If you need to be in touch with Gary Schmidt or me about our ride down the Mississippi, please leave a comment on the current post or email us at
info@b2bbiketrip.com
We look forward to hearing from you!
The End of the Road
days. On the 13th, even!
A couple of folks have asked me if Gary and I will be able to cycle all the way to the mouth of the river- the place where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, no. Here’s why.
…cue The Doors…
Louisiana State Route 23 is the road that parallels the Mississppi River for all but its last few miles down the delta. It ends in an oilfield services town named Venice on the west bank of the river, and then a local road heads out into the bayou a couple of miles/kilometers further west. And that’s it. The main flow of the river, as you can see, continues on for for about another 15 miles/25 kilometers to an uninhabited place called Pilottown then splits into three main channels that extend for around another 15 miles/25 kilometers until they finally drain into the Gulf.
Another interesting thing is that, unless we see it out the window from our plane home as we take off from New Orleans, we will never see the Gulf of Mexico while on our trip. So close and yet so far.
David
Another Roadside Attraction
Two weeks from today!
Gary Schmidt and I will see amazing things every day of our ride- most of them places that would seem ordinary, day-to-day if you were just passing through or driving by. On a bike, though, moving along at 10 miles/16 kilometers an hour through the open air, everything takes on a whole new feel. The little waterfront towns, the lines of bluffs, the cotton fields stretching off to the horizon, the great North Woods, the ancient trees draped with Spanish moss… those and so many many more, all threaded together by the silver and brown flow of an ever widening river.
Fun Facts #1
days left to go!!
We will cross the Mississippi River 77 times during our trip. Eight of those times will be by ferry: once between Minnesota and Wisconsin; three times between Missouri and Illinois; once between Kentucky and Missouri; and three times in Louisiana. The final three times we cross the river it will be by ferry boat.
Toe Trucker
days left!
Some of you know about the six day, 408 mile/657 kilometer unsupported ride I made earlier this summer in late June with a good friend from my hometown of Wasilla, Alaska north past Fairbanks to Chena Hot Springs.
Spending the Night
days left.
Last year during my 80+ days of riding down the Atlantic coast from Halifax, Nova Scotia and Key West, Florida, I spent close to $5,000 on lodging, averaging a little more than $60 per night. My stays were pretty much divided between campgrounds and mom and pop/”budget” motels, but nowhere was cheap. When a Motel 6 is, at $85 a night plus another $5-10 in tax, the least expensive thing going in an area where there are no campgrounds available, what can you do? I paid these prices because I had been lulled into a false sense of security during my long rides in the 1990s- “Hiker-Biker” campsites in California State Parks were only six bucks and you could find clean older motels that were still around $25. No more.
Closer, closer…
days left to go!
We’ve updated our itinerary, probably for the last time except for last minute adjustments. Here’s what it looks like.
Friday, August 25 – Day 00 – Lake Itasca State Park, MN (0) – Camp
Saturday, August 26 – Day 01 – Lake Itasca State Park, MN to Cass Lake, MN (55.2) – Stony Point Resort (Camp)
Sunday, August 27 – Day 02 – Cass Lake, MN to Deer River, MN (106.4) – No nearby campground or Warmshowers host (Camp)
Monday, August 28 – Day 03 – Deer River, MN to Jacobsen Campground, MN (152.2) – Jacobsen Campground (Camp)
Tuesday, August 29 – Day 04 – Jacobsen Campground, MN to Aitkin, MN (200.3) – Aitken Campground (Camp)
Wednesday, August 30 – Day 05 – Aitkin, MN to Crow Wing State Park, MN (255.3) – Crow Wing SP Campground (Camp)
Thursday, August 31 – Day 06 – Crow Wing State Park, MN to Sauk Rapids, MN (317.3) – Residence
Friday, September 1 – Day 07 – REST DAY (Sauk Rapids, MN) – Residence Continue reading
See, I Told You I’d Be Here Today
days to go!
My itinerary has me leaving Anchorage the morning of the 24th, arriving in Minneapolis late that evening and meeting up with a long-time family friend. We will overnight near St. Cloud at one of her children’s residence, then leave on the 25th and drive the 150 miles/240 kilometers to Bemidji, Minnesota, the closest town of any size to Lake Itasca. There, I will go to the Northern Cycle bicycle shop [link], where the good folks there will have assembled and checked out my beloved Surly Disc Trucker.
And the Countdown Begins…
Hey, I’m back, and only have
days to go before b2b 2017 – the brook to bayou ride starts at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota on the 26th. I have lots of things to share with you over the next couple of weeks before the trip starts, so I’ve plugged the blog back in again
and should be posting pretty much every day from this point on.
Thanks for tuning back in. I’m looking forward to getting on the road.
David
GoPro, Again…
Several months into using a GoPro I’m still on the fence as to its utility as a device used for general purpose photography during bike rides. I really like the ability to shoot “on the move,” but that is almost outweighed by the fisheye character of the shots you wind up with, plus the fairly work intensive nature of getting them off the GoPro and onto a computer or handheld in a form that they can be used. It annoys me that you have to hand add geolocation to each photo.
Anyway, the thing I had in mind when I took these shots was to note another drawback and my fix for it. The internal battery in a GoPro- at least a Hero 4 Silver GoPro- literally lasts for minutes- not hours, minutes- of constantly connected use. Then they die without warning. The best accessory purchase I have made so far is two of these “re-fuel” six hour battery backs [link]. They snap right on and are ready to go. Six hours is a stretch- I get about four, tops. But two will carry me through most days. I don’t know what folks who have the newer model GoPro can do- I understand that they are caseless, so these won’t fit. But there must be something like them.
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