ABTA Bicycle Tour

2009-08-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

We finally got our bicycles into the Pacific. The mountainous coast made this very difficult!
A hiker/biker camp site at Cape Lookout State Park. Right behind us was the Pacific coast!

View from the top of a 600 ft. cliff. This was our last "climb" of the ride.

A huge boulder sticking out of the water off the coast of Pacific City, OR.

A wonderful Oregon coast sunset...these have not been common for us to see.

An amazing view over top Cape Lookout State Park.

Being nerds at the beach.

A wonderful view of a lighthouse.

We made it to the Pacific! Taken at the beach of Florence, Oregon!

Our last mountain pass of the trip. This was the McKinzie Pass, which was the Cascade Mountain Range.

Seaside, OR. End if the trail for Lewis and Clark..and Ross and Matt

2009-08-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

4,200 miles and only one Chipotle!

2009-08-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

2009-08-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

Approaching a hill early in the day!
Approaching a very long 7 mile climb, which is also our second to last mountain climb.

Amazing views all around us!

I know this seems random, but there is a reason for the photo of the cow. Not a big shock, but we ride by many farms and the cows always are looking at us. It is also frequent that we will cause them to all stampede...the small things make us laugh.

Many churches along the bicycle route take cyclist in. The Dayville, OR Presbyterian Church has an awesome stain glass window which included a touring bicycle!

Cycling through the Fossil Beds. Ross and our new riding buddy Chris are wondering what the heck I'm doing.

We came across a tree that had nearly a hundred pairs of shoes hanging from it. This tree has no civilization within 35 miles...we are still scratching our heads about this one.

When Ross is feeling good this is the reaction I get.

Now that we're cycling with another person we have a personal photographer, thanks Chris!

Endless roads

It is nice to have someone to snap some shots of us riding...what nerds.

Welcome to Oregon!!! It seems sad at first, but we still have several hundred miles ahead of us. Who knew this part of the country is a huge desert?

Before we entered into Oregon we rode by Oxbow Lake in Idaho. Cycling around these parts is priceless!

We find some of the BEST places to camp!

2009-07-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

The Salmon River just outside of Riggins, Idaho (Whitewater rafting capital of Idaho). We rode through this canyon for many miles. It was some of the most scenic riding of the whole trip.

White Bird Pass in White Bird, ID. We enjoyed a 10 mile decent at a 7% grade. Needless to say we went pretty fast!

Prior to descending 3,500 feet in elevation we enjoyed the scenery from the top of White Bird Pass. It was one of those overlooks that unfortunately pictures just don't do justice.

We are in Idaho!...However, after 4 days we are moving on, tomorrow we will be in Oregon. We entered Idaho unsure of what it would be like. It turned out to be one of the most scenic areas of the country. We spent most of the time riding along beautiful rivers inside huge canyons.

2009-07-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

Chief Joseph Pass

The 9Th and final time we will cross the Continental Divide!

Ross throwing up a 9, last time we have to do a climb in order to cross the Continental Divide!

Montana sunset

We get to enjoy these views from our tents every evening. We're not really sure why they call Montana the "Big Sky" state, but we think it is because of the spectacular light show by the stars!

Wisdom, MT

A storm blew in, which brought a ton of dust!

2009-07-22T14:39:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Montana!
Apparently Old Faithful is not the only geyser in Yellowstone...there many of them.

Matt and Ross with Old Faithful! What nerds.

We have crossed the continental divide seven times. Each time is no easy feat!

The Grand Tetons are visible in the distance.

Scenery as we approached Grand Teton National Park.

Welcome to Wyoming!!!

2009-07-15T08:27:00.000-07:00

2009-07-14T13:05:00.000-07:00

As of now Ross and I have raised over $2,500, which is 25% of our $10,000 goal! We have attached a link below for those of you who would still like to donate. From this site you can also read about us and our ride in a little more detail. For those of you who have already made a pledge, thank you very much!

Click link below:

http://hope.abta.org/wrightflyers2009

2009-07-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

A beautiful mountain lake! The bicycle paths in Colorado are nothing like the ones in Ohio. Out in these parts there are actually hills on the bike path. As you can see hear this was a 10% grade!We spent a day in Breckenridge, CO enjoying the town. There were snow capped mountains and plenty of things to do.
Ross and I at the Hoosier Pass. This is the highest that we will get the whole trip, just over 11,500 feet! We actually had some snow falling going up the pass.
These are the TransAmerican 1976 signs. We have not seen many of them since Virginia, but there were a few around Canon City, CO.

