So long 2012

Wow, what a year.

The bike ride seems like a distant memory, but what a memory!  I have spent tonight looking through my photos and the journal I kept on the road, reliving the good times and glossing over the bad days.

The start

I never got round to blogging about Holly's journey home, but it took her a staggering 27 days to make the journey from Miami to Bristol.  After sitting uncollected in a Miami bike shop, she was then held in customs for several weeks as she was missing the correct paperwork.  Thanks TNT!  

The finish

I would be lying if I said I didn't worry about her, but she's back safe and well and rebuilt with nice shiny new tyres......after Schwalbe heard about my puncture free journey, and the money I raised for charity, they went me a complimentary pair of tyres!!  Thank you Schwalbe.

Holly's undignified journey home

So what is like being back?
In the states I seemed to have the same conversation with everybody, about where I had cycled, where I was from etc.  Well, since being back in UK I have been answering one question: 'How was the USA?'.  I have found it an incredibly difficult question to answer, how do you sum up three months of travelling into a sentence!?  I tend to just go with 'yeah, it was good thanks', but it doesn't really do the USA justice.

What has changed?
I was expecting to return from the USA a changed man, but within 2 days of being home, it felt like I'd never been away.  There has only been one noticeable change in me (apart from the tan lines) and that has been how miserable I have been in coping with the British winter (and the non-stop rain).

I have spent many a night at home, looking out the window longing to be outdoors in my tent staring up at the stars.

So in summary, don't cycle the USA, it makes you miserable afterwards!

Richard the Conqueror

The Good?
Obviously, I'm not that miserable and I have a head full of good memories, but nothing will beat the feeling of knowing I have done something to help.  £7,203.79, to ShelterBox is far beyond my wildest dreams and it is a fantastic feeling knowing I have made the slightest of difference to those in need.  But ultimately I just rode my bike; for that reason I must end my blog with a MASSIVE thank you to all those that donated to ShelterBox.  Nice one.

Oh, and for those I met in USA who I told my plans for after the ride.........she said yes.  :)

Who Knew!?

I'm not back in the UK yet and people have already asked me how I've changed, and what I have learnt about myself.

Well a week on from finishing the ride, I have learnt something about myself.  I am a natural born Turtle Hero!  I have previously blogged about how across the USA I saved numerous turtles from being squished on the road, so imagine my surprise when I found myself in Costa Rica, again being a guardian angel of the Turtle!

Walking down the beach we came across a nest of turtles hatching and running for the sea.  I do not believe in interfering in nature, but I found myself staying with the little guys to ensure the birds around didn't have a late lunch.

So an unexpected lesson to learn from cycling for 90 days, but there you have it.  I am a Turtle Lover!

My Turtle Clan

A bit dazed and confused

This guy was named Mo

Job’s a Good Un

So I’ve done it, I have cycled diagonally across the USA! 

The journey has been fantastic and, the roads of Florida aside, I have enjoyed almost every minute of it.  The bits I didn’t enjoy have been character building, so I have also developed my persona into the bargain.

It’s hard to describe how I feel about finishing the journey, I guess it is a mixture of elation and sadness........

I am obviously elated to have completed my journey, (on time and within budget);  I am excited to be reunited with loved ones and do all the things I have missed whilst in the USA (e.g. drink tea and eat proper cheese!) plus there are certainly things I will not miss at all (e.g. packing up my campsite each morning, cooking on a camping stove and, of course, my saddle!!).

However, it is with genuine sadness that the journey must end and I will leave the USA to return home.  I have seen some great scenery and met some amazing people, memories of both will stay with me forever.  I will miss the star filled skies at night, the daily campsite lottery and believe it or not I will miss having the same conversation with every single person I meet.  It may sound tedious, but I have loved telling people where I am travelling and why, despite doing it around 4-5 times a day.

I should admit, when I left the UK I was terrified at spending three months on my own, but my fears never materialized.  My fears were augmented by friends and family predicting all the awful things that were going to happen to me (despite good intentions).  So if you ever hear of anyone planning any ‘crazy’ journeys, tell them to go for it!

I have spent a handful of nights on my own with a book, but I have met so many people that these were welcome moments of solitude, and despite one incident I have met nothing but good, nice, generous people.

I accept bad things do happen, but it is not a reason to shelve your plans.  I have met a number of long distance cyclists on my journey and all have said that cycling the USA is a fantastic experience.

I recently read a tweet which sums it up my journey:

Take risks. If you win you will be pleased, if you lose you will be wiser.

I won.  Which sadly means I finish this trip no wiser, despite the beard!

