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I’m all packed and ready to go – I think. Even though I’m only going for a three day ride I packed as if this is the “big” ride. My gear weighs in at about 45 pounds!!  I am going to try to get it down to 40 but we’ll see.  I am only planning on taking my cell phone so I wanted to see if I can post to the blog from the phone.

Tomorrow I catch the train at 8:00 am in Van Nuys for the 5 hour trip to SLO. Then Thursday I ride to Lompoc, Friday to Carpinteria, Saturday back home. More from the road!

I had a good ride yesterday.  Left my house and went down to Palos Verdes and up the switchbacks on Palos Verdes Drive East.  That’s a 2 mile climb so it was a good test.  I got passed on the way up by a group of about 30 or 40 riders all on nice road bikes – much, much lighter than my bike with its load!!  But I got many words of encouragement as they went by – although many of them were probably thinking to themselves – this guy is insane!!  But, it was a 50+ mile ride and I felt good when I got home.

I have already learned a lot and I haven’t even left yet.  The more experienced bike tourers have provided a lot of good information about tires and tubes.  The bane of all cyclists is flat tires!!  So, there are ways to minimize flats.  The picture Continue reading Tires, tubes and sealant???

Although the ride doesn’t start from Chicago until the morning of Sept. 12th, Linda and I will be leaving for New York at the end of August.  And then we fly to Chicago where I will start my ride.  A little panic is starting to set in when I think about the fact that I will be gone for over two months and I still have a lot to do!!    That said, I am ticking through my ‘to-do’ list.

I have installed a link to a Google map that shows the proposed itinerary of the ride and where we will likely be staying each night.  There is some Continue reading One month to go!!

I just received the proposed itinerary for the ride.  I am in the process of putting together a Google map of the route but in the mean time here are a few stats.

Average mileage per riding day:    52.7 miles

Shortest Day:  Cedar Crest, NM to Albuquerque, NM – 25.2 miles

Longest Day:  Springfield, MO to Carthage, MO – 68.7 miles

Continue reading Ride stats and itinerary

I decided that I needed a ride mascot and when I was up in Coeur d’alene, ID visiting my stepfather, I picked up Zippy the turtle (how appropriate!) at Figpickels!  If you’re ever in Coeur d’alene, ID, visit Figpickels – it is a unique and fun toy store!  In any case, it’s back to training now – 34 miles yesterday, 40 miles today and probably another 30 to 35 tomorrow.

Zippy and I
are planning another shakedown ride.  This time we’ll take the train to San Luis Obispo and spend three days riding home.  Should be a good chance to check out all of my gear, packing and unpacking, etc, etc.  Will probably camp in Lompoc, Carpinteria and then ba
ck home.  Not sure yet – still working the logistics but the ticket is purchased!  We’ll be taking the train up to SLO on August 3rd and riding back August 4,5,6.  This is getting very real!!!

 

I took a little break from training and flew up to Coeur d’alene, ID to visit my stepfather.  Linda came with me and my sister, Tina, drove over from Montana.  My stepfather is in a memory care assisted living facility but he still knows who we are and was really happy to see us.  We took him out every day and had nice days at Coeur d’alene Lake and also on the last day when we drove up to Pend Oreille Lake and had dinner at the Floating Restaurant in Hope,ID.  Really pretty country.  Now, it’s time to get back to work!

 

 

We have passed the ‘go/no-go’ window on the trip and the trip leader and the company (Adventure Cycling Association) have set up a Google Group dedicated to the ride and the group going.  Most people have checked in and it looks like it will be an interesting group of people.

The tour leader is from Maine and has extensive bicycle touring experience.  There are two Brits (one 68 year old man and a 36 year old lady), one German (72), one New Zealander, a couple from Moscow, ID, a Continue reading The Group

I must say, I didn’t sleep extremely well my first night in my little tent but I suspect I will get into the routine.  I was up early (but that’s normal) and intended to be on the rode by 7 a.m.  I knew it was going to be a long day.

