The Lonely Road

            It’s been a couple days of riding without Brent so and they have had there ups and downs.  After deciding that Brent was going to head back to Columbia for rehab we went through all the gear that we both had in order to make sure I was good to go the next day.  I was able to drop a few things but gained a lot more in the process.  After packing all the bags to make sure it still fit they seemed to weigh at least another 15 pounds.  That may not sound like a lot but it sure does wear on you when you’re dragging it behind you all day.  The thing we were both more concerned with was how the balance of the bike was going to change since the backpack was heavier and higher on the bike. 

            As I got ready to take off by myself the next morning I was still a little concerned about how things were going to go by myself.  Without having someone to talk to as we rode or in case something happened have someone else there to help out.  But as I left and started riding those worries disappeared a little bit.  Our worries about the weight and balance turned out to be nothing to really worry about either.  As I first rode out the next morning it was a little wobbly but nothing terrible and it felt normal after riding for just a few miles.  The weight didn’t bother me that much either although I could definitely tell the extra weight was there when I was going uphill.  Thankfully we were not in North Carolina anymore and the hills were a lot smaller and for the most part they were a lot less steep. 

            It was a pretty leisurely ride most of the day but I definitely hit the wall around mile 75, which at that point was already the farthest we had rode in one day on this trip.  But I still had another 13 miles to go in order to make it to the house I was staying at for the night.  I was really starting to feel the weight and luckily the steepest hills of the day were all in the last 10 miles.  There was one point where the family I was staying with offered to pick me up a couple miles away from their house but I told them no because I needed to do it myself for the trip.  But every minute of those last 3 miles was agony.  Finally I made it in to the house and had a great steak dinner with the Campbell family.  It was a fun night hanging out with them and watching football.  Thanks to them it was also a lot easier to get the replacement poles for our tent because the took me to the post office to pick them up instead of having to ride miles out of the way to get them myself.

            The next morning I planned to go about 60 miles to Cedartown but I never quite made it their.  I started the day feeling pretty strong and thought it was going to be a pretty short day.  But as the day progressed I realized that I had nothing left in the tank.  The 88 miles from the day before had really taken a lot out of me and then being in the sun all day just drained my energy even faster.  I was a few miles out from my backup start of Rockmart, GA and I decided I was just going to need to stop and stay there for the night.

            The next day I woke up and decided it was time for another semi rest day because I was still feeling pretty tired and knew I would not be able to put in a full day of biking.  So I just finished off the ride to Cedartown, which was only about 16 miles.  That took me less than 2 hours so I swung by the firehouse to say hey to all the guys there since that would be my home for the night.  They were a very entertaining bunch to hang out with so I just stayed there the rest of the day.  Today was a good rest for the legs and in the morning its off to Alabama and Cheaha Mountain for our 4^th high point.

Life is full of tough decisions

Life is full of tough decisions

Hey y’all, this is Brent.  A lot has happened since our last post so it’s time to get you caught up.  I’m going to start today off with some awesome news, follow that up with some not so exciting news and then close the post out telling you about some awesome people we have met along the way. 

To kick it off with the awesome news, we summited our 3^rd high point today when we reached the top of Brasstown Bald, Georgia.  It was a great ride.  The ten mile ride to the summit was steep like the others, but much shorter than Sassafras or Clingmans.  It still got our hearts pumpin and there was one short spot we had to walk.  Once we reached the summit parking lot we still had 6/10^th’s of a mile to hike to the summit and just like Clingmans it was super cloudy.  Check out this pic where you could hardly see the observation tower a stone’s throw away.  We chatted with the volunteer rangers and they showed us the geological marker for the high point, which was hidden behind a door.  (Not sure why they put it there, maybe to keep it from being stolen.  Once we got to the observation tower, the skies cleared a bit, so we got some decent pics.  Even through the clouds it was a beautiful sight. 

Now come’s the not so exciting news.  If you follow our Facebook and Twitter, you know that my achilles have been bothering me.  Well, even after our rest days, they were still sore, particularly shooting pains when going down stairs.  So, after Brasstown Bald, I took a trip to the local Orthopedic Group.  I had done a good deal of research. But wanted to get a professionals opinion.  Sure enough, I have achilles tendonitis due to overuse.  The doctor said he would like to see a week off minimum and would rather see two weeks to a month and rest and rehabilitation.  He said continuing to ride at the pace we have been going could result in some long term issues.

