27 Speeds of Slow

Day Seventy: 8/2/08

2008-08-02T22:05:00.002-05:00

I'll make this quick.

We're Armstrong and Glen without the moon.
Lewis and Clark without the entourage.
Shackleton without the freezing seas.
Marco Polo without the Silk Road.
Hudson without the promise of the Northwest Passage.

We are, of course, none of these things, yet all of of them. But, most importantly, we are done. PeterB and I rolled over the George Washington Bridge ahead of a storm front this morning, and we're camped out in Tribeca with our friend Rob.

I'm drained on a lot of levels right now. Substantial commentary will follow very soon.

Day Sixty-five: 7/28/08

2008-07-28T20:43:00.002-05:00

There's not much to report as of late. We're currently hunkered down in Newark, New York, (not to be mistaken for Newark, New Jersey - although neither locale is very nice), somewhere between Rochester and Syracuse. We spent most of the past two days riding along the Erie Canal. I thought it was pretty cool to be able to ride for so long along what amounts to man-made ditch steeped in so much historical importance, because as we all know the Erie Canal played no small role in establishing New York City as an industrial and larger economic hub that it came to be. I told my twin brother, Brad, that I was riding along the canal last night and he reeled off the chorus of an old song learned in elementary school, the only line I remembered was, "....15 years down the Erie Canal", (although Brad remembered it as 16 years...).

We branched off from the canal route this afternoon and are now following a state bike route - the Bike 5 Route - that runs along state highways with nice shoulders to Albany. Once we get to Albany we're going to get on another state bike route: Bike Route 9 to the City,

We would have made more progress the past two days, but PeterB suffered from a fairly serious mechanical problem yesterday. His rear dérailleur cable snapped and reduced his gearing options to three gears. He rigged a pretty nice fix to keep him going the rest of the afternoon, but we stopped at the first town that had a bike shop, albeit the shop was closed as it was Sunday. Long story short was that we ended early yesterday and left late today because the bike shop didn't open until 10:00 am this morning. To add a bit more drama in the mix, we ran into a relative short but intense downpour that sapped a bitof our energy and spirits this afternoon. As a result we've vowed to regroup tonight,and get out of here early in the morning and pound out a lot of miles tomorrow. We'll definitely get past Syracuse, but I'm not sure after that.

Flickr is kind of screwy right now, so I couldn't upload any pictures as a result. I'll so so as soon as I can.

Day Sixty-three: 7/26/08

2008-07-26T22:55:00.005-05:00

We're back in the USA. PeterB and I rode through nearly 300 miles of Ontario in less than three full days. Ontario was flat so high mileage days were the norm. We stayed at a provincial park last night. I met a family RV camping near us and wound up getting drunk with the father. He just kept handing me beers. Very cheap beers. It made for a rough morning today, but another century was in order.

We met three college-aged people - two girls and a guy - riding from Washington (state) to Burlington, Vermont. We rode with them for a couple of hours and chatted. Two days earlier we stopped and talked with a couple of girls riding west from NYC to Seattle. Both groups mentioned a story that we had been hearing in various forms since North Dakota, namely that there is a 70-something-year-old, recently widowed woman, (we've also heard a variation that involves two women riding together), who is riding across the country alone. We're always told that this woman/women are a day or two ahead or behind us. And we've heard this a few times since North Dakota. And we've never seen this mythical lady. The trio we met today added a wrinkle to this tale: according to them, they had met this woman two days earlier. I still don't believe it.

The group also claimed to have substantiated another bike touring urban legend. We had also heard a story for a quite while involving two older guys. One of the guy leaves their motel in the morning to start his ride, while the other guy stays a bit longer inside. Guy #2 has a heart attack, while guy #1 blissfully unaware of this tragic development rides along all day. Near the end of the day, the cops catch up with him and give him the bad news. Again, we had been told about this at least a month ago. But the three people we met today claimed to have met the unfortunate rider who's riding partner died, and they met him a few weeks ago. I can't and don't believe it.

We crossed over the border today at Niagara Falls. I had never seen the falls before, and it is a really impressive spectacle, especially from the Canadian side of the border, but it was a zoo around there, so we didn't stay around there for very long. Tomorrow we head to Lockport and start heading east along the Erie Canal toward Albany and then south through the Hudson Valley to the City, If things play out the way I think they may, we'll be done by the weekend.

Day Sixty-one: 7/24/08

2008-07-25T12:14:00.001-05:00

*Note, this was drafted last night, so no anonymous commentary is necessary on the date issue....

We made up for lost time yesterday after our foul weather delay. PeterB and I cranked out 100+ miles and made it to the Canadian border. Along the way we ran into a group of a half-dozen college-aged guys heading west along the Northern Tier route. These were not the first people we've seen going west, but they were the first we'd actually talked to. They told us about the strong tailwinds we would get going through Ontario, as they had fought hard headwinds on the way through. Everything I've read about the route indicated that the winds were relatively light, which made me think these guys were going to be miserable once they hit the Dakotas and Montana. Now those were winds. Every other person we had seen riding west through that area, (and they were very rare), looked utterly beat down by the headwinds, and they had no desire to talk with us – who were riding the wind full bore the other way. I'll never understand why some people opt to ride though the Midwest from east to west....

We rode into Ontario on a ferry out of Marine City, Michigan. The river isn't so wide as to prohibit a bridge, but a number of ferries still operate up and down the river, which is nice. There's some romance in riding a ferry no matter how short the trip may be. I think the forced waiting makes the transit and the subsequent destination that much more meaningful. PeterB told the Canadian border agent that he was not carrying any mace with him when asked about it, even though he was, in fact, carrying some with him. Of course, we still got through without any problem. I told PeterB that I wasn't about to go to jail because of his lying ways next time.... (I've heard the Ontario jails are REALLY bad. They make Mexican prisons look like country clubs....)

The geography here is unbelievably flat. It makes Nebraska look downright mountainous. But that made for some really quick riding when we had a tailwind for about half the day. Ontario is, of course, almost indistinguishable from the U.S., but with some noteworthy exceptions. First, a lot of people really do use the non-word, “eh” quite a bit. It's such a bad stereotype, but it's true. Secondly, all distances are listed in kilometers which requires a bit of math in the head to figure them out, (1km=.62mi.!). Lastly, and perhaps this is the most important, the currency is all weird. It's a lot of different colors, and there's a liberal use of coin dollars, (the 'Loony”), and 2 dollar coins (the “Two-ny”). The use of both of these measures makes a lot of sense – as does the use of the metric system – but since we don't use it in America, it feels strange.

The people here are really friendly though – which was not the case in Michigan! PeterB left his wallet at a gas station 15 miles, (or 25km!), from the campground we're staying at. As soon as he realized that his wallet was missing when we arrived at the site, he dumped his stuff and headed back to hopefully find it. Meanwhile a woman who worked at the campsite scoured the phone book, found the gas station and confirmed that his wallet was there, and called her friends who were in a car nearby. The friends picked Peter up about 8 miles away from the campground, put his bike in their truck and gave him a lift to the gas station and back. And to think we're only about 90 miles from Detroit!

If the good weather holds – which it should for at least the next day or two – we'll be in Buffalo, New York on Saturday night or Sunday morning. At that point the plan is to break off from the mapped route we have, which takes us northeast into the Adirondacks, and forge our own route into the city. If everything goes well, we should be there by next weekend. That prospect makes me both very relieved and profoundly sad....

Day Fifty-nine: 7/22/08

2008-07-22T20:15:00.005-05:00

T'was a short day today. We rolled out of Bay City this morning with our eye on reaching Cepac 90 miles to southeast, which would put us within 30 miles of the Canadian border. The Weather Channel was calling on a 60% chance of rain in the afternoon.

