Cross Country Cycling Extravaganza

Bicycle touring for dummies

2008-01-19T01:38:00.000-08:00

In case anyone is still checking....
Derek and I will be hosting a lecture type thingy through the Davis People's Free School...Sunday Feb 10, 8pm and Agrarian Effort. Slide show, anecdotes, general tomfoolery. Should be a good time.

2.5 weeks later, I'm biking to Hoes Down Festival

2007-10-04T23:20:00.000-07:00

Right now, I'm in Shields Library, just finished my differential equations homework and planning my trip to Hoes Down Festival in Capay Valley this Saturday. It's a 40 miler (not too bad, and pretty much flat) and I will be going with a couple other Davis riders. They have free camping for bicyclists and volunteers, so I will be doing both, helping with the WERC re-usable dish stations, and maybe see my sister there.

It's really nice to be back in Davis. I feel like a different person than I was when I first started this bike trip. My classes are Urban Forestry, Human Sexuality, Differential Equations, and Biology. My housemates are Marguerite, Q, Jennifer, Sunny, Erich, Liz, Christine, Raven, Noah, Sarah, Dan, and my roommate Jessie. DSC has a ginormous kitchen now after the big renovation, and that seems like a big enough change to make living there way more enjoyable for everyone. The gardens are amazing: right now I've been eating fresh pomegranates, persimmons, and raspberries from the garden, and cooking onions, garlic, squash, basil, egglplant, tomatoes, greens, and more. The new compost director, Alden Seabolt, is stellar and making me feel like everything is under control (it was, to be honest, a big thing for me to pass on). I'm glad to finally feel like I can keep up with my school work and have time to go on runs (I still plan on running the Davis Turkey Trot, which I finished 4th in last year, 30 seconds behind the winner). I hope to run it faster this year.

Today, just ran into an old running teammate of mine who was a freshman when I was a senior at Loyola High School. He just started his freshman year at UC Davis.

Well, time to go to sleep.

For a link to Sarah's bike profile on the Adventure Cycling website, click here: (mine will go up soon enough)
http://www.adventurecycling.org/ride_registry/detail.cfm?r=18AEF448

we camped near a compost pile, in a Virginia mansion, behind a truck trailer, and everthing in between

2007-09-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

3 stories of pizza, a bloody knee with 23 miles to go, and a 1 hour chat with The Cookie Lady

2007-09-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

The bicycle is parked, the ride is finished!

2007-09-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

The 4,670 miles ride is over. After getting to Yorktown, we managed to hike down this trail with our bikes to take a pic with the wheels in the Atlantic Ocean. Reminds me of Florence, without the sand Dunes. Also took a swim in the warm waters of the mouth of the York River...
Time to eat bagels and cream cheese and sit on our sore bottoms on a couch or something a little different then the bike seat. Meaghan drove down all the way to Yorktown and then drove us back to her D.C. home last night. Finally washed those stinky clothes and took showers (it's sad though, I was getting to like my B O), and rest our legs, which have quite a beating in the last month of riding 80+ mile days and only a few breaks. There was only 1 day of our entire trip that we didn't get on the bikes once and that was Golden City, Missouri, when we experienced the best pie from coast to coast. I'm sure Sarah will write some final words of wisdom when I stop hogging this computer. Thanks to all of you who made this blog worth keeping!
-Derek

Final Trip Log up to September 15th!

2007-09-16T08:07:00.000-07:00

Day 1 (7/2): 29.5 miles, Davis to Lake Berryessa
Day 2: 49 miles, Berryessa to Jim Town, CA
Day 3: 45.6 miles, to Indian Creek Campground (in Redwoods near Boonville)
Day 4: 44 miles, to Mackerricher Beach State Park just past Fort Bragg
Day 5: REST DAY!!!
Day 6: 55 miles, to Richardson Grove State Park
Day 7: 63 miles, to Fortuna RV camp
Day 8: 43 miles, to Clam Beach County Park
Day 9: 63 miles, to Crescent City (Orman Guest Ranch and Stables)
Day 10: 33 miles, to Brooking, Oregon Harris Beach State Park (WE REACHED OREGON!!!)
Day 11: 50 miles, to Humbug Mt. State Park
Day 12: 70 miles, to 8 miles north of North Bend
Day 13: 35 miles, to Honeyman State Park (near Florence)
Day 14: REST Day!!!
Day 15: 60 miles, to Junction City
Day 16: 15 miles, to Eugene Whitaker Hostel
Day 17: 55 miles, to Delta CAmpground USFS, 4 miles past Blue River
Day 18: 55 miles, to Indian Creek Campground, 6 miles before Sisters
Day 19: 81 miles!, to Ochoco Divide Campground
Day 20: 56 miles, to Dayville Presbyterean Church
Day 21: 53 miles, to Dixie Pass Campground
Day 22: 60 miles, to Oregon Trails RV Park in Baker City, OR
Day 23: REST DAY!!!, sadly, last day Rachel is with us.
Day 24: 84 miles, to Brownlee Dam, ID (WE REACHED IDAHO!!!)
Day 25: 78 miles, to New Meadows
Day 26: 64 miles, to Whitebird Swiftwater RV park
Day 27: 69 miles, to Lowell
Day 28: 68 miles, to Powell Campground
Day 29: 60 miles, to Missoula, Montana (WE REACHED MONTANA!!!)
DAY 30: REST DAY!!!
Day 31: 83 miles, to Sula Spring Gulch in the Bitteroot Valley
Day 32: 72 miles, to Big Hole Pass, camped at the Carrol Ranch info station
Day 33: 85 miles, to Alder, secretive free camping spot, so called KOA #"41"
Day 34: 54 miles, to South Madison BLM Rec Area campground
Day 35: 64 miles, to Yellowstone Madison Campground (WE REACHED WYOMING!!!)
Day 36: 76 miles, to Colter Bay campground in Grand Teton National Park
Day 37: REST DAY!!!
Day 38: 69 miles, to Dubois Longhorn RV site (Dena joined us!)
Day 39: 72 miles, to Lander
Day 40: 80 miles, to Mud Flats (we reached 2,000 mile point for our trip !!!)
Day 41: 86 miles, to Saratoga (our highest mileage day for the trip!!!)
Day 42: 70 miles, to Walden (WE REACHED COLORADO!!!)
Day 43: 76 miles, to Grand Lake (10 feet from boundary of Rocky Mountain NP)
Day 44: 86 miles, to Boulder (we biked the highest road in the US,--12,183 feet!!!)
Day 45: REST DAY (staying with Sarah's friend Kirsten and Evan)
Day 46: 81 miles, to Byors, CO
Day 47: 72 miles, to Limon, CO
Day 48: 85 miles, to Eads, CO
Day 49: 80 miles, to Leoti, Kansas (WE REACHED KANSAS!!!)
Day 50: 81 miles, to Ness City, KS
Day 51: 65 miles to Larned, KS
Day 52: 96 miles!, to Hesston, KS (longest daily mileage of trip so far)
Day 53: 83 miles, to Eureka city park, KS
Day 54: 83 miles, to Erie City park, KS (we reached 3,000 mile point for our trip!!!)
Day 55: 81 miles, to Golden City, MO (WE REACHED MISSOURI!!!)
Day 56: REST DAY in Golden City, eating pie at Cooky's cafe, best pie ever
Day 57: 79 miles, to Marshfield City Park, MO
Day 58: 88 miles, to Summersville City Park, MO
Day 59: 77 miles, to County Line Bar and Campground, MO
Day 60: 74 miles, to Chester, Illinois--home of Popeye the Sailor Man (WE REACHED ILLINOIS!!!) and crossed the MISSISSIPPI RIVER!!!
Day 61: 70 miles, to Goreville, IL
Day 62: 82 miles, to 6 miles past Marion, KY (WE REACHED KENTUCKY!!!)
DAy 63: 100 miles!!!, to Fordsville, KY (LONGEST MILEAGE DAY OF OUR TRIP)
Day 64: 82 miles, to Howardstown, KY (passed into EASTERN TIME ZONE, 3 hrs ahead of Davis)
Day 65: 76 miles, to Harrodsburg, KY
Day 66: REST DAY in Harrodsburg, oldest town of Kentucky (our last rest day)
Day 67: 91 miles, to Vincent, KY
Day 68: 85 miles, to Pippa Passes (WE reached 4,000 mile point for the trip!!!)
Day 69: 80 miles, to Bee, VA (WE REACHED VIRGINIA!!!)
Day 70: 75 miles, to Konnarock, VA
Day 71: 86 miles, to Radford, VA
Day 72: 81 miles, to Buchanan
Day 73: 67 miles, to Blue Ridge Reeds Gap (climbed the famed Vesuvius Pass)
Day 74: 76 miles, to Tabscott (day we sat and chatted with the famous Cookie Lady of Afton)
Day 75: 100 miles, to Glendale
Day 76: 60 miles, to Yorktown, making visits to Jamestown and Williamsburg along the way

