North to South Isn't Downhill?

Day 30 - Malibu, CA to Hermosa Beach, CA - 29.79 miles

2009-07-27T19:47:00.001-07:00

Biking through Malibu was fun - kinda like when we bike through Greenwich and admire all the houses we will never be able to afford. Most of the LA flavor that we soaked up came from a slow stroll through the Venice Beach Boardwalk - even on a Tuesday we saw a wide variety of characters. Our only plan for the night was going to the Dodgers game, so when we happened upon a cute street with a 2 for 1 burger deal we decided to have a late lunch, find a place to stay and make our way to Dodgers Stadium. Little did we know what making our way to Dodgers Stadium would entail. It started off with a ride to the bus stop from our generous hotel owner, Amish Patel. Over two hours later, while on our second bus, we hopped out to hail a cab for our last leg of the journey. Hermosa Beach seemed like it was in LA based on our map, but we may as well have been going back to Safeco Field. In an effort to enjoy the game (which we wholly succeeded at), neither one of us mentioned the white elephant in the stadium of how we were going to get home when we left the game and the buses were no longer running. In the 4th inning, Austin got a text from Saif (in response to his text from 2 weeks ago) saying that he now lives in LA and would pick us up. Phew! (Had only one nice Indian given us a ride, dayenu.) It was great to hang out with Saif - be sure to congratulate him on graduating, moving cross-country and landing an elusive architecture job in LA. We can't wait to come back and visit for more than 2 hours.

Day 29 - Carpinteria, CA to Malibu, CA - 64.35 miles

2009-07-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

We had planned to take a day off in Carpinteria to hang out at the beach, but there was a 1 day limit for the hiker/biker sites. We can't really complain because that's what enables us to always have a dirt cheap ($3-5) place to camp (unless Ken's buying). Our decision to continue south was quickly rewarded when we saw a large pod of dolphins swimming alongside our route early in the day.

In the land of glamor we chose to stay at an RV park. We had a great time hanging out with our biking buddies Daniel and Dave Harris. They had ice cold coronas waiting for us and had picked out a pristine spot at the edge of a cliff with a great view of the Pacific. It was so nice, we slept in the tent without the rain fly for the first time.

Week 4 - We Wish Temples Were This Clever

2009-07-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Listed below are our top 10 church signs compiled from both our trip and Austin and Jon's "Quest West." We've seen a few good ones, but the Heartland still takes the cake. We guess people's Jesus out here comes in the form of a surfboard, VW bus, bike, or sportscar. Can anyone, besides Jon, figure out which ones are from the West Coast?

10. Jesus served living water, not Kool-aid.
9. Do your best, God will do the rest.
8. God did not go on vacation and leave you in charge.
6. If you don't know Jesus, you don't have a prayer.
6. If your salvation won't bring you to church, it won't bring you to heaven.

5. Coming Soon...JESUS

4. God allows U-turns. Do U need one?

3. God's line is never too busy.

2. Prevent truth decay - brush up on your bible.

1. If God seems far away, who moved?

Week 4 - By The Numbers

2009-07-27T18:34:00.000-07:00

For week 4 numbers, previous weeks are shown for comparison (Week 1, Week 2, Week 3).

80,000,000 - amount of debt W.R. Hearst went into while expanding his estates, in dollars
4500 - average weight of a male elephant seal at Piedras Blancas, in pounds - over 321 stone!
1679.43 - total distance travelled, in miles
385.00 - week 4 distance traveled, in miles (421.56, 420.08, 452.79)
103.39 - longest distance travelled in one day, in miles (75.38, 92.40, 91.2)

86B - lowest exit on Highway 101 reached (771, 422)

46.4 - week 4 top speed, in mph (39.7, 42.6, 47.2)
77.00 - week 4 miles/day of biking (67.15, 70.01, 72.83)
57.00 - week 4 miles/day - not including our 15 mile day (60.22, 60.01, 64.68)
7 - estimated pints of raspberries eaten - gracias, Roberto!
6 - height of the fence we and our bikes scaled, in feet - almost 2 meters!
5 - maps used
5 - days we actually biked this week
3 - broken spokes (all on Austin's rear wheel)
3 - flat tires (all for Steph)
2 - number of towns named Ferndale camped in
1 - number of days we rode until dark - sorry, Tina!
Nada - cost of the raspberries

Things we lost count of: # of times we've been asked "where ya headed?", things Steph has bought as there are fewer and fewer miles left to carry them, "Share the Road" and "Bike Route" signs (so bike friendly), and iPhone yearnings (this trip has been i opening).

Day 28 - Goleta, CA to Carpinteria, CA - 25.38 miles

2009-07-27T18:27:00.001-07:00

We rewarded ourselves after our long ride with an "off" day in Santa Barbara. We have been so excited to come back to SB after having such a great time at Marshall and Steph's wedding, but after just writing about how we never know which parts of the trip are going to be the most memorable, nothing really happened today - no surprises, no dreaded best man speech, not even a picture - but definitely a fun day off in a beautiful place.