Hoosier Pass

2009-07-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

Rockies!!!

2009-07-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Turns out Eastern Colorado is a Desert

2009-07-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Some thoughts on Missouri and Kansas

2009-07-09T13:27:00.001-07:00

When Matt & I crossed the Mississippi River at Chester, Illinois (Home of Popeye!), I was officially further west than I had ever been. The Mississippi River marked the beginning of the exploration aspect of the bike adventure. Though the changing scenery and culture are drastic and distinctly different one thing has remained relatively the same, the outpouring of generosity we have received from people along the way.
Missouri was a blip on my radar in terms of states that I was excited to visit. I had no idea what to expect. With states like Kansas I know I can expect pancake flat terrain and wheat fields. I knew Colorado would present us with the Rocky Mountains. Despite my lack of high expectations, Missouri turned out to be my favorite state, so far, to ride through. We spent a large portion of our 3 ½ days in Missouri riding through the Ozark Mountains. I think it is a stretch to call them mountains, but they were fairly taxing on our legs. The areas we rode through mostly consisted of huge farms and wine vineyards. The rolling hills increased in size as we went further in the state and then slowly as the days passed we began to see them flatten out as we came closer to Kansas. The only downfall about Missouri was that the roads did not have shoulders and the drivers were not very courteous to cyclists. It is interesting how each state has had distinctly different personalities as far as the drivers go (Missouri being the worst).
Kansas was flat. Matt & I made a pact going into Kansas that if we had cross winds of tail winds we would cover serious ground. We worried the whole way across Kansas about encountering severe headwinds (After all we are going against the prevailing winds). Fortunately, Mother Nature was on our side and we had the luxury of a tailwind for most of Kansas. This luxury also meant that Matt & I would have to stick to our pact and cover a lot of ground. We managed to make it through Kansas in 4 ½ days! We pulled a pair of 115 mile days as well as some high 90’s. That is a long way to go on a bike with 80 lbs of gear. Our last night in Kansas, 15 miles from Colorado, we got hit hard by one of those famous Kansas storms. We sat in our tents and rode out a thunderstorm that pounded us with 50 mph winds. This was one of those…”This isn’t good man”…moments. Our tents were not staked down, because we were staying under a gazebo on a concrete pad. We were forced to either sit in our tents to keep them from flying away in the wind or lose them. Against what our parents would have liked we chose to ride out the storm. We survived and are happy to report…We’re not in Kansas anymore!

2009-07-09T12:33:00.000-07:00

We are welcomed everywhere. This is a common sight along the TransAmerican bicycle route. Nearly all the locals love to see and talk to us, sharing many stories of other cyclists.

A very typical town in Kansas and eastern Colorado. A very flat city that is centered around a giant grain elevator.

The Rocky Mountains are in sight! We have both been anxious to get to the west and it has finally come!

Two very happy guys to be at the Colorado boarder. We pushed hard through Kansas and made it across in only 4.5 days! There were plenty of 100+ mile rides thanks to the help of the winds!

We got caught in a very bad storm and nearly lost our tents! The sky's were wicked, but all we seemed to care about was saving our tents. Good thing there was not a tornado!

Ross and Matt came across many other cyclists looking for cold drinks and air conditioning on a very hot afternoon. We have meet people from all over the world who are doing the cross country bike route.

Flat roads = good spirits. We were very lucky and had a great deal of tail winds through much of Kansas. For all the people who told us that we are going the wrong way...look who was wrong!

Matt in the early hours of a Eastern Kansas ride. We stopped to take our jackets off and change the music on our iPods. Mornings were chilly, but that changed quickly as the days went on!

After a long day of cycling there is nothing better than a cold drink.

Ross at the Kansas state line. After four hilly states were ready for some flat land and leg recovery!

2009-07-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

Matt cycling into the distance on a road that goes as far as the eye can see. We both found the state of Missouri to be quite beautiful, despite the aggressive drivers. Please note from the photo that there are no shoulders on the roads in Missouri!

