The TakeYourBike.org Official Blog

Border2Border is done, but we're still riding...

2010-10-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

Hello from Tahoe City, CA! The TakeYourBike team has chosen this venue as home base for the winter season, and we couldn't be happier about it. It's getting colder, but we're still commuting by bike! So are many of the locals, adding fuel to the legend that (gasp!) you can still rides bikes in cold weather! A nice jacket, a pair of insulating pants, some good full-fingered gloves, and a determined spirit are all it takes! Well, in the peak of winter some studded tires might help.

We'll still be hard at work learning more about the commuter community's mindset, wants, needs, and opinions, and we hope to get involved with the cycling community here. We've already made some friends at Olympic Bike Shop here in Tahoe City - check them out.

We'll do our best to keep everyone up-to-date on the blog, Facebook, and Twitter pages (and at www.takeyourbike.org, of course!), so keep posted. Updates may get a little less frequent than they were during the Border2Border ride, but we're still here! Keep us posted on your winter riding at outriding@takeyourbike.org.

Anyone interested in another big ride next summer or fall?

Final Lap! Newport Beach, Encinitas, San Diego, and Tecate

2010-10-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

::Touting my own literary prowess::

The long-awaited, much-discussed pinnacle of writing set to signify the climax of the Border2Border event is upon us! Feast upon my following piece de resistance!

Okay, that may have been a bit excessive, but I'm in the zone. Something about biking a few thousand miles through 3 countries caters well to some enthusiasm. I'm going to try and focus here for a minute, though, and recount the last few days events in unabashed detail. Put your seatbelt on.

Picking up where we left off - we rolled out of Santa Monica with sightseeing in LA on our mind, and headed straight for the Sunset Strip and the famous Hollywood Sign. Sunset Strip was exciting to see - we rode right past the Whiskey A Go Go and the Viper Room (as rock and roll as it gets). We cruised along Hollywood Blvd. and saw a lot of the famous "stars" in the pavement, which was cool. Eric may or may not have posed for a picture with Chuck Norris' star. At the end of our ride down Hollywood, we were able to see the famous Hollywood sign up on the hills. Pretty quintessential LA sightseeing.

We headed south out of LA around the Peninsula, following Highway 1 past Venice Beach and through Palos Verdes. Venice is truly the ghetto-by-the-sea, complete with a prison-style beachfront showcased a rusted skeleton of the famous "Muscle Beach" and luxurious cast-iron public restrooms. Pleasant. The attitude gradually shifts from that to euphoric as you get into Palos Verdes. Pretty high end living around those parts, and it contributed to an enjoyable riding day. We hammered along 1 all the way through Long Beach and Huntington Beach, breathing in coastline riding for one of the last times this trip.

We made great time on the day (even with the sightseeing), and made it all the way to Newport Beach before the sun started flirting with the horizon. If you've never been to Newport Beach, it's fancy. There's a Bentley dealership across the street from the Porsche dealership. It's like that. Fortunately, the town isn't without its down-to-earth people. While refueling at a local supermarket we met a lovely local girl named Lindsey, who is a bit of a traveler herself. She's lived in Europe and Egypt - two places I personally have on my list as well. It was very cool to talk travel with her, and she seemed pretty excited about the whole TakeYourBike project. I think she empathized with our plight as homeless travelers, as she offered us a place to stay for the night. She and her roommates were very gracious hosts, and we ended up leaving Newport Beach the next morning with a very positive impression of the place.

With only 63 miles between us and our destination the following day in Encinitas, we took it easy and enjoyed the beachfront ride all day. We leisurely stopped in Oceanside and Carlsbad, and arrived in Encinitas just before sundown. We spent a few hours touring the town and enjoyed a coffee at a local shop; I'd venture to say that the town won us over even before we met our hostesses. Kelsey, Jerah, and Karene are some of the nicest and most life-loving girls we've met on this tour yet. Meeting them is another positive credit to Couchsurfing, a great non-profit organization that we've worked with on this trip. We spent our evening there skating around the neighborhood with Kelsey, and enjoying a bottle of wine and some pleasant conversation.

Rising in the morning, we realized that we only had 20 miles to ride to our San Diego destination, and decided to spend much of the day in Encinitas. We had a leisurely breakfast, skating some more, played beach volleyball (Chelsea and I won, and are retiring undefeated), and had an unbelievable lunch thanks to Kelsey's cooking skills. We left Encinitas reluctantly around 3 PM, but we still had an adventure to complete. Heading south to San Diego....

We arrived in San Diego after dark due to Eric and I's inability to ride in a straight line, and were greeted by our friends Jeanne and Kevin, who agreed to host us for the night. Kevin had to work, so we only had his company for a bit, but we enjoyed going out for a drink with both he and Jeanne. The bar of choice had a rooftop seating area, and you could see the waves crashing on the beach from our table. Pretty cool.

Rising the next morning, we woke with only one thing on our mind - Mexico! (note: we were so focused on our finish line, we forgot to wash our dishes from dinner the night before... sorry Jeanne and Kevin - we'll make it up to you!). We started riding in overcast weather, and it progressively worsened throughout the day, unfortunately. We started the ride in Canada in the rain, and it seemed fated to end in Mexico in the rain. We recommitted ourselves and pressed on - only 50 miles separated us from sweet victory! We rode through the eastern county in the rain all day, up and down, up and down. Our cyclometers told us that we were getting closer..... as we hit about 10 miles to go, a peculiar thing happened. I'm not sure what the technical term is, but I started to become overly anxious that we were so close. Thoughts of "What am I supposed to do now?" and "What if we can't cross the border?" and "What's next? Do I want to finish this?" started to enter my head. I've heard of a similar condition whereby marathoners suffer from depression and lackluster energy levels after completing their goal - after all, after you've accomplished what you set out to do, what's next? Where's the challenge? It was a very interesting ordeal to experience. I wrestled with the situation for what seemed to be an eternity, then: there it was. "Welcome to Tecate". I almost fell off my bike. Eric and I stopped for a victorious photo opportunity (above), and couldn't stop laughing. Something about finishing was absolutely hilarious. We had made it, but there was still one more box to check.

We rode down the hill into the town of Tecate to meet with Amy and Dyland and victoriously cross the border. Suspense was high, and we were all pretty interested to see what the hype was all about crossing into Mexico. After all, pretty much everyone we've met on this tour has cautioned us that it was pretty dangerous right now. We'd been unswayed by any of this the whole trip - plenty of things in the world are dangerous, and many of them are worth the risk. Moreover, we weren't going deep into Mexico - our destination was just over the border. How bad could it be?

Mom, you've got two options here:

a.) read all about the lovely sights Mexico has to offer here.

b.) don't read anything at all, and just pretend that Mexico is lovely, and that we had a great time there.

But, since you're going to keep reading anyway, just remember that we're all okay, and everything is alright.

Guess what? Mexico IS really as sketchy as everyone has told us. In California, they even sell Mexico insurance at the convenience store at the border. I'm just going out on a limb here, but usually insurance is for when you put yourself in a dangerous situation. As in "car insurance" for when you drive a vehicle that kills millions upon millions every year. As in "health insurance" for when you do stupid things like actionsports and jump off of cliffs for fun. As in "Mexico insurance", for when you (for some stupid reason) have to go into Mexico. Intense. But let's get to the story, shall we? First off, you can actually walk into the country. There's an undeniable feeling of lawlessness when you can casually stroll across a border with no one saying anything to you at all. Compared to the background check and 20 questions routine coming into the States, it was a little unnerving. We couldn't stop laughing about how easy it was to walk into Mexico. Absolutely ridiculous. Our laughter stopped, however, when a few local flew past us on the street riding fourwheelers. Weird enough on its own (the whole fourwheeler in traffic thing), we were put to even more unrest by the fact that they were wearing Kevlar bulletproof vests. That's the sort of thing that you don't really see that often. After they rode past, the whole situation didn't feel right. It became incredibly apparent that we weren't somewhere that we were supposed to be, and that the "rules" that applied just a few feet north of us had exactly zero bearing where we stood then. We decided as a group that walking the Tecate Brewery (just a few blocks away) was probably not the best idea, and settled on picking up our victory beers at a local corner store. Walking in, we felt a bit better (they had more Tecate than any store I've ever been in in my life - see above), but a general feeling of hostility was pervasive. We took the time to salute our trip with a cold Tecate in Tecate, but that was about it. After nearly catching the attention of local police (who, by all accounts, don't really adhere to much of the law), we decided that a mainline back stateside was in order. We met some fellow Americans who were headed back as well, and we all made our way to the border en masse. Getting back into the States was easy (in comparison to crossing back in from Canada), and we were glad to close the Mexican chapter of our story.

We all loaded up into the truck (yes, all four of us - Eric and I are allowed to ride in a vehicle now!) and headed back north to Encinitas. Our ride back was fairly non-conversant; I was trying my hardest to process what we had accomplished in the last few weeks. If and when I do sort all of that out, I'll let you know. It's pretty weighty stuff.

Our hostesses in Encinitas offered their home to us for the next few days, and we're recharging our batteries. A lot of tea, relaxing, and recovery is in order.

We're pretty proud to have accomplished what we set out to accomplish, and we can't wait for the next big adventure. Does wintering in Tahoe count? We'll see....

Got a cool ride planned next year? Email us at outriding@takeyourbike.org. We'll come with you.

Santa Monica!

2010-10-13T11:12:00.001-07:00

Our time in Morro Bay was very pleasant. Our host Ben and his (as he himself put it) "5 or 6 roommates" were all very nice people, and made us feel very welcome in their home. Ben is a fisherman, and even treated us to samples of his very own fresh-caught fish. A roof over our heads and showers rejuvenated the group, and we set out for the road once again feeling great.

