Group of students I met in Athens on Friday night who signed the petition (www.undoit.org).
Ashley and I after a night of dancing in Athens.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Friday, October 06, 2006
Steeel Woool, sponsoring band in Athens, GA
Sam, me, and John of Steeel Woool in Athens. This band plays great music, put me up for a couple nights, and supports the great cause of solving global warming and bicycle journeys. Listen to their music by following links to the left.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Man Cleans Up Rivers; Time to SWITCH to GREEN ELECTRICITY!
Hi all,
I just got off the phone with a guy named Dave Andrek in New Jersey who goes out every so often and cleans up trash from the riverbank of a river near his house. His river is getting cleaner, slowly but surely, and soon, maybe when he has kids or grandkids, they will be able to swim in it! Keep up the good work, Dave.
In my conversation with Dave, we talked about what our country can do about global warming, and we talked about cars--diversifying the fuels and increasing fuel efficiency. Now, cars are half the problem, and electricity is the other half. And switching to renewable electricity is now just about as easy as a click of the mouse!
Go to WWW.RENEWUS.ORG and Buy Clean Energy! Link to the left.
I just got off the phone with a guy named Dave Andrek in New Jersey who goes out every so often and cleans up trash from the riverbank of a river near his house. His river is getting cleaner, slowly but surely, and soon, maybe when he has kids or grandkids, they will be able to swim in it! Keep up the good work, Dave.
In my conversation with Dave, we talked about what our country can do about global warming, and we talked about cars--diversifying the fuels and increasing fuel efficiency. Now, cars are half the problem, and electricity is the other half. And switching to renewable electricity is now just about as easy as a click of the mouse!
Go to WWW.RENEWUS.ORG and Buy Clean Energy! Link to the left.
Entering Georgia
Yesterday, left Calhoun Falls and entered Georgia.
This store in Calhoun Falls, SC is over 100 years old! Run by the same family. The father, mother and son were a joy to talk to. This picture was taken just before I left and crossed over into Georgia.
Ah, a new state of mind. Later that night, the sunset in the sky was a beautiful orange peach--I ate it up!
A fresh, juicy tomato is a biker's best friend!
Black Stallion on the way to Athens.
Black Stallion runs anxiously around, checking out my steed, and what it could mean, when I entered a road toward his owner's house. One of the roads on my route turned out to be a private road! Soon, I had to find another route--the highway. I put on all my neon and reflective gear, turned on my taillight, and I set about the road to Athens, Route 78.
Black Stallion excitedly, curiously staring at me.
This store in Calhoun Falls, SC is over 100 years old! Run by the same family. The father, mother and son were a joy to talk to. This picture was taken just before I left and crossed over into Georgia.
Ah, a new state of mind. Later that night, the sunset in the sky was a beautiful orange peach--I ate it up!
A fresh, juicy tomato is a biker's best friend!
Black Stallion on the way to Athens.
Black Stallion runs anxiously around, checking out my steed, and what it could mean, when I entered a road toward his owner's house. One of the roads on my route turned out to be a private road! Soon, I had to find another route--the highway. I put on all my neon and reflective gear, turned on my taillight, and I set about the road to Athens, Route 78.
Black Stallion excitedly, curiously staring at me.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Some Pictures
Pavle, Lucas, me, Felipe Castro, and the other Felipe. All tenis players at Newberry College in Newberry, SC.
Some new friends at Newberry College.
Me and a girl from Newberry College.
Me and some guys from Newberry.
From left to right, Pavle of Serbia, me, Felipe Castro of Rio.
The Felipes and Lucas, Felipe Castro on my bike, as I head out of Newberry and they head to tenis practice.
The Felipes and Lucas (Felipe Castro on bike).
Calhoun Falls, SC, on border with GA. Where I am now.
Heritage Corridor, Nature Route near Calhoun Falls, SC, bordering GA.
Sunset on the road in Western South Carolina.
Ponies checking each other out.
My little ponies.
Ponies in the field on the way to Newberry.
Another shot of the road.
