Our new house!

Well, Scott and I made a leap a few weeks ago and moved into our own place! It's an itty bitty guest home which is detached from a bigger home in Thousand Oaks. We live off of Calle Olivo on Calle Pimiento... can everyone say martini garnish? So we've decided to dub it the Martini House :)


This weekend we are planing a bad sweater party, if you're around feel free to stop on by! If not, check out the pics comming soon.

Happy holidays,
Scott and Lauren

The happs since we've been home

Scott and I have been home for about a month now, it seems so weired! We vegged for a few days- Scott worked in the garage fixing up bikes and making my Peugeot work! I made bike inner tube bags and caught up on Grey's Anatomy!

Cyclocross season started and Scott was on it coming in 3rd place in the first race he did! By fixing up the touring bike (which is really a cyclocross bike) Scott created his Cross Check into a single speeder and off he went! The next weekend we BOTH raced at Lake Casitas- Scott doing 2 races, the Men's 3/4 and the Single Speed race. DUDE, he's hardcore! 3rd place in the first race, and a strong finish in the second. Me, I raced the beginner women's race which was also the women's 3/4 race which started right after a men's race so we were all on the course together. I got lapped by MANY men and am proud to say I came in 2nd to last! BUT, the big thing is I had fun! (I never thought I would EVER have fun doing anything close to cyclocross, let alone actually doing a race!)






Halloween was a blast. Scott and I coordinated a pub crawl on bicycles and in costumes!


We had a decent turnout of about 8 friends including Clark Kent, a few dead guys, 2 Mormons, Wonder Girl, Wonder Woman and a dead guy in a dress! We ended up at a random bar PC'S where it was karaoke night! We didn't sing, but were very impressed by the locals who were really good.



Totally Tubular is doing great and we have been attending many events to sell and promote our products. Concerts, running races, cyclocross races, century rides... if it's an event, we're there!

All in all it's good to be home and there's lots more fun to come!

Home

HOME!!!

Mechanisms to Counter Boredom

Like Scott said we got in the car that morning and just started driving. The car was a very happy place to be... warm blowing air, a thick sturdy roof and all the heated seat you could ask for! We had a few days to kill, and by few days I mean 7 before the bike festival in Durango, CO this weekend, so we decided to head down to Washington, D.C. to hang with a few of our friends.

It's here that I should mention that directions are a vital and crucial tool to travel. With that said, we had great directions from a friend of our friend Nick's who made the same drive countless times. Directions like' "just head towards Baltimore" worked flawlessly, and with no trouble we arrived at I-495 right in the heart of D.C. The problem is that the 495 works in a circle. The smart thing in our minds would be to use clockwise and counterclockwise as opposed to north and south, but OH WELL, no such luck. We changed direction givers and that's where the confusion began. We were going clockwise and Julie thought we were going counterclockwise. We got LOST. And not the OK lost you can get out of, but the "screw it I don't want to go to D.C. anymore" and "I have no ideas where you are" kind of lost. It was bad. Finally, after a repeated car tour of the city we got to Julie's house!

We had a fun night on the town with Julie and Nick who didn't know each other, but lived a mile away! Look at us bringing friends together :) The next day I went for a run and keeping with the theme I got lost :) Are you surprised? I'm not! After my 20 minute run that turned into and hour Scott and I headed in the city to fill our tourist quota for the day. We walked through the Mall and went to the Air and Space Museum where we learned all about air planes, rockets, space and anything else you can think of that is above ground! We walked to the Washington Memorial and to the new Vietnam Memorial. We ended the day with a street vendor hot dog and pretzel, really, what could be better!

Later that evening we hooked up with my dear friend Laura who cooked us dinner and gave us a warm floor to sleep on! We watched a show on synchronized swimming (very interesting) and played a few rousing games of JENGA! Pooped form a day of getting lost, learning and pushing blocks with our fingers we crashed out for the night and slept likes rocks!

