Jeremy's Ride

Jeremy Enjoying an Ice Cold Pepsi After a Long Ride

2008-07-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

We know we should not be drinking sugar drinks after a long ride, but nothing tastes better than an ice cold Pepsi after a long day of riding. In this case Jeremy has just rode to Bippus and Andrews and is relaxing in my front yard. Because of Jeremy's love of Pepsi, the Pepsi Company is providing Jeremy with all the drinks he needs to complete his final 1,200 ride to St. Augustine, Florida. He will be leaving Silsbee, Texas on September 3rd.

The Start of the Ride

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This is a picture of Jeremy and Stan as they started their ride on Easter Sunday in San Diego, California.

2008-07-03T06:46:00.000-07:00

On the way back to Indiana after Jeremy's accident we did stop and eat some cajan food in Louisiana. Jeremy ate crawdads, spicy crabs, gumbo, and other interesting foods. We had something we had never had before or even heard of which was rice in sausage casing. It was kind of spicy, but very good. We are now thinking of trying to ride in the Cycle Zydeco next spring in Louisiana.

2008-07-03T06:39:00.000-07:00

To prepare for the upcoming ride, Jeremy changed his peddle cage from his right peddle to his left peddle. Being left handed and favoring his left leg, Jeremy believes the odds of his foot slipping off the peddle again is significantly decreased. He was also getting some minor change slippage at the time of the accident. In the future, when he gets some minor slippage or shiffing problems, we will make adjustments right away rather than putting it off until tomorrow.

Schedule To Finish The Ride

2008-06-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

We will be leaving the day after Labor Day so that Jeremy's father, Dave, can make the trip. I am very excited about the first phase of this part of the ride as I love Cajun food, culture and music. Our summer so far has been ideal for preparing us to ride in the deep south in Septermber with high temperatures and high humidity. The tentative route, which is fairly certain, is:

Jeremy’s Ride
Revised Ride Schedule

September 2th Depart Huntington, Indiana to Silsbee, Texas
Sept 3rd Day 1 Silsbee, TX DeRidder, LA
Sept 4th Day 2 DeRidder, LA` Mamou, LA
Sept 5th Day 3 Mamou, LA Simmsport, LA
Sept 6th Day 4 Simmsport, LA St. Francisville, LA
Sept 7th Day 5 St. Francisville, LA Frankinton, LA
Sept 8th Day 6 Frankinton, LA Poplarville , MS
Sept 9th Day 7 Poplarville, MS Vancleave, MS
Sept 10th Day 8 Vanclearve, MS Daphne, AL
Sept 11th Day 9 Daphne, AL Pensacola, FL
Sept 12th Day 10 Pensacola, FL Crestview, FL
Sept 13th Day 11 Crestview, FL Marianna, FL
Sept 14st Day 12 Mariana, FL Midway, FL
Sept 15th Day 13 Midway, FL Madison, FL
Sept 16th Day 14 Madison, FL High Springs, FL
Sept 17th Day 15 High Springs, FL Palatka, FL
Sept 18th Day 16 Palatka, FL St. Augustine
Sept 19th Depart St. Augustine, Florida to Huntington, Indiana

Day 23 - Mishaps Foils Jeremy's Ride

2008-04-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

Day 23:This was not a good day. About two miles outside of Kountz Jeremy took a nasty spill. He has a saddle on his right pedal to keep his foot in place while riding. However, do to some coordination and slow reaction problems he just has a plain pedal on the left side. As he stood up to peddle harder his left foot slipped off the left peddle throwing his body over the handle bars onto the road landing on his left shoulder. He was in a lot of pain. Joyce took him into Silsbree to see a doctor and I continue the ride into Silsbree. The problem was, no doctor would see Jeremy in Silsbree because he was not a local. Joyce then drove him to Beaumount to a minor injury care center and I rode my bike down to Beaumount. It appears Jeremy may have a hairline fracture in the bone on top of the shoulder. The doctor said he would be unable to ride for at least two or three weeks. That means we had to stop the ride, load up our gear and head back to Huntington. It is my intent to continue the ride when Jeremy is able later this fall or next April. There is not any doubt in my mind that Jeremy has the strength and determination to complete this ride. I believe the most physically and mentally challenging part of the ride is over. The land ahead is very flat, but the wind and weather pose additional challenges. We were about 65 miles from Louisiana when this all happened.

Days 18 - 22

2008-04-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

Day Eighteen, April 9th: The 22 mile ride from Junction to state road 290 was extremely challenging. It was all strong headwinds from 25 to 35 miles an hour. The riding was not that difficult, but it took us over three hours to ride the 22 miles and the climb out of Junction was a little challenge. Lots of green grass and trees finally. Even saw our first hay field. Lots of road kills, with deer being number one, skunks number two, and armadillo coming in at third place. There were a lot of exotic big game ranches along the highway. The landscape reminded me of Africa for some reasons, but we didn’t get to see any of the exotic animals. We did ride in a drizzle for about an hour or so and even had to wear a jacket for a couple of hours. We also met up with a guy named Rick from Vermont that we had met way back in west Texas. We rode about 25 miles together into Fredericksburg. We did 66 miles today. The real excitement of today was the storm that night. The wind was blowing out of the southeast all day and into the night. It really picked up during the night. Our tent poles would hit us in the head as the wind blew so hard. Around 3:30 a.m. the wind direction changed 180 degrees followed by heavy rain. Jeremy ended up in the truck and the sleeping gear in both tents got very wet. It was a night we will not forget.

