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From Alice Tiernan
May 17, 2010
 Subject:
Wheel dipping in St. Augustine
The group pedaled through a thunderstorm, arriving in St Augustine as
street workers and police were closing street access due to flooding.
We found our way to the Anastasia State Park along streets that were filled
with rain water deeper than our bottom brackets at times and dipped our
wheels. Ocean to ocean in two months--a spectacular trip.
Check out the pictures on Bruce's blog: yorkbruce.blogspot.com
(flood pictures not posted yet--probably tomorrow. )
We had a great farewell dinner tonight and are saying goodbye to each other
tomorrow. After sharing such good times a few tears will be shed and we
will all head back to reality. It's been a wonderful trip and I look forward
to another great adventure on a bike.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
April 30, 2010
Subject: Crawfish feast
The group is in Simmesport, Louisiana not far from the Mississippi
River. We have been passing by Cajun eateries for a few days.
Yesterday in a small town named Mamou, claiming to be the Cajun capital, a
few of us stopped at a restaurant named Frenchies ("Where everyone likes to
pinch our tails") and ate crawfish, alligator, and frogs legs. Today, the
leaders are treating us to an appetizer of boiled crawfish, pictured below.
Delicious! You twist off the tail and strip out the meat. Messy, messy but
really tasty. We have noticed crawfish breeding facilities (muddy ponds) as
we've been cycling the last few days. The weather is turning again to rain.
We only had sprinkles today--very humid. Supposed to be worse tomorrow.
We will see! Until then I will be enjoying these Cajun delights.
______________________________________________________________________________
April 24, 2010
Subject: Cowboy love and serious news
I found the cowboy of my dreams in New Waverley in an old wagon in front of
a closed antique store. He doesn't say much and is an easy keeper. Tomorrow
is our last day in Texas and we move on to Louisiana.
Serious note: some of you already know this--my sister has been diagnosed
with pancreatic cancer. The doctors have decided she is a good candidate for
the Whipple procedure, major surgery that affects the pancreas, stomach,
gaul bladder and small intestine. She is having this surgery on Tuesday.
Please remember her (Molly Sparks) in your prayers or otherwise positive
thoughts. I appreciate all your support. I am monitoring her condition and
plan to leave my bike tour if things don't go well. My fellow riders have
been great and the leaders are prepared to assist me any way they can if
necessary. All I can say is time will tell.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
April 13, 2010
Subject: No longer EFI
Well two days ago when we were on the road to Fort Davis, Texas, we ran into
a bad thunderstorm with mothball size hail. I was riding with Sharon. We
were riding up to approximately 6,500 ft when the storm hit. We found
shelter under an overhanging rock face while the worst of the storm passed.
We started out again and Sharon was so cold that she was having trouble
braking on the down hills. I was chilly but functional. Our support van was
following the group closely due to the weather. When it stopped I decided
not to continue. Sharon and I joined others in the van and rode on in to
Fort Davis. I was very happy with my decision when I saw the hail thick on
the road at the peak. Half the group rode through it all--very impressive!
Anyway, I can no longer claim that I have ridden "every fantastic inch."
We are continuing to encounter the threat of thunderstorms as we progress
across Texas. Today we encountered strong headwinds that helped push the
storm clouds past us. I couldn't resist taking this picture. Approaching the
town of
Alpine, I saw this RV park's name--very appropriate!
_____________________________________________________________________________
April 8, 2010
Subject: Entered Texas today
We left New Mexico behind today. Came out of the more hilly country to low
scrub wide plain between the Franklin mountains and others that I don't know
the name of. We took a longer alternate route to avoid the heavy traffic in
El Paso and ended up a 88-mile day in Clint at the Cotton Valley RV Park.
Dave, our leader, arranged to take the group out to dinner tonight. The
group's expenses are under budget so we are using some of the extra money
for dinner. We have been taking turns cooking for the group and all the
meals have been good. Everyone is easy to please!
