The Immediate Next Step

Monday, April 30th, 2012 Posted by Rachel. Published under Holistic Care, National Parks, Personal Stories. 3 Comments.

I feel like crap.  You’d think that 8 months of travel, 6 of that on a bicycle would have made me feel better than any other time in my life.  But I can’t seem to wake up, sleep long enough or think clearly.  I’m irritable and easily frustrated and can barely cobble enough effort to coordinate our final journey to Yosemite National Park or our return trip to Madison, WI.  I could barely enjoy San Francisco, driven mad by their public transportation system, the cost and how tiring the hills were.

I have determined that my exhaustion (and Jessica’s too, she’s wiped out as well) is our nutrition.  We’ve asked our bodies to do so much this year.  Climbing and pedaling and early mornings and harsh weather have tasked our cells with major strain.  And we struggled to feed ourselves as well as we had in Boston.  We’re really healthy eaters for the most part, especially when we have a kitchen to ourselves, but eating healthy is a huge feat, at least to us.

The American South, where we spent the majority of our trip, is not known for vast amounts of vegetables on the table.  Our diet consisted mostly of animal protein (in the form of beef brisket, seafood, beef jerky, cream cheese) and simple carbs (in the form of bread, bagels, tortillas, rice, noodles, snickers, granola bars).  We did try to get as much fruit and vegetables as possible, but they just don’t keep, so it was left to occasional salads, a few green beans or spinach and dried fruit, usually berries.

As you sit here wondering what this has to do with what we’ll be doing next, I simply have to say, we’ll be taking care of ourselves for a little while.  We need to recover before we can venture out again.  We need to do this fast because we only have the month of May to do this before we’re back to traveling, moving and re-establishing ourselves in society.

Our plan for this will initially take the form of a juice fast, and end in a stricter diet of as close to vegan when cooking at home as possible.  We need to strip our bodies of the toxins we’ve accumulated while not eating well.  We need to give our bodies as many vitamins and minerals as it will absorb.  I’ve been doing some reading and we’ve watched a few documentaries that promote a plant based diet and using juices as highly efficient cleansing and nutrition delivery system.  (If you’re curious, I’m reading The China Study.  It documents a comprehensive study in which the scientists were able to turn on and off cancer growth by varying the amount of animal protein consumed.   The evidence is very compelling and makes me believe that almost any disease could be controlled with nutrition.  The film that convinced us to fast/cleanse was Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  In it two men fast on juice for 60 days each and undergo a remarkable transformation not only in their waistlines but in mental capacity, skin clarity and the need for medications.)

We’ll keep you posted as to how we feel and whether it works and how we feel.  But we have to do something because I just can’t keep feeling this rotten after doing something this extraordinary!

Cheers to the Best Worst Year

Friday, April 20th, 2012 Posted by Rachel. Published under Personal Stories, Riding. 3 Comments.

I want to begin with a quick story, it might not make sense at first, but the lesson is pertinent.

When I was 18-19, I was studying abroad in Berlin for a year.  My family came to visit me during my sister’s spring break and we traveled through Italy, Germany and France.  Because high school spring breaks are only a week, we planned the trip very tightly.  I flew to Rome to meet up with them, we scheduled an overnight train to Venice to save on a hotel/travel time, we had only a day here, a day there, etc.  This blew up in our face when the train workers of Italy decided to do what they seem to do fairly often only no one told us about it: they went on strike.  We, with our hobbled Italian, also did not determine that this was happening until we had spent basically the entire day in the train station.  We missed out on pretty much all of Venice because the only way across the country was to drive.

After the disappointingly quick visit in Venice, we rushed to the airport for our puddle jumper flight to Germany.  Only the baggage handlers must have gotten word from the train workers that a 24 hour strike is a good way to get a day off, and low and behold, our flight was delayed 6 hours.  We arrived to our former exchange student’s home at midnight to find a cold meal and some tired looking folks.

This harried experience taught me one thing: Travel slowly and allow for many, many, many delays.  It’s probably one reason why I thought a bike tour across the US was a great way to see our country.  There is no rushing involved at all.  A slow and steady, self propelled pace appeals to me.  It has worked really well on this trip.

What we’re about to announce here today, though, might feel sudden and rushed to you, though, dear reader.  We have arrived at the end of our bicycling journey for now.  This is the end of our very first bicycle tour.  Truth be told, it feels a little rushed to us as well.  Especially since we woke up yesterday morning thinking we still had three days riding left to do.  But let me back up a little.  Catch you up.

