Day 2: Ferry Ferry frustrating

Ok, Day One was about hospitality and the formation of the Fellowship of teh Wheel with the fine Anglican Cyclists of Prayer in Vancouver. We got to a motel in Sidney on Vancouver Island after a lovely ferry ride and then a quick hard drenching. We were pleased and amazed that there was no problem at all with taking our bikes to our room.

We took a bus into Victoria realizing that we had to get on a buss back after only an hour is we were going to get a good night's sleep. We went to the Chinatown area, but ate in Vic's English Fish and Chips hous, owned and run by a very nice chinese couple.

Then we hopped on the bus to return. Amazingly there was a couple there who had been on the bus into town with us. So we got talking and lo and behold they too were touring cyclists. So was the driver! So we had a rowdy good time hearing about all their tribulations. They were a few years older than us, and had put in one 140 day once. We were humbled.

Then to bed so that we could get up in the morning and hit the road. Problem was there is only one ferry at 11:30 which would get to Anacortes at 3. This meant a short cycling day. And while the BC ferry had been sumptuous with places to eat, the Anacortes ferry had no food stuff at all. So we ate crackers and other less that auspicious things on the 3 hour ride.

When we arrived at Anacortes the Customs guy almost impounded Dave's turkey bacon (it had the color apparently of hard packed heroin) and then the lesson in frustration and humility began.

You see one truth is that it is always downhill to the ferry and uphill from it! And we were already past the day's prime. And the road from Anacortes to Oak Harbor was riddled with really dandy hills. Really dandy ones. The cleated shoes nearly ruined me and we spent a goodly bit of time pushing up hills. Very humbling to realize that however much shaps you thought you were in, you weren't. But we will be, eh!

So we slowly made the 24 mile ride to Oak Harbor. But we made it. To the first motel in Oak Harbor with a windmill and all. The lady gave us a great rate and a good room despite how bedraggled we looked. We walked to the restaurant next door and had a fine meal to top off a long ferry ride and a modest bicycle ride with almost no food. Lesson for me was ....always eat.

Holy Fools get Underway

Emilie Smith, picture with Paul and Neale made a point of telling us that all pilgrimages involved pain and effort. That is surely true. But if the truth be told, we had the perfect send off from the wonderful clergy of New Westminster (Vancouver). Whatever might come, the warmth of the greeting we received from Paul, Neale, Emilie and Dean Elliott was truly grace filled. They took in strangers and supported us as we began this adventure.

In many ways the pilgrimage was fulfilled just in making these new friends and building a new set of relationships with cyclers and Anglicans. 1000 thank yous would be too few.

As a bonus the sun was out. We had a splendid ride from the hotel to the Cathedral. Neale and Emilie are urban cycling advocates (Critical Mass type folks) They live on their bikes in the city. Paul commutes every day but is not quite so ummmm energetic in his advocacy. They carried us through all the back routes to the cathedral where we got a blessing inside by Dean Elliott.

We will scan in the liturgy, suffice it to say here that it involved anointing us with sunscreen and the bikes with chain oil, not to mention prayers after the fashion of the Celts.

The on to the ferry..... again we saw the back ways through Vancouver and come huge lovely homes. Finally we reached the ferry and said our goodbyes for now.

God's Glory Revealed on the Way to Vancouver Island

Paul, Neale and Emilie, who got us on our way.

Blessing the bikes and riders.....

Heading South

Sorry I haven't communicated with cyberspace for a few days but I've been working the butterflies out of my stomach and having too much fun.


"What are you doing.eh?"


Assembling bikes in a preschool recess.


The trip out of Vancouver was fantastic and showed right off the bat how you can see a lot more from the pace and level of a bike. Both the people and the city are very biker friendly and for them a bike ride down the coast is a walk in the park.Our P.E.N. pals, Paul, Emily,and Neale made sure we got out of the city by taking us 30mi. through urban,suburban,industrial, and country, all of it beautiful.


Our escorts to get us out of town. Eh?


Riding outside Vancouver through the blueberry fields.

As we left them to go on the ferry to Vancouver Island I was sure I heard them singing softly:

"Came here on a jet plane
Going home by bike again
Don't know if they'll make it home.

They look kind of round
Maybe they'll drop a pound
Then they can cruise on down the coast...."

What a great trio, thanks for the send off. Eh.

putting the Linear together, such fun. We rode them back from the church that let us set them up... St. Michael's to out hotel.

The Rev. Vikie Wesen of Mt. Vernon kindly received my bike from Linear. We brought her a day of sunshine from SD

A hill we will not have to climb

Perfect First Day

All the connections worked and we arrived uneventufully in Seattle until we looked out the airport windows. THE SUN WAS OUT!!!!!! Just for us, a moment of SD weather before the rain.
Drove to Mt. Vernon and picked up my bike from the Rev. Vickie Wesen and she put us on to a great restaurant (pictures and more to follow).
The in to Vancouver..... nice little hotel.
We have to run now to put out bikes together at St. Michael's. Check in later....

