Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1998 16:18:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: Eric Zander
Subject: RoadKill Report 5sept98 - The Final Chapter

RoadKill Report 5September98

OK, OK, I admit it - I've been a lazy schmuck! Yes, as some of you have suspected, I finished my journey several weeks ago and have been very busy since returning home. I've also procrastinated writing this a little….

Let's see here… it's been a few weeks since riding Jezebel. She's jealous but Dukata's happy I'm staying away from Jezebel. The day I got home I put Jezebel away and started running. Running and cycling use different muscles. Although I can ride 150+ miles, I'm having trouble with running 3!
Sad to say but, I'm slowing joining the real world. Bought a car (Honda Civic hatchback), soon getting married. Geeze, next thing you know I'll even get a job! Any suggestions on how to avoid this????!?!?

Enough of these mundane things. Here's what's happened since my last report:

29July98 to 3Aug98 St. Louis Missouri
James warned me in several emails and phone calls that I shouldn't expect much at his place. In his words, it's a true "bachelor pad".
That was the understatement of the year!
Spent the better part of a week sleeping on the floor at James' place.
Shows what he thinks of me! We did a survey of the three Thai restaurants in St. Louis proper, the Issan (eastern Thailand) place wins hands down. Their prices are better, the staff friendlier (and prettier too) and, most importantly, the food is hotter (and we ain't talking temperature) but still not hot enough!
Also got to visit the Francis homestead. Although I cannot divulge the exact location under threat of death, to say it is in a rural setting would be kind. But, it's still not as bad as Wyoming! Nothing's as empty as Wyoming!
There is a rumor that there was a meeting of the CMCT (Central Men's Club of Thailand) but I can neither confirm nor deny such rumors; nor can I confirm or deny upon the existence of such an organization.
Anyway, Thanks to James, Christopher and Billy for their hospitality!!
You guys were great!

4Aug98 Tuesday St. Louis, Missouri to Benton. Illinois
120 miles
Pretty uneventful day. Illinois is about as exciting as eastern Kansas except not as hilly. Lots of farms and lazy rivers. Weather was cloudy with a few showers in the morning clearing to hazy, hot and humid - just the way I like it!!

5Aug98 Wednesday Benton, Illinois to Owensboro, Kentucky
137 miles
I didn't pay the campground last night (it was a state park) b/c I expected a ranger to be around in the morning. No ranger so, no pay!
Once I crossed into Kentucky it got hillier. Lots of coal and corn in southern Illinois and western Kentucky.
Again, a rather uneventful day. I like these days - just ride and ride and ride….

6Aug98 Thursday Owensboro, Kentucky to Bardstown, Kentucky
127 miles
Didn't pay last night either! That's 2 nights in a row. I'm a regular criminal by now.
Entered tobacco country today. Except for all the fields of tobacco, the scenery looks just like southeastern PA. I've been passing lots and lots of churches - almost more churches than trailer homes. Almost.
Last 2 nights have been really hot - no breeze at all. I like it hot during the day when riding but not at night when trying to sleep!
Guess it's the price I pay being in the mid-west in July.

7Aug98 Friday Bardstown, Kentucky to Salt Lick, Kentucky
140 miles
Yep, I'm definitely in red neck country now!
I tried to find a Thai restaurant in Lexington for lunch but failed in finding one. Maybe Thai people don't like red necks? Or red necks don't eat Thai food? Guess it doesn't go down well with their Budweiser….
Dinner sucked - the service was so slow I refilled my soda by myself!
I got a feeble apology from the waitress. No tip there….
I noticed on the map today that Kentucky is full of "licks". Now I'm not going to ruminate on why this is so, you all have very good imaginations. Examples include the town I was in tonight: Salt Lick. There's also: Mud Lick and others. Anyone want to offer an explanation?
Again, other than two idiots who almost duffed me, nothing much happened today.

