Changing Gears

Back in the saddle again

2012-02-09T19:02:00.000-08:00

We spent the winter months in beautiful San Diego, CA hanging Christmas lights and picking up shifts bartending or serving whenever possible. A few months spending time with my brothers Joe and CJ and making a few dollars to enable us to get back on our bikes for another adventure. Ryan spent our last days in San Diego in his typical departure ritual of preparing the bikes for travel (finding boxes and packing material and breaking them down to their smallest capacity), going through all of our gear, and simply tying up all lose ends. I was lucky enough to have a few days work-free to soak up as much time as possible with my brothers. The last two weeks, we managed to kayak (and were lucky enough to see dolphins, sea lions and whales), camp in the desert, watch CJ's new band The Deadly Birds perform and sailed. A great way to end a two+ month stretch of hard work. I will miss my brothers so much as they are both such fantastic people and we all have a great time together. I am so lucky.

Oregon into California

2011-11-12T07:54:00.000-08:00

Since we are not ever really in a hurry, we always always opt for the less busy roads. This often means more hills, less towns (so we need to carry more water and food), less cars and longer routes. Some people ride from point A to B with their miles per day preplanned because that is either just how they are or that is all the time allotted, therefore not giving them a choice. Riding as we have, I would definitely recommend going each day with how you feel. This leads to many experiences that may not have occurred otherwise when there are "have-to's" involved. Head down and pedaling to knock out miles to your destination rather than taking the time to explore or chat with the locals, I think you miss out.

Through the heart of Oregon south to California

2011-11-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

Extending our stay in Portland to have more time with dad and Gina, we got a ride up to Mt. Hood, saving us two days of uphills riding. The route we took south was simply stunning, that is the best word I can come up with when trying to describe the next two weeks of our ride. The trees surrounding us were mostly pine with an occasional clump of fall turning Aspens thrown in. Neither of us could get over the beauty of the fall colors. Probably because of the time of year, we were often the only ones on these curvy roads, the only sound coming from the spin of our tires on the pavement, and an occasional gust of wind. It was so calming and is now near the top of our list for best rides since we started riding a year and a half ago. Cruising through little towns, we would stop for a bite whenever we could and loaded up on meals to fix on our campstove because of the great distances between places. Topping off our water is always something we do with each faucet we see.

Eastern Washington to Portland, OR

2011-11-02T17:07:00.000-07:00

Taking the 20 east to west across Washington, we followed a beautiful road with a more than decent bike lane, courteous cars and a lot of up and down riding. 5 passes in 5 days, climbing anywhere from 2500 feet to just over 4000 feet. People are often most amazed that we make these long climbs, but to be honest, getting it all over with and ending with a cruisey, long decent, passes are preferable compared to the rolling hills of long climbs and little decent.

Washington - Pictures

2011-10-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

Wild camping

Little house on the prairie

The Methow Valley

Climbing up Washington Pass

North Cascades National Park

Lisa finds another blackberry patch

We love bakeries... a great one on Whidbey Island

Seattle icons

Traffic and exhaust... gotta take the bad with good

Wow...

Loved riding in Washington

Montana - Pictures

2011-09-26T14:23:00.000-07:00

Whats important in Montana

Best Bakery in the middle of Nowhere

Rest day activities

Fishing the north fork of the Flathead river

Nice little rainbow

?? "Stop Meth" or "Meth Stop" ??

Fat tire riding across the whitefish range

Mountain pass raspberry break

Where does this "road" go again?

Living the high life

Already in Eastern Washington

2011-09-24T11:50:00.000-07:00

We are heading off to a really late start, especially considering we have a 4000ft climb up Sherman Pass ahead of us with temperatures reaching almost 100 today. Yikes! I promise we will post pictures soon, I know, we are not very good at updating our blog on a consistent basis. A short blurb is that we have had an amazing ride thus far and there is definitely something to say about small town America. We have run into some of the most genuinely nice people and feel so fortunate to have had these experiences. A few days ago, after riding through the rough Forest Service roads (thank goodness for fat tires.....that are also the orginals if you can believe it, 15,000+ miles and they are still running strong) and sleeping in the woods, we were a bit beyond dirty and definitely ready for a shower. It was our first day in Idaho and a truck pulled off onto a road and stepped into our view to flag us down. He briefly asked where we were headed before offering us a hot shower and roof over our heads. Thank you nice man! Bob and Diane welcomed us into their home with our own little apartment over their garage, a few beers, a hot shower which was beyond spectacular, dinner out (which was definitely a treat as we rarely do that), fantastic conversation and just a chance for some basic interaction. We had such an amazing time and were once again reminded to pay these kind gestures forward whenever we have the chance.

Our next night was spent in beautiful Sandpoint visiting some of Gina's (my stepmom) cousins. They have two adorable children and gorgeous home that overlooks the spectacular town of Sandpoint. They fixed us a salmon dinner with a few beers and we laughed quite a bit. Again, such a treat to be able to spend time with these people. We are two lucky, go by the seat of their pants people.

Beautiful Montana

2011-09-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

Initially heading west out of Bozeman, we soon turned north to follow the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains up to Glacier. We were often the highest point around, riding with blue skies and temperatures in the low 90's. We were hot, sticky and sunburnt! The heat was so intense at one point that we took shade beside an electrical box that gave off a small rectangle of shade. Reaching Glacier National Park, we climbed the long anticipated Going-to-the-Sun road over the continental divide. The views were beyond specacular and the 26 mile downhill wasn't bad either. Spotting a few bears (one of which swam across the Missouri River in hopes of tasting our hamburger dinner) and moose along the way, we were always on the lookout for wildlife. We have had an amazing ride thus far up to Polebridge (taking the kind woman's offer of her cabin up here in the middle of nowhere) and will continue on the forest service roads over to Eureka before making our way to Sandpoint, ID.

Can you spot the bear in the river?

We could!

Glacier National Park

The long way down Going-to-the-Sun road

Our cabin for a few nights

Breakfast of champions... or at least breakfast for us! Polebridge Mercantile

Our Radio Interview

2011-09-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

While in Ohio, Ryan and I were interviewed on a radio show called the Outspoken Cyclist on the 9/3/11 show. We are interviewed within the first 5 minutes. Click on the link below to listen (which is at the bottom of the shows description):

http://www.wjcu.org/media/audio/shows/outspokencyclist

Last night in Bozeman

2011-09-07T07:07:00.000-07:00

Setting up camp by the light of the moon in a city park, tucked just inside a small patch of bushes, we thought we would sleep tight. 3:30am, a sprinkle of liquid hits our tent, similar sound to someone/something peeing on our fly. Maybe a spit of rain? Hopefully not a grizzy. Hopefully not wolves marking their territory. I freeze and my stomach turns to knots as my imagination turns to the worst. 10 minutes later, staying as quiet as possible, spit spit spit spit spit spit spit.....faster and faster. Ryan cracks up as the sprinklers shoot right at our tent. Thank goodness for our new fly! It lasted about an hour, every 5 minutes hitting the tent.

2 hours later, Ryan woke to a soaked left side. The water had pooled beneath the tent and forced its way through the floor. It's quite cold out, 30 or so degrees, still dark. Not much we can do. The sun started to rise around 6:30 and so did we. Packing up was quite a challenge, opting to put our wet possessions in our outside bags until we can spread out and dry with the sun. Cold fingers and toes, we rode to a great little coffee shop a few miles away where we were briefly approached by a fellow bicycle touring who has a cabin in Glacier. She quickly told us of her travels on a bike and gave us the address and code of her cabin to stay in. Every situation leads to something great. Some just take longer to come into fruition.

The kindness of a police officer - Writing

2011-09-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

Tucked in the corner at the airport with our gear spread out, a police officer walked up and asked us if we were planning on camping out here. It started a conversation of the area, giving us tips of roads to travel and advice regarding the grizzlies. We are in grizzly country. He asked if we had bear spray, which we do not at the moment but I had every intention of buying some in town. Flying with it is illegal and is often confiscated at the airport. He went to his office and returned with two cans of bear spray, saving us over $100. Ryan was shocked that the police actually gave him a weapon! Thank you friendly polieman. I feel safer already!