Day Nineteen, April 10, 2008: Finally a day without any complaints about the wind. The road from Fredericksburg to Dripping Springs was good with only a few hills. The winds were kind to us and even give us some tailwind at times. It was a nice day for riding with the temperatures in the 70’s, some cloud cover and mild winds, none of which were headwinds. We rode through Johnson City, the home of President Johnson. There with no shoulder. The only bad thing about today was we missed a turn and road an extra five miles we didn’t need to ride. We saw some newly planted corn fields today and more exotic game reserves. Most of the ranches we past were gated and quite nice. Armadillo’s took over second place for the number of road kills. Jeremy and I had some great BBQ in Dipping Springs and I had even better BBQ that evening in Lockhart. Joyce and Jeremy are staying in the yard at the Good Shepherd Ministries for the night and I’m staying with a friend.. We rode a total of 80.1 miles today.

Day twenty, April 11, 2008: This was a short ride from Buda to Bastrop. The ten miles to highway 71 was very narrow and a lot of traffic. The 24 miles on highway 71 to Bastrop had a very good shoulder, but lots of traffic. The worst part about today was a fairly strong north wind which made the ride to Bastrop a little tough. The armadillo took over top honors as #1 for the highest number of road kills for the day. It was a cooler day with temperatures in the mid 70’s. Saw lots of corn field that had been planted for over two weeks. We are staying at a state campground. The cost was $4 per person and a $12 camping fee. Total distance today was 42 miles. We hope to get to Brenham or Navasota or some where in between tomorrow.

Day Twenty-one, April 12th: We did make it to Navasota after 88 long miles. The winds were out of the north and fairly strong. They were a cross wind most of the time. We did pass the Blue Bell Creamery, but didn’t stop in for a tour. Lots of ranches and cows, but no corn fields today. Busy roads all day, but very little road kill.

Day Twenty-two, April 13th: We left Navasota around 8:30. The winds were calm, but out of the north. It was a very chilly morning and we wore jackets until 10:30. There were a few hills, but nothing challenging. From Conroe to Saratog, about 50 miles, I never changed gears, over 50 miles, once. We met a group of over 100 black motorcycle riders with a police escort just outside of Conroe. The landscape had little cleared land and we didn’t seen one field planted. There was a big resort area around Conroe and lots of traffic. The roads were good all day with only a few areas with rough shoulders. It was a very long day, but we did ride 106 miles. Our butts are very tired and sore. I was hoping we would make Louisiana tomorrow, but it’s not going to happen. We are most anxious to get out of Texas as it seems like we have been in this state forever.

Halfway and slowing down

2008-04-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

We have been riding far too hard and plan on slowing down starting tomorrow. We may take a rest day on Thursday. We really wanted to get across west Texas and off the Interstate. The terrain is much greener and we are now into rollng hills. We are assuming that rain will start to become a factor. There are some real bad storms to the north of us, but we could get some rain tomorrow. We are going to start enjoying the small towns, the people, the history, and the scenery at a much higher level than in the past sixteen days.

Jeremy in Texas on April 8th

2008-04-08T20:47:00.001-07:00

Previous pictures of Jeremy crossing continental divide

2008-04-08T20:37:00.000-07:00

Jeremy in Texas on April 8th

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2008-04-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

Campground Friends from Houston

2008-04-08T20:12:00.001-07:00

These were the folks we camped with in Fort Stockton.

2008-04-08T20:07:00.000-07:00

Jeremy's Ride Pictues

2008-04-08T20:03:00.001-07:00

Biker on the road

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Another cactus

2008-04-08T19:40:00.001-07:00

Checking out the cactus

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Jeremy doing something

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Ride Picture

2008-04-08T19:27:00.000-07:00

Jeremy changing a tire.

2008-04-08T19:22:00.000-07:00

Day 14,15, &16 of Jeremy's Ride

2008-04-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

Day Sixteen: This was a very long and difficult ride. We rode 103 miles today and we had to work for each and every mile. The winds blew from every direction with the majority of the winds coming out of the east. We saw many wind generators on both sides of the road. The scenery was very bland with lots of hills and barren ground. There was a lot of road kills with skunks being the most seen dead animal. Who ever wrote “Dead Skunk on the Road” must have lived in Texas. There is a lot of oil exploration going on in this area. Jeremy was highly motivated to ride the 100 miles. I was unable to keep up with him and when we arrived in Ozona I was exhausted and Jeremy was as excited as I have ever seen him. We did make it to Ozona in time to see the final games of the NCAA tournament.

Day Seventeen, April 8, 2008: We left Ozona at 9:30 after a good breakfast. This was a very challenging day. The challenges were the wind, not the hills. I have never observed such wild and crazy winds. The other challenge was riding another day on the Interstate. Writing the Interstate is really boring and another day on the Interstate was starting to take it’s toll on our morale as all you do is ride. After today we only have 20 miles left to ride on I-10 and then we are back on the Adventure Cycling bike route. That is something we are all looking forward to. We may take a rest day. Also, some really bad weather is starting to happen in the area we are heading into.