All morning we rode with a big front of clouds moving in behind us. We rode past some fields where cucumbers were being harvested. It smelled pretty damn good. We stopped in Caro for lunch and as we ate an ominous looking storm cell rolled in. I voted to take cover in town as there was nothing between Cairo and Cepac, and the last thing I wanted was to get stranded in a storm in the middle of nowhere. So we opted to get a cheap hotel room in town. Sure enough, a nasty storm - complete with hail - rolled through. It seems we made the right choice to stop.

So after eight weeks without riding through a drop of rain, it's been dealing with it for the past three or four days. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, but be clear after that. We'll see if we can make some headway tomorrow.

Day Fifty-eight: 7/21/08

2008-07-21T21:49:00.006-05:00

I dislike a handful of states. For the most part, I typically dislike a state for largely unfounded reasons. One of the states I have always disliked is Michigan. I have always had a negative impression of Michigan, despite never having spent any time there. I imagined Michigan as a bastion of urban decay and crappy weather. And now, having ridden through roughly 200 miles of the state today, I'm sad to report that my suspicions have largely proven themselves to be correct.

After the four hour ferry ride to Ludington, Michigan, PeterB and I were met with muggy and hot weather. We wound up camping at a site near the lake with a couple of guys - Michael and Steve - we hadn't seen since Rugby, ND. Unfortunately, the big thing to do on the weekends when you're from Ludington is to go to the campground with 30 of your friends with hundreds of beers and party until 4:00 when the cops show up because the last men standing decide to pick fights with one another. this all meant little to no sleep for us.

To make matters worse, the roads here are awful. They are by far the worst we've ridden. I understand that the state's economy is enduring a major slump,but these roads have not been maintained for a decade or more.

But more importantly, everything here feels odd. The towns are odd. The insects are odd. The people are odd.

Oh, and the University of Michigan Wolverines play in Ann Arbor. I can't stand them.

Good thing we'll be in Canada at some point on Wednesday.

Day Fifty-six: 7/19/08

2008-07-19T10:46:00.002-05:00

PeterB and I are waiting at the boat terminal, waiting to board the SS Badger for a fun filled afternoon cruising across Lake Michigan. It's lightly raining outside, so we'll likely be holed up inside on the boat with everyone else. Someone told me the boat has Bingo on board and that "it's a lot of fun". Thankfully, there's also a bar on board. I'm not even sure how long the ride is....

At the risk of sounding about as provocative as a high school stoner, I'd like to let you in on a few things I've been mulling over during these seemingly endless hours in the saddle lately. I was talking with my friend, Sack, (clearly not his first name, but he's one of those mentor types so I can't call him by his first name), the other night about our latest travels through northern Wisconsin. I was telling him about how the trees seem to arch over the narrow roads as if they're trying to bridge the gap between them on either side of the road. Sack commented that if given 10 years without human intervention, they'd likely be able to do just that.

The underlying issue at play in conversation was one that I keep dwelling on lately; namely that the idea that humans have significant dominion over nature - an idea that I had pretty much tacitly accepted most of my life - is tenuous at best, or, at worst, entirely an illusion.

It's so easy to think that somehow we, (as in the collective "we"), have figured it out compared to the rest of the animal kingdom, while we fly down a ribbon of smooth asphalt, encased in two tons steel and plastic, with the AC cranked high and radio even higher. We can surf the information superhighway, (like I am now), and drink foamy coffee drinks from Starbucks five times a day. And nature always seems to be just on the other side of a shut window. And, to me, it's easy for me to see why anyone would think this way.

But the reality of the situation is that humans are fooling themselves if they think they control any of this world. The sun can bake us, rain can wash us out, wind can blow us over, and the rest of nature - the rest of the living creatures who have learned to live within the confines of the natural order, as opposed to control it as we do, will continue to go about their business all the same, even if our TVs never flicker on again, or we run out of coal to burn in our power plants. And at some point this will happen.

At the very least, I'm glad that I took this trip because I'm at least coming to grips with the idea that this land is vast - very vast - and largely uninhabited. NYC or LA are big places, but they are mere blips on a much larger radar screen. And that open space, full of flora and fauna, tries, quite successfully to reclaim the areas that we've bulldozed, drilled, and built on. So I'll appreciate the glass towers in the cities that much more now. Because I know that it's only a matter of time before the trees pull them down.

And that's the opening salvo in my unfolding manifesto. I have to get on the ferry.

Day Fifty-four: 7/17/08

2008-07-17T23:30:00.004-05:00

It's late, so I have to make this quick.

I was finally able to update the Flickr stream this evening. There aren't many pictures added to the Minnesota set. I kept the camera in my pocket most of the time in Minneapolis. I mean, who typically walks around and takes pictures of a town he/she already knows well?

We should be on the ferry across Lake Michigan and out of Wisconsin by the end of tomorrow. We've been making our way southeast from the north woods near the Michigan UP border. As with many sections of our trip, we've taken the much longer scenic route. We'll likely ride around 500 miles through Wisconsin when all is said and done, which is far more than we needed to ride. I am, however, very glad that we detoured north. The woods are exceptionally lush and the hills made for some interesting riding.

Once we get into Michigan we'll be making a fairly straightforward shot to NYC. I'm still trying to figure out the route from Buffalo to NYC....

It rained on us all afternoon. Shockingly, this was the first rain we had ridden in since Santiam Pass in western Oregon. Regardless, rain is not much fun to ride in, particularly once it soaks one's shoes, as it did to mine today.

But there's always tomorrow, and with it the hope of no more rain....

Day Fifty-one: 7/14/08

2008-07-15T19:11:00.003-05:00

*Please note i drafted this last night. I still have a relatively proper sense of time...

After a three day stop in Minneapolis PeterB and I have finished our second day in hilly and humid Wisconsin. We rode a little under 90 miles today, but it felt more like 120 miles. We haven't ridden such constantly rolling terrain since California, but the temperature and humidity in Wisconsin is far more severe. We're riding toward the Michigan Upper Peninsula, but are then breaking to the southwest to the western shore of Lake Michigan near Green Bay, where we're taking a ferry across the lake over to Michigan. The route we're taking isn't very direct, but we're pretty much at the mercy of the route maps that me have. We have, however, forged our own shortcuts from time to time, they have typically been for relatively short distances. There's nothing worse than concocting a shortcut, and having the road chosen be a terrible one – bad shoulder, lots of traffic, unnecessary climbing, etc.

The last 10 days or so have been kind of bizarre. We spent our Fourth of July holiday camped on the grounds of the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation Casino. The irony that was present on Independence Day on a reservation need not be further expounded upon, but it was weird nonetheless. PeterB and I attacked the casino buffet with a vengeance. I think we each went four rounds at the buffet. I almost vomited, yet I was hungry 30 minutes later. We missed the fireworks show though. We fell asleep before the show started.

The remainder of North Dakota was a bit trying. There were a few days of bad wind. That, coupled with my deteriorating mental state, (e.g. my rising level of meandering thought processes), made for some long days in saddle.

We made it to Fargo, North Dakota on a particularly hot afternoon. We rode into town parallel to some train tracks. Just as we were getting close to town we were chased down by a train and given a good number of horn shots. Unbeknownst to me, PeterB filmed the exchange. Check it out:

We made good time to Minneapolis, as all you loyal readers already know. We spent three days and four nights in the Cities. I spent that time doing mostly what I typically do with any down time these days: I ate. I slept. I also spent as much time as possible visiting friends. As a result I didn't do much else that would be a good idea such as clean and tune up my bike. I installed a new chain, but the bike remains really dirty – not that most people would think the lesser of me because I ride a dirty bike.

It was strange being back in the Cities. It felt like I still lived there and I acted accordingly, yet nothing could be further from the truth. I don't know when I'll be back there again. I guess it was best to act as though the visit was nothing out of the ordinary.

We're over 3100 miles into the ride, and we have less than 2000 miles to NYC. I start school in five weeks. It's a race to the East Coast at this point.....

