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Friday, May 31, 2013
This is no Hobbit Adventure
We are not anticipating dragons and dwarfs or Elf's or Gollum but this is sure to be an adventure of epic proportions. As I speak the first three of these musketeer's are on the road heading for a gathering of family and friends and an all important Skype with Scotland at 2 pm today.
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Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Morning Musings
Nolan called us last night to tell us he had just finished reading his book "I survived......Pearl Harbor". I can see him now calling me a year from now having read Grandma and Papa's book
"I SURVIVED.......THE BIKE RIDE OF 2013". Fun to think of the sequels to follow.
Two day countdown and off shortly to take the Truck into the shop for a checkup and ????? Hope this does not break the bank.
Last spin class last night and Thank Goodness.....Wore me out in 60 minutes time. Spin...Road....Spin...Road We will have to see who wins in intensity......
House and Yard work left to do before we hit the road. Ray is still buried in the office and I am keeping watch. Trying to be helpful and take off the load but in reality I am checking on his free cell games and facebook scanning. Too much work to get off before Friday am.
Coffee Break!!!
"I SURVIVED.......THE BIKE RIDE OF 2013". Fun to think of the sequels to follow.
Two day countdown and off shortly to take the Truck into the shop for a checkup and ????? Hope this does not break the bank.
Last spin class last night and Thank Goodness.....Wore me out in 60 minutes time. Spin...Road....Spin...Road We will have to see who wins in intensity......
House and Yard work left to do before we hit the road. Ray is still buried in the office and I am keeping watch. Trying to be helpful and take off the load but in reality I am checking on his free cell games and facebook scanning. Too much work to get off before Friday am.
Coffee Break!!!
Monday, May 27, 2013
Are We There Yet?
Bags are packed, ready to go......bike is adjusted once again and looks like it needs riding. The days seem long or perhaps it just me anxious about getting on the road....Truck goes to the shop tomorrow for God knows what and then we can actually load this thing up and see what bags need to be thrown overboard. Friday morning heading north for the first leg of the journey....
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
REMINDERS OF HOME
The road leading to the Rose Bowl......great morning rides in a beautiful area. One of my favorites roads for an easy warm up ride...Hoping we get to see lots of beautiful bridges across the road east. Maybe even covered bridges, (Meryl & Clint would be a bonus) .
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
packing light
it all fit in the cases. I discarded a few items but am feeling pretty good about my selection.
Monday, May 20, 2013
MOVE THOSE CHAINS
reMOVE THOSE CHAIN tattoos......without fail, if I don't have my leggins on I am going to get those Cat 5 tattoos on my calves. Glad to know Ray does it too. With or without tattoos it was a great weekend in Newport and great rides with those darn hills! Have to say that daughters 3 and 4 (Karissa and Shayna) can move up those hills with ease. Shayna without a road bike and regular pedals. Karissa just attacks as soon as she sees an incline. Ray, of course passes all and Mike and I do our thing, slow but sure up the darn hills! Gregor, Ray and Mike made an extra trip of 55 miles from South Pasadena to Newport. I chose the car for that leg and recouped from the 76 miler the day before. Down to the wire now and have to figure out how to get everything done to really get on the road....Packing up tent tonight and seeing if these cases we have really fit any of our stuff....Special thanks to Catherine for my head scarf! Love it......I may look like a Hex Angel but looks don't seem to be my deal these days. Thanks Catherine! side note: (Yes Erik) I borrowed from your writings....even non sports writers can plagiarize . For those of you not in the know, Erik is son-in-law #3 and our family sports writer. Check him out on the web.....You will notice I will introduce you from time to time to the family! We are a big group and pretty special. If you are reading anything I write you will get to know them all. This bike trip is an adventure but my family is the true adventure......
Monday, May 13, 2013
It's All About Ray!
I need to set the record straight before we launch into this adventure full bore. I do Blame it on Gregor for the spark set in Ray's belly that generated a full fledge fire that has burned endlessly for over a year now and is about to be unleashed. Where are the fire fighters when I need them? One bonus comes to mind: Ray won't be clicking at the key boards all night long searching and re-searching the roads to travel, the stops we'll make and the study of those darn hills! I truly don't want to know about any of them.....Ray's life has been consumed this past year on this adventure and this leaves me only to wonder, after all the tales are told and re-told on this year's main event what lies ahead in this strange life of Adventures. For now I am happy to know that this trip is now and always ALL ABOUT RAY!
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Okay, Terri and the girls read my posts and said, "Boring!" So I just deleted my last post on the difficulties of plotting routes through the east coast states (too late to remove the first post; sorry) and will try again.
According to daughter, Karissa, I should have just said, "Why in the world couldn't east coast road planners design straight roads?" For west coast roads, my itinerary essentially says, "Go east on this road for 63 miles, and continue on the same road for the next 5 days!" I discovered that the longest east coast road, aside from interstates, is about 3/4 mile! I guess they wanted to keep the speeds down or something.
According to daughter, Karissa, I should have just said, "Why in the world couldn't east coast road planners design straight roads?" For west coast roads, my itinerary essentially says, "Go east on this road for 63 miles, and continue on the same road for the next 5 days!" I discovered that the longest east coast road, aside from interstates, is about 3/4 mile! I guess they wanted to keep the speeds down or something.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Getting Ready
Ray here... This site is our attempt to keep friends and family up to date on our foursome's bicycle trip from Oregon to Maine. Terri, Margie (my sister), Mike (Shayna's father-in-law) and I will each probably make posts to the site as the adventure gets underway.