We are going to spend many days crossing Texas. We will hit hills again
around Austin. Funny incident on Monday night in Kingston: we were staying at
the Black Range Lodge. One of the guys got up in the middle of the night to pee
and couldn't get his door open. The door knob jammed. He had his bike tools with
him and took the door off it's hinges!
__________________________________________________________
April 3, 2010
Subject: New Mexico
Yesterday we crossed into New Mexico. We left Safford, Arizona early in 40
degree weather. We had lots of climbing--two passes. We had a nice descent
into a very small place called Three Way (3 roads come together there). On
the way down I braked so I could take this picture with my phone. As usual
the camera doesn't pick up the spectacular colors of the flowers like the
human eye. Hopefully you can pick up the purple and gold. All the south
facing slopes were totally covered in flowers. It's the best display in
three years we were told by locals.
After Three Way we started the climb up to 6,295 feet. I stopped at the
Cone Creek Campground just after the summit to eat my lunch. It was pine
forested at that elevation--very quiet except for the soft sound of wind
high in the trees. The scenery changed dramatically when I crossed into New
Mexico--dry open grassland without cactus. The day finished with a nice
rolling descent into Buckhorn. No cell coverage.
Experienced a couple of "firsts" today: peeing in the desert hidden by
cactus and applying chamois butter that had been in my below freezing tent
all night! That is a great way to get the heart started in the morning.
Wahoo!
_________________________________________________
April 1, 2010
Subject: Almost out of Arizona
Tomorrow we will enter New Mexico. Yesterday we did some major climbing and
had a tunnel to bike through. There was no shoulder, so our support van
escorted us through. My group arrived at the community center in Globe at
5pm. The last rider came in at 7pm. The picture shows some of the great
scenery we had- Picket Post Mountain, 4,375 ft. The community center consisted
of a large men's and large women's shower room with a small hallway between.
Most of us slept in the shower rooms. One of the guys found a scorpion inside
his towel this morning! Yike! We had been warned that they are around in this
country. It rained during the night and early morning, but we had a dry, chilly
ride to Safford today. Tomorrow we have some major climbing again up to about
6,200 ft. The group is bonding and everyone gets along very well. Life is good
on the road!
_________________________________________________
March 26, 2010
Subject: Almost out of California
Today the Southern Tier group did our first really long ride. We left
Brawley early (at dawn) in anticipation of a long day. 96 miles later, at
about 3:30 pm I rolled into Blythe along the Colorado river at the
KOA campground. It is 6:10 pm and half the group is still out
there. Interesting scenery today--gradual climbing until we hit the
Algodones Dunes. This picture was taken there. The winds picked up and
my speed declined to 7 mph. We all are a bit thinner after being sandblasted
through the dunes. Then we hit some fun rollers that continued past the
halfway point. There was some slight downhill and flat after that. Made
friends with a group of Italian cyclists doing the Southern Tier too
(supported tour-staying in motels) and some guys driving Harleys stopped and
took pictures of us. The KOA has great hot showers. I let the water just
beat on me for a good 10 minutes I think. It felt heavenly!
_____________________________________________________________________
Subject: Change of scene
March 24, 2010
Well it's a far cry from Juneau: I finished the Southern Arizona tour last
Friday and feel like I have found my riding legs again. Sunday the southern
Tier group gathered in San Diego getting ready to begin our fabulous journey
across the country ending in St Augustine Florida. Our first couple days were
challenging--some good climbs and the nights have been very cold. Today we
had a great descent into Ocotillo California, population about 250 I think.
We already lost one of our participants: George from Florida was riding a
recumbent and was not prepared for the climbing. He decided to head on back home
before he hurt himself. In two days we have another kind of
challenge--90 miles without services. I haven't ridden over 55 miles yet so
I expect it tone a tough London day. We are enjoying our afternoon in our
little oasis today (see picture). Got the laundry done and cleaned my bike.
It's been a very relaxing day. One of our group has a blog:
http://yorkbruce.blogspot.com He has a great account of our trip so far.
...more later, Alice
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