Finished!!!

Since leaving ShelterBox HQ in Helston, Cornwall on 1 August 2012 I have recorded 5,645.1 miles and spent 510 man hours on my bike (Holly).

Today at 3pm (ish) I completed my corner to corner cycle of the USA.

Get in!!

The Team

Just before the end of my journey, I'd like to take a quick moment to thank the team behind my ride.  At times it may appear to be just me out on the open road, but there is a support team helping me along the way:

1. Holly

I never thought it was possible to love an inanimate object, until now.  Holly has been my best bud on the road for three months, and what a pal she has been.

I have not mentioned Holly's performance until now (for fear of jinxing it), but on the eve of completing my journey I can proudly say that Holly has travelled over 5,500 miles without so much as a puncture!  That's right, this entire trip I have not had a single mechanical issue.  Holly hasn't had it easy either, I have cycled most of the time on hard shoulders which are littered with nails and glass and every night when I was in my tent Holly was out in the open air, being hit by rain, hail and sub zero temperatures; Holly even survived being hit by a car with no damage!

I guess a little thank you to Thorn Cycles for giving birth to Holly too.

Holly, you're one in a million. xx

2. Kelly

My girlfriend Kelly has been manning mission control in Bristol, checking weather, routes, camp sites and all sorts of other things along the way.  At times I think she has been working harder than me, whilst also holding down a full time job!

So thank you Kelly for your selfless act of support.  x x x

3. Taunton Leisure / Easton Mountain Products

Before I left, Taunton Leisure and Easton Mountains Products joined forces to provide me with a tent to take on my travels.  The tent was an Easton Mountains Products 2P Kilo, and what a piece of kit it has turned out to be.

I have slept through thunderstorms, high winds and even a Coyote attacking my campsite, all safely tucked up in my tent!  The tent has been flawless and thrown into the bargain the guys have offered me massive support along the way; I was even treated to coffee and croissants in the Taunton Leisure store on my UK leg!

Thank you.

4. Simpkins Edwards

Simpkins Edwards helped make the Corner to Corner challenge possible, my regret is I found out the day after I had my cycling jersey printed!  Simpkins Edwards provide accountancy, business advice and tax consultancy services to a wide variety of businesses and individuals.

Cheers Guys

5. Marx Away

If you need your carpet cleaned, give Marx Away a call QUICKLY!!  Marx Away have generously donated to ShelterBox on behalf of my challenge the whole time I have been on the road; as well as religiously liking or retweeting all my posts.

Nice one Marx.

RTA

So, I am now nearly finished cycling the USA.  Just a few more miles on a big wide road, with plenty of room for cyclists.

But it hasn’t all been this way.  The low point of my journey happened a few days ago…….I was hit by a car.

A lot of people have been asking me which is was the best and worst state.  The best state is a tough one, Oregon and Colorado win for scenery  but Kansas and Missouri had such fantastic people, Alabama had such crazy accents, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons were stunning (Wyoming) and Kentucky had the best looking women.  But the worst state?  Without a doubt Florida!

Don’t get me wrong, Florida is a nice place overall and has plenty of good points to it too  (I had a fantastic time in St Augustine and met some great people), but as a cyclist Florida has been horrendous.  Mainly because of a combination of narrow roads with no shoulder and a handful of awful drivers. 

So a few days ago I was cycling on a typical Florida road when a car brushed into me and Holly.  I was knocked wildly off course, but luckily the car was not travelling too quickly so I managed to keep the rubber down.  The driver of the car didn’t even realise he had hit me.

I managed to catch up with the car at a junction just down the road, and to my disbelief the driver didn’t hear me shouting from about 2m away* as his music was so loud.  I had to bang on his car to get his attention….which probably got me more attention than I wanted, but he certainly needed to know that he had hit a cyclist.

Thankfully modern cars are smaller and softer than this!

In the end, no harm was done to me or Holly, but the incident left me shaken and with an all new high heart rate from all the adrenalin pumping through my veins.

Maybe this incident has left me with a sour taste in my mouth, but I was certainly relieved to get past Miami and leave the busy Florida roads behind me!

* I am not an angry cyclist, I was just shouting to get the guys attention to let him know that his driving had just nearly caused an accident.

Celebrity Encounter!!!

Today I met Michael Gregory.  "Who?" I hear you cry?  Watch this and you will see!  

Lets hope this one remains less dubious than my previous cycling/celebrity encounter!