Total Mileage from July 2nd through September 15th: 4,670 miles.

mileage update 9/10, with 385 miles to go!

2007-09-10T18:23:00.000-07:00

Day 1 (7/2): 29.5 miles, Davis to Lake Berryessa
Day 2: 49 miles, Berryessa to Jim Town, CA
Day 3: 45.6 miles, to Indian Creek Campground (in Redwoods near Boonville)
Day 4: 44 miles, to Mackerricher Beach State Park just past Fort Bragg
Day 5: REST DAY!!!
Day 6: 55 miles, to Richardson Grove State Park
Day 7: 63 miles, to Fortuna RV camp
Day 8: 43 miles, to Clam Beach County Park
Day 9: 63 miles, to Crescent City (Orman Guest Ranch and Stables)
Day 10: 33 miles, to Brooking, Oregon Harris Beach State Park (WE REACHED OREGON!!!)
Day 11: 50 miles, to Humbug Mt. State Park
Day 12: 70 miles, to 8 miles north of North Bend
Day 13: 35 miles, to Honeyman State Park (near Florence)
Day 14: REST Day!!!
Day 15: 60 miles, to Junction City
Day 16: 15 miles, to Eugene Whitaker Hostel
Day 17: 55 miles, to Delta CAmpground USFS, 4 miles past Blue River
Day 18: 55 miles, to Indian Creek Campground, 6 miles before Sisters
Day 19: 81 miles!, to Ochoco Divide Campground
Day 20: 56 miles, to Dayville Presbyterean Church
Day 21: 53 miles, to Dixie Pass Campground
Day 22: 60 miles, to Oregon Trails RV Park in Baker City, OR
Day 23: REST DAY!!!, sadly, last day Rachel is with us.
Day 24: 84 miles, to Brownlee Dam, ID (WE REACHED IDAHO!!!)
Day 25: 78 miles, to New Meadows
Day 26: 64 miles, to Whitebird Swiftwater RV park
Day 27: 69 miles, to Lowell
Day 28: 68 miles, to Powell Campground
Day 29: 60 miles, to Missoula, Montana (WE REACHED MONTANA!!!)
DAY 30: REST DAY!!!
Day 31: 83 miles, to Sula Spring Gulch in the Bitteroot Valley
Day 32: 72 miles, to Big Hole Pass, camped at the Carrol Ranch info station
Day 33: 85 miles, to Alder, secretive free camping spot, so called KOA #"41"
Day 34: 54 miles, to South Madison BLM Rec Area campground
Day 35: 64 miles, to Yellowstone Madison Campground (WE REACHED WYOMING!!!)
Day 36: 76 miles, to Colter Bay campground in Grand Teton National Park
Day 37: REST DAY!!!
Day 38: 69 miles, to Dubois Longhorn RV site (Dena joined us!)
Day 39: 72 miles, to Lander
Day 40: 80 miles, to Mud Flats (we reached 2,000 mile point for our trip !!!)
Day 41: 86 miles, to Saratoga (our highest mileage day for the trip!!!)
Day 42: 70 miles, to Walden (WE REACHED COLORADO!!!)
Day 43: 76 miles, to Grand Lake (10 feet from boundary of Rocky Mountain NP)
Day 44: 86 miles, to Boulder (we biked the highest road in the US,--12,183 feet!!!)
Day 45: REST DAY (staying with Sarah's friend Kirsten and Evan)
Day 46: 81 miles, to Byors, CO
Day 47: 72 miles, to Limon, CO
Day 48: 85 miles, to Eads, CO
Day 49: 80 miles, to Leoti, Kansas (WE REACHED KANSAS!!!)
Day 50: 81 miles, to Ness City, KS
Day 51: 65 miles to Larned, KS
Day 52: 96 miles!, to Hesston, KS (longest daily mileage of trip so far)
Day 53: 83 miles, to Eureka city park, KS
Day 54: 83 miles, to Erie City park, KS (we reached 3,000 mile point for our trip!!!)
Day 55: 81 miles, to Golden City, MO (WE REACHED MISSOURI!!!)
Day 56: REST DAY in Golden City, eating pie at Cooky's cafe, best pie ever
Day 57: 79 miles, to Marshfield City Park, MO
Day 58: 88 miles, to Summersville City Park, MO
Day 59: 77 miles, to County Line Bar and Campground, MO
Day 60: 74 miles, to Chester, Illinois--home of Popeye the Sailor Man (WE REACHED ILLINOIS!!!) and crossed the MISSISSIPPI RIVER!!!
Day 61: 70 miles, to Goreville, IL
Day 62: 82 miles, to 6 miles past Marion, KY (WE REACHED KENTUCKY!!!)
DAy 63: 100 miles!!!, to Fordsville, KY (LONGEST MILEAGE DAY OF OUR TRIP)
Day 64: 82 miles, to Howardstown, KY (passed into EASTERN TIME ZONE, 3 hrs ahead of Davis)
Day 65: 76 miles, to Harrodsburg, KY
Day 66: REST DAY in Harrodsburg, oldest town of Kentucky (our last rest day)
Day 67: 91 miles, to Vincent, KY
Day 68: 85 miles, to Pippa Passes (WE reached 4,000 mile point for the trip!!!)
Day 69: 80 miles, to Bee, VA (WE REACHED VIRGINIA!!!)
Day 70: 75 miles, to Konnarock, VA
Day 71: 86 miles, to Radford, VA

We only have 385 miles of Virginia to cross now and the Blue Ridge to cross, which is coming up in the next few days. On Thursday, we'll be descending the other side of the Appalachians, then it's an easy ride Friday and Saturday to the East coast! We have been on our bikes a total of 4,286 miles since July 2nd!

