Tuscaloosa

Posted on March 25, 2009 by eoingrosch

When we showed up in Tuscaloosa, Elliot was tending to his new vegetable garden. I left Ryan and Elliot to talk about earthworms and carrots. Tobi, Elliot’s roommate, showed me the bathroom, his bathroom, and he had put out two towels for us. Great guy. He’s a German PhD student of American literature. He isn’t part of CouchSurfing, but he was doing a great job hosting.

As Ryan and I were reminiscing over our “I still beat your ass” confrontation from earlier that day, Madison, a young, blonde, naughty thing trapsed in through the kitchen. We told her the story. She enjoyed it. Then we focused our attention on her. She had just come back from Spring Break. A crazy time. Only 20 years old. “Are you the naughty one?” “Uhh, I don’t know.” “You must be the naughty one. You’ve been baaad, haven’t you? You’ve been so naughty.”

The next day, Ryan and I baked and blogged. Keeping up the blog takes a long time. We needed that extra day in Tuscaloosa.
We went to University of Alabama to hang out with Tobi before his class. We really enjoyed his enthusiasm for our trip and his Electra complex stories as he’s a hunky young professor.
Joseph and Brian, two of Elliot’s friends, came over to meet us. They were pumped about our trip, and Joseph spec’ed out our bikes. He knew the make and model of all our gear straight off. Pretty cool. As I was explaining our route, Tobi busts out, “This is SO awesome!!” That was great. It’s motivating for us.

Madison came over again and we got back to pestering her. She’s great for pestering. She takes it, doesn’t shut down or ignore us.

Then she asked about my Apocalypse Briggs shirt. That was a mistake. We started telling her, Tobi, and Elliot about our movies. They seemed interested, and we figured maybe we should show them The Pickup Artist, at least the first part. Uh oh, slippery slope.
Elliot set up his projector, and we showed them some of our stuff. A little laughter, not much. Bad idea. Lump in the throat. Ryan’s face constantly in the arm of the couch, trying to imagine being somewhere else. I kept showing more and more. Desperate. Not knowing when to stop, hoping that one of these movies would be funny. Nothing. We called it out, joking awkwardly how these movies aren’t funny. Tobi and Elliot were silent. Madison: “I thought they were funny.” Pity party.

That’s how we ended a great time in Tuscaloosa. Ruining our aura with our movies.

Tuscaloosa, AL to Brooksville, MS

Posted on March 24, 2009 by eoingrosch

At 7:30am, the alarm rang. We cleaned up and I made eggs. Tobi got up, ate with us, and then returned to bed. It was cool he got up to send us off. We left them a thank you note and an Apocalypse Briggs DVD. I’m not sure of the value of that as a gift since our movies didn’t go over so well with them the night before.

Heading out of Tuscaloosa was a nightmare. Probably the most dangerous roads we’ve traveled on so far. We got on 46 North which took us over a bridge. Just like an interstate. Cars were flying by us at 60 mph. Things settled down as we followed 46. But then we connected with 82 West. Horrible. It was the interstate dressed as a back road highway. Two lanes each direction with a huge grassy median in between, speed limit 65, semis, and dump trucks. The best way to describe it: okay, imagine an interstate highway … that’s what we were biking on.

We kept to the shoulder but it was tough avoiding the rumble strip and all the rubble while we were getting hit by the tailwind of passing trucks. Ryan found a parallel back road with his GPS. I owe you one, GPS. You saved us.

We traded the interstate for hills. Not much traffic but lots of up and down. We didn’t mind. I was noticing that we’ve both gotten a lot stronger already. Climbing hills is annoying but today we flew up and kept going. Not stopping at the top of each hill for a drink. Momentum is the key with a full load. Bombing down hills gives us enough momentum to get up the next one. So that means no coasting. We have to make full use of our momentum, and the worst thing you can do is stop at the bottom of a hill.

Here’s where we stopped for lunch.

