Bike is Fixed!

For all of you who have been reading about our bike issues, I'm happy to say our bike is fixed! Thanks to the guys at Block Bikes. They installed a Chris King bottom bracket and new chains. They also adjusted everything. We tested the bike on a great night ride. Block sponsor's a 25 mile ride through the streets of the AV. It's not quite a "Critical Mass", but was a lot of fun (there were over 50 bikes). We met a lot of people, including some who have tandems. We were the only tandem that night, but maybe more will show up! Check out the ride by clicking the link below:

http://www.teamblock.com/PicsJuly22Lancaster.html

We still need to test the bike on some hills using the granny gear. The "hills" we ride on our training route do not seem like hills anymore. Guess we will have to find a different route!

We organized all of our photos from our trip. Take a look.

Ev and I have started to discuss the next trip. We might ride from S.F. to Santa Barbara this fall if we can take the time. Vancouver, BC to Florence, OR may have to wait until 2011.

July 11th, 2009 - Last Day

To the Golden Gate Bridge.

We left our B&B and headed for San Fransisco. The ride is only about 40 miles long. We do not ride on Hwy 1 again. Both the book and maps say the rode is too dangerous. We ride through Samuel P. Taylor Park on a great bike path. Right after Woodacre we start to ride on designated bike routes through the many small towns of Marin County. It's Saturday and there are bikes everywhere. Many people have ridden in from the city. Many Lance wanabees but also many others. Most of them pass us and take notice of our tandem and full load. We are still inland and the temperature is warm. We ride with only our short sleeve jerseys. On the climb right before we descend into the bay, we see a tandem. Our first of the entire trip. They are locals and ride the area often. We dodge the "pink walkers" (see post below) and make our way into Sausalito. Kendal is there to meet us. It is great to see her. Lunch overlooking the bay, we drop our bags off in the car and head to the bridge. On final climb and we are on the bridge. What a ride. We stop a couple times for pictures. Kendal drove ahead to meet us on the other side. We did it! We are done. Many mixed emotions.

Evelyn's Perspective

Until now, all the posts have been written by Rob. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about our ride, from my perspective.

The train ride to Eugene was one of my favorite parts of the trip! Traveling by train is such a change to the "hurry-up-and-get-there" mentality of car and plane travel. Sitting in the lounge car watching the country go by, we saw three bald eagles soaring and diving over a huge lake in Oregon. We talked to people and heard their stories. One group was traveling to visit cousins, and had taken the train frequently. They knew all the landmarks, and could tell us exactly where we were from their GPS (which they never traveled without). There were couples with small children, reminding me of the trips our family used to take to Iowa to visit our relatives. There was an older man and his grown son, several groups of women, and many older gentlemen traveling alone. Everyone had their own stories.

The most common comment I get when people see our bike is something about how I don't have to pedal. I also get asked about how I handle the lack of control, with Rob doing all the steering, shifting, and braking. We both pedal, and both coast at the same time. Yes, I can feel when he is working harder than I am, but he can also feel when I am working harder than him - which does happen from time to time. Without a tandem, I would be left at the bottom of the hills, or always feeling like I am holding Rob back. We are in this together - connected at the pedals and seats, you could say. There isn't anyone I would rather give up control to than my husband. I trust him implicitly. I get to sit back, watch the scenery, take pictures, give him an occasional pinch (just to let him know I'm still there), and rub his shoulders when they get tense from all the traffic or braking.

For me, this was the most physically challenging thing I have ever done in my life! I have never been one who enjoys exercising just for the fun of it. I much prefer to be out doing things - hiking, biking, kayaking, etc. There were days when I just wanted to quit. Rob pulled me through those times.

One of my favorite days on the road was also one of the most challenging. It was the first day Doug rode with us. Climbing the Crescent City Hills was difficult, but the sense of accomplishment when we made it to the top was fabulous! I don't remember all the parts of the day, but I do remember the river valley we rode through with the bridge guarded by the two golden bears. The best part was the last five miles, downhill through the redwoods. There was no traffic - only one or two cars passed us; we rode side by side with Doug through this magical canopy of redwoods. That isn't to say our seats weren't hurting, and we weren't exhausted! But the quiet of the forest, and the trees so tall you couldn't see the tops without craning your neck was the perfect ending to a long, hard ride.

