Final Thoughts

I've had a little time to reflect on the whole trip and while a lot of it seems a blur, there are so many specific, powerful, moments that made it the trip of a lifetime. Of course, very little went according to plan. I was thinking about all the things we planned to do before it began: I brought five books to read figuring I could always pick up some more along the way. Books read: 1/2. I was going to teach myself Filemaker Pro. Didn't happen. Darryl was going to download a pile of 'This American Life' episodes and listen to them. Didn't happen. Should have been plenty of time to brush up on my Spanish. Nada. I was going to be sure to set aside some time every day to write some postcards to friends and family. Number sent: 2. Oh, well.

A lot did get done, though. Mostly being a reminder to thousands of people about the ridiculousness of war in general and the illegal, immoral morass in Iraq in particular. Personal highlight: Darryl gave me one of the best presents I've ever received when he dedicated a song at the reunion - one that was stuck in my head all the way across the country. He wrote it to honor the peace march and it's called I Can Get There from Here. It came in particularly handy on the long days into the wind.

Elle (Best. Cook. Ever.) wrote her thoughts on the trip on her blog. She certainly says it better than I ever could. Many thanks to her and Louise for keeping us fed in style. Enormous and particular thanks to all the hosts along the way and all of the many, many people that helped in so many ways. I certainly have a renewed sense of optimism about the basic decency of people. Mostly thanks to Ellen for putting up with all of my nonsense!

DonCon, you're are MY acoustic hero....

Dan The Man - thanks for helping me survive the "Paris-Roubaix" of Pittsburgh in the pouring rain.

Peace out.

GPM Reunion

It was fantastic to have the chance to relax and decompress while spending time with some pretty amazing people. Unfortunately, torrential rains limited some of the activities, but it would take a lot more than that to dampen everyone's spirits. There's never enough time to catch up with all the people you would like to, that's for sure. There's no way to give enough thanks to BJ and Sonia and everyone else that helped pull it off. I can only imagine how much work it was. There are lots of pictures here and many comments at the GPM guest book. Probably the highlight of the weekend was the no-talent contests emceed by Naneki. She was great! It's remarkable how much talent there is around. Collective Vision was able to round out the evening playing well into the night on Saturday. Beautiful. I took great comfort in the next generation and how well they all seemed to get along. I also particularly enjoyed playing a little wiffle ball and watching Canyon McWilliams strike out his older brother Arden with his 'cross-eyed' pitch. In the end the real joy was re-connecting with so many people and making new connections.

Pittsburgh to Washington

Thanks to Dan The Man and others I learned of the rails-to-trails and a series of canal routes to get to the nation's capital. HIGHLY recommended for anyone traveling the same route. Several highlights: Sitting in the John Murtha bench at a railroad station, turtle hunting with some kids who were selling lemonade, flipping off the White House and getting some polite heat from the local constables and a wonderful reception at the GMP camp site. Just the best part of the trip.

A special side trip to the battle site at Antietum was particularly important. In all of our country I think there is no more fitting memorial to the general ridiculousness of war than this site. It was a bit disturbing that it (like Gettysburg and other similar sites) was more a monument to war without the requisite education about the futility. Even the movie in the visitor center kept going on about the bravery of the combatants and never mind the tactical errors and mistakes that are inherent in any war/battle that cost thousands of lives. There were over 23,000 people killed in ONE day at this site. The entire area was littered with bodies. This horrific day finally sent the message to the country that maybe this was not the way to resolve our differences.

While I was there I ran into a group of Young Marines. I didn't know there was such a group. Ages 8-17 and they are kind of like boy scouts except groomed for the Marines. Kind of disturbing, but I had a chance to speak with most of the chaperones (all Marines) and to a man and woman they were foursquare against the war. It was an odd mix of the "ohh-rah's" of the kids and the organizers talking peace.

