Recording Our Journey

One of the great things about bike touring is that you travel fast enough to see new scenery every day, but slow enough to take it in while cruising along on a bike.  It differs from riding in a car where you really need to stop to appreciate anything, and from hiking where you travel so slowly that it's better to use other means of transportation to skip over the less scenic sections (few would hike through the Central Valley to get to the Sierras).

Cars, Bikes, and Roads

This week I read a couple of articles in the New York Times about biking, the first was about initiatives in Copenhagen to support longer distance commuting with bike highways.  The second was about how some bikers are using helmet mounted cameras to help protect themselves from aggressive motorists.  I thought that it might be interesting to write about our experience sharing the road with cars during our trip this summer.

Lorenzo's new route

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Here's my tentative route! I will be following Adventure Cycling's TransAmerica route to Yellowstone. I will be trying to update when I can, but I'm not sure the computer has reached Wyoming yet.

The Future for PortlandCruz

Thank you, everyone for all the kind thoughts and wishes over the last few days. Matt broke out of the hospital Wednesday afternoon and has been doing well. Yesterday we went back to ACA to plan some more tours and to hang out with some of the coolest people around.

Tonight he and I head back to Sacramento on a train after we watch The Dark Knight Rises. From there I'll pedal myself back to Santa Cruz, stopping in the Bay to visit some friends. Lorenzo is going to keep going but along a different route. Instead of going North to Glacier, he'll be heading South to Yellowstone, then heading East, sweeping by Mt. Rushmore and Badlands and eventually getting into Michigan.

I'll keep updating about my short adventure back and we'll let y'all know about Matt's healing progress. Thanks again for all the kind thoughts and support. The adventure isn't over, it's just on pause.

Matt's crash and Gabriel's Farewell

Bike touring and blogging are an interesting yet challenging combination.  On the one hand each day tends to offer a multitude of interesting, exciting, and humorous experiences that can be written about.  On the other hand biking all day leaves little time to chronicle the experience in a blog, particularly when camping without access to a computer.  Gradually our technique for telling our story has evolved and I thought that the last few blog posts have been collaboratively written in a story telling manner.  However, the writing style that I am most comfortable with is still a first person narrative, and so that is what I want to use now to write about Matt's crash and how it impacts my experience with the tour.

Detour: St. Patrick's Hospital

After visiting the American Cycling Association on Monday morning we headed North East towards Glacier. About 20 miles in Matt hit a snag in the form of an SUV moving at highway speed.

Although very scary, Matt's high spirits maintained and suffered only a tib-fib fracture and ankle dislocation. His bike took the brunt of the impact. We're hanging out in Missoula for a few days until Batman comes out. At that point Matt will head back to California, Gabriel will be back in Virginia and Lorenzo and Ryland will be somewhere else, yet to be determined.

All is as well as can be for the situation at hand. Matt's healing up and the folks at ACA have been extremely helpful and kind.

PortlandCruz lives on.

Get On Up, It's Bikesled Time, Cool Runnings!

Day 22 - Clarkston, WA to Wild Goose Campground (Lowell, ID)

The smell of mounted deer and drying roses filled our nostrils as we rose in the basement of the Becker elders, Sue and Roger. At 69 and 70, respectively, these two lead amazingly active lives: riding horses, rose pruning, square dancing, motorcycling, snowmobiling, and hunting. Sue cooked a light breakfast of 18 eggs (with cheese and sweet walla walla), a loaf of bread, homemade preserves, and a pot of coffee.

We mounted our steeds and rode all of 200 feet before Ryland asked Matt "Why does your tire sound like that?!"