This Land is Your Land

"Well I rode that ribbon highway

I saw above me the endless sky

I saw below me the golden valley

Well this land was made for you and me"

- Woody Guthrie

Ok, the last post. The one that no one asked for and no one cares about. The summary of the whole exercise, dumbed down to a few paragraphs for the insomniacs and those of you who, for whatever reason, claimed to have looked forward to these. I've been putting this off for almost 3 weeks, because I don't want to think about my bike. (Side note - the flat I got on the last day is still not repaired. And probably won't be until sometime in March or April. If I get really desperate to ride, I'll use the spare until such time as that gets a flat too). Kelly has been badgering me to write this one so I can be done and she can make a coffee table book out of the posts and pictures. Fine.

Over the course of the trip, I talked a good game about ranking things like burgers, states, etc. Truth be told, in too many cases, states would just get an N/A. It's hard to truly compare the quality of the roads when you spend 6 miles in one state and 406 in another. Similarly, my favorite food - the cheeseburger - was too often reduced to some fast food joint or C-store offering, that was only slightly more appetizing than the liver and onions or chitlins and collard greens that were next to it in the slop bucket. As became clear to me fairly early on, and probably to everyone reading this, I was very happy to take shortcuts. Since I made the rules, and no one else was playing, I felt fairly comfortable changing the rules whenever and wherever I wanted. As a result, my 9000 mile ride ended up at 5500, with the rest of them being covered in a variety of rental cars (or our van). When it was all done, I did ride and spend the night in all the lower 48 (49 if you count the unofficial reddest of redneck places, the State of Jefferson). That was the ultimate goal. I had use of some vehicle in 18 of them. I stayed in homes with friends or family for 11 nights, in our van for 4, and with a Warmshowers host for 9. I probably tried about a dozen other times but was unable to connect with a host. All the rest were hotels and motels which definitely covered a very wide range of quality. On a scale of 1-10, the average stay was somewhere below a 5, with a low well into the negatives and a high of probably 7 or 8.

Finally, the music. I had started the ride thinking I would probably run through my playlist 5 or 6 times over the course of the summer. I barely managed 1. In fact, I finished the first lap (2161 songs) with 2 days left. Two things conspired against me on this count. First and foremost, many of the roads were simply scary as shit to ride on without AirPods in. I kept telling myself that it was better to be able to hear my potential demise coming so I could try various avoidance techniques, if necessary.

Most Pleasing

1. Colorado - Western Colorado is beautiful, with the exception of the stretch between Grand Junction and Montrose. Mountains, rivers, canyons - most of which were simply breathtaking. I'd still be out there riding if I stopped to take all the pictures I could have

2. Massachusetts - The state has everything. The Berkshires are really nice, and make you forget that you're on the East Coast with 50 million people within a few hours drive. I also love riding or driving through the quintessential little New England towns. I grew up in upstate New York, and our town had a little village. It was nice to be reminded of that time and place.

Honorable Mention - Blue Ridge Parkway, in North Carolina. I didn't ride enough in NC to put this on the list and I definitely didn't love the American Tobacco Trail through Durham, but the Parkway was what I expected.

Least Pleasing

1. Mississippi - I was only in there for about 12 garbage-strewn miles, but I didn't need to see anymore.

2. Delmarva Peninsula - This was perhaps the most disappointing section of the ride. Particularly in Virginia and Maryland. I'm not sure how it's possible to ride close to 100 miles on that narrow peninsula and never see either the Atlantic Ocean or Chesapeake Bay, but somehow I did it. Cornfields and chickens. Flat as a pancake. No towns.

Honorable Mention - Ocean City, Maryland where all I had was rain and fog and couldn't see the ocean when I was on the beach, and for similar reasons, Oregon. I love central Oregon and the views of the Cascades, but the wildfires not only wreaked havoc on my route options, they also provided two days of almost nothing to look at more than a couple hundred feet away.

Most Pleasant Surprise

North Dakota - Not only was Claire riding with me at that point, but the western half of the state is NOT flat. It was still predominantly farmland, but the terrain was much more interesting than any of the other midwestern states.

Hilliest Day

Rhode Island and Connecticut - In perhaps the biggest upset, the day with the most elevation gained (6,110') was from Woonsocket, RI to Granby, CT. I started and ended at elevations under 200' and my highest point was barely over 1100', but it was 86 miles of up and down.

There were 4 other days over 5000' of elevation gain - 1 each in Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee and Alabama.

The least amount of gain on a point to point ride (versus a rail trail out and back), was just 225' for 54 miles to Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Longest Day - (for time) Belmont, Mississippi to Tuscaloser, Alabama 9 hours and 29 minutes.

Longest Day - (for distance) Chiloquin, Oregón to Sisters, Oregon 123.6 miles.

Most Miles in a State

1. Missouri 406

2. Minnesota 313

3. Colorado 312.5

Fewest Miles in a State

1. Washington 5

2. Kansas 6.3

3. Vermont 12.8

Favorite Burger

1. Rockmart, Georgia - The Rails Bar & Grill

2. Charles City, Virginia - Sad to say, I got only a picture of the burger but completely failed to note the name of the restaurant. I could definitely find it again if I'm ever back there, but since it's on the Delmarva peninsula, that's unlikely.

3. York, Maine - Wild Willy's. Almost got killed crossing the highway because I was lured in by the smell of the charbroiled burgers. It was so good, Kelly and I drove by it this weekend on the way up to Parents Weekend at Bates. Sadly, it wasn't lunchtime.

Least Favorite Burger

1. Texarkana, Texas - Whataburger. Always hated them and always will.

Worst Hotel

1. Galena Motel - Galena, Kansas. Think Bates Motel, but scary.

2. Woonsocket Motor Inn - Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Think Zombie Apocalypse but with marginally alive human beings.

Best Hotel

1. N/A

Best Musical Artist or Group I'd Never Previously Heard

1. Lucinda Williams

2. Rusted Root

3. The New Electric Sound

Music I Couldn't Stand But Listened Anyway Because I Said I Wouldn't Skip Songs

1. Yes

2. Rush

3. Any Hip Hop song that used the term "motherf*cker" more than 3 times. That list includes approximately 30 songs by a variety of artists

Best Album

1. The Refreshments - Fizzy Fuzzy Big and Buzzy. Universally depressing lyrics matched with very up tempo music. Strange combo, but it definitely works for me.

2. Bruce Springsteen- The River. Classic.

3. N/A - After those albums, it's individual songs. Everything from Eric Church (Mr. Misunderstood) to Dobie Gray (Drift Away) to Sara Bareilles (King of Anything) to Jackson Brown (Rock Me On the Water) to Aerosmith, Van Morrison or Thomas Rhett. I even had some Christmas music in there.

Oddest Music I Hadn't Listened to Previously

1. Duke Ellington - I enjoyed the jazz but it definitely isn't great cycling music

2. Ray Charles - See Duke Ellington

My biggest takeaways are somewhat intertwined. First, you can't spend enough time with your family and friends. Even ones you haven't seen in forever. Second, people are good. Not all of them, obviously, but in my recent experience, way more of them are than aren't. It was refreshing to see in this present day and age.