Bike Crafting

We had fun watching this video while sitting next to our own bikes. It definitely made us appreciate the work that goes into crafting these impressive machines! Stay tuned for a future post about the specs of our bikes.

P.S. - Thanks to the Nightwolf for sharing a great find! :-)

Riding in a Winter Wonderland

Today was our first long ride (in that we spent more time in the saddle than bundling up). It was great! With the past week's snowfall, we were a little concerned about road conditions. Fortunately, the sun broke through in the afternoon just long enough for an hour of riding. It made for a beautifully scenic ride around Greenbelt National Park, a popular site for short cycling races. There's very little auto traffic, just a few joggers, and even a cross-country skier!

We've been following a training schedule for "Beginners/Social Cyclists" like the one here. We're also training on new bikes, so we're slowly adjusting to the "buttery smooth" ride of real touring bikes. It should be noted that one of us has a little more experience with long-distance cycling... 60 miles one-way on a kids' Huffy mountain bike! But that's another story...

Today also marked REI's first Attic Sale of the year. We showed up bright and early to wait in line with all of the other outdoor enthusiasts/bargain shoppers. We came back with a few fun cycling gear items (for great deals!):

• Novara Bar-Top Handlebar Bag - A simple, yet effective storage space, complete with a see-through map compartment and netting to hold your belongings. We'll see how it holds up during our longer trips this spring. We're keeping an eye out for larger, rear rack bags - suggestions welcome!
• Planet Bike Blaze 1-Watt Front Bike Light - We actually picked up two of these because they had such a huge markdown. They came without the mounting gear, but we've gotten creative with some of the extra parts from older lights we no longer use. We welcome any of your suggestions for jury-rigging lights when mounting parts break/go missing!

It's been a great first week of training. We're looking forward to longer days, longer rides and more sunshine. We'll continue to keep you posted, please feel free to share your suggestions, tips, advice, etc. in the comments below!

Day One...

This week is the first of our 21-week training for the biggest physical challenge of our lives thus far. In June, we will embark on an incredible journey across the U.S. by bicycle to raise funds and awareness for the Lasallian Volunteers (www.lasallianvolunteers.org), and join in the efforts to break the cycle of poverty in America (www.lvsride.com). We have the bikes; We have the basic gear, and a few ideas for training routes and regimens. All that stands between us and our starting point in Astoria, Oregon is our fundraising goal: $1 for every mile each of us will ride ($3,400 per rider).


This blog will document our preparation for departure, and everything that comes after - our motivations, goals, gear, lessons learned and the unexpected. We welcome your comments, questions, suggestions and advice. This will certainly be a growing and learning experience for us, and we hope you can glean something useful (or at least interesting) from it as well.


Until next post...
CXC (Coasting Cross Country)