As I write this, we are sitting in Sonoma, California at the home of some very good friends of Jessica’s.  We left from Paso Robles (San Miguel), CA last Saturday.  Our host there, Wayne, dropped us off just north of Cambria, CA on Highway 1.  We were in great spirits despite knowing there was a headwind because, “Hey! We’re about to ride Highway 1!!!”  This spirit failed pretty quickly however when we realized how biting the 30mph headwind from the north was.  We did make it 31 miles that day to Gorda (in 8 very painful hours), but I couldn’t catch my breath for nearly an hour after we stopped and we were in bed before the sun went down. Over dinner, we lamented the fact that we didn’t even get to enjoy the vistas and massive view of the Pacific Ocean because we were working so hard just keeping our bikes upright.  (I was literally knocked off my bike by a wind gust!)

The wind did manage to die down a bit the next day, so we did get to revel in the beauty of the Pacific Coast.  And gosh, is it breathtaking.  Even if you do it in a car, you all HAVE to drive part of Route 1 some day.  It was hands down the most beautiful place we biked, even if the hills were kind of insane at times.  Three days later and we were collapsing in Aptos at a distant family member’s home, but I went to bed dreading the ride out.  There was nothing I wanted to do less than get back on my bike and ride three more days up to Sonoma through San Francisco.  I was tired, my knees were (and still are) killing me, the saddle sores were intense for both of us and there was at least 3400′ of total climbing left to do.  Gladly, when we woke up, our host, Stan, offered to drive us from Aptos (just south of Santa Cruz) to Sonoma.  And here we are.  My knees are still thankful!!

So, it seems sudden.  I even asked Jessica, “Are you a little hesitant to accept the ride because it means our last official riding day had no pomp and circumstance?”  But I had already been thinking about this last day as we rode along the highway.  How do we announce it to our friends, family, and readers?  Is it better to do it before or after?  Neither option seemed fantastic.  And so when we were worn out and talking it over, it really boiled down to readiness.  When we had our emotional meltdowns in South Florida, we very nearly left the bike trip (only 3 months in).  But we kept going, because we just weren’t ready for the adventure to end yet.  And we are so thankful we pushed on.  All of the amazing things we’ve experienced, all of the people who’ve helped us out and touched our lives throughout this insane journey, we wouldn’t trade it for anything.  But hell, we’re exhausted.  Are we ready to stop?  Yes.  Are we just saying that because Highway 1 is hard riding? No. Will we miss out on the northern California coast and Oregon if we don’t continue?  Of course.  Would we miss out on seeing and doing awesome things in the San Francisco area if we kept riding?  Most definitely.

Therefore, we made the decision to stop.  Nearly 8 months of adventure and 3,500 miles of riding.  I’m sorry if you’re taken aback.  We would have warned you if it hadn’t been so sudden to us as well.  But it feels right.  This has been the hardest and most challenging task either of us has ever taken, but we’re really glad we did it – the best worst year of our lives.  We’re just too tired.  We’re ready to go home.  We’re ready for our next big adventure.  I’m ready for some regularity in where I sleep, shower, eat and live.

So what’s next?

We aren’t going to stop working on this project, that’s for sure!  We are extremely productive and energetic people and we have big, big plans for Against the Grind.  We have a book to write for all of our donors.  We have lots of video to edit and showcase.  We still want to find amazing women to interview.  We are going to do lots of product reviews and update our budget and gear list.  Don’t worry, the train will keep moving, so keep checking in, stay inspired to make your own adventure and we’ll be right there beside you.  We promise to even keep riding our bikes and go on more (but probably shorter) bike tours!

And most importantly, THANK YOU!!!!!!  We raise our glasses to you all for coming along with us.  Without you we really would have gone home a long time ago.  Cheers!

The Injury

Monday, April 9th, 2012 Posted by Rachel. Published under Holistic Care, National Parks, Personal Stories. No Comments.

As many of you may know already from Facebook, we went to the Grand Canyon a little over a week ago. While it was one of the most extraordinary places I have ever seen, and Jessica says its her favorite for the whole trip now, it was also a place of a bit of sadness.

We had woken up before the sunrise on our first day there, and I got my first glimpse of the canyon as the sun rose. We then puttered around the visitor center and decided to walk the whole length of the South Rim trail that day, saving any inner canyon hikes for the following days. We rode the two busses over an hour out to the end of the rim trail and began to disembark. It was then that I managed to step on Jessica’s heel and crunch.

I fell to the ground knowing I could not place weight on it. Jessica turned around and saw my face. She says now that she was sure I’d broken it from the look I had. I think the look really was saying, “It’s over.  This little car rental trip to the Granf Canyon is over. No more hiking, and maybe even no more biking.”