At the end, I did want to quit. Our ride on Thursday was so difficult. I want to know when a "hill" becomes a "mountain"! The narratives in the book never said anything about mountains! The climb on that day was so long and strenuous. The ride down the other side was when the brakes burned up. Our legs were shot. The next day was short, but we ended up pushing the bike up hills we would have easily ridden two days earlier. Rob said I asked the B & B if there were any hills to get there - I had a plan all worked out of how we could lock the bike up and call a taxi if she had said anything other than the road was flat. And I was ready to have Kendal come get us the next morning. I'm glad I didn't! The ride into Sausalito was relatively easy, and beautiful. We rode through a state park that I would love to go back to. The thousands of people in pink walking for breast cancer awareness in Sausalito and across the bridge were an inspiration. As we rode by them, I could read signs on their backs saying they were walking in memory of their mother, or wife, or sister. Others had lists of names of people - some three or four columns long. I was in my pink riding shirt, so we got cheered on with the walkers!

Seeing Kendal waiting for us was a wonderful sight! When she told us the hill we had to climb to get to the bridge was steep, I again, was ready to call it quits. My cheerleader, Rob, said we could do it, and we did! Riding across the bridge was so exhilarating! The sun was shining, the pink walkers were on one side, the bikers on the other. I clicked pictures all along the bridge as we rode. And, Kendal was waiting for us on the other side, ready to cheer us on, and take us home.

So, what I learned from this trip...

• with enough stops, I can climb any mountain
• it may not be a pretty sight, but together, we can do anything

I get asked if I would do it again, or when are we planning our next trip. The answers to those will have to wait a while. I have missed being on the road since we got home, but I'm not ready to go out and do it again right now. Maybe we'll start off slow and just do some day rides or weekend bike camping.

Thanks for all your support and interest in our ride!

Evelyn

July 10th, 2009

It's all about the bike! Supposedly on our way to Iverness.

We head into town and I drop Ev off at the Laundermat. I go to the bike shop. Yes it's there, but opens at 10AM. Mat shows up about 10:20 (Hey the Tour of France is on!) He quickly fixes the brake and works on our drive train. He adjusts and tightens and it seems fine. He is a really nice guy. I head out to get Ev and our clean laundry. About 2 miles out of town a click appears. After another mile we decide to head back. We see Mat driving away and we flag him down. Back up on the rack (this time with all of the gear!) It takes a while and I tell him what has been done to the bike. We conclude that a previous mechanic installed a spacer on the bottom bracket to help adjust the front derailiuer. This is most likely the cause of many of our problems. He does what he can and we are off. Please stop by his shop (Bodega Bay Cycles) if you need help or parts. The bike rides great at first but the scraping sound is back. We plan to get a new bottom bracket when we get home. We stop for lunch and have the best fried calamari. There is a mojor accident on the highway, but the CHP waves us through. Another late start but another B&B awaits us (hey it's our last night!)

We head inland for a long while. Mat tells us to take a different route to avoid some traffic. "Oh there's one steep hill." We walk this 10%-plus steep hill but the ride is otherwise nice. We ride for 10 miles along Tomales Bay knowing that our B&B is right across the bay. We get into Point Reyes Station and call the B&B. I want to know if there are resturaunts around, Ev wants to know if there are any more hills to climb. Yes on food, no hills.

Sea Lions lounging in the sun.

When we arrive somewhere we are usually the only ones arriving by bike. The first question is "where did you start?" When we say Eugene, OR there are two basic reactions. First is utter disbelief with a look that says we must be better than them. I know we are crazy and we do not expect everybody to do this! The other is what the couple we had dinner with says, "Hey that's really cool" Turns out that Steve bikes 12 miles to work and follows the Tour. We ate at a Hungarian place with Steve and his wife. Whip out the debt card to pay and the owner says we do not accept plastic, only checks or cash. We do not have enough cash. She tells us to send her a check when we get back!