This is not what I wanted to hear…but it is what I expected to hear.  I tried to convince myself we are riding into easier terrain and I could just not pedal as hard.  Then once we make it to Missouri, I could rest a bit more.  (Getting to Missouri on time for homecoming has been my driving force)  Then I came to my senses.  After a long chat with Michael about my options, I have decided to take the next few weeks off to rest, rehab and strengthen my achilles for the rest of the expedition. 

This was an extremely difficult decision for me to come to, because of my pride and desire to finish what I set out to do.  Once I thought deeper I remembered that my lifelong health would be more important and that I could still serve the ultimate purpose, which is fundraising for Big City Mountaineers.  So in summary, I am taking the next few weeks off, Michael will continue on, I will meet up with him and continue riding from Columbia, Missouri.  Cycle for the Summit will continue and still be successful, I will just have to find my way to the high points of Alabama and Mississippi another time in my life.

Now this is getting long, but I wanted to end on a positive note and tell you about the great people we have met over the past week.  The day after Clingmans Dome, we used as a workday in Cherokee, NC.  We hung out in Tribal Grounds Coffee, where we really clicked with the barista Emelie.  She was a blast to chat with while we were working and ended up treating us to lunch (she had a really good day in tips) at Marco Polo’s a super eclectic sandwich shop with something like 113 sandwiches.  She was a blast to hang out with and a cool girl.  Good luck to her in all of her airsoft endeavors. 

That evening we were looking for a place to stay in Bryson City, NC, and while riding down the street I noticed a rotary sign so we stopped in to see if they would have somewhere to let us pitch a tent.  It turned out the place we stopped was a bed and breakfast.  Luke the owner didn’t want us to camp out in the rain, but he didn’t have any rooms available.  He ended up calling his buddy Mr. Watkins and got us a room at the River Bend Motel.  We have been so fortunate to cross paths with wonderful people like Luke and Mr. Watkins.

Another great example is when we rolled into Murphy, NC the next evening.  We stopped at a local coffee shop to ask about the best place to camp, and to our luck one of the gentleman owned the local outfitter and said we could pitch our tent in his parking lot.  Finally I am writing you this from the house of Jim and Dianne Watkins.  They are members of the Couch Surfing community and that is how we got in touch with them.  They have been cooking us some amazing meals and supplementing them with wonderful stories.  (Not to mention many ice bags for me)  If the trip continues at this pace we will be happy guys.  Thanks to everyone who has helped us out, we truly appreciate al the support!

Adios,

Brent and Michael

To go or not to go?

Hey guys this is Michael and this is the first blog that I’ve written so far but hopefully as we keep going with this trip you will hear plenty from me as well as Brent.  Well we have had a pretty interesting time since our last blog.  The ride to Cherokee, NC was pretty nice because it was only 30 miles and we were in no hurry to get there.  After arriving we tried finding a hotel that would donate a room to us for the night with no luck.  But then we decided to try a tip we had gotten from other bike tourers and that is to check with local fire stations and see if you can stay there. 

Lucky for us the firemen were very cool about it.  AJ was the captain on duty and just to make sure it was ok he called the chief but there were no issues.  We were allowed to throw our tent up in the back yard and could hang out inside the living quarters till 10 that night.

            As we woke up the next morning we realized there was something wrong with our tent.  The bottom half of it was sitting in about 2 inches of water!  We had managed to put our tent in the one hole in the yard that retained water.  So needless to say, the bottom of tent was nice and soaked.  Not to mention that it was still raining out. 

After we spent some time laying stuff out in the bay so it could start to dry we still could not decide whether or not to go for the summit or not that day.  After talking to AJ we decided we should go for it because the weather report was only between a 50% and 60% chance of showers all day.  The fire station said we could leave most of our stuff with them for the day so we just needed to pack up a few things in order to be ready to go.  We left for breakfast and that’s when things started to look pretty bad again.  On the ride to breakfast I realized I could not shift any of my gears.  When we stopped to look at it we noticed my shifter cable had gotten pinched but even after releasing it my bike still would not shift any of the rear gears.  The two of us could not figure it out ourselves so we thought our day was pretty much done for since the closest bike shop was about 12 miles away.