Day 27 - San Luis Obispo, CA to Goleta, CA - 103.39 miles

2009-07-23T23:21:00.000-07:00

New P.R.! Today was off the bixcitement charts - better than finding Clif Bars on sale. We took our time getting going because we had the Sheridan's house at our disposal again. To our surprise, he and Sasha were gone by the time we woke up - apparently you're "on call" when working for the railroad. He left us a nice note offering us to stay for the day and relax/refresh - which was very enticing - but we decided to move on. We were planning to bike about 85 miles today, so the late start meant our first break would have to come late in the day. About 25 miles in, we ran into our biking friends Brock & Adele. We haven't mentioned them yet, but first met them north of SF and have been leapfrogging since, including a few nights of camping together, lending each other tools, commiserating over a recent climb, or celebrating the academic calendar. For the next 20 miles, their company helped the miles fly by. We were hoping to come upon a farmer stand for an excuse to stop riding - 45 miles without a break was starting to wear on us - but the best we could find was a deserted field of raspberries. After leaning the bikes against a pole and taking out the Nutella and Peanut Butter, we spotted a worker. After he responded "si" to our question, "Are these raspberries?" we knew we might have some problems communicating. He was excited to let us try the raspberries, and in trying to ask how much they cost, he gestured "hold on." Roberto came back with 14 empty Driscoll Raspberry containers and gestured us to help fill them. As we collectively finished filling our second container, we tried again to ask, "Quantos? Quantos para uno?" He gestured that he wouldn't take money and we didn't quite have the Spanish to argue, so forced him to take some granola bars in an epic bartering event. Our four containers of raspberries definitely beat out his three granola bars. Roberto's generosity - and food - gave us the inspiration we needed to get up a couple big climbs and 40 miles to our goal. Our day was supposed to end with a 2 mile bike path connecting two beautiful campgrounds on the beach. The Park Ranger warned us of an eroded section that we should bike/hike around. Getting around the fence into the construction zone was pretty easy...getting out of the construction zone was definitely not. There was no convenient gap/hole in the fence, so, since we were not about to turn around, we unloaded the bikes, hoisted everything over the 6 ft fence, packed up again, and kept going. At this point, we had about 75 minutes of sunlight left and had ridden 87 miles - Austin told Steph, "This is our chance to do 100!" We were energized by such an eventful day, so decided to get back on the highway and keep going. 6 ft of fence in three directions didn't stop us, but 2 inches of nail did. The nail jammed through Steph's tire, inner tube, other side of her inner tube, took a U-turn, went through the inner tube, other side of the inner tube, and then started to pierce the tire again before running out of its 2 inches. We think the nail came from the grassy knoll. It ended up being an incredibly difficult flat to fix and in doing it, we lost 40 minutes of daylight. If you're doing math at home and have been following the blog closely, you know that 35 minutes is not nearly enough for us to bike 16 miles. We guess we gave away the ending in our title, but definitely finished the ride in the dark.
Had we just woken up in a nice bed with a roof over our heads - Dayenu. Had we just ridden with our biking friends - Dayenu. Had we just met Roberto on the raspberry farm - Dayenu. Had we just had to climb the fence - Dayenu. Had we just ridden 100 miles - Dayenu. Today was definitely our most memorable day so far.

Day 26 - San Simeon, CA to Edna, CA - 51.42 miles

2009-07-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

Waking up to our biking friends at the campsite was nice, but waking up to a third broken spoke was not. Austin has actually learned how to true a wheel pretty well, so we were able to ride 45 miles to San Luis Obispo (SLO) before having it fixed properly. After a fixed spoke and putting pink handlebar tape on the Cannondale (pink on yellow is like hotter on hottest), we hit up the SLO Jamba Juice, grocery store (where we finally remembered to buy Nutella to go with the PB, granola bars, and fingers), and library for four posts (Since we're posting a few days at a time, we hope all 7 of you are reading each entry. We'd say 8, but we know Tina is.). The big adventure of the day started when another generous David found us in the library to "pay it forward." He explained that he has done a lot of touring and was so appreciative of the generosity others showed to him that he wanted to invite us to come stay in his home. We pretended to think it over, but knew this option was 1,000 times better than the Pismo Beach Dunes Vehicle Recreation Area (think ATV's, not back country). After winding through Edna Valley wine country, we arrived at a beautiful home with a front yard filled with grapevines; orange, lemon, and avocado trees; and one excited six year old who couldn't wait to show Stephanie around. David gave Austin a beer while Sasha showed Steph her room, the pool, which oranges were edible, and made sure we knew all the rules of the house - "If Papa's office door is closed, it means he's working, but you can still go in." Remarkably, David and Sasha left us home alone to join friends for dinner. It's hard to say if we were more excited about taking showers, doing laundry, cooking in a kitchen, having unlimited Internet access or just the refreshing generosity. When they returned, Sasha showed us how to check the moon phases, showed us the weather forecast for tomorrow's ride, and took our picture - all on Papa's iPhone. It was like a Mac commercial. When Sasha fell asleep, we swapped teaching and railroad engineering stories with David. He is one of 20 engineers who conducts the SLO to LA Union Pacific Railroad. He said there were 100 engineers a few years ago, but there just isn't much freight to move in this economy. He ended up being called to work in the middle of night so we woke up to an empty house and a nice note - "...please feel free to hang around and rest for the day....lock the gate on your way out." Ironically, we were so excited to see Big Sur yesterday, and didn't have much to look forward to today. We knew this summer was going to be filled with adventures, but we're slowly learning that you can't predict when they are going to come.