When we crossed into Mississippi the land flattened out. Flat fields of nothing and almost zero traffic. It was pretty bizarre. A weird landscape.

It was going to rain during the night. We started looking around for places to camp. Most of the fields were fenced and we didn’t want to break the law. I was considering looking for a barn and asking permission to camp inside.

As we approached Brooksville, we saw an old burned-out abandoned school building. We stopped at the gas station to ask about it, and to get suggestions on other places that might work. We were directed to city hall, down the street. When we asked at city hall, they didn’t have any ideas for us besides riding another 10 miles to a motel. All we wanted was a simple shelter.

Outside city hall, I saw a police officer and asked him. He recommended we talk to the mayor. Working our way up the chain of command. After waiting a few minutes in the mayor’s office, she came out and greeted us. Tammi was very warm and helpful. I knew at that point that we were going to be taken care of. But I had no idea how good it was going to end up being.

Tammi gave us the okay to camp under the awning of the community center. Awesome. The police station was across the street and Tammi told Randy, the police officer, to watch out for us during the night. She also wrote down the numbers to the police station, emergency services, and her own home and cell phone. We had the whole city looking after us. Incredible.

Ryan and I went with Randy to the police station to get some water. Randy opened the refrigerator and gave us some microwaveable meals. Now they’re feeding us! As we were heating the meals, Tammi came in and told us that we could stay inside the community center, so that we would be protected from the rain and could use the bathroom and kitchen. It kept getting better!. She said that she had had a frustrating day and that she sees us as her two angels sent to give her the opportunity to do good. Tammi got a little emotional, and I got chills. I guess that after a bad day, she really wanted to be generous to us; it helped her. There was a lot of positivity in the room. I was filled with euphoria. We just walked into a strange town, looked strange and ugly, and we were welcomed in and taken care of.

Randy called up his friend, Roger, who worked for the local newspaper. We did an interview over the phone and he’ll being writing an article on us soon. That’s our second newspaper article in one week. Pretty good. I hope we keep racking them up. It’s motivating to think that people care about our trip.

When Ryan and I got into the community center and unpacked, we looked at each other with big surprised smiles on our faces. Double high five. A lame way to celebrate, but it was hard to express the feeling. I think we were both in awe of what had just happened. We couldn’t believe the generosity.

A few minutes later I hear a knock at the door. It’s Tammi and the vice-mayor, Nathaniel. Tammi tells me that they wanted to show us even more hospitality, and she hands me two bags of food. Too much. A series of incredible, generous events. I thanked them again. Unbelievable. They got us exactly what we needed. More trail mix, mac and cheese, beans, instant potatoes, and some gatorades. I showed Ryan, and he ran out the door to thank them. We looked at each other again. More big surprised smiling faces. Wow. Another lame high five.

We washed up, ate mac and cheese and beans, hand-washed laundry, and went to sleep. We were exhausted from doing 70 miles and we had to get up at 6 am to get out of there by 7am when there was going to be a food delivery to the community center. Sleeping bags and mats, it was a good sleep and out of the rain.

In the morning, we wrote a thank you note, the best we could do to express our gratitude. I left a piece of coral I found on Koh Phi Phi island in Thailand and said in my note that it was a memento from a beautiful place to a beautiful place. Brooksville was good to us.

Birmingham, AL to Tuscaloosa, AL

Posted on March 22, 2009 by ryguy

goodbye again

A full night’s sleep once again. I was dreading having to say goodbye to Ashley again. Whimpering Ryan was back. It was both good and bad. A taste of home was exactly that. A taste. A fleeting experience. I had to say goodbye all over again.

We had a few issues in the parking lot of the hotel. GPS was putting us on I-20, which wasn’t good. We were able to get Google directions from the front desk worker Stephanie. She was very nice to us our entire stay. Always laughing and smiling. We said goodbye to Richie and Ashley.

private road

It wasn’t long before Eoin and I were having issues with the route Google gave us. It said turn onto a private road. The private road was dirt and closed off. It was intended for service vehicles. Shit.

