I woke up to rain this morning, grey poopy skies were the last thing I wanted to see Luckily though, that was the end of it, and it got prettier and prettier as the day went on.

I stopped in Athens for lunch and destroyed a Pizza buffet! I don’t think they anticipate cross country bikers taking advantage of their ‘All you can eat’ offer. I had pizza, breadsticks, Cinnamon breadsticks, Salad, more pizza, two large Sprites, lasagna and some sweet pie like things for desert. yum!

From there the riding really got enjoyable, the sun came out and I had a nice big shoulder to ride on. For the past week, the shoulders have been very small or non existent but today I was king of the highways once again!

I crossed the Ohio River for the third time, and this time, I landed in West Virginia! The scenery completely changed, the forests are no longer just plain green, they have some color in the hills around here, stunning!

The first person I met in WV was James, a bartender at the Sundance Cafe off highway 50. I was out of water and he filled me up and gave me a Red Bull…and a $20 dollar bill. He is the sweetest Redneck I’ve ever met. I hope everyone is as kind as he is

Now I’m camped out next to a little lake enjoying a pretty sunset. Tomorrow I start the mountain stages, time to harness my inner Lance!

You know what I did today? I rode my bike!! And for the 5th week of constant pedaling, I’m still loving it!

It rained like crazy again, but luckily I had a place to hide out. I squeezed under a little piece of roof in a beat up old strip mall in a lovely little town called Minford. I was very happy to be a spectator for this round, it’s always cozy to be near a storm to hear, see and smell it. Rain is cleansing, makes you relax and induces you to relax…but usually only when you’re safe from getting soaked, and today I was.

The riding after the storm was great, the birds were out once again chirping, the fields were covered in fog and the temperature was a very cool 70.

I ate ice cream and beans for dinner…I might have to start mass producing my tasty concoctions. They would be a best seller…but maybe only to starving athletes

Wanna get wet without getting wet?  Here you go!

Last night turned out to be pretty interesting. In return for camping in Justin’s backyard, I promised to buy some beer for a little party they were having. Georgetown is actually a dry country so we have to drive out to the county line to get hold of some beer. It was my first ‘drive thru’ beer buying experience as well, interesting.

Anyway, it started raining while we were out…and my tent and all my stuff was setup outside. When I got home it was a full on downpour, I raced out back and all my stuff had blown all over the yard. I scrambled around in the dark, picking up the pieces. Now I didn’t have anything dry, and my tent was worthless against this downpour. I decided to crash in the 3×4 mud room off the back of the house. I curled up on my wet sleeping pad and tried to ignore the discomfort.

This worked out out great until the party got going at midnight. Why did I buy all that cheap beer? it was fueling the madness, ahh! I was kept up most of the night with the sounds pf partying…but at least I was dry.

Today was equally as wet on the bike. I enjoyed it though, the green hills around me were shrouded in dark clouds and fog.

By afternoon it cleared up, just in time for me to cross the Ohio river once again, and this time…into Ohio!

I’m all dried off and my tummy is full of grilled cheese and ice cream.

Here’s a video, be happy that you didn’t get as wet as me.

There are a lot of horses in these here parts, this is the home of the Derby after all. After a hectic ride out of Louisville on some busy streets I finally made it into the country, and endless horse farms. Beautiful rolling green hills with horses on all sides. I’m used to seeing cows, but today it was mostly colts.

It was hard to leave Louisville, I really love that city! It has a cool vibe, it’s right on the water and the women have sweet southern accents. Speaking of sweet southern women, I owe my hosts a huge thanks, Aunt Bo and Tabb. I felt like family after minutes of being with them and they treated me like a son. This is what I love about this experience, I’m gaining ‘family’ members all over the country.

Tonight I’m camped in the backyard of Justin and ‘Asian.’ I met Justin at a great local restaurant called Favas in Georgetown. He made me a mean dinner of pancakes and a huge omelet, so yummy. He offered up his backyard and here I am, life is good.

Indiana is beautiful…and hilly! I wasn’t ready for this. I figured it would be pretty flat like the past couple weeks…boy was I wrong. The uphills aren’t long, but they are a bit steep and constant, you go up, and then you go down, and you go up….like a roller coaster but more painful.

Alex and I enjoyed the beautiful countryside as we slowly chugged up the ‘mountains.’ We even went through a ‘ski’ town called Paoli. Yes, they actually have skiing in southern Indiana, but I’ve heard that it’s usually just icy hillsides.