July 9th, 2009

To Bodega Bay

We knew we were in for a long day. The maps say 65 miles. We will be on the coast, so more hilly riding. Our bike still makes noises. It is worse when we go up hills in low gears. We just have to ride on. Again more beautiful coastline. We ride through Sea Ranch. I have seen many pictures of this development in college classes. I think Charles Moore had a hand in the design or design standards. Extending 12 miles, all of the houses are similar so as not to detract form the scenery. There are only a couple of exterior color variations. I wish we could have used one of the four beach access points to hike down and see the coast line. When you know you are riding 60+ miles, you tend to not want to go on side trips. Too bad for us. Ev wanted to stop at the Russian settlement of Fort Ross, but again, not enough to take the time.

There is a five mile stretch were we cross many cattle guards. These are not hard to ride over but we see no cattle. All of the sudden we see cattle. All over, and some right next to the road. We both stay to ourselves. The rode is very narrow in places. Ev directs traffic from the back. No close calls.

We are about 2 miles from the campsite and a different noise appears. It has us both worried. We make it to the camp site. The hiker/biker site is not very nice. One table in the middle of a lot of sand. We choose to pay for a regular site since we need to look at our bike hoping that someone will share it with us later. Four college guys ride up and want to share the site. We saw them last night too. We ask if any of them is good with bike mechanics and Marcel steps right up. He correctly deduces that the disk brake pads are worn out and that the tension spring is mangled. Someone says there is a bike shop in town. Marcel gets the brake back together enough to ride, so we go 2 miles into town. The first local says there is not a bike shop in town. Feeling slightly disheartened we decide to eat dinner out. Ev is ready to call Kendal to come get us. I use my Blackberry and see that there is a bike shop. We ask the waiter and he confirms. It is almost dark, and really windy but we have to ride back to camp. We plan our day tomorrow to do laundry and get the bike fixed.

July 8th, 2009

To Manchester Beach State Beach (just before Point Arena, CA)

Goodbye Doug and Jan. We're sad to see you go.

Jan made breakfast as we got our stuff together. We took off, again by ourselves and a with fully loaded bike.

“Although short, this very scenic ride is strenuous.” This could be the most understated passage in the whole book (Bicycling The Pacific Coast by Vicky Spring and Tom Kirkendall)

We rode along the coast and yes it was very scenic. There is nothing like the California Coast. We are both California natives and we still marvel at the beauty. We stopped in Mendocino for coffee and treats.

Hill after hill after hill. So we are cruising high above the ocean then it happens; a sharp turn to the left and a steep decent down to the sea level, over a small stream and then a sharp right back up. Momentum is no help. We need the granny gear as soon as we make the turn. This happens again and again.

We ride into Manchester and get dinner makings. Steak, onions, mushrooms, broccoli, wine, and cookies. Ev hits her foot hard on a parking bumper. For a second, I thought the trip was over. Just a bruise. We ride back to the campsite. No showers, no flush toilets, who cares? Great company (bucket couples) great food (everything cooked over an open flame), no wind, great walk to the beach, fog horn in the distance. Life is good.

July 7th, 2009

Leggett, CA to MacKerricher Beach State Park

THE HIIL

We left camp and soon left Hwy 101 for good. We turned onto Hwy 1 and started to climb. So the book says that it is not that bad. Well, it wasn’t! Yes, it was long, but not the longest climb we did. Yes, it was steep, but not the steepest. It was curvy and had some flat spots. We did stop a couple of times (well maybe more like five times, buy hey, we are on a tandem and we are old!)

There is then a fast descent. I digress…

Going down a steep hill on a tandem is not fun. In fact, I hold the breaks so hard that my hands hurt. Single bikers (including Doug) get the reward of a fast and exhilarating decent. We get white knuckles and sore shoulders. Next time we do a long trip I plan to install a “drag break”. Maybe then we would enjoy descents and not burn up disk brakes (I’m getting ahead of myself)

After the descent there is a five mile stretch that is relatively flat. We ride fast and hard in the big front chain ring. What a rush but a mistake (see below)

We met Jan for lunch. Hey we had just conquered Legget Hill, let’s have a beer. Mistake. (see below)

The next hill on the map looks easy compared to the one we just did. Ev bonks. I was close to bonking. Doug makes it but is not having fun.

