I love it when a plan comes together.

     Unfortunately, this is not the case here. You see, despite all the hours of planning, reading, scheming, dreaming, emailing, talking to others, etc... sometimes, things just go completely to shit and everything you thought was going to happen, doesn't. (Or at least doesn't go the way you thought it would.) Such is life right? You never know what's going to happen or when. But, looking at it in a positive light, things changing is what adds to this adventure we call life right? It's what keeps things interesting. Well, ok. This is how we are choosing to look at it anyway!

     I won't bother you with all the boring details of why things didn't work out. I will just say that our grand plan of quitting our jobs and spending a year living on our bikes has changed. Dramatically. Are we depressed about it? Yes. We are! But all in all, our "New" plan has some things in it that will alleviate some stress that our old plan held. And who doesn't love stress reduction?

     So what is our new plan you ask? Well, to put it simply, we have 6 weeks to go and see whatever it is we want to see. We sat down and discussed what parts of the country we wanted to see the most and quickly realized that the Pacific Coast was on both of our short lists. So kids, that's where we are headed.

     Due to our shortened time frame, we will be using alternate transportation to avoid wasting time riding thru parts of the country we are not all that interested in. (like the entire midwest) We therefore, sometime around the beginning of June, will be boarding the train from our home in Wisconsin and riding the rails all the way to Portland Oregon, where our 2 wheeled adventure will begin. We will head out of Portland and go see some of the things friends, family and even total strangers have suggested we go see. We plan on taking it nice and slow in order to really "see" and experience everything we can while we are there.

     This trip will not be to see how far we can get in 6 weeks, but instead it will be to see how much we can experience in 6 weeks. We have no set goals, no set daily mileages, no set anything. If we stop somewhere we like, we may decide to spend a couple days there. Again, this is a "No plan" kind of a trip. The type of trip where getting lost will be looked at as an opportunity.

     So there you go. That is our new and revised plan. Is it even remotely close to our old plan? Nope! Are we ok with that? Yup! We really are. Sure, we're disappointed that our original plan didn't work out, but we are not going to sit around pouting about it. (well, maybe a little bit) Instead, we are going to go and do what we can. Things happen for a reason and we believe that this is, for us, at this time, what was meant to be.

     I know some of you were looking forward to following our journey. We love and appreciate that and we sincerely apologize to you for the changes. However, we still have 6 weeks! That is more than enough time to have a fun, crazy adventure isn't it? We think so!

     We are going to pull the plug on the blog however. Since we will be doing a shorter trip, we have decided to keep all of you posted via our Facebook page only. With 6 weeks, we felt updating the blog AND Facebook would be too time consuming and we want to pack in all the experiencing we can, as opposed to blogging.

     If you follow the blog but not Facebook, click the link to the right side of this page. That will take you directly to our Facebook page. Click the like button and you will be all set to follow us on Facebook. We will keep the blog up for a while yet to insure everyone gets the word, but from now on, all updates will be done on Facebook.

     Thank you so very much to everyone who is showing an interest in our trip. We are pretty excited to get started and we look forward to everything the coast has in store for us. Meeting new people, experiencing new and beautiful places and doing it all from the saddle of our bicycles.

     Thru the wonder that is the internet, we have met another cycle-tourist from Mexico that, as of this date, may or may not be joining us to share some of our adventure. We hope things will work out for her and that she can join us, as that would be quite fun. Look at that. The trip hasn't even started yet and we are already meeting interesting people.

Hope to see you on the road!!!

Pat & Bobbi

Fatbike Beach Ride

Hello friends. Since we are in hardcore money saving mode for our trip, we are not doing too much right now. We have our equipment, we have tried it out a few times and now we just need to wait for our spring departure. There is a bit more happening behind the scenes, but I will save that for a future post once the details get worked out. Until then, I thought I would share some of what we are doing while we are waiting. 

Our friend and sponsor, Broken Spoke Bike Studio, has gotten quite into the fat bike scene. George is the only Salsa dealer in northeast Wisconsin and is doing a great job promoting the fat bike culture. 

Every Monday night, he hosts a fat bike shop ride along the Lake Michigan shoreline. He even has a couple loaner bikes for those who want to try a fat bike before shelling out the cash. (Very few end up NOT buying one) This is what I chose to do as well. 