The next day, this would be Monday we headed out of D.C. and ALL the way to Milwaukee, WI where my Aunt Anne and Uncle Tom live. That's a LONG drive which we took turns driving through. Here I need to clear a few things up. I have been give a very hard time ALL my life for falling asleep in the car. Not when I'm driving, but you put me in a passenger seat and I'm out in 15 minutes! NPR makes matters worse. The radio comes on and I'm out in a flash! So, on my turn of driving I decided I would suck it up and drive for as long as I could and then drive a bit longer. By my 3rd hour of driving Scott and wiggling, groaning, and complaining about how bored he was. "Go to sleep. It always works for me" I said, but he didn't. Instead he started pulling out his toe hairs with a pair of pliers! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! OUCH! Personally, I think sleeping is a much smarter potion to counter boredom! So, don't give me a hard time about falling asleep, I'm just keeping myself occupied!

In Milwaukee we were treated to a full fridge and an AWESOME bed in their new house! (they haven't moved in yet) WAY COOL, thanks Aunt Anne! We road our bikes to the Miller Brewery where we had a tour of the factory and soaked up our free samples :) Let me tell you it was MILLER TIME! Aunt Anne took us on a tour of Milwaukee and we had some awesome Chinese food! A highlight for me was when Uncle Tom let me drive his new Mercedes SL coupe. I'm not going to lie, I was scared, but not wanting to pass up the opportunity to tell my dad I got to dive a cool car I got behind the wheel and navigated us home. Tom must have been a bit let down by my cautious driving because when we got back to the house he asked Scott to drive too. I'm not sure what the drive went like, but Scott came back in with a huge grin on his face, and Tom looked a bit pale... sorry Uncle Tom! I'm sure it was a more exciting ride though!

Two days of driving, a HUGE storm, and a cheep hotel room later Scott and I are back at the Rockies! SO CLOSE TO HOME. We're back in Evergreen with the WONDERFUL Wendy and Al and will make our way to Durango tomorrow. IF all goes according to plan we'll be back on Monday!

See you soon!
L

Homard Bound

WOW since the last post we have been all over the place (we're now in Nebraska)
We successfully made the ride back to Bar harbor in good time and high spirits. And we have been traveling by car for a while now.
Leaving Bath we were hungry for some lobsters as we had been thinking about it all day long, after stopping for the night in a cheap motel in Belfast we headed down the street for the Traditional food of tourists, it was intense. We started with a lobster roll and a salad and moved on the the main creature. They were pretty big and we even had the woman at the next table oogling our seabugs. it's a pretty fun animal to eat and definately won't let you divorce yourself from the fact that you're eating an entire animal, even if it is a bug.
Riding on the following day brought us all the way back to Bar Harbor by mid-afternoon ( a distance that took over two days to ride the fist time. Either we're stronger or we're ready to go home.
Arriving back to the car meant new clothing and a dry place to be, even when it rains, FANTASTIC!!
The following day we bid Ivan farewell and rocketed off down the highway. we didn't do very well and only made it to Freeport by nightfall. there's a campground just outside of town and after getting lost for a while in the dark, rain-slicked country roads we made a lucky wrong turn.
Just as we got to the campground it started to DUMP the rain was falling like gravity was going out of style. And almost as soon as we had the rain fly zipped up it started to come down harder still. and then the lightning came on us. as we counted the seconds between lightning and thunder it ranged from 4 to 8 seconds and then dropped until there was no discernible time gap between FLASH and BANG that lasted until early morning and we packed up our wet tent and sleeping bags and drove on in the immense comfort of the modern Automobile.
To Be continued...

Smells Like Pot and Lobster...

... We must be in Maine!

What a week we've had on the road. Last post and we were taking a day off in Middleburry, VT. Well, that was a good day indeed which ended with a young woman our age inviting us to camp on her front lawn and have dinner with her INSIDE! Of course we agreed and set off to her house with dinner items in our packs, but couldn't get there before the sun went down (15 miles away) so we ended up sleeping in a lovely field that belonged to this guy's mom... we asked first!

The next morning we were off to find a ferry that would take us to NEW YORK, Ticonderoga to be exact where we started our journey to Saratoga Springs. We road about 60 miles that day and ended up in a "summer resort" GHOST town on Lake George, NY. We ended up sleeping in the state campground which had already closed down, but was very nice all the same. I must say though it was a bit creepy at night being the only 2 people to fill 170 camp sites!

The next day off to Saratoga Springs where we saw the Serotta factory (sweet bikes)
www.serotta.com shortly after that we found out that bikes were NOT allowed from the Amtrack in Saratoga Springs and James who we were going to stay with had actually moved to Boston in the last week... RIGHT.