We stopped at a gas station. Eoin ran in to ask someone. Meanwhile, I spoke to a guy outside who just got out of church. He loved pink. Pink tie. Pink shirt. He also loved engineering. He spoke about his school projects. He asked me how we were doing this trip without a job. I tried explaining, but I don’t think he understood. He just asked me, “Don’t you like money?”

roller coaster road

We finally found our way back onto the route. We went through a dead railroad town. It seemed like a ghost town. People did not wave. They looked at our bikes as if they were UFOs. They looked at us as if we had Ku Klux Klan hats on. I continued to wave and smile at people. Ryan, changing one person at a time. Ever so positive and happy Ryan.

We got onto Highway 216 which took us into Tuscaloosa. It was a roller coaster from hell. Karls Daly in highway form. Eoin was the one cursing it today. I felt much better. A day’s rest went a long way.

We pulled into a gas station. Eoin filled up on water. I was left outside with company. It was an old man in a rocking chair and a glass eye. He was wondering what the hell we were doing. I struggled for conversation. Weather. I started talking about the weather. Terrible filler conversation. When you talk to someone about the weather, you know you’re struggling for subject matter. It’s the most boring subject unless there’s a tornado or Cat 5 hurricane outside your house. I was glad to see Eoin come back out.

We finally got into Tuscaloosa. We passed a few college apartments on the way. I saw 8 shirtless young guys playing beer pong. Shaggy hair, khaki shorts, and sandals. You can’t paint a better stereotype. I waved. They yelled out in their drunken stupor to the ugly cyclist passing by. They probably wanted to run me over in their 2009 F-150s.

machismo eoin

Ryan: I whipped out my GPS. Eoin had told me the turn was soon. I wanted to verify with GPS because a red light was ahead. I had time. It told me to turn right into a residential street. I yelled at Eoin, “This way!”

Eoin: The entire day, we were following the google walking directions I had printed out. I told Ryan that the next turn would be a left at Lake Ave. Suddenly, about 2 miles short of the turn, Ryan veers right, and says something meekly. Weird guy pulling off the road. I thought he needed a break or to adjust something. I stopped at the intersection up ahead. I waited 5 minutes. Then I went back to where he turned, and didn’t see him. Long gone. Weird one took an odd turn, away from our destination. Using his GPS. Best Buy GPS book. I figured he wanted to test his GPS and see how much better it is than google maps. A competition. Jackass. Splitting up right before we arrive. What a bitch.

Ryan: He didn’t follow. I turned twice to look back the main road. He wasn’t there. I figured he’d meet me there. I looked at the GPS map. Damnit. It was doing a big ass circle. It was on pedestrian settings. I continued along the GPS route and finally get to the house that is hosting us for the night.

Eoin: I kept going. I look back as I make my turn onto Lake Ave and I see Ryan back on the same road. He had veered off the main road and then came back on it. Great directions. I’m pissed. I get to Elliot’s house first … and the rest is embarrassing history.

Ryan: I pull into the driveway and as soon as I see Eoin, he says, “Dude, what the hell?” He was unblinking and wide-eyed. Angry face and arms waving all around. His posture was like those gorillas you see when they beat their chests fending off would-be alpha males. I apologized and said it was a miscommunication. He told me he waited for me. Then he said the best thing of the trip. He pointed at me and said:

“And I still beat your ass here!”

Damn. I didn’t know how to respond to that. I wasn’t racing. Alpha male Eoin coming out in full force. Elliot came out to greet us. I was quiet, like a child who just got yelled at. This just ruined the day. I want to go home!!! I felt bad because I didn’t give Elliot the happy touring Ryan persona I had been giving out on the ride there.

Eoin and I made up and laughed about it later. Fooled around and giggled. He was really embarrassed about the ‘beat your ass’ line. Really macho cheesy line. I don’t blame him.

