Stu: Now With Added Scars!

Warning: Pictures don't match paragraphs.

First of all, thank you for the support and messages since the accident and my last post. I want this blog to document my whole trip. My metal state is an important part of that and to ignore it in favour of documenting sights seen and activities done wouldn't give a true reflection of a trip of this magnitude. So, this is as good a place as any to carry on.

Pittsburgh PA

As I'm sure we're all aware, things were pretty crappy last week. Energy levels down, confidence hiding in a corner, and a desire just to curl up and not watch the world go by. Since then, things went a little more downhill. The gaping and oozing holes in my face were coupled with feeling returning to my lip. A sign that things are healing, but some serious pain. I thought things may not be so bad so I got a Subway one night. Took an hour to eat and the Dr Pepper (like Coke, it kills everything) had me in tears. I spent a couple of days without brushing me teeth and eating as little as possible. Eventually found a CVS with some Red Cross CankerSore (a staggering 20% benzocaine) which did an incredible job of numbing my tongue and making me drool.

Pittsburgh PA

World's largest electric guitar, Carnegie Science Center

Things have become better though. I made it to Pittsburgh where CouchSurfing has come up trumps. I had one night in a motel a fair distance out of town, but then stayed with a guy called Somesh for a couple of nights. I slept well into the morning and didn't leave bed until lunchtime and I started feeling quite a bit better. My wounds seem to be healing alright which is going to make things so much better. Not sure what the wound on my lip is going to do, but it looks like my nose will be alright with just a scar or two and maybe a bit of a crater. Most annoying thing now is trying to avoid scratching or wiping my nose as I just get me fingers covered in gunk every time. I'm now staying with a girl called Iva and we've been out and about seeing some sights and cycling across the city in 35+ °C heat. At the moment, I'm well on the mend and just need to get my stamina up and get used to high speeds again before I'm back to how things were. For anyone out there who somehow manages to replicate my faceplant and disfigure themselves, my advice is simple - antibiotics, anesthetic, sleep for a week.

National Aviary

So that covers the effects of crashing, but there are longer term factors that affects what goes on in me head. Anyone who's done loads of business travel will know how functional hotels and motels are. They all provide the same services, have the same standards, have the same TV channels showing Avatar every Sunday, are comfortable enough, but day after day they offer no feeling of 'home'. You can rest, you can sleep, you can sit in your pants dropping crumbs all over the bed, but you can never fully relax. A related factor is the loneliness. You interact with people (mostly in motels or restaurants) but as you're always on the move you don't really get the opportunity to fully know and understand anyone. I haven't seen a familiar face since I left DC on the 16th April. For the moment, this isn't affecting me too much and I believe that this is an outcome of my depression. I became introvert and denied that I had any problems, and now many negative feelings kind of get pushed to one side and ignored. The best way I an describe it is that my mood is generally empty and isn't so easily influenced by outside factors. So for me, I focus on the cycling and getting to the next State capital and I can cope with that. For anyone else, this could be an incredibly lonely trip which could really get you down.

Phipps Conservatory

More than enough of that, so back to what's been happening. Firstly, cycling anywhere near a city the size of Pittsburgh sucks! After conquering the last few mountains the roads changed from country roads to 6 lane behemoths. I also got the first bit of abuse shouted at me for ages. For anyone thinking of shouting abuse at cyclists, shouting 'FUCK YOU!' in a really high pitched whiny voice scares about as much as a 6 year old girl carrying a bunch of flowers. Once in Pittsburgh I was down to my last $21 in cash. Time to go to the cash machine, except that two of them couldn't complete the transaction. Bloody Halifax! No idea why they suspended the PIN, but it all got cleared up easily enough after 5 minutes of navigating their bastard automatic answering service.

A genuine $2 bill - I didn't know they existed either

Tuesday was a phenomenal day of food and science. Had lunch at the Red Oak Cafe in Oakland. Just a normal cafe really, but some of the best food I've had here in the States. Another factor in my mental health is the food. Most of it is chains and sandwiches and burgers and fries with everything and deep fried this and deep fried that or Italian that has no resemblance to authentic Italian other than it contains pasta. But this place had genuine food. I even had that grain stuff that has no taste and only vegans, health food fanatics and celiacs know about. After that I went to the Carnegie Science Center; guitars, robots (I drew a game of air-hockey against a robot) and a WWII submarine. Not as good as the Connecticut Science Center, but still a great afternoon. On the way home I went into Hello Bistro. It was calling me for some reason and I was expecting a typical get-shown-to-a-seat-with-a-menu-of-steaks-and-burgers kind of affair. Turns out the place wasn't opening for another couple of days and they were doing a practice run of everything. They had burgers, but their main thing was essentially doing salad with the Subway process of constructing it as you go along. Most salads you get over here are side salads before a meal with a few leaves hanging over the edge of a small plate and some dressing to throw over the top. This was done properly with cutting and mixing and it was good. Two good meals with fresh ingredients and no deep-fat frying (one of which was free) in one day really cheered us up.