We spent the night in Saratoga Springs and road the next day to Schecnetay, NY and hopped our train to Boston from there. It was less of a hop and more of a sit and wait, but eventually we got on a train and got to Boston where James and Jessica greeted us with welcome arms and a warm floor to sleep on. What a guy!

We spent the next day around Boston. Hung out, walked around, drank Boston beer and ate some clam chowder; we even saw the Old North Church. Mom, it was cool the second time around too :) The goal was to eat some good food and see some old stuff... we did both!

After two nights with the hospitality of James and Jessica we road through the streets of Boston out to Cambridge. Not a pleasant ride. I'm not a fan of the city riding and definitely not a fan of the cabs! We hopped back on the Amtrack to Dover, NH where we hung out at the annual Apple Fest and keep riding into Maine. Ah Maine, with it's cold nights and rainy days, I love Maine. Well maybe love is the wrong word, but it is on the way back to the car so I can't complain!

Today was day 2 back in Maine and we made it to Bath. It rained last night, it rained today and by the time we got into Bath we were ready to be off the bikes but 5 or so miles from a camp site. We stopped at a bike shop called Bath Cycle and Ski where I found out my parents bought my bike trainer as a Christmas gift for me a few years ago (it was an on line purchase). I only knew it because of the sticker that came along with the trainer which I have held onto for 3 years thinking of somewhere cool to put it! HOW WEIRED IS THAT!

The people in the shop were SO cool, and let us stay INSIDE for tonight because it is SO COLD outside. Check them out bikeman.com Wendy, your long underwear can't even help me now! So here we are today Oct. 8th. We have 2 more days of riding and then we're back in Bar Harbor! WOO HOO.

I can't wait to sleep on my pillow again!

Lauren

Lauren said it herself this morning "sleeping in a bed for three consecutive nights may have spoiled me." It is nice to have a big room to wander around in and a bathroom only feet from the bed but we still have quite a ways to go on this trip. I think she's right, sleeping in a bed 150% the size of our tent has been pretty rad. but we have a long way to go yet including Saratoga Springs, Boston, Cape Cod, riding back up the coast to Bar harbor, and a 3,000 mile drive back to the Eastern edge of the Pacific continent.
Our stay with Pat and Chris was great, hey are some of the most receptive and welcoming hosts, I have ever stumbled into. and it's all thanks to Lauren's uncanny ability to make friends with people while passing in the street.
We spent a day with them and helped their son make som cider to sell at the farmer's market, It's incredible how far removed it is from being a sterile process and how much better it tastes right from the mill than it does from the market.
in the afternoon we rode our bikes to the Putnam wilds trailhead, and parked them in Doug's yard. The trail here is really neat and winds through a fairly dense forest with leaf litter covering everything, passing the occasional waterfall and ammeliorate swimming hole we found ourselves on a class 2 scramble up the granite ridge to the top of Worcester Mountain. The views from here were incredible ranging from the views of Stowe valley and Mt. Mansfield to the north, the White mountains almost 50 miles to the east, and looking nearly due South the very ridge of the green mountains which are all still just beginning to change color.
As we were making our descent it was glaringly obvious that much of the strength which we posessed two weeks ago has been converted into cycling specific muscles. This is a real drag because I'm really looking forward to 'Cross season right when we get back and the slam bang action of it will really hurt, but at the same time I'll be able to go for a run with Lauren and maybe even keep up!

Yesterday we left Pat and Chris and rode hard all day despite a tardy departure we still rode about 85 miles and had our highest average speed yet (14.8mph) the hearty tailwind and lack of major climbs certainly helped at the end of our day we at some length found a motel that wasn't too expensive and crashed hard.
We're taking today to laze around and get fat on french pastries and sample brews from the Otter Creek Brewing Co.
Tomorrow we head for Saratoga Springs, New york and the home of the finest bikes in the world, that ride may take a day or two, or maybe, with fresh legs after a day off we'll hammer it out before lunch.