I hobbled off the bus (already putting weight on it, good sign) because the driver was a bit annoying. We pulled my sock off and saw that getting me to a doctor was imperative. It was already swollen up to the size of a tennis ball.  So back on the bus we went for the over an hour ride back to our car and drove to the on site clinic.

The nurses and doctor were very friendly and had me get xrays.  Since thus trip really would have been over and done with if I had broken something, we didn’t argue. Thankfully, she didnt see any fracture or bone chips. So a brace and a cane later and I wad on my way out the door. Which incidentally on the way out the door, I spotted a coyote crossing the parking lot, so that was cool.

Also, side note… I just have to rant and praise Massachusetts and what is now being dubbed “Romneycare” for a second. Jessica and I are both covered by this plan while on the road and it was a great relief to know that the state is doing a little to cover us while on the road. I didnt have to pay a cent for the care I received in the clinic and am grateful for it. We both lok forward to returning to MA and working and paying taxes so that we can pay it forward for someone else who needs health care. If you don’t think a system like that could or should be nationwide, then you can leave now. We cannot sing its praises enough, and will never believe anything else.  Rant over.

It has been over a week and I have tried to stay off of my ankle as much as possible while also still enjoying Albuquerque and now a little bit of California in the two days we have been here, nut it is still pretty sore. I am not going to worry about it until it hasn’t healed a month from now. Patience on this matter, I think, is prudent. The swelling and bruising is clearing up well, so I do think it is on the mend, just not as fast as I had hoped. I will keep you posted as to how it is progessing. We are staying in Central CA for probably a week, so hopefully that will be long enough for it!

PS- I am giving my droid wordpress app a test as to how easy it is to post, so forgive any typos!

The Speed of Life

Monday, April 2nd, 2012 Posted by Rachel. Published under Personal Stories, Riding. 2 Comments.

In just under a week, Jessica and I will be rocketing through the air on our way to California.  It’s the fastest form of transportation that we have access to in our lives.  With the airplane has come a sense of relief and joy.  We know that we’re headed to a beautiful part of our country.  We know we won’t spend days in remote parts of New Mexico, Arizona and the California desert worrying about food, water and shelter.  We know we’re leaving behind some seriously strong wind and cold nights.  But as I sit and think about how fast we’ll be arriving there, part of me is a little bit sad.

It started when we were transported by car from Tatum, NM to Roswell and then again as we drove to all these National Parks and then Albuquerque, NM.  I felt like the car was just too fast.  The road we drove from Tatum was the same that Jessica and I would have ridden if the winds had been more favorable.  It wasn’t the most beautiful stretch of land, but I couldn’t help but continue keeping an eye out for good camping spots, checking out the shoulder quality and wish that we could take more time to take in the horizon as it passed.

Then as I drove us through New Mexico and Texas on our way to these parks, I felt like we were rocketing across the land.  The car zipped past immense vistas, mountain ranges, rundown towns, and vast ranch land.  And I just didn’t feel like I saw any of it.  My memory struggles to assemble the blurs into a true picture of southern New Mexico and western Texas.  As we drove through the mountain range on our way back to Roswell, I knew it would have been really difficult riding, but I found a part of me longing to ride the road (not enough to regret buying those plane tickets though!).

How fast do we travel through our lives and the land where we live these days?  It took the colonists weeks to arrive on the East Coast from Europe in the early days of our country.  It took the indigenous peoples of the Americas years, if not hundreds of years, to arrive across Asia and through Alaska.  It has taken Jessica and me 6 months to travel roughly 3500 miles.  But in a matter of hours we will be able to travel another 1000.

It’s easy to say we won’t be missing much except for cold nights, harsh winds and a whole lotta remote country, but the speedy feeling I’ve had the last couple of days has me wondering what we really will be missing.  Florida was not fun, nor would we have missed much had we skipped those weeks riding the interior of the state, but we made it through and I’m glad for it.  Yet, when I reach into the depths of who I am as a person, I know I’ll be much happier on the West Coast.

Therefore, the rocketing, speed-demon, rushed pace will have to do.  Afterall, when we return to Boston in the summer after finishing, I’ll have to catch up to the speed of life anyway.  Boston may not be the most bustling of all cities out there, but it’s certainly faster than our life right now.  I will also hold these slow days in a very special place in my heart, for they are tender and invaluable.

So Western TX and New Mexico, what’s the deal?

Monday, March 26th, 2012 Posted by Rachel. Published under National Parks, Personal Stories. 2 Comments.