Day Forty-seven: 7/10/08

2008-07-11T09:08:00.000-05:00

First and foremost, I apologize for the delay, (assuming any readers are upset that this blog has not been updated lately). I've simply had no reliable access to the internet since Minot, which isn't all that exciting because there are no towns of notable size from there to Minneapolis, with the exception of Fargo. But PeterB and I finally arrived in Minneapolis last night – a place where the internet is quick and plentiful – hence this update.

With a certain sense of guilt I must admit that for the first time on our trip, PeterB and I hitched a ride from a vehicle yesterday. Allow me to explain.... Before starting this trip my friend Marshal, who is currently attending Vermont Law School, agreed to keep an eye out for housing for me in the fall. Earlier this week Marshal called to tell me about some housing options, including a free housing option, that basically amounted to a house-sitting/dog-sitting gig, that I was interested in. On Wednesday(yesterday) morning we woke up in a city park near Parker's Prairie, Minnesota. I received a message from Marshal telling me that he had been in contact with the free housing people, and that they were interested in speaking with me. The only caveat was that they wanted to talk to me on Thursday (today) afternoon. Parker's Prairie is about 150 miles northwest of the Cities, so I was certain we couldn't make it to Minneapolis by the end of the day, but I wanted to be in town on Wednesday night. I needed to be in town on Thursday so I would have reliable phone service. I didn't want to miss a chance at free housing because I couldn't make a call when I needed to. I called my friend Marty in Minneapolis and he arranged to pick PeterB and me up in the evening, which he did about 65 miles outside of the Cities.

I can look at this 65 mile ride in one of two ways: one, even if we make it to the Atlantic Ocean, I cannot honestly say that we rode entirely across the county – that, in effect, we have cheated by piling our bikes in the back of a pickup truck and driving through the suburbs. On the other hand, we passed the 3,000 mile mark yesterday afternoon, (which is a conservative estimate), and after that many hours in the saddle and enduring as much physical and mental exhaustion that I have at certain times, a 65 mile ride is largely insignificant in the overall scheme. I'm not quite sure where I fall on the issue yet. I do feel a twinge of guilt, but I'm not sure I care. The shot at free housing in the fall was too good to pass up, which I am happy to report I am very confident that I have secured. The couple that live in the house are avid bicycle tourists themselves and are gone for much of the winter touring in warmer climates, hence the need for a dog/house-sitter. The arrangement would save me a huge chunk of change, and the house has a sauna. Sweet.

I have to get some sleep, but I'll fill everyone in on the past 10 days and update the Flickr page ASAP....

Day Thirty-nine: 7/2/08

2008-07-02T23:34:00.002-05:00

We're in Minot, North Dakota, pop. a surprising 36,000 or so. I always thought North Dakota was completely barren and devoid of people, but Minot is the second larger town we've been through thus far. The wind has been in our faces for a few days now, but we have still averaged over 100 miles a day for the past six days. I just put my head down, listen to the wind, let strange thoughts come in and out of my head, and pedal away all day. One of the topics mulled over the past few days was the wonderful Kubrick film Dr.Strangelove, and how wonderful it is. So without further ado...

We should be in Minneapolis on Monday.

Day Thirty-six: 6/29/08

2008-06-29T22:47:00.005-05:00

Montana is almost behind us. The North Dakota border is a mere 25 miles to the east of us. This is the fourth consecutive day of 100+ miles ridden, although today was a mere 103 miles. The temperatures climbed into the low 90s today with zero clouds in the sky, but a fairly mild headwind kept me comfortable all day. It wasn't until I stopped riding I realized how hot it was.

Montana is huge - almost 700 miles wide; wide enough to take up an entire time zone. The mountainous west side is radically different than central/eastern side, which reminds me of central/western Nebraska. But it's all Big Sky Country.

I once read, (in a book that I can't remember the title or author), that major milestone in the history of the settlement of the West was the introduction of the phonograph to the area. Before the phonograph's introduction western settlers suffered from a high rate of insanity and suicide. the culprit: constant silence punctuated only by the wind. The phonograph gave settlers the ability to hear something other than the constant wind. As a result, the insanity and suicide rate dropped.

PeterB and I spoke tonight about how our minds are beginning to wander in strange ways during the course of the days in the saddle lately. I find myself going over trivial subjects over and over in my mind until I forget why I was thinking about the subject in the first place. Furthermore, I'm beginning to remember people and events that I've completely forgotten. My mind seems to be engaging in a long-overdue mental spring cleaning as a way to counteract the constant sound of the wind and chain spinning beneath me. And it's weird. Liberating in a way, but weird.

We've been wrestling with some bad mosquitoes for the past few days. We've heard that they're particularly bad up the road. It looks like a DEET bath in morning is in order.

Day Thirty-five: 6/28/08

2008-06-28T22:07:00.003-05:00

The tailwinds dissipated today, and turned into a whirlwind of cross-winds. But PeterB's iron will could not be thwarted, nor even slowed. “Damn the winds” he said in response to my reservations first thing in the morning. “To Glasgow we go”, 117 miles away. And away the fearless rider, PeterB, went, braving whatever elements may come his way. I stayed behin and ground it out in a lower gear, baking in the sun all day. In the end we have averaged 111 miles per day for the past three days, yet it looks like we won't hit North Dakota until Monday. This state is that huge.

A really great thing happened to me yesterday afternoon. I bee flew into my slightly agape mouth at high speed, stung the inside of my bottom lip/cheek and flew off. The sting hurt like hell. I instinctively started to suck on the wound and drew quite a bit of venom out of the wound, which I spit out. Then I sucked the stinger out, which took a while, all while riding my bike. Only then did I stop and take of picture of the stinger for my friends and family to see. The lip swelled up for about a half-hour, but no strange reactions took place afterward.

I rode tight-lipped all day today....

Day Thirty-four: 6/27/08

2008-06-27T15:00:00.003-05:00

Oh what a difference a day and a tailwind makes. Two days ago pulled out of East Glacier at mile marker 210 on U.S. Highway 2. A day and half later we're at mile marker 381, and it looks like we're going to ride at least another 40 miles today. Yesterday we rode 112 miles. PeterB went into cyborg mode - no pain or fatigue - once the west wind started giving him a bit of a boost and the terrain flattened out in a hurry. I rode with him for about 5 minutes yesterday. The remainder of the day he was out of my field of vision. Today hasn't been quite as windy in our favor, but it has picked up a bit since noon.

It's a strange, hypnotic feeling hammering away in your highest gear for hours on end. The sound of the tires running across the pavement and the churning of one's legs, coupled with straddling the never-ending white line can easily lull one into some downright strange daydreams and introspection. Even the slightest variation in the landscape is noticeable, and I find myself focusing quite a bit on those changes.

I finally was able to put up the latest batch of photos on Flickr in its entirety. The Glacier photos were taken on June 24. They're pretty dramatic when compared to the few shots I've taken today....

I met a Swiss guy named Iulian yesterday and rode with him for about 20 miles. He works for Rolex and they gave him a two year sabbatical so he could ride around the world. After 13 months onthe road he's made his way through Europe, South America, Mexico, and is now half-way across the U.S. He was a pretty interesting guy, although he's hoteling it every night. Oh how I wish we could do that....

Day Thirty-two: 6/25/08

2008-06-25T22:36:00.000-05:00

Today we rode around the southern end of Glacier. Out of West Glacier, and we wound up in East Glacier this afternoon. Along the way we tackled our last climb for quite some time: Marias Pass, where the continental divide sits. We stopped to take a couple of obligatory photos while on top. It is, quite literally, all downhill from here. Once we got over the top I was again amazed at how quickly and how radically the topography and climate changed. Going up the pass we were surrounded by dense forest and steep slopes. Going down we were welcomed by barren scrub that's been flattening out markedly. We still have some rollers to go through tomorrow morning, but after that it's flat. Very flat.

