Lorenz Attractor in Processing

I coded up the Lorenz system instead of doing the rest of my work. By moving the mouse, the user can rotate the system, and then by using the arrow keys he or she can move the point about which the plot rotates. What's cool about this to me is that its solving the system of differential equations in real time, while you're rotating it. The color reflects the depth (z-axis) of the plot. I'd like to set it up such that one drags the mouse to rotate. Maybe once the semester is over.... For now, you're stuck with this GIF.

I had some trouble getting ArrayLists to work in Processing, as they feel very foreign to me (they're so Python) but I eventually figured it out. If you're interested, you can see the code for this project here.

N body update

I've been adding some fun features to my N-body code. Now you can grab the masses with your mouse to adjust their initial positions. Additionally, you can change the mass of the particles, which is reflected in their size. Here's a little sample of some of the new stuff. I've got it set up for four bodies right now. Adding more bodies is not really a big deal now, which makes me super happy. I'm planning on doing a little write up of the Physics of this code in the next couple of days. I also want to talk about how I should have been using Hamiltonian mechanics the whole time, as it results in a system of first order ODEs instead of a single second order ODE. For now, you're stuck with this .gif

For those of you who have been wondering about the physics of this simulation, I'll do a little write up. This is a relatively simple extension from the two or three body problem that you might find at the beginning of an introductory text on E&M or mechanics. Using the Lagrangian is definitely overkill here, but I really prefer using scalar quantities with generalized coordinates instead of messing around with vectors. Anyways, we start with our Lagrangian, $L$, in this case defined as follows. 

$$ L = T-V \\
L = \frac{1}{2}\sum^{N}_{i=0} m_i(\dot{x_i}^2 + \dot{y_i}^2) - \frac{1}{2}\sum^{N}_{i=0}\sum^{N}_{j=0,j\ne i}\frac{Gm_im_j}{\sqrt{(x_i - x_j)^2 + (y_i - y_j)^2}} $$
Notice that we divide by a half in the potential term because we're double counting everything in the sums. Solving for the equations of motion is actually quite easy, as we just plug everything into the Euler-Lagrange equation. For the $ith$ particle, the $x$ equation is as follows:
$$ m_i\ddot{x_i} = \sum^{N}_{j=0,j\ne i}\frac{G m_i m_j (x_i - x_j)}{[(x_i - x_j)^2 + (y_i - y_j)^2]^{3/2}} $$

Here, I think it becomes clear why this becomes computationally difficult for large N. As N increases, we slap on another term to each of our equations of motion, in addition to adding another two equations of motion (for each of the coordinates of the new particle). My java implementation starts to noticeably slow down after about seven particles.

N body in Processing

This was bound to happen. I coded up a super basic n-body simulation in Processing. It works by just iteratively adding terms to the equations of motion for each particle. Below is a .gif for 7 (7!) particles. The central one is more massive than the others, but there is (at least in principle) still interaction between the other particles. Notice how slow it goes! That means my computer is really taking some time to crunch those numbers! There's probably a good reason why we don't use this naive method for real N-body simulations.

Three body problem in Processing

I've been messing around with doing some very basic physics simulations in Processing. Last week I did the two body problem, which describes the motion of two particles under mutual gravitation. This week I extended the code a little to do the three body problem -- three particles under mutual gravitation. Coding this up was pretty easy, but finding initial conditions that resulted in something viewable was quite hard! I want to build in some interactivity such that a user can dynamically adjust initial conditions, but I've been too lazy to get around to doing that. Maybe next time I'll have done that! For now, however, you're stuck with a .gif I made:

From this little animation, you can see how chaotic this system is! You can set up a situation in which you get stable orbits. In the simulation below I set the mass of the central particle to be about 200 times that of the outer one. The one in the middle orbit is about 100 times smaller than that of the outer one.

Here you can see that the central mass is moving a little. This is because it is orbiting around the center of mass of the outer/central mass sub system. For those who are interested, I changed from float to double arrays in this code and my previous two body code. The stability of the solution increased in the long term as a result. As always, using an implicit ODE method would probably be the best way to ensure long term stability of my simulation.

UPDATE: As promised, I added some sliders to my code so that users can adjust the initial parameters of the system before letting it loose. Check out the gif below.

Two body problem in processing

Learning Processing has been a fun (and frustrating) experience for me. Coding in Java has me realizing how much Python spoils me. I keep getting NullPointerExceptions in Java because of how I deal with objects that I haven't initialized yet. I like that I have to declare the type for every variable. This organizes my thinking, and forces me to be more deliberate with my code. Processing is a powerful tool for visualization, but it's not as easy to use for doing math as Numpy. In Numpy adding two arrays together is trivial. So is performing operations. In Java, at least with regular arrays, you have to iterate through the array. Ugh. 

#Python
x = np.random.random((10,))
y = np.sin(x)
h = np.random.random((10,)) + x

//Java/Processing
float[] x = new float[10];
float[] y = new float[10]; 
float[] h = new float[10];
for (int i=0; i < 10; i++){
x[i] = random(10);
y[i] = sin(x[i]);  
h[i] = random(10) + x[i];
}

Anyways, I set about solving the two body problem in Processing. Normally when solving the two body problem, you do a coordinate transform, which ultimately ends up turning the problem into a 1 body problem. I want to turn my code into a three or four body code, so I stuck with solving things in cartesian coordinates. You might be thinking that I'm crazy, but I don't mind the extra lines of code for the simplicity of my approach. Let's dive in. The first thing to do is to set up the Lagrangian for our system. The idea of the two body problem is solve for the equations of motion of two particles who are mutually gravitationally attracted to each other. The Lagrangian for the system is as follows. $$ L = T-V\\ L = \frac{m_1}{2}(\dot{x_1}^2 + \dot{y_1}^2) + \frac{m_2}{2}(\dot{x_2}^2 + \dot{y_2}^2) - \frac{Gm_1m_2}{\sqrt{(x_1 - x_2)^2 + (y_1 - y_2)^2}} $$ By applying the Euler-Lagrange equations we can arrive at the following equation of motion for the four coordinates in our system. $$ \ddot{x_1} = -Gm_2(x_1-x_2)[(x_1 - x_2)^2 + (y_1 - y_2)^2]^{-3/2}\\ \ddot{y_1} = -Gm_2(y_1-y_2)[(x_1 - x_2)^2 + (y_1 - y_2)^2]^{-3/2}\\ \ddot{x_2} = Gm_1(x_1-x_2)[(x_1 - x_2)^2 + (y_1 - y_2)^2]^{-3/2}\\ \ddot{y_2} = Gm_1(y_1-y_2)[(x_1 - x_2)^2 + (y_1 - y_2)^2]^{-3/2} $$ Now we have to solve a system of nonlinear second order differential equations. We can simplify this problem a lot by turning each of the second order equations into a first order equation. I've talked about this in previous posts, but I'll go over it again briefly. Take, for instance, the first coordinate $x_1$. Let me create new variables $x_1^a$ and $x_1^b$ defined as follows. $$ x_1^a = x_1\\ x_1^b = \dot{x_1}\\ \dot{x_1}^a = \dot{x_1} = x_1^b\\ \dot{x_1}^b = \ddot{x_1} $$ Now I can rewrite my second order equation for $x_1$ as a system of two first order differential equations in terms of $x_1^a$ and $x_1^b$. Note that I've gone ahead and introduced the 'a' and 'b' notation for the other coordinates. $$ \dot{x_1}^a = x_1^b\\ \dot{x_1}^b = -Gm_2(x_1^a-x_2^a)[(x_1^a - x_2^a)^2 + (y_1^a - y_2^a)^2]^{-3/2} $$ With these equations in hand I can use any first order ODE method to step my equations through time. I used Runge Kutta in my code. I coded all this up in Processing, and I made a .gif for your enjoyment! Check it out below.

