Arik and Mia's Crazy West Coast Bike Adventure

Long Overdue as Usual

2009-10-15T12:27:00.034-04:00

Apologies for the blog bummage- things have been a bit hectic around here. Our pals Sean and Simone moved back to D-town from New York a few weeks ago and Arik and Sean have started up a woodshop in Arik's parents' garage next door. They already have their first client! Despite the flurry of activity we've still made lots of time for biking and running.

We've been biking a ton the last few weeks. We've biked in pouring rain (wet but exhilarating), in total darkness (exhilarating but frightening), and lots in between. Lots of the biking happened during Oak Cliff's (and I'm pretty sure Dallas's too) first ever bike festival- Cyclosomatic. It featured 10 days of bike-centric activities, most of which happened right here in our 'hood. Amongst the stuff we participated in:

a historic ride that stopped at places important to musicians (Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bob Wills, and others)
a ride to City Hall to celebrate its unveiling of the "Complete Streets" plan which hopes to strip Dallas of its unappealing "Worst City for Biking" designation with bike lanes and other initiatives
a ride to the Texas Theater to watch Beer Wars annnnnddddd
our favorite event of all- a block party that included stationary bike sprint races. Lonestar Goldsprints does these races mostly at bars all over Texas. 2 people get on stationary bikes, the crowd masses around the two riders and counts down 4...3...2...1...GO! and the riders pedal as fast as they can for max about 18 seconds. There's no resistance on the bikes so it's really just seeing how fast your legs can move before you pass out, and often, throw up. (See here to get the idea from a different race by the same organization: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8fykMJSnuo) What really sweetened the experience was that two of our pals- Jeff and Kurt- raced. Both did well but Jeff was insane.

He started out around 4th in the qualifying rounds finishing in the high 12 second area. Still, he wasn't too optimistic about his chances b/c the top guy in the qualifiers posted a super fast time under 12 seconds, a feat no one else had matched. Jeff hopped on the bike for the first real race and won pretty easily, again with a time in the 12s. In the quarterfinals, he won again, despite a slow 13 something time. During the quarterfinals, things got serious. A fixie-riding kid from Denton strolled in and wowed the crowd with a time in the 11s- smoking the competition. Now we had two super fast guys to worry about!

In the semis, Jeff triumphed in a close race w/the owner of Oak Cliff Bicycle Company. This time, his time was back in the 12s (his glasses flew off from the effort), but still nowhere near as fast as the fixie kid or the other top guy. Those two battled it out in their semifinal match, with the fixie kid winning. After about 2 hours of racing (which included an excellent cameo by an overweight guy who raced (and won!) while smoking a cig and holding a cup of beer), the stage was set for the final: Our Oak Cliff-born 'n bred homie Jeff v. the fixie kid from Denton, who during his semifinal race donned a Spiderman mask and stripped to his boxers to mimic his spandex-wearing opponent.

Spidey- Photo from the Lonestar Goldsprints Facebook Page

Spidey's Semifinal Match- Photo from the Lonestar Goldsprints Facebook Page

Jeff was nervous and tired but we tried to pump him up and talk strategy. In his past races, he'd taken too long to get going- a faster start could give him a fighting chance. He and his opponent mounted their bikes and the crowd closed in around them. It was time. 4....3....2....1....GO!!!!! And they were off! Both riders were spinning furiously and we all looked up anxiously at the video screen behind them to see who was in the lead. We couldn't believe our eyes- not only had Jeff jumped out to a quick and sizeable lead, he was going over 60 MILES PER HOUR!!!! The fastest speed we'd seen had been around 53 so this was insane. We were all screaming and jumping and encouraging him, and it was working. Thanks to his strong start he was leading into the final seconds of the race. Then Spidey started slowly gaining on him- making up a little ground at a time. In hindsight we should've yelled about it to Jeff but he had no idea how he was doing and right at the end he let off- his speed plummeting all the way to 35 mph. Spidey passed him right at the finish line.

The crowd roared, his friends surrounded him, and he lifted his arms in victory. Jeff slowly dismounted and turned around to check his time. He'd ridden a blistering 11.76 second race. The winning time? 11.60. We gave Jeff high fives and hugs- we were so proud of him and it'd been an incredible race to watch. Spidey came over and shook his hand and said he couldn't believe Jeff had made it over 60 mph. Jeff was bummed he didn't win but was still stoked he'd broken the 12 second mark. He even got a sweet wall sculpture made out of bike parts for his troubles. We mingled for a bit, then Jeff climbed on his bike, wobbly sore legs and all, and rode off into the drizzly night.

Spidey sans mask celebrating his win- ck out Jeff's sweet time- Photo from Lonestar Goldsprints Fb Page

Arik and I were as amped up as we've ever been for a sporting event.

The Cyclosomatic fun continued yesterday- two events had been rained out during the week of the festival and were rescheduled for this weekend. The first was a bicycle photo scavenger hunt put on by photopol.us. Teams on bikes rode around Oak Cliff doing crazy stuff and taking pictures to prove it. Arik, Jeff, Kate and I got to Bishop Arts 15 minutes late but fortunately were still allowed to enter. Arik christened our team "The Unicorns," and we picked up the list of stuff to find. There were about 25 things to choose from, but each was worth a different number of points. The first team back with 200 points won. We were able to bang one out right away:

Bikes on a Wall- 5 points (all photos courtesy of our most excellent photographer, Arik "The Unicorn" Cardenas)

Arik ran across the street to the Soda Gallery and bought us a root beer with 4 straws so we could knock out the next one:

All Teammates Drinking One Drink From Straws- 10 points

Meanwhile Jeff ran into Eno's, retrieved his mug from their bar (you can buy a mug, decorate it, put your name on it, and keep it at the bar) and we'd finished item number 3:

Beer Mug with a Bike on It- 25 points

We decided we'd bike to Jeff's house to strategize and plan our route. On the way out of Bishop Arts, Kate spied another potential photo in an alley. It ended up working perfectly and we had 55 points before we'd even traveled 2 blocks:

Jeff and Mia Borrowing Materials

Construction

Success! Red Cube- 15 points

At Jeff's, we decided we'd go for the big money things on the list since we had to make up lost time. 2 of those involved getting wet so Jeff changed into his swim trunks. He also called his mom to see if she could pick up some shoe polish so we could knock another 3 things off the list. In the meantime, Arik plugged in Jeff's razor and unbuttoned his shirt- sacrificing his bod to the Unicorn cause:

Shave a Heart in a Teammate's Chest- 20 points

Then we were off! We raced down Colorado, then split up, with the boys going to Lake Cliff Park and Kate and I going to Walgreens to see if we could find some shoe polish. Our shoe polish mission was unsuccessful, but the boys bravely crossed one of the nastiest choices off the list:

Swim in Lake Cliff- 25 points- click this pic for a nice "whew lordy this water is stank!" face

Swimmin' in the Lake

Usain Bolt Tries Out Swimming

Next we headed to the Belmont hotel, a sweet, unique, bike-friendly hotel right here in the Cliff. The gate to the pool was locked so Jeff hopped the fence and let us in. He was able to wash off the Lake Cliff grime, warm up, and towel dry himself with some towels left on a housekeeping cart, all while getting us another big money list item!

Swim in the Belmont Pool- 25 points

Next up was a slightly eerie destination. We rode to the Western Heights Cemetery in search of Clyde Barrow's (of Bonnie & Clyde notoriety) grave. 2 bikers were already searching the headstones without any luck so we climbed over the chain at the entrance and started running amongst the graves. I muttered apologies to the disrespected bodies as I trampled the sod and hoped they would understand. A man cried out "Donna! Over here!" We waited for them to take their photo, then posed for ours:

Lay in Front of Clyde Barrow's Headstone- 25 points

It turns out Donna and her husband are both in their 70s and are big bike tourers. They were funny and sweet in that way only old people who've kept their sparkle are. Donna told us "We're not trying to win, but we think we have a good chance to take our age group!" We talked with them a little more as we got on our bikes. Her husband retired from the Dallas Fire Dept in 2002 and he enjoyed talking to Arik about Arik's firefighting dad (who will himself retire in about 2 years). We wished them well, then rode to Jeff's parents' house- they had the shoe polish.

Donna and her husband in their "all teammates drink from one drink" photo- from photopolus

We got the shoe polish, had a few blessed sips of Vitamin Water, then headed out again, this time in search of some storefront windows. We picked one that wasn't yet occupied, but still kept a watch out for cops- no wonder this one was worth 20 points- sheesh! At least it washes off with ease:

Shoe Polish "75208" on a Storefront Window or Street

We weren't too keen on doing two more shop windows, so we settled for the street outside Spiral Diner. A disgruntled but curious waiter asked us what we were doing and didn't seem too impressed by our response so we hightailed it outta there with haste...but not before crossing the last two items off our list!

Shoe Polish "Cyclosomatic" on a Storefront Window or Street (note smiling but disgruntled waiter)

Shoe Polish "Photopol.us" on a Storefront Window or Street

We were done! Now we just had to print those suckers and motor back to Bishop Arts. We rode to Walgreens, expecting to find a line of bikers ahead of us, but instead saw...no one else! In fact, the photo dude told us we were the first ones in. To save time, we just printed out all 60 photos we'd taken, figuring it'd be faster to pick out the good ones once they were printed. Even though we were first at Walgreens, we'd seen people with Polaroids and also figured people would be printing at home or at the nearby CVS. Still, there was hope! The photo dude handed us the pix as they printed, so we were able to write on the backs pretty quickly. While thus occupied, a guy came in wearing a sweet "I Bike Dallas" tshirt, ready to print his pix. He said he thought the only team we'd have to beat was one that was printing their photos at home. Sweet!

We got all the pix, raced out of Walgreens, and tried to ride like the wind back to Bishop Arts. Trouble was, we'd been biking for 2 hours and none of us had eaten anything all day. Not the best combo, and our legs were protesting. Plus a nice stiff headwind decided it was a good time to make an appearance- hooray! Finally we made it to Eno's and ran to the back. We were breathless and excited and happy and tired and.......second. 2 guys stood at the judges' table high fiving each other as they turned in their photos. Argh! A bit bummed but hopeful something would happen, we sat down at a table outside to rest. While there, I overhead the guys talking to one of the judges, saying, "So, does that mean we get 2nd?" Aha! We moseyed over to them to see what was going on. Turns out they'd forgotten to write on the back of the photos- one of the rules. The judges weren't sure what they'd do- split first place? Ignore the rule? Give us first? Oh well, at least now we had a chance!

We headed over to Hunky's to finally eat. It was a little past 2pm and the other bikers didn't have to be back until 3 so we had some time to kill. A somewhat disappointing black bean burger was rescued by delishus tots and a huge root beer. Our bellies full, we went back to Eno's to watch the Cowboys game and wait until 4, when the results would be announced at the Oktoberfest going on in the back. 4 came and the judges took the mic to render their decision: "The riders had to be back by 3pm. The first place team arrived here at 2:08. The third place team also arrived at 2:08 but forgot to write on the back of their photos...." Hooray!!!!! That meant..."First place goes to- The Unicorns!" I can't help it- we're competitive, and we were pretty stoked to win.

Goofy Unicorns- one guy thought we were doing loser "L"s on our foreheads- doh!- from the bfoc site

We each won a supasoft photopolus tshirt along with 3 beers each. Pretty sweet. They also gave out awards for other photos- Donna and her husband ended up winning Funniest Photo. One of the items on the list was to take a picture of all the teammates sitting in a pew in a church, with extra points if church was in service. The pair found a church in service and got a great photo with church members surrounding them as they all smiled and held hymnals. We rode by a baptist church and considered going in but nixed it when we saw some very dressed up, fancy hat wearing, severe women in the parking lot. Also amusing- another item on the list was "walk a really old lady across the street." The guys who got 3rd did that one- and the lucky old lady was our pal Donna! Dunno how she felt about being deemed a really old lady, but she was a good sport about it.

Donna and husband- funniest photo winner- from photopolus

We broke some laws (defacing public property, (washable) graffiti, and even some public urination come to mind :) ), did a lot of biking, and had a lot of fun- a most excellent Sunday!

Victorious Unicorns! - from photopolus

As for running, our new shoes didn't immediately cure my knee troubles. After a nice spell of running 4 miles every day, my knee started twinging and I cut way back. I read up on knee troubles and decided if I could focus on my stride, the pain would go away. So Arik and I set up the camera at a park across the street and videoed our strides. I ran fast and had zero knee pain. Turns out neither of us was as bad as we thought:

Mia Running Toward Cam

Mia Running Away

Arik Profile Run

In fact, my stride is pretty good in the videos. Trouble is, I can't keep up the pace I ran to attain that stride for anything longer than a few blocks. The good thing is, now that I've seen how I should and can run, if I just make a point of remembering what my stride should be while I run, I should be in good shape. I'm also learning from Arik- he can run forever w/o any pain and his stride is different from mine (shorter steps, less kick back, less time in the air). We plan on getting a run in this afternoon, so I'll report back with the results.

So what's up next? The Lake Whitney ride got postponed, no plans yet for the Austin tour, but we do have some good stuff in the works: We'll be running the Turkey Trot (hopefully the 8 mile but we'll see) and will do the Turkey Roll bike ride the week before. Other than that, just enjoying the best October we've had in 4 years.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

ps- Arik's finished photoshopping the tour pix- they'll be up shortly!

Back Again

2009-09-24T13:20:00.002-04:00

Hola amigos! After 3 weeks of soaking up the sun, staying up late, and hanging with fam, pals, and pups, we're ready for some new adventures. Right now we have three in the works- two that'll happen somewhat soon and one that's more of a long term journey.

Numero Uno: What: Mini bike trip to Lake Whitney with our pal Jeff. We'll hitch a ride with Jeff's mom to Red Oak (to avoid the D-town craziness), then ride 60 miles to the Lake, chill there for a night, and ride back to Red Oak the next morning. When: An upcoming weekend

Numero Dos: What: Bike tour from Dallas to Austin. This one's gonna take some planning since getting out of Dallas and through some of the other cities can be dicey. Also Texas state parks are few and far between and none have the hiker/biker sites we enjoyed on the West Coast. Still, it should be a sweet ride, taking us through the Hill Country and into beautiful Austin, where we'll hopefully be able to bum some floor space from a friend. When: Not sure yet- maybe Thanksgiving week, maybe earlier- gotta get the maps

Numero Tres: What: Becoming supa runners! As some of you will recall, I was consumed during our bike tour with finding the ever sly and slippery Born to Run. Jeff kindly ordered a copy for us on Amazon and Arik and I tore through it two weeks ago. It's a life-changing book and we couldn't get running fast enough. The premise of the book is that humans are born to run but running shoes make us run a way we weren't born to, leading to the injuries that plague most runners. So we high-tailed it to Whole Earth, bought two pairs of Vibram Five Fingers shoes, which are as close as you can get to running barefoot whilst still wearing something that'll keep the glass shards out of your flesh, and started pounding the Oak Cliff pavement.

We've changed our form (no heel-first foot striking and lotsa pitter pattering) but more importantly we've changed our approach to running. We are goofy and happy and carefree while we run- doing somersaults on the golf course, flying karate kicks off hills, and just enjoying doing what we now realize we were born to do. We're running 5 days/week and are up to 3.5 miles/day. Our bodies feel good, we're injury free, and we wake up itching to run.

We're going to start doing races, not for the competitive aspect (we have a "distance first, the speed will come" mentality right now), but because they will take us to cool places, put us on unique courses, and usually include quirky tshirts. :)

We will continue to draw inspiration from the people we rode for, and have been donning our jerseys for our runs. We'll also try to do a good job of chronicling our upcoming adventures on this here blog!

Arik's been working his photoshop magic on the bike tour pix- we'll post them once he's done.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

Who We Ride For: Steve Damm

2009-09-07T15:35:00.003-04:00

It is with heavy hearts that we report the passing of a loving, courageous, exceptional human being: Steve Damm. We've never met Steve but have followed his fight against brain cancer in his wife's stellar, love-filled blog: http://checkonsteve.blogspot.com/ Cancer took his physical health but it couldn't slay his wicked sense of humor or his tremendous will to press on. He was one of the people we rode for, and because we were so familiar with the details of his fight, he was one of our biggest inspirations as we rode.

Please send your thoughts to his wife and two young kiddos.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Crescent City, CA to Eureka, CA- Our Eureka Moment

2009-09-02T03:29:00.016-04:00

Well friends, we are hanging out at a hotel in Eureka, about 270 miles north of San Francisco, packing up our panniers and readying them for the flight home. After almost exactly one month on the road we've decided to return to base camp a bit ahead of schedule.

It is fitting that our tour is ending in Eureka, because yesterday it was a true Eureka Moment that convinced us it was time to head home. We were biking along a scenic alternate route that took us alongside some beautiful coastline. But instead of feeling that uplifting of spirit that we usually experienced when we saw coastal beauty, and which made all the hills and the cold and the fog and the homesickness worth it, I didn't feel anything. Arik took some perfunctory photos, but at that moment we realized the negatives outweighed the positives. It was a conviction that had been a few weeks in the making, but that we'd hoped would pass with time and distance.

In the movies, it's moments like that that make heroes. They dig deep, persevere, and are rewarded in the end. But, and this is tough for someone as prideful as I am to say, we aren't heroes. We're two kids who set off on an adventurous vacation and ended up struggling through a vacation-less adventure. And though we are confident we physically and mentally could have climbed the hills and negotiated the traffic and powered through the crappy weather that loomed ahead, it just isn't how we wanted to spend another month.