George put me on a Salsa Beargrease. It is Salsa's racing fat bike. At 26 pounds it is the lightest fat bike on the market. I had an idea from reading reviews that this bike would not be as cumbersome to pedal as it looks like it would be, but I was totally shocked and amazed at how light this bike feels. We rode on pavement, grass, single track and finally the beach (which was a bit hard due to the temp only being in the low 20's) and I literally could not tell any difference between the pavement and the sand. When I got on this bike hard, it responded and took off. I was truly amazed. Which is both a good and bad thing. Good because it made me a lover of the fat bike, bad because it made me a lover of the fat bike and now I want one badly. With our upcoming trip next year however, the money is needed elsewhere, so it will have to wait until we return. Or we win the lottery. Whichever comes first. (Can you guess which one will probably come first?)  

Below are a few pics from my beach ride with George and a few of the guys from the shop. I had a great time and will most definitely do this again. There is a fat bike race in February that I told George he could count on me for too.

Me and a Salsa Beargrease

Pugsleys and Mukluks and Beargrease. Oh My!

The guys and myself. Minus George who was taking the photo.

Not quite a full moon but still bright enough that we could ride without our lights for a few miles.

About a half mile from the end of the ride, I felt the bike get a little bouncy, then heard an odd noise, then felt the rear tire go down, then heard the sound of rim on sand. I stopped and sure enough. The rear tire rolled off. My night was over. George hopped onto the handlebars of one of the other bikes while I hoisted the Beargrease onto my shoulder, hopped onto George's Pugsley and continued on. We relayed the Beargrease between 3 of us (It may only be 26 lbs, but that gets heavy quick when you're holding it with one arm.) and before too long we were back at the shop.

The night may not have ended well, but the awesomeness of everything that occurred previous to the flat, more than made up for the flat. Hey, I was just thankful it happened where it did. It could have happened miles from the shop.

If you ever get the opportunity to give a fat bike a try, I highly recommend it. They are so versatile and more importantly, SOOO much fun. 

Thanks George! I had a great time.

Our, "Ok, Let's Try This Again" tour!

Success at last.

     Last April we attempted a short multi-day trip to test out some of our new equipment. Being excited for the trip, I posted all kinds of info about it. I talked it up in an attempt to get others as pumped up for it as I was. Well, Mr. Murphy (of Murphy's law fame) saw my posts and decided to come along. The trip was a total disaster. 40 mph headwinds, a bad knee from a crash, multiple flat tires, frustration, tears, you name it. If it could have gone wrong, it did! Thanks Murph.

     This time, I decided to say NOTHING, until the trip was over. Thankfully, Mr. Murphy had decided to go ruin someone else's day and left us completely alone for almost the entire trip. He did make a brief appearance in the form of a pulled back muscle on day one and a broken spoke on day two, but after a resting her back and my short tussle with the spoke, we came out victorious and Murph realized he was no match for our grit and determination. Buh-Bye!

Day One - Home to Long Lake

"Inside Voices Please"

     We got on the road fairly early. Thankfully the brutal heat wave we had been experiencing for the last 2 weeks had broke. The weather was warm but not hot. 

     This hill was B's first big test. By far the biggest hill she had ever had to ride up. Painted on the road were the words: "Feel The Burn" so that told us we were not the first to try this climb. Little did B know that this was to be the first of MANY climbs she would have to face over the next few days. Most of them she conquered. A few she did not.

After that climb, it was time for a rest and some water.

After we arrived and had set up camp, the first order of business was a shower. Food was next on the agenda and then it was definitely time to kick back, relax and enjoy the solitude of nature. The solitude however, was soon to be shattered. We were on the top of a hill. At the bottom was a large group of about 8 adults and 2, screaming, crying, fighting, whining, yelling, and just, over all, obnoxiously loud children. Yes folks, you are outside, but you are not the only ones here. Not everyone here wants to spend their evening listening to you screaming at your kids to stop screaming. But, everyone in the campground had to do just that.

Day Two - Long Lake to Harrington Beach

"I saw Saturn, but not Uranus"

     Awoke to another beautiful morning. Got on the road pretty early as this was to be our longest day.

Just for the record, cemeteries make awesome resting areas. They are quiet, peaceful, usually have big trees which provide plenty of shade and best of all, the residents never complain about you being there.

This was the killer hill of the day. B actually took this pic when she was already halfway up it. If you look closely, you will see a small black dot at the very top. That, would be me. Gives you a little indication of the seriousness of this climb.

