Over and out
It's over. I did it. Cycled across a continent, from Portland, OR to Boston, MA, roughly 4000 miles (from a quick estimate using google maps). Before I say anything else I just want to thank all the people who helped me on the way, be it with food, shelter or bike parts, a friendly conversation, dir...
Oh the humidity
So the past few days, the temperatures have reached the 90s (thats mid 30 degrees for the rest of the world), with a humidity of at least 60%. Combined, this has made for the hottest feeling so far. There's an old English adage that "Horses sweat, men perspire, ladies merely glow." By that measure,...
Trails and tribulations
It all began with the suggestion of the helpful librarian in Scotland who mentioned a bike path that ran to Port Dover. As this was described as unpaved, I was a little bit skeptical that my tires could handle it. However, she assured me that the trail was really well compacted and frequently used s...
Wild encounters
So I was pretty beat and ignored the signs at the rest stop specifically saying 'no camping or overnight parking'. A little guiltily I planned to lounge around until it got dark and only then set up so I could always claim to just be resting. I would sleep more in the trees and leave very early. Pla...
A lil' bit of a scrape
This morning I wiped out slightly on my bike. The road was closed so I had to reroute through gravel. It being surprisigly hilly here, the gravel track also went up and down. It was on one of these patches of down that I lost control of the bike and skidded into a fall. Luckily, both the bike and I...
Tent skills
The last two days have been almost diametrically opposed camping experiences. The first, a rainy day which extended well into the night; the second, a hot and humid day of around 30 degrees. Both were near the roadside somewhere because I couldn't find a campsite/was to tired/wet/miserable. Here's w...
Why am I still cycling?
Let’s face it. Anyone who’s ever been on a self-supported cycling tour knows that it is not always great. In fact, it often isn’t all that fun at all. There are lots of physically, mentally or emotionally difficult moments. When the wind is against you or the rain is harsh, you may curse the idea th...
Why am I doing this?
Almost inevitably, when I talk to strangers, they ask why I’m cycling across North America? What made me want to do such a thing? I answer lightly enough, giving some combination of the following: oh, my family have always cycled; I enjoy cycling (debatable); I just graduated college and I had some...
Ditch Safety
Just after Lakota there were 9 miles of road works. Normally, this doesn’t interrupt much, but these roadworks inexplicably required the closure of the whole eastbound side of the divided highway. Thus, all traffic was squeezed onto the westbound side of the highway, leaving one lane in each directi...
New mosquitos and new info
Between Calgary and Malta, there were very few mosquitoes. Endless, dry praries, yes, but only the occasional mosquito ehich could easily be swatted away. Then, at the campground in Malta, they attacked in full force, as if to make up for the days they'd missed. My legs now look like a German Streus...
Escaping some gravel
I left Calgary today, via a reasonably large road, but one that was too small to be marked on my (only) map of the Western States and Provinces. I therefore decided to, rather than wasting valuable phone battery by turning it on, to navigate using my compass and the sun. I therefore kept heading Eas...
Signs: too little, too late
Just a quick complaint. So, Canada, do you know what street signs are? No, I don’t mean street names, you seem to have those figured out. I mean signposts. As in, when you come to a junction, the information on the side of the road which tells you where the roads lead. B.C. especially was lacking in...
Mosquito madness
Ok, so we've stayed in a couple of campsites now (and on 1 porch) and by now I've managed to gather some information about mosquitoes. Since they will ALWAYS* find you, here's what I've learned about protecting yourself: Bug spray doesn't work long - it'll confuse them for about 10mins, then you're...
Musings on bike computers
Having cycled for a number of days (I think 5, but I'm loosing track) without my bike computer, I can say that I kinda prefer not having it (it got stolen with my bike). Don't get me wrong. My computer was great. It told me how fast I was going downhill, how slowly I was crawling uphill, riding time...
'Cheating' felt great
Pete (WS host) gave us a boost up to Kamloops from Hope. It was a spontaneous offer and very gladly accepted by my mum. This way, we would be able to cross the Rockies via the Icefields parkway which, by all accounts, is meant to be stunning. I had some reservations. Getting lift seemed to undermine...