We make it to the coast again. Stay at another great site. Watch the sunset. Life is back to good.

July 6th, 2009

To Standish-Hickey State Park (just outside of Legget, CA)

Short Day…really, just 48 miles. Oh, look at the elevation profile…yuk.

A day of climbs. Up and down most of the day, but more up than down.

Winding, narrow roads with no shoulders. Back on 101 and then back to winding roads.

We did not take even one picture. I think we were just trying to survive.

We made it to camp, a nice site. Ev and I went across the road to get some more chicken broth for Risotto. (Did you think we just ate hotdogs?!) The owner of the store, and the U-haul, the nursery, the grill and the rest of the town enticed us to his grill. He promised us he had the best BBQ oysters. Not to spoil our dinner, I ordered six. OMG they were amazing! The best I have ever had. Jan had one., Doug had two (and he is mostly vegetarian). Ev had a half (not a oyster fan) and I had the rest. They were perfectly cooked and floating in an seasoned aioli sauce.

The talk of the camp was the next day’s climb. Both bucket couples* were there. We had been reading about it for a week. Tops out at 2000’. First thing we face in the morning. Can’t wait!

* We rode with two couples from Portland who had plastic buckets for panniers. They did not know each other at the start of the trip. One couple were college kids who just decided to ride down the coast to San Fransisco. The other were married and were riding the entire coast from US border to US border. A company in Portland makes the buckets, but Brock only bought one and made three others. They were pretty cool and you could sit on them around the campfire. Oh, neither of the bucket couples brought stoves. They cooked over the open campfire everynight.

July 5th, 2009

Eureka to Humbolt Redwoods State Park (heading inland)

“Hey Doug, it’s only a 40 something mile day”. “Oh lets take this side trip” (add 4 miles). “Oh lets take this other side trip” (add 11 miles).

We rode out of Eureka and said goodbye to our B&B (bed and warm shower). We had a great day. Our first stop was at a cheese factory in Loleta. Jan was waiting for us. We sampled and then sat in a wonderful garden and snacked.

We then took a side trip to Ferndale. On the way we rode through more dairy country. We saw a fox in a field. You would not have seen that in a car. What a great town! I think Jan would like to retire there - old restored Victorians, main street filled with cute shops and friendly people nestled in a valley. We ate lunch at the city park while people played bocce on well-maintained courts.

Of course we had to climb to get out of there, and we steadily climbed into the redwood forest. We stopped at some of the “famous” trees and later stopped for ice cream. We did not know exactly where we were staying. Jan stayed in Ferndale and finally passed us when we were getting close (we thought). She drove ahead to a ranger station and then came back and told us to “STOP!“. We had missed our turn by 3 miles and then had to descend 5 miles to the campground. A civil and minor revolt started. The three of us were not back-tracking. She again went ahead and transferred the reservation to a campground ahead a couple of miles. All was again well. The rest of the “through bikers” were just across the way; a lot that we had not seen before. We took a twilight hike through the redwoods. I have been to the Sequoias probably 10 times - even though these were coast redwoods, they were majestic. There is nothing like hiking in a redwood forest.

4th of July

July 4th, 2009 (Eureka, CA)

We slept in. (we were in a real bed!) Breakfast was at 9:00 so we got around and had a typical, and nice, B&B breakfast. Ev then worked on her school work and I read for awhile. We walked into town. Eureka had a big 4th of July celebration. Streets were closed off and street vendors lined both sides. A mix of food, crafts, politics, and local shops hawked their wares. Two stages had a variety of acts. The old town section has been revitalized and they had a relatively new board walk along the bay. We met up with Doug and Jan and walked around some more. We saw some of the restored Victorian mansions. They are amazing.

