Round the World

The Final Day, Alghero - Airport!! 5 miles

2008-11-21T20:20:00.000-08:00

Woke up with X-treme winds on the beach!! We sought out granola, soymilk, chocolate and coffee! We got Chris a good bike box, hung out in town and then headed for the airport.

We tried to find a go-cart place nearby but it was too windy and nowhere to be found.

Then we disassembled his bike.

A hug, and a few words and our 6-month bicycle journey across the world had come to an end...

...or was it just the beginning?

Sassari - Alghero, THE FINAL STRETCH, 20 miles

2008-11-20T20:12:00.000-08:00

Woke up in our parking lot and made our way to Alghero, stopping at the airport along the way. We stopped at a woman's bed and breakfast so we could get showers. Cleaned up we proceeded to get a nice dinner for our last night. The place we went into looked really fancy but they had an Italian soap opera playing really loud in the next room.

We set up our tent on a little beach next to the historic center of town.

Valledoria - Sassari, 25 miles

2008-11-19T19:58:00.000-08:00

"Sassari!" think "So, Sorry." made some jokes about this today. "did our brochure make you think this was a fun town? Sassari!"

Spent another morning on the beach. I went swimming and picked bits of sea glass out of the sand and filled the salt shaker that i took back in Praha. The water was very, very clear.

We did laundry today, finally, but unfortunately I came to discover that I had left my underpants at one of the beaches. Ooops!

Tonight was rather adventurous as we set up camp in a parking lot!! The sound of honking cars and barking dogs was our sweet lullaby. Oh, there are more stories, but they must be shared another way besides this open blog. The kinds of stories that require handshakes and promises of confidence before being told. Okay... I pooped three times that night and it wasn't solid. There, that wasn't so hard.

Portobella - Valledoria, 20 miles

2008-11-18T19:50:00.000-08:00

We spent the whole morning on the beach and I recuperated pretty well.

Chris and I both read a lot in the morning. He's been devouring 'Collapse' by Jared Diamond, and I am finishing 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

Christopher made a really awesome Sea Serpent out of a rock. When we finally took off, it was late and we only left because we agreed that it would be nice to try out a different beach.

We made it to another beach, but at first we were told we couldn't go because again it was private. heh, but we went anyway. I don't think they'll find us because it's already dark out and we're on the beach.

Hope it doesn't rain on us. There is lightning over the ocean right now.

Saint Teresa Gallura - Portobella, 15 miles

2008-11-17T19:43:00.000-08:00

Oh boy, I felt really sick today. I think I might have been dehydrated from yesterday. We don't buy bottled water, and sometimes we don't get chances to fill up our bottles. That and I think my camelpack is infected with the black plague.

Our first attempt at making it to a beach failed because it was private, but we found another park nearby. The beach isn't exactly what we were looking for (something of the more iconic sandy beach). Ours was really rocky, but it turned out to be a lot of fun! even for a sickly boy like myself.

Aleria - Sta Teresa Gallura, 75 miles

2008-11-16T19:34:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful sunrise on the beach this morning! The beach cats came back to say good morning to us and beg for food they won't eat.

The moon last night looked like a giant glowing alligator eye peering through the fog of the swamp fog of the bayou. yes, it's the truth.

And guess what. ALL SUN TODAY!!! not a drop of rain!

Today we passed by two cyclists, a couple in their 70's. they were faster than Christopher and I. Oh yeah old people!? Well, we have big bags on our bikes... Pooh, no excuses, they whooped us.

We caught the last ferry to Sardinia and slept under a fort in town.

Fontanone - Aleria, 55 miles

2008-11-15T19:23:00.000-08:00

The water rose about 3 feet overnight! A man showed up in the morning. I thought he was upset with us for sleeping on his property but Chris translated his french. Apparently he was only concerned about us being swept away in the deluge!

We rode to the inland town of Corte, where it started raining again for a little while. Christopher got charged 2 euros by a jerk at a cafe just for using the bathroom. Oh yeah, that makes 5 days of rain so far. My senses tell me that this is going to change very soon!

Parts of our ride today reminded me of Jurassic Park.

Tonight we set up our tent on the beach in Aleria. There was a little cabana with a deck going over the water. It was really beautiful. We're lucky it's off season or we wouldn't have been able to stay there.

We made friends with the beach cats, even though they didn't like any of our food they kept asking us for some.

Bastia - Fontanone, 15 miles

2008-11-14T19:17:00.000-08:00

So I got to sleep in this morning as Christopher successfully tracked down the parts he needed for his bike. After fixing it we proceeded to ride, stopping at a playa, and then back tracking to make it to a road that would take us inland. We set up camp at this really cool abandoned stone house.

I tried to get into it, but it was locked up pretty well. I hope it is haunted. We haven't had any ghost problems yet, and they always make the best stories!

Livorno- Bastia, Corsica, 5 miles

2008-11-13T19:11:00.000-08:00

Got up bright and early for our ferry. It was still kind of rainy, but no wheres near how rainy it was last night. Haha, there was even one point where the rain came down so hard all i could do was laugh at how ridiculous it was.

On the ferry ride I saw a water spout! a tornado over the ocean!

You remember how i told you about Christopher's bike troubles? Well, they aren't over! He broke a back spoke, and it wasn't until we fixed it (without having the proper tools) that we realized that his derailer had also snapped. So we were only 5 miles out of town, so we just stopped where we had the trouble. Christopher is going to hitch back into town and try to find a replacement part.

Pisa - Livorno, 15 miles

2008-11-12T19:04:00.000-08:00

It rained almost all day. Hmm, well, it did clear up enough at one point for us to take some silly photos with the tower at least.

We went for pizza and they didn't charge us. Well, we left. And then we felt like we really ought to go back and let them know. Something about starting a day of bike riding in the rain that makes you want to keep good karma on your side i suppose.

We made it to Livorno with enough time to take care of our tickets for the ferry ride to Corsica. Then we went to a hotel for 50 euros after bargaining the guy down from 85. The hotel had really, really cheap art up on the walls. embarrassingly cheap art. And i'm pretty liberal about what qualifies as "good art." Haha, I imagined that it was inspired by a magazine article entitled "how to fill your hotel with art and not pay a dime for it!"

Monterosso - Pisa, 80 miles

2008-11-11T18:52:00.000-08:00

Woke up and found flyers for a festival that had something to do with men whose wives have cheated on them. Pretty ridiculous stuff! I got up early to see our town's statue of St. Francis at sunrise. We caught a train to take us to Riomaggiore, the last town in the Cinque Terre, so we would be able to ride out of it and make it to Spezia, the next big city.