We made it. Camp is set, showers done, spoke replaced, now it's time to start supper. We were trying something new. Vegetarian chili. B added a few things to it and it was pretty good.

After dinner, we went on a water run. We saw a sign stating there was a Saturn viewing at the observatory tonight at 9:00. The observatory? In a state park? Cool! Let's go. It was a bit of a walk, but walking felt good after riding all day. We are really glad we went. It was very cool. Saturn looked a lot like it does in the astronomy books.

Day Three - Harrington Beach to Mauthe Lake

"Naked ass in a corn field."

     Almost right away today, we ended up on a dirt road. This was the 2nd one I had unknowingly routed us onto. Guess I have to look a little closer at my maps. So the day started out a little rough. Not bad, just bouncy and a little washboardy.

     Not 7 miles into our day, B decided that she needed to change her bike shorts. Thinking they would be cooler in the heat, she had put on a pair of liners. They were not cooler, nor were they comfortable. Maybe it was the fact that we started out on a washboard road. Not sure.

     We stopped at the edge of a corn field so she could dash in and change into a better pair of shorts. I took a couple photos while I waited. I just happened to turn and look at her when I saw the sun, shining off her naked ass, thru the dark green of the corn stalks. (SHH. Don't tell her though. She has no idea.)

     About 12 miles down the road, we found a cheese store and decided to stop for a bit. SO glad we did. They serve ice cream! Plus, I found my new favorite string cheese. It's just basically mozzarella, but as you rip it apart, it gets all stringy. Mmmmm. So yummy!

     As we were coming into a small town, I heard B yell behind me: "CAR!" I looked but didn't see any cars. "WHAT?" I replied. Again, I heard her yell, "CAR!" I looked all around but there wasn't a car in sight. I slowed and let her get closer and said: "Where's the car?" Her reply was: "Not car. I said BAR!" We made the call to stop and have a few while charging up our electronic devices. This was both a blessing and a curse. We had a few too many and it made the last 4 miles to camp really hard to peddle as we were so relaxed. Note to self, stop at one if not done for the day.

     We came around a corner and I saw a grouping of signs that read: "Walker lies will let you down, faster than a strapless gown." (For those outside of Wisconsin, Walker is our governor. That's all I have to say about that.) I pointed them out to B and we had a good chuckle.

     About 25 yards down the road, I saw this mailbox, all banged up. I pointed it out to B and we kept pedaling. Shortly after passing this mailbox, B said, "You should get a picture." I told her to keep going as our next turn wasn't for a mile yet.

     I hadn't gone but 100 or so yards when my GPS started doing the recalculating thing. I had missed a turn. B was a couple hundred yards up the road, getting ready to climb a big hill. OH NOOO!!!!! "STOP!!!" I screamed. She didn't hear me. "STOP!!!" I screamed again. She kept going. I was mashing the pedals trying to catch up. Screaming "STOP!!!" 12 to 15 times I screamed as loud as I could scream. Finally, she pulled over and stopped.

     As I rolled up to her, she gave me that "You better have a good reason for making me stop on a hill!" look. She had gone 2/3 of the way up a pretty steep hill. "We have to go back. We missed a turn." I said as I recoiled in anticipation of the fallout. I will not repeat what was said next.

     When I told her I was screaming at her to stop but she didn't hear me, she replied "No. I heard you." I just thought you were a sheep." "A SHEEP?" I answered. "You scream like a girlie sheep." She said. "I kept hearing this sheep and kept expecting to see it standing in a field somewhere. I figured it had to be close cause it was getting louder every time I heard it." At this point, I was laughing so hard I could barely coast down the hill we had both gone up for no reason.

     After we got home and we were looking at the photos, B said, "Why did you take a picture of a mailbox?" "You told me to." I said. "No...I was taking about you taking a picture of the Walker signs." So here, after all that, I never even took a photo what I was supposed to. UGH!!!!

Day Four - Mauthe Lake to Home.

"9 out of 10 raccoons prefer peanut butter over green beans."

     1:15 a.m. I was awakened by a noise that I knew was a raccoon. I got up and shined the light around camp. I saw 4 sets of tiny little glowing eyes looking down at me from a tree. Aww. Baby raccoons. My mind said, "Where's mama?" I shined the light onto the table and there she was. She jumped off the table onto my duffel that was balanced on the seat. It flipped, sending her tumbling to the ground. She took off into the woods as fast as she could and shortly her babies scampered off to join her.