KD Kidder was host to an event in the center of Leesburg, VA which was a nice chance to place an army guy at the foot of the confederate soldier statue in the center of town. She also arranged showers and accommodations and then on my way to the real Arlington (remembering that Arlington West was the starting point). Took a spill along the way, but managed to make it there fine (by way of the White House) and say a prayer for the names I had collected along the way.

You Have Arrived

So says Maggie the G.P.S. More to come later - just wanted to let people know that the destination has been achieved. Darryl made a last minute decision to make the effort (and what an effort - I honestly don't know how he does it) to get here and share some music. Currently surrounded by a couple of hundred very, very wonderful people.

Dan is the MAN!!!

Dan, being the Dan that is the captain of Pitt bike racing team and the man who rode me into the center of Pittsburgh through constant rain. He is also preparing for a trip where he will follow the Tour de France every day (riding the same route) except for a break while they're in the flats when he'll swing down the the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Being a pre-med student (who's already been accepted to med school) and bike mechanic, he needed a break for the summer. Sheesh! Dan works at TRM Cycles (they are the best!) and fixed a couple of mechanical problems and volunteered to help out on his day off. I never would have made it into the city without his help, that's for sure. We had to walk over some railroad tracks and sneak through a fence, but after that we had a great ride along the river and over the bridges into the city. The best pieace of advice he gave me was to ride the Great Allegheny Passage to Washington. He's done it five times so far and plans to do it in August in 2 days (365 miles).

It was startling to see the changes in the city that featured the biggest R.E.I. I've ever seen (and other high end shops/restaurants) where there used to be rusting out steel factories. Pittsburgh [at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela to form the Ohio river] is a very vertical city and is known for having the most bridges per capita in the world, but did you now it has more trees per capita than any city in the U.S.?

Ed, Bill and Jessie met near Allegheny hospital and we rode to the center of the city. Then I rode to Carnegie Melon University for a radio interview (thanks to Jess) and then hung around at Bill's place until the concert at the Union Project Great Hall and Cafe. It's a very interesting venue in a renovated church. Lots of music and spoken word and I didn't pee my pants talking to everyone from the stage. Many, many thanks to Bill for hosting us and helping to put the events together. He is WAY one of the good guys. Maybe he'll run into Dan in Pamplona.

Forgot to mention: My sister send me a five pound bag of gummy army men (ugh) and got a call from out of nowhere from Manute Bol. Pretty cool...

Just Lucky

Before I forget, I'm putting together a slide show/presentation about the trip and will present it free of charge to anyone who would be interested. Just drop me a line at peace@deame.com.

I've had the chance to ride with a few guys who were 'pedaling' with their hands. It reminds me that pissing and moaning about headwinds and hills is pretty silly. Also, I make a point to stop in at every bike shop I pass and when I start complaining about flat tires or sore muscles I am reminded in no uncertain terms by 'the look' from salespeople or mechanics that I should shut my piehole as many of them would give their left nut (assuming one is available) for the opportunity.

I'm very lucky to be in a situation where I can not only work from the road, but am able, with a modicum of effort, to sit down for five or six hours a day and shuffle my legs back and forth. As a bonus I get to see what makes this a great country. It's certainly being run by a bunch of.... bunch of.... well, let's just say 'people who are challenged in every way', but all the people who has been so helpful and so supportive can only be an indication that things will change for the better. I honestly believe this. I also believe that November is going to be a very interesting time. I don't think the inner circles of Washington appreciate how pissed off people are. A very common comment has been something along the lines of "I voted for Bush, but I didn't vote for this war."

Had a wonderful visit on Father's Day with Father Matthew from St. Christopher at the Lake Catholic church in Prospect, PA. He gave us a tour of the chapel and a history lesson on the parish. I honestly thought the crusifix would fall off the wall when I walked in, but all was well. There was some literature stating that there is a higher risk of breast cancer if you have an abortion, but he was also very supportive of the trip. I guess you take the good with the bad.