Want to know about bike troubles? Ask Christopher! He got three flats and broke his seat today!

We had our scariest stretch of riding ever today. It was nightfall and we were on a highway with no shoulder. I'm sometimes kind of a daredevil, or at least a little danger or risk can be exciting, but I never want to do that again.

We made it to Pisa somewhere around 9:30. It was SO BEAUTIFUL! just turned a corner and there was the leaning tower. We even found a really cheap hostel right next to it. only 45 euros for both of us. The hotel next door told us we weren't going to find a place for under 95. Liars! Anyway, always keep your eyes out for places called "pensions" when in Italy. They're half the price, clean, and usually conveniently located.

Passano - Monterosso (and the CinqueTerre), 15 miles

2008-11-10T18:39:00.000-08:00

Oh, it was raining when our day started but the sun came out just in time for me to take my first swim in the Mediterranean! After my swim I met Dina and Kaye and talked to them about the trip Christopher and I were taking. They were staying in the town next to ours and offered to take us out for some drinks if we managed to hike the trail over to their town. Shortly after wishing them well Kaye came running back to us and slapped 15 euros into our hands! We had eaten breakfast, but I don't know, maybe we looked particularly malnourished! Well, Chris and I resolved to hike over and find them to get THEM some drinks with our journey "bonus." We were able to treat them to some fresh focaccia, but they got us both pasta dinners. We all ordered the same menu item too! A zesty arabiata dish.

When Chris and I got back to our neck of the woods after a night hike we set up our tent on the beach. I got a great night's sleep to the sound of crashing waves, not all that worried about getting washed out to sea... a distinct possibility.

Genoa - Possano, 70 miles

2008-11-09T18:29:00.000-08:00

Whoa! Up, down, up, down! Every time I ask myself if we are on a road that bicycles can go on a group of professional touring cyclists whiz by.

I got a flat today! Patched the tube next to an olive orchard. A little green piece of glass was the culprit. Chris and I got really hungry, but it was Sunday and we couldn't find anything that was open. So for a day we went hungry, which we shouldn't have considering how much food we left Frieberg with. Ate too much on our train ride! We went on one of the hardest uphill rides we've had all summer. It just wouldn't end! The sun was setting upon us as we continued our ascension. When we finally made it to the downhill we decided to take it in search of a place that might have some food, which we didn't find. We slept rather conspicuously in a field under a tree.

Freiburg, Germany - Basel and Zurich, Switzerland - Milano and Finally Genova, Italy (Train)

2008-11-08T18:23:00.000-08:00

Christopher and I got on the wrong train this morning so we got our ride to Basel for free! The ride was so beautiful today. I think the Swiss Alps would make for some spectacular cycling, I'm just not sure where you'd be able to bike through it. The train seemed to be going in places that would be really difficult to get through by any other means.

We got into Genova, not too late in the evening, and made it to a hostel nearby the train station. It started to rain and Christopher had a conversation with some Senegalese folks selling umbrellas.

Day off in Frieberg

2008-11-07T18:13:00.000-08:00

Spent the day out exploring the city and writing some postcards. We decided to make dinner for our hosts tonight (which gave us an excuse to cook something for ourselves too!)

I made a pesto pasta dish and chris made his greens and beans soup! this time he used a radiccino, which made it purple! I loved it, because the bitterness in the leaves went away after it was cooked.

Then i rode out to see the new james bond movie, that was suppose to be playing in english. only problem was that google maps sent me to a town 10km away that didn't have a movie theater!!! sometimes i really, really despise google maps.

so all in all, a pretty eventful day for not having done much at all.

Kinzigursprung - Frieburg, 50 miles

2008-11-06T17:51:00.000-08:00

So we woke up, looked at the map and realized that we were very close to a marker of some historical significance, but couldn't find it. Almost our whole ride to Wolfbach was downhill. Chris left a trail of breadcrumbs so that we would find our way back if a witch tried to abduct us.

We saw some old papermills and baby goats on our ride, as well as a heard of sheep that blocked a bike path.

We did end up going the wrong way at one point and needed to back track which added about 14 km to our ride. It was pretty warm all day though and no rain so the only drawback to getting lost was seeing more of the countryside and two wooden witches we got to take a bunch of pictures with.

Our hosts in Frieburg are very friendly, circus folk. They also are friends with Thomas from Nurnberg.

Hildrizhausen - Kinzigursprung, 45 miles

2008-11-05T17:40:00.000-08:00

Hildrizhausen? Kinzigursprung? Where the heck are we!!!??? Haha, well, I'll tell you what! We are in a new era of Obama Presidency! Chris and I found out when we rode into our first town. The man inside kept trying to convince us that Obama was going to be assassinated.

Coincidentally we were making our way to the black forests! We should have a full day of riding through them tomorrow.

Oh yeah, and proposition 2 passed in California, which makes me really anxious to get back and visit the farm soon.

We got to ride through some really cool towns at night here. It's not ideal in terms of safety, but riding at night is great. Especially if you are on a backwoods trail in Germany like we were tonight. We entered a park at night, passed by a procession of children with paper lanterns, and set up our tent on a large patch of moss. Going to wake up in the forest!

Stuttgart - Hildrizhausen, 15 miles

2008-11-04T17:31:00.000-08:00

Whoa, what a hard day of riding!!! We went back down into downtown Stuttgart via the train. I love the vegan cult place. They have samples of everything. Hmm, "cult" has such dark connotations to it. Think amish wonderfulness and veganism combined. That's what this place is. Chocolate dipped gingerbread!!! oh yeah!

We also had falafel again! That's right, these boys and falafel are tight. When we were finally ready to go Chris realized that he'd left his bike clothes back at stefanie's house from 2 nights ago! So we waited for Michael to get off work and then we went back there. When we finally started riding it was already dark out so I suppose 15 miles is quite the accomplishment. We even saw Stefanie again by coincidence at a train station one more time before getting out of Stuttgart. We got to ride on some really cool bike paths in the dark. on which we saw a cute little hedgehog!

The elections started tonight in America!!!

OBAMA, OBAMA, OBAMA!!!

Stuttgart

2008-11-03T17:24:00.000-08:00

Didn't do much today, but come to the conclusion that our bikes were going to either miraculously fix themselves or we would just have to deal with not being able to shift our front chain ring. I think we both know which of those is most likely.