Our destination was a stretch of coastline designated "Gaviota", which resides right where Highway 1 reacquaints itself with the Pacific. We rode through the day on some undulating California roads, and I will fondly remember the riding of this day as one of my favorite stretches of this tour. We arrived in "Gaviota" with about 30 minutes of sunlight to spare, and felt great. I use quotes to designate "Gaviota" because it would seem to me that it isn't really a town. Or a township. Or a neighborhood. There isn't even an exit off of the highway in the area, which (to me) would indicate an area not really worthy of being a named town on a map. Being a bit isolated with no real options for a place to stay the night, we got creative. We noticed a dirt feeder road that stretched away from the highway that appeared to be a sort of access road, and took our chances. With dwindling sunlight, what did we have to lose? Our longshot road snaked its way up the adjacent hillside to our salvation: a fire station. The firefighter community has been very hospitable to us, and we were quite relieved to find them here. They were as welcoming as we've grown accustomed to them being, and they offered us a place to camp for the night. They warned us, however, that we'd be competing with wind and rattlesnakes. We found a flat(ish) swath of land that was already home to a few short cacti (read:pillows), and set up our tent, all the while laughing about invading rattlesnakes' home territory. We arranged ourselves "comfortably" around the bulges in the floor of our homestead created by the resident cacti, and embraced the situation wholeheartedly. Then the wind picked up.... We all laid awake laughing hysterically as 20-30 mile per hour winds whipped at our tent and threatened to take our home to the sea for a few hours, then grew tired at about the same time as the wind. By 11 or so the winds had subsided, and we drifted off to sleep.

Fortunately for us, our home in "Gaviota" was south-facing, so we were treated to a magnificent sunrise over the mountains to the east. For almost our entire trip we've been witnessing magnificent sunsets but haven't been able to enjoy the sunrises due to the inherent directions of our travels. The singularity of our sunrise experience made this morning one to remember, and we got underway shortly thereafter.

Our destination for the day was Ventura, but we took some time to explore Santa Barbara, and I'm glad we did. We saw some great sights and met some great people. I couldn't take my eyes off of the mountains rising to the sky to the east, and my head was filled with thoughts of great training rides up the local hills. Eric would've killed me if I so much as suggested climbing any of them, so I'll have to go back to test my mettle another day. Two of the gentlemen we met in town were some fellow biketourers named Symon and Martyn from England. They're doing Vancouver to San Diego in an effort to raise money to aid the fight against Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. You can follow there journey here. We also stopped into Hazard's Cyclesport, a local bike shop of great reputation, and met Sergio, the man behind the legend. He's a very outgoing guy that lives his biking passion, and was a thrill to spend some time with. He even offered us some locally-made enchiladas. He and the rest of Hazard's has earned my business whenever I'm in Santa Barbara.

We rode the rest of the day on the Pacific Coast Highway all the way to Ventura, and arrived with some time to tour the downtown area. Ventura is one of those "hush-hush" surfing towns in southern California, and the energy there is very positive. We got so caught up in it that we lost track of time, and before we knew it the sun was setting. That being the case, we were forced to get resourceful and find a place to camp for the night.

I pride myself on being creative and extroverted, and this was a perfect opportunity to put those character traits to the test. I did the only thing I could think of, and for humor's sake I think I'll narrate in third person:

Chris walks into local coffeehouse.

Chris approaches table of 3 girls sipping coffee and opens with the line, "Hi, I'm on a 3-country bike tour, and we've run out of sunlight for the day. That being the case, I'd like to find a place to camp nearby. Could you recommend your favorite place to camp with 12 feet of this coffeehouse?"

The girls seemed casually amused, but collectively could only recommend campgrounds some 1200 feet away. When Chris suggested that we prefer to avoid real "campgrounds" (and such a ridiculous distance), they recommended that he approach their friends that lived exactly 27 feet from the coffeehouse and ask about camping in their lawn.

Chris sauntered over to the "Chateaux" (the girls had a name for their friends' home), and walked up to the front door to find it ajar. Brazenly, Chris entered the "Chateaux" and introduced himself with the line, "Hi, I'm on a 3-country bike tour, and we've run out of sunlight for the day. That being the case, I asked a few random girls drinking coffee across the street if they could recommend a campground, and they pointed me to your lawn. I felt it might be prudent to introduce myself before casually pitching a tent in your lawn."

Our new friends (and guardians of the Chateaux) replied, "You've got some guts to go about casually asking strangers for a home. That's cool. We've even got a tree fort in our lawn you guys can use. I'll turn off the sprinklers. You want to watch the Monday night game with us?"

Welcome to the wonderful world of vagabonding.

Chris x2 and David (who actually had a Tecate cape! - perhaps I can get one when I bike to the Brewery from Canada next week) turned out to be great people, and we had a blast staying with them (and watching the Monday night game). The world is a great place if you put yourself in a position to enjoy it.

We rose with the sun in Ventura and set out for Santa Monica. Before arriving at our final destination for the day, however, a detour was necessary.

It's been a focal point of my trip since I started planning this adventure, and today was the day to return to place of my birth. Camarillo, CA was a place on my birth certificate and nothing more until this visit, but now I know what it's like there. Returning felt great, and I feel as though I've accomplished something. We rode through the town in perfect weather, and I felt a real kinship to the area. I was a bit disappointed to not see a "Birthplace of Chris Cloyd" sign underneath the "Welcome to Camarillo" sign, but I've already emailed the mayor in an effort to correct this. We pedaled our way all the way to Pleasant Valley Hospital, where I was born. I took a minute to stroll inside and see if the doctor who delivered me was still there, but unfortunately he retired some time ago. The kindhearted lady at the reception counter said I looked good, and that I should come back after another 25 years so they can rest assured that I'm still in good shape. It was a neat feeling in the hospital and thinking, "This is the first place I was. EVER." It was also the only hospital I've ever been in that didn't feel suffocating and sterile. They even had murals on the walls inside. That's the way it should be.

We rode from Camarillo to Santa Monica, and stopped in Malibu for a quick lunch. Not a bad day.

I am writing this post from the comforts of our host and hostesses' home here now. Linda and Jeremy have contributed more than they know to the positivity of our experience here, and we look forward to exploring the area today. On the list are stops at Venice Beach, the world-famous Hollywood sign, and the Santa Monica Pier. After we arrived last night, we all enjoyed dinner together, and the TYB crew explored the 3rd Street Promenade afterwards. I could do that again for one reason alone: the Bellagio Sipping Chocolate. I can't even begin to describe this drink, but you could come close by using the words "liquid chocolate utopian pinnacle of modern culinary prowess". If that doesn't cut it, you can read about it here.

I'm off to rest my legs and read a bit before exploring the town, then it's back to the bikes tomorrow. On to Huntington Beach!

Catching Up From San Francisco ALL THE WAY to Morro Bay, CA

2010-10-09T22:30:00.001-07:00

I know it's been 4 days since my last update, but that's what happens when you're biking through a state park - no internet connection means no blog. Fortunately, the ride through Big Sur was worth the delay (for us, at least).

The last few days have been wonderful - to attempt to catalogue every emotion with words isn't within my realm of ability as writer. However, I'm a bit of an overachiever, and I'll try.

All my life, I feel as though I've been very blessed. Blessed to have a full, loving family. Blessed to know great friends. Blessed to have met a great many inspirational people. I express this without religious overtone - merely a sentiment toward the positive experiences that are the cornerstones of my lust for life. In the last few weeks, I feel as though all of the things that make my life so fulfilling have been magnified tenfold. I am thrilled to know that my family is excelling in their lives, and enjoying the new experiences before them. I am comforted to be exploring a new part of the world (for me) with some of my dearest friends. And I have met so many inspirational people.

Life is a complicated thing, and meeting people who have found their place in it is inspiring to me. Great or small - all of these people have found their spot. They are comfortable with their role in their work, their community, and their family. They're comfortable with their income, with where they choose to live, and who they choose to live with. These comforts cannot be overstated; they cannot be bought. And those truisms are what make them great (and elusive). I am filled with an unabated resolve to seek out these comforts in my life, and to find my place.

We left San Francisco optimistic - we had spent time with our good friends in town, and escaped with little damage done. The roads we would take to the south would take us to new friends, new sights, and the latter half of our tour.

We rode through the south of San Francisco in the morning - city riding at it's finest. Our route spilled us out into the countryside (if one can call it that), and we followed scenic rolling highways all the way to Santa Cruz. There, we stayed with some friends that we made at the Hardly Strictly festival in San Francisco. Molly and the rest of the housemates are all UCSC Banana Slugs, which is awesome. It was one of my goals this trip to meet a real life Banana Slug, and I met several. To clarify: the school's mascot is actually a banana slug. Awesome.

We left Santa Cruz refreshed, and headed toward Carmel with a passion. We rode hard, had our efforts were rewarded with the best farmer's market I've ever seen. They had a RIDICULOUS assortment of fresh fruit, including fresh avocados for 7 for $1. 7 for $1. Seriously. And they were so ripe that you could cut them with a plastic spork (we did). We loaded up on avocados, grapes, bananas, mangos, raisins, and strawberries - enough to last us a whole 2 days. From there we rode happily to Carmel, with a brief stop in Monterey. We had a great time in Monterey, and saw a lot of encouraging, bike friendly roads. Additionally, the view of the sunset from Sunset Avenue in Monterey, CA was everything it was cracked up to be.

Our stay in Carmel was highlighted by a number of things, but the first was the company. We met up with my friend Charlie (who, funnily enough, I had never actually met), who introduced us to our host while we were in town, Peterson. Both showed us a great time while we were visiting, and Peterson hosted us in his gorgeous home. When I say gorgeous, I mean it. His taste for eclectic furnishings and access to some of the best in the world (he's an importer by profession) made the house a real one-of-a-kind experience. Much of it was modeled after a Buddhist monastery, complete with an outdoor flame-fueled sauna and bath, prayer wheels, and all sorts of fantastic original art. We enjoyed his company immensely, and I thank him very sincerely for his hospitality.

We left Carmel with full bellies (Peterson knows his was around a kitchen), calm minds, and rested legs, which was a good thing. Ahead lay Big Sur, one of the most challenging (albeit beautiful) sections of riding on our trip. We tackled the first 40 miles or so after a scenic tour around Monterey and Carmel, including all of 17 Mile Drive and the Pebble Beach complex. Seeing that place with my own eyes was a real treat - I hope to come back and play the course sooner than later. Halfway through our day, it was the general consensus that an espresso was in order, so we stopped at the River Inn, which was recommended by our friends in Carmel. There we sat and enjoyed our espresso with our feet submerged in the river - they put lawn chairs out in the 4 inch deep river, which was quite the experience. To say it was serene is an understatement.

