-I90 all the way, baby
-flat flat flat, smooth smooth smooth
-since we’re heading southwest, alot less headwind
-I got stopped by 2/undercover 5-0 + 1/marked car in Hondo, Texas. Apparently they were following me for about a mile around 7am this morning and watched/observed me BLOW 4 consecutive redlights in town. When the first car tried to pull me over, I wouldn’t acknowledge cuz I never saw a car with lights or decals, and kept going. By the time he hit the lights/siren, his partner had pulled up on the other side if me in an unmarked truck. They both hit the sirens and by the time I pulled over into a parking lot, there was a 3rd patrol car (this one actually looked like a cop car, haha). So the 1st guy gets out of his Chevy Lumina, and I thought that I was in an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger… black tight Levis, black cowboy hat, sheriff star badge, denim shirt, but he was like a fatter, balder Chuck Norris. He says “boy! What gives you the right to blow every single redlight in my town???”. I answered “sir, I didn’t see any redlights, it is too early, too dark, and I am too sleepy to notice anything!”. They looked at each other like I was a weirdo & alien. They took my ID, went back to the car & ran it, then came back with a lecture & warning. “these people/drivers around here aren’t expecting to see the likes of you on a bike, especially in the dark, on an interstate, do yourself a favor and either yield to the traffic laws like any other vehicle, or find another route to get to California, we don’t want to see that kind of recklessness around Hondo.” I stood there with puppydog eyes & remorse, awaiting my fate. “have a safe and lawful trip, and by the way we clocked you doing 30 through 4 consecutive intersections and noticed that you made absolutely NO attempt to stop let alone slow down, next time, don’t do that.”
-and with that, the 3/confused officers let me go
-I think that I ran another redlight about a mile later while leaving Hondo
-good day! Finished the 85mile ride in less than 4hrs, avg mph was around 22-25
-only 2/stops necessary = 1 for Monster, Marlboro, banana, bathroom, the other was to say hi to Texas cops!
-we actually arrived early enough to make breakfast at Holiday Inn! I had: 3/raisin bagels, 3/cinnamon rolls, 3/waffles, 3/bananas, 3/cigarettes… dunno why I chose 3, must’ve been a tribute to the 3/cops in Hondo?”

sorry, not the kind to take pictures, i believe that there are a few flickr groups from my team: dinosaur1 and sodanpop.

here’s a few from me:

me & my roommate Dade, he is the owner of Dodici rims & frames, he comes from Milan, Italy

me & Chris from NY, he is a messenger, he has won Monster Track, we just raced to Atlanta, where it dumped SO MUCH rain on us in the last 5miles to the hotel, we stayed across the street from the Atlanta olympic center built in 1996 aka Campy Atlanta rims

camping in South Carolina, ticks & mosquitos & spiders everywhere, no bathroom, pooped in the woods, lots of fireflies at night, as well as snakes, yikes! check how i brought the City to the Countryside, hung my sneakers on the pole as well as u-locked my bike to the fence, haha!

speaking of bikes, here is the secret weapon… i’ve finished first on most of the rides thus far, everyone complains that all they see is my ponytail & hipbag and all that they hear is the sound of my carbon wheels & big ring, they are also PISSED that i smoke and drink so much beer, haha, after all, i’m repping SJF!

-Bennett

Bennett & Superfish

benitosan:Clocked in 90miles today en route to Raleigh, North Carolina… HORRIBLE routing by the management team, they lead us on a crazy, alleycat-style route while all we wanted to do was to get to our destination hotel & out of the heat. BAD day, I feel like shit right now, and there are still slot of other riders out there lost, hungry, and most importantly, hot & tired. I will definitely be yelling at whoever routed us today into the middle of nowhere, I only got lucky to find the end cuz I treat every stage like an alleycat/treasure hunt & I know how to navigate & I luckily have an iPhone… without one, people are going to be vulnerable & frustrated. DISAPPOINTED at our staff today. To top it all off, I am getting saddlesore, OH JOY

benitosan:Day 1 ride: pretty hard!

Had to wake up at 3am! to be at Colombus Circle for promo & CBS early show (anyone see us?) finally got to ride today, did around 75miles from NYC to Sommerset/NJ? hot, humid & our route felt alot like an alleycat (too many twists & turns). I know it’s not a race but I joined the breakaway group of 2other riders cuz we were thinking it’d take all day to get 42people to finish 75miles together. tough ride for the 3 of us, but we finished first & got to soak in hottubs & swimming pools while others rolled in. doing a beer/food run now, update later…

benitosan:Rode New Jersey to Philadelphia today, nice ride, weather was decent yet humid… tomorrow’s a real test: Philly to Baltimore = 100miles… at least we get to sleep in a hotel that has a hot-tub! tonight we have another 42below vodka party to attend… I’ll stick to drinking beer, thanks, not a vodka fan :angry:

benitosan:So, part of our obligations to this tour is to not only ride the USA, but apparently get drunk courtesy of Bacardi/42below Co. at every major town along the route. Thanks this far for letting me ride NY and Philly, I’ll try to forget about Jersey, that place is a pit! Next up: a 106 mile ride to Baltimore followed by an easy ride to DC… both rewarded with hotel stays… yes! :clap: feels like the rockstar life, except the lack of cocaine & groupies, oh well maybe I’ll get some in Texas? :boogie: btw, Katio did great today, rode faster & stronger than alot of the boys… impressive! :thumbup:

benitosan:today: rode 105miles from Philly to Baltimore.

it was long.
rolling hills.
10 hours.

now I’m gonna eat Pho & drink beer. tired.
oh yeah, we had another party at some Bro Bar.
the girls here in B’more look kinds trashy, cool! :thumbup:

tomorrow is DC! and another party! 38-mile ride, easy! :peace:

benitosan:Today was a recovery day = we rode 40miles from Baltimore to DC via some sketch roads. Normally I’d never ride anything similar to the El Camino to get anywhere via bicycle, but that’s how they routed us to DC. They’re putting us up at some janky HoJo in the NW odlf DC, but I’m not complainig about having a bed, a shower, and A/C. Went downtown to Colombia Heights for yet another 42below party. Thistime they fed us some much needed good food = scampi, pasta, salad, sweet potato fries! Tomorrow is our 1st day of camping on this trip. We are riding 83miles from DC to Bowling Green then camping, should be fun for the unlucky young girl who gets to sleep next to the Bearpedosan, but at least no one here knows about my rep (yet, haha). Katie is doing fabulous, she’s finished every ride super-strong & with a big smile on her face! I’m feeling pretty strong too, but I’m dreading the impending heat, humidity, bugs, and brahs in the South. Oh well, at least I hear that the cigarettes, liquor, and steaks are cheap down there!

This ride is going to be filmed and put together for the Bicycle Film Festival. Who is going to hate who? Fall in love? Be Jealous? Who is going to…well you know the rest. All I know is, Bennett is coming back with that movie star glam for sure. Check back for updates as they progress through their epic journey.
Welikebike42
Northern Route

Southern Route

Pics: Johnny Hsu:Superfish