one hundred nineteen

This picture is dated, I now use the front two panniers for clothing and electronics. I store my rain gear and winter stuff, plus off the bike clothing in one. The other has the every day stuff, shorts, shirts, socks, etc. I have a case for my map software for my GPS, battery chargers, phone charger, etc. My journal and maps balance out the load. I keep them at about nine pounds each, which gives a nice stable feel. Layers, layers, layers is the idea. This next trip will be long and cold so I will be a bit heavier. I also have what I call my"shoes that bend"shoes. Cycling shoes have stiff soles that work well on the road but off the bike I need shoes that bend.

one hundred eighteen

My kitchen pannier. I carry enough food to eat if I can't find a grocery store for fresh food. I try to cook alot and stay out of restaurants. When I stay in a motel I buy orange juice or ice cream and milk and cereal. The big restaurant meal is breakfast you can eat alot and eat cheap. A lot of coffee and a leftover newspaper. I love coffee shops so that's were I squander a few bucks. Free internet is also a perk.

one hundred seventeen

My panniers are packed in two ways, one is by weight, the other is by function. This one holds my bedroom and house. I use different layers of sleeping bags depending on the weather. My tent is a glorified bivy, but it weighs only 3.5 lbs. The poles breakdown to 12 inches so they fit inside my pannier.

one hundred sixteen

I use a Cane Creek Thud Buster seat post. This is an old idea which was state of the art equipment popular before full suspension bikes. I swear by this simple but heavy butt saver, it gives me an extra 30 miles per day. It keeps an equal distance between your feet and seat, which makes it hard to notice it is there. It never developes an anoying swivel like most spring models. You stay in the seat on rough roads, this is vital at the end of a long day. You don't use your legs as much for suspension.

one hundred fifteen

I found this Brooks seat in an older bike shop. It was so hard I could have used it to pound nails into an oak board. Brooks no longer makes this model so it is what I call a classic. This thing weighs a pound or more and will always wear brown on my shorts. I hated this thing for a long time but people would tell me how much I would love it once I broke it in, I hated them too. They were right, I love it and will transfer it to my next bikes. I don't oil it or baby it, I just put a saddle softener on the inside at least once a year or so.

one hundred fourteen

The first 1500 miles is a war between your seat and a hard leather seat.

one hundred thirteen

SURLY WHAT A COOL NAME

Surly is the brand of bike I ride. They are a small company selling unique frame sets, clothing, whole bicycles, bike racks, and bottle openers. On the surface they appear to be a bunch of guys who are selling stuff they stole the night before. Under the surface they are a well run company with an excellent product selection and professionalism. Their unique niche has allowed them to thrive in a very competitive business. 

Their marketing is genius because it portrays the same attitude as their bikes. They don't claim to be a hand built, professionally endorsed and you will pay dearly for it company. 

They create an idea that serves a niche market, then they find someone to build it to their high standards. They make bikes that are tough, unique, and priced reasonably. They know how to appeal to the "My bike is "Mad Max" bomb proof and I don't need a four thousand dollar bike to prove I'm hip to the spandex crowd". 

They sell frames made of steel with room for fatter tires. I bought a Cross Check whole bike for about seven hundred bucks, it's great for the streets and off road. I have beat this bike for years, commuting, jumping curbs, and 14000 miles of touring so far, it is a tough rig. Ask around bike shops and you will find many bike mechanics personally ride Surly but sell and work on the big brand names. 

In my travels the people who noticed my Surly had chain wallets, tattoos, some were drunk, but no spandex. I love their company, products and image. No this is not a paid endorsement (but I would take free stuff).

one hundred twelve

MY TWO WHEELED TRUCK

I guess I should start with the bike. I spent alot of time but not much money on my rig. There is that balance between looking homeless and being a target. 

First it must be strong and easy to repair so I chose a Surly Cross Check with road bike geometry because I prefer riding road. 

The frame is steel with enough room for fat tires. You must view it as a two wheeled truck. I only have about 700 bucks in the original whole bike.

one hundred eleven

EXPERIMENTING WITH MY ELECTRONICS

Nice try but too cluttered. I received a few comments asking about future trips, so far San Francisco to the Seattle area is next. I will have a month on the road, but I'm still planning, well as much as I plan. 

If anyone has some input on prevailing winds,points of interests,or even a safe place to camp, all feed back would be welcomed. I love the fall season so it will be soon. This picture is the place from which I view the world.

one hundred ten

MEMORIES OVER FLOW

October 12, 2006, I'm back home in one skinny, hairy, stiff and sore piece. I had no big problems, but I need to hole up for a while.

Visions of my trip roll through my memory. I want to tell someone everything I experienced. I'll post more in a few days. Rhonda, thanks for the note.

one hundred nine

MY MOTHER THE WORRIER

I just returned from the east coast and a week with my eighty one year old Mother. She wanted to see Washington DC and the ocean, so I rented a car, loaded her up and hit the road. 

Mom and Dad traveled a lot until he became ill with Altzheimers and died eight years ago. You know when you return home, no matter how old you are, you become a little kid and are reminded to eat, watch crossing the street and to get enough sleep. No matter how old you are moms will always be moms. 

That is why my Mom has no idea of my travels by bicycle. I wish she could see my blog and share my adventures, but she would never sleep and one night out of cell range would have the police in three states searching for me, that's just how she's wired. 

If I call her while on a local training ride she gets upset when I don't call when I get home. I love this great lady but out of sight out of mind is better but I wish she could enjoy her little boy's adventures as he plays. 

