Different types of touring cyclists

One size does not fit all, and this is especially true of touring cyclists.  Some travel the country as fast as they can because they've got to get back to work.  They self-fund their trip or have raised funds. Some have private sponsors, some have corporate sponsors.  Some raise money for charity, some don't. Some go for longer tours by saving up, maybe renting their house or subletting. Others may give up all they own, get on the bike with few resources, and just go and live a lifestyle of being on the road.  Some camp, some stay in hotels or hostels, some eat out every night, some cook at their campsite every night.  One guy I followed on Facebook last year even raided dumpsters behind grocery stores for all his meals just to highlight how much waste there is in this country (and he ate like a king, btw).

So when the question was posed recently in a Facebook group about financing a trip, well the answers were as varied as the types of cyclists who make those trips.  I have yet to start my big journey but no matter how you make the journey, you always have to have some preparation.  Some cyclists recommend travelling very light.  Some cyclists travel heavier.  There's no right or wrong way.  It is a minimalist lifestyle but you still have to be prepared.  If you're traveling in the summer, no need to have a heavy sleeping bag that goes down to 20 degrees.  If you're traveling in the winter, you need to have warm clothing to protect you, and you may need different gear.

I am starting my journey in the winter, but I am starting in southern California where the weather is moderate pretty much year round.  Nevertheless, I will be getting into higher elevations before Spring officially begins, and I may run into some cold temperatures and even very cold temperatures.  So I have to be prepared for that. Then as I head more towards summer and the country begins to warm up, I will store some of my warmer clothing and gear with a family member and have lighter gear.  Because for me it's going become more of a lifestyle.

So it's hard to tell anyone how to prepare for a journey because there are so many things to factor in.  However, I do recommend 2 things:

1.  Have a Paypal debit card.  That way people can put money into your Paypal account and you can access it instantly. INSTANTLY.  And sending money Paypal to Paypal as a personal thing does not get any fee charges.

2.  Send re-supplies ahead.  You may need them, you may not.  But to send yourself care packages to friends or family you will be visiting will help you.  If you don't need them, send them to another station.  I plan to travel with about 4 days worth of food, and that will get me through any patches where I might not have a host family, but I will also have food gift cards, maybe even some common grocery store gift cards. I even bought a little credit card wallet thing to hold gift cards.  Now I just have to stock it.

I am not expecting to leave California with any kind of real bankroll behind me that will fund me.  My "bankroll" is in being prepared up front and using Warm Showers and churches as much as possible.

God will provide.

Elusive sleep and alternate routes

Sleep has been elusive for days, so much so that I've had to indulge in some Advil PM to force myself to sleep.  One pill and I'm off in dreamland.  Last night's dreams centered on finding an alternate route from Pueblo, CO, up to the northside of Colorado Springs, a route I will be taking.  Having lived in Colorado Springs and the area until 1989, I know that area, and originally routed myself through some heavily congested parts of traffic.  My dreams kept telling me there is another way to the east, but even when I woke up at 6:30 and looked at Google Maps on my Iphone, I could not find that way.  It was only when I got onto a much larger computer screen that I found the path.  But it adds 14 extra miles on my route, and from Pueblo to Colorado Springs, at least the part I am going to, is an elevation increase of about 3800 ft.  Yes, it's all uphill from Pueblo... Still, traffic slows you down, so putting in extra miles on quiet country roads may get me there faster because I'll be able to maintain a good, constant speed. On the flipside, when I leave this area on my cross country trek next year, it is all downhill to the TransAm.  About 100 miles of pure downhill.  That will be one heck of a ride.  If I were going to be in Colorado longer than 4 days in June (and two of those are flying days), I would be seriously tempted to ride that route, but if I were going to be there longer, I'd also take my own bike on the plane.

The interesting thing is that in two months I'll be visiting that northern part of Colorado Springs, and I am going to do a bit of exploring via a borrowed bike.  How wonderful it will be to be on long, empty roads.  I hope to even ride for a bit on Hwy 24 going east towards Limon, but I won't go further than Calhan, because it's 33 miles just to get there, and Limon is 71 miles from my start place.  I'd gladly ride to Limon (it's all downhill!!!) if someone would pick me up but I don't want to put anyone out, so that's not going to happen.  At least, however, I will get just a taste of what I long for - to be on the open road.

