1 down 11 more to go (states that is)

Thankfully California is the biggest state we'll be going through =) The picture below is us at the Golden Gate! The other picture is of Andrew at McKerrick state park right outside of Fort Bragg CA (not the military base, the town), it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

I've had a lot of time to think on this trip, a lot of it is wasted on trying to figure out what mountains the road is going to be going around and then cringing when I realize that the road doesn't go around but instead goes over the mountian, but some of the time has been salvaged for some productive realizations. One of these revolves around the kind of God I believe in. I have read the Sermon on the Mount several times, and every time when Jesus starts talking about how He cares for the birds and the flowers, and how this should comfort us in how He will most assuredly provide for our food, clothing and shelter, I start thinking about what a lame insurance policy that is. I'm in middle class America which more or less guarantees that I get food, clothing, and shelter without having to depend on any act of God. This is not to say that He's not involved in the orchestration of these blessings, but rather to say that it's not a pressing need that weighs on my mind. This dynamic changes when you get on a bike with a limited budget and want to cross the country. We've been soo blessed with places to stay when we most needed it, good clothing when we didn't even know we needed it, and good food and water at the most unexpected times. We've also been blessed with chance meetings of bike mechanics along the way who have been a great source of help and information. My point is that it has all been a healthy reminder that God cares about the little mundane things in our lives, He shows love to us through the little stupid things that we aren't even cognant of. It makes me stand back a little in shock that He's paying attention.

So if you got through all of that =) Andrew and I are in Lakeview Oregon. After a 118 mile ride yesterday from our campsite at a "full service" rest area (word to AAA: to the average traveler "full service" means running water, not an out house, thankfully Andrew was able to score some water off of a well prepared minivan mom) to Lakeview where we got to see the local firework show and enjoyed hot showers at the fairgrounds! In the future fairgrounds will be the first place we look for a hot shower =) Today we hope to get in 70 plus miles to get within striking distance of Burns OR. We will follow 395 until it hooks up with Rt. 20 and then follow that into Idaho. The terrain will be most flat valleys with occassional large hills to get to the next valley. It's very beautiful country with very few people around to enjoy it.

Andrew's bike is hopefully under permanent renewal right now, the spokes were really giving him problems. It's rideable, but the general rule is that if Andrew thinks that it's a problem, it must be a real problem.

Well that's all for now folks, if you have any suggestions for what to post or have any questions feel free to let me know, blogging can become a self focused endeavor and I'd really prefer it to be more collaborative.

Later,
Nate

PS Random Fact: Did you know we had Antelope running around in California!?! I did not, but they are!

* 80% of all donations go to help fund living water international, 20% goes to trip expenses (ie food) For more information see previous posts.

1 week in, a lot of miles later and...

We are in Susanville California. It's off of Rt. 36 close to the Nevada border. We are planning on going up Rt 395 into Orgeon within the next couple days. I won't be able to upload photos right now because our internet connection is tenuous at best.

Rt 1 (the road going up along the coast of CA) was beautiful. From Rt 101 we got a ride over to Redding with some very interesting people, suffice to say we learned alot about the local industry.

I had a lot of things that I've thought about saying in this first post, everything from how humbling biking into the wind up a mountain is and having to depend on random passerbys for help (point in case I am now in a "closed" bike shop of a guy we met in church having Andrew's bike checked out), another thought was to go on about how bike touring is the best conversation starter in the world (no joke I've talked with more strangers about more random stuff in the last week than I can ever remember), but I have to beg forgiveness and not go into any of those subjects. Instead I'd just like to say it has been a great week of getting to know CA and it's amazing people. I hope to be able to post something more thought provoking and definite soon (how soon? I have no idea), but just know that we are out somewhere in Western America biking along and enjoying the time =)

With warmest regards,
Nate

PS If you are ever in Susanville California stop by Bicycle Bananas store and say hi.

PPS The reason we have to get the bike checked out is because we took an old railroad track converted into a bike path and the road was sometimes less than forgiving. The path was awesome though! Train tunnels and bridges with peacefull meadows and perhaps best of all free camping =)

On the launch pad =)

Bikes are put together, gear is packed, and we're chilling in the cool of the Californian afternoon in the warm embrace of family away from home. We spent the morning learning archery from Uncle Bill and cousin Ryan. Andrew (Jack Hammer, self appointed nickname) and I (with a yet to be revealed killer nickname) are now expert marksmen, so if you try mugging us on the road watch out because we will go find a bow and hunt you down (just kidding of course, we'd call the police first then come find you).

We're going to head out tomorrow late morning from the San Francisco side of the Golden Gate bridge. We have a route picked out through California, Rt. 1 to Rt 299, up into Oregon. From there Idaho and the rest of the country =) We've budgeted 10 days for California, so 10 days from now if we are not through I want emails asking me what happened. You all, the hundreds and thousands of you, have a responsibility to help keep us on schedule, because we have the propensity to look admire the scenery.

I hope to post later this week,

Signing off,
Nate

* Picture is of Andrew and I with the cousins, left to right, Patty, myself, Ryan, and Andrew
** 80% of all donations go towards Living Water International (www.water.cc)

And...we're almost off =)

Thanks to Uncle Bill the Bikes are safe and sound in San Francisco! We leave Friday morning for San Francisco, and then come Sunday we start out on our bikes! We've spent the last couple months getting aquainted with our bikes (lot's of riding on Ohio bike baths for me and riding on NJ roads for Andrew).

