Day 19: Murphysboro, IL

houston, we're back in business. managed to scoop up the last right-sized remaining roll of rubber left in the town of carbondale, illinois, home of the the southern illinois u. salukis. after the damage was assessed, it appears the bridge cut through the last bit of tread and kevlar layer. the only thing that was left holding the air inside for those last seventy miles or so was the stubborn armadillo layer... so today's game ball goes to mr. armadillo who kindly kept the duck on the road. due to equipment adjustments, today's hard count is limited but still made it into the town of murphysboro successfully and somewhat dry. while rolling through, i did manage to see some of the damage from last night's storm but things didn't appear so bad, just blown down trees and debris.

today's count: 49 miles
time on the wounded horse: 4:03
pounds shed via postal service: 13

time to run the ol' girl lean and mean so the nag is now nothing but a flying gas can. tomorrow missouri - duck out, over.

Day 18: Vienna, IL (cont'd)

houston: wounded duck's position has officially been compromised, over. electricity gone, lightning is hitting all around, rain is driving down in buckets - very large ones. it is fabulous! i can't even see across the parking lot even though lightning is striking about every second. it is just simply amazing. looking at the shadows from the trees it looks as though the winds have picked up considerably. i could easily stay up all night watching this...there was a close one... this is absolutely delicious.

Day 18: Vienna, IL

houston, the duck has docked his wings in vienna, illinois, but it was another day with ups and downs, over. managed to squeeze past the thunder storms fortunately holing up at the inn about an hour before the sky opened up and still watching the lightning fly across the sky. To cross the ohio river the nag had to traverse a span of quasi sharp steel that did not treat the tread on the aft burner well. as you will see once i can manage to send along some photos the meat on the ol' rubber is burned down to the core. fortunately there are a few bike shops in the horizon; we'll just have to keep the fingers crossed that the kevlar can hold up for another fifty miles. tomorrow, with a little luck, wounded duck will link up with the westerly route close to the border of missouri in murpheysboro.

todays roll count:
miles: 62
hours in the saddle: 4:34
new states entered: 1 (the land of lincoln)
temps: hot and nasty.
houston, it's time for the duck to hit the rack and hope tomorrow is lucky- out.

stand by houston for further update: looking at the weather channel, wounded duck is getting news that the town of carbondale, illinois, where bicycle tire salvation lies, is currently suffering a deluge of rain, winds of up to 50-60 mph, flash flood and tornado warnings. it looks as though for now the storm's real teeth remains north and west of here (just barely) though wounded duck does have visible confirmation of heightened lightning activity from my refuge here at the limited inn, over. stand by houston for further updates as to whether or not wounded duck will be cleared for take off tomorrow. needless to say, i really don't feel like getting drowned, zapped, or blown away with dorothy and toto to the land of oz...for now wounded duck remains safely in the king sized, pillow-topped pond as the heat index is still 97 degrees outside at 9:20 pm, over.

Day 17: Grand Rivers, KY

Houston this is wounded duck over.  We have found a friendly port here in Grand Rivers, Ky.  Unfortunately lost the communication (comm) link last night due to
an excessive pork chop and a long day in the saddle but knew that I would be holding steady here for one more day to again stop the wheels and cool the heels.  Plans to continue on to Paducah, Ky for the night were thankfully thwarted for the temperature was rising at the same rate that my smiling face was falling.  The Land between the Lakes recreation area turned out to be indeed beautiful, and wet, and chocked full of adventure.  The adventure continued to rise and fall over some beautiful countryside, however by the end of the afternoon was definitely looking for some fuel for both the nag and the duck.  Houston my intent was to ride on to Paducah for a potential bicycle shop target to get the ol' honey back in tip top shape, however as I took the lovely old gals advice from the northern welcome center, I rolled into find a barbecue spot, and found both the barbecue and bicycle shop next to one another here at grand rivers.  As it turns out this little haven on Lake Kentucky is like a blast into the past.  Like the movie "Big Fish" when he stumbles across the village in the middle of the forest all lit up with white lights, well Grand Rivers has the same tradition with similar old "western" store fronts and atmosphere.  A little lake town, actually two bodies of water straddle this little oasis, Grand Rivers is chalked full of friendlies including Veronica, whom immigrated from Hungary in 1986, runs the Grand Rivers Inn, and consequently gave Wounded Duck a 25% Bicycler's discount.  Had dinner last night at Patties 1800's settlement which was kind of like a miniature amusement/tourist park attached to the the locally famous restaurant where duck bit into the house specialty; a 2" thick Pork Chop.  It turned out to be both delicious and succulent with the juices flowing freely down my chinny chin chin, however I would argue the 2".  Perhaps it was 2" before throwing it on the cooker, but on the plate she looked more like 1 3/4" maybe 1 7/8", regardless the thing was uber yummy and went down with a baked potato the size of a watermelon and about two pitchers of water. 
 
