The Journey Here...(Almost Ready To GO!)

Well, well, well. It seems like I've been blabbering to all my poor friends and colleagues about this trip forever, but when I look back, its only been about four months. That was when I decided that the time for this sort of silliness was now.

After hearing of my plan, my friend and colleague Andrew helped to steer me towards several very pleasant people who would give me advice for my upcoming trip. One of them happened to be his sister-in-law, who thoroughly impressed me with the wealth of her bicycle touring experience (solo female touring, at that), her "you-can-do-it" attitude, and her general coolness. She also gave me advice on gear, what to bring/not bring, and bikes.  Next, Andrew introduced me to a someone (my age, has my same job, works at the same place that I work...weird!) who biked solo cross-country, and then finally to an in-the-flesh bike mechanic/bike tourer. It was only through the help of the latter that I was able sort through all the touring bikes in my price range (1000-1400$), and settle on the first bike I've ever bought myself: the Surly Long Haul Trucker!

You can see here that I've added racks strong enough to bring my family with me if they so desired

I ended up buying my bike from Counterbalance Bicycles, who is staffed by helpful, knowledgeable, unpretentious, and all around very good people. I really can't say enough good things about this shop. I would definitely recommend going there.

I had been biking to work (not very far, but a big hill in the way!) for the last 9 months or so, but after I got my Surly I started to do longer and longer rides in preparation for my trip. Here are some pictures from some of my training rides:

Golden Gardens

Magnolia

Above Snoqualmie Falls, on my way over Snoqualmie Pass

Making it over my first pass (with gear!)

These last two photos are from my shake-down training ride. I biked 70 miles from Seattle through Fall City, Snoqualmie, North Bend, and then up and over Snoqualmie Pass, where I camped with my lovely partner Nate. He had been hiking in Snoqualmie pass that day, and then met me in Hyak. We biked a few miles down the bumpy John Wayne Pioneer Trail and camped (and then I biked home the next day). I brought the camping things that I'll be carrying with me for my journey, but Nate brought the little luxuries that I won't be packing with me when I leave (chips and salsa, and the french press):

Nate

French Press! MMMMMM

In order to educate myself about how my bike works, and what I can do to fix it when it breaks (or, more importantly, prevent it from breaking), I took several classes at Cascade Bicycle Club. They have great classes which teach you about the mechanics of your bike, how to maintain it, and how to replace and fix things on it. That being said, after I "adjusted" my derailleurs in class, I had to get them redone by someone who knew what they were doing.

Ok, I think thats enough for now. As I pack up my gear I'm going to document what I'm putting in each pannier and do one more post before I set off. Cheers!