What we've known all along, but what was really driven home by the challenges we faced, is that there were real heroes along for the ride- they were on our shirts. With cancer, there is no returning to base camp or taking a breather. It's a constant, wearying battle, and it's one I'm glad we were able to take some small part in with our fundraising. I wish we could've crossed the finish line in San Diego on behalf of the people we ride for. It was certainly what weighed most heavily on our minds during our decisionmaking process: we didn't want to let anyone down.

Ultimately we painted ourselves into a corner a bit by making our post-school, pre-working world vacation also a goal-oriented, cause-fighting task, and trying to strike that balance ended up wearing us down. Despite that, we don't regret a thing. There are certainly things we could have done differently that would have made things go a bit more smoothly: we could have trained more and gotten some touring experience under our belts, or we could have left without a particular destination in mind and just aimed to get as far as we could. But the month long tour we ended up doing was the toughest, coolest, most rewarding thing we've done, warts and all. We traveled 931 miles, and covered half the country, under our own power. We are proud, we are humbled, and we are ready to go home.

For completeness' sake, here's what happened in the days since our last update:

First, I forgot to mention 2 funny episodes that happened on prior days:

1. We've had to get creative with doing laundry, and Arik's been trying out some unusual methods. The night we stayed at Bullard's Beach State Park (here's the post) Arik took a shower in his dirty clothes and scrubbed them clean. We didn't have anywhere to tie a clothesline, so he just draped the clothes over our bikes. In the morning, he found his yellow tank top laying on a bush close to another campsite. He was confused and walked over to pick it up when the campers told him they'd found it on the ground that morning. Was it the wind? It seemed strange that the wind would've picked up that shirt and flung it 20 feet away while leaving the other clothes undisturbed. Still flummoxed, Arik walked back to our tent, at which time I spied some small gashes on the back of the shirt. I said "did some creature get ahold of your shirt?" Bearded Tom called out, "oh yes- that must be it! There was a raccoon roaming around this morning!" So Arik's shirt, which has already been smeared and stained, just gained a little more character.

2. The following is a tale of danger, chivalry, and death: A number of times we've encountered road construction on our tour, and a common scenario involves a 2 lane road that winds through mountains and along the coast. The construction crews close the road down to 1 lane, then hold stop signs on each end so each lane eventually gets to go. Arik and I usually ride to the front of the line of stopped cars, then wait for them all to pass before bringing up the rear.

At one such stop, Arik decided to go without waiting because we had a shoulder. I wasn't expecting it, and in my haste to get moving my feet slipped off the pedals and my bike wobbled. Anxious to right myself, I turned the handlebars and ended up turning onto gravel, where I promptly slipped and fell...in front of the whole line of slowly passing cars and the construction guy holding the stop sign. Arik leapt off his bike, laid it on the ground, and hustled over to help me up. The sting from my skinned knee was nothing compared to my bruised pride. Saved by my knight, we remounted our steeds and rode off.

About 10 miles later, while struggling slowly up the hill, Arik cried out, "oh no! Where's my sabre!" After looking around on the ground, we realized that it must have come unvelcroed when he put his bike down to help me. We mourned its loss but decided it had died as it had lived: valiantly.

8/30/09- Crescent City, CA to Elk Prairie State Park- 35 miles, 3 hours, 50 mins on the bikes

We picked up cookies and jam at a great natural foods store on our way out of Crescent City and tackled the biggest hill of the trip so far just a little outside of town. It was cold and foggy, but we made it up pretty well and enjoyed a big, fun descent. Arik was freezing after the downhill and had to put on another layer. Not long afterward, we climbed the second highest hill of the trip. Though not as steep as the first, it was much longer and I started to feel nauseous and light headed. We had to stop every mile or so so I could collect my wits.

Cold and Foggy

I felt a bit better once we got to the bottom and started cruising through the Redwood forest. The trees were incredible- towering and huge. We stopped for some pix and as Arik was setting up I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, basking in the serenity of the woods.

Evil Redwood

Mia

Arik

Monstah

Arik

We rolled into Elk Prairie State Park, which was indeed located right next to a prairie set aside for wild elk. We saw baby deer and for the first time dealt with a park where the bear threat was quite real. We had to put all of our food and anything that could give off a scent (shampoos, deodorant etc) in a bear locker and report any aggressive behavior to park rangers- it was intense! It was also the first park where we didn't get any cell reception, so our parents ended up a little worried.

We enjoyed a great shower and afterward met Bill, a 60-something tour veteran who was biking from Eugene, OR to San Luis Obispo, CA with his wife. They do a ton of tours together, which we thought was pretty sweet. Had some red beans and rice and shared a tasty cookie, then retired to the tent to read. This was pretty tough b/c a huge flock of blue jays decided our site was a cool place to hang out and squawk- it felt like we were caught in a Hitchcock scene.

8/31/09- Elk Prairie State Park to Eureka, CA- 52 miles, 5 hours, 33 mins on the bikes

We got movin' pretty early and saw a beautiful deer on the way out of the park:

A little down the road we happened upon a huge elk just chillin' in somebody's front yard, totally unperturbed by the cars flying by or the curious onlookers who stopped for a peek:

We took a scenic alternate route and experienced the turning point I talked about earlier. There were some stretches where the road became a mess of sand and gravel- I have no idea how people tour on skinny tires since we were slip-slidin' along on our hybrid ones.

We made it to McKinleyville ("Where Horses Have the Right of Way") and rode along a bike path that went parallel to the highway- it was nice to not have to worry about cars for a change. The path turned into a rural road that curved through farms, went over a bridge, and then into Arcata. We rode by Humboldt State University and maneuvered through skateboarders and bikers. We got a bit turned around and ended up having to decide whether to get on Hwy 101 (there was a sign that said "Pacific Coast Bike Route") or to try to follow our map (we'd made a wrong turn somewhere). After much debate, we opted for 101, which ended up being a bit scary because it was a true freeway, with cars going above freeway speeds. It was also frigid, but it had been all day.

As we rode along 101 I spied something sticking out of Arik's back tire, flapping as the wheel rotated. I thought it was a piece of cardboard and told him to stop so I could swat it off. Turns out it was a nail-type thing and he had a flat. We pulled off the highway close to some old railroad tracks in the cold and both had a mini-breakdown. Despite our best intentions, in the past week or so the trip had stopped being about the journey and all about the destination: we counted down the miles, dreaded the hills, and looked forward to just making it to the train at the end. We both said we wanted to go home but agreed to think about it as we finished our ride.

Checked into a good hotel in Eureka, called our parents for advice, and decided to go home. It sucked that we wouldn't be able to meet our pals in San Francisco but we couldn't imagine another month of this stuff. Once we made the decision we felt a huge weight lift off our shoulders. We joked and laughed and were full on happy for the first time in a while. We bought plane tickets, then celebrated with burritos and margaritas at a place called Rita's.

Updated: 9/1/09

Got up early, went to FedEx to ship some of our bulkier gear home, then rode to a bike shop called Sport and Cycle. Dan, the bike mechanic, was awesome. He boxed up our bikes for a fair price and even offered to drive us to the airport in the morning. We left a FedEx label with him and he'll have them pick up the bikes. The walk back was long but pleasant- all the big stuff we had to do was taken care of and we could just enjoy the day. We stopped by the Northcoast Co-op, a massive Whole Foods-size co-op, and got some tasty treats, then headed back to the hotel. Reserved an airport shuttle for the next morning (the hotel paid- woo hoo!), then chilled in the room.

We hit up Lost Coast Brewery for dinner, and enjoyed veggie burgers and their homemade brews (Great White for Arik, Raspberry Brown for me).

9/2/09

Thanks to four connections, we actually made it all the way down the coast, just not the way we'd originally intended. We flew from Eureka to San Francisco to San Diego to Denver and finally, 10 hours later, to Dallas. We had a beautiful view of San Francisco and got to see the Golden Gate Bridge as our plane did a loop around the city.

My parents graciously picked us up and Arik's mama stayed up to meet us at home. We also finally got to see our little bear cub Guido. We were worn out from a long day of traveling but pumped up about being home.

Some General Thoughts on Touring

Despite the premature end to the trip, I still firmly believe that seeing things by bicycle is awesome, and usually far superior to glimpsing the world from a speeding car. We did have to put up with a lot of crap you take for granted while driving (bad weather, bad roads, steep hills, feeling invisible etc) but we also saw things we never would have seen from a car. The bikes forced us to slow down and gave us incredible flexibility. We could pull over to look at a vista without having to wait for the "scenic outlook." We saw hawks and deer and elk and rabbits that would've been missed from the driver's seat. We felt the wind in our hair and the sun on our skin on the good days and the rain on our chests and the cold on our fingertips on the tough ones. For better and worse, we felt alive. And I would highly recommend touring as way to travel. Some tips we wish we'd known ahead of time though:

- Start with smaller tours. For 2 big reasons: 1. You can test out your gear and work out the kinks ahead of time. Our gear ended up working out perfectly but we lucked out. 2. You can get your daily mileage up. We averaged around 40 miles/day, which is why our tour ended up taking so long. Many riders average 60-90 miles/day, and can do so comfortably. We would've been a lot less homesick if we had a higher daily average.

- Have a fat wallet or be cool without showers. We initially planned to camp every night a week but one, which we'd spend in a hotel. The trouble was, we wanted a shower every night- can't sleep after sweating all day without one. That meant the county parks and primitive sites (which don't have water at all) were off the table. We also didn't want to stay in RV parks (not big fans of RVs at all). So our options were mostly limited to state parks, which weren't always available on the route. We ended up in hotels/motels much more often than we'd planned, and that made a big dent in our wallets.

- Most essential gear: helmet mirrors. We picked these up in Vancouver and do not think we could have made it without them. I found myself looking up to check the mirror even when I was walking around helmet-less in town- that's how much we loved and relied on those things. Here's the one we bought, but I'm sure any one that clips to a visor would work: 3rd Eye Helmet Mirror

- Essential, but not as essential as the mirrors

Ortlieb panniers- these bad boys rock- they're waterproof and super tough
Thermarest ProLite 4 Sleeping Pad- supa light + supa comfy= happy and well-rested tourers
Jetboil camp stove- boils water in less than 2 minutes so no waiting around- performed flawlessly

A funny touring observation: one of the highlights of our trip was meeting all the tourers along the way. We determined they could almost without exception be divided into two categories: 1. The Type A overachievers who like doing hardcore stuff and/or were crossing things off the "Things Accomplished People Do Before They Die" list and 2. The super chill, go with the flow tourers, who were usually bearded (a la bearded Tom) and/or over 60 (these guys were our favorites). When we set out on the tour, we made a concerted effort to stay in category 2, but as the tour progressed, we ended up creating a third category, and one I would recommend avoiding: 3. People counting down the days till the tour's over.

A Few Final Thoughts

To those who donated, followed the blog, or sent us words of encouragement, our deepest thanks. I don't know how many times we'd come in drained by a tough day of riding and be instantly perked up when we heard your voices or read your words. To those we rode for, keep up the good fight. Thinking of you kept us riding longer than we would have and was sometimes the only reason we kept going.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

P.S. Arik's gonna pretty up some of the best pix and make a slideshow- check back if you wanna check it out

Lincoln City, OR to Crescent City, CA- Two States Down!

2009-08-28T22:33:00.036-04:00

After surviving frigid fog, 4 punctured tubes, 7 Devils, wicked climbs, aching quads, and one oblivious camper, we've made it to California! We've experienced some of the highest highs and lowest lows of the trip in the last 5 days but both agree the highs outweigh the lows. We're finishing up a much needed rest day here in Crescent City and after much running around, we finally have time to get ya updated:

8/23/09- Lincoln City, OR to Newport, OR- 32.4 miles, 3 hours, 13 min on the bikes

The night of the 22nd we hit up Aunt Mary's again, visited a cool bookstore (again no Born to Run but we did pick up some cool gifts), and got a tasty pizza on the way home. The morning after our rest day we chomped on some Amy's burritos whilst watching some more Australia's Next Top Model (don't judge mates!). Arik brought the bikes downstairs to check out and quickly realized one of the tires had gone completely flat. It was the same problem we've been having with the tubes all trip: our mini pump requires such vigorous pumping to get any air into the tires that the valve shakes around and ultimately shears at the bottom, leaving a tiny hole and an empty tube that can't be patched. While Arik tended to the tube, I rode off to the post office in hopes of mailing the gifts and some heavy stuff we weren't using back home. Alas I didn't remember until I was in the parking lot that there's no post on Sundays! I sheepishly rode back to Arik and we set off.

The sun was out and the glorious coast was on display. Waves crashed on rocks and the water was a beautiful shade of blue.

Dora, Koonta & Mia

Sweet coast

We rolled into Newport around 4:30 just as it was starting to get chilly. We ate at a place called Savory Cafe in the Nye Beach part of Newport but weren't too impressed. I had a ginormous burrito which definitely filled me up but wasn't super tasty. Then again I'm comparing it to the stupendous Ate Layer Burrito at Spiral Diner, so I guess my burrito bar is pretty high. We stopped by a bike shop and picked up more tubes and replenished our Clif Shot Blok supply (try these- they rock!) then tried 2 bookstores which were unfortunately both closed.

We rode out of Newport via a huge, pretty bridge. We had to walk the bikes b/c of traffic and it was a slow trek. A cold wind roared as we plodded along. Shortly afterward we got to South Beach State Park. It was the least outdoorsy of the state parks we've stayed in- it had a welcome center with coffee and popcorn and yurt meeting halls, but it was just really pleasant. We were the only hiker/bikers there and we went to sleep early- around 7:30.

South Beach State Park

8/24/09- Newport, OR to Florence, OR- 51.86 miles, 4 hours, 25 min on the bikes

Most of the 24th was incredible but it ended on a bit of a sour note. We started by going up and down a ton of hills. Rode past Seal Rock, OR but didn't spy any seals, then stopped in Waldport to run some errands. Finally got to ship our stuff at the post office, got a coke at a co-op, then picked up some essentials at a grocery store (fritos, oreos, and oatmeal- the stuff champions are made of). After Waldport it was straight up awesome coastline most of the way to Florence. Just really incredible.

We did huge climbs and descents that made our eyes tear and our hearts race. A little south of Yachats we heard a ton of barking, pulled over, and peered over a cliff where we spied a huge group of sea lions! They were stinky and loud and hilarious- just trundling along on the rocks and enjoying what looked like a rockin' party. Check them out:

Post-sea lion partay we apprehensively rolled up to a tunnel. Tunnels usually suck to ride through. Oregon is cool b/c there's a little button you can push before you ride into the tunnels that sets off lights alerting cars that bikers are riding through, but you still are faced with riding down a narrow two lane road without a shoulder while impatient drivers tailgate you or try to squeeze by. This time ended up being pleasant b/c a truck came up slowly behind us, turned on his hazards, and escorted us through- thank you kind sir!

A short while later we realized we'd traveled 650 miles- making us 1/3 of the way through our tour! We had no idea- I thought we'd done around 400 miles max. We were both pretty shocked and stopped to toast ourselves and our bikes with some oreos. No matter what happens from here on out, I am very proud of us.

In Florence, we stopped at one of our favorite gourmet dining establishments:

After Florence we rode through some tree-spotted dunes, then got into Honeyman State Park. It had easily the sweetest hiker/biker setup of all the Oregon state parks we'd stayed in- beautiful trees, semi-private sites- a lot more like the Washington sites but with free hot showers (Washington charges 50 cents for a 3 minute hot shower). There were only 2 other bikers at the site- both sharing one site, so it was pretty chill. We headed off for our showers, which were glorious- tons of hot water, and I even scored a left behind bottle of Dr. Bronner's soap- what luck...or so we thought. We merrily skipped back to our campsite, energized by our shower, happily unaware of the stress that awaited us back at the tent.

When we got there, a girl was tying her bike to a tree a foot away from our tent. We thought it was strange, but both Arik and I are non-confrontational to a fault so we just said hello. We chatted for a bit, and during the conversation she untied her bike from the tree and proceeded to tie it to our picnic bench. Hmm. Still, Arik and I didn't say anything. Then she unfurled her tent, and though there were 4 unused and nicely private sites around, she set up 2 feet from our tent...in our site. We were both confused and a little upset but STILL we said nothing. Content to let it slide, we got in the tent and fell asleep- happy to have turned in early so we'd be able to get a good start the next day.

Unfortunately we were woken up at several points by her conversations- she'd decided to make our bench the hang out spot for some of the other bikers who rolled in. I put in my earplugs, but was awakened around 10 by the crashing and banging of what sounded like 16 pots and pans. Even better, a bright light shone directly into our tent intermittently- the kind produced by a headlamp. I'd finally been pushed to the edge. After an internal debate during which I asked myself what my 2 flippest high school friends (Raffi and Michael) would do, I got dressed, steeled myself, and got out of the tent.

The girl was indeed packing up pots and pans that were strewn all over the table. She had a bright headlamp on and was oblivious to my presence. I explained that though we didn't mind if she used our table, the sun had been down for an hour and a half, we'd been trying to sleep for the past 2 hours, and she was making too much noise. All she said was "Oh." Just a surprised and totally clueless "Oh." I made a grand exit by stomping off to the restrooms, going over all the cool things I wished I'd said. I got to the restroom fueled by anger and frustration, but when I turned to head back I'd cooled off and fear set in. It was pitch dark and I had to find a dirt path that went through the woods and to our site. I had a flashlight and some mace but I was terrified. I got lost once and then ran all the way to the tent. A really infuriating evening after a really wonderful day.