Point Well Taken

Today I took one last pedal out to the southern tip of Point Loma before having Larry box up my bike for the airlines. The point is an excellent source of diversity in both geography(many challenging hills) and industry. It has both an anti-submarine base and a submarine base, a national monument, a university, oceanographic research fleet, naval research headquarters, home to a dolphin school training the guard dogs of the Navy, one of the worlds largest sportfishing fleets, and Marine recruting base at the north end and National cemetery at the south with veterans who fought in wars from 1846 to the current Iraq war. Always a great place to get lost in a ride and our final destination from our start in Vancouver B.C. next week.


Old Point Loma Lighthouse


View looking East to San Diego from Cabrillo National Monument



Pedaling through Rosecrans National Cemetery



Paying respects to Brian, the first casuality of the Iraq war and a former grade school classmate of my daughter Jenny.

Last Warm Up Ride

Monday was another lovely day in San Diego. I got up early, puttered around and then took off for my usual ride around Mission Bay and Fiesta island. I am still riding fully loaded and the pedals are coming more easily.

Lots of wind today, and working my way into it was good exercise.

By the way, one of the advantages of cycling a lot is: my cholesterol went from 226 to 192 and my LDL from 148 to 122 in 3 months. Doing the long tide along the coast will make enough physical changes for the good, that I may be able to have my blood pressure medicine changed!

So This Is A Blog?/So This Is A Bike?

A few weeks ago I had no real concept of what a Blog was and thanks to Mike and google I am attempting to join the blogger nation. This presents another form of communication and publishing that is so now. The challenge is I am not so now. So why dive in?

Last fall Mike, a biker(bicycle), told me, also a biker(bicycle) that he was planning a long bike ride and wondered if I was interested. I said," Sure," before I realized that 1. He was talking about weeks not days and 2. His idea of a bike was something called a Linear Recumbent. After acquiring a used model and testing it out I was hooked on the bike if not the length of the planned journey. The bike has been referred to a lawnchair on wheels. The question is can I live in a lawnchair for a month and a half? Or will I be riding the dog (Greyhound) home? Tune in and find out.

Point Loma Coast


Note Underseat Steering

Around the Pond

Yet another lovely ride around the MIssion Bay pond. I am still working on getting used tothe cleated pedals. The are great, once you are comfy with getting in and out of them.
There was nothing particularly exciting about this ride, it is a way famililar trip that lets one see the various sides of San Diego recreation. The west side is populated by beach people the east side by picnic and kite people. It is probably a good thing that Sea World separates them at the South and a golf course, trailer park, wetland at the north. Then of course, Fiesta Island is its own culture.

Apres le deluge

So there is a world still out there after too many weeks of rain. The rain, of course, was always heaviest on the days I had off. The major side affect of the rain, however, was an incredible number of potholes. This meant constant vigilance even as I rode a route I have done 100 times.

I am getting used to the cleated pedals. They certainly increase speed and work a different set of muscles. So I am achy this evening as I write.

As the caption indicates I put a circuit of Fiesta Island on the route today. In addition to the wind and the aroma there is always an interesting assortment of people on the island. Lots of RVs with people camping for the day. The island is also a place where dogs can run unleashed, which I suspect is why it smells so bad in the summer. One day as I rode neat where the RVs are in the picture there was a whale carcass surrounded by dump trucks. They were getting ready to cut it up. It was a big whale, taller on its side than the dump trucks.

Nothing that exciting today.

Some views of Fiesta Island, a six mile circuit that is usually windy and best ridden anytime but summer when it smells like the largest kitty litter pan in the world.

Dave Brown decided to practice using his digital camera as we rode. These are from the circuit of MIssion Bay

This is MIssion Bay, our ride today went around it!

Finally the Sun shines

The nearly continuous rainy weather finally broke and I was able to get some ride time in yesterday and today. I continue to do a shakedown on riding with gear. Now I have added cleated pedals.

Between learning how to get in and out of the pedals and the front pannier rack sliding down, the Sunday ride was more about repairing things as you go than riding.

But today Dave and I did the circuit around Mission Bay. It was a lovely day for a ride and all the pieces seemed to work together. In fact the cleated pedals give me about 2 miles per hour more, especially going up hills. Since I cannot tromp down on the pedals like a wedgie bike, the capacity to pull as well as push adds some vavoom to the uphills.

The cleats and I are becoming better friends.

Hilly Day

After a week in Texas grading exams I got a ride in last Monday the 7th of February. Did nothing but hills in Loma Portal. Up and down, up and down. It is a great hilly place.

Preparations continue for the trip. 23 churches of 72 written have responded offering hospitality. I still need to find a place to have the biccycle shipped.