Section between Trafalgar and Traralgon is on the train due to dangerous weather conditions during the day.

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After a good nights sleep in my cabin at Wollongong Surf Leisure Resort I set off for Sydney, I had decided I wanted to take the coast road once again rather than the highway and got back on the bike path that ran along the beach to Thirroul passing many other cyclists, walkers and runners out for their morning exercise and I came around one corner at Bellambi towards a little beach to find it swarming with surfers, I have found that I tend to draw a little more attention than usual when riding past on a bike loaded up with all the possessions you can carry and often draw quite a few comments from passers by.

I got out onto the coast road after the bike path ended, kind of like the Great Ocean Road in Victoria only more built up along it until I got to the Sea Cliff Bridge between Clifton and Coalcliff, this was a truly amazing bit of road to ride on as it would its way around the cliff face over the ocean for a few kilometers, one of the most enjoyable sections of road I have had the pleasure to ride along so far.

After the Sea Cliff Bridge section I wound my way up my first long climb of the day out from Stanwell Park to the southern end of the Royal National Park just south of Sydney and stopped to have a look at the hang gliding just near Otford.

From here I had to make a decision how I was going to get into Sydney itself, I had been told by a number of cyclists over the past few days not to take the highway and that you were not allowed to ride on the freeway anyway so that left the national park as the only riding option which would take me much of the afternoon due to the terrain, or take the train in to a station closer in to the city and avoid the majority of the busy traffic and roads.

I got as far as Redfern station and emediatly made my way toward Centenial park past the SCG, then through Kings Cross to Woolloomooloo. From there I made my way around Woolloomooloo Bay, through the Royal Botanic Gardens then on to the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Cove.

I had made it through the first section and half way point of the Australian leg approximately 1200 kilometers so far, I was ready for a few days off before setting off on the second half of the Aus leg to Brisbane.

Darker sections on train. (forgot to turn of GPS after I got to Sydney & recorded the train trip to Garry's house.)

Windsor-Panania-Sydney-Manly-Palm Beach

137km, Train-Ferry-Bike.

Tuesday was always going to be a long day, it was to be the first day of the second Australian leg to get me to Brisbane but first I had to get to the other side of the city to meet up with Karina from Parkinson's NSW, that was never going to be easy seeing I was starting from Garry's house in the north west of Sydney and make a 60km multi train trip to Panania in the south west all why negotiating my fully loaded bike and the Sydney rain network, needless to say the morning didn't quite run smoothly.

I eventually made it to Panania at around 11:30 rather than the planned 10:30 meeting time thanks to the wonderful Sydney rail network, no big deal really, it just meant I would have to reassess my destination for the night, I had planned to try to get to The Entrance but that was no longer going to happen.

I eventually caught up with Karina from Parkinson's NSW for a coffee and tell her a little about my trip, why I was doing it and where I would be going as well as discuss how Parkinson's NSW may be able to help me along the way, all in all a very worthwhile and productive side track from riding for the day, but I was going to have to hit the road eventually and I was soon back on the train into Circular Quay.

The next step was to take the ferry to Manly where I would once again start pedaling north toward Sydney.

So by about 2:30pm and after around 105km of public transport I was moving again.

I had to wedge my bike in the middle of the double bike racks on the ferry then strap in down to stop it from rolling forward.

Manly Beach.

Now I was never going to get to The Entrance any longer so I was aiming for Palm Beach instead with no idea where I was going to stay for the night, after a coupe of phone calls to Dad he was on the case and soon had a number to call Rudi, a Palm Beach local who also looked after local visitor information and just so happened to run the Palm Beach Bed & Breakfast.

Rudi came to meet me outside Palm Beach just before dark and offered for me to stay at his B&B.

Once at the B&B Rudi gave me the tour and spent a bit of time talking about what I was doing, his travels, his love of cars and also all about the area around Palm Beach, I must say that I had a fantastic time staying there even though it was only for the one night and am very grateful for Rudi's hospitality.

Follow the link to find out more about the Palm Cove Bead & Breakfast, http://www.palmbeachbandb.com.au/index.html

More images from day 18 and the rest of the trip so far can be found at The Long Roads Flickr site here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelongroadtour/sets/72157629974777133/

Looking down at Palm Beach at sunset.

Grey sections are on the train, blue the ferry.

Palm Beach-Ettalong-The Entrance-Swansea-Newcastle

116km, Ferry-Bike.

After a good night sleep with the Palm Beach B&B all to my self I woke to yet another glorious morning, I have been trying to get away each day a little earlier and was up and ready to go at around 8am with the thought of getting on the 9am ferry.

Rudi from the B&B offered breakfast and coffee before I left so I ended up sitting down chatting with him again for a while before I eventually got out the door, by this stage I was just going to miss the 9am ferry, not a major problem as it gave me a chance to have a better look around Palm Beach without it being dark.

I rolled down to the east side of the hill and slowly made my way around to the ferry side, the next ferry would be at 10:30, so it gave me a good chance to look around the area I found my way to a section of beach called Summer Bay and found that they were preparing for filming of the TV show Home and Away. Now i'm far from a fan of the show and had no idea it was filmed around here until told, but still found it interesting to see non the less.

Cast and crew preparing for filming on the set of Home and Away. Summer Bay, Palm beach.

A beautiful morning in Palm Beach.

Soon the ferry arrived and I was on my way to Ettalong, after a pretty layed back 10km ferry ride I was back on the bike and heading for Newcastle, following the coast road to The Entrance and Lake Munmorah before getting onto the Pacific Highway. I find riding on the highway pretty good as long as there is a reasonable shoulder, but as I have discovered before, the closer I get to a bigger built up city the traffic starts to get a little dicey and you have to ride a little more defensively.

By the last 20 or so kilometers my left knee had started playing up a little meaning I had to slow down a little to look after it, I eventually made it into Newcastle just before dark after a long day in the saddle and made my way to the local YHA for the night.

Blue section is on Palm Beach-Ettalong ferry.

Newcastle-Williamtown-Nelson Bay-Tea Gardens-Bulahdelah

104km, 22-degrees, clear and sunny.

Newcastle ferry.

After spending the night in Newcastle at the local YHA I was keen to get out on the road and get as many kilometers done as I could, I had decided to across the river to Stockton from Newcastle and head towards Williamtown rather than go the longer way along the highway to the west.

Once again it had turned out to be a fantastic morning and I sat at the pier eating my breakfast while I waited for the ferry and noticed about 8 or so dolphins swimming in the river about 50 meters away, I was later told that I was lucky to see them because they do not often come up the river.

Dolphins in the Hunter River, Newcastle.

Once again there was another great bike path that followed the river on the other side for a while allowing me to get of the road for a while and away from the traffic.

I had been trying to work out the best way to northern side of Port Stephens and decide to keep of the highway still and head toward Nelson Bay as I had heard there was another ferry to Tea Gardens on the northern side

My bike mounted to the roof of the Nelson Bay-Tea Gardens ferry.

I arrived at Nelson Bay just before lunch and immediately sought out the ferry location before finding something for lunch and it was a good thing I did as I got there with about 15 minutes to spare.

As I walked up to the ferry I noticed the bike racks on the roof and I ended up having to remove the panniers so my bike could be strapped on, which made me a little nervous as I pictured it falling of the roof into the bay.

I really didn't need to worry about it as it was tied on pretty well and I settled in for the ferry ride which we were told would take about an hour to the other side.

The morning had been pretty much flat all the way but once I got out the other side of Tea Gardens I started to hit a few rolling hills again.

I was also on my way back to the highway again, I had been taking the coastal roads wherever I could but was now left without many other options.

This was not a bad thing though as the highway turned out to be a joy to ride on as it cut through the majority of the hills and had a large smooth shoulder to ride on.

I eventually made it to Bulahdelah and decided to stop over there for the night as it was staring to get late and there wouldn't be many options to stay for another 70 or so kilometers at Taree.

I checked in to the Bulahdelah Motor Lodge and have to thank them for looking after me with a room and meal for the night.

Blue sections are on the ferry.

Bulahdelah-Coolongolook-Taree-Kew

118km, 22-degrees, clear and sunny.

Day 21 from Bulahdelah was a pretty uneventful day with me just running along the Pacific Highway for the entire day so I will keep this one nice and short.

I pretty much rolled out of Bulahdelah onto another nice wide section of highway much like the previous afternoon, there were a few decent rolling hills for the day but again most of them would cut through the hills which made for a nice and relatively easy days riding, about 20 kilometers out of Taree I met another rider out on the highway and rolled along with him until just before town which made for a nice change from riding by myself.

I had managed to make the 70 kilometers in pretty good time getting there just after 12 o'clock.

Getting closer to Brisbane.

After lunch in Taree I was heading to Kew, about 35km south of Port Macquarie for the night after it had been arranged to meet and stay with Stuart and Alison Snowden from the Port Macquarie Parkinson's support group, which I will talk about a little more in the next post.

av

 Kew-Port Macquarie-Kempsey

89km, 21-degrees, clear and sunny.

It was another glorious day that I woke to in Kew, now I know I have said that nearly every day but the weather has been very kind to me for the whole trip with the exception of one day in Gippsland at the start.

I had spent the night at Stuart and Alison Snowden's house in Kew, Stuart is the president and Alison is the secretary of the Port Maquarie Parkinson's support group, after a enjoyable night out for dinner the previous night, I woke to a fabulous cooked breakfast and then set off for a short drive to have a look at the view from the nearby mountain (Mt Dooragan) where you could see back toward Taree in the south and Port Macquarie to the north.

If you would like to find out more about the Port Macquarie Parkinson's Support Group just click the following link: http://www.parkinsonspmq.org.au/

I would like to thank Stuart and Alison for welcoming me into their home for the night as I passed through the area and for their support towards The Long Road tour, Their hospitality and generosity is greatly appreciated.

Stuart, Jason and Alison at the top of Mt Dooragan outside Kew.

The view toward the coast with Port Macquarie in the distance in the top left.

Once I got out on the road again I made for Port Macquarie along the coast road, about 40 kilometers away, I had been traveling pretty good and made it there in good time, stopping for lunch, before setting of again toward Kempsey.

I had to hit the highway again to get to Kempsey but was getting pretty used to it now as I had been on in for the past few days.

The remainder of the day was pretty straightforward and really kind of uneventful and I made it in to Kempsey at about 4:00pm that night.

Kempsey-Nambucca Heads-Coffs Harbour

117km, 18-degrees, clear and sunny.

I woke nice and early in Kempsey and prepared to set off into town to find some breakfast, I had stayed a little out of town on the south side. I wanted to get a nice early start as it was going to be a long day in the saddle and I wanted to make it to Coffs Harbour where I had arranged to meet Vera from the Coffs Harbour parkinson's support group that evening.

I had been trying to take it a little easy the past few days after I was getting a little knee pain earlier in the week but it was now starting to feel ok again after a few days riding through pretty much flat terrain, Due to it feeling better I had removed the support tape which left some very odd looking tan lines.

I once again spent prettyy much the whole day on the Pacific Highway from start to finish which in the case of todays ride waspretty good as the road was split twon lane road more often than not with a very wide shoulder, perfect for riding and keeping well out of the way of other traffic.

I stopped of at Nambucca Heads for lunch and made my way back onto the highway soon after, I had begun to feel a little average in the final 10 kilometrs of so before lunch but after a good feed I was feeling good once again and soon making good time as I approached Coffs Harbour.

The closer i got to Coffs Harbour the smaller the shoulder became and I then discovered another fantastic bike path that led from Boambee on the southern outskirts of Coffs Harbour all the way into the edge of town.

I hit the edge of town at about 4pm and decided to stop for a quick bite to eat, I had organised to meet Vera at the local RSL club and this also gave me an opportunity to get my bearings and locate the club before rolling in for the last few kilometers.

I made it into the club just after 4 and was quickly approached by one of the club employees who mentioned he had been expecting me and showed me where I could lock my bike up securely while inside.

I was expecting to meet Vera and her daughter Helen in the club but was greeted by a group of about 9 or 10 who had come along to meet me.

It has been fantastic to be able to meet these wonderful people from some of the local support groups over the past few days and I am very grateful for all their support.

Front to Back, Left to right - Jane Gow, Karoline Gibson, Helen Houston, David Gow, Vera Heil From the Coffs Harbour Parkinson's support group with Jason.

Coffs Harbour-Woolgoolga-Halfway Creek-Ulmarra-Maclean

125km, 18-degrees, clear and sunny.

Today was the longest day of the tour so far and a total of 125 kilometers, it may not sound far to some but when you are pushing 35 kilograms of bike and gear it is.

I woke after a good nights sleep having stayed with Vera Heil and Helen Housten from the Coffs Harbour Parkinson's support group and headed into town for some photos and a little PR before I set off on the days leg, we were joined by other members of the support group in the local mall outside the Bendigo Bank offices, The local Bendigo Bank having been a long time supporter of the Coffs Harbour group and posed for some photos with the group members and bank staff before being presented with a donation from Vera.

