Gear: Reflecting about Cycling Mirrors

There was recently a flurry about mirrors on our Facebook Page after I posted an Amazon link to the Take-A-Look mirror. Opinions on mirrors are varied. Some swear by them, others think they are the epitome of Fred-om and a fashion abomination. Say what you will, we think they’re infinitely useful and are an underrated safety tool.

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What is Bicycle Travel?

YouTube version of the video.

Three years ago, almost to the day, we left our then-home of Long Beach, CA, on what would turn out to be a fateful bike trip to Joshua Tree. By the time we had returned home, we knew that we would soon be selling everything we owned and leaving on an incredible adventure. Never would we have dreamt that such a decision would lead us down this amazing path – or that it would open so many opportunities to show the inherent joys of bicycle travel.

A blast from the past. Having a picnic on one of our early tours.

Our time in New Zealand disappeared astoundingly fast, and now we are back in Southern California, figuring out our plans for the rest of this year. While we are still wrapping our heads around everything that happened and all that we learned (particularly in terms of bike economics), we are more convinced than ever of the benefits of bicycle travel.

In another couple weeks, we’ll be heading up to Portland, Oregon, which will be our home base this summer. It may sound counter-intuitive, but we’ve decided to step back from the continuous movement of the past year(s), so that we can promote bicycle travel in new ways and to more people. As we’ve been traveling, we’ve been making hundreds of mental notes about projects we want to work on that would help inspire other people to travel by bike and support bike travel. The time to act on these ideas, we’ve realized, is now.

While we won’t be actively traveling, we’ll still be here on this site, sharing many of the stories that haven’t yet made it online. We’ll also be taking our enthusiasm for bicycle travel off the website and to various events around the US. A lot of the details are still in the works, but you can expect a number of opportunities to meet up and hear us speak.

After 4,000 loaded touring miles on our Bromptons, we also want to share all that we’ve learned about adventure travel on these sturdy little bikes. We’ve been hinting about this book for some time, but we’re committed to finishing it over the next short while. (If there’s something you want to know, email us!)

And don’t forget the videos! The Kiwi Chronicles will certainly not be the last series of short videos we make about bicycle travel. We had an incredible experience filming and creating each of these videos, and we’re looking forward to taking the camera out on a variety of shorter-length trips to show the accessibility of bicycle travel.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, we’ve taken some time to think about why bicycle travel is such an incredible way of exploring a place and why someone should consider it. What is bicycle travel? Watch and see.

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our 2012 2012 calendar or some of the fun bike-themed t-shirts we’re designing.)

Live Webcam Chat about Touring in New Zealand! -This Wednesday 6pm PST

Have questions about our New Zealand trip that we haven’t answered in a video or a post? Now’s your chance to ask them! We’re going to do an hour long live webcast this Wednesday at 6pm PST. We’ll share with you our “Top 5 Favorite Things” about touring in NZ as well as our “Top 5 Not So Favorite Things” things about NZ. Also we’ll give you some tips about touring in NZ. In an attempt to keep it from being just a talking head show, I’ll be experimenting with a little live studio streaming program that lets us transition in photos and movies : )

We’re using USTREAM for the event. We’ve been digging around for a better option but haven’t found one yet. Here are the critical details:

When: Wednesday at 6pm PST
Where: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pathlesspedaled
Ask Us Questions:
You’ve got a couple options to ask us questions. You can either:
-go to our USTREAM channel at the time of the event and log on (you’ll need to sign up really quickly with an email address)
-email us your questions in advance and you can just sit back and relax and watch the show.
-you can send in your question via Twitter using the hashtag #PLPNZ

Some quick notes about USTREAM. First, you will be subjected to 30 seconds of advertisement. For this we are truly sorry. Feel free to make a cup of tea or grab some cookies when the inane car commercial is playing. Secondly, it’s more fun when you join the conversation. We’ve been looking for video/group chat option that doesn’t require some sort of log in with no success. Of what we’ve tried, USTREAM asks the least amount of information so please don’t be too put off and join in! It will be fun.

