Day 38
Silsbee, Tx. to DeRidder, La.

We were camped at the Red Cloud Rv Park last night, and as luck would have it, so was the group from Adventure Cycling. We talked some last night and this morning before we headed out for the day. There are some amazing people with amazing stories in their group, from a mother son team doing the crossing to the man with double cochlear implants. It was awesome to meet and talk with them all. We stopped at a local Walmart for breakfast(McDonald's in the store). Emilio set out already and is going to wait for us in Buna.

The roads today are starting out well, we are on Rt 96, and it has a nice surface and wide shoulders. We made good time to Buna - about an hour where we met up with Emilio and Adventure Cyclings group. We rode together for a while and soon found only a couple of riders ahead of us. The wind was blowing at us so Emilio, Karman and I decide to try a pace line to get through the day. We each stayed in front for a mile, then moved to the back. In no time we had caught and passed all the riders and found ourselves 6 miles from Merryville, and at the restaurant we were looking for to eat lunch.

The riders we passed arrived within minutes and we all sat and had an extended lunch, and got to learn a little more about each other. I was able to explain the "semicolons) theme of the ride and the causes I am riding for. I handed out cards for all to look over and we all exchanged information, as they were all staying in Merryville while the three of us were heading to DeRidder since we were doing so good timewise.

We ate and headed for the border....the Louisiana border. Finally a new state. Texas officially took up 1/3 of the entire trip. I have as much left to go as I travelled in Texas, thats a big state!

Arrived in DeRidder, La. and found the campsite for the night. The Manager was not there, he had gone to get supplies for a workman on site, rather than wait, we headed with a couple of others to an RV Park listed on the older Adventure Cycling maps....Pleasant Hill RV Park. When we arrived we found the cutest little Rv park, complete with TeePees that sleep 2 with air conditioning and tv(they are really made of wood), to a little western town looking building that has 2 showers a bunk room,laundry facility, kitchen(2 sinks, pots and pans, and refrigerator) Cable TV, and WiFi throughout the park. I would recommend this over all others in the area that we saw!!!!
Jennifer (the on site manager) and her daughter Lilly are the best hostesses, and make you feel very welcome. They love bicyclists and even have a scrapbook of many visiting bicyclists form over the years!

As the days go on I am finalizing my arrival into the New Orleans area. As I get more concrete date I will post for all to see. The way points are changing a little as I go and find I am able to travel farther, but I remain on the Adventure Cycling route until DDW in New Orleans. Then I will again head towards the route and continue to St. Augustine, Fla.

18 days to go until St Augustin, Fla!!

Todays Garmin information is as follows:

Day 38 Silsbee, Tx. to DeRidder, La. by wegotguts at Garmin Connect - Details

Day 37
Double Lake National Park to Silsbee, Tx

Whomever told me that it is flat here was definitely pulling my leg!
We still have some hills to contend with, granted they are not as bad or as frequent, but, they are hills just the same!

Karman and I set out from our campsites, after one more stroll down to the dock on the lake at the end of our sites. The view was awesome and very relaxing, but we had to leave to meet Emilio in Shepherd. When we got to town we found we went right by his motel and did not even realize it. When we stopped it was at a donut shop at the corner of SR 150 and route 59, so we stopped for some coffee and donuts. While we were there George Reed happened upon us. It seems that George has been leapfrogging Emilio and Karman for a while now. We were introduced and George explained that his trip is being cut short. He has friends on the way to pick him up and bring him back to Illinois. It seems he has a close friend back home who is not doing well, suffering from Stage IV colon cancer. I told him about the ride and that I would now be riding for his friend as well. He rode with us the rest of the day until Kountze where he was to meet his friends.

We were still in the Sam Houston National Forest and it was quite amazing to ride through. The forest was thick and very alive with many birds and animals running around. It was amazing to listen and actually hear the animals in the distance.