8Aug98 Saturday Salt Lick, Kentucky to Charleston, West Virginia
130 miles
Salt Lick was right on the dividing line between the hills of Kentucky and the mountains east of them.
Last night sucked - I was kept up by "Billy-Bob" and his brothers, I mean, cousins. About 6 guys rolled into the site next to mine and literally drank and caroused until 5am. Just when I wanted to get up. I think I slept about a ? hour all night.
So, riding on no sleep made for a bad day. When I finally rolled into Charleston I was very relieved. On my way to the state park there (just south of town) while climbing a steep hill I passed a lady on an MTB. We said hi and I kept on my way. After stopping to try and find a non-existent Chinese restaurant (it closed a year ago) I kept going towards the park. Passed the lady on the MTB again and we started talking.
Well, April told me she thought Chuck, her husband, would think she was crazy but she invited me to stay at their house for the evening!
Chuck didn't think she was crazy (or, at least he never said as much in front of me).
April and Chuck live right on the edge of the park and are both into mountain bikes in a big way. They also have two of the cutest little girls I've ever seen. Almost makes me want to have kids myself. Almost.
April threw together a wonderful dinner and we talked until ?midnight? I would have liked to gotten to know them better but had to get going early the next morning. We exchanged emails and took pictures… April promised to send me her recipe for an amazing chocolate cake I had a taste of. It was out of this world.
Thanks a lot April and Chuck!!!

10Aug98 Sunday Charleston, West Virginia to Buckhannon, West Virginia
158 miles
I think this was the longest day of my trip so far. I'll have to check my journal.
I felt really slow all morning but at noon my average speed was 16mph - not slow at all. So, maybe it's just lack of sleep.
Lunch was at a teeny tiny restaurant in a teeny tiny town but the portion of lasagna I got was anything but teeny tiny. Really good and really cheap. Gotta love it!
Got stuck in a thunderstorm - brief but drenching.
James told me Missouri is God's country. Maybe so but West Virginia has the most beautiful geography of any of the states I've been through! So, sorry James, WV beats out Missouri in my book for beauty (and amount of trailer trash).
Got stuck in the dark. The last five miles of the day were in total darkness. I got out my flashlight to see the way but had to go slow regardless.
I'm starting to really drag. Last few nights haven't gotten much sleep and with the miles I've been doing, no recovery at all. Adrenaline and caffeine is what's keeping me going now.

11Aug98 Monday Buckhannon, West Virginia to Romney, West Virginia
119 miles
It poured rain all night long. I woke in a puddle. EVERYTHING was soaked and it was still raining when I woke. Sigh. Nothing I could do but pack up and ride. Once on my bike I don't mind the rain.
My right knee's been bothering me a little nut this morning it was really killing me. 3 Tylenol fixed it. I just kept popping Tylenol all day long to keep the pain down to a bearable level.
It rained all day long - finally clearing about 5. When I left the restaurant where I ate lunch I saw a puddle under my chair from my dripping!
Today was the day I crossed most of the Appalachians. Although they are mountains, they weren't bad at all but, by now I've been pretty hardened to everything. Really beautiful scenes all day but with the rain I was afraid to take out my camera so, no pictures. :-(
I wasn't looking forward to setting up camp - I knew everything would be wet and smelly. Yuk!

12Aug98 Tuesday Romney, West Virginia to Gettysburg, PENNSYLVANIA
122 miles
Although I had 2 more days of riding, this was psychologically my last day b/c once in Gettysburg, I was in known territory and; tonight will be my last night in a tent - tomorrow I'll be at a friends house. As worn out as I felt, knowing I was almost finished kept me riding fast and buoyed my spirits.
The people at the campground in Romney (owners and guests alike) were incredibly friendly - invited me to eat with them, talk with them, etc. A really great bunch of people.
Although it didn't rain during the night, with my stuff so wet (and smelly) from the previous days rain it sure felt like it had rained. I was able to stop at a Laundromat in town and dry everything 'cept books, camera and tent.
Today I saw one of the more interesting roadkills along my journey - a red salamander!
I ate lunch in Hancock, Maryland at the "Park and Dine" - great food, cheap and lots of it! I highly recommend it!!!
From Hancock I rode on the C&O canal path for about 10 miles - it goes all the way to DC.
For dinner I had 2 REAL pizza steaks and bought tastykakes!! I even saw a Philadelphia Inquirer! I'm home!