Ross and Matt at a good overlook of the Ozark Mountains. We were told by many east bound riders that these are very steep and difficult mountains. Now that we have successfully cleared them we can laugh and only feel sorry for what they will encounter in Eastern Kentucky and Western Virginia. For those who are unaware, the Appalachian Mountains are very steep in grade compared to what is found out west. This makes for very difficult cycling! Many people think that the size of the Rockies makes them harder, but they are much lower in grade.

Ross standing with the "Welcome to Missouri" sign. He is now further west than he has ever been! We even got to see an Armadillo. but unfortunately it was road kill.

Ross and Matt standing with the bronze Popeye statue. The statue is located right before bridge that took us from Illinois to Missouri.

Some friends from home came to visit us in Chester, IL. Chester is the home of Popeye, well the creator of the character that is. We stayed at The Stone House, a lovely Bed & Breakfast which overlooked the Mississippi River.

2009-06-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

We sat and drank Coke after Coke trying to stay cool. We have been riding in a heat wave of near 100 degree temperatures.

Matt and Ross on the Illinois side of the Ohio River.

Riding the ferry over the river...the computer would not let me flip the image...who knows?

The Ohio River! We have successfully made it across Kentucky, Illinois here we come!

You see some funny things while riding your bicycle in the middle of no mans land!
Group shot with Barb & Steve, along with Bob & Violet who took us in for the night!
Monument at President Lincoln's birthplace
In Bardstown enjoying Kentucky Bourbon Ale! Bardstown, KY is the bourbon capital of the world! I guess you can just use your imagination on how the evening turned out...
Ross and Matt showing off their fancy dugout camping spot!

My thoughts on Appalachia

2009-06-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Matt & I are now west of I-75 just east of Elizabethtown, KY. We have now traveled nearly 1,000 miles. On Saturday we took our first day off to spend fathers day weekend with our families and friends in Berea, KY (One hour south of Lexington on I-75).

My experience of riding through rural roads in Appalachia has compelled me to share some of my thoughts on our time there. The parts of Western Virginia and Eastern Kentucky which we rode through were some of the poorest areas in the entire United States (I have not researched the numbers, but the disturbing degree of poverty was readily apparent). While entering Kentucky at Elkhorn City, Matt put it best, “I cannot believe that this is America.”

The degree of poverty was comparable only to what I have seen on television when they report on shanty towns in Third World countries. I do not consider myself sheltered and I am well aware that poverty exists in the United States, but what I witnessed made me sick to my stomach. The roads we traveled were lined with what should be condemned homes and trailers that sat no more than 10 feet from the road. Roofs were repaired with miscellaneous pieces of sheet metal, garbage was piled up and strewn about, the rivers smelled like gasoline, and every home had at least 3 neglected pets that with no doubt will die soon from starvation. We saw goat pens that were attached to the front of homes. Many of the homes did not even have doors.

Despite it being weekdays when we came through these towns most people were at home sitting on their porches. Without a doubt much of this area is kept afloat solely on government provided welfare. We didn’t take pictures of what we saw out of fear of making the residents angry. These people and their guns are not something we were about to mess with.

We rode our bicycles at 15 mph through areas of America that I would avoid at all cost in a car traveling at 55 mph. Flags bearing swastikas were displayed in the windows of homes with pride. As if it weren’t already readily apparent, locals repeatedly warned us that we were in an extremely dangerous area. Fortunately, Matt & I have safely made our way out of back country Appalachia.

We saw terrible areas of America in Western Virginia and Eastern Kentucky, but I don’t think my reporting should be misinterpreted as my views of the people we met. Despite the rampant poverty the area was also home to extremely hardworking and generous people. Most people waved and said, “Hello.” It was an important experience for me and also for Matt I am sure. I am humbled to be reminded how blessed we both are.

2009-06-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

All four of us have put our faith in the same bicycle, the Surly Long Haul Trucker! Today it is back onto the open road.
Matt and Kevin enjoying their day off from riding bicycles!

Max & Kevin playing the mini guitar they picked up in town. These guys are also TransAm cyclist who were taking a rest day in Berea.

Ross's father Vern and our friend Matt Bourelle playing some music for everybody. Thanks to the campground owners for loaning us these fine musical instruments!

