Gallery - Illinois through West Virginia
	Gallery | Oregon | ID and MT | WY and CO | KS and MO | IL through WV | PA through CT
	-------------------------------------------------------------- Illinois [journals]
	I had now ridden my bicycle 3,000 miles. I crossed the Cascades, the Rockies, the Great Plains, the Ozarks, and the Mississippi River. I had met people on the TransAmerica Trail that I could ride with for a few weeks here and there, but essentially, I had made this journey alone. When I reached Carbondale, Illinois, my solo adventures would end. My very good friend Alex joined me for the remainder of the trip. Only weeks before, when he was laid off from his job at the same company that I worked for, his wife suggested that he join me on the road. Needless to say, I was very excited and extremely happy to have the company.
	-------------------------------------------------------------- kentucky [journals]
	U pon reaching Berea, Kentucky, I had to make a decision. It became apparent that my initial goal of completing the TransAmerica Trail in Yorktown, Virginia and then following the coast north to Connecticut by September 5 was not realistic. I had to decide what destination was more important for me to reach, the end of the TransAmerica Trail or the driveway of my parent’s condo. After much thought, Alex and I decided to abandon the Trail and the bicycle maps that had gotten us this far, and blaze our own trail to Connecticut. We would now follow AAA maps, depend on advice from the locals, and trust our instincts. The trip had now taken on a new sense of adventure and a heightened element of risk.
	-------------------------------------------------------------- West Virginia / Ohio [journals]
	Procrastination probably isn’t the best word to describe our navigational tactics, since we did continue to make steady progress towards Connecticut, but we did delay our crossing of the Appalachian Mountains as long as possible. It seemed everyone we met had the same response, “you’re going to ride your bikes over those mountains?” So, we decided to follow the Ohio River north until we had no choice but to head east over the mountains.
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