Other activities in Pittsburgh include the National Aviary, some late-night table-tennis, some slacklining, and the Phipps Conservatory botanical garden. How much better things would be if I weren't on antibiotics and could have a few beers!

Tiff: 1999 - 2012

In other news, we've had to say goodbye to another family member - Tiff The Dog (named after a 7 legged rabbit called 'Tiff The Dog', with one leg on his back so he could hop along the ceiling, who lived in a treehouse under the sea before the colour blue was invented). I'd like to take a moment to remember some of her most memorable achievements:

• 12 dry Weetabix
• 1 large box of Thornton's Special Toffee
• 1 kg of margarine
• 6 creme eggs (including most of the wrappers)
• 1 large bag of fruit pastels (on multiple occasions)
• The list continues, I just can't remember or haven't heard
• 
  

Dark Times

The new cycling get-up.

With some new antibiotics and new antibiotic ointment I think the wounds are doing a little better. Still looks nasty as hell though. With the inability to dress the wounds, I've come up with the stunning solution to protect them from the elements you can see above - a dust mask. Keeps dust away from the pools of gel I have to smear across me face and it also stops me from eating quite so many flies. On the negative side, it reduces the amount of oxygen I can take in while breathing heavily (which is important for those anonymous phone calls), makes me even hotter and makes taking on water more difficult which is all a pain in the arse when you're cycling up some dirty great mountains in 35 °C heat. You should also notice the front of me helmet which took a battering during my crash and shows how much worse things could have been. Once I'm somewhere with a population I think it could, or probably should, be gracefully retired.

Bald Knob Summit, Allegheny Mountains, PA

New achievement today: I rode Bald Knob and at 2906 feet it's the biggest I've tackled yet (seriously, who names these mountains and what were they compensating for?)!

Mentally, things aren't great at the minute. I'm lacking energy and I can get fairly self-conscious so I want to sit in the corner of a room to hide rather than the usual people-watching. My lip doesn't move properly either so people are having even more trouble with me accent. Realistically, if things turn bad I could end up in hospital again needing surgery. Even if things go well I could need surgery. This means that I may have to come home early, but I have to figure out at what point I say that the injuries are that bad. Is it better to play things safe and miss out on the rest of this adventure, or carry on and risk things turning nasty? Blatantly I'm going to carry on. This adventure is to see what I can achieve, and the injury and this mood are part of that adventure.

Pennsylvania

Stu - 0, Gravel - 1

Blue Ridge Mountain Pennsylvania

Yesterday was a pretty rough day. Started off with things being overcast and kind of cool. As I started climbing and turned round a corner the clouds suddenly cleared and the temperature just soared. I climbed from 600 feet to 2123 feet, and then did it again, and again. Severely dehydrated I went looking for some water.

Turned into a picnic area and stacked the bike bad. I was on a gravel path and some stone lifted and turned me front wheel so it wasn't straight when it landed. I went arse over tit and landed on me face. Picked meself up to find blood pouring from me face. A guy with a three year old daughter at the picnic area called us an ambulance and I got a trip to hospital to get cleaned up properly. I was only in there for a few hours before I got a lift back to me bike. I even got picked up by a Belgian while walking down the hill to find a motel for a couple of nights. Wounds include the odd scrape and cut on me limbs, but the worst injuries were to me face. I ate a load of gravel and shredded me bottom lip. Me top lip has been badly bruised so both lips are twice the size they should be which makes eating and drinking not as easy as it should be. I lost some skin from my nose, but the worst was the chunk of skin I lost from underneath my nose. Think Freddy Kruger but on a very small scale. I lost a portion of mustache so this may be the end of me beard. I was hoping to have a handlebar mustache once home, but now it'll just look ridiculous.

In hospital, Bedford PA

Finally, two milestones have been reached. My unintentional and failed acrobatics happened near enough on the 2000 mile mark. Also, many thanks to the Tilbrooks for taking the fundraising total past the £500 mark.

