Hey Guys, here's some pictures.

There are blackberries everywhere! Walker and Lindsey seem to have an eye for good patches along the road.

They were everywhere!

Big indeed.

Lindsey gets her first flat. I think this is somewhere in California.

The incredible view in Southern Oregon. This was at the bottom of a really chilly descent. I think the hill was a little over 800 feet. It gets really cold coming down into the ocean air.

There are many pictures of Lindsey from behind. You can guess who has the camera in their handlebar bag.

Another incredible view at the top of one of our many climbs. It is always worth it.

The Octopus Tree.

The Cliffs of Insanity! or the Oregon Coastline.

Lindsey at the Tillamook Cheese factory.

You can see what we thought of it.

A fabric store in Wheeler, OR. This was the only thing open on a Sunday when we rolled through.

This was the first Hiker/Biker site we came to in Oregon. The state parks will never turn a biker away, and they have free hot showers. It's pretty incredible. The staff is always really nice.

Another view of the Oregon coast. This was the top of our first 800 foot climb.

We made it to the beach. Holding our bikes up over our heads was the only logical thing to do. It was a hike down, worth it.

Our sleeping spot on the beach.

The view.

Lindsey cooking one of her fantastic rice, chicken and corn combos.

The yard where we stayed in Washington. We were having trouble finding a campsite our second night out and Randy pulled up next to us and offered his yard for free. He had a great lawn next to a nice creek.

Randy's home, and Bandit.

Mmmmm... I love eating.

Bandit protected our food while we slept.

The ferry out of Seattle, WA. I look sick, I wasn't.

Getting ready to leave Kashena's house in Seattle. She gave us a base in the city and was willing to watch our car for the summer in order to make this whole trip possible.

One Week Down

Hello All,

We've finally made it to a place where we can update. It won't be too long and we can't get pictures up, but we thought we'd say hi and give a quick overview.

Basically, it's been amazing and challenging. We've averaged about 60 miles a day since the first day. Bremerton, WA, the very first town we went through had some huge, steep hills we had to walk up and were somewhat discouraging but since then, every hill gets a little easier and now we're in shape and climbing hills with 800 ft. elevation changes. For most evenings we've been camping in state parks, the occasional RV park and one night in nice guy's backyard by a creek. He just pulled up to us while we were looking for an RV park and offered us his yard for free. We've decided we really love Oregon because their state park system is incredibly bike friendly. First off, they will never turn a cyclist away, even if they're completely booked and they have secluded hiker/biker group sites for $4.00 per person per night and free showers! And the park staffs have all been really friendly.

We've made a few friends along the way, other cyclists heading the same way. The first were a group of three Canadians who made us feel really organized. We saw them about three days in a row. The last three nights we've been on track with a couple of ladies celebrating their 50th years by biking the Oregon coast. Most bikers seem to be planning on ending somewhere around the end of Oregon or San Francisco. We may be alone on the road after that.

The weather was pretty hot in Washington, but now that we've hit Oregon and the coast, it's been foggy and chilly in the mornings and evenings. Overall I think we've been pretty lucky weather wise. For setbacks we've had one flat tire, my derailleurs acted up a little, and we've been chased by at least 4 dogs. Other than that it's working out pretty well.

We'll try to add pictures next time. But just so you know, we're really enjoying ourselves.

To Stillwater Minnesota for Family Wedding

Day 1

We biked to my sister's wedding in Stillwater, MN on May 15th. It was a beautiful weekend for biking and we decided to take it easy after Duluth. The first night our destination was Lake Elmo State Park, about 8 miles outside of Stillwater. The ride was a combination of city roads to the Gateway Trailhead in St. Paul and then county roads to the campground. The Gateway Trail is a great ride, pretty flat, some pretty scenery, and well traveled on nice days.

Joe's bike before starting out.

Final adjustments before leaving

First bathroom break of the day, 30 minutes in.

"Reading" at Lake Elmo Campground.

It took so much less time and energy to bike here than our first day to Duluth. We didn't know how to spend the rest of the day.

The Swimming Area

Pool or Beach or both?

Cooking dinner in the rain.

Dinner - some tasty dried soup.

View after the rain cleared.

Lucky for us, it stopped raining in time to enjoy a nice campfire before bed. Unlucky for Joe, it got colder than expected and he froze in his 30 degree synthetic sleeping bag while I stayed warm and cozy in my 15 degree down mummy bag.

Day 2

Snack break right before town.

What we see when traveling by bike.

?

