Avoiding the Beasts

I couldn't come up with a good title for this blog post, but there is definitely a theme. First, the picture of me with my new bike, and all of the beasts in the background. In case you haven't heard on the news, the Astoria boat harbor has been overrun by seals and sea lions. Look closely in the background of the picture, and you can see dozens of the beasts, who have completely overtaken the the boat slips.

The picture was taken during my first training ride on the Oregon coast ... from Seaside over Lewis and Clark Road, into Astoria, then back to Gearhart / Seaside via Warrenton and Fort Stevens State Park, where we will begin our 3521 mile journey on June 18. If you want to send us off, the American Legion Hall in Astoria will be hosting a lunch that is open to public, so we will stop in around noon, have a bit of a celebration, then off we go into parts unknown.

I got my first taste of the American Legion Hall last night. The hosted a spaghetti dinner as a fund-raiser to help offset the costs of the trip, so I got meet (for the first time), Bryce and Jonathan, two of our bicycling crew, along with Jonathan's mom and Bryce's parents, who got their first look at me, the on-the-road "in-loco-parentis" (did I spell that correctly?). And I'm staying in Gearhart with another crew member, our support driver Pat. We've been strategizing about all sorts of things ... what spare bike equipment to carry with us, what food to pack, and of course what to carry in the ever-important first aide kit! Pat is a retired OR nurse, and I have a history as an EMT and as a combat medic, so between us, we think the boys will be in pretty good hands.

Why, then, is the theme about avoiding beasts? Let me begin last week, when I was still in Hawaii. On the way upstairs to my Bon Voyage party, I was talking to a friend whose dog decided to grab small taste of my leg. I was all done training, had survived buffeting trade winds, road hazards, tour buses and road construction projects but I couldn't avoid getting a small dog bite, which knock-on-wood is healing nicely. Then, Pat's cat took a liking to me, and came to curl up on my lap. As soon as I started to stroke her, though, she decided to take a bite out of my hand. Two for two, the animals were winning.

I won round three of man versus beast, though. Behind Pat's house, there's a grassland that separates Gearhart from the Pacific Ocean. We took Pat's dog, a very energetic young black lab named Annie, for a run on the beach. But before we got half-way there, we encountered a cow elk out in the grassland. She was either about to give birth, or she was wanting to protect a hidden calf. From about two hundred yards away, she spotted us walking along the path to the beach, and she started to charge at us. She ran, stopped, charged again, then waited to see if we were taking her bluffs seriously. She got within perhaps 50 yards, and was still nervously threatening us as we were walked at a brisk pace back towards the safety of the houses. But the cow elk kept following, looking determined to give chase. We eventually made it back to safety, but in this morning's paper, there was an article about how aggressive the cow elk can be during birthing season. And there were photos of someone within about 20 yards of a cow. The headline was something about why it was unwise to try to take a selfie with one of the cows. So, no picture to show, but glad to report that I did not get bitten or stomped on by the elk. Or the sea lions.

So now I need to heal from dog and cat bites, and spicy spaghetti dinners, but should soon be through this string of aggressive animal behaviors.

 At the spaghetti dinner, Bryce sold a number of Bike Trip America tee shirts. After dinner, we were introduced to the Friday night crowd, and introduced ourselves briefly and posed for pictures ... the parents, and the team --- Bryce, Jonathan, Pat, and me. After a few photos, we went outside (it's freezing, compared to Hawaii), and several of the legionnaires did a no-no...they released a bunch of mylar balloons left over from the Memorial Day decorations. The balloons headed eastward, so maybe we can retrieve a few of them along the way to NYC (I'm assuming they are NOT biodegradable) unless the balloons, by serendipity, find their way to the Astoria small boat harbor, where they may find some utility in scaring the sea lions back into the water! Anyway, in the picture, you can see me in the background (the only one with a coat on), a few of the legion auxiliary releasing balloons, and on the right, Bryce and Jonathan, who will be on the road with me.

If you want to get a Bike Trip America tee shirt, or want to donate to the trip, or donate to the charity we are riding for (Operation Comfort Warriors, sponsored by the American Legion), visit the Bike Trip America website at http://www.biketripamerica.com.

Riders Up

The picture comes from the Haleiwa Metric Century, which I rode in last month. Here, I'm pacing one of my intrepid training partners, Frank Smith, who happens to be the person who several years ago sold me the bike that I've been training on. Thank you Frank. Saturday night, we had a good Bon Voyage party, a fond farewell to many of my friends, including several of my fellow bike riders from the Hawaii Bicycling League, as I head off to the mainland for a few last minute preparations for my big coast-to-coast adventure. Special thanks to Patricia, who coordinates twice weekly rides and coaches cyclists in bicycle safety and etiquette, and is there every Monday and every Thursday for the rides. She also rides with the Red Hot Ladies, including some pretty awesome riders, like Jen and Norma, who have been very supportive in helping me reach my training goals. And a special thanks to John, who organizers the Heavy Breathers rides on Saturdays, as well as joining us on the Thursday rides. John's wife taught our son at Kamiloiki School many years ago, so it was nice to have that sort of a deep connection. And of course, there were Roberto and Annika, our world travelers. They left from Europe in 2011, and are biking around Hawaii during May, then heading to Alaska, and riding across the North America to Mexico, then eventually around the Caribbean, and back to Europe. It makes my route look easy. Here's a view of my route, on a big wall map that I made for the Bon Voyage party. It looks like just a short ride, compared to the multi-continent ride that Roberto and Annika have undertaken.