A note here about the whole clueless girl (who I've named Elma, in honor of the city that so tormented us) thing : I know there was a context that I wasn't totally appreciating. The girl was a solo tourer. She may have been scared, she may have been starved for human company, she may have been trying to create an awkward situation just so she'd be able to talk to someone. She may even have grown up in a culture where personal space doesn't exist. Arik knew a woman in art school who sat way too close to him and who, after some awkwardness, explained that she'd lived in a community where everything belonged to everyone so she had trouble with personal boundaries. I get all that. The problem was just the lack of consideration- if she'd said hey can I use your bench or hey can I set up here I'm lonely, or anything like that, we at least could have talked it out and figured out a comfortable solution. The big lesson the whole thing taught both of us was that we really need to nip stuff like that in the bud. If right from the get-go we'd just said hey there, what's going on, we would've had a bit of awkwardness but nothing like what happened when we let everything escalate. argh.

8/25/09- Florence, OR to Bandon, OR- 70.2 miles, 6 hours, 31 mins on the bikes

Despite our encounter the night before, ol' Elma woke us up the next morning with more banging of pots and pans at our table. I wasn't in the mood for another confrontation, so I just put in my earplugs and stuck my fingers in my ears. Like goofy fraidy cats, we waited until she left to get moving, robbing us of the early start we'd hoped for. We had a scrumptious breakfast of oatmeal, oreos, and fritos, then headed out. It was cloudy and wet but at least wasn't rainy. Somewhat hilariously, we saw ol' Elma a number of times throughout the day. She stopped each time to chat, making no reference at all to the night before.

We crossed another long, harrowing bridge, then stopped at Taco Bell again for some dinner. We chatted with a TBell employee on his smoke break while we ate outside on a bench. He was a young guy dealing with the heartache that usually comes with more advanced age: his dad had died a week before and his mom had suffered a stroke and was in a nursing home. He asked us lots of questions about our tour and said he'd always wanted to do one but didn't have anyone to go with. I hope he finds someone.

One of many big, windy bridges

Bridge up close

This next little nugget confirms that when it comes to Toy Story characters we are more Rex the dinosaur then Woody the hero. Earlier that morning, whilst Elma was banging about, Arik overheard her say she was planning to ride to the state park we'd intended to stay in that night. Intent on avoiding the awkwardness such close quarters would bring, we elected to ride on to the next state park- more than 70 miles away. Ambitious? Yes. Pathetic? Arguably. Still, we'd made our decision and soldiered on. It wasn't until we turned onto "Seven Devils Road" that we realized our decision meant we'd be climbing the 7 devils we'd been warned of earlier, and that we'd be doing it at the end of our ride- hooray! Fortunately for us, the 7 devils ended up being more like 7 little coconuts- kinda tough to crack but oh so tasty! They were tough, but totally manageable, and the views as we climbed and descended were stunning.

At the top of the last Devil, with Arik's sabre of course

We rolled into a packed hiker/biker camp at Bullard's Beach State Park and had to share a table with some other campers (yes we realize this is wonderfully ironic, but in fairness, we were invited to share and requested input re: where was best to set up :) ) The guys who offered the table were cool- 2 bros named Nels and Jacob who'd taken the train up from San Luis Obispo to Eugene, OR and now were riding back down. We are toying with the idea of taking the same train from San Diego back up to Seattle once we're done with the ride. It would be cheap, wouldn't take long, would let us check out Portland, and would let us see the coast from a totally new perspective. We shall see what the future holds though- we do miss our fams and our pup!

We cooked some ramen while the brothers ate and were soon joined by a cool guy named Tom and his female companion (can't remember her name- doh). He's a fun, goofy, bearded fellow doing graduate work in math at UC-Davis. He rode by when we were checking into the park and shouted out "Bula bula!" He brought over blueberries and a beer and we had fun chatting with everyone in the dark. The sunset took all the heat out of the day, leaving us shivering. Arik and I walked to the bathroom and looked up at the night sky, taken aback by the number of stars twinkling in the night. I spotted a satellite and remembered laying on the deck of a beachhouse we rented in Surfside Beach, TX when I was little, looking up at the stars with my dad and my sisters as he pointed out satellites and we all searched for shooting stars.

8/26/09- Bandon, OR to Gold Beach, OR- 57.35 miles, 5 hours, 39 mins on the bikes

We woke up to a beautiful, sunny morning- it was actually kinda hot in the tent. We bade farewell to our comrades and got a good start. Despite the pleasant beginning, the first half of the day was hellish. We started out riding through farmlands on a super windy road. It felt like we were slogging through quicksand. About an hour in, Arik's tire hissed and went flat. He'd ridden over a glass shard and gotten his first non-pump related flat. Hooray. No worries though- we pulled over to the side of the highway, got out our patch kit and the "How to fix a flat tire" printout I'd brought along, and Arik tackled the task. He got the tube all patched up and was in the midst of inflating it when he remembered the ring we're supposed to put around the valve to make it not shake around as much. He said "let's make sure I don't have to do this again," put on the ring, and continued pumping. Not 5 seconds later, we heard another hiss. Yup- the valve stem had sheared. We'd need a new tube.

Annoyed but determined, Arik went through it all again- taking out the tube, putting in a new one, and setting to the arduous task of pumping up the tube with our mini-pump. He had it all the way inflated (this takes about 15 minutes b/c the pump is so small) when- you guessed it- another hiss, another sheared valve, and another tube to waste. We'd been sitting on the side of the road for more than an hour, with cars roaring past at freeway speed blowing dust and dirt in our faces. And he had to do it all again. We were down to our last tube so he went super slow with the pump. He got it aired up ok and finally, after an hour and a half delay, we packed our bikes up and were about to head off. All of a sudden we heard a deep, gospel voice sing "Well I've seen some weary travelers in my day- oh yeah." We looked up and saw bearded Tom riding by. He pulled over to make sure we were ok and his companion said "may this be the last flat of your trip." Indeed! They brought a smile to our haggard faces and we headed off with slightly better spirits.

But the day wasn't done with us yet. Not 20 minutes later, cold, scary fog rolled in like death. There was hardly any visibility and it was freezing. Then, inexplicably, we saw half blue sky overhead and half fog. Soon the fog cleared and revealed the most glorious coastline either of us has ever seen. Tom rode by again, this time shouting something about hot tubs- he's a fun, crazy guy. We stopped every few feet to wonder at the view and take pix. At one point there was a rock rising out of the fog- the kind of thing you'd see in a movie but never in real life. None of it felt real.

Crappy Day Starts Lookin' Up

Blue skies and fog

Weary Mia

Sweetness

The fog monster

Arik the Conqueror

Arik couldn't quite beat the self-timer

I decided to trust in the day and took off my long sleeves and windbreaker, hoping the sun would stick around. It didn't oblige, content instead to hide out behind a new batch of scary fog. Arik took a cool picture of me riding through the cold mist:

The next stretch was just surreal. Everything was gray, foggy, and otherworldy. I'd finished reading The Alchemist two days prior, and the story places a huge emphasis on omens. I was therefore understandably unsettled when a pickup drove past us with a huge "Murphy's Law" sticker plastered on its windshield. This was particularly foreboding considering we had no tubes, we were riding through the fog, and we weren't certain the town we were intending to stay in had a hotel.

Fortunately we made it to Gold Beach and as we crossed one last fog covered bridge into town, a glorious neon "Motel 6" sign rose from the mist. We asked the guy at the front desk about nearby pizza and he gave us a brochure for Panther Den Pizza. We were expecting to just get our usual cheeseless pizza but were stoked to see they had fake cheese- what an unexpected surprise! We ordered one with artichokes, tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers, along with some tater tots and holy moley was it an incredible feast. The pizza was huge and was the best vegan pizza either of us has had. We picked up some cokes from the hotel vending machine, got our laundry done, and watched some tv shows on the laptop. With full belllies and memories of our heaven n hell day, we drifted off to sleep.

Ending the day on a nice freaky bridge

The view from the bridge- glad we weren't down there!

8/27/09- Gold Beach, OR to Crescent City, CA- 57 miles, 5 hours, 40 mins on the bikes

We started the day off with the second highest hill we'd climb in Oregon. The front desk guy had freaked us out a bit about it, saying he'd never made it up and that a restaurant down the road actually gave out bowls of Wheaties just for bikers trying to tackle it. It was tough, but not as tough as we'd imagined, and after about an hour of climbing we were racing down the descent. Still, the climb and the preceding string of longish days started to take a toll. Our muscles were aching, my knees starting hurting, and we just generally felt really sluggish.

One of our last stretches on the Oregon Coast Bike Route

We perked up about 5 miles north of Brookings when we spotted an awesome coastline and a beach called Lone Ranch Beach. When we realized people were down walking the beach, we turned around, rode down to the parking lot, and joined them. I touched the Pacific for the first time and we were wowed by the view.

Lone Ranch Beach

Lone Ranch Beach

Arik and Mia at Lone Ranch Beach

Our route took us off Highway 101 and into some farmlands, which were beautiful but really hilly. Each stroke of my legs as I climbed the hills made my knees ache, and when we looked down to 101 and realized it was just 2 lanes with a nice wide shoulder, we deviated from the route and took 101. Soon, we crossed into California- sweetness! We can't believe we've made it through 2 states just using our old trusty legs. Pretty cool indeed.

We took 101 all the way into Crescent City. As we neared the town, redwood trees started to line the street. They were awesome, even though the first one Arik saw was actually a dead stump- doh! It was an impressive stump though! The miles passed so slowly because of our tired muscles- Crescent City couldn't come soon enough. We found a motel with internet, but their amenities are arranged a bit haphazardly: because we wanted a room with internet access, we couldn't have a fridge/microwave and would have to have 2 beds instead of one. We had also been looking forward to a nice hot bath but it only has a shower. So it goes.

We got settled in at the hotel, then went in search of some eats- we were starving. Crescent City is a strange town- a lot of the businesses we'd looked up on the internet had closed down and bums trundled down the sidewalks while skateboarding teens rolled through abandoned parking lots. Fortunately, China Hut was open and we got a ton of food from the delightful woman working there. It wasn't the tastiest but it did the job. We were still hungry though, so we walked to Burger King and got some fries and apple pies, which we munched on whilst watching...no sense hiding it- Australia's Next Top Model.

We had a nice chat with our pal Jeff, who's finalizing plans to come meet us in San Francisco and bike with us to San Luis Obispo. We are supa stoked about that and happy to see him and Kate.

8/28/09- Rest Day- hooray!

Today we had a much-needed but all too short rest day. We had some fruit loops in the hotel lobby, then took our bikes to get tuned up. The bike shop we'd scoped out had closed down, so we went to one a local guy directed us to. Back Country Bicycle ended up being a great find. Even though they're closed over the weekend, the guy there fit us in. He also had a great pump that turns into a mini-floor pump- should make Arik's life a lot easier. And we got tubes galore. We walked back after leaving our bikes and headed out to run more errands. First to the bookstore- still no Born to Run (I'm starting to think I saw it in a dream), but we picked up Lost World for Arik, which he started reading at the bed and breakfast in Cathlamet, and Things Fall Apart for me. We also got The Hobbit for both of us. They should tide us over until we finally find that shifty book.

Then had some great Thai food at Thai House. We went in with low expectations and were pleasantly surprised by the tastiness. We had fried tofu and a noodle dish, with mango sticky rice for dessert- nom nom nom! Then stopped by the grocery store to restock our pantry and finally got home for a break. We watched a show, then the guy from the bike shop called to say our bikes were ready. We put our dirty laundry in a pannier, picked up the bikes (they feel great!) and rode to the laundromat. Alas in our rush to pack the pannier we left out the books so we had to just chill and chat and wait. The time passed quickly though, and after a chat with a homeless man (Robert) who was refilling his water bottle at the laundry sink and stopped to check out our bikes, and another chat with an old fellow from Alaska who warned us of cougars in the California state parks (hooray!) we headed home for good at last. Ate some burritos we'd picked up earlier at a co-op, watched some shows, and soon we'll hit up Burger King one last time for a late night snack. We're eating like kings! :)

We'd planned to leave tomorrow, but after realizing we hadn't gotten much rest on our rest day, we've decided to make it one more day. It'll be nice to have a real do-nothing day before we march on into the Redwood forest.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Astoria, OR to Lincoln City, OR

2009-08-22T16:20:00.015-04:00

Hello friends! We're sitting in a hotel in Lincoln City enjoying our first off day since Seattle. The sun's out, we're well-rested, and we just ate some burritos we picked up at a funky natural grocery store here. The cashier was hilariously nutty: she hummed and talked to herself the whole time she was checking us out. The last few days, like the last 3 weeks, have been a mixed bag: some supa sweet and some supa crappy. We ended on a supa-sweet note though, so it's all good. Here's what we've been up to:

8/19/09- Astoria, OR to Nehalem, OR- 48 miles, 5 hours, 32 min on the bikes

Shortly after our post on the 18th, while our burritos (yup we're burrito fiends) were warming up in the microwave and a new episode of Australia's Next Top Model played on the laptop, the lights flickered and then turned off at the hotel. In fact, the lights went out in all of Astoria. Our burritos were still frozen, so we just busted out our trusty oreos and watched the show until the laptop ran out of juice. The electricity was back by morning so we got to have our beloved burritos before checking out.

We stopped by the bike shop in Astoria and got to air up our tires for free with their super fast hose. What takes Arik 10 minutes of tough pumping with our mini-pump took maybe 15 seconds with their hose. The guys there admired Arik's antenna and shared their own dog-fighting tips and sent us on our way.

We climbed out of Astoria on steep, residential roads, then rode through rural, sunny hills. As we rode into Seaside, OR the fog rolled in with us. The sun disappeared, replaced with cold air and gray skies. We stopped at a bookstore in an outlet mall to search for the elusive Born to Run (no luck again), then headed to Broadway, the main street through town.

A foggy peak

The ocean's supposedly behind me but who knows what's back there?

We'd definitely found the most happenin' spot in Seaside. Crowds of tourists carrying bags of saltwater taffy and licking ice cream cones stacked with 3 scoops of ice cream packed the sidewalks while 4 seater beach cruiser bikes rolled slowly and unsteadily down the street. We parked our bikes outside "The Buzz," a candy shop advertising chocolate-covered bacon, twinkies, and pop-tarts and pretty much every brand of candy I loved and dreamed of as a kid. Arik called his bro Aaron for some help finding a veggie restaurant and/or bookstore while I headed into The Buzz to scope out the offerings. A quick stop here in the storytelling to send a big thank you to Aaron and to our pal Jeff. Both guys have been ready and willing to look up shops, hotels, and directions for us when we're on the road, even when our first words when they pick up are, "can you get to a computer?"

So back to The Buzz- holy cow was this place awesome. I walked in and the smells of chocolate and caramel and fresh popcorn blasted me with childhood memories and stuck a smile on my face that didn't fade even when I went back out onto the blustery street. I couldn't eat 99% of the stuff in there (and good lord were the chocolate-covered oreos tempting!) but the experience of walking the aisles, dodging wide-eyed kids and often their equally wide-eyed parents made me feel like I'd presented my golden ticket at the door and had entered the venerable chocolate factory. We ended up snagging some dark chocolate truffles, which we scarfed down with alarming speed. I next went to the ice cream shop next door to peruse the soda offerings. Arik and I both love trying out new and unique sodas, and this place actually had their staff rate their favorites. We picked up 2 five star root beers and were not disappointed. Note: I realize it's a bit strange that on a trip packed with stunning coastlines, towering trees, and incredible mountains, I can spend two paragraphs extolling the wonders of a candy store that sells chocolate-covered bacon. Such is the nature of my sometimes awe-inspiring addiction (those who've seen me consume a giant box of Nerds in one sitting are witnesses).

Aaron found us a bookstore, so I went to check it out while Arik stayed with the bikes. A gate spanned the front door, but a friendly note assured prospective customers that it was just for the store cat, and that we should come on in. Though small and manned by an unassuming woman, Beach Books was a delight. Karen, the owner, said she knew they'd had Born to Run at one time but would have to check in the back b/c she thought they'd run out. This was the closest I'd come to finally catching that sly minx of a tome but alas I came up short again- they'd sold out. No worries, I'd still check out the place. I'm so glad I did! She had everything from classics to new releases, and just about every book was on my "Books to Read" list. And no crappy filler! Just good, solid books, many tagged with summaries written by Karen or her employees. Although I'd wanted to keep holding out for Born to Run (our pannier space is getting limited) I cracked and picked up The Alchemist. She said I picked a good one, and Arik, who's reading it first, agrees.

Aaron also found us a promising veggie restaurant in nearby Cannon Beach. The town was beautiful- the quintessential beach town. We rolled down the small main street and quickly spotted Sweet Basil's Cafe. We parked our bikes out back and grabbed a seat outside, a move we somewhat regretted as cold fog started to roll in off the sea. Despite the frigidness, the food was delicious! I had a Garden Sandwich and Arik had a Cucumber Sandwich, and we both thought we'd picked the best thing on the menu. Just two mounds of fresh, crisp, healthy tastiness. We hit up another bookstore in search of Born to Run but still no luck. All I can say is this sucker better be worth the wait!

