Category Archives: Mishaps

Day 24: Houston, We Have A Problem

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Bob called me tonight to let me know he was packing it in. He didn’t quit — his bike did.

oops!

It had rained again today and when it had quit, Bob was moving his bike when he noticed something was wrong with his rear wheel. He looked close and found it was way out-of-round. One spoke was broken and the wheel needed to be trued. There was a hostel nearby just for bike campers called Perry’s.

Bob called and a woman answered, who turned out to be Perry. She asked where Bob was. He told her and she said she could pick him and the bike up in 15 minutes. He was surprised, but asked if she could pick him up in 30 minutes because he had just started to pack! She was there in 30 minutes.

Perry took him to a bike shop and the guy there said it would cost $250 to get his bike back in shape to ride. Bob knew then the ride was over; he had only paid $200 for the entire bike back in Florida. The guy at the bike shop said he would buy the frame for $150. Bob thought about it for a micro-second and said, “Sold!”

Bob told me he had put up with as much rain as he could and to get back almost what he paid for his bike, “It was a no brainer.”

He also said he was SO impressed with the people at Perry’s and the way they treated him. They are really great people and he appreciated all their hospitality and help.

Bob called his son in Houston and he will drive over tonight, stay the night with him and they’ll drive back to Houston today.

Bob has no regrets. He said he got in 800 miles and knows he could have finished the ride and will probably try it again. He will hang out in Houston with his son and just enjoy.

Bob is a class guy I would be proud to ride with anywhere, anytime.

Thanks, Bob!

I’m going to work this next week on filling-in some details of our ride together, complete with the photos and videos I brought back with me. I hope you’ll enjoy the visuals. Thanks for ‘riding along’ with us — and with Bob — and all of your encouragement and support. It meant a lot to both of us.

Until my next update,
Chuck

Day 17: A Change In Plans

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Yesterday I had to make a very difficult decision: Continue with Bob on our cross-country ride or return home because our little girl, Shadow, wasn’t doing very well. There was no doubt I was returning home, but I felt really bad about leaving Bob to continue on himself.

Bob is one of the best guys I have met. He understood, and that means an awful lot to me. He will keep in contact with me as he continues riding. His plan now is to make it to Houston, where his son lives, and make a decision to go on or wait for another time.

This trip has meant a lot to me. Bob and I were just getting in the groove. We had fought the hills and almost constant headwinds in Florida and had finally gotten some tailwinds and easy pedaling out of Pensacola into Alabama. We did get a good soaking going to the Ferry to Dauphin Island and holed up in a motel on the island, which got about 7 inches of rain. No way would we have put up our tents in that kind of rain!

Chuck and Bob - Good Times

The next day we had another tailwind which made it an easy 40+ mile ride to Grand Bay, AL.

When Cheryl called me, she said she didn’t want to tell me Shadow might not make it, but knew I had to know the situation. Cheryl wanted me to continue the ride because she thought that it meant so much to me and that I was doing a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Cheryl is my whole life. There is nothing more important than Cheryl and Shadow to me. Shadow has been with us since she was 8 weeks old. She is now 16 years and 8 months old. I could not live with myself knowing she might pass away with me not being at her side.

I’m back at home right now with Cheryl and Shadow and don’t regret what I had to do, what I needed to do — and that is be with the two I love with all my heart.

I'm here, Shadow.

One of the best ways I know right now to support Bob is to keep maintaining this blog with reports on where Bob is on the ride and how he is doing. He has promised to keep in touch and fill me in on all of his adventures. This way you can keep following him too, and cheering him on.

I tried to get him to take my SPOT GPS located with him, but being Bob, he said, “I don’t want to get addicted to gadgets like you are!” Obviously, Bob knows me too well. So we’ll just have to “track” him via his phone calls.

While I was on the road, Cheryl forwarded the comments and emails everyone has been sending to us via the blog and we enjoyed hearing from everyone. I will keep doing that for Bob. So if you want to let him know you’re thinking of him, comment or hit the contact button. We’ll pass it all along.

Now that I’m home, I’ll update the blog with some more posts on mine and Bob’s experiences, complete with all the pictures and videos I took. So check back on some old entries, as I’ll be adding stuff.