We knocked out the next 30 miles of our day without much difficulty, although the rolling climbs definitely took their toll. We reached Lucia around 5, which left me enough time to test my legs with a local rider's challenge. AJ, one of our new friends from Carmel, suggested that I try this climb if I really liked hills (I do, weirdly enough). He said it was a real test, and I agree. Nacimiento-Ferguson Road rises 7.2 miles up from Highway 1 at fluctuating grades from 6 to 15 (!) with a total of over 2,900 feet of elevation gain. Relentless. He said a sub 50 minute time was his best, and I was determined to see what I could do. After 70 miles and a good 3,000 feet of climbing already under my legs on that day, though, I wasn't sure of what I had in me. Regardless, I had Eric smack me in the face, and I was off. I attacked that thing from the start, then reasserted myself about 5 miles in and challenged the summit with everything I had. 42:09. Viva la victory. That night we camped just off of that deliciously evil road, and enjoyed some of the best starwatching in the world. Big Sur is a truly special place.

We rose early to a gorgeous view of the Pacific, and assaulted the rest of Big Sur with little trouble. We even enjoyed some flat roads (our first in what seems like weeks) on our way into Morro Bay, and are now resting at our friend Ben's here in town. Ahead lies the push to Los Angeles, and what can unavoidably be described as the twilight of our trip. We plan on soaking it all up, and enjoying every second of it. As a barista at a seaside cafe pointed out today, "With an oceanfront view all day, how can you not?"

San Francisco

2010-10-04T23:03:00.000-07:00

If you've grown tired of hearing different versions of the "So today I rode my bike for hours and enjoyed views of the Pacific" story, this blog entry is for you.

We've enjoyed 3 consecutive days in San Francisco thanks to the hospitality of our hosts Shane and Danielle. They're some of our favorite people in the world, and we're very fortunate to have them in our lives. I met Shane this past winter in Crested Butte, and we became fast friends. His lady takes good care of him, and I'm a big fan of her as well. You tend to meet good people when you travel, I've learned.

Our first day in the city was highlighted by riding bikes with some SFPD cops (who were clad in pink tutus and blasting "Get Back" by Ludacris on a portable stereo on their rack in support of a breast cancer walk going on), riding across the Golden Gate Bridge with borderline nonexistent visibility, and meeting up with our friends in the city. Although we didn't get the best view of the city coming into town, the ride in was undeniably a highlight. Moreover, we enjoyed a near-perfect day of weather today, and got in plenty of sightseeing.

San Francisco is a very eclectic town, and there's a lot of personality. I wanted to get a street-level perspective while I was here. I'm a big fan of social experiments, and on our second day here I reverted to one of my old personal favorites. When I was in Denver last year, I set out to find 6 places of interest in the city with no use of maps, cell phones, or GPS systems. The only tool I permitted myself was asking people for directions. It was astounding to me how much I learned about the city that I couldn't have from a map, and how many nice locals I met. I made new friends, enjoyed a Rockies game, and was even bought a beer. No map has even hooked it up with a beer before, I can assure you of that. Do yourself a favor sometime and try this exercise - it's fun to actually reach out to strangers. So I did the same thing in San Francisco yesterday. I left the apartment by myself at 7:30 to go get an espresso, and I started my asking the first person I came across where their favorite coffeehouse was. I was rewarded with a great americano at a shop I wouldn't have otherwise found. I then set out to wander the city with an ultimate destination of a bluegrass festival over 5 miles across town. I found all sorts of eccentric little shops, an art museum, famous urban art, fellow bike lovers, and some personal satisfaction. Well worth the detour. I ultimately arrived at the festival with about 32 seconds to spare until the first band I set out to see started. I enjoyed their (Austin, TX's Lucero) show reclining on a blanket in the back of the audience with the company of a very lovely lady. Not a bad morning.

The festival was an anomaly in the US - a free, city-supported festival devoted to music and not a lifestyle or a sect of music culture. It was a breath of fresh air to enjoy so many bands of similar yet discordant genres celebrating the music community in such an unbiased and genuine way. For my money (that I didn't spend on the free festival), Emmylou Harris stole the show.

Afterwards I meandered about the city for a bit and caught pretty cool world/jazz show, then met some friends fora few beers at Torondao, a beer-only bar in the Haigh-Ashbury District. I enjoyed a Bear Republic Racer 5, which was recommended by a new friend. Good stuff from a local CA brewery.

Unfortunately, our trip hit a speedbump overnight. A heroin junkie smashed one of the windows of our support vehicle and attempted to rob me of my life possessions (already down to 3 boards, 2 bikes, a few wheels, 2 suitcases, some records, 2 backpacks, and a sleeping bag). Pretty lame. Fortunately, the SFPD caught the guy before he could actually make off with anything, and impounded my car for safe keeping. The kicker: when the cops showed up the guy had taken a break from stealing to indulge in some of our Nutella. I've said it before in jest, and I'll state it with sincerity now: Nutella is the shit. It fuels my cycling ridiculousness, and protects my life possessions like a guardian angel. A hazelnut-cocoa angel that goes well with blueberry pancakes. In the end, all the failed theft cost me was some piece of mind, $211 for a new window, and a morning in San Francisco (I still had the morning, but most of it was spent at the SF central police station). I want to sincerely thank the SFPD for their work - it means the world. I'd like to also thank the would-be thief for being an amateur and failing miserably to steal anything other than our Nutella, and thank Nutella for being fantastic. Even the junkie that tried to rob me agrees.

The rest of my day was spent seeing San Francisco, enjoying a basil-pesto crepe, and listening to the new Jimmy Eat World record. It's quite good (so was the crepe). It's back to the road tomorrow, and my restless legs are excited. 80+ miles along the coast await, including a stop at Half Moon Bay and some great sightseeing in Santa Cruz and Opal Cliffs.

I need a shower, so I'm going to go do that. Then I'm going outside to play guitar. I've got it rough these days.

Above are the San Francisco photo additions, along with some overdue Napa/Sonoma shots. Enjoy.

Santa Rosa, Wine Country, and San Francisco

2010-10-02T12:49:00.000-07:00

The last few days of the trip have been refreshing. We spent some time in Santa Rosa meeting the local cycling community, we toured wineries and vineyards in Napa and Sonoma, and slept under the stars in Novato, CA. Today we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and are looking ahead to the ride into San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge.

In Santa Rosa, we spent a day wandering around the city, stopping in bike shops (the Bike Peddler and NorCal Bikesport are good people), talking to local commuters, and enjoying the Land of Snoopy. We even got to spend some time with Bike Monkey editor-in-chief Carlos Perez, whose magazine is the flag-bearing champion of the local bike scene. They're organizing and hosting the King's Ridge Gran Fondo - one of the coolest group rides in the country. We wish we could've ridden this year, but it didn't fit our schedule. Fortunately, we traced much of the route on our way into Santa Rosa. Moreover, Carlos recommended a great route from Santa Rosa to Sonoma that involved some pretty epic climbing (3,000+ feet of climbing over 38 miles). That wore us out pretty well, so we thought some wine-touring was in order.

We stopped in and toured Homewood and Hendry Wineries in Sonoma and Napa, and were treated to some great wine and some even better vineyard and winery touring. If you've ever had an interest in the complexity of winemaking, treat yourself to a winery tour. The synergy of chemistry, agriculture, and artistic touch that goes into winemaking is truly a craft to behold, and the experience of learning about it firsthand was a highlight of our trip.

The riding in wine country wasn't great - high traffic, headwinds, and poor road conditions dominated our day. That being said, the views and the experience were well worth the miles.

We stopped for the night in Novato, CA after a LONG day's riding (our "leisurely" day of wine-touring involved over 100 miles of riding), and found a comfortable little spot to lay our heads for the night. We opted not to set up our tent for the night, and slept under the stars. Fantastic.

Today we set out for San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, and couldn't be more excited. We'll cross into the city with enough time to do some sightseeing (I'm going to the Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory, and no one is stopping me) and hang out with our friends in town. It should be an exciting weekend.

Anyone have any San Francisco recommendations for us? Places to eat? Things to see? Email me at chris@takeyourbike.org.

Long Awaited Update

2010-09-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in blogging - we've been out riding!

Let's recap: 4 days ago we left Arcata, CA (and our new friends there) in search of the open road and some coastal cycling. Our travels took us through the Avenue of the Giants (one of the most visited redwood forests in the world) to Garberville, CA, where we met some new friends and enjoyed an absolutely fantastic time. We set out the next morning for the coast (!) and California Highway 1, riding along the Pacific Ocean all day. We rode until the sun set, and ended up in Mendocino, CA for the night. Fortunately we met a lovely girl that took us in for the night, and our stay there has cemented itself as a highlight of my trip. We rose early the next morning and enjoyed a hearty egg and potato breakfast, complete with fresh blackberries and huckleberries from our hostess' garden. The fuel served us well - we had a challenging 125+ miles ahead of us en route to Santa Rosa. After a gorgeous, sunshine-filled day of riding, we arrived at the gateway to California's wine country just after sunset. I am now writing comfortably from our host and hostess' couch.

Let's get detailed, since that's why you keep coming back to read, right?

Arcata is a kind-hearted town on California's northern coastline, and one that we were fortunate enough to stop in. We would've pedaled right by if our friend Max (whom we met the night before on the beach in Crescent City) didn't suggest we stop by. We did, and we couldn't be more excited about it. Within minutes of arriving in town we met our lovely hostesses, and immediately embraced the positive energies of this place. Their hospitality was more than we could've asked for, and we're all very grateful for it. They even had Michael Jackson chronological matrushka dolls - very rad. We spent our first night in town recovering our aching legs and sipping kava tea (highly recommended), and woke with a zest for life on our rest day. I ambled down to the local farmer's market with Simona and Jenny (one of our hostesses and a fellow couchsurfer), and enjoyed the wonderful and vibrant atmosphere in the morning. The variety and quality of the produce and the vivacious community contributed to a very memorable morning. The rest of our stay there was spent socializing, skating, and meeting new friends in the community. If you're ever in Arcata and need any bike-related repairs or products, check out Revolution Bicycle Repair in town. Great people. I'm going back to ride with them someday - count on it.

We left Arcata as enthusiastic about our trip as we've been yet - our time there was refreshing and invigorating. There's a lot to be said about the quality of the human experience in a new place. A little kindness goes a long way, and our hearts were filled during our time there. Moreover, our route out of Arcata took us through Eureka (home of some of California's most famous architecture) and the Avenue of the Giants.