The road continued on the other side!
Steady steed ready to ford the stream.
Mile 31. I headed down the "Road Closed" path...
On my way out of Great Falls, this turtle was getting some sun in the road. I moved him to the side...
This is TJ, my gracious Fire Department host in Great Falls.
This is me at the Great Falls Fire Department where they put me up for the night.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Newberry
Hi all following the blog! I think I have at least a few new readers. Welcome and thank you for your interest.
I stopped in Newberry, SC (mile 60) on my way to Cross Hill, and passing through campus I met some very cool people. Some basketball players heard and were thoroughly impressed with my endeavor, and alerted all passerby to it. One of the passerby was Pavle of Serbia, and he had just been playing tennis with his Brazilian friends! So of course we went and I met them and we went to dinner and met some more Brazilians. I had a great dinner and answered all their questions--all thoroughly impressed and enamoured with the idea.
The Brazilians are putting me up for the night--one called his sister in Rio and told her all about the trip and he put her on with me. We spoke portuguese and now she's reading this blog. (Oi!--Hello!)
Today was eventful: one of the roads on my route turned out to be a dead end--"Road Closed" with a big mound of dirt and drop-off to a streambed. It looked like maybe a road was planned but not finished, like the trees were cleared, a path was made, but no road laid.
I decided to cross the stream and trek up the path through the forest. What is an adventure anyway if all the roads are nice and paved?
So I drank some water and had a snack preparing for an Indiana Jones mission into the wild. I pulled my bike around the "Road Closed" sign and forged down the riverbank towards the stream. How to ford the stream and not get my shoes soaked for the rest of the ride? (This was mile 31 for the day.) I took off my shoes and socks, and heaved them over to the opposite bank, committing myself to cross. I pulled my bike into the stream, barefeet into the sandy streambed and cold water flowing over them. No watersnakes, leeches, or snappy crustaceans. I pushed my bike up the steep back a bit. The rustling caused a huge, black bird with a heron-type neck to unsettle from his perch in the branches above and squawk off up the clearing into the trees. I pushed the bike a bit further, and then heard a gunshot off in the distance. Was this a hunting territory? Maybe this was just a dumb idea, I thought. Don't be stupid and risk your life, I thought, trapsing through a hunting area. I thought about turning back, but I remembered the big dogs I disturbed as I entered the road at the "Dead End" sign. I would have to pass them on the way out and surely they would be waiting for me. I also had no alternative route worked out. THIS was my route, and it was going to work. If hunters were stupid enough to shoot at a neon-green-clad biker riding through the forest, that would be tantamount to shooting a fellow hunter dressed in neon, and that would just be dumb, and I could be mad at them. So, I pushed on. I found a less steep way up the bank, and once up on the bank, I dried my feet with a tee-shirt and re-shoed. I had to cross another streambed, a dry one, before I pushed up an even steeper bank.
And to reward my perseverence and determination, I found that at the top of that bank, the pavement reappeared! I surmised that a large surge had washed out the bridge that used to span these stream beds, and had never been replaced. Only a biker could ford the gap! And only an courageous one at that!
This road had no traffic on it since it was a closed-off road, but many of the country roads in this northwestern section of SC had virtually no cars as well! It was a very relaxed day through very beautiful territory.
One of the roads I turned onto today was a gravel path, with lots of ups and down. Quite a challenge even for my mountain-style touring bike with 26" x 1.75" tires. Took my speed down to 7-8 mph. Going uphill, the rear wheel often slips, and going downhill, the possibility of slipping laterally threatens.
I saw some ponies on the way to Newberry, and got an electric shock trying to lure them over to the fence holding out some snacks. Ouch!
I stopped at a Country Music, weekend beer and party joint entering Newberry county, and a couple from FL was there who were very impressed with my trip and snapped some photos. She took down the blog (Hi!--please send me the photos--pauljosephpark@gmail.com), and said she would probably sign the petition because she is all about stopping global warming.