I feel as though we're about to enter what is likely the most trying phase of the trip. There's virtually nothing of the kind of interest we're used to for almost 1000 miles. Luckily, the going will be quick as a strong tailwind is expected through eastern Montana and likely North Dakota. I'm hoping to log more than a few 100+ milers during this stretch. I just hope it doesn't get too hot....

The wireless connection I'm using right now is infuriatingly slow. As a result, the Flickr uploading is accordingly delayed. I took a bunch of photos at Glacier that I want to get up ASAP. Sorry about the delay.

Day Thirty-one: 6/24/08 Cont.

2008-06-25T22:33:00.001-05:00

I changed my mind. We went into Glacier and set up camp at the Sprague campground about ten miles in from the West Glacier entrance. We rolled in at around 4:00 p.m., so I ate a little bit food, dropped all my gear, and headed up Going to the Sun Road to see how far I could get.

I've been hearing about Going to the Sun/Logan Pass being closed for over a week now. When I checked the Glacier NP website it showed that the plows on either side of the pass were within a half-mile or less of each other, yet they barely moved closer from day to day. I spoke to a ranger today and found out why. That last half-mile – a section of the pass aptly known as Big Drift - was buried in 60 feet of snow. 60 feet. Furthermore, a federal contractor was up on the west side of the pass tearing up a mile long section near the plows. Ironically, the road's 75th anniversary celebration is this coming weekend, yet no one can get over the pass. Such is the way....

I got on my bike and started charging up the hill, while PeterB opted for a more sensible nap. We had already ridden 60 miles today, so I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to ride up the pass myself. I took my headlight and some warm clothes just in case. Some people had told me that the road was open another six miles past where we were camped. That turned out to be half-true. After six miles, at another campground named Avalanche, (why would one sleep at a place named after icy death), the road closed to all vehicular traffic, but continued to stay open to bicycle and hiker traffic.

I had a run-in with a bear about a half-mile before getting to Avalanche. I was plugging along and I heard a noise to my right. I looked over, and there was a black bear about 40 feet away near the side of the road. My heart skipped a beat and I instantly went into fight or flight mode. I had no bear mace with me, and worse, I couldn't tell if it was a black bear or a Griz. Luckily for me the bear was even more spooked of me, and he turned and hauled ass up the ridge. I'm pretty sure it was a black bear because it wasn't that big and ran away quickly, but still....

Once I made it through the closed road gates I had the whole road to myself, save the occasional road crew truck tooling up or down the road at 25mph. It was great being ab;e to ride all over the road, and stop where ever I wanted to. I even pissed in the middle of the road just because I could. Anyhow, the road continued for at least another eight miles or so. I got to the steep grade and trudged up to near the base of the one and only switchback on the pass. I was getting pretty excited because I was really starting to gain some good altitude, when I rounded a corner and came up to a road closed to all traffic sign placed seemingly arbitrarily in the road. Bummer. I sat there for a while drinking some water and taking a breather when I road crew truck came up the road and stopped. I asked theguy in the cab how much further the road went before the construction and plowing was going on. He told me about another five miles up. I asked him if he would drive me up there just so I could see the operation. He said he could loose his job if he did that. I asked him how much that was worth to him. He laughed and shook his head. And so began the fast downhill about 15 miles back to camp.

I'm glad I took the ride though. The park is simply stunning – even more so when I was traveling down a road that wasn't clogged with 30 foot RV's and SUV's full of half-bored kids. It sounds cliché and more than a bit new age, but it really was an almost magical experience zipping up the hill almost silently on a bike, surrounded by titanic mountain features. Anyone who's been here before can attest to the feeling at least a little bit.

Tomorrow we leave the same way we came in and starting the one, maybe two day ride around the southern edge of the park along US Highway 2. I've been told that US 2 provides a fairly scenic ride anyhow, but I still wish I would have ridden over Logan Pass.

Day Thirty-one: 6/24/08

2008-06-24T14:19:00.003-05:00

Quick update: we're about ten miles from Glacier National Park. Unfortunately, it looks like Going to the Sun Road/Logan Pass is still closed near the top, which means we're going to bypass the park to the south, (Going to the Sun Road is the only road through the park). I'm pretty bummed because I was really looking forward to that climb.... Who knew the park was going to get a huge snow storm in mid-June?

Day 28: 6/21/08

2008-06-21T22:38:00.015-05:00

PeterB and I decided to take an off day today in Missoula, Montana. We've been riding for well over two weeks in the mountains without a day off, and my body (and I'm sure PeterB's as well), was getting pretty sore. We slept in until around 10:00a.m, which is extremely late for us these days and PeterB is currently in the middle of an hour+ long nap.

We rode over Lolo Pass on the Idaho-Montana border yesterday morning and rolled the 40 miles downhill with a headwind into Missoula in the afternoon. I made a quick film of the initial steep downhill complete with melodramatic hollering. The film doesn't do a good job of capturing how quick we're going but all I know is it was well over 35 miles an hour.

Missoula is the first stop that could be considered a real city since Eugene. Big box retailers have rarely looked so appealing, and we made visits to REI and Target. The sterile, predictable environment of these places are a bit marked after dealing almost exclusively with mom & pop establishments and greasy spoons for the past two weeks. I even visited three farmers' markets this morning within walking distance of our motel – the Bel Aire Motel – although as far as farmers' markets go, they were subpar.

We're on schedule to be in Glacier NP by Monday or Tuesday. Logan Pass/Going to the Sun Road is currently closed about 2/3 of the way up due to exceptional snow coverage on top. he park typically opens the road to cyclists for about a week before it's opened to vehicular traffic. The opening date is still up in the air, but I'm hoping that we'll hit the opening for cyclists. If not, we'll be forced to go around the park to the south, which would be unfortunate because I was really looking forward to riding Going to the Sun Road. It's a huge climb, but the views are well worth that climb.

Starting tomorrow PeterB and I will be riding without two guys that we've been leapfrogging and/or riding with since western Oregon over two weeks ago. We met a guy, Anthony, at a bike shop, (the only bike shop), in Florence, Oregon. He was just starting a solo cross-country ride via the Trans-Am route which goes to Missoula and then breaks southeast toward Wyoming and Colorado. Anthony had just graduated from THE Ohio State University, wasn't as experienced a rider as PeterB or I, and was a bit under prepared out of the gate. Most nights, however, Anthony would roll into a campsite a while after us, and would be raring to each morning. He found out that he had been accepted to Medical School the evening after the crappy Santiam Pass climb. Since then, he found out that he had no choice but to abort the majority of the ride in order to have a series of vaccinations administered before classes start. So Anthony is dropping out here at Missoula, and he is taking a Greyhound back to Ohio.

And then there is Jim.... Jim is a 55 year-old high school math teacher from Cincinnati, who, like Anthony, is in the midst of a solo TransAm ride. We met Jim in the snow on the way up Santiam Pass and have ridden with him most days since then. Jim is a real outdoor enthusiast, and has a ton of experience riding, hiking, and camping. He taught me a lot of little tricks and gave me a ton of valuable advice without even knowing it. But more importantly, he has a kind of enthusiasm for what he's doing that's infectious, and he's made my experience a lot better overall. Jim has been maintaining a very good blog on a cycle touring website. I'm adding a link to his blog. It's worth checking out - not only because there's a lot of references to PeterB and I, but because it's updated daily,and gives a good account of what the day-to-day routine typically is on a trip like this.

I'll miss Anthony and Jim, but we'll most certainly continue to meet good riders on the road.

It's supposed to rain a bit tomorrow morning, but then it's predicted to continue to be sunny for the remainder or the week. Once we get east of the Rockies we should have a nice tailwind and that means high-mileage days. We could be in Minneapolis within two weeks....

Check out the Flickr link if you're so inclined. I added all the Idaho photos, and started a Montana set.