You might notice some decaying of the orbit. This is not physical, rather it represents a loss of stability in my ODE solver. This is even more pronounced when using a simple method like forward Euler. Also notice that I make no assumptions about the position or mass of the particle at the center of the frame -- I just defined it as having about 100x the mass of the second particle.

Two point charges in Processing

I've been messing around with Processing a little bit lately. In my last post, I animated the double pendulum, and it became pretty clear that I had messed up the math somewhere in deriving the equations of motion for the system. This time, I wanted to show the vector field around a point charge, or a pair of point charges. Here's a gif of the processing sketch I coded up:

Double Pendulum in Processing

I'm taking a class called Introduction to Interactive Media this semester. The second half of the semester concentrates mostly on making cool stuff in Processing. As much as I like Python, it has a few shortcomings. Making animations is one. I thought it would be cool to take some of code I used for solving differential equations (in Python) and plug it into Processing to see what happens. My first experiment involves animating the double pendulum. From this animation, I think it's pretty clear that I messed up the math somewhere, as it has some rather weird behavior. Check it out:

I'll have to re solve the equations of motion of this system to be sure that I have it right. Otherwise, I think part of the issue might be the method I'm using to solve the system of differential equations. I haven't (yet) incorporated a linear algebra package into my Processing code, so I'm stuck using forward Euler method. Alternatively, I think I could use another explicit method that allows for better stability, like Runge-Kutta. Another thing I'd like to do is to make the speed at which the animation plays independent of the step sized used in my solver.

I see Processing as a really cool tool for Physics visualizations. Stay tuned; I plan on doing a few more of these simple animations over my Fall break. 

Finite Element Method (FEM)

I've taken a little break from neural networks lately to work on some code that solves Poisson's equation in two dimensions using finite element method. This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time now, but I've spent far more time lusting than doing. FEM is cool because one can deal with irregular domains. I've messed around a little with finite difference method (FDM), but this only works on regular domains. If you wanted use FDM on a non rectangular (or circular in polar coordinates) shape, even just an 'L'-shape, you'd have to do some nasty boundary condition matching, or just give up. If you do FEM on a rectangular domain, the matrix you solve ends up looking exactly like the one you use for FDM. In this post, I'm just going to form the weak form of the Poisson equation with zero boundary Dirichlet conditions.

Recursive Neural Nets

I've been looking for a way to up my haiku game for a while now, and I think I've found it. Recursive, or recurrent, neural networks (RNNs) are a novel (for me) neural network architecture that can be "'deep’ in both space and time, in the sense that every piece of information passing either vertically or horizontally through the computation graph will be acted on by multiple successive weight matrices and nonlinearities" (Graves, 2014). Sorry for the long quote there, but I feel like it encapsulates the architecture of RNNs pretty well. Instead of passing input vectors through a series of vertical (or horizontal) nodes, like in feed forward networks, activations are formed using information from weight matrices in the same layer which are then fed forward through the network in the usual manner. If you want to visualize this a little better, look at this page (which is also the source of my inspiration for this little project). A lot of articles, like the one I quoted above, talk about propagation in time and space. This is just a convenient way of talking about 'moving through' (another way of saying 'doing lots of matrix-vector products') a neural network. Normal multilayer perceptrons (MLP) like the one that I made/borrowed only move through the spacial direction, which means that successive iterations have no effect on each other. RNNs are essentially constructed of feed forward networks that are connected at some level, usually through the hidden layer. This means that the hidden layers have their own weight matrices. If you think that my understanding of RNNs, or MLPs is incorrect, please let me know, as I'm still trying to learn and understand this stuff.

Iowa rides, neural nets

I've been taking a lot of rides since I got back from my trip. I think I've been cranking out 5 or 6 rides a week, which is more than I anticipated. I figured that after riding across the country, I'd want to be done riding for a while. Not true! I've been loving riding in the Iowa City area. The countryside is beautiful. Unlike riding in the twin cities, I can be out on some rural road in less than 15 minutes from my house. Contrary to popular belief, Iowa is not entirely flat. I ride a lot of rollers around here. Nothing crazy, but at least the terrain is varied. Nothing like west-central Kansas, which is flatter than a damn pancake. Today Tom and I went out to a little town called Oxford, about 20 miles north and west of where we live. Coming back, we had a monster tail wind, some nice rollers, and a beautiful tarmac road. We passed the occasional farm house, but corn and soybeans were our constant companion. In the wind, the soybean fields ripple, as if a wave is passing through them. It makes me feel like I'm riding on some causeway through a large body of water.

On the road to haikus

For the last few months I've been working on a little project in which I try to generate haikus. At first, the goal was simply to construct a series of words that had the correct haiku structure, 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the 2nd, and 5 in the last. Not content with word salad haikus, I decided to try to make poems that made a little bit of sense. As a result, I scraped article titles from CNN (using a cool little module called newspaper) and selected chunks of texts that had the correct structure. This resulted in some interesting haikus. Due to the fact that my code made text selections at random, most of the poems were impossible to read. At this point I decided that I needed to model how sentences are constructed using real texts (from books, or the article titles I mentioned above) as my data.

After looking through some text, I realized that the way words appear in a sentence depending on two main factors: the preceding word, and the location in the sentence. 'The' is more likely to appear at the start of a sentence than say, 'him', and 'flows' is more likely to come after 'water' as compared to 'burns'. Instead of looking at individual words however, I thought that it would be best to look at categories of words. Parts of speech is a good way of categorizing words, as it allows me to build sort of a sentence template. If I can create a list consisting of a series of parts of speech, creating a sentence is relatively easy -- you just plug in words that correspond to the part of speech at each location, and a sentence is formed. Analyzing the factors I identified above comes down to answering the following question: "What's the chance of observing part of speech A in position x+1 given that part of speech B is in position x?" The trick is to do it for all combinations of part of speech at every location up to some predetermined location in a sentence (say 7 spots). In the end, you get a three dimensional matrix whose slices represent the probabilities of finding each part of speech given all the other parts of speech in the preceding location. This seems all well and good, but it doesn't work. If you try to construct a 'most probable' sentence using this method, by looking at the most probable combination in the first slice, and then using the result of this as the starting point in the next slice, you get a bunch of nonsense. I remember getting a list of 5 nouns with a verb or two thrown in there. The reason why is simple. This method doesn't take into account how having part of speech 'A' in position one effects the probability of part of speech 'B' at some downstream position in the sentence; it only takes into account the adjacent position. For awhile I thought I would try to construct a cumulative probability tree, where you look at the frequency of every possible combination of parts of speech up to some predetermined location, but this ended up being, as you can imagine, computationally expensive. I resolved to try a different method.