We are amazed by the generosity of Dr. Lee in hosting us strange strangers into his home. I think we went 10 days since our last shower and over 800 miles so it was nice to have this stop on our journey.

I'll post more pics and such Sunday in D.C. when we're not biking 10 hrs a day.

An unexpected update from Radford, VA

2007-09-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

So a few days ago (9/7), we happened upon the small town of Buckhorn, Kentucky. This town consisted of a general store and a guy who stood behind the counter. His name was Dick. Like many such men, Dick had a small notebook behind the counter which he gets all the cyclists to sign as they pass through. When Derek was signing the book, Dick pointed out an entry which said "If you need a place to stay in Radford, VA..." or something like that, and had the name and address of a family. Well we ended up calling, and here we are! A beautiful home, a sweet chocolate lab named Olive, showers (our first in...well...awhile), and free dinner!
We have 385 miles to go to Yorktown and 5 days in which to do it. Currently we are in the region of the Appalachians known as the Great Valley, which lies between the Alleghanies (western Appalachia) and the Blue Ridge (eastern Appalachia). The Alleghanies were not tall, but they were steep and pretty tough. (Although we saw some steeper climbs in the Ozarks (Missouri), they were very short and we were only in the mountains for about a half a day). The Blue Ridge Mtns are much taller...So the next three days or so will be very tough, but soon enough we will be descending out of the small town of Afton, where we will pay a visit to the Cookie Lady (although rumor on the road has it that she's pretty sick this year, so she's not making cookies anymore) (http://www.biketouring.net/rides/xcountry/curry.html) and then proceed down the ridiculously steep grade to Charlottesville. From there, the rolling hills of the Piedmont and Tidewater regions will carry us gently to Yorktown, and if our brakes get all worn out on the way out of Afton, straight into the Atlantic Ocean.

Derek's word

2007-09-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

I hope you enjoyed this blog. we did our best and updated it when we had he chance (which wasn't very many times). Add a last minute comment if you'd like so that I can see who's actually checked the blog and feel more special. hehe

I'm in the county library in Harrodsburg, KY, also trying to figure out what to do when we get to Yorktown. So far, it looks like Sarah's sister Meaghan will meet us there on Sept 15th as we bike to the ocean, and we'll head to D.C. I'm going to act as a tourist and check out the historical cool stuff in D.C. and then maybe take a bus to Manhattan to visit my buddy Hashim and Annie, and my cousin Tony, his wife Vicki, and their baby son Gabriel. Then I will fly back home to Davis (originally planned to take the train back but I think that would be torture to wait any longer to arrive in Davis) so forgive my jet fuel pollution if you would. I hope you will. I then return to Davis as a Senior Biological Systems Engineering student, trying to raise my grades and maybe help out the local compost establishment as well (:>).......

This country was wide, hilly, windy, rainy, beautiful at times, ugly at times, very corny and soybeany and sorghummy, and with lots of cattle, and the people we've met along the way have been the nicest I've ever met in my life...there have been the occassional jerks that remind me of L.A. drivers but for the most part...very good people who don't mind talking to a stranger and saying hi when you pass them in the street.

Well, we still have 791 miles to go, which is still a lot of biking, and we are hoping to get by all those unleashed dogs of kentucky without them getting hurt by cars as they chase us in the street and without us getting bit. so far successful!

I end with a poem I wrote in the 10 minutes Sarah was on the phone with Keren last night:

"my ass hurts" by Derek Downey
To drive across the country
you'd lose your money and your glee,
to bike across this continent
you'd find no one who'd believe,
the ability of the common
folk to pedal sea to sea.

(following no common poetry rules)

mileage update from Davis to Kentucky

2007-09-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

Day 1 (7/2): 29.5 miles, Davis to Lake Berryessa
Day 2: 49 miles, Berryessa to Jim Town, CA
Day 3: 45.6 miles, to Indian Creek Campground (in Redwoods near Boonville)
Day 4: 44 miles, to Mackerricher Beach State Park just past Fort Bragg
Day 5: REST DAY!!!
Day 6: 55 miles, to Richardson Grove State Park
Day 7: 63 miles, to Fortuna RV camp
Day 8: 43 miles, to Clam Beach County Park
Day 9: 63 miles, to Crescent City (Orman Guest Ranch and Stables)
Day 10: 33 miles, to Brooking, Oregon Harris Beach State Park (WE REACHED OREGON!!!)
Day 11: 50 miles, to Humbug Mt. State Park
Day 12: 70 miles, to 8 miles north of North Bend
Day 13: 35 miles, to Honeyman State Park (near Florence)
Day 14: REST Day!!!
Day 15: 60 miles, to Junction City
Day 16: 15 miles, to Eugene Whitaker Hostel
Day 17: 55 miles, to Delta CAmpground USFS, 4 miles past Blue River
Day 18: 55 miles, to Indian Creek Campground, 6 miles before Sisters
Day 19: 81 miles!, to Ochoco Divide Campground
Day 20: 56 miles, to Dayville Presbyterean Church
Day 21: 53 miles, to Dixie Pass Campground
Day 22: 60 miles, to Oregon Trails RV Park in Baker City, OR
Day 23: REST DAY!!!, sadly, last day Rachel is with us.
Day 24: 84 miles, to Brownlee Dam, ID (WE REACHED IDAHO!!!)
Day 25: 78 miles, to New Meadows
Day 26: 64 miles, to Whitebird Swiftwater RV park
Day 27: 69 miles, to Lowell
Day 28: 68 miles, to Powell Campground
Day 29: 60 miles, to Missoula, Montana (WE REACHED MONTANA!!!)
DAY 30: REST DAY!!!
Day 31: 83 miles, to Sula Spring Gulch in the Bitteroot Valley
Day 32: 72 miles, to Big Hole Pass, camped at the Carrol Ranch info station
Day 33: 85 miles, to Alder, secretive free camping spot, so called KOA #"41"
Day 34: 54 miles, to South Madison BLM Rec Area campground
Day 35: 64 miles, to Yellowstone Madison Campground (WE REACHED WYOMING!!!)
Day 36: 76 miles, to Colter Bay campground in Grand Teton National Park
Day 37: REST DAY!!!
Day 38: 69 miles, to Dubois Longhorn RV site (Dena joined us!)
Day 39: 72 miles, to Lander
Day 40: 80 miles, to Mud Flats (we reached 2,000 mile point for our trip !!!)
Day 41: 86 miles, to Saratoga (our highest mileage day for the trip!!!)
Day 42: 70 miles, to Walden (WE REACHED COLORADO!!!)
Day 43: 76 miles, to Grand Lake (10 feet from boundary of Rocky Mountain NP)
Day 44: 86 miles, to Boulder (we biked the highest road in the US,--12,183 feet!!!)
Day 45: REST DAY (staying with Sarah's friend Kirsten and Evan)
Day 46: 81 miles, to Byors, CO
Day 47: 72 miles, to Limon, CO
Day 48: 85 miles, to Eads, CO
Day 49: 80 miles, to Leoti, Kansas (WE REACHED KANSAS!!!)
Day 50: 81 miles, to Ness City, KS
Day 51: 65 miles to Larned, KS
Day 52: 96 miles!, to Hesston, KS (longest daily mileage of trip so far)
Day 53: 83 miles, to Eureka city park, KS
Day 54: 83 miles, to Erie City park, KS (we reached 3,000 mile point for our trip!!!)
Day 55: 81 miles, to Golden City, MO (WE REACHED MISSOURI!!!)
Day 56: REST DAY in Golden City, eating pie at Cooky's cafe, best pie ever
Day 57: 79 miles, to Marshfield City Park, MO
Day 58: 88 miles, to Summersville City Park, MO
Day 59: 77 miles, to County Line Bar and Campground, MO
Day 60: 74 miles, to Chester, Illinois--home of Popeye the Sailor Man (WE REACHED ILLINOIS!!!) and crossed the MISSISSIPPI RIVER!!!
Day 61: 70 miles, to Goreville, IL
Day 62: 82 miles, to 6 miles past Marion, KY (WE REACHED KENTUCKY!!!)
DAy 63: 100 miles!!!, to Fordsville, KY (LONGEST MILEAGE DAY OF OUR TRIP)
Day 64: 82 miles, to Howardstown, KY (passed into EASTERN TIME ZONE, 3 hrs ahead of Davis)
Day 65: 76 miles, to Harrodsburg, KY
Day 66: REST DAY in Harrodsburg, oldest town of Kentucky (our last rest day)