Day Twenty-four: 6/17/08

2008-06-17T23:38:00.004-05:00

Today did not go so well. Due to a perfect storm of circumstances we were forced to ride 90+ miles today in the face of a really strong headwind through Little Salmon River and Salmon River canyons in Idaho. It's strange when you have a fairly steep downhill grade ahead of you, yet you have to grind hard in a smallish gear just to keep moving forward due to the wind. It doesn't help that the pannier bags straddling either side of the bike act as a gigantic sail to catch the wind.

To make matters worse, I suffered two flat tires in the span of about ten minutes. There's something fishy going on with my front tire; a lot of mystery flats, but with no discernible source. I bought a backup in Baker City, just to be on the safe side. Good thing I did.... There's also something weird going on with my left hand. For some reason it's been going really numb due to the pressure of being on the handlebar all day, and it's now left virtually worthless off the bike as well. My wrist has swollen up and I can't even manipulate utensils very well. It's as though I have a hook hand.... The next rest day in Missoula should help that out.

We've been leapfrogging a group of college students from Simpson College, a California school with a serious Christian bent to it, for the past week or so. They're riding to Memphis to raise money for "African wells". They're nice people, but they're cheaters. They have a SAG wagon, (I've never been absolutely sure about what SAG stands for, but I think it's Support And Gear - anyway it's a van pulling a trailer full of food and sleeping/camping gear etc.). They carry NOTHING with them, yet we almost always pass them on the road. It's weird. The Iron-legged PeterB goes so far as to toy with them on the road; letting them catch up to him and then he darts away. They're goal is noble, but I have to ask: would Jesus have a SAG wagon? No.

Tomorrow, we tackle what looks to be the biggest climb on the ride thus far. The good news is, we're camped right at the base of it tonight, so we can work our way up in the morning when it's cool.

We've been in Idaho for two days now, and should only be here for another three days. The landscape is incredibly beautiful, (I don't have the camera with me right now to attach pictures, and I maxed out the free Flickr account. I'll rectify that situation soon.), but the people area bit odd. The Adopt-a-Highway litter control was sponsored by 'Yahweh's 666 Warning Assembly" for about 10 miles today. Really? Is this how you're going to warn me about Satan? By picking up garbage on the side of the road? The caretaker of the park we're staying at tonight told us that he knew for a fact that noted conservative radio host Michael Savage was Allen Ginsburg's gay lover back in the day. Why he told us that was unclear.

I'm exhausted right now, but very happy nonetheless. We've had a run of great weather for the past week and it looks likes it's going to continue for the foreseeable future. We also continue to meet good and interesting people, including other touring cyclists, and others who simply offer encouragement and advice. It's been nice thus far.

I'll work on getting more pictures posted soon....

Day Twenty-one: 6/14/08

2008-06-14T19:23:00.003-05:00

Quick post today. The laptop is running low on batteries. We're in Baker City, OR. Almost to the Idaho border. There's a motorcycle rally going on here this weekend; a lot of old fat guys thinking they look tough in chaps. They don't. We climbed two passes today, with hundreds of motorcycles wizzing by. Right after cresting the second pass, Sumpter Pass, there was a guy layed out on the pavement, evidently he had been launched from his bike. He was alive, but moaning a lot. Exhibit D as to why motorcycles have deservedly been given the nickname Graveyard Ponies.

Check out the Flickr stream for some new photos, including some new ones of Santiam Pass.

One other thing: we passed the 1000 mile mark yesterday or the day before. It's hard to tell considering that neither of us have cycling computers, so that mark is fairly conservative. I wouldn't doubt it if we were closer to the 1100 or 1200 mile mark....

Day Seventeen: 6/10/08

2008-06-11T01:11:00.003-05:00

Quick post tonight. We rode over Santiam Pass today. We left in the rain around 9:00. A few hours later at around 3000 feet the rain turned to snow, and so it stayed for the remainder of the climb up to 4700 feet... on June 10. PeterB had the camera and was only able to reel off one shot during the climb. It was so cold that if we stopped for more than a minute or two, all the sweat on our clothes would cool off and chill us badly. The climb kept up us warm with all the activity, but once we crested the pass the downhill was awful.

Without heat generated by pedaling we became wet, cold windsocks on the way down. We wound up pulling into some hoity-toity restraunt at the bottom on the climb to keep our fingers and toes tact. Lucky for us the staff was really accomdating and loaded us us with tea and soup while we dried our gear off near a fire. A huge thanks goes out to the waiter, Andy, who went out of his way for us.

After that we made it into the high desert climate of central Oregon. It was sunny and arid. Go figure. After nearly an entire week of rain on the coast, I think we're finally going to stay dry for a while.

Day Sixteen: 6/9/08

2008-06-10T20:37:00.002-05:00

Greetings From Belknap Hot Springs, Oregon. After a 60 mile ride with a steady 1000 foot elevation gain, PeterB and I are perched at the edge of our first major climb of the Cascades. Santiam Pass peaks at a little over 4,700 feet, which is 3,700 higher than where we are right now. The good news is the climb is spread out over 25 miles so it won't be too steep. The bad news is that Santiam Pass adds about 10 extra miles of climbing over the pass we were originally going to take: MacKenzie Pass. It's been so abnormally cold in Oregon this spring that MacKenzie Pass is still closed with 200% snowpack, with no opening date in sight.

PeterB and I have been joined by new travelling partner. We met a guy, Anthony, at a bike shop in Florence, just as we were about the head inland off the coast. Anthony is a recent graduate of THE Ohio State University, and was embarking on a solo ride to Virginia via the TransAmerican Route. Since we're now riding the TransAm Route to Missoula he asked if he could ride with us and of course we said sure. He's not in shape yet, and he's riding some questionable equipment – PeterB had to fix his chain that snapped on the second day because he wasn't carrying a chain breaker – so we've spent a fair amount of time waiting for him these past few days. Anthony is riding with much less gear than either of us, so it's only a matter of time before he's kicking our asses up the hills.

The change in access to state campgrounds and facilities between our time on the coast and now as we travel inland is marked. The whole time we rode up the coast we would come across at least four state park campsites a day that charged $3 a night, and most of them had shower facilities on site. Now that's all gone, and it's been replaced by a lot of chintzy private campsites that charge an arm and a leg for the privilege of sleeping near a body of water, (hopefully not too stagnant), and a picnic table. It's not necessarily bad, but it's just not anywhere near as nice as the options we had while on the coast.

PeterB bought a new camera the other day when we got into Eugene, so new pictures will be forthcoming. It's too bad though, because missed out on a lot of good photo ops while we had no camera....

PeterB and I stayed at a hostel in Eugene where we met a very friendly couple from Ireland, and a couple of Swiss girls. Otherwise, all the Americans there were weirdos. We stayed up too late with our new foreign friends and talked about how very different the U.S. is from anywhere else in the world. There were many drinks had by all and a good number of “fookin' 'ell”s uttered from Irish lips. It was great....

Now it's time to rest up for the big climb tomorrow.

By the way, in case you haven't noticed, I've added a link to a Flickr photo stream with most of the photos that have been taken during the trip. Check the upper left hand corner of the blog.

Day Twelve: 6/5/08

2008-06-05T22:52:00.004-05:00

Right now PeterB and I are hunkered down in a seedy motel, Captain John's Motel, in Charleston, Oregon after riding through the rain this afternoon. I've hung some lines in the room. Tents, sleeping bags, clothes are hung everywhere to air out overnight. It doesn't smell too good. We're about 60 miles south of Florence, so we have to make a break for it tomorrow rain or shine so I can get the mail drop before the post office closes for the weekend.

Bad news: the camera died the other day, so there won't be any pictures a new camera is secured. If anyone has any recommendations regarding a relatively cheap, quality point-and-shoot, they would be recommended.

PeterB and I have been playing leapfrog with two guys and a girl for the past four days. They're headed to Seattle, and then one of the guys is riding east through southern Canada. It's been nice getting to know them. I sat around a fire with them last night, had a few drinks, and ate some of their hippie food. The differences between Midwestern and West Coast sensibilities are subtle but marked, and it made for a lot slight disconnects.

