April '09- 1,000 plus miles w/ RS 35cc....

THE WIND HAS STOPPED !! WAGONS EAST !!

3 a.m. and I'm going for the earliest start possible. It would be great to hit Georgia (50 miles away) by 11 a.m., it all depends on my lollygagging before hitting the trail.

You guys spooked me!! (If this was summertime, it would be a lot easier !)

Since the basketball game was a blow out, I kept going back and forth to lighten the load.

1/3 of the clothes are out of the saddlebags, the shaving kit shaved by 1/3.

The canvas roll under the seat is GONE. I'll be wearing layers right from the beginning, and some of the stuff I found at Goodwill for 50 cents, might donate it back to them when things warm up next week. I'll wear the worst longhandles I own, they too might be left at my buddies house...

Scrapbook is scrapped.....the heavy blue poncho may be next to go, I'll use the tarp under the tent and cover the seat at night with the yellow rainsuit....

The air mattress is out of the front basket, the sleeping pad is on standby. That is going to be the LAST sacrifice to the Gods of Gravity !!!

Beginning the countdown........10.....9.....8......
 
Music on: He's Gone
Rat in a drain ditch, caught on a limb, you know better but I know him.
Like I told you, what I said, Steal your face right off your head.

Now he's gone, now he's gone, Lord he's gone, he's gone.
Like a steam locomotive, rollin' down the track
He's gone, gone, nothin's gonna bring him back...He's gone.

Nine mile skid on a ten mile ride, hot as a pistol but cool inside.
Cat on a tin roof, dogs in a pile,
Nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile!!!!

Now he's gone, now he's gone Lord he's gone, he's gone.
Like a steam locomotive, rollin' down the track
He's gone, gone, nothin's gonna bring him back...He's gone.

Goin' where the wind don't blow so strange,
Maybe off on some high cold mountain chain.
Lost one round but the price wasn't anything,
A knife in the back and more of the same.

Same old, rat in a drain ditch, caught on a limb,
You know better but I know him.
Like I told you, what I said,
Steal your face right off your head.

Now he's gone, now he's gone Lord he's gone, he's gone.
Like a steam locomotive, rollin' down the track
He's gone, gone, nothin's gonna bring him back...He's gone.

Ooh, nothin's gonna bring him back.

Spring '09 Grateful Dead Tour omens:

Full moon ahead: Good
Slash chin shaving: Bad
Drop camera on concrete in the dark: Bad
Reset date/time: 2009 04 07 4:20 a.m. Iffy

Breeze out of the West: EXTRA GOOD Bike Surfin' ahead !!!

Music on: The Wheel

The wheel is turning and you can't slow down,
You can't let go and you can't hold on,
You can't go back and you can't stand still,
If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.

Won't you try just a little bit harder,
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?
Won't you try just a little bit harder,
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?

Round, round robin run round, got to get back to where you belong,
Little bit harder, just a little bit more,
A little bit further than you gone before.

The wheel is turning and you can't slow down,
You can't let go and you can't hold on,
You can't go back and you can't stand still,
If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.

Small wheel turn by the fire and rod,
Big wheel turn by the grace of God,
Every time that wheel turn 'round,
Bound to cover just a little more ground.

The wheel is turning and you can't slow down,
You can't let go and you can't hold on,
You can't go back and you can't stand still,
If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.

Won't you try just a little bit harder,
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?
Won't you try just a little bit harder,
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?

Check ya'll later !
(y)
 
Ring your bike bell three times.
Ching,,,, Ching,,,,,Ching

Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

You say black I say white
You say bark I say bite
You say shark I say hey man
Jaws was never my scene
And I don't like Star Wars
You say Rolls I say Royce
You say God give me a choice
You say Lord I say Christ
I don't believe in Peter Pan
Frankenstein or Superman
All I wanna do is

Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my
Bicycle races are coming your way
So forget all your duties oh yeah!
Fat bottomed girls they'll be riding today
So look out for those beauties oh yeah
On your marks get set go
Bicycle race bicycle race bicycle race
Bicycle bicycle bicyI want to ride my bicycle
Bicycle bicycle bicycle
Bicycle race

You say coke I say caine
You say John I say Wayne
Hot dog I say cool it man
I don't wanna be the President of America
You say smile I say cheese
Cartier I say please
Income tax I say Jesus
I don't wanna be a candidate
For Vietnam or Watergate
Cos all I want to do is

Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

By Queen
 
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NOTHING.BUT.HILLS !!

Yesterday morning I asked the group of fisherfolk if the SC hills were any taller than the ones in Georgia, and the general opinion was "**** yeah".

Anyway, I made it. 3 full days of riding, skipping meals yesterday just to make it into Salisbury NC by 5 p.m. EST. I'll have to wait until I get back to Alabama for mileage exactification, but I'll wager all 3 days were in the 150 mile range, not including my daily "lost and backtracking" +10% factor.