we have 791 miles left to Yorktown, Virginia, on the Atlantic Coast. We plan on biking 10 more days,averaging about 80+ miles per day, starting tomorrow and finishing on Saturday, September 15th! Thanks for checking the blog...apologies for not updating it more frequently...internet has been hard to come by.

Daily Mileage update since Boulder, CO

2007-09-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

And on the 66th day, we rested.

2007-09-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

September 5th, Rest day in Harrodsburg Kentucky. Sorry it's been so long since our last update (Boulder Colorado, 4 states ago!). I can tell I've been on the road awhile because (1) I don't really remember what it's like to be home and (2) my hair has reached this really ridiculous (thanks for the spelling lesson, Derek) length of about 2 inches, but when it's clean, it still sticks straight up in the air. And I think I'm making all the old ladies jealous. They all wish their hair could have this much volume, this much pizzazz.
From Boulder, we made our way SE using a route designed by Dena to meet up with the TransAm trail in Eads, CO. That was a tough couple of days because of the Northbound wind directly in our faces for hours at a time. Scenery in this region included fields of corn and sorghum a square mile in size, a grain elevator in every town, and ginormous feed lots. Eastern Colorado and Western Kansas looked remarkably similar, and we kind of blew through them, despite the headwind. Dena left us in about central Kansas, and we ended up biking a total of 10 days and about 800 miles from Boulder before crossing the border into Missouri. By this time, the farms were getting smaller and houses and trees became a more regular site. The terrain also began to get a bit hillier and things began to look a bit more familar as my East Coast Senses began to tingle. Brick houses, lots of greenery, colonial style mansions, etc. 30 miles after the KS/MO border, we arrived in Golden City, MO. We had heard of this town before. After being disappointed by the one chance we had to try a taste of the famous homemade pies of Kansas, we met a cyclist from Sacramento heading from Yorktown to Sac via the TransAm and Western Express trails (which continues Westward from Pueblo, CO through NV and UT to SF instead of northward to MT). This man told us tales of a wonderous place, with streets of gold, kind people, and a diner (Cooky's) with the best damn homemade pies money could buy. Well, he didn't mention the showers in the city park...and once we learned of that, we were hooked. This little town of about 350 people was to be our home for our first rest day since Boulder! Due to the small size of the town, that sunday was the first day since July 2nd that we didn't touch our bikes. We just ate at Cooky's, took a nap, read, and even went to church, for which we got all kinds of praises from the senior citizens of Golden City. Complete relaxation.
At that time, we calculated that, at the rate be had been going (80 miles a day on average) we would be able to make it to Yorktown, VA (and the Atlantic Ocean) in 19 days, and if we took 2 rest days, we would arrive on Sept 15th. So that's the plan. Since Golden City, we've biked 9 days, and here we are, in the oldest permanent white settlement West of the Appalachans. We kept up our goal of an 80+ mile average, and even did 100 miles a few days ago (just for kicks...). The terrain in Missouri was pretty tough through the Ozarks, with lots of short but exceedingly steep hills. But, wow, it is beautiful... The hills got progressively better through Illinois, and Kentucky has had generally fairly gentle terrain with some hillier sections. From here, we have 10 days at 80 miles per day, but the hills will progressively get steeper and steeper as we make our way into the Alleghenies, cross into Virginia, and then on to the the dreaded Blue Ridge (these are the two ranges that make up the Appalachan Mtns.). After about 5 or 6 of those ten days, we should be out of the mountains and into the gently rolling terrain of the Virginia Piedmont and Tidewater regions. And we're going to blast into Yorktown and right into the ocean (or at least the brackish waters of the Chesapeake Bay).

Derek's realization come late at 1:30 in the morning

2007-08-16T00:27:00.000-07:00

so, I write in a journal everyday and make sure to remind myself of the ridiculous things that happen along the way. I wish I could write them all down but I better go to sleep soon.

However, to tell you of my day today would suffice for you to understand my state of mind which is teetering somewhere between happiness and peace with a little bit of spice added for good measure. I woke up and felt like making pancakes. That happened, with the added pleasure of orange juice and peaches in yogurt. I'm a Taurus, and food makes me very very happy.

We finally fully cleaned our clothes at the laundrymat and were glad to hang dry them on Kirsten and Evan's clotheline in front. We eventually, with Kirsten's guidance, meandered our way through the city on this amazing bike path that followed the creek, went through the residential areas, passed through the university and high schools, and landed us in downtown. I was very impressed with Boulder's system of bike paths....Davis could learn from this town. We happened to be here on a Wednesday, one of the days Boulder has its Farmer's Market, which I have been personally reading about for quite some time given its zero waste recycling program. I spoke with the market manager and was able to get some contacts to see if the Davis Farmer's Market can move in the same direction.

In the summer, if you're in Boulder, you'll expect a short rainstorm to come in the afternoon, around 4 or 5pm. so it rained on us, Kirsten called Evan and asked him to take our clothes off the lines at home, which was very cool of him to given he needed to get to his class in Denver. We ducked in the Russian Tea House, an amazingly beautiful building filled with handcarved support beams, and painted mosaics on every wall. We sat down and had tea there and I learned that this building was a gift from Boulder's sister city in Tajiskstan (I know I butchered that one but please comment on this with the correct spelling). we went back to the farmers market and saw a performance of interpretive dancers doing incredible and funny acts with a bucket of water. they eventually incorporated me into their dance, which was alright with me after I had my yerba mate fix.