We were still hungry and knew there was nothing we could do about the bike now so we just had a great breakfast at Peters diner.  After that we hopped on the bikes and rode to the cycle shop in Bryson City.  It took a little longer since I only had 3 gears if I shifted my front rings although they were all still relatively low.  After arriving at the bike shop we met Spokey Joe who hooked us up with a check up and showed us what happened and how to fix it if it ever happened again.  By this time it was already after noon and in order to reach the summit we had about 36 miles to go and over 5000 feet of elevation to gain.  Not to mention getting back down before dark. 

This is where Brent’s opinion differed from my own.  After the bike got fixed he was super pumped to go for the summit.  I was a little more wary based on the weather patterns in the area and how based on how long we had before dark.  After debating this for a little we decided to just go for it after having Spokey Joe say we would have no issue with it.  Off we went to Smokey Mountain National Park and the summit or our second state.

The first 1/3 of the climb once we got back to Cherokee was not to bad.  It was all up hill but a fairly low angle so we were able to cruise it.  It then started to get steeper and steeper as we went.  Nothing like Sassafras Mountain and our bikes were much lighter but it was still pretty tough.  All the while the weather continued to look iffy but it was holding off.  I was beginning to think my misgivings were for nothing except time was still an issue.  With about 10 miles left to the summit though it started to rain on us.  Not anything hard but enough to make us stop and put on our rain jackets.  It only lasted for a few miles and then it stopped though. 

With about 4 miles to the summit left, the clouds started to clear out and we thought we might just get a great view of 7 different states like we hoped for.  As we reached the parking lot near the summit though we realized that all we were going to be able to see was a bunch of fog.  Despite the low visibility, we had reached our second summit…but it was already a little after 6.  We made it a quick stop and started to head back down the hill.  This ride was probably one of the most fun sections either of us had ever ridden.  It was almost 30 minutes straight of just coasting and never dropping below 35 miles an hour in a very scenic area.  Not to mention we passed 2 black bears on our decent as well.

The whole way down though the rain was off and on just enough that I could not decide whether or not I wanted to stop and put on my rain jacket.  I decided not to.  I worked out fine for me until we were almost back in town and then it started to just pour.  O well though it seemed that my misgivings were for not and who cares if you’re a little wet after having one of the best rides ever and reaching the top of our second summit.  Off to Brasstown Bald in Georgia now.

What gets your heart pumpin?!

            Don’t get used to the daily blogs, but we’ve been lucky enough to have internet each day, so we may as well post something!  We have to start off by thanking the Office of Outdoor Recreation at the University of South Carolina for sponsoring Sassafras Mountain in honor of the late former University of South Carolina President Dr. Sorensen.  They have been extremely supportive of us and we love our Outdoor Recreation family at South Carolina.

This reminded me of when Dr. Sorensen’s son spoke at his memorial service.  Dr. Sorensen rode a bike around campus everyday.  He told his son he liked it because it got his heart pumpin, then he said he loved to interact with the students because it got his heart pumpin…it was all about getting his heart pumpin.  Well I tell you what, our hearts were pumpin yesterday.  When we would stop to take a breather after (or in the middle) of a big climb, we could hear our hearts beating in our ears.  It was awesome and it reminded me of his son’s speech.  Our hearts will be pumpin the rest of the trip, event when we don’t want keep goin, but we can always think back to the inspiration of Dr. Sorensen riding everday.

As far as today was concerned, it started off great.  Our friend Clay, who lives literally two miles from the summit, made us breakfast.  You can’t beat some good old bacon and eggs.  He then gave us a quick tour of the up and coming Young Life camp he was the property manager for, Carolina Point.  It’s going to be one heck of a camp. 

We then hit the road for what we expected to be an easy 50-mile day of riding…and it started off that way.  The ride down from Sassafras was far more enjoyable than the ride up, and the water was actually soothing.  Well, that was the end of the leisure ride, because we hit some major hills again.  We actually crossed the continental divide twice today.  It was pretty tough and we had to dig a bit deep to finish a couple of the hills.  Lo and behold our struggles were rewarded with an amazing decent 30 miles into the ride.  It was a beautiful 8% grade for 10 miles.  I hit 45 mph on the way day.  (All I could think about was the video where the downhill racers bike broke, scary)  Luckily we were good, nothing broke and we had a blast flying down the mountain.

Tomorrow we are taking a quasi rest day with a short 25-mile ride to the base of Clingmans Dome, where we will prepare to summit the next day.  (It appears to be as tough of a climb as Sassafras or worse, so we can’t wait!) 