It seems that's one of the biggest things to do while on this trip is downing gallons of water (and if I can get it a couple of lemon wedges for taste).  And it may sound odd but I'm absolutely loving it even if the wallet continues to cause Gatorade stock to rise at breakneck speeds (tip for everyone: by a couple of shares for it should definitely yield a 15% return by summer's end).  My body is completely drenched by 7:30 in the morning by the average 95% humidity and I feel spectacular.  While rolling through the wilderness area yesterday I found a little patch of grass under an oak tree for my morning breather flopping down, as I like to do, for a cool stretch with my bottle of water and took advantage of having a one-way chat with a local.  Just on the other side of the fence/ shaded flop down zone was one of a herd of about 50 buffalo thinking that our little spot was just as enjoyable as I.  Topics of conversation: asked him if he felt like getting a hair cut, how the kentucky blue grass went down, and if the heat made sleeping at night unbearable.  The big fella turned out not to be much of a talker but didn't seem to mind my inquisition. 

Stand by Houston for yesterday's hard count: 
Mileage: 57 miles
Time in the saddle and not in the shady drop zone talking to an uninterested buffalo: 4:51
People who offered up a couple of Cliff Bars and a couple of bottles of cold water at the Visitor's center whilst we talked about life and what is true: 7 (2 adult, 5 tikes)
Hills: some but not too many
States finished: 1 (not too sad to leave tennessee, nice people, great water pressure, but the drivers were not top notch)
hot tubs that were freshly cleaned out and filled up early this morning by my lovely hungarian inn keeper: 1
hours spent talking over coffee with aforementioned inn keeper about her and her daughter's trip to Iceland/ Greenland after graduating from Duke: 2
hours slept last night and today: many
Heat Index today: 104 degrees (another reason to take a day off)
and finally bikes freshly tuned up with new spongy handlebar grips and dialed in for the next 1000 miles or so: 1 nag

Time to take another nap and another soak in the tub houston. should be in Illinois by tomorrow- wounded duck out.

Day 15: Dover, TN

houston, we have hard dock. wounded duck has flown into the pond of border town dover, tn. to save a little scratch, duck has blown past the route by a few miles to find sanctuary at the sunset inn - a classic. according to inn keeper frank, the place on the hill was erected in the early sixties and aside from the spectacular teal carpeting and slip proof stick-ums shaped like happy little gold fish in the tub, my little domicile for the night has a shower head that pre-dates inferior low flow modern day types by at least 22 years. wounded duck flew in to get hosed off and the elephant nozzle just about sent me through the wall... after constructing a way to chain myself, the 1000 gallons per hour (gph) was absolutely spectacular. sunday traffic was also kind for cars were few and far between on the black top today. the hills were many but the legs held up really well amidst another hot pot cooker, over. tomorrow wounded duck will roll into the bluegrass state of kentucky.

will be leaving tennessee tomorrow entering the land between the lakes national recreation area and from what i hear the journey sounds like a good one. tomorrow also marks a deviation from the underground railroad route, turning west to link up with the transamerica route, over. weather is still looking a bit spotty with thunder storms, insatiable heat, potential tornadoes, and occasional flooding here and there but morale is up with hopes that it, the ol' bod, and a little luck, wounded duck will find a way to side step any future roadway catastrophes.

stand by one houston for today's hard count:
mileage: 49
saddle time: 4:19
tennessee hills topped: 14

with a couple of weeks under the belt, the bod, aside suffering the minor concussion from getting blown through the wall by the elephant shower, is feeling pretty tip top. time to grab some grub and hit the rack - wounded duck out, over.

Day 14: Waverly, TN

houston, wounded duck has docked at the imperial inn in the outskirts of waverly, tn. today's sortie was merely a morning ride that took the nag into the world of the coal miner's daughter herself: the ranch/museum/rv park/gift shop of country music star loretta lynn. apparently there is a pretty big motorcross event going on so duck figured to appease the nag's motor envy by swingin in to check it out. according to the locals, this weekend is the biggest of the year and looked like a little country throwdown a kid from idaho didn't want to miss. the actual racing doesn't start until monday but was still a sight to see all the teams setting up and taking practice runs... kinda like a two-wheeled version of nascar to the tennessee gentry. considering things don't kick off for two more days, fans were still locked, stocked, and ready to rock in good numbers. So after takin in the spectacle, the duck rolled in to prep for tomorrow's hills.