Shadow is comfortable right now, but still not well. We don’t know what the future holds, but being with her at this time is what’s important. If you have, or ever had, a dog, you know what I mean. If you don’t, then there is nothing else I can say.

Thanks everyone. Check back later for more on where Bob is today.

Chuck

Day 13: Pensacola

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Cheryl posting for Chuck tonight.

Note about the blog:
Some of you may have noticed the site was down for quite a few hours today. My apologies. Seems the company that hosts our website had a problem with one of their servers — the one that contains all of our websites and blogs — and took it off-line today to do a major overhaul. Hopefully the problem is solved…

Black Water River State Forest to Pensacola, FL
52 miles

While talking with Chuck on the phone tonight, I overheard Bob tell the host at Pensacola Naval Air station’s campground, “It’s the heat that kills ya,”when he asked Chuck and Bob about their ride.

“So you haven’t been in Florida in the summer?”

Chuck and Bob laughed. “We’re from Florida.”

“I feel sorry for you guys. I’ve done that trip and its hard enough going by motorcycle!”

Chuck told me their host is a great guy and is really helping them out. He’s even charging Chuck’s GPS for him tonight because their tent site tonight is ‘primitive’ which means no water and electric, just a place to pitch their tents. The campground does have nice shower and laundry facilities, though and Chuck said, “the place is packed” with RVers.

Chuck said they rode 52 miles today. “It was a hard day. The first 25 to 30 miles were okay, but the last 6 were torture! But I’m not complaining,” he laughed.

Oak Grove Park at Pensacola NAS, where the guys are staying, is nicely located near the beach and the museum on base. Because Chuck is a retired Marine, he still has base privileges and today it came in handy when looking for a campground in the area.

They did need to do some shopping tonight, though, and ended up at Walmart. Chuck said he needed to replace a strobe light and a water bottle and cage that were broken when he fell a couple of days ago. I asked him why they went to Walmart instead of the base exchange, as he told me last night that Bob was looking forward to checking out the BX.

“The BX was 5 miles from the campground and Walmart was 2. We already put in a long day and didn’t want to ride another 10 miles round trip. Walmart was closer!”

As they left Walmart, they did have another mishap. Bob’s chain popped while at an intersection and he couldn’t go forward or backward and hit the pavement hard. Chuck said he’s okay, but it’s another case of equipment malfunction and working out all the kinks as they go along.

The boys plan to relax tonight and stay over tomorrow. They have some chores to take care of with maintenance and fixes on their bikes and some laundry to take care of, but they’re also going to watch the Blue Angels put on a show in the morning and then check out the Air Museum. Chuck said there is also a lighthouse “somewhere around here” and that “the beach is beautiful with that white sand” so I bet they’ll spend some time checking it out too.

The plan now is to head out again on Wednesday, and within a couple of days they should all be crossing the border into Alabama and leaving Florida behind.

52 miles to Pensacola

Day 10: Docs on Bikes

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Cheryl filling in tonight for Chuck with info from his phone call.

Sneads to Chipley, FL
50 miles

Chuck called tonight (via FaceTime, which is the Mac equivalent of Skype – technology is so cool!) and said the guys are camping at Falling Waters State Park in Chipley, FL. Chuck’s familiar with this campground, as we stayed at Falling Waters together back in 2003 when we took our ‘Big Trip Out West’, RVing for the first time.

By the time everyone made it to the campground and got their tents set up, it was too dark to hike the short trail to Florida’s Highest Waterfall this evening, but they plan to take a look at it tomorrow morning before heading out again.

Today was another ‘Death Valley Day’ according to Chuck. This is his way of saying the winds were miserable. Chuck has used this phrase a lot on this trip, but the first time he said it was back in 2009 when he rode his bike from the entrance to Death Valley National Park down to Badwater (the lowest point in the U.S.) when we were traveling as full-time RVers. If you click the link and read his post, you’ll know what he’s talking about. 🙂

Chuck said he’s not complaining, though, and that everyone’s still motivated and feeling strong, but “we feel slow.”

