My daughter Gwen asked that I send her daily updates of Jannie's and my bike tour from Birmingham, AL, to Erie, PA. I ended up sharing the updates with a wider group of people. The updates are below. Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2017 22:23:36 -0400 Subject: Report 1 Sat 29 Apr Dear All, We are currently with Alison and Noah Kay Oliphant. My software for using the iPad for email has a bug, and I probably will not have reliable access to the internet. Jannie will, and I will try to use her account by sending this email to her and then reply to the group for further reports. Packing the tandem in one box fell afoul Amtrak regulations that forbid tandems and forbid bikes weighing more than 40 lbs. The people in Philadelphia sold me a bike box into which I put half of the tandem, and off we went. Amtrak was only two hours late into Birmingham today. Alison picked us up in Noah's Land Rover, which easily accommodate the tandem and our gear, once I had discarded the bike boxes. Putting together the tandem was almost as daunting as solving the jigsaw puzzle Carolyn gave me, but it is now back together, and we will head out tomorrow. ------------------------------- Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 21:37:56 -0500 Subject: Report 2 Dear All, We have had a pretty chaotic day, but we are fine, staying in a Quality Inn in Jasper AL, about 45 miles from our start. Traveling on the shoulder, we got simultaneous snakebite flats, front and back and another one. I concluded my pump cannot sufficiently inflate the tires, I will use gas stations until I can buy a better pump. Our chain disassembled on its own because of a slightly loose "quick link." Al of this occurred in the pouring rain. By now we are pretty much dried out, hoping we have had our worst day. ------------------------------- Date: Mon, 1 May 2017 22:13:33 -0400 Subject: report 3 Dear All, We are now in Hamilton, AL, having covered just about 50 miles under bright blue skies, with the temperature in the mid 70s. We had a hard ride, because the terrain was rolling and we had strong cross winds and strong headwinds. ------------------------------- Date: Tue, 2 May 2017 23:11:36 -0400 Subject: report 4 dear all, today has been another bad day. Among a number of other things, our front de railleur self destructed, and we had to hitch a ride into Fulton, MS. Tomorrow I will probably rent a car in search of a good bicycle shop to get replacemant parts. ------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 3 May 2017 20:45:23 -0400 Subject: report 5 Dear all, We got a ride to a good bike shop in Tupelo, MS, where we got everything repaired. Late in the day we went north on the Natchez Trace Pky and are now in a sanctioned, bikers only campground on the pkwy. ------------------------------- Date: Fri, 5 May 2017 13:46:39 -0400 Subject: report 6 Dear all, We are fine but had no access to internet or cell service. We went north on the Narchez trace and stayed at Tishimongo St Pk. The weaher is soggy ------------------------------- Date: Fri, 5 May 2017 20:58:19 -0400 Subject: report 7 Dear all, We started in misty rain, but the sun came out midday. Originally planning to stay at a motel to dry out, we pushed on into TN and are at Pickwick Landing St Pk, where we are now quite dry and quite well fed. ------------------------------- Date: Sat, 6 May 2017 22:26:59 -0400 Subject: report 8 Dear All, Our stops are constrained by the availability of lodging. We prefer campgrounds and use motels as backups. Today we stopped outside the Shiloh Battlefield after about 23 miles. We then had quite a scary false alarm. We removed the panniers, emptied one, and headed oFf with it to a Piggly Wiggly Supermarket 5 miles away. After shopping we discovered that the pannier was missing, along with our tools, checkbook, and some cash. We made a police report. The officer kindly gave me a knapsack and gave Janice a ride to the motel. When I got to the motel I learned the motel clerk found the pannier in the driveway. ------------------------------- Date: Mon, 8 May 2017 14:14:34 -0400 Subject: report 9 Dear All, We had no internet or phone Service yesterday. That is likely to occur again. We had clear skies and temperatures in the 70s. We covered 45 miles over rolling terrain, descending to the Tennessee river, where we camped at the Beech Bend Campground. Floding in that area will occur in a few days. +-------------------------------------------------------+ Date: Mon, 8 May 2017 19:02:18 -0400 Subject: report 10 Dear All, Our progress is slow, 35 miles today because of hilly terrain and hot weather, but the skies are sumny and countryside beautiful. +-------------------------------------------------------+ Date: Tue, 9 May 2017 17:50:28 -0400 Subject: Report 11 Dear All, Two H's, heat and hills, kept our distance to 28 miles. We are staying the night in a motel in Weatherly, TN. This gave us a chance for 3 L's, lunch, laundry, and library (access to the internet). On the road we have three different providers, AT&T for my tracfone, Virgin Mobile for Jannie's cell phone, and T-Mobile for my WiFi hotspot. At any given time, 0 to 3 providers are available. ------------------------------- Date: Wed, 10 May 2017 20:59:41 -0400 Subject: report 11 Dear All, We are making good