When we returned back to the homestead, Kirsten gave me her favorite banana bread recipe, which I made with her help and tried some mead that her friend made.

What i learned from this rest day is that I may one day come back to Boulder to experience life here as a resident. I haven't had such a positive feeling about a city as much as I had with this one. I also gained an appreciation for getting to know Kirsten and Evan, who both are amazing people and hosts and made this day special for me.

so it's 1:45am and Ima going to a sleep!!! By the time you hear from me again, we may well be across Kansas already. can't wait to have some of that famous pie.

by the way, I'm planning, upon my return to Davis, to give a slide-show/anecdotal/interpretive "dance" of this 4,600 mile journey, so stayed tuned for the time and place (probably some day between September 23-27, in one of the UC Davis Tri-Co-operative houses).
love,
derek

Boulder or bust...and on the road again

2007-08-15T23:25:00.000-07:00

Just a note: The pics are posted roughly from most recent to most ancient, although they aren't perfectly in order, so if you want to follow along, start at the bottom of those Derek posted this evening.
Sorry about the crazy long delay in blog updates, but daylight hours are precious and 6 days a week spent pedaling hard leaves little time for library drop-ins and leasurely internet access. I guess it's been over two weeks now since Missoula, but I can't even decide if it seems like yesterday or an eternity ago that we were there. From Renee's lovely abode, we headed south through the Bitteroot Valley of Montana. The ride was mostly flat, but mountain ranges surrounded us on either side. It was fairly picturesque, although smoke from the summer fires that regularly plague the surrounding region put a bit of a damper in the view at times, but we still got some descent scenery. Ths region is known for the high quality of its natural grasses for cattle grazing...giant haystacks are found throughout.
The climb out of the valley led us across the Continental Divide for the first time and Eastward towards Yellowstone! Shortly after crossing into the park, we hit the Wyoming state line...and continues on into our 5th state.
A few days before hitting Yellowstone, our afternoons began to be characterized by short (but intense!) mountain thunderstorms which make riding a bit of a hassle and sometimes too dangerous to do. But the do produce some pretty awesome rainbows...
After spending a night in the oldest national park in the world, we spent the day viewing the geysers, etc, and then biked on to Grand Teton National Park to the south. In the short stretch of road between the two parks, during a bit of a storm, we saw a black bear crossing the road right in front of us. It wasn't too interested in us, and was kind of scared of a car passing by, so it took off pretty quickly without mauling us or stealing our dehydrated powdered beans...but it was still pretty exciting.
We spent a rest day last Tuesday in the Grand Tetons, recooperating and preparing for our next big climb...up 9600 ft. high Togwotee pass. We got pretty creative with Derek's hair and safety traingle signs. As if everyone didn't already know we were from California...
Well our big climb of Togwotee and reaching the top was kind of bittersweet. We hit road construction a mile or two from the top and they wouldn't let us ride up. Instead, they stuck our bikes in the back of the pilot truck and took us most of the rest of the way up the hill. Another truck took us down about 6 miles on the other side. This was especially disappointing because it was the highest point we had reached, and, as far as we knew at the time, the highest we were going to climb.
On the other side of the pass, we met up with Dena! She's with us for a couple of weeks. We broke her in pretty quickly with some big days...right through central Wyoming and into COLORADO!
Well, not quite that easily. The night before entering our 6th state, we spent the night in Saratoga, Wyoming. They have hot springs and a free public hot pool located in town. We really wanted to go take a dip, and, even though we knew we werent' allowed to, we decided to try to camp in the woods behind to pool. Around 12:30 at night, we awoke to the shining of a flashligth and a cop saying "Alright, you aren't allowed to camp here...get up...that's a $210 fine" and telling us where the nearest campground is. He said he would be back to check on us later and took off, never to be seen again. But we packed up and took off to spend the rest of the night at the campground and avoid the fine.
At some point in there I got a flat after going over a big bump. This was my second of the trip, but I was sort of waiting for it to happen. The first was in my back wheel and was also caused by a big bump. When I went to change that tire, I realized that, in all my silliness, it had not occurred to me to get bigger tubes when I change tires for 1 1/8 in to 1 1/4 in width. I knew the same thing would happen in my front eventually, but I decided to just wait and deal with it when it popped. Well it tok about 1500 miles, but now both my tubes are properly sized and, assuming I don't run into any unfortunately placed nails on the road, I should be good to go.
Shortly after entering Colorado, we got off the TransAmerica trail to head to Boulder. We decided to take the scenic route through Rocky Mountain National Park. We got the town the of Granby pretty easily (53 miles from Walden, where we had spent our first night in Colorado), which is where we left the trail. According to the oh-so-reliable road map of Colorado that we were using for off-route travels, it is 39 miles from Granby to Estes Park on the other side of Rocky National and roughly 30 from there to Boulder. We figured we would bike in a few miles and do the rest the next day. It wouldn't be very many miles, but we knew we had quite a climb in front of us.
Well, upon leaving Granby, a roadsign informed us of the fact that it was actually 62 miles from there to Estes park, making it over 90 to Boulder. Now this wouldn't be so bad because we still had a few hours of daylight left and the entire next day to bike, except for the little elevation change: Granby was at about 8000 feet and the top of the pass that we had to climb was over 12000!
Well, we made the best of it anyhow. We biked 16 miles past Granby that night and camped in the woods, and then hauled ass the next day: along the highest paved through highway in the United States!
Near the top, there were signs welcoming us to the Alpine Tundra, and holy crap it was freeeezing cold up there. To top it all off, we arrived at the top just in time for the daily afternoon thunderstorm...so our 25 mile descent into Estes Park was chilly. But bundled up, held onto our break levers for dear life, and prayed that we could avoid any run-ins with cars like the Subaru which had apparently ran off the road and into a tree before we passed it or the line of touristmobiles stopped in the middle of the roadso the occupants could view the elk by the side of the road.
But we made it...and the ride into Boulder after that as relatively pleasant. Ate a big pizza dinner, and came home to my old friend Kirsten's house to lay down our heads and take a rest day.
And we're back on the road in the morning....and onto Kansas!

2007-08-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

2007-08-15T21:02:00.000-07:00

2007-08-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

2007-08-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

2007-08-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

2007-08-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

2007-08-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

2007-08-15T20:28:00.000-07:00

2007-08-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

2007-08-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

daily mileage update since Missoula

2007-08-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

2007-07-31T14:22:00.000-07:00

2007-07-31T14:19:00.000-07:00

2007-07-31T14:16:00.000-07:00

2007-07-31T14:15:00.000-07:00

2007-07-31T14:12:00.000-07:00

random pics in Oregon

2007-07-31T14:09:00.000-07:00

First 30 days log

2007-07-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

Derek's log of trip so far...