Day 25 - Big Sur, CA to San Simeon, CA - 70.11 miles

2009-07-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

The big things we saw today - literally - were the coastal fog, elephant seals at Piedras Blancas, and the Hearst Castle. Although we were disappointed the fog hadn't lifted, we were actually able to look down from above the clouds because of the big climbs we had today. It was a very surreal experience and looked a lot like a view from an airplane - hopefully the pictures will do it justice. In an effort to have time to see the "big" attractions, we pushed 60 miles before taking a real break. The 2 ton male seals were grunting, growling, play fighting, and constantly flipping on their sunscreen (sand) while waiting for the females to arrive for mating season. We made it to Hearst Castle just in time for the last tour. We were skeptical of touring a mansion - especially at $24/person - but it was actually worth it. W.R. Hearst's "tribute to ambition and affluence" was decorated with an extravagant worldly taste. He shipped in Spanish Palm trees, exotic flowers, Canadian Elk, African Zebras, Tapestries owned by the Sun King (Louis Quatorze), Swiss cheese, Egyptian sculptures, and (of course) Jersey cows. His 80 million dollar debt made sense after learning that this was just one of the five estates he was continuously augmenting.

Day 24 - Sunset State Beach, CA to Big Sur, CA - 64.74 miles

2009-07-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

A few notable moments from the day: We enjoyed the sweet smells as we biked through 20 miles of strawberry fields (we'd think the Beatles visited here, but strawberry fields are probably a metaphor for something else like a walrus), faced our first prolonged headwind (yesterday we averaged 13 mph, today 10), enjoyed a few hours on the old Monterey Fisherman's Wharf where Austin sampled 6 different clam chowders, and still had Big Sur to look forward to. Unfortunately the fog never lifted and, like in Oregon, we missed the views everyone had been telling us about. We added it to the "things to do in a car with Josh" list for next time.

Day 23 - Half Moon Bay, CA to Sunset State Beach, CA - 69.96 miles

2009-07-20T14:10:00.000-07:00

We definitely went with our stop 'n go approach today. Our first stop came before we had ridden any miles when we had to enjoy a last morning on Ken at the Ritz with breakfast and one more visit to the spa. We made a strong push before our next stop and forty miles later came upon an organic strawberry farm that enticed us with a 10% off deal for bikers (off the bixcitement charts!). After enjoying a strawberry shortcake, strawberry-apple cider, strawberry cheesecake brownie, strawberry macaroon and sampling EVERY type of strawberry jam we continued on our journey. One of the coolest parts of Swanson's Organic Strawberry Farm was the "famous honor till" - you just added up what you ate and took your own change from the register. Ten miles later (thanks to a great recommendation from Morgan), we stopped at the Santa Cruz boardwalk to ride the 85 year old, wooden, Giant Dipper roller coaster and Skywalk Gondola; check out a free, strange, but entertaining Cirque Magnifique show; and enjoy a boardwalk snack before we kept rolling.

Pictures!!!

2009-07-19T15:54:00.001-07:00

Pictures!!!

2009-07-19T15:49:00.001-07:00

Pictures!!!

2009-07-19T15:40:00.001-07:00

Bixcitement Scale

2009-07-17T14:57:00.000-07:00

Our days are filled with exciting moments that we appreciate so much more because we're on bikes. To give you a sense of these small memorable moments, here is our bixcitement scale:

1 - Failing to light the stove for the 2nd time on our first night when all we have to eat is freeze dried food and Jon is 3,000 miles away (4,000 via Phoenix)

2 - Looking at our map and realizing the next direction is to turn onto "Mountain View Pass" or "Bow Hill Rd."

3 - Finding out the only open bike shop in town is in a guy's garage.

4 - After being tormented by hundreds of Elk signs, finally seeing Elk.

5 - Seeing SF or LA on the roadside mileage signs after about 1000 miles on the road.

6 - Looking at the map and seeing the next direction is to turn onto "Paradise Bay Road" or "Beach View Ave."

7 - Seeing that the Clif bars and peanut butter you were going to buy anyway are on sale.

8 - The guy in the garage bike shop actually fixing your bike.

9 - Getting to "Bow Hill Rd" and realizing you're going down the hill.

10 - Checking the blog and seeing funny, supportive, and thoughtful comments posted.

Clearly, we're getting a lot out of the simple pleasures our days provide. We do, however, miss you guys and would love a sense of your current excitement. Try to use our scale to give us a taste of what we're missing at home (be it CT, NJ, NH, DC, NY, MA, CA, CO, Ireland, etc.). Here are a few examples (an asterisk means we think it hasn't happened yet):

1 - Marshall finding out his stomach ache is appendicitis.

2 - Tina having to work during part of July.

4 - Jon flying up a tough hill and then having to wait for Austin (and Louisa?) to catch up.

5 - Chippa figuring out how to turn left as well as right.*

6 - Nana remembering her email password.*

7 - Oz finally learning how to make a horse sound.*

8.5 - Cait successfully completing her triathlon.*

9 - Deirdre getting a job as a mailwoman.*

10 - Josh/Katie passing the bar.*

Week 3 - By The Numbers

2009-07-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

For week 3 numbers, previous weeks are shown for comparison (Week 1, Week 2).

1850 - highest elevation, in feet
1294.43 - total distance travelled, in miles
452.79 - week 3 distance traveled, in miles (421.56, 420.08)
422 - lowest exit on Highway 101 reached (771)
365 - tallest tree spotted, in feet
91.2 - week 3 longest distance travelled in one day, in miles (75.38, 92.40)
47.2 - top speed, in mph (39.7, 42.6)

72.83 - week 3 miles/day of biking (67.15, 70.01)

64.68 - week 3 miles/day - not including our 15 mile day (60.22, 60.01)

24 - oysters shucked

10 - most consecutive nights in the tent
7 - wines tasted on Avenue of the Giants
4 - shades of chocolate chips in the Obamalicious cookie
4 - maps used
2 - BUI's
2 - bee stings (thanks to the yellow jersey!)
1 - free bottle of wine for "being awesome" (From our 2nd favorite Marshall, who works at the Ritz in Half Moon Bay to help us relax on our day off. We'd say our first favorite, but we want to go easy on Marshall 1.0 while he's still recovering from appendicitis.)
1 - unnecessary article (the) that every person in CA puts before the highway numbers
1 - new favorite Asian cuisine

Things we lost count of:
# of free apples at the Ritz, VW buses ("The Libyans!"), "Entering Tsunami Hazard Zone" signs, "Jon would says," and iPhone yearnings.