Ev and I went back to the B&B in the afternoon and hung out. Back in town for dinner, we stopped by a weaving store. We talked to a girl on the 10 year college plan that was from Southern California. She knitted her chickens sweaters because they were used to warmer weather. Showed us pictures on her blog. We later went to a restaurant overlooking the crowd gathering for fireworks. We sat at the bar and talked to the owner. The restaurant has been in the family for years. Later, the horse and carriage coachman came by for a drink. He had worked in Central Park and had many stories. I was in bed before the fireworks started. The joke around town was that the cloud cover is always so low, that you get to see colored clouds instead of fireworks. Ev looked outside and saw some of the “fireworks” before going to bed. It was a nice rest day.

We made it!

I am sorry that I have not posted in the last week. We either have not found wi-fi or did not have the energy to look. Now that we have crossed the bridge and are safely at Evelyn's sister's, we can reflect back on our trip. I will post a day by day account of the trip in the next few days. This trip was not easy, but quite an accomplishment.

Ride into Eureka, CA

The Ride of 7-3-09. Orick to Eureka, CA

This ride had a little of everything. Of course we had hills and lots of granny gears but they were not as bad as yesterday. Our maps and book try to keep us off Hwy 101 as much as possible. We now know that riding East of the highway means hills. West of the 101 could bring anything. We rode on a great bike path through McKinleyville but then it led to the roughest road we have encountered. We did ride on the 101 when it is considered a freeway. We stopped at two information centers and met up with Jan for lunch. We again met up with her in Arcata after we had a coffee and pastries. Jan then got directions to our B&B and headed out to drop off our gear. We rode with Doug toward the KOA. Again off the 101, we encountered "rollers". We said goodbye to Doug at his turn off and thought we had a couple of easy miles into Eureka. Ha! Ten miles later we finally made it to the B&B. If we would have stayed on the 101 we might have missed all of the hills, the road construction, gravel, dirt, no street signs, inland warmth and coastal chill and ridden 7 less miles. But we made it.

The B&B is wonderful - a real shower and bed. Doug and Jan came into to town for dinner. We ate at nice Italian place.

Riding into California

7-4-09 Sitting in our room reflecting on the last two days riding...



The ride of 7-2-09. So we did ride the entire segment into California - all 69 miles of it! We left Brookings, OR around 9:00AM. We were soon in California.



















The first 30 miles were very nice and scenic. We were mostly off Hwy 101 riding through hill side communities, lily and dairy farms. The terrain was rolling and did require some "granny gear" riding. This was Doug's first day riding with us. He probably thought that if the whole trip was like this, he had it made. We met Jan for lunch at the port in Crescent City. We like this sag wagon stuff!

As soon as we left Crescent City we started climbing the first of two major climbs of the day. The first had three summits. We gained about 1200'. It was tough. We took lots of breaks. Sometimes there was a shoulder to ride on, and sometimes there wasn't. One of the pictures below shows Doug and I trying to get our breath back. We made it and had a sweet and fast descent to the bottom. Oh, but we were not done climbing. The next climb was "only" 900' and not quite as steep. We were toast after that climb, but as our mentors Bob and Linda say "you just keep peddling!"



















We had one more small climb to make. It was short and also intense. Doug was a trooper. This was his first day and we were trying to kill him. Ev and I had been riding for 4 days by this point.

The last 5 miles were glorious! Mostly down hill, hardly any traffic, riding though redwood groves. The campground was nice. We barbecued salmon burgers on the open fire. Even though the ride was very tough, Ev and I both thought this was the best day yet.

6-30-09 To 7-1-09

It’s July 3rd, and I am in our room in Eureka. We have not had good luck finding Wi-Fi. Below are two posts I completed off-line. After we get settled, I will blog about the last two days.

6-30-09

80 Miles!

Humbug Campground, South of Port Orford (Blogging off-line)

So we head off on Seven Devils Road. Each “devil” is a hill. We get about half way and the grinding noise is back. We stop and start to look around and the crank comes off. This is not good. Called the bike shop back in North Bend and he says if he cannot fix it, he can have parts FedEx’d from Eugene. So we head back. Some people give us a ride down the hill saving some miles. We get back on the bike (it works if we are careful) The wind is howling. We make it to Moe’s Bike Shop. Al fixes our bike right away.