We hit the road with George and finally found Emilio just past Romayor. We decide to stop for lunch in Votaw, but when we got there food was off the route some so we opted for Honey Island. When we arrived we found a real general store still in operation, it was modern, but it was a true general store! One of the people having lunch had just finished, went to the counter to pay and bought two bags of corn while he was there! they sold everything from hardware, seeds, feed for animals, to food for us, and it was very good!

After filling ourselves up, we hit the road only to find one of the longest most desolate stretches of road I have ever been on. It seemed to be an extremely long slow uphill (gradual, but uphill just the same)that never ended. There were sections of the forest on the side of the road that had been clearcut, and looked very strange with the surrounding of the remaining forest. We arrived at Kountze and said our goodbyes to George, wished he and his friend well and were on our way for the last 10 miles to Silsbee.

We arrived in town and Emilio decided to stay at a motel so we said good bye until morning and Karman and I went off to the campground. Karman found many familiar faces there, as he explained he has been also leapfrogging a lot with a group from Adventure Cycling, doing the same trip!

He introduced me to many people (there are 14 I think in total), we sat and exchanged stories for a bit. We set up camp, showered, relaxed a little then it was off to bed for a good night's rest!

The Garmin information for today is as follows:

Day 37 Double Lake State Park to Silsbee by wegotguts at Garmin Connect - Details

Day 36
Navasota to Double Lake National Park

Last night I stayed at the Navasota Fire Department, I set up my tent in the back yard next to their training building. The weather reports were not promising, severe storms possible by morning. After a while I decided it would be best to be a little better protected in case the storms hit, so I moved my tent around the corner to the area that had a wood deck over it. I was about to start doing some catch up on the computer, when the Assistant Chief, his wife, and young daughter drove up to check on me.
We got to talking and he said the Chief had asked him to offer me the upstairs training room to sleep in for the night, with the threat of weather moving in I accepted. I tore down my camp and brought it inside and repacked my bags for the morning. I caught up on my blogging and talked to Tammy (my wife) while she was on her way back to Irving (she had an early morning flight back home). She drove through much of the severe weather that was in the area, and about that time the local news was reporting a Tornado watch for my area until 6 am.
When I awoke at 6:30 am I was amazed to find we did not even get a drop of rain! I got up went downstairs to talk to the chief and day crew before I left; they were very kind and gave me a T-shirt to remember them by. I took some photos of them and of the statue in front of the building and was on my way.
I rode to McDonald’s where I grabbed a quick bite to eat, and was greeted by two fellow cyclist who were “going my way”. Lee and Karman sat and talked with me and they went on their way while I finished eating. Once on the road, I found the rolling hills of the hill country were still among us, but with less frequency. I approached my first change of roads and as surprised to find I had caught up to Karman, Karman is from Vancouver riding the same route. We started down the road together but he quickly was ahead of me and I was only keeping pace with him and not catching him so I slowed down to enjoy the day.
I rode a couple of miles and found Karman on the side of the road with a flat; I pulled over and helped him change it. We were soon met by7 or 8 people out for a day ride together, they stopped to render assistance if needed, we talked for a few minutes and they were again on their way. As Karman was just about finished we were met by another rider doing the southern tier route, his name is Emilio, from Italy who is now living in Brussels. Emilio, Karman, and I all headed out together.
We rode and talked and before we knew it we had gone some 50 miles and were in New Waverly, Tx., and it was lunch time. We grabbed a quick lunch and hit the road for our final destinations, Karman and I to Double Lake National Park and Emilio to Shepherd to a motel for the night, with a group from Adventure Cycling.
When we got to Pumpkin/Evergreen the fire station was open with a lot of activity. It seems they are doing some renovations. I had to stop to see if they had patches, and they did! I traded a patch with the Chief who was working on the station with about 8 or ten people, And myself, Emilio, and Karman all took pictures and were again on our way.
Karman and I set out to find the grocery store in Cold Spring to get some food for the night, and headed to the park where we set up our camp sites and sat by the lake to relax. After we showered and ate we had a cup of coffee and turned in for a good night’s rest.
What an awesome end to a great day!!!!