After Cannon Beach, the ride started gettin' crappy. It was cold and foggy and we climbed high up in the hills. We rode through a really dicey tunnel, with hardly any shoulder and cars zooming by. The tunnel amplified all sound so the cars sounded like a pride of roaring lions. I had my rear light blinking but was constantly worried about being seen in the fog. We somehow missed the camping entrance to the state park we'd meant to stay in, and didn't realize it until we'd gone too far to turn back. We soldiered on, but it started drizzling and the fog closed in. We rode along dropoffs where we couldn't see anything beyond the road- it felt like a slip or wrong turn would send us flailing into oblivion. It just felt really scary and surreal and I got pretty shaken up. Arik was ok enough to snap a few pix but I wasn't pleased:

Foggy bridge

Eek!

Mad Mia

Shoulda followed this advice

We carried on through the fog on narrow shoulders, the cold rain mixing with my hot tears. I was a big bawling baby by the time we got to Manzanita, and when we finally saw the sign for Nehalem State Park I almost had a complete breakdown. The sun was setting, we were cold and soaked, and the sign said we were 13 miles from the park. 13 miles would take over an hour, which would leave us riding in the dark and the fog- basically not an option at all. Ever rational and optimistic, Arik stopped into a gas station and determined that we were in fact only 1.3 miles away- not 13. The man said we'd "missed the little decimal," but after a second look it still looked like 13 to us. I was worried he was engaged in some kind of sick joke, but having no other option, we headed to the park. It felt like it took forever to get there, but we finally made it. The park worker asked us where we'd started the day. When we told her Astoria, she smiled a bit dismissively and said, "Oh that's not too bad. A guy came in earlier who rode 105 miles today!" Thanks lady. We called our worried parents, got set up, ate dinner quickly, and then walked to the showers in the dark. They were hot and free (one of the perks of Oregon state parks) and we conked out quickly- exhausted but finally warm and mostly dry.

8/20/09- Nehalem, OR to Cape Lookout, OR- 41.2 miles, 4 hours on the bikes

After the previous day, we were crossing our fingers for sun and easy riding. The sun didn't cooperate but we did have a nice, unremarkable ride. We rode down 101 pretty much the whole way. It was cold, but not rainy, so that was an improvement. We stopped in Rockaway Beach, OR and got our first good view of the Pacific Ocean. It was pretty but we both decided we aren't big fans of beaches that require jeans and a jacket. We ate two pb&j burritos on a bench overlooking the beach and had fun watching two little dogs chase each other through the sand. It reminded us of Guido and Lex. :-/ We're reminded of Guido often, especially when we ride by Italian restaurants!

First good look at the Pacific

We rode past a number of roadside espresso stands. We picked up an oreo frappuccino at one a while ago and I thought it was just a random oddity, but it turns out they're sprinkled all over our route. A welcome alternative to Starbucks for sure. We missed our turn to the state park but Arik didn't realize it and, b/c he was flying down a hill, (we always seem to get lost right after a descent- it sucks!) he couldn't hear my shouts. I had to ride up and down 3 big hills before I got close enough for him to hear me (we can't hear each other even when we're 5 feet apart when we're doing hills) and we had to turn around and do it all again. We rode 6 pretty miles to Cape Lookout State Park. The park worker lady who checked us in was nice and gave us some shower tips re: where to get the most hot water.

We got set up, checked out the beach, and got firewood. Despite the tips, the showers ended up being pretty stingy with the hot water, but at least we got clean. We had some ramen while Arik tried to get the fire going- a firestarter made it go a lot faster. We had some lentils, which ended up being kinda gross, so we had some chili too. Still unsatiated, I ploughed through a pb&j burrito for good measure. We had some serious appetites goin'. Arik had worn his clothes in the shower to try to wash them (we've had mixed results with our laundry attempts) and his plan was to dry them by the fire. It didn't work out too well and we ended up just strapping the clothes to the back of the bikes and praying for hot, dry weather. We were lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves. Arik woke me up in the middle of the night asking me to turn on my light. "The lantern?" I asked groggily. "No- your bike light. I can't see." "Umm my bike light's on my bike," I replied. "Wait, we're not on our bikes? Oh geez..." Turns out he was dreaming that we were riding and when we went around a turn he suddenly couldn't see. His headlight didn't work so he wanted me to turn mine on. Poor guy has some scary state park dreams.

Blurry Arik and Mia by the fire

8/21/09- Cape Lookout, OR to Lincoln City, OR- 44.7 miles, 4 hours, 40 min on the bike

We woke up yesterday, enjoyed a fire whilst eating our oatmeal, then mounted our noble steeds in the crisp morning air. Smoke blew from their nostrils as they pawed the ground, anxious to get moving. The chances of getting Arik's clothes dried seemed pretty slim- the sun stubbornly refused to come out and the air was cold and damp. We got some great looks at the Oregon coast, but it was still a bit cold for our liking. Then, like magic, we moved inland and though the sky was unchanged, the breeze turned warm. We rode by sand dunes, where guys on four wheelers revved their engines and raced each other, and we felt like we'd entered a whole new world. We took off our sweaters and soaked up the warmth, content despite the cloudy skies.

Mia and the cloudy Oregon coast- our campsite was in the trees below

We rode through Sandlake on roads dusted (and sometimes coated) with slippery sand, then stopped at a parking lot in Pacific City to check our map. A slim old gent came puttering toward us with a wheezing, stumbling pug in tow. The pug, named Cho Cho, came over for a visit, and petting her soft plump neck reminded us of our own little portly pup. The man gave us directions and told us we had one more big hill to get over, then wished us luck as he and Cho Cho ambled off.

As we turned onto 101 a little south of tiny Oretown, OR, the sun came out in all her glory and the skies cleared. It was like someone snapped their fingers and decided the clouds needed to step aside. A big thank you to that someone! We stopped in a rural spot to put on sunscreen and eat some pb&j burritos while some cows looked on.

We rode on, warm and happy and energized, until we came to a spot where the route split off. To one side was the steeper, longer scenic route, while straight ahead was the more direct, but sometimes shoulder-less highway. After some debate we went with the scenic route. If we'd skipped out, we would have missed what ended up being the most beautiful, enjoyable stint of riding we've had all trip. The trees were insane- thick and tall and awesome in the true sense of the word. The road was narrow and virtually car-free, and though we climbed uphill for almost 6 miles of the route, the climb was so gradual we never felt winded. All that climbing made for a really sweet descent with hairpin turns, howling wind, and teary eyes. Arik made a video but it ended up being so shaky it was psychedelic. When I pulled up to him at the bottom all either of us could do was grin and shake our heads at the wonder of it all. The pix really don't do it justice at all, but here they are just so you can get a taste:

After the scenic ride we rode into Lincoln City and around Devil's Lake toward the state park. The lake was beautiful, and though we had to struggle through some tough climbs to get around it, we couldn't wait to check out the view from the park. Alas the park was...underwhelming. We were directed to what one of the workers called "a patch of grass" at the top of the park, but which ended up being more like someone's lawn. We were right next to a main street that came off the highway, across the street from houses, and the port o potty backed up to someone's fence. Aside from the noise and lack of privacy, our main concern was the security of our bikes. We'd planned to walk into town and of course would be showering and we just felt really uneasy about leaving our bikes there.

Devil's Lake

After some debate we decided the 8 dollar price tag just wasn't enough to make up for the lack of peace of mind, and that we'd opt for a hotel. We again called on Aaron but he couldn't find anything cheap. We still got our refund and just headed into Lincoln City. The first place we came to ended up being reasonable and had free wi-fi, so we got checked in. Thanks to happycow.net, we found a pretty stellar eatery which we checked out post-haste. Aunt Mary's Toaster Bistro was a one of a kind place. Part vegetarian restaurant, part sex shop, it was unlike anywhere we'd ever been. No one under 18 is allowed, and the walls are covered in red shaggy carpet. Aunt Mary herself welcomed us in, then told us the offerings off the top of her head. She walked back behind the counter, where she had a stove, and started cooking everything up. She told us there was a lot to see and we should look around, and we gladly obliged.

She had loads of funny stickers and knick knacks. Arik and I have decided we want to start putting stickers from places we visit on our panniers, and we picked a good place to start. Aunt Mary brought over a bowl of soup, which was incredible, and her old dog trundled over to our table and fixed us with a doleful gaze no doubt polished by years of begging practice. We finished off the soup and looked around some more while she cooked up the entrees. They too were awesome, especially the barbecued baked beans Arik had as a side. We had to go into the "Filthy" room to pay, which was where all the really scandalous stuff was housed. The offerings were extensive- she had an entire section labeled "plump"! We left with happy tummies and were glad to have found a really unique place.

Came back to the hotel and ate some vending machine snacks whilst watching the finale of Top Chef Masters.

8/22/09- Rest Day!

Our first rest day since Seattle has been awesome. We've walked around a bit but have generally done a whole heap of nothing.

Some random thoughts:

- Pardon our French, but we've christened Oregon "The Coy Bitch." Every biker we met on the way here told us the Oregon coast would be the highlight of our trip, yet up until yesterday our impression was that Oregon was cold and foggy and full of tree-hauling trucks that mysteriously smelled like a middle school girls' restroom. Not pleasant! Then we have a day like yesterday that just blows us away. It seems Oregon doesn't want to be a hussy and give it all up on the first date, so she's slowly and steadily warming up to us.

- We've determined 4 hours of riding is about as far as we can do and still be in a good mood. Once we cross that line we become, in Australia's Next Top Model-speak, big wingers (crybabies). Every hill feels tougher and every road feels bumpier after the 4 hour mark.

Hopefully we're done with hotels for a while. We love them but they're hard to justify when 8 bucks gets us a hiker/biker site at the state parks. In that vein, a ginormous thank you to my mum, who's paying for this little respite and has given us a most enjoyable break!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Cathlamet, WA to Astoria, OR

2009-08-19T00:13:00.010-04:00

34.2 miles, 3 hours, 15 min on the bike

We're in Oregon! We slept in this morning at the inn, then headed out close to 11:30 to catch the 12pm ferry to Westport. If we missed it, we'd be stuck waiting for an hour, so we ended up really having to motor. We streaked across the beautiful blur that was Puget Island and made it to the ferry with a little time to spare. We chatted with a trucker for a bit, who warned us of the hills we had to look forward to across the river.

Oregon!

Our route did indeed end up being sucky today. We spent the entire 27 miles to Astoria on Hwy 30 which, though our map promised had wide shoulders most of the way, in fact had narrow shoulders and sometimes no shoulders at all. Add to the mix the huge trucks hauling tree trunks that went barrelling by and sprayed gravel and dust in our faces and it didn't make for a very pleasant ride. The route also featured a series of long, arduous climbs followed by super fast (and fun) descents. The climbs were so long and tough Arik ended up crafting some tunes for the occasion, including the instant classic "This is the Hill That Gets on Everybody's Nerves" and a rousing rendition of "What Goes Up Must Come Down" :) I have rather regrettably had Miley Cyrus's "The Climb" in my head since we left Kelly's, and that song usually also makes an appearance on our uphill battles. The upside is the weather has been rockin'! A lot of the folks up here are complaining about it b/c they don't have a/c but we love it- blue skies, full sun, and temps in the high 80s.

At the top of one tough hill, Arik spotted a sign that said "Eagle Sanctuary" and we turned off to check it out. We both were picturing a little nature preserve with baby eagles being nursed to health but in fact it just ended up being a lookout point. We were a little disappointed but our spirits were quickly lifted by the view of the Columbia's Estuary, which Lewis and Clark spent some time in:

The Columbia's Estuary

The detour provided a blessed respite from the stress of the highway and we were sad to rejoin the traffic. 2 fun random Arik moments from the ride: 1. At the top of the first big hill when we were just tipping over to start racing down, an 18 wheeler was crawling slowly up toward us. Arik did the universal honk signal and the trucker gave us two good honks. It was a nice send-off fo sho. 2. With a number of cars around, Arik pulled the dog-fightin' car antenna off his handlebar rack and started waving it around like a sword and shouting "En Guarde!" Then he gallantly pointed his sabre/car antenna in the direction of battle and led the charge down the hill. He is an entertaining chap.

We got into Astoria around 3:30. It's a really cool town, with the river on one side and the ocean at the tip. While cruising through town, another tourer rolled up behind us at a red light. We turned around and realized it was a guy we'd asked directions from way back in Bellingham and who Arik spied in Centralia! He's a cool kid named Ian and he's doing the same route as we are. We checked into the Rivershore Motel and just had time to put our stuff down before we hurried out to get to a vegetarian restaurant before it closed at 5. We walked through downtown Astoria to get there and it's really sweet, with old buildings and unique shops. We walked by an instrument repair shop and saw the owner, a bespectacled old man, almost hidden by piles of books and yellowed papers. I love places like that.

We made it to the Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe with time to spare and both had a toasted tempeh, lettuce and tomato sandwich- supa tasty. After that we went to the Astoria Cooperative and picked up some Amy's burritos, drinks, some more trail mix, and Coconut Bliss ice cream. The co-op was awesome! Just my dream grocery store. I'd really like to help bring one to the Cliff. We've been meaning to try the Coconut Bliss but always passed b/c of the astronomical amount of saturated fat even in a tiny pint (look it up- it's nuts!). But we figured if there was any time to gorge it'd be now when we'd burn it off in a day. It ended up being really tasty- a lot like frozen yogurt. After the co-op we set off in search of some shorts for Arik and my Born to Run book. We found a cool bookstore but no luck w/Born to Run. JC Penney's was the only place anyone could think of for shorts, but for some reason they only had basketball-type ones so that'll have to wait for tomorrow. We made one last ditch effort by biking to the Safeway a little farther into town but still didn't have any luck. It was pretty nice to ride the bikes without them being all loaded up though.

Came back to the motel, watched an episode of Weeds on the laptop, then went out to the Riverwalk to check out the sunset. It ended up being beautiful, with an awesome view of the huge Astoria bridge:

Sunset at the Astoria Bridge

Us, thanks to the trusty ol' Gorillapod

We should be staying in state parks for most of next week, so don't worry about us if you don't see any blog action- we're still alive and will report back when we can!

In the meantime, amuse thyselves with these pix of our wondrous tans:

Mia's Beauteous Thigh

The Zebras

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Centralia, WA to Cathlamet, WA

2009-08-18T01:34:00.009-04:00

8/16/09- Centralia, WA to Castle Rock, WA- 4 hours, 50 min on the bike

Despite the crappiness of the prior 2 days, Arik woke up yesterday intent on making this day a better one. It was supposed to be sunny and warm so I was bummed when we pulled back the plastic shades of our Motel 6 room and saw clouds. I was even more bummed when we checked the weather and realized it was in the 50s. Arik wasn't fazed. He decided to put his trust in the day and pulled on his sleeveless shirt and started putting on sunscreen. I thought it was a bit goofy but played along. Sure enough, as we checked out, a little sliver of sun started to peek through the clouds, and by the time we started rolling out of Centralia, we were riding in full on sun under blue skies for the first time all tour. The heat warmed up our muscles and the sun made the neighborhoods that looked rundown in yesterday's cloudy gloom sparkle. Everything looks better in the sun.

On the way out of town, we turned on Summa St. and had to snap a pic. Arik and I both graduated summa from college (nerd alert! :D) and Arik even taught our 2 year old niece Aly to say the word.

Right out of town we got stuck on a huge hill. Not the best warmup, and it seems like every time we start out on a ride it's uphill. doh. The sun beat down on us but it still felt tons better than the soggy cold we'd been riding through before.

A little ways into the ride we had our first dog encounter, and it pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day. The black, athletic dog came running out when we rode past his driveway but the look in his eyes was more curious than menacing. We both calmly said "No" and he just looked at us and stopped. We rode on, keeping watch on him in our mirrors, and he stood in the road and watched us all the way around the bend. It was a peaceful encounter and a good start to the day.

After that we rode through some beautiful terrain- wide, rolling fields, mountains, trees, and low traffic. There were also a ton of cows. One of them ran up to the fence mooing when we rode by- perhaps she sensed kindred spirits? We took a break on a rural road outside the Denture Cup Inn, an "Adult Family Home." We also climbed a couple of tough hills. As we headed up a particularly steep one, Arik said "ok, if we make it up without stopping, we'll make it through the whole tour." After a lot of struggling, we made it and shared a high five, but I asked him not to make such gambles again- my legs can only take so much and I don't wanna jinx the trip!

We stopped in tiny Toledo, WA for a snack. We'd hoped to find a restaurant but the only one we saw was boarded up on the sides and looked a bit seedy so we settled for the mini-restaurant inside a gas station. We enjoyed some crinkle fries and then got back on the road.

By the time we got to Castle Rock we were pretty tired. The sun really takes a toll and we were ready to hit the sack. The state park we'd decided to crash in, Seaquest State Park, was 5 miles off the route. We took a wrong turn and got delayed a bit, but were stoked to finally see the signs for the park. "Just 5 more miles!" we told ourselves. Alas, our map didn't mention that those 5 miles were all over a ginormous hill! We were hot and tired and sweaty and mad about getting a little lost, and now we had to climb a huge hill in the afternoon sun. argh. We passed two other tourers who were taking a break at a particularly tough part, but we somehow soldiered on.

We made it to the park without getting off the bikes, but the other tourers beat us to the check in b/c we got mixed up once we got into the park. We chatted a little with them as we waited to check in. They were dressed much more casually, with plaid shirts and skateboard-style round helmets. I felt a bit goofy in our gear but can't imagine how they'd be comfy biking 40 miles in such nice threads.