Instead of looking at words as the base unit of a sentence, I thought it would be simpler and easier to look at common sequences of words as the base unit for my sentence. I wrote a little piece of code that grabs a sequence of parts of speech from a random sentence in a text and sees if it occurs at any other point in the text. It's possible to do this for every sequence in the text. The result of this code is a structure that contains highly frequent sequences of POS (parts of speech). Below are a few examples of chunks that I've 'filled in' with words from the text:

the miserable possession brought the stream
the chief god of an age
the dark country Over a wall
you wanted a beating for justice
they saw a mighty jerk of a distant spot
you drew the good fairy of the young man

Notice that these sequences don't really make any sense, but they're not word salad. Notice too that most of these chunks are just that; chunks, not actual sentences. Right now I'm working on a way of knitting together sentences to create something a little more coherent. I'm also trying to devise a way of creating associations between individual words. Some words just don't work together, while others fit together nicely. As I'm working only with POS, my code is blind to these possible word associations. I'm thinking of applying a 3-gram approach, where I look at the frequency of 3 word segments in a text. My project is on github, but it's kind of a mess. 

Final Thoughts

I've been having a hard time writing anything about the last few days of my bike trip. The last few days of biking were hard, long days, each more than 80 miles. Less than 24 hours after arriving in Yorktown, my dad came to pick me up and we proceeded to drive some 7 hours up to New York. We spent the next two days after that driving back to Iowa City. It was awesome to see everyone in New York, even if it was only for an evening. Brandon, Jack and Ornella were there, as well as the Mistry gang. I hadn't realized how much I missed my friends until I saw them. After getting back to Iowa, I resolved to take two days completely off. I rode my bike, but only casually. I didn't start in on any of the tasks that I've been meaning to get done while here this month. I just watched TV and hung out with my parents. I tried to write about the last few days of the trip, but I just sat at my keyboard with nothing to say.

Biking across the country, I fell into a routine of intensity that absorbed much of my attention and effort. I feel like I didn't make time in my head to miss people. While biking, I didn't think about much. I never spent time contemplating GR or poetry or programming. Mostly I thought about how many miles I'd ridden that day, if I should stop soon to put on sun screen, or holy shit I'm super hungry let me nom down on a bagel with peanut butter. Off the bike, I thought about eating, and where I was going to stay. The evenings were oftentimes the best for me. While I definitely enjoyed getting up everyday to ride my bike, it was also nice to hang out at a campsite or church in the evening, lounging in the (sometimes) cool air, eating, and reading books. As the trip progressed, I found that I wasn't as lonely as at the beginning. I think that I started to revel in the solitude of the experience. At the same time, I also found myself interacting with strangers on more occasions, and more confidently. I slowly accepted the fact that 99% of conversations I would have with strangers were going to be superficial, but that doesn't mean that I couldn't get a brief glimpse into their lives.

I think that my objectives for my trip shifted as I made my way East. Originally, I imagined that the trip would be about testing myself, day after day, to see if I could make it across the US. Somewhere in Eastern Colorado, I realized that I was physically capable of biking across the country. I slowly arrived at the idea that the only impediment to my progress was my idea of what a bike tour should be like. If I didn't feel like knocking on strangers' doors to ask if I could stay with them, I didn't have to. If I woke up one day thinking that I was going to bike 120 miles, then I could. If I woke up and felt the need to ride 30 miles, then I could. I was free to ride it however the hell I wanted to. For once, the only expectations that governed my behavior were my own. I didn't have to stop and gawk at historical sites. I didn't have to stop at state and national parks if I didn't want to. Ultimately, however, I knew that I wanted to ride. Looking back, I think that one of my favorite parts of the trip was seeing the way the landscape changed as I rode. A bicycle is fast enough to make it across the country in a summer, but slow enough to enjoy the vastness and diversity of the American landscape.

Diamondback Haanjo comp long term review

I wrote this review about a week after I replaced my bike in Kansas. I'm working on a post about the last few days of my trip. Here's a brief update. After arriving in Yorktown, Tom came to pick me up (after driving 1100 miles) and we drove to New York, where we spent the night at the Mistry house. We had a good time catching up with everyone. I didn't realize how much I missed everyone until I got there and saw them. It was wonderful to be able to spend even a little time at the Mistry house. After another two days of driving, we got back to Iowa City yesterday afternoon. It's good to be home.

Back in St Paul, I had a gigantic Schwinn world sport frame lying around. I resolved to build it up with some parts that I had, including a double FSA gossamer crankset and an eight speed rear setup from my first road bike. This bike played host to a number of firsts for me. Friction shifters was one, and gobs of tire clearance was the other. I think I could jam a 35c tire in there. For the first time in my biking life, I could go off pavement. No single track (as there is little single track in the vicinity of a kid without a car) but definitely off road. Some unpaved bike trails, some dirt by the river. I got muddy for the first time. I broke a wheel for the first time. It was awesome. The bike wasn't ideal though. I knocked my nuts on that top tube so many times that I wondered if I'd ever be able to reproduce. I could never get the fit right because of the size of the frame. Also, it was heavy as hell, and the gearing was less than ideal. But it made me lust for getting dirty.

When I was planning my bike trip across America, I wanted a bike that I would be able to tour with, but also something that I would be able to take off road. After some research I decided that the haanjo comp was going to be my beast. I rode the shit out of the bike in new York. I rode gravel, a little single track, and a lot of roads. It was my adventure bike. If I saw a road or trail that looked interesting, I pointed the bike and went. I didn't worry about breaking things or not having enough traction-- the 42c stock tires tore it up. If I ever needed more grip, I just took a little air out of the tires, and I gripped. This bike wrecked gravel trails. It was light enough to fly up descents, and stout enough to handle the beating that dirt trails can dish out. I could ride with roadies and do okay-- occasionally I'd fall behind, but only with crazy fit people. I remember one ride I took with a woman and her friend where we averaged something like 22 mph for a few hours. The diamondback haanjo comp is a do everything pretty well type of bike. Not a mountain bike, and not a true road bike, but some sweet sweet spot right in between.

I do have a few niggles with the bike. Diamondback never explicitly states that the bike is not designed for racks, so they felt they weren't responsible when the braze-ons ripped off the bike. This is not a touring bike, but I thought I could get away with touring on it. It held up for 1800 miles. It performed well for 1800 miles, in fact, after I changed the gearing. Two other things irk me about the bike. The shift cable routing is under the down tube. What the shit. This is a bike designed to get super dirty, and mud ends up right where those cables get routed. This means that shifting inevitably sucks after about 100 miles off road. The front derailleur is a clamp on type, which by itself is not an issue. However, the position of the second bottle cage mounts are such that the front derailleur cannot be put low enough to accommodate the 46 tooth chainring in the front. This means front shifting is always a bit lackluster.

In general, this bike was awesome for me. I've ever had as much fun on a bike as with the diamondback haanjo comp. It's a bike where you point and go, and you get there fast, and comfortably. What more could you want?

Yorktown!

