Solo Touring

[AnnieBikes]

Have a wonderful and safe trip. I look forward to hearing about your trip! Stop and smell the roses!

[Biketouringrook]

Oh God!!!!!This is so hard! The waether is very nice, but the wind and the hills are not so kind. Yesterday was my worse cycling day ever. I don't consider myself to be a weak person, but yesterday I PUSHED my bike up some of the most impossible hills. I have never seen hills so steep. The first two days were a blissful ride of 100 miles of bike trails. I had to find an emergency hotel because I went two miles out of the way to a campsite that was not a campsite. I was so tired. Today I have renewed energy and will continue on. I am told by the hoterl desk clerk to expect some of the same hills as yesterday.
Along other lines, the people that I have are so very nice and enjoyable to talk with. I have my people from all parts of life. I only have 11 more days to go. Oh boy! will write more later when I find another computer.

[tulip]

There's no shame in walking if the hills are too hard. I see you are from South Florida...no matter how strong you are, if you can't practice riding hills, they will be difficult. Put it in a low gear and enjoy the scenery as it slowly passes by.

[shootingstar]

Excellent Biketouringrook! Let us know your mileage in your next message to us --include the distance that you walked with bike up the hill. It still requires physical effort just to push the bike with weight upward.

So you will be done in 11 days? Thought you were planning to go up to the Canada-U.S. border.

Maybe you're superwoman. Or at least, you'll feel like it soon!

[MomOnBike]

What's wrong with walking a few hills, I'd like to know? Really, you and your bike made it up and over the problem hills under your own steam - you just chose a more, um, convienent method. (At least that's what I told myself on tour)

You could also think of it as cross-training.

Keep it up, m'girl. All forward motion is good. Take pictures, and don't forget to blog.

[Tri Girl]

Glad you're having a lot of fun. There's NO shame in walking a hill- or crawling a hill- or stop and take a nap halfway up because you're so dead tired.

I'm so thrilled that you're having fun!!! Can't wait to hear from you again.

[Biketouringrook]

Thank you all so much! I was somewhat discouraged on that last message.
But now, this is it......I moving to Ohio! I love this place. I can hardly believe how nice and approachable the people are, even the teenagers. I am now on my back back. I didn't make it to Erie, PA. I stopped at Oberlin. I stayed one full day in Oberlin for picture taking, rest, and other stuff. On the morning of my leaving Oberlin to head for PA, the weather was really cold and it began raining little dropplets of ice (hail?). It kind of scared me and thought I should no head there.

Oberlin is so, so beautiful and peaceful. I love that place! no one is in a rush.
oh, oh, oh...let me tell ya....I got lost so many times. After I made my peace with the "hill gods" there was always someone around the corner to help me out. Boy, do I have some funny stories. I ran across one guy three times in my getting lost. He thought is was so funny. He gave me directions, and I still went the wrong way. So he decided to guide me through by driving ahead and parking his truck where I should turn (didn't I tell y'all these people were nice). Another guy passed me, went to his home, came back to find me and gave me some electrolite drink packages.

Now, here I am back at the hotel where I first took refuge fromi all of my discouragement from getting lost and overwhelmed by those darn hills. This time it is not my poor navigational skills that brought me here. I was actually 10 miles from my soon to be campsite, when I stopped at a dairy bar to get something to eat. While standing there a woman approached me and we talked about cycle touring and what I was doing. She said her husband is into cycle touring and is headed for the second time on some Smokey Mountain cycle tour. She then said "I hope your not planning to camp at Kokosing campground?" Of course I was...her next words were "they are no longer open." Just my luck! There were not hotels, motels, or other campgrounds close around, so I had to go back to a place that I remember (Comfort Inn) a distance of 12 miles away.

I love cycling in the cold. You may have a constant runny nose, but your water will stay cold, and you won't overheat. Last night was really cold. The RV'ers were worried about me. One guy offered me a small heater (Now where I am gonna put a heater in a tent). I put my tent up, set every thing inside, took a shower, ate something, climb into my nice 15 degree sleeping back and after about 30 minutes, I began to worry. It seemed that my feet were getting colder. I said to myself "okay rookie, this is some serious cold, this is not that Florida stuff, you don't want to freeze here and you don't have a car." I reached in my bag, pulled out my shoe covers for cold ridding and placed them on my feet. NOthing was happening. So I took my cycling tights placed my feet inside of the tights and after about 20 minutes I began to warm up. After about an hour it got kinda hot in the sleeping bag, but I remained.

Gosh, I love this stuff! If the slaves actually traveled this rounted they have every ounce of my respect. I was having a difficult time traveling 400 miles one way on bike, when they walked over 3000 miles. Those cars will spoil you.....

Well, this is it for now, I look so forward to picking up the bike trail again.