We had red beans and rice for dinner and took a shower. The tourers invited us over to share their fire and we had a nice chat. They are pros at this touring thing- the guy (Russ) said his New Year's resolution was to do a tour every month, and he's kept to it. They came up from L.A., took a train for a little bit, and are biking all around the country. They think it'll take a year! They also gave us some good tips, including that we should use tortillas instead of bread (they pack easier and stay fresh longer). They seconded all the rave reviews of the Oregon coast and told us which state parks to check out. They also said we should consider taking the train from San Luis Obispo to San Diego and skipping the LA traffic b/c the roads are not bike-friendly. Arik likes the idea (he's never been on a train) but I'm not sure about it. Also, we are using different maps than they were, so hopefully we take a better route. We'll check it out. We read for a little while and then turned in.

8/17/09- Castle Rock, WA to Cathlamet, WA- 40 miles (we finally figured out our bike computer!)- 4 hours on the bike

We woke up today to sunny, blue skies- hooray! We were a bit wary of our route b/c for the first time, our map advised us of "steep hills." The worst it had ever warned of before was rolling hills, and it's also failed to mention some pretty substantial climbs, so we were prepared for the worst. Fortunately, it looked like once we hit Hwy 4, it'd be smooth sailing along the Columbia River. The hills were tough but nothing worse than anything we've seen, and we never had to get off the bikes and push so that was a small victory. While taking a break in the shade, a solo tourer came rolling up for a chat. He was in his 60s and in incredible shape. He told us he'd been struggling up the hill, staring at the asphalt, telling himself he'd stop whenever the next bit of shade came. When he got to the shade he looked up and we were there! He's also riding the exact same route as we are, all the way down to San Diego- by himself! We have mad respect for solo tourers. This has been tough, but we always have each other to rely on and lean on. To do it all alone takes a lot of cajones for sure. We had fun chatting with him and then headed back on the trail. Hopefully we'll see him again along the way.

We celebrated when we got to Hwy 4 but the highway actually ended up being worse than the hills. It was under construction so the road was really rocky and uneven. There were also a ton of big trucks that kicked the rocks up at us and showered us with dust. Oh and there were some hills thrown it right at the end for good measure!

Hwy 4- pretty view, not so fabulous street

We were tired and hungry when we rode into Cathlamet, but were immediately excited when we spotted the Bradley House Inn. There isn't any camping around here so we knew we'd be in some kind of hotel, but we'd tried calling Bradley House earlier in the day and hadn't gotten through. The sign said there were vacancies, but again when we called and knocked we didn't get an answer. I left a message, crossed my fingers, and hoped we'd hear back soon. In the meantime, we headed to the Riverview Restaurant for some good eats. We had beer-battered onion rings and some pasta, which they graciously veganized for us.

While there, Audi, the innkeeper at Bradley House, called to let us know we could indeed stay there and apologized for being stuck at the doctor's office longer than expected. She'd be back soon and recommended we pick up a brewski at the market and chill on the swing at the back of the house. Sounded good to us! We went back to the inn and took a quick pic before taking our stuff to the back:

We walked down Main St. to the Cathlamet Market and got drinks and chips and reloaded with oreos (we've gone through a ton of these!). Went back to the inn and sat outside and snacked. Audi came out (she didn't realize we were there) and welcomed us in. The place is great! Just really cool and homey- and internet to boot! We took a shower, called the rents, then headed back outside to get some more snacks at the market. We spied an awesome sunset from the front porch and ran back inside to get the camera, then ran down to a path that goes along the water to take some shots- it was gorgeous!

Sunset over the Columbia River

Mia- the white spots are bugs

Arik

Got some snacks, headed home, and have been chillin' ever since. We'll be in Oregon tomorrow!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Elma, WA to Centralia, WA

2009-08-16T01:02:00.003-04:00

3 hours 15 min on the bike

Well the good news is today was marginally better than yesterday. The bar was, of course, quite low, but ya never know. We woke up and had a nice breakfast at the hotel, packed up, checked out, waved goodbye to the lady at the front desk who wished us happy riding. We parked our bikes against the outside of the hotel to double check our tires before we got on the road and the hell outta Elma. The first tire was fine but Arik wanted to give it a few pumps just to be safe. While pumping, the air suddenly started whooshing out of the tire. It stopped when I grabbed the valve but started right up again when I let go. Elma wasn't done hexing us after all.

We rolled the bikes back inside and after getting the reluctant permission of the formerly upbeat front desk lady, we set the bikes up in the lobby to change the tube. It took forever to find the tools but Arik switched out the tube pretty expertly after that. We checked out the old tube and discovered a nice, unpatchable rip right by the valve. It was already 12:30 and I toyed with the idea of just giving up on today, checking in for another night, and being a couch potato at the hotel. Arik's reason prevailed and we rolled into town to check out the gun shop.

Once again, Elma's singular nuttiness was on display. A crowd of 25 people inexplicably loitered on the sidewalk smoking cigarettes while a crew of 15 bikers revved their engines in the middle of the road and the Elma fire station let loose the loudest siren we've ever heard. I could only shake my head and laugh at the total absurdity of this little town while Arik checked with the gun guys. They claimed the baton we wanted is illegal, but we're pretty sure they only refused to sell it b/c there was a cop in the shop. We settled for some pepper spray and hightailed it out of town. The pepper spray was the newest addition to our growing arsenal: Arik had the makeshift pepper spray in the glue bottle velcroed to his bike shorts, and his knife and the new pepper spray in his pocket.

Today was supposed to be sunny and in the 70s but it was cloudy and cool all day long and pretty uncomfortable to ride. We deliberately chose a different route out of Elma b/c a look at our scheduled route on google maps revealed roads eerily similar to those that had left us frazzled. Instead, we took a 2 lane highway for about 25 miles. Even though there was traffic, we had a nice shoulder almost the whole way, and nary a dog. We saw some more emus and a biker (of the Harley variety) zoomed past blaring Kelly Clarkson. We stopped for a break in Rochester and decided to check out the Highway Diner there. A kind, older woman gave us menus soon after we plopped down on the 50s-style chairs. We had a really tasty veggie burger with fries and tater tots. She advised us to get off the highway- she'd lost a friend 2 weeks ago. We'd seen an unsettling number of memorials along the way and so didn't need much convincing. Still, the street she wanted us to turn on would put us right back on our route, and we weren't sure we'd ridden far enough to bring the dog danger down. Sure enough, the dog scares started pretty quickly. The worst was a golden retriever that came running at us, unrestrained by a fence. Arik and I were ready this time- he pulled out his homemade pepper spray and I rode calmly in front of him. For some reason the dog stopped short of the street but it was still good practice. Neither of us was as jumpy or freaked out as we were yesterday, but it was still unpleasant to have to scan back and forth from driveway to driveway for some streaking barking mass of fur.

Though we'd intended to make it to the state park tonight, the tire issue this morning meant time wasn't on our side. Instead, we stopped for the night in Centralia, WA and are staying at a Motel 6. We've got a bed, internet, a fully stocked grocery store across the street, and just about every big box American business within a mile of where we're staying, so we're pretty spoiled. We checked out the map and it seems like the crappiness of small towns and average scenery and crazy dogs will continue for the next 2 days, but after that......glorious glorious coastline from Astoria, OR all the way to San Diego. It's times like these I wish life had a fast forward button, but I guess it'll just make us appreciate the good stuff even more.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Arik & Mia and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

2009-08-14T23:11:00.005-04:00

3 hours on the bike- Shelton, WA to Elma, WA

Arik and I have decided our days on the tour can usually be divided into two categories: confidence boosting days and confidence destroying days. Today was emphatically a confidence destroying day.

It started out well enough. We slept in at Kelly's until 9:30, got our stuff together, had a good breakfast, and loaded up the van. Kelly was initially just going to drive us outside Bremerton so we could avoid the sketchy 'hoods we'd errantly ridden through before, but she offered to drive us a bit farther and we accepted. Tour purists might frown on us skipping out on part of the route, but it was the last time we'd have the chance to hitch a ride for a bit. We also figured that our misadventures and the accompanying added mileage at a minimum equaled it all out. Plus it was nice to have a little extra time to chat with Kelly. She drove us to Shelton, WA and we bid her farewell as we rolled through Shelton's small downtown.

The roads themselves were great- some of the best we've had really. Low traffic, good weather, rare hills- just nice. We even saw some cool animals- a family of goats, lots of horses, some llamas, and particularly stunningly, a family of deer. The father deer was huge and stood in the middle of the road looking at us. Then came the mom who also stood and looked as if to make sure we didn't have any devious plans, and finally the kiddo.

So we were moseying along, enjoying being back on the bikes and seeing all the cool critters, when suddenly we heard loud barking and saw 2 big, white dogs come streaking towards us. I don't think either of us have been that scared in a long time. Our hearts pounding, we both started pedaling as fast as we could and screamed at the dogs. They seemed to lose traction on the road and so couldn't chase us very far but we were really shaken up, and I was literally shaking. We stopped for a break a little ways down the road and gave ourselves a pep talk but after that first experience we couldn't enjoy the ride. Every driveway and yard put us on edge as we scanned for dogs. Sure enough, not far down the road, a huge black lab came sprinting at us. We screamed and yelled and pedaled as fast as we could but it ran right alongside my bike. Fortunately it didn't try to bite me at all but it easily could have. It finally left us alone but not without shredding our nerves for good. Elma, the town we'd decided to stop in, couldn't come fast enough.

From the minute we got into town though, it felt like we were in the middle of some kind of surreal nightmare. 2 nuclear reactors loomed ahead of us and electricity buzzed audibly in the power lines overhead. A car rolled by without a windshield as did a green and yellow jeep that looked like it was fresh off the Jurassic Park set. The motel we'd planned on staying at ended up being a dilapidated wooden building, but fortunately we'd spied a chain hotel on our way into town. We rode back there, past two restaurants promising good home cookin'. The hotel is perfect- friendly people, wireless access, a nice room. It's been one of the only bright spots on this otherwise crappy day.

We both called our dads for a pep talk and advice about the dogs. Today really left us wondering if the tour was worth it. I keep saying that this tour isn't a vacation- if we'd wanted that we would've headed straight for the beach and not bothered with all this biking business. Instead, I've been calling it an adventure, complete with all the scariness and danger and uncertainty that label implies. Even so, being anxious for every mile doesn't make for a very fun adventure either. Both our pops were helpful. Before the trip, my dad had told us to make up some makeshift pepper spray using water, black pepper, and an elmers glue bottle just in case we had dog trouble. Of course we figured we'd get to that "later" so we didn't have it when we needed it. First thing we did once we got settled at the hotel? Headed straight for the hardware store to get some elmers glue. We picked up 2 bottles and some velcro and then headed back home. On the way a big dog barked at us and scared the crap out of us, and a few houses down a young boy opened his front door, whispered "Run!" to us, and then ran back inside. Yes this is a really freaky place.

On the way home we stopped at Elma's best restaurant: Rusty Tractor. We figured we'd just get some french fries and a salad, and when we walked in we were positive that would be it as far as what we'd be able to eat. Chickens and cows were the motif and the menu was filled with the Rusty Tractor specialty: Yak burgers. They even had a burger called the farmhouse burger, which was a hamburger with ham and a fried egg on it. Guess they do have all the main farm animals covered. To our delight, we spied a veggie burger and beer-battered onion rings- hooray! It all ended up being quite tasty and we were happy to actually be able to eat at a sit-down place. Headed back to the hotel with full bellies, then Arik went to the nearby gas station to pick up some pepper and snacks. He came back and reported that the best of Elma was on display: 2 large, trashy teens were cursing and yelling and being super raunchy.

Now he's reading and we're about to do a little laundry and make our pepper spray. Tomorrow we're going to hit up a gun store here in town to pick up a telescoping baton- we're gettin' hardcore on this here tour. We're shooting for Lewis and Clark State Park tomorrow.

In the meantime, we're crossing our fingers that tomorrow will be better than today.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Chez Rula

2009-08-13T18:10:00.020-04:00

8/10/09- 6 hours on the bike- Port Townsend, WA to Bremerton, WA to Seattle, WA and back to Bremerton

The route out of Port Townsend was super hilly and there were lots of busy streets. We stopped and got an oreo frappuccino at a little roadside spot and called Kelly. We'd initially planned on stopping at a state park before catching the ferry to see Kelly but we decided to motor through and meet her a day early. We called to try and see if she'd be able to pick us up at the ferry in Seattle but didn't get through so we just soldiered on. We stopped a little later and got some more blackberries which unfortunately led to some tummy trouble and consequent thorn scratches courtesy of our roadside bathroom- doh!

Blackberries

Yum

Some beautiful mountains came into view just as it started raining. Our route took us through some pretty sketchy parts of Bremerton to get to the Seattle ferry and we got a bit turned around (seems like we always pick the best places to get lost!) We survived and made it to the ferry just in time. Gave each other high fives, got seated, and called Kelly just as the ferry got moving. Her first words were, "You're on the ferry? Get off!!!!" Turns out we somehow got mixed up and she lives in Bremerton so the ferry was totally unnecessary. In fact, she was taking the ferry back from Seattle right as we left for Seattle. Our timing was perfect to to make everything turn out perfectly wrong. So Arik and I were wet and cold and stuck on an unnecessary hour ferry ride. Worse, right when we got there we had to ride off, go back through the entrance, and pay 14 bucks to get back on the same ferry to go home. Ah wondrous bureaucracy.

After 2 hours on the ferry, we finally got to see Kelly! She helped us load the bikes in the minivan and presented me with a jumbo box of nerds- she knows me too well! We stopped by Albertson's to get some pasta then headed to her casa. Her parents lived in the house for 2 years and have been renting it out until recently. Now Kelly gets to chill in it- it's pretty sweet- a nice view of the mountains and water. We ate our pasta, watched a movie, caught up a bit w/Kelly and turned in for an early night, happy to be with a pal and have a roof over our heads.

Arik's parents are keepin' track of how far we've come- here's Vancouver to Seattle :)

8/11/09- Seattle

Arik and I headed into the city, this time intentionally! It was a beautiful day- sunny and cool. People fed the seagulls from the ferry deck and the coast guard escorted us into the city.

Seattle skyline

We ate some falafel sandwiches at a falafel place- we'd missed those since we left Ann Arbor. Then we trekked to REI for some more fuel, a compass, and food.

A wondrous natural waterfall? Nope- just an outdoor feature at the REI flagship store

Went back down to the water and the Pike Place Market. We overpaid for some peanuts but got some tasty mini grapes and a delicious gigantic chocolate chip cookie from some street vendors. Then we walked down 1st street to Pioneer Square, which has really cool old brick buildings and a sweet bookstore: Elliott Bay Book Co. Arik and I each picked up a book and read for a while as we waited for the ferry back to Bremerton.

Pioneer Square

Kelly picked us up and we went to get some groceries for dinner. Had a tasty pasta and tofu dinner, talked a little about life with Kelly and her pals, watched Top Chef Masters with everyone, then went to bed.

8/12/09- Seattle part 2

We had a lazy morning- did some blogging and watched some UFC on the laptop. Went into the city with Kelly and her pal Jordan. We walked to the bus stop but had some time to kill so we went in search of a coffee place. Found a really cute one in an unlikely spot and chilled there for a little while.

Cool coffee shop

Then took the bus to a vegan pizza place called Pizza Pi close to the university. Had some tasty pizza and then started a long trek to a cool donut place called Mighty O Donuts. We power walked for 40 minutes to try to get there before they closed at 5. We made it at 4:30 and were stoked until the girl who worked there said they'd just run out of donuts. Nooooooo! "But we just walked 40 minutes to get these out of town vegans some donuts!," Kelly cried. The bid for sympathy worked: the girl went into the back and scrounged up an assortment of fresh mini donuts and one full sized one. They were super awesome and, the girl claimed, just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the tastiness of their donuts. I wish we could go back but we'll just have to save it for our next trip. We also got 2 raspberry lemonades (one on the house!) with bits of real raspberries at the bottom- yum.

Pizza!

Donuts!

Then we walked to Green Lake Park, a pretty cool neighborhood encircling Green Lake. It reminded us of a small White Rock Lake for the Dallasites reading. My feet were killing me (our bike shoes are not the best for long treks) so Arik and I sat down on a bench to chill while Kelly and Jordan went window shopping for a bit. We moved to a nice hill to lay in the sun and had fun people watching.

Cool bird at the lake

They came back and we all walked back to the donut place to catch the bus. It started raining right then, which was pretty perfect timing since we'd gotten all our walking done. The bus took us straight to the ferry- not too shabby. We had an hour to kill before the next ferry came so we went back to the bookstore. I started reading an awesome book called Born to Run and was really sad to have to put it down. Just couldn't justify droppin' the 25 bucks. Hopefully we'll find it at a used place or walmart somewhere along the way.

Kelly's roomie Bennett picked us up from the ferry and we headed home. Somehow during the 30 minute span while Bennett was gone picking us up, the puppy managed to consume an entire bag of trail mix and then deposit the poopy results all over the living room (where we've all been sleeping on the floor). Good ol' puppies- and the little gal only weighs like 5 pounds!. Arik and I retired to another room and watched some UFC fights, then nodded off.

8/13/09- Last day chillin' with Kelly in Bremerton

Today was an intentionally lazy day. Arik and I haven't really had the chance to just sit and unwind so we stayed an extra day w/Kelly to do just that. My blister from yesterday is healing up and we're both feeling much more well-rested and ready to get back on the road tomorrow- we miss it! We'll be staying at a state park tomorrow night and then hoteling it up for the 2 days after that. The hip thing to do whilst bike touring is to just find a secluded place on the side of the road to camp when campsites aren't available but we just aren't comfy with that idea yet. Maybe in the next month that'll change, but for now we'll baby ourselves a bit when there aren't established campsites around.