I made it to Yorktown! I rode the 80 miles from Mechanicsville, super casual, and here I am, chilling by the York river. I biked across the United states! I'll be writing more on the last two days soon. Thank you to the people who have helped make this trip possible. Without my sponsors, and the goodwill of strangers, from members of church communities to people offering me food on the side of the road, I wouldn't have made it this far. Thanks to my dad for driving all over the US to be my support team. 

Out of the mountains!

Wytheville to Catawba, Catawba to mallard duck campground 

No matter how I try to convince myself otherwise, I feel like these rides were kind of intermediate rides, just trying to get from one set of mountains to another. The landscape was very hilly, and covered with farms. For a good chunk of these two days, I had mountains on both sides. Pretty, but I was itching for some big climbs. A few things are notable. The city park in Catawba was gorgeous. There wasn't any running water, but they had a port o potty and a fantastic view of the Catawba mountains. The mallard duck campground was also beautiful. The tent sites are tucked away by a little river, and the evening light made the scene very romantic. Some nice folks from an rv site offered to feed me! Oh, man, that food was good!

Mallard duck campground to Charlottesville 

This is the ride I'd been looking forward to since I left Damascus. From the campground, I snaked along the river for awhile before ascending about 2000ft in roughly 3 miles. That climb was insane. Steep, long, unforgiving. It scratched my itch for climbing, and then some.  After the big climb, I rode along the blue Ridge Parkway for 27 miles. This was full of beautiful vistas and long ascents and descents. I even ran into some other riders! I decided not to take pictures because of the haze. The haze made it so the colors felt flat, and it smudged out the contours of nearby mountains. I just hope it wasn't related to air pollution. After the Parkway, I made a quick descent down to sea level where I encountered even more hills. For some reason I had it in my mind that once I got out of the mountains I'd be done climbing. This is not true. I hit more steep rollers, all the way to Charlottesville. In all, a good ride, but very hard.  

Damascus to Wytheville

Today I'm riding about 60 miles from Damascus to Wytheville. I've got about 12 miles left in my trip, but I've done almost all of the elevation change. I was disappointed. I expected some brutal climbs out of Damascus, the kind where you swear and sweat and almost fall over from going so slow. Instead, I rode basically a railroad grade for the majority of the climbs. I think my max elevation was about 2000 ft higher than where I started in Damascus. The reason I feel disappointed is because this is the second to last big climb of this entire trip. I wanted it to be epic. Instead, it was a long, easy spin. On the plus side, I got to ride a rail trail for the first 12 miles of my ride. The Virginia Creeper trail is only about 35 miles long and it happens to run parallel to the TransAm for a little bit. As always, it was nice to get out of traffic, and to indulge in a different tire sound (that of crunching gravel). I'm now entering the region in between the two ranges in the Appalachian mountains. In about two days time, I'll be doing the climb out of Vesuvius, VA, which promises to be awesome.

Last night I stayed at Crazy Larry's hostel in Damascus. I originally intended on staying at "The Place" but after I biked around town looking for a laundromat, I discovered that Crazy Larry's is about the only place in town that does laundry. I walked in, took one look at the bed in the front room, and decided I was going to stay there. It was a little bit more than I wanted to spend -- $27.50 for a bed and laundry, but I think it was worth it. Larry fed me dinner and breakfast (dinner was pork and beans and cooked spinach, and breakfast was chocolate chip pancakes) and chatted me up all afternoon. It was great to sit and listen to someone talk about some of their adventures. I learned a little bit about the Appalachian Trail in the process. Perhaps one of the most interesting things about the people who hike the AT and the people who tour on bikes is the way they sign guest books. Bikers usually say something along to lines of "Thanks for letting me stay here. [Optional: Insert something about being good Christians] It was rainy outside and it was nice to not be wet. -- [name, starting point, ending point]". Hikers sometimes write page long messages, explaining their rationale for doing the trip, the thing they've learned about themselves, and some other information about themselves and their life story. Other times they draw pictures, or write poems. Some don't even address the host. I like the hiker approach a little bit better. Maybe I'll try to employ it for the remainder of my trip. At the end of the day, I have no desire to hike the Appalachian Trail. Hiking seems too slow. A long day for a hiker is 35 miles. A long day for me is 120 miles. In other words, it takes forever to go from point A to point B.

Tomorrow I start the last of my maps. Exciting times in Virginia.

Short day to Damascus

Today I rode about 35 miles. This is the shortest ride I've done on this entire trip. I'm treating today as a rest day. I plan to do laundry, walk around, and maybe take a nap. It's crazy to think that I've only got about a week left of riding. Yesterday I planned on staying in the city park in Council, VA, but I got bored. I ran out of books to read, so I found myself just sitting around. By 5 o'clock I was itching for some more hills. I got on my bike, and rode to the next spot on the map that provided free lodging -- a methodist church outside of Rosedale, VA. Up until Council, it was clear that the landscape had not changed much from Eastern Kentucky. As soon as I got up and over big A mountain (no joke) I felt like I had really entered a new state. Riding in Eastern Kentucky (and western Virginia) as I've noted before consisted of following creeks and rivers, occasionally riding over big hills. Once I got over big A mountain, I found myself gazing upon a vast, hilly meadow. In the far distance I could see a ridge of mountains. I've started to climb that ridge today, and I'll get over it tomorrow on my way to Wytheville. You can see the route I took to area by the church below.

Damascus is notable as it is the only place where the Appalachian trail and the TransAmerica trail intersect. It's home to a number of hiker/cyclist hostels. I'm staying in one called "The Place." Two days from now, I start on the last of my maps. I think I've gone through about nine of them up until now.

Eastern Kentucky and Virginia

21/07/2015

I made it Virginia! I'm currently sitting at a picnic bench in breaks interstate Park, about 4 miles into Virginia. I've still got some hard riding to do, but I'm pretty excited to be out of Kentucky. My experience in Kentucky was far different from what I expected. I've run into a number of folks who tell me that Kentucky is full of rabid dogs, and is terribly ugly east of Berea. While I encountered a few dogs, I didn't feel that I was in any danger of being eaten alive. The landscapes were fantastic. Most of my time was spent riding along creeks and rivers that run in between the hills. Every 20 to 30 miles I would climb up one of said hills. The climbs have been short but brutal. Most of them have been less than a mile and a half, but I often find myself in the easiest gear on my bike, crunching along at 3.5 mph. The descents are fun; steep with lots of turns.

Yesterday my plans to stay in Hindman, KY fell through, as I hadn't given the host enough lead time. The next free place to stay was another 50 miles down the line, so I ended up riding about 120 miles. 9 and a half hours on the bike. Luckily the place I stayed had a bed, so I slept like a baby. Thanks to Greg and Alice for providing a comfortable and welcoming place to stay.

Two days from now I go over the first of two big climbs in the Appalachian mountains. Everything I've been doing up until now will pale in comparison to these climbs. They say cyclists sometimes just keel over from exertion on these climbs. They say Vesuvius, the second one, is five miles long at a 22% grade. 