But for now, I'm going to take a shower and hope everything is dried out in the morning. Awesome.

Day Ten – 6/3/08

2008-06-05T19:00:00.004-05:00

We finally made it into Oregon yesterday. We've been averaging a shade over 50 miles a day, but that includes a few half days, so I'm not too disappointed with the average. After nine days of riding, we decided to take a rest day today. I'm not sure whether that was a good or poor decision, because it rained fairly had last night and effectively forced to stay put. Anyone who has spent more than a couple of hours holed up in a tent can attest to the strange pace life takes in tent filled with all of one's smelly gear and reading a paperback in the gray light filtered through the tent. The rain has since let up and we've dried out all our gear.

Upon arrival at the campsite last night, we met a noteworthy guy, Art, who was in the midst of a “peacewalk”, (I put in quotes because I'm not sure peacewalk is an actual noun), from Mexico to Canada. I couldn't quite figure out how walking actually promotes peace – he did give PeterB and I stickers – but I was impressed by his level of commitment. I asked him if he was going into Vancouver, to which he replied, “I can't go into Canada”. I was not surprised by that.

We spent the good part of the last three days in Humboldt County, and here are my observations regarding this almost mythical place: it's a very beautiful county with some stretches of stunning coastline and incredibly majestic old growth Redwood tree stands. It was certainly unlike any place I've ever been to. On the flip side of the coin, there were a lot of odd things going on in those woods. We rode though some fairly remote sections of the forest and I saw a truck that had recently been obliterated by shotgun fire, dead animal skins on the side of the road that had obviously been skinned by human hands, and tons of heavily gated properties – which from what I could see were usually little more than a shack, a trailer or two on blocks and ALWAYS a rusted out old VW microbus in the weeds. I'm not sure how active the hippie weed growing core still is, but we saw a number of 'hydroponic and gardening' supply shops. One other thing of note: in the 18-35-year-old male demographic there were two extremes with almost no permutation. 1) Most guys drove full sized, often Diesel, pickup trucks with huge mudder tires on them, (although there was little evidence that anyone needed them). In this day of high gas prices it was no small wonder that anyone, much less almost every young guy would drive these things, or 2) Dreadlocked and/or overalled hemp patchuli -smelling guy who drives an old Mercedes diesel, (converted to bio-diesel now). No in between that I saw......

We've decided to make a break eastward toward Eugene once we get to Florence, OR, about 175 miles north of here. The headwinds have been fairly brutal and we both figured we'd have a better time riding when the winds are helping up going east as opposed to hindering us going north. The new route will take us to Missoula, MT, were we'll head a little further north to hook up with our original route. The new maps should be in Florence for us to pick on Friday.

Some German tourists are trying to ask me something. I have to go....

Day Seven: 5/31/08

2008-05-31T16:24:00.005-05:00

We're at a diner about 30 miles south of Eureka right now. Unfortunately, there's not any time to write anything substantial. We rode about 80 miles yesterday, with about 3000 feet of climbing. We rode into the Humboldt Redwood Forest State Park in the afternoon and camped under some seriously big trees. Here's some photos of the past few days. More later. We have to get out of here. the headwinds are really nasty today.

Fast Forward to Day 4: 5/28/08

2008-05-28T23:12:00.008-05:00

I've learned a lot of things these past few days, many of the lessons gleaned were done so the hard way. A lot of stupid little mistakes, and miscalculations as to my fitness level coming into this ride, and the sheer force of the chilly northern headwinds had me feeling pretty nervous after the second and third days. I was fearful that my calculations had been seriously misplaced and that we, (or I more specifically), wouldn't come close to making it to Seattle, much less to New England and beyond. Today, those fears were somewhat allayed. PeterB and I just came off the road after 70+ miles off rolling terrain, and none the worse for wear. He's still making me look foolish overall, but the time margins separating us have been greatly diminished. More importantly, I'm getting into shape fairly quickly. My legs feel much stronger and my endurance on climbs has greatly increased.

Anyhow, another thing I miscalculated was how sparse WI-FI connectivity would be along the way. In a way, it's not so surprising considering there's not a city along the west coast for San Fran to Seattle; it's basically sleepy hamlets and defunct fishing villages.

We have, however been lucky to have some nice weather the past few days. Yesterday was absolutely spectacular. We left camp in Bodega Bay to sunny skies and serious ocean vistas to our left.

It was pretty much cow county up through there, which is kind of nuts. The cows run free on these cliff sides with incredible views, but they're too dumb to appreciate it.

I guess it's better and parceling the land and developing the entire coast.

Today was overcast the entire day, but it helped to keep us cool on the climbs throughout the day.

The rate at which one cools off when one stops after riding is marked and quick, so we kept the stops brief.

Overall the sheer number of hills and the steepness of some of them are pretty surprising to me. I always had assumed the coast was relatively flat. Obviously, I was wrong. In two days we're tackling the biggest climb so far. I think it will go much better than the major climb on the first day, but still....

By the way, I'm writing this in Mendicino,CA. Don't come here unless you want spend money. EVERYTHING is expensive here....

5/25/08 Day 1: San Fran to Mt. Tamalpais

2008-05-26T16:41:00.005-05:00

PeterB got the itch to start moving. In his words, “I'm kinda sick of this neighborhood.” And so it began. Carnival was going on in the Mission today, and the parade route went right in front of his place. The sights of scantily clad women and the sounds of free spirited drums permeated PeterB's home while we double checked and packed everything. We left as soon as the parade was winding down around noon.

PeterB concocted a nice plan whereby we would not ride very far today and use tonight as a kind of test run for all the gear. The campground we selected to stay at was in Mt. State Park, and a mere six or seven miles off the marked route on the map. Once we rode over the Golden Gate Bridge It didn't take very long to figure out why the campground wasn't on the route. We endured a 1500 foot climb in under six miles to get up to the park. For those who are not topographically inclined, that's a steep climb. Walking it would have been a pain, but it's whole other world of pain dragging up 80 pounds of bike and gear with you.

PeterB tackled the climb like a champ. He just hammered away and left me in the dust. The lack of significant training for me this spring was clearly on display today and I hacked away all afternoon. In the end we made it though, which is good because it's a long downhill back to the route in the morning, and we'll only hit one other comparable climb in California. It was a rough opening act, but my heart didn't explode, so I feel like that's a good sign....

2008-05-25T02:27:00.006-05:00

It's been a fun 72 hours in San Francisco thus far. This is the first time I've ever been here, and like most people who have visited, I find this town to be great. I'm certainly not illuminating much to most people reading this, but it's fairly arresting how different, (insert any number of adjectives here: liberal, relaxed, stoned, etc.), this area is compared to the places I've lived. Most markedly, the general puritanical aspects of New England were glaring as soon as I walked around here for five minutes. That's not to say that the East Coast, or the Midwest are somehow deficient, but the the moral code of conduct is far less rigid here. Then again, this is nothing new or insightful to most people reading this. I should best leave it at saying that I have finally experienced this new perspective.

I've been pretty busy dealing with a lot of loose ends around here since landed here on Wednesday night. UPS smashed up my bike badly enough to destroy my rear dérailleur and bend the hanger to where I couldn't mount the rear wheel into the dropouts. I took it to a good shop and they fixed the problem, but had to torch the hanger to bend it back into place. I'm going to file a claim with UPS for the cost of the parts and repairs, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

The reassembly of the bike beyond that was relatively painless.