We should be in Oregon a week from tomorrow!

Us outside Kelly's house

With Kelly outside Chez Rula

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Wherever I Lay My Head Is Home...And Home is State Parks!

2009-08-12T12:58:00.016-04:00

The updates continue! We stayed in Washington state parks for 4 days straight and they were awesome each time.

8/8/09- 3 hours, 20 min on the bike- Bellingham, WA to Deception Pass State Park, WA

We enjoyed some awesome sleep in Larrabee thanks to the shower and the surroundings. Got up around 9:30, ate some oatmeal, and got on the road around 11. The route took us out for some really nice rural riding. We rode by farms and fields of fragrant sweet peas. We went through nice little towns and stopped at a homemade bread shop for delicious multigrain bread and directions. We came to the huge Deception Pass Bridge- it was beautiful but we had to walk the bikes down a really narrow sidewalk that was packed w/people so we had to stop every few steps to let them squeeze by. We didn't take this pic, but here's the bridge so you can get the idea:

After the bridge we went up and down some serious hills- the downhills were so steep our eyes would tear up as we flew down. On the way to the state park we took an alternate bike route that took us around a highway that had lots of construction on it. It was scenic and pleasant most of the way until we got to a huge hill through a residential section. After a few feet we had to get off the bikes and push. An elderly couple sat on the porch of their house midway up the hill and chuckled- "Everything was great until this hill, eh!" they called. We smiled grimly. "Well it only gets worse from here! MUAHAHAHHA!" We were hoping they were exaggerating but as we rounded a corner we realized they were right on the money. We had to take breaks every few feet to get up the steep incline.

We finally got into Deception Pass State Park and got a hiker/biker site. We passed by a gray-haired and bearded solo tourer who had set up camp at one of the sites. Arik recognized him as a guy we'd given directions to the day before. As we walked past he called out to us and asked where we were headed. We told him and he invited us back for wine later that evening. We set up camp and another solo biker rolled in and chatted with us. The wild-eyed, quickly topless dude gave us some tips and told us what we had to look forward to in Oregon- 4 dollar campsites and a coast that would likely be the highlight of our trip.

We had pb&js with blackberry jam on our multigrain bread, a nice hot shower, and chili for dinner. Then we headed over for wine with our new pal Rudy. He is a retired Vancouver schoolteacher with a really peaceful, wise aura about him. He told us about some of his past adventures- including camping on a small bit of land in the middle of some water without realizing that the water level rose through the night- he and his friend were stranded and just had to watch the water rise closer and closer to their tent door. Miraculously it stopped right before it got into the tent. He bemoaned what passes for camping for a lot of people- at Deception Pass we saw one family with 2 full size electronic dart boards. He uses the sun to tell directions and doesn't own a cellphone. When we asked where he stayed the night before he said he'd found a little spot on the side of the road and said it was empowering to try to live outside of the system and to realize how much we humans are really capable of doing for ourselves. It reminded him of a time when he was younger. He and a friend were road tripping in their car and found a spot on the side of the road to sleep. They were woken up in the morning by a horrible loud screeching and jumped out of the car to see a big train roaring past. They'd set up for the night just feet from the tracks. Overall it was a really nice evening spent with a really interesting guy.

It started to sprinkle as the sun went down so we turned in for an early night.

8/9/09- 4.5 hours on the bike- Deception Pass State Park, WA to Port Townsend, WA

Had some oatmeal then got moving. Rolled though pretty, rural terrain with huge clouds that looked like mountains and low clouds that looked like the sea. We went by a field filled with portly sheep all bent over eating- they reminded us of Guido. Rode onto Whidbey Island- a pretty popular tourist spot. Climbed up some big hills just as the sun came out. The sun was glorious! We forgot how much we missed it. Rode down a beautiful street called Madrona Way- trees on our right and Crescent Harbor on our left. We stopped in Coupeville to make a pb&j (yup we're eatin' a lot of these). While we were eating, an older gent in an orange reflective vest came pedaling up. His name was Ken and he gave us some tips for the upcoming Oregon and California coasts. Apparently we have the 7 devils to look forward to: 7 killer hills in Oregon that'll have us begging for mercy by the end. Hooray! He also said we should make sure we get wraparound eye protection because woodchip trucks spray woodchips and sawdust all over the road. He also told us a better way to get to the Port Townsend ferry and helped us avoid the hills our route would've taken us over. His alternate route also had the added benefit of taking us by some blackberry bushes. It's blackberry season in Washington and they were supa plump and ripe and sweet!

We got to the Port Townsend ferry station an hour early so we plopped down inside on a bench to wait. Not longer after, a teary eyed older woman sat down and started muttering to herself. We thought she was just a crazy old lady but as we started to talk to her we realized she was actually just having a really hard time with her mom's death in April. We had a nice long chat with Carollee. She is a really proud mama and managed to mention a number of times that her son is a cardiologist in Dallas. Soon two preteen boys sat down next to us and joined in on the conversation. They were impressed with our ride ("That's awesome!") and were just really cute sweet kiddos. One offered me a sour gummy worm (which I gladly accepted!) and his pal said "dude give her some more!" And he did! When one of the boys said his aunt and uncle were from Dallas, Carollee chimed in, "you know who else lives in Dallas? My son! He's a heart doctor!" When the ferry arrived we left the office just as Carollee's 80 year old dad came in. We heard him greet her, saying, "So do all the people know about your son who's a doctor?" :)

We rode onto the ferry and chatted with one of the preteen's dads. He was really supportive and interested in our ride. Arik and I headed up top and found a seat in the sun. We thought it would get too hot but with the cool breeze off the water we actually ended up pretty cold and had to huddle together. Halfway through, Carollee and her dad came and sat with us and chatted. Her dad reflected on the aging process, saying he was happy he hadn't crossed over the line into having to rely on someone else to take care of him.

On the ferry

After 30 minutes on the ferry, we got to Port Townsend and bid farewell to the boys. We headed straight to Old Port Townsend State Park. It was a tiny speck on our map so our expectations weren't too high, but it ended up being the sweetest park yet in terms of our campsite. The hiker/biker sites were set back under tall trees that swayed and creaked in the breeze. We were the only ones there (it was a Sunday night) so we had the whole spot to ourselves. We had ramen and curry for dinner, took a hot shower (I had to wait for a teenage couple and two 8 year olds to get done before I could take mine...good times), then turned in for the night.

Our sweet spot in the trees

The solitude that was so awesome and calming during the daytime was a little scary at night. Arik woke up with a start in the middle of the night and turned on our lantern, sure he had heard someone unzip our tent fly and put something down. I didn't hear anything but shortly afterward we did see what looked like a flashlight shining toward us. Just a lil weird. He had a lot of trouble sleeping but finally nodded off.

We're chillin' with Kelly for one more day- more updates to come!

Until then, be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Hell and Heaven

2009-08-12T00:20:00.016-04:00

We're back! After 4 days of camping we had a roof back over our heads for the first time last night. Our pal Kelly lives just outside Seattle and is letting us crash with her for a few days at what she's calling "Hotel Rula." We're sharing the house with her roomie, one of her pals, 2 pups- and no furniture! But the roof, carpeted floor, TV and internet are all welcome improvements. So time to catch up:

8/6/09- 9 hours on the bike- Vancouver, BC to Birch Bay, WA aka the HELL/demoralizing/confidence destroying route

Our first day on the bikes was not a happy one. It started off well enough. We stopped by Everybody Loves Veggies to eat some soup and got 2 sandwiches for the road. Then it got crappy. The route took us down an industrial road that smelled like rotten fish. We promptly got lost 3 times and spent an hour trying to find our way back to the route. It was pretty miserable. Then we went over the huge Alex Fraser Bridge to get out of Richmond, BC. We had a skinny separated sidewalk to ride on but it was really windy and dusty and high up. We were happy to get off. Things were looking up for a bit when we stopped at a little produce stand and had an apple.

The bikes, blissfully unaware of the hell awaiting them

That is, until Arik almost got ridden off the road by an 18 wheeler. He survived that encounter only to meet his next nemesis: the HELL HILL. We'd already been riding about 4 hours and then had to go straight up. And up. And up. We had to get off the bikes 10 feet in and push. We finally made it and headed through customs shortly afterward. The customs guy asked us what we were doing in the US and when we told him we were biking the coast he said, "why would you want to do that?" After our day, we were starting to ask ourselves the same thing. 9 hours after we began, we finally rolled into Birch Bay State Park. We got there too late to get change from the office so we couldn't take a shower (a quarter buys you a 3 minute hot shower). We had pb&js, oreos, and a coke and conked out, hoping the tour wouldn't end up being one big mistake.

Birch Bay State Park

8/7/09- 3.5 hours on the bike- Birch Bay, WA to Bellingham, WA aka the HEAVEN/confidence-building/this tour WASN'T a total loss after all route

Let's be honest, we were pretty bummed when we headed out of Birch Bay. The day before had totally sucked and all the picturesque, idyllic images of touring we'd had in our heads had been replaced with visions of skinny lanes, 18 wheelers, and hills from hell. We left around 10:30 and our spirits lifted almost immediately. The route was beautiful with great, low traffic roads that took us through awesome tiny towns.

A cool tree in one of the tiny towns

We stopped for some tater tots at Sonic in one of the towns and saw awesome trees all along the way. One biker passed us and asked where we were heading. When we said San Diego he said "well you're almost there!"

One of the views along the way

We got into Larrabee State Park in Bellingham around 2:30 and we were stoked...until we saw the sign that said the park was full. We were freaking out and about to call the park office but then a park worker came up and said "oh we never turn away hikers or bikers- we have sites for you guys." Hooray! She told us the site number and we headed over to an overgrown parking lot. We were a bit bummed but the park was otherwise awesome- huge tall trees and just great scenery. So we settled into our parking lot campsite- got the tent up, unpacked, and plotted out where we'd eat (we decided it'd be on the concrete slab that stops the car tires) and just were happy to be done riding for the day and in a sweet state park.

Me on the phone with my mama

Our original "campsite"

I went to the restroom and when I got back Arik was finishing up chatting with a guy and laughing. I asked what was up and he said uhh that guy said our site is actually just up the hill- this is just the parking for it. Incredulous, we headed up the hill and saw a line of the sweetest sites ever- with a fire pit and picnic bench and great trees. We started cracking up and headed back down to pack up again. We sheepishly picked up our tent and brought it up to the actual campsite.

Our actual site

We got re-situated, wondering at our great luck, then headed to the beach inside the park. WHOA. Awesome water, awesome beaches- basically the prettiest view either of us have seen. We stuck our feet in the cold water until we spotted some jellyfish.

The beach

We took a hot shower (got quarters this time!), had pad thai for dinner, and then went back down to the beach to watch the sunset. We got a fire started after a little trouble, then went to sleep, reassured that our trip really could be something special.

New Video!

Sunset

Gotta take a shower and go to bed for now- more tomorrow!

VancouvaaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHH

2009-08-05T17:50:00.022-04:00

We made it to Vancouver! We stayed up all night on the 3rd packing up the bikes and our gear. The whole packing the bikes thing took a lot longer than we anticipated and we finished up just in time to cram the bikes into Arik's mom's car and head out to the airport at 3:30am.

Sleepy at the airport

Got everything checked in pretty easily. We flew into Denver first and tried to catch a little sleep- the view when we landed was really beautiful- lotsa sun and mountains. The flight to Vancouver was nice and uneventful too- we slept for most of the 3 hours, but woke up in time to see the biggest mountains we've ever seen out the windows at cruising altitude. They were huge! Landed, went through customs, got our pepper spray confiscated- doh!

We found a little alcove in the airport to assemble our bikes. We lost an unessential screw somewhere along the way, but otherwise everything came through perfectly and we had our bikes assembled in about an hour and a half. We'd initially planned on walking with the bike boxes to a fedex to ship them back home, but decided it would be more trouble than it was worth. We abandoned the boxes at the airport and will have to get new ones in San Diego. Here are the lonesome looking boxes as we exited the airport:

Sad bike boxes

We loaded up the bikes, hopped on, and headed to Vancouver! The supposedly bike friendly directions we got from the Vancouver website were not so bike friendly! There were bike lanes most of the way, but the ride across the Arthur Laing Bridge to take us into Vancouver proper was pretty harrowing. The bike lane was really narrow and tons of cars whooshed by. Not fun at all. After that it was pretty nice though- low traffic streets with bike lanes. We drove over the Cambie Bridge to take us into downtown and snapped a few nice pix. The city is like nothing we've ever seen- mountains and water and really unique architecture.

Ready to leave the airport

On the Cambie Bridge

On the Cambie Bridge going into downtown Vancouver

We pulled up to the Vancouver YWCA Hotel and got checked in. It's a nice, cheap, no-frills place located right in the middle of downtown. The only semi-downside is that we share a toilet/shower with one other room. I don't know why but it's a bit weird and we actually think a hall bath woulda been better. Here's the view from our room:

Hotel view

We headed to Gorilla Foods for lunch and had some tasty raw eats:

At Gorilla Foods

Then back to the hotel for some much needed shut-eye! We woke up starving after our nap and decided to check out Chinatown. Vancouver has the second biggest Chinatown in the world (after San Fran) so we figured we'd have good luck finding some authentic treats. We got there around 8pm and found it totally abandoned but for a few muttering bums. Not quite what we expected! We went with plan 2, which was checking out Gastown, an up and coming neighborhood north of Chinatown. We picked a bad route to get into Gastown and ended up on some of the scariest streets we've seen- just a lot of scary peeps and abandoned buildings. We hustled out of there and back to the hotel to get some Italian food recommendations. The kind lady at the front desk suggested a place in Gastown. She told us "now the problem with this one is you're gonna want to take the Skytrain, because if you try to walk there..." We laughed and told her we knew what she was talking about. Too bad we didn't consult with her before our misadventure! We nixed Gastown, so she suggested 2 places in Yaletown, a kinda fancy 'hood close to the hotel. Alas both were a bit too fancy/pricey for our sandal-wearin' selves. By this time we were desperate for anything to eat so we hit up trust old 7-11 for some fine cuisine. We got some ramen noodles, Gatorade and a delishus Cherry Dr. Pepper slurpee. The slurpee tasted like heaven and tided us over till we made it to the hotel. Once there, we picked up our plates and forks in the room and headed to the hotel kitchen, hopeful there would be pots to use. Alas we were out of luck- you had to bring your own stuff. We would have probably ended up frothing and delirious in our room if not for a kind woman from Holland who offered to let us borrow her pot. We chatted a bit with her and her friend whilst the water boiled and then sat down at last to dinner. Yum!

Abandoned Chintown

Today we woke up well-rested and after hanging out a bit in the room, we ventured across the Cambie Bridge to eat and run some errands. We ate at a great fast-foodish place called Everybody Loves Veggies- and if everybody ate there, everybody probably would! It was supa tasty and we took some extra sandwiches to go. Then went to a pretty famous REI-type place called Mountain Equipment Co-op. We bought some bike helmet mirrors (after the bridge escapade we decided these were necessary), a camp pot (we won't get caught off guard again!), and some odds and ends. Picked up some clementines at an Asian produce place, then stopped by Whole Foods for some oatmeal and a delishus mango gelato.

Headed back to the hotel, put the photos we've taken so far on the flash drive, and hit up the Vancouver Public Library to try to update the blog and post some pix. Alas we only got about 20 minutes worth of internet time before a library member reserved it, but were able to sign up for wireless access and would come back later with the laptop.

In the meantime, we stopped by a bike shop where Arik got the missing screw replaced. Then we went on an awesome bike ride around Stanley Park north of downtown. It has water on 3 sides and stunning views of the mountains and the ocean. Here are some pix:

Our bikes, who we've christened Koonta and Dora

Tonight we might go watch a movie at a cool theater here- not sure. Then we'll head out early tomorrow morning to continue the adventure!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

An Awesome Send-off

2009-08-03T23:37:00.003-04:00

I think this speaks for itself:

A GINORMOUS Thank You to all of you! Your support means the world to us and we have been so moved by the number of people who have been touched by cancer and by how generous you all have been. Just really, really incredible.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Manana

2009-08-03T02:38:00.009-04:00

It's 2 am on Monday, so I guess we officially leave tomorrow! It's been a long, mostly sleepless couple of weeks. I took the bar exam Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of last week, took a day to veg, and we've been anxious to leave since then. We will land in Vancouver around 10:30 am on Tuesday, assemble our bikes in the luggage area, lug the bike boxes to the UPS about a mile away, and then bike about 5 more miles to our hotel in downtown Vancouver. We'll have 2 days to hang out in Vancouver and will start the journey south on the 7th. We are supa stoked but also freakin' out about leaving something crucial. Here's just about everything we're bringing, minus the laptop and our clothes:

Also yesterday we wrote the names of the people we ride for on our shirts. Hope you enjoy seeing your name or the names of your loved ones and friends. We're happy to have the company on our ride!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Gettin' Real

2009-07-14T20:25:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we bought one way plane tickets to Vancouver- woo hoo! Our adventure, long an amorphous vision, is really happening. In exactly two weeks, I'll take (and please lord pass) the bar exam, and 5 days later, on August 4, we'll head to Vancouver. We haven't bought a return ticket because we have no idea how long we'll be gone. We're guessing about a month and a half, but who knows what'll come up.

One of the cool things about this tour is that because I don't start work until the end of November, we are totally unrestrained by time. We'll be free to linger on the beach, take unplanned side trips, explore towns big and small, and really take time to be completely present in the experience, unencumbered by the real life worries and responsibilities we will face at home.

