Golly Gee it's been some time since the last blog. I am ashamed to announce that I am all the way in Bratislava, Slovakia, meaning you have yet to hear about the quirks of Graz and Budapest. Wondering how we got here so fast say you? Well thats becuase we are just a pair of badass bikers on a mission. Graz was a super nice city: a cocktail of both ancient and modern architechture (pics to come, I promise). Scott and I got pretty lucky and met an enthusiastic hotel clerk in a hotel in graz. After chatting about biking and the fact that America is afraid to show nipple on television, he gave us a nice room and warned us against Hungary. In fact, everyone in Graz seemed to imply in one way or another that Budapest was barbaric and sinister to the core (that is a slight over-dramaticization). Heeding no warning, Scott and I decided to head on to Budapest.
As far as I could tell, Hungary may be the windiest country I have ever been to. There was nothing but flat fields and wind all the way to Budapest, making for some painfully slow biking. Luckily we had yummy goulash soup to keep us going. Budapest was also quite the refresher. The city is so dynamic, a nice break from the tourism of most cities. The city also housed the largest biking scene I have seen in Europe. Hip kids in tight jeans on fixies EVERYWHERE! I can't blame them really, Budapest was a fun city to bike. It also had the best hostels and bath houses. I don't know where the idea that bath houses are gross came from, but I must report quite the opposite opinion. The city has a variety of really cool baths; my favorite of which was a giant whirl-pool that whipped you around and awesome paces.
Scott and I have also biked through our first day in the rain: no downpour but a substantial bit of water. It was exciting for the first 30 miles, but soon tired me out. We extended our bike ride to Bratislava by a day, and warmed up with some soup. It was no Hungarian goulash, but damn was it good: :)
-The Velodicts
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
It's been a pleasure Croatia
Today we head into Slovenia! Possibly even make it to austria if we are feeling ambitious on this rainy day in September. If you are wonderng how we got so far so fast, let me spin for you, my children, a little tale. It all begins with a mountain:
A giant mammoth mountain divides the regions of Dalmatia and Zagreb. The plan was to ride over this mountain, into Bosnia, and then on to Zagreb to meet Scott's cousin; a jouney that would take approximately five days. That was until we crossed the mountains and rode directly into a giant hand signaling stop. Luckily for us this was a friendly gesture, bearing the offer of beer and sandwiches.
The hand belonged to a gruff man dressed in a red and white checkered shirt. In fact, all his cronies donned matching uniforms. I quickly decided to a gang of specific breed, football hooligan.
Wreaking of booze and cigarettes, the ringleader told us how they were on their way to Croatia for a European cup qualifying match against Greece. They insisted that we join them on the drunken adventure because biking to Zagreb was " impossible" . I kindly thanked them but said we were stopping in Bosnia first. There was a rise of commotion, we were presented with more beers, and the ringleader shook his head and said, " Bosnia no good. You come with us to zagrebia. Possible."
There was no arguing, and i was already on my third beer, so off to Zagreb we bussed.
Running out of battery here but long story short we got dropped off in the middle of croatia's capital city dazed and confussedI suppose the hooligans felt the same way after watching a no-goal game and got back onto a bus and rode int the night.
-the velodicts
A giant mammoth mountain divides the regions of Dalmatia and Zagreb. The plan was to ride over this mountain, into Bosnia, and then on to Zagreb to meet Scott's cousin; a jouney that would take approximately five days. That was until we crossed the mountains and rode directly into a giant hand signaling stop. Luckily for us this was a friendly gesture, bearing the offer of beer and sandwiches.
The hand belonged to a gruff man dressed in a red and white checkered shirt. In fact, all his cronies donned matching uniforms. I quickly decided to a gang of specific breed, football hooligan.
Wreaking of booze and cigarettes, the ringleader told us how they were on their way to Croatia for a European cup qualifying match against Greece. They insisted that we join them on the drunken adventure because biking to Zagreb was " impossible" . I kindly thanked them but said we were stopping in Bosnia first. There was a rise of commotion, we were presented with more beers, and the ringleader shook his head and said, " Bosnia no good. You come with us to zagrebia. Possible."