Hard count: 18 miles in 1:28

Sack time. duck out.

Day 13: Hurricane Hills, TN

houston, we have hard dock over. rolled into the budding tourist motel here in hurricane hills, tennessee where the walls are washed with a particularly pleasant hue of peach and the floors are covered with a deliciously tacky faux slate pattern that just brings a smile to my face looking at it. houston, wounded duck exercised a delineation from his scheduled pattern which gained considerable mileage but at the same time almost caused a situation to where my beating heart nearly leapt out of my chest to hitch a ride with anyone heading down a particular hill of which its name i know not. when arriving into the next signs of civilization, which turned out to be a local feed store, i got to jawing with the local proprietor and his crew of underlings as to the route i had just rolled into town on. once i told my interested party which direction i had blown in from their eyes widened and asked if i had gotten off to walk up, to which i replied if i had the nag more than likely would have most likely tumbled all the way back down the tennessee mountain. ultimately after telling them about my mutinous heart looking for a free ride, the locals and i had a pretty good chuckle and i was on my way. needless to say, today was a slow grind as the bod was formerly introduced to the hills of tennessee.

stand by for today's hard count houston:
clicks on the odometer: 69.7
hours in the nag's saddle: 6:09
conversations with the locals offering up advice: enough... but admittedly very entertaining.
length of shower after jumping out of the cooker: long
pleasure gained from the pleasant 1986 paint job in my motel room: much

time to kick off the lights and watch the show behind the eyelids, houston. sleep well and i'll holler again from down the road. Wounded duck out.

Day 12: Savannah, TN

houston: after a two day respite in fulton, ms wounded duck again has returned to the open road docking into savannah, tennessee tonight. day went pretty alright with ups and downs both literally and figuratively. managed to hit a chunk of the natchez trace trail where slaves traded at market were force marched into the interior and dispersed throughout to their respective plantations. it was a memorable stretch to say the least... the temps managed to cool down a bit from near record highs in mississippi to a degree of a warm and wet simmer. todays damage:
miles covered: 77
time atop the nag: 6:21
junkyard/barnyard dogs who came up on my six with the duck in their sights: lost count at 100 fortunately netting 0 kills and the duck managed to fly away to ride another day.
states put to bed in the rearview mirror: 1
hotel rooms draped in pink paint: 1 (just like ol times, houston)
tomorrow's stage looks to be another long-hot one so time for the duck to hit the rack, houston-
out.

Day 10: Fulton, MS

houston we have docked on the spicy side of terra firma. slid into fulton, mississippi yesterday on hot sauce and cooking oil as temps reached 106 with the heat index over. as a heat advisory was again set for today, and i didn't really feel too much like broiling myself two days in a row, i have found shelter at the sands motel... not of the las vegas caliber. still trying to find a solution for the aft burner situation and had a fella named david and his daughter katie volunteer for errand detail to help take me over to tupelo, ms to get her somewhat dialed in again until a better solution presents itself down the road. don't know if it was the heat affecting the poor lady or if it was just a slow news day, but as i was traveling through smithville, ms yesterday i was almost run over by mrs. ortiz of the local newspaper to get a story on "from barstool to bike saddle". regardless of which reason, she'll be sending a copy of the story that i'm sure will arrive before i do.
so as i wrap up my laundry here at the no-named laundry mat, it's time to sign off from rest day.
captains log:
miles yesterday: 61.4
hours in the stove: 5:01
interviews given: 1
people who will read the article: 0
adventure cycling association maps completed: 1st (with just over 430 miles ridden)
day riding with the mayo journ / the golden fleece / the yellow jersey: 1st (only for special occasions)
hours slept today: many
hours watching the tour de france: many (i kept falling asleep during the end...)
barbecue eaten: 3
friendly faces: many... from the fork lift operator in the laundry mat to david, his daughter, nick the inn keeper who again is from india, and the good folks down at rj's eatery who stayed open late just for the wounded duck.
mississippi is aces in my book, houston.
duck out.

Day 9: Fulton, MS

houston: wounded duck is alive albeit a little roasted and toasted, over. in fulton, ms, and wiped tonight so will send status report in the morning. duck wrapped up and tucked in. holler at ya in the morning. out.