The first night in Pittsburgh we were hosted by Vladimir and Marina and we had a spectcular traditional Russian dinner with Marina's parents and their children Roman and Polina. Vlad and I met on the first IPW walk and have been good friends since. When we left in the morning Marina loaded us down with some Russian bread from her mother and a series of kartoshka salads. Spaiseeba bolshoya!!

In the Club...

All this time I've just been a knucklehead out there putting one foot in front of the other. Time and time again I get passed by real riders with all their fancy clip shoes and their fancy clothes and their fancy muscles and I never really felt I was part of the biking community. Lately I've been able to keep up - or at least not embarrass myself - with the hotshots, but still.... there was something missing.... That one missing link was, of course, road rash. I didn't have anything to show off. No marks on the ol' bod. REAL bikers have scars. Well, no more being a pretender. I wasn't paying attention and came upon a manhole without the cover. Someone more skilled could have maneuvered safely (hell, DonCon would have jumped it just for the fun of it), but I went down like a sack of potatoes. Dinged up the bike too, but Michael at Century Cycle worked his magic and Bob's-your-uncle we're back in business.

Managed to squeeze in a game of (I am not making this up) cornhole the other night at the campground outside of Sandusky. If you would like more information you can (I really am not making this up) check out the ACA [American Cornhole Association] site. The membership is free and you can also "Be the first Cornholer in your neighborhood to have the patented Cornhole Scoreboard and Beverage Holder. " Necessity is the mother of invention, explains the site: "Ever been in the middle of an excit’n game of cornhole and forget who's win’n? It happens all the time in our family, especially after a few of our favorite beverages. "

Had a great stay in Cleveland with the McWilliams family and had the chance to meet River and Canyon, their two youngest boys, who are carrying on the family tradition of scholar/athlete. On Thursday, River was showing his stuff to the Atlanta Braves - as a junior in high school. The kid's got game. Jani whipped up a veggie soup with cornbread - yummy! I somehow managed not to get up at 6:30 a.m. to join Doug for a game basketball, but all due thanks for his suggested route out of town – a very pleasant ride through shaded residential areas. The rest of the day wasn’t quite so nice, but was joined by a few bikers along the way (no one seemed to pick up on my new body art, but that’s OK). I had to walk the bike up one hill - the first time that's happened since New Mexico.

Had a very nice visit with Margaret and Norm, a Scottish couple living in Champion, and they insisted I take a tomato with me. (??) Margaret had a good one – a woman asked a Scotsman “What’s worn under your kilt” and he replied “NOTHING'S worn under MY kilt!”

Finding a place to stay was a little tricky as all the local campgrounds were full because of the weekend - until I checked with Mosquito Lake State Park and for some odd reason they had plenty of openings! (go figure). While there I hung with three Amish kids who were rollerblading around the campground in their traditional outfits (Sarah, Matthew and Joshua). Matthew took me up on an offer to do a little fishing and one thing I noticed is that the kids didn't use any sunsscreen (all of them were pretty burned). I don't know if that has anything to do with their religious convictions. I hope not.

Today will cross us into Pennsylvania and on towards the big event in Pittsburgh. Can't wait!

Thanks, John Bergman

We moved the rest day to Toledo because the legs needed it and the laundry situation was getting pretty desperate (a pair of my biking shorts walked off the tour on their own in protest). Managed to get a lot of work done and squeeze in a look at the art museum and a couple of innings of a Mudhens game. Elle got caught up in the moment and slammed down a Tony Packo's double hot dog. Yeesh. [there is photographic evidence]

Pretty lousy ride all day long today with a strong headwind, too much traffic, ugly scenery and got buzzed (people [invariably in pickups] coming WAY too close) not once, not twice, but three times. Ohio is now my least favorite state. It would have been a terrible day except that near the end of the ride we made a stop at Bergman Orchards and had an inspiring visit with Donna Bergman who had hosted the peace march at her farm. Get this - she was cleaning out some old files and came across a picture of the campsite just yesterday! Quite a longshot. She gave us a tour of the improvements to the farmstand and also informed us that her husband, John, had died tragically last October in a tractor accident. I remember him well from when I rode out to the 10 year reunion and he insisted that we pitch our tents in the apple orchard. It's a great loss, of course, not only to his family and community, but all who cared to make the world a better place. He was one of the good guys.

