Whale sharks!

I took a day off my bike in Atlanta to wander around and visit the aquarium. At first I was totally overwhelmed by the million and a half schoolchildren, so I found a nice corner by the big tank and sat around drawing weird fish until they all had to get back in their buses and go away. Far and away the best thing at the aquarium were the whale sharks. Sorry I don't have a better picture-

I continued on the magical Silver Comet trail today and am now in Atlanta. I passed through this awesome tunnel on the bike trail- the next few days of riding are going to be a letdown after this stretch of the route!


Oh Waffle House I love you and your absurdly large portions and chili smothered hash browns. There is something satisfying about eating a breakfast that comes on three plates. Makes me feel like a good American.


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Location:14th St NW,Atlanta,United States

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted... Being an artist involves a lot of maintaining an online identity, and one of my favorite things about being on vacation is being able to allow that identity to lapse. And by extension, I end up shirking blogging duties, too. But! I am resolving to do better about updates.

I've been crossing state lines like a crazy person, and have been going close to 100 miles most days of late. In the past week I crossed three state lines:


I was in Mississippi for less than 24 hours. Not much to say about it except that I was introduced to the beauty that is Waffle House. You can get a breakfast that I swear must have 4,000 calories in it. Even my crazy appetite has a hard time finishing.


I went up to Tuscaloosa to visit my friend Claire, and I can't even begin to describe how bad the tornado damage is. Ive never seen anything like it. I went out with my camera and hopefully got some good shots, will post/write more about that when I'm on a computer instead of on an iPhone in my tent.


The route between Alabama and Georgia was SO AWESOME!!!! there is a dedicated bike trail that runs about 80 miles, and it goes through some really lovely scenery. Being on a path just for bikes feels like the height of decadence after some of the roads I've been on lately (Louisiana's roads are appallingly beat up).


Pretty path!


Pretty flowers!

I had a pretty crazy bike malfunction a few days ago-- managed to get my rear derailleur stuck in my spokes, which was entirely my own fault because if my limit screws had been well adjusted, that would have been impossible. Anyways, my derailleur was just a mangled chunk of metal and my bike was rendered unrideable, so I hitched a ride to the next town with a bike shop. Paul, the guy who picked me up, was an underground coal miner and I learned all sorts of fascinating things about coal mining. Such a crazy world! Sounds like an alternate universe down there.
The bike shop I ended up at (Cahaba Cycles) was super ridiculously awesome, and it was far and away the most positive interaction I've had with a bike shop since I started this trip. I don't know why it is that bike mechanics are often assholes, but it's really just something you come to accept/expect if you're someone who frequents bike shops, especially if you are female. I'm by no means a bike mechanic, but I know how to keep my bike in working order and fix most things that go wrong with it, and it irritates me that walking into a bike shop often means getting talked down to. These guys were an extremely pleasant exception Here's a list of reasons why they were awesome:
1. They didn't treat me like an idiot or give me shit about managing to mangle my bike in such a dumb and avoidable way
2. They gave me a sweet jersey
3. They didn't charge for labor
4. Their mechanics were cute AND nice, which I sort of didn't think was possible- it's like having a horse and a narwhal, and having them somehow combine to form a unicorn; you always wished that it could happen, but had reconciled yourself to the impossibility (also, I have decided that all blog posts should really contain at least one unnecessary reference to unicorns).
5. I noticed later that they put a pink end cap on my cable to match my housing and grip tape! Zack the mechanic, if you ever end up in Seattle I totally owe you a beer for that one.
Annnywaaayyssss, my bike is now back to happy working order, and I'm getting into Atlanta tomorrow. Until next time!

Pie!

I love encountering random pie shops in the middle of rural Alabama.

More funny tan lines

Hello all! Too start you off, here is a picture of my sweet biker glove tan. It's not too bad now, but I imagine in a few more months it will be spectacular.


I crossed into Louisiana a few days ago and was instantly impressed by two things: 1. There is an incredible amount of roadkill and 2. Any road that is not a major highway is in god awful condition


I passed through the town of Deridder, which is apparently the per capita church capitol of the nation.


I just got into baton rouge and will be in new Orleans either tomorrow or the next day depending on whether I take tomorrow off. I hope my liver is up for it....

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Location:U.S. 61 Business,Baton Rouge,United States

In my tent behind the nation's oldest baptist church

I'm in Independence and am starting to wonder if I will ever make it out of Texas. This state has been lovely, but I am itching to cross a state line... I think I'll make it to Louisiana in four days.

I'm still catching up with Austin pictures-- check out how many people show up for their Thursday night social rides!






So this picture didn't really turn out, but I'm posting it as evidence that Lindsey does indeed live in Austin, and that I did indeed go see her.


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New toy!

I sent my warm weather gear back to Seattle last week, and decided that meant that the only logical thing to do was to buy a ukulele because my bike felt weirdly empty. So now I just need to learn to play it.



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