Two short days

18/07/2015

After I got to bardstown, I was feeling pretty beat. Normally I get up naturally at around 5:30, but I got up at 9! Even with the time change, that's pretty incredible. That  might be the latest I've gotten up on this trip. Usually I feel a little sluggish in the morning, but it wears off after a few minutes of being up. In bardstown, however, I just couldn't beat the fatigue. I went to McDonald's, had a huge breakfast, but I still couldn't motivate myself to get on the bike. I resolved to take a tour of the local bourbon distillery and then head out, but only to Harrodsburg, a town about 45 miles down the line. The tour was way cool! I got to try some good bourbon, and I finally understand the distinction between bourbon and whiskey. I thought about getting some for some friends who appreciate it, but ultimately decided it wouldn't fit. Setting out at noon was a mistake, however. I hate riding in the middle of the day. It was incredibly hot, and the sun was brutal. I was admittedly pretty miserable. I thought that I could bike through the day without eating, which was dumb. It's hard to go more than about 30 miles without eating something. I pushed on, ignoring the gurgling in my belly. It's like I subconsciously wanted to feel shitty. The landscape was beautiful, of course. I rode along a little creak in between two sets of hills. It was shady, relatively flat, and kind of cool. The hills getting out of the valley were super steep. I would have loved them any other day. I decided that my bad day was due to too much caffeine and subsequently a lack of sleep. I hadn't  slept for more than 5 or 6 hours in over two weeks. I resolved to get a motel and sleep. And I did. 

I woke up today after sleeping 9 hours, and my ride into Berea was great! Another much needed 45 mile day. Berea seems pretty cool. One of the few places I've encountered on this trip that have vegetarian and vegan food. I think I'm ready to put on some better mileage to get out of Kentucky. Apparently I start going into the Appalachian mountains tomorrow! I think it might rain tomorrow, which could be a nice break from the heat and sun. The next place I'm looking forward to hitting is Damascus, VA. This is the only place where the TransAmerica trail interests the Appalachian trail, and I'm excited to stay at the hostel there. I think it might be my first night in Virginia as well. 

Me, Robyn, and rollers

I've been riding all day and resting in my spare time. I've had a hard time writing anything for some reason, so my post is a little disjointed. I know I'm close to the end of the trip, but I feel really apprehensive about dogs, and I know the next week and a half or so is going to be hard. 

07/15/2015

I stayed in a Baptist Church last night, after riding 115 miles. That's the longest bike ride I've ever done. Surprisingly, I wasn't even in super bad shape at the end of it. My ass hurt, and my back was a little sore, but other than that, I was doing okay. The countryside, as promised, is gorgeous. Rolling hills (my favorite ), forests, farmland (they grow tobacco here, by the looks of it!), and minimal traffic. A cycling paradise. 

07/16/2015

I'm at a convenience store this morning feeling like complete shit, drinking a cup of coffee, contemplating my demise. This convenience store is like a new York deli that didn't quite make it, so it got transplanted to Western Kentucky, where it seems to be doing alright. It has that vibe like it's never been cleaned, or is constitutionally impossible to clean; the summer heat and humidity makes it feel like everything has a thin layer of greeeeze  on it. To top it off, two Indian dudes run the place. My own little slice of Nyc. 

Pepper sprayed a dog yesterday. This big fucker came rocketing toward me so fast I thought I heard a sonic boom in his wake. Its mouth was rhythmically opening and closing to the beat of its barks, revealing saliva covered teeth. What it didn't contend with was the fact that I came prepared. I nailed it right in the face. After hearing one too many stories about cyclists getting rabies shots after getting bitten by dogs, I'm not taking any chances. I'm just freaked out, that's all. What happens if I miss, and some dog bites me, or worse, gets caught up in my wheels? Constant vigilance is the name of the game, I guess. Only another 500 miles in Kentucky! 

I made it 80 miles today, all the way to a town called Bardstown. Apparently this is the bourbon capital of the world! I might stay a day and explore a little. I also might bike to Berea. I met a guy named Greg today on the road. He treated me to lunch at a little hole in the wall joint in some little town. It was delicious. Greg was really cool, and it felt really good to bike with another human being. I don't think I've biked with someone else since Colorado. Having someone to talk to really make the time fly by. Greg offered an interesting perspective on touring. Instead of trying to make it to the end as fast as possible, he decided that he needed to savor these last 1000 miles. For him that meant taking lots of detour and doing 40 mile days.  I think I'm going to take sort of a middle road; maybe not riding 100 miles a day, but also not riding 40. 

Two days, one post

07/12/2015

Today I ended up in Chester , IL. I'm staying at the local Eagles place. They have a bunk room for cyclists,plus showers and discounted food during the week. Like most of rural America, the beer is cheap and plentiful-- $2.50 for 22oz of crap, or a little more for a craft beer. Today was a good ride. For the first 60 miles I had cliffs on one side, and farmland on the other as I followed the path of the meandering Mississippi. I encountered a strange phenomenon as I passed by some of the bluffs. The bluffs, probably about 200ft high, had numerous caves along side the road. All of the caves that I saw were blocked off, with no trespassing signs. I think they were being used for some sort of mining, as I saw many truck roll through on laden with rock. Anyways, the strange part about these caves was that they were emanating cold air -- easily 30 degrees cooler than the air I was riding through. I stopped for a brief moment hoping to cool off in these naturally air conditioned zones, but as soon as I stopped I realized that the cold air smelled funny. It was noxious, with a deeply unpleasant flavor. What was going on there? What substance were they digging for?

07/13/2015

Despite getting up at 5:30 this morning, I didn't beat the heat. By 10, it was so hot that I had totally soaked my shirt in sweat. Out west, I could have laid my shirt out in the sun for ten minutes and it would have dried, but here in southern Illinois the humidity is such that everything is always a little damp. I'm sitting in a coffee shop in Carbondale waiting for the sun to get lower in the sky so I can keep riding. It likely won't get any cooler until much later, but at least I won't have the sun roasting me. I plan on riding another 55 miles or so today. Tomorrow I'm going to Kentucky, land of beautiful country roads and stray dogs. I took a detour to Carbondale to get some dog repellent. The roads here in southern Illinois have been amazing. Lots of little County roads,lots of tarmac, and even more hills. Coming out of Chester this morning I went up some hills where I had to use the lowest gear on my bike (with a triple!) and I was still pedaling at low rpm. At the top of these climbs, the views are amazing. Woods and farmland cover the rolling hills. Visibility is very high due to recent rains, so it feels like you can see forever. This roller-coaster landscape is some of the best I've encountered so far (I feel like I say that about every place I go!)

I should mention that I got to spend a day with my parents outside of St. Louis. While I was really sad to leave them yesterday, it was fantastic to be able to see them. They've been such a help, in every regard. 

A thank you to Bryce in Kansas city is long overdue. I underestimated how big the metro area is, and without his help, in giving me directions and rides, I would have been screwed. Plus, Bryce is an awesome guy. I knew I was in for a good time when we he handed me a cold beer after he rode out to meet me when I was coming in from Ottawa. I'm happy and grateful that I had the 

opportunity to stay with him. 

07/08/2015

I went into today thinking it was going to be the most miserable ride I'd ever do. It started off pretty shitty. My knee was clicking again, and it was raining pretty hard. I was cold, wet, and looking at doing 90 miles of riding on a wet gravel trail. Pretty soon, the Walmart poncho paid off, as it kept me well insulated. I was warm and wet, and the trail wasn't as hard to ride at I expected. My new bike sails over the crushed limestone of the Katy trail, what with its 40c tires. I'm still not sure about the flared handlebars, but I'm sure another 170 miles will tell if they're going to stay with me across the rest of the country.