Terri and I have been talking about this trip for the last couple of years. Margie and Mike thought, hopefully not erroneously, that it would be fun, so they got bikes and started pedaling the local roads in order to join us.
For the last few months, I've been working on the route, spending hours on Google Street View, trying to locate decent roads with not too much traffic -- not always possible. I've also searched out campgrounds (the intent is to tent camp, with every third or fourth night in a motel to refresh -- unless Margie decides she really does like to camp after all!), bicycle shops, and tourist sites along the way. The latter includes three days in Yellowstone (where we will meet up with a number of family members), the Spotted Horse bar in Wyoming, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, the USS Badger ferry across Lake Michigan, Niagara Falls, and a day's ride alongside the Erie Canal.
When? Terri, Mike and I leave from San Diego with our pickup truck on May 30 (when I calculated the cost of outfitting the bikes with panniers, shipping equipment and bikes back home, and flying ourselves back at the end of the trip, it worked out to be less expensive (and easier!) to bring the truck with us). We'll spend the night with family in Los Angeles, before heading to Modesto to spend the night at Margie's. On June 1, after spending some time at the graduation party for twins Michael and Lindsay (Margie's grandchildren) who will have just graduated from high school, we head by truck toward Florence, Oregon, arriving on June 2.
We will link up with brother, Larry, who will bicycle with us for the Oregon part of the trip. Our good friend, Steve Brochu of San Diego, is flying up to drive the pickup for the first three days, before stopping in Bend, Oregon to visit a friend. We are still searching for someone else who would like to take a little vacation across the states and drive our truck the rest of the way! Otherwise, we will have to take turns in the truck. Terri and Margie have already reserved the driving for those days when the mountains are too steep (e.g., the 9,033' Granite Pass heading over the Bighorn Mountains into Sheridan, WY) or the rain is too fierce (fortunately, I put in an order for a summer of no rain or high winds)!
Bright and early on the morning of June 3, the plan calls for dunking our rear tires in the Pacific Ocean and then heading east. Sixty-nine days later, more or less, we should be dipping the front tires in the Atlantic Ocean outside Saco, Maine, where the first Ridlon arrived in this country, from Scotland, in 1717. We will probably then bike down to Boston to visit more family and friends, before driving back home, with stops in Chicago, St. Louis and who knows where else to see other family and friends).
If I can figure out how to do so (not the most computer-savvy person in the world), I will post the itinerary here somewhere so you can see where we are approximately supposed to be each day of the trip. Otherwise, just check in with the blog once in awhile, and see how we are doing!
Terri and I have been talking about this trip for the last couple of years. Margie and Mike thought, hopefully not erroneously, that it would be fun, so they got bikes and started pedaling the local roads in order to join us.
For the last few months, I've been working on the route, spending hours on Google Street View, trying to locate decent roads with not too much traffic -- not always possible. I've also searched out campgrounds (the intent is to tent camp, with every third or fourth night in a motel to refresh -- unless Margie decides she really does like to camp after all!), bicycle shops, and tourist sites along the way. The latter includes three days in Yellowstone (where we will meet up with a number of family members), the Spotted Horse bar in Wyoming, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, the USS Badger ferry across Lake Michigan, Niagara Falls, and a day's ride alongside the Erie Canal.
When? Terri, Mike and I leave from San Diego with our pickup truck on May 30 (when I calculated the cost of outfitting the bikes with panniers, shipping equipment and bikes back home, and flying ourselves back at the end of the trip, it worked out to be less expensive (and easier!) to bring the truck with us). We'll spend the night with family in Los Angeles, before heading to Modesto to spend the night at Margie's. On June 1, after spending some time at the graduation party for twins Michael and Lindsay (Margie's grandchildren) who will have just graduated from high school, we head by truck toward Florence, Oregon, arriving on June 2.
We will link up with brother, Larry, who will bicycle with us for the Oregon part of the trip. Our good friend, Steve Brochu of San Diego, is flying up to drive the pickup for the first three days, before stopping in Bend, Oregon to visit a friend. We are still searching for someone else who would like to take a little vacation across the states and drive our truck the rest of the way! Otherwise, we will have to take turns in the truck. Terri and Margie have already reserved the driving for those days when the mountains are too steep (e.g., the 9,033' Granite Pass heading over the Bighorn Mountains into Sheridan, WY) or the rain is too fierce (fortunately, I put in an order for a summer of no rain or high winds)!
Bright and early on the morning of June 3, the plan calls for dunking our rear tires in the Pacific Ocean and then heading east. Sixty-nine days later, more or less, we should be dipping the front tires in the Atlantic Ocean outside Saco, Maine, where the first Ridlon arrived in this country, from Scotland, in 1717. We will probably then bike down to Boston to visit more family and friends, before driving back home, with stops in Chicago, St. Louis and who knows where else to see other family and friends).
If I can figure out how to do so (not the most computer-savvy person in the world), I will post the itinerary here somewhere so you can see where we are approximately supposed to be each day of the trip. Otherwise, just check in with the blog once in awhile, and see how we are doing!
Less than 30!
Talk about my life being upside down. What in the world am I doing living in the living room? Some might suggest this is a valiant effort at down sizing however I would suggest that we are not nearly downsized enough to make this a successful trip. Here's to hoping that life on the road is easier than trying to get ready for life on the road! 
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