We just got back to Roswell from a whirlwind 24 hour trip through the National Parks of Southern New Mexico and a little bit of the panhandle of Texas.  I realized we hadn’t posted something this morning, so I’ll try and catch you up before we head off again!

As you know, we didn’t make it all the way from Austin to Roswell without having our butts handed to us on a silver platter.  When I wrote last, we were in a little motel in Tatum, NM after being picked up off the side of the road by Carlos and driven there.  We’d decided and announced that we were done with the Southwest and going to fly ourselves to what is supposed to be some of the best biking in the world – the Pacific Coast.  We were overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and excitement over this change and it recharged at least my batteries for the day.  I knew we still had 70 some miles to go between Tatum and Roswell and that the winds were still going at 15-25mph with gusts up to 40mph, all coming against us.  But how could that dampen our spirits when in a short while we’d be free of it all?  I mean, all that stood between us and the CA coast was this wind and 70 miles, right?

Well, we left the motel at 9am.  Two hours later, we’d ridden roughly 6 miles, and actually walked for a good majority of that too.  Jessica couldn’t ride because the wind was just picking her up and throwing her into the lane of traffic.  I couldn’t ride any slower and not just get too far ahead of her, so I walked too.  But in reality, I was okay with that because walking was actually easier than riding at that point.  There’s far less traffic headed west in New Meixco than in Texas apparently, so walking our bikes yielded no good samaritans stopping to see if we needed help in anyway.  When Jessica walked up to where I was resting and started sobbing, I suggested we ride back to the motel and see if the very nice proprietor knew of anyone who might be able to take us to Roswell for a little money.

In less than 20 minutes, we had ridden back the 6 miles that had taken us those 2 strenuous hours, and found out that the owner of the motel was new in town and knew no one.  We made a few phone calls and Carlos said he and his wife, Billie, could take us after work that evening, which they did, showing us pictures of their lovely family and regaling us with funny and interesting stories along the way.  We are extremely grateful to them.

Our hosts in Roswell couldn’t have been nicer!  We stayed with a woman Pam, and her roommate, Bonnie, and they showed us the town.  There are quite a few good restaurants (which Bonnie happily proclaimed were due to their alien tourism industry), two lovely art museums, some great antique stores, and of course, a pretty kitschy UFO museum.  *Side note: There was really an incident in which something crashed into a rancher’s land in 1947.  It was metallic and no one could identify it.  There was definitely a cover-up by the military at that time, but as some of the locals, and now I, believe, it was likely a test craft of some sort from one of the many military test facilities and they didn’t want the Soviets learning about whatever it was that crashed.  Therefore, it was not aliens, but something that was classified and couldn’t be shown to the public.  Why they won’t come clean about it now is anybody’s guess, but I think it’s due to the fact that there may have only ever been the cover-up and not other documents to show what it was and so even our president’s don’t know the truth because the only truth left is the “weather ballon” theory.  Phew, that was a long side note!

After a few days in Roswell, which also included a Women’s History month bruncheon honoring three Roswellian women who have given much of themselves to the city, we rented a car and headed south.  Originally, we had decided to skip the Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands National Monument because they would have added a few hundred miles to our route.  But it was easy enough to rent a car in Roswell and drive the loop and see not only these great parks but also some more of the Southwest before we skip town.  Turns out that we made a good choice in renting that car.  These are two parks not to be missed!  There was a surprise too because the Guadalupe Mountains National Park is on the way from the Caverns to White Sands so we got a bonus park in there too!

In contrast to Mammoth Cave, which we visited in September, the Carlsbad Caverns have many more cave formations, and therefore is very beautiful.  As you read last week, I upgraded my camera to one that is more travel friendly, but also more darkness friendly, so once I have some free time, you’ll be treated to lots of cave photos with dripping stalactites and stalagmites!

The Guadalupe Mountains are the highest point in Texas, and a fine example of southwest terrain.  They are impressive to say the least, but hot!  We took a quick mile hike along a ridge and were pretty toasty, but well worth it because the view was spectacular.  The park is on my list for places to return to for a longer visit.