All in all, a good day--60 miles, and stay at an excellent college (Newberry) with some excellent hosts. Thank you Pavle, Lucas, Felipe, Jessica, Felipe Castro, and everybody else I met!
I stopped in Newberry, SC (mile 60) on my way to Cross Hill, and passing through campus I met some very cool people. Some basketball players heard and were thoroughly impressed with my endeavor, and alerted all passerby to it. One of the passerby was Pavle of Serbia, and he had just been playing tennis with his Brazilian friends! So of course we went and I met them and we went to dinner and met some more Brazilians. I had a great dinner and answered all their questions--all thoroughly impressed and enamoured with the idea.
The Brazilians are putting me up for the night--one called his sister in Rio and told her all about the trip and he put her on with me. We spoke portuguese and now she's reading this blog. (Oi!--Hello!)
Today was eventful: one of the roads on my route turned out to be a dead end--"Road Closed" with a big mound of dirt and drop-off to a streambed. It looked like maybe a road was planned but not finished, like the trees were cleared, a path was made, but no road laid.
I decided to cross the stream and trek up the path through the forest. What is an adventure anyway if all the roads are nice and paved?
So I drank some water and had a snack preparing for an Indiana Jones mission into the wild. I pulled my bike around the "Road Closed" sign and forged down the riverbank towards the stream. How to ford the stream and not get my shoes soaked for the rest of the ride? (This was mile 31 for the day.) I took off my shoes and socks, and heaved them over to the opposite bank, committing myself to cross. I pulled my bike into the stream, barefeet into the sandy streambed and cold water flowing over them. No watersnakes, leeches, or snappy crustaceans. I pushed my bike up the steep back a bit. The rustling caused a huge, black bird with a heron-type neck to unsettle from his perch in the branches above and squawk off up the clearing into the trees. I pushed the bike a bit further, and then heard a gunshot off in the distance. Was this a hunting territory? Maybe this was just a dumb idea, I thought. Don't be stupid and risk your life, I thought, trapsing through a hunting area. I thought about turning back, but I remembered the big dogs I disturbed as I entered the road at the "Dead End" sign. I would have to pass them on the way out and surely they would be waiting for me. I also had no alternative route worked out. THIS was my route, and it was going to work. If hunters were stupid enough to shoot at a neon-green-clad biker riding through the forest, that would be tantamount to shooting a fellow hunter dressed in neon, and that would just be dumb, and I could be mad at them. So, I pushed on. I found a less steep way up the bank, and once up on the bank, I dried my feet with a tee-shirt and re-shoed. I had to cross another streambed, a dry one, before I pushed up an even steeper bank.
And to reward my perseverence and determination, I found that at the top of that bank, the pavement reappeared! I surmised that a large surge had washed out the bridge that used to span these stream beds, and had never been replaced. Only a biker could ford the gap! And only an courageous one at that!
This road had no traffic on it since it was a closed-off road, but many of the country roads in this northwestern section of SC had virtually no cars as well! It was a very relaxed day through very beautiful territory.
One of the roads I turned onto today was a gravel path, with lots of ups and down. Quite a challenge even for my mountain-style touring bike with 26" x 1.75" tires. Took my speed down to 7-8 mph. Going uphill, the rear wheel often slips, and going downhill, the possibility of slipping laterally threatens.
I saw some ponies on the way to Newberry, and got an electric shock trying to lure them over to the fence holding out some snacks. Ouch!
I stopped at a Country Music, weekend beer and party joint entering Newberry county, and a couple from FL was there who were very impressed with my trip and snapped some photos. She took down the blog (Hi!--please send me the photos--pauljosephpark@gmail.com), and said she would probably sign the petition because she is all about stopping global warming.
All in all, a good day--60 miles, and stay at an excellent college (Newberry) with some excellent hosts. Thank you Pavle, Lucas, Felipe, Jessica, Felipe Castro, and everybody else I met!
Great Falls
Yesterday, I set a goal to reach Great Falls, 85 miles on the day, and I made it. On the way out, the Econo Lodge in Cheraw gave me breakfast and let me use the internet--Thank you very much! Highly recommended to anyone traveling through the Cheraw, SC area.