I'm going to go ahead and reiterate: there's nothing I can say/write/do to convey the scale of the redwood forest, although I'll try (and the pictures will help). The grandeur of the place is beyond me, and the experience of pedaling through is truly humbling. We rode past some huge trees, we rode THROUGH some even bigger trees, and I climbed all over a fallen tree that was absolutely enormous. If you want photographic evidence, see above. During our ride, we met Clark, a fellow bicycling traveler. He hails from Norman, Oklahoma, and is on his own Pacific coast tour. Travel well, my friend.

We rode through the day and enjoyed the plentiful California sunshine until it started to fade over the Sonoma county hills - we spent so much time playing in the Redwood National Forest that we didn't make the miles that we were hoping for! With the sun setting, we pulled into Garberville, CA. Knowing no one, we stopped at a local cafe and asked a few folks about places to camp for the night. Fortunately for us, we asked a gentlemen named Russell, who offered us a place to camp on his land. Hospitality is abundant in California.

Russell and our other hosts and hostesses for that night are farmers, and live simply with a focus on human interaction, quality of life, introspection, and positive betterment of the world that surrounds them. Our time with them was very pleasant, and I learned a lot from all of them. In addition to some perspective insight and some great conversation, they introduced me to slacklining. I'm beyond interested in getting good at this new sport, and I intend on buying a slackline just as soon as I develop some expendable income. Check it out at slackline.com.

Pictures were not in the cards during our time with Russell and company - those moments are ours to keep.

We rose to another gorgeous California morning on Russell's farm, and enjoyed a fantastic breakfast of banana pancakes and some chocolate chai tea. Russell - I need those recipes.

We had our sights set for California Highway 1 and the Pacific Ocean, and two serious mountain passes separated us from our goals. I've done some cycling this summer, and have tackled some sincere mountains in Colorado and Washington, and these two climbs did their best to test my legs. I give some credit to the 4+ miles at 6-8% grade, and I give some credit to the thousand+ miles under my legs in the last few weeks. Hitting those hills fatigued was a challenge to say the least, but Eric and I soldiered on. A rewarding view of the Pacific was well worth the effort.

We rode on for the rest of the day with the hills on our left and the ocean on our right, as content as we could be. We stopped frequently to enjoy the moments that make travel like this so worthwhile, and finished our day in the sleepy town of Mendocino.

I, for one, am thrilled that we did. The town has an indelible charm, and we ended up meeting two lovely local girls that made the experience incredibly worthwhile. Elimah and Emily are two local girls of pure hearts and a genuine passion for living their lives, and we were thrilled to meet them. Elimah offered to host us for the night, and I can't overstate "host". She has a lust for cooking for guests - which work out for us mega-mile cyclists. I'm fairly sure that we ate most of her kitchen the night we arrived. As if that wasn't enough, she prepared an egg and potato breakfast for us, complete with blackberries and huckleberries we picked fresh from her garden. I wish we could've stayed longer, but our travels mandated that we hit the road after breakfast. We insisted that Elimah and Emily come visit us in Tahoe this winter, and now it's on the internet, so they have to come. See you girls this winter!

Pedaling out of Mendocino, we realized that we had a full plate - 125 miles to Santa Rosa. This is where it comes in handy to be athletes. The "bicycle tourist" caps were taken off, and the "fitness enthusiast" caps got some wear in the California heat. We hammered our brains out up and down (literally up and down - hills are plentiful in these parts) the coast all day, trying our best to enjoy the beautiful views despite the overwhelming amount of lactate in our legs. It was some of the most scenic riding I've ever been a part of, and not a day that I'll soon forget.

We rolled into Santa Rosa as the sun was setting over the local vineyards (there are plenty), and we stopped at the first supermarket we could find. Eric and I swore to each other that we would reward our hammering efforts with a tub of ice cream, which we did. 1.75 quarts of mocha almond fudge ice cream never met a quicker demise.

Now we're staying with our new friends Sheri and Cory and their pups, and the legs are getting a rest. We're going to take the rest of the day to recharge our legs and recuperate, then hit the town tomorrow morning and do some promotional work. Despite more than a few people hinting toward the lack of culture in Santa Rosa, I'm looking forward to seeing the place. I may go to the Peanuts and Snoopy Museum, too.

Update: Due to a shift in our schedule and a lack of exuberance in my legs, I won't be attempting the King's Ridge Gran Fondo route tomorrow. I've been swayed by my time in California, and I know that I'll be back. That being the case, I'm going to save the ride for a time when I'll have fresh legs and an enthusiasm for some sightseeing. One can never have too many reasons to travel, in my opinion, and I'm already looking forward to coming back and tackling that ride.

On to Napa and Sonoma, and some vineyard tours. I can't believe that we'll be touring Napa and Sonoma day after tomorrow. Isn't that what wealthy people do - tour wine country? I thought we were homeless vagabonds? Oh, yeah - you don't need to be rolling in cash to live the good life. Go out and grab it.

Arcata, CA and then some..

2010-09-25T13:39:00.000-07:00

Our legs are getting some much needed rest and our hearts are being filled with even more gracious hospitality from some new friends. We spent the night in Arcata, CA after a gorgeous day of riding from Crescent City.

Our ride featured a lot of time on 101, with a foray onto the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. That stretch of road (the parkway) was the highlight of my trip thus far. Riding through a redwood forest is an experience that I can't even begin to describe - the energy in those trees isn't quantifiable, and the atmosphere is truly otherworldly. I've included some photos with this post, but they don't even begin to do the place justice (noticing a trend with my recent posts?). The sheer scale of the trees and the serenity of that place is something I'll not soon forget.

The rest of our ride was fantastic, and the weather has been steadily improving every passing day. As I write this from our hostesses' porch in Arcata, there isn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature is hovering around 80 degrees. Even better, the forecast shows nothing but positivity for the next week from here to San Francisco. That alone makes me smile.

We head out tomorrow to Leggett, CA via the Avenue of the Giants - a true redwood forest. Our hostesses have confirmed that we're in for a treat, and I'm brimming with excitement. Thus far, this adventure has been unbelievable. The sights, the hospitality from new friends, and the fresh perspectives have been much more than I could have ever anticipated.

California seems to be a very special place.

Be sure to check out our video updates at takeyourbike.org, and on our YouTube channel for some additional perspective on our trip!

The Oregon Coast into CA!

2010-09-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

Wow. The Oregon Coast from Port Orford to California is ridiculous. A kindhearted woman that we met in Gold Beach mentioned that it's the most photographed beach in the country, and with good reason. We stopped so much it took us 5 plus hours to cover 55 miles. Fortunately, that resulted in a lot of good photos. We've been sleeping on the beach every night next to a bonfire, and morale is as high as it's ever been. Arriving in California boosted spirits even more, and we're excited to keep exploring. We met a fellow traveler named Max yesterday - he was camping on the same beach with us last night. We wish him all the best in his own travel, and hope to cross paths again.

I've got a lot more to say, but I'll let the photos do the work.

If that's not enough, check the video updates on www.TakeYourBike.org

No Eye Candy Today... Yet

2010-09-22T08:54:00.001-07:00

I'm going to start with an apology - I left my camera outside and am enjoying my coffee just a bit too much to go get it now. Rest assured, when the photos do go up tonight/tomorrow, you'll know it was worth the wait.

The Oregon coast is ridiculously beautiful - if we stopped to take it all in every time we turned and saw some jaw-dropping scenery, we'd still be riding. It's that good.

We were blessed with near-perfect weather all day, and we didn't take one minute of it for granted. It's a real treat to be dry and (relatively) clean, and we're very grateful. Spending a few days in the rain really reminds you how pleasant a clear day can be.

Our 93 miles yesterday were some of the best of my life, and I'd turn around and do it again today if I could. Fortunately, the alternative is 81 miles south on the same gorgeous coastal road to Port Orford, OR. I'll let you know how it went in a few hours....

Keep posted on TYB.org for video updates and some additional photos, and let us know how you're doing! Email me chris@takeyourbike.org and say hello - I'll pass the love on to the rest of the team.

Also, if you haven't checked out our swag yet - go to www.takeyourbike.org and take a look at our extensive line of fashion apparel. By "extensive" I mean we have shirts and wristbands. You'd look good in them - we do.

The Oregon Coast is One of the Most Scenic Places in The World

2010-09-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

If you keep a life goals checklist (and you should), add bicycle the Oregon coast to it NOW. Seriously, this is some of the best scenery I've ever seen. Every turn is a gateway to a new panorama worthy of a postcard, and the roads are fantastic. I'm enjoying some of the best riding of my life.

Yesterday was a day to remember as well, rewarding our 103 miles from Portland with a beachfront campsite and PERFECT weather all day. We said goodbye to our new friends Alisha, Jordan, Savannah, and Kathy and rode out of Portland under sunny skies. The roads out of town were primarily busy main thoroughfares, but with a very conspicuous lack of precipitation and fresh legs they were very enjoyable.

We rode through Oregon wine country all day, all the while enjoying sights of vineyards, mountains, and valleys. With no rain, our only issue was a coastal headwind that blew defiantly in our faces all day. That being said, when the direction the wind is blowing is your primary complaint for a day, it's a good day.

With the coast in our sights our 3rd century of the trip didn't even bother our legs, and we arrived at the 101 with the sun still shining and the skies still dry. It was FANTASTIC.

Arriving in Lincoln City to a sunset was one of the biggest rewards I've ever received for anything. Since the "work" for the reward was flawless bike ride, I'd say we had a good day.

We camped on the beach and had a spirit fire to celebrate dry weather and our first day on the Pacific Coast bicycling highway. Falling asleep to waves crashing after a day of cycling is my zen.

Highlight: today is Eric's, my cycling partner for this trip and dearest friend, birthday. Happy birthday, brother.

Portland!

2010-09-19T13:03:00.001-07:00

Our rest day in Portland (the first of two as we we wait for the rains to pass through and clear our way for the coast) was highlighted by a walk though the Hawthorne District, vintage clothing and antique shops, a PHENOMENAL americano, some great art, the quirkiest donut shop I've ever heard of or seen, and some delicious pho.

Our "host family" of Alisha, Savannah, Kathy, and Jordan live in a quaint little house on the outskirts of the Hawthorne District in southeast Portland with their dog Jack(son). Actually, according to their Wifi connection, it's "Jackson's House". They've been more than hospitable, and we're very grateful. I'm writing this entry from the comfort of their home, and I'm full of delicious blueberry pancakes that we contributed for breakfast (for the family). I'm listening to a Jose Gonzalez record. Life is good.