I eventually got onto the road at about 9:30 knowing I was going to have a long day ahead of me, On the way out of town I had to stop by the Coffs Harbour Big Banana, this attraction is the only memory I have of Coffs Harbour after visiting with my family when I was a kid. It's funny how things look so big to you when you are young because I'm sure the Banana was bigger when I last saw it. I am assured by Helen that it is most likely bigger now though due to all the coats off yellow paint it has had on it over the years.

On the way north out of town there were an awful lot of roadworks due to the Pacific Highway upgrades along this section which as we discovered on our pre-tour ride from Adelaide is not necessarily a bad thing as it slows all the traffic down making me feel a little safer on the road. The roadworks lasted on and off for most of the day until I got around the Grafton area further north. and to tell you the truth I wish they had extended into this section of the highway as well as it was one of the worst stretches I had rid en on so far in terms of safety, no shoulder at all and quite narrow at times, not at all what you would expect from a major highway.

I made it to Cowper/Brushgrove, about 25km's from Maclean and immediately got off the highway onto a side road so I no longer had to deal with the traffic that was getting worse on the main road. by this stage it was also starting to get late in the day and it was a bit of a rush to make it into Maclean before dark.

As I got closer to Maclean I started to head into a lot of sugar cane fields, something I never knew they grew around this area, it was quite pleasant riding through the cane fields and it reminded me a lot of times I had spent in far north Queensland where you see a lot of it.

I eventually made it into Maclean just before nightfall, it had been the longest day of the tour so far but I had really needed to make it in order to lessen the distance for the next day to Byron Bay.

Maclean-Woodburn-Ballina-Byron Bay

119km, 19-degrees, clear skies and sunny.

I set off out of Maclean nice and early with another long day ahead of me and made my way along the river to the highway, there had been quite a lot of roadworks the previous day and once again I found myself amongst it yet again.

The highway itself during the first section of the day was at least quite good with decent shoulder compared to the last part of yesterday.

I was aiming for Byron Bay via Ballina and was looking forward to seeing a town I had heard so much about but never visited.

Generally the first part of the day went pretty fast without any real problems, well apart from the one Linfox truck that decided he didn't want to share the road with me and came along behind me holding his horn flat, he got that close that I was forced of the shoulder and into the railing on the road edge to avoid being hit, not a nice feeling.

Now I must say that luckily this has been, and is a very rare occurrence as 99% of all the drivers and truckies out there are fantastic, but this one guy really got to me.

For much of the day I pretty much had no option but to ride on the highway but discovered there was a ferry across the Richmond River from South Ballina so I decided to get of the highway while I could at Wardell  and follow the river north.

It was about 12 kilometers to the ferry from the highway and I was enjoying the ride between the river and cane fields when I came across a sign a little over half way that said the ferry was close don the second Tuesday of every month for maintenance which it just happened to be, I decided to push on anyway seeing there seemed to be a few cars coming from that direction and just hoped that I wouldn't have to turn back and go all the way around again.

luckily on this particular second Tuesday of the month the ferry was running and I managed to get in to Ballina for lunch nice and early, before finally heading of to Byron which was only another 30km up the road.

I got in to Byron Bay just after 4pm and headed straight to Amigos Guesthouse who I had called a little earlier from Ballina asking about a room, I would like to thank Annie who runs the guesthouse for her kind offer of a room and dinner for the night free of charge, something that is always greatly appreciated after a long day in the saddle.

Byron Bay-Tweed Heads-Coolangatta-Mermaid Waters

94km, 21-degrees, clear skies and sunny.

After an enjoyable night in Byron Bay I was off once again, today I would reach Queensland, a major milestone for me for the Australian leg, it would mean I was almost at the end of this part of my journey.

I set off again on another glorious morning and made my way out of town and on to the highway, this time at least the highway was dual lane with a huge shoulder all the way to Tweed Heads which made me feel much safer while out there unlike parts of yesterdays trip.

With the road being nice and wide and also pretty much flat for most of the way I was setting a pretty good pace and made it to Tweed Heads for lunch in no time at all.

I was hoping to get another photo of the bike at the border signs like the one between Vic and NSW so I decided to continue along to Coolangatta, except the two towns are pretty much one and I was riding into Queensland without even really realising it as there were no border signs at all, no big deal so I took a pic of the town sign instead and rolled down to the beach for lunch.

Entering Queensland.

The beach at Coolangatta.

After lunch I only had about 20 kilometers or so to go and it was still early afternoon so I decided to just take my time and cruise along the beach bike paths, all in all a pretty casual sort of day where I was able to just take my time and enjoy the ride.

My destination for the night in the distance, the high rises of Surfers Paradise.

Getting closer.

Mermaid Waters-Southport-Helensvale-Yatala-Murarrie.

93km, 22-degrees, mostly clear and sunny, some cloud over Brisbane.

The beach at Surfers Paradise.

The final day of the Australian leg finally arrived last Thursday, 17th of May, my end destination was Brisbane, Queensland roughly 90 kilometers away.

I had decided that I would enjoy the ride and not rush to the finish seeing it was another relatively short day compared to some of the previous days I had ridden, I t was again nice and sunny and I made my way back to the bike paths along the coast in Surfers Paradise, passing under two of the tallest buildings in Australia before I started to make my way inland and toward Brisbane.

After a quick stop at the local Westfield shopping centre in Helensvale to pick up some more of the strapping tape I had been using on my knee and ankle.

Being a bike rider I was not allowed to ride on the motorway to Brisbane so I decided to follow the old highway and other roads that ran parallel to the motorway to make it easier to work out how to get into Brisbane.

On the way out of the outer suburbs of the Gold Coast I came across the amusement parks, Wet and Wild, Warner Brothers Movie World and Dream World etc, I remember thinking it would be nice to be able to stop and visit the parks but unfortunately my time frame didn't allow it, a bit of a shame, it looked like so much fun.

After following the side roads near the motorway for a while I eventually hit the outskirts of the city and began to plot out the easiest route to where I would be staying for the night, in the suburbs east of the city. trying to figure that out was hard enough as it was, it would have been so much easier and faster if I could just ride on the motorway.

The other thing I hadn't planned for were the hills in the city, as I hadn't really been to Brisbane before other that the airport, no big deal though, they weren't that bad really compared to some I had done along the way but by this stage I just wanted to get to the end and a nice few days rest.

I eventually arrived near my destination at about 4pm and stopped in to the local bike shop to organise dropping in the bike the next day for a service and clean up before being boxed up for my flight to the USA next Tuesday.

I only had another couple of kilometers to ride by this stage so carried on to where I would be staying for the weekend.

I had finally finished the Australian leg of the tour and had clocked over a total of 3037 kilometers so far, it felt kind of strange to think I had just ridden my bike from Ballarat in Victoria to Brisbane, Queensland but I still have a long way to go yet, about 11000km more and was looking forward to a good few days off before flying out to continue the journey on the other side of the world.

Seattle-River Bend-Hyak-Cle Elum.

29th May 2012, 143km, 14-degrees, Overcast then clear and sunny in the afternoon.

Getting ready to set of on the USA leg of the tour.

I woke up all set to head off on my American adventure from the west coast to the east of the USA, It had had been a little over a little since riding in to Brisbane on the last day of the Australian leg and I was looking forward to getting back on the bike.

I had a lot of emotions building up since landing in the USA as I was about to set of on a 5000km journey on my own and so far from home, I wasn't sure quite what to expect but at the same time was excited to get started and see what awaited me.

Ruth, who I had stayed with the night before in Seattle offered to drive me to a good location outside of the city where I could head of without having to negotiate the city traffic, and ended up taking me all the way to Rattlesnake Lake outside Riverbend, where I could easily get onto the Iron Horse Trail, a walking/bike track constructed along an old railroad route through the rainforests east of Seattle that would take me all the way to Cle Elum.

Roo, all mounted up and ready to roll.

The start of the Iron Horse Trail.

The trail itself was a pretty nice gravel track that wound it's way up into the mountains toward the Snoqualmie Pass near at Hyak, the trail itself was a nice gradual climb through some gorgeous country side full of lush green Fir and Cyprus trees (known as an Evergreen Forrest) and crossing some magnificent waterfalls from the melting snow and plenty of old rail bridges.

Early on in the ride the trail was full of other trail users from mountain bikers to walkers and a few groups of rock climbers that I passed along the way.

One of the many waterfalls that I passed on day one as I went through the Snoqualmie Pass.

As I got closer to the top I could see the snow capped peaks of the surrounding mountains and eventually started to hit small patches of snow across the trail that I had to negotiate my way through

A old avalanche shelter/tunnel on the side of the trail.

Crossing some of the patches of snow.

Once I got near the top of the pass I came to the Snoqualmie tunnel, one of the old rail tunnels that had been constructed between 1912-1914 as part of the Chicago to Seattle railroad route. The tunnel itself goes for around 3.5 kilometers under the Snoqualmie Pass, it is closed during the winter months due to snow and ice but opens from mid to late July through summer till about October.

It was pretty dark in there but there is light at the end of the tunnel, (the tunnel explains the gap in the GPS map).

Once I got to Hyak the trail leveled off for a while passing Keechelus Lake and Lake Easton then roughly following the Yakima River which I would be crossing a number of times over the coming days, before slightly descending toward Cle Elum.

I eventually made it into Cle Elum in nice clear blue skies and made my way into town for the night, I would like to thank the Aster Inn who looked after me with a room for the night and their donation to the charities I am supporting on the American leg.

 Cle Elum-Ellensburg-Yakima.

30th May 2012, 116km, 22.5-degrees, Clear and sunny.

The next day had me on the road to Yakima, It was amazing how the terrain had changed so quickly after most of the day riding through rainforest yesterday between Seattle and Cle Elum. I had decided to try to avoid the highway as much as possible and set of on the road out of town that would follow the river running roughly parallel to the highway. Unfortunately it didn't take long before my plans were changed as the road I had planned on taking was closed to traffic.

The detour send me onto the road heading north, not the direction i was wanting to go at all but I had traveled to far to turn back and take the freeway, after passing through fields and many horse ranches it eventually connected me to route 97 that would get me to Ellensburg, my planned half way stop for the day.

Passing one of the large horse ranches outside Cle Elum.

Although it was a little bit longer, this route sent me up a nice little climb near some wind turbines that provided me wit some amazing views of the surrounding countryside and mountains in the distance, before dropping into Ellensburg with a nice little decent.

The view from the top of the hill on the way to Ellensburg on route 97.

After lunch I was to make my way to Yakima where I was to stay the night, I had talked to a few people about my route and many had said that I should take the canyon road that followed the Yakima River south, a little longer but worth it for the views along the way.

The road wound its way through the canyon between the rocky desert cliffs, the river and rail line and over a few rolling hills, it was starting to get pretty warm by this stage and the river looked pretty inviting, not that I could have gone in really if I wanted to, it was fast flowing fast with many small rapids from time to time,

It is obviously a popular destination with many people out on the river in boats fly fishing along the way.

Looking back at the entrance to the Canyon.

Traveling through the Yakima river canyon on the way to Yakima from Ellensburg.

That afternoon I had received a phone call from Marv who was from the Yakima Union Gospel Mission offering me a place to stay for the night, I was a little unsure at first but decided to head there and try my luck, as soon as arrived all the staff knew I was coming and went out of my way to make me feel welcome, they provided me with a private room of my own where I could safely sleep and lock up my bike for the night.

I met  a really great guy by the name of Leslie who took the time to make sure I had everything I needed and show me around the mission talking about the work they do in Yakima, it was really inspiring to see the fantastic opportunities they provided for anyone who walked through their doors that needed help and the many different ways the helped the local community.

If you would like to find out a little more about what they do, follow the link to their website. http://www.yugm.org/

Sherril from Yakima UGM who looked after me with a meal for the night while in Yakima.

Yakima-Toppenish-Sunnyside-Grandview-Richland.

Thursday, 31st May 2012

Distance: 127.28km

Time: 6:37:48

Avg Speed: 19.2 km/h

Elevation Gain: 236 m

Avg Temperature: 23.3°C - Sunny & slightly cloudy.

The next morning I got up had breakfast and said goodbye to my hosts at the Yakima UGM, they had been so supportive and helpful that i can't thank them enough but I had to hit the road once again, this time heading for Richland, Washington.

Leslie and myself (Jason) at the Yakima UGM as I was preparing to set off toward Richland.

The day out on the road way was a pretty casual day, riding south east along route 97 through the Yakima Indian Reservation to Toppenish then 22/223 to Granger next to the interstate, where I would get onto the Yakima Valley Hwy.

It was the longest day of the tour so far at just under 130km through a mix of farm land, past ranches and along the Yakima river again in the open dry hills surrounding the area.

A memorial dedicated to the memory of the events on September 11 2001 in Granger.