There was no arguing, and i was already on my third beer, so off to Zagreb we bussed.
Running out of battery here but long story short we got dropped off in the middle of croatia's capital city dazed and confussedI suppose the hooligans felt the same way after watching a no-goal game and got back onto a bus and rode int the night.
-the velodicts
Monday, September 6, 2010
Catching a Ride
Time to take a day off from biking. We decided to take the extra time to bus to Plitvichka National Park. The places was pretty amazing to see, as it is filled with 50 lakes flowing and, here it comes, waterfalling into one another! In fact, the park houses the largest waterfall in Croatia, although Im not too sure how many waterfalls there are in Croatia. I even got my nerd on looking at all the lakes, which are filled with this awesome algae that makes each pool shimmering green!
We also executed one of our most epic fails yesterday: we waited for the bus back to Zadar on the wrong side of the road....ooooops. Scott blamed Andrew and I, Andrew blamed me, so I guess it was my fault. ANYWAY.....We watched our bus drive up and drive away thereby stranding ourselves in the cold mountains. Nothing left to do but stick out a thumb! Just when the sun was beginning to set, two guys going all the way back to Zadar (a long ride) picked us up! Missing the bus turned out better than expected! We got to listen to some good Croatian jams, see the countryside, talk to some super nice Croatians, and even drink some homemade liquor! The driver had a mountain house outside of Zadar, where we stopped and tried his home-brew. Making liquor seems to be quite the common tradition here in Croatia. Our breed was flavored with herbs, but Jacob said his mother made some with oranges and cherries. Once tipsy and warm, we headed back to Zadar for more Karlovochka (cheep beer).
Unfortunately, this is the conclusion of Andrews leg of the bike trip. Scott and I have not a clue where to go next, but I´m sure we will mull it over some homemade schnapps and figure out something awesome!
-The Velodicts
We also executed one of our most epic fails yesterday: we waited for the bus back to Zadar on the wrong side of the road....ooooops. Scott blamed Andrew and I, Andrew blamed me, so I guess it was my fault. ANYWAY.....We watched our bus drive up and drive away thereby stranding ourselves in the cold mountains. Nothing left to do but stick out a thumb! Just when the sun was beginning to set, two guys going all the way back to Zadar (a long ride) picked us up! Missing the bus turned out better than expected! We got to listen to some good Croatian jams, see the countryside, talk to some super nice Croatians, and even drink some homemade liquor! The driver had a mountain house outside of Zadar, where we stopped and tried his home-brew. Making liquor seems to be quite the common tradition here in Croatia. Our breed was flavored with herbs, but Jacob said his mother made some with oranges and cherries. Once tipsy and warm, we headed back to Zadar for more Karlovochka (cheep beer).
Unfortunately, this is the conclusion of Andrews leg of the bike trip. Scott and I have not a clue where to go next, but I´m sure we will mull it over some homemade schnapps and figure out something awesome!
-The Velodicts
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Croatia and the Dalmatian Coast
I think we last left off with a video of andrew's snoring that I am unable to upload. Hopefully I can repost all the videos later. Sorry bout that. We have been in Croatia for quite a few days now, but have only done one full day of biking. We arrived in split by boat and spent one night at the ever-luxurious Hostel Adriatic. The place was actually kinds nice just not well kept and it hosted the typical range of middle class college students spending time in Croatia to simply party and drink on mommy and daddy's credit card. ANYWAY... We decided to hitch another ferry to an island called Hvar. I believe the island is a world heritage site that has been growing olives since before the Greek empire. I somehow dodged a case of potential pink eye and so we stayed on the island two nights. We spent the second day on a rented 5 hp motor boat cruising the nude beaches of Hvar. In our usual fashion, we also fortuitously encountered the only cavernous trench in the Adriatic sea with our anchor: a little 120 kuna gem of a blunder.
We just spent our first day biking to sibenik, and today we are off to Zadar. We'll keep you posted!