The Hawthorne District is an arts district in the soulful part of Portland (that statement is based off of nothing but the personalities of our hosts and the awesomeness of the surroundings), and is apparently sustained solely by secondhand stores and antique shops. It's very cool. It'd be easy to bleed rock and roll if you had access to this kind of style every day - you can see why there is such a vibrant arts and music scene here. We stopped in to browse in a few shops and found a lot of cool apparel and trinkets. I almost bought a Hall and Oates LP. Eric almost bought a military jacket. Amy almost bought every purse/umbrella/girls' accessory she saw. Then we remembered that we're all homeless gypsies. C'est la vie.

My personal highlight of the day came when we strolled past a cafe that had an original Banksy piece on the outside wall (disclaimer: Banksy hasn't taken credit for the piece, but he hasn't denied that it's his, either). If you haven't checked out his art yet, do. Cool stuff. The cherry on top was the perfect americano I was served inside. I love a good espresso drink, and this was one of the best I've had in some time. I may go back today.

The group highlight of the day was undisputedly our stop at Voodoo Doughnuts, which was recommended by our hosts. Quirky dosn't really cover this place - they serve all sorts of weird doughnuts (they were cited for health code violations last year after adding a Nyquil-filled donut to their menu) and have a very unique style about the place. In addition to serving doughnuts, they offer civil unions conducted by a legitimate reverend on site. I thought this was a joke on the menu, but a couple was getting married when we walked in. Seriously.

The photos above give you an idea of what they're working with.

We ended our day about town with a heaping bowl of pho at a local Vietnamese restaurant, and it hit the spot. Something about the Pacific Northwest - they do pho right out here.

We're taking an extra day here to let the storm system pass though and clear our way to the coast and the Pacific Ocean. Tomorrow, we set out for Lincoln City, and a night's sleep on the beach.

I can't deny the feeling that the real adventure begins tomorrow.

Taking Us To Portland

2010-09-18T23:01:00.000-07:00

Rainier to Portland!

Today we woke to more dry weather (!) in our tent in Rainier, OR. The forecast didn't look too promising last night, so we set our alarms for 6:30 in hopes of getting some miles in before the rain started falling (again).

That plan didn't work out, but we were able to get our tent broken down in dry weather and clean up before our ride (as clean as you can get using a gas station sink). Moreover, although it didn't stay dry for us all day, it wasn't exactly pouring either. Compared to much of the last few days of riding, today ended up being quite manageable.

We rode the 53 miles into Portland without interruption (other than one flat tire) and only two quick stops (to fill up water bottles and refuel with some some Bear Naked granola bars), and got in just after 11. It was nice to get to our destination early in the day and have plenty of time to take in the city and enjoy ourselves leisurely.

Unfortunately, the weather got progressively less pleasant as the afternoon wore on, and most of our activities were postponed. We made the most of it though with a family lunch at a salad bar restaurant that was fantastic. We took our time there and enjoyed a nutritious meal, coffee, and ice cream. The rain can't keep our spirits down!

Our post-lunch destination was the home of our new friend Alisha, who I met on Couchsurfing.org (a great site if you haven't heard of it). She's offered her home (and her roommates as well) to us for the weekend, and we couldn't be more grateful. Their generosity has given us a great launchpad to go out and meet some people/promote the TYB cause in Portland.

Rochester to Rainier

Yet another day of waking up in the rain...

Either we offended the powers that be, or we're just paying our dues. We spent the first few hours of the day in our tent, waiting out the rain and listening in vain to the drops of precipitation falling on our ceiling. Fortunately, we were extended a tremendous amount of hospitality by a local church in Rochester, WA and had a place where we could comfortably wait out the storm.

We gave it until noon, and with the weather as light as it had been all day we set out to make a dent in our riding. We're getting pretty good at riding in the rain, and knocking out a few miles in less than ideal weather didn't bother us.

After about 20 miles in the drizzle, things started to clear up. Our spirits lifted, blue skies shone overhead, and optimism started to prevail. It's funny how simple of a pleasure dry weather can be - and how overlooked it is from the comforts of home. This trip is sure to teach me a lot about myself and about the way I view life, and from this point on I'll be sure to never take pleasant weather for granted.

It turned out to be a great day for riding with some great scenery in the Pacific Northwest. The precipitation held off for the rest of the day, which was extremely pleasant.

We rode all through the day toward the Oregon border, with the feeling of progress that comes with completing a state's worth of riding as our motivation. Biking through Washington is a pretty big achievement, and we were excited to taste that accomplishment at the border.

Fortunately, our solid pace throughout the day brought us to the Lewis and Clark Bridge (crossing the Columbia River into Oregon) Longview, WA with about 15 minutes of pure daylight to spare. Unfortunately, I'm an idiot and thought I had "smarter" directions over a different bridge that was "up the road" and would take us "right into a great place to make camp for the night". As Wikipedia would so eloquently point out later:

The Lewis and Clark Bridge is the only bridge crossing the Columbia River from Washington to Oregon anywhere between Rainier, OR and Astoria, OR.

Oh, how that information could have served us well. Instead, we followed my magical secret directions on a 22 mile sightseeing trip around Longview (well, it would have been sightseeing if it wasn't dark out). We rode through the dark for over an hour, with me insisting all the while that we were on the right track. My directions did work - they took us right back to the same bridge we stood in front of some 75 minutes earlier (in the daylight). With no lights and a sense of recklessness, we tackled the bridge at night (sorry Mom). It worked (although we were less than thrilled to ride on the shoulder of a main highway cluttered with debris in the dark), and we made it to Oregon safe and sound. Lesson learned: use the tools at your disposal. Going into this trip, I was dead set on leaving the day-to-day directions to physical map-checking and word-of-mouth directions. I learned today that it's not worth risking our safety rolling the dice like that, especially when we have turn-by-turn directions at our fingertips via the blessing/curse of cell phones. I'll be struggling to find balance with the technology input to our route-making, but I'll be content to not put us in a precarious situation again.

Thrilled about setting our tent up in dry weather, we went to sleep happy and comfortable. My favorite night's sleep of the trip so far.

More Photos...

2010-09-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

these are of our time in and around Olympia - that wristband looks good on you, Elizabeth.

Photos from Olympia and Rochester

2010-09-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay - internet has been elusive! We're safe and sound in Portland now, and I'm blogging from the dry living room of our new friends Kathy, Savannah, Alisha, and Jordan. More to come!

Photos Coming Soon!

2010-09-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

The last 2 days' blogs are below, but due to technical difficulties (nothing serious!) we're not able to upload photos today. Check out the entires for the story, and check back tomorrow for more photos and updates!

Olympia to Rochester!

2010-09-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

Today started with a pleasant breakfast and espresso on Matt and Zach's porch, and a whole lotta sunshine. We said goodbye to our new friends, plotted our day's route, and headed southwest toward Bay Center, WA.

On our route today was a stop at the Mima Mounds, which was recommended by our friends as a must-see. We pedaled our way toward the Mounds, but took a wrong turn (again) which added a good 16 miles (again) to our day's route. We're really, really good at getting lost on bikes.

We eventually found the Mounds, and they were a pretty weird sight. Apparently caused by glacial erosion, the mounds are a sea of undulating rises and drops that stretch as far as the eye can see. It's pretty alien-looking.

Unfortunately, a few minutes after the Mounds we hit our second rainstorm of the trip. The rain kept falling for the next 30 miles or so, and we decided to stop into a gas station in Oakville, WA to warm up and dry off.

We consulted the clerk about our route to make sure we were still on the right path, only to find out that the next turn we had planned out was onto a gravel logging road. Ouch. Not something we wanted to tackle on bikes. We were presented with a tough choice - backtrack about 15 miles and take a detour toward our original destination, or to head south on a new route toward Portland. Adding miles in the pouring rain didn't seem all that appealing, so some improvisation was in order.

We stopped in Rochester for the night and enjoyed a great dinner of ham and eggs courtesy of Dylan's skills over a griddle. We went to sleep feeling full, happy, and (relatively) dry.

Our new route will be taking us closer to the Centralia-Chehalis Trail, and is much more of a direct route to Portland than our original. We decided to set up camp for the night outside of Rochester, WA and try and attack the remaining 108 miles to Portland when the weather clears. Given that it's STILL RAINING (going on 25 hours now), I feel like we made a good decision. Hopefully the rain stops soon and we can hit the road - we're anxious to get back to pedaling.

Seattle to Olympia!

2010-09-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

We woke up in in Seattle with full stomachs and a great night's sleep (thanks Kelley!) and set out for the Bremerton Ferry. Unfortunately we took our time getting out of home base this morning and despite flying down the waterfront trail as fast as we could, we missed the ferry by about 30 seconds. With an hour and 10 minutes to kill, we decided to pal around downtown Seattle and make the best of the free time with some sightseeing. We rode by Safeco Field (home of the Mariners), Qwest Field (home of the Seahawks), the Space Needle, the Seattle Art Museum, and Pike Place Market. It was a great hour of urban riding and sightseeing, and (this time) we caught our boat on time.

The ride on the Bremerton Ferry has been one of my favorite things in the world since I was a kid. The views from the boat, the cool wind on the bow, and the feeling of transportation are all a lot of fun. Knowing that we had a good 65 miles of backroads riding ahead of us along the Olympic Peninsula made it all the better.

We started our ride day with a quick stop for a coffee in Bremerton and double-checked our directions; then we were off. The riding along route 3 on the Olympic Peninsula was gorgeous, and we got some great views of the water along the way. We even rode past a chainsaw carving artist's shop that had all sorts of great work out on display.

Our riding took us to Shelton, WA, where we stopped in for a drink of water at the Olympic Deli. There, we were fortunate enough to meet Alice and Lyon, who are on their own tour from Seattle to San Francisco. They're riding for their own cause, raising money for Posada Esperanza - an immigrant women and children's support home in Austin, TX. They're great people, and they're riding for a great cause. You can follow them on their blog coastingnow.blogspot.com.

We left Alice and Lyon in Shelton and pressed on toward Olympia along some more great roads in great weather, arriving in Washington's capitol city around 5 o'clock. The ride took us right by the capitol building, which is perched above a lake and is quite the sight.