progress. Today it was partly cloudy, which moderated the effects of the mid 80s temperature. Today is likely to be the hilliest day of our tour, but we still covered 42 miles. Our maps show a profile of the elevation. To pessimistic Jannie, the elevations depicted look awful, while to optimistic me they don't look so bad. To me the hills, although hard, are often easier than I expect. In these profiles the horizontal scale is in miles, while the vertical (elevation) scale is in feet, in the ratio of 1/66. Thus a visual 50% grade (not slope but rise over run) actually depicts a grade under 1%. ------------------------------- Date: Fri, 12 May 2017 11:39:49 -0400 Subject: report 12 Dear All, Another day without WiFi. We spent much of the day yesterday traveling in Land between the Lakes National recreation Area (LBL). LBL is a 9 miLe x 50 mile tract of land that lies between the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. The area originally was called The Land Betwen the Rivers until they dammed both rivers to create two lakes for flood control. Paradoxically, this leads to the current flood forecasts om the TN and OH Rivers. Because of the spring flooding on the MS river, the dams on the tributaries have to hold back more water. The terrain was flatter, and we covered 47 miles. ------------------------------- Date: Sat, 13 May 2017 22:22:44 -0400 Subject: report 13, 14 Dear All, Report 13 T-storms over night seemed to be over, so we set off. After 5 miles we stopped at a bike shop, the first we had access to in about 200 miles, and then to a unique cafe next door. An elderly couple make everything from scratch and are open Th-Sun, 9-2. Delicious. Then the rains came, and we spent 2 1/2 hours waiting out the rain. We arrived at our campground to find it closed and up for sale. The cause of the business failure was obvious: the flooding Ohio River was a few feet below the campground. We found one of the spigots working and decided to do some outlaw camping. After we had set up the "sherif" came and told us we were on his private land. Jannie went across the road and got permission to stay in their back yard. In the end we stayed in their travel motor home. We were in Birdsville, KY. We covered 27 miles. Report 14 Most of the day we folowed the flatter terrain right along side the OH River, which is flooding. On one road the river side fields were partially inundated (increasing their fertility) with higher parts planted, while rhe fields on the other side of the road, which acts as a 3 foot high dike, are fully planted. Despite the stereotype of the southerner as a pickup driving, shotgun carrying hater of bicyclists, we have seen lots of pickups, no shotguns, and universally extraordinatprily courteous drivers. On the mostly country roads they unfailingly come to a crawl behind us, waiting for a clear sight line to pass. In honor of our nephew Adam, at one rest stop we bought a pint of ice cream and attacked with two spoons. Today we covered 61 miles and feel stronger. ------------------------------- Date: Sun, 14 May 2017 21:34:04 -0400 Subject: report 15 Dear All, Today the terrain was flat, the skies bright, and the temperatures in the mid 80s. For the first time, we talked with a pair of local bikers who saw us resting for lunch. Also, we keep on hearing about a couple on the same route, about a week ahead of us. The new front derailleur is not quite designed for the three front chain rings (which I knew when I bought it). It very difficult to adjust it so that all three chain rings can be engaged, So, when it is hilly I adjust it so that the smaller two can be engaged, When it is flat, I adjust it so that the larger two can be engaged. Today we covered 56 miles and ended up in a Wingfield Hotel in Owensboro, KY. Tomorrow, back to camping. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers reading this. --Love, Dad (Edwin) ------------------------------- Date: Mon, 15 May 2017 21:27:00 -0400 Subject: Report 16 Dear All, We left Owensboro, KY, via very well marked bike routes and bike paths (Vice Mayor SK note Lexington might benefit from their example, both in their design and in how they obtained state funding). We had temperatures in the high 80s, in contrast to the mid 40s at the beach). We are now at a delightful county park in Hawesville, KY, just finishing dinner at their passable restaurant. We covered about 52 miles. ------------------------------- Date: Tue, 16 May 2017 22:41:35 -0400 Subject: report 17 Dear All, Today continues very hot, with temps in the low 90s. We encountered steep climbs and some stretches of rolling hills and of flat land. We are getting stronger, finding the going easier. At the end of the day, within a quarter mile of our hotel in Brandenburg, KY, we had a blowout of the new rear tire. It was completely worn through. I will have to buy a new spare tomorrow in a town across the Ohio from Louisville. As we go along we gamble by going off route. Often this means riding on US 60, which parallels our route (so far). It is heavily trafficked and often lacks a shoulder but is more direct and gently graded. On one occasion we lost, with 60 being hillier. Today, because we knew it would be a long distance and hilly we took 60 and won. It was less hilly and 5 miles shorter. Yesterday we stayed