2007-07-31T13:27:00.000-07:00

Hi y'all,

So, as you can see in the blog, I started blogging with an excruciatingly detailed account of each day of the trip. By the time we arrived in Eugene, I realized this ended up taking a lot of time, which we don't have much of, given that we end up biking 5-10 hours of each day, and we spend our whole rest days doing errands like re-stocking our bulk foods (we are the only cyclists I know carrying as much food as we do, but it's damn tasty), eating out, taking showers, reading, and blah, blah, blah....

What I will update you on is a list of each day's mileage, destination points, and camping situation. I will later try to add pictures but this dang thing adds them more slowly than I can handle (I'm still a fast-paced L.A. guy I guess).

Home sweet home in Missoula

2007-07-31T12:48:00.000-07:00

Since our last update, Derek and I have blasted through Idaho in 5 days and made our way to Missoula, MT. From Baker City, OR, we had an 84 mile day to the Idaho state line. This brought us into and through the infamous Hell's Canyon, through which the Snake River runs. Notably, it is also the deepest gorge in North America (The Grand Canyon is actually the third...the second deepest is also located in Idaho). During our trek through the mostly barren landscape, the afternoon sun brought the temperature up to 108 degrees, not exactly ideal cycling weather. We rested in the afternoon to beat the heat, and then got in the last 11 miles or so as the sun dropped below the hills. The next morning, we awoke to find ourselves in Idaho, but within spitting distance of Oregon. We climbed out of the gorge before lunch, and despite, the big gain in elevation, we still managed to make a 78 mile day to New Meadows, Idaho. It was pretty horribly hot during the afternoon, even though we were no longer in the canyon. By the last 15 miles or so, a thunderstorm had developed, complete with lighting, thunder, and LOTS of rain....so by the time we got to New Meadows, we were soaked and freezing cold. Four more days of biking followed (each of which got progressively cooler as we headed Northeast, and out of the desert), taking us along the Nez Perce and Lewis and Clark trails, through the Nez Perce Reservation, and up and over Lolo pass and into the long-awaited big sky country...so, alas, here we are.
Thanks to Renee and her family, Missoula has been an ideal rest spot. Laundry, showers, and damn good home cookin'! Thank you!
Tomorrow (August 1st), we will begin to head Southeast, hopefully getting into Wyoming @ Yellowstone on the 5th. The next day, Grand Tetons/Jackson area, and we'll probably take a rest day on the 7th, at which time Dena will be meeting up with us to join us for however much of the journey her schedule allows. :)
Sarah

da worm, making out with BIg Head

2007-07-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

Navarro statues

2007-07-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

Indian Creek Camp in Redwoods

2007-07-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

Boonville Post office, market,

2007-07-18T13:02:00.001-07:00

smile, shadow, random apple treee, Boonville Fire Station, and Anderson Valley Brewing Company!

2007-07-18T12:52:00.000-07:00

nap time, ukulele for Sarah, more hills and smiles

2007-07-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

broken chain wheel, Yorkville, and the heat!

2007-07-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

smiley face

2007-07-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

crazy hill climbs

2007-07-18T12:36:00.000-07:00

Day 2 continued

2007-07-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

Day 2 camping

2007-07-18T12:29:00.001-07:00

Model Bakery and Napa

2007-07-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

first nite campground

2007-07-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

L. Berryessa climb

2007-07-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

Top Ten Things to Think About While Cycling?... Burritos would make my list

2007-07-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

The award for best burrito yet goes to Laughing Planet Cafe here in Eugene. It is indescribably yummy(actually just i'm too lazy to write a whole lot about a burrito, even if it was damn tasty). I am willing to admit that, as a burrito fiend, i have been looking forward to eating at this exact restaurant ever since we departed from Davis. It lived up to my expectations.
Semi-relatedly, we saw some guy in that restaurant wearing a shirt with the slogan "Beans Not Bombs" on it. He's my hero and i plan to imitate his unabashed political/speak-the-mind-of-your-tastebuds-on-your-duds style in some way.

some other things I ponder while cycling:
what is that roadkill? (alternately, what disembodied part of the animal is that?)
what would i be doing right now if i were not cycling?

-Rachel

The bike shop in Florence, Honeyman Campground, funny metal detector lady (there was a funny guy too), and the huge thing of stove gas we're hauling!!

2007-07-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

in Florence, OR, with a picture of the bridge we crossed 6 times during our day and a half of rest. and the unique 101 bike shop there!

2007-07-18T11:09:00.001-07:00

Rainy Oregon

2007-07-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

Monday morning, we woke to find ourselves well rested and Honeyman state park 3 miles south of Florence. It was the heart of sand dune country, and we'de spent sunday (a rest day) watching all the tourists dragging their dune buggies and ATVs behind their RVs. We'd also climbed a sand dune ourself (with our bikes hoisted over our shoulders to avoid the highly dreaded sand-on-the-chain) in order to dunk our wheels into the waters of the Pacific, as is the TransAmerica tradition. We spent the morning getting stuff together for our trek East...went to grocery store, and made a final stop at the local bikeshop. The exstoner employess of Bicycles 101 (on Hwy 101 in downtown Florence) had kept us pretty entertained for the previous two days! We headed out of town and biked about 60 miles to a County Park just outside of Eugene, where we spent the night. As it turned out, it was a very WET night. So we slept in the next morning and took out sweet time getting to Eugene. After completing a bunch of other missions (including new puncture resistant tires for Derek and a three hour burrito eating spree for Rachel and Sarah) it was time to find a place for the night. We ended up camping in the yard of a hostel right near downtown...perhaps our most interesting accomodations so far.
Today we will be continuing our trek eastward, heading for the base of McKenzie pass, which we will climb tomorow (over 5000 feet!). Hopefully once we clear that, the rain won't get to us...
For now, it'll be one wet ride.
Love you all!
Sarah

2007-07-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

The same restaurant...The Junction City, OR campground, and us dipping our back wheels in the Pacific Ocean to mark the "beginning" of our trip, after 700 miles.

Pictures!

2007-07-18T11:00:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics of the hostel we stayed at and the best restaurant in Eugene: Laughing Planet.

We're in Eugene!!!!

2007-07-18T10:58:00.001-07:00

Well, we made it to Eugene, Oregon. We've been here since yesterday and before leaving town today, we found the Eugene library to update the blog. so pictures will follow in a few minutes!

EUREKA, we've reached Eureka (7/9)

2007-07-09T17:12:00.000-07:00

Derek updating blog franctically because this internet cafe in Eureka charges by how long you use their computer.

I have lot's of pics, try to add more as I have time.

7/8 Day 7

2007-07-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

63 miles Richardson STate Park to Fortuna RV campsite

We awoke at 6am, left by 8am. We first did a Richards Simmons warm-up stretch routine through the campground. We were popular. We rode the AVe of the Giants detour route, which was great. WE saw the "World Famous" Chimney Tree and then the Eternal Tree HOuse, which we ate lunch at. We eventually biked into Fortuna by 7pm and camped out amongst RVs. It cost $27.50 for 3 of us, with a AAA card discount. Probably the last time we do that. Derek and Sarah played ukulele and sang...they're going on tour. We ended up talking to an alcoholic camper about his youth. When he was in junior year in college, for the summer, he hitch hiked up and down the Pacific Coast through Oregon and California, in 1970. That was a good time for that. He was drunk, probably because the EEl River Microbrewery was down the street.