Although Arik is a pretty que sera, sera go with the flow kinda guy, this will be brand new territory for me. I plan trips meticulously, down to the restaurants we'll eat at, I don't go anywhere without my google maps printout in hand, and my clothes are color coordinated. I like to be in control of my life and this tour will take me emphatically out of my comfort zone. That's a big reason why I'm looking forward to it.

After considering getting an iphone to have access to a GPS, Arik and I decided to go without it, and will instead rely on good old fashioned maps, human know how and interaction to meander our way down the coast. We have no idea where we'll be staying, what we'll be eating, or when we'll finally roll into Imperial Beach. What we do know is that we'll be biking the coast for a pressing cause, and that whatever craziness happens along the way, we'll have each other to lean on and laugh with.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Best Laid Plans

2009-07-05T12:12:00.003-04:00

Despite our best training intentions, this whole studying for the bar thing is taking a lot more time and energy than we anticipated, and our training has suffered for it. There's a saying about bike tours: You train for the tour or the tour trains you. It looks like we're going to be pretty solidly in the second camp, which means we have a pretty painful first week of touring to look forward to.

We checked out flights to Vancouver one way and they were a whopping 400 bucks each- yikes. We're going to try moving the start date to a less popular day of the week in hopes of bringing that number down a bit.

We have just about all the gear we'll need for the tour- just missing a few odds and ends. Now we're trying to figure out what kind of fabric pen works best on dri-fit material- suggestions are welcome!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Thoughts, Prayers, Love and Hope

2009-06-28T18:24:00.007-04:00

Hi all,

Please send thoughts, prayers, hope, and love to Steve Damm and his family. We are riding for Steve, who is battling a really rough brain tumor. Unfortunately, things have gotten worse lately. The strength and perseverance the Damm family has displayed throughout what would be a completely soul-crushing experience for many others is pretty incredible, and they could sure use the thoughts of others during this especially trying time.

To read about Steve and his family, check out their blog: http://checkonsteve.blogspot.com/

If you'd like to help make sure future families don't have to go through what the Damms are, please consider donating: http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Also if you live in the Dallas area and would like to help out the Damm family (by providing a meal or otherwise helping out), you can sign up here: http://www.lotsahelpinghands.com/c/602198/login/?logout

As always, if there is anyone you'd like us to ride in honor or memory of, please let us know.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

Un Lungo Giro in Bicicletta (A Long Bike Ride, Italian-Style)

2009-06-22T15:23:00.008-04:00

This past weekend, Arik and I ventured an hour south of Dallas to tackle the Tour d'Italia in Italy, Texas. The ride started at Italy High School, and thousands of bikers milled about before the start. Those in clip-in bike shoes hobbled awkwardly in the parking lots like baby birds, and I don't know that we've ever seen so many lycra-clad, tanned, large calved people in our lives.

We rolled down Main Street and soon were in the hills of Ellis County. There were a ton of other bikers (the organizers estimated about 2000) but we rarely felt crowded. As we moseyed along and bikers passed us, they would call out a "good morning!" or "how y'all doing?" before they pedaled off. One biker pulled a wagon along behind him that held a boombox and played some loud, funky tunes.

Arik 10 miles in wearing the Livestrong shirt we'll wear on our tour

There were rest stops every 10 miles or so, stocked with plums, peaches, bananas, oreos, pretzels and gatorade, though not, as one biker passing us had promised, with margarita machines. Then again she had a mohawk made of feathers glued to the top of her helmet so perhaps she wasn't totally trustworthy.

Mia at one of the rest stops

Even without the margaritas, the first 25 miles were really enjoyable. The sun was out but not too hot, there were a lot of other bikers around, and even though we rode into a headwind just about the entire time, Arik and I felt good physically. Then about halfway through the ride (we planned to do the longest, 63 mile, route) Arik's quads started cramping. Our pace slowed considerably, the sun beat down on us mercilessly as the clock crept toward noon, and Arik grimaced as he struggled up what felt like endless hills. Still, Arik soldiered on, and felt good at each rest stop.

We finally passed the point of no return: where the 40 and 50 mile routes split off and the 63 mile route continued on. We didn't even ask each other if we'd keep going- we just rode straight through in somewhat grim silence. At this point we hadn't seen another rider in at least 30 minutes and SAG vehicles started following us closely, ready to pick us up if we decided we couldn't make it.

At the 40 mile mark, after an especially trying strip of road for Arik's quads, we made it to the second to last rest stop. The people manning it cheered for us, gave us cold paper towels to cool ourselves off with, and informed us that we were the last people coming through. They couldn't believe we weren't on road bikes and asked if we were sure we wanted to keep going, but after we told them about our tour they realized how important making it all the way was to us.

Mia in happier times, before Arik was hurtin'

Refueled and recooled, we set off for the final 23 mile stretch. 7 miles in, with the temperature close to 100 degrees and the hills coming one after another, Arik said he had to stop. He was obviously in pain, and when he got off the bike he almost fell down because he couldn't straighten out his legs. We tried stretching and rubbing them but realized he wouldn't (and shouldn't) get back on the bike. We got a little freaked out when we couldn't find a phone number for the SAG units, but fortunately a guy came by after about 5 minutes and asked if we needed help. He radioed a pickup truck, and a large, jolly fellow loaded up our bikes and ferryed us home. He was simple and talkative and friendly- the kind of person I don't think you could find anywhere but Texas- and he regaled us with stories of chasing storms as an amateur radioman. We passed about 10 other riders still on the course before he dropped us off at the high school.

Arik was bummed we didn't make it all the way, but I couldn't believe he'd ridden over 15 miles on cramping quads. And 47 miles total, on a steamy, sunny Texas day, ain't too shabby at all!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

An Unintentional Hiatus

2009-06-07T23:58:00.002-04:00

Despite our best intentions to get seriously biking this week, my hard-headedness derailed our plans. Ignoring Arik's friendly reminders about wearing flip flops during activities, I soldiered on and played soccer sans real shoes. After a couple of nice punts in my sister's backyard, I felt a sharp pain in my foot, looked down, cringed, and hobbled over to Dr. Dad, who luckily was nearby spectating. I burst a blood vessel in my foot and was instructed to "get inside, get ice on it, and get it elevated or your whole foot's gonna explode." Thanks for helping me not freak out pops! I ended up laying on my sis's couch for about 3 hours with a throbbing foot and a nice dose of humility. Dad told me I couldn't bike again for at least a week, and today marks the end of that week. And the worst part was having to tell Arik he was right! :D We'll be back in the saddle soon.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

On Mileage and Bike Lanes

2009-05-30T19:12:00.003-04:00

Very often when we tell people we're going to bike 1800 miles this summer, their first reaction is some version of either "Are you nuts?!" or "That rocks!" Their second reaction, after hearing that we hope to average around 55 miles/day during the tour, is to ask how we're going to find the time to bike 55 miles/day while we train, especially since I'm studying about 6 hours/day for the bar exam. The good news is, the distance you ride in a week is how far you can expect to ride comfortably in a day. So we need to average at least 55 miles of riding per week. This week, our first week of multiple rides, we rode a total of 64.2 miles, and we only rode twice. Next week we'd like to ride at least 4 times, so we should be more than a-ok.

Gotta Start Somewhere

After the somewhat harrowing ride described in yesterday's post, I did some googling and discovered Bike Friendly Oak Cliff, an organization devoted to helping make those kinds of rides the exception rather than the rule. One of their big goals is to get bike lanes in Dallas- hooray! Hopefully we'll have a chance to tag along on some of their group rides.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Not So Fun Being Prey in the Urban Jungle

2009-05-29T12:06:00.008-04:00

Yesterday Arik and I ventured across the Trinity again, this time to get a membership at the White Rock YMCA (I can't run anymore b/c I have the knees of a 90 year old ex-mogul skiier so I wanted an outdoor pool to swim laps in) and to stop by the Kroger on Mockingbird. Our ride there was pleasant again- not much traffic and sunny skies with a breeze. We took a rest outside Kroger and enjoyed some tasty watermelon we picked up there, then headed to the YMCA and got signed up.

Our ride to White Rock, and the previous long rides we've done in the past 2 weeks, had made us feel really positive about riding in the big city- we know Dallas is car-dominated, but we hadn't had any bad experiences and were feeling confident and enjoying ourselves. The ride home was not so cheery- there was a ton of traffic, right lanes downtown were often filled up with parked cars, and for the first time we appreciated how tough it is to navigate streets not designed for bikes alongside cars streaking by doing 50 mph with drivers often openly hostile to us being on the road. Bike lanes would sure be a godsend. We made it home in one piece but with our confidence a bit shaken. Like a good nerd, I ordered two books on urban cycling (here and here) in hopes of getting some of that confidence back. Wish us luck!

In other news, we'll be doing the Tour d'Italia, in Italy....Texas on June 20. It has 12, 30, 40, 50, and 63 mile routes and promises free snow cones, but alas, no lasagna, at the end. We're thinking about doing either the 50 or 63 mile routes, but we aren't sure yet.

As always, please let us know if there's anyone you'd like us to ride in honor or memory of, and thanks so much for the support and encouragement.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Across the River

2009-05-25T22:57:00.003-04:00

Many Oak Cliff residents speak of the rest of Dallas as being "across the river," referring to the somewhat underwhelming Trinity River that separates downtown and North Dallas from Oak Cliff. Arik and I made our first bike-powered foray across the river this afternoon. We enjoyed surprisingly light traffic- went across the bridge, through Victory Park, past my new office (won't be in it till November!), hopped on the Katy Trail, meandered through the M streets, then Lakewood, rolled by my elementary school, which I hadn't seen since 6th grade, then slowly rode next to White Rock (tons of people out for Memorial Day) and finally to my casa. It was a pretty awesome feeling to make it so far under our own power, and we shared a celebratory fist bump as we pulled into the driveway. We'd planned on surprising my parents, but alas they weren't home! So we killed some time by biking around the lake. They were home when we got back and rewarded us with a tasty dinner. We had to get movin' pretty quickly to beat the sun, so we bid farewell to them and headed back to OC. Our timing was pretty perfect- the sun started to set just as we crossed the bridge, and we made it home with daylight to spare. Walked the pups in the dwindling light, then kicked back on the couch. In all, we rode 36.6 miles- not too shabby!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Ride of Silence

2009-05-21T00:02:00.010-04:00

Today Arik and I did the Ride of Silence around White Rock Lake, a ride in memory of bicyclists killed on the road and in support of increasing awareness of bikers. My mom fashioned us some makeshift black armbands out of an old belt, and those who'd survived wrecks with cars wore red armbands- we saw a few of those. We were a bit late getting started so we had to get a lil speedy to catch up to the group. We caught up about 15 minutes in and it was really something else- as the name suggests, there was absolutely no talking. Curious onlookers lined the road, unsure of what to make of the hundreds of bikers rolling by slowly in silence. The scene was somber and serene- the lake was calm, the sun was going down, and all was quiet but for a smattering of quacks from the ducks. We often had to slow down almost to a complete stop to negotiate some barriers, so it took about an hour and twenty minutes to make it around the lake, but it was nice to enjoy a slow reflective ride. There were quite a few colorful characters: we saw one guy who wore a belt that held 4 what looked like beer cans, and another guy with a bike wheel tatooed on each calf. At the end, we all lined a parking lot on the lake, bagpipes played, and white bikes in memorium of killed cyclists were rolled around. Then we headed up the street to my parents' house, empowered by the numbers we'd just witnessed, but a little more aware of how dangerous sharing (or not sharing, as is often the case in Dallas) the road with cars can be.

Biking along the lake- Dallas skyline on the right

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Cedar Hill State Park

2009-05-17T15:37:00.020-04:00

After spending yesterday morning and much of the afternoon watching the rain and crossing our fingers, we took advantage of a lull and headed off for Cedar Hill State Park yesterday afternoon. The roads were still wet, the skies were still kinda foreboding, but we were happy to get moving! Jeff, Kate, Arik and I left Oak Cliff about 4 and made it to CHSP around 6. We enjoyed mostly low traffic roads and made it through some tough hills. We found a nice campsite, got set up, and had a tasty dinner. The boys went to the marina and bought some firewood (there wasn't any dry wood around) and we got a nice fire going. We turned in pretty early and were awakened this morning by the melodious sounds of...... 20 screeching crows. doh! We ate some oatmeal in the cool morning air (crazy that 60 degrees now feels cool to me- I guess I've adjusted to Texas weather already!) and started heading home. It was sunny and 70 degrees- perfect riding weather! The hills didn't feel quite as bad on the way back, but we did have to survive a high speed chase by a Jack Russell Terrier- that little dude was vicious and he'd clearly chosen my bike as the one to attack! We rolled back into Oak Cliff close to 11. We headed straight to our favorite eatery- Spiral Diner- and enjoyed their Sunday brunch. I foolishly scoffed down about 10 pancakes, and after 2 hours of riding my belly wasn't too pleased! Thankfully we were close to home. We bid farewell to Jeff and Kate and rolled back to the casa. A hot shower and some slobbery kisses from our bulldog later, and we're now well rested. Our gear worked great, we enjoyed a pretty ride, and got to hang out with good friends- overall a great weekend mini trip! Here are some pix:

Leavin' OC

About 1/3 of the way there

On the road

Arik guarding the bikes at Walgreens

Some nice motivation on the way up a big hill

How we entertained ourselves

Our campsite

The crew on the way home

That's all for now!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Done!

2009-05-15T11:56:00.005-04:00

Mia graduated from law school last Saturday, and after 20 hours in the bug, Arik and Mia have returned to D-town.

We've met our new bulldog, seen long missed friends and family, and are ready for our first mini bike adventure!

Tomorrow afternoon we're biking with our buds Jeff and Kate to Cedar Hill State Park (about 15 miles away), camping there for the night, and heading back Sunday morning. It'll be our first chance to test out all our new gear and the longest trip we've been on since we got our new bikes. We'll let ya know how it goes and will hopefully have some pix to share!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Apologies

2009-04-23T17:44:00.002-04:00

A quick "our bad" for not being better bloggers- Mia's LAST EVER law school exam is this coming Tuesday and her LAST EVER law school paper is due the following week (she's not excited about this or anything) so we've been blog bums.

We promise the posts will pick up once we get back to D-town after all the graduation craziness!

In the meantime, please let us know if there's anyone you'd like us to ride in honor or memory of and of course feel free to mosey on over to the livestrong site!

Thanks again for all the love and support!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

40 Days to D-town

2009-03-30T18:05:00.011-04:00

We've been pluggin' along with our cold weather workout regimen, but I'm starting to get stir crazy with the stationary biking and can't wait to get back to Dallas. It snowed here last night, so my hopes that Spring might finally be settling in were dashed. Fortunately we don't have long to go- I (Mia) graduate on May 9, a mere 40 days away! Then it's finally back to hot sunny Dallas for good for the first time in 3 years. We'll both return with a new appreciation for our hometown. Arik's been rockin' the Hyperfit workouts- he goes 5 days a week and does 2 classes in a row twice a week. The other 3 days, he comes home from class and bikes for an hour. He's a trooper!

Furry Arik on the Rowing Machine

Arik Post-Haircut & the Hyperfit Crew (on the right in yellow)

Last week I figured it was time we learned some camping basics. We considered getting "Camping for Dummies" on Amazon, but decided to raid the info on the internetz first. We found quite a treasure trove of tips, including:

- How to Dig a Cat Hole (or, where to stick your poop when there aren't any toilets around- vital info to be sure!)

-How to Survive a Bear Attack: I know it's an irrational fear, but the idea of being prodded awake by a furry bear paw has been one of my recurring nightmares about the trip. Fortunately, knowledge is power! Amongst the helpful hints I learned:

Never run or scream. Grizzly bears can run 30-35 mph. (whoa!)
Talk softly to a non-aggressive bear, but give an aggressive bear some sass! (yell, throw stuff etc.)
Use bear spray but only as a last resort

Armed with Knowledge (and a can of bear spray), We Will Survive Your Ferocious Attacks!

- What to eat. Though most of the recommendations are for standard no spoil camp fare (GORP, peanut butter, etc.), we also discovered freeze dried meals! Just add boiling water to the bag, let it sit, and enjoy a gourmet (or at least more gourmet than GORP) meal! We'll probably bring a few along for a special treat.

That's all we have for now- let us know what we're missing!

We've also been gearing up via big online sales. We got the bike shorts I'll wear on the trip for 50% off (they're only 40% off now- muahaha!). We also got Arik's bike shoes for 25% off, and a long sleeved shirt for me for 20% off. Yippee! Alas we paid full price for our tent, but it should be worth it. I should note that even on sale, this stuff is all pretty pricey. We hope this tour will mark the beginning of a lifetime of outdoor adventures, so we're buying gear that'll stick around for a while.

As always, thanks to everyone who's offered support, encouragement, and donations!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Tax-Deductible Advertising + Warm, Squishy Feeling = (hopefully) Donations!

2009-03-19T17:44:00.006-04:00

Arik and I have pretty much exhausted our networks as far as fundraising goes. We are so thankful to our friends and family who have donated and sent us notes of support. Now we're branchin' out! We're trading ad space on our bikes (in the form of stickers) for donations to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Please help spread the word! Local business owners, your employer, even the kid who mows your lawn, all may be potential donors!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Who We Ride For: Kathleen Baskin-Ball

2009-03-06T12:12:00.021-05:00

Kathleen Baskin-Ball September 16, 1958- December 2, 2008

We'll continue our profiles of the people we ride for with someone who helped inspire the cancer-fighting side of our trip and the youngest person either of us personally knows to have been taken by cancer: Mia's childhood preacher, Kathleen Baskin-Ball. Here's what Mia had to say:

Most of us agree that charitable action should be an integral part of one's life. That its scope should be large, its motivations selfless, and its impact meaningful and wide-ranging. My dear friend and former pastor, Kathleen Baskin-Ball, epitomized this ideal.

