Hiding From The Rain, Pt II

Sleeping opportunity number 1

The photo above shows my potential bed for the evening. It'll do for an emergency, but I wasn't really feeling it. The skies cleared and there was time to head on to De Witt, my original target, before sunset, where I could find a motel with a proper bed, a shower, and nearby food. Gathered all my stuff together, closed the door, and looked around at how bright everything was after the storm. Things aren't usually this bright. I left my glasses on the side - fucksocks! Nope, door was well and truly shut and locked and no windows were open. Whilst I was examining the slightly dodgy window round the back I was surrounded by mosquitoes when BUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz. What kind of bastard mosquito was that?!? Look at the size of it! And it has feathers! And it's a hummingbird.

Which brings us back to the much neglected wildlife list. Going through New Hampshire, Vermont and New York I have seen more grey squirrels, black squirrels, red squirrels, garter snakes, adders, deer, groundhog, beavers, tortoise, eagles, vultures, woodpeckers, tons of butterflies, tons of frogs, midges beetles dragonflies and other bugs bouncing off me glasses, and of course today's hummingbirds.

Back to the problem at hand. No way in, going to have to call the guy who let us in. He wrote his number on the pad that I left on the side inside - fucksocks! Hmmmmmm. Maybe the neighbour has his number. Score - he does! Give him a call, no he can't make it back to let us in. He suggests going in through the window. Going to have to find something to prize the window up. As I'm cycling I've got a fair few tools with me including tyre levers! Window up, through the window, glasses retrieved!

Breaking into the repossessed home of a complete stranger with a collection of medieval style axes - achieved! And comparing sleeping options 1 and 2, it was totally worth it.

Sleeping opportunity number 2

Hiding From The Rain

Little Falls NY

In the last post I was in Fultonville listening to the sounds of the Speedway not helping me sleep. After that I stopped in Little Falls NY. Not too much to say, but next door to the motel was a cinema so I went to watch Men In Black 3. Good film, but better than that was the adverts beforehand. All of them, without exception, were for local businesses (used cars, hardware, more used cars, rubbish collection, the pub) complete with shaky camera action and over-enthusiastic comb-overs.

Last night I made it to Rome. For all you American history geeks, this is the location of Fort Stanwix. For all of you who aren't American history geeks, meh - another town, another motel.

Back onto the Erie Canalway Trail and this morning it was stunning. I even had to stop to put more sunblock on as I'd seen a sign saying it was 33 C at 11 am and it was just getting hotter. After lunch (a Moonpie and a couple of cupcakes) I started running into problems. The USA isn't known for its use of its rail network, but over the past few days I've seen trains on the tracks and moving a number of times which has surprised the locals a lot. Today I encountered another train on the tracks but not moving, right across a level crossing. 100 m detour round the back of the train, carrying me bike, and I was back on me way. That's when the wind picked up and it got dark. Then it started to rain. Heavily. Me trainers were waterlogged within 2 minutes. I pressed on until the path was blocked by a gaggle of geese protecting their goslings and I turned back to the last civilisation to find some kind of help. And that's how I find myself in an empty house, that's in the process of being repossessed by the bank, hiding from a thunderstorm with a collection of medieval style axes. Last night I slept in a king-size bed, tonight I have a bit of sponge. If the weather improves, I may go and find a proper place to stay - it's only 12 miles or so.

Vermont To New York

I seem to be fairly negligent as of late in writing about a place when I'm actually there. This time, I've been to State capital number 11 - Albany NY - and already moved on.

Cycling through a cloud at the start of 6 miles of downhill

In the last post I was in a bed and breakfast in Pittsfield VT and from there I continued me 170 mile journey across a mountain range or two to get from Montpelier to Albany in just 3 days. From the BnB things started fairly rough with a 10 mile uphill ride from 900 feet to 2100 feet. I was cycling through a cloud by the end of it, but what goes up must come down and that 6 miles of downhill was pretty epic.

A chance to stay in Manchester couldn't be overlooked, although the Manchester in Vermont is just a little different to the Manchester back home - few more mountains, and a little more forest. I did overhear a brilliant half a conversation whilst I was having breakfast though...

The officer said that it is allowed here, just as long as you don't touch yourself.