Wanted to unwind, and nothing helps me do that like a movie. Still wasn't prepared to go through a dubbed film, but we settled on seeing Wall-E, because there is very little dialogue anyway. We spent the night with another Couch surfing host, Matt.

We went for Chinese food with two of his friends. Chris and I ordered in Chinese!!! And she actually understood us! When we got back to Matt's dorm we hung out in a kitchen with a bunch of spanish students. Hmmm, I really want to learn Spanish. Maybe I'll take some classes or get some cassettes when I get back to Chicago.

CrailSheim - Stuttgart, 70 miles

2008-11-02T17:16:00.000-08:00

Woke up in the fog to a man walking his dog. Getting to Stuttgart today proved to be a little confusing and at times dangerous. Sometimes you've just got to keep on riding and hope you'll get there before you pass out. Such was today.

We passed through some really beautiful vinyards, but ending up getting lost on an unmarked bike path and going through some weird suburbs. When we made it into the city we used a payphone to call Michael, one of our couchsurfing hosts. He came to meet us and used a rental bike to guide us to his apartment.

Michael, his sister Stefanie, and Christopher and I went for some falafel and then went to sleep. They are awesome, friendly, have a great apartment, and make quite a beautiful family. Christopher and I secretly loathe them for being so apparently successful and put together. I'm sure that's not exactly how it feels to be a Kalweit, but they sure do exude awesomeness.

Both Chris and I have the same problem with our bike now. Our front shifter won't shift. Watch out, rest of europe! The perpetual granny-gearers are on their way!!

Heilbronn - Crailsheim, 40 miles

2008-11-01T16:19:00.000-07:00

Nothing brightens a day like a field of ponies! What enchanting little creatures!

Today was cool because we got to ride so late in the evening. We were on our bikes until 7, and would have been on longer if the bike trails would have kept going.

In the middle of the night we heard a really strange sound like a wild boar squeeling. Easily could have been.

Nurnberg - Heilbronn, 25 miles

2008-10-31T16:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!!!

Today we did laundry and then had the best falafel in the world. Seriously, if you are in Nurnberg go to the "falafel house." it will change your life. Had an awful ride out of the city today, and got all mixed up with our roads. Some kids on an overwalk above the highway were cheering for us for riding on such a dangerous road!

We road through the night. Tried to find a movie theatre that was playing something with subtitles. All of the films are dubbed in german (kind of annoying).

We passed through this one town that was playing church bells. They were ringing crazily as if to ward of the evil spirits of Halloween. We rode into the woods for our Halloween night. Made some makeshift costumes and then ran through the woods laughing like creepy children to try to creep each other out. what's scarier then a little girl skipping and laughing through the woods at night on halloween!!?? yeah, that's what i thought.

Christopher was a ninja, and i was the tic. Before going to sleep we listened to and sang the nightmare before christmas. Oh, i love halloween!

Etzenricht - Nurnberg, 70 miles

2008-10-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

Absolutely freezing! Found out today that Switzerland reached their record snowfall for October. haha, lucky us! London and Germany were snowed on too, but we didn't get it.

Last night we had our first chocolate and peanut butter sandwiches. In the morning we road into town and actually had to go into a small butcher shop, which was the only thing open, just to warm up. we got two apples and took our socks off and everything. It was a small place so pretty weird of us. We had spent the night up in the woods off the main road.

We just kept riding and it helped us warm up. The road branched into a wonderful bike trail for getting us into the city, so the ride into downtown Nurnberg was actually very pleasant.

Made it into Nurnberg by 4:30 and found our new couchsurfing host. His name is Thomas, he's something of a hippy, but brought us out for an awesome night. First he rode us on bikes to the castle. Haha, he's so nuts and free. He wants to go live inside of a tree on an island off the coast of greece and backpack across india with literally nothing but his clothes.

He helped us steal apples from the castle, then showed us the Albrecht Durer house. We went to two bars with him, the second one was especially nice. It was kind of a go-go bar with 50's music. The people inside looked the part too! Greasers! with the jackets and hair and everything. They were really nice to us. Loved the tiger print velvet wallpaper!

Nurnberg is very beautiful by night. Great for night bike rides.

Wardhaus - Etzenricht, 30 miles

2008-10-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

Rainy, still so very, very rainy. Basically just spent the day trying not to freeze.

Oh, I had my first big pretzel today! ever!

Haha, that's basically it. Going to Nurnberg tomorrow, and hoping it won't rain AGAIN!

Pilsen - Wardhaus (Germany), 50 miles

2008-10-28T15:49:00.000-07:00

Rain, rain go away! Had to wake up very early for Pavel who needed to head out with his friends for a little road trip today.

Suddenly today I got a craving to see "K-19, the Widow-Maker" starring Harrison Ford. Probably won't get a chance to see it until a lot longer.

It's looking like it'll be another 5 days or so until we get to Stuttgart. We're still not sure which route we'll take to get there. One way or the other we're probably going to have to go over some big "hills." Funny, going up hills seems so much different now that we have to carry 50-something-lbs of gear on our backs!

We're camping tonight!

Praha - Pilsen, 65 miles

2008-10-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, we call Prague "Praha" now. that's how cultured we are becoming. We won't even be able to talk to anyone. Well, we made it to Pilsen at just the time we expected to.

A thing about Pilsen. It is the beer capital of the Czech Republic, and The Czech Republic drink more beer per capita than any other country. In other words, we are spending the night in the beer capital of the world!

These people are huge america fans. Upon arrival in Pilsen we went to Pavel's house, our couchsurfing host for the night. Apparently he called up his brother and friends so they could all spend the evening with a couple americans. They even have a monument a street to commemorate our nations glory!

Pavel does something with nuclear energy. His brother is a pilot, and his father does similar Nuclear work. Pavel says his family likes jobs that put them in positions that could potentially "hurt lots of people."

Day in Prague

2008-10-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

The highlight of the day was going to a torture museum... YUCK! In all seriousness people are really, really sick. I don't know what possesses us. People sawed in half while upside-down? People forced to sit on spikes so long they come out their mouths? And don't even get me started on "the pear"...

We ended up paying the most for a meal we have since this trip started. Like 20 something for french fries. We were both really hungry and saw this platter that looked like onion rings and french fries. Hey, who's going to argue with that? Well they were squid. Plus they skimped us on the french fries. Whatever... I stole a salt shaker from them. Haha, who was cheated now!

On to Pilsen tomorrow, watch out!

