8/31/2008 Bad bike day

Kitsap State Park
Miles Today: 60
Miles Done: 167
Miles Left: 1660

Today was a rough day. As mentioned in the title, my bike did not do me proud today.
The day started out, after a cold night, as a cool overcast morning. I got up, ate, and packed. I headed down to the bath house to shower before I headed out. After I was done showering and was putting the final touches on my packing the troubles began. In the morning I am in the habit of giving my bike a once over, feeling for the tire pressure and assessing the truesness of the wheels. As I was doing this I noticed a flaw in my tire, a small hole in the sidewall where the tube was starting to squeeze through. I knew that as I rode the tube would squeeze out the small hole forming a boil of sorts until the tube rubbed against something or thinned to the point of popping. I pulled off my rear wheel and started to go to work. I carry a spare tire to replaced worn out ones and mounted that. Since the tire was new it had yet to streatch out and mounting was a pinful and slow experiance. I kept the tube as it was still holding air when I pulled it off before. Then I pumped it up and got it pressure. As I pulled off the pump from the valve I heard the tel-tale sound of escaping air but not from the pump. I pulled the tire off again and examined the tube. Normaly I can patch any sort of hole up to about a centimeter in size. However this hole as where the value joined the tube. There is no way to patch that as it not smooth and not all made of rubber. As a result I had to throw that tube out and put a spare on. However that was the last spare I had oweing to the fact that I had lost my other spare due to another failure near the valve. Also my spare was a tube I replaced earlier because it has a very slow leak, one that takes 2-3 hours to notice.
All assembled I finally hit the road but I was worried. I now had no spare tires or tubes. It was Sunday so if another vale failure occurred I would have to wait until I could find an open bikes shop. To compound this Monday is Labor Day meaning I might have to wait two days.
After these two valve failures in a short period I am starting to think my bike tubes didn't like the long storage durung last year. Normally I replace all my tubes every year or two from normal wear and tear. I guess I should replace them regardless of their wear.
I got started with my ride for the day. As I rode I noticed my crank was lose and so I stopped to tighten that up. In a short while I made it to a ferry crossing. The schedule had boats coming and going every 45 minutes or so. After I paid my fare I wandered off to a nearby restaurant. Sitting in the parking lot I found a open access point and just picked up my email when I saw the boat coming in. I hurried by to the dock and loaded my bike. Helpfully the boat had ropes to lash my bike to banister so the it wouldn't get thrown on the waves. At the end of the ride I arrived in Port Townsend, a perfect little tourist town. I checked the bike shop and found closed for the holiday as expected. I did find a store that sold small backpacks. These are one of those very light weight bags that pack down to nothing but can hold a few books once you unpack from it's small pouch. It will releive me from the annoyance of hauling a bike pannier with my laptop, cash, maps, etc every time I want to got into a shop.
I started out of Port Townsend in the clear warm day along the shore of the bay. Then an irritating click on my drive train started bugging me. I had heard it yesterday and I assumed it was something like a piece of gunck knocking things out of alignment and ignored it as it was in gears I wasn't using much. Now it was constant as it was in the gear I needed. I stopped just out of town and put my bike in the grass to investigate. After a couple minutes I discovered the cause, a bent tooth on a front chain ring. Chain ring is the name to gears attached to the right pedal of a bike. I had to partially disassemble my front drive train to permit my pliers access to the bent tooth. The metal they are made of is very brittle and so when I tried to correct the bend and it broke off I was not surprised. Fortunately a missing tooth of few won't cause any problems on bike. I put everything back together I was back on my way.
I have not written much about what I have looking at along the way. It was not my intention but like hikers who complain they only see the trail as a biker I have generally only seen the road. I do look up from time but rarely I have seen much remarkable. The terrain is mostly rural feilds with small towns and occasinially limited views of a bay.
The day ended with a crossing of the Hood Bridge, a narrow affair with no shoulders, only two lanes, and fast traffic. I lie, in some spots there was room for a bike but for a sizable section I had to walk along narrow curb while I walked my bike in the road. Fortunately I made it and about 45 minutes later I was hanging my hammock.
After finishing "All the President's Men" (thumbs up) I am now listening to a book called "Scourge" which is a book detailing the history of small-pox. It is mostly a historical account of the disese's impact on the world but that is more fascinating than I have ever imagined.