Day 21 - San Francisco, CA to Half Moon Bay, CA - 37.04 miles

2009-07-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

Clearly we took a lot of time off the past two days; the Avon Breast Cancer Walk that was 10 miles in as we enjoyed breakfast in Sausalito yesterday was finishing up after we enjoyed breakfast in Lower Haight with Matt today. We didn't do much sightseeing while we were in SF, but we have some good plans for when we come back to visit including another Hot Pot meal. We did enjoy biking through Haight and Golden Gate Park on a Sunday with lots of activity and we stared longingly at the Academy of Sciences but knew would never make it to Half Moon Bay before sunset if we went in, so it's on the list for next time. During our short ride today we leapfrogged with a group of firefighters from all over CA who were doing a ride from SF to LA to raise money for cancer research. We were very jealous of their support vehicles cheering them on and periodically providing snacks, but now feel better that Jon 1.0 considers us to be the "real bikers." (Sorry for the ambiguity on the last post. It should have read: Austin can't remember a time when Jon stayed behind with Austin on the hills.) Between seeing the Avon Walk and the firefighters' cancer ride we started to question our decision to not ride for a cause.

Day 22 - Half Moon Bay, CA - 0 miles
While we didn't get massages or surfing lessons, our "weekend" on Ken was incredibly relaxing and fun. Our day and a half at the Ritz included real food (no PB and Doritos sandwiches), incredible views, a resort spa, fire pits, local wine and cheese tasting, bocce, and a supportive staff (Thanks, Zach!!). Put the phone down, Ken, we got the family discount!

Day 20 - Marin Headlands (Sausalito), CA to San Francisco, CA - 15.80 miles

2009-07-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

After a delicious breakfast excursion in Sausalito and an exciting, but foggy trek across the Golden Gate Bridge we spent much of our off day having some important mechanical work done on our bikes. A little taste of By The Numbers for Day 20 at the bike store: 12 Clif bars, 3 hours, 2 tires, 1 inner tube, 1 pair of bike shoes, 1 spoke, and 1 rear derailer cable. Good thing we stopped! Our next "off day" goal was to test the reach of the generous Hatoun clan. It definitely stretches to the West Coast! Although, once again, no help on the hills - in fact, after about 50 iPhone yearnings on our journey, we found a flaw: no topography on the maps. The younger and non-biking Hatoun wanted us to get the clearest views from the highest hilltop of Divisadero Street as we ventured to his neighborhood (Lower Haight) in SF. Our first Mongolian Hot Pot dining experience was like escaping to an authentic chain in a less authentic Beijing strip mall. Great company and delicious food made for a fun night - thanks Matt, et al. ( This included 2 iPhone engineers! They're allowed to share less about their job than Israeli intelligence soldiers. Crazy.) Hope you won your Ski Ball match!

Day 19 - Today's Menu

2009-07-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

The Obamalicious Cookie got us thinking that it might be fun to share one of our Michael Phelps-esque daily menus. Here's today's:

7:30 - Make peanut butter and potato chip sandwiches to get us going (gotta use leftovers!).
10:00 - Quick Carrot Cake Clif Bar stop.
11:00 - Stop at a deli/grocery store on a hunt for glazed donuts. We bought a glazed, powdered, and chocolate variety pack, and decided getting sandwiches for lunch somewhere down the road would save time.
12:30 - Skid to a stop as we pass the Hog Island Oyster Company farm and picnic area. Steph sticks with the plan and enjoys her sandwich, among other snacks, and Austin shucks his first 2 dozen oysters ever and half of his sandwich. Biking began again at about 2:30 - the sandwich time-saver backfired.
4:15 - Break at a state park for "homemade" (if home is the Safeway parking lot) trailmix.
5:30 - Stop @ a farmer's market in San Anselmo to pick up cheese, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, spinach, and oranges to be part/most of dinner.
7:00 - Stop at a farmer's market in Sausalito; eat delicious samples of sorbet, hummus, samosas, other Afghan, Mediterranean, and Indian snacks we don't know the names of; buy four scoops of sorbet; finish off our dinner purchases with a baguette and hummus.
9:00 - Eat all of the amazingly fresh and local products with the help of a fully stocked Marin Headlands Hostel kitchen until we drift into a food/biking induced coma.

Day 19 - Jenner, CA to Marin Headlands (Sausalito), CA - 79.8 miles

2009-07-11T17:55:00.000-07:00

After 10 consecutive nights in the tent, just 3 miles away from number 11, and Steph even saying the tent is "starting to feel like home," we found ourselves at the River's End last night. After inquiring about last minute walk-in, teacher, biker, student, and even cash discounts, we got an ocean front cabin with views of the sun setting behind the rocky cliffs and sea lion colonies for $120. We still cooked dinner on the stove, but being on our cabin deck for the sunset and sleeping in a bed were much needed amenities after a long 10-night streak. Needless to say, we got a late start, but somehow exceeded our goal. The "how" may have been our new friend John (we'll call him Jon 2.0 - a "real biker" as Austin would say), who was out for a pre-race warm-up ride and became our Marin County tour guide. He said, "Put the map away, I'll bring you the scenic way. There'll be some hills, but I'll push you. I'll just grab your rack. Bike rack." He gave us the local scoop on the towns we had just biked through and yes, he did literally push Steph up the hill (not because she couldn't do it) but because he enjoyed making fun of Austin as they sped past. Austin tried to remember a time when Jon 1.0 stayed with him up a hill.

