Touring in Oregon

Well, there's been a little radio silence on the blog waves here, and the reason is we have been busy getting ready for, and are now out on, a bicycle tour in OR. Alison and I are following Adventure Cycling Association's Lewis and Clark bicycle route from Portland to Seaside, then a bit down their Pacific Coast route. We left Portland on Sunday, and are in Astoria tonight. Our friend Mark from Portland has offered to pick us up wherever we're at on the coast this Saturday to take us back there so we can catch a flight back home. We actually spent a couple days pre-ride with him hanging out in Portland too. It's been great catching up with him and getting in some great touring. This is Alison's first tour longer than an overnight and she's doing great. I'll post more once we finish but thought I'd get at least this on the blog for now...

SLC Coupler Bike Mini-Trip

Alison and I once again took advantage of being airline people and packed up our S and S coupler equipped Surly Long Haul Truckers, and took off for a two night trip to UT. We had two goals- to visit friends of our who live there, and to get out for some riding through beautiful scenery. We accomplished both. The first day out we rode from our friends house along the lower slopes of the Wasatch Front, which is still in town but comes with the great views of the mountains that you can't miss in SLC. It was a good way to get a ride in for the evening with the time we had. I thought the night may not go so great when I flatted after only 2 miles, and I discovered that my spare was actually patched 4 times already (I'm a bit too cheap with tubes, patching them way too many times), and had a hole in it that needed yet another patch, but I got it to work. I think I pay just as much for patch jobs as I would if I just bought more tubes. Huh. Toward the end of the ride I decided to get a few more miles in than our group planned on by riding up Millcreek Canyon, which I had ridden once or twice while living out there a few years back. I didn't expect to make it all the way up, as it is April after all and the road doesn't officially get opened all the way until June, but I thought I'd ride up as far as I could. Despite being a guy with a busted chest and bad heart/lung capacity, I love to climb big mountains and canyons on a bike; even a heavy touring bike.
I got about two-thirds of the way up before getting stopped by snow pack still covering the road. If only I could've had my Salsa Mukluk with to switch to, I'd have kept going. :)
But I thoroughly enjoyed the section of canyon I did get to take in. Living with these kinds of beautiful mountains one can take them for granted; when it takes a special trip to get to them, every mile is a great time.
The second day, we headed out to ride a stretch of road that I always intended to ride when living in Bountiful, but never did. Antelope Island is an obvious feature sitting out in the Great Salt Lake across from where we lived, and it contains some great scenery and biking, as well as hiking/running. Alison and I borrowed our friends vehicle to make the drive out and ride the park road.
We traveled south down the east side of the island taking in the desert/lake/mountain views, and enjoyed seeing many types of birds that hang out at the Lake, buffalo, and of course the namesake pronghorn antelope. The one living thing we didn't appreciate was the mighty gnat I haven't been swarmed as bad in MN as we were in UT, and that's saying something. They were only a bother on an isolated stretch of road though, so it didn't ruin the day by any means. I am still itching however.
The buffalo herd is pretty notable on the island, and we had to get a vehicle to agree to be a block for us to ride past a couple that weren't interested in grazing further than right next to the road. I'm used to riding with buffalo being from ND, but I don't get excited to get too close as I've been bluff-charged by large animals in the past. Bluffs are not good experiences, despite only being bluffs. I'll give the animals their space.
When we got back to our borrowed vehicle and had completed our out and back down the island, I decided I wanted to ride the causeway that lead back across the Lake too, so Alison met me on the other side with the vehicle. It was well worth the time. I lived right next to this place, and never saw the lake/island/mountain views from that angle. It's a very cool area to ride. Looking out across water and seeing mountains rising high actually reminded me a lot of Alaska, not the desert. Pretty cool.
That evening we grabbed some Mexican food and margaritas in Park City, and retired for a good sleep before getting back to the airport grind to get home, followed by the airport grind of working.
The coupler bikes did great, and I'm getting even more excited that we dropped the cash on them, because they are presenting us with riding opportunities we wouldn't otherwise have. We sure wouldn't be doing it as much if we didn't fly for a living, but we seem to have found a great little perk scenario here.
Our next coupler bike experience may come soon too. We are considering getting out at the end of May for a tour somewhere, as we have a little vacation time longer than a couple days. I'll be sure to include any details here if it materializes.