In the meantime, my fenders have come in to at I. Martin Bicycles, and I need to pick them up, even though I won't have them installed until I also get the Surly front rack.

And in other big news... I have had overtures of a potential job in Scotland. It would be a private job, so I would only be able to work the max time my passport would allow me to be in the country - which is 180 days per calendar year.  So the possibility is to work the winter months there, like Oct-March, then use Britain as a springboard for touring in Europe or returning to the USA for some cross-country touring for the other months.  Might even be great to do the TransAm, then the Pacific coast, and by that time I might be looking at heading back to Britain.  I'd still like to do Nova Scotia to the Florida Keys, and I'd love to do the Mississippi River Trail.  Anyhow, the Scotland thing is a ways off.  We'll see.

The news is out!

Greg Valenzuela at REI in Santa Monica

With Greg Valenzuala (www.thestarvingcyclist.org) now on his way to Southeast Asia to begin 8 years of touring wherever he can, my place feels empty.  Hopefully someone else will come along needing Warm Showers hosting, but since I am 10 miles inland, I sort of doubt it.

One thing Greg suggested was that I start doing lots of hill training and camping.  Well, today I rode into Beverly Hills and did about 2-3 hrs of climbing hills and going round and round up the same hills.  Put about 20 miles on the bike just doing that.  Was in a section of Beverly Hills called Beverlywood which is just south of Beverly Hills.  Conquered some hills I had been thinking of doing for a long time but didn't have the confidence for.  Some of the hills I didn't conquer completely and had to stop on the way up to catch my breath and let my muscles stop screaming at me, but then I was able to continue the rest of the way without stopping.  Greg said he just relaxes when going up hills, and I just kept thinking, "Relax, relax" and maybe that actually helped some because although I had to stop on occasion, I wasn't fighting my gears or the bike.  I just rode without too much struggle.

New handlebars and Surly front fork

I think that the new Surly front fork is making a difference in the smoothness of my ride as opposed to the previous shock absorber.  The new handlebars still need to be cushioned and taped, but otherwise they were fine.  I mounted a new bell on the bike since the old one, which was thumb activated, could no longer be in a good position for that, but the new bell needs to be repositioned as well.  

The really wonderful thing is that I. Martin Cycles installed the front fork and the handlebars for free.  Greg said I should consider that a kind of sponsorship since whenever a company gives you free stuff or services, it's sponsorship.  Well, I just adore the folks at I. Martin, and I now need to really pour the love on them because of their generosity to me.  

Tonight my mother called me about a planned family reunion in June for her and my Dad's 60th anniversary.  I finally mentioned that I was leaving California in Feb. 2015, and I was expecting a ton of naysaying but I didn't get it.  She knows I've been planning it and talking about it for a while.  So that secret is out, and now I just have two important people left to tell - my boss and my landlady.  It's too early to tell either of them, but I do expect to tell them sometime in the late summer.

By the way, for all you touring cyclists, I do recommend getting a $7.99 per month Netflix subscription.  Put the app on your phone or tablet device.  You will not run out of things to keep you entertained on the road when you are in your tent or at a hostel or a Warm Showers.  

New thoughts on my touring

I think I have moved away from the idea of having a trailer and just going with the two pannier sets plus the handlebar pannier.  Touring cycling as a lifestyle, which is what I want, is about minimalism.

Before Greg Valenzuela of www.thestarvingcyclist.org came to stay with me as a Warm Showers hostee, I was thinking my voyage had an end.  I would find some place to settle down where I felt  at home and start my life over.  In reality, I will prefer to keep traveling, at least as long as my joints hold out.  Greg still has another 8 years of planned touring before he wants to stop.

In all reality, I'm not sure that this world will last much longer before the Lord returns to rapture His church and the seven years of Tribulation begin.  This peace deal in Israel, which is a false peace deal brokered by the Vatican which is trying to take over Jerusalem, may very well trigger the events, in which case all my planning for touring is for nothing, but I plan nonetheless and carry on because the Lord is tarrying for His purpose.  Do I sense in my spirit that He is very close to coming?  Yes.  Nevertheless I plan.

My new butterfly handlebars have arrived but still need to be installed and then wrapped with tape.  The Surly front fork should arrive this week.  After the fork is installed I will look for a Surly front rack at a decent price and then will begin to purchase panniers.  Orange panniers for the best visibility (in my mind).

