A new state and the natchez trace:

I'm in Mississippi now and It's absolutely delightful. I rode an extra 40 miles so I could camp for free in tupelo and it was worth it. As the first city with over 20,000 people living in it in over 600 miles it felt nice to be able to pick a restaurant to eat in. I ended up camping for free in a nearly abandoned camping site that the trace has to offer. A little creepy but it was nice to camp alone after having to camp with people around the last few sites.
The next day I finally met some more touring cyclists which was nice. The first guy had been travelling for a couple of years and was headed to D.C. to meet up with a friend. I wish I could remember the nick-name he had been given but it escaped me instantly. He told me of a 32 year old girl who I was sure to enjoy the company of just a few miles behind him. And so, as promised, a few miles later I met Alicia, a girl from san Diego who was headed to Nashville to see the classic country culture. We hung out for a little over an hour just talking and eating power bars and it was delightful. Despite my lack of water and my thirst, I stayed and listened to her rambling about everything on her mind. It was nice to meet someone close to my age and close to my life situation to talk about anything and everything with. She left and I went on my way. I finished out the day at Gary and donna's house and enjoyed an awesome shower and some laundry. The unfortunate thing is that, due to an emergency in a friends family, they had to drive up to Nashville the day of my arrival. Kevin, a close friend of theirs was there to save the day for me and I was able to stay. He's awesome and I was so happy to sleep in a bed instead of camping out. You'd be surprised about how much better you feel when you get a nice shower and get to sleep in a bed.
The next day I had a nice, short day (60 miles) and another ws host in Jackson, ms. The potts are absolutely delightful and after going to my first coffee shop and hanging out for an hour, I went back to their house where we headed to a friend of theirs house. We drank wine and talked about everything from politics to art and it was great. It was nice to feel normal again and not just hang out in poly-lycra skin tight clothes. It was nice to not feel dirty and sweaty all of the time. I'm happy for the break in new orleans coming up in a few days but tbh, I'm happy to keep riding and meeting more people. I did, however, make a decision that'll change the rest of my trip. I'm going to stop in Austin, tx and head home after that. As much as I'd love to finish out the trip to Mexico, I honestly don't see any point of going that far. In west Texas, I would be bypassing everything I want to see and would only be doing to prove something to myself when I've already proved so much. It's not about the end but about the trip and I don't want to rush through the remainder of my trip and miss out on what's right in front of my face.
So, as far as I'm concerned, cbus to Austin it is and I'm done. If you feel bad about it, sorry. I just gotta do what I gotta do. Until then folks and i'll catch ya on the road.

A few days smacked together

So the last few days have been pretty fun/crazy/hard/lonely/awesome/tiring. I'll start with the land between the lakes and go day by day.
Fri: the land between the lakes is 50 miles long, 170,000 acres of wildlife, camp grounds, hiking trails, fishing and all sorts of fun. Lot of hills in that stretch but its absolutely gorgeous and so worth it. I was a little mad about not getting to ride through the elk and bison range but I was able to see them grazing a few miles past the entrance to the range which was awesome. 1 of them was only 10 feet from the fence and didn't pay me any mind at all. Also met my first touring cyclist on the trip. Ryan, who only does around 30 miles a day is heading down to Florida for the winter. It was nice being able to take a break and talk bikes with someone. I left him to his coffee and cigarellos and told him if I ran into him I'd buy him a beer. Finished out the day at the south welcome center in Tennessee, my 4th state visited, with somewhere around 30 hummingbirds flying, drinking, squeeking and playing outside.
Saturday: rode to Cuba landing, around 80 miles from dover, tn. Hills, hills, and more hills. Up until the last 15 miles of beauty and rolling hills. (Small hills easy to roll up and down all day) camping for two nights.
Sunday: day off!!!! Woke up, ate some more delicious steak, eggs and biscuits and gravy at a small used to be gas station, convenience store/restaurant. Rode back, hung out at the camp grounds and then went to the local marina to hang out and drink beer.
I met 4 of the nicest, funniest and coolest people ever. I started talking to them as they were all hanging out and when they found out about where I'm from and where I'm going, they just about flipped out. They were blown away by it and we ended up talking for a good hour about nothing and everything. Josh and Jessica both work at the marina and are married and Matt and Angela are friends of theirs. They had all Hung out for the first time all together the night before and had a blast so Matt and Angela decided to visit them at the marina. It was perfect timing considering how homesick I felt and how I needed to hang out with people. They invited me out and Jessica picked me up and brought over to Matt's house to grill out. Delicious food prepared by Matt, awesome conversation and a great visit from Matt's parents. Ended the night with goodbyes, safe trips and new numbers and friends. Really made my trip amazing.
Mon: rode 87 miles to shiloh, tn with only 2 big hills and the rest all super manageable. Few more steep small hills and a bunch of rollers. I feel like I keep seeing the same digs chasing me, but thank god for pepper spray and my increasingly good aim. Camped for only 5 bucks tonight and get to enjoy entering my 5th state tomorrow. Overall, I'm having a good time. It's weird how natural being on a bike is. Can't wait to see New Orleans though... I'll be there in less than a week!
Well, see you on the road and good bye Tennessee.

Now it's getting interesting.