It was pretty overcast and not very warm so I threw on my light wind jacket, checked all of my gear and headed out of Carpinteria.  I got a pleasant surprise
just outside of town.  When I had done this ride a few years ago, bicyclists had to share the shoulder of the freeway for about five miles or more.  Even though the shoulder was wide, it was still unnerving to have traffic whizzing by at 70 mph just a few feet away!

Now, they have constructed a separate bike path – much better!!

The ride through Ventura and Oxnard was quite well marked.  There are signs marking the Pacific Coast Bike route and it makes it quite easy to navigate.  About thirty miles into the ride I came across a restaurant, The Best Breakfast, and decided to stop for a bite to eat.  Great choice.  I wolfed down a large omelet, hash browns, toast and OJ and felt ready for the next segment.

Just past the shooting range at Port Hueneme is a large rock that I’ve driven past many times but have never stopped – I stopped this time because it was getting warm and it was time to shed the jacket.

This was about the halfway point – 39 miles down, 40 miles to go.  The temperature starting going up and the sun started coming out so by the time I got to Zuma Beach, it was pretty warm.   I stopped to refuel (Gatorade, water and a banana muffin!) at the top of the hill just this side of Zuma Beach.

The rest of the ride was pretty straightforward.  Although, its always sporty going through Malibu.  Lots of crazy drivers and not very wide shoulders!  I’m always glad to get through that stretch and get off the highway at Will Rogers State Beach.  From there its just a cruise down the bike path to my place in Marina del Rey.

It was a good ride – great confidence builder – 79 miles; 5 hours and 55 minutes riding time (clock time about an hour longer due to the breakfast stop , etc), and my bike computer said I burned 5,500 calories!  one stpe closer to getting ready to go.

 

Once I assembled most of my gear, I decided to do an overnight shakedown ride from Carpinteria.   It was both fun and a learning experience.  Linda dropped me off at the Van Nuys Amtrak station with my bike and my gear.

Boarding the train was a learning experience in itself.  I had splurged on a Business Class ticket just because I thought the extra room would be nice – bad idea!  The car where you bike goes is at the very back of the train whereas the Business Class car is at the very front of the train !!  There are about 7 cars separating the two.  And, I found out, trains don’t stop very long to let people board and disembark!!  In any case, with some help from the station agent I was able to get my bike secured on the train and make it up to my seat with all of my bags!  First lesson – plan this out better the next time!

Once aboard the ride was nice and it was fun to just watch the world go by.  About Ventura, I started lugging all of my bags toward the back of the train so I could make a quick exit at Carpinteria.  No problem – the train rolled into Carpinteria and I rolled off my bike and was good to go.

Carpinteria State Beach is right near the train station so I rode over, checked in, paid my $10 and was directed over to the ‘Hike and Bike’ area (no reservations required – first come, first serve).

I got my tent set up, rolled out my sleeping mat and sleeping bag. and decided to ride into town and check it out.

  I have driven past Carpinteria many, many times over the years but never had a reason to stop.  I discovered a nice little town – nice shops and restaurants.  Cute little place.  I ultimately opted for dinner at ‘The Spot’ which I understand is a well known burger place in Carpinteria.  Very tasty.

I went back to camp and walked over to the beach to watch the sunset.  In the mean time, quite a crowd had shown up at the Hike and Bike campground – probably 12 to 15 riders.  There were 3 guys from Norway, 1 guy from Austria,  one guy who lived in Bishop, CA but had ridden to Canada and was now on his way to San Diego and various others.

I knew it was going to take a little bit of getting used to the new bike.  It was much heavier than my road bike.  It had ‘bar end shifters’ which I thought I’d have trouble getting used to since my road bike had the shifters integrated into the brakes on the handlebars.  Turns out it wasn’t that big a deal.

Since I didn’t have all of my gear, I decided to use a dummy load to get used to riding with weight.  I put a 3 1/2 quart bottle of water in each of the four panniers.  Once I strapped my tent on the back, I figured I was riding with about 35 lbs of ‘ballast’ which would be a good substitute for the real thing.  I am going to try to keep my load to 40 pounds or less for the real ride.  We’ll see.