White Sands National Monument is what I’m dubbing the National Park System’s best kept secret.  WOW.  That is all I can say.  WOW.  We made it with a half an hour to spare before closing time and got a backcountry camping permit.  We then hiked roughly 3/4 of a mile into the sand dunes and pitched the tent.  The sand is virtually pure white due to gypsum, a mineral that is very fragile, so this park preserves a very rare natural occurrence.   To basically sum it up: Gypsum dissolves very easily in water.  When it rains in the mountains (mostly this is in the past, not currently), the rain melts the gypsum and takes it into this valley.  The water is trapped in the valley instead of running into a river and out to the ocean, so the gypsum isn’t carried off.  When the water evaporates, it leaves the minerals behind and the gypsum forms into big crystals.  The wind whips these crystals around and beats them down into a sand sized grain and then you have all these dunes.  Just wait until you see these photos.  It is probably my number one favorite place on this trip now and I can’t sing it’s praises high enough.  Make sure to stay at least one night in the backcountry campground too!

And now you’re caught up with all we’ve done.  We’re back in Roswell to return the car and get picked up by my mom’s cousin, who will take us to Albuquerque until we leave on our flight on April 7.  Since New Mexico has been treating us well (off the bikes at least) so far, I’m excited for northern New Mexico.  Hopefully, we’ll have time for a trip up to Santa Fe!

Big Plans, big changes!

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012 Posted by Rachel. Published under Bike Tour Preparations, Riding. 4 Comments.

As you all have probably seen these last few weeks on Facebook and Twitter, we have not been having the time of our lives riding west through Texas.  Not that Texas isn’t beautiful (it really is, we swear).  Not that Texans aren’t wonderful (they are simply the kindest, most wonderful people, we swear).  It’s just the weather.  Blech, the weather.  True, we took a month off and were a bit out of shape, but we also were able to ride a new record of 77.34 miles in one day when the conditions were right during this leg.  But that was only one day out of well over a week now.  The rest of the days had winds gusting upwards of 40mph, rain that had us worried about hypothermia, dust that had us squinting and with raw skin, and so on and so forth.

Mostly, we really had to rely on the generous spirit of Texans so far.  Near Marble Falls, TX, a woman, Jay, pulled over in sympathy as we got drenched in torrential rains.  She called a friend who ran a bed and breakfast, Donna, who agreed to put us up for the night, and who, in the end, actually came to pick us up with her husband, Gene, (gotta love Texas and their love of pick-up trucks) because we were unable to ride any further in the conditions.  Jay called the local paper and organized a few friends to ride with us the following morning. One of those friends, Don, called one of his friends, Joe and Susan, in a town a little further down our route and Joe and Susan showed us a really great time in Big Spring, TX.  They set us up with a very nice campground, took us to dinner and lunch two days in a row and showed us around town.  We also encountered a really lovely bike shop in San Angelo, TX where I replaced my worn thin tires, Concho Bike & Lawn Shop.

Then today, after another several days of terrible riding into heavy winds, we had to call upon the help of Texas again.  The winds were so howling that we were walking our bikes west towards Plains, TX.  It was actually easier to walk them than to ride.  A few trucks stopped, concerned we were broken down, but only one was going to Plains.  The driver, Carlos, loaded our bikes and us up and took us to his church.  There we met Carrie, who offered us beds at her house that night, which we accepted.  Then Carlos took us to lunch at the local Mexican restaurant and took us back to the church.  But a little while later, the ladies in the church office announced that they had arranged for Carlos to take us to a motel in Tatum, NM, where they had paid for a room for us.

And here we sit!!  So grateful and overwhelmed by the generosity!  But that doesn’t change the fact that we can’t keep going like this.  We can’t keep trusting that there will be people out there to help.  Not that there won’t be willing people, just that towns are going to get few and far between from here on out.  Add to that the fact that it’s still really winter weather out here and in the Rockies, we really had to sit and contemplate whether this was going to work.  If the only sight we really want to see between here and California is the Grand Canyon and the Grand Canyon isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, then maybe we should just skip to the good stuff, right?  I mean, we spent so much time in Florida for what now feels like a very small payoff.

So no more wasting time in places we are only traveling through, not visiting!  We found ourselves a cheap flight in Albuquerque, NM on April 7 to near San Miguel, CA.  That’s halfway between the LA area and the San Fransisco area.  We’ll ride north to friends in Napa, check out the sights and sounds of that area, probably sneak over to Yosemite (but since they had snow today, probably in a car), and then head north from there into Oregon.  How far, we don’t know yet, but we’re excited.  Sure, I’m bummed that I won’t see the Grand Canyon, but we hadn’t even planned on biking up to the edge anyway.  We’d found a bus from Flagstaff we were going to take instead.  This feels like the best decision we’ve made in a long time.  It feels like we’ll be restarting this leg of the trip in good weather and a pretty locale.  We’ll be able to spend time finding great interview subjects too because we’ll have so much more time to devote to the Pacific Coast instead of rushing off again.  It’s a good night here in this little motel in Tatum, NM!

