Ride Bikes Save Earth

Another big day in the wind!
But we were lucky and thankful to Becky’s Grandmother Bedstemor, who picked us up, let us clean up, rest and
refuel. Thank you, thank you! But we are on the road again to discovery!

On Saturday we went to the Des Moines Farmer’s Market - probably, by far, the largest farmer’s market we’ve been to on this trip - I’m talking blocks and blocks of booths.  There are a few vendors who sell non-food items, such as clothing or jewelry, but the majority of booths sell local food including, but not limited to, produce, meats, home-made root beer, breads, grains, honeys, flowers, herbs, oils, and cheeses!  You could do all your shopping here!  We are happy to see this market here in the middle of the Food Belt, because it demonstrates that there are people growing a much more diverse variety of foods (in ways that are friendly to the environment) than the miles and miles of corn, soybeans, and cattle we have been cycling through for the last 8 days.    So, the next time you’re in Des Moines, IA, enjoy your Saturday morning at the Farmer’s Market on Court Avenue, from 7am to noon; buy your veggies for the week, enjoy the numerous venues of live music, converse with your local farmers, and eat a Dutch letter for breakfast.

tHREE DAYS  OUT OF BOULDER, IN A PLACE CALLED OGALLALA, NABRASKA. WE HAVE SOME MILES TO GO BEFORE WINTER. TODaY WAS A BIG REALIZATION AS TO HOW MUCH EARLIER THE SUN IS SETTING! YESTERDAY WAS A BIG DAY WITH 84 MILES AND TODAY WAS ANOTHER BIG ONE WITH 94 MILES. THESE NEXT FEW WEEKS WE WIILL TRY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SORT OF FLAT ROADS. AND WE HAVE YET TO ENCOUNTER THE WESTERLY WINDS. IN FACT THE WIND HAS BEEN STRAIGHT FROM THE EAST.  BUT WE ARE HOPING TOMORROW THE WINDS WILL BE AT OUR BACK. EITHER WAY WE WILL KEEP GOING EAST!

The Root Ride was rockin’ the Rockies but was just rescued by James for a brief route detour for a root canal.

We had a great break in Vegas, visiting our friends, the KA theatre, and Las Vegas Indoor Skydiving, but we are now antsy to get back on our bikes and into the fresh, open air.  Last year at Silverman, I had won two nights at the Encore (part of the Wynn Resort Casino on the Strip), so we thought we’d treat ourselves after two months of camping.  While it was beautiful and extremely comfortable, it was a bit over-the-top and hard realizing that our two nights at Encore probably involved more resources than the whole rest of our trip combined; disturbing even more so, because we are in the middle of the desert…What we as humans are able to build and create is incredible, I just hope we continue to build more in the ways that make use of an elevated level of consciousness, keeping us in tune with humanity and Earth.

We picked up our bikes from Las Vegas Cyclery yesterday, barely recognizing them.  Jared, Kurt, and the rest of the guys in the shop gave the bikes some supreme treatment, outfitting them with new tires, chains, cables and brake pads, and then cleaning and buffing them so they are once again sparkling.  So now our whole crew - Darren, myself and our two bikes, Easy Peasy and Actually Excitable - is well-rested and raring to get going again - back on the journey to thank those working hard, caring for Earth, and growing food with love.

We apologize to the few farms who graciously opened their arms and doors to us, but we were unable to visit.  When the timing is right, we will be back again to visit!

We are well on our way east now. However, going east from Santa Cruz was not the most pleasant riding. For those thinking of cycling Pacheco Pass, we recommend not doing it. And it’s not the bit of climbing that’s so bad, it’s the lack of shoulders at times, or if there is a shoulder, it’s full of rocks, staples, rear view mirrors and road kill. Meanwhile huge trucks are flying by going about 70. But don’t tell that to our moms!! Off the road, however we stayed at a pleasant camp with a cool breeze - Besalt Camp on San Luis Resevoir. Back on the road, the tailwind rocked, but any benefits of this wind were outweighed by constant bumps in the road and more trucks. Finally we made it to 59 thinking quiet roads were ahead. Wrong. Now, no shoulder and even more trucks, including the dreaded “Mator Freighters”. We end up walking our bikes and riding the dirt paths on the sides of crops… And then the flats start. I already had one earlier that day and then got another with about 14 miles to go. After I fix mine, Darren goes flat with about 10miles to go. And then, we see the pick up truck!! Emily and Steven Lindsey of Sorensen Farms (our destination for the night) pull up in search of us, as I had called her about an hour and a half prior for an alternate route.  When we didn’t show up, she and her son came on the hunt for us.  And let me tell you, we were quite thankful, considering we were fixing Darren’s flat with a prison on one side and Foster chicken farms on the other.  Emily gave us a sweet tour of the farming in the area for the final 10 miles of the ride.  Then, she throws together an incredible bbq with a few of her friends all involved in the slow food movement.  While Robert Lindsey heated up a tasty bbq, Kat and Anna filled us in on their Local Choices website, and Mika told us all about her grass fed beef.  Unfortunately, the movement’s a bit slow in the Central Valley and any organic or natural products have to be shipped out to find a market.  This group is working hard to make it more valued close at home.