All clear then - when in Vermont, as long as you're touching someone else, it's all good.

Empire State Plaza, Albany NY

In Albany I had a well deserved rest-day. It's not too bad a city. There is one street with some fun to be had and a couple of decent sights to be seen. But, despite going to an 'English Pub', I'm yet to be served a warm beer and a menu with Doner Kebab with options such as chicken curry as a filling and no mention of doner is a travesty. There was also a choice to be made: either nail it down to Harrisburg to keep the capital counter up, or add an extra 300 miles or so and head west to Niagara Falls before going south to Harrisburg. The people of Facebook chose, and chose well. Found a bike path that heads west, and when I got onto the path there was a sign saying that it goes all the 349 miles to Buffalo (or close enough).

So tonight I'm in the village of Fultonville. Across the river is the village of Fonda. There's very little here other than a speedway so all I can hear at the minute is the sound of far too many V8 engines on a way too small oval track.

Birthday Boy!

Before I forget, couple of things to finish off. First of all, as it's crept over to the 27th with the time difference, I can say happy birthday to my big brother! 28 again with his first year of experience!


Last thing, over here is a holiday weekend. On Monday is Memorial Day - a day to remember those fallen on behalf of the US armed forces. I'd like to remind everyone of another group of people who have lost their lives...

Ghost Bike, NY

The 10 Capital, 1000 Mile Spectacular!!!

State house, Montpelier VT

When considering the trip I was thinking that I'd be pretty pleased with myself once I made it into double figures with State capitals. Yesterday I achieved that by reaching Montpelier VT. Around the same time I also passed the 1000 mile mark. For any Daily Mail readers that's 192000 double decker buses, 15304 football pitches, or going from Land's End to John O'Groats and making it over half way back again.

Got to say, I like Montpelier. It's a very small place, but seems to have a lot of life there. It seems to be a place that draws people into the centre of town as opposed to many other places in the States where anything of value or interest is custom built outside of town leaving the centre a bit desolate. They also have a quality pub - The Three Penny Taproom which I can confirm sells many excellent beers and I'm sure sells many many more that I didn't try. I also have to thank the good people at Econolodge for the following exchange:

Me: Hi, how much for a room for the evening?

Econolodge: $69 plus tax.

Me: Is there any way that can go lower?

Econolodge: I can do $65, plus tax.

Econolodge: $60 plus tax?

Me: Yeah that sounds good.

Econolodge: OK, I need some ID blah blah blah. What brings you to Montpelier?

Me: I'm trying to cycle to as many State capitals as I can and this is number 10.

Econolodge: On  a bike? A bicycle? Wow! No charge for your room. You can stay as our guest, and I'll see if we can get you some publicity in the paper.

As I said, I like Montpelier, and Vermont as a whole. It kind of feels like a mix of New Hampshire, the way you're pressed into the forest, and Maine with it's mountains and general atmosphere of vastness. When you can see anything from the road all you see is forest disappearing into the distance, up the mountains in the midground and then up the mountains in the background. And today I was following the Mad River along the edge of the Green Mountain National Forest which is just incredible.

Mad River, Vermont

Tonight I'm at a bed and breakfast, kind of in the middle of nowhere, but they had a massive sign promising the best breakfast in Vermont and it was raining and I was knackered so a good place to stop. Had a really nice evening eating with the family who live here and another cheap night as they can't do breakfast for us. Works for me though.

The Way Life Should Be

Drinking: Gritty's Vacation Land Summer Ale

Maine: the way life should be. And I've got to agree. I spent Thursday afternoon floating down the Androscoggin River in a kayak watching bald eagles and taking in the scenery, and this afternoon doing a spot of walking in blazing sunshine listening to the sounds of chainsaws and gunfire echo off the mountains. What more does one need, other than a more comfortable saddle?

Another set of photos stitched into a panoramic. This time from a kayak.

There's A Moose! Loose! About This Hoose!

Word of the week: Melodious

Another day, another State capital. Another night, another Youth Hostel.

Dead end in Maine, and a couple of lads with the right idea.

