Accident March 8

This is Kristin, Chuck's daughter. Unfortunately, Chuck was hit by a car at 11am on Thursday, March 8 in Kerrville, Texas. He was air lifted to University Hospital in San Antonio and is in stable but critical condition. Chuck and the entire family appreciate your prayers and support.

To those of you in the biking community, our family would appreciate your support in publishing the danger of this particular portion of the route. This road, junction highway, did not have a shoulder and through our recent research we discovered many other cycling accidents including a fatal hit and run just this week in the same area. The article describing the accident can be found at

Http://dailytimes.com/news/article_024b460e-6944-11e1-9e84-0019bb2963f4.html

Again, we appreciate your prayers and will update the blog periodically.

The Ayres Family

March 4, 2012 ride to Vanderpool

The ride to Vanderpool was a short 32 miles but it had 4 steep climbs.  The cabin I rented was about 10 miles off my route on a dirt road. It is a very nice cabin and the owner went to the store and bought me some food. I told her to just get me some chicken and vegetables. Well, that is what she did. The vegetables were ok.  They came in a microwave bag. Now the chicken was not so easy.  It was a big hunk of raw frozen chicken. I have never cooked raw chicken in an oven in my whole life. It is amazing how necessity is such a good inspiration. I defrosted it in the microwave and put it in the oven with salt and pepper for seasoning and it came out pretty good.

March 4, 2012 ride to Camp Wood

This was a long ride of 80 miles. I got an early 7:30 start on the road. The wind was not a factor and there were no long or steep climbs.  Just a lot of miles.

I made it to the city limits about 6:00 when I had my second flat of the trip. Camp Wood has to be the most helpful city in Texas. By the time I had the flat repaired, 3 people had stopped to ask if they could help. This is where I met Randy. He is a bicyclist traveler going to California. He asked where I was staying and I told him the "River Motel".  He said "if it has 2 beds he would split the cost".  I said sure, and off we went to check it out.

When we arrived no one was there and no one else was staying at the hotel. I called the manager and it I went to voice mail. I left a message and while we were waiting we found a picnic table and proceeded to cook our dinner. It was our good fortune that as we were finishing dinner,  a guy showed up and let us into our room. It had 2 beds, so I had a roommate. We swapped stories of our travels and talked late into the night. Randy has been on the road since November.

March 3, 2011 ride to Del Rio

This was one of the easiest rides of the trip. I left Langtry with a strong tailwind that blew me all the way to Del Rio.

I checked into my hotel and went to a nice Mexican restaurant and had goat for dinner. It was very tasty. After dinner I did my laundry and went to Walmart to restock on sun block and cliff bars. By the time I got back to my room it was 10:00 time to get ready for
tomorrow and go to bed.

March 2, 2012 Ride to Langtry

This is the most desolate day of the journey. This part of Texas is a whole lot of nothing. The winds were favorable but a lot more hills than yesterday

I arrived about 3:30 and met my host, Keith.  He showed me the trailer and told me the other bicyclists were coming in later. He suggested I stake out the bedroom if I wanted it. The deal was that he rented out his trailer to bicyclists and had canned and dry food to pick out and cook yourself for dinner.I took his advice and promptly put all my stuff on the bed. The 2 others slept on a bunk and a pull out couch. Later they showed up and we took turns microwaving our dinners. I had met these guys several times on the trail.

I am going to get my stuff together and get ready for an early start tomorrow.

Feb 29, 2012 ride to Marathon Texas

This was probably my easiest ride. The 30 mile ride was mostly downhill with favorable winds. I rolled into Marathon about 1:30PM and checked into the Gage Hotel, a Texas landmark.

I went to check out the rest of the town but there wasn't much to see. The hotel restaurant was too pricey ($20 plus) for me so I went to the only other place in town, a small pizza place.  I met Eyla, a fellow bike rider,  and we split a pizza.  He is a graduate student riding across America but taking different routes then mine. Eyla told me about the hostel and suggested I check it out.

I rode out there and found it to be a very interesting place. The buildings were made out of recycled newspaper, cement and plaster. They even had some drifters staying there, a lady and her two kids in a tiny trailer. The price was $8 per night. It was quite a unique place but a little too communal for me. I headed back to my hotel to get some sleep.

Feb 28, 2012 ride from Fort Davis to Alpine

Steve and Carla, owners of the bed and breakfast, fixedly a great breakfast with a great twice baked oatmeal.  Steve tuned up my bike and adjusted my pedals so I can get my feet out of the clips easier.   Maybe I will quit falling over!