The trail itself is crushed limestone, like the best parts of the flint hills trail. I'd say it averages about 10 feet across, making it such that you and a friend could comfortably ride abreast and still have room to let oncoming traffic by. Most of the trail I rode today was wooded, with trees leaning in towards the middle on both sides, making it seem like you're riding through a wooded tunnel. Rain always makes the green of tree leaves appear more saturated, so the effect was even more mesmerizing today. The trail crosses many creeks and rivers, all of which were swollen and raging today. If I were to try and ride through in a few days, I might not be able to cross some of the bridges, as they would be flooded! Overall, the trail has been a welcome and long awaited treat.

Kamal, if you're reading this, you'll be happy to know that I'm growing out my beard. I'm going full Amish, albeit with a twist -- some guys gave me a faux hawk the other day in Kansas on the side of the road.

Below are some pictures from the last few days. I'm having trouble adding captions with my phone, so I'll do it here instead. The first is a shot of the Katy trail. The second shows all my gear, minus my tent, after sending my stuff to Clinton. I was traveling light! The third and fourth show the holes left in the seat stays on my bike after the rack ripped off. The same people who gave me my haircut also took the last picture. They were doing the same route as me, but in reverse.

Rain ride!

Today I set out in the pouring rain. The Katy trail begins. The new bike is sweet, and I'm pumped to get dirty today. I even got my stuff from the post office! I sent home another 7 pounds, and I took some weight out of my bags, so hopefully I won't be breaking anymore bikes.

Shout out to REI for hooking me up, and to everyone who has helped get me this far. I couldn't have done this with out the monumental support from friends, my family, and strangers.

A long term review of my old bike is in the works! Stay tuned!

Kansas part two

I'm doing another post via my phone, so be patient with any glaring mistakes. 

Since my bike broke, I've had to follow a different route through Kansas. Instead of going to through the southeastern part as adventure cycling would have me go, I'm going up to Kansas City, so I can visit the REI there and hopefully get my bike replaced. From Larned, the most direct route is to go along US highway 56. For the first day and a quarter out of Larned, I did just that. For the first 25 miles of the second day, I kept seeing all these crosses on the side of the road. It's likely that most of them are not from cyclists, but I had this feeling that if I kept riding on 56, I was gonna be one of those crosses. I resolved to get off the federal highway and take county roads. 

Once off the main highway, I found that things became quieter, and the scenery became more interesting. Rolling pastures and golden wheat fields extended to the horizon on both sides, and layers of hills were shrouded in purplish haze as they became more distant. The road itself scrunched up accordion style; I found myself going up and down many steep, short hills. I stopped in a little town called Tampa, where a woman opened her shop after hours for me, and later made me a sandwich. She even offered to let me use her pool! I declined the dip in the pool, citing my need to get to Herington before sundown. Such generosity and hospitality continues to blow me away. 

Today, after riding some unpaved county roads to council grove, I got on the flint hills nature trail, and rode it for almost 70 miles! Man, what a treat! No cars, no steep hills, and it wasn't even super hot! The trail is unpaved, and the surfaces ranges from gorgeous limestone pea gravel to dirt/mud to the gravel you see along railroads (the latter is almost impossible to ride with my bike, so I was lucky that I only encountered it for a few hundred yards). Sometimes the trail would get pretty covered in vegetation. Overall, for a trail that's technically still under construction, it was really nice. The grasshoppers got a little obnoxious sometimes. As you pass by, they throw themselves at you, and seem to cling to your leg hairs for a split second before disembarking. This is an unpleasant sensation, especially when tens, or even hundreds are doing it in the space of a few hundred yards! Even though I went a little slower than usual today, I had such a good time getting tired and dirty. Unpaved trails like that are too much fun. In Missouri, in hoping to ride a similar trail, the Katy trail, for most of the way across the state. 

Tomorrow I go to Kansas city to resolve my bike issues. Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly. 

I'm writing on my phone, so I'll keep this short. My rack broke off my bike outside of Larned, Kansas. I was able to make it into town before the whole thing collapsed on me. The rack itself is intact; there mounts on my bike broke off the seat stays, leaving behind some holes in the aluminum. Good news, REI says they're willing to get me a refund, and I can ride the bike. Bad news is that I can't haul anything.

I shipped my stuff to a little town in Missouri. I'm biking to Kansas City with a backpack and a tent. Pictures to come. In spite of everything, I'm having a blast. 

Western Kansas

I made it to Kansas! Its crazy to think that I've biked across California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. As Tom says, this is a good tour in itself. Other than the day from Pueblo to Ordway, I've been putting on some crazy mileage so far. I went from Ordway to Sheridan Lake, from Sheridan Lake to Dighton, and today I'm going as far as Larned. I'll put on about ~290 miles in three days. Kansas has been phenomenally flat, and I've had a tail wind since I left Ordway, so I've been hauling ass. Yesterday I averaged something like 19 mph. It was also crazy hot yesterday. It got up to about 85 by 10, and be the time I rolled into Dighton, around 4, it was 100 degrees. I didn't really sleep much last night; as I was going to sleep in the city park in Dighton, the sprinklers started up! I moved my tent around a few times, but the sprinklers kept following me. Eventually, around midnight, the sprinklers stopped, and I found a relatively dry spot to camp. If I had a camp pad, I would have just set up my sleeping bag on a picnic table. The wind was strong enough last night that I probably wouldn't have been bothered by bugs. I've been lucky to get a shower ever two days or so, but my grime level is still fantastic. I apply sunscreen probably four times a day, and I put on bug spray once or twice in the evening. Combined with the prodigious amount of sweat I generate during the day, I get a nice layer of scum covering my whole body.

So far, I really enjoy biking in Kansas. It reminds me of Minnesota and Iowa, and I feel comfortable here. The mountains are beautiful, but they feel strange and disconcerting. Seeing rolling farmland makes me breathe a sigh of relief.

Last night I decided to go to a bar in Dighton, and they were selling $1 beers! It was trashy Tuesdays all over again. Apparently beers aren't usually that cheap, but harvest time necessitates large quantities of drink, according to the bartender.

In Sheridan Lake, I stayed at a church. It's amazing how smells are capable of bringing back sharp and powerful memories. They let me use the kitchen and the bathroom, and everything smelled like Olivet! They used the same (bad) coffee, and even the same hand soap. I felt like it was a Wednesday evening, or a Sunday in the middle of the summer. I continue to be astounded by the generosity of the people that I encounter on this trip. This church leaves its doors unlocked all summer so that touring cyclists might have a place to stay. I've seen that same sort of generosity and hospitality in the church community in which I grew up. It's comforting to know that kind people exist everywhere. 