A couple days ago I was ready to quit. Did only 60 miles of nearly flat, windy roads. Made it to my ws host in Henderson and boy did it turn me around. Brad and Amy ayers along with their 2 daughters made me feel normal again. I had some awesome lasagna and they even let me use their hot tub.
Yesterday I had hills again and it felt good. Well, as good as hills can feel. Did 92 miles and it didn't take me long at all. Got to a tick infested camp, met some awesome guys who had been coming to that camp ground for years to fish, ripped my tent floor and watched the sun set with a beer in my belly and new friends laughing in the back ground.
About to ride through the land between the lakes, 45 miles of awesome filled with buffalo, deer and all sorts of wildlife. Kind of stoked about it. The best part is ill be in Tennessee before the days done.
I'll catch ya on the road.

Dogs, cold, wind and hills

A perfect couple of days. I tried posting from my phone and it seems to be having trouble with anything "blogger" related. This poses a problem, I would be on tumblr instead but I can't show my google latitude on there, aka the map of where I'm at. Either way, because of how cold it has been and the roughly 3 hours of sleep I got last night, I decided to ride 15 miles past where I was originally going to stop and stay in a hotel. Considering it's supposed to get pretty cold and rain through the evening, I consider this a wise decision. Especially since I have been feeling a cold coming along. So, here I am, in a hotel, catching you up on the last couple of days.

In Madison, IN I left thinking it was going to be a perfect day of riding. It was colder than it had been, but it seemed fine. I was wrong. I used almost my entire can of sabre mace on dogs, almost got bit a few times but with the drop in temperature, the dogs of southern Indiana had more energy than ever. I rode all day and ended up in Corydon only to call and be told that I missed my ws spot (warm showers) by around 7 miles back up through the hills. In case you didn't know, btw, southern Indiana has a very similar layout as Northern Kentucky, hills, hills and more hills. I got some delicious Mexican food, headed back to the house, being greeted by Sadie, an awesome german shepherd. Kind of restored my faith in mans best friend. I hung out with the ws host, and then went to bed in the back yard. 89 miles done.

Woke up today and had a cup of coffee with some oatmeal and then headed out. I stopped by walmart in Corydon only to find out that, although carrying ammunition, they didn't have any mace for the dogs. That didn't really seem like that big of a problem today. The dogs chased me sure but I just talked to them and they eventually stopped chasing me. I would speak to them in baby voices, southern peoples talk, like a good ol' English chap and it ended up being fun. Even with the big dogs I don't seem to be as freaked out by the gnawing of teeth that occurs with loud, mean barking. Rode through some hills, and wind today. Gotta love the wind that comes after a good tropical storm. Originally was going to stop in Hawesville and camp out there but I'm glad I didn't. Did 91 miles and these past two days have felt worse than TOSRV (The Tour of the Ohio Scioto River Valley-www.tosrv.org-) last year. I guess that makes sense since you don't hit any real hills during TOSRV. I used to think you did. Heck, I had to walk up a couple of those 'hills' a couple of years ago after only riding up half way. Now I know what real hills are. In the last 4 days, I have climbed close to 20,000 feet of hills. Now, mind you I got to go back down but I'm glad that I have only a 60 mile, nearly hill free day tomorrow.
I hope that my blogger will work soon and I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to attach as I'm using the hotels computer but I will try and upload more pictures soon. Other than that, watch the map and I'll catch ya on the road soon. :)

Kentucky got some hills.

And issue with dog on leash laws. Yesterday morning I rode out of Newport with ed from warm showers and he showed me an alternate route that would put me ahead of schedule. It was an awesome route with not one single angry driver or town folk issue. There are hills after hills, more dogs than I can count who want my blood or to eat my shoes and more churches than there are dogs.
Either way, rode 88 miles to and stayed at a state park after eating some China buffet. I was surprised that I was only able to put away 1 plate before leaving. The heat was just too much and I wasn't hungry for anything except water and a beer back at camp.
I called ahead to another warm showers host and when they told me they'd buy me food, I decided to take a break day after only riding 15 miles to Madison, in. (Wow, 3rd state out of 9. Fun.)
It was great being shown around town and seeing the history that this place has. I can only imagine that there will be more to come. Got a 78 mile day tomorrow with more hills and an awesome karate instructor who's going to let me sleep on his lawn. I'm stoked!
See you on the road!

Ohio, I'm done with you.

And to be honest, i'll miss that a bit of a head wind is the only difficulty with riding a bike around quite a bit of the state.
For the 1st day, some awesome people joined me for a trip to yellowsprings, some people drove to hang out and camp and a part from a large group of racoons (spelling, ugh!) With no personal boundaries, it was a perfect evening.
The next day I woke up at 8 and started riding by 8:20 out of yellow springs to xenia. There I was planning on grabbing a bite to eat but was way too eager to ride, I wasn't feeling hungry at all, didn't see anywhere convenient so I just trucked along with no break. The first break I took was at around mile 40 and the food was delicious. Well, except that on a trip to KY that a few of us took, we stopped at the same place and got awesome potato skins which they now don't have. :( it was delicious despite and I kept riding on. It wasn't until the last 20 miles of this 82 mile day that the heat started getting to me. I mean, the water in my bottles were hotter than I normally drink my tea.
Tomorrow got nothing but hills but the warm showers (couch surfers for cyclists) host in Newport (ed) is going to ride out with me.
Should be fun but I'm gonna go eat. See you on the road!