Unexpected turns in life - Writing

2011-09-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

June 20, 2011, I had a flight leaving from Detroit (where I was able to visit my sister and her family-extremely great to see them!) up to Anchorage. I would meet back up with Ryan to begin our ride from Anchorage down to San Diego. Our initial thoughts going into this bike touring lifestyle were to truly embrace the no destination, no agenda, no timeline motto. These next few months were a true testament of our words.

Ryan's mom has not been feeling well since back in March. June 19 she was told she needed invasive surgery to remove a section of her intestines. Our luxury in life of not having a job, rent, or any real have-to's, we completely changed gears and both made last minute plans to head to Ohio. It worked out very well and we both feel so fortunate that we were at a point in our lives where we could be there for them and help.

Hawaii - Pictures

2011-06-06T01:57:00.000-07:00

High on the ridge looking over Waimanalo

Oahu has some very uncrowded beaches if you know where they are

Char-su manapua Yum!

Climbing the waterfalls in Palolo valley

Getting up to the ridge required some faith in old ropes

Lisa not too happy with climbing down

while Todd happily descends to the crater

Hiking along the old lava rocks along the coast

Found this amazingly clear tide pool and happily went for a swim

Todd points out the fresh guavas

Lots of backgammon

Todd's neighbor Sam let us pick fresh mangos

Sam Sr. directs Lisa with the picking pole

Days and days of fresh mangos!

Makapu'u point

Bad day - broken toe #3 in 2011

Broken toe + Walmart = free motorized scooter ride

Hawaii - Writing

2011-06-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

Sitting in the airport waiting to board my plane to Portland, I am feeling a bit sad realizing how quickly time is passing. This is the first time Ryan and I have been apart since we started our trek April 1, 2010. Although we have only been apart for about an hour, I just feel off. Not myself. From talking to people, many often wonder how we spend so much time together and still get along. Ryan and I have figured out our niche so to speak. We flow very well together and talk about everything. There are times when one of us acts unreasonable and/or irrational, but we both always come back, apologize and move forward. From the beginning of our relationship, we have tried to live by this words, "You be you. I'll be me. We'll be us." It has done wonders and continues to be a foundation of our relationship.

Riding down under - Pictures

2011-05-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

Back on the bikes, now on the left side of the road

Unfortunately the tropical "wet" season was not over so we took shelter where we could find it

Waiting at the train station for a ride south and out of the monsoon conditions. This bench was our home for two days until the flooding subsided enough for the trains to run.

Little, black Australian flies. They are unfortunately very friendly

Climbing up into Border Ranges National Park

Lisa in the jungle of Nightcap National Park

Out of the mountains and back to the sea

South of Byron Bay

We love food... and meat pies are pretty high up on the list.

Three days on the old Glenn Innes road

We ask for local advice on "the least traveled road" Found it!

New South Wales

Riding along "Thunderbolts Way"

Piglet races at a local fair. I lost money on #3

Just so the cow has no delusions

Bogan dream machine

Gloucester to New Castle - Writing

2011-05-11T08:47:00.000-07:00

Continuing south from Gloucester, we had some time to kill before meeting friends in Newcastle. We would stop in most towns and ride our way off the direct paths. Why not? We didn't have anywhere to be, which was a good thing because we were often approached with questions about our travels. It was nice to not be in a hurry so we could take the time to meet the locals and share stories. Fanstastic people. Beautiful land.

To avoid the busy highways leading into Newcastle, we took little roads that led us across the water where we could take another ferry directly into Newcastle. The outskirts of town were quite industrial, but Newcastle was a supprisingly vibrant city; clean and filled with independent shops and restaurants. Finding our way through the city to Sean and Misty's place, we were thankful to be able to spend a long weekend with them, even making it to a local festival and of course drinking loads of delicious wine. Thank you Sean and Misty for your amazing hospitality. Boy do we owe A LOT of paybacks after this trip. Wherever our feet may land in the future, we definitely hope to be able to repay the kindness we have experienced.

Somehow our 6 months in Australia passed extremely quick. We (again using the word "we" loosely as Ryan did most of the work) used Sean and Misty's place to break down the bikes to prepare for shipping. Unfortunately, we did not get to spend time in Sydney, but the way we see this adventure is that we are getting to see the small towns rather than the cities. The big cities will be on a different journey in life. Taking the train to Sydney, we said goodbye to another wonderful experience and were quite looking forward to the 5 weeks in Hawaii with Todd and Laurel!

Byron Bay to Gloucester - Writing

2011-05-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

Although we wanted to spend time in Byron, we decided to keep moving because everything was inflated due to the holiday. It worked out well because Byron was extremely crowded because it is a desired holiday destination because. Rightfully so with the beautiful beaches and great surf breaks. Back on the bikes and we continued down the coast through Ballina, catching the Pacific Highway for the first time down toward Illuka. Riding the 26k on the Pacific Highway made us grateful that we had changed our original course, allowing for smaller roads with less traffic. The highway had very small shoulders with many cars and road trains. We couldn't wait to be off this highway.

Brisbane to Byron Bay - Writing

2011-05-11T08:36:00.000-07:00

Rather than following our initial plan of riding down the Pacific Highway along the coast, we took Daniel's advice and headed southwest out of Brisbane. Fewer cars and road trains, less people, and more nature. Right up our alley. We headed southwest to Beaudesert, making our way to Border Ranges National Park. Knowing we need to cover quite a large distance between towns, we stocked up and had enough dry food for 3 nights. A typical day of eating when we know we will not being hitting towns on a regular basis: oatmeal for breakfast, tuna packets in tortillas for lunch, nuts and dried dates for a snack, and a rice or noodle packet for dinner. It's amazing how delicious these meals actually are after spending the day pedaling.

We were extremely fortunate in finding great camping areas in the Border Ranges. One of the most beautiful spots was only 30 miles outside of Beaudesert. We set up camp along a river that homed platypus (although we spent a lot of time looking, we never saw anything more than bubbles) and strung our hammock under enormous trees that lined the water. A book in hand while swaying in the hammock is a relaxing time to kill a few hours. The camping areas often provide firewood from the timber mills, a great treat when spending the evening under the stars.

Arriving in Brisbane - Writing

2011-05-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

Finding our way out of cities is a reoccurring adventure. Brisbane was no different. A few hours of meandering, we made our way to the outskirts of the city but not far enough to stealth camp. We opted for the campground. Waiting at a light to cross, a guy pulled up next to us asking about our brand of bikes, Surly Long Haul Truckers. He was in the process of planning a long bike ride himself in the following year and had just purchased a Surly frame. After a few minutes of chatting, he offered a shower, dinner, conversation and a mattress on his family room floor. Traveling by bicycle has started many conversations that we would not otherwise have being in a car or touring by foot.

Stuck at the Train Station - Writing

2011-05-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

We arrived at the Mackay train station at noon, our train departure time was 11:50pm. 11 hours to kill was nothing compared to the thought of riding through weeks of rain. The train station workers could not have been nicer, letting us set up shop on one of the benches to cook and giving us access to hot water for tea and coffee. I know I keep saying this, but a fantastic lesson I keep learning through life means of travel is how little gestures and instances make the biggest differences in life.

A few hours into our 11 hour wait, the weather intensified and caused the tracks north of us to completely flood. Our train was not going anywhere anytime soon.

Leaving Shute Harbor - Writing

2011-05-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

It is truly astounding how quickly 3 months can and did go by for us. Where in the world did the time go? And what did we do with all that time? I guess that is the real question. Living in the tropics is a completely different way of life, a much slower life. Much slower because it is so ridiculously hot and humid. Never before have I experienced weather like this, the constant heat and humidity that surrounds us. There is no wonder how everything is go green and lush and why the pace of life is similar to a turtle.

2 weeks ago, walking from the sitting area into the kitchen (I made delicious cookies that I later cursed.....epicurious recipe for sugar cookies in case you were wondering and extremely easy to make), I caught my pinky toe on a 2 inch board. There is a hole in the kitchen floor where a staircase will soon lead to the downstairs apartment. This hole is covered by pieces of plywood and a carpet. Occasionally knocking the boards over the past few months, I did not have an excuse of not knowing what was there.