Day 8: West Point, MS

houston the duck has docked in what appears to be a furnace here in mississippi, over. aberdeen was but a dream today. sliding in the town of west point, ms to take reprieve from the heat wave rollin through. apparently the devil was dancing double fisted with the tobasco today as the heat index found its way north of triple digits. glad and sad to see alabama fading away in the rear view mirror, another state down but one filled with good folks and good experiences. with luck, wounded duck will be resting in tennessee in two days for the roads here, and the drivers, are not first class. the bod and the bike are holding up relatively well so far and fingers are crossed that both will continue to do so. the daily hard count:
mileage: 56.7
time in the oven: 4:51
gatorade and snicker stock: up three points
slogan to represent race from responsibility part deux: "from barstool to bike"
orders of grits consumed: 2
manana looks much the same with temps laden with hot sauce.
duck out.

Day 7: Aliceville, AL

Houston we have hard dock, over. Still fighting a slight problem with the aft burner. the spokes i fear are, as the mechanic noted a few days ago, inadequate to see wounded duck all the way back to home port. unfortunately the next available station to replace the thin guage wire is in kentucky... about 400 miles away. managed to get into the local library today to print off a quick and dirty wheel truing guide that will hopefully keep the nag in business until kentucky. it's not west texas tire technology but improvising is what we do. stand by houston for todays hard count:
mileage: 48
time: 3:52
cows that came up to the fence to say hello: 9
class reunions in aliceville: 2
funeral processions encountered: 1
distance a kid named jamal rode a wheelie in the motel parking lot on his sisters purple bike: 30 meters (impressive).
Tomorrow's target: aberdeen, ms about 72 miles.
again looking to be out before the sun for temps will have an extra coat of tobasco to spicen things up - duck out.

Day 6: Livingston, AL

Houston we have hard dock, over. Half day was a good day sliding into livingston, al... home of the western alabama university tigers where a sweet ol' gal let me sneak into the computer lab for a few minutes this afternoon. taking a peak, things are lookin pretty decent for hell week, at least i haven't found myself on the dirty side of the local swamp scene. I want to say thanks to all who drop an email from sweden to seattle. double thumbs up to all of you and hope life is treating you kindly. Stand by houston for todays hard count: miles: 38
time in the cockpit: 2:55
days left in alabama: 1
advil left: not many
handle bar grip super glued/jerry rigged: 1
tomorrow's target is the border town of aliceville, al and wounded duck will be lookin for another early roll time, with luck should beat the inbound lightning expected to brighten things up tomorrow afternoon- holler at ya down the road houston - duck out.

Day 5: Linden, AL

roger, houston: yesterday was again a bruiser but admittingly a smidge easier than a couple days ago. as i sit here in linden, al throwin back a bowl of mornin chowder in the chateau linden, the bod is feeling pretty alright. Today will be a half day to stage into aliceville, al which is about 86 miles with not much in between. so lookin to have a quasi day off of around 35 miles with only one real climb, over.
yesterday's glory: 75 miles
time in saddle: 6:40
conversation with the overly friendly inn keeper after a long day standing in the parking lot in the direct sun in 95 degree heat when all i had been dreaming about for the last 20 miles was a cool shower: 21 minutes (sweet moses)
restaurants serving up anything not fried in town: 0, as the overly curious inn keeper who goes by jim and who also owns a restaurant in the next town points out, the best place to eat is cluckers fried chicken.
with that its time for the duck to roll- out.

Day 4: Grove Hill, AL

houston: wounded duck remained at port today to stop the wheels and cool the heels, over. deavers motel offered up a little more a/c than a dirty fan and gloria's poor house cafe has filled the tank up with broiled flounder and plenty o' grits to soothe the soul.
today's stats: 0 miles
seat adjustments: 1
clothes laundered: 1 load scrubbed up at the dixie laundry
body temperature: a bit closer to my norm of 96.9
chats with the local color: 3, including gloria herself while loading up my plate with seconds on the house.
cooled off and grubbed up. will holla at y'all down the alabama highway, houston. duck out.