Carne Asada sounds so good, I have mexican food on my mind, there are no mexican restaurants here. But lots of pubs, oh well!
-Scott

We Put the "R" in Riding

We had an awesome time in Worcester with Pat, Chris and Sam- awesome folks! On Saturday we woke up and helped Sam make cider for the farmer's market (tastes so good right out of an apple!) There's not much too it, but it is definitely some work. Sam went and scoured local trees (which are everywhere) for apples and then you mash them up and press them down all with your hands and a small apple press. (We got our upper body workout for the month!) Then Scott and I took a hike up to Worcester Peak where we had lunch and hung out for a bit. We could see everything including the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the house we were staying at! Although it was only 2.5 miles to the top, it was a gnarly 2.5 miles! Lots of granite rock to get over and lots of straight up! It took us about an hour to get to the top and longer to get down (I like up better). It was so nice to sleep in a bed with a pillow for 2 nights, I must say it was hard to say goodbye on Sunday morning! We left late in the morning at almost 11 after chatting and picture taking :) We started riding with an incredible tail wind and rocked our first 30 miles in less than 2 hours (that's pretty good with 30 pounds on board) We stopped for a quick bite and realized we had about 40 more miles to East Middlebury so back on the road we went still with wind on our backs. When we made a left into Richmond our tail wind left, but Scott and I keep pushing a good pace, amazing what 2 weeks of straight riding and a day off the bike can do! We stopped again in Bristol about 12 miles away from our goal destination for some water and a candy corn sugar rush (my favorite kind) and I realized that I was REALLY sore.

We decided to suck it up though and get all the way to Middlebury and crash in a hotel. Apparently Scott was liking the idea of a real pillow too! So we booked it into Middlebury before dark to find that hotel rooms were $150.00! "It's peak foliage season"

Seriously!?

We road a bit out of town, now in the dark, and found an in our budget motel and crashed for the night after putting in our biggest day of riding to date at 85 miles!

So here we are today in Midlebury again, our Vermont loop completed, taking a day off of movement (streaching and walking excluded). we'll rest it up and head to state #4, New York tomorrow! We think it will be 2 days of riding because we take a ferry accross Lake Champlain and who knows how long it will take. Frome the ferry who knows, we have to get there first!

Thanks for reading :) Lauren

Lightning and Thunder and Rain, OH MY!

My father once said, and has said many times since then, "never turn down a free meal!" We took his words to heart when a very friendly couple offered up the guest appartment at their house in Worcester, Vermont. Pat and Chris RULE! We just finished a fantastic home cooked meal and have a warm bed to sleep in for the weekend.

This comes with such a warm heart after our last night in a thunder storm in Stowe. Much to our luck our roommate Taylor's "naked- NO rain dance" worked and we were rain free all day for our ride. Because of it we were able to get a great ride in from Georgia to Stowe. We road about 20 miles longer than we thought we were going to, crossing over Smuggler's Notch which was beautiful! The climate was just like a rainforest. HOT and humid with a dense tree layer, waterfalls on the left and bird sounds everywhere! Way cool. We road into Stowe and had some awesome pizza and local beer at Pie Casso and road to our campsite with happy bellys and sore legs.

Not more than 20 minutes after the tent was pitched did the rain come down! All the rain that Taylor had warded off all day long decided to dump (all at once) on us and our little tent. Along with it come some of the biggest, brightest lightning that I have ever seen and thunder not far behind! It got big enough that nither of us felt safe and we headed to the laundry room for shelter! After an hour or so we made our way back to the tent, but it was a restless sleep full of "one one thousand, two one thousands" as we counted the distance from lightning to thunder.

Luckily, we did survive and promptly called Pat who welcomed us to her home and requested our presence for dinner! Who am I to turn down a free meal?! We road a short day today to Pat and Chris's house making a very important stop at the Ben and Jerry's Factory where we not only sampled ice cream, but also learned that the creators couldn't handle college, but got perfect scores on the ice cream maker test!

So here we are tonight in a warm home, safe from the rain outside. The pic is from Pat's computer... those MACS are so cool. Ya, Uncle Peter I said it :) Tomorrow a hike and Sunday back on the road! We are almost 2 weeks into our biking adventure and figure we have about 2 more weeks to go.

Scott and I are still friends :) and are celebrating the fact that out first date was a year ago today... good thing we're still friends!

Here's to lots more fun!
Lauren
P.S. Check out Flickr.com for more pics!

pictures

go to flickr.com and search: cheesedinosaurs

Happy Trails!