Utsi n laben - Prague, 70 miles

2008-10-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

Woke up in the COLD!! hehe, it's strange now how much we look forward to the occasional gas station for heat, and amenities. Except I found a used syringe in the bathroom. Maybe that's just because I used it after Christopher.

Had lunch in a small town and Chris got us some directions from a French speaking couple. the guy practiced his English skills with me. Said he was a pretty big deal and was friends with Keith Richards or something like that.

I rode past a gargoyle dog today. Yeah, It's still pretty creepy here.

We rode into Prague at night and found a hostel to stay at since our couchsurfing luck ran out this time. Christopher went on a date with the receptionist at our hostel and I went to a 5-story dance club. Going to spend an extra day in this city. Nice to stay up a little later and not worry about riding in the morning.

Dresden - Utsi n laben, 55 miles

2008-10-24T15:12:00.000-07:00

In the morning we had some coffee and toast with Brittany before taking off. We got to take a bike trail along the river on our way out of the city. Before heading to the hills we stopped to fuel up on some falafel, and had to reorder because they put yogurt on them. It was like an hour long falafel stop. Haha, we make good time. Whoa, did we hit some hills on our way in the Czech Republic! Lots of apple trees. It's hard to resist stopping for them. At the border we exchanged some cash, but didn't have to worry about our passports.

Our ride in the Czech was spooky!!! Once we passed the border it instantly god foggy and cold. and i mean instantly. as though that weren't weird enough, the people didn't seem to come out of their homes so there was a feeling of desolation everywhere. I remember the ominous presence of a windmill obscured by a cloud in the distance. Even its warning light was obscured by the thickness of the fog. When we finally passed our highest point for the day we went down a hill that frankly reminded me of what i imagine would make a good level for a video game for something like resident evil. We made it into Utsi n laben and road just out of the city and stopped at this man's house to ask him if it would be alright if we set up our tent in his lawn. He smiled at us, without understanding quite what we had asked, but getting the gist, and then lowered his rifle. (just kidding).

Hertsberg - Dresden, 60 miles

2008-10-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

Here comes the sun!! Though we awoke in a beautiful cropland to a bright sun and blue sky, the extreme wetness from our aquatic adventure the previous night prevented me from having a dry ride. We made it into a small town to catch internet to see if We would have a place to stay in dresden. We got tea in a weird icecream shop. Christopher suspected that they belonged to some kind of strange cult. Perhaps one that focuses in child elimination. So we got a place to stay through couchsurfing! Our first yet, and guess what? She's vegan!!!

Got into Dresden before the sun set and met Brittany at the train station. We thought for a while that she had already come by but had run away after seeing how crazy/stinky Chris and I were. But she did eventually appear, and after a lovely shower we got to go out for vegan burgers. Then I had my first cappuccino at a really nice cafe in downtown Dresden.

So it's official, couchsurfing is the most amazing thing ever. Going to have a good nights sleep and then hit the roads again, on our way to the Czech Republic.

Glienick - Hertsberg, 55 miles

2008-10-22T16:26:00.000-07:00

It pretty much rained all day on us. I guess all in all we haven't had much rain so i think maybe we have a debt to pay. We were sustained by delicious apples midway through the day. I behaved like a brat, picking up apples, taking a single bite and deciding they weren't good enough for me. So i would toss them away in a most wasteful manner (keep in mind there were hundreds of apples on the ground, so i wasn't REALLY wasting anything). In the morning we stopped at a bakery to pee, couldn't speak german to the owner but described our journey to him through pictures. He gave us two donuts. we gave the donuts to a stranger further down the road. everyone wins (except the original owners of the animal ingredients, i.e. the animals themselves).

We biked into the night and set our tent up under a tree, in a most uncomfortable position on the roots. We did this for two reasons. 1. it was dark and we couldn't see what we were doing and 2. it was raining and we wanted to be under the tree!

Berlin - Glienick, 20 miles

2008-10-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

We had a really late start getting out on the road today. Oh, and I lost my brand spankin new bike lock by accident. So yeah, the results came in, I'm a freakin' moron. Got out of the city alright but got lost and started going in circles once we left the city limits. Christopher made the wise decision to buy a road atlas. so now we will know where we are! We had a map with us but it only showed major roads. I think this is better.

Saw some storks in a field and i thought they were sheep at first. they were HUGE!!! i mean prehistoric huge. these things don't deliver babies, they swoop down and steal children!

it started to get dark so we set up camp off in the woods and had a little fire that burned and was warm by morning. It burrowed down into the pete moss and the coals were strong enough in the morning for us to start the fire up again just by adding more twigs and stuff.

oh, and it was nice to sleep without being afraid of bears! now we're afraid of witches.

Berlin, 10/18-20

2008-10-18T16:09:00.000-07:00

10/18: Today i got to hunt down a post office to mail my ballot for the election! it's so close i was scared that it might not make it, but i enclosed a note asking my town office to give me a ring if they got it. So at least I'll either definitely know or not know by the election whether or not my vote will be counted. I discovered Hans Wurst vegan cafe tonight! It was fantastic! I think i'll come again and maybe again. Going to read the hunchback of notre dame and pride and prejudice as i got english copies for really, really cheap today.

10/19: Went on an amazing free walking tour today. Saw exactly where Hitler died, and learned a lot about German history. Oh, and I saw where Michael Jackson dangled his baby. weird...

As expected I returned to Hans Wurst. This time i brought Chris. Yum, Yum, Yum!

10/20: Didn't do much today except got new wheels. still no pictures and no comments. Damn it i hate bicycle thieves!!! hung out with Insa, Bret and his girlfriend tonight at a hooka bar (no, i didn't smoke anything).

Brest to Berlin

2008-10-17T15:59:00.000-07:00

Well, all we had to do was pay a fine to get out of the country with a slap on the wrist. A really friendly customs agent got a kick out of helping us. When we had to sign documents about the incident he told us what to write. it was so embarrassing for us to have to write "I did not know i needed a visa..." Then we got on the train and finally made it into Poland! We had a wonderful cabin mate named Anna who gave us Chocolates from the ballet (they were vegan too, as most delicious dark chocolate often is). Then we switched trains in Warsaw and made it to Berlin very late at night. I stayed at the hostel and Chris stayed up through the night and caught a train to Hamburg for the next couple days. We'll be doing our own things for the next several days.