Saturday (day 13) Ross and I choose to take our first rest day in Berea, KY. Some family and friends made the trip down for a visit as we were conveniently right at I-75. To us, Berea was our first milestone!

Matt and Ross with fellow TransAm travelers Barb & Steve at the Booneville, KY Presbyterian Church Hostel.

Ross changing a flat tire after the big storm

Nick & Denny (fellow TransAm cyclists) after they rode through a monster thunderstorm. These guys are known to do anything...including camping in Wal-Mart parking lots despite security warning them that it is not safe. Godspeed Boys!

Matt looking over the days ride in Hindman, KY at the Historical Society B&B.

Ross signing the guest book in Hindman, KY at the Historical Society B&B.

2009-06-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

Ross working on his journal in Rural Retreat, VA. Here we were welcomed at the cities historical society bulding!

Our home while we were in Damaskus, VA. This hostal, better know as "The Place" is home to many passing TransAm riders and Appalachian Trail through hikers. We met some great people with many good stories!

Ross at the Kentucky boarder!

Matt at the Kentucky boarder!

Ross and Matt hiding from a sevear thunderstorm. This was the story of our day on Wednesday, June 17th.

As of June 17th Ross and Matt have covered around 650 miles and made it through Virginia. The weather has been a bit on the gloomy side, but it wont break us down! Our legs are holding up just fine, but our first rest day planed for June 20th is all we can think about!

2009-06-13T12:41:00.000-07:00

Before getting into Roanoke we stopped for some wine tasting at a local vineyard.
An amazing farm along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Matt next to the sign marking our highest elevation to date on the ride.

Ross descending down a hill through the Appalachian Mountains.

Ross asking a local to throw him up a beer, to bad the valley below was nearly 2,000 feet down.

Looking out over "20 minute cliff"

Over this rock there is approximately a 200 foot drop.

Enjoying the view before our decent out of the Appalachian Mountains.

Our camp site at Lake Sherando, which was nearly 1,000 feet below our bicycle route. It was one heck of a climb getting back to our route the next morning!

Action photo of Matt eating on the side of the road. We are constantly eating anything we can get our hands on.

Ross riding with the rain covers on. We have been threatened by rain every day thus far.

2009-06-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

Day 3 - Climbing the Appalachian Mountains

June "The Cookie Lady" Curry is a lady who provides housing and food for cyclists at the base of the Appalacian Mountains in Afton, VA. She is famous among riders who do the Trans Am bicycle path. We stopped in and met The Cookie Lady. She showed us the Bike House where cyclists stay. The tradition is to leave something behind. The house is something of a museum with nic-nacs from riders ever since people began taking this route in 1976.

2009-06-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

Matt and I are approximately 220 miles into our journey. Above is a picture of us overlooking the Thomas Jefferson Vineyard. In front of us are the grape vineyards and in the distance to the right are the mountains we rode up in a few hours to get to Monticello (For those of you amateurs look at the back of a nickel). Today went very well, we are feeling good considering the mileage we have covered in the past 3 days. Our butts hurts a little, our legs are a little sore, but our spirits are high (Helped in part by the Mexican Restaurant we found in Charlottsville, VA and their jumbo margaritas). Tomorrow we will begin climbing to the top of the Appalachian Mountains. We will climb 5,000 ft in elevation. This will be the steepest climb of the entire cross country trek as we'll as the steepest longest descent or the route. Today we descended at nearly 40 mph so tomorrow should be even dicier.

Bumpass, VA

We are so mature...after 4 hours on a bike we about lost it when we went through this little town. This is our tribute to that old Aerosmith album cover for Pump.

2009-06-08T17:15:00.000-07:00

Night two we stayed in Bumpass, VA / Lake Anna with a wonderful couple. We meet them in their church parking lot while we were sucking down sweet tea (with the help of Vern). The stay was compleate with boating, swimming, pasta, wine, A/C....the worksss!
Food Stop in Ashland, VA.

Ross and Matt at a battlefield (and just figured out how to set the self timer on the camera!

Home for night one. We were welcomed by the Willis Methodist Church just before Glendale, VA. Aprox. 60 miles into the ride, although we rode 72 sinde we checked out Williamsberg!

The "official" start of the TransAm trail. Vistory Monument Yorktown, VA.

Dipping our wheels in the Atlantic at Yorktown, VA.

