey, think about that crazy guy in west Asheville you saw running in shorts and no shoes!" or maybe "its just going to be that much more terrible pedaling the parkway if you don't get your lazy ass up and move" I like that one.

Now I must have a plan. The difficulty is that I have two jobs that take up a lot of my time. One job is in Fletcher (about 30 mins away by car) and the other is in west asheville....brevard road area...etc...(about 10 mins away by car). So, I plan to start cycling to work as part of my training (the closer one). It would be about 10 miles (there and back). I would do this 2 days/week. The only thing that has stopped me from this is that there is about a 1 mile stretch where I will be riding on an unfriendly road and I just haven't had the guts for it yet). I have invested in making my bike quite visible, and I have more experience with vehicular cycling, I think I can manage. I would not do this at night. So this will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wednesdays I work 13-14 hours straight, so that will have to be my day off of cycling. Mondays are typically my day off, so I plan to reserve it for a very long bike ride. Meaning, 20-30 miles to start and eventually working my way up to the 60-65 I plan to ride/day on my trip. Fridays I will take a short ride after work. Weekends....I will take a moderate/short (weather/hangover permitting) ride, and more than likely take Sundays off.

This is to only to start. I have also started taking small jogs and doing some weight lifting/muscle conditioning. A problem that I face right now is that there is snow and ice all over Asheville, making it unfriendly for biking. SO, all of this is weather permitting right now. I'll let you know how it goes.

The economics of being a bike dork.

I am not a rich girl. I never will be. If I did make large amounts of money I would probably drink way too much and cease to remain a part of the social community (just being honest, I like beer just as much as I like bicycles). You would find me belly-up in a vat of Ironrail IPA, mmmmm....

OK! So this trip is going to cost money. Granted, one of the beautiful things I have gathered while reading other bike touring blogs (you know, people who have already done it) is that you can make it as expensive or as cheap as you want to. It depends on a few factors...or really they all root back to one: how much shit do you want to carry?

Some people carry very little, stay in hotel rooms, eat at restaurants. They have an average daily budget of oh 200 bucks. No fun. The is actually more expensive than driving a car. Then there are those that camp. There are many ways of doing this also. You could camp in designated camp grounds, usually with a sliding scale fee of 12-40 bucks per night. You could camp in a designated wilderness area (which is free) however the likelihood of you being able to do this for your entire trip is slim. Then there is stealth camping, a free but seemingly dangerous method of getting some shut-eye before you hit the road again.

On the subject of stealth camping...I could do this, I think. It is free, however it is technically trespassing. I could picture myself being awakened by some farmer with a shotgun, somewhere out in Haywood county...hehe. Most people who do this and try to remain unnoticed usually arrive after dark, set up camp, sleep, get up before sunrise and then get going...doesn't seem like fun to me. I plan to stay in camp grounds (not more than 20 dollars per night) and wilderness areas along the route I am taking. Luckily the map that I have has the locations and contact info I need to make reservations (as it will be nearing Memorial day). I will also be doing a little couch surfing. Going on the expensive side, I plan to spend no more than 200 dollars on camping.

Next thing to consider is how I am going to eat. I obviously can't carry all the food I will need for my trip, and methods to cook it. I do plan to carry a small stove and a few pieces of cookware....really just to boil water for coffee. I will carry some freeze-dried meals and things to nibble on, but that is about it. The map that I have also directs me to grocery/supply stores (its like a big life-sized game of Oregon Trail!) Where I will pick up foodstuffs... SO, I am hope to spend no more than 150 dollars on food for the entire trip.

Then there are repairs, which I am hoping my bike will need few to none...I will have it professionally tuned-up before I go. I plan to replace the tires before I go. I will carry with me, and extra tube, tools, maybe an extra chain. So, I'm allotting about 100 dollars for repairs. I am not going very far, and I hope that properly preparing my bike before the trip will prevent me from having to have any repairs done at all. Again, this is a learning experience.

Lastly (so far), the cost for a ride home. I don't plan to ride my bike back to Asheville. I have to get back to work. And as far as I can tell, there isn't a bus station in Manteo. So, I am thinking about riding my bike back from Manteo to visit my dad in Rocky Mount (138 miles) for a little bit and then taking the greyhound back to Asheville. A 7 hour bus trip for 80 bucks. I will have to take my bike apart and box it up, put it in checked baggage for a fee of 10 bucks. So hopefully only 100 bucks to get home.

Again I am overestimating on all of these things. I read a blog from a woman who toured across America for 10 bucks/day. This is all a learning experience. I don't know what I am doing, and I really do learn best by making mistakes. However, if you have any advice, I'd love to hear it.

Fears and Realities

Someone asked me today, "Wont you get lonely biking all by yourself?" I am fairly used to spending time alone. When you grow up as an only child, and the fat girl in school, you tend to find ways to entertain yourself. So, the "aloneness" of this trip doesn't quite frighten me. In fact, I invite it. I think this time will allow me the much deserved time to reach a place of mental transcendence and clarity.

What am I afraid of, let me count the sarcastic ways:

The Dark....terrible. I hate being alone in the dark. Which is wonderful because that is exactly where I will be.

Someone stealing my bike....U-locks? Napalm? Suggestions?.

My bike breaking in any manner.....yes, this will happen I am sure, I just have to be prepared for it. Oh! what if the chain breaks! and I have to hitchhike to the next bike store....fun.

Running out of money....I'm a terrible budgeter...and I like to eat.

Being hit by a car.....not even gonna think about that one.

Being eaten by a bear that wanders into my campsite....again that whole alone in the dark thing.

Zombies....right, I'm done......but, thank goodness for the chainsaws I affixed to my handlebars ;)

Equipment.

As said before, I am not a wealthy lady. I work a lot, I work very hard, but I by no means have money to just blow on fancy cycling equipment. It would be nice to have a proper touring bike with both front and rear panniers, shmancy hi-tech camping gear, etc...but I don't...so i'll get by with what I have. I ride a Diamondback Century (see left)...classified as a straight-bar road bike ...whatever. I paid 260 dollars for this bike and I haven't been let down. 24 speeds, great for climbing hills, attachments for both front and rear racks, very, very, very light. I have confidence that this bike will work. I've read about people touring farther distances on lower caliber bikes.

For this tour I am going to try to carry as little as I can, but still I have some limits. I have a pair of rear panniers (decent sized) that I got for 35 dollars from two very very nice friends (ahem Jaime and Ian). I have a small/light 1.5 person tent that has some waterproofing issues....but nothing that cant be fixed with some seam sealant. I have limited cycling clothing, a helmet (i would like a better one). I have some blinky lights....but I don't think you can have too many...better to be like a rolling disco. That's it...So here's my list that I will be hopefully whittling down over the next few months:

fenders
handle bar bag (and/or front rack with panniers)
rear rack bag
tarp (small)
sleeping bag (zero degree)
second set of bike pants
wind jacket (shell)
balaclava
shoes covers
socks
rain gear
magnesium flint stick
thin/strong rope
maps
helmet
first aid kit
Multi-tool
h2o bladder
h2o bottles
inflation device
extra tubes
extra lock
compass
batteries (for lights)
headlamp

simple bike computer

I am a little concerned that I will not be able to put fenders on this bike...which will make riding in wet conditions a little....wet. I suppose I will have someone look at my bike sometime soon.

Welp, back to the real world of work.