Rainbow car exhausts
Today we cycled from Abbotsford to Hope. Most of the ride was beautiful as we got closer and closer to the mountains until they seemed to surround us even though we were only pedalling on a slight upwards incline most of the time. Then a few drops hit us. Then a few more. Then the clouds opened and...
♪Say goodbye it's Independence Day♪
This was a day of three, maybe four parts. 1. The early morning This involved frantic packig of kit, ehich seemed to have exploded out of 6 pannoers with no real idea of how to fit it in again. Also, some last minute bike adjustments, all slowed by a lack of sleep (we only finoshed putting the bikes...
Newly be-biked
We did it! Another day of walking and busing around Seattle to look at bikes, while keeping an eye out for wifi in order to actually be able to look up said buses (and communicate with the sellers). So both hectic and slow (buses aren't super speedy) at once. However, we once again have three bikes,...
Sourcing new bikes
So as I mentioned, our bikes were stolen this morning. The shock of helplessness of that is still a little too close to home, even though this morning seems like several days ago. Luckily, my last WS host is absolutely amazing and is letting all three of us stay at her house for a couple of days so...
Reunions and separations
So yesterday, after being shown round downtown Seattle by my wonderful WS host, she went even further and got on her bike to show me to the airport where we met up with my mother and brother. The plan is for the three of us (my mother, borother and I) to cycle to Calgary together. They will head hom...
I could live in Olympia
After a gentle day cycling from Aberdeen, I had most of the afternoon free to explore Olympia, the capital of Washington. When I arrived, my WS host very kindly got on her bike and showed me how to get to downtown Olympia and gave me a whistle stop tour before leaving me to wander around on my own....
Contemplative day
Today was pretty great. It started with a massive breakfast curtesy of my warm showers host, and then continued with a day of great cycling. The miles almost seemed to fly past, and even the weather (drizzle, warm, drizzle, cold, warm, drizzle etc) did little to dampen ;) my mood. That there wasn't...
A conversation with a byway
Today was a long-ish day in the saddle. It didn't feel that long because it was quite varied. The scenery changed quite a bit, there were a good amount of hills and descents, and the occasional bicy le to oggle. However, I did clock some 8h in the saddle. That's 8 hours of entertaining myself on a r...
A shame about pop tarts
So yesterday I finally bought some pop tarts during my grocery shop. Reasons: 1) I've wanted to try them for a while 2) They seem very American so I should have them on my list of 'US thigs to do' (I know yoy can get them in the UK, but they're cheaper here so I waited). 3) Theu appeared to be cheap...
Made it to the Pacific
Unfortunately, this is only really a starting point of a coast to coast ride, so I should try and stop being so excited about reaching the ocean. There are those pesky headwinds which come with beaches too...
Astoria's crazy bridge
I'm really beginning to dislike the bridges which cross the Columbia river. This bridge winds up for a while and then down again, staying close to the water until another small up and down section on the other end. I'm glad I wasn't heading towards Astoria. But in either direction, the bridge is a n...
Sleeping astray
Legs still felt jelly-ish in the morning so I packed in much earlier than intended and stayed in a state park. The facilities were basic (1 toilet and fireplaces), but the surrounding trees and nearby river very beautiful. Upon the advice of someone who'd been camped there for a week, I stayed in a...
Slight inclines and a scary bridge.
So by the time I reached the Lewis and Clarke Bridge just outside Longview, I'd hit roughly 55miles and was feeling every day I'd sat in the library and not done anything sporty in the past term. My legs were ok on the flat but jelly otherwise, and with the headwind the past 10miles or so, even the...
Cycling out of Portland
So Portland is the easiest airport to get out of by bike. It started with 3 separate airline/airport staff spontaneously pointing out to me that there was a bike assembly station just around the corner that I could use. Then airport staff were able to easy give me correct (!!!) directions out. Admit...