Were two days and around 130 miles into the TransAm trail. We had a wonderful goodbye with my (matt's) folks! It was great that they were able to make it down to see us of. The first day we road through historic Jamestown and Williamsburg. We ended in Glendale, VA at Willis Methodist with 72 miles completed, although only 62 were progress. This was a mix of my map reading skills up to now and road detours. We ended the night with some much needed pizza and sleep. It was great to enjoy some AC the first night. Day two can be summed up by saying it was very hot and we must carry more water. We have now begun to see some hills, but there very minor compared to what we will see at the end of the week. We were welcomed by a couple at the end of our day who opened their house up to us. We were fed and also enjoyed some swimming in warm Lake Anna. Today's mileage was right around 70, which puts as at a grand total of approximately 132 miles into the ride.

Pictures!

2009-05-28T18:57:00.000-07:00

Training ride to Minster, Oh

Guest Speakers @ Tipp City Rotary

Interview on Bucher's Beat!

2009-05-27T17:40:00.001-07:00

May 21st Ross and I were interviewed by Jim Bucher on Channel 2 news. Despite us having to be up at 4:30am it was an awesome experience. We had numerous people from the community come out and support us!

Each day were getting closer and closer to our $10,000 goal for the ABTA. If your not keeping track at hope.abta.org/wrightflyers2009 we are just about to the 10% marker. We both feel this is a good start, as we hope many more donations come in as we hit the road.

We have made our plans for departure, which will happen June 6th. We will be driving down to Virginia Saturday the 6th, then starting our journey either that afternoon or early Sunday the 7th. We will be updating this blog at least twice a week, but hope to see that number be more like 5 times a week. We know that you all will be very anxious to see how were doing!

Dayton Daily News & Tipp City Rotary

2009-05-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

On Thursday May 7th the Dayton Daily News ran an article on our bicycle trip. I think that the article was very well written and should be positive for gaining donations. On Tuesday May 13th Ross and myself will be the guest speakers for the Tipp City Rotary. This is going to be a wonderful chance for us to get in front of up to 75 local business owners who are potential sponsors. We are both looking forward to taking the next month to promote the trip as we will depart in early June. You can see our news article by clicking here.

Making Progress!

2009-04-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

We have been working hard to secure some sponsorships in order to make the ride possible. I would like to thank those who have decided to help us. We are closing down on a month until our departure date. To make sure we are ready Ross and I have been on out bicycles as much as possible. More updates will be coming soon!

Training Ride

2009-04-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

A video clip from my ride. I am testing to see how video will look on here!

Training Ride

2009-04-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

I rode this afternoon for about three and a half hours. So far I'm having a love hate relationship with the trucker. When the wind is to my back and I'm going down hill we get along great, but as soon as the table turns we don't get along a whole lot. But all in all I really do love the rig!

I started out at my sisters house, which is right in the middle of town. I road down to the new bicycle path, which is right across the street from the canal downtown. From there I went south, only having to get onto the road briefly at Canal Street. I took the path all the way to Dayton, then returned to Tipp City. I decided that was not enough, and had time to spare before dinner. I rode up to Die Mill Road in Troy, them returned home. The whole ride went without a hitch, although I did have an odd occurrence. As I was riding by the Tipp City City Park I noticed a lump behind my left knee. I would say it was about the size of a grape, cut in half. It is now visibly gone, but when touched you can feel that there is something there. I Googled it and got a million results, but it doesn't seem to be a big deal. I guess I will just watch it.

Working On Everything

2009-04-03T19:56:00.001-07:00

Well the final quarter of school has finally arrived before we take off onto our journey! The quarter should not be to terribly difficult. If everything goes right we will be able to leave about a week early seeing that I will have nothing going on exam week. I am working hard along side my parents to secure both donations and sponsorships. If you know anybody who may be interested please get them in contact with myself or our webpage! Now that we have most of the things for the trip it is time to just train. Virginia will be the first state we tackle and is considered to be the most difficult state. We will experience as many as thirteen days there with nothing but up and down up and down!

DONATE!!!

2009-03-24T19:47:00.001-07:00

Ok people. We are doing this ride for a reason....and that is to raise some cash money for the American Brain Tumor Association. Your help really will go a long way, even if it is only five bucks. Click here to visit the ABTA site where you can donate and view our progress!