-The Velodicts
We just spent our first day biking to sibenik, and today we are off to Zadar. We'll keep you posted!
-The Velodicts
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Who Needs Sleep???
Below you will find the video documenting why Scott and I have had endless nights of restless sleep. Watch till the end to catch the grand finally.
We are safely in Split, Croatia after an interesting ferry ride from Ancona. Boys got them their hairs cuts and we successfully avoided finding any breakfast place. Weird.
-The Velodicts
We are safely in Split, Croatia after an interesting ferry ride from Ancona. Boys got them their hairs cuts and we successfully avoided finding any breakfast place. Weird.
-The Velodicts
Sunday, August 29, 2010
The Finger Wag
Okay kids!
So you and your grandmother can name a million stereotypes associated with the italians, but the one stereotype that Ive never heard of, but I find to be the most common is the finger wag. The finger wag is a useful device if you are an italian. For instance, if you and your other 80 year old friends have formed a peanut gallery to tell 3 young bikers which way a bathroom is, and your one 80 year old amigo says north, you can follow the following steps to counter his clearly incorrect argument:
1) extend the index finger: this is the most important part of the finger wag. The longer your index, the more protrusion you are able to then...
2) oscillate back and forth using the knuck as a point of rotation. The faster and more pronounced your occilation, the better your argument is.
Most likely the young bikers with just laugh at your finger wag in secret and go find a bathroom without your help, but what do those youngens know about anything anyway. Back in your day you had to walk 15 miles in the snow wagging your finger before you sold Paulo on the idea that the earth was round.
We have enountered the finger wag on many occasions, but it has been most abundant when we accidently enter the highways on our bikes. Now let me explain that this is not our faults. Italian road signs are the most blatant waste of citizen taxes I have ever seen. The point in all directions and list the same towns in each direction. What is worse is that they randomly estimate the distance to the towns, which is countered by a longer distance to desired destination the closer you get. Weird.
ANYWAY... we have spt a nice 3 days in Florence and are now on the east coast of Italia. Thats right, coast to coast. Tomorrow we will be heading to Croatia where new customs await us. One can only hope that they are as enjoyable as the memorable Italian finger wag.
The Velodicts
So you and your grandmother can name a million stereotypes associated with the italians, but the one stereotype that Ive never heard of, but I find to be the most common is the finger wag. The finger wag is a useful device if you are an italian. For instance, if you and your other 80 year old friends have formed a peanut gallery to tell 3 young bikers which way a bathroom is, and your one 80 year old amigo says north, you can follow the following steps to counter his clearly incorrect argument:
1) extend the index finger: this is the most important part of the finger wag. The longer your index, the more protrusion you are able to then...
2) oscillate back and forth using the knuck as a point of rotation. The faster and more pronounced your occilation, the better your argument is.
Most likely the young bikers with just laugh at your finger wag in secret and go find a bathroom without your help, but what do those youngens know about anything anyway. Back in your day you had to walk 15 miles in the snow wagging your finger before you sold Paulo on the idea that the earth was round.
We have enountered the finger wag on many occasions, but it has been most abundant when we accidently enter the highways on our bikes. Now let me explain that this is not our faults. Italian road signs are the most blatant waste of citizen taxes I have ever seen. The point in all directions and list the same towns in each direction. What is worse is that they randomly estimate the distance to the towns, which is countered by a longer distance to desired destination the closer you get. Weird.
ANYWAY... we have spt a nice 3 days in Florence and are now on the east coast of Italia. Thats right, coast to coast. Tomorrow we will be heading to Croatia where new customs await us. One can only hope that they are as enjoyable as the memorable Italian finger wag.
The Velodicts
Monday, August 23, 2010
arrivadercci il mar
Well if it wasn't apparent above my italian spelling is worse than my English, which is to be expected I suppose. The biking has only become more breathtaking with every day, although the sun seems to be amping up it intensity every day as well. Us crispy critters have left the Italian coast today and ventured into tuscany, but allow me to back up a bit and brag about the coast of Italy.
