One State Down - Two To Go!

Distance cycled to date: 1901 km

Flat tires to date: 6 (Jeff - 4, Keenan - 2)

Homes invited into by strangers to date - 3

Blackberry bushes spotted in the ditches since BC - incalculable

Days in the United States to date: 12

Money spent on accommodation in the United States to date: $33.50

Nearly halfway down the Oregon coast, in Newport, we have found another free Wifi signal, and so, finally, we are able to update our blog.  It's been an eventful week and a half since our last entry, with far too much to write about.  

Continuing with our theme of kind strangers - the United States has definitely shown us that kindness is alive and well with our southern neighbours.  We received our first invitation into somebody's home over the past week - and it happened as we sat outside an elementary school, trying to plan where to stay the night.  A kind teacher came out, and I'm sure wondering what we were up to in the playground, came up to us and started a conversation.  It turned out that he was an extremely well travelled gentleman, and almost immediately invited us to his house for dinner, and a clean, warm bed to sleep in.  His wife didn't even seem to mind either, and we had a great night exchanging stories with this wonderful couple after eating a delicious steak dinner, barbequed just for us.  

The next day we set out from southern Washington, and made the somewhat precarious trip across the Astoria--Megler bridge, a full 4.1 miles of white-knuckled riding, in which somehow my bike computer fell off.  We weren't too interested in risking our lives to turn around and search the bridge deck for it, and so, we pedaled our way on into Oregon, where we were greeted by more rain; the weather of this west coast.  It was great to get to the famed Oregon coast, which we had been eagerly anticipating as we rode throughout the fog-covered roads in the inland of Washington, where our scenery seemed to be either more fog, or when it finally lifted - clear cut logging.  

We took our first "weekend" of the trip, and stayed for 3 nights outside Tillamook with my friend Katherine, with whom I shared an exchange in Sweden almost 5 years ago.  It was great to spend time with an old friend, and also great to have a warm bed, and a daily shower for a change.  We were invited in to her neighbours house one night, where we were treated to another great night of conversation, food, and drinks.  It was great to meet some more interesting characters, and we certainly had a very fun night.

The weather finally changed for the better, and we saw the sun and blue sky for what seemed like the first time since entering the US.  It completely changes our outlook on this lifestyle, and just makes biking a whole lot more fun.  We suffered through a lot of rain and extremely windy days over the past 2 weeks, and while we've managed to just keep pedaling every day, the sun just makes the days so much better.

Yesterday, we finally hit the road again after our weekend and enjoyed the beautiful coastline of Oregon.  We stopped for lunch outside a Safeway in Lincoln City, and sat on a bench, eating the bagels that we had bought the day before, from a Safeway in Tillamook.  As we finished eating, a retired couple came up to us, and told us that 3 times now, they have found cyclists sitting on that same bench - and that every time, they invite them over to their house to stay.  We had only biked 50 km in the past 3 days, so we didn't think we should be stopping yet - but we couldn't say no to their enthusiastic hospitality, and so we followed them home and had a great, relaxing afternoon in their ocean front home.  After they loaded us up with as much food as we could carry, we went on our way, making our way further south.  Since we spent so much of the afternoon there, we couldn't quite race the setting sun to Newport, so we were "forced" to spend the night camped out at a highway viewpoint.  We woke up this morning to the ocean out our front door, our most beautiful camp site yet - and a park ranger walking towards us.  He let us know that camping isn't actually permitted at day-use areas here in Oregon.  Who knew?

Now that the weather has turned back to fog and rain, we know it's our cue to start moving again.  That, and the cafe that we are sitting in is putting the chairs on the tables.  So, further south we'll go, and hopefully keep you updated a bit more frequently!  We've put on our photo album from Washington.  Admittedly, it's not our best album - but that's just what we had to work with!  Until next time...

Island hopping in Washington

As it's only been 2 days since our last post, we haven't really covered a whole lot of ground yet.  Another 200 km or so.  However in that time we've cycled down small country roads, gravel roads, taken a ferry, and weaved back and forth both under and over interstates.  Yeah, so maybe not the most efficient route, but it's been fun.  

We started off in Sumas, just across the border, and hoped to cycle into Bellingham to find the REI, which we had been told by a fellow cyclist carried the new rear racks that we wanted for our bikes.  After an extremely slow start to our day leaving Canada and entering the US, we finally got into Bellingham just in time for the evening rush hour.  We made our way down city streets, back and forth over the I-5 trying to find the best way to get to the heart of the city.  We eventually made it there, and after waiting and waiting and waiting for somebody to help us, were informed that they don't carry them there.  Maybe in Seattle.  This wasn't the news we were hoping to hear, but with no real options except just to continue on with our current racks, we left the store, stopped for our first taste of some American fast food (Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers are only 99 cents here!), and made our way slowly out of the city.  We managed to pick the best route of the city, on a narrow city street that seems to have been built with the steepest grade possible.  We slowly crawled our way up the hills with lines of cars building behind us, and then zipped down the other side, only to slowly climb the next one.  Eventually the road led us out of the city, and we were able to find a very scenic road with our very first view of the coast.