Elliot introduced us to Tobi, his roommate. We enjoyed their hot tub and relaxed. Madison, a self-described bad girl, joined us in the hot tub. I enjoyed talking to Elliot about his garden he started in the backyard. Knowledgeable guy about veggies. I might ask him out.

Tobi and Elliot were two guys who were going for their PhD’s and Master’s, respectively. We were unemployed cycling to Mexico. Damnit. I guess the grass is always greener.

back to school

Eoin and I cycled over to Alabama University to meet up with Toby. We took a few pictures with two students. They don’t know us and we don’t know them. It was just a great opportunity to get a good picture. Notice how far away they’re standing from Eoin. Weirdos.

All the students looked young. We went to the coffee shop to hang out with Tobi before he taught two classes. We spoke about life. Really deep conversation. He wasn’t sure what to do afterwards. He mentioned taking a motorcycle around Europe with a friend of his. We relayed the Mark Twain quote that inspired our trip.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

It was a good talk. We also spoke about the Electra complex and Freud. Schoolgirls and naughty students.

Eoin and I went back and cooked up some grub. We were two smiling guys baking away in the kitchen.

SURPRISE!!! We’re HARMLESS!!!

Babes and Birmingham

Posted on March 21, 2009 by ryguy

the flood

Ashley and I slept in. I got 10 hours of sleep, which was incredible. That and being with Ashley again made me happy. We showered up and I handwashed some clothes. I cooked some crappy rice and vegetables. I looked down and water was seeping out of the tile floor and siding all around our bathroom. I was fighting it off with hordes of towels to no avail. We ended up in another room. A bigger room. Livin’ large. I had to move all the equipment up a floor, which was a pain.

the Vulcan

Ashley and I met up with Eoin, Samuel, and Naika. We drove over to the Vulcan, the largest cast-iron statue in the world. It overlooks the entire city of Birmingham, AL. There was a green expo going on too. I spoke to a guy about worm composting and organic gardening. Right up my alley. We killed some time sitting on the lawn in the sun talking about Spain. I enjoyed Samuel’s impersonation of an American accent. It was really whiny and nasally. I hope I don’t sound like that in Mexico. Guy with stupid sunglasses and nasally voice.

16^th street

We dropped off Samuel and Naika and headed to 16^th street and 4^th avenue. 5 barbershops were all lined up next to one another. A lot of competition for a trim. Some of the barbers hanging outside were pestering me for a trim. “Boy, you’re due for a trim.” I had just gotten a haircut before I left. I struggled internally about cost vs. experience. My frugality won and I kept walking.

We walked around and saw some of the statues. I caught Eoin and Ashley through some prison bars in a photo. Meanwhile, they were having a talk about his pants being rolled up. Eoin was being defensive about his cuffed jeans. “Do you always cuff your jeans?” “No, but it’s hot, so I rolled them up.” “Why didn’t you wear shorts?” The pictures captured the mood. I’m an artist.

vegan food and Richie the cash man

We met up with Eoin’s next couch surfing host. His name was Richie. Ashley wanted vegetarian food and Richie recommended Bottletree. Cool vegan place. Skaters and skinny jeans. Skunk hair and soy. Kewl ^_^

Richie was a unique guy. He was all about no debt. He only carried cash. Pretty cool. He doesn’t leave a trace. James Bond of the 21^st century. Richie the cash man. I wanted to unload my conspiracy theories about the Federal Reserve and one world currency on him. It was too early. I couldn’t do that. I’ll talk about Andrew Jackson. I did. He was a Polk man though. I can understand. He’s the only president to fulfill all his promises.

bottletree_richey_eoin_ryan

rocky’s pizza

Ashley and I parted ways from Eoin and Richie. I wanted to spend some time with Ashley before I’m an ugly guy without a girlfriend sleeping in a tent with another ugly guy.