Where for art thou, Romeo?

Feeling: Mothered.

Nuclear Power Plant, 3 Mile Island, Harrisburg PA

What a difference a guide makes. An intention of mine was to experience life across America as it's experienced by the people who live here, and for the most part I've failed at that. But Mary has been incredible in showing me around Harrisburg and the surrounding area. After getting the bike into the shop for a new rear wheel we've seen quite a bit starting with a drive onto 3 Mile Island - the location of a partial nuclear meltdown in 1979.

Beverage, cigar, and 1900 miles complete

We had a quick trip into Hershey, "the sweetest place on Earth" (give me Cadbury's any day), followed by a walk around Harrisburg to get the touristy sight-seeing bit out the way. After that it was the first bit of experiencing Harrisburg - Rae's Tobacco Shop. If you're going to celebrate 1900 miles of cycling, why not do it with a fat cigar and a JD and coke on a Friday afternoon? The shop has a smoking area for people to smoke and generally just relax - think a pub for smoking cigars. There's a crowd of regulars and conversation ranged from guns to beheading chickens to the US becoming a 'nanny State' with the UK used as the primary example of a 'nanny State'. To finish off the day was some Shakespeare - an outdoor rendition of Romeo & Juliet with a New Orleans setting and an incredible portrayal of Juliet's nurse.

Shakespeare In The Park - Romeo & Juliet

Saturday was more sightseeing, and if you're in the area there are two main tourist draws. As we'd already done Hershey it was Gettysburg's turn. For those that don't know, the battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle in the American Civil War and ended the invasion of the North (see Wiki for more details as I actually know very little about it all). I've seen a number of battlefields across Europe; WWI and WWI employed trench warfare and the lines are about a mile apart or less, the older battlefields just appear to be fields. Gettysburg is HUGE. There's a driving tour with stops at the most crucial points in the battle that's 24 miles long. In the panoramic below, pretty much everything in the foreground was battlefield, and that's only a small fraction of it.

Gettysburg PA

A lazy day was had yesterday. Bit of a drive round town, a BBQ and then a sit round a fire with fine wine, a fine cigar, and finely toasted marshmallows against a backdrop of the silhouette of trees lit up by a twinkling of fireflies. I was with a guy called Dan Garvin who is an ex-Scientologist and member of their OSA (Office of Special Affairs - essentially their intelligence division). Amazing to hear how the Church of Scientology abuses its members and how aggressive they are in pursuing their targets considered 'fair game'.

Harrisburg PA

Many many thanks to Mary for hosting me. Terri, Mary and their families are a model of human kindness and generosity and a real inspiration. How different things would be if Terri had gone for a run that day or my spoke had broken 1 mile further down the road - sometimes things just work out well.

PB? Smashed!

Aching: Everywhere.

Somewhere in Pennsylvania

Detours aren't always fun. Cycling across Pennsylvania, there was a bridge down so I had to take a bit of a detour. I was told the best way to go by an old guy in a local shop. Off I go to find that my new route is dirt track and hill. With skinny tires, a very weak rear wheel and suspect brakes, this is not good. Once in Williamsport I was directed to a motel another 8 miles out of town past a massive hill with roadworks where I was told by one of the workmen that I was just going to get hit if I carried on. Made it safely enough to the motel in the middle of nowhere but then had to walk 2 miles to find dinner.

Susquehanna River, Nr. Harrisburg PA

I've been averaging about 40 miles cycling a day which worked out nicely as I was about 80 miles from Harrisburg so I could get there in 2 days. Looked at the 40 mile mark, and there is nothing in the area. It'd have to be a 60 mile trip and a 20 mile trip, or a 20 mile trip and a 60 mile trip. Don't really feel like doing a 20 mile trip. At the beginning of the adventure and when it was chucking it down it was alright, but I can do better than that now. I nailed 65 miles in an afternoon, so why not 80 miles in a day? Previous personal best distance, was 65 miles. Yesterday I nailed 85 miles all the way into Harrisburg.

Remember Terri and Chuck from Portsmouth NH? They're the ones who helped me when my first spoke broke and gave me a lift to the brilliant Pappa Wheelies bike shop. I'm now staying with Terri's sister, Mary.

Sporran

Word of the week: Arsesome (adj., fictional) In reference to a particularly desirable rear end.
Use: "Mate, check it out. That is arsesome!"
"Dude, not cool! That's my Mum!"