Just before getting into Louisville I got a call from Allen, a cool guy who found out about my ride via Team Wonderbike. He got his family together (Patti and Maggie) and we all rode over the Ohio river together. It was beautiful, the sun was low on the horizon casting an orange light over the city. And since I had a good ensemble cast with me, we had a nice big happy dance on the Banks of the Ohio. And Allen saved the day when he pulled out a few cans of Fat Tire beer! You can buy New Belgium in Indiana but not in Kentucky. It was a great way to end the day.

From there Alex and I rode to Barbara (Aunt Bo) and Tab’s place. They are family of my good friend Mary. Anyway, we were treated to an amazing Vietnamese dinner and afterward Tab made us her special vanilla/peanut butter and honey ice cream concoction. Heaven!

Here’s all the fun on the little screen

Today was  a great day.  My buddy Alex came down from Champagne Illinois (driven down by his awesome lady Kyra) to ride with me.

It was another one of those dreamy days, mostly downhill and lots of tailwind, ahhhh.  We even found a great Mexican restuarant in lawrenceville illinios, this is a rarity in the Midwest.  It felt great to get some beans in the system, it had been awhile and my body was getting cranky.

We crossed into Indiana in a beautiful little town called Vincennes and did one of the best Happy Dances to date (video coming tomorrow).  At 5pm, at 98 miles into the ride we found an amazing farmers market with fresh peaches.  And let me tell you, this was the best peach of my life.  It’s so fun sharing this experience with friends, I think Alex is equally as happy, but we’ll see how sore he is in the morning

I’ll miss St Louis! And it’s all because of Jason and his amazing family. Jason found out about my ride through Team Wonderbike and immediately offered up his house and a nice bed (the bed was actually his daughter’s princess bed).
I was in heaven, Rachel his wife cooked amazing meals, Jason and I sat on the porch drinking Fat Tire and the kids and I had a great time running around the City Museum-The most amazing playground I’ve ever seen-it’s a total child’s dream–and a Duzer’s dream too.
Today, Jason was good enough to take the morning off and ride with me out of town, I can’t tell you how much safer it is to have an escort in a big city. After a 15 mile jaunt on the ‘safe’ roads, we got to the Mississippi and said our goodbyes, I’m sure I’ll see him again! Cheers buddy!
At the bridge I met Ryan, another bike loving cool guy who I met at the New Belgium beer party on Thursday. He was good enough to take me through the mean streets of East St Louis. East St. Louis looks likes bombed out Beirut, I’ve never seen such a run down city in the U.S. It’s full of casinos, strip clubs and crumbling houses, crazy.
The rest of the ride was great, felt kind of like Kansas, flat, farms and hot. And currently I’m awaiting the arrival of my good friend Alex who will be joined me for the next two days, hooray!

Here’s a video that is sure to make you smile!

Check out my love story with Katy in today’s DAILYCAMERA

I hate breakups, this one wasn’t easy, I’ll never forget you KATY!!

I said a sad farewell to Katy today, she’s been good to me but it’s time to move on, It’s not her, it’s me…

Had a couple really fun ride-alongs today, Jason and Scott met me about 50 miles out of town. I had been in touch with Jason the past week and he promised me good veggie food and a bed, yes please! He gave up his car years ago and has committed himself to a car-free life! His kids even met us on their bikes as we got closer to town.

We and immediately got into case of Fat Tire after arriving at his house. His three year old son calls them “Bicycle Beers.” Very clever. As we drank beer, I put his daughter to work washing my bike, it was super dirty after a week on Katy.

Tonight I’m off to a little Bar event downtown, free New Belgium anyone? Come on down to St. Louie!

Last night I met up with a handful of local bike enthusiasts in Columbia. We drank New Belgium brews ($100 bar tab, nice!) and had ourselves a cozy little evening.  As I headed home to Steve’s house (my host) who is way cool by the way, it started to pour, no bueno. I looked on the radar when I got back and it said “90% chance of rain for Tuesday” Boooo!

Darn that weather forecast! It was right on, luckily though it didn’t pour, just a nice gentle drizzle. The unfortunate part is that the Katy trail is gravel, so mix in a little water and you’ve got mud, and riding in soft mud makes pedaling a lot harder. Oh well, it was nice and cool (70) which is a great riding temperature. The scenery was beautiful too, the tree lined trails were shrouded in a misty fog, like a scene out of the movie Braveheart.

Now I’m camped out in a city park in Hermann, about 70 miles from St. Louis. If you ever come to Herman, don’t get Mexican food, they don’t know what Mexican food is. But luckily they do make good pie, I stopped by “Time for Pie” and had a great chunk of Strawberry Rhubarb with a side of Vanilla ice cream, I even got a hot chocolate!

And yes, I will be sleeping on another picnic table tonight, It’s another extra long one so I won’t need to curl up to fit on top.

And here’s a video of my first two days on the KATY trail.