We drove around. Hunger struck me again, and I wanted pizza. We went to Rocky’s pizza. It was a hole-in-the-wall. Pictures of fighters all over the wall. I guess that was the theme. It seemed like a forced theme to the pizza place. It had pictures of Rocky Balboa on the menu. I would understand Rocky’s Cheesesteaks or something, but pizza? Whatever. The pizza was incredible. And they had sweet tea.

the late night hunt for ice cream

I was tired, and Ashley wanted ice cream. We found a place on GPS and drove 20 minutes. It was dark, and Ashley’s car was annoying the hell out of me. The rotor is bent, so when I brake, it feels like I’m in those crappy massage chairs at the mall. Her car also had one headlight. I couldn’t see. I was a big baby. A huge bitch. I feel bad about it now. We got to the destination. The place had either moved or closed down. Ugh.

I looked at Ashley hoping she’d change her mind. Nope. She plugged Bruster’s into the GPS. We drove another 15-20 minutes. We got there at 10:01. They closed at 10. Frustration was mounting. I looked at her. She still wanted ice cream, but there was nowhere else to go.

We drove back to the hotel.

Cropwell, AL to Birmingham, AL

Posted on March 20, 2009 by ryguy

amazing breakfast and send off

This was the best night’s sleep I’ve had. No tossing and turning on an inflated mat. I woke up indoors with the sun shining off the lake, compared to the previous night where I woke up to dogs, Linkin Park, and cows.

I was the early riser this time. I went outside to prepare my bike. I went back in to get some things and found Wanda making breakfast. Blueberry pancakes, sausage, and eggs. Better than sex. I think. I guess. Maybe. What does sex feel like anyways?

I can’t stress enough how grateful I was for the stay at Charles and Wanda’s. It would be missed. Bye blueberry pancakes. Hello rice and beans.

the road to birmingham

We traveled on a few back roads. Today was to be the day I forever curse back roads. The first was Camp Winnataska. If Camp Winnataska was to be a person, it would be that girl in highschool that would lead you on and never give you a kiss. She’d just leave you with a check at Applebee’s for that awesome blossom and chicken tender platter.

Winnataska was down a small hill and then up a huge hill. Down a small hill. Up another needlessly huge incline. Retarded. I thought we were battling physics. How can a hill perpetually climb without us encountering reciprocal decline? Winnataska. The cocktease of Alabama.

leeds, the town of skaters and papers

After Winnataska and losing a lung, we got to a quiet town called Leeds. Eoin wanted to stop at a small gazebo and eat. I glanced over and saw two skateboarders. I thought they’d immediately think we were two gay ugly guys traveling together on stupid bicycles. Fear of ridicule. We pulled over.

As soon as I got off the bike, James, an old-timer of Leeds, took immediate interest. I told him we were off to Mexico, and he said we should go down to the paper. “Leeds needs some good news,” he said. He joked about Charles Barkely being from the town (he got busted for being with a prostitute only a few weeks ago). He again emphasized we should go down to the paper. I hesitated. I can imagine going into the paper saying we are cycling to Mexico. “So? Do you need to use the bathroom?”

We sat down at the gazebo. I introduced myself to the skaters nearby. Their names were Robert and Austin. I tried guessing their ages. Both had baby faces, no older than 14. Robert was 17. Woops. We spoke to them for a few minutes. They also took an interest in us. I did an ollie for them on the skateboard. I was trying to justify myself as cool when in fact I’m an ugly guy in bike clothing. Robert asked us a few questions. Pretty funny conversation:

“So, are you two living separate, or are you married?”

I immediately laughed. Eoin told him we weren’t gay. It was great. My first instinct when pulling up to the gazebo was right. He tried back pedaling because I don’t think that was what he meant. Maybe he did. Living separate. Not sure what that meant.

We asked him how far it was to Birmingham. “On a bicycle? It would probably take a day. You might get there tonight.” We were about a 2 hour ride from Birmingham. Pretty funny.

James came back. He yelled at us that the paper was waiting for us. They wanted to take our picture. Cool. We said goodbye to the skaters and walked down to the paper. They did a small interview. Great motivation for the rest of the day. We cycled away from Leeds happy.

