Archive for March, 2011
The Next Level
Thursday, March 31st, 2011Over the past few weeks, as we’ve been plotting and planning our next trip, a strange thing has happened… it has grown beyond the simplicity of just us riding our little folding bikes across the country. The more we thought about the wonderful combination of bikes and trains, the more obsessed we became about [...]
Brompton Specs for Touring
Sunday, March 27th, 2011We’ve been getting lots of questions about our Bromptons, so I thought I’d give a quick breakdown of the bikes and some of the specs. We’re still customizing them, so things may change a little by the time we actually take off.
Our favorite bike shop in town, Clever Cycles, is a Brompton dealer and they [...]
For the First Time. Again.
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011We spent this past weekend with the great group at Cycle Wild, a non-profit organization in Portland whose mission is to reconnect people with nature through bicycle touring. One of the great things about Cycle Wild is that it has become a great organization for getting first timers to tour; people who are a [...]
Train and Bike Survey
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011Since our next adventure will involve a lot of hopping aboard the train with our Bromptons, we wanted to find out what all of you think about the train-bike combination here in the US. Not only will it give us an idea of how many of our readers are interested in this sort of [...]
Is it Spring Yet?
Monday, March 21st, 2011The bush by our front door is covered in red blossoms. They just sort of showed up one day, big and bright. There are yellow daffodils in the neighbor’s yard too, and purple and white and pink crocuses. Spring is tip-toeing in to Portland. I am ready. I have had [...]
How to Talk to Your Partner About Bike Touring
Monday, March 14th, 2011Several years ago, I came home from work to an enthusiastic Russ. ‘We’re going bike touring!’ he excitedly proclaimed. ‘Uh…’ I thought, ‘that really doesn’t sound like fun.’
When I was growing up, my family would go backpacking for summer vacation. A week’s worth of food and gear on our backs, we would [...]
This Bike is not a Bike
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011There is only one human activity that many of us willfully subject ourselves to that causes even the most conscientious, law-biding and mild mannered American to feel like a crazed jihadist terrorist - flying. All eyes are on you. You are not imagining it, you are not being paranoid, you are under a [...]
Stories from NAHBS, Part 2
Monday, March 7th, 2011Thunderbird Energetica: A New Energy Bar on the Block, and it’s Awesome
The evening before NAHBS officially started, the city was a-buzz, and so were the bloggers at the bike blogger meet-up. Not only did we get to geek out with other cycling bloggers who were in town for the show, but the organizers had [...]
Stories from NAHBS, Part 1
Monday, March 7th, 2011We can’t hardly believe that a whole week has flown past since the North American Handmade Bike Show (NAHBS) in Austin. The show, the craziness surrounding it, the lunches/dinners/breakfasts/drinks with friends… it was all an incredible experience for us. We have so much to share about the Bromptons and our next tour, but [...]