Day 3: Grove Hill, AL

houston: it was a grind out there today, but wounded duck is docked in grove hill, alabama, over. the ol' coastal plain showed some teeth today with a few rollers and more than enough bogeys on the six. the us-84 section, as it turns out, is a major corridor for alabama logging ops, a point verified by harold and bob at the quick stop in whately over an ice cream b.s. session. still deciding on tomorrow's strategy, houston. stand by for updates, over.
today's count: 73.5 miles
time elapsed: 7:03
conversations with the locals: 5 (most notably with harold, bob, and tyrone whom i caught out mowing his lawn in front of his double-wide who seems pretty tuned up for a new job in the big city now that his mother-in-law passed. friendly fella. made sure the duck was pointed in the right direction over a glass of lemonade)
dogs who made a run for the nag: 2
waves/honks/thumbs up from the rollin thunder: 18+.
duck out.

Day 2: Stockton, AL

houston: wounded duck has found dry dock, over. rear wheel is back to 100% for now; however, could have a potential spoke issue down the road, over. with just a half day in today, houston, the sortie for tomorrow is to get out of the shoot early and make grove hill, alabama tomorrow. 65 miles of rollers.
stand by mission control for today's count: 35 miles
time elapsed: 3:15
converstations with the local folk: 4
attempts to adjust the correct seat height: 3
final destination: camp delta (kinda fitting) in the middle of nowhere, alabama
hound dogs: 8
dead armadillos on road: 4
thunderstorms incurred: 0, however it appears they are currently inbound
time to choke down dinner and hit the rack, houston. resume transmission tomorrow night. wounded duck out.

Day 1: Spanish Fort, AL

houston this is wounded duck over. after dodging and not-so-dodging a few storms that would have had a goldfish heading for cover we have dry dock. The highlight, and I emphasize highlight, was a bolt of juice striking down within a couple hundred yards from wounded duck's former position, over. after extinguishing the flames on my six and putting away the flood water diversion system, the duration of today's sortie went well. wounded duck has a bad wheel that will hopefully just need an adjustment in the morning. stand by for future updates, houston.
today's count: 52 miles
time: 4:11
wheel out of whack: 1
thunderstorms caught in: 2
bolts of lightning struck within spitting distance: 1
smiles on face: 0
advil taken: 3
duck out.

Race from Responsibility part Deux

Good summers eve my dear family, friends, and those whom may find this of interest,

Some of you already know but for those of you whom do not I have again booked passage to the open road. Call it insanity. Call it therapy. I'll let you decide, and most will likely have your own minds made up on which, but I have decided to check out for the rest of the summer to take another shot at riding the two-wheeled nag across a pretty decent sized chunk of the lower 48. There are many reasons to account for why I've decided to enact the sequel to the Race from Responsibility, too many to list, but ultimately it comes down to the best kind of therapy I can think of and perhaps one last chance for an adventure of this magnitude. As we speak I'm sitting here in Pensacola, Florida on the eve of setting out west towards the setting sun with hopes to make it back to Boise by the strike of midnight on August 31st (and with any luck a little sooner ;-)). Yes attempting this little boondoggle of a bike trip probably couldn't come at a worse time with the apex of summer upon us but sometimes you simply take what little windows of time are given and make the most of them. So with mind-numbing heat and horrific humidity accounted for, and prepared for to my best known ability, it's time to turn the crank and soak in all there is to see at 15 mph.

My good friend Danny Christiansen, or better known for the next two months as Houston, will be my eyes in the sky at mission control receiving stats, pics, and other memorabilia from Wounded Duck as I travel through the southeast, midwest, and with a little luck, reentry into the great Gem State- Idaho. He has put together a website to track the progress of Wounded Duck across the hills and plains and for any whom might be interested in the mission status can find it here.

As the hour here is nearing the 11:30 mark I'll sign off for now, but want to thank my dear friends Ron "the big kid" Brooks, Adrienne Emerson, Buck Emerson, and pretty much the rest of the Emerson clan, Chateau Hustlers, and the rest of the Pensacola brood for all their hospitality while I've been staging down here at substation Dixie. You are all the epitome of southern hospitality. And lastly want to thank my dear parents, family, and friends for understanding the desire that lies within me to do what is necessary to quench this thirst. I'll get you a new worry stone when I get back mom for I'm sure you'll be needing a replacement.

Take care all and I'll see you on the other side-

Bri

Day T-4: Pensacola, FL

houston: we are standing by at substation dixie over. we have just received successful acquisition of vessel nagus trekus (call sign: nag) and are scheduling nag extraction and reconstruction. over.

Day T-5: North Carolina

houston: wounded duck has landed in a puddle but not quite the pond... thunder storms here n.c. have pushed back the final leg to gulf shore orbit by two hours over. will catch ya in the mornin houston. wounded duck out.