8/30/2008 Long day

Deception Point State Park
60 miles today
110 Miles down

I woke up rested after have slept cold though the night. I am glad I brought my hammock but I am beginning to think I should have brought more insulation for the bottom. Still it is far more comfortable than sleeping on the hard and rocky ground found in the campsites I have been in.
Given how hard this tour has been I am feeling surprisingly good. Still I wish I had trained more in prep. In all the tours I have done in the past I think I may have had to stop twice on a climb, even in the Adirondack Mountains, but I find myself stopping several times a day, often more than once on a single climb.
A couple people, Russel and Karen, came by my campsite today. Russel is from Australia and is exploring the area and I assume Karen is a friend joining him for a stretch. Tell told me about a a nature program down at the beach that was happening in about 20 minutes. I hurriedly packed up and headed down to the beach to meet them.
There we all got a quick lesson on how to responsibly explore and then set lose. I had never been in a tide pool and the experience was simply amazing. I have never seen anyplace more full of life. Every surface was crusted with living things! Immediately obvious were mussels and barnacles. Looking more closely I learned about limpets, chitons, and saw more critters that I have yet to identify. Lifting up rocks showed even more life below. Thousands of tiny crabs could be found everywhere, most the size of my finger nails though some bigger. Finally the last thing I found was clams who stuck out large fleshy feet to feed on the water lapping over them. When I touched one it responded by sucking it's foot in and squirting a jet of water at me in the process. The depressing thing about my exploration was there was so much life growing everywhere that even though I chose my steps carefully I new every last one was likely causing peril to something unseen.
The sea gulls were also neat to watch. As I sat I saw them pick up mussels and fly a short distance in the air then drop them on rocks in an effort to crack the shells.
After that I started on my day late but not upset. It was worth every minute. As I worked my way away from the park I ran into another cycling couple, this time local who gave me a recommendation that put me near the water. It was a nice gentle route with rolling hills that ran me along the shore or a river. On the muddy sores of the river I saw a majestic Heron stalking it's prey. I watched it for a few seconds and before I could get my camera out it got spoked and flew on down the river.
Later I passed a feild where someone had a large radio controlled plane. They are doing all sorts of stunts that made me fear for the plane.
In Bellingham I found a marine supply store where finally I bought some fuel for my stove. It was beautiful city with lots fo cute stores. I stopped by the library to get grab my email and upload my journal entries. After that I caught the bike trail that meandered along the shore. It eveantually ended up on a causeway that parrelled the shore for what felt like half a mile or more. I got a good view of the horizon and bay before me.
The day ended with a hour of chilled biking. Road construction redirected the bike route over steep hills and then I had to cross couple very narrow bridges. Fortunaly Washinton State law sets aside a few campsites for bikers at every state park so even though it was almost dark there was still a biker site for me.
All in all today was good day, I made good miles, the morning rocked, and I found a good place to sleep. I look forward to getting and earlier start tomorrow though so I can set up camp before dark.
Oh, also I got no flats today!!

Good start

Birch Bay State Park
Miles today: 57


Today I woke up pretty early, 6AM. However that was 9AM EST so I suppose I was just jet lagged. I headed down to the cafeteria but they were not serving yet. I spent my time journaling and taking care of my email. I was still groggy and when breakfast arrived. I drank three cups of tea and then I felt a little better and gave Dana a call to tell her I had arrived and I am doing well.
I hit the showers and slowly packed up and finally hit the road. I made a bunch of stops along the way. First bike lube and gloves, then stove fuel and small luggage locks to keep someone from grabbing and running with my panniers. Also I picked a water bottle up after I left one in the airport in Calgery. Finally I made one last stop, lunch at a restaurant which also was serving a shouting paranoid delusional schizophrenic.
I started putting miles behind me slowly thanks to numerous hills. At a break a few hours in I ran into a couple aussies who were also doing the tour. However they were going to meet up with a touring group in a few days and then without all their gear they were palnning on finishing at San Diago on the 16th. They were riding on a couple folding bikes and more amzing was the case they had packed their bikes in converted into trailers which they were hualing.
I reached the USA border late afternoon and after waiting in line for about 10 minutes I was through and in Washington State for the first ever. Shortly there after I made it to a supermarket that I picked up some dinner at. The most amazing thing, to myself, was tortillas. Tortillas in Canada I tend to find of sufficient quality, not great, and expensive (30-50 cents per tortilla). I resisted the urge to buy a 30 pack for $3.50 and instead got 20. I also bought some cheese and veggie-turkey slices to put in the tortillas.
I left the route to find Birch Bay where I am camping for the night. It was several miles off route and after my third flat for the day (Arg!) I got there, shortly before dark. Fortunately they had saved a spot for bikers like me and I am settled in for the night. It took a while but I found a spot for my hammock in the back of the site. While I ate turkey cheese wraps I tested the fuel I had bought and found I couldn't light it.
Finally I took a shower and now I am headed for bed.

The secret of my success

Vancouver, BC, Canada
About 7 miles biked today
O Miles Done
About 1800 Miles to go

I will explain the title in a few paragraphs. For now I will describe my long day.