Life in Shute Harbor - Pictures

2011-04-13T14:03:00.000-07:00

Our view from the house over Shute Harbor

Spent a great deal of time in here

Giant insects in the tropics

This stickbug is the size of a book

One of the only arguments is who gets the hammock

Temperature in the sun... feels like on the sun!

Postcard views

hacking open coconuts

Lisa on the lookout for salties

Python in the garage

Monitoring category 5 cyclone Yassi tracking our way

The first real winds hit us and knock out the power

Tagging along on a catamaran in the Whitsundays with friends

Lisa caught little fish

And one big one

Snorkeling in the tropics - must where a full jelly fish suit

Goanna in the back yard

Chartering a boat in the Whitsunday Islands - Writing

2011-03-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Roland and Penny called to say they were thinking of "popping" over for a sail. I love that Roland used the words "popping over" like he was coming from down the street when in reality they live on the other side of the country. That is similar to someone in Ohio saying they are going to pop over to San Diego. Absolutely fantastic!

They were planning on getting into town the week of the cyclones, but the charter company shut down, therefore pushing back their visit a week. This worked out well because the cyclones were quite intense, and we would have been called back in anyway and stuck in a hotel.

We took a 30 minute ferry that leaves from down the street and met Roland and Penny on Hamilton Island where they flew into. Being a small island that was specifically built around a resort, we easily found each other and were on our way for a week of sailing the Whitsunday Islands on a 46 foot catamaran. Big boat with plenty of room for four people. 4 rooms, 4 bathrooms and plenty of sitting room all through the boat, inside and out.

Cyclone Yasi - Writing

2011-02-02T20:29:00.000-08:00

It's 3:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday and we are lying in bed with books trying to pass the time, occasionally glancing out the floor to ceiling windows that surround us. 80 foot high palms are being beaten by the strong gusts of wind, causing them to sway to 45 degree angles at times. The palm branches that will be strewn throughout the property by morning seem to be holding on for dear life while their coconuts surprisingly stay in place. Our house sits on the very edge of the property before a steep decline to the water. A harbor to our right where Ryan watches the boats (we saw a sailboat get washed onto shore during cyclone Anthony) move with the wind, and islands to our left that are now barely visible due to the current massive wall of rain coming at us. Predictions for up to 3 feet of rainfall here overnight. Yikes.

Life in Shute Harbor, Queensland - Writing

2011-02-02T20:26:00.000-08:00

Shute Harbor, the town in Queensland where we are house-sitting, is not the easiest destination to travel to. There are no direct flights from Perth, forcing us to take a layover in Brisbane. Finding the cheapest flight on the red-eye of course, we flew out around midnight and arrived in Brisbane at 7am. Hearing Brisbane is a great city, and the fact that there is a train that travels from the airport into the city, we thought we would plan a full day to explore, opting for the 10 hour layover. Landing in Brisbane, we were completely exhausted. I guess 6 weeks of drinking and staying up late, followed by a red eye with maybe 2 hours of sleep will do that to you. Well, will do that to us anyway. Deliberating what we should do for a solid 2 hours, part of being a Gladstone I guess, we chose to stick in the airport. Exhaustion and rainy weather made sleeping in the airport quite an easy task and we spent the day taking turns sleeping and reading our books. It was much better than we expected.

Western Australia - Pictures

2011-01-29T19:39:00.000-08:00

In Perth, we had an opportunity to take a 4 wheel drive trip for about a week into the Outback with our friends Roland and Penny.

One of the out-of-the-way tourist spots in Western Australia: Wave Rock

Surfing the rock

Scouting for the campsite

dragon

Narrow track that we drove for days. Absolutely nothing man made out here... except the trail.

Two Toyota Landcrusiers out in the bush

Ancient Aboriginal water hole

Fire good. Sausages good. Beer good.

Almost everything was cooked over, around or in the campfire

One seriously decked out Landcruiser. Yes that is a refridgerator.

Lisa happily driving a stick shift on the wrong side of the "road"

If you ever travel to the Outback, bring a headnet. Flies were our constant companions

One wild ass

If "nowhere" has a middle, this is it

Exploring a cave for aboriginal art

Who knew 100 year-old telegraph poles in the middle of a dried salt lake bed could be so much fun?

On the go!

Barreling down a red desert track

Cape Arid National Park

Road? What road?

Roos

Stopping for lunch on the beach - Cape Arid

Huge Banksia flower

Early in the morning rolling out of bed. The best place to sleep is on top in the swag under the stars. Comfortable mattress, sheets, pillows and nothing poisoness wanting to crawl in bed with you at night.

Emu and babies running away

200 series Landcruiser on the beach in Cape Legrande National Park

This is seriously what it is all about

Blue tongued lizard

Even Landcruisers get stuck in the deep sand

However with an electric winch on the front getting stuk is only temporary

Dropping straight down into the river bed

And up the other side only to get stuck very deep in the sand

After driving 20 miles down the beach, we need a stretch

Roos on the beach

Australian Christmas Tree

Gives new meaning to the phrase: "how do you want that cut?"

Turkey to Perth, Australia - Writing

2011-01-13T00:34:00.000-08:00

Customs through Perth was amazing! I even checked "dirt" on our entrance card because I forgot to clean the bottoms of my cycling shoes, and the woman still waved us to the green arrow! None of our boxes got searched, we cruised right through the go line. Yes! Poor Ryan still had to spend 3 days in our tiny hostel room, but I'm guessing we probably would have been checked had we not been prepared. Isn't that the way it always works? Our friend Azza was waiting outside the doors to welcome us to Perth. Thank you, Az! We spent the first 10 days, (wow, I can't believe that was 10 days!) with Az and Curl and could not have had better hosts. These are two of the most fun and kind people we know. They opened their house, entertained us and introduced us to their wonderful group of friends. Having such a close knit group of friends, which of course was great to see, made me miss my friends and family even more. Traveling is extremely wonderful and we so fortunate to be able to live such extraordinary experiences, but it is difficult at times to be so far away. So yes, if you are reading this, chances are I probably miss you. Probably:-)
Read more »

Istanbul, Turkey - Writing

2011-01-13T00:33:00.000-08:00

Having a map on our camera for directions to our hostel in Istanbul (rather than constantly buy maps, we take a photo of a map with our camera, sometimes of the cities and sometimes of the entire country, and can zoom in. Maybe not the best way, but it works), we started riding from the ferry just as the sun was setting. We had about 45 minutes to find our way through a new city, which in the past has shown to be a bit difficult. Maybe it's the lack of maps? To our surprise, and possibly the first time ever, we found the hostel relatively easily, only getting lost once, and using the help from two friendly locals. The hostel was quaint and was chosen mainly because trip advisor gave it great reviews; friendly staff, cheap and clean. We knew our room was going to be exceptionally small, but man oh man, this room was tiny. The girl working the desk suggested we keep our bikes on the roof, but we (Ryan) had to clean and break them down to checked baggage size for our flight to Australia. This room was small onto itself, but adding our bikes and luggage left us literally no room to walk besides the one step it took from our door to the bed.
Read more »

Bandirma, Turkey - Writing

2011-01-13T00:32:00.000-08:00

At the end of September while in Rome, we talked about our plans for the winter months. We knew we wanted to be somewhere warm and were hoping to housesit for a nice break from riding. Being on the bikes is simply fantastic, but having a kitchen, bed and toilet for a stint are such luxuries. Back in Germany when we met up with the Aussie's, Ron, someone Ryan has known since the early 2000's, offered for us to housesit his home in Queensland, Australia. As much as we loved the idea of heading to Australia, we were inclined to head to South America after Europe for the weather and the financial aspect. Our minds were changed after seeing pictures of Ron and Cathi's place and realizing, "why would we ever pass up house sitting since we have been hoping for this opportunity since before we even left Boulder?" We opted for beautiful Australia. The email exchange with Ron was absolutely fantastic. Neither Ryan nor myself knew much about Queensland, but here are the two emails sent from Ron:
Read more »

Running out of daylight in Turkey - Writing

2011-01-13T00:23:00.000-08:00

Riding our way through Turkey, and unfortunately encountering our first ever experience with bedbugs, we were apprehensive to stay in another "cheap" room to say the least. Opting to not shower a few nights before, by the time we arrived in the city of Balikser, we were both quite, well, pretty utterly disgusting. Almost two weeks without a real shower and riding everyday can get a bit overwhelming. Balikser being a fairly big city, we thought we could find a decent place to sleep for the night with a shower. A few hotels later, no luck. Of course we were comfortable staying at the nice hotels, but those were beyond our budget. A quick stop at the grocery store and we were on our way. Surprisingly, the grocery stores in Turkey are enormous, and the selection is quite interesting. They are a one and all store, from shoes to fruit to lawn movers to fresh coffee and restaurants. The bathrooms are spotless and the areas are well kept. It was a nice way to "shower" along our way when we were desperate.

