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tour mapIn the summer of 2004, I sold or gave away most of my possessions from my apartment in Minneapolis and hit the road on my bicycle for a year, pulling a trailer full of gear behind me. The idea was to go south through the midwest, spend the winter along the gulf coast, go north along the east coast with the spring, and return to Minnesota via Canada in the summer. Because the movie Winged Migration was popular at the time, I called the Yahoo! Group that I used to communicate with my friends and family during the trip "Wheeled Migration." Below are the messages I sent to that group, in reverse chronological order, but you can find them in chronological order in the menu that will appear at left, or click a pin on the map above.

to Texas

By Ben |

I started out today very discouraged.  My knees hurt more than ever, and the first few miles getting out of the park were all hills.  I got off and walked, but even walking hurt.  I didn't see how I could make it to Texas -- I'd have to change all my plans, etc. etc.  I thought about calling Mom & Dad, but I decided they had enough to worry about with 'Becca's baby shower, so I put off calling until evening.

Wheeled Migration

To Sulphur / Chickasaw NRA

By Ben |

Today was supposed to be a short ride, but knee pain necessitated a lot of stops, and the only campground with showers turned out to be a lot farther south than I had anticipated!

In Paoli, I stopped for coffee and wound up talking with the cafe owner about the trail riding (cattle driving) he did in the '70s.  He gave me my coffee for free, but I tipped generously.

Wheeled Migration

to Wayne, OK

By admin |

I woke in the motel this morning and had trouble getting going, between the wet and cold outside, the horrible stale smoke inside, and a new pain in my left knee.  I put on a new knee bandage I had bought yesterday at the phone nurse's recommendation, but it just bunched up immediately and became more painful than the pain it was supposed to treat!

Wheeled Migration

to Oklahoma City

By Ben |

This morning dawned dry, but with a front moving in with astonishing speed. I packed up my gear -- all dry -- and waterproofed it. Rain started sprinkling as I was leaving the park.

I rode past Enterprise Square, the Kirkpatrick Center, the Legion of Doom, and several familiar parks on my way to Janmother & Ralfather's place, which looks exactly the same. Shepherd Mall is booming now that it's no longer a mall -- it houses a high school and lots of offices. The rain finally stopped as I reached the Oklahoma City National Memorial, so I left the bike uncovered.

Wheeled Migration

to Edmond, OK

By Ben |

I slept in this morning, secure in my concealment from view, but when I emerged well after dawn to dig a cathole, I found that although I'd been concealed from headlights, drivers in daylight could see me just fine! Fortunately if anyone called the state troopers, they had better things to do than check up on me.

Wheeled Migration

to Stroud, OK

By Ben |

This morning I headed south on OK-48 until it met up with OK-66, which follows what's left of Route 66 from Tulsa to OKC. I got to Bristow around 1 and spent over an hour at the library. Although this will save me the trouble of visiting a library in OKC, it meant that the sun set while I was still in Stroud rather than at a campground.

I rode off into the sunset prepared with plenty of water for informal camping, but I wasn't prepared for what I found: miles of barbed wire and not a single door to knock on. I wound up camping in a deep ditch formed by a highway embankment.

Wheeled Migration

to Keystone State Park, OK

By Ben |

I left Tiff's house around 6:30 or 7 with every intention of following the route Shawn showed me yesterday, but I must not have been paying close enough attention because I missed my turn and wound up going at least 6 miles out of my way, which meant that I was an hour late for church. Fortunately Justice wasn't expecting me until the second service. Instead of attending the service itself, I went to a discussion with some young adults that turned out to be on the subject of Democracy. It would have been a better topic for last month... we were all pretty discouraged and cynical!

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Oklahoma Aquarium

By Ben |

Shawn was up until 2 or so with his friends, so we got a late start this morning. Breakfast wasn't until about 10, and we didn't leave for the aquarium until after noon, which pushed lunch back until after 3 and dinner to 8!

The Oklahoma Aquarium is less spectacular than Omaha's, but quite nice for Oklahoma. The shark tank is particularly well designed, though it was a little short on sharks today. Tiff says they've been gradually adding to the place since it opened.

Wheeled Migration
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