Day 18 - Mendocino, CA to Jenner, CA - 88.43 miles

2009-07-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

The biggest town we saw today has a population of 585. It's really surprising that among the beautiful Pacific coast, less than 100 miles from San Francisco, the land is so sparsely populated. Around lunch time, we happened upon an adorable bakery where we bought some yummy treats including an "Obamalicious Cookie," described as having "every shade of chocolate chips and some nuts." We couldn't think of a better fitting recipe/description, but thought we'd try: a melting pot of granola, nuts, chocolate chips, with a dash of hope. What would you put in your "Obamalicious Cookie?"

Day 17 - Benbow, CA to Mendocino, CA - 75.80 miles

2009-07-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

We survived our biggest climb today. While climbing, our thoughts meandered to things better suited for a car trip: seeing the West Coast from a comfortable seat, adventuring along The Lost Coast (an alternate, very hilly, remote route that we chose to bypass), driving through a tree in a car, taking a car on the ferry, and exploring Mendocino. Although we did take advantage of the private hot tub rooms available for rent in Mendocino, once we climbed to our campsite, we were prisoners to the perch and decided seeing more of Mendocino could wait until we drive the coast with Josh or whoever else is interested.

Pictures! (click on an image for a larger view)

2009-07-10T15:08:00.000-07:00

Week 2 Top Ten

2009-07-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

We knew to expect tremendous coastal views throughout our journey, but the wildlife we've seen along the way has been a nice surprise. Coming in at #10...

10. Domestic Dogs (the ones that don't chase us). We know they're not "wild," but there's a big dog culture out here and we've seen some head-turners!
9. Black Squirrels. (Like the gray ones, but black! We wanted flying squirrels on the list, but haven't seen any.)
8. Freshly Shorn Llama. This was freaky - it looked like a giraffe/naked mole rat hybrid.
7. Cows. This is because of what they were doing. ;) Austin wanted them #1...
6. Stellar Sea Lions and Harbor Seals. The good ones are self explanatory.
5. Redwoods. Who says it needs to be an animal!
4. Elk.
3. Grey Whales.
2. Black Bear Cub.
1. Deirdre and Seth. If you don't think they're wild, you don't know them very well! They barely beat out Keeper Harry and Harold Kite for the lone humans on the list.

Day 16 - Ferndale, CA to Benbow, CA - 64.75 miles

2009-07-08T16:05:00.000-07:00

We really took a stop and go approach to the Avenue Of The Giants today - the 32 mile stretch through the real redwood forests outdid yesterday's sneak peak at the outskirts. We stopped at a couple of viewpoints, scanned the presentations at a few information stops, hiked through one of the groves, went to a wine tasting, and even fell asleep watching the movie at the Visitors' Center (before the wine). The most touristy thing we did, however (we know it's hard to beat all of that) was paying to bike through one of the "Drive Through Trees." Steph asked the gentleman at the gate what the money went toward, to which he replied, "Miracle Grow and the IRS." Not as good as preservation, but pretty funny.

Day 15 - Klamath, CA to Ferndale, CA - 91.2 miles

2009-07-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

The ride today started with a gorgeous stretch through the rolling hills of the Redwood National/State Park where the Elk we saw actually outnumbered the cars. Seeing the Elk after about 10,000 ELK, Elk Crossing, and Elk Next 2 Miles signs was surprisingly not anticlimactic - some were "12 pointers!" We were also treated to our first legitimate bike trail - about a 10 mile winding path through the dunes. These were just a couple of the memorable stretches that the route took us OFF highway 101 today and allowed us to appreciate the ever-changing California landscape.

Week 2 By The Numbers

2009-07-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

For week 2 values, we will put the totals from week 1 in parenthesis.

841.64 - total distance travelled, in miles
771 - lowest exit reached on Highway 101, in CA
420.08 - distance travelled in week 2, in miles (421.56)
92.40 - longest distance travelled in one day, in miles (75.38)
70.01 - week 2 miles/day of biking (67.15)
60.01 - week 2 miles/day (60.22)
8 - Number of songs it took on Austin's iPod to ascend our biggest climb so far. It was on shuffle and Daft Punk and Eminem were most effective.
7 - consecutive nights in the tent
5 - questions Austin asked Keeper Harry at the Yaquina Lighthouse
5 - unsatisfactory answers given by Keeper Harry
3 - states biked through (2)
3 - maps used
2.9 - longest distance travelled without pedaling, in miles
2 - new favorite beers (both by Kona Brewing Co.)
2 - meals at Cafe Stephanie's
1 - flat tire and broken spoke
1 - scavenger hunt item checked off the list

some - headlamp uses (0)
all - amenities democratically selected for "Ken's weekend"

Day 14 - Brookings, OR to Klamath, CA!! - 51.8 miles

2009-07-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

In a strange way, Steph getting our first flat tire was exciting today. Not a lot exciting like reaching California, but a little exciting. We fixed it in no time and it gave us some By The Numbers material. Austin breaking a spoke was less exciting. We definitely didn't know how to fix it (we don't even think Jon knows how!) and we thought we were stranded when the only bike store on our map was closed. When in trouble...call a mom! We thought Tina might be on a computer commenting on blogs, so we tried her first. With some help from the Astors, she found Kite Harold, who said he'd open up shop for us. At the time we didn't question how he had picked up the phone if the shop wasn't open, but it soon became obvious. His directions brought us into a residential part of Crescent City, to a driveway, and finally a big garage. We were pretty skeptical at first as it seemed like a bike junk yard - items for sale not in their original wrapping, including "used but cleaned" water bottles, and even a box of water bottles with a "Your Store Here" logo. Luckily, he had a drawer full of spokes, and even one that was the right size! It turns out Harold Kite (apparently Tina found his yellow book listing) is a very good mechanic, but just not "on the map."