With darkness setting in, we decided to abandon our ambitions of making it further down the coast and finding a free place to pitch our tent, and we pulled into a State Park campground.  There, we met another cyclist from Australia who was making his way down to San Francisco.  We split the cost of a campsite with him, and decided to spend the next day cycling together, seeing as we had the same destination in mind.  We had a good day of pedaling around Whidbey Island, taking scenic country roads, alternating between farmland, and views of the coastline.  We headed for a campground that our book had told us would be free - but when we got there we found out they now charge $10 per site.  We decided to just pay the money, but soon after arriving another cyclist, this time a young German, found us and we invited him to stay with us as well.  He was in search of the "free" campground too.  In the end, $2.50 each wasn't too bad a price to pay.

This morning we left in a convoy, with all four of us on our loaded touring bikes, making our way to the ferry that would bring us across to Port Townsend.  After a ride that would have been very beautiful had it not been so misty and overcast, we arrived in the cool little town of Port Townsend, where after buying some groceries we all split ways.  We'll see where we all end up in the next few weeks - there's a good chance we'll all cross paths again, as we're all heading for the same general destination, with similar timelines.

We're taking today to relax in the town, and get ready for our next push - maybe we'll make it to the Oregon border before our next rest day?  We're hoping to be in San Francisco in 3 weeks or so, so we'll see how well we can stick to that.  It was great to talk with other cyclists and see how none us of really have any idea when or where we'll go places on a day-to-day basis.  It seems like we are just about as unplanned as a lot of others.  Maybe a little more, but still - not too bad.  I guess we'll see how the next few weeks pan out.  We're enjoying our time here so far, that's for sure.  

Week 2 and a half - we made it through Canada!

Total distance cycled to date: 1129 km

Nights spent stealth camping to date: 12

Number of flat tires to date: 1

Number of wasp stings to date: 1

Number of blackberries picked from ditches to date: incalculable 

Just minutes ago, we crossed from our homeland of Canada into the United States of America.  After learning that bicycles are not considered vehicles, and that the phrase "we would like to go..." works better than "we are going", the border crossing went fairly smoothly.  They let us in.  They believed that we can make it all the way down.  One country down, just 14 left to go.

Our last week of riding was full of many surprises - many of them were good surprises, and a few, inevitably, were not.  

We were surprised at the generosity of strangers that we met along the way.  The response that so many people have to our trip has been very uplifting.  Before leaving a lot of people asked us about safety and security, and while we have been traveling so far only in Canada, we have been reminded countless times that there are many great people out there.  From being given leftover fruit and juice boxes from tour groups, to paying our tab at dinner, to being given more fresh fruit along the way, to giving us straight cash to buy ourselves some Argentine wine once we reach our destination - it seems that everywhere we turn, people are wanting to help us out.   We even spent our last night in Canada, in Abbotsford BC, with a relative that we had never met before.  We were treated to amazing, all-you-can eat meals, and a much needed shower and clothes washing.  (One statistic that we didn't want to mention yet is days-without-showers.  If you're interested in that one, just let us know.  We think it will be pretty impressive by the end of this trip!).

Another fun little surprise came as we pulled over on the Trans-Canada highway near Chilliwack to take a quick bathroom break.  Looking into the ditch, we discovered that it was full of blackberry bushes!  Completely full!  We initially started picking and eating, as fast as we could, devouring the delicious berries.  However we soon realized that we could be picking these for later - for lunch, and for supper!  So we emptied all of the ziplock bags that we could and went to work, battling the thistles and thorns, picking an endless amount of blackberries.  We came out of the ordeal with mountains of blackberries, and purple-stained fingers, partly from the berry juice, and partly from the blood that we shed while those thistles waged war on our fingers.

As life goes, some of our surprises weren't quite as fun.  Our first flat tire of the trip was awarded to Jeff, as he was rocketing down the Coquihalla Pass.  It came, quite luckily, just in time for a road-side pullout where we were able to unload everything, search through all of our bags for the necessary tools and parts to fix it, and load the bike back up - all under the beating sun.  (We now have repacked our bags to be a little more efficient when it comes to a flat).  I had my own surprise as I was flying down a hill earlier in the week, and felt a large bug ram into my neck and bounce off, or so I thought.  I had already forgotten the bug when a minute or two later, as I was already climbing up the next hill, I felt a sharp, painful sting in my side.  This bug had managed to bounce off my neck, into my collar - and sting me!  I wasn't too impressed as I pulled over, and looked at the very sore, swollen lump.  