Hey Eoin, how about using the other hand to make the “L” for Leeds. Dumb shit. Awkward hand.

karls daly…shit

We made our way on to a few back roads again. We were riding through the southern area of Birmingham. We came to a street called Karls Daly. No problem. Looks like a small hill. Eoin had a considerable lead on me. I was tired from the previous street. Karls Daly was yet another tease. It was an incline followed by a flat area. I was looking forward to the flat area. I approached the flat area and looked up. Shit. A 15-minute incline ride. I began the incline from hell. Eoin was still far ahead. I had to zig-zag all over the road. I was cursing out loud, fuming. I was yelling at the road for being a deceiver. After a long, hard ascent, I pedaled up to Eoin.

“I looked back and saw you in the other lane. Pretty funny,” he said.

I muttered, “Yeah, really funny.” I pedaled off still cursing. Fuming. Steam coming out of my ears. Ian wasn’t funny.

the bird and the bridge

One of the highlights and down points of the entire day came within 30 seconds of each other. It was rush hour. We were cycling on a busy road leading up to the interstate. Just a few miles to the hotel where we were meeting Ashley. We were feeling good. This was the home stretch.

Suddenly, I hear a car sitting on its horn behind me. The driver flicks Eoin off and is close to clipping us. The driver passes me and lays on its horn again. I wave, shrugging it off. We’ve gotten it before. However, the Incredible Hulk bursts out of Eoin. He is pissed. I tell him the driver will get stopped by the red light up ahead. He takes off. Uh oh.

The red light is on an incline. Just ahead there is a bridge crossing the interstate. I’m too tired, but it doesn’t stop the Hulk. Eoin stops beside the car and yells, “What the hell?” I hear him asking the driver why she did that. I pull up. I’m too tired to say anything. I want to be angry, but right now I’m just a pathetic wimp out of breath. All I can do is look at her and give her a ‘what the’ gesture.

The driver, a woman in her late 20s, mouths to us, “It’s rush hour.” Then she looks straight ahead. She wasn’t expecting us to pull up to her. I can feel the guilt and embarrassment oozing from her. She is protected by the metal guard up around her. Remove her shield and she’s just another coward with a horn and a middle finger. No backbone. Eoin flicks her off and takes off. I put it in first and tiredly take off. I almost fall over and hit her side mirror. Angry hulk guy and bumbling pathetic tired guy. Really intimidating.

It was a bad experience. We go through the light and pull up on the interstate bridge. I’m trying to catch my breath. Suddenly a small car pulls over in front of us and out pops a tall lanky fellow with a youthful spirit. His name is John Powers. He tells us he tours. “Dude, man, you have to do Spain. Spain. Check it out.” He writes down a few recommendations of tours on some paper. He gives some very encouraging words. Our spirits were lifted again. Wow, our morale went from rags to rich in a matter of seconds. A God send.

a night of normalcy

Eoin and I got to the hotel. We washed up and felt good. Ashley came and brought a few cookies and goodies. I love her. It was great. Tag-a-longs gone in a few seconds. I was giddy to go out with Ashley and tell her about our day. Ugly guy Ryan actually has a pretty girlfriend again.

We dropped Eoin off at the UAB campus in Birmingham. We briefly met Samuel, the gentleman hosting (couch surfing, not escort) Eoin for the night. He recommended Dreamland, a BBQ place that was well known in the parts. Great. We’re off.

I was happy to have sweet tea. It was like a drug. Ashley, being a vegetarian, struggled with the menu. I finally lightened her up. We went to the store and I bought donuts and chips. I consumed about 2,000 calories worth of glazed krullers. I love cycling.

Life is Real Good

Cycling through Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos

Category Archives: Alabama

Tuscaloosa

Tuscaloosa, AL to Brooksville, MS

Birmingham, AL to Tuscaloosa, AL

Babes and Birmingham

Cropwell, AL to Birmingham, AL