Bikes ready for bag handler/TSA abuse...

Climbing up Millcreek Canyon, SLC...

Where's my Mukluk!?

OK, so, immature, yes, but I can't claim I didn't laugh at this along the ride through town...

Alison riding the desert-island-scape of Antelope Island...

Dipping a wheel in the GSL...

Wasatch Front from the Antelope Island causeway...

Three of the many buffalo along the roadway on Antelope Island...no close pictures because we didn't dally when they were right next to us...

Glad we came out...

Alison cruising Antelope Island on her new travel Trucker...

Pointed toward the Oquirrh Mountains (can't get there from here, but they make a nice backdrop)... 

Yeah, I think we'll come back...

Gooseberry Trucker Overnight

Alison’s new coupled Long Haul Trucker made its maiden voyage this past weekend.  We headed up north and rode an overnight from Duluth to Gooseberry Falls State Park along the Lake Superior shore.  We packed up Thursday night as we had a three-day weekend, but didn’t leave until Saturday morning due to having to get some stuff done around the house.   So, having left the morning of, we got a late riding start in Duluth, and ended up having just enough time to get the 40 mile route ridden on the heavy bikes and get a campsite set up before dark. 

On the way up we had texted a friend of ours who is frequently up on the Shore to see if he was around, and as luck would have it, he was also at Gooseberry that night, so we camped together, staying up for a good campfire session.    

The night was crisp, getting down into the lower 30’s, which considering it’s March, was a pretty great night on the Shore.  We should be seeing snow still, and perhaps in large volumes, but this is still our non-winter leading into early spring. 

In the morning we got a very non-alpine start, choosing laziness and coffee time over early miles, which also gave the sun time to warm us up.  We shot the breeze for a while longer before parting ways with our friend and getting back on the bikes.

While Saturday had been foggy and chilly in the morning, it had given away in the afternoon to a mix of sun and clouds, and this weather stuck around.  Sunday was cool, but downright nice out if you ask me.  I like chilly weather for outdoor activity; the southern climates can have their sweatiness.  We get that here too but thankfully it doesn’t last long each year. 

After reaching the car, we grabbed a great dinner out and headed back to the Cities for the week.  It was a short trip, but every day I spend on the Shore I appreciate.    I plan on more short overnighters like this as I don’t often have long stretches of time off with my current schedule.  They are a refreshing break….

A fine pair of distance haulers...

Smiles and so much bike-weight...:)

Too lazy to get out the gorilla-pod...

One of the tunnels along the Shore along the way back to Duluth...

Along the Silver Creek Cliff...enjoying the big Lake...

Featured

I was reading the Bob Brown Cycles blog tonight, and was surprised to see Alison's bike.  There is a very short post picturing the retrofit he did for us on her Long Haul Trucker.  It's kind of neat to be surfing the net and see a bike you own.  :)

Maui 4

So I’m still piecing together all that I’d like to record our recent Maui trip.  Here’s the next entry, which I have to say I’d classify as my favorite experience of the trip, since it was cycling in a beautiful and adventurous locale with my favorite bike. 

Where we left off in the last Maui post was putting my coupler Long Haul Trucker together at the summit of Haleakala, riding down from the summit, and spending another night at Hosmer Grove Campground. 