Riding With DonCon is a Trip

(separated at birth?)

Besides being very generous with his music and biking knowledge/experience (not only does he bike 30 miles a day, he worked as a bike mechanic for a year) he is one very funny dude. I lost track of how many muscles I pulled laughing at 'The Three M's of Bike Touring' as told by John Lee Hooker.

Two days ago we cruised into La Porte to give a talk and play some music at the Temple News Agency (right next to Republican party headquarters). Brian (a.k.a. the new Mr. Schwinn for all the history of the bike he gave us) rode us into town and kept us from getting lost - again. Not that Brian has kept us from getting lost in the past, it's just that I have a gyroscope for an internal compass. We met a number of local folks and they were very impressed with Don's playing. Thanks to Kim for putting it together. I did have the best root beer float of the trip served up by Mike with great attention to detail. From there we made our way to South Bend and were hosted by the Catholic Workers there. A great dinner and warm hospitality were just what we needed. They are doing remarkable work with the local community and could use some support. You can email them at brennacussen@yahoo.com to find out the best way to lend a hand.

Yesterday featured the best picture I've never taken - about sixteen Mennonite teenagers playing volleyball in front of an idylic farm setting. As we were riding we got into a race with a one horsepower buggy and managed to outrun him. We camped near Lake Lewis on the Indiana (my new favorite state) border and Elle still served up another dinner that couldn't be beat while Alice was on about a 50 degree pitch.

Today was the best ride yet with perfect weather, no traffic, good roads (read: flat with smooth pavement) through some gorgeous farm country. It's wonderful to pedal through areas where there are truly family farms, the cows don't have plastic tags in their ears and the nearest McDonalds is a century away. Other than trying to avoid the road apples left behind by the buggy horses I can't think of a better area to bike. We had a rest stop in Montpelier, OH, where they have the best tasting water in the world. Not having tasted all the water in the world I can't argue. In West Liberty people remember the GPM well, but noted that the farmer that provided the campsite had passed away.

The day ended in Toledo where we handed Don off to his friend Tarek (a geography professor at the University of Michigan), but not before he introduced us to the 'best Lebanese restaurant in the world' - the Beirut. A wonderful dinner with some kick-ass baba ghannouj and some ara-yes (made with kafta, of course). We wish Dr. J a lot of luck keeping Mr. Conoscenti away from any and all of the genus capra on the lower peninsula.

"Ditka vs. God?"

"Trick question - Ditka is God" - from SNL skit. (thanks to Elle for spot-on recreation)

Had the best ride of the trip so far going from Chicago to the Indiana Sand Dunes state park (yes, there are sand dunes in Indiana). First, it was a special event in Evanston not just because Don Conoscenti did such a great job with his music, but because it was a treat to spend some time with Jeff and Dori and their two beautiful children. Jeff joined the GPM in Philly after meeting with some marchers who volunteered on an election campaign he was working on. The event was a fundraiser to benefit the Nuclear Energy Information Service and Jeff spoke briefly about the organization and also about the 'orb' in his living room. The ball changes color based on the cost of electricity (higher cost during higher use times), so the idea is that people will notice the color and adjust their energy use behavior (do laundry/cook meals when the color indicates a lower use time). It was pretty cool. The kids enjoyed hanging out in and on Alice (remember Alice?) and whipped my butt at several rounds of go fish.