Here we are in Middlebury, Vermont on our way today to Burlington. We crossed the border yesterday and put in our biggest day of 75 miles! Vermont is beautiful with big green fields, red barns with silos, and all the red, orange and yellow leaves you could ask for.

We climbed the Middlebury gap this morning and were greeted with a friendly hiker who ran across the road to offer us local apples and Oreo cookies! Got to love the locals :) Onward north just a few miles and Scott broke one of the clips of a bag... I'm not the only one, although I have broken all 4 of mine off (one twice). I would like to blame it on the bags, but maybe I have packing issues :) We also had our first flat tire here in Middlebury, it had to happen sooner or later!
The riding is still beautiful and it is very exciting to make progress on our maps. Weather is great; warm and sunny during the day, cold at night (I'm getting used to it). I do have to point out that local folk we talk to all have a common conversation topic... the good weather. "Nice day for a ride" "It's a great day for it" "lovely weather we're having" "can you believe that sky" Well, yes I can believe the sky, it looks just normal as can be to the So Cal girl! We can't decide if the weather right now is abnormal, fleeting, or just fantastic because it's not snowing right now. I think it's all of the above really.
Here's to good weather!

Goodbye New Hampshire

And hello Vermont! Is what we will say tomorrow after out lovely day of rest as we embark on a new map and a new state!

Before we got to where we are now thought we had to to a fair bit of riding up a fair bit of hill (something Scott would say). From our camp in North Conway we headed west for the Kankamagus Pass, a 3,000 foot climb stretching over 10ish miles. On a normal day this would have been a lovely ride, something we would see at home. With all of your worldly possessions behind you the climb was less pleasant! We made it to the top and headed down for lunch. After a good sandwich we continued on to our camp in the White Mountains State Park. One more decent hill past some gorgeous views and we were there for a night of good sleep!

It took all that I had left the next day to get going so we had a long morning and a couple pots of coffee before we left for our short day to Orford where we are staying now. We went SLOW and stopped at an apple orchard/cider mill (think pumpkin patch but with apples) for a snack and headed down to Orford. Just past our campground was a sugar house where they make maple syrup. In honor of my mom, the queen of real maple syrup, we stopped for the tour and had a sample. Really, this was just the family barn where Paul the owner and creator produces maple syrup every season. It was good! Depending on the temperature when the tree is tapped determined the color and strength of the syrup... who knew! We purchased some and plan to eat it with everything from coffee to corn! E-mail them for some!

By the end of the day I couldn't go anymore, I had to concentrate very hard on pedaling just so I wouldn't fall over... I was ready for a day off. Scott, was still singing, but I have the tent so he stopped with me! We are camping on the New hampshire side of the Connecticut River which is the New Hampshire/Vermont border, and it is a great place to be on a day off.

We took a walk today into the small town of Fairlee, Vermont this morning for a cup of coffee, picked up a few postcards, and went to a grocery store for lunch and dinner. Feeling rather domestic, we did our laundry in the river and sat down to write in our journals and dig into some really HOT Vermont salsa that was really made in North Carolina. Go figure!

Tonight the plan is to roast local corn in the camp fire (some nice people donated their extra wood to us) and go to bed early for an early and a long day of riding tomorrow! My legs feel better and my mind gave the OK for more riding; so, off we go tomorrow to the Green Mountains!

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods :)
Lauren

If you could smell me you might die!

As I sit here at this computer and smell myself I don't think anyone will die, but I do feel bad for the guy sitting right next to me :(
WE ARE OFFICIALLY ON A BIKE TOUR!!! It's been enough days that it's way too late to turn around and go back home, so I guess we have to keep going west! Away from the coast it has warmed up, but there's always a trade off. No cold for lots of hills! Rolling hills all day long... two of which were REALLY big today. Upon reaching the start of the second really big hill today I looked at Scott with a small look of terror (the down then BIG up of the hill reminded me of something from Six Flags) and he looked at me and said, "do you have anything better to do today?" Good point. No, I don't. Why not take my time and my legs and get up the thing. Plus, at the end was a really good ice cream.
I'm pretty stoked. We are both having fun enjoying the freedom, the trees and the company! I do feel a bit home sick, but I think it will pass... thanks for all the comments!