Product Review: Canon PowerShot S95

Sunday, March 18th, 2012 Posted by Rachel. Published under Gear + Product Review. No Comments.

Back in Florida, our way to Tallahassee, you may remember that we ran into a couple from Nebraska who were biking the Southern Tier.  We spent a large amount of time chatting with them and learned that Khara was a professional photographer.  When she pulled out her camera to take our picture, I was astounded.  It was tiny!  Just a little point and shoot camera from the looks of it.  She was quick to correct me and sang its praises.  I then decided to look this camera up.

She owned the Canon Powershot S95.  It is a very small and unobtrusive (read light in weight) camera that packs a punch.  It’s the only point and shoot sized camera that shoots in RAW.  This is a format that any photography geek will recognize.  It’s the only format to shoot in if you plan on seriously editing or blowing up your photos to large sizes because it records the most amount of image data.  JPEGS just don’t cut it for color and pixel resolution when it comes to serious photographers, professional or amateur.

In addition, this camera has nearly all the manual functions of any DSLR camera.  It has two rings that can be set to change any function from exposure calibration and shutter speed to aperture.  One ring is around the lens just like a DSLR, one is on the back of the camera near the menu options.  Both are easy to access and use when shooting.  In addition, pretty much any setting change a person can do on a DSLR through the menus is available here as well.

The only downside is the lens.  As per any point and shoot camera, it has a small lens.  Comes with the territory.  This means I can’t get up close and personal with that bird 50 feet away, but since I’d only really done this while in the Everglades and not while sat on my bike for a quick shot, it’s a sacrifice I was willing to make.  The lens is also very slow.  This means that it doesn’t have many aperture choices, only 2.0 to roughly 8.  This means long landscape like photos won’t look like Ansel Adams’ photos.  Again, not a look I was ever going for even before making the switch, so something I could live with.  In fact, in my photography, I almost always shot in a low speed lens because I like having blurry photos (when I want that effect) and only one object in focus.

The price tag was also completely within what I was willing to spend on a camera.  B&H Photo (the only store I buy my electronics from) had one listed for just under $300 with all the accessories.  For a point and shoot camera with so much going for it, this price was quite frankly astoundingly low.  Jessica is even jealous of the camera after we’ve both gotten the chance to play with it!  Thanks to Khara, I now have the only camera I will ever travel with!  It’s small, light and pretty advanced and I’m quite happy with the photos I’ve gotten out of it so far!

Restarting with Renewed Spirits and Gear

Sunday, March 4th, 2012 Posted by Rachel. Published under Bike Tour Preparations, Gear + Product Review, How to..., Riding. 2 Comments.

As of last Saturday, March 3, we’re back on the road!  We spent the month of February in the Midwest with Rachel’s parents, a visit to Jessica’s parents and a visit to a friend in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Jessica will be writing more about what we did this past month, so I’m going to focus on what we’ve changed about this next leg of our trip.

As our first leg stretched out over the last five (now six but we don’t count it since it was off the bikes) months, it became clear to us both that being on the bikes permanently was not the lifestyle we wanted after all.  In planning for our bike tour, we had originally assumed that traveling endlessly, promoting women’s empowerment, filmmaking and our website would be the best kind of life.  This however is not the reality we found.  Therefore, we have made the decision to end the trip this coming summer.  There are many reasons for this, some of which we’ll share with you now, others will be shared later.  One of the biggest reasons for ending the trip is that we have bigger plans for Against The Grind and the mission to inspire women to “do something that scares them” as Jessica said recently.  We need to be off the bikes to make this happen because it will involve lots of paperwork and a permanent address that doesn’t rely on friends and family to open our mail.  Another reason is that I just can’t live without jeans!!

This is the biggest change we’ve made so far to the second leg of our trip.  Another big change that had to be made was where we’re headed and for how long.  Initially, we were going to spend months traveling up and down the American West, seeing the continental divide, the Pacific coast and lots of cities and people along the way.  This has to be curtailed in order to meet our summer deadline, so we’re going to take the following route.  (If you or someone you know is along this route or you wish to join us for a portion, please let us know, we’d be happy to meet up!!)

Austin, TX > San Angelo, TX > Brownfield, TX > Roswell, NM > Socorro, NM > St. Johns, AZ > Flagstaff, AZ (with a detour up to the Grand Canyon) > Bullhead City, AZ > Mojave National Preserve, CA > past Sequoia National Park and Death Valley National Park (there’s a highway that runs through them) > Yosemite National Park > Stockton, CA > Sonoma, CA

Once we’re in Sonoma, we’ll probably head to San Fransisco, Redwood National Park, Crater Lake National Park and hopefully Los Angeles too.  Please let us know if you have any advice for this route as it is, of course, always in the works and never set in stone.  Any advice is welcome.

