What it feels like to be a week and a half in

A typical breakfast cooking scene on a random porch.

We saw this phrase (a classic in the cycling world) chalked on the road this morning:

"It doesn't get easier... you just get faster."

Lance Armstrong said this in a famous cycling movie, and when I saw this on the road I couldn't keep myself from laughing.  It's so true - whether you're training for a bicycle race or taking a six week bicycle tour.  A week and a half in... we are getting faster.

Cold shirt for Jason!

After a week and a half we are used to the routines of the bicycles and the camps.  We are losing the calluses that we had on our fingers from playing banjo and guitar, and instead we have formed calluses on our palms from holding the handlebars.  We finally know where all our gear is in all nine of our bags! The tan lines have been cemented onto our backs, arms, and legs, and our appetites are positively enormous. 

If you click on this to make it big, you'll
see the ridiculous gasp on my face.

 These pictures  show one of our coping mechanisms for the sometimes extreme (90 +) mid-day temperatures:  We get our shirts wet in whatever water is available.  Rivers full of cold meltwater are the best, even though they make us grimace momentarily from the cold.  Our days usually start around 6:00, and we're on the road around 7:30.  Lunch doesn't happen until between 12:00 and 2:00, and then it's a little rest before we ride again in the afternoon.  Depending on the altitude of course.  If we are higher, and it's cooler, we can continue to ride.  If it's hot...  well we usually end up reading for a bit.

 The scenery has been phenomenal - I am truly a girl of the mountains.  Specifically, the Western mountains.  I think back to all we've seen already and it's awe-inspiring.  We started out at the chaos of the US - Mexico border at Tijuana and rode through San Diego, the hot mountains and valleys of Southern California, the desert valleys and the high pines.  Finally we are reaching Central California, the home of giant trees, cool streams, gold trout.  We are past the metropolis (and rude drivers) of the Los Angeles area. 

We found German Shepherd Puppies!!

The going is good.  We are enjoying ourselves immensely, even we do sometimes have moments of struggle (we call the moments "struggle fests").  Usually when one of us is at the end of the rope the other will step in and make some decisions, take some of the weight, or just dump water over the other one's head.  It helps!

We don't know if we'll make it all the way to Canada in the time allowed, but we've come to terms with it.  If we make it to Oregon we'll be happy. The passes are huge now, and the climbing slows us down.  Every day is epic.  Now, we say things like "it's a little pass, only 3,000' of elevation gain".  Really, we do.

We'll keep updating and sharing, but don't be too sad if a month from now we aren't all the way to Canada.  We'll finish the route someday (after we move back to the West Coast...).  I'm still just dreaming, but I love these mountains!