     In the morning, we found why they came to visit. We had a bag with some left over green beans in it as well as some garbage from snacks we had the night before. The bag with the green beans was on the ground and had just one small puncture in it, along with all of the green beans. The empty package from the peanut butter however, was totally destroyed. Well played raccoons. Well played.

     7:00 a.m. Coming down out of the campsite was quite the challenge for my brakes. 300 lbs of bicycle and me on a 10% downgrade, with a stop sign right at the bottom.

     Made it home safe and sound and HUNGRY! Got cleaned up and went out for a celebratory dinner of pizza and salad. Ok. I had the pizza, B had the salad.

     We had a great trip. Everything went well, the weather was beautiful, the traffic was mostly light, we didn't have any major breakdowns, and we even had a slight tailwind the last 2 days. Couldn't have asked for anything to go better. While driving to dinner, we were already planning where to go on our next trip. Stay tuned to this blog and our face book page for more info. Just don't expect anything to be posted until after the trip! ;-)


B's Good Points: Lot's of downhills and string cheese. Also, that I did more than I thought I
                            was capable of doing.

B's Bad Points: Uphill! Also, had some numbness issues in my hands and toes.

P's Good Points: Had a successful and fun trip. Determined that all of our equipment works well. Oh
                           and I have to mirror B and say string cheese.

P's Bad Points: The only bad point that I can honestly think of is the obnoxious family that we
                          encountered on our first night.

A friendship is born.

Funny how randomly things can come into one's life.

Tuesday June 12th:
On an unscheduled trip up to Manitowoc for work, I happened to notice a gentlemen walk into the store wearing a bike helmet, asking if they had an "inner sleeping bag". He had an accent and apologized for his lack of command of our language. Unfortunately the store didn't have what he was looking for, which turned out to be a sleeping bag liner. In the darkest recesses of my brain, the receptors started firing. European accent, bicycle helmet. Hmm. He was on a bike trip. I asked and he replied that he was from Germany and was indeed on a trip across the United States. New York to San Francisco. I had to know more and probably spent the next hour or so talking with him. (I should have been working, but...)

We swapped facebook info and blog addresses and we parted ways. He was planning on leaving and going around Lake Winnebago thru Appleton. I wished him well and looked forward to getting home and reading his blog, which can be found here:  http://jollyride.blogspot.com/  (Side note. His blog is in German, but google translator works pretty well.)

Later that evening, after relating the story to B, I saw I had a message from him asking if there were any stores in Fond du Lac that might have the liner he needed. Turns out, he decided to go around the lake thru Fond du Lac as opposed to Appleton. Knowing this, I extended the offer for him to stay at our home. After a 55 mile ride from Manitowoc to Fond du Lac, he graciously accepted. Who wouldn't? A night on an innerspring mattress is better than a night on the ground with the mosquito's. Right?

Wednesday June 13th:
He arrived at the scheduled time and we went to get his sleeping bag liner and a bite to eat. Then, it was back to the house to relax and learn more about each other. I tentatively offered him a Bud Light, you know, the great American beer? I felt like I was offering to boil a hot dog for Wolfgang Puck! Who offers a Bud Light to a German?

My daughter in law Lisa, who is German and speaks the language fluently, send me a text to read to him. Not speaking the language, I decided it was best to just let him read it himself. He smiled and said he appreciated the kind words.

We sat up till after midnight talking about music, politics, and bike touring. He told us stories from his trip and we listened intently, waiting for any bits of info that could come in handy on our upcoming trip. We discovered that we have a lot in common and that we share quite a few of the same views about that state of the world. If that were not coincidental enough, he also plays guitar! Even with the language barrier, the conversation flowed freely until none of us could stay awake any longer.

Thursday June 15th:
After a big breakfast of farm fresh eggs with cheese (we are in Wisconsin you know), toast and orange juice, we sat on the deck and over coffee, continued our discussion from the night before. All too soon however, it was time for him to get back on the road. I took the day off from work to accompany him for the first miles of his day. Upon our arrival in Rosendale, we wished each other the best, and parted company. Little did we know, this was not to be the last time we would see each other this day.

Just prior to riding to Rosendale.

