Journal Stage 9
My ride has officially come to an end. I arrived in Cullowhee, NC at the end of December after traveling 9,536.8 miles! My ride lasted for nearly 200 days and navigated me through 14 states, three provinces, and 22 national parks. I am still having trouble with the reality that the ride has come to an end. For the last seven months, I have spent my days pedaling my bicycle over some of the most unforgiving terrain that North America has to offer. My nights were spent inside a 36 square foot tent that offered me a single layer of fabric of protection between myself and whatever roamed outside.
The answer, I was scheduled to meet two good friends (Dean Read and Tom Jamison) in New Orleans on the 1st of December. For two hours, Ron and I stared at the map and computer screen for a possible safe route to New Orleans from Beaumont. I-10 seemed crazy but possible until we found out there was a ten-mile stretch with concrete barriers that go to the white line (no shoulder and 80 mph)! Southern Louisiana is nearly all swamp and marshland, so the roads are limited and highly traveled. About midnight, we decided that the only way possible was to take the Creole Highway, which navigates the coastline for nearly 200 miles. The only problem with the Creole Highway was that there were very few services before Rita and Katrina and Ron was not sure if there was anything still open or even standing. In the morning, we further discussed the situation over a cup of coffee. Ron said he would take a bus to New Orleans if it were him. I had come to far to get on a bus and so I loaded up and pushed south for the Creole Highway!
I pedaled down to New Iberia, LA, which is about 130 miles from New Orleans. I had been accustomed to very little shoulder after pedaling through east Texas and along the Creole Highway, but I had yet to see no shoulder, only concrete barriers, and every vehicle weighing in excess of 5,000 pounds! I was stuck; I had hit a brick wall. I decided to go and get a motel room for the night in New Iberia and think things over. On my way into town I stopped and talked to a concrete shop about other possible routes out of town. A gentleman in there asked if I would have 30 spare minutes to go down to the insurance agency in town. He said he would be interested in taking out a $500,000 life insurance policy on me before I attempt to pedal a bicycle from New Iberia into New Orleans!
The next morning I found one other road out of town that headed south for New Orleans. The only problem was that nearly all of the bridges on this road had not been maintained and that motorists were forced to get on the main road to cross the major waterways. Some of these bridges were over five miles long. As I mentioned before, I had come too far to get on a bus, so I navigated my way south for New Orleans. I would time my crossings of the bridges for the slower traffic periods, after lunch and early afternoon seemed to be best.
My uncle, George Shinn and his wife Denise live in New Orleans and took Dean, Tom and I to an excellent seafood dinner in the French Quarter! Although it was the nicest restaurant that I ate in the entire trip, my Uncle George made sure I still got in my 4,000 calories for dinner no matter the cost! Unfortunately, he had to reject my offer when I asked him if he would be joining us in the morning for our seven a.m. departure!
Dean, Tom, and I rode past Lake Pontchartrain and pedaled northeast for Alabama. Our mileage stayed consistent each day for the 550 miles that we pedaled together from New Orleans to Chattanooga. We averaged about 65 miles each day, which was about what I had averaged for the entire trip. But one thing was really different about pedaling with Dean and Tom than when I was out on my own. We stayed in a motel every night, alternating who had to sleep on the floor. Of the 200 days that I was on the road, I stayed in a motel 15 times, and ten of those were with Dean and Tom on the last leg! I kept telling them they were making me soft but Dean was adamant that it was important for me to get accustomed to showering daily and sleeping in a bed so that my re-entry back into society would not be so severe! Nevertheless, the three of us had a blast riding the rural back roads of the south, eating in small restaurants, and arguing about who would go to bed the earliest that night. Tom and Dean did witness one of largest meals I devoured on the entire trip. One night at Subway, I ate two loaded foot-long subs in about 20 minutes, a new personal record! The girls working were stunned at how much three skinny guys could eat, but even more worried when we went and each ordered a foot-long to go (lunch for the next day)!