Western Turkey - Writing

2011-01-12T02:11:00.000-08:00

Arriving into Turkey, we had no idea what to expect. Would I get stared at for not wearing a burka? Would people speak English? How developed were the towns? We took the boat into Ayvalik, Turkey and got a room in a disgusting little place that sat right off the downtown strip. Strong winds in our face and a chance to customize ourselves with Turkey was needed, but Renting a single room in a house was absolutely terrible. Our first experience in our lives with bedbugs. Gross. We slept in all our clothes and were out the door as early as possible the next morning.
Read more »

Turkey - Pictures

2011-01-12T01:54:00.000-08:00

On board the ferry to Asia!

Great pastries and very friendly staff

They were very impressed with Lisa

Waiting in line at the Turkish Bathhouse

Getting clean, really clean for the first time in weeks

At the Turkish barber... goodbye beard

Ryan quite happy with the straight razor shave

Clean shaven and styled up... very strange

Harbor on the sea of Marmara

Fishermen returning to port

Iskender Kebap being carved for us

Delicious Iskender Kebap - Famous food of northwest Turkey. Thinly cut lamb covered in tomato sauce over pieces of pide bread with melted sheep butter and fresh yogurt.

Fresh and very hot puff pastry cig boreck filled with ground meat and mugs of a churned yogurt drink called ayrani

The big storm that kept us in Bandirma...

Buying fish from the gypsy street vendors

Tarik and Mustafa preparing the fish to grill

Eat them with your hands by the dozens. Very tasty

A sampling of different types of baklava for dessert

Saying goodbye to new friends and boarding the ferry to Istanbul

Lashed to the rail with the other cargo

Grand Bazaar in Istanbul... you could spend days in here

Istanbul... not Constantinople

Buying roast corn and chestnuts for a night stroll through Istanbul

The Hagia Sophia. Once a basilica, then a mosque, now a museum. Looking pretty good for being close to

1,700 years old!

Shopping for a good deal on saffron in the old Istanbul Spice Market

Prepping the bikes for travel

With the couplers on the frame removed, amazingly the bikes break down pretty small!

A passport, a dry bag and tickets to the other side of the world.

Happy to be Down Under

Lesvos, Greece and overstaying our travel visa - Writing

2010-12-26T02:04:00.000-08:00

Most countries offer standard three month visas, what Ryan and I had traveling through Europe. We wondered from day one what would happen when we crossed the border to get out of Europe, seven months of curiosity. Sometimes asking fellow bikers, most said we would be fine because we were traveling by bicycle. Our curiosities came to an end after leaving Greece from the island of Lesvos.

Taking another ferry from Athens to the island of Lesvos (yes, there is where the word lesbian derived from), we decided to spend a day or two riding around this beautiful area. Blue skies, small rolling hills, and nowhere to be for another three weeks. Taking a locals advice, we took an unused road to make our loop around the island. Few wild dogs, a lunch spot on cliffs overlooking a few sailboats, and more or less a road to ourselves, we travelled through towns where people stopped what they were doing and watch us ride on by. Our campspot that night one of the best. Difficult to get to, but it again overlooked the water, a quaint town, and rocks jutting up off shore. Early to bed, early to rise, we spent the morning in a small cafe reading our books and taking turns checking emails and catching up on some news. Computers really make travelling easier these days as it gives us the ability to stay in touch. From this side of the island, we could see Turkey, maybe only 5 miles away. High mountains and barely any development.
Read more »

Eastern Peloponnese, Greece - Writing

2010-12-26T02:03:00.000-08:00

The third Peninsula was the most authentic section of the Peloponnese. Our first town along the eastern coast was Momenvasia. A midevil, walled town on the side of cliff, on an island, attached to the mainland by a narrow causeway. No cars. No bicycles. The town can only be viewed by foot. Taking a short visit while a woman watched our bikes, we walked the entire town in 45 minutes. This was the last of the tourists. We stopped by the market on our way out and continued riding looking for a great place to camp. To our luck, just at sunset, we came across an olive grove that looking out to the ocean. A meal of rice, veggies, sausage and feta, a staple these days, we slept well and were up bright and early to begin riding again.
Read more »

Western Peloponnese Peninsula, Greece - Writing

2010-12-26T01:57:00.000-08:00

Arriving at the ferry terminal without a ticket or knowledge of departure times worked itself out tremendously. We rode up about an hour and a half prior to a ferry leaving for Patras, Greece. 13 hours on the ferry with a single stop along the way. As neither of us had been on a long distance ferry in Europe, we didn't know what to expect. Being on a tight budget, we of course chose the cheapest option, deck seats. Now, if you have taken a long ferry from Washington to Alaska, deck seats means you put your tent on the deck and that is your home for the duration of the trip. Well, Europe is quite different. The room where we stayed had seats like business class on an airline. The seats were roomy, comfortable and reclined with a foot rest. Private rooms were available with beds and a bathroom, but they were three times as pricey. We were quite happy with our "second class" accomodations.
Read more »

Greece - Pictures, part two

2010-12-26T01:53:00.000-08:00

Lisa doing her best to get comfortable on the 12 hour ferry ride to the Island of Lesvos

"Fresh" off the boat

Mytilene, Greece

Great place to ride... few cars and zero tourists

Using the old dishwasher

Lunch on the Aegean looking toward Turkey

Ancient fortifed town of Molivos

Packing up at dawn

Riding into the fishing town of Petra for some Greek coffee

Greece - Pictures, part one

2010-12-26T01:50:00.000-08:00

Dis-obeying all traffic laws on the Pelopenesse peninsula

Sometimes I take too many pictures

Best beach ever...

New friends and fellow cyclists

Perfect mid-day swim break

Ryan taking the jump

On the Mani peninsula in southern Peloponesse

Perfect for when you are under siege

Great descent ahead...

...all the way down to the coast

A long and lonesome road... maybe 10 cars all day

The local catch of the day in the port town of Githio

Whoops

Momenvasia... no tourists, hard to get to, one of the prettiest ancient towns we have seen

Waiting for King Kong

The view over Momenvasia

Climbing to the top of the ancient city of Momenvasia

On the map this "road" is a dashed line.

Fried sheep's head anyone?

Any shop that has these (chicken on left, pork on right), we stop and eat...

Call them gyros, pitas or donner... best cheap food in Europe!

These are much more impressive if I you don't have to tilt your head

Temple of Athena

View over Athens

The Parthenon on the Acropolis

Rome and southern Italy - Pictures

2010-12-26T01:47:00.000-08:00

Trevi fountain - hitting the Roman highlights

The Spanish steps and more tourists

Waiting to board the ferry for a 14 hour trip to Greece

Lisa eating grapes given to us by the man on the bike

Lunch break

Chianti and Tuscan Regions - Writing

2010-12-26T01:46:00.000-08:00

The chianti region.....Wow! That is the best word to describe this portion of our travels. The scenery here is so unique, I can absolutely see why movies have been made about it. We wove our way up and down, left and right through rolling hills of vineyards, small towns and wineries galore. Bunches of picturesque purple and green grapes can be seen from the road, perfectly placed on the vine. The small towns put on festivals to gather the local vineyards, hosted in the "downtown area" with music, ice cream, and aritists. You can buy a wine glass and go around and taste all of the local wines, maybe 20 booths in all. If we had time to actually plan our trip rather than simply go with each day, we would have stayed in a room and taken full advantage of this wine tasting. But drinking wine and riding our bikes through these windy roads is definitely not a good idea. Because of this, we stood on the outside and observed the smiles on peoples faces and watched in amazement as the conversations jumped from person to person with questions being answered and the wine glasses filling like wild fire. I felt like we were watching an older movie about how a wine-maker made their name. The bottles of wine consumed must have been in the thousands.
Read more »