Other changes are to gear.  I’ve bought 2 new pairs of Smartwool socks to replace two pairs that got pretty gross and am exchanging another pair I didn’t bring along before.  I bought 2 shirts to replace two that I left in Austin (and am now just getting rid of) because again, they were pretty gross.  I have bought a pair of nylon pants but they are no longer converter pants with zippers and they are grey instead of tan.  Jessica also bought a new pair of pants that look a little more like everyday fashion instead of keeping her converter pants.  The nice thing about these pants is that they have little snaps to keep them rolled up if it gets hot.  So they are basically converter pants without the hideous zippers.

I’ve also decided to leave one of my padded bike shorts in Wisconsin.  This was a decision based on the times I rode my bike in regular pants after my seat was broken in.  It was actually more comfortable than in the padded shorts.  I’m assuming this is because my converter pants were looser and didn’t have seams running along my bottom just so that it created nasty saddle sores.  The pair I’m leaving behind are pretty torn up by now too, so the exchange for a pair of nylon capris was an easy one.  I’ll still have one pair of padded shorts to change out to and in case of rough roads or something else, but I’m pretty confident in these new pants to do the job well.

We’ve also purchased a compact, camping specific clothesline that REI sells because the rope we’d bought for the tarp and clothesline is huge and smelly.  After being out in a few rainstorms and packed away wet, it’s really not ideal.  This clothesline also has little beads to act as pegs instead of having clothespins, but we won’t ditch the pins just yet.  We have to be sure the beads work!

We also picked up a waterproof sack to keep the tent in.  I’ve had a few too many times where the entire contents of my pannier ended up completely sopping wet because the tent was wet when I packed it away.  Osmosis works a little too well, so I’m hoping the dry sack will keep the wet contained.  (Although who knows how much more wet we’ll deal with since we’re headed into the desert!)

I’m also going to be leaving my day pack behind for a smaller travel satchel.  Since I don’t wear my day pack with a water bladder anymore, it’s just taking up so much space when all it’s holding is my wallet, phone and iPod.  It doesn’t even hold all that when it rains either since I have room in my front panniers and the day pack isn’t waterproof.  In addition, I’m going to be leaving several creative projects behind.  At Christmas time, I had already switched out my big DSLR camera and lenses for a smaller Canon (will review soon!).  It means I don’t have a nice lovely zoom lens to shoot wildlife with, but the weight and space I’ve gained from this switch is priceless.  I’ll also be leaving my drawing kit behind.  I have certainly drawn a lot with the kit over the months, but it’s bulky and reading/ journaling can keep me just as relaxed and occupied at the end of the day.  It might get me to edit photos more often too (but probably not)!

It’s hard to put into words exactly why we’re making these changes because I’m sure that as our reader, some may seem like small and strange things.  It really just boils down to experience.  As I wrote many months ago about how advice doesn’t always work out in the end, this is just another example of how bike touring has taught us both to simply go with the flow.  We’ve had to learn to roll with the punches and change our expectations every single day.  Making these changes is simply an extension of this philosophy.

Photos from Recent Weeks

Monday, February 13th, 2012 Posted by Rachel. Published under Riding. 1 Comment.

Since we’re hard at work on editing video and other things during our break, we’re going to simply give you some photos to enjoy instead of writing a long post this week! Most of these are from January in Louisiana and Texas.

On the Edge of a Blade

Monday, January 30th, 2012 Posted by Rachel. Published under Personal Stories, Riding. 2 Comments.

Last week Wednesday, we arrived in Austin, TX after 9 days of straight riding from Gonzales, LA.  After a few days of relaxing and sleeping copious amounts at a friend’s in Houston, TX, we are finally starting to get feeling back in our brains and extremities.  While I don’t know that Jessica would agree with me on this next statement, I would say those 9 days were some of the worst on this trip, quite possibly harder than the Everglades even.

The night before we departed from Gonzales, we looked at the forecast and were a bit worried.  70% chance of thunderstorms were predicted.  When we’re riding with gigantic steel bits between our legs and get sopping wet in the rain, thunder and lightening is not really an ideal weather situation.  But we had made the decision to stay longer in New Orleans, which had eaten up our planned rest days already.  This meant that we had to leave, no choice.