The ride into and out of Chicago was on the Lakefront Trail - a 20 mile stretch along Lake Michigan, ably assisted through a construction area by Cathy the Chicago Flagger. Don and I were joined by Paul (who has the coolest job in the world working at the Art Institute of Chicago) for the length of the trail. Chicago was rated the most bike-friendly city in the country (for its size) and it's easy to see why after spending a short time there. They really put their money where there mouth is when it comes to encouraging people to use bikes rather that cars around town.

Once we reached the end of that trail, Tracy picked us up and rode us along the Burnham Greenway and then navigated a series of bike paths in Indiana the rest of the way to the campground. Without his help it would have been impossible to link all the paths together and could have a pretty miserable ride through a heavy industrial area. We had a nice break at his brother Tim's house and we got to ride the Monkey Bike. Tracy [master electrician who has wired, among other things, the Northern Lights and Chicago] used to bike all the time on "wedgie bikes", but now swears by his recumbent. He could even outrace Don on a downhill. These are the trails we rode on:

http://www.geocities.com/huffmun/Region_Bike_Map_5.gif
http://www.indianatrails.org/Lakes_area.htm
http://members.csinet.net/lambc/NWI%20Trails%202.htm

The highlight of the ride had to have been coming across a couple of municipal workers in Gary who were drag racing their mower/tractors through one of the bike tunnels. You just never know what you're going to see...

Today there will be an afternoon event at the Temple News Agency in La Porte and then we will be hosted by the Catholic Workers in South Bend.

A Few Stray Thoughts...

From an Iowa bike routes map: Bike helmets – don’t hit the road without one. [I wear mine all the time even on the bike paths - a nod to Bob Alei]

We almost met James Turrell in Winslow. Doh!!!

I feel kind of bad when I scarf down one of Elle’s culinary concoctions. She is a professional cook and puts a lot of thought and time into whatever we’re having, but by the end of the day I’m so hungry a fork is more window dressing than a utensil – the food goes straight from the plate to my stomach barely bothering to touch base with the taste buds. So much for a hint of cilantro...

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch, IA - Did you know that he was a Quaker? Or that he authored over 40 books? OR.... That you can hear a rather scratchy version of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida if you head to the '60's section' of the library. A bit surreal to say the least.

I'm liking Basso's chances in the Tour.

For some reason birds follow me a lot. I assume that they feel threatended and that I'm too close to their nests. But it can last a long time. A baltimore oriole was on my case for over a half a mile and the other day there was a tag team of red-winged blackbirds that chased me down the road for well over a mile.

Teet and Sonny

I stopped to talk with a couple of guys who were fishing in a pond off of route 6. Teet looked from his tats that he had spent some time in lockup and from the few things I could pick up they hadn’t been fishing together since 20 year old Sonny was a kid. We hit it off just fine and I asked Teet what he thought of the war in Iraq and he responded with the usual stuff about terrorists and fighting them over there rather than here, etc. I corrected him (gently, of course) on a few factual things – none of the 9/11 highjackers were from Iraq and such - and from out of nowhere Sonny went off on a tear. Yelling at his father about how the war is a mistake and how we’re not any safer than we were before and that the Iraqis don’t want us there. It was startling. When he was done Teet and I just looked at each other slack-jawed. It was pretty clear that this was the first time he had ever challenged his dad. An awkward moment to be sure. I hope they worked it out. I'm not sure what else is going to happen on this trip, but to be the hundreth monkey just once was pretty special.

Thanks, Val!

Val rode me in from near the state park west of Grinnell to her Hallmark shop on Main Street and was also nice enough to point out the local laundry mat (Hmmm - I didn't ask her to do that...). She remembers the GPM well and also the IPW walk in '88. Thanks also to Dean who is a 70 year old bike group organizer that kept me from getting lost.

It was a day of a lot of people remembering the peace walks. In the Amana Colonies I ran into Molly who was 11 at the time of the march and her neighbor had done a walker-in-the-home. She lived near the campsite and recalled in great detail the trucks and buses and porta-poties, etc. Here is a pic of her kids who could not have been less interested.