Illegals in Belarus

2008-10-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

Woke up forty minutes late by accident but made it to the station in good time. The countryside in Belarus is very beautiful, and it was weird to think about all the trouble they were going through environmentally. Apparently 90% of the Chernobyl fallout settled in Belarus. Well, We made it through Minsk, and to Brest, but just before we got into Poland a customs agent kicked us off of the train.

Oh yeah, did you know that you needed a visa to be in Belarus? We didn't! So we spent the next few hours sitting in the train terminal with a couple guards. Luckily we were brought to a sort of hostel inside of the train station for the night. We think that we'll get the visa papers taken care of early in the morning and be back on our way to Berlin.

Oh my god, We were illegals in Eastern Europe!!

Bolshoy. last day in Moscow

2008-10-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Christopher and I started the day by visiting the Novidivichy Cemetary to see, among others, Anton Chekhov and Sergei Prokofiev. They seem to be doing well. It was fun to really need to use the cyrillic alphabet there. And then the long awaited Bolshoy. Christopher and I had ordered tickets rather in advance so we'd been looking forward to it for a while. Well, the show was amazing, and the theatre itself quite breathtaking, but something there didn't vibe well with us. Not saying Moscovians are racist, but something at the show certainly was. We tried to understand, maybe they are just arguing that what happened in the show was historical, and as an art form is permissible. Anyway, one troop of dancers were in black face and did a very silly, uncoordinated, and mocking dance as african servants. It certainly would not have been able to happen in the states, but as we thought about it we didn't see any black people in Russia. Is that odd? Chris asked me what would I think would happen if Obama were to visit Moscow and have this show performed. Maybe nuclear war.

So in short: shame on you Russia!!!

Lenin, Dostoyevsky, and Cognac

2008-10-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

Got up bright and early to go and greet Lenin. What a freak! He's pretty darn short, but they say he just shrank a lot in the embalming process and through his annual wax dippings. It's less reverent and more like the tent you go in to see the world's fattest woman, and the three-headed man of Siam. Anyway, we made our way out and walked the city, going to the Church of Christ with the big golden roof, and saw the monument to Peter the Great (who is waaay to big for his boat). Then we took a train over to find the Dostoyevsky house museum. He spent most of his life in St. Petersburg, and did most of his writing there, but he was born and grew up in Moscow. The museum was closed, however the caretaker let us in to see some things. We had a great accord considering we couldn't actually say anything to one another that made any sense.

In the evening we got Christopher a shirt at a department store. And then we came back to cook a little dinner. Our roommates in the hostel were so funny. The woman's name was Galia, and her husband was Dutch but from the states I think. Anyway her family is from Moldova, which is where i hail from, so when she found this out two shot glasses were promptly placed before Chris and I. "We will drink to Moldova!" For those of you who do not know, I haven't had anything to drink in at least 5 years, so it was odd, but I had two shots of Cognac and that was that. The best part was sharing her fresh Russian Rye bread. It was so dense and delicious and I think the shots gave me an appetite.

David, Egon, the Moscovian Twilight Zone

2008-10-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

Well, we stepped off the train and made it to the hostel with a lot of luck. But our luck seemingly ran out there, as the rest of the evening was rather disturbing. Oh, and yeah, Moscow is extremely expensive. The manager of our hostel, David, seemed nice enough at first, offering to take us down to the Kremlin and help Chris find a nice shirt. Just as we began to walk out of the hostel he threw up on the sidewalk and then just stepped over it and continued walking with us. "I'm nervous, I had coffee today," is all he says. Then for the next half an hour we can't shake him away and I have to tell him that Christopher and I would rather have some alone time. AWKWARD!!! and then immediately after we lose Davy, this guy named Egon comes up to us and asks if it's okay if he walk around with us. he wasn't as creepy except i got the feeling that he was trying to steal our organs for the black market. you know, that old trick. Anyway, the Red Square was pretty breathtaking at night.

Oh yeah, and it's really hard to get people to smile here.

Trans-Siberian Railway (via Mongolia), 10/8-13

2008-10-08T14:46:00.000-07:00

For the next 5 days we will be stuck in a train. We get to jump out now and then at stops but mostly we'll be enjoying looking out the window at the Gobi Dessert and saying to ourselves "yeah, I'm glad I don't have to ride my bike through that!" Figuring that every hour and a half of train riding is equivalent to a day of bike riding I think we're making a good choice by cutting out SIBERIA!!! Then again, we might come back and bike it just for the heck of it later on. when we're old and ready to be eaten by wolves maybe.

so, 10/8: we get up and bright and early and stuff chris' bike into our tiny compartment and pick our bunks. It's a tight fit for sure. We've got a friendly neighbor. In discretion I will refer only once (maybe that's not true) to another neighbor, affectionately named "leather face." well, we have enough food to last us till the end so it looks like noodle boxes and pbj are on the menu indefinitely.

10/9: Spent most of the day looking at books about Moscow, learning the cyrillic alphabet and figuring out what we'll try to see with our few days upon arrival in the city. We woke up in the morning to the golden glow of the gobi dessert. so wonderful! the hallway of our cabin car was lit up with the morning light. We passed into Russia in the evening. One of the inspectors looked like a dominatrix and the other looked like the bad guy from the new indiana jones movie. the one who gets eaten by a swarm of ants. haha, Welcome to Russia!!!

10/10: continued passing the Russia and entered a birch forest. the morning was cold and frosty and is definitely fitting the stereotype of "siberia." what a freezer box. Finally made it to Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world that holds more than 20% of the worlds unfrozen fresh water. it even has its own species of fresh water seal in it! Unfortunately we didn't get to go out and explore it or swim, but it was certainly a possible once in a lifetime experience just to see it. At our stop today I was able to use russian for the first time in a practical way. I asked for a loaf of bread and got it! Oh, and we have a new neighbor. an ex-con, hairdresser. he told me to shave my face. I shaved my face.

10/11: I spent almost the whole day reading the brothers karamazov. Want to finish it before arriving in moscow. Chris and I figured out why americans drive on the right side of the road. Doug is a hoot. he's a retired aussie teacher. travels a lot but doesn't go anywhere without his little fudge cookies...

10/12: and i finished the brothers karamazov today! mmm, feels good. Haha, it snowed today! Are we insane? Hard to tell if we're going to be biking in this kind of stuff soon...

10/13: Last day in the train!

Silk Market (last full day in China)

2008-10-07T14:33:00.000-07:00

Went to the infamous silk market today. Hey, anyone who's been there, does this sound familiar? "hey you, handsome guy. you want to buy this?" I have to admit, a refined tactic that almost won christopher and I over several times but we stayed determined to go in and out with only what we were looking for. namely the cheapest nice outfit for a ballet. Well, China, it's been great, but now it's time to go. See you later!