Caught by the Fuzz

When I planned my cycle across the USA, I decided the one detour I wanted to make was to see a Space Shuttle (it turns out it was only 6 miles from my route, so not much of a detour!).  So on Tuesday, I took a trip to Kennedy Space Centre and ticked something off my bucket list (i.e. seeing a space shuttle!).

Sadly in the USA, the car is king.  As a result, there is not much public transport and, as with my other two days off, I was forced to cycle.  It was only 7 miles to the visitor centre and I was able to leave my heavy bags behind, so as rides go it was pretty easy.

The problem with the ride was the road.  I would not recommend SR405 to anyone on a bike!  The ride out in the morning was unpleasant, but quiet.  On the way back it was a different story.  A very intimidating busy road and I was feeling uncomfortable riding it.  Believe it or not, it was with some relief when I heard the bleep of a police siren behind me; I knew help may be at hand!

The reason the policeman had pulled me over is the road is closed to cyclists 3-6pm everyday; I had cycled past the information sign without seeing it.  The policeman was in a patrol car so he couldn’t help me, so he called NASA security to come and get me off site.  I was given a lift by Eric, who it turns out is a nice bloke and also a fellow cyclist and triathlete.  We had a nice chat; but I’ll leave that bit out when I retell the tale back in the UK and just tell people how he had a gun.

A great ShelterBox ambassador, after a run in with the police!

Squirrels 1 - 0 Boxhall

Yes, that’s right.   I have been out smarted by a squirrel!

I'll get you one day!

I arrived at my campsite early to find that they had site wide wi-fi.  It was getting late in the UK so before setting up my campsite I decided to make a skype call home.  As it was quite windy in the campsite I took my laptop up to the communal shelter.

Whilst making a call, I was nibbling away on a Nutter Butter when I noticed a squirrel in my peripheral vision.  The sight of a squirrel in US campsites was nothing new, but this one seemed extremely relaxed around me as he sat up on his hind legs about 1m away from me. 

Despite the cuteness of the squirrel I did not relent and ate my remaining Nutter Butter. 

I was just telling the Mrs about how I was excited about my dinner; I had chilli, with rice and a bread roll awaiting me….the bread roll being the treat as supermarkets can be hard to come by towards the end of the day when buying my groceries.  Almost as soon as I had said this I saw a suspiciously familiar paper bag blowing in the wind, the cheeky things had knicked both my bread rolls (I had one for breakfast too).

Holly makes a friend

To add insult to injury, the following morning I was cooking breakfast as the sun was rising.  I quickly went to take a photo and returned to my campsite to discover they had nibbled into my rice packet; my dinner for that night!!  I had assumed the packet, being sealed and within a plastic bag, was safe.  So I guess really it’s 2-0 to the Squirrels .  It’s OK though, I’ve still got a bit of time on my hands to plan my revenge!

Oh Sandy, Why-eye-eye???

Tonight I am holed up in a motel, worrying about whether I will make it to Key West to complete my journey!

The reason, hurricane Sandy is banging about and as a result there is currently a Tropical Storm warning in place in West Palm Beach (Florida), where I currently am.

I have been glued to the TV most of the night and it seems that, the hurricane is not expected to hit Florida, however the effects will be felt on land and I may be forced to sit out the storm for two days.  As the hurricane passes east of the coast, winds are expected to reach 40-50 mph and expect that it will be nearly impossible to cycle in those conditions (even though they’re forecasting tailwinds).

The good news is that I am ahead of schedule, the bad news is I won’t get my planned pootle through the Florida Keys; assuming the forecasts are accurate!

This song sums it up nicely

So the plan?  That’s easy, I’ll get up in the morning and get ready as if I was going to cycle.  Then I will watch a bit more of the Weather Channel and look out the window before making a decision.  Looking at the map, I have plenty of options for accommodation, but rest assured I won’t be riding if I can’t keep Holly in a straight line (especially with the drivers of Florida around me)

The Good, the Bad and the Prettiest Pictures!

OK, so I still have a little way to go, but I have now visited all of the 14 states I will enter during my ride across the USA.  So I thought it was time to hold a little Kangaroo Court.  The idea of Rich’s Kangaroo Court is that each state gets an award for something good and something bad (and I’ve included my favourite photograph from each state).  This is based purely on my experience, so please do not assume the whole state is as I have described!!

