Archive | Bike Trip

This is a Cracker Barrel map I have been logging around with me ever since May 2007 when I first visited the one by Highway 17 in Savannah, Georgia with Tyler a mere two weeks before saying goodbye to my charming South. I may have ordered mac n cheese. And it may have been delicious.

It now sits on the South wall of my kitchen, above my little dining table surrounded by photos of all my lovies. I tacked the main highlights of the trip and strung the route with baker’s twine.

The Bike Trip begins in Portland, Oregon and ends some time later in Portland, Maine. You know, the ORIGINAL Portland. Along the way, I will most probably watch my dearest friend Sarah marry the dude of her dreams in BC, stare at Old Faithful, salute the four presidents at Mount Rushmore, hug my Angie baby until she can no longer breath in Minneapolis, bike through Montreal and, hopefully, NOT encounter any bears or snakes along the way. The heck with those.

If all goes as planned, I will visit four more National Parks: Glacier in MT, Yellowstone in MT, Mt Rushmore in SD and Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan.

If all goes as planned, I will embark the first week or so of August 2012.

If all goes as planned, I will return by Thanksgiving.

If all goes as planned, I will devour as many Cracker Barrels as I possibly can. Athlete diet, my ass.

BEHOLD! Bikey No. 3. She is a 52″ Surly Long Haul Trucker touring bike and her name is LA RABIOSA. Rabiosa came into my world on Thursday, August 11, 2011. Honestly, she is all I’ve ever dreamed of. My daily work commute is made so much easier AND enjoyable. Biking to the top of the Burnside Bridge is a little blessing as I sneak a quick peak of Mt. Hood, and I think, “Not only is my journey bigger than me, it is bigger than even Mt Hood”.

La Rabiosa will take me to Missoula, MT, then to Minneapolis, then to Northern Michigan and ultimately, THE WORLD.

This photo was taken at Portland’s historic Pittock Mansion, which is only 2.7 miles away from my apartment, BUT IT IS A 940 ELEVATION GAIN AND OH WOW IT TOOK ME 57 MINUTES TO BIKE IT. My goal is to reduce that to 45 minutes ( or less).

Granted, it took me nearly an hour to reach the Mansion mainly because I stopped far too much to photograph the following:

I may need intervention.

Next Summer Minneapolis shall feel the wrath of my stomping on its grandiose grounds. It is currently reeling from the grandiose Photoshop skills acquired by my Angie baby. She created this magnificent representation of my arrival in the MPLS next year on The Bike Trip.