Art Museum

2008-10-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

Saw some pretty inspirational stuff at our Beijing art museum. Also had dinner at the veggie restaurant again as predicted.

A Tragic Day...

2008-10-05T14:29:00.000-07:00

Bike thieves f*ckin suck. obviously, not a good day. no pictures, no comments...

Temple of Heaven

2008-10-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

Started the day by finding the Punjari Market, where you can get really cool pocket watches, and just about any form of Chinese cultural artifact you can imagine. Nice prices, but you have to be willing to play the bargain game. Works best to set your lowest price, then walk away. They'll pester you for a minute, but they either take it or leave it eventually, so just stay strong!!

We went to an even better vegan restaurant today. probably get it again for the rest of the time we are here.

Then we went to the Temple of Heaven. It was really cool, and great for Beijing because when you're in it you can forget that you're in a city. it's more than twice the size of the forbidden city, but most of it is just trees. Posed as emperor and soldier, and Christopher got a lesson on a strange little Chinese stringed instrument.

Nice try Lao Che!

2008-10-03T14:13:00.000-07:00

Went to a veggie restaurant that was pretty good, and checked out the olympic park. The water cube is amazing, but no matter how much Christopher insists, I refuse to believe that it is as thin as cellophane in any spot.

Later that evening we went to the circus, aka "Lao Che's Tea House." Weird... not as traditional as we were hoping, but what an act. First we heard a woman sing a song about how awesome Lao Che's Tea House is, and why everyone loves it and it is so popular. Then we saw a freak whistle like a kazoo on steroids. Didn't help that he made a face like a deformed duck when he did it. Then some strange magic acts, followed by beijing's best "kids who like to play karate and break things with their foreheads, and live in their parents basements instead of getting out and getting a real life." haha, sorry Lao Che, you were a fascinating evening, but won't get five stars from me!

Great Wall

2008-10-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

Spent the whole day at the great wall!! We even got to go hiking on a part of the wall that was cut off to regular tourists by befriending a security guard. Chris and I were dying by the end because we had to jog up and down the wall in order to make it to the end by 4 o'clock to catch our ride. At the end of the wall we took a zipline to get to the bottom. Pretty cool. We both think that in a few years there will be a "great wall: the ride" park there. with a roller coaster and virtual wall walk... lamos!

our hostel is the United Nations.

Forbidden City, Beijing

2008-10-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

Explored the Forbidden City today. It's huge, but it was also packed. We discovered that the first week of October is known as "Golden Week" and is a national holiday. Christopher found a poem with 1,000 characters, none repeated. It has a really cool story behind its creation. It had been commissioned in one night, the words supplied to the poet by the emperor. It flows, rhymes, and is lyrical, and is said to have turned the poets hair white, overnight, through the stress of the task. We did a little antiquing today, and finished of by going to the same restaurant for dinner. We both want a noodle dish, but we're having trouble getting noodles that aren't in soup...

Beijing

2008-09-30T22:11:00.000-07:00

Customs was super fast! The guy thought my passport photo looked chinese. We were lucky enough to make it onto the bus towards our hostel with our bikes all boxed up. Gosh are they heavy!! We're staying at Kelly's Courtyard and it's really, really great!

Anchorage 9/20- 9/29

2008-09-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

Most of this time has been well spent chilling at the Moxness residence. There were a lot of things we had to prepare for to get ready for going abroad. Anson's parents have been waaay too nice! We took a ride out to a cabin and tried to go for a hike. It was really wet and cold so we went into the woods and did some "nature art," Andrew Goldsworthy stuff instead. Christopher impressed with his beans and greens, and I made a pretty good thai peanut noodle, and we'd be more than happy to share that recipe with anyone who cares.

When we got to Seattle, on our 9/28 flight, we hung out with one of Christopher's Peace Corps. buddies, Braiden. Then we stayed at the Green Dragon hostel (way too pricey...) and watched Adam's Family Values (one of the best movies ever!!).

In the morning we got up and went to the airport after looking around the open market in Seattle. We'll be on the plane until tomorrow, so we'll start a new blog for our first night in Beijing when we get to it!

60 miles Sutton - Anchorage

2008-09-19T20:20:00.000-07:00

Woke up to freezing rain. Ugh... it wasn't easy. We made it to a cafe and went in to warm up. I thought I was going to lose my hands and feet for a little while! Chris and I are both getting wet feet and hands. our gloves and boot-covers don't seem to do the job that they're suppose to. When we got back on the road we headed towards a Anson Moxness' old high school to meet him there. He even duct taped the turn we needed to take! He led us back to his house on some beautiful trails and saw a little moose family along the way. His parents, Diana and Mike, are totally awesome. Diana had a vegan pesto dinner waiting for us!!! We were pleasantly surprised by a box from Reed, filled with cliff bars, and a "don't mess with texas" plastic bag. and i got a letter from Kim with an anklet and some stickers.

Going to spend the next week here. We're flying out on the 28th to Seattle and then to Beijing on the 29th.

89 miles Mendeltna - Sutton

2008-09-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

Started the day off with a warm fire, hot tea, and "the view" on the tube. We had the most beautiful tailwind today that got us up our "climb," as we were warned about the previous day by a passing cyclist. The Eureka summit is the third highest point on any road in Alaska. Didn't feel like a traditional mountain climb, since we've been climbing for the past several days. After Eureka Summit we had some of the most incredible downhills ever. Passed several glaciers. This is our last night in bear country!!! At the end of the day it started raining on us a little bit. Had a weird camping site that resembled something of a junk yard made of sticks and stumps. Anyway, I think we'll be in Anchorage tomorrow!!

55 miles Gacona - Mendltna

2008-09-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

Saw some awesome and huge glaciers today! Also, we've been hearing a lot of wolves as the sun starts to set. again we had mostly uphill climbs today. but at least it's nice to know that they will eventually have to pay off. The winds got crazy as the sun began to set. It was cold, but the real trouble was just the blasting wind. It was coming from the East so it was sidetracking us. We stopped at a lodge to get some tea and coffee but decided just to spend the night there since it was pretty cheap. AND we got to watch monsters inc and toy story 2. It's nice to be out of the tent for a bit now and then. Maybell, the lady operating the lodge, talked some serious politics with us. Whoa, Sarah Palin really gets under some people's skin up here! She has a huge dog. I don't remember his name, but i'm going to call him Duke.