Decision Time. We have already ridden 20 miles. We have 50+ miles to go. What do we do? Well, we have lunch.

We head south on Hwy 101, not by the map sending us to Seven Devils Road again. This way, though, has three killer hills that never seem to end. My least favorite sign is “Passing Lane Ahead” - that means a hill is coming. My favorite sign is “ Right Lane Ends” meaning the climb is almost over. We just keep riding. There are a couple of possible camping options before our intended destination but we keep peddling. We stopped in Port Orford for dinner makings and ride the remaining 7 miles counting each mile marker as we go. Our new biking friends are amazed to see us. With the backtracking and side trips, we logged 81 miles for the day! We are tired. Dinner, then bed. Only fifty something miles tomorrow!

7-2-09 (Morning)

Sitting in the campground (Harris Beach State Park - Outside Brookings, OR) while everybody gets ready.

It was a long day yesterday. A long 4 mile hill with grades up to 7%. We stopped a lot on the way up catching our breath. There were many “smaller” hills. That dreaded “passing lane” sign came up often. The wind was up and in our face most of the time, so down hills were cold and scary. There was a lot of beautiful scenery until the fog rolled in. No point in stopping at all of the view points when you can’t see. Ev asked if we were having fun yet!

We kept in contact with Doug & Jan most of the day. They drove down the coast, stopping to see some sights. We got into camp and they were close behind. It was good to see them. We had dinner and planned our next ride.

I thought we were riding 62 miles today, but I did not count getting to the California border. It’s 7 more miles. We plan to ride the whole way. There are supposed to be a couple of tough climbs. Jan will have our heavy gear and drive in the camper. Plan B is to stop riding at some point and load the bikes on the camper.

We have to stick to our schedule because of reservations.

Our new friend, Pat, is riding down to Santa Cruz from Washington. We have stayed with him the last 3 nights. He is going to use the “Sag Wagon” to carry some of his gear too. He had considered riding only 35 miles today, but after Doug’s offer for Jan to carry some of his gear, he is going for it.

North Bend, OR

We are siting in a coffee place near Coos Bay. Ev has finished her class work. We still have 10 miles and one more steep hill to go.

The ride yesterday was long (65+ miles). There were some climbs, a good fruit smoothie midway, and a great lunch. The last 15 miles we had the wind in our face. Even though we were going down hill, it felt like we were going nowhere fast. We bought dinner makings at a Safeway and rode to camp. It was a great campground. Nine other riders stayed at the site - many going to SF. It was fun to compare stories. we will probably see some of them tonight (if we get there).

The mystery griding is solved (mostly.) We had breakfast, broke camp and headed out. We were looking forward to a light house that supposedly had wi-fi. Every hill the grinding noise got worse. We stopped and I again looked over the bike. I finally wiggled the rear crank and it was loose. I did not have the right size hex wrench, but I used a screw driver. When we got to the next town we found a Napa Auto Parts. They did not have the right size. A guy, who was a mechanic for an engineering contractor told us to go out to his truck. He had the right size and the noise is almost gone.

It is still very windy, but mostly at our backs. We had to walk over the Coos Bay Bridge. It's long and scary, even to walk it. I was riding the brakes even though we were pushing it.

That's it for now. It's 5:30; we still need to ride 10 more miles, find food, and our camp!

In Eugene

We, and the bike made it to Eugene! I am sitting in the lounge of our Bed and Breakfast. We tried to find a simple hotel but everything was booked up. We now know that the national track and field championships are being held here. It's quite a lovely place.

Kendal drove us to the train station and we packed up the bike using two bike boxes telescoped together. A group of five bicyclists rode in from Santa Cruz and arrived around the same time. They were taking the train to Vancouver and planned to ride the entire Pacific Coast Trail to San Diego. Another guy was packing his folding bike into a box, on his way up to see his mom in Portland. I do not think the ticket agent had seen so many bikes in one day and was quite overwhelmed. There was talk of not enough boxes, and if there would be enough room on the train, but everybody (and bikes) made it on.