7/7 Day 6

2007-07-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

55 miles Mackerricher to Richardson Grove State Park

WOke up at 6am, but didn't leave on our bikes until 8:30. Another biker told us we were crazy for going north on this route...we already knew that. We did the craziest climb we could ever expect: the Leggett Hill, a 9 mile trip that took us 2000 feet up. IT took us a couple hours to get up but only 20 minutes to descend. We passed the "World Famous but I never heard of it" Chandelier Tree. Derek flashed some motorists when he was changing his shirt. They honked back. We biked through more REdwoods and along the 101 freeway (part of the Pacific Coast Bike Trail). We eventually came across another "World FAmous location"; One LOg House and Confusion Hill (a mini disneyland in the redwoods, huh?), the Grandfather tree, and the Tree Hoouse. We have been using the 1970's bike maps that Derek's Dad lent him. We stayed at Richardson Grove STate Park ($3 per biker) and had dinner. WE also took showers there, which cost $.

7/6 Day 5

2007-07-09T16:56:00.000-07:00

REST DAY

We went into Fort Bragg and sent postcards, got some food, got ice cream, looked for an internet cafe that was open (unsuccessfully), and eventually ate sandwiches at a Safeway parking lot. Derek said hi to some hardcore looking Harley bikers and they said hey back. Did I just write that? A crowd accumulated behind us...we must be popular. We did some sequenced shots of Derek biking off a cliff, so that's what it is if you see those pics.

7/5 Day 4

2007-07-09T16:36:00.000-07:00

44 miles Philo to Mackerricher Beach State Park, just past Fort Bragg

We woke up at 7 amongst the biggest trees in the world. We ate a quick breakfast and left by 8 before anyone could charge us for the bike camping. WE biked through Redwoods on HIghway 128. Derek wore his trendy orange vest since it was pretty shady under all those trees. We took our first break at a gas station makert in Navarro, which had some very interesting artwork, sculptures, carvings, I got to pose with a couple of the statues, including the sausage man and the Native AMerican chief with cigar and penis erect, and a worm like tree carving, which I sat on. I (Derek) also made out with a huge statue head thing,. We then had a reeally easy ride descending the redwood range, a 20 mile descent. We reached the end of the 128 and merged on the 1, seeing the Pacific for the first time of this trip. More hills...We toook a lunch break then started riding into nothing but headwinds and steep hills, besides the crazy motorists. WE went through Albion and LIttle River, and corssed the river into Mendocino. WE ate lunch at Mendocino Cafe. The waiter was flirting with another customer and forgot about us. a guy named CHuck GReenberg told us to go to the Bike shop back near the river and tell the bike mechanic "chuck sent you". So we went to the Catch a Canoe store and a tall guy named Dave fixed Sarah's bike. Derek also fidgited with his brakes. Sarah used portapotty "I'm not scared of them, I'm just disgusted!" (note to reader...Sarah edited Derek's spelling of portabody). Derek bickered about pace...he's the only one who needs to finsh this bike trip by a definite time...and he was hungry...argh! WE biekd through Fort Bragg and camped at Mackerricher Beach State Park ($3 per person). The next day is a rest day for us.

Mileage calculations

2007-07-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

AS of Day 4, we had biked 168.1 miles. We calculated that from DAvis to Yorktown, Virginia, we will need to have biked 4673.6 miles.

7/4 Day 3

2007-07-09T16:24:00.000-07:00

45.6 miles Jim Town to Indian Creek Camp in Redwoods (past Boonville)

4th of July...
Today we woke up around 7am and made some jasmine teaa and quinoa flakes. It still took us about an hour to get all our stuff packed onto our bikes. WE were off by 9am and biked through Geyserville eventually riding about 10 miles alongside the 101 freeway into a headwind. ugghhhhh! We stopped in Cloverdale at a Starbucks to go to the bathroom. Derek got a peach berry muffin..tasted good just because he was so hungry. OUtside, Derek and Rachel talked to a guy from Hopland, where Solfest is held, and he bragged about his off the grid home. He told us that we have some beautiful scenery ahead of us, especially in rural Oregon. WE then started climbing our nastiest hill yet. aBout 7 miles of non-stop winding ascending road, which took us over 4 hours to finish. Sarah's bike chain wheel borke in the process so she no longer had the lowest gear. We ate lunch on that hill, mustard and hummus on bread from Model Bakery. We planned on fixing Sarah's bike when we came across a bike shop the next few days. By 4pm, we reached Yorkville, a town that seemed to considst of a small market and a few homes. Since the market was closed then, Derek knocked on one of the house doors and a kind lady let us use her hose to fill up our water bottles. She also gave us ice cubes. She said it was the hottest day yet in Yorkville, 103 degrees F. WE walked back to the market, and took a break from riding for an hour. Sarah played the ukele and RAche ladn Derek took naps. We then biked into Boonville by 8pm. Along the way, we came across an apple tree off the road and picked some despite their being tart and not ready for 4 months. WE stopped at the Boonville CDF fire station. The fire chief let us into their bathroom and we filled up all our water bottles with their spigot. We passed a big sign for Anderson Valley Brewing company. We were going to eat dinner at a Mexican food stand but it closed so we instead got deli sandwiches and ice cream at the Boonville market. We held onto the sandwiches and biked into Philo where there was the Indian Creek CAmpsite. We arrived there just before sundown.

7/3 Day 2

2007-07-09T16:08:00.001-07:00

49 miles Berryessa to Jim Town

We woke up at 7:30 am, and ate quinoa flakes with brown sugar and flax meal powder, and jasmine tea. On the road at 9, after I realized I had a flat on my rear wheel, which ended up being okay (I had left the tire valve loose, so it leaked through the night). WE biked past oak scrubland and Lake Hennessey and took a break at a convenience store at intersection of 128 and 121 Highway. AFter filling up our water bottles, the owner told us he had to charge us for it since water prices have gone up in the area. So Sarah and Rachel snuck their bottles in the restroom and filled them up with sink water. While I was outside waiting, a man dropped off a sign advertizing an upcoming concert "Let us make a joyful noise unto the Lord!" We then proceeded to bike trhough Napa Valley and several old wineries and vineyards. WE stopped in St. Helena and ate at Model Bakery. Sarah and Derek had pizza while Rachel had a sandwich. Derek also had a Macademian Cookie and strawberry lemonade and purchased a fresh loaf of whole wheat bread for dinner. When we were in there we noticed the name of the bakery and tried flashing back our hair as models do. Only Derk, had the hair to pull it off. We realized the switch in gender roles--Derek with the long hair and RAchel and Sarah with the shorter hair. WE then went to SAfeway to get some veggies and take # 2s. It was stiffling hot--100s--when we started biking once again at about 3pm. We went through Calistoga and then climbed a big hill. Derek found a very small dinosaur on the road and added it to his handlebar collection. Sonoma County was next. At some point, we stopped and adjusted RAchel's seat (it was tilted up a lot and making it very uncomfortable for her ). AT about 6:30pm, we were headed towards Geyserville and hoping to find a good camping spot for the night but all there was was vineyards fenced off with mean signs like "KEEP OUT." Eventually we came across a big parking lot and an "Alexander Community Center" and since it was vacant, we stayed there. WE took advantage of a faucet in the side of the building and each of us took shitty showers and washed all our stinky biking clothes (hanging all the clothes on the railings).WE cooked veggeis , made some powder hummus, to put on the bread and some Sierra Nevada Poreter mustard sauce, which was pretty popular among the 3 of us. WE also had bean flaxes with nut yeast, olive oil, etc. We were very hungry. We then remembered passing a small bar along the way, about a mile back, and decided to walk to it. The bar had a couple HArley riders, one of whom said hi and asked if we had been to the casino. I told him we "biked" through town. He asked "Harley or pedal". When I said pedal, he said "now that explains why they're all so skinny!" Sarah and I played some pool and Derek won but Sarah will seek vengeance the next time. WE also put on some music on the juke box, Sarah said we had to put on some country or classic rock, so that's what we did and I think the Harley bikers liked it. We then walked back to the community center temporary campsite and went to sleep after walking over a King Snake.