I saw my old friend from Nebraska, Sam, on Friday night and all day Saturday. Sam plays drums in a number of (mostly jazz) bands around here, and he was playing a gig at a small gallery space. PeterB and I went with and drank a lot of beer while a bunch of people packed into an adjacent gallery to look at some terrible diorama "art". While we were at this art event I got a call from Rebekah, a friend from my college days in Vermont, and who I hadn't seen since graduating six years ago. She happened to be right down the street, and came over. I wound up drinking tea and shooting the shit with her at her place for a while, which was great. She's one of the people in my life that lives life mush ore differently than most everyone else I know, and it makes for a refreshing perspective.

I woke up at PeterB's this morning with Sam sleeping on the floor. He was bummed and grumbled all day about how he had "blown it" with some girl the night before. I called the Whaaaambulance for him....

I went to a farmer's market with Rebekah and a friend of her's, and loaded up on food stuffs for the ride. It was a fairly substantial walk, over some steep hill I can't remember the name of. She showed me a few cool places, including the house she was born in, which kind of put the zap on me because I've only seen the house I was born in once, and that was for about 30 seconds.

I've been eating a lot of good food here, which is not hard to say because the food in Minneapolis and Vermont is generally terrible. I'm been eating a ton of Mexican food, and some Asian food thrown in, including a Vietnamese place we went to for lunch today. It was good. Really good.

Carnival in Mission is tomorrow and the parade goes right in front of PeterB's place. I was hoping to start the ride in the morning, but given the chaos that's sure to be abound, we've decided to compromise. We're going to head out over the Golden Gate Bridge in the afternoon and set up camp fairly close to the city in order to make a good test run of the gear and then set out in earnest on Monday morning. We're pretty much completely packed and ready to go. I'm itching to get out on the road and start putting on some serious miles....

Starting From the Wrong Side

2008-05-22T02:42:00.000-05:00

I'm drafting this entry while on the flight to San Fransisco, (San Jose to be precise). I'm not a good flier. The first leg of the flight, Hartford to DC, was awful: a tiny shuttle plane with a ton of turbulence. This flight has been much better thus far.

The trip from Nebraska to New England was a blur. While in Nebraska my parents celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary. That seemed like a pretty big number to me. Otherwise, I did yard work with my mom, while dad rode around on his lawn mower acting as though it were some kind of chariot. I left my parents' homestead in Lincoln – which, by the way, was experiencing wonderful weather without the usual attendant bugs – around 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. The next thing I knew I was watching the sun rise east of Cleveland. I figure I'll be taking in my surroundings on a much more intimate level by the beginning of next week, so the hasty travel was no big loss.

I made it into southern Vermont on Monday afternoon. I stopped by the home of a couple of friends in Marlboro, VT, Megan and Mark, but they weren't home. I wound up heading to Brattleboro, and running into them at the food co-op while I was staring at my feet and hoping the ground would quit feeling as though it was moving. They had me come up to their place, fed me great food, a few beers and gave me their couch to sleep on. I don't remember too much. I know I enjoyed myself and probably said a lot of strange sleep-deprived things to them.

I went up to the booming metropolis of Waterville, Vermont, pop. nil, to drop my belongings off at another friend's, Marshall, home, about 30 miles south the Canadian border. When I had originally bought my plane ticket, I was assuming that Marshall would accompany me to the airport in Hartford and then drive my car back up to his place. That assumption turned out to be erroneous. Marshall had, after finishing his first year of law school, taken his wife and two daughters to the shores of sunny North Carolina on little more than a whim a few days before I go there. I got into his house, stashed my stuff and started trying to figure out ways to get to Hartford the next day (today). Luckilly, Megan was kind enough to take time off from work, and a picnic she had put together for her co-workers, and take me to the airport AND let me stash my car in Southern Vermont until Marshall can pick it up at some later date. So I haven't even ridden a mile on this trip yet and I'm indebted to a couple of friends already. Thanks again Megan, Mark, & Marshall. I'd really be behind the 8-Ball without your help.

While I was at Marshall's last going through a bunch of gear, I finally confirmed a bonehead move I had been suspecting ever since I got to Nebraska. I bought a bike rack that fit on the trunk of my car, and loaded my track bike, (which I am not taking on the ride), and a wheelset onto the rack. The bike had the pair of pedals that I was going to take on the ride mounted on it. When I was leaving Minneapolis, I noticed that the bike was swaying a bit from the wind. I pulled over and also noticed that one of the pedals was rubbing against one of the wheels I also had on the rack. I got my multi-tool, took the pedal in question off, promptly put the pedal and multi-tool on the road, got in my car, and drove off. Stellar. Now I'm out a set of pedals and a multi-tool that I love. Both will be replaced quickly, but it certainly doesn't instill confidence.....

I'm looking forward to landing in San Fran. I've never been there, and have heard nothing but good things about the place. There's a ton to do before we leave, but I'm lookingforward to seeing some old Marlboro College friends and Sam the Ospovat who all live in the bay area now, (although I'm pretty sure Sam is moving to Paris soon. That must be rough). Now I'm going to tap into the whiskey the stewardess placed in front of me.

Rocco "The Dog"

2008-05-17T22:31:00.004-05:00

I think maybe Rocco has been getting a little too accustomed with the atmosphere in the Mission. I found him like this after I came home and he said, "despite all my rage I am still just a doggy in a cage."

I didn't think I would have to cage him for a quick walk with M and A - sure enough he drank my beers, ate my bmx helmut, ate my morph pump for the tour and gnawed apart a patch kit for the tour. Still, he crosses his paws like he's some kind of intellectual (and puts on my hat).

They didn't teach him that at the academy.

Holding Pattern

2008-05-16T23:31:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was (finally) my last day at work. After a little more than two years writing briefs and prepping trials, it's admittedly a bit hard to come to grips with the idea of not having a job for some time, or even knowing what that job might be. In the end there's obviously some things I'll miss about working at the firm, and there are a number of things I'll miss about working in criminal defense. I was lucky to have been able to work with a good friend of mine, Kevin, at the firm, and I realize the odds of something like that happening again are nil. On the other hand it was becoming increasingly more difficult to see the same six people every work day.

The Minneapolis Wednesday Night CC Club regulars (and a number of not-so-regulars) and I got together this past week, and it turned into a little informal going-away party. A good time was had by most, if not all. Here's a picture of me about ready to give into peer pressure, (while Marty looks with an almost inappropriate gaze into the camera):

I will certainly miss the Wednesday night CC Clubs. They were undoubted the click of the metronome that focused my weeks.

After a long night driving back to Nebraska yesterday, I spent the day unpacking and re-packing -- which is almost becoming a hobby for me -- and squaring away some loans for law school. Fun. Unfortunately I don't have the time to see any friends while I'm here, but the weather's been nice so I'm dedicating my labor to my mom tomorrow as a belated Mother's Day present. I'm not sure when the next I'll see my parents is, so it's obviously nice to spend some time with them.

I'm headed out to Vermont with all of my belongs on Sunday, with an ETA of Monday evening. The drive out East will give me a lot of time to mull over every hypothetical scenario for failure on this bike trip imaginable. So to fight this wall of doubt I will likely soon face, I present to all of us a message of hope, glory, and sweet fighter jets. Ready to get psyched?

P.S. Does anyone know whether or not Tom "Maverick" Cruise was a Scientologist when this movie was shot? I ask because those F-14s look an awful lot like the "spaceships" L. Ron Hubbard wrote about (and illustrated) in his Scientology texts....

This may be one of the best or one of the worst videos ever.

2008-05-12T19:11:00.002-05:00

I happen to think this video is great, largely for one reason alone: PeterB used to ride freestyle bikes all the time. I always thought it was cool. I gave it a try from time to time, but I never developed to balance and coordination like he did. Anyhow, I like this video because it's a nice example of how bikes could or would work themselves into a Lynch film.

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

Updated Map

2008-05-12T01:33:00.002-05:00

View Larger Map

This map reflects the likely route from San Fran to Bar Harbor, Maine. I haven't included the route from Maine to NYC, largely because I don't know what that route is. We'll push toward Gotham if time permits, but at this point I'm operating under the assumption that it won't.