Love,
Lauren

Live Free or Die

We have finally made it to New Hampshire.
After riding along the Coast for a couple of days, at long last we got to turn inland and it's much warmer away from the North Atlantic. Lauren and I have come roughly 170 miles since our last update and the weather has been fantastic this is the first day that it has been Hot and it's just now jumping up into the mid-eighties.
The cell phones were out of commission until yesterday because the solar cell phone charger never has a chance to get any sun when all of the roads are nearly covered over with trees.
Our stove has run out of fuel and we're now burning Kerosene which you can buy just like diesel here, from a separate pump at the gas station.
for lunch the other day Lauren and I ate PB&J sandwiches I washed mine down with Hersheys chocolate milk which is the best pre-mixed chocolate milk ever. Immediately following lunch we ascended a big hill that we didn't need to only to turn around and go back down, a few minutes later I threw up, now Lauren won't let me have any more chocolate milk.
the next day we ate a large pepperoni and mushroom pizza which came with roughly a pound of fresh cut french fries (think In'N'Out fries but much thicker and crispier) we ate all that we could and then a bit more. Then we rode another 40 miles and fell sound asleep in a motel room.
it was our first motel of the trip and I'm not sure about it. My thought is 'If you're tired enough you'll sleep well anywhere' but Lauren counters with 'I worked hard enough to deserve this'.
She won last night.
No luck yet on internet cafe's but there's a hostel around here someplace so we'll go try that.
tomorrow we'll be going up kancamagus pass, which at under three thousand feet doesn't sound all that bad (a'la fernwood, with fully loaded panniers,) it's pretty steep and should suck more than a little.
Lauren keeps breaking the clips that attach her panniers to her rack but I'll just keep fixing them, the only downside is that one side is permanently attached, this won't be a big deal until we want to get on a train. When I was building Lauren's bike I set it up like her road bike only with the handlebars a bit higher, well they're still to far away for this type of riding so we'll be spending this afternoon riding the five miles to the nearest bike shop.
Our butts hurt but there's good ice cream all over the place here.

Maine is COLD!

Seriously? This place is REALLY cold! Well, more cold at night, the day time is quite fantastic! Today is day 3 on the bike and Scott and I have stopped in Belfast for a quick PB and J lunch (jelly courtesy of a wonderful woman named Judy who makes art out of trash and cherry jelly as well!). You should check her out at http://www.mainedifferents.com/ as she is now one of the coolest people I know... yes Mom, you're still first!
Biking so far has been great. As you know before we started on Saturday it was raining. Well, it rained, then it rained harder, then it just kept raining. I was cold, wet, and not really looking forward to being those things on a bike, but ready to get going all the same. Lucky (really lucky) for Scott and I about 10 minutes before we took off the rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the sun found its way to us! We road to the other end of the island of Bar Harbor and camped in the very awesome Blackwoods campground.
Yesterday was the first day of real riding and it was rad! (we even saw a Maine licence plate that read RAD, which in my mind solidifies the rad day!) We road about 60 miles in wonderful blue sky, no clouds weather and made it to our sleeping area well before dark. We pitched the tent, had a lovely dinner of chili, pasta and corn and headed to the tent with some really good beer and chocolate :) We would have stayed outside, but as the sun went down the fog came in and it was, as the title of today's blog confirms, COLD!
I would like to take this moment to thank Wendy Jewsbury (sorry if I misspelled your name) for the use of her long underwear. In an effort at being a tough chick in the eyes of my boyfriend I packed little clothing just like he did... I failed to think about how COLD I get! Needless to say, the long underwear has come in major use, and I don't think I could seep at night without it!
Today we are riding west. We are in Belfast now and our goal in Newcastle. It's again a lovely day for riding, not a cloud in the sky! We have experienced our first maintenance problems though. Scott had a big gash in his back tire (fixed with a chunk of coffee bag) and one of my panniers decided to break off of the hook that keeps it on the bike! Lucky for me I am traveling with Mr. Fix-it who in not time had rigged up the bag with another screw and washer that he brought with him! Wow, he's cool!

The people here are cool, the roads suck, and the food is awesome. I think it's a good balance thus far for a great trip! Please keep thinking good thoughts, it's worked so far for the weather!
Lauren
P.S. Sorry for no pics, the library will not let me upload them :(

P.P.S. Hey friends, leave us some comments, we like hearing from you too!

Finally in Bar Harbor!