I eventually made it into West Richland where i was met my contact in the city, Heidi Hill from Richland Parkinson's Support group, after a quick stop for a shower after a long day on the bike we went out for dinner at the Olive Garden restaurant in Kennewick where we would meet up with other members of the support group and staff from the Neurological Resource Centre.

I had a fantastic night getting to meet some of the local members of the support group and would like to thank all those that attended the dinner for their support.

I would also like to thank the manager and staff at the Olive Garden Restaurant for their support covering the cost of my dinner for the night. http://www.olivegarden.com/italian-restaurant/WA/Kennewick/1555/

Tri-Cities, Richland-Kennewick-Pasco

Settled: 1891

Population: 253,340

State: Washington State

Tri-Cities is home to Hanford, which was a top secret facility built in the 1940's to produce and separate plutonium for nuclear weapons, some of which was used in the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki in Japan at the end of WW2.

It is also the home of Shelby Supercars, Amazon and Lockheed Martin.

Pendleton-La Grande.

Saturday, 2nd June 2012

Distance: 85.99km

Time: 5:19:38

Avg Speed: 16.1 km/h

Elevation Gain: 1136 m

Avg Temperature: 22.1°C - Sunny, slightly cloudy.

Had a late start to the day, seems to be a common theme when I stay in a nice hotel, the day was going to be a relatively short one compared to the last few days but there would be no towns along the way so I stopped off at the petrol station at the edge of town to load up on supplies and water.

I had been told for a few days about the climb out of Pendleton and could see the mountains off in the distance, I don't mind climbing but when you are lugging around 25kg of gear on top of the bike it's not much fun.

It was a slow steady climb that never seemed to end wining it's way up the mountain over a distance of about 15-20km gaining around 700 meters before it started to level of a bit, but I must admit the view back to Pendleton was worth the climb.

The remainder of the day was pretty straight forward just following the interstate freeway all the way with a few more smaller climbs along the way, luckily there was a small rest stop along the way where I was able to pick up a few snacks to keep me going, I had left the open dry country by this stage and was back in the forests which was a nice change of scenery.

As I got closer to La Grande I started to descend a little again as I had climbed quite a bit throughout the day and was enjoying the change, unfortunately as I got within the last 6-7 kilometers the bike felt a little odd & I looked down to discover I had just had my first puncture of the tour, it only took around 3500km to get one, not a bad run at all I would say.

I started to walk for a while trying to work out the best way to tackle the situation as well as find a suitable and safe place away from the traffic to change the tire

After walking for a little while a ute pulled over and offered me a lift into town, It was not to far and my destination for the night just happened to be with the owner of the local bike shop so I thought I may as well take the lift in and fix the bike in the shop.

Luckily Witt, the owner of Mountain Works bike shop was still open and I took the opportunity in the shop to not only fix the flat but also replace my chain which was getting a little to warn, before meeting his wife Mavis and daughter Hazel and heading off to dinner.

La Grande - The hub of Northeast Oregon.

Settled: 1865

Population: 13,082

State: Oregon

On the Oregon Trail, La Grande was settled after the establishment of gold mines throuout the region and it's agrecultural potential.

La Grande-Union-North Powder-Haines-Baker City.

Sunday, 3rd June 2012

Distance: 80.55km

Time: 4:19:40

Avg Speed: 18.6 km/h

Elevation Gain: 400 m

Avg Temperature: 17.0°C - Wet and cold morning turning into a nice sunny but slightly cloudy day.

I woke up after staying with my hosts for the night Witt, Mavis and their daughter Hazel in La Grande who had made me feel very welcome while staying with them, although they wouldn't try my vegemite for breakfast haha, and prepared to set of for the day, Witt and some friends had planned to go on a mountain bike ride that morning and had offered for me to join them, I would have loved too go but decided I needed to hit the road to make sure I got to Baker City on time.

It was not looking like the best morning and had been raining on and off as I went out to the shed to collect my bike, only to find the rear tire had once again gone down, I quickly replaced the tube and decided I might change the tire also just in case, the old one would make a good spare if I needed it.

I eventually got out on to the road and luckily the rain stopped and held of the rest of the day, I stopped off at the service station/diner just outside of town to pick up some supplies and thought I would get a quick photo of this caravan that had just pulled up, this thing was huge when you consider the size of the pick-up truck used to pull it and it puts anything I've seen back home to shame.

A little further up the road out of town I came across what looked like it must have once been a hotel (not totally sure) but what grabbed my attention was the lake beside the building as it was steaming and just outside the gates was a fantastic of a bald eagle.

The first part of the day had me riding through rolling hills, nothing to bad compared to the last few days however and I was enjoying the ride as i cruised along enjoying the ride, after lunch in North Powder however was pretty much dead flat and straight all while being flanked by snow capped mountain ranges on both sides. The flat road finally enabled me to get the pace up as I closed in on Baker City for the night. During the last section I passed through a small town named Haines, it felt like you were stepping back in time or onto the set of a western movie with the old buildings lining the streets.

When I finally got to Baker City I made my way to the house of Brian and Corrine Vegter, friends of Witt's from La Grande who had offered me a place to stay for the night while in Baker City. I really enjoyed staying with them as they took the time to show me around their town looking at all the old buildings and visiting a couple of the towns art galleries, one of which Brian runs. Since visiting them in baker city I have been inspired to explore my artistic side again and I am now looking at a few ideas to create a few pieces inspired by my travels.

Both Brian and Corrine are working artists and you can check out their work at dustydogstudio.com and www.dogsbybri.com

Both Brian and Corrine are also keen cyclists and are running the baker City Cycling Classic, a four stage road race in and around the Baker City region later this month. to find out more visit www.bakercitycycling.org

Baker City

Settled: 1865

Population: 9,828

State: Oregon

Baker city was named after Edward D. Baker, the only U.S. Senator ever killed in military combat, He died leading a charge in Virginia during the American Civil War.

Baker City hosts the Miner's Jubilee, an annual festival that celebrates the mining history in the town.

The Clint Eastwood movie "paint your Wagon" was also filmed here.

The U.S. Bank in Baker City houses the Armstrong Nugget, a solid piece of gold weighing 80.4 ounces (2.28 kg) (the largest gold

nuggets in the world have come out of the Victorian Gold fields which includes Ballarat where I come from).

Baker City-Ontario.

Monday, 4th June 2012

Distance: 119.44km

Time: 6:59:56

Avg Speed: 17.1 km/h

Elevation Gain: 861 m

Avg Temperature: 27°C - Clear, sunny & hot most of the day. Thunderstorms, lightning heavy winds & rain in late afternoon.

Another day & I was up and ready to hit the road again, after saying goodbye to my hosts for the night in Baker City, Brian and Corrine. after going for a walk around the town the night before I decided to have a quick look around at some of the buildings in town in daylight first. but thought I had better make a move after a while as it was going to be a long day.

The Baker City art centre in the old library building.

I knew this day was going to be a tough one, it was long and there was really nowhere along the way for a lunch stop, but I could not have anticipated just how it turned out, I set off out of town along the old U.S 30 hwy that ran parallel to the interstate through the open dry, bare hills that were common  in this part of the country, it was already starting to warm up and a slight head wind had come up slowing me down a little even though the elevation had me descending. I had planned to get to a small town by the name of Durkee and have lunch at a roadside diner I had been told about, as it turned out the diner had been closed down and all that was left was a tinny little service station, microwave burritos for lunch, yum.

I refilled my water bottles and grabbed what ever they had to eat that might be half decent (pretty much nothing) and set of once again for Ontario, My bike computer was registering 35-36 degrees in the sun and I was hoping the clouds I could see to the side of me would come my way to give a break from the heat.

By the late afternoon however the weather did changed and the clouds came in but didn't expect what was to come.

It started to get a little overcast and the clouds started to darken, a little bit of rain wouldn't hurt, soon the rain started, nothing to major but the wind was also starting to come up behind me. and I was starting to get a little concerned as I had another 30 kilometers still to go.

I managed to get through the first downpour and moved ahead of the clouds but was unaware of what was about to hit.

The winds changed from a tail wind to a very strong cross wind making it hard to keep a straight line at times, then the thunder started behind me and down came the rain once again and this time it didn't stop, instead it just got heavier and heavier. I was trying to move as fast as I could to get to Ontario, pushing through the pain that was starting to increase in my left ankle.

It was only 6 o'clock but it was starting to get very dark due to the storm and was getting quite dangerous out on the highway, surely it couldn't get any worse. next thing I know the sky lit up with a bolt of lightning to my right, then another one and another, I did not want to be stuck out here in this at all.

I was completely over the days ride and just wanted to get to town and find somewhere dry and warm and didn't care what it cost. I eventually made it in to town and found the Holiday Inn and it couldn't have come sooner, I later heard there had been considerable damage to some properties throughout the area.

I would like to thank the Holiday Inn in Ontario for looking after me for the night, I could only imaging what they must have been thinking when a drenched cold and dirty cyclist rolled up to the door asking for a room but they were more than happy to help me out.

Ontario

Settled: 1899

Population: 11,366

State: Oregon

Ontario is roughly half way between Portland and Salt lake City, it was created by developers in anticipation of a planned railroad going through the region and named after one of the developers home province in Canada.

Ontario-Fruitland-Caldwell-Meridian.

Tuesday, 5th June 2012

Distance: 86.5km

Time: 4:15:15

Avg Speed: 20.3 km/h

Elevation Gain: 236 m

Avg Temperature: 11°C - Overcast with early morning rain.

After such a hard day yesterday with the horrendous weather and my ankle injury on top of it, I woke not really having much motivation. My ankle had worsened over night to the point I could hardly walk on it and the storm had continued through the night also, I knew I had to get through just one more day however and then I had a planned rest day in Boise.

It was not going to be a real long day so I took my time getting ready to leave trying to work out how my ankle was going to go, I eventually set off into the rain at around 11:30 that morning, I didn't make it far though, I passed by a small coffee shop just before the Idaho border and decided to head in to get a hot coffee and work my way up to facing the rain.

Eventually I got going properly, after all I was going to have to get to Boise some time, I crossed the river into Idaho (state number 3) and followed old highway 30 out of town and into the surrounding fields.

It didn't take to long into Idaho before the rain cleared, although it was still overcast and I was beginning to feel ok, with only a small amount of pain in my ankle while on the bike at least.

 I made it in to Caldwell in good time and stopped of for a bite to eat, but wouldn't you know it, I returned to my bike only to find the rear tire completely flat, luckily I was only a block away from a local bike shop so decided to walk it there and get it changed rather than sit in the car park of a fast food outlet fixing it and i knew I would be back on the road nice and quick.

The last stretch into the outskirts of Boise was pretty straight forward following U.S. route 20/26 all the way to Meridian where I would be staying for the next few days.

I had finished the first stretch and made it to my first rest stop of the USA leg, something which could not have come sooner.

Boise

Settled: 1863

Population: 616,561

State: Idaho

Boise is the state capital and most populous city in Idaho. It is regularly rated as one of the top cities in the USA to live, work and for business opportunities.

Boise is home to The Boise State University, Broncos football team who's stadium is known for it's blue turf.

Boise (Meridian)-Mountain Home.

Friday, 8th June 2012

Distance: 94.24km

Time: 3:41:46

Avg Speed: 25.5 km/h

Elevation Gain: 388 m

Avg Temperature: 22.5°C - Sunny & slightly cloudy.

My home for a short time while staying in Boise.

I left Boise after a nice two days relaxing in the city with Lisa and her family, The two days rest seemed to have helped with my ankle quite a lot as all the swelling had gone and there was no longer any pain.

The day was nice and sunny as I made my way south through the suburbs and around the outskirts of the city on the back roads to avoid all the city traffic then on to the highway as I made my way toward Mountain Home. For the first time of the tour I had a nice tail wind that helped increase my average speed to one of the fasted days of the tour so far making it into Mountain Home in a little over three and a half hours. All in all a nice days ride without anything out of the ordinary happening along the way.

I would like to thank Amy and Daniel Day for their generosity in organising my nights accommodation at the Hampton Inn in Mountain Home.

Mountain Home

Settled: 1883

Population: 14,206

State: Idaho

Mountain Home was originally a post office at a stagecoach stop named Rattlesnake Station about 11km east of the city, it was moved to it's present location after the introduction of the Oregon Short Line railroad.

Since 1943 the town has been home to the Mountain Home Air Force Base, Air Combat Command which is located 19km to the southwest.

Mountain Home-Glenns Ferry-Bliss-Wendell-Jerome.

Saturday, 9th June 2012

Distance: 118.64km

Time: 4:27:29

Avg Speed: 26.6 km/h

Elevation Gain: 702 m

Avg Temperature: 12°C - Early morning rain clearing by the afternoon.

This was the fastest day of the tour with a average speed of just under 27 kilometers per hour mainly due to the strong tail winds once again, It actually started of in the 30's for most of the morning but the wind died down a little toward the end of the day.