Elle was online checking how the Walmart quarantine protests went around the country and noticed that Iowa City had a successful action and sent an email to the organizer. He (Gary Sanders - self proclaimed ludite and, according to an Iowa blog, 'peripatetic gadfly' - pictured here in from of Dorothy the Tornado) has been an amazing host arranging two press interviews at the famous Hamburg Inn No. 2 (famous for having so many politicos swing through) and overnight accommodations. [BTW, the local bike shops are horked off at the restaurant for running a promotion that gives you a discount if you can bring in the highest receipt from a gas station. Even though they are a great lefty eatery the bikers are planning to go en masse and park their bikes in front. Don't tell anyone.] Gary used to write a column for one of the local papers and also covered the Soviet walk in 88. He was telling us how he was pestering the national media and wondering why they weren't covering the story. Good luck with that sort of thing...

That’s MAYOR Ginger to you, Bub!

It turns out, although I have no independant confirmation, that the duly elected Mayor of Mingo, IA, is Ginger (pictured here). She received three write-in votes which were two more than her nearest competitor. Her age (105) was not an issue, but there appears to be a statute that being of four legs and no arms disqualifies one from public office (how do you sign proclamations, etc.?). Actually, there were no entries on the ballot for the office, but there was one write-in (presumably from an enemy) for someone who walks upright and according to Denny (ginger’s owner) he’s pretty miserable about being an unintentional elected representative. Due to Ginger's age she occasionally takes a nap in the middle of Main Street, but everyone knows to get out, give her a pat on the head and go around.

Spent last night in Adel and next to the campground was a very noisy figure 8 dirt track. Had to check it out and I was able to amuse myself between heats by counting teeth. [it's OK for me to say this - I'm a regular at Stafford Motor Speedway] Passed on the fried Oreos, but did take a chance on the funnel cakes. Oof.

Have spent a few days on some rail-to-trails trails and they’ve been very well maintained and the most pleasant way to get from one place to the next by far (other than downhill, of course). Big ups to the Iowa DOT for making it the most bike-friendly state so far! (www.iowabikes.com)

"I don’t think we’re in Kansas any more, Toto"

- Dorothy after seeing all the freakin’ hills in Iowa...

Actually I have it on good authority that Iowa is an Ioway acronym for Ihi Onana Wahili Ahaha which, loosely translated, means “G-zus H! Look at all these damn hills!! Let’s move to Kansas.”

The gig in Omaha was webcast which was pretty cool and we had a nice interview at the host location, The Pizza Shoppe.

In Council Bluffs there's a Dairy Queen on route 6 that's for sale. One of the original style drive-ins with a cool neon sign. Could be a carreer shift in order...

Atlantic (Iowa’s Coca Cola Capital - according to the sign welcoming travelers to their burg) was having ‘Customer Appreciation Days’ over the weekend, but we weren’t able to stick around for the festivities on Saturday which included a hotdog throwing contest, a hotdog eating contest and a combined event (nooooo, not a hotdog throwing-up contest) throwing people who’ve just eaten their weight in hotdogs. First place in the eating portion of the festivities was a one years supply of hot dogs. Presumably second place was a two years supply.

Oakland is home to the Nishna Heritage Museum which used to house the region’s only department store. Over the last 30 years as people moved away or passed on they donated all the crap they didn’t want and apparently the curator couldn’t say no. In room after room after room there was an amazing collection of some very interesting and valuable historic pieces and a lot of junk. From sharks teeth (in the Nishna River?) to an empty bottle of Jack Daniels to embalming equipment to a giant moose head. The best part of the visit was when our docent, Emma, found out I had been pedaling from Los Angeles she immediately said “Oh. You must want to use the bathroom, then. It’s right over there…”. And you know what? She was right...