Cycling in Tuscany and Chianti - Pictures

2010-12-26T01:45:00.000-08:00

Pedaling through the vineyards of Chianti

Venice to Florence to Ferrara - Writing

2010-10-19T01:40:00.000-07:00

Just outside of Venice, we heard you couldn't bring your bikes in the city. As neither of us had ever been, we couldn't understand how a city didn't allow bikes. I have never heard such a thing. Staying at a campground that sits along the peninsula across from Venice, we took a 45 minute passanger ferry. Always a fun way to travel for us, especially Ryan as he adores boats. Barely staying on the outskirts of a storm, cuddling in with our fellow passangers to avoid the rain on the boat, the sun was shining and the skies turned blue just as we landed in Venice. A city built on logs and traveled by canal and river boats. What a sight to see. Couples and families took the boats that are rowed by a person standing on the back, intended for tourists and tours of the city. Boats with motors take the locals around town, dropping them off on a few stairs that lead fromt he water directly into a building or sidewalk. It is an incredible city filled with tourists, shops, food, cafes, sidewalks and bridges to easy get lost, which of course we love. If you have a chance to visit Venice, I would in a heartbeat. It's so unique and who wouldn't want to spend some time on a floating city?
Read more »

In and around Florence - Pictures

2010-10-18T02:40:00.000-07:00

Best expressos ever.

The Duomo

Taking a siesta

In and around Ferrra - Pictures

2010-10-18T01:45:00.000-07:00

Waiting on the ferry

Lisa can name all of them

On the ferry heading south

The "cycle path" has a few obstacles

Carrying breakfast out onto the jetty

The floating bridge of boats on the river Po delta

basket of fried seafood goodness

Cycling outside the walls of Ferrara

Ferrara!

Venice - Pictures

2010-10-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

Dolomites - writing

2010-10-06T23:19:00.000-07:00

Unexpectedly, I got to spend my 30th birthday riding from Austria into Italy. Wow! The only things missing were family and friends.....but that's for later celebrations in life:-) One of the most amazing parts of this trip for me has been seeing the change in rivers as we follow them for long distances. We started following the Drau when it was a raging river, wide, and murky brown colored water. By the time we entered Italy, it was maybe 10-15 feet wide, and colors changed to greenish blue from the glacial silt. At times we could see the trout darting out from behind a rock for a quick snack. The smaller the river got, the closer I knew we were to our destination.

Northern Italy - Dolomites - part 2 - Pictures

2010-10-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

Northern Italy - Dolomites part One - Pictures

2010-09-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

Graz, Austria heading west - writing

2010-09-07T23:14:00.000-07:00

After a fantastic lunch of homemade pizza's with Michael's family in Graz, the sun was shining, the temperature rather perfect, we decided to pack our bikes and start riding. Tempted to stay another night (thanks again to Michael's generosity) and climb with Michael and Nicolas, but the weather and skies won and our pedaling west began. Heading toward the Dolomites, we followed the Drau river, up valley, riding along bike paths, dipping in and out of little Austrian towns, amongst trees or vineyards and few people most of the time. The little towns were all clean, the only downfall for the eyes was maybe the clear cutting we saw along the way. Unfortunately this scene is much the same in Oregon, Washington and Alaska. Bummer. We rode down one lane roads between towns that encased us with 8 foot tall corn stalks and vineyards sitting along the rolling hills, which of course we took advantage of and tasted when we could. Trying to take full advantage of everything, we even stayed until noon some days to enjoy the waterslides at the campgrounds. Right up our alley!
It took us about a week to reach the western side of Austria where we found a great campground, free wifi, pool with a waterslide (again, we are really just big kids), and grocery store a few kilometers away. Because of this, we decided to stay for some laundry (you have no idea how fantastic clean clothes feel!) and basic clean-up of our possessions. Because of all the rain we hit in Germany and Austria for about a month, our tent and pads were starting to get a touch of mold. Finding a combo of lemon and salt as a fix, we even got to clean our tent and pads. We also realized at this point that we had slept in our tent about 120 days by now. Wow! 120 days in a tent. That's a record for both of us in such a short timeframe. But again, I think we both prefer to sleep in our tent as it's really our home. It's simply second nature for us to set up and take down. We probably wouldn't even have to speak to get everything just perfect, it's so natural for us. We both have our "duties" that makes it quick and simple.
Deciding to stay for 2 nights was nice as always as a break from sitting on our seats for 7 days is always embraced with open arms. Well, we woke on a Sunday planning to leave as 1. it's nice to ride on Sunday's since everything in Europe is closed, and 2. it was my birthday and I wanted to be in the Dolomites for it. Oh yeah, funny little story. As I'm walking to the bathroom brushing my teeth along the way, I hear a horn beeping like crazy and a white van driving like a bat out of hell down the road that only leads to the campground. Mind you, this is 8am, and on a Sunday. Walking back to the tent, I see a line of maybe 15-20 people behind this white van that was just flying down the street blaring it's horn. it's the local bread company! Awesome! Fresh bread to start our morning. It's already looking up in our eyes. Gotta love Europeans and how much they love their fresh bread and pastries, oh yeah, and coffee. Well, we start packing our bikes and Ryan says, "Where is my sandal?" This being his biking shoe, keen sandals that have clips for our pedals. Although we look everywhere, no luck. I'm thinking it was probably a dog or something and maybe someone turned it into the front reception. Now, trying to explain this to someone who doesn't speak English is quite a task. She is looking at me like I have 8 heads, squinting her eyes, and I can see the wheels turning in her head trying to make of a shoe and bike and it being gone. A gentleman walks up, Australian accent, translate to her and turns to me and says, "We saw a few fox our tent last night and one had a sandal in their mouth. You might want to check the field over there." What?!
I walk back to the tent, explain to Ryan what could have possibly happened, and he, myself and the owner of the campground are all on the other side of the fence looking in this HUGE field for a single shoe. Overgrown grass, flowers, and a cornfield not far that stretched for miles. Between the 3 of us, we did find shoes, three to be exact. And oddly enough, Ryan and the owner actualy found a match between the two of them, one in the grass field and one in the cornfield. But, no luck on Ryan's shoe. Ugh! How frustrating. At least it wasn't someone who had stolen it, that was actually a huge plus. What a story though! Foxes are such thieves.
Because of the fox and missing shoe, we stayed yet another day in hopes of finding a replacement in the town along the way into Italy. No luck, and now it's technically 6 weeks later and no replacement has been made. Ryan rides with one sandal and one tennis shoe. You should see the looks.

The generosity of strangers

2010-09-06T11:26:00.000-07:00

Austrian's are some of the nicest, most generous people, small town mentality type of people. We were heading south after Linz (thanks again Christine and Matt for having us!) toward Slovenia. Riding for a solid 80k we stopped in this tiny village of 500 people for food and to ask about camping within biking range before dark. The woman behind the meat counter couldn't speak English well but she could understand. She said, "There is camping about 20k from here, but I think you could stay at the airport right down the street if you stay for just one night. I'll call." (well that's what sign language and few English words amounted to) Wow! Thank you meat lady! We rode two blocks to the glider airport to find 4 or 5 men sitting on the back deck drinking beers and watching the sunset through the amazing mountains. The older man was obviously the one in charge and told us where we could set up our tent and to come back for a beer. Of course we were in for that. Cold beer on tap, yep. Well, one beer turned into about 8, and before we knew it it was midnight. We had such a great time! And these men changed our route toward Slovenia. They told us to head more southeast toward Graz for an easier and more beautiful route, following the Mur river into wineland. It rained like cats and dogs that night, but they cooked us breakfast in the morning before we were on our way. All of this for 14 euro's. Great company. Great beer from the next town over. And a delicious breakfast. I love Austria!
Read more »

Austria - Pictures

2010-09-05T02:45:00.000-07:00

The pictures are in reverse order of where we actually started. To see our true start to finish of Austria, start from the bottom up. Hope you enjoy:-)

The ups and downs.....