Eastern Colorado

It's been a while since I've made a post. I successfully made it out of the Rockies! I had two challenging mountain days before making it to Pueblo. Going from Gunnison to Salida, I climbed around 3500 ft crossing Monarch Pass. On the ride from Salida to Pueblo, I did another ~3000 ft of climbing to make it over the final set of mountains. Both were hard, but ultimately good days. I liked hanging out in Salida in the afternoon. It's a beautiful town situated on the Arkansas river, in sight of some huge snow capped mountains. During the weekend they close off some of the streets in downtown for festivals. While I was there, they were putting all the local galleries on display. While not quite as upscale as towns like Crested Butte or Telluride, Salida definitely has its fair share of expensive niche shops. I camped at a free state campground, Salida East, about 2 miles east of town. While it was kind of a shitty campground, it had a great view -- to the East the Arkansas River valley, and the West the snow capped Rockies.

I think I bit off a little bit more than I could chew biking to Pueblo. For some reason I got it in my head that once I got over the last pass, it would all be downhill into Pueblo. While that may technically be true, I was only really descending for 10 of the 40 miles into town. The rest I battled a relatively strong headwind. Ugh. Headwinds suck. That night, I slept in the backyard of someone from warmshowers. I was surprised to find one my fellow bike tourists who I had last seen in Ely, Nevada. Apparently she had taken a bus across Colorado, and decided to start riding again in Pueblo. It was good to catch up with her and to talk about some of our experiences.

The day after century rides always sucks. The 50 miles from Pueblo to Ordway was not fun for me. I left Pueblo at 11:30 or so, and it was steaming hot out. I had a meager headwind, but it was enough to just wreck me. My ass was killing me. I had no patience for the ride. I screamed. I yelled. I cursed. Once I got to Ordway, I decided to try my luck with one of the "cyclist only" lodging sites recommended by my maps. As indicated, I asked for a woman named Gillian, and was eventually directed to a farm on the outskirts of town. Gillian put me and three other cyclists up for the night, offering us showers, a bed, and the use of the kitchen, all for 15 minutes of yard work! I wasn't expecting to take a shower that evening, so I was giddy with excitement as I was undressing to get wet. Sometimes a shower is just great.

Today I'm riding from Ordway to some town 90 miles down the line. Right now, I'm in the library in a little town called Eads. I'll probably sit in the park, make a cup of coffee, and eat a peanut butter sandwich.

The last few days have been filled with emotional ups and downs. Yesterday, for example, I was angry and disappointed in myself that I couldn't just enjoy the ride. After 25 days or so of riding, I should be able to crush a 50 mile ride, right? When I got to Gillian's, I was happy to be able to share stories with people, and to do some garden work. I went to bed feeling content. This morning, as with many mornings, I was despairing over the prospect of riding 90 miles. What I've been realizing, however, is that I can't sit back and just tour like some people can. I can spend the first 15 miles of the ride just spinning and not putting in a lot of effort, but after that I get antsy. The scenery is not enough to keep me going. I have to work at it. I have to own the ride. While this is not a race, and I don't really have anywhere to be, I can't just sit there and pedal along at 11 mph for 90 miles. I go crazy.

Posts should be a little more regular over the next couple of days, as I'll have regular library access as I get into Kansas.

Another rest day, Montrose to Gunnison

I decided to take another rest day in Gunnison. I promise I'm not being lazy. As I was coming into town yesterday on my ride in from Montrose, I noticed this weird clicking in my knee. It's as if something had become misaligned in my knee, and it was rubbing, and then popping, with every pedal stroke. I got on the bike this morning, and I didn't experience the same thing, but I want to give my body a rest. I've got a big climb from Gunnison to Salida, and the last thing I need is a knee that's going to give me trouble. We'll see how I feel tomorrow; hopefully this is nothing debilitating. Part of the reason why I decided to stick around for an extra day is because I'm currently staying in a nice, cheap hostel. Cheaper than a KOA, and a little more expensive than the campsite North of town, but I get to sleep in a bed. I must have slept 12 hours last night. It was amazing.

The ride from Montrose to Gunnison was lots of fun, albeit full of ups and downs. I started off the morning riding into a 15 mph headwind and ascending for 14 miles. That was hard. There's nothing worse than riding uphill first thing in the morning. After descending a little bit into a place called Cimarron, I entered a beautiful, green valley. In the far distance I could see snow capped mountains. My joy at being in such a spectacular place faded as soon as I started another 1500 ft climb. After about a mile, I stopped, put on some Madonna, and cranked up the rest of the hill. I was in the zone. It was amazing. I was sweating, huffing and puffing, and my legs were on fire, but I felt like I was in the right place. I think the happiest moments I've spent on a bike have been on climbs. Tailwinds are fun, but there's always this nagging feeling in the pit of your stomach that the tailwind is going to be quickly replaced by a headwind, or that for every mile you ride with a tailwind, you can expect 3 (on different days) with a headwind. In other words, it feels like you're cheating. Climbing is not cheating, however. Climbing represents this epic battle against gravity. 

Naturita to Montrose

Tom and I said our goodbyes this morning. Sadness all around. Without my dad, I don't think I would have made it across Nevada or Utah. Knowing that there was someone there at the start, middle and end of each ride makes riding so much easier. Without Tom, I think I would have gotten caught up in the difficulty of the terrain and I ultimately wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. Utah is an spectacular place. I felt like the scenery there kept getting more and more strange and beautiful with every day that passed. Tom and I kept using the word "otherworldly" to describe some of the stuff we were seeing: Crazy red rock formations, deep canyons, and transitions from desert to alpine in a matter of miles. Looking back, it seems weird to describe something on Earth as otherworldy, because everything I saw in Utah comprises the geography of this planet. Otherworldy if you're used to the rolling green hills of Iowa.

Today, at mile 37, as I was taking a break at the intersection of highway 145 and 62, I met up with two dudes who were out for a day ride. We got to talking, and I found out that both of them were living in Telluride, living the bum lifestyle. They said that they lived in government subsidized housing for people who make under a certain amount a year. The goal, as one of the fellows told me, was to secure enough employment to be able to ski and bike, but not so much as to make more than this minimum. One of the guys was a bike tourist. He appeared to have done quite a bit of touring, both in New England and in the West. He was an interesting guy, and we chatted most of the way up from Placerville and down into Ridgway (no spelling mistake, I swear). It was about a 1400 ft climb, but we had a nice tail wind, so we really cruised to the top. Coming down, I hit my highest speed yet: 52 mph. After arriving in Ridgway, the two gentlemen encouraged me to spend the afternoon at a local hot springs. I checked it out, but I wasn't super enamored of the idea of sitting outside in 100 degree weather while immersed in 130 degree water. I have to drink enough water as it is. I made it to Montrose without any trouble, after meeting yet another bike tourist. All in all, a good day. I'm back on track, and pumped for the rest of Colorado.

Below are a few long overdue pictures. I would like to post them as I take them, but its hard when I'm impatient with slow upload speeds.

view from inside a canyon coming out of Escalante

On top of the hill, coming out of the canyon featured above. I was looking into the sun...

Panorama of the scene after climbing out of the canyon, coming from Escalante.

View from the top of Boulder mountain.

First view of the big mountains in Colorado!

Colorado!

Yesterday I biked from Moab to a town called Naturita in colorful Colorado. It was a 75 mile ride or so, and I think I did about 4000 ft of climbing. It was a super hard ride. I didn't know where or when the climbs would end, and it was the 12th day in a row of biking. About 60 miles in, I lost sight of the adventure. I was cursing the wind, mother nature, and myself for being so stupid as to bike across the goddamn fucking shit stupid US of A. I did make it to Naturita, after cruising up the last little rise at 4.5 mph. A rest day was definitely in order.

