Mineral, VA

Howdy All,

It’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog so I’m glad excited to give my two cents about the trip.

First of all I have to clear my name from insinuating remarks made in Andy’s post about the Katy Trail. Yes I may have injured or even killed two animals while on the Katy Trail, but you should examine the circumstances before judging me. Our first day on the Katy Trail was excruciatingly hot (The next day we found out that it was the hottest day on record in MO, and due to a late start and mechanical problems we ended up having to bike more in the heat of the day then we normally do). So picture me biking along next to Andrew, my brain is being fried by the toaster oven that is my helmet. All of sudden Andrew thinks that his front tire is getting low on air. Not wanting to stop to examine it he decides to simply lean over and look at it while riding. This, not surprisingly, causes him to swerve into me and push me careening off of the trail. This left me considerably jarred and a bit sore. So now I’m biking along, dazed from the heat and nearly being mangled by Andrew, and I see a squirrel in front of me. I couldn’t swerve to the right because it would have put me off the path, and with Andrew still biking on my left I felt no desire to recreate the scenario that he had just put me through. So I continued on my course, assuming the squirrel would have the good sense to get out of the way. The squirrel ran away from me but it stayed in front me. I started frantically yelling at the squirrel to get out of the way, but it was too late. The squirrel, giving in to its fate, turned around and looked me in the eyes, then(for no good reason) flopped over on its back right before I ran over it. As Andrew can attest, I immediately hopped of my bike and wailed over the plight of the squirrel. I was going to spend the next few days wearing sackcloth and ashes, but could you imagine the chafing? Regardless, that’s my story, you can decide if I’m a murderer or if I was just a victim of fate. On another animal killing note, the next morning a bird bounced of my neck, but it was far too dark for me to have seen him so that clearly wasn’t my fault.

Kentucky

West Virginia

Since the last post we’ve already made it in and out of West Virginia.  Leaving Ashland KY was pretty rough, we had a really late start and that tends to make most of us pretty antsy. Worst of all when we were only about 4 miles out of town Chris’ rear shifter cable snapped. I had to bike back to town(which, on the positive side, wasn’t that far away) to get a new cable, and then bike back to where the rest of the team was waiting. As a bike mechanic, one of the things that I hate working on the most is shifters. Road bike shifters are made of little intricate plastic parts, and what this essentially means is that you can’t work on them. Fortunately Chris’s shifter was more or less fine, the only problem was that what remained of his shredded cable was jammed in the shifter. We spent about half an hour attacking the shifter with a pocket knife and tweezers before we finally got the jammed cable out. Once we got the jammed cable out it was an easy fix from there and we were soon on the road again.

Andy fast asleep on the shoulder of a busy highway

That night we stayed in Charleston WV. With the late start that morning we didn’t end up getting to town until much later than normal. This meant that no one would be at any of the churches who’s doors we would otherwise knock on. We tried calling the pastors of different churches but we weren’t able to find any that would let us in. In the past we’ve found that churches will very rarely say no to our faces, but they generally have no problem saying no over the phone. When we can’t find a church that will take us into a three step course of action. Step 1: Chris mentions asking the sheriffs office for a place to stay. Step 2: Andrew or I suggest sleeping under a pavilion in the park. Step 3: We find the cheapest motel that’s on our route and get a room there. We repeated these steps adeptly not only in Charleston, but also in Marlinton, WV and Staunton, VA. The night between Charleston and Marlinton (editor’s note aka Andrew and my (Andrew) great memory: Summersville) we were convinced we were going to have to sleep under a pavilion until Chris found a pastor of a Presbyterian church who was more than happy to let us stay in the church. Unfortunately the fact that he called himself the weird pastor of the area did not seem to bode well for us finding churches later nights. Then again, the east coast is not known for its hospitality among touring cyclists and we knew that when we made the decision to ship our tents home.

Nearing the end of the trip has turned all of our minds toward reflection on the past nine weeks. Personally, I take a long time to mull over things before I feel like I have a good grasp on what happened. With everything that has happened I’m sure it won’t be for a while after I’m home that I have clear picture of what the trip actually looked like. One thing that I have been thinking about a lot lately is the influence of the team on me and the trip. My approach to this trip has always been at least slightly different than everyone else’s. I’ve been thinking about doing this trip ever since my senior year in highschool, so when it was decided that I was doing it during the summer of 2011 there was very little that could stop me. I knew from the beginning of our planning for the trip that even if everyone else dropped out and couldn’t make it, I would still go. Everyone’s presence on the team has undoubtedly changed the nature of the trip from what it would have been if I was by myself. Although I’ve found that change frustrating at times, it has definitely been overwhelmingly positive.  Its given me a chance to learn a lot about my self and everyone around me. Its also meant that I’ve been in situations that I wouldn’t have otherwise been in were I by myself.

Looking forward toward the end of the trip, here are some things that I’m sure I’ll miss once its over:

• Biking everyday
• The simplicity of having only one goal at a time(i.e. bike to such and such, eat, bike to such and such, find a place to stay, etc.)
• I already miss the mountains so much

Here are some of the things that I’m looking forward to once the trip is over:

• Culture: I’ve really missed the diversity and large amounts of people that come with living in a metropolitan area
• Academia
• Family
• Having a regular schedule, and predictable things day to day, even little things like getting coffee at the school co-op or going to work

Right now we’re all very ready to be home, ever since Platypus day there hasn’t been any other goal. Unfortunately this has changed all of our goals to being about the destination not the journey, but at this point does it really matter that much?

God lives in Virginia

On a final note its been great being in Virginia and recognizing names of places I’ve been through or been backpacking in. So in a certain sense I already feel like I’m home and that’s been encouraging.

xoxo

Casey