The morning started off wet and windy and was quite cold at first making me have to rug up a little more than usual to help stay warm, but by the middle of the day the rain had stopped and it had begun to warm up.

I decided to stick to the highway for most of the day eventually coming to the Snake River and passed over Malad Gorge State Park a little west of Wendell. As I got closer to Jerome, I kept passing groups of these little animals all over the side of the road, I never got a real good look at them as they would scurry off pretty fast into their burrows although I did manage to get a quick photo of one (see bellow). Can anyone tell me what they are, I have an idea but are not totally sure.

So another pretty good day was done and I was feeling pretty good still, I would have a relatively short ride the next day to Burley before hitting some longer stretches as I make my way to Salt Lake City.

Malad Gorge State Park.

I past so many of these things on the way to Jerome, Can anyone tell me exactly what they are, I'm not entirely sure.

Jerome

Population: 10,890

State: Idaho

Jerome-Twin Falls-Burley.

Sunday, 10th June 2012

Distance: 91.4km

Time: 4:20:06

Avg Speed: 21.1 km/h

Elevation Gain: 433 m

Avg Temperature: 21.2°C - Clear & sunny.

Today was going to be another relatively short day and I had been moving along pretty fast the last few days due to the tail wind, the first destination of the day would be just down the road a little at Twin Falls so I took my time to get ready before hitting the road.

My ankle to this point was still holding up well with no real problems after the break at Boise a few days ago, but I still didn't want to push too hard on it just yet.

As I rolled through the back roads towards Twin Falls I stopped off to get a quick photo and a short video of the canyon outside the city, then rolled over the bridge into town, what a spectacular sight! The canyon and Snake River running through it are absolutely amazing and it’s literally right on the towns doorstep.

Unfortunately they were not letting the water down the river while I was there but I am told the falls upstream from town rival those of the Niagara Falls.

After riding along the trail on the canyons edge, I decided to duck into town and find something to eat for lunch before following the canyon trail east again.

While stopped at one of the many lookouts along the canyon on the way out of town I ended up talking to one of the locals who was out for a walk, he pointed out a dirt mound in the distance on the edge of the canyon. The mound was actually used by Evel Kinevil as a ramp in an attempt to ump the canyon in 1972, Now that’s just plain crazy if you ask me.

How's this for a location for a golf course.

The mound on the right side of the canyon is where Evel Kneivel attempted to Jump the Snake River.

After lunch I got back onto the interstate and headed for Burley where I would be stopping for the night, The canyon was no longer in sight but instead I was flanked by open farmland once again.

That night I was lucky enough to have the General Manager at the Fairfeild Inn & Suites Marriott Burley, David Nebeker take care of all my costs during my stay, I can’t thank him enough for his support.

Burley

Population: 10,345

State: Idaho

Burley is the second-largest city in the Magic Valley region of Idaho behind Twin Falls.

Burley is home to the famed "Spudman" Triathlon

Burley-American Falls-Pocatello.

Monday, 11th June 2012

Distance: 127.07km

Time: 6:22:33

Avg Speed: 19.9 km/h

Elevation Gain: 446 m

Avg Temperature: 23.8°C - Clear & sunny.

At this stage I had to make a choice what direction I was going to go, either head south east on the I 84 for up to 160 kilometers before I would hit a town and I didn't like the sound of that even though in total it would be shorter. Or head slightly north east on the I 86 towards Pocatello before turning south. Either direction would ultimately take me to Salt Lake City.

I decided to take the Pocatello route although it would still be a long hot day but at least there were other towns along the way where I could refill my water etc.

By this stage I was getting sick of being stuck out in the open with no shade during each day, what I would give for a few trees along the road. Luckily I did have the odd rest stop where I could get out of the heat for a few minutes.

All in all the days ride was pretty uneventful and I just plodded along until I got into Pocatello that evening.

Pocatello

Settled: 1882

Population: 54,255

State: Idaho

Nickname: US Smile City, (The) Gate City.

Moto: Gateway to the Northwest.

Pocatello is the fifth largest city in Idaho and has been ranked twentieth on forbes list of best small Places for Business and Careers.

Is is the home of the Idaho State University.

It was founded as an important stop on the first railroad during the gold rush, The city is named after Shoshoni Tribe Chief, who granted the right of way for the railroad to cross the Indian Reservation.

In Pocatelle it was against the law not to smile, today this law is remembered with a Smile Festival.

The Pocatello Zoo features only native Idaho species of animals.

The Pocatello Zoo features only native Idaho species and is located in Ross Park.

Portions of the Movie Napoleon Dynamite were filmed in Pocatello.

Pocatello-McCammon-Malad City.

Tuesday, 12th June 2012

Distance: 89.51km

Time: 4:10:12

Avg Speed: 21.5 km/h

Elevation Gain: 794 m

Avg Temperature: 28.4°C - Clear, sunny & Hot.

Another hot day out in the open sun, this time not so long though, as I was leaving I was informed about the pass I was going to have to ride over, for some reason people always tell me about these things in the same way "Your going to ride to Salt Lake City? don't you know you have to climb over a huge mountain pass on the way!" realy gets me excited and in the mood for what is to come.

I spent the day riding along the I 15, not sure if I was suppose to but had a few highway patrol cars pass me without any problems along the way. Like all the interstates I have riden on this one yet again had a fantastic wide shoulder to ride on, where I could keep well away from the traffic.

The highway snaked it's way through the valleys between the surrounding mountains with only minimal up and down which led me to think that the so called huge climb was a little exagerated, something that non rider tend to do at times, often based on their own ability.

I got to McCammon and stopped in to get some lunch at the highway rest stop and while there began looking up places to stay in Malad City, there were not many choices believe me.

I stumbed accross a Bed and Breakfast named Abigail's on the internet that had had nothing but great reviews and thought I would give them a try, My only concern was their location as they were on the north side of Malad City, meaning I would have further to go the next day, but I gave them a call to find out some further information anyway, after all I needed to stay somewhere..

A little further down the road after lunch I hit the hill I had been told about, nothing to bad realy just long and slow and began climbing, not to long into the climb a ute pulled over just ahead and the driver got out asking if I had called Abigail's and if I wanted a lift.

By this stage I was over climbing and was more than happy to take up the offer.

We headed on up the road and as it turned out I was actually not to far from the B&B anyway.

I was glad I ended up staying with Jill & Scott who run Abigail's as they were very welcoming and provided a nice change from the hotels with less personal service. I would like to thank them for helping me out with a fantastic discounted rate for the night and providing a great feed not long after I arrived and again in the morning, especially at such short notice.

I anyone is ever in the area & looking for a friendly place to stay I highly recommend you give them a call.

www.abigailsbedandbreakfast.net

Malad City

Settled: 1864

Population: 2,095

State: Idaho

Malad City is named after the nearby Malad River (French for "Sickly")

Malad began as a Welsh Mormon settlement whose settlers brought their Welsh traditions with them.

The city recieved national news coverage in 1996 when a corporate jet carrying eight people including four Coca-Cola executives crashed killing all onboard, The jet was traveling from Salt Lake City to Pocatello when the crash happened.

Malad  was also the worst hitcommunity in the nation in 2003 during a nationwide influenza outbreak.

Malad City-Tremonton-Brigham City.

Wednesday, 13th June 2012

Distance: 109.84km

Time: 4:45:44

Avg Speed: 23.1 km/h

Elevation Gain: 396 m

Avg Temperature: 30.6°C - Clear, sunny & Hot.

It was another beautiful morning as I prepared to leave Idaho behind and head to Utah, I loaded up the bike and said goodbye to Jill from Abigail's B&B and made my way toward the highway and Malad City. I was looking forward to the decent down the pass I had come up the night before following old highway 191 that ran parallel to the I 15, in no time at all I was passing Malad City, it was a good ride with the road all to myself or the most part as I approached the Utah border.

Unfortunately my first impressions of Utah were not so good and it all started with the road, no sooner had I entered Utah and the road changed from a nice sealed surface to rough corrugated gravel, not much fun to ride on but luckily It didn't last long. The other thing I noticed, and this may have just been the odd couple but I started getting abused for being on the road by other road users, this had never happened in any of the other states I had gone through until now.

It wasn't all bad though, as I have found the whole way through the USA there is always someone that is interested in what I am doing and willing to give a donation.

As I made my way to Brigham City from Tremonton I was joined on the road by another rider who was on his way back to Ogden and was happy to keep me company as I rode into Brigham City, even at my slow pace. After stopping in town and trying to find where I was staying that night I had a nice couple come over to me asking where I had come from, as usual the conversation ends up with a full explanation about my tour and I occasionally get a donation out of it.

So I now only had one more day left in the West, tomorrow I would be heading into Salt Lake City and then catching the train to Nebraska to continue the tour in the Midwest and East side of the country.

Little humming birds outside the B&B.

Abigail's Bed and Breakfast, Malad City.

I find all the old timber farmhouses, barns etc that have just been abandoned all over the countryside fascinating.

Crossing into Utah.

Like many things in the U.S. even the dandelions are huge, this one was as big as a grapefruit.

Brigham City

Settled: 1853

Population: 17.899

State: Utah

Brigham City is known for its peaches, the city holds an annual celebration called Peach Days.

It is near the headquarters of ATK Thiokol, which created the solid rocket boosters for missiles and the Space Shuttle.

A major economic boost came to the region during World War 2 when the federal government created Bushnell General Hospital in the area to treat wounded soldiers.

Brigham City-Ogden-Salt Lake City.

Thursday, 14th June 2012

Distance: 102.10km

Time: 5:00:58

Avg Speed: 20.4 km/h

Elevation Gain: 463 m

Avg Temperature: 31.2°C - Clear, sunny & Hot.

I got up and made my way out of Brigham City early wanting to get on the road and to Salt Lake City (SLC), looking forward to the next few days off.

Not long after leaving town I was on the side of the road trying to work out what road to take when another bike rider came up behind me who was on his way to an appointment in Ogden but took the time to stop for a chat, Unfortunately I can no longer remember his name (I apologize if you are reading this) as I meet so many people every day on the road but was very grateful for the help he gave me, informing me of a few possible contacts I could try to get in touch with in Salt lake City.

Not to much later I rolled into Ogden just north of Salt Lake City and stopped for lunch and try to get in contact with some of the people I had been told about in SLC.

From Ogden I continued on to Salt Lake City, passing the turn off to Wyoming that I was originally going to take, I passed one of the local Air Force Bases and stopped for a while to watch a F22 Raptor fighter jet, doing touch and go landings at the base.

By the end of the day I was getting pretty tired as it had been yet another hot day out on the road and the place I was staying was another 10 kilometers further south from the city but first I stopped off at Energy Solutions Stadium near the SLC CBD for a quick look. The stadium id the home of the Utah Jazz professional basketball team.

I eventually made to my rest stop and was looking forward to a good few days of the bike and then making my way east on the train to the start of the Mid West/East part of my American Tour in East Nebraska.

The highway to Wyoming, my original route right through the middle of those mountains.

The new route to Salt lake City.

Salt Lake City (SLC) CBD.

Energy Solutions Stadium, SLC, Home of the Utah Jazz Basketball team.

Salt Lake City

Settled: 1847

Population: 1,145,905, including surrounding area.

State: Utah

Nickname: The crossroads of the west.

The city was founded by Brigham Youngand his Mormon followers, who extensively irrigated and cultivated the valley.

The city was originally named "Great Salt Lake City" due to it's proximity to the great salt lake, the word "great" was dropped from the official name in 1868.

Salt Lake Citywas the host of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games which were plagued with controversy.

The area has a strong outdoor recreation tourist trade based mainly around skiing.

SLC is the industrial banking center of the United States.

Over the years many films and television shows have been filmed in the area in and around salt Lake City including;

Touched by an Angel, High School Musical 1-2&3, Dumb and Dumber, Independence Day, The Worlds Fastest Indian and Pirates of the Caribbean - At Worlds End, to name a few.

Notable residents of Salt lake City to name a few, include:

Roseanne Barr (born 1952), actress, stand-up comedian

David Zabriskie (born 1979), professional road bicycle racer, One of my favourite profesional riders.

Stevie Nicks (born 1948), American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac

Robert Redford (born 1936) Actor & Founder of the Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Channel

Lincoln-Ashland-Omaha.

Monday, 18th June 2012

Distance: 78.95km

Time: 2:55:18

Avg Speed: 28.7 km/h

Elevation Gain: 474 m

Avg Temperature: 36.6°C - Clear, sunny & Hot.

My second day in Nebraska was to be the hottest day of the tour so far, luckily it was relatively short at only 78 kilometers and fast due to the strong tail wind for most of the day.

I made my way east out of Lincoln on highway 6 feeling pretty good after having a few days rest with the train trip from Utah in the middle.

Even though is was very hot during the day it was actualy not to bad on the bike due to the wind and also the odd tree lined sections of the road providing a little shade from time to time, a nice change from the open roads I had been riding out west.

