Venice Beach and LA

Last night, we rolled casually into Santa Monica and Venice Beach. It's amazing - with miles and miles of flat beach, complete with volleyball courts and people galore.

It's incredible how fast the trip has gone, we leave in just 6 days!

Alex's Tire and PB&J Tortillas

Truing the Wheel

A great method for truing a wheel.

Roadside Maintenance Part One

When beautiful Pebble Beach could be seen through the trees, I instantly slammed on the brakes and exclaimed that we must take a picture. Unfortunately, Alex had his eyes on the course himself, and he slammed into the back of me. Thankfully, he has plenty of mountain biking experience and controlled his endo like a pro, slamming his back tire onto the ground. We both escaped without a scratch, and here you can see what ensued.

Santa Barbara

That's a lot of spaghetti.

We've made our way to beautiful Southern California. Last night, the wolf pack rejoined and we spent a wonderful night out at Sand Bar. Cousin Nick joined us for the evening - a quite splendid surprise; hopefully, we'll see him again in a few days.

Yesterday, Alex and I rode 120 miles, from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara. It was the biggest day we've had yet, and my knees can certainly feel it.
This is always a sign we like to see!

Theme Song for this section of the trip - Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dogg "California Gurls" Official Music Video HD

This is the grate of death - My front tire went straight in and flipped me over the handle bars - first wreck of the trip. Luckily I came out unscathed
My heaven - strawberry fields as far as you can see. The wind came across and swept the sweet smell right into our nostrils

The crew in the Avenue of Giants from left: Niall, David (both from Ireland), me and Alex, Simon (from France), and Ted and Joe (from England). A great crew indeed. Unfortunately the Irish stopped in San Fran, so it's 5 to San Diego.

Monterey and the sun is shining

The last few days have been cold and grey, but alas, we arrived in beautiful Monterey and the sun is shining as we relax on the beach.

Sunday, Alex ran the San Fran Half Marathon, and needless to say he was walking like an old woman for several days. He is just now healing up.

Tomorrow we will ride around the bay to Cannery Row and alongside Pebble Beach Golf Course, then down to Big Sur.

The trip is dwindling quickly, as we have only 2 weeks left!

So long for now,
Blake

The Golden Gate

Alas, we have arrived in civilization. It seems that Part I of the trip - the grueling, riding hard every day, being in the sticks, roughing it part - is behind us. And ahead lies all the beautiful California beaches and towns between San Fran and San Diego lies ahead of us.

We met up with Doug, from warmshowers.org, last night, and it's worked out great. He's given us a great place to stay and showed us a good time in the big city. Today, we'll explore the city. I will find clam chowder in a sourdough breadbowl. And, tomorrow, we will head south.

Ciao for now,

Blake

So close to Frisco

Tomorrow we cross the Golden Gate Bridge! I will hit up the San Fran library tomorrow to add pics. In the meantime, be sure to check out Joe's blog at 2skinnylegs.blogspot.com.

Carpe diem,
B

NorCal

This morning we got up and over Leggett Hill, and we are back on the ocean. We just had all-you-can-eat pancakes at the Denny's here in Fort Bragg, and even just typing those words makes me sick to my stomach. Just a few days till we hit San Fran and we can't wait.

Ciao

California!

We've made it through a province and two states and have entered into the "Golden State." It's been truly beautiful. We entered through the agricultural station, which requires you leave all your fruit and veggies in Oregon. We took a few side trips off the 101 down beautiful country roads lined with fruit farms. From Crescent City, we conquered the Crescent City Hills and enjoyed the long descent back to the ocean.

We woke up in the Redwoods National Park and took a short hike around the mature groves and checked out the "Big Tree." And it is indeed a big tree. Then we had the short ride down through Trinidad to Arcata.

After eight straight days of riding, we are treating ourselves to a day off in the home of Humboldt State University. Last night, we went out with Ted, Joe, Simon, and two guys we're staying with in Arcata. It was a great time, filled with conversations with the ubiquitous HSU hippie.

Tomorrow we roll out for a six day stint which will take us over Leggett Hill - the largest of the trip at 2000 feet, and into San Fran. Can't wait for big time California!

Cheers,
Blake

Backdated Pictures

Finally, I am able to upload some pictures. Unfortunately, my camera just broke so we're down to one cameraman.

Southern Oregon

It sure is hard to stop biking and enjoying the coast long enough to get into a library and update the blog. Unfortunately, I can't add pictures here, but I will as soon as possible.

The last few days have been great. The waves splashing against the rocky coast is quite a sight to see. We have made it over 1000 miles now, and tomorrow we venture into California!

I will be taking a day off in a few days and will update more then, with pictures!

-blake

The Bike Trip So Far

Alex and I set out exactly two weeks ago, so far we have made it over 700 miles. From Vancouver, we headed north to Powell River, across to Comox, down Vancouver Island to Saltspring Island, over to San Juan Island, down Whidbey Island, across to the mainland, all the way through Washington, across the border to Oregon, and here I find myself in Lincoln City, OR.

Whoofta, that's a mouthful. It's been a great trip, indeed. My favorite part of traveling is meeting new people, and this trip has not left me unsatisfied. We have met Calgarians on tandem bikes, Coloradoans wearing jeans, solo Germans and Frenchmen, San Fran hippie girls, and Irish and Brit boys - all with the same goal: to cycle down the Coast.

We have become especially good friends with Ted and Joe - the London boys, Simon - the Frenchmen, and David and Niell - the Irish boys. We have been cycling with them as a group, which adds very much to the fun.

Some of the highpoints of the trip have been meeting some guys on the ferry to Salt Spring Island who invited us to stay at their beautiful property, the 4th of July in Olympia at the Brotherhood was a real hoot, and our day off in Seaside, staying with Frank the Tank was quite splendid.

Joe, the Brit, has a blog for his trip, and we have been with him for about a week, so check that out as well: 2skinnylegs.blogspot.com.

Enjoy the pictures and I'll update again soon.

Cheers,
Blake

Hello Everyone

Friends and family,

I have found that in my journeys it is incredibly hard to keep everyone aware of what I'm up to and where I'm at. So, I have started this blog in an attempt to share my travels with all of you.

Enjoy!