Until we meet again,

Brent and Michael

Pole Pole (Swahili pronounced Polay Polay)

It means “slowly slowly” in Swahili.  The guides constantly reminded Michael with “pole pole” during his summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, and we learned today that this will become a staple during Cycle for the Summit. 

The day started off great with an awesome breakfast including apple muffins that Camilla whipped up the night before.  As we were packing up, we joked with Mr. Fitton that he should join us with the same ride and after a quick contemplation he said yes, so we had our first official ride along.  He took us down scenic Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greeneville, SC and it was a beautiful day to be out.  It was awesome seeing so many people enjoying the trail.   After we completed the first 30 miles of our 50-mile day, Mr. Fritton treated us to lunch at Aunt Sue’s Country Store, knowing we would have a good bit of climbing ahead of us. (and did we ever need of those extra calories) 

After lunch, the real work began; we had a “rather steep climb on our way to the base of Sassafras Mountain.  It was a good warm up, but couldn’t hold a candle to the hills we would be seeing on Sassafras, which is 3,564 feet above sea level.  We started the ascent in Rocky Bottom at 1,800 feet and the road to the summit was 6 miles long…so we would be climbing nearly 1,600 feet in six miles!  This is daunting task on a road bike, let alone the 60-70 pounds of gear we were each carrying.  (We’ll have a weigh in soon for an official number)

Starting at the base and all the way up we could hear the soothing trickling streams and small water falls that ran parallel to the road…you know the sounds you usually here in a sauna or on a relaxation CD they have playing at a random kiosk in Wal-Mart.  Well…that was a load of crap, because there was nothing soothing about this climb.  Long story short, a good number of the climbs turned out to be way too steep for the weight we had on, so we found ourselves pushing the bikes till grade decreased a little. (Which was not much easier)

This is a great time for us to remind our awesome followers that this is a human powered expedition.   (With the exception crossing water, which will be done with renewable energy)  So we don’t have to reach every summit on cycle, we just have to reach it under our own power/without using carbon. 

This is the geological marker for the high point in SC

All in all we estimate that we pushed our bikes two miles up the road, but lo and behold we finally made it to our first summit.  The highest point in South Carolina, Sassafras Mountain, it felt so good, both physically and mentally to reach a milestone only four days into the trip. We ended up riding 50 miles, climbed 4,849 feet and hit our first summit today. Now it’s onto Tennessee where our next goal is Clingman’s Dome, which sounds like it will be another substantial climb to reach the summit.  So as the trip continues we will make sure to keep in mind pole pole.  

In good health (but with some tired quads)

Brent and Michael

We Finally Launched!

AND SO IT BEGINS!  We finally hit the road Thursday morning and it’s already been a roller coaster ride of emotions and experiences.  We are already more than 1/250^th done, how exciting!  We had to do the math a couple times, because it did not seem right, but sure enough it was.  My goal (This is Brent) is to keep these blogs short…which can be a challenge, as I can be a bit wordy.  My initial goal was to keep it under 500 words, but now I think 1,000 will be the goal.  So, we’ll just see how these posts develop along the way.  Hope you enjoy

Day one was full of many emotions.  The adrenaline was absolutely pumping as we rolled out of town, thanks to the excitement embarking on our journey as well as the ridiculous traffic on highway 378, which we rode for about 15 miles.  Once we got off that road it was smooth sailing for the rest of the day. The tough part was the heat; with highs in the lower 90's we were drinking a lot of water making sure to stay hydrated.  After 72 miles we rolled into Whitmire, South Carolina where we would be camping for the night.  We stopped at a gas station to ask for the nearest campsite and grab a drink.  I (Brent) was feeling a bit nauseous and was ready to set up camp and get to cooking.  We were directed to The Brickhouse about 7 miles away, however along the way we passed Friendship Baptist Church, where we struck up a conversation with gentleman and were invited to stay under the awning of their Family Center.  We were worn out and ready to hit the hay, so we cooked up some rice and beans, added some hot sauce, ate our dinner and went to sleep.  The next morning, one of the Deacon’s and another church member showed up to cook us breakfast. (this would  turn out to be extremely helpful as the day progressed) 

         The morning of day two was cold, we woke up to temps in the low 50’s.  While this was chilly to pack in, it was great to ride in.  (much better than 90’s)  halfway through the day we stopped to eat lunch on the town square in Laurens, SC.  As we were pulling out our tuna, a joyful woman came out to offer us some bottled water.  One thing led to another and we were having lunch in the historic courtroom and she called their local newspaper the Advertiser.  We left Laurens with a smile on our face, energized for the next leg.