From Portsmouth I headed north East to follow the coast towards Portland and then onwards to Brunswick. Being New England, all the towns have stolen their names from well know English seaside towns: Portsmouth, Portland, Yarmouth, Scarborough, Freeport, and the well known sea-side town of York. Most of these are like cycling through Scarborough with the beach and sea-front tourist shops and restaurants, except for Freeport which is more like cycling through Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet Village.

From Brunswick I essentially followed the Kennebec River up to Augusta which looks a little like this...

Kennebec River, Maine

I got Hugin working so that I can stitch photos together for panoramic scenes. But, I made it up to Augusta for State capital number 9. Not too much to say, but the racoon (roadkill) on the wildlife list can be replaced with racoon (alive). Also, the cycling is beginning to take its toll on my body. The roads are pretty cracked and all the vibrations coming through the front wheel are turning my forearms to jelly. I had a really nice roast crispy duck the other day and had to eat it like a toddler because I just can't hold a fork properly. I think I'm getting close to having to sign my name with an 'X' too. I've got no idea how I managed to control two very short straws this morning to use them as chopsticks to have a pasta salad for breakfast.

There's one youth hostel in Maine at Bethel. Surely I could make that in one day. My average is hovering around 40 miles a day with the most I've done so far a solid 60 miles through Delaware. Delaware was flat. The 65 miles between Augusta and Bethel goes into a mountain range and isn't anything close to flat. Plus, there's nothing there apart from wildlife (I saw some more deer and I think I saw a porcupine, but it was a bit flat to know for certain). Some nice views though...

North Pond, near Bethel ME

Heed the warning - beware the moose with three legs

Tonight, I was in Bethel for some food and a beer or two. About to start the 5 miles or so back to the hostel but there's a bit of a thunderstorm brewing and me legs are actually killing so call in a lift off the guy who runs the hostel. The mountains look incredible being lit up by lightning. We also saw another entry to the wildlife list. Moose trundle across roads similar to deer, but at a quarter of the speed, maybe less. They're also all legs and then a tonne of moose meat at windscreen height. Probably the closest I've come to death for a while.

The Pond

Listening to: The Beatles, All You Need Is Love

State House, Concord NH

After the pissing rain in Derry NH, things seem to have gotten a little better. For now anyway. Up in Concord I walked into a bar with apparently the best timing ever. No idea what the joke was, but it had something to do with the big red 'S' emblazoned across me chest. Had a pint and some food thinking 'could just do with a bit of Beatles' when All You Need Is Love comes on. Next day I was in a diner in the middle of nowhere outside of Concord thinking 'could do with some Beatles here' when Boom! All You Need Is Love comes on the radio. Good times.

I've been told before that New Hampshire has the second highest tree population in the States, and after cycling through it I can believe it. There's the odd house, the odd lake, but otherwise there's nothing but tree. People do wonder about how lonely it must get to be doing this by myself, and it does get lonely. For a good portion of the day there is nothing to do other than think about names for cheese shops (Curds & Wahey!). But then, as you fly down a hill, surrounded by woodlands, meeting a picturesque stream at the bottom of the hill in the blazing sunshine you begin to think about the people back home, sat at the computer fiddling with Excel spreadsheets and trying to stop Word from reformatting all the pictures. Sucks to be you - it's beautiful out here.

Somewhere in New Hampshire

What a day I had yesterday! Simply incredible. Nice easy day of cycling planned to get me from Durham NH to Portsmouth NH going round the Great Bay which is only about 20 miles. Got off the main road and could smell the salt and ozone of the sea. Things were going to be good - THWUNK! Look down and me back wheel is going all over the place. This needs looking at. Bike is upsidedown for a minute before another cyclist comes past and invites me back to hers, just round the corner, where her partner has all the tools I could need for a fix. Score! Unhook the rear brake and limp it round the corner to have a better look at the problem and I've broken a spoke. Terri and Chuck give us a lift into Portsmouth to the quality bike shop Papa Wheelies. While the bike is on the mend, myself Terri and Chuck go off to the Coat Of Arms, a British pub, for a pint and some lunch. Back at Papa Wheelies, Steve is so inspired by me journey and by Terri and Chuck's generosity there's no charge for the fix. I was beaming as I went into town to see what was going on and to kill some time before finding a motel.