I will someday share all of this, but I still have a few more miles in these legs. We were on roads I had toured and saw the places I camped and ate, it was hard not to say something. I spent way more money then I planned, but the smile on her face was worth it.

one hundred eight

This picture has nothing to do with cycling, but those are my old boots. I wore them when I checked my traps before school. After I thought they were worn out my Father wore them for ten more years shoveling snow. I'm now 55 and things like these seem to draw my attention. Perhaps without bicycle touring I wouldn't have noticed, I've learned to look for those little things.

one hundred seven

ONLY IN OHIO

I visited my home town in the rust belt of Ohio. The industry has seen better days so the economy is bad. The houses are built to live in unlike the five thousand square foot investment barns of Phoenix. The homes are practical not stylish and many if you look closely there is a trailer inside.  

There were small stores where the cashier talks to everyone without the canned phrases like "have you found everything?" There are still farms with twenty cows and a Farm-all tractor built in the sixties. Sports team jerseys and the mullet hair style will still attract the ladies. 

Drivers know how to change a tire and jump a dead battery and so do the men. 

This is America at it's best, some may look down at this part of the country but wisdom doesn't always come from ivy league schools. I have learned a lot from farmers and shop workers. I'm always proud to be from this wonderful place. 

This is a picture from the internet, but I'm sure there is one on a house in eastern Ohio. Don't think it would be on the front door, we're not without class. We nail our deer racks and fish heads on the back of the garage.

one hundred six

FRESH EYES

I've lived in the southwest for almost twenty years and the vast open spaces still blow my mind. I travel back to the Ohio valley area where I grew up and see the place through new eyes. By new eyes I mean I see it fresh like I've never seen it before. 

If we live in a place long enough it can become invisible. Even the Grand Canyon would become that big hole in the ground over time. 

I talked to people who live places like this, they talked this way. I have found people bored with beaches. I know this is a normal process but does it have to happen? 

I knew a man named Westley Hanna, born in 1900 and lived his whole life within a five mile area. He looked out of the same window at the same pasture for endless years. He had a garden in the same spot, drove the same roads, watched the same sunrise and sunsets for even more years. He was able each new day to see something new in these places and that always amazed me. 

A trip through his garden was an adventure, I got an education about the life and the behavior of cows every time we looked out of that kitchen window. He looked at things in a wonderful way. 

I have met many who could see what was in front of them, one was my Dad. We waited for trains to pass almost daily in this small industrial town. We could just be angry because we had to wait or accept our fate and watch in wonder. I sometimes think my Dad would rather watch trains then drive. 

Dad drove steam trains during the war and had a romance with them ever since. I thought he was nuts, probably because he was my Dad but I know a lot about trains now. My point is seeing what is in front of us is a mind set. 

The Grand Canyon is a mind blowing sensory overload that everyone can see, but even it can become boring. I believe I have learned a little about how to see the mind blowing things in boring places. In other words a shuttle launch or a bird building a nest, both are a wonder but one is just easier to notice.

one hundred five

HONEST TOUR GUIDE

The Grand Canyon is a visual place. Visitors go there to see it. I thought that was the only experience. 

I have questioned this after seeing a tour bus filled with blind tourists. They piled out with eyes skyward, service dogs and white canes. Two  headed the wrong way and the tour guide turned them around. 

I was unable to bring myself to sneak a picture, not that they would notice, it just didn't seem right. 

There may be an energy or force I can't detect. I just don't think there is a white cane long enough to feel the width and depth of the canyon. 

One thing I do know, the tour company is reputable. They could have stopped at any quiet parking lot and lied.

one hundred four

BEAUTIFUL DISTRACTION

The sunset at the Grand Canyon is one of the highlights of the American National park system. I took this beautiful picture, along with everyone in the campground. Unfortunately some people were taking advantage of this distraction to steal things back at the campground.

It sounds crazy but in this beautiful wonder of the world there are a few scoundrels. To enter the park it costs $25 per car and $12 to camp. You would assume you were safe from thieves. I guess it makes sense because everyone goes to see the sunset and the camps are empty. 

I was not a victim because I am usually in survival mode. I trust people but I avoid tempting them. The campers across from me had their truck broken into and others also lost things from their tents and campers.

The park rangers came and filled out reports for insurance. The Ranger said it had been a problem for sometime. They are obviously better outdoors men then cops. I think it would save them a lot of paper work if they sent a park ranger earlier to watch the campsite as the sunsets....Duh! 

one hundred three

STRANGE PETS

This is an ostrich owned by a family who had a beautiful home. The bike path I occasionally ride runs behind it along the canal. 

The backyard had a pool, hot tub, picnic area with a fire pit, swings, trampoline, boat, camper and assorted toys. 

There was also a fenced in area that held a lama, goat, sheep, chickens and an ostrich. 

one hundred three

A PRIVATE LEARNING EXPERIENCE

I saw an unusual sight while riding a bike path in Phoenix. I stopped to take a few pictures of the critters in a back yard. 

This is what an ostrich looks like just before it strikes, ouch! No one was there to laugh until now.

one hundred two

ZION NATIONAL PARK

I am not a super nomad. The distances I have traveled amaze me more then anyone. Early in my life I took a few years off for some hard drinking and smoking but many of us have a past that takes a physical toll. 

At 19 I had a bad accident and crushed my leg and hip. The motivation came from a comment from my father in law that I was a cripple. That comment helped motivate me to stay physically fit to prove him wrong. I guess inspiration comes from unexpected places.

Touring is now my motivation. I have simply worked to stay fit enough to tour, because that's what I love. 

This is Zion National park and yes, I did ride up from down there. Not bad for a cripple.