After boarding the train and stashing our stuff we went directly to the dining car for dinner. We had a small (very small) sleeper cabin. I got the top bunk! I think we slept some. Breakfast in the lounge car, hung around and Ev worked on her paper, I read my Kindle. Lunch, then packed up. Our plan was to exit the train, and I was to run to the baggage car to make sure our bike got off. I got there just as the porter dropped our bike on the ground (he said he was sorry.) Kendal, the bubble wrap worked. No apparent damage. I put the handle bars and peddles on, loaded up and off we went to find the B&B.

The B&B serves breakfast around 8:30AM. We plan to be on the road soon after. Next stop, Florence, OR. 65 miles away and one scary tunnel.

Packing

Tonight we (actually Evelyn) packed. Decisions abound. "Do we really need this? Do we need that? How many of these?" Tomorrow is our last day at work. Ev has to proctor testing most of the day. I will work like crazy until I come to the realization that I will not get everything done. I hope to clean up the bike tomorrow and oil the chain and other parts. Our bike does not have a name. Maybe it should? Hopefully tomorrow night is the calm before the storm. We have lists that we have been steadily crossing things off on. Everything should be ready to go for a early Friday drive to the Bay Area. We get to see the boys and our Kendal. She will take us to the train, help us pack up the bike into a bike box and see us off. Do trains have wireless? Probably not.

The Big Trip

Ev & I will ride from Eugene, Oregon to San Fransisco starting on June 26th. Family and friends can e-mail me and I will send you an itinerary. This trip will be a combination self supported, sag wagon and credit card tour. We will ride about 650 miles in 14 days. The whole trip will last 17 days. Ev will have a computer along so she can keep up with her class and I will blog our progress. We might get a twitter account, but this next week is crazy busy, so we will see. Keep in touch by either e-mail or posting a response to the blogs.

Rob

Our first overnight, self contained trip!

In preparation of our upcoming trip, we did our first self-contained overnight ride. We drove to Filmore, CA and left the car near City Hall. Leaving around 5PM from Filmore, we rode to Oxnard, CA. There was a steady head wind the entire trip. We found our way out of Filmore and rode on Hwy 126. Lots of traffic and pretty noisy - we had to really concentrate on riding. We were carrying almost 6o lbs. of gear for the first time. When riding with the added weight, it did not feel that different. Riding slowly or pushing the bike and you can really feel it.

We got off 126 at Santa Paula to Telegraph Road. After a short ride through the city, we were riding through orchards and commercial flower farms. The sky turned overcast and there was a heavy mist in the air. These were not really ideal riding conditions; my sunglasses were pretty blurry.

We made it to McGrath campground around 7:30PM. We checked in and paid for a hiker/biker site ($5/person) and set up camp. There was one other biker there, but we never saw him until the morning. We really tried to mimic our upcoming trip. Ev had prepackaged a pasta dinner. We had planned to stop for some wine or beer on the way, but always thought there would be one more opportunity. We asked one of the camp hosts if there was a store close and he said there was one about a mile away. We rode over to the store and purchased some wine, crackers, oysters and Nutter Butters. All total, we rode a little over 30 miles (we will average 50 on our trip)

We got back and started cooking our dinner using our head lamps. A large Boy Scout Troop descended on us and started to set up camp. We feared a long noisy night, but did not hear them once after we went into our tent for the night.

The night was wet and uncomfortable. I guess our old and injured bodies are not made for thin thermarests any more (See below for the trip to REI). It was again heavily misting at 2AM.

Breakfast was instant oatmeal and coffee. We got around, packed up and ate. We were out of the campground by 9AM, the required checkout time for the site.

The ride back to Filmore was much better than ride the day before. We had the wind to our backs and no mist. We stopped a couple times for a break or snack. Hwy 126 was again busy but not as bad. Trucks full of lemons sped by and smelled wonderful. We had a rubbing/grinding noise that we never could find the origin of. We were back at the car around 11:30AM. We rode just under 30 miles.

After a quick lunch at a local taco stand we went to see Taylor in Pasadena. We then went to REI and purchased some blow up sleeping pads and other essential items from our list we made. Even though it was a short trip, we learned a lot for the big trip (see next post)

Rob