I spent a few days hanging out in Chattanooga with Tom and another good friend, Peter Connolly. Peter had a welcome back party for me on Friday and Saturday nights before I took back to the road on Sunday. The day I left Chattanooga, it was flurrying and around 28 degrees. The temperature only continued to drop as I snaked my way up the Ocoee River gorge for Murphy, NC. I would not recommend riding a bicycle over from Andrews, NC to the Nantahala Gorge. The road has no shoulder, is heavily traveled, and was scary for me even after 9,500 miles.
I spent my last night on the road in Cherokee, NC at the Fairfield Inn and Suites courtesy of Bryson City Mayor Brad Walker and family friend Teddy Greene. The next day I woke up early and went and ate the deluxe continental breakfast. I went back up to my room to wait on the half-inch of snow to melt and then back down to the dining area for my second breakfast. I rode from Cherokee to Dillsboro in about 30 minutes, a distance of 12 miles. If you know my Dad, Jim Rowell, then you know that he would not let me come quietly into town after such a journey. He had contacted the papers and even the Asheville television news about my arrival into town that day. As if that was not enough, he had signs made up saying, “Welcome Home A.J. – Prudhoe Bay to Cullowhee by bicycle” along with many others. The best were the two that he and my mother held up while I was riding down Main Street. They both read the same thing, “Are you my Son?” Dad had even contacted the local law-enforcement about giving me a police escort into town, and they gladly obliged! Blue lights flashing, a bottle of cheap champagne, and several of my friends and family waiting on Main Street are as good as any welcome home I could have wished for!
After visiting with the fellas at the bike shop, I rode the last six miles back into Cullowhee, officially completing my ride!
9,536.8 miles traveled
6,200 digital pictures
$4,600 raised for charity
1,400 liters of water consumed (some good some bad)
155 miles – longest day
25% - steepest grade encountered
22 – National Parks visited
12.6 M.P.H. - average speed for entire trip
8 tires (5 rear 3 front)
1 third degree burn
0 lbs – Gained or Lost (the legs are stronger though!)
The worst...The trip went exceptionally well and some days were harder than others but if you did not have the rainy days then you could not enjoy the bluebird days. If I had to pick one moment that made me question whether or not I could continue my ride, it would be when I got burned. But thanks to nice people like Dr. Riedo and especially Marie I was able to keep riding and successfully complete the journey. The worst area that I had to pedal through was trying to get to New Orleans from New Iberia. I don’t think I will ever attempt to ride a bicycle through southern Louisiana again, and I will strongly debate even driving it in a car!
I got a message from Marie the other day and she is now safely back in Prague for those of you wondering her whereabouts. She successfully made it to San Antonio to see her sister and got to visit her cousin in New York before leaving the States. I asked her if she rode from San Antonio to New York, but she said she flew. I would have not have been the least bit surprised if she said she had ridden the 2,500 miles in the middle of December and early January!
Day to day life is incredibly different than being on the road traveling by bicycle and camping each night. I honestly can’t tell you which one is harder. The bike is simple. You eat, pedal, eat, pedal, eat, and sleep. Between you and the next town might be a 16% grade, several mountain passes, and some of the craziest weather a person can experience. On the other hand, day to day life poses its own difficulties and obstacles though nearly all are not as physical as a 9,500 mile bicycle trip.
I have also given a few presentations since returning and have several more planned over the upcoming weeks. I am working on putting together a final slideshow of my finest pictures from the journey. I will post these pictures to the website in the next couple of weeks and will make sure to contact everyone once it is posted!
Thank you to everyone for following along with my newsletters, donating to the Why I Ride charities, and spreading the word about my journey.
I want to personally thank my good friend, Aaron Houghton, and his Preation and Intellicontact teams for making the website and newsletters possible!
Ride On, Right On!
| © 2007 Why I Ride. | |
