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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.

Oct 17: Katy Trail State Park

By Ben |

[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on October 17, 2004]

One of the reasons I gave in my last message for staying an extra day in St. Louis was that there was rain in the forecast, so I planned to spend most of Wednesday indoors. Well, Wednesday turned out to be beautiful; all the rain came Thursday, the day I left town! I had made plans to meet my host, Corey (Malinda's husband) at Waffle House on my way out of town, so I could buy him breakfast. Unfortunately I told him the wrong intersection, so he never found Waffle House and I had to eat without him.

Wheeled Migration

to Jefferson City, MO

By Ben |

I made a full four-cup pot of coffee this morning and flew down the trail into Jefferson City, arriving early for church.  The first person to talk to me there was Don Love, who had noticed me on the road and thought I might be headed to his church!  He introduced me to a bike dealer and a highway employee among the congregation, who were able to answer my questions about shoulders on US highways I've been eyeing.

Wheeled Migration

to Tebbetts, MO

By Ben |

Slow going again today, in spite of excellent weather.  I got a late start due to partiers keeping me up late.  Couldn't seem to get fired up until I stopped for coffee at  noon.  Even so, I didn't make it into Jefferson City as I had hoped, but only into Tebbetts.

The trail Web site had indicated a campground here, with Jim's Bar and Grill as the contact.  But Jim recommended I check out the hostel next door instead: just $5 a night to sleep indoors with hot showers, a microwave oven, coffee, etc.  It's fantastic!  What a great find!

Wheeled Migration

To Hermann, MO

By Ben |

I woke an hour or two before dawn, too cold to sleep but too sleepy to put on another layer. At dawn the sky was crystal clear. I spread out my tent and sleeping bag to dry and hiked to the "lookout point" for sunrise, both of which turned out to be unimpressive.

Wheeled Migration

to Klondike, MO

By Ben |

Today was probably my worst day so far. To begin with, I ha promised to buy Corey breakfast at Waffle House, but I told him the wrong location, so he didn't find it. Then there was the rain, which started just as I was leaving Malinda & Corey's and continued all day without stopping. It was a colder rain than I've ridden in before; my hands and feet got pretty numb. Then it turned out that the jacket I got from Malinda's coworker is just a windbreaker, not a raincoat. My shirt got completely soaked, so that every time I stopped riding I got chilled. As long as I kept going I was OK.

Wheeled Migration

Oct 13: Journeys and Destinations

By Ben |

[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on October 13, 2004]

Hello again. I'm having such a good time in St. Louis that I decided to stay an extra day! That and the weather is a little rainy for riding the (packed-dirt) Katy trail, and I've decided to bypass Kansas City and Lawrence, KS on my way to Oklahoma. Like Madison and Chicago (both of which I bypassed earlier), Kansas City is just a short bus ride from Minneapolis. St. Louis is not. Visiting St. Louis is a rare treat.

Wheeled Migration

Cahokia Mounds, IL

By Ben |

I hung around Corey & Malinda's apartment most of the day. I washed my tent, applied waterproofer, and let it dry thoroughly, tightened the shock cords in the poles, and sanitized my hydration pack.

In the afternoon Malinda picked me up and we rode out to Cahokia Mounds in Illinois, though by the time we got there we didn't have much time to see the museum before closing. We climbed Monks Mound (the largest prehistoric structure in North America) and walked over to Woodhenge.

Wheeled Migration

Litzsinger Road Ecology Center

By Ben |

I went to work this morning with Malinda at Litzsinger Road Ecology Center, which was a private home and grounds but has been donated along with a generous foundation to the Missouri Botanical Garden. Three other volunteers came by and we "cleaned" seeds of prairie plants for several hours. Then I researched Katy Trail campgrounds and nutrition while Malinda worked in the afternoon. Having not heard from Elizabeth Collins, I decided not to try to go to Lawrence but instead to stay here an extra day and then follow the Katy Trail to its end and continue into Oklahoma.

Wheeled Migration

St. Louis

By Ben |

Malinda had to work today, so I set out by bike to run my errands. The trouble I was experiencing with my 3-speed hub turned out to be loose wheel nuts (!!), so that was easy and cheap to fix. I got all the maps I needed from the central library with no trouble, and I paid my respects to the Arch.

Wheeled Migration
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