Well, here we are in San Diego the night before we start riding and contemplating what the hell we have gotten ourselves into! No...mostly kidding... We are both super excited and I think a few nerves at this point are completely normal.
We've spent the last 3 days driving from North Bend, OR down the 101 South to San Diego, through Napa Valley, San Fran, LA and then somehow made it through the sprawl and arrived in San Diego. The good news is that the weather is beautiful and totally cooperative for good cycling, about 75F (~25C). The bad news is that we have had to change 4 tubes already, despite not even having cycled a mile in the last few days. Turns out we had some faulty tubes and had therefore swapped out to have 'thorn resistant' tubes in all of our tires. Combine that with 'puncture proof' tires and fingers crossed that we don't even have to use our pump on the trip! :)
Today we saddled up our bikes and trailers with full gear, like we'll be doing for the next couple of months, and rode from our hotel to the start of the trip, at Ocean Beach. Randomly, we met 3 Oregonians who had also just arrived in SD to start riding to Florida! It was reassuring to know that someone else is doing the same thing at the same time. Perhaps we will meet up with them along the way, at least once.
Our 'last supper' was graciously hosted by some family friends, John and Marty Batchelder, who live in SD - chicken wings, ribs, pasta, bread, salad, beer, and cake. Sounds like a good recipe to power us up the hills tomorrow!
We are aiming to ride about 70 miles tomorrow, most of which is uphill. It may be a bit ambitious, but we will see where the wind blows us I guess... Anyways, we will sign off for tonight and be back in touch once we have internet access again!
Big thanks to Mom and Dad Richards for driving us all the way down here and hauling our gear along the whole West Coast, and also to the Batchelders for feeding us very well during our time here!
Matt and Alison,
ReplyDeleteMy friend Kathy from Oregon forwarded your blog site to me. Kathy and I met via FB. I just learned to ride a bike 1.5 years ago but have fallen completely in love with cycling. While I haven't yet tackled a ride of your magnitude, I went on my first tour last September. I flew from SF to Pittsburgh PA with my old mountain bike and pedaled 502 miles to Washington DC - solo; age 61; doing a combination of camping, staying hostels, an occasional B&B, and hosted by warmshowers and FB friends. Am planning a cross country along your route for 2012 - perhaps even solo (but please don't tell my mom).
I'm anxious to hear how your first day was and look forward to following your journey.
Good for you Cindalee! We were not too much more 'experienced' on bikes than you were when we decided to do this trip, but so far have not had any regrets. We are having a great time, seeing some amazing scenery and meeting such nice people. Everyone is keen to chat to you when you have such a large contraption for a bike! The first day was definitely a slog - the hills out of San Diego are nothing to laugh at, especially when pulling that much weight behind you. Since then however, we have continuously increased our mileage most days and are feeling pretty good. We are considering using warmshowers a bit as we go - how did it work out for you? Any tips?
ReplyDeleteThanks for following us!
Matt and Alison,
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I am just seeing your post to me date 2/21 and it is 3/5. Hmmm.
Warmshowers was fabulous - definitely get registered and start perusing the areas you are cycling through. I stayed with a young pastor and his wife in one town, a single mom in another, a couple with a daughter in her freshman year of college - so I had her room like an upstairs suite to myself. Plus they were avid cyclists and invited a bunch of friends over the second night for dessert and chatter - so much fun. They loaned me one of their vehicles with a bike rack on it - so I could travel by car to a Civil War battlefield - then bike around it and the nearby countryside. The day I left, I drove their vehicle to the trailhead - and left it there for them to pick up after work. I've stayed in contact with almost everyone I stayed with. - I also stayed with people from FB who were really marvelous. I just started posting what I was doing and people started becoming my friends and offering hospitality - I actually couldn't stay with everyone who offered.
Am now going to see what else you have posted about the first weeks of your journey.