Day 13 - Port Orford, OR to Brookings, OR - 59.8 miles

2009-07-07T18:02:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! Obviously we're a bit late on this, but we hope you all had a great holiday. We were feeling great last night after our 90 mile day - but we guess we just talked a big game because it hit us like a ton of bricks this morning. The weather not letting us warm up didn't help either - breathing while biking through the cold morning fog was like having your head in a freezer (writing workshop). When our route bent about a mile inland, we were thrilled to find that it was 75 and sunny as the smells alternated between sap, fresh cut crops, and cows (writing workshop). We were excited to get back to the coast to see the views all the locals (and even our maps) have been talking up only to discover the strange ways of the Oregon coastal fog. No views, still cold. :( The day ended with a bang, as we suppose all of yours did, but did your fireworks display cost $26,000? The fog did not stop Brookings from seeing every dollar of that. We think there were four finales, but actually left in the middle so can't be sure.

Day 12 - Dunes City, OR to Port Orford, OR - 92.4 miles

2009-07-07T17:55:00.000-07:00

New P.R.! High points of the day: waking up on the dunes, seeing a black bear cub run across the road right in front of us, and the views from Seven Devil's Road. Low points of the day: waking up on the freezing dunes, expecting mama bear to maul us, and the devilish climbs on Seven Devil's Road. Another interesting note is that during the day today, we passed an Austin Rd., an Austin Ave., and two Lois Lanes, but no Austin Ln. Someone was very upset about this.

More photos! Oregon again

2009-07-06T21:13:00.001-07:00

Photos! from Oregon

2009-07-06T21:02:00.000-07:00

Day 11 - Newport, OR to Dunes City, OR - 64.1 miles

2009-07-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

We started off the day with one more fun meal at Cafe Stephanie's with D-A and Seth. Despite not getting on the bikes until 11:30, we still managed to reach our mileage goal with some stops along the way. The first stop at a viewpoint proved to be longer than expected after Steph temporarily forgot how to unclip her shoes and gracefully tumbled over - apparently it's not like riding a bicycle. The most notable stop was at the Sea Lion Cave - a bit of a tourist trap, but really cool. An elevator brought us 205 ft. into the ground where massive Stellar Sea Lions filled the biggest cave in North America. Just when we thought the adventures were over for the day as we rolled into camp, 3 German bikers in the same situation told us that there were no hiker/biker sites and said, "We're planning to hike into the dunes and wing it." They invited us to join them and we jumped at the opportunity to check our first item off the scavenger hunt. We followed Johannes, Evan, and Shtephen (we're pretty sure Jack or Jamie named him) into the dunes for about a mile before the forest gave way to endless dunes. We set up camp and shared stories of our journeys. They are doing the trip in the simplest way possible - they dug a hole in the sand to make fire, cooked up some pasta over the fire and then curled up in sleeping bags on the sand. We looked like we were from Greenwich when we set up our brand new REI tent and chowed down on our Subway dinner. They're on a $5/day food budget - our $5 dollar footlongs didn't seem like such a good deal anymore.

Day 10 - Newport, OR - 0 miles

2009-07-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

Our first full off day was well worth the wait. Exploring the town in a car with Deirdre and Seth was a welcomed change as we hit all the historic Newport sites with just one pedal: Nye Beach, the laundromat, the harbor, the ATM, the best restaurants that Yelp could recommend (there's an app for that!), and the Yaquina Lighthouse where Keeper Harry was neither impressed with Austin's inquisitive nature, nor his pronunciation of Yaquina (Ya-KWIN-a - it's not Spanish). Newport had lots to offer, but the real fun of the day was hanging out and enjoying each other's company. We laughed A LOT while swapping stories, figuring out what to do in Cali (poll to follow), and brainstorming blog ideas. Deirdre suggested we start a scavenger hunt - not the type with clues or items to collect, but one made up of activities or adventures. They started it for us with a few activities - camp somewhere illegally, take a picture with 3 librarians, and swim in the Pacific North of San Simeon. Now is where we need your help, please post any ideas you have and we will keep a running checklist. Anything goes.

Day 9 - Cape Lookout State Park, OR to Newport, OR - 68.17 miles

2009-07-02T16:55:00.000-07:00

Cape Lookout State Park wasn't as idealistic this morning as we had to climb our way out of it. The Oregon views, however, continued to impress as expansive dunes mixed their way in with the rocky cliffs. At the top of one climb, about 500 ft above sea level, we found ourselves in an unlikely forest with a sand floor and the ocean nowhere in site. Hopefully some of our pictures captured this scenery. The first roll of film should be up in about a week - thanks, Marshall! Oh, and grey whales spotted the coast on parts of today's ride. What could be better than dunes and whales? Deirdre and Seth! Today definitely ended with a new high as we met at camp on the eve of a much anticipated off-day.