She went straight from college to seminary, and in 1989 was recognized as a rising star in the Methodist world. But instead of seeking an appointment to a nice, cushy, high-profile congregation, Kathleen opened a new church called Nueva Esperanza in a poor West Dallas neighborhood full of recent Mexican immigrants. She spent six months in Mexico learning Spanish and when she returned she could preach to her congregation in its native language. She devoted herself to serving the youth and teen moms that composed much of her congregation and resisted Methodist officials' calls for her to switch churches. She preached and served and mentored at Nueva Esperanza for five years before being moved to Greenland Hills UMC, where I met her when I was 11.

Kathleen was a beacon of a woman. A wonderful orator with the warmest of smiles, I knew even then that she was someone special. And more than that, that something special worked within her and inspired her. When we first joined the church, my then eight year old sister, startled to see a female pastor after years at a male-dominated church, asked Kathleen, "so do I call you...pastoress?" Kathleen smiled at her and said, "No baby, you just call me Kathleen."

She spoke of God's love, often shouting out her signature catchphrase, "Glory Be!" Her style was wonderfully unorthodox: sometimes she would pick up a guitar and sing (she had a wonderful voice) and hymns were often accompanied by her dancing and keeping time with a tambourine. Her smile lit up the room and her hugs were given often and freely. I can't count how many times I left that church, even as a young teen, feeling full up to the brim with love. During her seven years at the church, membership doubled. The sanctuary had to be remodeled and expanded. When she left to share her gift elsewhere, we left the church. We tried out a few others, but none felt near as right. She spent the next seven years at a suburban church (Suncreek UMC) where membership tripled during her tenure.

Kathleen did all of the charitable things that pastors do: she led mission trips, taught bible studies, counseled church members, and preached on Sundays. But her biggest and most enduring charitable action, the thing that grew every church she touched and touched and changed every person she met, was her ability to connect with people and make them feel loved. As one church member recalled, "I have never known a pastor to love on everyone the way Kathleen loved on every person at Suncreek [the suburban church]. She called everyone by name and made every person that walked through the door feel special, just as God wants every child to feel. Kathleen was open, honest, funny, and made the most weary stranger feel at home and welcome."

While at Suncreek, Kathleen married and had a son. In January 2007, when her son was three, she was diagnosed with neuroendocrine carcinoma, a particularly lethal and unforgiving kind of cancer. She was diagnosed on a Saturday and was scheduled to begin chemotherapy immediately. Not wanting to miss preaching, she asked "How much would I lose if I started on Sunday afternoon? The church has to see me first. I can't disappear. That won't be healthy for me or the church." And so she preached that Sunday and was then whisked off to start chemo. She shared her diagnosis and her progress with her congregation and continued to minister to the very end. She missed only a single regularly scheduled sermon, sometimes preaching from a stool because she didn't have the strength to stand. On November 16, 2008 she preached all three services at the church.

Photo from http://freshphotography-em.blogspot.com/

In late November, after learning that a costly surgery would only add a month to her life, Kathleen chose to enter hospice care and opened her home to those who wanted to say goodbye. The line to her front door stretched down the street. One person who went to see her noted, "She wouldn't let fatigue get in the way of visiting with each person. Instead, she asked her husband to bring in the oxygen tank and she continued on." Another recalled, "When we saw her last week, it was she who was lifting our hearts and spirits - not us lifting her as it seems it should have been." To top things off, the Sunday before her death she baptized 35 babies.

She died December 2, 2008 at age 50. Her memorial service was attended by more than 3100 people - a testament to the staggering number of lives she touched.

When Kathleen was first diagnosed, she said, "I believe that God is healing all the time. What I won't try to put into a box is what that healing looks like...I think for God to be victorious in my life means that I will learn to live through this in a way that shows that love has the last word and love is victorious in the spirit of who I am, whether I get well or not." She was passionate, caring, selfless, and inspiring, and she left a hole in my heart when she left. But I feel so lucky to have had her in my life, even if only for a few short years. And I am convinced that love will have the last word.

If you'd like to write a profile of someone who has been lost to or is fighting cancer and have us publish it in our blog, please email us at ariknmia@gmail.com or leave a note in the comments. Please do the same if you'd like us to ride in honor or memory of someone you know.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Yay for Craigslist!

2009-02-26T01:12:00.007-05:00

In an attempt to distract herself from the 20 page paper she was supposed to be writing, Mia decided to putter about on the Dallas Craigslist in search of some funky finds. She ventured into the "General" section, and happened upon a wondrous gem: a Mountain Hardware backpacking sleeping bag! These puppies go for 200 bucks new because they're super light, super warm, and super comfy. This one, which had been used a mere 5 times, was offered for 60! And the seller was a fellow (Oak)Cliffdweller to boot! A quick email to the seller and a call to Arik's dad, who graciously agreed to pick the bag up, and we could cross one more thing off our gear list:

We've got 5 months till our tour, are more than halfway to meeting our fundraising goal (thank you!!) and are slowly getting geared up- it's starting to sink in that we're really going to do this, and it's awesome and completely terrifying!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Riding with Lance

2009-02-21T22:17:00.010-05:00

Though Cash Cab is usually my (Mia's) chosen biking distraction, I changed things up yesterday when I realized the Tour of California was on. The race marked Lance Armstrong's return to competitive cycling, and I was lucky enough to catch most of his ride in a heated time trial. Just for fun, I tried to match my cadence to Lance's and whoa do I know how he got such beastly legs- it was intense! At least now I have a barometer by which to measure my progress:

Doh! I've got a ways to go! I was huffing and puffing 10 minutes in, and was a sweaty, breathless wreck by the time the hour was up.

In other news, we are less than 10 bucks away from being halfway to raising $3711! We have been blown away by everyone's generosity, so a HUGE thank you to all of you!

As for prepping for the logistics of the trip, Arik and I have about three days of camping experience between us, and the longest we've ever ridden in one go is 12 miles. So when it comes to preparing for a 3711 mile bike tour, during which we plan to camp 6 out of every 7 days, we're big newbies. Plus we're having to equip ourselves from scratch, since we don't have years of accumulated camping/biking supplies to draw from, and those few haphazard supplies we do have are too bulky to carry on a bike. So we have a pretty extensive list of stuff we need to buy/borrow before the tour, and the order in which we've been getting it has been kinda funny.

So far we have:

2 bikes (these were pretty important)
2 insect repelling bandanas (obviously!)
2 sets of silverware
2 Camelbaks
1 waterproof jacket
Mini toilet paper rolls (courtesy of Arik's parents)
2 thermarests and stuff sacks (also courtesy of Arik's parents- they rock!)

Good thing we've covered the essentials- what more could we possibly need? :)

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Who We Ride For: Milton Potasznik

2009-02-12T22:49:00.018-05:00

Milton Potasznik August 8, 1907- March 1981

We'll begin our profiles of the people we ride for with the first person Mia knew who was affected by cancer: her paternal grandfather, Milton Potasznik. Here's what she had to say:

My grandpa Milton died of Hodgkin's Disease in 1981, 4 years before I was born. My knowledge of the kind of life he lived and the kind of man he was has therefore been cobbled together from my father's memories and the memories of his family, along with old photos like the one above. My dad loved his father fiercely, and the smile he wears when he recounts memories of life with his dad has impressed on me that my grandpa was a pretty special man.

The circumstances by which he found himself in America are pretty special too. He was born in a small town in Poland. His town had just one telephone, which was located in the mayor's office. When calls came in, a runner set off to notify the recipient, who hastened to the mayor's office and took the call while much of the town stood around outside to listen in. On a more somber note, my grandfather suffered the anti-semitism that plagued Polish Jews. He came to the US alone when he was only 14, drawn by the promise of a country that rewarded hard work. After a stint in New York, he settled in New Jersey and embraced American culture, flying the American flag and learning English. It's no surprise that Joseph Conrad, a fellow Pole who mastered the English language, was his favorite writer.

He was hugely impacted by the anti-semitism he fled, and made sure his children never forgot it. As my aunt recalled, "my father coming from anti-semitic Poland and suffering the scars of anti-semitism always impressed on us (not too happily) that as Jews we had to be better. We had to know we would always be singled out because of our religion and we had to set a good example and excel at whatever we did. That was a lot for a kid, but I think it inspired a lot of my drive for better or worse. He was also fearless and always told me to not be afraid, and that I was to go up to whatever I feared and not run away. He often quoted T. Roosevelt: 'walk softly and carry a big stick.'"

My grandfather's family was hit very close to home by the Holocaust. A number of his cousins were killed, and 2 close family members of his, a husband and wife pair, barely escaped certain death. They were loaded onto a train and told that they were simply being relocated. In reality, the train was destined for a death camp. They sensed something was wrong, and escaped into a field in Czechoslovakia. After traveling hundreds of perilous miles on foot, they ultimately escaped to the US.

My grandfather's family cheated death a second time, this time with his help. His cousin lived in Germany and was in love with a German girl there, but because his cousin was a German Jew, they weren't allowed to leave the country. My grandfather was untouchable as a US citizen, so he traveled to Germany in the late 1930s to help them leave the country. While in Berlin, he saw Hitler himself give a speech on a street corner, and had his papers inspected by a member of the Gestapo. Whatever he tried, he couldn't help the ill-fated pair. Frustrated and forlorn, he stood on a bridge despairing his inability to help. Out of nowhere, a man came up to him and asked what was wrong. When my grandfather turned to the man, he realized he was a fellow member of the New Brunswick, NJ YMCA! He explained his problem, and the man told him he was some sort of high ranking official with the US Embassy. That 2 men from New Brunswick ended up on the same bridge at the same time in the same foreign country is incredible, and that one ended up being exactly what the other needed is pretty miraculous. The man from the YMCA pulled some strings and my grandfather's cousin and his cousin's soon-to-be wife were soon on their way to America.

My grandfather's patriotism inspired him to join the Army while in his late 30s. He shipped out during World War II and fought from Normandy to Munich in 1944. The picture at the top of this post is of him training in the Mojave Desert in 1942. Here is one of him in uniform in 1943:

He was shot in the back during battle, and returned home for a short stint before heading out again. He was, as my aunt recalled, "a fervent patriot, so loving the country that saved him from a death sentence if he had stayed in Poland. Our flag was always flying on July 4 and he was active in the 4th Armored Division Veterans Association."

During peacetime, he started his own clothing company. After a few years, he had to close it down, after which he was a leather cutter and later worked at a department store. He married my grandmother, Naomi Jura, when he returned from the war, and fathered three children: my dad, my aunt, and my uncle. Here's a photo from their early married days:

They each, in my aunt's words, "marched to their own drummer. Unfortunately they did not march too well together" and divorced in 1959. Still, as my aunt recalled, "they were both loving parents who encouraged their 3 children to do their best, accept who they were, find what they wanted to do and do it to the best of their ability- learning was cherished and fun!"

As for what kind of man he was, my aunt provided this rich summary: "my dad was a great storyteller, full of charm and charisma. He was handsome and social and everyone loved him! He taught all the kids in the neighborhood how to ride a bicycle. He was physically strong and walked on his hands and juggled and was very interested in the body and athletics and was a high energy mover. He spoke in a very soft voice and had a warm, gentle nature. In many ways he was more maternal than my mother- he could sew and make anything. He made leather jackets for me and my friends. He could even make shoes. He could also cook and bake and was very creative, loving to make all kinds of weird concoctions."

Though my two older sisters were very young when my grandfather died, he made an impact on them in the short time they shared together. My sister Annie, who was only 4 when my grandpa passed, recalled him this way: "I only have one memory of Grandpa Milton. When I was very young I enjoyed a tea party with him in our backyard. I made a mud pie, complete with dirt sludge icing. I remember the warmth of the sun on my face and his smiling blue eyes. He was so kind to me and my mother. He even pretended to eat a slice of my mud pie, which meant a lot to me since I was a sensitive kid. He asked for seconds because it 'tasted' so good. It made me happy."

Usually when people die before you're born, they have little if any place in your life. They are ghosts in yellowed photos, brought to life in a pained look on a father's face, or a quiet, whispered memory. But my grandfather has been a very real presence in my life. My dad taught me to pray for my grandpa starting when I could talk, and I see the day to day impact that his passing has had on my dad. My dad loved his father as I love my own, and the fact that we have that in common has always made me feel very close to my grandpa. I wish that cancer had waited a bit longer to take him away.

If you'd like to write a profile of someone who has been lost to or is fighting cancer and have us publish it in our blog, please email us at ariknmia@gmail.com, or leave a note in the comments. Please do the same if you'd like us to ride in honor or memory of someone you know.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Fundraising Site Change

2009-02-07T18:36:00.003-05:00

A quick fundraising note: our original Livestrong fundraising site is being rolled over to a different site for 2009, so please donate there, rather than on the original site.

Here's the 2009 site: http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

If you already donated on the 2008 page, thank you! Your donations should appear shortly on the 2009 page.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

Training When It's 9 Below Zero and 3 O'Clock in the Afternoon

2009-02-06T21:20:00.008-05:00

It's generally frigid in Ann Arbor from November to April, so biking outside isn't too appealing.

Here's what we do instead:

Here's Mia on the stationary bike. That's the actual bike she'll be riding on the tour. She and Arik got that cool little thing on the back wheel from REI, which turns her real bike into an instant stationary bike. She bikes 6 days/week for an hour each time. Her distraction of choice while riding? Watching "Cash Cab" on the Discovery Channel.

Arik works out 4 days/week at a crazy gym in Ann Arbor called Hyperfit. It's kind of like a boot camp, with lots of pull ups, weight lifting, sprinting, and rowing. One of their slogans is "our warm up is your workout," and from his descriptions of the class, that sounds about right. Arik also bikes twice a week for an hour each time. His distraction of choice while riding? Watching "The Big Bang Theory" on CBS.

Our setup is less than ideal, but hopefully we'll have built a strong enough base that we can jump right into pretty serious riding once we're back in Dallas.

Thanks again for your support!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

FUNdraising

2009-02-01T10:15:00.006-05:00

If you're here, you're likely the victim...err...lucky recipient of our first fundraising efforts. Last night we emailed 250 people, among them family, friends, teachers, professors, people recommended to us by our parents, and long lost facebook friends. Overall it took about 3 hours, but the response has already been awesome. Mia's beloved 4th grade teacher somehow found out about our ride without being emailed, and was our very first donor! Thanks Ms. French. :) We thank all those who have emailed us encouragement, donated, and/or told us they'll be donating soon.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

To Begin

2009-01-31T16:57:00.021-05:00

"Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts - it's what you do with what you have left." -Hubert Humphrey

Arik and I have lost family (4 grandparents between us) and friends to cancer. My gut reaction to each new diagnosis was one of overwhelming helplessness. I have no control over who cancer picks, how quickly it spreads, or why it decides to take people away when it does. It's like cancer was the 6th grade bully on the playground and I was the pipsqueak in the sandbox: I knew what was happening was wrong, but I was no match for it.

This hopelessness weighed me down like a cold, wet blanket, but when my childhood pastor died this past December at age 50, something changed. You'll hear more about Kathleen Baskin-Ball in coming posts, but for now it's enough to know that she was a light-filled spirit brimming always with love and optimism, even as cancer swept through her. In the weeks following her death, we were inspired to do something, anything, to fight the disease, however poor our odds of succeeding.

Arik and I had long been planning on doing a West Coast bike tour as a post-bar exam, pre-"Real World" last hurrah. We recently realized it provided a great opportunity to take the fight to cancer, and to remember and honor those who had been or were now personally engaged in that fight. We plan on raising $3711 ($1/mile each) for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which does an awesome job of helping cancer survivors and working toward eradicating cancer worldwide.

What you can look forward to seeing in our blog in the coming months:

-Profiles of people we ride for: A big focus of our ride is that we honor and remember those fighting and lost to cancer. We'll do this both by profiling them in our blog, and by writing their names on our jerseys so that they can ride along with us. We'd love to feature profiles of people you yourself know or have lost and/or wear their names on our jerseys- just email us at ariknmia@gmail.com or leave a note in the comments.

-Training updates: It's 15 degrees and snowing right now in Michigan, so most of our training consists of stationary biking in our apartment. We should have some more exciting updates once we're back in Dallas in May.

-Fundraising updates: We don't have any fundraising experience, so raising 3711 bucks should be a crazy, exciting challenge. We'll keep ya posted!

-On the Road updates: We're not sure what the internet situation will be, but we hope to post somewhat regularly while we're on the road. Ride along with us as we get flat tires in the middle of nowhere, try to un-numb our bums after 6+ hours/day in the saddle, cross the Golden Gate Bridge, see the Redwoods, sleep under the stars, and who knows what else?!

Last, but not least, please donate. We know times are tough, but you won't find cancer at any job fairs- it's got plenty of work to do, and it never rests. Just hop on over to our fundraising site: http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike . Anything you can give is awesome. All donations are tax-deductible, and 100% of what you give goes to the Foundation, as we'll be paying our expenses ourselves.

Thank you for reading, and for giving. With your help, we can tiptoe up to that 6th grader, tap him on the shoulder, and give him a nice, solid kick where it hurts.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike