3 months on the road from Boston MA to Seaside OR. Two sisters tackle 3,400+ miles.
A storm is coming.
We were warned two days in advance by my dad and then the day before by my husband and we could also see the forecast for severe weather coming our way.
This meant either we needed to hole up here in Amsterdam or we needed to get an early start to make it to shelter before the worst of the storm came in the afternoon.
Holing up? Staying put? Not an option.
Read MoreIt rained ALL night, first all outside, but then by morning on the inside of the tent as well. Luckily it stopped around 11am, so we could pack up everything without getting more wet, and get on the road.
Read MoreToday was epic. Multiple 5-6mph hills then 30+mph downhills, lots of dirt and gravel roads, and at least 3 miles of hiking trails. Plus ome small crashes when we couldn't get out of clips in time.
It was so epic that we had to capture it all with a voice recording.
Read MoreGood:
Ice cream stands
Farmers markets, especially those with ice cream (see above)
Rail trails
Read MoreGreat breakfast at my cousins before setting off for 2nd breakfast at my aunt and uncles, and then really hitting the road.
Sunny. Hot.
Belchertown was first town.
Read MoreThis was a hilly day. It started with the ascent out of Wells State Park, which we tried to avoid by taking a bike trail cutover to an adjacent road which completely did not work out, but added 2.2 miles of walking with bikes on up and down rocky trails, and 40 minutes of time. PLUS THE MOSQUITOES rivalled anything I've seen in Alaska. ARGH.
Read MoreOK, I confess that up until now, we have managed to do our daily riding segments and still sleep at my home outside Boston. We never really had a chance to do any dry runs in advance, so we've been using these first days to make gear and bike modifications which have needed more tools than we're carrying.
Read MoreFirst fully loaded outing, and it wasn't flawless, but it worked just well enough to gets us as far as we did. Up until now, we've been putting in short unloaded miles with some help from family, while we were finalizing our bikes and waiting for some gear to arrive and some our of 'luggage' to be finished (by us). So this is the first TRUE test - of our bikes, our gear, ourselves.
Read MoreWe chose to set off on this beautiful Sunday morning from downtown Boston - no traffic, great weather, easy-going drivers (for MA that is). South Boston locals out playing tag football and sunning on the beach, and Heather and I carrying bikes through the sand to do a ceremonial Atlantic Ocean dip. Our send off was quiet...
Read More