We met up with the Capital Cycling Club for a social ride, which was a lot of fun. Blaine and the rest of the riders were very supportive of what we're doing, and that means a lot to us. Of course, the ride was about 30 miles long, and that pushed our total to 100 miles for the second day in a row. We're earning it - that's for sure!

We left ride and went to refuel and warm up, stopping into a Borders bookstore for some warm coffee. There we met Elizabeth, who made us some great espresso drinks and was super supportive of what we're doing. If you're ever in Olympia, stop by and say hello - she's a rad chick.

Hopping back on our bikes, we rode up the street to find our new friend, Matt, who offered us a place to stay for the night. To our surprise, we arrived to a house full of bike enthusiasts, many of whom play on Han Polo and the Tusken Raiders, an Olympia-based bike polo team. They're good people, and we had a lot of fun spending the night talking bikes and playing music. I even went out for a bike ride (yes, another one) with them around midnight, which was a blast. They're playing in a bike polo tournament in Vancouver this weekend - best of luck to them.

What a great day.

We'll put photos up just as soon as we can - technical difficulties!

Day 2 is in the books, and we're in Seattle

2010-09-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

In hindsight, Day 1 of the tour put a lot into perspective. We started in a leaky tent that we threw up in the dark, rode in the rain for 5 hours, and ate bagels. Today, we woke up in a perfectly pitched tent in new friend's cow pasture, rode in PERFECT weather for 7 hours, and ate freshly made muffaletta sandwiches. Weird, huh?

Life is full of surprises, especially when you meander about the US on a bike. Our new friends in the Hawken/Norris family sent us off this morning after a great night's sleep in their cow pasture with about 47 lbs in sandwiches, watermelon, and wine. I love that family.

We rolled our way into the Swinomish Indian Reservation, which was a highlight entirely because of an epic high five Eric and I both received from a real Indian on a real Indian reservation (it's not called a "Native American Reservation" on the signs, so I'm not going to be politically correct, either).

After a few great miles in the sunshine in farm country, we met up with Amy (our lovely support team director) and wolfed down some muffaletta sandwiches. After 50 some miles, they tasted like buttered lovin'.

I stopped after that to grab an espresso at Caffe D'Arte in Marysville, WA, and was very thankful to have Sarah (or Sara?) take care of the expense. That was sweet of her, and I appreciate it. Canada to Mexico or not, it's still very flattering to be bought a cup of coffee. I felt like an attractive girl for a second, or at least what I think attractive girls feel like, being bought stuff all the time.

We also got "lost" today (translation: we're bike geeks and like to add miles to our rides) and our total mileage went from a planned 78 to a grand total of 105. That makes 12 centuries for me this year. Count em'. Kobe.

After snaking our way all the way to the north Seattle area, we hopped on the Burke-Gilman Trail and chatted with Heather Wireman, a lovely girl that works for Precor. She's a full-time bike commuter, and unfortunately couldn't join us for our awareness ride today due to a marathon training schedule. As a triathlete who is dumb enough to have signed up for an Ironman next year, I understand wholeheartedly. Train hard, Heather! In addition to meeting Heather, it was great to see so many people outside getting their fit on today. Good work, Seattle.

Last but not least, I want to give some shoutouts to our friends at Bear Naked and the Montlake Bicycle Shop. They've been super supportive of what we're doing, and none of this would be quite as pleasant without their support. Thanks guys - we love you.

And special props to the Love Sack girls - go get that bike and start riding! You look great in those wristbands.

Right now I'm eating some fresh baked "cookies". Check out that photo. You can taste a whole lotta bad for you. Thanks Kelley!

First Day of the Border2Border Tour!

2010-09-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

Well I'm lying under the stars (actually it's the roof of our RIDICULOUS palace of a tent, which is under the stars) as I write this, and I don't have a cell phone or the internet. What I do have is a renewed sense of community with my world, a full belly, 80 miles and 2 countries under my legs, and my closest friends around me. Although, at the start, today had less than optimal conditions, things couldn't have gone any better.

We woke up in our rain-saturated tent pitched haphazardly in a gravel lot in the Surrey Athletic Complex in Surrey, BC, Canada with less than a good night's sleep. Something about the uncertainty of ninja camping (camping with no permission, reason to be in that particular spot, or any sign that you were coming or were there when you're gone - practiced by vagabonds, gypsies, adventure travelers, and indie rock musicians the world over) in a foreign country, in the rain, on gravel doesn't add up to quality rest. Rainstorm and ominous beginnings aside, this was our start.

We hurriedly packed our tent up in the rain and wolfed down some breakfast before first light (again, not the best night's sleep, so we were up early), and we were off for the US-Canadian Border. A few gratuitous "We're in Canada!" shots in front of signs with "km/h" and French writing on them slowed us down, but we were at the border pretty early in our day. The border stop was fun (more gratuitous photos - this time in front of the "Welcome to the USA" sign, and getting our passports stamped), and I celebrated with a cup of coffee stateside in Blaine, WA.

I was very much looking forward to the day's riding because I have ridden it all before, and I was eager to show Eric these roads. The persistent rain beat on us for the entire morning, but we made progress all the way through Ferndale, Bellingham, and Fairhaven before lunch, and enjoyed some breathtaking sights of the bay along the way.

We started up the Chuckanut climb (one of the big obstacles in our way today in terms of challenging terrain), but we agreed that attempting it soaked through with no feeling in our toes wasn't a good idea (again, today didn't start with the most ideal of weather) . That being the case, we stopped at the firehouse at the base of the climb to try and warm up for a bit before tackling our big climb. That specific firehouse was being manned by Ty and Sabrina, who couldn't have been more gracious hosts. We were treated to Seahawks football on TV, a dryer for our clothes, good company, and a place to rest our feet for a bit. If you're ever in the Bellingham/Chuckanut area, stop at the Whatcom Country Fire Dept Chuckanut Station and say hello. And please give Ty and Sabrina my best.

Enthused by our new friends (and by the fact that the rain had faded to a drizzly mist) we hammered out up to the top of Chuckanut to enjoy the view. Every time I get there, I'm blown away by that view.

Descending into the Skagit Valley, we cruised along comfortably until we passed an alpaca farm. Yes, an alpaca farm. I can't even begin to explain what runs though your mind when after hours of cycling in the rain you get to exclaim, "Hey - look! Alpaca!". For those of you who don't know what alpaca are (we didn't), they're a relative of the llama. Kinda weird animals to spot while on a cycling trip in Washington. Of course, we stopped in to learn more about them, and were treated to some great conversation with Walter and Lois, the owners of the ranch, and to a tour of the gift shop. If you ever want an alpaca sweatervest, I only know of one place to get them.

Pressing on, our next stop was Deception Pass. It's a state park on the mainland of Washington and Whidbey Island, joined by a visually striking bridge. The area is one of my favorite places in the US (I haven't traveled enough yet to say "the world") to watch a sunset.

The sun having bid us goodbye for the day, we shifted our priorities toward finding a place to build our home for the night. We asked about staying in the state park - no go. We asked a shop clerk for suggestions - no go. So I set out in search of a good spot on my own two wheels, and stumbled across a sign that said "Parking Here". That sign was the gateway to a grass lot, and that was enough for me. I biked back to the rest of our team and had them follow me back to our haven for the night, optimistic that I had solved our problem. We all agreed that we were in legitimate enough place, but were worried about the fact that it was obviously private property, Our worries were rationalized about 2 minutes later, when a young lady wandered up with a "Who are you?" look on her face. Fortunately for us, she happened to be one of the nicest people I've ever met. Her name was Alicia, and she is one of the many wonderful members of the Hawken/Norris family. They not only offered us a place to stay for the night in the form of our predetermined campsite, but they invited us into their home like family. Much of their family was in town for a huge celebration, and the afterparty was still in full force. We had a great time meeting everyone, and on our way out we were graciously offered more food than we'll be able to eat in the next week. One of the nicest families I've ever met.

Update: On second thought ( knowing Eric and I), the food will be gone on Tuesday. I'll keep you posted.

It turned out to be a fantastic day, and one that I couldn't have scripted any better. I'm incredibly fortunate.

When you want something with all of your heart, all of the universe conspires to help you make it so - Paulo Coelho

Seattle Critical Mass!

2010-08-31T14:23:00.000-07:00

We joined Seattle's Critical Mass ride this past Friday and had a great time meeting some Seattlite bike commuters. There's a good base of bike enthusiasts here, and some good work is being done. Check out www.cascade.org for some of the progress that our friends at the Cascade Bicycle Club are doing.

Border2Border leaves in less than 2 weeks! Show your support by picking up a TYB shirt or wristband from our eStore on www.takeyourbike.org today!

Lots of News!!!!!

2010-08-26T11:29:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of positive news in the TakeYourBike world in the last week, and we couldn't be more excited it. We're less than 4 weeks away from the start of the Border2Border tour, and things are getting crazy. Everyone on the TYB team is working full-speed to make sure that we're ready to go on September 12, and that we're set up for success.

First, remember that our jersey giveaway and Border2Border ride contest is still going on with Forever Athletes and you can enter FREE here. A few answers about what you do to stay active (uh... ride your bike?!?!?) and you've got a chance to win a TYB and Forever Athletes cycling jersey and a chance to ride with us on the Border2Border tour. How cool is that?

While we're on the subject of TYB swag, it's worth mentioning that our store is up and running on the TakeYourBike site and you're just a few clicks away from ordering your very own TYB shirt or "Going somewhere?" wristband (check out those photos above!). All proceeds from our swag sales go to support the Border2Border tour and the riders that will be out there with us. We need your support, and you need a cool new shirt, right?

As you may or may not know, while we're out on the Border2Border, we'll be leading a bunch of awareness/group rides. We want to take the time to meet all of you that ride your bikes in the great towns and cities that we're riding through this fall, and we want to hear your stories and ride your roads. All of the information will be out on the TYB site as we start nailing down details. The first stop of the tour includes a ride in Seattle out of the Montlake Bike Shop (good people) at 7 PM on Monday, September 13. We'll be there at 5 PM with some TYB swag - come by and hang out and say hello before the ride leaves at 7! We won't be alone - our sponsor Bear Naked Granola will be out with some samples of their tasty products to help fuel us all for the ride!