7/2 First Day

2007-07-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

29.5 miles Davis to Lake Berryessa

We planned on leaving at 7-8am but ended up leaving closer to 11am. We went by RiteAid to get contacts lens solution for Derek. We ran into an old man who asked where we were riding. He told us that over a 5 year span when he was young, he did several bike tours spanning 5 years. We started riding west on RUssell. Another bicyclist asked where we were headed. Derek said "Virginia" which made the guy wonder why we were headed west. Righter after that, a woman passed us on a bike and told us that her daughter did a cross-country tour of the US on a unicycle. WHat the heck? We took the scenic route to WInters. 13 miles into this cross country tour, Derek got his first flat!!!He had stopped by the side of the road to let Rachel catch up and this is what happens. Unfortunately all these little thorns punctured Derek's tire. So it was 1pm and we decided to stop to eat in a alnut grove. Sarah made peanut butter and choclate chip and apricot sandwiches . We then had a good bike run to Lake Berryessa climbing our first 2 hills. We stopped by at a littel food mart and got our first popsicles. We camped at Wragg Canyon Road in a hidden camp site where signs said "Keep Out". We hung up our biking clothes (spandex, I might add) and cooked dinner: cooked veggies, beans (the flake kind) and couscous. Dessert was walnuts dipped in somwhat melted chocolate (what used to be chocolate chips turned into one mass of oozing goodness). AT dark, we heard a car pull onto the roperty (more like an off-roading vehicle) and roll up the dirt road. We were a little out of view (in a bank partly surrounded by trees). We decided that tomorrow we would aim for somwhere between Calistoga and Geyserville (60 miles). Derek got out his hand crank radio and got reception for a George Michael's song and Metallica song. WE went to sleep at 10pm, and I woke up at 7.

Culinary Considerations; What Kinda Grub

2007-07-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

if you are curious what food we brought along (so far) ...here is a little list:
dehydrated black beans
quinoa flakes (instead of oatmeal)
couscous
salt & pepper
nutritional yeast
sushi wrappers
oranges
pistachio oil
canola oil
olive oil
clif bars
choc chips
tahini
peanut butter
walnuts
dried figs and apricots
raisins
dates (those tasty dried things from the co-op)
sunflower seeds
veggies
tea
granola
brown sugar
dumpster bread
sundried pumpkin

don't worry we'll have music

2007-07-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

the penny whistle is packed. the ukulele is packed. totally necessary.
we plan to master many a song.

Headed nowhere yet!

2007-07-02T03:32:00.000-07:00

We thought you'd like to see what we see when we are riding behind each other!

DAY BEFORE PICTURE SHOOT, haha!!!

2007-07-02T03:27:00.000-07:00

So here are some pics we took the day before departure. Why not, I say?

2007-07-02T03:19:00.000-07:00

Here are the before and after pictures of Derek's bike. Derek was given this bike from his Uncle Larry who purchased it back in 1985. It's a Trek 500 series road/touring bike and is in excellent condition. After a few weeks of having it, Derek has added a new seat, new handlebar tape, a new cassette, new tires and tubes, pannier racks for front and back wheels, a second waterbottle holder, an aerobar handlebar set, and probably other things.

THE LIST

2007-06-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

This is pretty thorough (I think). Currently wondering how much of this stuff we'll end up sending back before the trip is done...

Bike, duh (as the really nice Australian guy at Ken's Bike and Ski put it, mine's "a real dinosaur." It's going on 20 years old now, but it's in good shape. The only problem is the 27" wheels, which makes finding decent tires a bit of a hassle. Luckily, Continental makes their Gatorskins in 27 x 1 1/4. Also, Kevin hooked me up with a Terry Liberator X, a women's saddle made specifically for touring that he found randomly on campus. Vintage Cristophe cages for all my mountain climbing needs. And of course, panniers...)
Helmet (w/ mirror!)
Patch kit
chain lube
tire levers
extra tube(s)
Pump
Emergency roadside park tool kit (the swiss army knife of cycle repair)
Extra spokes
Compass
Maps c/o Adventure Cycling Association
Camp Stove
Tent & tarp
Water filter
A few fish hooks, weights, and some line just in case I want to have dinner Huck Finn style.
Poncho (this is going to be funny to bike in...)
Swiss Army Knife (the swiss army knife of everything repair)
Camp towel
Cycling shorts (x2)
Cycling shirts (aka t-shirts)(x2)
Long sleeve shirt for sun protection and random late night bar hopping
Street pants
Thermals
Warm pants (horray for synthetics!)
Sleeping bag and pad
A few needles and some thread for emergency sewing/patching
Headlamp
Journal w/ contact info for all my silly friends and family, pens, stamps, etc.
First Aid kit c/o miss Rachel.
LOTS of plastic bags, bungee chords, rubber bands, duct tape, rope (with these 5 things, I'm pretty sure you can do anything)
Insect repellant, DEET free motherfucka!
Sunscreen, chap stick
I'm in love with Dr. Bronners
Pots ( = bowl = cup), silverware
Toothbrush, paste, industrial strength blowdryer and curling iron for I CAN NOT LIVE WITHOUT THESE THINGS (j/k?)
water bottles
Cell phone and charger
Camera and charger
Hat
Wool sweater
Warm gloves
Cycling gloves
Sandals
Tennis shoes/socks (for cycling...although I have a feeling I'll end up in my sandals most of the time)
Handkerchief
Really funny sunglasses that go over my normal specs

and that's about it. I'm contemplating bringing the Freewheel removing tool, although I really don't want to carry the 3 lb wrench that I'll need to use it. These will come in handy if/when someone breaks a rear spoke (and if someone breaks a spoke, it will certainly be a rear). What a dilemma...

Any other suggestions?
Sarah

Well, Derek has a bike for the trip!

2007-06-11T13:07:00.000-07:00