Fortunately, the ride to Alpine was only 23 miles because I had strong head and side winds all the way.

My host, Lisa Goynes, was very nice with a really nice home. I had a king size bed and a private bath with piped in music. Lisa made us a good spaghetti dinner with salad and hot bread. We both had two helpings. By evening, I felt like I had recovered from my hard ride the day before.  I don't think I had eaten enough during that hard ride and it took 24 hours to feel normal.

Lisa also had three friends over who are also school teachers so I got to learn all about the Alpine school district.
When it was time to go to bed Lisa's friend, Chuck,  announced that he had too much to drink and asked to sleep on the couch. This worked out pretty well because I did not have to get up early and he fixed me a big breakfast!

February 27-Killer ride to Fort Davis

I was starting off on what was known as a gruelling 89 mile ride to Fort Davis with no services or places to stay inbetween.  The first 40 miles was against a brutal head wind.  It was pushing me around and I was averaging about 5 miles an hour against it. The panniers increase the wind resistence by about double. After 40 miles, I turned onto smaller Hwy 118 with hills to climb, but occasional relief from the wind.  After about 12 hours of riding in the strong winds, I found myself riding in the starlight, about 7:30pm, with miles to go.  I was so tired that I couldn't keep my bicycle going straight.  I was considering camping in a  highway culvert over night, when Cheryl called, and said she had just located me when I reached cell service again.  She told me that I still had 29 miles to go.  I decided to call the Old School House B &B where I was staying. Steve is a bicyclist and owns a bike shop there also. He volunteered to come get me...a life saver! When I got there at 8:30, they offered to fix me dinner but I was so tired and full of cliff bars, beef jerky and fruit that I just took a shower and went to bed!

February 26- Ride to Van Horn Texas

It was a long 66 mile ride but about 10 miles out I had my first flat tire! It was my rear tire with all the gears, derailer and disc brakes.  I had changed the rear tire before but I had forgotten the little key tricks and it took me 1 1/2 hours to figure it out. It was frustrating but once I was riding again...life was good!
I rode on uneventfully to Motel 6 where I was staying. When the manager saw that I was traveling by bike, he gave me a $10 dollar discount.  Nice people everywhere! I had a nice steak dinner and a good night sleep to rest up for probably my hardest ride of the entire trip coming tomorrow!

February 25- Ride to Fort Hancock, Texas

Today was an easy, 36 mile, down wind ride! While I was riding a young guy, named Carl, caught up to me. We rode together for a couple hours and talked.  He  is starting officer training school, in June, for the Marines.  He is on a 4200 mile trip from San Diego to Florida to DC.  He said he is holding rallies for students and tries to talk to political leaders about continuing foreign aid to countries. He thinks this will help prevent military clashes.  Nice to meet a nice young guy with noble goals.

I arrived at Fort Hancock Motel before dark and not lost!  I spent the evening on the phone to Apple to try to fix the camera on my iphone but as can happen with technology, my phone is more messed up!
I will add pictures later.

February 24-Lost in El Paso

I had a pretty easy ride of 34 miles planned to El Paso but I missed a turn and ended up on a 6 lane freeway. Then I asked a local how to get to my destination and that made things worse.  I ended up at Sparks Circle but I wanted Sparks Drive.  I stayed in touch with my hosts, Charley and Kamala,  and after riding for a half hour in the dark,  they called and asked if I wanted them to pick me up. I said yes! It had turned into a 65 mile ride! By the time I get to Florida I bet I will learn to be a pretty good map reader.
We had a good spaghetti  with great homemade bread and good conversation. In the morning,  I topped off the air in my tires and went to take our goodbye pictures only to find out the camera in my new I phone was broken. What a bummer! My hosts gave me one of their older cameras to use until I get my phone fixed. Nice people everywhere!

February 23-Made it to Texas

A moderate ride today with a few side winds and a few hills but all in all a pretty good ride for 70 miles.
I arrived at David and Stacy's ranch in Canutillo Texas about 4:30pm.  I had bought my endurance saddle fom David and Stacy last year. I took a well deserved shower and we had a very nice meal of wild mountain sheep that David had killed with his bow.In the last 7 years, David has killed 7 elk with his bow.
In the morning, we went for a ride. I got to ride his winning endurance horse, Tyson. He is a very nice horse with smooth gates and very responsive to leg and hand.
We took pictures and said our goodbyes and Stacy sent me off with a ham sandwich for lunch.

