Every day was a new adventure! We saw new places, encountered new terrain and had new adventures as each day unfolded.
The part of the tour that will always be prominent in my mind was that every day we met new people who were kind, helpful, supportive and curious about what we were doing. From our first day riding, when a stranger offered us a place to stay until the our final day in San Diego when new friends Joan and Phil drove us to the rental car agency for our drive home, we encountered wonderful people!
Trudy's comments: This route is not for beginners or for the faint of heart. To describe it in one word is impossible, so here goes--the trip was exciting, adventurous, beautiful, terrifying, scary, scenic, quiet woodlands, busy traffic, polite drivers (about 95% were), not so polite drivers, flat, uphill, really uphill, big ascents and descents, incredible views from Top of the World and other indescribable Byways. As Frank mentions, the biggest part of the tour was meeting so many fantastic people who were generous, "adopted" and fed us, gave us a room to sleep in, helped us when we (I mean Frank) was lost, came up to us, almost every time we stopped to rest or eat, out of curiosity and to tell us their bicycling stories. One couple pulled up alongside us in their car to tell us that our red blinky lights were easy to spot. I did get tired of being called crazy :-) though...
My stats, according to my Garmin bike computer:
Total distance (including side trips): 2594 miles
Daily distance (ride days only): 46 miles average
Total ascent: 184,782 ft.
Average daily ascent for ride days: 3242
Average speed: 10.5 mph
Max speed: 43.6 mph! Really kinda scary to see that!
Average max speed: 35.4 mph
Calories burned - Frank: 141,535 (2483 daily average) - no wonder I was hungry!
We each lost 10-12 pounds on the tour.
Where we stayed on the tour (including getting to the start):
Stranger - 1
Friends - 10
Hotel - 4
Warm Showers hosts - 4
Camping - 45
Bike weight (we didn't weigh them until we got home); Trudy, 64 lbs. ; Frank 71 lbs - we weighed them with full water bottles, but not much food. So, the weight varies a little when we'er riding, due to changes in water and food.
Maps: We followed the Adventure Cycling Assoc. "Cascade-Sierra" route. The maps are excellent bike touring. We learned to pay close attention to the elevation scale, compass rose and written directions.
We bought state maps along the way to give us reference to the "larger world" because our maps offered only a narrow "glimpse," showing our route, resources and other necessary information.
Equipment we bought along the way:
Trudy: 2 new tires, new sleeping pad (the old one was leaky!)
Frank: 1 new inner tube, a collapsible "water bottle" for vodka, camping towel (old one didn't absorb water, BUT it was quick drying!), additional water bottle and cage, thermal undershirt for riding, camping bowl that's collapsable.
Stuff we brought that we didn't need:
I brought a little bluetooth speaker, that I sent back. I thought we would use it to listen to books on tape - the iPhone speaker was load enough. After we sent it back, we wanted to listen to something on the Nano, but couldn't. Trudy brought a small tarp that would be used if we had an extended rainy spell. Fortunately, we didn't need it, but we would still carry it.
Clothing: we each had two riding outfits and two street outfits. Everything was quick drying and we planned on layering... we used everything, and wore all our layers at times. Laundry was part of the nightly routine!
Rain gear is a bit of a problem. We both have Gortex jackets, but with extended climbing the condensation inside would soak us, so we would get cold on the descents. Same with rain pants.
My shoes would be soaking wet after a period of rain and they don't dry quickly.
Bikes: we're ready for dedicated touring bikes! We need disc brakes, neutral steering, a more upright riding position and proper bike fit for touring - we'll also look into S&S couplers or foldable bikes.
Front panniers for me! As much for organizational needs as weight and balance. I often had to dig everything out of my bags and here were things like rain gear that I didn't use very often.
Pace and distances ridden: For the tour we did, with so much climbing, 50 or so miles per day, with an about a day off per week was good and kept us in good spirits.
Entertainment: We each have an MP3 player that we listen to with one ear on those long climbs. Mine plays 15 hours of music on shuffle - I'd change the music and add some podcasts, short stories or books. I brought a book to read and Trudy brought Readers Digest, which she disposed of as she finished the stories.
Blogging: It's quite a process. I take photos through the day, transfer them to my phone at the end of the day, edit them, then write the blog and transfer the photos as I go. It takes about 45 minutes. The "keyboard" takes up 1/2 of the screen on my iPhone 6, so I have to scroll back and forth a lot as I write and enter photos. The app has very limited formatting options, so I have no control over photo placement, sizing and so forth. Cell reception was very spotty - we often went for several days without a signal. We did have WiFi in commercial establishments and with friends.
Route knowledge: The Lewis and Clark route, which we have been riding in sections, has a special allure because we've read / learned about the expedition and have stopped at interpretive centers, monuments. It added another dimension to the ride, which was missing on this one. Now that I'm back I think it would be interesting to learn about the agriculture / geography / geology of the areas we passed through.
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