I had had my nights accommodation organised the day before thanks to Monnie from the Local Parkinson's support group and my hosts for the night Frank and Helen had offered to pick me up out on the edge of the city, allowing me to get out of the heat and avoid the city traffic.

Later in the afternoon Helen and myself visited the American Parkinson's Disease Association Nebraska Chapter offices for a little while where we got to work helping prepare flyers and letters with information about up coming events in the region that were being sent out to the local parkinson's community on their mailing list.

Myself with Helen and Monnie from the local Omaha Parkinson's support group at the American Parkinson's Disease Association Nebraska Chapter offices.

Omaha

Settled: 1854

Population: 877,110

State: Nebraska

Omaha is the capital and largest city in the state of Nebraska.

It is situated on the west bank of the Missouri River opposite the city of Council Bluffs Iowa.

A number of Notable modern inventions came out of Omaha including the TV Dinner, Raisin Bran and Cake Mix, the Bobby Pin and the Ski Lift.

The annual College World Series Baseball tournament has been held in Omaha since 1950.

The Enola Gay & Bockscar B29 bomers used to drop the atomic bombs on Japan during WW2 were both built just south of Omaha at the Offutt Air Force Base. The base is now the home of the Strategic Air Command and is where George W Bush was flown right during the September 11 attacks on the USA in 2001.

Some notable people from the Omaha area include"

Marlon Brando - Actor

Nick Nolte - Actor

Henry Fonda - Actor

Peter Fonda - Actor

Andy Roddick - Professional Tennis Player

& Malcolm X - Civil Rights Activist.

 Omaha-Council Bluffs-Oakland-Atlantic.

Tuesday, 19th June 2012

Distance: 116.26km

Time: 2:15:55

Avg Speed: N/A

Elevation Gain: 1409 m

Avg Temperature: 31.6°C - Clear, sunny & Hot.

 

First of all I would like to thank Frank, his wife Helen who is living with Parkinson's Disease and their son Pat for welcoming me into their home, during my stop over in Omaha and for providing me with a bed for the night and a fantastic breakfast to get me going in the morning.

During the morning Frank drove me out of Omaha, over the river and through Council Bluffs to highway 6 where I could start the day without having to worry about negotiating the city traffic, everything was going well until we went to unload the bike from the car, only to discover the rear tire on my bike was once again dead flat, from there the day didn't end up going quite to plan.

I said goodbye to Frank and set about repairing my tire, eventually I got out on the road and began the days ride to Atlantic, only to discover a horrendous noise coming from somewhere around the rear wheel area, Like most noises on the bike, it could only be heard while actually riding and therefore made it a little tricky to pinpoint.

I continued a little further along the road when I got stopped by a lady by the name of Denise who is a member of the Warm Showers community who offer cyclist all over the world a place to stay.

Denise very kindly offered for me to head to her house that was nearby and show me some alternative routes to Atlantic.

After talking for a little while about my travels and people that had visited her on their way through the area and providing me with a bite to eat for lunch, Denise offered to drive me the rest of the way to Atlantic and dropped me of at the local bike shop to get my bike looked at.

I would like to thank Denise for helping me out and saving me from what would have been another very hot, long and very windy day out on the road.

 

 

 

 

 

For the past day I had been in contact with Jon from Wesley Life retirement home who had kindly offered a place for me to stay in Atlantic with a private room and a meal for the night and in the morning.

I would like to thank Jon and all the staff and residents at Wesley life for making me feel welcome while staying with them over night.

 

Atlantic

Settled: 1868

Population: 1,112

State: Iowa

Historians cannot agree how Atlantic got its name, the story is that the founding fathers estimated that the town was roughly half way between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and they flipped a coin to decide the name with Atlantic winning.

Atlantic-Anita-Stuart-Redfield-Adel-Winterset (Des Moines).

Wednesday, 20th June 2012

Distance: 125.56km

Time: 4:36:31

Avg Speed: 27.2 kph

Elevation Gain: 740 m

Avg Temperature: 27.9°C - Overcast, Clearing later in day.

After an early breakfast I said goodbye to my hosts for the previous night at the Wesley Life retirement community in Atlantic and made my way east out of town, the day had started of a little overcast and a little cooler than the previous two days which made a nice change from the heat, there was the potential for a storm later that day and the wind was up once again so I had to keep track on the skies to make sure I didn't get caught out.

I followed highway 83 out of town taking me through rolling terrain in a range of environments from corn and soybean fields to cattle ranches, while on the way toward the town of Adair and Interstate 80, I passed by the location of the first ever railroad robbery in the west, committed by Jesse James and his gang in 1873.

Myself with Jon from the Wesley Life retirement community centre in Atlantic.

I eventually made it to the interstate highway and accidently turned onto it where I had intended to follow nearby roads all day, although like most of the interstates the shoulder was good for riding I needed to get of of it as soon as I could and quickly turned of into the small town of Casey so i could follow the state highway 925 then make my way north toward the town of Redfield where I had been told a bout a sealed bike path that led all the way into Des Moines

The day was quite long and I was getting a little tired but this was without doubt the most enjoyable part of the days ride. as I rolled along the Raccoon River Valley Trail.

I was due to meet my next host for the night at one of the towns along the trail just west of Des Moines, Rich who I was put in contact with by Crissanka who is the coordinator at the Iowa Parkinson's Disease Information and Referral Centre. Rich is also a member of the Warm Showers group and is a self confessed bike geek.

Rich was waiting for me just outside a local icecream shop in Adel with his pickup truck and we were soon on our way to his home at Winterset just south west of Des Moines.

No idea what exactly I was supposed to be yielding to here.

After stopping of at the house and taking the opportunity to clean up after the days ride, Rich took me into town to show me the birth place if it's and one of America's most famous actors, John Wayne who was born in Winterset as Marion Robert Morrison in 1907.

Des Moines

Settled: 1843

Population: 569,633

State: Iowa

Des Moines is the state capital of Iowa, it was originally known as Fort Des Moines but was later shortened in 1857.

Des Moines is one of the most important cities in U.S. presidential politics as it is the home of the Iowa caucuses, the first major electoral event in the presidential nomination campaigns.

The city is a major centre for the financial and insurance sectors in the U.S. with many of the nations top businesses calling the city home.

The capital building in Des Moines is a major atraction within the city with its 84 meter, 23-karet gold leafed covered dome.

Des Moines is home to the Iowa Cubs baseball team, The I-Cubs are connected to the major league Chicago Cubs.

Iowa

Population: 3,062,309

The state of Iowa is the 26th largest state in the United States and has the 30th largest population in the country.

Iowa was the 29th state to be added to the union, in 1846.

Des Moines-Prairie City-Monroe-Pella.

Thursday, 21st June 2012

Distance: 67.42km

Time: 2:49:39

Avg Speed: 23.8 kph

Elevation Gain: 241 m

Avg Temperature: 31.3°C - Hot clear and sunny.

Today was going to be a nice short ride to Pella from Des Moines so it gave me the chance to get a few things done in the morning before setting off.

First of all I would like to take the opportunity to thank Rich and Yumi (hope I spelt that right) for hosting me for the night, Rich loves his bikes as you can see from some of the images bellow and it was great to have someone I could share a common interest with.

Rich is himself planning a trip across the United states next month, you can find out more about his ride here www.richmills.us

I woke up with quite a sore ankle again, this time it was the other one, I guess it didn't want to be left out, haha. Luckily it was nothing to serious and was fine once I got on the bike.

To start the day Rich took me into Winterset to have coffee with a group of his friends, some of whom were also keen cyclists including one that had done a number of trans America rides and races in the past.

Then it was off to one of the local Des Moine bike shops to get the bike looked over to double check there was nothing major wrong.

After that we had to head into the city to meet up with Crissanka from the Iowa Parkinson's Disease Information Centre and get a few photos taken.

I eventually got on the road just after lunch and had a relatively enjoyable ride down Highway 163, later in the afternoon i got a little peckish again and stopped in a a small little diner in the town of Monroe where i was once again treated to Midwest hospitality as I walked out of there (The Mustang Diner) with a free meal and another donation.

I eventually made it in to Pella later that afternoon, the town was originally settled by Dutch immigrants and features a number of sights relating to it's heritage.

It just happened to be the night of the week where the town closes of a number of streets in the middle of town and holds evening events dedicated to various organisations, places etc from the town.

I spent a little while riding around town looking at all the sights and interesting buildings before being stopped by a reporter from the local newspaper for a short interview. The couple I had been in contact with for the night Norene and Bill had told them I was in town and to look out for me.

After grabbing a bite to eat in town and spending a little time with Norene and Bill they took me out to a nearby RV park, I would like to thank them for letting me have the use of their trailer, It was nice to have a comfortable, quiet place to stay for the night.

Pella

Settled: 1847

Population: 10,352

State: Iowa

Pella was founded when eight hundred Dutch immigrants settled the area.

Wyatt Earp, the famous lawman and gunfighter of OK Corral fame, spent most of his childhood in Pella.

Today Pella features a number of local events and architectural sights including the Vermeer Mill 1850s-style windmill, that reaches 41 m high. The Vermeer Mill grinds wheat into flour using only wind power and is the tallest working windmill in the United States.

Pella also hosts an annual Tulip festival which celebrates the towns Dutch heritage, the festival features tulip gardens, performances, crafters, music, food, Dutch costumes, and daily parades and is held held for three days during the first weekend in May.

 Washington-Columbus Junction-Muscatine-Davenport-Rock Island.

Saturday, 23nd June 2012

Distance: 114.79 km

Time: 5:40:05

Avg Speed: 20.2 kph

Elevation Gain: 374 m

Avg Temperature: 24.3°C - Sunny but overcast at times.

For some reason this day was never going to be a good one, I'm not sure why but what started out like any other day on the tour eventually turned into a day I would end up wanting to forget.

Like any other day I woke up got everything packed up and headed out onto the road, unlike any other day I immediately turned onto the left had side of the road and began riding much like I would back home until a car came along. luckily I was right at the start of the separate bike path and quickly turned onto it not giving it another thought.

I was actually looking forward to this day as I would reach the Mississippi River today which I saw as kind of a milestone in the American leg of my tour and I was keen to get going and make it to Muscatine and then follow the river along to my original destination of Davenport.

It was pretty much your average day riding along through the corn fields but as I was going there were an awful lot of motorcyclists (Bikies) out on the road all day, much more than any other day. As with most of the traffic I have had to deal with, they are generally really good, giving a waive and plenty of room but I was beginning to get extremely frustrated with them today as some would often rush past me at a distance and speed that was way to close for comfort like they were trying to intimidate me on purpose, with a few very nearly clipping me as they went by. Something I could not understand because surely if they hit me it would take them down also.

They would sit right on the white line, from which I was trying to stay well away from when I could but the situation was made worse with the cut out ripples running between the line and road edge not leaving much room to move.

After dealing with this pretty much all morning my mood was not the best by lunch time and I decided I needed to get of the road and have a bit of a break on the edge of Muscatine.

While stopped I decided I would make a few phone calls and try to sort out my accomodation for the night so I at least had one less thing to worry about but started getting the run around from every place I tried. One after the other telling me they couldn't help me at all and telling me to try the next place.

Now I can only stay stopped on the side of the road for so long before it really starts eating into my time so I decided I would just keep going and try to work it out when I got there.

I started to see some wheat fields which was a nice change from the endless corn fields I had been riding through the last few days.

All of this combined was not really having a good effect on my moral as the day went on and I was beginning to feel quite a bit home sick, that combined with the warm weather and long distances between towns were also making me feel quite drained physically.

I eventually made it to the Mississippi which gave me a little boost but I was already completely over the day by now and just wanted to get of the bike and rest but unfortunately still had another 45 of so kilometers to go so I could do nothing but keep plugging away which really just made things worse with thoughts about whether I was actually making a difference and even pulling the pin on the ride starting to creep in from time to time.

Quitting is not something I would seriously contemplate doing unless I had no other alternative but after being on the road since April and feeling so far away from my family and friends, the constant communications problems I had been experiencing in the US and a growing frustration I was feeling at everyone telling me what I am doing is great but not willing to donate anything, combined with the sort of day I was having it was not hard to see the sort of head space I was in at the time.

By the end of the day I was completely over Iowa, (Which is not really fair as I had met so many fantastic people during my time there and it was really only the type of day I was having that was making me feel this way.) and decide to continue through Davenport, over the bridge and into Illinois and try my luck there.

I located the nearest hotel I could find and made my way there, I was completely exhausted both mentally and physically and I just wanted to be able to stop, rest and try to get my head straight again, luckily that first hotel I went to was willing to do what they could to help me out which went along way in improving my mood.

The next morning I woke late after a pretty decent nights sleep, took one look outside to see a black stormy sky and decided it would be a good opportunity to take a rest day again and give myself the chance to really recoup and prepare for the rest of the journey ahead.