Our final surprise, however, was much more slow and painful than the first two.  As we biked into Kamloops, our altimeters displayed our current altitude of just under 400 metres.  We knew that it would be a steep climb out of the city, and as we switched highways onto the Trans-Canada, and pedaled past the "Bicycles Prohibited" sign, the climb began.  It kept going, and going.  We reached the end of the city, stopped for a break to eat and drink something, and then, thinking that the hill must be over, continued on our way to find a camp site.  As it turns out, the hill didn't end where the sprawl of the city does.  It kept going, and going.  Every corner, we would think that the hill would have to end.  As we turned those pedals, crawling along at 10 km/h along the narrow, gravel filled shoulders with semi-trucks rumbling by, and cars zipping by, it became a frustrating experiment in tenacity.  But, with no real option except to keep going, we just did it.  Slowly, we rounded corner after corner, until we finally saw a sign reading "Surrey Lake Summit, 1444 m".  We didn't even realize that we had to climb a summit that day!  So much for taking an easy day before tackling the Coquihalla Pass.  Once we reached that one, at a mere 1244 m, it hardly felt like we had worked that day.  

To be completely honest, I think that it surprises both of us that we've made it this far already.  We have never had any doubt that we would make it - turning around has never crossed our minds - however, every day that we complete feels like such a milestone.  Every day leaves us feeling great.  

Now, our training period is over.  We have spent 2 and a half weeks in our own country, learning how to be touring cyclists.  We've learned a lot, we've gotten into much better shape, and I think that now, we're ready for this trip to really begin.  This morning we begin our journey in a foreign country, albeit a good starting one compared to the more-foreign countries that we will soon be encountering.  It's a big step, and it's a bit scary - but most of all, it's very exciting.  We made it to the USA!  We're looking forward to every day of it.

We hope you'll get a chance to take a look at our updated photo album.  We've got our best from British Columbia for you!

Week #1 - our arrival in Jasper!

Even with our procrastinating tendencies, we still managed to leave on our scheduled departure date - September 1st.  Six days later, we are in Jasper, having survived our first week of cycle touring.  It's been a challenging week, but a rewarding week as well.  We've woken up to frost most mornings, and biked through sunshine, wind, sleet and rain - and that's in only our first 4 days of biking!

As we wrote in our first post, 10 days before departure, we hadn't spent a whole lot of time in training, and we knew that the first few weeks would be difficult.  We knew this, and yet didn't really spend any time actually visualizing the difficulties that we would face.  This first week has really tested our resolve.  From the emotional goodbye's of leaving home for a year, to that first hill that we climbed with our loaded bikes - to the last hill that we climbed every day.  It's all been very tough, but we just keep pedaling.   And at the top of every hill, it feels worth it. 

We've had some amazing views of the Canadian Rockies, and had a chance to camp in our own private campground!  We've already slept in an empty lot, a closed campground, and a dark museum (and for those of you who really know us - they were of course, all free of charge!)  Climbing the Sunwapta Pass was an event that we had been anticipating since we started planning our route.  We knew that it would be one of the biggest climbs that we would face in North America, and the worst part was that we were tackling it with so little conditioning.  But bit by bit, metre by metre, we pedaled our bikes onward.  Every stop that we made, I was more out of breath than I ever had been before.  My heart was beating faster and harder than I think it's ever beaten before.  But eventually, with grins on our faces, we made it to the summit of the pass.  It's an amazing feeling to look back over the road that you've just ridden, and to see the progress that you've made.  Looking down at the road, so far below in a valley; it's an almost indescribable feeling.  

Our true reward for that climb came the next morning, as we left the Columbia Icefields Centre out into the drizzle.  Adorned in our full rain-gear, we mounted our bikes and started pedaling.  However, as the grade became steeper and steeper and we lost all the elevation that we had worked so hard to attain, our feet couldn't keep up with the pedals, and we flew down that windy mountain road at speeds that our mother would not like to hear, and that our bike computers couldn't calculate.  (They both topped out at 72.66 km/h).  It is such an exhilarating feeling with the wind in your face, to propel yourself at such speeds, when you've worked so hard to get there.   

We've been lucky enough to meet a number of people who have encouraged us already.  From the lunch-time conversations with fellow cyclists and travelers, to a fist-pump out a car window as you bike by, to the simplest smile and a wave from vehicles as they pass you by.  All do wonders to help you keep pedaling, keep those legs pumping, and make it up that next hill.  We'd encourage all of you, if you see a biker out there on the highway - give them a wave as you drive by.  Or even a honk, if you're coming from the opposite direction.  However if you try it as you come up behind them - well that's just dangerous, and to be honest, quite scary.  

Tomorrow morning we will pedal off, early in the morning and head west on the Yellowhead and what will most likely be our first border crossing - into British Columbia.  We are hoping to reach Kamloops after 6 or 7 nights spent camping in roadside turnouts, and mountain runaway lanes.  

We've updated our photo album, and we hope you'll take a look.  We've been lucky enough to cycle through some beautiful mountain scenery and we thought we should share at least a little bit of that with you.