We're finally in Bar Harbor Maine three-thousand-four-hundred-ninety miles and five days later we made it here late last night.
Since our last update we drove through Ontario, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. A total of around 30 hours of driving in two days. We stopped to make dinner at a rest stop in New York and our stove attracted the attention of a couple of the rest stop employees. Kelly and Randy, who we shared a couple pots of coffee with, were pretty interesting folks and entertaining too. we drove for a while and then drove a while longer we slept at a KOA and woke up and were driving at dawn. Lauren tends to get bored of driving after around an hour and a half so I did a fair bit of the driving. We're both antsy to get on the bikes and move. Last night when we rolled into town we hooked up with Ivan Willig and went to a couple of bars and slept in his friend's backyard.
We woke in the morning to a light drizzle which has now developed into a full rain shower.
this afternoon we plan on cruising down to Mt Desert and waiting until the sun comes out tomorrow to really begin the ride proper.
Because we're bidding farewell to the car and the laptop some future updates may be sporadic.
Wheeee!!!
-Scott

On The Road Again

I just can't wait to get on the road again. The life I love is in a car with my best friend. I can't wait to get on the road again. (be sure to sing that first part)

Scott and I have gotten really good at driving the last few days. Yesterday in Chicago we even beat someone at driving... actually, he won, but we were ahead until that stop sign that we actually STOPPED at. Chicago was full of drivers looking to win driving that day. We got cut off, honked at, one guy even turned a one lane road into two just so he could get around us. Californians are not the only bad drivers!

We've been driving for the last few days straight. Nebraska, where we had an awesome steak in Omaha; Iowa where we saw the world's largest truck stop; Illinois where we met Cortney Jones and had the best pizza in Chicago at Gino's East; then we saw Indiana in the dark; and here we are this morning in Michigan! 2 more days and we should be there!

For now we're on the road again...

Day one

We packed the Car Saturday night and attempted to rise early and get on with gettin' East.
We ended up leaving a bit late but we've got all kinds of time so no problem. While we were getting going I was sneezing like mad and took an allergy pill, that pill ended up knocking me out and Lauren took over driving all the way to Las Vegas. I took over from there and we continued up through the virgin river gorge and into Utah.After a turkey sandwich lunch break we drove into a gnarly hailstorm with lightning and big wind that wanted to push the car over a lane. onward to I-70 and a real turn for the East we drove from Utah into Colorado being chased from the badlandsby a fiery sunset and welcomed to the western slope by a rainbow shooting straight up into the sky.

We drove into Fruita Co. with some intense wind, rather than drive up to the to of the Colorado National Monument we opted to camp by the lake in the valley. Rather than fight the wind with our stove we ate cheese, pretzels, and crackers for dinner with Reese's Pieces for dessert all washed down with a nice cold beer, good thing I rode ride it all off next week.
Tomorrow is monday and we're trying to sell tube bags and run some errands, including a visit to Boulder for shoes and to Golden for beers.
-Scott

Surfs UP!

Lauren and Laurel at Scott's surfing B-Day

Hi All

It's been awhile since our last post, but life has been great! For the last couple of months Scott has gotten me to try surfing, which I am now a huge fan of. We go out to Farria Beach in Ventura as much as we can. It started with Scott wanting to go surfing for his birthday and has turned into our cool new thing to do. Why ride a bike in the early morning when you can go surfing?
This is nothing new for Scott however. The guy has been hanging out on fast moving boards for as long as he can remember and surfing is no exception... He's really good! With that though he's a really good teacher too (good for me!) He makes catching waves look really easy, but I am here to tell you that it's not! While Scott can catch a wave and eat a sandwich while he's surfing, I paddle for mush and get frustrated :(
Really though I am getting a whole lot better. This past Sunday we went out in the early evening and I had a great day. I successfully made some turns and had some really long rides! Aside from the good waves it was a pretty cool day with sunsets, dolphins, and the Junker gang :)
Being that I was so excited about Sunday Scott and I went out again on Monday morning before work... NOT a good idea. Scary waves and SO MANY PEOPLE, the whole Labor Day thing. I got pummeled by a few wave and didn't catch anything. PLUS, the board smacked me in the head...

OH WELL, there's always tomorrow!