Rock Island

Settled: 1835

Population: 39,684

State: Illinois

Rock Island is located on the Mississippi River and is one of four cities in the area known as the Quad Cities, which has a total population of around 381,342 people. The other cities that form the Quad Cities include, Moline/East Moline in Illinois and Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa.

The city is home to the Rock Island Arsenal which is the largest government owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the US.

The original Rock Island from where the city gets it's name is the largest island in the Mississippi River, now known as Arsenal Island.

The first railroad bridge built over the Mississippi River was built between Arsenal Island and Davenport in 1856.

The Blues Brothers are from Rock Island.

Rock Island-Moline-Hampton-Port Byron-Erie-Rock Falls.

Tuesday, 25th June 2012

Distance: 89.48 km

Time: 5:35:47

Avg Speed: 16.0 kph

Elevation Gain: 177 m

Avg Temperature: 27.1°C - Clear and sunny.

After a full days rest on Rock Island I woke feeling much better after the drama of the last ride day and set of to my next destination of Rock Falls.

It was an absolutely glorious morning and I decided I would head along the bike trail that followed the edge of the Mississippi River all the way north to Port Byron and just enjoy the ride before turning east to Rock Falls.

For the first part of the morning I did have to battle some relatively strong head winds coming from of the river but it was good to be completely away from the road and traffic that I wasn't to concerned.

The trail took me along the edge of the river, through parks and playgrounds, RV parks and housing estates which made for some nice variety during the mornings ride, with much of it through very leafy and shady area to help keep me out of the direct sun light for much of it as the day was beginning to warm up considerably.

The remainder of the day was pretty much like many of the past few days, riding through open corn fields out in the heat however this time the roads were nice and quiet for a change and Illinois was looking pretty good so far.

Rock Falls

Population: 9,266

State: Illinois

Rock Falls-Dixon-Rochelle-DeKalb-Sycamore.

The home in Dixon in which President Ronald Reagan grew up.

After a brief stop over in the town to take some pictures and have a look at the statues around his past home I continued on my way heading for the town of DeKalb.

Pretty much more of the same, lots of open, hot roads, riding through endless corn and soy bean fields, not to bad to ride through at times, but not very exciting to write about.

Sycamore

Settled: 1835

Population: 17,519

State: Illinois

On Wednesday, the 10th of February, 2010, Sycamore and the surrounding areas were hit by a 3.8 magnitude earthquake, it was the first earthquake in Northern Illinois since 1999, Luckily there were no casualties were reported, but there was some building destruction.

Sycamore is home to the Midwest Museum of Natural History which features a varied taxidermy collection.

Sycamore-West Chicago-Winfield-Chicago.

Today was one of the most enjoyable days I have had on the tour so far, a little hot again but this day was spent almost entirely on nice bike trails often well shaded, all the way from Sycamore to the outer suburbs of Chicago

I got up and got underway a little earlier than usual, The day was going to a long one and I was not entirely sure how long it would be or hard to get through the outer areas of Chicago itself, I had planned to follow the Great Western Trail east to the outskirts of the city then try to weave my way in via a range of different trails and roads.

I got to the start of the trail just outside Sycamore, a mainly crushed gravel/dirt trail with the occasional sealed section that was nice and smooth to ride on and best of all meant I didn't have to worry about traffic the whole way to the outer edge of the city.

I stopped in a little town named Campton Hills to have some lunch and made a few phone calls with some contacts from the local Parkinson's group I had received emails from earlier that morning before continuing on my way to the outer suburbs.

The only had a short little stint on the road to get me over the Fox River at St Charles/Geneva before I was able to get back onto another nice trail along the river then eventually winding it's way into the suburbs through some built up housing areas and past the Dupage County Airport.

t this stage I was approaching West Chicago and Decided I might drop by to where my Parkinson's contact was based, to actualy say hello in person rather than sending emails back and forth constantly, seeing I was pretty much going right past the area in Winfield anyway.

I had also been told I shouldn't ride through some sections of the city on the west side by another rider I had talked to earlier and thought it might be a good opportunity to work out the best way in from there on and also where I was going to stay while in the city for the next few nights.

Unfortunately things didn't quite work out with my contact but was very grateful to Crissanka from the Parkinson's Disease Research Centre in Iowa who was very kindly able to help me book some accommodation for my stay.

I decided I would jump on the train at the nearby Winfield station and take it all the way into the city, a task that was not quite as easy as it sounds when I had to left a 35 kilogram loaded bike up from the platform and onto the train carriage, I did get it on however if only just before the doors closed, luckily at the end of the line in the city I was able to get help lifting it back off.

Arriving in downtown Chicago was quite a change from the rest of my trip and it took a little while to get my bearings before heading of to the Chicago Getaway Hostel where it had been organised for me to stay while in the city. At first the idea of riding in this busy city seemed a little daunting but didn't take long to get the hang of it after watching how other cyclists handled themselves in the busy traffic and in the end was not really to bad at all.

I eventually made my way a little north to the suburb of Park West where the hostel was located and settled in for the a nice rest day off the bike.

Chicago

Settled: 1770's

Population: 2.7 million, 9.8 Million People (metropolitan Area)

State: Illinois

Nickname(s): The Windy City, The Second City, Chi-Town, City of Big Shoulders, The City that Works, White City.

Motto: City in a Garden, Make Big Plans (Make No Small Plans), I Will.

Chicago is the largest city in Illinois and the third largest in the USA, and is situated on the south western tip of Lake Michigan

Chicago ranked seventh in the world in the 2012 Global Cities Index, it is an international hub for finance, commerce, industry, telecommunications, and transportation.

O'Hare International Airport is the second-busiest airport in the world in terms of traffic movement.

It has the forth largest GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in the world behind Tokyo, New York and LA, and is one of the worlds most important centres for trade and Commerce.

I will include more information about the City of Chicago in a separate Blog post about my time while there on the 28th June.

Chicago-East Chicago-Gary-Michigan City-La Porte.

Saturday, 29th June 2012

Distance: 103.45 km

Time: 5:45:44

Avg Speed: 18.0 kph

Elevation Gain: 344 m

Avg Temperature: 23.1°C, High of 30°C -Overcast with severe morning thunderstorms, clearing in the afternoon then hot and sunny.

After A nice but very hot rest day in Chicago I set off toward the next state of my journey, Indiana. The morning was warm but very overcast and the threat of storms was looming overhead in the west.

I made my way from the hostel over to Lincoln park between the city and Lake Michigan to get onto the cycle path that would take me south following the lake and avoiding much of the suburbs I had been told to avoid on the south side.

As I made my way through the park I stopped to walk through the Lincoln Park Free Zoo seeing it was on the way anyway and breifly stopped to have a quick look at some of the animals, including some other Australians, the Kangaroos.

 

Not long after getting into the Zoo however the skies were darkening and the thunder began, followed by the rain, so I decided I had better make a move seeing I had quite a way to go to my destination and I still had to navigate some of the outer southern suburbs near the Indiana border.

I made my way through the zoo and over to the Chicago beaches on the edge of Lake Michigan and onto the bike path and by this time the rain was getting very heavy and the lightning was starting to appear, (I would find out later in the week that the storm continued to get worse as it headed east causing quite a bit of damage to some of the town in Indiana)

I made my way around the edge of the city stopping to take some pictures whenever I found something worthwhile and by this stage was already very wet and committed to keep going passing many other cyclists and walkers trying to take cover under anything they could find (I;m sure they must have thought I was mad staying out in it but I was managing to keep myself relatively dry underneath my wet weather gear at least.

 

Eventualy I got to the end of the path and found myself in the streets of some very dicey neighbourhoods, I had been warned about these areas and told not to stop and just keep riding through when I got to them.

I did not feel like I was in danger at any time but did get an uneasy feeling of being the the odd one out in a very poor African American part of the city.

I past through the area without any problems though and eventualy crossed over the border into Indiana where I stopped to grab a bite to eat.

After getting back on the bike I came across a coupe of young guys who were also out on the road cycling from Chicago in the same direction I was headed and rode along with them for a little while until one of them started getting puncture after puncture, a risk of riding through the area we were in with so much rubbish laying on the roads. I am amazed I didn't suffer the same fate a number of time and am very grateful to be running a slightly wider tire that has managed to hold up very well.

A little bit further down the road was the town of Gary, another community I had been warned about to the point that I was told to just look straight ahead and keep riding not stopping for anything even red lights (not something that I like to do however) The area was very badly run down with many homes and buildings boarded up, even the police cars were old and run down in this area. at times It was slightly intimidating as groups of youths walking around watched me closely I passed, not a nice feeling, but I found as long as I smiled and politely said g'day no one bothered me at all.

Eventualy I got through all the built up areas and back out onto the open road, by this stage the storm has passed and the sky was starting to clear with the sun coming out.

 

The roads for much of the day once I got into Indiana were particularly bad and full of potholes but the tree lines side made a nice change from the previous days in Iowa and Illinois where there was not allot of shade on the road.

By late into the afternoon I finally made into the small town of La Porte where I was going to be staying the night and after dropping in to a number of hotels to find a room for the night was beginning to get frustrated once again as no one was willing to help me out at all, I eventually found a nice B&B style hotel that was willing to look after me with a slightly better rate that the larger chain hotels and provided me with a nice room just off the lake on the edge of town.

I would like to also thank the couple in the hotel who once they found out what I was doing made quite a sizable donation also covering the costs of my dinner for the night.

La Porte

Settled: 1832

Population: 22,053

State: Indiana

La Porte-South Bend-Elkhart-Goshen.

Saturday 30th, June 2012

Distance: 85.19km

Time: 4:18:18

Avg Speed: 19.8 kph

Elevation Gain: 127 m

Avg Temperature: 31.8°C, High of 36°C - Hot clear and sunny.

That night I was lucky enough to get in contact with a family in Goshen through Warm Showers who were more than happy to host me for the night, something that make the end of the day much easier when I don't have to worry about accommodation.

Tari and Tim are also avid riders and have done a number of tours on their tandem recumbent bicycle over the years. It was a pleasure staying with them and I want to thank them for their hospitality while in Goshen.

Goshen

Settled: 1850's

Population: 31,719

State: Indiana

The South side Wall-Mart is said to be the first in the U.S. to provide covered stables for the Amish.

On the 11th of April in 1965, the Midwest was struck by a large number of tornadoes, multiple tornadoes struck various parts of Goshen on that day.rinds wheat into flour using only wind power and is the tallest working windmill in the United States

Goshen-Ligonier-Fort Wayne.

Sunday 1st, July 2012

Distance: 91.13 km

Time: 4:13:59

Avg Speed: 21.5 kph

Elevation Gain: 180 m

Avg Temperature: 33.6°C, High of 41°C - Very hot, clear blue skies, late afternoon storms.

Everyday out on the road is very different even though at times many of them tend to blur together, the heat wave was continuing to get worse as I was getting further east and the weather patterns were causing very severe storms in the evenings across Indiana, Ohio etc.

I had once again struggled out on the open road with the heat but where today started to get interesting was toward the end of the day as I was getting closer to Fort Wayne, I had been moving along at a relatively casual pace throughout the day due to the heat but for the last hour of so had been watching the sky continually get darker to the south.

I had earlier contacted April in Fort Wayne regarding a place to stay for the night and eventually received a phone message from her warning of the approaching storm that was coming and to either get to town as soon as I could or find somewhere I could take shelter while it passed, not something you want to be told when out on the road traveling, I had been told the storm I rode through a few days ago out of Chicago had turned into a small tornado when it got to Fort Wayne and I did not intend to get caught in anything like that.

So from then on the day was a race against the storm, some how finding the energy to quicken the pace.

.

Tom, Myself, Nathan, April and Kathy out for dinner that night in Fort Wayne.

Discussing various route options with Tom that night.

Fort Wayne

Settled: 1823

Population: 253,691

State: Indiana

Fort Wayne was named after General Anthony Wayne who had built a number of forts in the area around 1794 near the Miami Indian village of Kekionga and established itself as a trading post.

After 1910 the cities economy became increasinly based on manufacturing with factories making railroad car wheels, boilers, tanks, washing machines, medicines, motor trucks, automatic phonographs, display cases, meat-packing products, mining machinery, tents and awnings, and beer.

General Electric was the city's largest employer during this period.

The Great Flood in 1913 left six dead and 15,000 homeless; the governor declared martial law until order could be restored and relief services opened.

Fort Wayne-New Haven-Antwerp-Defiance.

After the storm the night before I woke and prepared to set off toward Defiance for the day, One of the cities bike paths ran right behind my hosts, April and Nathan's house and wound it's way around the city to the east side of town.

I started of along the path but the damaged caused by the storm soon became apparent as there were many fallen trees throughout the cities parks and suburbs.

I began talking with a local rider who was traveling the same direction and he offered to guide me through the paths around much of the damage while showing me a few of the cities sites along the way, In the end it took a little over an hour to make my way to the other side of the city and out the other side.