Bad Pictures of a Half-Assembled Bike

2008-05-10T10:32:00.009-05:00

I tried to avoid posting the few pictures that have been taken of my bike. I don't own camera, (PeterB will be bringing his on the trip), but I rattled a few off about a month ago on a friend's while I was taking shots of stuff to sell on eBay. As you'll see, the pictures aren't very good. The bike is is in a state of mid-assembly, and the pics aren't action shots like PeterB's photos. But my brother's marked enthusiasm for pictures of bikes has been noted, so I'll finally post what I have:

This is my Surly Long Haul Trucker. As the name implies in an overtly hip way, it's built around a touring frame. Unlike PeterB, I opted to build it largely from scratch. The frame is manufactured so that the smaller sizes accept 26"(MTB) wheels, and the larger sizes take 700c (traditional road) wheels. Mine happens to be a 54cm which makes it the biggest frame size to have the 26" wheels. This makes the bike look a little funny at first glance and means that PeterB and I will have to keep different cadences from each other in order to maintain the same speed out on the road. (His bike takes the larger 700c wheels which affects his gearing relative to mine - it's really not worth delving into.)

I opted for Surly front and rear racks, which are heavier than other options, but I like having a platform to store gear on both the front and rear rack. I also went with antiquated frictionless downtube shifters a la 1975. I want to focus more on simplicity and durability at the expense of any perceived benefits of newer, more complex technology. I'm the kind of guy wh0 would go crazy if the indexing got knocked out of whack in the middle of nowhere. I added SKS fenders which are nice but are fitted for 700c wheels, (a lot of bike shops who carry SKS fenders will tell you the P50 model will fit both 700c and 26" wheels just fine. This is a lie), so they don't look as pretty as I'd like, but I've decided to stick with them because the correct model isn't sold in the States and costs a fortune from Europe due to the weak dollar. I also have a Brooks leather saddle which is really nice. It's not completely broken in yet, so that should be fun for the first week on tour.

The panniers are made by a Canadian company, Arkel. They're the Cadillac of bicycle panniers - what a lofty title.... and they're huge. Huge enough to where I don't plan on using a handlebar bag.

I'll write more about the gear that's being stashed in the panniers later, because I know my brother, Brad, will want to see pictures of it all. Brad likes pictures. Lastly, I have to put out a huge 'thanks' to Jeff Frey who got me a sweet deal on the frame and racks. His generosity helped in a lot of ways when I was putting the bike together. So, thanks again Jeff.

Hectic....

2008-05-10T00:42:00.007-05:00

It has been a hectic month since I penned the inaugural entry on for this blog. A lot of wheels have been put into motion on a number of fronts.

First, I committed to attending law school at the bucolic Vermont Law School this coming fall. I'm excited to be headed back to school. Orientation begins the 18^th of August, so the deadline on this trip is pretty much set in stone. I hope that I can successfully make the transition from a bicycling vagabond to engaged student come Labor Day.

With the decision of school come the usual attendant headaches. School loans, arranging housing, (which is surprisingly difficult as the law school, like most things in Vermont, is in a relatively remote area), administrative forms. The twist for me is that many of these decisions will likely be made while I'm on the road. I'm sure everything will be ironed out in time for me to sit for classes, but it's already added another significant dimension to my life this summer.

I moved out of my apartment at the end of April in an effort to save a few bucks during my last two weeks in Minneapolis. May 15 is my last day of work so I've been couch hopping this past week. Luckily I have friends here that a) are gone a lot so I've been able to house/dog sit most of the past week, and or b) can stand me enough to not mind seeing my mug on the couch first thing in the morning. It's been pretty good all-in-all, but living out of a suitcase really puts a zap on one's usual routine. Then again, that's exactly what I'm going to be doing for the next three months.

I've been putting together a google map outlining the likely route for the trip. I've been working on it off an on when I've has time. I got a bit OCD with the level of detail after a while, so the map isn't complete yet. Here's what I have so far:

View Larger MapI'll finish it up as soon as I can...

Lastly, I just bought an Asus eee laptop for the trip this evening. I'm typing on it right now, in fact. It really is an amazing little machine. 4GB solid state hard drive, 7” screen, Linux OS, and it weighs in at 2lbs. It's about the size of my mom's old calculator from the 80s. It's really only good for office applications, wireless internet connectivity and storing photos, which is exactly what I want it to do. The only downside to it is its small keyboard which has a certain learning curve to it. Check it out:

The Steed

2008-05-01T17:18:00.005-05:00

I guess I got the impression from Brad he wanted to see our bikes. So here is mine. I'm kicking myself for not buying a Peugeot cycle off of craigs list and fitting it up for me - while saving a lot of money too.

So Brad, this is my Rocky Mountain Sherpa 30 with Carradice panniers and Tubus racks. I got it for the 853 tubing, shimano indexing at the levers and just having a gig ready to go (kicking myself for that now). Aside from getting a new bike the only luxury are the king cages. Shimano style shifters are causing havoc with the bar mounted bag.

I'm making a few gearing mods you'll see later.

I guess since this is my first post I would like to say I have lived in SFO for a year now and it is the most biker friendly place I have ever visited. People complain here sometimes about cars and trucks cutting them off but after living in Lincoln (which was great!) I can say riding a bike is even easier here. Of course part of what makes riding a bike great here are all the wonderful people and experiences too be had.

Modus Operandi

2008-04-09T13:04:00.000-05:00

I turned 30 years old this past March. I have been accepted into law school, (although I have yet to commit to going). By all outward appearances it seems as though my life is at or near a major transition point. Perhaps I am.

I will most likely take out an obscene amount of loans and go to school in the fall. I'll live the next few years as best I can as a student. But with the reality of such a pretty penny's worth of debt looming on the horizon, I'm forced to ask myself whether working in an office over this coming summer is really the best use of my time. For me, the answer is 'no'.

For quite a few years now, I've had the idea of riding a bicycle across the country kicking around the back of my head. I have, (like most people), been riding a bike since I was kid, but, (unlike most people), I never gave it up. I'm too self conscious to wear tight spandex and risk coming in last place at race, and too cynical to run with the messenger crowd. But all the while I've always enjoyed getting a bit of sun and running a few red lights while riding my bike from point A to point B.

Unfortunately, I live in Minneapolis where the costs associated with riding five months out of the year - think breathtaking cold, near constant darkness, and ice galore - make it really difficult for me to get excited about riding. But spring is upon us, (although the weather report calls for 6 inches of snow within the next 24 hours), and the pull of taking a major trip is just too great. After years of giving myself bullshit reasons why I couldn't take a three month excursion: not enough time, not enough money, etc., I've decided to finally take the plunge before curling up with a stack of books for the next three years.

My childhood friend from the Great State of Nebraska, PeterB, has agreed to take a cross-country trip with me. Some of you know PeterB. Those of you who don't, should want to know him. He's a one man army kind of guy.

In a nutshell we're embarking from San Fransisco in late May and making our way (hopefully) to New York City via the West Coast and hugging the Canadian border. We're going to sleep on the ground most of the time, and it should take about 90 days to complete the trip - just in time for me to start school, (where ever that may be).

I'm going to do my best to maintain a near-daily blog during the trip. I'm a bit of a Luddite, so the whole blog concept seems a bit self indulgent to me. I'm sure I'll become more comfortable the more I write. I'm not sure what the content will generally consist of, nor do I know if anyone will read any of it. Perhaps a number of people will read this. Perhaps none will.

The reasons for undertaking a trip like this are a bit complicated, and I'll do my best to explain them in subsequent posts as well as giving much more detail regarding the details of the trip. And there will be a lot of pictures posted as well. Everyone loves pictures.

In short, thanks for taking the time to read this if you've made it this far. And much more thanks in advance if you continue to check up on this site from time to time to read more. I'm sure to write much, much more in the coming months. Hopefully it will be worth reading to you.