The original ride down was pretty fun, and I planned on continuing down from the campground all the way to the ocean in the morning.  When morning came, I was feeling pretty sore from the hiking we had done in the past couple days, but still excited to get out again on the Trucker.  I was however, feeling a sort of cyclist’s guilt that so far my riding plans only included going down, with really no climbing.  I enjoy climbing, and feel that descents should be earned.  Most who ride Haleakala hire a tour company to rent them a bike and give them a van ride to the summit, and then all the riding is coasting and drooling over scenery without having to put forth any effort.  As a matter of fact, most the rentals I saw were actually single speed mountain bikes with road touring tires, which I’m sure are purchased in mass at the cheapest price one can find a bike with disc brakes to hold up to the constant coasting and braking.  Me, I joined the few roadie hardmen that were out climbing the route on their carbon in full race kits, only I was the slightly pudgy Minnesotan in a mixture of wool, lycra, and touring shoes slowly grinding on a big fat coupled touring bike.  J  I did get a ton of ataboy’s along the way, which was motivational.   I was determined to climb from Hosmer Grove around 6,700 feet to the summit, which is at just above 10,000 feet.  My GPS, combined with MapMyRide.com rated the climb at a Category 1, which is nothing to scoff at on a light road bike, and on a Trucker with a standard road triple crank, it was a heavy breather. 

The scenery was largely the same for the majority of the climb, since as soon as you are above Hosmer you are above the effective tree line, and the terrain is larger covered in rock and shrubs.  The park service maintains signage at each 1,000 foot increment, so it was nice to see the progress tick by one sign at a time. 

Looking down at Hosmer Grove: 

Climbing on the heavy bike: 

Obligatory coupler shot...So many places to go...

Time rolled by along with miles and elevation, and I eventually reached the summit.  Alison had driven up there and met me, and we had a bit of food and relaxed for a bit before I adjusted my layers for the descent.  It was chilly up top, but now I would be descending from 10,000 feet to 0 feet over the next couple hours, and the temperature would surely be changing with the descent.  I settled on a clothing setup that would let me shiver too bad, but that I could stay comfortable down low in too.  I’d eventually meet Alison again on the way down to shed a layer or two. 

The Trucker's first time at 10,000 feet.... 

The LHT with the Haleakala Crater in the background...

The way down was fantastic, and I was glad I earned it with the climb.  It was surreal to be cycling above clouds- a scene I’m used to from flying, but don’t see often from the saddle.  I wondered what it would feel like to climb the full 10,000 feet.  Perhaps someday.  The first set of miles took me back down what I had just climbed from Hosmer.  It consisted of a whole lot of switchbacks, so a lot of braking and controlled cornering.  I was thinking along the way about how much it would suck to have a front tube blowout around one of the many corners, and I must have jinxed myself, because not five minutes later it happened.  Through reflexes formed from many years of various riding adventures, I kept the bike upright as it tried to pull out from underneath me, and I brought it to a stop without going off the side of the road, which would have resulted in a very unpleasant tumble down a lot of talus.  I’m glad it didn’t come to that; I’ve had enough surgery.  

Changing tubes...

Back in business, smiling above the clouds...

Descending, descending, and more descending...

 I was able to swap tubes and get rolling in short order, and continued my way down the volcano.  Soon I was passing through a mix of rocky and forested terrain, still switch-backing quite a bit.  I reached the elevations where the mountain and clouds were mixing, and things got very humid and hampered by low-visibility.  Alison was following me in the car at this point, which was nice considering my bike lights probably didn’t do a whole lot of good in the think innards of the cloud cover.  I rode pretty cautiously and made my way below the cloud bases as quick as I could to get back into motorists field of vision.  Aside from the traffic worries, riding in clouds was actually a lot of fun.

After exiting the clouds, I found myself on the gentle slopes of lower Haleakala, and the riding turned to pretty comfortable upcountry Hawaiian roads, with a mixture of forests, farmland, and cattle fields.  It was nice and warm, and I could have ridden in this type of area for a long time.  A good lengthy tour of Hawaii would be great.  

Look closely and you'll see me in the roadway below...Alison took this photo from a switchback above...Maui Mountains and the Pacific in the background...I got to stare at them both the whole way down...

From mountains to lush farmsteads...

I cruised the easy slopes for quite a while, and ended up in the coastal town of Pai’a.  A good place to dip a wheel in the ocean and finish a ride started in an environment totally different but only a two-hour span away.   A few different people on the beach commented on the coupled Surly as I waited to meet Alison.  It’s amazing how many bike fans there are in the world, and how recognized the Surly and S and S brands are. 

