Category: US Perimeter Tour

  • Day 4

    Cape Blanco St Pk, OR to Tugman St Pk, OR $26.59 :: groceries & campsite 74.55 mi :: 8.3 hr :: 39.9mph :: 8.7 mph :: 272.4 mi When I got back to 101 in the morning, there was a grey-haired, crooked-toothed guy coming south on a women’s Western Flyer with a backpack and front…

  • Day 3

    Harris Beach St Pk, OR to Cape Blanco St Pk, OR $7.20 :: campsite & mailing keys back to Pete 69.83 mi :: 10.9 hr :: 34.7 mph :: 6.4 mph :: 197.8 mi At 7:30 AM, Brendan was already gone. I showered, ate, no hurry. Waved to Chris & Dave, on the road by…

  • Day 2

    Prarie Creek State Park, CA to Harris Beach St Pk, OR 70 mi :: 127.8 mi Up a little after sun. Immediately went on a hike, the Revelation Trail. Excellent self-guided trail instructs using all senses but taste. Learned to ID Elderberry, Tan Bark Oak, Sword Fern, Black Huckleberry. Unsweetened muesli for breakfast (BF). Packing…

  • Day 1

    Arcata, CA to Prarie Creek State Park, CA 57.8 mi :: 57.8 mi Awake early, feelings of fear subsided, esp. after talking w/ Dad. Beautiful day, enthusiastic start. Soon lose map from front pocket, ride back & forth searching but don’t find it. Spirit of exploration prevails, I don’t need it. Not used to the…

  • Day 0 – A Chapter

    The posts following this one are my raw journals, written while on the trip. The journals didn’t cover my journey to the starting point, though, which was definitely part of the adventure. Later I started writing material for a book that included this, but I ran out of steam. Here’s an excerpt from that effort.…

  • Inventory

    Not totally accurate, but basically what I am carrying. Item Needed Need Weight Apiece Have Total Weight (oz.) (lbs) Pants, wind/mosquito 1 5 1 0.31 Rear Panniers 1 93 1 5.81 Pump 1 3.5 1 0.22 Alien Tool 1 9 1 0.56 Tire Levers 1 1 1 0.06 Patch Kit 1 1 1 0.06 Lock…

  • A Very Loose Itinerary

    This is based on a guess that I might average 55 miles per day. Town/City PO Address PO Phone Section mileage Total miles Date Crescent City, CA 751 2ND 95531-9998 707-464-2151 410 410 26-Jun Astoria, OR 750 COMMERCIAL ST STE 104 97103 800-275-8777 385 795 03-Jul Anacortes, WA 519 COMMERCIAL AVE 98221 360-293-5149 460 1255…

  • The bike

    A recumbent bike seemed a foreign but enticing choice. The Self-Propelled Lazyboy is a road-burning throne of comfort. It is outfitted with huge Jandd panniers on the back, dynamo headlight, bumble-bee noisemaker, cadence computer, Andre the Giant sticker, and all sorts of doo-dads. My only concern so far is that it is too tail-heavy, but…

  • The route

    I want to do a big tour, see a lot of the country, and a lot of my well-dispersed family and friends. Poring over road atlases, I found I had hundreds of little roads to choose from, with no idea how good they would be for cycling. I was about to give up, figuring I’d…

  • Why circle the country on a bicycle?

    I want to explore. The desire for the ever new and ever different, the wildness and thrill of going where I haven’t been, lands me in situations where I don’t know how to behave. It gives me tales to tell and unkown terrain to point my life towards. Life becomes a land of tests that…