2010-09-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

Following the Danau, extremely crowded with touring bikers as it is again paved, flat and slightly downhill, we planned to meet our friends Christine and Matt in Linz, the first big city we would hit in Austria. This story I am about to tell is a bit scary but pretty hilarious, that is if you can really try to imagine the entire scene. I spoke with Christine to let her know when we would be in Linz and she asked if we would feel comfortable with leaving our bikes outside their place, locked up of course. "It's really safe in Austria," she says. No problem. We normally don't like to leave our bikes unattended unless they are at a campground as we would be totally shit out of luck if something did happen. Anyway, the next night, our first night in Austria, we are at a campground that sits right along the Danau bikepath. Normal routine, ride to a store, cook dinner, drink wine, sit by the river, go for a walk, read our books in our tent and lights out.
Read more »

Weil der Statt, Germany and west - Writing

2010-09-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

July 25 - August 10 or so
Leaving Weil der Statt, we had no idea where we were heading other than simply east. Maybe Munich to see some friends? We opted to just ride with no destination in mind and let the wind guide us. It has worked for the past 4 months, so why not now as wel?. 4 hours into our day of pedaling, we heard a couple come up on bikes speaking English. Fantastic! Before we knew it, we were all talking away and riding together. They were from California and Minnesota but were living in Germany for the past 4 years as he was in the army. He and Ryan talked about our trip and once again, having no plan or agenda has worked in our favor. They suggested we head to the southern middle part of Germany, into a valley with unused bike paths and castles on both sides built over 1000 years ago.
Following little bike signs, no real map, we rode through trails with enormous trees blocking the path, along a river, down valley, surrounded by nature and barely a sole within miles. The towns we rode through had anywhere from 20-500 people it seemed. Occasionally we would see a young boy or girl sitting on a stoop scraping the dirt with a long stick, humming and just passing the time. A scene not often witnessed as so many are consumed with technology and constantly on the go. These towns reminded me of what the early 1900's would have been like for our grandparents, quant and simply.
Always hungry and dark clouds moving in on us, we stopped at the only restaurant in a town of 100 for doner kebabs. We have found a new love for these delicious, cheap sandwiches! A woman was sitting behind the counter doing a puzzle as we walked in, looked up with a big grin and started speaking German. No luck, she didn't speak English. Ordering with hand gestures, we took a seat at one of two tables right as the rain started. Perfect timing as I hate geting wet as most of you know, but I am learning that I do not melt because of it:-) She picks up the phone and starts talking and laughing in Syrian and within a few minutes her 14 year old son walks through the door. 5 minutes later her other 2 boys and the guy who runs the school walks in. She was so excited to introduce her children to Americans, she had them come down to meet us. It's amazing how kind people can be and the littlest things that get a huge smile to cross their faces. The man who came with them spoke great English and asked us all about our trip. It was almost 6 and we had no idea where we would lay our heads at night. He recommended we ride another 15k up to one of the castles that is similar to a hostel. You can actually sleep in the castle!
This castle is mostly intended for backpackers, but of course they were happy to accommodate us. Luckily there was one room left as a group of 30 16-18 year olds and two teachers were staying the night for their end of the year school trip. Once they heard we spoke English, they raced up the tower steps where we were enjoying a delicious German beer, and they all started talking at once. I think it's interesting for peoploe to have conversatios with others who are fluent in another language. Europeans are taught English from kindergarden, which is quite amazing and I can't grasp why we don't do something similar in the states. We are so culturally closed within our own country and aren't taught about the rest of the world often enough, it's actually pretty sad. So for you teacehr and parents out there, expose your kids to other languages and cultures please!
They invited us to dinner for sausages and potatoe salad, followed by a bonfire where they toasted fresh dough on sticks like we do with marshmellows. The rain forced us in early where we drank tea and just relaxed to music on the stereo and a girl playing the guitar and singing, soaking up this great group of German teenagers. They were so well behaved, always helping with the cooking and cleaning, etc. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think the teachers lifted a finger. I didn't hear one complaint while we were there. Maybe I should teach in Germany?! We had a great night, something that we will always be embedded in our memories as a unique and fortunate experience.
Making our way down the valley until it reached the Danube River, called the Danau in Germany, we rode through Ulm. This is a city with the tallest gothic spire sitting in the middle of the town square, benches all around and absolutely beautiful. Only staying for a quick break for some fruit and pictures, we had another 30k to ride before the sun was completely set. It does get a touch scary riding once it starts to get dark as we never know if cars can see us. Our bikes and bags are covered with reflectives and we have a rear light that we turn on, but it's still unsettling. So far, so good.

Germany - pictures, part 3

2010-09-03T05:31:00.000-07:00

Lost in the Bavarian forest without a map looking for a flat, well hidden piece of ground to camp for the night.

Harbor entrance on the Bodensee

Bed and Breakfasts have no idea how much Lisa and I can pack away. No profits for them!

Gina out like a light on the Autobahn... John did actually hit 103mph

The main gate to Dachau concentration camp. Arbe Macht Frei translates to: Work makes you free

The ovens

The showers

Still bullet holes in the wall behind

One big stork!

The massive rain and hailstorm made for some interesting challenges

Lisa riding the greenway

We shared the castle for the night with 30 high schoolers. Quite fun!

Castle ruins above a valley that only hikers, bikers and horses can go.

The gates of the castle / hostel

Two cold beers after a long day of riding in a 10th century ruined castle? Yes please.

Every small town has their own local beer. When you order it, you get two choices: hefeweizen or Pils.

The huge Gothic spire in Ulm

The may pole in a small Bavarian town...

One always knows the time in Germay

They sell local beer from vending machines? If this machine did not take only exact change, our budget would have taken a big hit. Yes, we took a lot of pictures of German beer...

Herding cows with a bike... maybe we CAN make some money along the way.

We road to the end of the path and there was a ferry boat

Abbey on the Danube

Riding the ferry through the narrow gorge instead of pedaling... video of this at the end of the pictures

If I could trade in the bike for one vehicle... Africa here we come then!

View from the campsite - last night in Germay

Passau on the Danube - near the Austrian border

Germany....July 11-25

2010-09-02T01:53:00.000-07:00

We will catch up eventually....but here is part of Germany. We are currently in Venice. Beautiful!
Riding along the Bodensee that led us into Germany was of course beautiful, but one of the more crowded sections of our trip. As the path around the lake is only 200k, paved, flat and lined with towns and campsites, it was a touring mecca for older couples and families. Many young families pulled a trailer with a child or two, rode with a toddler seat directly behind their own, had a double bike or the kids rode solo. Needless to say, we spent much of our time ringing our bells and trying to get around the leisure riders.
The last time we were around English speaking people (thanks Jason and Christine!) was when we were in Barcelona visiting friends. Some of the adjustments along this trip are 1. getting used to not being able to understand the conversations going on around us (this will be a trip when we are in an English speaking country again) and 2. remembering to speak slowly when talking to someone who only speaks a bit of English. Needless to say, we were extremely excited for meet some friends from Australia in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
Read more »

Germany - pictures, part 2

2010-08-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

Town hall of lovely Weil der Stadt

Statue of the Kepler, Weil der Stadt's most famous son

The church of Weil der Stadt

Stained glass image from early 1940's depicting Jesus forsaking Hitler. Pretty risky as the gestapo later came to take away the priest.

Gina and friend

Two witches

The main town square or Market square

Weil der Stadt from above

Taking in the view from the top of the bell tower. Up until last century, people lived up here to watch for fires.

Above the ceiling of the church - 16th century

The night watchman tour of Weil der Stadt. Learned about the thousands dead from the bubonic plague, and the hundreds of red headed withches killed. Not too mention puppet museums, torture dungeon and such.

Lisa in the Stuttgart fountain... 95 degrees outside

The TV tower in Stuttgart

Photo of a photo

Top of the tower

Carnival statues

Local wurst (sausage)-one liver, one something like bologna, one is a mystery and the dark one is blood. Oh, and pickles.

Bratwurst and kraut

Drinking local schnapps

Germany - Pictures, part 1

2010-08-16T00:21:00.000-07:00

Brendan trying on super-sized beer googles at the Seehausenfest

A very happy Ron Lightfoot

Seth trying to set a record... These are not pints!

Installing Lisa's new Brooks saddle which the company gave to her after listening to painful story of how her old saddle treated her...