Day 8 - Astoria, OR to Cape Lookout State Park, OR - 83.81 miles

2009-07-02T16:38:00.000-07:00

New P.R. (personal record), despite a late start today! We'd like to thank the beautiful Oregon scenery for keeping us motivated and an even more beautiful Oregon tailwind for keeping us moving. Now that we're actually on the coast and not a Washington conglomerate of bays, inlets, sounds, and rivers; our ascents reward us with views of rocky cliffs plummeting into the sea; after which we coast into cute beach villages roaring with the sounds of waves crashing and honking. Anyone looking to enjoy the sounds of the Pacific in a tent without the honking should camp in the Cape Lookout State Park - it won't disappoint.

Thanks for all the well-wishes - Austin's tummy is currently one of his few non-sore parts.

Week 1 By the Numbers

2009-06-30T19:23:00.000-07:00

421.56 - Distance biked, in miles
350 - Starting weight of the happy couple, in pounds, bone dry
75.38 - Longest distance biked in one day, in miles
67.15 - Average distance biked per day, in miles (not including off days)
60.22 - Average distance biked per day, in miles (including off days)
39.8 - Top speed, in mph
15 - Route diversions
14 - Unintentional route diversions
10 - "Jon would say" uses by Austin (He finds it to be an easier way to give Steph advice.)
6.17 - Time spent waiting for ferries, in hours
4 - Ferries taken, in ferries taken
2 - Countries biked through
2- States biked through
1 - Off days (We counted the 18 mile day as an off day.)
0 - Headlamp uses (Day 1 was the summer solstice and we're pretty far north)

Week #1 COMMENT AWARDS!!!!

2009-06-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

"Insert trophy image here" (the library computer wouldn't let us)

The Lewis and Clark First Post Award -Seth Walker
The Jerry Seinfeld Comedy Award - H Joshua Kotin
The Hasbro Wordplay Award - Jon Hatoun
The Tina Lehn Quantity Award - Tina Lehn
The Jon Hatoun Pun Award - Gail Guertin for her use of "recharge"
The Vodafone Long Distance Award - Austin and Nikki Conboy
The Octogenarian Blogger Award - Nana Conboy
The Marshall Spooner Co-Author Brains Behind the Operation Award - Louisa and Katie

With the added incentive of AWARDS for posting, the competition could get stiff, but don't get discouraged - your name could be on here next week!!

Award Categories Subject to Change

Day 7 - Castle Rock, WA to Astoria, OR! - 66.71 miles

2009-06-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

Austin got a fever. We had to stop riding because Austin is sick. That's not an Oregon Trail Joke. We bought 10 Clif Bars at the Trading Post but could only carry 6. That's an Oregon Trail Joke.

We're thrilled to be in state #2 - especially since we may have taken our last ferry to cross the Columbia River leaving Washington. Astoria is beautiful and Austin milked his illness for a night in a hotel on the water with a great view and great amenities!

Day 6 - Porter, WA to Castle Rock, WA - 69.13 miles

2009-06-30T18:43:00.000-07:00

The next couple of posts will be quick - we're more excited for the Week One wrap up posts...

Highlights: Gorgeous views of Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens (those are snow capped volcanic mountains, for our Irish followers), no ferries missed, no ferries taken, making a toasted English Muffin from the Porter Deli into a PB & J.

Lowlights: 40+ degree temperature swing, leaving our Swiss Army Knife on the Porter Deli Counter.

Text from the Road - Wheeler, Oregon

2009-06-29T20:34:00.001-07:00

We made it to Oregon, but haven't made it to a library. We hope to soon.

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Day 5 - Belfair, WA to Porter, WA - 63.02 miles

2009-06-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

This was our easiest day so far - very few hills, no headwind, and a quick start thanks to a night indoors and oatmeal (Thanks, Hunts!). Austin had his first encounter with a "bike-hating" dog today, but like Simba in the Lion King, he found his roar when it mattered. He first tried to outrun it, but the dog was gaining on the uphill. So as a last resort, he turned around and growled...Steph was down the hill and around the corner and hoping whatever animal was attacking Austin didn't get the maps, but by the time she reached the dog, it was running away whimpering. Besides Austin finding his growl and sleeping in the backyard of a country store (two free nights in a row!), there's not much to report. We're excited to finish week #1 tomorrow and post a few weekly wrap ups.

p.s. There's an 80 year old woman on the computer next to us checking her facebook account! It may be time for Austin to join.

Day 4 - Seattle, WA to Belfair, WA - 18.58 miles

2009-06-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

Go Mariners! We bought seats in right field to be near Ichiro, and he didn't let us down. He showed off his range in the outfield and was 3 for 3 by the time we left in the 4th (we HAD to leave ample time to catch the ~*#$*^ ferry). He even hit a homeroom that was caught by someone three seats away from us - too bad we showed up a few batters too late in the bottom of the first. The hotel amenities, the Pike Fish and Craft Market, and checking out Safeco Field were a great way to wrap up our quick stint in Seattle, but the memorable part of the day was undoubtedly the generosity of a couple we met in Belfair as we stopped for pizza three miles from camp. Since they live on the bike route, they immediately recognized our kind. Without even checking with each other, they quickly offered us a "warm shower" and a place to stay. After sharing stories about their own biking adventures and run-ins with other nomadic west coast bikers, Dave and Michelle Hunt (and children) welcomed us into their home for the night. We put our bikes in the large garage (which, no joke, even had a kitchen sink), and checked out the maps over tea. Dave gave us the lay of the land - what to expect, big hills, places where Adventure Cycling probably picked a bad route - he knew the local roads exceptionally well as a local truck driver and retired firefighter. Dave invited his brother John to come over as well and got out the coffee beans to grind in the morning - "for special occasions." We were flattered by the red carpet treatment and, although we don't drink coffee, enjoyed a great bowl of oatmeal before heading on our way in the morning. We learned of all sorts of news during our stay with the Hunts, including how the analogue-digital cable switch has greatly affected some parts of the country - Brother John referred to it as "D-Day" - and a couple celebrity deaths. Now we'll always remember where we were when Michael Jackson died. It's always easy to focus on the negative, but it was truly refreshing to meet the Hunt's and be reminded of how great some people are.