Heroes of the day - Steve of Papa Wheelies, Terri and Chuck

Sunset from Portsmouth

Portsmouth is fairly well known for its nightlife, and on a stunning Saturday it had to be good. Went to the Portsmouth Brewery for a couple of local ales and spent the evening talking to a few random but brilliant people at the bar. Went somewhere else for some music and ended up pretty much crashing a hen party. Fantastic day, and a much needed evening. Many, many thanks to Terri and Chuck for their help and company. Many thanks to Steve at Papa Wheelies for the bike fix. And many thanks to anyone I met last night for making it a great night. I've heard before that Portsmouth is a great place, and you've all proven it.

Live Free Or Die

Shouting: Jaaaaaaaan!

The Big Noodle, Boston MA

So, there's some more animals to add to the list of wildlife encountered on my travels: bedbugs, a rat and a cockroach - gotta love hostels. Although, to be fair to the hostel the rat was seen in the pub down the road rather than the hostel. The cockroach though, my god! It was about half the size of my foot. I thought that the apocalypse had come and I'd managed to sleep through 50 years of nuclear winter allowing the cockroaches to mutate and grow freakishly large as they feasted on the abundant and glow-in-the-dark human flesh. But no, it was just a youth hostel.

Another benefit of cheap hostel accommodation is the people you share a room with, and what a pleasure it was to be sharing with Sleeping Beauty. He slept a lot anyway, but he was no beauty. His snoring was something to behold. To be able to snore with no rhythm, with varying pitch, varying volume, going from wheezes to full-on room shaking snorts and consistently breathing in far more than breathing out should be considered an art in its own right. An art, but at 3 in the morning, a right pain in the arse.

Boston from top of Bunker Hill Monument, Boston MA

Apart from the infestations, I had a good time at the hostel in Boston. Met a load of really nice people, including Ricardo and Lucy who've been stalking me since Philly. Had a few decent beers; plenty of Harpoon IPA but I think the Goose Island Honkers is better. Last night we went bowling and I managed a not too disrespectful 103 and 113.

Today, it's pissing it down, and I'm sat at a bench underneath some wooden cover at the back of an ice-cream parlor on the outskirts of Derry NH with a clammy arse stealing WiFi from the Dunkin' Donuts across the road waiting for either the bar to open or someone to get back to the motel to let me have a room. Step up from Sleeping Beauty and cockroaches that could swallow a cat though.

Got to love a bit of patriotism. And chocolate.

Number 7

Wearing: Clean, tumble-drier warm pants.

Dan's flat, Providence RI

The things people can do with open spaces is incredible. To be able to turn one huge space and turn it into several separated, multi-story units with different atmospheres is inspirational. And the friendliness and kindness of some people is great to witness. Dan gave me bike a service helping me get to Boston in record time, and his girlfriend brought me some amazing cakes from the bakery helping me trousers fit for another week. We can also add to the wildlife tally - whilst we were playing with an accordian (Axel F anyone?) a groundhog came out from underneath a girder to listen.

I had two thoughts about Providence. First of all, it has the same kind of atmosphere as St Andrews, or at least College Hill round by Brown University has. You can feel the university atmosphere and for some reason it has the same kind of feeling of being in it's own bubble and shut off from the rest of the world. The other thought is that in contrast to the UK, the centre of town empties at the weekend. This was the same in Wilmington. Final thought about Rhode Island - it's a lot flatter than Connecticut.

Bunker Hill, Boston MA

From Providence, it was a simple ride up to Boston to get State capital number 7. One thing Americans are good at is BBQ. I stopped off on the way at some BBQ pit for a burrito and it was great. Since arriving at the youth hostel I've met a couple of new people and a couple who seem to have been following us from Philly and through New York, although they came here on bus and spent 10 days in NYC rather than 2 days and cycling.

Spent today wandering round and following the Freedom Trail. While I was having a break in Boston Common I was randomly given a shed-load of free condoms courtesy of Boston Glass Community Center.

Clean pants, and free condoms - Boston is a great city!

May The Forth Be With You

Song running though head: The Proclaimers, 500 miles

Happy Star Wars day people!

Today (or fairly recently - difficult to know for certain) I passed the 500 mile mark. I've also arrived in my 6th State Capital: Providence RI.