I've put together a wish list of items on Amazon:  http://amzn.com/w/3JXCFXKZ4ERP8

One thing I've learned this week from Greg is not to use bunjee cords because they can come loose, fly down and entangle in your spokes and break a spoke.  He said to use straps.  So I will be buying some straps to tie things down.  We went to REI a few days ago and he bought some straps and other little doodads, and I got a couple of little doodads as well including an ISO-butane fuel can for my camp stove.

Greg is still resting today.  He was feeling poorly yesterday but today seems a little more revived.  A good breakfast omlette works wonders!  I'm not sure what I'll make us for dinner tonight.  Probably more stirfry and rice.

Warm Showers hosting

I am currently hosting touring cyclist, Greg Valenzuela, of www.thestarvingcyclist.org who is here recovering from being a little under the weather before he heads out for a year of cycle touring in Thailand and Southeast Asia on March 24.  I picked him up in Marina Del Rey on March 6, and he will stay here the 18 days.  Didn't know my first hosting gig would be more than one night, but I honestly asked him to stay as long as he needed to rest and recuperate, and I am delighted with him being here.  I have known a little of Greg from his Facebook page as I follow many touring cyclists, and so when he indicated a need to hunker down and rest, I offered my apartment and went to get him.  After cycling 22,000 miles since April 2012, he needs some R&R in a safe place not hopping from hostel to hostel hoping for rest and decent meals.

It has now been a week that he has been here, and good food and rest have made a lot of difference.  I am still so happy to have him here.  He gives me any information I need about touring, equipment, what to take and what not to take.  I have the dog trailer that I thought I would take as just a regular trailer, but he thinks I should try to go without any trailer and just have panniers.  Wow, really have to wrap my brain around that although I totally understand what he is saying.  You see, I was thinking I was going to tour for several months and then settle down, but really, I don't want to settle down again.  Would prefer to just travel by bike.  I don't think I have much longer on this Earth anyhow before the Lord calls us home.  Nevertheless I am planning for my journey as if He will tarry for a long time.

I've hitched the trailer to the bike twice and taken it out.  The first time I took it to the beach on a round trip of 25 miles with no real issues.  Then on March 9, Greg and I rode to my church about 6.5 miles away and I towed it again.  Greg was hoping to ride to the beach but getting to church nearly did him in.  The trouble was, it nearly did me in too.  I couldn't figure out what was going on with the trailer, but I felt like I was slogging home.  It didn't feel right.  I pulled over wondering if I had a flat.  Really couldn't put it together.  I got back and was completely spent in a way that i wasn't even spent after riding nearly 100k.  The next day at work when I was walking the bike down the hallway, I felt that same slogging, and I knew the brakes were rubbing.  When I got home, Greg took a look at it and discovered I had a broken spoke and the wheel was out of true, which is why I slogged home from church (took me a couple of days to recover from that).  Greg also said the wheels of the trailer needed to have the bearings greased, but he just doesn't think I should take that trailer at all so he didn't want me to put any money into any repairs on it.  So we tallked about a Bob Yak trailer, which he thought was a better idea, but he still wants me to try to get away from the trailer idea at all.

But I've made a couple of missteps in buying stuff, like the sleeping bag and maybe the tent, but especially the sleeping bag which is just too dang bulky.  Need something lighter and smaller.

We also talked about food.  His feeling is to have a breakfast and dinner handy at all times for emergencies, maybe one other meal, but not much more than that.  Here I was planning to take 7 days worth of food with me in case of emergency.  But there is so much good will towards touring cyclists on the road that it is unnecessary.

One good thing is that he said my current bike would be fine for touring - with some modifications.  When I said it was only aluminum, he said his Cannondale is aluminum and that it's a myth that touring bikes should be steel.  In fact, he's put over 22,000 miles alone on his current bike.  So while he is here I have ordered a new handlebar - butterfly, and a new Surly front fork to replace the mountain bike fork.  Then I will get a Surly front rack and begin to build my Ortlieb pannier sets, including a handlebar bag.  Oh, and fenders.  Need those too, plus Schwalbe marathon tires.  And then I will see if I still want a trailer.  At least I am moving forward on the bike.  Before he came I really wasn't sure what my next step was.