We recently spent an excellent day in Cinqua Terra, a strip of 5 towns dotting a coast of rocky beaches and crystal clear waters. We decided to take a day off so the obvious way to relax was by hiking up and down along this scenic coast. The water was warm and refreshing compared to the 95 degree heat we've been experiencing recently. After finding Scott's bank card in the trash we decided to call it a day and skipped the last stretch of hiking.
The next day was spent biking a wee bit up hill; after the 5000 feet climb from Deva Marina to Marina Cabarra we decided to call it a day. As a side note, if you have a marble countertop anywhere in your house I would bet euro that the stone comes from this place. ANYWAY, we were a wee bit pooped from our wee little climb, but more than tired we were hot. This place has got some serious UV radiation going on. Andrew flopped into the ocean face down, quite the feat for a kid normally takes an eon just to step from dry sand to wet sand. Our gracious camping neighbors (a family from Riomaggioro) made us a nice home cooked meal, including hand picked mussels from the mar!!! The Italians eat in style even while camping.
Today was another hot ride in the sun, but the sites were well worth the sunburn. We spent lunch in the walled-in city of Lucca. A quaint stop that provided the perfect grass for a midday nap. Next was the lesser known town of Pisa, where some crazy Italian architect circa 1100-something decided it would be a good idea to build a leaning tower. Just goes to show what happens when you forget your calculus. In all seriousness the Leaning Tower of Pisa was a fantastic end to a raging day.
-The Velodicts
We recently spent an excellent day in Cinqua Terra, a strip of 5 towns dotting a coast of rocky beaches and crystal clear waters. We decided to take a day off so the obvious way to relax was by hiking up and down along this scenic coast. The water was warm and refreshing compared to the 95 degree heat we've been experiencing recently. After finding Scott's bank card in the trash we decided to call it a day and skipped the last stretch of hiking.
The next day was spent biking a wee bit up hill; after the 5000 feet climb from Deva Marina to Marina Cabarra we decided to call it a day. As a side note, if you have a marble countertop anywhere in your house I would bet euro that the stone comes from this place. ANYWAY, we were a wee bit pooped from our wee little climb, but more than tired we were hot. This place has got some serious UV radiation going on. Andrew flopped into the ocean face down, quite the feat for a kid normally takes an eon just to step from dry sand to wet sand. Our gracious camping neighbors (a family from Riomaggioro) made us a nice home cooked meal, including hand picked mussels from the mar!!! The Italians eat in style even while camping.
Today was another hot ride in the sun, but the sites were well worth the sunburn. We spent lunch in the walled-in city of Lucca. A quaint stop that provided the perfect grass for a midday nap. Next was the lesser known town of Pisa, where some crazy Italian architect circa 1100-something decided it would be a good idea to build a leaning tower. Just goes to show what happens when you forget your calculus. In all seriousness the Leaning Tower of Pisa was a fantastic end to a raging day.
-The Velodicts
Friday, August 20, 2010
Chinqua terra
So here we are in the luscious Chinqua Terra. Well actually right outside in a town called levanto. Let's just say its humid here. And I'm not talking about the type of humid where there is a bit of moisture in the air, I'm talking about full on mosquito infested eternal cloud of terenchal downpour where it feels like it could actually rain any minute. But I shouldn't really complain because when we boil down to the facts here all we are lwleft with is the vapor of truth that is the mediterranian coast. (I just need t insert here that I cannot help but notice what a child of technology and spellchecker I am. I forward al apologies for the blatant butchering of the english language from here on out).
ANYWAY, we just spent the entire last day or so climbing hills and breaking knees on the mountainous coast of northern Italy. It has been fantastic to say the least. Yesterday we roslde through a series of oneway tunnels that scared the beegees out of me. Dotting the coast were fantastic little campground, which we have been staying in for cheap cheap. We finally decided in the town of Deva Marina after meeting the curt new-jersyian pizza shop owner. We knew from his first sentence that this guy meant business in that east cost kind of way, and we ate it up. As scott said,"i feel like i'm ordering a cheesesteak right now." (Philly ref.) Lets just say we drank grappa until we could drink no more. We then took one more shot and head back to camp to rest for another day of his.