On that note, we'd like to take a minute to thank our sponsors for their support. It means the world to us, and it helps make all of this possible. They're all great companies with solid values and some of the best teams of employees in the world. Check them all out:

WOW. We're still an up-and-coming orginzation, but we're blowing up in the granola world:

Forever Athletes!

2010-08-17T13:02:00.000-07:00

We've partnered with Forever Athletes (www.forever-athletes.com) to give you all a chance to come ride with us on the Border2Border ride! Take the quick survey at

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Ride_Contest

and you'll be entered to win a FA/TYB cycling jersey, get hooked up with some additional swag from TYB, and get some funding to get you on the road with us for as much of the Border2Border ride as you can fit into your schedule. Get excited - this is your chance to get on board and TAKE YOUR BIKE!

The Border2Border Route and Calendar!

2010-08-10T22:43:00.003-07:00

Pretty cool, huh?

September 12, 2010

Sumas, British Columbia, Canada to Lake Cavanaugh, WA

about 66 miles

Our first day! We're going to start the day in Canada with a cold Canadian beer (after all, we're bookending this tour with a Tecate in Tecate) and a few miles in the great white North, then head south to Lake Cavanaugh in Washington state.

September 13, 2010

Lake Cavanaugh, WA to Seattle, WA

about 75 miles

Some more pretty riding in rural Washington, all funneling toward the Emerald City. We'll be leading a group ride in Seattle in the evening.

September 14, 2010

Seattle, WA to Olympia, WA

about 82 miles, including the Bremerton Ferry

This day starts in Seattle with a morning ride to the ferry dock and the always-pleasant ferry to Bremerton. From there we'll be riding the peninsula to the state capitol in Olympia. We'll be leading a group ride in Olympia.

September 15, 2010

Olympia, WA to Bay Center, WA

about 80 miles

We'll be riding through the rolling hills of rural Washington toward the Pacific Ocean, and starting our first of many miles on US 101. We'll be camping at the Bay Center Campground.

September 16, 2010

Bay Center, WA to Jewell Meadows, OR

about 74 miles

Today will mark our first sighting of the western coast of America - we'll be laying our eyes on the Pacific Ocean in Long Beach, WA before crossing the Oregon Coast Highway Bridge to Astoria, OR, and our second state of the trip. Our day continues past Astoria into the Catsop State Forest and Jewell Meadows.

September 17, 2010

Jewell Meadows, OR to Portland, OR

about 70 miles

The City of Roses! Our 5th day takes us from the forests of Oregon to it's capitol city. We'll ride from Jewell Meadows to the capitol building in Portland, and lead a group ride in the evening in Portland.

September 18, 2010

Rest Day/Awareness Ride Day in Portland

Although we won't be putting a dent in our touring miles, we'll be leading at least 2 group rides in Portland and doing some promotional work with a few local shops and clubs. Come join us!

September 19, 2010

Portland, OR to Lincoln City, OR

about 93 miles

Our legs "fresh" after a down day in Portland, we'll be knocking out 90+ miles for the first time in our trip today. We'll be heading west all day in search of the Pacific Ocean, arriving in LIncoln City and spending the night on the beach. We may be leading a group ride in Portland first thing in the morning - keep posted!

September 20, 2010

Lincoln City, OR to Winchester Bay, OR

about 97 miles

Even more miles! Inching toward a single-day century now.... Today's ride is simple: take the Pacific Coast Bicycling Highway south while looking at the Pacific Ocean all day. If you don't like good scenery, this isn't your kind of bike ride. If you like jaw-dropping postcard views all day, then come join us.

September 21, 2010

Winchester Bay, OR to Port Orford, OR

about 93 miles

Well, after waking up on the beach after yesterday''s ride, we assume that we'll be into doing pretty much the same thing. So we're going to stay on the coast and take 101 south to Port Orford, enjoying more views and great roads along the way.

September 22, 2010

Port Orford, OR to Klamath, CA

about 105 miles

High five! Our first single-day century of the tour also takes us into our third state, California. We'll be staying on the Pacific Coast Bicycling Highway all day, crossing into California about 2/3 of the way though our day. Camping on the beach is still the accommodation of choice, and tonight's venue will be Flint Ridge.

September 23, 2010

Klamath, CA to Eureka, CA

about 73 miles

We'll be sticking to our oceanfront riding+forests theme, enjoying both the Pacific Ocean and the giants of Redwood National Park today, before ending up in Eureka, CA. We'll be sure to explore some of the famous mansions and architecture the town is known for while we're there.

September 24, 2010

Rest Day/Awareness Ride Day in Eureka

Going to rest our legs and spread the word with the friendly locals of Eureka - we'll be leading a group ride this afternoon.

September 25, 2010

Eureka, CA to Leggett, CA via the Avenue of the Giants

about 88 miles

Well, this has all of the makings of one of the highlight days of our tour. After our "rest" day in Eureka, we'll be heading inland to the Avenue of the Giants - one of the most popular natural attractions in the world. Trees bigger than houses? Why yes, thank you.

September 26, 2010

Leggett, CA to Point Arena, CA

about 90 miles

If there's a way to one-up the natural beauty of the Avenue of the Giants, the ride on California State Route 1 all day might just do it. We'll let you know. Want to see for yourself? Come ride with us.

September 27, 2010

Point Arena, CA to Santa Rosa, CA

about 82 miles

Another gorgeous day riding the Pacific Coast Highway in California to on of the biggest cycling towns in the world, Santa Rosa, CA.

September 28, 2010

Rest Day/Awareness Ride Day in Santa Rosa, CA

We'll be leading some group rides and meeting some of the local cycling population in Santa Rosa - come say hello!

September 29, 2010

our own King's Ridge Gran Fondo

103 miles, about 8,500 feet of climbing

Some of us will be retracing the 2009 Gran Fondo route (yes, just for fun) while the rest of the team will be enjoying an additional day in Santa Rosa. The King's Ridge Gran Fondo is local pro Levi Leipheimer's home ride. We can't make the event this year, so we're setting out on our own ride. It's going to be awesome.

September 30, 2010

Santa Rosa, CA to Napa and Sonoma, CA

about 70 miles

All of this cycling has made us thirsty, so we decided on a detour day out to California's fabled wine country. Nothing like a few vineyard tours to relax those aching muscles...

October 1, 2010

Sonoma, CA to Muir Beach, CA

about 61 miles

A nice short day is on the calendar for our first day of October - after numerous vineyard tours the day before, we'll probably be glad we've only got 61 miles to go today! The day's ride ends on scenic Muir Beach, CA in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Another night spent sleeping on the beach....

October 2, 2010

Muir Beach, CA to San Francisco, CA

28 miles

Definitely going to be one of the best days of the tour. We're going to rise with the sun on the beach, then enjoy the ride into San Francisco over the world famous Golden Gate Bridge. The day will then be spent touring San Francisco and meeting some of the enthusiast commuters that tackle those famous hills every day. We'll be leading 2 group rides in San Francisco today.

October 3, 2010

Rest Day/Awareness Ride Day in San Francisco, CA

We'll be leading some group rides and touring the city - if you live in San Francisco, come show us your roads! We're excited to also take a trolley somewhere while we're here...

October 4, 2010

San Francisco to Opal Cliffs, CA via Half Moon Bay

about 82 miles

Leaving the City by the Bay, we'll head south along the coast to Half Moon Bay, one of the more famous beaches on the California coast for an unwinding day at the beach (and some bodysurfing!). After dinner, we'll take a twilight ride on to Opal Cliffs, CA for a night's sleep on one of their lovely beaches.

October 5, 2010

Opal Cliffs, CA to Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA

about 50 miles

Taking it easy today with only 50 miles, but with all of them along Monterey Bay, and with the day ending in Carmel-by-the-Sea, I think we'll manage.

October 6, 2010

Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA to Morro Bay, CA

about 123 miles

Well, here's where we put those legs to the test after an easy day yesterday. Tackling all of Big Sur in one day - a California cyclist's dream. Despite the mileage and the thousands of feet of climbing (or maybe because of the miles and climbing), the consistent views of the Pacific should make today one to remember.

October 7, 2010

Morro Bay, CA to Gaviota, CA

about 93 miles

More coastal riding and stops in San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria should make today's ride a real treat. And at the end of the day? More camping on the beach!

October 8, 2010

Gaviota, CA to Ventura, CA

about 60 miles

A pleasant coastal ride today, with a stop for a Friday afternoon group ride in Santa Barbara. We'll then be cruising along Highway 1 around sunset all the way to Ventura and yet another night spent on the beach under the stars.

October 9, 2010

Ventura, CA to Beverly Hills, CA

about 83 miles

Starting the day with a Saturday morning group ride in Ventura, CA, we'll then head out for LA, stopping in Camarillo for some sightseeing (Chris was born there, and wants to see the town...). Up next, a stop at the Santa Monica Pier and some time at the beach! The day ends with a self-guided tour of Beverly Hills, a evening cruise down Sunset Blvd. and a nighttime view of the famous Hollywood sign.

October 10, 2010

Rest Day/Awareness Ride Day in Los Angeles, CA

We'll be leading some group rides and touring the city - if you live in Los Angeles, come show us your roads! We know there's a lot to see, so give us some ideas of some good places to see and things to do while we're here!

October 11, 2010

Rest Day

Okay, so we're going to be tourists for a day and enjoy Los Angeles.

October 12, 2010

Los Angeles, CA to Palmdale, CA

about 67 miles

This is the setup ride for tomorrow... 67 nice and flat miles...

October 13, 2010

Palmdale, CA to Big Bear Lake, CA

about 136 miles with about 14,200 feet of climbing

Ouch. Yes, we're bold enough to think we can complete stage 6 of the Amgen Tour of California. It'll be fun to look at the ProTour riders' times when we're done.

October 14, 2010

Rest Day at Big Bear Lake, CA

If you think we're doing anything but sleeping and eating under the sun at Big Bear Lake after yesterday, you're nuts.

October 15, 2010

Big Bear Lake, CA to San Bernandino, CA

about 42 miles

Nice, easy day through the San Bernandino National Forest, culminating in a group ride in San Bernandino.

October 16, 2010

San Bernandino, CA to Long Beach, CA

about 85 miles

Our Saturday takes us back through the concrete jungle of suburban Los Angeles, stopping in Pasadena for a group ride and a sightseeing trip to the Rose Bowl. Then on toward the Pacific Ocean once again - we'll be spending the night in Long Beach/Huntington Beach.