Before we start out I'd like to take a second and jot down some notes on why we're doing this craziness =)

1. We want to raise money/awareness for Living Water International (http://www.water.cc/). The organziation provides sustainable water sources for communities in developing regions of the world (everywhere from Brazil, to Mexico, to India, to Africa). Thank you to those who have donated so far!!! Because of you we have raised over $1000!! You can either donate through the blog or mail a check written out to Kevin Dolan with Living Water in the memo line to 11 Daylily Dr., Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054. We would also appreciate your prayer for their organization and for safety on our trip.

2. We want to see the country  =) we've done a lot of traveling over the last 20 or so years as a family, but I suspect that we're going to get a lot different perspective by riding our bikes.

3. We want an adventure - There's something that is irrestible to us about riding a bike across a continent

4. It looks sweet on the resume

and last but certainly not least...
5. To have time to unwind, think, and enjoy God's creation

For those who wish to follow us as we go, just book mark the site or click follow on the right hand side of the screen. I hope to update the blog every week or so via libraries, churches, and random friends/acquantiances along the way. The updates will include mileage to date, general health and morale of myself and Andrew, and thoughts on the places and people we'll meet along the way. Please comment at will and add your thoughts to the official record of this expedition.

-Nate

Andrew's Marathon

This past saturday on June 4th I got to finish my first marathon. The marathon was in Potter's County PA, I trained for about 3 and a 1/2 months before it and my time was 3:57, which was not so bad considering a few of the problems I ran into. First of all, this was not an ideal marathon for a first timer, it was very hilly and went up over 1000 ft in the first 17 miles. I was planning on taking their "gu" packets they give you on the run, which are meant to give you more carbs and such that your body was running out of, but unfortunately after reading the nutrition facts I found they had some stuff that I wasn't really supposed to have. So I had a really hilly, "gu"less first marathon but it was awesome and I had a good finish. My heel was extremely bloody from my shoe rubbing it and didn't realize it until I passed the finish line, I'll try to get some pics of that up. My time honestly did dissapoint me a little bit, but I'm proud to say I did not stop or walk once during the whole thing. I think this definately was a good way to mentally prepare myself for our bike trip. It was the hardest thing I've ever done and I've never fealt that severely sore before (walking was a real problem post race), but two days later I feel much better. My dad got to come along on the trip which was great, and we had a fun time.

-Andrew

Route

Here's a picture of what the route will roughly look like. It's a little different that what we were originally thinking in that it does not go up into Oregon, but because of time constraints (i.e. Andrew's classes starting) we can't do everything. The main points of interest are going through some of Northern CA national forests! Riding through Idaho's beautiful mountains, and cutting through Yellowstone! I'm also looking forward to the ride up Route 1 in CA.

In other news I got my bike all situated. Fenders are on, as well as bike pedals. MTB shoes are bought and everything works well together. I still need one pair of panniers, but I should be ordering that from bikenashbar.com this week. The weather is getting nicer so starting this week we'll be going on some rides!!

If you haven't already I invite you to click the follow icon to the right of the screen =)



The plan...

We're starting to get geared up for the trip. Plane tickets are secured, starting point is settled upon, and a general direction for the trip is decided. We are going to start heading north up the coast of CA and once we reach around the midpoint of Oregon (about 400 miles N of San Fran) we are going to head east across Idaho and through Yellowstone. We will head up through the UP of Michigan and down through Canada, entering the United States through Niagra and then heading home =) simple right?? I don't think I have any real appreciation for the pure distance that is going to be traveled during this time, but the best way to learn is to start at point A and keep going until point B is reached.

During the next couple of months we will be raising money for Living Water International (LWI). You can donate using the "Donate" button to the right of this column. It will take you to a Paypal screen, Paypal is used by many large online organizations (ebay) as a safe and reliable way to transfer money. Recently one of our family friends started working for Living Water International as their CFO. Their approach is three fold, they wish to train, equip, and consult the nationals in how to bring clean water to their community. This approach assures that the energy and resources donated by volunteers and donors results in a sustainable, participatory water systems that meet the long term needs of the community. Prior to the well being drilled many of the people walk for miles to obtain water. Having a pure source of water, established within the community, allows time to be devoted to improving the quality of living through work and education. I encourage you to go their website, http://v7.water.cc/, and see what they are doing.

The reason Andrew and I decided to support this organization is because it is not a huge charity that already has gobs of money. It is an organization that spends as they have and is making an impact. A well costs approximately $20,000. We are looking to be able to fund a complete project. 80% of all donations will be put directly to Living Water International. The remaining 20% will be used to help with the costs of the trip.

Andrew and I are both excited about this opportunity to help LWI in providing such a tangible resource as water to a community in need. We hope that you will partner with us in this adventure and this cause.

We are flying into San Francisco on the 24th of June and spending some time with the Lev family before we head out on June 26th. Very exciting =) We will then be biking for the next 55 days to get across this great nation. We will need to average around 75 miles per day, with a couple days off. It'll be epic =) We need to get back in time for Andrew to get to classes and hopefully for me to get back to a job (side note: I just finished my application process for the Air Force!).

From talking with friends and family who have done this trip before us we feel confident of being well prepared, though I suspect that nothing but the real thing is going to give us a full understanding of the task before us.

Signing off,

Nate

PS Andrew, I think we need nicknames.