I'll be in Oregon shortly, and learning to ride in rain and colder weather. Meanwhile, I'm reading Life Is a Wheel: Memoirs of a Bike-Riding Obituarist, by Bruce Weber. He followed generally the same route we'll be following this summer, and describes in detail some of the road and weather conditions we will be encountering. He rode in July, later in the summer than we are going, and he had a freer schedule, but he gives a good idea of what we will experience. We'll be on the road starting in just over three weeks from now. Thank you everyone for all the good wishes. Including my wife Wyn.

Adventure is Adventure!

One of the things that makes an adventuresome trip across America more palatable is the prospect of traveling on a new bike. I ordered the bike a couple of months ago, and it is set up and ready to go once I get to Astoria, Oregon. Two people have already commented on my new bike after seeing it in Bikes and Beyond. One said it looked "wicked," which I assume is meant in the positive slang meaning of the word. My old bike, the one I've been training on, is a steel-framed Bianchi Volpe, made for touring. But it is several years old, and to fix it up for a long (3500+ miles) ride would require a de-rusting, a new chain, a new cassette, a new chain ring, new cables, new handlebar tape, new wheels ... in short, new everything, from the ground up. It was great for training, because I've gotten to push steel up the hills, and try to keep up with all the carbon-fiber framed bikes with electronic shifters, which only makes me train all the harder. I'm just too competitive. Gotta keep up. First, let me show you what my new bike doesn't look like. On this morning's ride, we came across these two adventuresome souls:

Note the fat tires on the bikes. Not clearly visible, the large amount of luggage they are hauling on their self-contained bicycle tour of the world. They have been on the road and working to earn their way for two years, and traveled through Europe, across Asia (through China), around Oceania. They arrived in Hawaii last night, and after relaxing in Hawaii for National Bike Month, they will be off to Alaska for the next phase of their journey. I'm not great with names, but I believe it is Roberto, from Mexico, and Anika, from the northern part of Germany. Anyway, maybe more on them in a later blog post, and if I got the names wrong, I'll correct it later. The point is, they have 100 kilograms of stuff to lug around with them, including their bikes (and they still manage to cycle at a pretty good clip!) That means that they are each pushing over 100 pounds up and down the hills. By way of contrast, here's a hint at what I'll be riding this summer:

With pedals added, my Trek 720 will top out at somewhere around 22 pounds ... maybe more by the time I load my day's provisions into the snap-on panniers, but that is stuff I carry with me anyway. It has an aluminum frame, with a carbon-fiber fork that is designed to dampen the vibration from the road. I'll swap out the seat for my leather Brooks saddle. Then I'll settle in for a long comfortable ride from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. All the way, I'll be humming Woody Guthrie's American anthem, "This Land is Your Land." The Trek 720 (not to be confused with the old Trek 720, which was a mountain bike), is called a "Light Touring" bike. Configured for the long haul, but responsive, especially on a tour where most of our gear is being hauled in a van. I'll introduce the van later, since I'm sure it will become nearly as good a friend as my new bike is destined to be. Tomorrow night, the Hawaii Bicycling League will be hosting a "Pau Hana" party (after work) to celebrate the end of Bike to Work Week, and our two intrepid cyclists will be there sharing their story. I love bike adventures. That's why I'm going on Bike Trip America, although it will be more like a walk in the park, when it's compared to an arduous multi-year journey around the world. But hey, adventure is adventure!

Embedding Strava Feed

This is an experiment to see how to embed my Strava feed. I will do this while I'm on the road, when possible (or when it's interesting).

It's National Bike Month!

Every day is a good day to celebrate National Bike Month. I want to encourage you to get out on your bike, even if it's just for a spin down the street and back. Do your errands on a bike. Go to an appointment. Yesterday, I had a dentist appointment to make sure I started off on my big bike ride this summer with a healthy set of chompers. I rode to the dentist's office on my bike. Total miles, around 16.  Even if it had only been a mile, it would have been a mile without a car.

Before I retired, I commuted by bicycle. That was pretty much 100 miles a week guaranteed, or around 5000 miles a year. This year, I've already done half that, and have a 3500 mile journey ahead of me, so retirement doesn't have to be an excuse not to ride.

Of course there are lots of reasons to ride.

• Health -- I've lost 15 pounds and shaved 60 points off my cholesterol in the past three months. I've converted some fat into muscle, and feel 20 years younger. That is only a problem if you are under, say, 35. Then maybe you can just feel like you're 18 again...or already, depending on your perspective.
• Environment -- People who've signed up to log their miles for National Bike Month have already burned over 37 million calories, but more importantly, they've already saved nearly 300,000 pounds of carbon dioxide. Reminds me of the bumper sticker: "Burn Carbohydrates, Not Hydrocarbons." Every person who is on a bike is someone who is not in a car. If you've been stuck in traffic lately, you know that we could do with far fewer cars on the road.
• Economy -- Good physical health means lower healthcare costs. Self-powered transportation means less gas in the car, less payment for parking, less for insurance. But good bike gear does cost money. I've got a couple of ride buddies who spent over $20,000 on a tandem (including a custom paint job), but you can go to the local bike shop and spend a couple of hundred dollars for a functional bike, a good bike helmet, front and rear lights, and voila! you're on the road. In Hawaii, where I live, that's four tanks of gas, and you can go on your bike forever!
• Civil duty -- Make the world a better place. Bikes are quieter, bike riders tend to be friendly, they learn to count on each other for support, and they live a much less hectic life than most of their car-borne fellow citizens. 

Go on, give it a wheel...I mean, a whirl. After all, it is National Bike Month.