72 miles Mentasta - Gacona

2008-09-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

Rude awakening. this morning a rest stop attendant spent an hour tidying up the place while listening to a really stupid repetitive techno song for over an hour. "let this house be progressive!" Had to pull the rain gear out today, and almost all of our ride felt like an uphill climb. We stopped for free coffee and some cheap oreos. Lady at the place told us about a woman who was pulled out of her tent and mauled by a grizzly at night. what a lovely story... she also had an amusing anecdote about how to identify grizzly bear scat. We continued to ride, mostly because we felt that a downhill was due, though it didn't come. But we stopped at this cabin and asked if it would be alright if we set up our tent on the lawn and the lady there invited us to stay in her authentic teepee! We had a fire and got to sleep on cots. It was Awesome!!

47 miles Tok - Mentasta

2008-09-15T19:27:00.000-07:00

Spent the morning in town and went to "Fast Eddy's." We got a double order of oatmeal and hashbrowns for the price of 1! Chris has an "ankle complication" so we're going to try to not push it too hard until it gets better. Saw a beaver today. The wind was against us at first, but as predicted the winds have started to shift. We set up camp at a rest stop so we can go to the bathroom in style in the morning. oh! and we haven't been eaten by bears yet!!

80 miles U.S. Border - Tok

2008-09-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

It was a long flat day. Wind is starting to get a little shifty on us, but it wasn't that bad. We did manage to make it to Tok though. Maybe get some warm breakfast in the morning. As for tonight we've just set up our tent behind a rest stop. I'm betting that the winds will shift in our favor soon. We've been really, really lucky. Met some cyclists that told us about their friends that biked the highway this summer. It rained on 48 out of the 50 days of their journey. We've definitely been luckier than that!

50 miles Beaver Creek - U.S. Border

2008-09-13T19:07:00.000-07:00

There was a creepy guy at the gas station we stopped at. It had laundry, which we did, and showers, which we took. well, when I went in to take a shower he came into the bathroom and started asking me if we would stay with him for the night in his apartment. creepy? maybe. or maybe it's just because he lives in Beaver Creek, Yukon and nobody else does. Wished my brother a happy b-day. got a little flack from the border patrol people. Luckily I made it through. hmph... i am an american so i can't imagine them having giving me too much trouble. Hoping to make it to Tok tomorrow, which will be our northern most destination in Alaska.

85 miles Burwash Landing - Beaver Creek

2008-09-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

Had the poor man's shower this morning (scrubbing in the sink). When Chris and I stopped for lunch today there were some funny birds that came and perched next to us trying to get a bite. These birds were really getting into it, and were very brave. One bit Chris on the finger! I think we'll get back into Alaska tomorrow. The trees here look like they've come straight from a dr. seuss book. we're actually camping at a rest stop some 23 miles south of Beaver Creek. Went into a cabin along the way with an old couple "old buzzard, and cute little chick." the sign had been there for some 40 years. they sure did like to bicker with each other and the prices on the canned and jarred goods were really low so i think they haven't a notion about inflation, which works for us! It's really hit or miss now. Peanut butter is one of the most expensive things out here. I guess it's just a supply and demand thing. grocery stores are spaced out by around 100 miles or more... and we get desperate after a while.

70 miles Haines Junction - Burwash Landing

2008-09-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

Today was absolutely beautiful. Saw a coyote today, and they get pretty big up here. We passed a lone cyclist from Japan. He didn't speak much english at all, but when we rang his bear bells and pulled back to cry out an ominous "bear" he got the idea!! all he did was go "OOOHHH!" it was hilarious, but maybe you needed to be there. I think his name was "Kerring," or at least that's what it sounded like. We passed Lake Kluane. It was so clear and peaceful and everything was so blue. We had to catch a ride for 7 k with a construction worker named Clarrisa. At Burwash Landing there was a huge taxidermy bear that Chris and I will forever refer to as Eugene Bear. "I'm telling you, you've got to go with scope surgery. just look at my bipass scar!" "now seriously guys, the salmon was this big, no kidding!" "hold on now, just hold on a second. have you seen your brother's retainer." okay, i think that's enough. we're camping near a cabin tonight that we can run into if there is a bear. we've also got a dog camping nearby. but it sure is getting cold at night!

oh! and not to forget "no camping. bear in area."

65 miles Yukon Border - Haines Junction

2008-09-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

Woke up to FREEZING RAIN. rode for about 1/2 hour in frosbite-conditions. Fortunately the sky cleared up and it turned out to be a beautiful day. Met a kid from Fairbanks, Toby, who was biking down to Colorado since he graduated high school. We actually saw our first grizzly bear today! Fortunately we saw him with a car dividing us and we had a downhill. The bear was enjoying berries and such anyway, but he did look up at us as we passed by. Tonight I set up a perimeter around our tent with fallen tree branches. The color of the leaves has really changed quickly. Autumn has really creeped up on us. Or maybe it is the other way around.

81 miles Haines - Yukon Border

2008-09-09T06:16:00.000-07:00

What a great day of riding! In the morning we passed through the Chilkat Valley, which is famous for the thousands of bald eagles that come in the cold winter months to compete for fish. After passing the border station we had a very long ride ahead of us. We got to see a bunch of glaciers all day on our way to the summit of Haines Pass (3,500 feet). Oh, and my pepper spray was confiscated by border patrol. It was freezing up at the top, but we were really, really lucky, and have been for a while to have the wind on our side. When we stopped for dinner the wind and cold were really biting at us. Getting jumpy about bears. I heard an RV today and thought the motor was the growl of a bear. As I recall, Chris and I both thought the same thing and were freaked out for a moment. Earlier in the day we met 3 hitch hikers from Australia, England, and Scotland. "Representing the Commonwealth." We had to camp at a really high altitude since the road sort of plateaued after the summit.

5 miles Haines

2008-09-08T06:01:00.000-07:00

Spent the whole day in town getting ready for our ride to Anchorage. We both sent out some postcards and made some phone calls. Right next to the library was a market with some yummy organic foods. Haines is a really beautiful little town. As we rode into it this morning we came around a corner and the grey clouds opened up letting the light come down on the little homes that were cradled by snow-capped mountains. Didn't have any choice getting out of town, there's only one road. We set up tent next to the river and started a fire. We know that we're not suppose to camp by rivers but there was no other place tonight. Very late in the night I heard some noises outside of the tent. At first it was the sound of something moving through the brush, then it was a splashing in the water. Then it was the blood-curdling roar of a grizzly! I woke up Chris and he said that he heard it too but thought he had dreamt it. We stayed awake for a little while, listening, and the roar came again. I was up all night, with a bike wrench and bear spray, and chris succeeded in getting back to sleep.