It started at about 5AM with my mind not letting me rest. Only anxieties coursed through my mind when I closed my eyes.
I took advantage of this to take care of last details of all sorts; writing email, printing directions, and working out immigration paperwork.
Dana and I recently celebrated three years together. However during that time we maintained separate households until I met her in Tucson on August 24 last year. This is important because I cannot work in Canada without a special visa called a work permit. Dana already has one and she has the privilege of sponsoring one for me as well as soon as we meet the "common-law partner" requirements. As of August 24th do with a year of co-habitation.
I spent the morning going through the paper work and as soon as Dana was awake we walked down to city hall to have a "Commissioner of Oaths"(think notary) witness our "partner"ship paperwork. With that done we packed up the paperwork and sent it to Canada Immigration. Hopefully in a few weeks we will have a new work permit in the mail.
After that Dana and I had scarcely a moment together before she had to go to a dentist appointment.
I always imagine days like this in some sort distorted reality where people say profound things and moments are enough to sustain someone through a war in a foreign country. Instead I find reality a lot more mundane; me packing and her going to the dentist.
Her appointment went a little long but she still got to the house in plenty of time to get me to the airport.

I am flying out of the small regional airport which has affordable flights to Vancouver. I breezed through check-in and we were left with a long wait until my boarding. Dana and I sat and walked together. I found my emotions building since my early wake up.
This is a trip I have been wanting to do for 5 years. However on the eve of the trip I find my mind filed with fear, no terror. Every part of my being wants to run away. The scret to my sucess on this and many of my other trips is telling everyone what you plan to do because I think sometimes all that holds me together is social pressure.

Finally Dana and I decided that spending the last hour waiting in an airport was too stressful for both of us. We kissed our goodbyes and had a final hug before we tried to move our thoughts to anything but what we most cared about.
It may sound cruel, heartless, or just weird but finally separating helped reduce my dread. Although I we miss each other it is better that fearing we will miss each other.

When I travel I enter an alternate mental reality where I zone out and let the time pass. The flights we mostly unremarkable minus a very good landing and a brief delay while a crew tried to figure why they had an extra person on board.
At the airport the luggage seemed to take forever though I suspect I am grossly exaggerating. In about 45 minutes had my bike together and it seemed to have come through perfectly. After wandering around the airport for a while looking for water and change for a $2 coin I headed out to the buses.
I needed to catch three buses to where I am spending the night. The first two went perfectly. However the third bus was a pain. It cold and drizzling and after some waiting and asking I found out the bus route was re-routed. I got directions to the new stop which were wrong. At the new stop I got directions to near the right stop. I figured that out but then the advice on which bus I should take turned out to be in error. I sat an let the right bus cruise by and only found out when I tried the wrong bus and the driver corrected me. Finally after waiting some more I had spent over 45 minutes waiting a looking my transfer expired. I didn't have enough coins so I couldn't afford fair. However I had a good idea of where I was going from looking at maps in the morning. I put on my lights and helmet and headed out into the wet roads. It was much farther that I had anticipated. I originally had studied the maps to bike from the airport on a fairly direct route. However the bus system had me take a much longer route to get me to the connections I needed. As a result I pedaled for 30-45 minutes before I finally reached the hostel.
It is 1:30 AM local time but in my head it is 4:30 AM.

Practice Trip

This message has sat in the queue for a couple weeks. I originally wrote it on Aug 16th.
++++++++++++++++++
Hello, any readers out there. Things should get much more interesting in a few weeks.

Tonight I type this from my campsite at Elora Gorge Provincial Park. I have decided (for now) to bring my hammock on my big ride so it is hanging up in some nice trees at the edge of the campsite. Camp sites here are expensive! I the states I feel like I am getting ripped off if I pay $20 for a site. Here I paid $27 and it don't have a shower or flush toilets. It is a bit of a change from what I am used to.

I am out here shaking down my gear. I have decided to switch from hauling a trailer to using racks and panniers. My thinking was that it would be easier at the airport (only one over sized box), cheaper or at least close (oversized box fees are pretty high), lighter (the trailer is pretty hefty). Anyhow I bought some racks and after some work got them bolted on. Next I need panniers. Dana has a old set that I was initially planing for the front. However my long feet would kick any bag I could find in the stores when I pedaled so I put hers on the back and I got some new ones for the front.

All in all they have worked out pretty well. I have to say the weight feels heaver in the panniers than in trailer even though there is less of it. Also I am worried about Dana's bags since they appear to wearing on account of their age and I had them get caught up in my spokes because the flex alot. I may end up ordering a set for rear bags after all. The newer bags have much stiffer back plates that I suspect are designed to avoid just this problem.

Anyhow I am finishing off dinner and I think it is time to call it a night. Tomorrow I plan to explore Elora, the gorge, and some of the small town charm that is only a couple hours pedal from my home.

I have my ticket to Vancover

Yesterday I bought my ticket to Vancouver. $369 from our regional airport including tax. Not bad. I will be heading out the evening of the 28th which will put me on the road August 29th. I haven't gotten my return ticket yet but I plan to spend 35 days on the trip including checking out some wine country and attending a wedding in LA. That means I need to get my ticket back for October 8th. Gee that really seems like a long time.

That is all for now. Keep tuned.

Coming soon

Hello all my loyal readers. I will be embarking on another trip coming the end of August. I will be biking from the Canadian border along the Pacific coast to Mexico. I will be bringing more computing power with me this time so will post pictures and movie clips as I take them. I haven't pined my departure day down exactly but it will be in the last week of August so keep tuned.