Yup, you think about some fairly strange things when you're by yourself for so long. Not a clue what influenced this bit of randomness, but it definitely wasn't the waitresses from the other night.

Cornell University Campus, Ithaca NY

So, the broken spoke. Google promised thunderstorms but instead it was incredible sunshine which made pushing the bike up the mountain bloody hard going. Knackered after 10 miles when I finally got picked up. The guy who stopped was in the area because his two sons were wine makers so he'd bought some land to turn into a vineyard. He gave us a lift all the way into the middle of Ithaca and to the edge of the Cornell University campus which was handy as the campus is on one hell of a hill with another gorge.

Gorge, Ithaca NY

Started off the day with pissing rain. Most people complain about the rain, but after the heat and the distances I'm covering the rain makes things easier. Once you're soaked, getting wetter just doesn't happen so as long as you keep moving and don't get cold it's all good. Tonight I won a pub quiz! Randomly wandered into a pub that looked decent and had some quality beers. As well as incredible food (I had an awesome meatloaf) they were running a trivia quiz. Which British luxury car maker made the Spitfire engine? Which duo wrote the opera Mikado? I was, well, not really on fire but I was getting a couple of questions right. For the final question, with the topic of Scotland, each team bet the current score of a team. So you could lose the current score of the worst team if you got the question wrong and bet conservative, or go big and bet for the current score of the best team with big rewards if you got the right answer and a big loss if you got it wrong. We bet big, and the question...

What is the name of the pouch traditionally worn with the kilt?

BOOM! I own two of these and finally, proof that my 4 years at St Andrews haven't gone to waste. $10 gift card in the bag with a final score of 9 hundred and something. Second place had a score of 0. Best cheap meal I've had.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Listening to: United States of Whatever by Liam Lynch

The Good

Niagara River, Niagara Falls NY

Leaving Niagara Falls I went North to see some more of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. As I alluded to in me last post, the falls aren’t as impressive as their reputation precedes, but the Niagara River is immense; especially as you head north to see the gorge and the whirlpool. As long as you can resist the charms of ‘The Silo’ in Lewiston (as featured on Man vs. Food, and very proud of that they are too) you reach Fort Niagara where the Niagara River feeds into Lake Ontario. New one for the wildlife list though – a swimming snake that’d caught a fish.

Following along Lake Ontario, the region is all wine country. Obviously though cycling and wine aren’t the best combination (as learnt through experimentation) so no wine tasting was done. The lake though is pretty huge. On the horizon I could just about see the skyscrapers of Toronto, but they were too far to show up on the photo.

Eventually I made it to the Finger Lakes. Had a stunning 65 mile ride to get to Geneva on Seneca Lake in glorious sunshine. Made my way down to the lake shore and there was some live music going on. I also tackled perhaps my toughest challenge on the ride over – this icecream…

A small icecream

This icecream was about the size of me head (alright, maybe half the size of me head, but still, huge!) and this was a small size. There was only going to be one winner here – the icecream; I was covered in it. For the more hirsute ladies, an icecream this size, this unbalanced, and this melted will just make your beard all sticky. Me face upto me eyes was green, icecream was dripping off me elbow – anyone who’s ever seen a toddler in summer will know the look. There is a way to tackle a beast like this and that’s to not make the same mistake as me – don’t get anything with chunks. No chocolate chips, no nuts, no toffee pieces. You just can’t chew quickly enough to keep the icecream under control.

Vineyard on Seneca Lake shore, NY

But, once at Seneca Lake, what a place. Another beautiful place and cycling down the side of the lake is more wine country. Obviously though cycling and wine aren’t the best combination (as learnt through experimentation) but how often do you go cycling through the wine regions of New York? The region is particularly known for its Rieslings and the ones I had were just incredible. For those that haven’t been to a winery, you pay a couple of dollars to taste 5 or 6 wines and then you flirt and show enough interest to get a taste of the more exclusive wines that you’re supposed to pay extra for, and for a taste of the wines that shouldn’t even be open.

In Watkins Glen there is a gorge. To make a comparison, Niagara Falls was pretty impressive, but the gorge was just incredible. Not expected at all, but an amazing sight.

Watkins Glen NY

The Bad

Other than the weather, which has been a little ropey recently, I’ve stayed in a couple of really crappy motels. Internet access has been intermittent. I’ve been sitting with me netbook hanging out the window attempting to steal wifi from a car dealership on the other side of the road, and other times there’s been nothing. To make things more painful, although I’ve paid off me credit card it hadn’t been processed so I’ve been running fairly close to me credit limit.