The Garmin information for the day is as follows:

Day 37 Double Lake State Park to Silsbee by wegotguts at Garmin Connect - Details

Day 34
Brenham to Navasota

Like I explained yesterday - I didn't really ride quite all the way to Brenham, I was 9 miles short. I started at the same spot I left off with yesterday (right next to this cute little camper I wanted to buy on route 290). Today was a bit overcast but not to hot - a perfect riding day! I rode into Brenham historic district to meet Tammy for lunch - and rode right through without ever seeing her. I was about half a mile from the Blue Bell creamery when I called her. I ended up riding back about a mile and stopped in town for lunch at Funky Art Cafe & Coffee Bar.

When we finished lunch, I rode down to blue Bell and met Tammy to go for the tour. It was really fun and the ice cream sample at the end made my day!!!! I had looked forward to the tour for several weeks now and was not disappointed. Now if we can only get them to sell it in Connecticut I will be all set. It was interesting to find out they are the third largest ice cream company in the country and they only sell it in 19 states - yes it is that good. And when you buy a half gallon of their ice cream, it is still two quarts - a REAL HALF GALLON!!!!!!

After the tour I set out for Navasota, it was starting to rain, so I tried to speed it up a bit. It never more that drizzled so it felt refreshing as I rode. The hills did eventually let up and get easier as I approached Navasota. Once in town I rode to the Firehouse to get a patch and find out if it would be possible to stay on their property Friday night so I can start fresh Saturday morning. The Chief found a patch for me, and showed me where he lets the cyclists passing through stay. Awesome a safe place for the night - mission accomplished.

They are VERY bicycle friendly at the firehouse here, so if you know someone crazy enough to do this (cross country bicycling)- have them stay the night here if they need it!

The garmin information for the day is as follows:

Day 34 Brenham to Navasota by wegotguts at Garmin Connect - Details

Day 33

Bastrop State Park to Brenham


OK I get it already - Hill country - Today was full of more rolling hills, you get to the top of one and there is a triple hill coming that is just a little higher than you started. If not for a bit of a headwind, it would have been a great ride down the first hill and most of the way up the next. Not today, I had to work a little for it!

The weather was bright and sunny and hit 85 degrees for the first time in a while, it was nice to have the sun again, to dry me out. The Bluebonnets down in this area are about at peak and I could see many fields of them in full bloom, it is quite beautiful to see. If you ever get a chance to come to Texas, try to make it for this time of the year and check out the Bluebonnets (The Texas State Flower).

I rode out today with my wife Tammy following me for the next couple of days, as this is her vacation time( not much of a vacation following me on my bike), we are staying in Bastrop State Park, and riding out each day to stay on schedule and going back to the park each evening. Today I stopped just short of Brenham (home of Blue Bell ice cream), so that tomorrow I can ride into Brenham have lunch with Tammy, and go take the tour of Blue Bell Creamery. (can you tell I like Blue Bell ice cream?)

The ride was nice and scenic with the Blue Bonnets along the way, the only downfall for the day - chip seal roadways - over simplifying it, Oil and rock rolled on the ground to extend the life of road surfaces. Extremely bumpy and rough on the seat!!!

As I stated earlier I stopped short of Brenham, packed the bike in the SUV, and was off to the Oasis at LAke Travis for a sunset dinner. If you have not been there - look it up and go (Beautiful sunset views) if you have been there I don't have to say any more - you already know!!!!

The Garmin information for the day is as follows:

Day 33 Bastrop State Park to Brenham by wegotguts at Garmin Connect - Details

The more things change . . . .

Greetings from the viewing stands! I'm finally updating you all now that I have far more concrete information about what is to come for me in this endeavor.

As you all know, I left the route with a severe case of bronchitis that just did not want to get better. I pedaled 3 days with a head cold and 3 days with bronchitis - - and oddly enough, felt great while pedaling. (It only hurt to breathe when I stopped, which seemed kind of odd.)