         We planned the day to be a short 50 mile ride to Greenville where we would camp for the night, but it turned into a 75 mile ride when our friends father offered to let us stay at his place for the night…he just happened to live on the north end of Greenville.  (which is extremely hilly, good practice right?)  Whilst it may be good practice, it was rough after 50 miles.  Either way we finished and had a great dinner thanks to Mr. Gerald.  Then we crashed again.  (we are sensing a trend…it’s going to be easy to go to sleep at night)  The next morning Mr. Gerald cooked us breakfast, provided some recommendations for around town, and saw us off. 

         We decided to rest today, as we want to ease into the long days and not push it too hard in the beginning.  Our first stop was Sunshine Cycle on the recommendation of both Ms. Crotts as well as Mr. Gerald.  These guys were awesome they gave our bikes a once over, tightened some of the cables that had stretched and hooked Michael up with a kickstand.  It turned out they had just returned from their Saturday morning and there were a bunch of cyclists in the store we got to chat with.  Mr. Fitton, one of the cyclists invited us to stay the night at his house for the evening and we could not turn him down.  We exchanged info to meet up later and Michael and I rode to downtown Greenville for some R&R.

         We got to catch a bit of football while we ate lunch, then we headed down to TTR Bikes (Tandem, Touring and Recumbent Bikes) The guys at Sunshine Cycle said we should stop, and we had to agree…I mean touring is in their name.  The owner was not in, however his father, Scott McCrary, was and he provided some great insights into touring and how we can become more efficient. Mr. McCrary was a blast to chat with; he was extremely jolly and just loving life.  We appreciated his advice and genuine approach and passion for cycling advocacy. 

         By the time we were done at TTR the Fittons had returned home from their trip to the Orchard and the oldest daughter, Camilla, a culinary student and her boyfriend was busy cooking away making spiced apples ice, apple cheesecake, apple streusel muffins and applesauce.  We did find time to take some breaks to play ninja and take a family photo.  Perfect way to cap off an awesome day in Greenville, SC!

         In Good Health,

         Brent and Michael

           

            

When Life Give's You Lemons...Just Roll With It!

What a great weekend it was!  We had a wonderful turnout for the silent auction, the joyride was a blast, and fun was had at the concert.  We woke up this morning (Sunday, September 11^th) and began to prepare all of our gear.  Earlier this week we were informed that our front panniers (the bags that go on the front wheel to carry our stuff) were on back order and would not arrive until Wednesday.  So our plan was to pack everything in the rear panniers and in our packs that would rest on the back racks.  

Long story short, that put about 60 pounds of gear high on the rear rack of the bikes.  We took off and it immediately felt extremely unstable, we had to use a lot of arm and core strength just to stabilize the bikes, because they were so top heavy.  This is when we began to doubt this being a good idea.  The first test came when we hit a stoplight going uphill.  (This is not always easy on a traditional bike, let alone a loaded tour bike)  It was ridiculously hard to get our momentum moving forward without falling over, and once we did get moving it was still hard to clip into the pedal. This was extremely unsafe and we decided to hold off departing on the trip until we receive the front panniers.  (This was an extremely hard decision as we are both stubborn and really wanted to hit the road)  But, our safety is the most important and this did not at all seem safe. 

Upon further reflection we have decided this was a blessing in disguise.  We now have three additional days to prepare for the trip.  We can better prepare the website for you to follow us, we can gain a better understanding of the technology we shall be using, and we can do some more overall planning.  It was hard but to come to this decision, however this will pay off long term and help us set a precedent for this trip of safety first.  We will be putting ourselves in a lot of precarious situations during this trip, however it will be important to consider our safety first.  Whether it be riding in icy conditions or climbing in poor weather, we must keep our egos at bay.

Ah well, we'll be on the road soon enough!

Now, as for what you can expect from us while we are on the road.  We hope to blog three times a week and keep them short.  Sometimes I (Brent) can get a bit wordy and have some rather lengthy posts, but I have set a goal to keep all posts around 500 word.  We will be using Facebook and Twitter daily, so stay tuned to those for daily updates.  Over the next few days we will be posting up a tentative route for the first couple months as well as an inside look at the rigs we’ll be riding for the next year in a half. 

In good health,

Brent and Michael