Instead of getting up at 5:45, I got up at 6:15 and Tom and I ate a leisurely breakfast. Tom had bought a piece of salmon the previous day, and we saved part of it so we could eat it with eggs and cream cheese for breakfast. I don't know if I really agree with how he cooks plain old salmon (he may overcook it), but breakfast today sure tasted good. After tomorrow, I'll be back to eating oatmeal and peanut butter for breakfast. It pays to have someone with a car and a cooler on a ride like this. After breakfast, Tom and I drove to Telluride, CO to visit Tom's cousin Steve. Telluride is a nice place. Lots of cute shops and nice places to eat. I got a dope burrito. The town has an interesting dynamic. On one hand, there are people like Steve, who own beautiful (second) houses. On the other hand, there are plenty of people may age who spend time there just so they can scrape enough money together to be able to ski or mountain bike. Without spending more time there, it's hard to ascertain how these different groups perceive and interact with each other. The town itself is gorgeous. It's situated in a deep valley surrounded by huge snow capped mountains. My first taste of real mountains. I'm super pumped to be able to slog up these suckers.

Tomorrow I roll out to Montrose, about an 85 mile ride. After that, I get back on good old 50 and head pretty much straight east to Pueblo. 

Moab, century day

Yesterday I woke up in an RV park just outside of Torrey, Utah, freezing my ass off. The wind was just howling out of the West. Tom and I rode out around 7:30 and I was cold enough that I wore my wool Pendleton. Capitol Reef was really cool. About 20 miles after starting my ride, a woman on a bike passed me, asking me where I was going. I told her that I was on my way to Hanksville, but the goal was the eventually end up in Virginia. She indicated that she too was on her way to Hanksville, but that she was going to go as far as Green River, another 50 miles or so up the line. After chatting for a while (and kicking ass with the monster tail wind) I learned that she was averaging more than 100 miles per day! Granted, she wasn't camping or carrying a whole lot of gear, but that is still an insane amount of mileage. After reaching Hanksville, we said our goodbyes, and I waited around for Tom to show up so we could get lunch and set up camp. The plan was to spend the afternoon in Hanksville, and then go to Hite Recreation Area the next day. After lunch, Tom and I decided that it might behoove us to check out the campsite at Hite, as no one had been answering the phone at the  Ranger station, and we'd been getting rather ominous reports from locals about the location. Driving down into Glen Canyon was spectacular. Utah continues to blow me away with the scenery. When we got to Hite, after crossing the Dirty Devil and Colorado Rivers, we quickly realized why locals had been telling us such negative things about the area. There was no shade at the campsites, and it was hot. Not Abu Dhabi style hot because there was almost no humidity, but hot nonetheless. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot by the ranger station, I felt an oppressive sense of isolation. The area was desolate. It felt like the most desolate place I'd encountered on my trip. Lake Powell, the centerpiece of this area, is no more. The Colorado River practically trickles through the huge valley. In years past, the river dammed up to form a lake, but now there simply is't enough water. The campsite was once located on the edge of the lake; yesterday the campsite was easily 150 m from the edge of the water. The drought you've been hearing about in the West is real.

Tom was freaked about Hite. I think the desolation of the area really got to him. I felt a sense of foreboding about staying at the campsite, but I figured I would leave late from Hanksville (around 4 or 5 in the afternoon) so we would minimize our time there. After sitting around in Hanksville for a couple of hours, I said fuck it, and resolved to bike to Green River. Tom was down. So I biked to Green River, starting at about 5 in the afternoon. I had a monster tailwind, so I averaged about 22 mph for the 55 mile ride. I rode 109 miles yesterday, and I got to ride my bike on a freeway (I-70). The girl I met in the morning inspired me to bike on. Today kind of sucked, especially in the morning, but we made it to Moab. By taking this detour from the Adventure Cycling route, I think I'll end up cutting about 100 miles from my trip. Moab is a really cool little town. Lots of bike shops, bike geeks, and dazed looking people with a thick layer of red grime covering their figures.

Escalante, Torrey

The last two days have been amazing. The bike trip just keeps getting better. The scenery here in Utah is stunning. I thought it couldn't get any better after riding out of Cedar City. I was wrong. Riding into Escalante, I thought that I had seen it all. Again, I was wrong. Today I climbed about 4000 ft, and saw three different geographic scenes. About 10 miles out of Escalante, I descended into this Canyon, full of layered yellow and red rock formations and desert scrub. After passing through the Calf Creek area, I climbed out of the canyon (a 14% grade for the better part of two miles!) and after riding the "hogback" I rode into Boulder, Utah. The hogback is a section of highway that is surrounded on both sides by about 400 to 900 foot drops. The views are breathtaking, and otherworldly. Boulder is agricultural, lush and green. After Boulder, I continued ascending, maxing out at 9600 ft after ~13 miles. It was a hard climb. After reaching the summit, I looked back, and was surprised to see a sign that indicated that the descent was an 8% grade for five miles. Holy shit. That's nuts. At the top of the hill, I was surrounded by grassy meadows and deciduous trees, like aspen and birch. While the remaining ~25 miles of the ride was mostly descent, I did muscle up some pretty nasty little hills. After getting over the Boulder mountain on highway 12, the landscape transformed again. The earth became red, and in the distance I could see the beginning of the Capitol Reef National Park. Capitol Reef, from what I can see, is full of gigantic red rock formations, shaped randomly and beautifully by erosion. Tomorrow I ride to Hanksville, Utah. We're still uncertain of where we're going to stay, but I figure that it will all work out in the end.

Yesterday was the first day where I got done with the ride and thought that I could do more. I probably could have made it another 30 miles up the line to Boulder. It would have sucked, but I could have done it. Today, however, I'm feeling pretty pooped. The climbs were awesome, but tiring. Below are a few pictures. I find it harder and harder to take pictures.

During the afternoon, Escalante was super hot. Not Abu Dhabi style hot, but so hot that Tom and I hid away in a restaurant and sucked down a couple of beers instead of sitting outside in our unshaded campsite. Once the heat broke, the town transformed in my eyes. Instead of bearing down mercilessly on me, the sun caressed me with its evening rays, while a cool breeze sucked away any left over sweat from the heat of the day. I read in a wrought iron chair by the laundry room, finishing up the Deborah Harkness trilogy before moving onto Mark Vonnegut's Eden Express. Overall a lovely, lazy evening without a care in the world.

Escalante is an interesting place. Most of the establishments appear to be appealing to tourists, either by providing high end outdoor equipment or a comfortable, gourmet dining experience. At the same time, a notice at the local grocery store indicated that the high school would be hosting a meeting to discuss the possibility of closing the local high school due to reduced enrollment. I can't help but wonder what will become of towns like Escalante in the next ten or fifteen years. The RV park in Escalante also had the nicest showers I've used since Abu Dhabi.

The road down into the canyon coming out of Escalante. Lots of fun to go down. Even better going back up.

I broke my stupid sunglasses. I got another pair, thankfully.