Cuz I'm Happy

I say a lot how this trip is so hard, but it's also wonderful in a million little ways. Here are a few of the things that make me smile and be glad I'm here, doing this amazing thing. 

Plodding up a hill for 30 minutes and being treated to a spectacular view at the top. (see top image)

Struggling up a difficult hill, and realizing I still have one more granny gear to drop down into. 

When the bike works well and the gears shift cleanly. 

Random acts of kindness from strangers.

Being soaked in a sweat at the top of a hill, then coasting down the back side so fast that it feels like air-conditioning and I'm almost cold by the time I'm at the bottom.

Rolling hills that let me keep my momentum from the last hill to crest the next one. 

Finding out that a hill isn't as steep/long/difficult as it seemed from a distance.

Finding a restaurant at just the exact time that I need breakfast/lunch/snack, and getting a fantastic big meal for <$5.

Meeting new and interesting people as we roll through their town. 

Spotting a convenience store just as I need water/gatorade/chocolate milk to keep me going. 

Staying at a campground so remote that there's no cell signal, and the stars are brilliant in the night sky. 

Realizing that my tent feels like home. 

Getting on the bike in the morning, after doing this for 7 weeks, and still looking forward to riding that day. 

The endlessly beautiful scenery that is my 'daily grind.' 

Difficult days that keep redefining 'hardest day yet', and continuing to conquer them all. 

Meeting other cyclist on the route and hearing their take on the trip. Also when we meet people riding in the other direction and they tell us things to look forward to. 

When Bob and Mike pull out the ukelele and harmonica and play and sing for us into the night. 

Ice cream.

Cute towns we stay in, and finding great little restaurants/bars/cafes to relax in. 

I walk into a convenience store in Middle of Nowhere, wearing a yellow spandex bike shirt and shorts so tight you can tell my religion. Inside are a bunch of good-ol-boys in trucker hats talking about their pickups and where they're going hunting this weekend. I expect them to glare at me and murmur. Instead, they are friendly and ask where I'm going, or where I'm coming from. We chat for a few minutes, they wish me luck and tell me to "be safe out there!"

Everyone we meet that hears about our trip is so excited and enthusiastic for us, asking questions and just generally happy and interested in our adventure. 

Finding cool abandoned stuff and getting a great picture.

Thunderstorms at night while I'm in my tent. The thunder echoing around the mountains, rain pounding and wind shaking my tent. Lightning flashing so much it's like a disco strobe light.

Feeling a mixture of scared and excited. And then falling asleep to the sound of rain. 

Getting texts and e-mail from friends.

Getting comments on my blog (sadly, doesn't happen enough, hint hint.)

Stepping on the bike petal and the shoe just clips in, without even trying. (Anyone who rides with clip-in appreciates that.)

Rolling into a small town right at lunchtime and finding a perfect little lunch spot. Then, as some of us are sitting there, the rest of the group rolls up and joins us, until the whole group is sitting and having a meal together. 

Pushing up a hill, struggling just a little bit, and then realizing I still have one more gear to drop down into. 

Spotting a cool abandoned car/house/machine and stopping to get the perfect picture. 

When other people in the group point out a cool abandoned car to me because they know I'm doing the Abandoned America photo essay. 

Tailwinds. 

Dropping down into my aero-bars and just pushing hard for a while and enjoying the feeling of speed.

Seeing the mountains off in the distance, impossibly far, but also knowing we'll be there soon enough. 

Having all my stuff organized in just the right way that I know where everything is, and it's all easy to get to when I need it. 

Gentle downhills that stretch for miles and I barely have to pedal. 

Rest days where I get to discover a new town. 

Rolling into town/camp after a long day and being finished. 

Cooking a great dinner for the group, and actually pulling it off. 

The hospitality of strangers. 

The group working together and helping each other out in little ways, like doing laundry, helping each other put up a tent, to just asking 'are doing doing ok today?' 

Feeling the amazement of actually doing this grand adventure. 

Seeing America at 10 miles an hour. 

Abandoned America

You might have noticed a lot of pictures of rusted cars and overgrown buildings in my blog posts. A few people have even asked me about them. Here's the story of that...

On the third or fourth day of the trip we rode past this house that just stood out to me. The house was a simple small one story home in a depressed part of the back country. There was a carport and a small yard. Nothing about the house was special or remarkable. I wanted to stop and take a picture of it, but I didn't want to lose the group I was with, so I didn't, and I regret it. 

The thing about the house that stood out so much was that it was abandoned, utterly and totally forgotten a left to time. It was overgrown, windows were broken by wind and weather. The grass was so tall there was no hint of a driveway or walkway left. Adding to this scene was a modest car parked in the carport, front facing out. On the other side of the house was a medium size boat, also facing forward. Both of these were in moderate condition, with the exception that they were also totally overgrown, covered in dust and dirt and time, with trees growing up around them.

The house looked sad, depressed, and just abandoned. Nature was well on it's way to reclaiming the land. 

It was fascinating to me, what was the story behind this house, with it's average car and someone who loved the water enough to buy a boat. Did the owner die? Go to jail? Somehow otherwise disappear? Why were there no family or friends to claim the property, the car or the boat? 
So there it just sat, slowly rotting and growing over. 

It is over three weeks since I saw this house, I still regret not taking a picture, but the mental image remains clear in my head. 

This got me thinking about "Abandoned America." I see abandoned items every day, and now they stand out to me even more. Why are these things here? Who owned them? At one point, this thing was really important to somebody. Be it a house, a car, a piece of farm equipment, a barn, or even a sign. And now, all of these things are just left where they stand, nobody to claim it or remove it or even care about. What are the stories behind them? Who were the people that cared about these things and why did they stop? 

I don't know what the story is behind these things, but the story I'm seeing and telling through my pictures is what they represent now. 

Many of you have noticed a lot of pictures of rusted out cars and overgrown barns. A few people have asked me about it. Well, here's the explanation. As I ride my bicycle across America, I'm looking for the things that were abandoned to time, forgotten by everyone else, and are now found by my camera. 

Not everything I take a picture of is 'artistic.' I feel that sometimes I get lucky and the picture turns out beautiful, or haunting, or just interesting. Other times it's just a picture of some barn or dirty car. But they all represent some piece of history that will never be known. 

Below are some of my favorite pictures that I've taken so far of "Abandoned America", and I intend to keep taking these as I pedal across the country. But you can see the full album on Picasa, and I will continue to add to the album as I find more lost items strewn across the landscape. 

Let me know what you think about this, what is your favorite picture or what stood out to you? I'm interested to hear your thoughts on "Abandoned America." 

Picasa Album: https://plus.google.com/photos/108805266521608233137/albums/6017888896218820113?authkey=CM_rodjegpSYRA

If you look really closely, there's an old Chrysler K-Car in the grass! This looked like it'd been abandoned for decades.