Category Archives: Uncategorized

I headed west out of Farmington with Caledonia as my lunch destination. It was the Fourth of July, Independence Day, to many Americans. I biked through a few state parks, passed several campers, travel trailers, and groups of motorcyclists and found the holiday vibrations to be completely undeniable. I was the first one to enterContinue reading “False Freedom For the Fourth”

Biking over long distances often requires one to ride on the berm of the road. In many ways, the berm is nature’s modern day morgue. Some animals that get hit by a car die in the middle of the road. Others hobble off to to die in the grass just off of the berm. But,Continue reading “Dead Animals”

In Cape Girardeau, I was hosted by a hard-core bicyclist that was a sweet elderly woman with a sweet old house. Right before sunset, she insisted on showing me the bike route out of town and also the trail of tears state park on the north east edge of town. The Trail of Tears StateContinue reading “Another Deer”

I began my day yesyerday at Berry’s Ferry, KY, a short downhill ride from Mantle Rock, looking out across the Ohio River, the same Ohio River that my namesake’s family has known for several generations residing in Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and Ohio. I noticed a family, that somewhat resembled my hillbilly West Virginia relatives, campingContinue reading “A Two River Crossing”

The rain had subsided by the time I left Princeton, KY and headed through some really old back roads. At one point along the big hill on Edd Sopp Rd, I pulled up exhausted and noticed a whole flight of wild turkey feathers in the road exactly where I had stopped. Instinctively, I knew thatContinue reading “Mantle Rock”

Yesterday was a grueling and beautiful day. I got a late start and spent the first leg of my day biking 30 miles through a consistent headwind, 2 hours of a medium rain and an hour of a full on down pour. During the downpour, I arrived in Princeton, KY, home of the Big SpringsContinue reading “Big Springs”

I arrived to Port Royal at around 1 PM today. I had a chance to see the old roadbed for the Trail, which is far more visceral than the paved version that I had experienced so far. The site is where the detachments rested and refilled supplies. It’s along the banks of the Red RiverContinue reading “Port Royal State Park”

Although the sky has been rumbling for days, the rain didn’t begin to fall until I was about 2 miles south of Hopkinsville, KY. Despite a moderate rain, I biked straight to the Cherokee Trail of Tears Commemorative Park. Upon entry, I discovered that Chief Whitepath and Fly Smith were buried here. I was veryContinue reading “Hopkinsville, KY”

No sights yesterday, just a grueling day of biking about 70 miles from Woodbury through Murfreesboro, Smyrna, downtown Nashville, and stopping in a small town called Joelton.  I reached a breaking point today. With temps over 90, high humidity, and waffle house as my best option for breakfast, my body gave out before Smyrna. MyContinue reading “Tolls”