Heart Sugery and Thin Air

What an adventure Scott and I had this past week. With the car packed and our coffee mugs full we took off headed east for Evergreen, CO. The first day we packed in 12 hours of driving time, arriving in Fruta, CO where we ate the BEST pizza at the Hot Tomato Cafe! Camped at the Colorado Monument (we picked an edge spot) and ate our pizza with a setting sun and a fantastic view.
The next day was was more driving to our destination Evergreen and Wendy and Al's house. After lots of hugs and a bit of a chat I realized I couldn't breathe very well... 7,700 feet of elevation will do that, yikes! Scott, Al and I went for a ride which helped the lungs, but made me a bit nervous for the next day's adventure, the Triple Bypass: 120 miles form Evergreen to Avon. Three big passes- Juniper Pass, 11, 140 feet ; Loveland Pass, 11, 900 feet; and Vail Pass, 10, 560 feet. Can everyone say thin air?! With fear in my brain, a strange ache in my lungs, and a great pre ride meal in my belly I went to bed nervous for the next day.
There's not much you can do once the day has started. Once the oatmeal is in your belly and the air is in your tires there is nowhere to go but on the ride. Scott and I started right before 6 am leaving from the front door and arriving at the start 2 miles later. Our warm up was the first 5 miles of climbing as we started up Juniper pass! Who does that?! It was a great way to start though, a long steady climb where the air gets thinner slowly, my lungs liked that! After a pic at the top we headed down. I had put my arm warmers and leg warmers back on, but had to stop mid descent to put my jacket on it was so cold! That's right, I was just going that fast. Still feeling good through Idaho Springs; Al was there with food and smiles which always helps! Georgetown to the Loveland Basin we were still feeling good, but I was starting to get nervous for what lay ahead. Loveland Pass was the tallest and the shortest climb with the most elevation gain. My nerves started taking over when we got on I-70 and started riding next to cars, trucks and best of all motor homes. I'm already freaked out about this crazy steep, no oxygen climb, why are you making me ride on the highway!? Turns out the climb wasn't bad at all. Don't get me wrong it was bad, but I didn't have to walk my bike and I could still breathe! Al was there again as the caterer and photographer, SO COOL! Our next descent was awesome, but the problem was that the race was only 1/2 over. I have been so worried about Loveland that I forgot that we still had 60 miles to ride... oh Lauren. The next chunk of riding from Frisco to Copper was Hell. I was tired, my lungs were yelling at me, Scott was still singing, and I just wanted to take a nap :( We were on this bike path, which on any there day would have been great, but 70 miles into this ride, I was not a fan. The climb to Vail Pass was no better. Bike path switch backs are no fun when you're tired and grumpy. I've never been so happy to see the top of a climb, we had done it, no more climbing! Al was there again (what a rad guy) this time with lots of food and cold drinks. The BEST cantaloupe ever, dinner leftovers, corn nuts and a cocktail of vitamin water and Acclerade! We started riding again and I felt great. Amazing what food can do... From the Vail descent to Avon it was mostly down hill and Scott and I flew home! A combination of food and thoughts of being done drove us to the finish feeling good! DONE! 11 hours 30 minutes after we started that morning we got off for the last time and collapsed with great food and beer. Everyone sat in the river for a leg soak and off again to go home! What a day. Scott and I stayed together the whole day, I don't think I could have finished if it was not for him! (lucky for me he loves me!)
After a LONG night of sleep it was back in the car for Scott and Lauren on Sunday morning. Two days of driving home and we made it in one piece late afternoon on Monday. It was an adventure in it's purest form. There was sweat, pain, joy and tears. We had a blast together and made some great memories, but most of all I know I learned more about myself and my limits, hopefully Scott did too!

Sweet New Gear

We just got our tent yesterday!
Of course we had to try it out. We pitched it in the back yard and hung around for a bit before getting back to making tube bags.
It's called the MSR Hubba Hubba and only weighs Four Pounds!










We're heading off to Colorado this weekend to ride the Triple Bypass from Evergreen to Avon.
on the way out we'll camp at the Colorado Nat'l Monument and give the tent a proper test before driving the rest of the way to Evergreen where we'll see Al & Wendy to start the ride.
We'll attempt to update while we're there but we'll return on Monday.
Wish us luck.
-Scott

WOOO first post ever!

Scott, Lauren, a hammock, warm beer and nothing to do!