So I have about 10 more days to pick Greg's brain.  Tomorrow we are going to REI in Santa Monica so he can get some parts and doodads.  I'll have him take me to the sleeping bag section and show me what he thinks I should take.  Maybe look at the tents too.

We were thinking of riding up to Leo Carillo State Beach this weekend to go bike camping because he wants me to test out all my gear and to know what it's like to ride a day and have to set up, then turn around the next day and do it again, but I don't think he's up to it, and now neither does he.  We are going to try to go to the beach again this weekend.  We'll see how he does. I won't be towing the trailer!!  In the meantime I will be planning a time to go to Leo Carillo now that I know where camping is.  I really didn't know where any Los Angeles camping was.  I guess Point Mugu is another camping spot.  Wish I had someone to walk me through it the first time, but perhaps going alone and figuring out stuff the hard way is the best way for me.

Still planning

I'm still planning on leaving Los Angeles mid-February 2015, but there are so many things to do.  It's weird how disconnected I already feel from material possessions - well, to a point.  I've been wondering what to do with my semi-vast collection of DVDs.  Now, I know logically that they just sit there collecting dust and that I rarely take them out to watch.  I can't figure out how to load them permanently onto my computer like I do with my CDs through iTunes, and even if I could do that, they would take up so much space that I likely don't even have room for but a few.  My laptop's hard drive doesn't have terabytes. I'm still in the world of gigabytes measured in the low hundreds.

So I really need to look at what DVDs I have that I really don't have a strong preference to keep forever, and those that I don't want to part with.  Then comes the question of what to do with that bulk that remains.  Solution:  get rid of the clamshell cases and put them in one of these:

This little beauty came off of eBay and sells for $3.99 with   free shipping - and it holds 40 CD/DVDs in the space of less than 3 clam shell cases.  That means parting with the cases and the artwork and just having the DVDs.  But that's all that's needed anyhow, right?  Sure the clam shells are nice and the artwork is great, but what space wasters.  I certainly don't have space for them on the bike, nor do I care to put them into storage.  However, I do have space on the bike for a few of these cases!  I'm sure I can find someone on Freecycle to take all the clam shell cases.  Now I just have to go through my collection and see what is really worth saving.  For sure all the Star Wars, Matrix and Lord of the Rings movies - plus all the bonus CDs.  However, I will not be taking any of my ST:TNG since every episode is available on Netflix, as are all the episodes of ST:Voyager.  All those will be sold off.  I could never, however, leave my cycling movies behind - Bicycle Dreams, Race Across America, Ride the Divide, The Flying Scotsman, and the like.  I'll take the best to me and the rest I will give away  I don't think I will need more than 2-3 of these.

I

Every day is prep for 2015 bike journey

So it seems like every time I go to the grocery store, a good portion of what I spend is going towards my 2015 trip, and every large cookie order I make, I wonder what large ticket item I can tick off my list of things to buy.

Yesterday on Ebay I bought a couple of small ticket items, including a camp mess kit and also a rain cover that goes over the rear and top panniers.  Then when I went to the grocery store I picked up Chapstick (2) that's SPF 30.  I saw these in the store and almost picked them up until I noticed the expiration date was too soon.   However, I may pick them up closer to the time.  I like them because of the pouch design which means less weight than a can.  I really don't want to take canned things.  Talk about weight on the bike!!!  Uncle Bens also makes some ready rice packages, and anything that will help with saving time on cooking after a long day on the open road will be greatly appreciated. 

I've heard the recommendation of making tortilla rolls filled with peanut butter and honey.  I don't have the honey (yet but will get raw organic) but I have picked up some of the Jif-to-go individual servings (come 8 to a pack for about $3), and I found one called Chocolate Silk - a blend of peanut butter and chocolate flavoring.  So I spread that on a tortilla, and it was tasty for sure, more like a dessert.  Definitely will be using those Jif-to-go/tortillas on the road for snacks and quick fuel.

I will also be making my own granola-type bars.  Thankfully working in a Christian camp kitchen for two years led me to collaborate with the head cook on a camp book that included all the recipes (this book is not available for purchase - only a few copies were ever made).  I am very happy to share these recipes and maybe even make a video or two on them.  There is absolutely no reason to ever purchase any type of energy bar or granola bar thingie.  Very easy to make even for the person who is certain they can't cook.