on route, despite a sign that the road was only open to local traffic. The attached pictures show the result. An addendum to report 13: The owner of the bakery commented that she used 30 year old starter for her homemade bread. Funny, it tasted fresh. We covered 51 miles today. ------------------------------- Date: Wed, 17 May 2017 21:42:55 -0400 Subject: report 18 Dear All, Today started with some long but gradual climebs under partly cloudy skies with a tailwind. We then descended steeply to the Ohio River and rode along the riverfront across the river from Louisville (n Indiana). Passing up a chance to stay at a KOA campground because of Jannie's dislike of them, we pushed on to Charlestown (IN) State Park, aided by the mostly flat terrain. We gambled on two roads closed to through traffic and won on both occasions. One highlight for me was riding under a spectacular new cable-stay bridge over the Ohio. For Jannie it was seeing the new development along the riverfeont and the charming small town of Corydon, IN, where we heard the carillon play "Sunrise, sunset" from "Fiddler" at noon. We covered 68 miles. ------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 May 2017 20:25:55 -0400 Subject: report 19 Dear All, Today was a good day for biking. Although it was still hot, it was cloudy, with a few sprinkles. We did some climbimg to a ridge parallel to the Ohio, but then the road was flat. We dropped quickly to the Ohio and crossed over into Kentucky. The road was then flat along the river to General Butler State Resort Park, near Carrolton, KY. We have found that we are more comfortable sleeping in our tent than in the various motels. Maybe familiarity breeds content. Covered 55.2 miles. ------------------------------- Date: Fri, 19 May 2017 21:57:17 -0400 Subject: report 20 Dear All, This was meant to be a short day because of hilly terrain, but for the first time folowing the Adventure Cycling maps we went astray and added about 8 miles to our trip. At the same time, we readily dealt with the hills. Indeed, Jannie now looks forward to surmounting hills. We intended to stay at a campground near Dry Ridge, KY. But when we arrived in town, the skies looked ominous, so Jannie suggested we stay at a motel. I was skeptical but agreed. Half an hour after our checking into the motel it was pouring and continued to do so for three hours. If we had not taken the long way around to get here we would have been cowering in our tent, with lightning flashing all around. One of the advantages of our using a tandem is our ability to navigate as we pedal. We keep the current map in the back pocket of my cycling jersey. Then, as we ride along, Jannie pulls it out, reads it, and gives me directions. We covered 46 miles today. --Love, Dad (Edwin) ------------------------------- Date: Sat, 20 May 2017 21:02:30 -0400 Subject: report 21 Dear All, Today we started out in cloudy and cooler weather on quite hilly terrain. We arrived at our lunch spot, the Lenoxburg General Store, within seconds of the sky opening up. We waited for the rain to end, learning from the store owner that the road by the store descends to the Ohio River, takes us off route but toward today's destination, and avoids some nasty hills. We took his excellent advice and ended the day at the Parkview Country Inn in Augusta, KY. This quaint B&B has 10 guest bedrooms, well appointed and furnished in the colonial style. George Washington is on the wall behind us, and Abe Lincoln faces George. We covered 46.8 miles. ------------------------------- Date: Sun, 21 May 2017 21:09:34 -0400 Subject: report 22 Dear All, Today it threatened to rain all day and occasionally delivered a bit. The mapped route has a large U in it, and it is not obvious why. On closer inspection this occurs because of there being so few bridges across the Ohio. When we went off course last night to get lodging, Jannie inspected the map of KY more closely and saw that there is a ferry across the Ohio (in operation for about 200 years) about 200 yds from our B&B. We took it, snipping off the 15 mile U, and avoiding two of the nastiest hills on our trip. Mid day we met our first bike tourist on this trip. Attorney Pat retired three weeks ago, jumped on his bike in Bridgewater, NJ, and headed west. Tonight we are camping out in a city park in Milford, OH, which boasts that eight major trails pass through town, including, of course, the one we are on. We covered 55 miles today. ------------------------------- Date: Mon, 22 May 2017 21:39:35 -0400 Subject: report 23 Dear All, Today we spent the whole day on a well paved bike path that goes from Cincinnati to Lake Erie. The stretch we were on today follows the Little Miami River, a reasonable sign of flatness. The path is on the right of way of the former Little Miami Railrod, a guarantee of flatness. While we lunched, a biking couple said that rwo bike toursts were right behind us on their way to Maine. Ten minutes later we waved at them as they went by. We met a man today who boasted of his fully restored 1962 Columbia "Twosome" tandem that he and his wife entered in many kocal parades. We covered 61.6 miles today. ------------------------------- Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 21:25:16 -0400 Subject: report 24 Dear All, Today was cool and cloudy. For