Feb 22, 2012 ride to Hatch NM

I left Pat and Dave with determination to climb up through Emory Pass, 8,200 feet above sea level and the highest peak of my entire journey. I had a total 3000 feet to climb in about 10 miles. I just put my bike in low gear and peddled.  Pat and Dave had given me a bag of Chocolate chip cookies befoe I left. I peddled for 30 minutes then I stopped and ate a cookie and drank water. I repeated this until I reached the top and was out of cookies. 

The last 2/3 of my 78 mile ride was easier but long.  I didn't arrive in Hatch, NM until 7:45pm . The motel had given away my single room but for the same price they gave me a suite with a kitchen. I bought some supplies at the small convenience store across the street and heated a Thia dinner in the microwave. I talked to Cheryl on the phone, worked on my blogs and went to bed, hoping to get an early start!

Feb 21, 2012 ride to Hanover NM

I woke up warm and refreshed in my primative camping spot.  Did I mention that I was the only one camping there? I had ice on my tent from condensation overnight and the little water I had left in my last water bottle had started to freeze. I packed up and started riding. I had to make up miles that I didn't ride yesterday and I was out of water.  I rode about 10 miles up hill and I reached Mule Creek , which is a town with only a post office(closed).  There was a guy outside though and I asked him about water. He said I could follow him back to his house and fill up there. 8/10 mile later on a dirt wash board road, following him in his car, we arrived at his house. Mike was a really nice guy. I filled my waters and he made me coffee. We talked for a little while and then I started back down the road.  I was heading to Hanover NM to stay with more warm shower hosts.  There were tons of rollers and so I was getting tired and it was slow going.  About 5:00pm I finally got cell service and called Pat and Dave to tell them that I still had 25 miles so I would be very late.  Pat took pity on me and drove out and picked me up.  That was a great ride in the car to their house!  They are great hosts! They made me homemade pizza for dinner. Dave is a retired Chemistry Professor. The next morning, they gave me a great breakfast of sourdough biscuits from their own sourdough starter, gravy and eggs!

February 20, 2012 ride to primitive camp

I started off this morning knowing that I had another long 79 mile ride over a mountain to camp at Buckhorn, NM. I was feeling tired and mentally discouraged before I even started, and getting lost for an hour, off my route, did not help. As I rode though, I felt better and was enjoying my ride until I got to the mountain that went on forever with huge switchbacks. Going 2-4 mph, I wasn't covering ground very quickly and I found myself far from Buckhorn as the sun was setting.  Just as I reached a crest I spotted a sign for a primative campground. I was so happy to stop! I set up camp, made top ramen soup with beef jerky with the rest of my water and got in my warm sleeping bag with all my clothes on to be sure I stayed warm in the 30 degree night.

February 19 -83 mile ride to Stafford, Az

Mark, an 84 year old man, stopped me on the road and asked me if I had lost my job and was I homeless.  He wanted to buy me breakfast. I told him I was doing this ride for fun and would love to buy him breakfast for being such a great guy.  He had already eaten so I ate and he drank coffee while we talked. I have met some incredibly nice people on this ride!

Ride to Gold Canyon AZ Feb 17, 2011

It was an easy ride to Gold Canyon, Arizona, no headwinds or serious hills and I did not get lost!Robb and Bettykay were great hosts. We had coconut shrimp, veggies and a spinach salad for dinner. I used the guest room with it's own bathroom....very nice.
We had nice conversation and they told me about their bicycle trip in New Zealand.  After that I helped Bettykay set up her new ipod. In the morning,after breakfast, Bettykay rode with me for 20 miles and took me a back way on dirt roads to avoid a hill and to avoid the traffic. We had a light lunch alongside the trail. We said our goodbyes and I headed off for Globe.

Riding to Globe AZ Feb 18, 2011

After I left Bettykay, the ride to Globe got much tougher. There was a long steep hill with a very narrow shoulder that went on forever. I was down to 3-4 mph and it was both physically and mentally draining with the cars whizzing by. I finally made it and met my host, Troy.
Troy has a car dealership and had to work, so I went to dinner with his son and daughter. Troy is getting ready for a ride from Seattle to Minnesota. I stayed in their rec room that had a sauna which was great!

Riding to Gilbert Feb 16, 2012

The ride to Gilbert was very scenic. I went past  golf courses, parks, lakes and canals. Before I started the ride, Mark took me to REI so I could return my rain coat for one that did not leak. I got a cool bicycling rain coat that makes me look like a parakeet but it is made in Oregon and it should keep me dry. REI was very nice about the return. I also had Kevlar liners put in my tires and replaced the tubes with slim tubes.  REI did it for free - what a great store.