I'm staying with a second guy from warmshowers called Dan, who lives in a commercial studio space, but we don't talk about that.

For anyone wondering, vegan baked goods are made with witchcraft and rug hair apparently.

McDonalds - All Coaches Welcome

Listening to: Eels, Love of the Loveless

Well, it’s been a little while since my last post, mainly because not very much happened in New York and I’ve been taking advantage of the motels I’ve stayed in and rested.

New York from Empire State Building

In New York I was hoping to meet and stay with me friend from uni, Chelsey. However, she managed to fall off a pavement and required surgery to fix her collar bone. With my guide gone I was left to my own devices and spent most my time wandering the length of Manhattan. For the first time I held a human brain at the Bodies exhibition that I stumbled across trying to make my way towards the Brooklyn Bridge. Also for the first time, I saw a rotund kid in a onesie playing baseball. If you wish to get noticed in New York though, head over to New Look where you can get a Superman hoodie for £20. Makes a change to have cabbies stop you to take a photo, compared to the usual “look Mommy, it’s Superman!”.

The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed my injury count go up. Nothing serious, and expected. At some point I smacked my peddle into the back of me leg to give me a cut and a bruise. I wasn’t going to include this in the injury count, but it made things a bit painful walking the length of Manhattan.

Hudson River from Tallman Mountain Park, NY

Leaving New York, the plan was simple: head north, go over the bridge, head east at Yonkers and follow the coast up to Connecticut. The reality was somewhat different. The heading north bit went without a hitch. Saw a bike lane heading over a bridge and thought ‘yeah, looks good’. A couple of hours later at the edge of some park I found out that I was on the wrong side of the Hudson river with no crossing for many more miles. Was a beautiful place though, even if there was Lycra everywhere (some race on apparently). Continued north following a bike route (NY bike route 9) and making the odd detour though State Parks. From these detours we can add to the wildlife I’ve seen, and none of it roadkill this time. I saw some deer, a chipmunk and some wild turkey. Eventually ended up in Bear Mountain Park. The Bear Mountain Inn had rooms starting at something stupid, so bugger that, I went off to the Econolodge and even haggled a cheaper rate out of them.

Bear Mountain Park, NY

From Highland Falls I headed over the Bear Mountain Bridge. The hill on the other side was relentless, but if you’re driving I can recommend that road (Route 6 and 202) – amazing scenery and fun to drive. Found a bike trail that took us into Brewster and eventually crept over into Connecticut to stay the evening in Danbury. Not much going on in Danbury, but I got an alright and much needed curry at least.

Connecticut Science Center, Hartford CT

Connecticut is New England proper and there were more and more British place names that I’ve passed through: Plymouth, Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester, Bolton, Glastonbury and of course the State capital Hartford (named after Hertford). In Hartford I stayed in the cheapest motel yet, in the dodgiest part of town yet. Walking back towards Downtown I was talking to a guy who started the conversation at 11am with “Hey man, you got a blunt?”. Lunch at a brewery café with a beer complete with orange slices. I’m sure this had no impact on my enjoyment of the Connecticut ScienceCenter, but it was amazing! Maybe even amazing enough to contend with the Newseum for favourite museum. A little child orientated, but still, stuff to press and touch and play with and twist and turn and watch everywhere. I raced a robot in creating a pattern with different shaped blocks (I lost miserably), I flew across the surface of Mars, I endured 80 mph winds (or so it said. It did dry my hair nicely though), I played with harmonics (no Carl, I still don’t understand anything about vibe) and I dropped a weight onto a dummy’s head to look at the impact of collisions comparing different safety gear (I chose the scrum cap – that dummy definitely died).

Tony - My host in Hartford CT

After the Science Center I met up with a guy from warmshowers who agreed to host me for a night. Tony was a great host. He cooked some food for us, found us a decent bar for a pint, gave us a bed for the evening and then gave me directions to get to my next town following the Hop bike trail, part of the East Coast Greenway.

So, I’m currently in Willamantic. I spent hours wandering around Eastern Connecticut State University asking the students if they had a spare couch, and got a couple of promising leads. Nothing came from it though, and I'm back in a motel.