After our beast of a climb today, we decended down into Levanto, but not before andrew aquired a gaping gash in his tire forcing us to hitch a ride down for his bike.. Somehow fate tries to keep us from the beach every day, but today I say suck it fate, because try as you did I ended a perfect day of touring and climbing sitting happy on some sand with a gelato in one hand and the mar in front of me. Best trip ever!!!
- The Velodicts
ANYWAY, we just spent the entire last day or so climbing hills and breaking knees on the mountainous coast of northern Italy. It has been fantastic to say the least. Yesterday we roslde through a series of oneway tunnels that scared the beegees out of me. Dotting the coast were fantastic little campground, which we have been staying in for cheap cheap. We finally decided in the town of Deva Marina after meeting the curt new-jersyian pizza shop owner. We knew from his first sentence that this guy meant business in that east cost kind of way, and we ate it up. As scott said,"i feel like i'm ordering a cheesesteak right now." (Philly ref.) Lets just say we drank grappa until we could drink no more. We then took one more shot and head back to camp to rest for another day of his.
After our beast of a climb today, we decended down into Levanto, but not before andrew aquired a gaping gash in his tire forcing us to hitch a ride down for his bike.. Somehow fate tries to keep us from the beach every day, but today I say suck it fate, because try as you did I ended a perfect day of touring and climbing sitting happy on some sand with a gelato in one hand and the mar in front of me. Best trip ever!!!
- The Velodicts
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
we are kinda lame?!?
okay so I just have to suck it up and post blogs from my iPod. We officially got into lovely Paris on the 8th of august and proceeded to immediately ride around the city on our bikes. our first big ride came two days later. For some reason us crazy cats decided to ride 90 miles on day on and stop in orleans. We were hosted by Andrews extremely hospitible soon to be roommate and enjoyed the sites. Since then we took. Trainto nice and have been riding nice 50 miles days along the mediterranean coast. We are leaving Genova today for chinquaterra. I will post again soon but Scott is in a hurry.
Xoxo
Velodicts
Xoxo
Velodicts
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Quick trip to Fort Collins
To test out the feat of bicycle engineering that is the Surly Long Haul Trucker I decided to ride up to Fort Collins and back (map), a town that I had previously only been to once - for a Victor Wooten show.
Cait was originally going to go but decided that her approaching return home and stresses about working over the weekend precluded her participation on the ride. Cameron (Lil' Tittle and close friend from EVEN) and Cody (Bear, my roommate) were both wont to embark on a 51 mile journey with little notice and perhaps lack of equipment and not enough time over the weekend. Maybe I should publish more libel about these guys and what they think in my own words (but they are both space-astronaut trillionaires). Whatever the reasons, I went by myself.
I've never ridden that far in one day. Aside from the fact that I would also be forced to make the same journey the following day - I figured I should see what it was all about. The answer is tranquility. I didn't feel so lonely with Clifford Brown, Gordon Goodwin, Bela Fleck, and Nils Landgren coming through my headphones. The ride out was cloudy, comfortable, and very scenic with so many views of the Rockies I was not always able to look at the roads.
Google routed me on a bunch of backcountry roads which did not announce the names of towns or villages that I was passing through. I didn't even realize I was in Fort Collins until I passed a bus stop advertisement with "Fort Collins Real Estate! Call this number!" on it. I didn't even realize I had passed through Loveland since no businesses on the road I went through had any indication of city in the title, they were all ambiguous, and a little boxy.