Lisa on the Brooks tradeshow booth with her new saddle

Lisa's new saddle: Courtesy of the nice people at Brooks

Getting fancy with the camera settings: Lisa at a concert

Meersburg, Germany

Our new favorite sandwhich: Donner Kepap (something like a gyro)

Phone cards are worthless... more than a dollar a minute

Great cycle routes in Southern Germany

German Pastry Break!

Switzerland Writing

2010-08-08T23:37:00.000-07:00

We spent about 3 weeks in Switzerland.....maybe June20-July10, we think.

Our last night in France we slept in a farmers field close to the Switzerland border, forcing us on the road by 7am. We entered Switzerland via Geneva, a beautiful city with a fountain that sprays directly up out of the lake at least 300 feet. Wow! Although it took us quite a bit of time to orient ourselves and find the information center, we did actually manage by means of a street map and using the fountain as a frame of reference. Considering how high the water goes up, you can see the fountain from almost anywhere. A few hours later, yes hours, we found the middle of downtown. At times it is definitely frustrating when you are riding in circles, hungry and confused. I have always heard that Switzerland is expensive, boy those people weren't lying! First off, the franc dollars look fake, bigger in size and the colors are pretty fantastic. Secondly, it requires a lot of it to travel through the beautiful country. After a few weeks of perfectly cleaned streets, houses and lawns, spotless garbage cans, bike paths galore, we saw where the taxes are spent. A simple lunch of basic sandwiches cost 18 francs and campgrounds close to 40. Now that was something to get used to. But worth every penny.
Read more »

Switzerland - Pictures

2010-08-08T00:09:00.000-07:00

Switzerland....

The fountain in Geneva

Lake Geneva near Montrieux

This is the kind of path we dream about... hard to get lost.

Cycle path through the meadows

Drying out

Following the signs on Switzerland's cycle routes

Resting and taking in the view on the way up Grimsel Pass

One very fast descent down the Berneese Alps

Top of Grimsel Pass

Neutral Bike

Getting water

Alpine hiking trail

High above Grindelwald

How about a cabin of stacked firewood?

Grindelwald !

Glacier

The pedestrian bridge in lovely Luzerne

Lunch time in Luzerne

And this was the BIG ONE

Finally using the fishing gear

View from our $10 campsite

Now this is a drinking fountain!

Lisa not too happy about an upcoming steep climb

Cold local brew after a really hot ride

Amazing country roads

Cooling off in the heat... not what it looks like!

The only way to cool off without getting the bike shorts soaked.

France - Writing

2010-08-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

The descent into France from the Pyrenees was possibly the best hour of riding in my life. This winding, steady path changed my view on downhill riding. For over a hour, rarely touching our brakes, we cruised along deep curves that led us into the beautiful countryside of France. Forests and little towns surrounded us as we made our way toward Toulousse. Our first stop after 140k was at a family owned property/business with campsites, yurts, canoeing, kayaking, high ropes courses; something so similar to what Ryan and I talk about running ourselves one day. We would have stayed for a day on the river if the clouds hadn't rolled in, opting instead to ride when the sun wasn't so intense.
Read more »

France - Pictures

2010-08-07T06:04:00.000-07:00

Best descent ever... One hour without pedaling down the Pyrenees from Andorra.

Along the Canal du Midi

Toulousse.

Where are we exactly and where are we going to stay?

Chinese Buffet... Try ordering fried rice in French when you know 5 words.

Nicolas Poussin... aka Lisa's brother CJ

Riding down the Canal du Midi

Locks on the canal

Flat, shady and beautiful riding

Our own 16th century manor for the night

Carcassone! Like disney land without the dwarves

Great place to wander around.

Old Roman bridge in Carcassone.

The trail getting a little tight on the canal. Lost the rest of the tourists though!

Dodging rain under a bridge eating fresh bread, pear jam and butter.

This floating barge on the canal is actually the local market.

Another small canal town.

Getting close to the Med at the bottom of the canal. Skinny tires not a good idea.

After over a week of riding along the canal, we finally reached the Med!

The ancient town of Arles, France

Who needs Rome?

Leaving Arles, and the awful Mistral winds behind via the train. They asked where we wanted to go and we replied, "where ever the winds are not!"

Small world! Lisa's friend Steph from Colorado in Avignon! What are the chances?

Relaxing on the steps of a medieval church in Cremieu, France

Entering the upper Rhone valley. Wine anyone?

View from the tower in Morestel, France

Riding the Rhone river

And the amazing bike path alongside it. No cars allowed!

Not a bad spot to cook and camp

Girona through Andorra, my favorite ride yet!

2010-08-06T23:44:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since we have updated this blog! Apologies....but the good news (or bad if we start writing too much of course:-) is that we finally have our own computer, own keyboard, and will only need to find internet to post pictures and writings of our adventures. This also means we now have skype for anyone who wants to chats. I'm quite excited!

As 2 months have passed since we last shared our story, I must go back in time and try to recollect my thoughts and memories. For any riders who are looking for a future biking trip in Europe, I would highly highly recommend Girona, Spain to Andorra. First off, Girona is simply amazing! Another walled city lined with cobbled streets, lined with shops and restaurants along the river running through town. I can see why Lance Armstrong has spent much of his time training there. As we left our camera on a park bench, we shifted plans and decided to head to Andorra. This would get us over the Pyrenees as well. I love to climb oddly enough:-)2 days of riding west of Ginora, we stopped in Ripoll at the officina de tourismo (they are so resourceful), and the women working suggested we ride through the more difficult, quieter hills for better views, small towns and less traffic. Wow! We are now in Austria and it is still the ride that stands out in my mind the most.
Read more »

Andorra Pictures

2010-08-06T00:31:00.000-07:00

Val de Incles - Andorra

Riding up to the passover over the Pyrenees with a storm rolling in.

Catalon is not Spain - Writing

2010-06-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

Hello from Andorra! You might need a map to find this country as it is extremely small. Still, counsidering it is smack in the middle of the Pyrenees mountains it still takes a long time to pedal uphill, which is what we will be doing here in a few days to make it over the 2,500 meter tall pass into France. Everyone here looks at us like we are crazy.
Read more »

Pictures of Barcelona

2010-06-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

Amazing Barcelona Market

Jamon shop... the sushi of ham

Yes, the cheeks are for sale.

Veggies everywhere

Fresh fruit for for 2 euro

The ancient viking game of Yahtzee

Paella of course. The other paella was with black rice; made black by squid ink. Tasty.

Strolling the Med.

Belgian Beers

Mr. Jason Hershberger

Romanesque Cathedrals

and their rose windows

A break from riding

2010-05-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

From Zahara, we rode for 10 days straight, ranging anywhere from a meager 20+ kilometers through the mountains to 130K on the flatter lands per day. We have mostly been riding along the coast, swerving and hilly. Boy oh boy, 10 days of riding and my butt sure did hurt. We planned to ride close to Velencia before taking days off and heading on a train to Barcelona, but my sore legs and yearning for some walks and simplicity of not packing and unpacking our panniers, we stopped in the little town of Los Narejos, just outside of Cartegena. We arrived late on Saturday evening, winding our way to the campground along a road filled with kids in their late teens to early 20´s drinking cocktails and deafing themselves to techno blaring from their cars. Little did we know that the campground hosted a dance club, playing techno until about 2am and then the kids go to their cars and continue even loader music as it is closer to our tent until 8am. Wow! A crappy campground, sleeping (or lack there of until the music stopped) under an awning because of the lack of trees, and this is where we were spending our day off. Great I thought.
Read more »

Pictures - Southern Spain!

2010-05-17T08:25:00.000-07:00

That´s one big chip! Pretty tasty after a 1,000 ft plus climb

Riding on the coast is never a straight line... Up and Down. Left and Right.

Coolest hydro foil sail boat thing ever... Mar Menor, Cartagena

Spring time in Spain

Ahoy...

Passing Cabo de Los Gatos and some rain storms on the Med

Thankfully talked our way past this closed road... otherwise backtracking 15km!

More coastal riding trying to avoid the mountains... Not sure if this is easier.

Bag of pastries, the beach and sunset after a long ride.

Beach taxi... Thinking of trading in the bikes

Some random Spainish Sunday parade

Riding through an empty tunnel under the moutain. Nice!

Rhonda, Spain. Bullfights, Hemmingway and big cliffs

The gear...