The heat wave was continuing with the temperature reaching as high as 46 degrees celsius on my bike computer and it was starting to take it's toll as I travelled along in the open sun forcing me to stop whenever I had the chance to pick up more water to keep re-hydrated.

I eventualy rolled in to Defiance five hours later and quickly found a nice cool place to stay and re-coup for the next day to Bowling Green.

Defiance

Fort Defiance built: 1794

Population: 16,461

State: Ohio

Fort Defiance was built in 1794 during the Northwest Indian War, later in the same location Fort Winchester was built during The War of 1812.

 Defiance-Bowling Green.

The 3rd of July was going to be a nice short day, only around 65-70 kilometers which was good as it was set to be another very hot day out on the road, so I tried to leave as early as I could.

I decided I would just program the GPS and follow it exactly for a change and this day at least I was glad.

From the word go it sent me in a very direct route along back roads where I pretty much had the whole road to myself all day long, it also had some of the best surfaces I had ridden on during the whole tour with much of it being new hotmix, smooth and fast, even the older sections were nice most of the time.

That was a nice change from some of the horrible roads I had just come from in Indiana and elsewhere.

I arrived in Bowling Green early afternoon and made my way straight to the hotel giving e a chance to have a good rest that afternoon which was a nice change.

Later that night in Bowling Green the town held their 4th of July fireworks... on the 3rd of July :/  apparently they always hold it the day before because for some reason they are always worried it will rain on the 4th.

My room at the hotel had a direct view of the fireworks which was pretty cool allowing me to kick back in front of the air conditioner at the window and enjoy the show, it was a pretty good display, much like what we would have back home at the lake in Ballarat on Australia Day or New Years.

I was curious to see what they would do the next day when it actually was the 4th of July.

Bowling Green

Settled: 1832

Population: 30,028

State: Ohio

Bowling Green hosts the National Tractor Pulling Championships annually and has done so since 1967, the event draws around 60,000 people to the town.

Bowling Green-Freemont-Sandusky.

So it was now the fourth of July, American Independence Day. I wasn't quite sure what to expect on this day, I guess I always thought there would be some sort of celebration or gathering of some type in each town but the day pretty much went by like any other out on the road with nothing out of the ordinary happening along the way.

The heat wave of the past week or so was by this stage really beginning to take it's tole sapping my energy more so than earlier in the tour and once again I didn't want to stay out on the road in the heat for to long. I made a conscious effort to try to get up and going earlier than I had been previously to try to beat much of the afternoon heat.

Passing through the odd tree lined streets along the way certainly helped from time to time and I managed to get into the edge of Sandusky by early afternoon passing by Sandusky Bay and eventually getting to the second of the great lakes for the trip, Lake Erie, after a short stop for lunch to take a break from the heat I once again set off on the last stint to the hotel.

Later that afternoon I stepped out to grab a bite to eat for dinner, the sky was now looking a little cloudy but it was still very warm and rather nice outside, but boy did that change fast, the walk to the hotel was only around 400 meters and on the way back the sky had darkened considerably, I stopped in at the service station right next to the hotel and by the time I grabbed what I was after and went to the register, the heavens had opened up.

It was absolutly pelting down with sections of the carpark beggining to slightly flood, I had to make a run for it to get back, as you can see from the bottom photo it wasnt very far to the side door, but by the time I got there I was drenched from head to toe.

I was now looking forward to just one more day in the saddle as I made my way to Cleveland and a few days rest visiting with Tom and Kathy, who I had met a few days earlier back in Fort Wayne.

Sandusky

Settled: 1816

Population: 25,793

State: Ohio

In 2011 Sandusky was ranked number one as "the best place to live cheaply" in by Forbes magazine

Sandusky is located almost half way between Toledo and Cleveland and is one of Ohio's most visited tourist destinations as the are is home to a number of amusement parks including Ceder Point which features one of the worlds largest collections of roller coasters.

Sandusky was a major stop on "The Underground Railroad" as depicted in the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" where many slaves boarded boats to seek freedom in Canada.

 Sandusky-Vermilion-Avon Lake-Lakewood-Cleveland.

I woke up to pretty average weather as the storm the night before had continued on through to the morning and nit was looking pretty nasty out there. I decided I would go down and grab some breakfast then get back to the room and assess the situation then, I decided I had better pack up ready to go and just prepare my rain gear and hit the road, It was still raining but the storm had died down quite a lot.

By the time I got down to the ground floor and checked myself out of the hotel the rain had almost completely stopped and the sun was starting to come out.

I got myself out onto the road and followed a relatively quiet back road before heading over to the lake road that ran pretty much all the way into Cleveland following the southern edge of Lake Erie passing through some really pretty areas and nice Marinas along the way, The slightly cooler conditions and tree lined streets also made for a much more enjoyable day on the bike.

I found it really interesting to see how the neighborhoods changed all day as I got closer to Cleveland with huge houses and private housing communities backing right on to the lakes edge in many places, then entering the smaller towns along the way and things got noticeably poorer.

The difference between the rich and the poor in the U.S is really noticeable to me more so than it is at home I believe.

I eventually made my way all the way into Cleveland with not to much trouble at all, like I have found in all the larger cities so far. I had agreed to meet up with Tom (My host for thr next few nights) just east of the city where he would pick me up. and take me out to their house near the town of Chardon, east of the city.

While waiting for Tom I decided to ride around the city area of Cleveland taking in some of the sites and landmarks including the Cleveland Browns Stadium and the Rock and Roll hall of Fame.

Eventually I managed to meet up with Tom and we set of in the car to his and Kathy's house. where I was staying for the next two days rest.

Cleveland

Founded: 1796

Population: 2,250,871

Nickname: The Forest City

State: Ohio

Cleveland became an important manufacturing centre in the United States and had a large Automotive industry at one time making it the 5th largest city in the USA by 1950.

During the African-American civil Rights movement  in the 1950s and 60's, with Civil Unrest occurring in the city resulting in riots and a shootout.

Cleveland is home to a number of professional sporting teams including the Cleveland Indians, Major leage baseball, the Cleveland Browns, National Football Leage and the Cleveland Cavaliers, National Basketball Association.

Some notable residants from Cleveland include:

Drew Carey - Comedian, Actor and Game show host.

Phil Donahue - Talk show host.

Trent Reznor - Lead Singer of Nine Inch Nails.

John d Rockerfeller

Chardon(Cleveland)-North Bloomfield-Warren-Youngstown.

Sundayday 8th, July 2012

Distance: 87.81 km

Time: 4:27:17

Avg Speed: 19.7 kph

Elevation Gain: 334 m

Avg Temperature: 28.8°C, High of 38°C - Warm,blue skies, some cloud cover.

 

After a good couple of days rest with Tom and Kathy, (Something I will write about in a separate blog post.), I was ready to hit the road again, now I would be making my way south east down toward Pittsburgh, hoping to get there within the next two days, The heat wave had all but gone, for a few days at least and the weather was relatively cool and pleasant for a change..

This day could be split into four separate riding sections and was one of the most enjoyable days of the ride to date.

The first stage of the day was from Tom and Kathy's house near Chardon and I was joined on the road by Tom who came along for a ride.

We made our way toward the town and onto a local bike trail that would take us about 24 kilometers down the road.

It was nice to have some company on the bike for a change compared to the long lonely days out there by myself I had experienced up until now and we cruised along talking about all sorts of things.

Eventually we made it to the end of the first trail where I was to goon alone. Tom and I said our goodbyes and I thanked him for the hospitality both he and Kathy had shown me over the past few days and set of down the road into section two of the days ride.

The next part of the days ride was along the quiet roads through one of the local Amish communities.

Up until now I hadn't past though any Amish areas and I was a little interested in seeing what it was like. the best part however was that there wasn't a car in site, anywhere so I pretty much had the roads all to myself and just rolled along enjoying the peaceful environment.

being a sunday morning there was not alot going on in the area and I only got passed by a single buggy as the majority of the people seemed to be gathered at various farm houses throughout the area.

Of the people I did see they seemed to not have a worry in the world, lounging about on their decks talking or reading and were always very eager to say hello and give me a wave as I passed, leading very simple but happy lives without the need for modern technology.

The only complained about the section of the day would be the roads, they were absolutely terrable in places, full of potholes and ruts created by the steel wheeled buggys they use. I guess these areas are not a high priority on the repair list as they are rarely used by other vehicles.

Section three for the day would include yet another 20 kilometers of nice flat sealed bike path where I me a lovely couple from Indiana who were out for a morning ride on their three wheeled recumbents before heading into one of the nearby towns to pick up their granddaughter.

I spent much of this section rolling along talking to Bob & Kim about my trip and time in America, the riding we had done between us and especialy the interesting recumbent set up the were riding.

They were a form of trike that looked similar in layout to a racing wheelchair with two wheels at the back and one at the front, but the best part was that you could remove the front wheel of one and hook it up the the rear of the other creating a sort of tandem setup, very cool and looked like allot of fun to ride.

Bob & Kim decided they would join me all the way to the end of the trail before saying goodbye and once again the company was very welcome.

It makes the day go by so much quicker when you have someone to ride with and talk to.

 The last stint of the day was just riding through the towns surrounding Youngstown as I made my way to my accommodation.

This was the only day where I didn't feel safe to drop into get lunch and leave my bike as I was constantly being hassled by a young kid in Warren, who was clearly spaced out on something and was eying of my bike the whole time, so I got back onto the road and just continued on, not wanting to risk loosing anything.

Youngstown

Founded: 1796

Population: 66,982

State: Ohio

Youngstown-Boardman-North Lima-Beaver-Coraopolis (Pittsburgh).

Monday 9th, July 2012

Distance: 100.23 km

Time: 5:17:54

Avg Speed: 18.9 kph

Elevation Gain: 723 m

Avg Temperature: 31.5°C, High of 40°C - Warm,blue skies, some cloud cover.

 

Today I would hit my 12th state since arriving into the United States, Pennsylvania, as I made my way down to Pittsburgh for a day or two.

I set of down the road making my way through the outskirts of Youngstown and came across a fantastic road that followed the river through the west side of town and through some beautiful parkland, passing by waterfalls etc as I went, eventually coming out beside Newport Lake, I was really enjoying the ride through these neighborhoods and would have loved to continue following the river trail a little further along but unfortunately had to eventually turn away from it as it was heading in the wrong direction.

I continued along as usual following along the route my GPS had worked out for me, now the majority of the time it is really good, sending me on roads that are generally a little quieter and often safer but unfortunately today it didn't quite work out that way as I made my way to the Pennsylvania boarder.

There was one particular section of road that had absolutly no shoulder on it forcing me to ride out with the traffic, not a bad thing if it is quiet but on this particular day, being the start of the working week I guess the road was full of large heavy vehicles, mainly dump trucks and Garbage trucks who didn't feel the need to give me a hell of a lot of room.

I considered looking for another road but would have been forced to back track quite a bit so I kept plodding along getting right of the road every time I could hear one of the trucks coming.

From there the roads just got worse as I crossed into Pennsylvania, the section of highway I was on probably would be really nice if I came through a few months later but today it was full of roadworks almost all the way to Beaver on the Ohio River.

The main problem was that the two lanes had been reduced down to one and often the traffic would be forced into the shoulder, this had caused the road surface to be quite severely broken up and rough, not much fun to ride on.

I finaly made it into Beaver and crossed the bridge into Monaca where I had planned to pick up a bike trail that was showing up on Google maps, well the bike trail was there, clearly signposted, the problem was it was on a two lane highway, this time with no shoulder at all so I was forced out into the traffic once again except this time it was traveling at a much higher speed.

I was absolutly dumbfounded that this section of road was marked a a cycling route as it was clearly not a very safe option.

I eventually made it into the town of Coraopolis on the outskirts of Pittsburgh where I was to meet David from the Parkinson Foundation of West Pennsylvania, who i would be staying with during my time in the city.

I was glad to be of the road today and was looking forward to spending a bit of time in Pittsburgh and hopefully meet one of the rides long time followers Kim.

I will be putting up a sepperate write up about my time in Pittsburgh in the blog section of the site soon.

Pittsburgh

Founded: 1717

Population: 66,982

State: Pennsylvania

Nicknames: City of Bridges, Steel City and City of Champions.

Pittsburgh was founded by George Washington and General John Forbes, It was named for British Prime Minister William Pitt.

The city is historically known for its steel and coal mining industries, but today is largely based on Health-care, Technology and Financial services.

The downturn of the steel industry left no working steel mills within the city limits although more than 300 steel related businesses are still in the area.

The city now supports 1600 technology and research companies including Google, Intel and Apple

The city is home to many professional sporting teams many of which have had a large amount of success including the Pittsburgh Pirates, Major League Baseball, the Pittsburgh Steelers football team and the Pittsburgh Penguins Hockey team, all of which share the cities colours of Yellow and Black.

Pittsburgh-McKeesport-West Newton-Connellsville-Confluence.

Via the Great Allegheny Passage.