I arrived at my friends house Vern, Carol and their daughter Ashley. Vern invited me in, showed me where I could sleep and shower and store my gear. We had a great dinner! Carol cooked a delicious feast of pork, potatoes and cabbage with an apple tart for desert .

After some great conversation, we  to bed early because Vern had to get up at 5:00. Before breakfast we went for a walk and Vern showed me the route to hwy 60 for the next day. In the morning Carol out did herself by fixing eggs and made a lunch of fruit and a chicken sandwich to take with me.

February 15, 2012 Sun City

Nice ride to Sun City except for the wind! It blew right at me making the going a little tough. I arrived at my warm showers hosts, Mark and Peggy, about 3:00 PM.  Mark showed me my guest room with a private bath....boy is this cool or what.
We talked bicycles for awhile then Larry and Trudy, (more warm shower hosts), came over with some nut crusted salmon.
The women worked on the rest of the dinner while I helped Larry and Mark barbecue the salmon and beer can chicken. We had a great dinner and then Mark, Larry and Trudy played thier ukuleles and sang. It was a great evening!

February 14th to Wickenberg

This morning I took a picture of my tent in Salome before I left. The first time I set my tent up it took a while, but now I do it pretty quick.

The ride to Wickenberg was a piece of cake, thanks to good tailwinds. I made it about an hour quicker than I expected. I set up my tent when I got here then the manager came over and we started talking. He showed me the expressionistic paintings he did and then he introduced me to his 13 feral cats. He socializes them and then finds homes for them. After we talked for awhile he offered me the studio floor to sleep on because it is much warmer than the grass outside. I accepted his offer and moved my sleeping bag and air mattress inside.

Riding tailwinds is nice because there is no wind in your face because you are going the same speed.
I hope I do not jinx this but, it has been 8 days and no flat tires.

Riding to Salome: Feb 13th

Today was a moderate day with long climbs with head winds and cross winds. Once the road turned the cross wind became my tail wind. I was loving it, but after about ten minutes the wind died. Maybe I will have better luck tomorrow.

I stopped and had lunch with a couple of local snow birds. They were drinking coffee and I asked to sit with them. They wanted to talk about dairy cows. I got a big bowl of fruit for $5.00.

I got to Salome about 4:00PM and had a nice dinner before I headed out to the RV park. The place is old and a little run down but the manager is really nice and they gave me a nice spot for my tent. I am close to everything and the shower had a lot of hot water. Well I am off to bed so I can get an early start.

Feb 12: Day 6 Quartzsite

After breakfast I headed to Quartzsite, AZ which was 42 miles away. The ride was mostly flat with a tail wind at first. I crossed over the Colorado River around 1:00 and then road along the wide smooth shoulder on highway 10. When the big trucks came by the wind pushed me along, which I appreciated! About half way I stopped under an underpass for a peanut butter and cliff bar snack. I made it to the campground around 4 and started pitching my tent right away because I wanted to finish before dark. The second time camping was much easier! The campground was fairly quiet  and it had 25 cent showers! I decided to just eat some beef jerky and peanut butter for dinner because I had drank a muscle milk and juice a few hours before. I was glad I brought my thigh butter because I was getting a rub, but it went away!  Thanks for all your prayers!

Fifth day Palo Verde

The 68 mile ride to Palo Verde was a little tougher with a long climb just before Glamas where they have great sand dunes with a lot of dune buggies etc.

After Glamas it was a lot easier and mostly down hill with a nice tail wind.

This is Larry. He thinks God sent me to him (maybe He did).

.  After I left Glamas I was having fun riding the rollers. You pedal really hard as you go down and then it is easy to make it up the other side. You make pretty good time without much effort. I was getting hungry and for no apparent reason my foot started to hurt so I was looking for a place to stop for a rest and a peanut butter snack. I saw a camper parked at the top of a little hill with someone sitting in front of it. I thought this is perfect I will go talk with the person while I rest and have my snack. I rode up and asked if I could talk to him and he replied, " Sure sit down.   Can I make you a sandwich?" and of course I said yes. As I was eating my turkey sandwich Larry said because this is the Sabbath we have to talk about Godly things. I agreed. Larry went on to prove to me that Saturday is the Sabbath not Sunday. He gave me a formula and some web sites. I think I will give this information to Bob Harris and see what he thinks.

I had one more moderate climb and then it was about ten miles of down hill with a tailwind. I was thinking - life does not get better than this as I rolled into Palo Verde

This was my first night of camping and I had a little trouble. I managed to get the tent up. I asked Johnny the maintenance man where I could eat he suggested the community club house $5 for all the spaghetti you can eat. I had a good meal and talked with several of the locals.