Juneau- Haines (ferry)

2008-09-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

When the ferry pulled into Juneau Chris and I rode to the capital. Not extremely impressive. Downtown Juneau was nice, but for a day of not touring we put quite a few miles on. The capital building was 15 miles from port, so a 30 mile round trip. Oh, and it rained on us the whole time! Got to Haines at night and set up camp about a mile from port, right on the side of the road next to a camper. I'm not sleeping well because i've got the "bear terrors." I think Chris is doing a better job than me.

Prince Rupert - Juneau (ferry)

2008-09-06T23:05:00.000-07:00

Nothing much. Back on the ferry. We played monopoly with a couple on their way to work and live in Anchorage. Going to Sleep on the ferry tonight under the stars! We'll make it the rest of the way to Juneau by the morning. Just a few more humpback whales today.

Port Hardy - Prince Rupert (ferry)

2008-09-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

We got on the boat, so that means that we didn't oversleep. saw harbor porpoises on the way out. I saw a humpback whale from the port-side of the ship, ran to get chris, but by the time we got back the whale was gone. luckily we saw 8 other humpbacks and all of them breached repeatedly. Got to Prince Rupert pretty late at night. Set up the tent at a fork in the road. After about half an hour in the tent I heard some pitter patter on the pavement and thought it was maybe some deers. When I opened the tent flap I saw a big black wolf and the rest of his pack!! We waited a few minutes in the tent, then I ran out to the bikes to get our pepper spray and a bike wrench. When I got back chris was breaking the cardinal rule of sleeping in the wilderness. He was eating in the tent! It was just a Cliff Bar, but still... I mean we just had a pack of wolves outside of our tent. Anyway, we both lived to die another day. Hopefully no problems getting on the ferry again seeing that I have no passport.

30 miles Port McNeil - Port Hardy

2008-09-04T17:56:00.000-07:00

Just a short ride today. When we woke up in the morning Chris hitched a ride back to Woss to get our missing tent stakes which he retrieved successfully! When we got to Port Hardy did laundry again since a lot of our clothes were wet and we didn't want them to mold. Met an American-Canadian draft dodger from Vietnam who was registering to vote for the first time in his life for our election. So far it seems that lots of the people we encounter on our way are very excited about this election. Oh! And I saw a bear today! He was a black bear, really close to the edge of the road, but was much more concerned with eating grass and berries than bothering with cyclists. Set up camp right next to the ferry. Already got our tickets so we just have to wake up in time!

40 miles Woss-Port McNeil

2008-09-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

Stopped into Port McNeil after we saw a sign saying "world's largest totem pole." But alas, it wasn't in this town. They did, however, have the world's largest burl. What is a burl, you ask? It's a deformity in a tree, a mutation, that when harvested can be carved into lovely dining ware. Or so we have heard. In Port we found a library, chinese food, bike shop, and info center. There was a really friendly seal in the harbor. There was a fisherman feeding him scraps. When I asked him about the seal he told me that I should shoot them if I get the chance because they "eat too many damn fish." As far as I see it it's open water, and I don't think seals eat more fish than they need. We set up camp right in town after we discovered that the ferries wouldn't be leaving until two days.

85 miles Campbell River - Woss

2008-09-02T12:47:00.000-07:00

Woke up to a construction crew starting work around 6:30. First day of rain, which kept coming down on us pretty much all day. Ran into Marcus again, but this time we met his friends who he was riding to see, Kate and "Mandy?"..."Molly?" Anyway, she gave me hear bear flare, which is like a pocket-sized rocket. Think today we might have made it over the hardest pass on the island. We saw our first bear, but it was dead. When we finally got to Woss we went into a little bar/cafe. Chris and I had been dreaming about, of all things, having a fresh garden salad for dinner. Well, that's what we got. Met Heidi, an amazing woman, couldn't place her age, but she could have been our grandmother. She is riding to the Baja form Alaska for what we gathered, the second time. She's biked from Paris to Dakar, among other places. Says riding through British Columbia is boring because there are "too many f*cking trees." We rode a couple miles out of Woss and set up camp at a rest stop. Chris climbed a tree to hang the food and I made two fires to ward off bears. See if we'll make the ferry tomorrow!

75 miles Parksville - Campbell River

2008-09-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

Ran into Marcus first thing in the morning. Looked like we had a better night's sleep than he did. Passed the 5oth Parallel. Had trouble finding a place to camp. We did laundry today so it was already getting late when we were trying to find our site for the night. First went to an RV park, but they wanted to charge us $15. So we headed out of town. found a little clearing in the woods and set up the tent and tied up the food in a tree, but then we started finding signs of bears. First we found claw marks on a tree right next to us, then we found bear scat, and then we found an ant hill that had been torn up. So we packed everything back up and slept in a construction site of what will probably be a wal-mart or something in the near future.

89 miles Thetis Lake - Parksville

2008-08-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

Started the day off with lakeside breakfast. Everything was looking good, but then in the first minute of riding Chris broke his chain. we took out a link and got it back together. Riding with all of that gear is NOT easy! Felt good to make it so far on our first day. Met another cyclist named Marcus today. He gave us a bunch of tips and advice on places to see and go. Oh, for lunch today Chris got a can of coconut milk. pretty weird craving. We had it with blueberry jam and french bread. Found another great little camping site right beside the road on what looks like a dirt bike trail.

and so it begins...

2008-08-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

10 miles Victoria - Thetis Lake

Today we finally headed out of victoria. on our bikes for the first time with all of our gear! We spent most of the day finalizing our visa documents which we'll hopefully be picking up on our arrival in Anchorage. Before getting on the road we made a final appearance at Green Cuisine (awesome vegan buffet) and stopped at the Butchart Gardens with my parents.

We made it about 2 miles before Chris realized that we had left our spare tires back at the hotel we stayed at. We went back, but they had cleaned out the room and thrown them away. While I sat in the lobby Chris had a dumpster diving adventure. When he returned with the tires we headed out for the second time, making a pit stop at 'Noodle Box' so that we could have dinner in style. With noodles in hand we began to ride on the Galloping Goose trail. We stopped for the night at Thetis Lake. Set camp up in the woods and ate our noodles atop a high hill overlooking the lake and distant city.