Traffic?  Must be back to Pai'a...

I'm used to seeing water bottled suctioned inward do to altitude loss flying, but not many days do I see it on the bike...

Dipping a wheel in the Pacific at the end of the ride...

I highly recommend doing this ride if you ever have the chance.  It was the highlight of my trip to Maui, and I’d repeat it any day.   

Climb map here.

Descent map here.

Self-Supported Tour de Pepin...

There is an event ride down in Lake City, MN in early June called the "Tour de Pepin".  I've been intrigued to ride the route ever since I spent a weekend camping down in that area a couple years ago.  Last Saturday a friend and I pulled the trigger and spent the day rolling through the bluffs and water scenery that circles Lake Pepin.  It's actually the widest section (I think) of the Mississippi River that forms the lake.  Due to bridge locations, riding around the lake is a 72 mile route.  And I have to say a pretty descent loop for cycling.  The MN side had a bit more traffic than I prefer (not that cyclists enjoy traffic at all), but the shoulders were ample the whole way, and the WI side of the lake was downright pleasant county riding.  

March in MN?  And no arm warmers or wool layers?

Crossing over the River near Wabasha (town the movie Grumpy Old Men was about)...

Lots of water and bluffs, and many a frog to dodge...a few try to jump into our wheels...

We stopped in the town of Pepin for some lunch, and chose the Third Street Deli, based on a review I found on my iPhone.  It's a little eclectic breakfast and lunch place out of a lady's house, and it was delicious.  I love finding little tasty random places like this while out cycling.  We took down a delicious meal followed by desert and a little relaxing before moving on with the rest of the ride.

Lemon bread pudding with caramelized pears and fresh cream...

Bluffs along the WI side of the Lake...I didn't photograph it, but a few mile down the road from this shot we actually got to enjoy a 410 foot climb, which is a rarity in most of our midwestern riding locales.  I like to climb on my bikes, so it was somewhat of a treat after so much flat all the time.  Not that I have any climbing talent; I just like it.  

It was a nice day out on the road bike, and it has me energized for what I hope will be a season of returning to distance cycling, which I did quite a bit of pre-surgeries.  I always dream up semi-sensible long distance routes that I'd like to get out and achieve, but for a couple years now not many have come to fruition due to healing.  It was great to roll some miles in good company and scenery again on this ride, and I hope there will be more!

Aforementioned bike addition...

So in a previous post, I eluded to an upcoming announcement of a new bike.  It hasn't been much of a secret; I've told many friends, and I blogged about the search and deliberation a while ago, but I'm just finally getting around to posting some shots of the newest bike in our family stable.  I once again called on the services of Bob Brown Cycles to retrofit a Surly Long Haul Trucker with S and S couplers, this time for Alison.  Now we both have the ability to use our benefits as airline employees to travel with bikes with no added charge.  

We had been toying with the idea of a fully custom bike, as it's pretty hard to match her exact geometry needs to a stock touring bike, which are usually geared toward male riders, but the 52cm LHT actually works out pretty well after switching to a women's cockpit and saddle, so we pulled the trigger on purchasing this one and having Bob cut it for us.  

Her bike is decidedly pretty for a Surly, as we chose a pink panel scheme on the black frame.  People have referred to it as the "Cover Gurly".  I'll let Alison choose if the term sticks.  :)  Bob did a beautiful job, and I'll get some more proper pictures on the blog soon.  Here's what I have for now:

Home from the chop shop:

Getting an application of frame saver, a rust inhibitor sprayed into the frames innards: 

Freshly built up as of tonight...we may make a few component swaps here and there for various reasons and preferences, but it is very ready for touring...

The original plan was to get out over the weekend to somewhere distant as we both have a long weekend off, but due to flight loads in the locations we were hoping for, as well as weather forecasts, I think we are actually going to forgo the first flight for this bike and do a local bike camping trip.  That way Alison can also get used to her bike in familiar territory before adding the element of stress/adventure that getting out in distant locales can bring.   We do plan on flying out with the bikes soon, and we're pretty excited to see where our pair of Truckers take us over the years.