October 17, 2010

Group Rides in Long Beach, CA and Huntington Beach, CA

about 18 miles, plus group rides

Ah, Sundays. Nothing like meeting new friends over a few miles of Pacific coastline riding.

October 18, 2010

Rest Day in Huntington Beach, CA

We're going swimming and working on our tans.

October 19, 2010

Huntington Beach, CA to Oceanside, CA

about 52 miles

A full day back on Highway 1 on the Pacific coast, stopping in Laguna Beach, Dana Point and San Clemente for some sightseeing.

October 20, 2010

Oceanside, CA to San Diego, CA

about 40 miles

Another pleasant day on Highway 1 - this one is to be the last of our tour. We'll be passing through Carlsbad and Encinitas en route to San Diego, our last big city of the trip.

October 21, 2010

San Diego

We may go to the zoo..... who am I kidding, we're going to the zoo.

October 22, 2010

Group Ride in San Diego

We'll be leading an afternoon group ride to celebrate Friday evening - come join us.

October 23, 2010

More group rides!

We'll be leading a morning group ride, spending the day exploring the city, then leading a twilight ride. It's going to be fun....

October 24, 2010

Our last group rides!

These Sunday rides will be the last TYB group rides of the Border2Border tour, with one in the AM and a low key ride in the PM. Ah, Sundays...

October 25, 2010

San Diego, CA to Tecate, Baja California, Mexico

about 50 miles

THIS IS IT! Our last day of the tour! All of those miles have culminated in a short ride from San Diego to the Tecate Brewery in Tecate, Mexico. It's going to be a tasty beer....

Want to come join us for a day or two? Email us at outriding@takeyourbike.org.

Pedal Power!

2010-06-16T16:20:00.000-07:00

Pedal powered awesomeness.... yes, you can make smoothies and mobilize a bar by riding a bike. How cool is that?

Rush Hour

2010-05-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

This is what rush hour should look like...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-AbPav5E5M

Very cool

2010-05-06T22:04:00.000-07:00

This is a pretty extreme example of how to get around on a bike, but we support it. He's riding, and you should, too. Bikes are so cool...

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1908415

Progress In Seattle

2010-04-27T19:20:00.000-07:00

Very cool news out of Seattle! Thank you to Josh Cohen, Publicola's self-proclaimed bike nerd for breaking the story.

QUEEN ANNE HOTEL SHOWS BIKES SOME LOVE
Posted by Josh Cohen on April 13, 2010 at 1:09 PM
from Publicola - Seattle's News Elixir

Seattle might not be getting a public bike-share program anytime soon, but a Queen Anne hotel is getting ready to offer its own version to guests, free of charge. The brand-new Maxwell Hotel is located on Roy St. in lower Queen Anne, directly north of Seattle Center. The hotel’s owners worked with local cyclist and blogger DL Byron of Bike Hugger to procure eight Torker T-300 commuter bikes (with front baskets, of course), along with helmets and locks, for their guests to use.

The Maxwell’s sister hotel, the Watertown in the U District, already offers bikes to guests (though Bike Hugger was not involved) and has found them to be extremely popular.

“We want to promote Seattle’s bike-friendliness and promote a healthy lifestyle,” said Maxwell Hotel manager Lai Chin.

With only eight bikes planned for the stable, cycling is obviously going to be more of a niche at the hotel than a primary form of transportation. Still, the Maxwell deserves credit for offering their guests a free, clean, healthy option for exploring the city.

The Torker T-300 is on the lower end of the company’s commuter offerings, but it should be plenty of bike for hotel guests. The three-speed internally-geared hub will offer a wide-enough gear range for the flat roads and bike paths the bikes will mostly see; coaster braking is intuitive to most people; and rear racks and front baskets offer the requisite cargo-carrying capacity every good city bike needs.

Speaking from experience (I live a few blocks away from the hotel), the Maxwell is in a prime biking location for bicycling. Pike Place Market, the waterfront, and Pioneer Square are all readily accessibly by safe, relatively flat routes from lower Queen Anne, and a short, flat jaunt up Westlake Ave connects you to Fremont and, more importantly, the Burke-Gilman Trail.

The bike program hasn’t rolled out quite yet (the hotel just opened three weeks ago), but with any luck I’ll be seeing lots of blue Torker 3-speeds rolling through my neighborhood this summer.

Growing Up

2010-04-19T10:41:00.001-07:00

As TYB.org is growing into its new role in the global advocacy community, we're still cutting our teeth. That being the case, we've started a new Facebook page for the organization that's different from the old group page. Check it out at

http://www.facebook.com/pages/TakeYourBikeorg/112386508795705

at subscribe as fan if you haven't already. It will be the only way to follow us on Facebook starting next week, when the group page gets taken down.

Thanks for following us - see you out riding!

It's Official!

2010-04-15T05:12:00.000-07:00

The takeyourbike.org homepage is launched - check it out when you get the chance. Go to takeyourbike.org and be one of the first!

See you out riding!

An Article Worth Reading

2010-04-14T11:28:00.001-07:00

David Byrne (yes, the same David Byrne from Talking Heads) is an avid commuter advocate. He's one of the good guys. And he also happens to be a good writer. Below is a link to his review of Jeff Mapes' "Pedaling Revolution", a cool book.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/books/review/Byrne-t.html

Mr. Byrne's own "Bicycle Diaries" is worth a read as well - it's a diary of his commuting experiences around the world. Fun stuff for those of you who are travel junkies as well as bike enthusiasts.

Hope you all get out riding soon! Rubber side down!

Takeyourbike.org launches tomorrow - be sure to check out the new site!

Biking in Colorado Springs!

2010-04-09T07:12:00.001-07:00

Did 65 miles in Colorado Springs, CO yesterday - one of the most rewarding but hardest rides of my life. Headwinds over half the day and a lot of typical Colorado-style climbs. But I was rewarded with a nice, fast downhill every time. If you have a chance to make it to Colorado Springs and put some rubber down - do it. The Garden of the Gods is breathtaking.

Took the time to preach the TakeYourBike gospel to some CO Springs cyclists - Denver today to keep up the mission!

Bicycle Benefits

2010-04-07T22:32:00.001-07:00

Some cool work being done out in the real world:

http://1world2wheels.org/blog/does-your-town-have-bicycle-benfits/

Good work, Ian. Keep it up!

Now There's Proof!

2010-04-07T19:57:00.001-07:00

A study was just released that affirms what all of us who take our bike already know - using active transportation (biking, walking, etc.) instead of a car to commute makes us happier people.

http://blog.cascade.org/2010/04/want-to-be-happy/

Thank you to the Cascade Bike Club for posting this article. If you haven't checked them out yet (especially if you live in the Pacific Northwest), you should: http://www.cascade.org/

Life is like riding a bicycle; in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving. - Albert Einstein

Friends!

2010-04-06T19:22:00.001-07:00

Take the time to check out some bike-friendly friends of ours in VA on their blog at http://needtobike.wordpress.com/. Keep up the good work, guys!

We're Building!

2010-04-06T18:45:00.000-07:00

As we're quickly approaching the April 15 launch date for TakeYourBike.org, the revolution is building... You can now find us on Facebook and Twitter, so join the team and keep in touch. The links to each page are below - click away and start spreading the word! See you out riding!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=115260551824085

www.twitter.com/takeyourbike

How Cool Is This?

2010-04-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

Tech exclusive: Colnago developing Da Vinci's flying bike

By:: Daniel Benson
Published:: April 1, 11:25,
Updated:: April 1, 10:56
Edition:: First Edition Cycling News, Thursday, April 1, 2010

Ernesto Colnago shows the only way for the 'ColnaGo-Up' to head... skywards.

view thumbnail gallery

Revolutionary transportation more than just a pipe dream

Colnago founder and managing director Ernesto Colnago sensationally revealed that the Italian bike manufacturer has spent the last few years working towards the production of a prototype of a flying bicycle that is partly based on drawings done by Leonardo Da Vinci in the 15th century.

Colnago confirmed his development team has been working on this incredible innovation after rumours started to circulate during the recent Taipei bike show.

Initial designs for the machine that is likely to revolutionise transport planning across the world were based on Da Vinci's plans for a human-powered ornithopter, an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings like a bird. Drawn up in the 1480s, Da Vinci's drawings sketched out a machine in which the pilot lies down on a plank and works two large, membranous wings using hand levers, foot pedals and a system of pulleys.

Over the subsequent five centuries many attempts have been made to produce a working model of Da Vinci's designs. All have ultimately failed due to over-reliance on human muscle power, primarily in the arms.

However, Colnago's team of expert engineers have hit upon a simple modification to the Da Vinci's original design that, they say, makes their version of the ornithopter a viable mode of transport. For the moment, they are refusing to give precise details of this modification but it is rumoured to stem from developments made during recent years in recumbent/human-powered vehicles. In other words, Colnago's engineers are producing a machine based on leg rather than arm power.

Colnago was tight-lipped about when the machine will receive its first public airing but did not deny reports that it would be used during a stage of the Giro d'Italia. Indeed, a number of Italian riders have admitted to taking part in training sessions with the almost silent craft tracking and filming them from above.

"Unlike race helicopters, you can completely forget it's there," said one Colnago-CSF rider. "I think the riders will welcome its introduction because it will get rid of the constant clatter of helicopters and we'll be able to hear ourselves think again."

One key problem that Ernesto Colnago did admit needs to be resolved is the question of what to call the new prototype. At the moment its working title is the ColnaGo-Up. Fans should are encouraged to post their own suggestions on Colnago's website - with a free ride in the new ColnaGo-Up going to the winner.

Progress!

2010-03-31T12:11:00.000-07:00

Cool news today:

A study released by the Census Bureau and the American Community Survey shows that only 54% of Seattleites drove to work alone last year. That means more carpooling, more ferries, more walking, more buses, and most importantly - more bikes.

Good work, Seattle.

Inaugural Post

2010-03-31T11:52:00.000-07:00

This is the first of many blog posts to come - so keep posted. The official site launches in just 15 days at www.takeyourbike.org - mark your calendars!

We'd write more to kick things off, but we've got some riding to do. Keep the rubber side down!

Cheers,

The TakeYourBike.org Team