It did NOT take very long to figure out Rocinante with a 2 cycle would have been the bike of choice, I could have done probably 200-250+ miles per day, even with all those hills. The clockwork on Rocinante was if a town was 30 miles away, it would take an hour, fully loaded down.

But this was a dual test. The 4 stroke engine and the recumbent bike. Early Tuesday, Boaz was 10 miles away, and it took a half hour to get there. And this was BEFORE I got into hillier territory than where I live.

I do have my gas purchases totals, leaving the house fully fueled, with (2) 33 oz. spare bottles.

Day One: Holly Pond-Boaz-Centre-Rome (GA)-Kingston- ending 5 miles east of Adairsville (GA)..... .78 .77 .50 Total $2.05

Day Two: Waleska-Canton (lost)-Cumming-Gainesville-Lula-Alto-Cornelia-Toccoa-Seneca (SC)- ending 10 miles west of Pickens (SC)..... .54 .50 .70 .58 Total $2.32

Day Three: Pickens-Dacusville (Best 3 hours of scenery)-Traveler's Rest (wtf???) Tigersville- (Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway) Chesnee- Cliffside (NC)- lost- Shelby-Mooresville-ending in Salisbury NC.... .54 1.00 .77 Total $2.31

Grand Total $6.68 for and estimated 450+ miles.

At least on the way home I won't have to waste time hunting pay telephones that either work or aren't a blue "shell", with the phone removed, and always on the wrong side of the road. This is true, I tried 7 phone boxes yesterday before finding one that worked.

When I head back home next Tuesday, I'm definitely going to circle SOUTH of Atlanta. I may encounter headwinds, but I'll make up for that with fewer tall hills. That wind sure picked up every day around 2-3 p.m., but it was a favorable tailwind for the most part. Unfortunately, when it was windiest, I was in the tallest part of Georgia. You know you are up in the clouds passing towns named Alto and Mt. Airy !!

I can't post pictures until I get home, but don't you worry, there is sleet, there is a motorcycle cop, there are some Blue Ridge Mountains.

Well, thats the overview, details at 10. (Boy, internet on cable is ten times faster than dailup)
 
Paul you continue to be a unstoppable journeyman on your gas bike adventures. I'm sure there are others, but you are the principle reason I got into this endeavor. Your long distance traveling should be documented on a National Geographic special, I only wish they would do a piece on you and your lonely treks across the country. You have clearly illustrated that this type of getting around is really doable in a real serious fashion. God Bless you and may all your journeys have good fortune.
 
You didn't go over the REAL hills, like on Hwy# 11 near Salem, Keowee/Toxaway. LOL. Virtually all the small towns you went near with those odd names,,, were named after Cherokee Indian Villages. Do you have a return route planned or " going Greyhound !" LOL
 
You didn't go over the REAL hills, like on Hwy# 11 near Salem, Keowee/Toxaway. LOL. Virtually all the small towns you went near with those odd names,,, were named after Cherokee Indian Villages. Do you have a return route planned or " going Greyhound !" LOL

Ever hear of Glassy Mountain? I could have thrown a rock and hit it !!

I'll exit N.C. somewhere around Albemarle/Monroe area, cut through the middle of S.C. towards Athens GA. Theres are two large chunks of the Sumter National Forest I'll aim at on Day One of the return (iffy spring weather is going to keep this at around 1,000 miles).

If opportunity knocks, I may do the entire length of the Silver Comet GA and Chief Ladiga AL bicycle trail. Map link: http://www.chiefladiga.com/

Chief Ladiga Trail
The Chief Ladiga Trail is Alabama's first rails-to-trails project. The 33-mile trail stretches from the Alabama-Georgia state line to Anniston. The Chief Ladiga is on the same rail corridor as the Silver Comet Trail in Georgia. The two are expected to be joined after the Cleburne County section is completed. When the Chief Ladiga and the Silver Comet trails are connected there will be a 90-mile corridor available for non-motorized travel from just west of Atlanta, Georgia to Anniston, Alabama.

Then I'll loop under the Atlanta Metro Area, probably retrace one of the three routes I've already done in previous tours, via Lafayette or Anniston or Collinsville.

If I can keep the "lost/wandering/backtracking" factor at 10%, and be minus all those steep grades, I might be able to do this longer loop back in the same three days of riding.
 
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Glassy Mountain,,, Yep, I have realtives buried on it. The trip would have been even harder, [ more looong,, steeeep hills ] had you gone on #11 all the way.
The return trip sounds good. I have taken a casual drive on Hwy# 221 from Marion, N.C., south to Athens & then W. on #72 toward Atlanta. If you were to get on #441 at Athens & go South to Madison, Ga., stop there & tour the " Microcar Museum. "

http://microcarmuseum.com/virtualtour.html
 
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