State	The Good	The Bad
Washington	Clifford I met Clifford on my first day of my journey down the Pacific Coast and we rode together for five days.  Clifford cooked for us each night and then gave me his stove after mine stopped working. I would have been surviving on Gas Station Tacos were it not for Clifford.... Cheers buddy!	The Pacific Ocean Despite follow the Pacific Coast Cycle Route, I hardly saw the Pacific Ocean whilst in Washington and the times I did see it were just glances
Oregon	The Pacific Coast Cycle Route Once you enter Oregon, the Pacific Coast is very popular with cycle tourers and the campsites are dirt cheap!  Along my way through Oregon I met loads of fantastic people and was gutted I had to turn east rather than follow them down to California.  Maybe next time!	The Mist When I planned to cycle the Pacific Coast I was expecting Baywatch.  In reality every morning a (cold) mist comes in from the ocean and obscures everything for most the morning!
Idaho	The Clearwater River It was magical cycling alongside the Clearwater River for two days, and it certainly lived up to it’s name.	Phone Signal Much of the western states had no phone signal, but in Montana I went days with no signal at all.  To top it off, I had no messages when I did get back to a phone signal!
Montana	Big Sky Despite it being smoky in Montana, the views were spectacular, some days cycling with mountain ranges either side of me.	Forest Fires After an exceptionally dry summer, there were Forest Fires active all over Montana.  This covered much of the scenery in smoke.
Wyoming	Yellowstone I was worried I would have been disappointed by Yellowstone.  I need not have feared, I had a great couple of days passing through the famous National Park, which is littered with Hot Springs and Geysers.  Had I have been there four weeks earlier, I may not have been so enamoured (apparently it is 4 times busier in peak season!)	Boredom Wyoming was the first state I cycled through with not much going on.  Three days of no scenery and nowhere to stop was plenty!
Colorado	The Rockies Some of the best scenery I have ever cycled through made extra special by the start of autumn.	Eastern Colorado The prelude to Kansas.  Flat, vast open spaces.  At least the plains of Kansas are farmland, here it was just nothing.
Kansas	Free Camping! There are no campsites in Kansas, you just turn up in a town and pitch your tent in the city park!  If you’re lucky you may even get a cold shower.	Weather I have previously blogged about the headwinds and storms I encountered in Kansas; but I did also experience some tailwinds and sunshine!  The problem with the weather is that as Kansas is so open and exposed the weather WILL either make or break your day as there is no hiding from it!
Missouri	Even Better Free Camping!! The deal is the same as Kansas, but in Missouri all the City Parks I stayed in had warm showers too!	The Hills This is not a moan about the fact that there were hills in Missouri; in fact I like hills and probably my favourite ride of this trip was up a hill (McKenzie Pass).  The problem with Missouri was that the hills were through woodland.  So you’d work hard to get up the 10% hill, but the view at the top was exactly the same as at the bottom.  At least in open land there is the reward of a nice view!
Illinois	Popeye Visiting Chester, the home of Popeye, was about the peak of my short ride through Illinois.	The Weather I cycled for two days through Illinois and it rained for two days.
Kentucky	The Accent I entered Kentucky by a ferry over the Tennessee River.  The next person I met had a southern accent, which I love.  This change was one of the most dramatic changes in scenery or culture I remember of the whole trip.  Hey y’all!	My Accent All of a sudden, nobody can understand a word I say!
Tennessee	The People The people I have met the whole way across the states have been fantastic, but in Tennessee I felt like a celebrity as people were quizzing me on my trip every time I stopped!	The Dogs An honourable mention also has to go to Missouri, Kentucky and Mississippi.  But Tennessee is the land of the mental dog!  Not a single one tried to bite me, but the nasty ones really make the hair on your legs stand up!
Mississippi	Church Slogans There were churches all over the place in southern USA and each one has a sign outside with a catchy slogan one of my favourites was ‘seven days with no prayer is a weak’ Gedditt!?	The Campsites Like many places in the US, the campsites were individual pitches inside woodland areas.  This combined with the cool weather made the campsites of Mississippi a lonely place.
Alabama	Communication I honestly did not have a clue what the people of Alabama were talking about.  I don’t think they had a clue what I was on about either, but it was great fun trying.	The Drivers The driving in Alabama has been the worst (for a cyclist).  A combination of the narrow roads, big trucks and angry pickups mean I will not miss the highways of Alabama!
Florida	The Weather Glorious sunshine, just as I had dreamed it would be.  Oh, and the hotpants!	Election Banners OK, so there is a presidential election on 6th November and also local government elections, and I have found out from experience that the USA take there politics seriously…….but are the political banners necessary in every yard and on every junction of the entire state!?!?!?

 The Pictures

Washington

Oregon

Idaho

Montana

Wyoming

Colorado

Kansas

Missouri

Illinois

Kentucky

Tennessee

Mississippi

Alabama

Florida