My couchsurfing host was not picking up her phone when I arrived at 11:15 after exactly 4 hours of riding. Raging party the night before was my guess. I was right...it was for the grand opening of a tool co-op that she had assisted in starting - they allow free use of tools, donations, and trades, and drinking on the job is just one of the perks (I said tools, not heavy machinery). So with Krista MIA for the moment I passed out in a park across from her apartment for about an hour before deciding to head to New Belgium brewery - the famed maker of Fat Tire. I'm not an advocate of drinking at noon, or by myself but hey, I had been riding and it was time to relax. At the brewery they give out tokens for free beer samples - no tap beer can actually be bought and they don't take tips (freegans eat your hearts out, and drink too!). Instead of being alone I ran into a Couchsurfer I had hosted in June from York, Pennsylvania and a high school friend of his. A very pleasant surprise. The most original tasting beer was the Sour Brown Ale which was as if they took some of those Warheads candies, fermented them, and put the result in a keg. I'm sure it technically classifies as beer, but funny faces are usually made from taking a shot of 151, not a sip of the Sour Brown. In any case, I'm a fan.
Upon my arrival at Krista's house I learned that she was leaving immediately to go to Minnesota for a friend's family reunion, but she was quick to encourage me to hang out in FoCo with her friend/boyfriend, John, and sleep at her house even though she wouldn't be there. I easily accepted, chilled with John and Larry, then got back on my bike and followed John as he took me around town on what could be considered a tour of his daily routine.
We stopped by a Food Not Bombs house where several refrigerators in a shed were stocked with some odd assortments of fruits, vegetables, orange juices, protein shakes, empty pizza boxes, and a random number of things in various stages of being eaten. John explained that if you know of enough places around town, you can eat for free almost the entire week. I had some delicious farmer's market quinoa, and some tomatoes and lettuce from a nearby garden. Then we went down to the Poudre river and watched people float lazily by in tubes. It was a lazy Sunday after all, and everyone was enjoying themselves outdoors.
We ate at a restaurant called Avogadro's number where I had a homemade tempeh garden sandwich with mushrooms and peppers.
I realize this post is getting pretty long so I'll wrap it up - we went over to his friend Kyle's house - a happy bear with a thick beard. The company was great and we continued our free food adventure with two enormous shopping bags from Big City Burrito - one filled with rice, the other with potatoes. Apparently the employees just hand out the food to whoever is there when they close at 10:00 instead of throwing it away, and it did not go to waste!
One last quick story about John - he told me about a series of mountain cabins to the west that were built by the US military during the Cold War as a training grounds in case troops had to be shipped to Siberia. Each cabin is about a day's trek apart and he and 5 or 6 other people did it during the winter with snowshoes. One day they got lost and the trail routed them around a hill instead of directly over it - it appeared more straightforward on their map but the land had since been reapportioned. Three of the members of their group, including a 60-something year old man named Wayne (a true adventurist that enjoys the wild antics of 20somethings when he's not making cherry jam or rhubarb pie with his wife), after having snowshoed well into the night could physically not travel further and made a fire and slept out in the mountains in the snow in the middle of winter. John and the others decided to keep going and didn't arrive at the cabin until 3 in the morning, and went back to get the others around 6 when the sun came up.
A fool's journey? Well, they were prepared with winter gear, but getting lost isn't something that one would always like to factor in when estimating timing. Especially such a large diversion, but it made for quite an intense experience, and repeatable story (hopefully aptly conveyed).
Cait was originally going to go but decided that her approaching return home and stresses about working over the weekend precluded her participation on the ride. Cameron (Lil' Tittle and close friend from EVEN) and Cody (Bear, my roommate) were both wont to embark on a 51 mile journey with little notice and perhaps lack of equipment and not enough time over the weekend. Maybe I should publish more libel about these guys and what they think in my own words (but they are both space-astronaut trillionaires). Whatever the reasons, I went by myself.
I've never ridden that far in one day. Aside from the fact that I would also be forced to make the same journey the following day - I figured I should see what it was all about. The answer is tranquility. I didn't feel so lonely with Clifford Brown, Gordon Goodwin, Bela Fleck, and Nils Landgren coming through my headphones. The ride out was cloudy, comfortable, and very scenic with so many views of the Rockies I was not always able to look at the roads.