Kiwi Short: Frocks on Bikes

We are currently in Christchurch with some down time as we wait for some repair parts. It’s giving me time to work on some videos. I’m starting to edit the next Kiwi Chronicle episode and lamented all this great Frocks on Bikes footage that probably will be cut from it. So instead of just letting it gather digital dust, I had to cut a Kiwi Short. I was feeling pretty down about cycling in New Zealand and Wellington in particular after the International Bike Incident. This gave me some hope again. Everyday cycling in NZ seems to be in its infancy and its groups like Frocks on Bikes that will hopefully help take bicycling from recreation and bring it back to the everyday. In the video is Leah Murphy, one of the founders of Frocks on Bikes which has become a national movement of sorts. Also present is Celia Wade-Brown, the mayor of Wellington.

As you can tell from the video is that it was pretty windy. What you probably can’t tell is how absolutely terrifying the ferry ride was. The seats in the ferry weren’t bolted down and actually started moving during the ride from all the tossing! Everyone was pretty ecstatic to be back on shore and we all decided that riding a few hours into the headwind was more enjoyable than another ferry crossing. What was suppose to be a short picnic ride, turned into some epic riding battling the winds back into Wellington. At one point, three people in front of me and myself included were actually blown into traffic. We got off and had to walk a 100 meters. Surprisingly, everyone kept their spirits high and made it back. Even Celia pedaled all the way back, proving to be a stout cyclist (now if she can only get some more bike lanes in Welly!). Riding with the Frocks, renewed some faith that I had lost in cycling in NZ. It still has a long way to go, but moments like this give me hope.

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our 2012 2012 calendar or some of the fun bike-themed t-shirts we’re designing.)

The Path Less Pedaled Goes International!

Where can you find sheep, glaciers, meat pies, and a government that’s actively trying to entice bike travelers? The same place that you’ll find us in a few days… New Zealand!

That’s right, on Sunday, we fly to New Zealand! We’ve been keeping this a secret for so long, as we’ve been working through a lot of the details. We have so much that we want to share about our plans overseas, but for now we wanted to finally reveal our next travel destination.

We’re taking our faithful Bromptons with us as we spend the next several months exploring both islands. And we’ll be connecting with cycling advocates and tourism officials across the country. What’s it like to be a cyclist in New Zealand? What are all these great new facilities for bike travelers that we keep hearing about? How long does it take to learn how to ride on the left side of the street?

We’re also simply excited to follow Summer and go back to camping and fishing and trying new foods. As we explore New Zealand as a cycle touring destination, we’ll be continuing the video series that we started this summer in Eastern Oregon. We’ve even teamed up with Bicycle Times magazine! You’ll find our videos both here and on their website, but you’ll have to check out their site for exclusive behind-the-scenes information.

We’ll post more details soon (we’re working on a video!). In the meantime, let us know of anyone you think we should connect with while we’re in New Zealand. We arrive in Auckland on Tuesday and would love to meet up with some local folks!

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our new 2012 calendar or some of the fun zombie apocalypse shirts we’re designing.)

Video: Packing Bromptons for Extended Tours

As we get ready to take off on the next leg of our adventure, we thought we’d make some videos showing how we pack and what we carry when we tour on the Bromptons. This is all the stuff we’ll need for months of touring in mild weather. Since we share resources and our tools of the trade are a little differnt, our packing methods aren’t exactly the same. So here they are back to back, how Laura packs and how I pack our Bromptons for extended touring.

Laura’s Packing Method


Russ’ Packing Method

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our new 2012 calendar or some of the fun zombie apocalypse shirts we’re designing.)

Waiting and Wandering

Our travels are in a holding pattern as we wait for the final pieces to come together before we can hit the road again. While waiting can be interminable, we’ve been making the best of the situation by working on getting various projects done. Laura has been making jewelry and headbadges and I’ve been designing different t-shirts and working on some mini-books we are writing. We’ve also been spending time in some of our favorite places in Oregon, traveling by bike and transit.

We went out to Bend for the Day of the Dead Cyclocross races and enjoyed the crisp but sunny weather. The races were a treat to watch with lots of people dressed up in costume enjoying some bikey fun.

After Bend, we returned to Corvallis and continued to work and would occasionally slip out for some riding in the beautiful country side out there.

A few days ago we returned to Portland again to visit some friends and spend my birthday in town.

We visited our friends Tammy and Logan from RowdyKittens to check out their new tiny house. They’ve only had it for three weeks and it is adorable. Surprisingly, despite it’s small size on paper it felt quite roomy and cozy. It was great to see a dream they have had for years finally fulfilled.

Today was my birthday and I spent it with friends. The morning started with going to the cyclocross races, followed by BBQ and then an evening of watching some zombie movies.