In the morning I had breakfast with Don Boon, he is walking to Washington DC. He started at the occupy movement in Salem Oregon then moved to Portland, San Francisco, Oakland and now to DC!

Fourth day Brawley

Today was an easy 45 mile ride to Brawley.  I left my motel in Ocotillo and ate at the only diner in town. Most of the ride was slightly downhill or flat with very rough old pavement on old Hwy 8. The ride took me 4 hours.
I got there early so I hung out at the library and a coffee shop waiting for my warm showers host (Jim) to get home.

Jim is a very interesting guy. He is into animal rights and a vegan. He works as a teacher in the prison. We had a  nice conversation and a good vegan meal at a local vegan diner.  Jim showed me his road and mountain bikes and his art collection. I washed my clothes in the sink and put them on the clothes line to dry. We went to bed early because I had a hard day ahead of me. I was sound asleep when Jim came into my room and turned on the light at 5:00AM and  announced that he needed something out of the dresser. This turned out to be a very good thing because I just got up gathered up my things and rode off into the rising sun.

Third day Ocotilla

I had an easy day today...finally! This morning I woke up rested and stopped at a store to buy some breakfast since the restaurant was closed. I had a delicous breakfast of fruit, yogurt, and sardines! I know its a little wierd, but it tasted great! I rode 36 miles and most of it was downhill. I arrived in Octotilla around early afternoon and checked into my hotel (the only one in town) and then went to eat some lunch. I decided to explore and found a new museum, but it was closed. There were two cars in the parking lot, so I rode my bike around and around and finally somoeone came out and asked me what I wanted and I replied, "a tour!" The three people in the picture are volunteers at the museum and they gave me a private tour. The museum is still under contruction, but it is a museum of Indian artifacts found in the desert. The restaruant in town was not open for dinner, so I ate peanut butter and crackers, fig newtons, a cliff bar, and a banana.  I had a relaxing evening and I'm going to try to get an early start for tomorrow!

Day Two: Feb 8th

Brittnay made me a great breakfast and Jacques had planned to ride with me for the first part of my day. This was fantastic for the good company and to keep me from getting lost through the city! We picked up my antibiotics from the pharmacy and started down the path. We had somewhat of a late start and there were tons of hills, so it was slow going. I was going about 4 mph on the steep hills and picked up speed on the down hills going up to 50 mph. Unforntuantely my 44 mile destination took me longer than anticipated and I was peddling in the dark. At 7:30 I had stopped to check my map and the boarder patrol stopped to ask if I was okay. I was getting tired and hungry so I asked if they could give me a ride to my hotel that was 10 miles away and I offered to buy them dinner. They asked if I was hypothermic (an excuse for giving me a ride) and I said not yet but I might be soon, so they called their boss and said yes! I rode in the back of the truck with my bike like an illegal, but I was very happy for the ride! It was definitely an experience I won't forget! The hotel was great with a restaurant, jacuzzi tub, and a comfortable bed. I'm not too sore yet and no blisters! Things are good!

Brittnay and Jacques First Warm Shower hosts

Brittnay and Jacques were amazing hosts! They fed me a great chicken bean crockpot dish that was great! Jacques had rode this same route for a fundraiser for an African orphanage last year so he was full of great information for my trip. Once I arrived my wife called and told me that I forgot my antibiotics for my tooth in the backseat of the car so they had the dentist call in a new prescription in El Cajon. My first day was very trying but ended well with such great hosts!  

Start of My Bicycle Adventure

I was very excited to start my trip but I was definitely off to a rough start. I woke up Monday night with a roaring tooth ache and thanks to Dr. Herd I was able to have a root canal by 11:30 Tuesday morning. I was sorry to miss my send off at Starbucks, but fixing the tooth pain was necessary! Cheryl and Kelsey drove me to Ocean Beach at the start of the bike path. I was very very excited to start even though it was raining! I rode up to the start of the bike path and unfortunately when I ride slow my bike becomes wobbly and I tipped over and landed on my shoulder. I left around 3:00 for a 28 mile ride to El Cajon, but it turned into a 65 mile ride since I got very lost! I arrived at 7:30 in the dark at my warm shower host and I was very happy to be there!

Rainy day training ride

John and I rode to San Onofre in the rain to see how water proof my equipment is. It was a good ride with just a few minor leaks.

San Clemente training ride

San Clemente training ride. Good ride on a nice day.