Google routed me on a bunch of backcountry roads which did not announce the names of towns or villages that I was passing through. I didn't even realize I was in Fort Collins until I passed a bus stop advertisement with "Fort Collins Real Estate! Call this number!" on it. I didn't even realize I had passed through Loveland since no businesses on the road I went through had any indication of city in the title, they were all ambiguous, and a little boxy.
My couchsurfing host was not picking up her phone when I arrived at 11:15 after exactly 4 hours of riding. Raging party the night before was my guess. I was right...it was for the grand opening of a tool co-op that she had assisted in starting - they allow free use of tools, donations, and trades, and drinking on the job is just one of the perks (I said tools, not heavy machinery). So with Krista MIA for the moment I passed out in a park across from her apartment for about an hour before deciding to head to New Belgium brewery - the famed maker of Fat Tire. I'm not an advocate of drinking at noon, or by myself but hey, I had been riding and it was time to relax. At the brewery they give out tokens for free beer samples - no tap beer can actually be bought and they don't take tips (freegans eat your hearts out, and drink too!). Instead of being alone I ran into a Couchsurfer I had hosted in June from York, Pennsylvania and a high school friend of his. A very pleasant surprise. The most original tasting beer was the Sour Brown Ale which was as if they took some of those Warheads candies, fermented them, and put the result in a keg. I'm sure it technically classifies as beer, but funny faces are usually made from taking a shot of 151, not a sip of the Sour Brown. In any case, I'm a fan.
Upon my arrival at Krista's house I learned that she was leaving immediately to go to Minnesota for a friend's family reunion, but she was quick to encourage me to hang out in FoCo with her friend/boyfriend, John, and sleep at her house even though she wouldn't be there. I easily accepted, chilled with John and Larry, then got back on my bike and followed John as he took me around town on what could be considered a tour of his daily routine.
We stopped by a Food Not Bombs house where several refrigerators in a shed were stocked with some odd assortments of fruits, vegetables, orange juices, protein shakes, empty pizza boxes, and a random number of things in various stages of being eaten. John explained that if you know of enough places around town, you can eat for free almost the entire week. I had some delicious farmer's market quinoa, and some tomatoes and lettuce from a nearby garden. Then we went down to the Poudre river and watched people float lazily by in tubes. It was a lazy Sunday after all, and everyone was enjoying themselves outdoors.
We ate at a restaurant called Avogadro's number where I had a homemade tempeh garden sandwich with mushrooms and peppers.
I realize this post is getting pretty long so I'll wrap it up - we went over to his friend Kyle's house - a happy bear with a thick beard. The company was great and we continued our free food adventure with two enormous shopping bags from Big City Burrito - one filled with rice, the other with potatoes. Apparently the employees just hand out the food to whoever is there when they close at 10:00 instead of throwing it away, and it did not go to waste!
One last quick story about John - he told me about a series of mountain cabins to the west that were built by the US military during the Cold War as a training grounds in case troops had to be shipped to Siberia. Each cabin is about a day's trek apart and he and 5 or 6 other people did it during the winter with snowshoes. One day they got lost and the trail routed them around a hill instead of directly over it - it appeared more straightforward on their map but the land had since been reapportioned. Three of the members of their group, including a 60-something year old man named Wayne (a true adventurist that enjoys the wild antics of 20somethings when he's not making cherry jam or rhubarb pie with his wife), after having snowshoed well into the night could physically not travel further and made a fire and slept out in the mountains in the snow in the middle of winter. John and the others decided to keep going and didn't arrive at the cabin until 3 in the morning, and went back to get the others around 6 when the sun came up.
A fool's journey? Well, they were prepared with winter gear, but getting lost isn't something that one would always like to factor in when estimating timing. Especially such a large diversion, but it made for quite an intense experience, and repeatable story (hopefully aptly conveyed).
Sunday, June 6, 2010
First Bike Ride of Spring Time
This message is slightly belated but because the wonder of this particular bike ride it stands out in my mind.
