The Bike Hunt!

I guess one of the key elements of making a music-tour-by-bicycle happen would be having a bicycle.  Sarah's been mousing away trying to figure out what we're supposed to be looking for.

They all look like bikes.

When we started training, Sarah was riding a super nice racing bike, and I was riding an old Univega.  Sarah's bike is super nice, but wouldn't work for tour, because it's a little too lightweight and racing bikes aren't made to withstand the amount of wear and tear that a bike will get on such a long trek through the elements.  My old Univega definitely needs some work.  It's a little rickety, and some of the gears aren't as smooth as I'd like.  In my search for my touring bike, I was looking for something that felt a little more smooth and solid.  And in a cute color, of course.

The bike hunt led us in quite a few different directions.  At first, Sarah started debating over whether she wanted to sell her racing bike and buy a brand new, top of the line touring bike, or buy a trailer to attach to her racing bike, so she wouldn't be putting as much stress on the bike, and wouldn't have to buy a new one.  Ultimately, she decided it would be better to invest in a new bike vs. the trailer.

We started looking at REI, since they had a 20% off one item sale, we figured we could make that a big ticket item for the tour like the bike.  We were considering the Novara Safari Bike, because it's meant for touring, and even comes with a rear rack, but they were out of stock at every single location in Southern California.

Then we turned to Craigslist.  And Sarah found this great nonprofit organization, Bikes Build Futures.  It's an organization in Orange County, focused on taking homeless youth, ages 18-24, off the street, teaching them how to build and maintain bicycles, giving them a job skill set, and helping them put together resumes and make some money, and maintain their own livelihood.  It's a great program, just starting out.  They are very passionate about what they do, and have a great purpose.  Sarah saw a few bike that they were selling, and one of the  heads of the organization invited us into her home to check out the bikes that she had on  hand that might fit us.  None of them did, but it was really wonderful to hear about what they were doing.  If you're interested in volunteering or donating a bike, check out their website.

Another option for our bikes is Bikes Direct.  It's a website that sells new bikes at 60% off.  We were looking at the Windsor Tourist and the Gran Turismo.  Both of these would have been great bikes.  We've talked to some of our cycling friends, and the site is totally legitimate.  They pretty much cut out the middle man, and you are buying the bike pretty much straight from China.  They send you all the pieces, and you assemble them together.  Which is kind of good, because then  you get more of a feel for how your bike is put together, and can probably get better at fine tuning things that need to be adjusted as you go.



At the time, we had decided to get our bikes on Bikes Direct.  REI had a big bicycle fest last Saturday, and we went to check out some workshops, and vendor booths.  Right before we left, Sarah got a tip from another cycling friend about HB Bike Shop, which was on the way.  We stopped by, and it's a small business run out of a little warehouse in Huntington Beach, specializing in road bikes from the 80's cycling era.

Sarah called him ahead of time, and Mike, the owner, set aside about 6 or 7 bikes that were our size, and would work for the trip.  They were all unique, and Mike took the time to explain the differences in the way each bike was set up, and the different brands, and pros and cons of each bike for the trip that we were taking.  The best part-- They were all under $300!

Sarah chose a Trek and I found a Specialized Cross Roads.  It's a wonderful bike, and I'm really happy with it, but I think I half chose it because it was green and purple.  Mermaid colors. That might just be my color motif for the trip. 

Then, later that day, serendipity struck again.  One of our customers at Viento y Agua, the coffeeshop we work at, saw our postcard about the trip.  Bela, the owner, started telling him about the trip, that we were riding from Seattle all the way home, and that I was going to buy a Baby Taylor guitar to bring along.  Bobby, the customer was really impressed with our endeavor, and super inspired.  And also, happened to have a Baby Taylor guitar kicking around in the trunk of his car.  Right then and there, he offered to let me borrow it for the whole trip, and just return it when we get back!  He left it that morning, and I picked it up when I came into work later that day.  Such luck!  

Bonus points:  I entered a raffle at REI that day we went to the cycle fest and won!  The prize was a bunch of little odds and ends for cycling!

Training Montage

Only 15 days until we leave for Seattle!  Time has passed so fast!

With all the planning for the Vaudeville Show and finishing the album I definitely haven't had as much time to train as I had hoped, but I've still gotten some great rides in.  I've been doing my regular old 30 mile round trip to work at Disneyland, and have managed to squeeze in some great longer distance and hill rides here and there as well as going to the gym a few times a week, when I can.

Then, Sarah's been totally kicking butt!  She and Dustin have been riding all over the place, and she's getting some mega calf muscles!

A few weeks ago, Sarah, Dustin and I did a 60 mile round trip from Long Beach to Laguna Beach and back.  It was the farthest me or Sarah had ever ridden in a day!  Sarah and Dustin are super fun to ride with.  They're both so positive, and easy going.  I'm excited for the trip, just to be able to spend so much time with them!

We stopped in Crystal Cove and checked out the beautiful view.  Every time I go to the beach, I think of the scene in Harold and Maude where they are watching the seagulls at sunset, and Maude talks about seeing extraordinary birds, even if they are just ordinary seagulls.  It's all perspective.  It's all about slowing down enough to appreciate the simple extraordinary beauty in the things you see or pass by every day.

We've also done a few rides around the Palos Verdes loop for some hill training.  Hills are hard.  Sarah and I did this ride a few weeks ago, and missed the turn for Palos Verdes East and ended up going straight through along the edge of the peninsula all the way to Gaffy Street, which was super steep and super busy!  Coming down the big hill, I hit a bump and came pretty close to flying over my handle bars.  But I handled it, we made it.  We thought the ride was pretty tough, and it totally kicked my butt, and put me in my place.

On Monday, I went on the Palos Verdes loop with Tyler, another friend who will ride with us from Portland to San Francisco.  When Sarah and I had done our ride and missed Palos Verdes East, we hadn't realized it, but we missed the biggest hill of the ride.  Once Tyler and I started up the biggest of the hills, there were rows of switchbacks.  It just kept going.  I'm a total slow-poke up hills, but Tyler was nice enough to wait for me if he got too far ahead.  I'd come around the bend and he'd give me a big smile and a thumbs up.  I love my friends.

The biggest lesson of the day was hanging in there for the payoff.  Sometimes life throws you a steep incline, you've got to pedal against gravity and pull your weight up the hill.  Sometimes, you've got to stand up on the bike and power through it, but sometimes, the incline is just too far to stand up for so long, and you've got to just sit back, kick it in low gear, and chug along.  But don't stop-- even when you're just inching along, you've still got some momentum, and it's easy to forget that.  And that momentum, small as it may seem, can carry you up that hill, and once you get to the top, you're flying, before you've even looked back.  There's the payoff.

But then again, you can always stop and walk up the hill.  It's easy to forget that, too. 

Now go, conquer some of your own hills!  I believe in you! 

--Alyssandra