David and myself as I was about to start the Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh.

David (who I had been staying with in Pittsburgh) and I had planned a nice early start and he was going to drop me off at the beginning of the Great Allegheny Trail in Pittsburgh.

We didn't quite get away as early as planned but I was able to hit the trail at a good time.

After dropping me off and saying goodbye I was off and away once again, I had been looking forward to these next few days between Pittsburgh and Washington DC as I had been told about the two sections of trail that joined the two cities since back as far as Seattle.

It was also nice to not have to worry about being on roads and dealing with traffic for the coming four days and I was enjoying the nice sealed trail along the Monongahela River that was until I came to a dead end and a wire fence, there was a railway line to the right and it looked like people had gone off the trail and followed the tracks at this point but I wasn't real sure.

I sat there for a little while and asked another rider who came along if he knew how you get to the next part of the trail, He wasn't to sure but said he was going to try along the tracks so I decided to follow along.

We eventually made it to the other end and after chatting for a while as we rode along. We introduced ourselves, Rich was his name, and it turned out we were both heading to Cumberland over the next two days, so we decided it might be good to ride together and keep each other company.

I had noticed his US Marines shirt and asked him about it, it turned out he was a veteran of the first Gulf War back in the early 90's, a topic which sparked a few interesting conversations along the way.

It was fantastic to have some great company along the way during the day as we shared stories about ourselves and our travels,interests etc, it certainly makes the day go by allot faster when you have company.

It had been organised for me to spend the night with a couple by the name of the Hollidays in the town of Confluence along the trail and Rich was going to be staying at Camp Carmel, a summer camp that he helps out at, which was a little shorter than my destination.

I had told the Hollidays (Bill and Linda) I would hopefully get to their house at around 4:30 that afternoon and was beginning to get a little worried my time was way out, but unfortunately I had no phone reception in the area.

We stopped of at Camp Carmel where rich was to stay the night and I managed to get a call through on another phone, it was starting to get a little late by this stage and Linda said Bill would meet me at the next town along the trail (Connellsville) and pick me up.

Before setting off on my own Rich and I arranged to meet up the next morning in Confluence where I was staying and ride the remainder of the trail to Cumberland together also.

After leaving Rich at Camp Carmel I set off on my own toward Connellsville where I had organised to meet Bill.

After arriving back at their house which Linda used to run as a Bed and Breakfast, they put on a fantastic BBQ/picnic dinner with their neighbours also dropping by, it was a night filled with great food and great company.

To find out more about the Great Allegheny Passage visit the website at: http://www.atatrail.org/

Confluence

Settled: 1870

Population: 834

State: Pennsylvania

Confluence is so named for the juncture of the Casselman and Youghiogheny Rivers and the Laurel Hill Creek.

The town is a popular destination for boating, fishing, hiking and cycling.

Confluence-Meyersdale-Frostburg-Cumberland.

Via the Great Allegheny Passage.

This was going to be a busy day, I woke up nice and early and together with Linda (my host for the night in Confluence) made our way into town where we would meet up with Linda's husband Bill for breakfast.

Linda had also organised for Larry a local resident and writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to join us for an interview about the tour.

After breakfast we also dropped in to the local bike shop Confluence Cyclery to say hello, before getting a ride back to the house with Bill in his Model T Ford.

I had organised to meet up with Rich back on the trail who I had ridden with yesterday and after loading up the bike and saying goodbye to Linda made my way back to the trail with Bill who joined me on the bike, we stopped off at one of the old bridges along the trail to say hello to some of the Cumberland locals who were working on a mural while I waited for Rich to make it into town.

I had a wonderfull time staying with Linda and Bill in Confluence and can not thank them enough for their support and hospitality.

Linda outside their home in Confluence.

Bill took me for a ride in his Model T Ford.

Looking toward the point between the two rivers where Bill and Linda's house sits.

After meeting up with Rich on the trail outside Confluence we set off again on our way to Cumberland for the day.

The first part of the ride would be a constant but easy climb up to the highest point on the trail in Pennsylvania at the eastern continental divide.

Much like yesterday the trail passed through a variety of fantastic scenery through forrests a number of old tunnels and over viaducts.

One of the tunnels that has been closed on the trail.

Looking down on a corn field from a new perspective.

The afternoons ride after lunch was quite a bit faster as we begun to descend down into Cumberland for the last 20 or so miles of the ride, you can see from the elevation drawing in the image bellow just how much it dropped compared to the climb on the way up.

The descent had us going through another three or four tunnels of various lengths with the last running beside the old railway line outside of Cumberland which we then followed the rest of the way into town.

The view from the other side of the Big Savage tunnel.

The two days riding from Pittsburgh to Cumberland were definitely some of the best and most enjoyable days riding during the USA leg of the tour passing through some beautiful scenery and having the opportunity to have some great company to help pass the time along the way.

After making it into Cumberland rich and i swapped emails and said goodbye as we were both to be heading our separate ways form here on. we met up with Rich's father who had come to puck him up and I headed of to find a place in town for the night where I was later to meet up with my brother Damian who was making his way to join me that night.

I had been looking forward to this evening weeks now after being on the road alone for so long and was very excited to see Damian that night.

My brother Damian and myself in Cumberland that night.

To find out more about the Great Allegheny Passage visit the website at: http://www.atatrail.org/

Cumberland

Founded: 1787

Population: 103,299

State: Maryland

Nickname: Queen City.

Moto: Come for a visit, Stay for life!

Cumberland is named after Prince William, the son of King George II, the Duke of Cumberland. It is built on the site of old Fort Cumberland, the starting point for the attack on the french strong-hold at present day Pittsburgh during the French Indian War.

Cumberland was also an outpost and the first military headquarters of George Washington.

Cumberland-Little Orleans.

Via the C&O Canal Trail.

After meeting up with my brother Damian the night before and catching up over a couple of beers it was time to hit the trail once again, the second leg of the four days to Washington would be on the C&O Canal Trail and I now had the opportunity to offload my panniers for the remainder of the USA section of the tour with my brother following in the car.

We decided we would meet at a particular point along the trail and take the opportunity to visit Gettysburg in the afternoon seeing we were so close, and I set off down the trail.

The C&O trail follows the 154.5 mile long Chesapeake & Ohio Canal that follows the north bank of the Potomac River between Cumberland and Washington DC, the canal was originally built between 1828 and 1850 and operated until 1924, today much of the canal has been reclaimed by nature however and the canal is now a National Historic Park.

Unlike the Alegheny trail from the previous two days the C&O trail is not quite as smooth.

I was feeling pretty good at first once I readjusted to the change in the handling without the panniers and was having a great time flying along the trail, even catching a bit of air once or twice but as the trail went on the rougher it got in places and I found myself slowing quite a bit, would have loved to have had a mountain bike on this section.

The surface went through a number of changes throughout the morning from a relatively smooth wide trail to double track and single track in some sections.

Although the trail was not quite as smooth the scenery and history of the area was fantastic and i was enjoying passing by the many old 19th century Lock houses and their corresponding locks on the canal as well as passing through the long dark canal tunnel.

After a while I was beginning to watch the time and noticed I was not going to make the specific time I gave Damian to meet along the trail but had no phone coverage to ring and let him know.

I made a descision to get of the trail and onto a side road that would straighten out and half the remaining distance that I would have to ride if I stayed on the trail itself.

As it turned out it was not the smartest decision I made during the day, sure the distance was halved but what I didn't realise was just how narrow, rough and steep this road would ultimately become as i progressed along it and just to make it worse the rain set in and in the end I was pretty much lost.

I knew that I was just to the side of the C&O but could no longer find another way back onto it and had to stick it out on this terrible back road.

Eventualy I made it to our meeting point, although from a completely different direction than fisrt planned and managed to get a signal and call Damian.

He had been concerned about what had happened to me and had been driving around to various points on the trail to try and find me. We eventually met up, unfortunately about 2 hours past our original planned time and it was still pouring with rain.

The drama of the past hour and a half or so was enough for me and I decided to call it a day at that point, unfortunately we never made it to Gettysburg in the end due to time but instead made for our accommodation for the night where I could work out where to pick the trail back up again the next day.

Follow the link below to view more images from the day:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelongroadtour/sets/72157630597713406/

Little Orleans

State: Maryland

Little Orleans is located on the Potomac River at the mouth of the Fifteen-mile Creek, across from Orleans Cross Roads, West Virginia.

Harpers Ferry-Washington DC.

Via the C&O Canal Trail.

This morning Damian and I got up, loaded up the car and set off to find a good place where I could pick up the C&O trail again.

I decided Harpers Ferry would be a good place to start from which was not too far from where I had left of yesterday.

We made it to the river and found a good place where I could get dropped off to start the day.

The town of Harpers Ferry was over the other side of the river in West Virginia but I wanted to cross over and take a quick look around before continuing on. The town itself is full of history dating back to the revolutionary war and was actually the site of the first battles of the war, today the town is like a living museum dedicated to what happened there.

After a short stop I decided I had better start making a move, I had to make it to Washington DC today and wanted to make the most of the better weather and trail conditions after yesterday’s rain.

Our accommodation for our stay in DC had also been pre-organised and our hosts Margaret and Diane were going to be heading out later that night so I had to try to make good time to get there in time.

The first part of the days ride was pretty nice and smooth on a relatively wide gravel track following between the river and canal and I was making pretty good time, meeting Damian at each of the pre-scheduled stops along the way as planned.

At my lunch stop in Points of Rocks I was approached by a guy by the name of Kim Doyle who had spotted me with the bike and was out promoting some local cycling events that were coming up in early August, asking if I was interested in coming along, after explaining I wouldn't be around and telling him about my journey he asked if I would mind doing a brief interview for him to put in his local cycling newsletter in which he does a piece called “Cyclist of the Week.”

Any publicity I could get was welcome so I was more than happy to talk and pose for a few photos.

After lunch I decided I would meet Damian a fair bit further along the trail, I had been going pretty good so far and though it shouldn’t take too long, little did I know that the previous nights rain fall had taken its toll on the path throughout the next section of the trail with large section of boggy mud holes, the trail in general was still pretty good but the change in condition definitely slowed me down quite a bit.

It was getting close to five and I received a call from Margaret confirming what time they would be heading out, I had made it to the outskirts of Washington DC and to the next meeting point along the trail and would be cutting it very fine if I decided to continue into the centre of DC and then make it to the house so I decided to end the day there and make our way into our accommodation.

It had been a pretty good but tough first two days since Damian had joined me and I was now looking forward to spending a few days catching up with a few days in the US capital.

Follow the link below to view more images from the day:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelongroadtour/sets/72157630597713406/with/7583378428/

Washington DC

District of Columbia

Founded:1791

Population: 617,996

Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States, it sits apon land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia and is formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington or simply D.C.

The District is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the US Congress and is therefore not a part of any U.S. state.

Washington is home to many national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall.

The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of many international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups, and professional associations.

Washington DC (Chester)-Wye Mills-Denton-Lewes-Cape May.

This was going to be an exciting day as I would hopefully make it to the east coast of the USA, not quite my end destination but a huge milestone none the less, but first we would have to get out of Washington DC.

I had planned to head east from Maryland to Delaware and then catch the ferry over to New Jersey for the night. The first obstacle was getting over the Bay Bridge, which I had been told you could not ride over, it was decided that we would load up the car and Damian would take me out of DC, over the bridge to a town by the name of Chester where I would start riding.

Damian following close behind in the car.

It was a pretty hot day once again but I was feeling good, the ankle seemed ok and riding an unloaded bike on a nice smooth road as opposed to the rough gravel tracks of the previous days on the C&O trail was a bonus. I was flying along only stopping for refills of water and picking up additional snacks along the way.

At the last stop I told Damian to go ahead to the ferry and that I would meet him there.

Approaching the Atlantic Ocean was an amazing feeling and I seemed to get an extra burst of energy as it got closer and I could now smell of the ocean.

I literally found myself out of the saddle sprinting toward the beach, completely missing the turn to the ferry terminal and riding right onto the beach dropping my bike in the sand as the adrenalin of getting to the other side of the USA took over me. I stood there for a little while soaking up the moment and asked a beach-goer to take a photo of me before making a move to the terminal the meet Damian.

I had made it to the other side of the country after battling through heat waves and injuries along the way that had forced me to change my plans on a number of occasions and the emotions I was feeling was hard to explain.

That night we crossed over to New Jersey and made our way to Cape May, Margaret from Washington had organised for us to stay in a guesthouse owned by a friend of theirs in town, it would now only be another three or so days before I would hit my official end destination of New York.

Follow the link below to view more images from the day:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelongroadtour/sets/72157630778463230/

Cape May

State: New Jersey

Incorperated: as Cape May City in 1869

Population: 3607, in the summer months this often grows to 40-50,000.

The town is named for 1620 Dutch captain Cornelius jacobson May who explored and charted the area between 1611–1614.

Cape May is recognised as one of Americas top 10 beaches.