In Watkins Glen as I pulled into a motel THUWNK! That sound again. And at half 4 on a Saturday with no bike shops in town this was going to be a tricky one to sort out. Nearest bike shop open on a Sunday is 25 miles away on the edge of the Cornell University campus, so looks like I’ll be taking a trip over there and hopefully I won’t have to walk the whole way.

Ghost Bike, Bloomfield NY

On occasion you are reminded of the nature of what you’re doing and of your mortality. Cycling past another ghost bike reminds you that you’re only one Dodge Ram away from being killed. Although on these roads I’m more likely to get hit by a Cobra or a Ford GT40 – those spending the day drinking on winery tours are rich. Although I’m probably in more danger of myself. The most observant will have seen the injury count go up as I managed to cut the back of me leg on me gears. Nothing serious at least.

The Ugly

Turns out that another friend has attempted suicide again.

The Falls

Things are still pretty damp here with a chance of storms, but for the moment I don't actually have to go outside unless I want to.

I was warned that the falls may not be quite as impressive as I might expect, and that turned out to be true but they are still impressive. It's not so much the height, it's more the width (ladies!) and the sheer quantity of water going over the falls at any given time. Spent a few hours yesterday wandering round taking some photos, and then after an afternoon of Jenga and dominoes a few of us went out again to watch the firework display and take some more photos. Results below.

American Falls & Horseshoe Falls, Niagara Falls NY

Jenga!

American Falls & Horseshoe Falls at night, Niagara Falls NY

Fireworks over Niagara Falls NY

Finally, every time I see this...

I see this...

Anyone else?

Not Great Times

Thought for the day: Red meat is not bad for you; green furry meat is bad for you.

Things were left in the motel after having to break into a medieval axe collecting hillbilly's ("I don't know what no visa is") house after hiding from a storm. Surely that's got to be the bad times done for a little while...

Erie Canalway Trail after the storm

Cycling along the Canalway Trail the effects of the storm were ever present; fallen trees and branches all over the place. Other than that it was a simple day. And the day after was simple other than putting in a few more miles to try and get to Niagara Falls quicker: 150 miles in 3 days - I've done it before.

Then, it rained. Before when it's rained I've done 20 miles but this time I did 50. And I went along the Erie Canalway Trail again which was alright in the morning when it was concrete, but then it turned to gravel which acts like a fusion of mud and sand when waterlogged. This makes the peddling tough as the bike sinks and loses traction, and covers everything in a gritty mud. Make it to the motel I want to stay at, but they own two motels and check-in is only at the other motel so I have to go that little bit further, and back again to get a room. Once clean and warm again I try and check the internet, but I need a password so it's back out into the rain and to the other motel to get the password. Get back again and all my clothes are soaked and the internet doesn't work. Something I'd eaten was disagreeing with us too so I wasn't feeling particularly great. Surely that's got to be the bad times done for a while...

There was a bit of rain first thing yesterday but it actually cleared up so I wasn't bothered by it. Get into me slightly wet cycling gear and pack away me damp clothes and set off - THWUNK! I know that sound. Yup - back wheel is wobbling all over the place again and another spoke has called it a day. Steal wireless from outside Subway to find the nearest bike shop and it's 15 miles in the wrong direction. A mile or two on a wobbly wheel is doable in an emergency, 15 is not a good idea. It'll have to be walking which'll take maybe 4 hours, or I can hitch-hike. Got picked up by some guy in an absolutely knackered white pick-up truck that smelt like an ashtray and sounded like a permanently missed gear. But I got to the bike shop and got the bike fixed. By the time I cycled past my original start point I'd lost 4 hours - 3 in the afternoon and 50 miles to go. Kept up the 10 mph average and made it to the hostel at about 8, just short of a new PB (best is still 66 miles in a day, I did 65) but I did go past the 1500 mile mark (over 2400 km).

Destination reached - Niagara Falls

Not knowing anything about the place and doing no research, I thought that Niagara Falls would be some quiet place surrounded by forest and National Park, but no. Niagara Falls is a city and leading up to the city is suburbs and farmland; all of it populated. You can tell where the money is though; as soon as I reached Niagara the road was suddenly brand new smooth tarmac. Few days of (much needed) rest here and then it's on to Harrisburg.