the first half of the day we stayed on bike paths, which made for easy riding. The roads were almost as good. As has often been the case, the end of the day was a bit rocky. Because there was no campgrounds earby, we opted for a motel but found it almost impossible to get to by bike, its being located on a divided highway, but we did succeed. From my cross-country ride with Gwen and Norm Melchert I vividly remember how well patched OH roads were. I would (briefly) close my eyes and could not feel when a patch began or ended. The Ohio Highway Department is still up to that standard. Today at a convenience store I struck up a conversation with the Jordanian manager and reminisced about Will having to leave his bike in Jordan after riding there from Istanbul. (The Israelis did not allow him to bring it into Israel, ostensibly for security reasons.) As we were packing our bike to leave,, the Jordanian came out andb gave us two bottles of cold water, apparently impressed with our venture. We covered 72.8 miles today but don't feel particularly tired. ------------------------------- Date: Thu, 25 May 2017 11:15:05 -0400 Subject: report 25 Dear All, My hotspot was in a fringe area and did not provide a reliable connection last night. Yesterday was cool and showery, which made for nice riding bot moist camping last night. We stayed at Malabar Farm State Park, near Butler, OH. Almost daily someone will initiate a conversation with us, relating stories about their own long tour. We were sitting by the side of the road snacking when a woman pulled over and told about her own tour on 1973 at age 21 when she and another young woman rode from Columbus to New Mexico. We covered 58 miles. ------------------------------- Date: Thu, 25 May 2017 22:38:06 -0400 Subject: report 26 Dear All, Today started out cloudy and misty, as we travelled over somewhat hilly terrain. We were heading for Wellington, a town near Oberlin, when we saw a sign for Medina, 25 miles, which we knew was on our route after passing through Wellington, also 25 miles, so we opted for the shortcut. Jannie remembered that there was a warm showers host in Medina, so I called and arranged to stay with them. About 20 miles from Medina torrential rains began to fall so we started to ride quite hard. Stopping to rest about 10 miles from Medina I got a text message saying that our host had to back out. We pushed on to Motel 6 four miles past Medina, completely soaked, which showers and a dryer remedied. The campground we left this morning had a clivus multrim (google if you don't know what that is). I was startled to read that it was manufactured by the Clivus Multrim Corp, 15 Union St, Lawrence, MA, a building where I bought some candy from a wholesaler (Fox) for Steve to sell from his ice cream truck. Today we passed through Hayesville, which is truly nowhere, where we discovered a spectacularly well stocked miniature Whole Foods MY CELL PHONE SUSTAINED WATER DAMAGE AND NO LOGER WORKS. TO REACH US USE JANNIE'S NUMBER: 484 554 5445 We covered 58 miles. ------------------------------- Date: Fri, 26 May 2017 22:22:31 -0400 Subject: report 27 Dear All, Today started with misty rain and a forecast for rain for the rest of the weekend. But as the day wore on, it became sunny. We thought we would stay at a campground, but they are all booked for the holiday weekend. At a rest stop, a man who bike tours stopped to chat and ended up helping us book a room at an upscale lodge at Punderson State Park near the town of Burton, OH. The day was long because of a late start and because of a "snake bite" flat. We ate supper at 9;30. We covered 55 miles. ------------------------------- Date: Sat, 27 May 2017 21:52:09 -0400 Subject: report 28 Dear All, Today must have been tomorrow, because the sun came out. We had clear skies and temperature around 70. The terrain was initially hilly, and then we descended to the flatlands around Lake Erie. Today's route followed a bike path for the latter part of the day. With no rain forecast until mid day tomorrow, we chose to camp tonight. As opposed to previous days, finding the campground took 10 seconds, because the campground abuts the bike trail. The holiday weekend had no effect on availability as its hiker-biker sites can accommadate hundreds. Our campsite is im the outskirts of Ashtabula, OH. Tomorrow will be our last day. We will rent a car on Monday in Erie and drive home. Luckily our tandem breaks down into small enough pieces to fit into a sedan. We will have covered almost exactly 1400 miles. Today we covered 46.8 miles. --Love, Dad (Edwin) ------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 May 2017 18:03:31 -0400 Subject: report 29 Dear All, Today was mostly sunny, with temperatures in the high 60s, perfect weather, except for the headwinds (from the East!) along Lake Erie. Within a few miles of our goal today in Erie, a motel because of the threat of T-storms, we saw our second bike tourist going the other way, a young man who started in Boston two weeks ago. The end of the day was perfect for Jannie. We found a motel instantly, and we arrived unusually early. We will drive home tomorrow and expect to arrive late afternoon. We covered 45.7 miles today. Our total for the trip was 1397 miles. --Love, Dad (Edwin) -------------------------------