We’re itching to get back on the road and are hoping to share some good news soon, so hang in there.

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our new 2012 calendar or some of the fun zombie apocalypse shirts we’re designing.)

UPDATED: The Zombie Apocalypse Will Not Be Motorized

It all started as a joke, but then turned into a shirt with your help! A few weeks ago, I made a spoof of a ZipCar ad that was poking fun at cyclists. Being a big zombie fan, I made a mock ad using an image from The Walking Dead. It got us thinking that in the event of the zombie apocalypse or any other disaster that called for mass evacuations, the bicycle is way to go! So we put up some mockups on Facebook and with input from our readers we have the final shirt design and its ready for sale! We’re using SpreadShirt as our printing and distribution since they seem to have the best print quality on the shirts.

Order your Zombie Apocalypse shirt today!

UPDATE:
After enough requests we added a few more designs. One is a version of the cargo bike shirt with an Xtracycle/longtail. While we won’t be able to create every type of bicycle out there, the Xtracycle was a seminal bike in the cargo bike revolution. I used one personally when I first started my photography career so it has a special place in my heart. I also added a “Bike Local. Buy Local” shirt, which fits in with one of the themes we’ve been exploring – how bikes can benefit small economies.

Thanks for all your help. As always, all sales help keep us on the road. We’re trying to get to New Zealand, so we need to sell lots of shirts. Order one today and have one for your bikey Halloween party or every day! If you have other products you think the design would be great for, let us know!

Economics of Bike Touring

After an eye-opening talk with Bill White, the man who rallied the community of Twin Bridges together to erect the nation’s first ever Bike Camp, we’ve been thinking a lot about bicycle touring and its effects on small towns. He started Bike Camp as a means to get touring cyclists to stay in town and to benefit the local economy. He became enamored with the many stories of passing cyclists but also saw an opportunity for the town of Twin Bridges to benefit from hungry and tired bike tourists riding through.

For Bill, it was simple. To not do something to keep the cyclists in town was like “watching gold flow down the river.” So he dreamed up Bike Camp and raised the funds and community support to see it happen. It was such a simple insight, but one that we as bike tourists always clamor for. Show us a modicum of bike friendliness and we’ll be eternally grateful. Heck, we’ll even spend money in your town.

This got me thinking about our spending habits and how it would be different if we were in a car. We’re pretty average as far as touring cyclists, shooting for about 50 miles a day. Far enough to move through the landscape, but slow enough to do some fishing and eat some pie. Because of our limited distance per day and the massive amounts of calories we’re expending a day we eat a lot and require a place to overnight (camp, RV park, motel, etc.,).

I began thinking of how our spending habits would be different if we were driving. Take a 200 mile road trip. It would be easily accomplished within a day in an automobile. You’d probably stop for lunch, refill the gas tank along the way and get dinner and lodging at your final destination. You might pass a handful of small towns along the way, but since you’re moving so fast and not expending any calories, chances are you probably won’t stop unless you have to use the bathroom. Those small towns would just be a blur from inside your car.

Take that same 200 mile stretch and think of how a bike tourist would move through the landscape. If they’re 50-mile-a-day cyclists like us, they would require 4 nights of lodging or camping. Because we’re constantly burning calories, that same trip would require 12 meals or snacks in between (either cooked with food bought from local markets or meals at the local eateries). We would definitely stop in every town to refill water bottles, stock up on food, use the restroom and spend the night.

Given the same 200 mile stretch, a touring cyclist will make more of an economic impact on the small towns along the way than a person driving in a car. Now imagine, if small towns across the country welcomed cyclists by offering simple accommodations like the Bike Camp, especially those along Adventure Cycling routes. Not only would it benefit cyclists, but small towns would benefit as well with a constant stream of tired and hungry bike tourists coming through town. The more accommodations, the more people touring, the more people spending money in small towns.

It’s a dream for sure. But after seeing Bike Camp, in Twin Bridges and talking to Bill, we had a momentary glimmer of what bike tourism could be.

VIDEO: TransJamming

Updating from the Knight’s Inn in Baker City, OR. We’ve decided to take a few rest days in the cute town of Baker to get caught up on some posts and videos. In our latest video, we leave the Crooked River and hop on the Adventure Cycling Trans America route in Prineville, OR. We go up our first extended climb on the Bromptons and experience an absolutely wonderful descent into the tiny town of Mitchell where we camp in the city park!