In Great Falls, I met Todd at Tiffany's restaurant, and he connected me with the Fire Dept and TJ who put me up for the night. Thank you Great Falls!
In Great Falls, I met Todd at Tiffany's restaurant, and he connected me with the Fire Dept and TJ who put me up for the night. Thank you Great Falls!
Sunday, October 01, 2006
South Carolina
Okay, I'm in South Carolina now. People in NC said it would be the same--strip malls, boring, southern conservative people, more bike animosity. Well, I have noticed a pleasant difference. More laid back, more happy people--they don't drive as fast, they give me more space and time on the road. The scenery is gentler, natural, long fields of cotton, fishermen lined up on the bridges and land banks just chillin. Young teen boys doing the same, even in canoes.
My average speed has gone up to 15 mph in SC, and when I made a wrong turn after dark last night, it was ten miles before I found out, and I had made it back across the NC border! Stopped at a motorcycle saloon and they put me for the night in this white, new building with nothing inside yet. See my route for today at left.
My average speed has gone up to 15 mph in SC, and when I made a wrong turn after dark last night, it was ten miles before I found out, and I had made it back across the NC border! Stopped at a motorcycle saloon and they put me for the night in this white, new building with nothing inside yet. See my route for today at left.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
St. Andrew's Presbyterian College/Laurinburg
In Laurinburg, a town on the NC/SC border, I stopped to get maps for South Carolina. The local public library alerted me to the existence of a liberal arts college in town--St. Andrew's Presbyterian College. When the public library closed soon after I arrived, I rode down to the college and the librarians happily assisted me with my search. I camped in town that night at "Dragon Park" and the next morning the college treated me to breakfast, an interview with the local paper, lunch, more library research and assistance, pick-up soccer, and one library--half-Brazilian--put me up for the night! Thank you Laurinburg and St. Andrew's!
Southern Pines
Southern NC town known for golf courses and "horse farms, fox hunts and equestrian events, art galleries, handmade potteries, antique shops--and sunshiny days," (Heritage Farm brochure).
Heritage Farm
The Heritage Farm is a retreat/camping/day recreation area created by the Sadler family, where they live and host guests for swimming in their man-made lake with a sandy beach, camping (though this is presently closed, and will re-open in the next couple years, the Sadlers allowed me to camp. They even fed me dinner, breakfast and washed my clothes to support the cause.) The pictures convey the beauty and natural luxury of this retreat center in the middle of golf and pine tree country.
An array of animal characters abounded at the Heritage: Swayze the dalmation, radar the attack/guest alarm dog who usually bites but was quite amiable to me, an awesome, full-of-antics, FAT black cat, the dwarfy pony, riding horses...
Amy Sadler was my wonderful hostess, cooking dinner and breakfast along with Robert. She had fabulous stories of long-distance horseback riders (see long riders guild link to the left) who rode from Alaska to Argentina, and those who rode around the world in horse-pulled carriage. Amy is also an avid geneologist, and is doing research into my Polish paternal background. Heritage Farm can be contacted at: 910-949-2853 or seitzamy@hotmail.com (Amy Sadler). Address: "The Heritage," Whispering Pines, N.C. 28327.
An array of animal characters abounded at the Heritage: Swayze the dalmation, radar the attack/guest alarm dog who usually bites but was quite amiable to me, an awesome, full-of-antics, FAT black cat, the dwarfy pony, riding horses...
Amy Sadler was my wonderful hostess, cooking dinner and breakfast along with Robert. She had fabulous stories of long-distance horseback riders (see long riders guild link to the left) who rode from Alaska to Argentina, and those who rode around the world in horse-pulled carriage. Amy is also an avid geneologist, and is doing research into my Polish paternal background. Heritage Farm can be contacted at: 910-949-2853 or seitzamy@hotmail.com (Amy Sadler). Address: "The Heritage," Whispering Pines, N.C. 28327.
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