Biking along the Columbia River

> With Washington state in the background, we enjoyed keeping up with
> the Portland Century riders as the headed their last 15 miles to the
> finish line.
>

Family time at the Tour de Fat in Portland

Pre de ja vous...

Squirmy burpy circus

Tour de Fat Portland

Nice zydeco grooves down at the Portland waterfront.

Tour de Fat

One of the cool bikes at this freak show :)

Bridge Bike Ride

The crew! (Lili Kathy Dan chris)

Made it!

Last climb before the Carrizo Plain

Simmler fire station

50 miles out of Paso Robles we stopped for water at the Simmler fire
station and ended up staying the night on their wonderful lawn.

1857

Danielle marks the extent that a small stream was offset by the 1857
San Andreas fault earthquake

Earthquake Clouds?

Although everyone else felt it, we slept through an earthquake the
next morning.

Nexus stop - Kirk Creek

Day 2 - one long amazing view

The day started with a long hot climb out of Big Sur and then rolling
hills high above the Pacific. Traffic decreased markedly, so we rode
in the middle of the lane to stay away from cliffs.

Our ride smells amazing!

Fueling up

So, what powers us through a day of riding? Along the Big Sur Coast we
started each day with a huge breakfast - eggs, bacon, pancakes from
one of the many cafes and inns along the coast. This obviates the need
for lunch, and aside from snacking on energy bars (cliff z- kids bars)
and crackers with salami and cheese, we can hold out until dinner.
Dinners are always cooked at camp and so far have been a real treat.
The first night out we ate 3 lbs of Carne Asada with tortillas. Night
two presented an Indian meal of curried vegetables (Jaipur style) and
rice pilaf. Night three, Miso soup followed by pasta with tomato cream
sauce.

Camp Day 2 - Kirk Creek Camground

"Chris! Take the stinkin' picture - I'm tired!!!!!" Who knows what Dan
is doing ...

Miles of coast, inhabited only by hippy otters (so we are told)

Fording the mighty Big Sur River

Dan and I went exploring the next morning and found our way the beach
- but on the wrong sift of the river.

Woah, we just came down that?!

Danielle's imitation of a hibernating bear

Camp 1 - Andrew Molera

The sign at the road said "camp full". Not taking no for an answer, we
scouted and found this nice little vacant site - the occupants only
used it for the day and left before nightfall. Rode 30+ miles for the
day.

On Bob's trail(er)

Little Sur River

Shadowing Danielle on the decent to the Little Sur River

They say cycling is a dirty sport...

...but Danielle's new physique by the middle of the first day was due
to wind gain at Hurricane Point rather than increased muscle mass.

ZZZZZZ

Danielle crossing Bixby Creek Bridge

5e?

Coastal days

Our coastal days were filled with rolling hills and descents and
accented with points that contained hurricane force crosswinds. While
the dramatic relief along the bluffs was gorgeous, so too was the
dramatic effort to stay upright in the strong gusting crosswinds.

Anyone pack the Dramamine?

Hi everyone! Thanks for sticking with us, even though we didn't update
for the last few days - internet signal on the coast was non-existant.
Although we are now in Paso Robles, we will catch you up with our
adventures on the Big Sur Coast.

Bike chain breaks ....

About 2.5 miles outside Pado Robles, Chris's chain broke. Faced with
the potential of more uphill we set off for Paso and to our surprise
it was downhill the ENTIRE way! Then, a very nice man lent us his
tools so Chris could rig a quick solution before hitting the bike shop.

Justin Winery

Now the fun begins! Wine tasting at the beautiful grounds at the
Justin Winery. The hill in the far far background was a portion of our
route while the old vine patch grows just behind us.

Contemplating the remaining miles to go on Sunday

After several days sans cell battery and reception (happy birthday and
fathers day dad!!!), we have made it over the coast range and are
closing in on Paso where we will update our blog with experiences past.

Dan joins the fray

Mayeri made like bandit, took a shortcut and met up with us for our
bike trip! Hilarity ensued.. starting with their matching Volpes.

The Lonely Cypress

Point Lobos in the background

Chris on our ride through Carmel on 17 mile drive.

: Lock and load!!

> Replace eq strap on bookshelf, check; hourlong long conversation
> with long lost high school friend, check; replace lightswitch,
> check; Advantage the cats, check; last minute weigh-ins, check! Ride
> on!
>

Morning preflight routine

Would you believe that Danielle was actually ready to go first?!
Danielle's routine could accurately be characterized as the simple
Triple S, while Chris added a de-fenderizing process before take-off.
11:40am and counting!

Setting up our blog at the Ol'factory Cafe in Monterey