Stillwater

Walking to the wedding

We were lucky enough to stay with Spike and Kathy, a friends' parents in a beautiful house right in downtown Stillwater. They kindly opened their home to us for the night. It's the oldest house in Stillwater and Spike, a carpenter and author has renovated and added on. Definitely ranks high on the list of coolest places I've ever slept. Meeting new and hospitable folks was a great experience and got me looking forward to staying with hosts from Warmshowers.org. Thanks again!

Heading Home

The ride home is a slight downhill grade. There's not much more to ask for.

Ride to Duluth - Day 2

Packing up after our night of camping. In addition to the main bathrooms being closed, the water pumps were also shut off for the season. We had to choose between coffee and oatmeal. It was tough.

It was a fun ride out of the campground, not quite as tough as riding in the night before, whatever.

Weather started to clear up around noon on the second day. It was pretty awesome to see the clouds parting. It really reminded me why I like spending so much time outside. One develops this awareness of the weather you just don't have when you spend your day indoors. Maybe that's partly because of how much more it effects you when you're spending all your time outside. Regardless, it was awesome.

Lunch in a shady grove.

I think were excited about something, or frightened. I can't recall.

Ten miles out of Duluth. Carlton, MN. The next five miles or so of this go along the Northern portion of Jay Cook State Park.

Why no swimming?

Oh wait, that's why.

Jay Cook State Park.

I'm eyeing our bikes. I think this is proof that loaded touring bikes don't make appealing getaway vehicles for thieves. And nobody wanted a pannier full of our dirty clothes.

We made it. Thanks to Eve, Candace and Ricki and family for letting us crash at your house on the North Shore. It was a great stopping point. Thanks to the host guy at the Scenic Cafe for letting us fill our water bottles when all the other pumps were still closed for the season. And thanks to the tail wind we had most of the second day. It was a blast cruising along at 19 miles an our with fully loaded bikes.

Ride to Duluth - Day 1

Well, here it is.  This is the very start of our first bike trip.  At this point our bikes were loaded with all the gear it would take for us to be self-reliant, for two days.  The goal for the first night was Banning State Park where we would spend our first night, and on to the North Shore by Thursday night.  That was the plan.  

Although the bikes were heavy, we were ready for a trip.  Our only downfall was having our first fully loaded trip with our bikes through downtown.

And look how happy we are ridding into Lake Vadnais.  This is about 15 miles into our trip.

A good place for an early morning snack.  

After this point we were pretty focused on getting to Banning State Park, not a lot of time for pictures.  By the end of the day we had ridden about 120 miles, ~35 miles more than I predicted, and had been on the trail for about 14 hours.  It was a long day.  The tent worked amazing in the rain and that may have been one of the best nights of sleep I've had.  

Practice Rides

So far this spring we've taken three or four longer practice rides on the weekends.  Also, we've managed to get up before the sunrise once or twice for some nice, but short morning rides.  The firsone we were lucky enough to see the sun rise over Lake Calhoun.  

The weekend rides have mostly been a tour of all the trails the Midtown Green Way can lead to. One Saturday we biked out on the Cedar Lake trail through St. Louis Park and beyond.  The spring thaw was still battling for winter's claim over the trail and we had to traverse a number of ice covered patches and portage some mighty rivers of melting snow.  

The next weekend we decided to meet up with some friends at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska for the annual Pancake Brunch with fresh maple syrup tapped from their very own trees.  Being so excited for pancakes as well as underestimating the time and milage to get there, we forgot to eat a real breakfast before the 2 hour and 20 some mile ride.  Those pancakes were the best pancakes I've ever had.  

Really, ever. 

Post Pancake Bliss

Overall, we learned some important lessons about stopping more frequently for water and snacks.   While we didn't take much time to look around the Arboretum, the ride home was much more pleasant.

Stopping for water before catching the   Kenilworth trail home.

Note my cool Nickelodeon water bottle. Thank you Axman Surplus Store.

The Stove and Cookset

The Trangia 25-8UL/HA

This is the cook set we'll be using on the trip.

It's a simple stove.  To light it just fill the fuel canister (top left) with methylated spirits or denatured alcohol, light a match, drop it in, and you're ready to cook.  The flame can be adjusted with the simmer ring (bottom).    

The stove resting inside the wind guard.

The pots rest inside the wind guard, as pictured here with the tea kettle.

So far we've boiled water and made oatmeal on Joe's front porch.  Takes about 8 minutes total.  Not bad for a small flame and cheap fuel.

The whole set fits nicely inside the wind guard.