First Training Tour

2009-03-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend Ross and I went on our first mock training tour. Saturday afternoon we rode out to John Bryan State Park. To make it as accurate as possible we packed way more stuff than we would need for the night. Setting up camp was a breeze, thanks to the great design of both the tents we have choose to use (MSR Hubba HP & Marmot EOS 1p). Fortunately we did not have to fend for ourselves for food, as we were met by a group of Ross's parents friends. They were camping and watching some of the March Madness from their extravagant lang yachts! The first night in the tent was not bad at all, well besides some very loud neighbor campers! Ross and I are stoked for our next trip, and are truly counting down the days until the real thing!

Photo Shoot

2009-03-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

Ross and I had to get some fancy photos taken for the American Brain Tumor Association website. We got some killer pictures thanks to the help of Mr. Jake Scott, District Manager for roll:. If this picture does not raise us some damn money I don't know what will!

Maiden Voyage!

2009-03-13T07:53:00.001-07:00

On Saturday I took the trucker out for a spin, along with all the bags! Considering the 25 MPH cross wind, she "sailed" like a dream! I rode from Grange Hall Rd. in Beavercreek to Kil-Kare Motor Speedway, then back. I could not believe how many people commented on the bicycle. Maybe this was because I was going past many of the other road bikers, since they clearly didn't exercise all winter long.

I think that the bicycle rode very smooth. The 4130 steel frame was every bit as comfortable to ride as my carbon road bicycle. Because the bicycle is somewhere around 35 pounds between the racks, bags, and bicycle itself, it handles very smooth.

Ross and I have planned out first training ride/camp. March 21st we plan to ride out to John Bryan State Park, just outside of Yellow Spring. There we will put up camp, drink beer, and see how much we don't know about roughing it, sleep, then ride back to Dayton later the next day! We hope these little mock tours will give us good insight as to what we will need, and what is a waste of pannier space.

Also, our page for donations should be up very soon!

Cheers!

Sexy!

2009-03-05T12:27:00.001-08:00

Bicycle Built!

2009-03-04T20:07:00.000-08:00

Well the Surly arrived today and I got it all together! I also received my Arkel bags, and boy are they beautiful! Everything went together smoothly, although the front rack did give me a run for my money. I am not sure what the weight is of this thing, but it has to be somewhere around thirty pounds! I will let ya'll know how she rides after the maiden voyage! From the look of the forecast we may have a few spring-like days just around the corner.

More Equipment!!!

2009-03-02T13:25:00.000-08:00

Surly Nice Front & Rear Rack

Surly Long Haul Trucker

Mountain Hardware Piute 20

Today I placed an order for my sleeping bag. I choose to go with the Mountain Hardware Piute 20. This is a right side zip down sleeping bag. It is ultralight, weighting in a few oz. under three pounds. I also ordered my bicycle, the Surly Long Haul Trucker. Along with that I got the Surly Nice racks. I ordered the Crank Brothers Mallet pedals, which will be nice since they have a platform. I am nearing an end of ordering the equipment...tools and clothing are about all that is left!

Camping Gear

2009-02-27T11:25:00.000-08:00

MSR Hubba HP

Therm-a-rest
ProLite Plus

MSR DragonFly

Snow Peak Titan 2 Pot set

I made more progress today getting all me gear. Thanks to the help of The Outdoor Source in Columbus, Oh I will have an outdoor store helping me along the way. I look forward to testing all the equipment (especially the stove since it can run off non-leaded gasoline). We will be going on numerous mock touring ride, giving us practice with the gear.

Adventure Cycling & Arkel Panniers

2009-02-26T17:02:00.001-08:00

Kershaw Hunter's Blade Trader

Kershaw Leek Rainbow

Arkel Large Handle Bar Bag

Arkel GT-18 & GT-18 BP

Arkel GT-54

Today I joined Adventure Cycling, where I also placed an order for my travel maps. There are 12 maps which in detail cover the ten states which the TransAmerican bike route follows. I also placed the order for my Arkel touring panniers. Above you can see the ones that I choose. With this set up I will not be hurting for space! Ross will also be using the same set up.

Progress Being Made

2009-02-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

We have been working to get everything in line for the trip. The date which we have chosen for departure is June 15, but sooner if school allows.