The boys seem to be settling into the routine of riding, with not too much to report out-of-the-ordinary. They stopped in Chipley at a laundromat to do some laundry, and did some shopping at CVS and Wal-Mart for some batteries and stuff before riding to the campground.

The big excitement of the day was meeting yet another group of riders coming east from San Diego on the Southern Tier trail. Jessica, Caley, and Tad are three med students on their way to St. Augustine.

The "3 MDs" Riding Sea-to-Sea

Everyone chatted with each other for a little while, took pictures of each other, and exchanged blog addresses. Before long they parted ways, but not before one of the girls complained about having fallen on her bike and Chuck joked facetiously that he’d never done that before.

Of course, as they parted and the light turned green, Chuck clipped in before he had enough momentum and promptly fell. He said he never felt so embarassed in his life. But, hey, it happens. The only time we cyclists ever seem to fall is when we have an audience, right? It must be bicycle Murphy’s law!

The current plan is to ride to DeFuniak Springs tomorrow and maybe stay a couple of days to see the sights.

Snead to Chipley, FL

 

Day 1: We’re Off!

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Cheryl posting for Chuck today.

Day 1: St. Augustine to Keystone Heights, FL
80 miles

Bob got up early and started getting his gear prepared. Chuck got up soon after and did the same.

Did someone put weights in this bag when I was sleeping?

O-Dark-Thirty - Early Morning Final Preparations

We had breakfast and checked the map again…

Where are we going again?

Then there was more food to get ready…

Nothing like PB&J

Final packing of gear…

We really taking all this?

Got the microwave?

Tightening the straps

Looks good!

Attaching Bob's B.O.B.

And they’re off from the campsite…

Leaving the campsite

Dipping their wheels into the Atlantic…

Atlantic

Final pictures with Cheryl & Shadow…

Chuck and Shadow

Me, Cheryl, and Shadow

Of course, the start this morning couldn’t be without a harried moment or two. As Chuck and Bob rode up to the campground gates, Chuck came to halt and frantically told me he forgot his SPOT GPS tracker. As he unpacked his B.O.B. bag to see if he had packed it away, I drove back to the campsite to see if I could find it there.

Where is SPOT?

Fortunately I found it at the RV and brought it back. Chuck was VERY relieved. Luckily he noticed it was missing before we got too far from the campground.

Once everything was re-packed and everyone was sure they had what they needed for the next two months on the road, I took a ‘starting line’ picture of Bob and Chuck, hugged and kissed Chuck goodbye, and the guys were off and riding their bikes through St. Augustine.

Let's Go!

Saying goodbye and so happy to finally get going!

I followed in the car and took some more pictures and videos until they crossed Lion Bridge.

first intersection

First intersection of many to come.

As they waited for the light to change at the intersection, they were already getting questions from interested strangers. “Where are you headed? How long will it take you?” I’m sure it won’t be the last time they hear that!

So excited

Chuck called this evening to say everyone arrived safely at their first stop. Chuck sounded good and said he felt tired, but not bad. His first call (at around 7pm) he cut short, saying that they had just gotten to the campground and were feeling sprinkles, so they wanted to get their tents up in case it rained. He called back about an hour-and-a-half later to give more details.

The guys are camping overnight at Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park, where they had made reservations by phone yesterday. They didn’t realize that the park would be an extra ten miles from the destination for the first day of cycling on the Adventure Cycling map, which was Keystone Heights. Turns out the entire day’s mileage was higher than they anticipated and they cycled about 80 miles when they thought they’d be doing about 60.

I asked Chuck where the miscalculation came from. Was it bad mapping; taking a wrong turn; detours? He said they really weren’t sure but they didn’t get lost and that the map, GPS, and actual mileage was all different. Bottom line was, it was a very long day of cycling, and the longest Chuck has done in a very long while. In training, Bob and Chuck’s longest ride was around 60 miles, so they increased they’re mileage by about 35% in one day. Not ideal, but they all seem to be handling it well.

I took a lot of videos today and they are now uploaded on YouTube. Here is one of Bob & Chuck dipping their wheels in the Atlantic to start the ride:

You can see the rest of the videos anytime by clicking the link above or the VIDEOS link in the menu at the top of the blog. I’ll add more videos as I get them.