12Aug98 Wednesday Gettysburg, PA to Phoenixville, PA
111 miles
Last night was actually quite dry - no dew in the morning even.
Allowed my stuff to dry more.
Today was a wonderful day - about ? the route I rode I've ridden before. Went through Lancaster and Amish country - saw some of the Amish and Mennonites, horse-and-buggies and their farms.
At "only" 111 miles, today was an easy day. I was at John's place in Phoenixville by 5:30. John arrived home from work around 6:30. For those who don't know, John is such a good friend, he's regularly emailed me along this trip. His salutations usually run something like "Dear Roadsmear". With friends like this, who needs enemies???
After my snack of a meatball parm, we went to dinner at a local Indian place.

13Aug98 Thursday Phoenixville, PA to Sea Isle City, NJ
106 miles
Well, this is it! The final day of riding.
I woke late and took my good old time getting going - I thought it would be a quick easy 90 miles to the shore.
I rode from Phoenixville to Valley Forge Park (where George Washington and his troops spent a cold winter but never fought the British there). From Valley Forge to Philadelphia there's a really nice bike path that follows an old RR route. I arrived in Philadelphia around 11 and went to my alma mater, Drexel University for a REAL lunch - 2 soft pretzels, a pizza steak ("ya want onions on dat?") and a coke.
Properly fueled I headed down Market Street towards NJ when, at 13th St. I got my first flat of the day! UGH!
No big deal I though, I have 4 spare tubes and a billion patches.
Well, all of the spare tubes were defective!!! The valve stems of all of them were leaking. On the last tube, I only inflated it 1/2 way and slowly rode to Bike Tech over in China town (about 4 blocks away).
There I was going to buy two new tubes. Well, the guy there GAVE me the tubes! Nice guy, neh?
So, with my mechanical problems over, I headed over the bridge into Camden. There I promptly got my second flat! Although fixed in about 15 minutes, this was beginning to worry me. Bad luck!!!
About 15 miles down the road I blew out a tube! Third flat! Since there was a nice shady spot, I sat down, finished off all of my food (several powerbars, an apple, about 4 kit-kats and 2 pop tarts) then changed the tire.
Only about 50 miles to go but no bike shops so I was worried about another blowout.
Well, I arrived in Sea Isle about 6pm with no more flats. I was really worried b/c the last trip I did (Boston to Philadelphia) I had 8 flats on my final day!
Dad took some pictures and then I hung Jezebel up.
That's it!

Total distance: 6373 miles.

I'd like to thank EVERYONE for all of your help, support and encouragement. You all made this trip really wonderful. From letting me eat everything in your fridge to putting me up at night to giving me discounts on stuff for Jezebel - I really appreciate it. I would really like to name names and thank lots of you for your specific contributions but, I also want to keep this report relatively short so, sorry.

If any of you want a hard copy of all the RoadKill Reports, let me know - now that I have a computer and printer it's easy for me to do. I figure it's the least I can do for you guys. Also, if any of you move or change your email address, let me know. When my life settles down a bit I'm gonna put together a web site of my adventures and will send a short email to you all with the address when it's done. Or, you could also probably check out James' web site periodically also - I'm sure he'll put a link there when I get my site up (but, then, he may be jealous of my awesome (not!) web skills and not do it). His web page is at www.geocities.com/tokyo/dojo/9260 I'm planning on rewriting the RKRs, adding photos, links, maps, graphics (Yes, I will try to learn Java!) and even recipes I collected along the trip on the page.

Once again, thank you everyone!!

Z-YA!

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