Day 3 - Whidbey Island, WA to Seattle, WA - 65.17 miles

2009-06-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

"Missed the boat." That's an expression, right? Well, if so, it makes a lot more sense to us now. Despite our many obstacles (canceled ferries, head winds, ridiculous hills) we made it to the 7:55 ferry in Bremerton which allowed us to make it to our hotel for the last hour of hot tub time. Big shout out to Tina for helping us find a hotel with breakfast, laundry, a HOT TUB, pool, internet, and shuttle service to anywhere in Seattle - all included with the room. Austin might have shed a tear that we missed the Wednesday night Mariners game, but he was ecstatic to learn of Thursday's "getaway game." We hit the town for a delicious dinner and some live music for about 42 minutes before we had to collapse in our bed (also included with the room).

Day 2 - Ferndale, WA to Whidbey Island, WA - 75.38 miles

2009-06-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

"Tougher 'an a butcher's dog." A highlight of any day is passing a fellow biker doing our route in reverse. We passed our first today, a 62 year old Georgian (think Atlanta) named Bill. His excitement for the trip hadn't dwindled by day 42; he seemed envious that our journey had only just begun. Upon seeing Austin's Ireland biking jersey, he shared a story, from which the quote comes, about how an Irish stranger described his efforts. We'd like to take credit for being so tough, but we think it had something to do with his age.

We confirmed our diagnoses of gephyrophobia when we went over Deception Pass. Although we walked our bikes across because the walkway was too narrow, we still had to stare at one spot on the ground to reach the other side. The ironic part is that there were dozens of people who had come to the bridge just to walk across. I guess if we had looked up the views would have been spectacular.

Day 1 - Vancouver, BC to Ferndale, WA - 63.47 miles

2009-06-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

Day 1 By the Numbers:

63.47 - Distance biked, in miles
7.89 - Cost of a footlong sub at Subway in Canada, in Canadian dollars
6 - Wrong turns
5 - Expected cost of footlong sub. We're surprised they're not on the metric system too.
4 - Harrowing bridges to cross
3 - Number of tries it took to light the stove, without Jon
2 - New cases of gephyrophobia
.49 - Cost of the farm fresh Canadian spinach that they let us take through customs (not a code name)

By the Numbers will usually be a weekly post, but we thought we'd give you a taste on Day 1. We're thrilled to be back in the land of $5 footlongs and cell service. We don't think we're allowed to say we're sore yet, so we'll save that for another day.

About "Texts from the Road"

2009-06-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, my name is Marshall, and I will be posting "Texts from the Road" for Austin and Steph for the duration of their journey. They aren't always going to have internet access at all of their stops, so as long as one of them texts me, I can post their short updates for them here under the "text from the road" heading. I tried to convince Austin to set up a twitter account, so he could just "tweet" on his own from the road, but he wasn't game. As a result, we will be doing this the "old-fashioned way" (circa 2007): he will text or call me with an update, and then I will post it on the blog (along with an interactive google map image of where they are--go ahead, click, zoom, and drag that map below...cool!). Again, just to be clear, I am not with them on the trip. Nope, I'm sitting comfortably in my computer room in CT just trying to help my friends spread the good word. Enjoy the posts and if you like, you can pretend like I don't even exist and these "texts from the road" are magically making their way via the internet from Austin and Steph's phones to your computer screens. As far as you know, I don't really exist (except for the "posted by marshall" at the bottom). Please enjoy!

Text from the Road – Whidbey Island, WA

2009-06-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

We thought getting the ferry to Seattle would be our only worry of the day, but the short ferry ride across Admiralty Inlet has been canceled until noon due to strong outgoing tides. We got up at 5:20am to make sure we’d make the 8:45am ferry, so waking up early doesn’t seem like such a great idea anymore. Although we wouldn’t trade the views of the water, we certainly wouldn’t have this problem biking across Kansas.

We hope to post more from Seattle tonight.

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Day 0- Newark, NJ to Vancouver BC (via Phoenix) - 4,000 miles

2009-06-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

"Are you anticipating a bumpy ride?" We're not sure if this comment from the air hostess was a metaphor for anything, but we appreciated her quick wit as we boarded the plane wearing our bike helmets! We arrived safely in Vancouver and were at the Atomic Bike Shop by 3pm to pick up our bikes. Steven, the owner, opened the shop on his day off to get us going. What a guy, eh? Some of the highlights of our day in Vancouver were Steven showing up and having our bikes ready; getting spare inner tubes, a patch kit, and chain lube (these will go well with the inner tubes, patch kit, and chain lube that we have in CT); eating a delicious Malaysian meal, watching "Bard on the Beach" (a surprisingly professional rendition of Shakespeare's "A Comedy of Errors"); and reading your comments! Biking starts tomorrow; 4,000 miles in one day is going to be tough to beat.

Day Negative 1 - Greenwich, CT - 0 miles

2009-06-20T10:40:00.000-07:00

The bags are packed, we're ready to go! Few things we thought you should know:

1) We have no idea how often we will be able to update this blog.
2) Your comments will be our inspiration to keep pedaling.
3) Mom (Tina) is the reigning comment champion - prizes if you dethrone her!

Talk to you from the road!!