End of the trail and time to part ways.

Upon my arrival home, I saw that he had left his shampoo and body wash in my shower. OH NO!!! Shampoo and body wash to a touring cyclist, is just as important as oatmeal and sunscreen. It's one of the few things that keeps you from getting kicked out of public places. We had to find him and return it.

After B arrived home from work, I suggested that we go to dinner in Green Lake, as that was where he said he might stop for the night. She agreed and off we went. We searched one campground unsuccessfully and B suggested we try the only other campground we knew about. We were just about to end our search when we came around a corner and there he was. SURPRISE!!!!!

SURPRISE!!!!!

Take care my friend. Ride safe and may the wind be at your back.

Oliver turned out to be an very pleasant, kind, outgoing person. We truly enjoyed his company and he is welcome again in our home anytime. He extended the offer to us as well, should we ever find ourselves in Germany. Hmm. Now there's an idea. We sincerely hope our paths cross again sometime down the road.

People think the world is this big, huge place filled with many different people, cultures, skin colors, traditions, etc... and for the most part, they are right. But when you peel all those differences away and look at the core of our being, the things that are truly important to us as human beings, we really are, exactly the same. Geography aside, the only thing that really separates us, is us!

The 7 Year Itch Tour - The Itch That Never Got Scratched

There's no crying in bicycle touring!

B & P just moments prior to departing.
If only we knew what was in store for us.

Sometimes things just don't work out as planned. This was one of those times. To make a long story short, let's just say that fate conspired against us this day. Between the 40 m.p.h. headwinds, B's sore and swollen knee, and multiple flat tires, it didn't take long for us to figure out that this just wasn't going to be our day. 

One of the few photos taken during our 4 hour, 15 mile ride into the teeth of the wind.

Had to stop at the corner of Fur.

Sand-hill cranes. Great to see these making a comeback.

B's knee. Swollen again, a week after the crash.

We still wanted to try out our camping gear, so we made the decision to camp at least one night. This was a good decision as it allowed us to determine that our camping gear is awesome. It got down to 28 degrees and we stayed nice and warm. Thanks Big Agnes!

Camp is set.

Time to start dinner

Snacking on a pumpernickel pretzel while waiting for the main course.

Cooking after dark requires a great deal of skill.

Veggie burger on whole wheat pita. YUM!!!

Time to crawl into our happy little tent for the night.

We awoke the next morning to the wind howling yet again, so we made the decision to call off the rest of the trip.

Awake and happy as we realized that our camping equipment worked better then we could have hoped.

It's cold out and some hot Alterra coffee is going to be SO wonderful.

Tea bag, coffee bag, what's the difference?

I'M HUNGRY!!!!!

Warm vanilla almond granola with dried cranberries.

Listening to the wind and being grateful I am not pedaling into it.

Breaking camp.

So after making the decision to call the rest of the trip off, we decided to make the best of the rest of our time off and head to a comfy resort.

Comfy!

The rest of the time was spent sightseeing, mini-golfing, EATING, enjoying the scenery and each others company.

B presenting the woods.

Beautiful wife, beautiful scenery.

Had the best veggie burger of my life here. Actually, have never had a bad meal here. If you go, try the glorious chocolate cake. It is slap yo mama good!

Water bug eye view.

Sedimentary my dear Watson. Sedimentary.

Things are looking up. Literally.

I like this shot.

A little mini golf to satisfy our competitive side.

Did ya hear about the new pirate movie? It's rated ARRR!

Probably not the best place for two vegetarians to go for dinner!

After this it was time to head home. On the way we stopped for some snacks and to use the facilties and B found this in the ladies room.

Where else can you get a $5.00 footlong AND something to protect it with in the same location?

 In closing I will say that we learned a great deal on this little disastrous trip. BUT, that is the exact reason we are doing these shorter trips. Better to fail miserably close to home than thousands of miles away.

We have already started looking at dates to try this again. Not going to plan so extensively the next time though. It seems like every time we plan in detail, things just don't go well. When we just kind of wing it, we have a much better time.




Time for good points bad points:


B's bad points:  Hills, headwinds and sore knees!

B's good points: It's not about the destination, but rather the journey. Make the most of what happens          
                           and move on.

P's bad points: Headwinds, flat tires and a plan that didn't work out.

P's good points: Found out we made great decisions in our choice of camping equipment.