When we left on this trip, Jessica and I had promised that we could live free of deadlines and go where the wind blew us and on our own schedule.  The problem with this notion is that it is nearly impossible to coordinate with other people and their lives in this manner.  Beginning tomorrow (Tuesday, Jan 31), we will be back in Wisconsin for a month.  We are due to be working a paid gig the first full week of February in Minnesota and since the weather is pretty much crap anywhere during winter, we are going to take the rest of the month off the bikes to catch up on work and sleep.  Therefore, we had coordinated with a colleague of my mother who lives in Austin to leave our bikes in his garage for the month.  He was leaving for a vacation of his own on the 26th, making our window of getting to his place nearly 500 miles away from Gonzales quite precise.  We had to go in bad weather or not, or face not being able to make it in time.  We also had to ride an average of 55 miles a day to arrive on time.  That’s an average of about 10 miles more a day than we’ve ridden the entire trip.

Turns out it really wouldn’t have mattered when we left though because the weather was crap the entire nine days.  As a native of the Midwest, which is not known for lovely winters, I can now say that moving to the south is not a solution for escaping crap winter weather.  It’s still cold.  Not as cold, but still cold.  It’s still wet and grey and yucky.  I’m actually excited to go back to the Midwest for a bit since it means at least there’s pretty snow to look at instead of barren trees and brown grass.

It took us about two and a half days to get to the Texas border.  Those two and a half days were pretty nuts.  Louisiana has the worst roads of any state we’ve ridden in so far.  They are filthy.  I got two flats and even changed out my rear tire due to eight very large nasty gashes that had been created by the stones, glass or anything else that lies on the pathetic shoulders of Louisiana.  I’m sure the landscape would be nice in summer with green instead of brown and rainy, but that’s the nature of our beast.  We wouldn’t want to be down here in the heat anyway.

Texas was pretty much more of the same.  The landscape changed slowly.  Becoming more vast and a little bit more arid as we neared Austin.  The shoulders widened to larger than a full lane (in most places, sometimes they disappeared) and were clean for the most part.  The American flags quadrupled in size.  We saw elephants and cows and impressively size ranches.  Rolling hills came along too, which we only really minded when the wind was blowing badly, which was more often than we would have liked.

At about day 5 or so, we were wiped out.  When looking at the map, we were barely north of Houston and it was soul depleting to see that.  How could we not be further along?  Our mileage deadline for the day of another 20 miles was just not tenable either.  We were just too tired.  A quick check on the GPS showed a car rental place in the town 20 miles down the road.  So we settled on driving ourselves out of the miserable weather, the exhaustion and the remaining 200 miles.  We found a spot in the woods to camp for the night and I tried to make a reservation.  It was a decision that once made, could not be undone, since waiting even one day longer in a location meant we would not reach Austin in time.  But it turns out that in Texas, the rental prices are much, much higher than in Florida and the one way rentals can only be made from airports.  Our choice was rent a car 50 miles south at the Houston airport or continue on route for the next 4 days.

At first, we made the reservation.  We went to sleep thinking we’d be in Austin within 24 hours and I even emailed the person we were meeting.  But when we woke up the next day, the winds had changed from a full on head wind to a side wind.  The few hours extra off the bike we’d saved ourselves by not riding that remaining 20 miles had refreshed our bodies just enough that we felt better physically too.  The weather was still yucky with on and off rain, but we changed our minds on the car and chose to keep riding.

In the end, I’m glad we did continue all the way on our bikes.  I have never been known to do well with little or poor sleep, feeling sick (which I started to half way through this leg), or extreme physical demands, so having no choice but to put up with it all and just get to the deadline is pretty cool.  We fought a lot, but it remained “kind” fights.  (By which I mean no vicious words were thrown out, nothing was said that was regretted, we understood it was the demands on us, not an actual anger towards each other.)  As I look back on the week and two days, I say it felt more miserable than our experience in the Everglades because I really do think it actually was more miserable.  But since we’d found a way to work through that tough stuff, these new challenges don’t seem as bad.  The edge has been dulled a little.  I’m able to see it with a greater perspective too.  The big picture is that while I might not actually enjoy the process while I’m going through it, I enjoy that I’ve gone through it in general.

Without diminishing both my own life experiences up to this trip and the life experiences of others, I do think I can now say that I have some street cred that I didn’t have before.  I thought I did.  I have had a pretty blessed life, but I’ve also put up with my fair share of bullying, embarrassments and huge mistakes that make me a pretty well rounded person if I do say so myself.  Maybe that sounds boastful, but after the agony that was the nine days from Gonzales to Austin, I think I’ve earned the right to boast a bit.  And Jessica has too.