Believe it or not, this is the new bridge. The one they through people off during the Spanish Civil War. Crazy.

Sunset high in the Sierra over the puebla blanca town of Grazalema

The mountain roads of te Sierra de Grazalema. A favorite.

Ancient mountain church in Zahara.

Our road out of town from the old moorish tower battlement

Sierra de la Grazalema riding... some of the best!

Zahara streets.

The amazing view of Zahara de la Sierra

Zahara!

120km ride south of Sevilla we finally came to a place to rest... Not too shabby.

Steets of Sevilla

Tapas and Vino in the Santa Barbara barrio of Sevilla. Thanks Matt!

Great Tapa joint... Spent two nights here.

The Fountainhead

Old royal palace of Sevilla

Same picture... whoops.

Some random family

Typical Sevilla street. Just narrow enough to ride!

The amazing Gothic cathedral of Sevilla

Sevilla

The old Moorish tower attached to the cathedral

Light focusing towers... aimed at fields of solar panels

Ancient Moorish mosque at Niebles, Spain

Old walled town of Niebles, between Huelva and Sevilla

From the mountains back to the coast

2010-05-10T02:34:00.000-07:00

We headed to Sevilla from Huelva, a great ride! Getting out of the city was a bit tricky, but once we were a ways out, the road was beautiful, great towns to stop through for short tours, little traffic and fairly big shoulders. Our only trouble was that is was some sort of holiday, so as our luck would have it again, stores were closed. Surprise, surprise. We are realizing that the work hours in Portufal and Spain are quite short. Their siesta lasts anywhere from 2-7, and of course no hours on their windows. It´s pretty entertaining, but we always make due. We saw great castles and old churches, more small towns and beautiful scenery.
Read more »

SPAIN!!!!!! - Writing

2010-05-01T03:35:00.000-07:00

Where did we leave off? Lagos I believe? Lagos is a fantastic city! Probably our favorite so far. It is a walled city with beautiful streets to finagle our way through. And having English to read was a nice change as well! We even found a bookshop for a trade in! I just finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (which is great by the way, I read it 2 1-2 times. Thank you Summer!) and exchanged for The Tenderness of Wolves (which I have now finished as I write this and am on my way through for the 2nd time, pretty good too). When we aren´t riding our bikes, we spend our days just strolling through the cities/towns, literally strolling. We walk for miles and just enjoy people watching, eating, checking out the gorgeous scenery, dangling our feet in the water, truly admiring the surroundings and embracing this amazing opportunity we now call life. Wow.....this is our life. Not just a vacation for a few weeks, but our life. Happiness cannot possible describe the feeling.
Read more »

2010-04-30T04:43:00.000-07:00

Taking the ferry to Spain

Sketchy broken bride... one at a time!

Old Roman bridge and town of Tavira

Typical evening camping in Portugal

Day at the beach in Albufeira

Happily lost...

Old castle and church on the hill in Tavira

One of the better parts of the cycle path

And one of the worst parts of the cycle path...

This tower goes back close to 3,000 years

Lagos fort

Another nice part of the bike path

Lagos

Lagos!

Ferragudo

Lagos, Portugal - Writing

2010-04-16T02:28:00.000-07:00

Hello from Milfontes (4/14)! Sorry for the lack of writing, but internet cafe´s are more difficult to come by in these small little towns. We decided to wait to get our hands on an ipad, and of course they were released April 3, 2 days after we left. Chances are we won´t have our own computer until July. So, until we get to Spain I´m guessing, our blogs will be rare. This is a bit confusing too as it was written so sparatically, but hopefully it gives you an idea of our travels thus far!

We left Lisbon on Tuesday (4/6), walked our bikes through the city as it is not fun to ride amongst traffic (this unfortunately we experienced too much in our first few days of riding). There is this fantastic bakery on the way out of Lisbon toward the water, so we stopped to pick something for the ferry ride. It was pretty much awesome. Fresh bread stuffed with salami, ham, chicken and bacon. Wow! There is no doubt we will go out of our way to have another one of those if we ever find ourselves in Lisbon again.
Read more »

Sagres-Milfontes Picturs

2010-04-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

Milfontes from the fort

Explorer Statue

Find Ryan

Cycle Routes

Down the road

Aljezir

Waiting out the rain

Fort near Sagres

Sagres

Cabo san Vicente

Light house at the southwestern most point in Europe

Sagres harbor

Flowers on our way to Lagos on the cycle route. Wish we had taken more pictures of the beautiful country roads.

What in the heck is that?

Lagos Fishmarket

Sesimbra-Milfontes Pictures

2010-04-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

Riding along the beach on Day 2.

Relaxing in Sesimbra

Enjoying the beaches of Sesimbra

Self Portrait

Loved this campsite!

Beautiful Semsimbra from the castle

Regatta

We just loved Sesimbra

This castle is so old!

Priest Ryan

That was not an easy hike up!

Ferry leaving Setubal

Clickstands rock!

This was our campsite. Pretty amazing.

I never knew how much I LOVE pastries! Thank goodness we are riding though. Otherwise my ass would be huge!

Milfontes Fort

Leaving the hostel - Writing

2010-04-06T01:58:00.000-07:00

Day 5: 10am

We were planning on leaving the hostel yesterday morning, but we just weren´t quite ready. Ryan has been fighting a cold since we arrived, and we just couldn´t get our stuff together without feeling rushed. What hurry are we really in? With one more day, taking our time to pack and run some errands yesterday, we are finally ready to go. We will be leaving here in an hour or two.

For those who are curious about how we got our bikes here: After we ordered our bikes last year, we decided to ship them to Philadelphia where they saw bikes in half, 2 parts of the frame. 2 metal pieces are put on either side allowing us to basically screw them back together. This allows us much more flexibility on this trip because the bikes pack so small, and we don´t have to pay the ridiculous airline fees to fly with bikes. Ryan packed each bike in one box that we checked on the plane as a piece of luggage. Pretty fantastic. We each have 4 paniers and one handlebar bag to store our stuff: tent, sleeping bag, clothes, shoes, cooking gear, etc.
Read more »

Day 2 in Lisbon - Writing

2010-04-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

Boy do I wish we had learned some Portugese before we arrived. Good thing most people here speak English!

We flew straight from Denver to Frankfurt, phew, no stops. 10 hours on the plane wasn´t bad at all with our own tv´s for movies, shows, games or music. I thought we would sleep most of the flight as our last few days/weeks in Boulder were so hectic. No luck. Even with a few cocktails, I slept about 3 hours and Ryan only slept for 30 minutes. Ugh. A 3 hour layover in Frankfurt and then off to Lisbon. We sat on the plane for over an hour before we actually took off because someone in first class had a medical emergency. It wasn´t so bad as Ryan got to sleep for a solid 2 hours.

21 hours from our Boulder departure, we made it to Lisbon! Now to find our 4 boxes that contain all of our stuff for the next year (we will post some pictures at our next computer stop, apologies in advance), and we are good to head through customs. I was a touch worried about customs as the only place I have really had to go through that was in Australia, and they are quite strict. Customs in Lisbon, no problem. They opened one box that contained a bunch of bike parts and we were through. We finally flagged a cab that would take us and our huge boxes to our hostel. Lisbon is a pretty religious city, so nothing was open on Good Friday. No dinner for us. We had booked a room with 2 beds thinking it would allow for more room to rebuild our bikes. Due to a plumbing issue, we were moved to a tiny tiny room with one bed. Trying to explain that we couldn´t just lock our bikes on the street....finally we showed the man and he understood. His reponse was, ´´You know you can rent bikes in Lisbon too?´´ Ha! We did our best to stay awake the first night until 9, woke up for about 2 hours in the middle of the night, and slept again until noon! 15 hours in bed, oh my!
Read more »

Lisbon - Pictures

2010-04-03T01:52:00.000-07:00

Waiting to leave Denver. We got there 3 hours early after a morning of rushing around! Of course we waited until the last minute for A LOT of stuff. Thanks Caley for letting us borrow your car!

Everything we now have with us. Bikes are in the two to boxes, gear in the bottom two.

Avenue do Liberdade

Lisbon Center...and our fantastic bikes! Thanks to Ryan of course!

Lisbon Streets-Extremely beautiful