I knew I was sick, and I knew I needed to rest for an extended period. Thus, I came off the route and home to New York to figure out what was next. As the bronchitis cleared (through a combination of rest and prescriptions), I felt like I could start training to hopefully rejoin the ride from New Orleans to Florida. Unfortunately, on an easy training ride over flat terrain in ideal weather, I discovered that I was in a major, major asthma flare - only the second I have ever had since developing mild asthma in my early 20s. Things went downhill since that easy little ride, and it became clear that I would not be able to train back to the level at which Todd is riding given that he now has 1,500 continuous miles under his belt. In fact, right now, any riding at all is a problem.

I started this project knowing that I risked physical harm - - whenever one gets onto a bicycle, one faces all manner of health and safety risks. I planned for the best, trained hard, and happily accepted those risks in order to fulfill a dream of riding cross-country self-contained. When I got sick, I re-evaluated those risks and, heartbreakingly, I have realized that "risk of harm" has turned to "certainty of harm" given all of the circumstances.

It's going to be a long-ish road back to full lung function. By late May, I hope to be ready to start training for Get Your Guts in Gear's Seattle Ride. For now, I am going on walks and trying to reintroduce shades of cardio activity into my life. I'll get back on my bike, of course. Just not in time to ride into St. Augustine on May 14th.

It's completely heartbreaking. I know for certain that there are some folks out there who are deeply disappointed, and I do not blame you. I, too, am deeply disappointed. This is not how this was supposed to be!

However, it's still true that the more things change, the more they stay the same. And the one thing that seems inevitable is that plans change, and one must constantly adjust.

And so we adjust.

As I wrote initially when I got sick, this is not unlike experiencing a Crohn's flare. You evaluate, adjust, and figure out how to deal with the changes to your health and to your life. It's not "fair" in the way that we'd like things to be fair, but living with a chronic illness never is. We just have to figure out how to meet the new situation.

I will be onsite in New Orleans as Todd arrives at our previously-scheduled visit to Digestive Disease Week - - a gigantic conference of gastroenterologists, and we will hopefully garner additional media attention at that venue. But for the spaces in between, it would be great to have additional folks out there with IBD, ostomies, or CRC. If any of these conditions has touched you or your family (and especially if you are able to speak as someone affected by IBD as a patient, family member, or other caregiver), and you are in East Texas, southern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, or northern Florida, please get in touch with us so we can get you and your bike on the road with Todd!

Many of you have sent me messages of concern and support. Thank you. I'm gonna be fine; you don't need to worry about that. I recognize the difference between taking a risk and ignoring certainty. That said, here is what we DO need: please continue to support Todd while he and his dad continue their cross-country odyssey, and please continue to support our larger mission for Crohn's, colitis, colorectal cancer, and ostomies, either onsite or from afar.

As always, thank you for reading & following. Now back to the regularly-scheduled awareness- and fund-raising!

- Jay

Day 31
Lampasas to Austin

I seem to be finding an unusually uncommon theme for the weather lately. Am I still in Texas? The common theme here as of late is COLD. It has not even hit the 70's in days now. I have had to wear long pants, jacket, and full gloves just to start the day. I really miss those awesome Texas sunsets, and all the stars in the sky at night.

At least it is not raining today! I started late in hopes of a last minute possibilty of a meeting, but that was not possible today. So its off to Austin where I may be able to make a couple connections.

The roads today picked up where I left off yesterday, lots, and lots of rolling hills. I did finally see more Bluebonnets today along with a lot of colors along the roadside, unfortunately there is not much more to the day than that. I rode until traffic became a problem, this was in the Jollyville/Anderson Mill area. There were no bike lanes and I was on a 3 lane road alongside the highway and both were very busy, so I pulled into a parking lot and called it a day.

Finding a place to stay was very difficult, there are no RV parks nearby, and there is a convention in the area. We were forced all the way back to Cedar Park!!

The Garmin information is as follows:

Day 31 Lampasas to Austin by wegotguts at Garmin Connect - Details