Leaving Sorensen Farms was another treat, as we drove with the Lindsey family up Yosemite.  We weren’t ready to deal with tons of flats from ” puncture vines”or a complete lack of shoulder climbing huge climbs while buses and RVs whizzed by.  Emily and Robert were more than generous to offer us a lift.  Plus, we got more local touring of the area as this is where Emily grew up.  Thank you Sorensen Farms for an incredible and informative visit!

We finished the ride over Yosemite on a bus, then camped in Shady Nest near Mammoth Lakes.  We then got up early and started our first century ride for the summer!  This was a huge, amazing ride with unbelievable views of the Sierra Nevadas.  In addition, we were treated to an awesome 8 miles of downhill early in the day.  Then the day got hotter and hotter and hotter.  We were now in the desert, for sure!  We reached a small town, called Independence, at mile 85 hoping to camp there, but then, we seemed to be through the town before we saw a camp….so we decided, let’s keep riding!  20 miles later we made it to Diaz Campground just south of Lone Pine, CA.

This morning we were up early and visiting the visitor center to get info on Death Valley before we made the trek in.  The day was already hot at 9am so we stocked up on water and made our pace.  Early on, we saw another cyclist gaining on us….David Piper - a crazy cyclist from UK who is cycling around the world in small bits and pieces having already done most of Europe, pieces in Asia, Jordan, Egypt and more.  This guy is awesome, cycling about 125, even 140 miles a day, no bags on his bike, just a front handlebar bag carrying a camera, banana, and a trusty headlight!   We spent the day riding with him sharing stories and being buzzed by F-14s just above our head.  Let me tell you, that rattles your bones just a little.  It was a slow steady climb for a lot of the day and then a sweet downhill into the heat of Panamint Springs.  We sat down with some huge lemonades trying to avoid looking at the ominous looking climb ahead.  We knew that this climb was not going to happen in the heat.  We could either camp in Panamint or wait until it got dark or catch a ride in a utility truck up the 9 miles of 9% grade.  You got it, we hitched a ride, then got back on the bikes for an even hotter downhill and flat into StovePipe Wells where we were prepared to catch a campsite, as we had been told earlier in the day at the Visitor Center would be available.  Guess what, no camping.  And the motel was full.  That was until Craig, a manager, made a room available out of thin air.  He literally saved us from curling up, baking, and dying on the side of the road in Death Valley.  Vegas here we come!

Well, we’re about to turn east on our ride!  The first 1800 miles have been awesome - farms full of produce, farmers full of ideas, beautiful views mile after mile.

We just spent the last week off our bikes, spending time in the Bay Area and also flying east to celebrate my Grandma’s 80th birthday.  We had a fun party in New Hampshire - swimming, hiking, using all the muscles that have been resting well while on the bike - I was crazy sore after a hike up Mt Chocorua with my Dad and my brother, but it felt good being sore somewhere besides my butt!  Darren worked a lot on editing, so keep an eye on our other site to see the “summing it up” video for our first 1000 miles or so.  In the Bay Area we stayed at my favorite place, Langentaine Lodging, and we met up with lots of old Stanford teammates.  I finally got to show Darren a small bit of Stanford campus.  Luckily, we had two official tour guides with us - thanks Sarah and Matt! - to take us up Hoover Tower.  Our visit in Palo Alto finished up with an awesome bbq at SteveO and Debbie’s - Debbie and I went shopping at the Farmer’s Market in the morning and then we had an incredible meal, including some master grilling by Franko and the best peach & blueberry cobbler I’ve ever had made by Mur and Rem.  Debbie put together & hosted a delicious evening of local and organic food - we can’t wait to stay at her B,B & P in the future to get a little “Rassssberry Sorbet!”

As we turn east, we’ll now be revamping our route a little to give us a little more time to keep the websites updated and so I can start training a little more seriously for Silverman in November.  It’s time to start adding a little running and swimming to this crazy schedule of bike, bike, bike!  But first, it’s time to hit the beach in Santa Cruz!

This morning started with a shuttle ride across the bridge to Oregon. This is a long bridge with hardly no shoulder…5 years ago, Marian and I rode across it in a driving rain…this year, I was very thankful to be shuttled across by Larkin. After a quick coffee and hot chocolate with Larkin, we parted ways, each back to our personal journeys. Read the rest of this entry »

Our last stop in Washington was Green Angel Gardens, a beautiful 5-acre farm in Long Beach, WA. Professional flute player Larkin Stentz, who is the gardener and steward of Green Angel Gardens, hosted us for an unforgettable visit. Larkin led us on an educational tour of his gardens, chicken run, greenhouses (Bertha, Moe and Bucky, a geodesic dome greenhouse), windmill, solar water heater, and composting toilet; all together, a living environment demonstrating how our lives can be integrated into a sustainable, natural system. After helping out two other interns (Jason and Lee) with some garden work, we had a wonderful meal under the stars, listening to the fireworks on the beach. We then wound down the evening with some stretching and music in Larkin’s yoga studio. Green Angel Gardens - a spiritual, hopeful, and educational pocket of paradise giving us pieces of faith to carry wherever we travel.