On April 9 it was a gorgeous Friday amidst a week that had begun with snow and ice. I set out on the Boulder Creek Path with Cait and Cameron to meander around the city's extensive network of bike paths on a cool evening. We took off from downtown and headed east towards the mountains then north along the city limits of Boulder to Wonderland Lake, down the North Foothills' short mountain-biking terrain along the continental divide to highway 36 then a huge loop into southeast Boulder before returning to downtown. The first glimmer of spring on what had been a warm, cloudless day had not gone unnoticed only by the three bikers who had set out to get some exercise. The paths were teeming with runners and bikers who all wore smiles as big as ours while having the rare late-winter Friday opportunity to shirk some commitments to be outdoors.
But it wasn't only the people who caught my attention today. The paths were loud. The foothills were loud. The lake was roaring. Every animal who had been cooped or otherwise occupied with surviving during the winter came out to celebrate. Every single bird in the city was hanging out near the creek paths and the lake trying to get some action by going through every single bird call in their repertory. One of the more stand-out birds I saw singing away in a tree was a stellar example of a Bullock's Oriole. Birds could be seen flying around with sticks and twigs and entering trees to build nests while others were cheerily searching for a partner with whom to share the nest.
Larger animals certainly caught our attention as we rode by. We spotted a coyote near Goose Creek, some deer near the South Boulder Creek and even a beaver swimming around KOA lake.
The ride itself could be described as pure enjoyment. The paths are not designed to have ridiculous hills, the mountain biking paths do not have long rock gardens. It also proved to be enough exercise to prevent my legs from rotting off due to a week's worth of inactivity.
Route - Click the Bicycle symbol to see the route
On April 9 it was a gorgeous Friday amidst a week that had begun with snow and ice. I set out on the Boulder Creek Path with Cait and Cameron to meander around the city's extensive network of bike paths on a cool evening. We took off from downtown and headed east towards the mountains then north along the city limits of Boulder to Wonderland Lake, down the North Foothills' short mountain-biking terrain along the continental divide to highway 36 then a huge loop into southeast Boulder before returning to downtown. The first glimmer of spring on what had been a warm, cloudless day had not gone unnoticed only by the three bikers who had set out to get some exercise. The paths were teeming with runners and bikers who all wore smiles as big as ours while having the rare late-winter Friday opportunity to shirk some commitments to be outdoors.
But it wasn't only the people who caught my attention today. The paths were loud. The foothills were loud. The lake was roaring. Every animal who had been cooped or otherwise occupied with surviving during the winter came out to celebrate. Every single bird in the city was hanging out near the creek paths and the lake trying to get some action by going through every single bird call in their repertory. One of the more stand-out birds I saw singing away in a tree was a stellar example of a Bullock's Oriole. Birds could be seen flying around with sticks and twigs and entering trees to build nests while others were cheerily searching for a partner with whom to share the nest.
Larger animals certainly caught our attention as we rode by. We spotted a coyote near Goose Creek, some deer near the South Boulder Creek and even a beaver swimming around KOA lake.
The ride itself could be described as pure enjoyment. The paths are not designed to have ridiculous hills, the mountain biking paths do not have long rock gardens. It also proved to be enough exercise to prevent my legs from rotting off due to a week's worth of inactivity.
Route - Click the Bicycle symbol to see the route
Bikes, People, Scenery, and the Great Outdoors
Occasionally certain periods of time require special documentation - this is one of those times. After graduating with a degree in engineering, there is an immense amount of steam that has been built up from spending countless hours hunched over enormous 20-pound books in poorly ventilated computer labs with no windows. These hours included times where I would sit often with a perplexed look on my faces, sometimes shouting obscenities when, at 2 in the morning, after working 6 to 8 hours straight on writing five pages of differential calculus combined with chemistry kinetics I would still not have an acceptable answer. I am not the only one who would enter the windowless labs on a day that announced itself to be gorgeous, and wouldn't leave the building until late at night when a nighttime snow storm would be taking place.
This blog will detail the exact opposite of the aforementioned scenario: it involves bikes, people, scenery, and the great outdoors.
This blog will detail the exact opposite of the aforementioned scenario: it involves bikes, people, scenery, and the great outdoors.
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