The Marriage of Cycle Touring & REI

What do you get when you marry a girl's passion for cycle touring with her love for everything REI?

Me -- a girl who loves cycle touring and REI.
(Photo: REI)

Need a hint? Do you recognize the girl on the right in the screenshot below?

A Sailing Trip to Catalina Island

Having returned to The States a month early from the Baja trip, El Mecánico and I spent the next few weeks slowly meandering our way back home. After all, there was no reason to rush back to the cold and wet winter in the Pacific Northwest.

For two years, I had been trying to arrange a sailing trip with a friend who lives in Los Angeles. As we'd be passing through LA, this was the perfect opportunity to make the trip happen. We decided to take a five-day sailing trip to Catalina Island. We ended up having such a grand time that we extended our trip from five days to nine.

Sailing to Catalina, with Salem on my lap.
(Photo: Jake Brownson)

First up...the island.

Happy 4th Re-Birthday to Me!

Happy 4th Re-Birthday to Me!

Four years ago today, I quit my job and was thereby born again into a new life. Since my re-birth, I have luxuriated in the freedoms afforded by unstructured time and financial independence. Wow, what a joy ride it has been!

My Friend Joey

Meet my friend, Joey. She's one of those people that I am really glad to know. After you learn about Joey, you'll be glad you know her, too.

My friend, Joey. (Photo: Joey's Facebook page.)

For most of you, you will have met Joey through this blog post. But for me, I met Joey three summers ago when I was riding my bike eastbound across the country.

Cleavage, Gators, Moronic Laws, & Other Florida Musings

I just finished my three-week housesit in Florida. I'm at the Orlando airport, waiting to board a plane that will take me to my next adventure. As I look back at my time in Florida, I find myself musing on a number of topics. Be forewarned, some of these topics are more random than others.

Cleavage

I'll begin with my most profound musing: cleavage.

I am a sports bra girl. I wear them all the time -- sometimes even for days-straight when I'm on a bike trip. Fulfilling their definition, sports bras make it appear as though I have a single, compact boob. I own a regular bra, which I only wear with the one dress I own. Both the bra and the dress hardly ever see the light of day (or the dark of night, for that matter). Yes, for me, it's always a sports bra.

The heat here in Florida is sweltering. A few days into my housesit, I broke down and bought a tank top. The top happens to have a built-in bra -- one that actually separates and lifts my boobs rather than combines and compresses them. Heavens to Betsy! For the first time in years, I have cleavage!

Ladies and gentleman, I have cleavage.

It's been an interesting experience looking at myself in the mirror. I can't help but to stare -- wow, those boobies are mine!

Valparaíso: One, Two, & Four-Legged Creatures

While the murals, doors and windows, and produce markets all make Valparaíso a great city, the two, three, and four-legged creatures really add to Valparaíso's charm.

Four-Legged Creatures

There is a long stretch of parkway between the north and southbound lanes of Avenida Argentina in Valpo. On certain days of the week, vendors set up produce booths along the parkway (see Valparaíso: The Markets). Sandwiching these produce vendors are hawkers of all sorts of wares. Old housewares, cellophane-wrapped books, and shoelace-less shoes are all laid out on the ground. Imagine blocks upon blocks of garage-sales-on-picnic-blankets.

One of these vendors sells parakeets. Although parakeets count as charming two-legged creatures, what I found more interesting was the four-legged creature who was intently studying the birds. Surprisingly, the doggie was exhibiting no lip-licking; he was merely observing the caged two-legged creatures' every movement.

This four-legged creature intently studies the two-legged creatures.

Around the block from our rental on Cerro Alegre is a mural of a man watching two dogs shag. I found it funny that a street dog decided to nap on the steps below the mural, as the dog's position made him look as though he was dreaming of doggie fornication.

The Long Awaited Video is Here!

As you may recall from We're Film Stars!, Brian and I were part of a video shoot. The video was created by The Path Less Pedaled, in conjunction with TravelOregon, to promote Oregon's Scenic Bikeways.

Ladies and Gentleman, the video is now complete and ready for your viewing! Grab some popcorn (though a small bowl will do -- it's a short video). Enjoy!



How fun to see this video in its final form!

We're Film Stars!

Brian and I were part of a video shoot -- we're film stars!

Bikers riding at Cape Blanco State Park.
Look closely -- those riders are me & Brian!

(Photo: From The Path Less Pedaled.)

Russ and Laura, of The Path Less Pedaled, have been working with TravelOregon to help create promotional videos for the state's Scenic Bikeways. Russ and Laura were looking for talent to help shoot their video of the Wild Rivers Coast Scenic Bikeway. Having just wrapped up My Mostest Favoritest Bike Trip, Brian and I were available to help with the video shoot.

Turkey in 213 Seconds

As you know, my dear readers, I'm currently overseas, spending a few months in Turkey. In recognition of my travels, my friend, Jason, recently brought a short film called "Watchower of Turkey" to my attention.

For 20 days, Leonardo Dalessandri traveled more than 3500 km in Turkey, all the while capturing Turkey's gorgeous landscapes and people on film. "Watchtower of Turkey," edited and directed by Leonardo, is an amazing video, rich in color and sound, that summarizes Leonardo's travels.

Like Leonardo, I've been fortunate to witness some of the sites in this video, such as Pamukkale and Ephesus, first-hand. I look forward to seeing more sites during the remainder of my stay in Turkey.

My mom just flew out to Turkey to join us for the next few weeks. During her visit, I'll be blog-silent. I hope you'll enjoy this video in my absence, watching it over and over again, as I have.

Akyaka Sunsets

Akyaka is a coastal town in the southwest corner of Turkey. It is tucked into the far end of the Gulf of Gökova.

Ferit loves Akyaka, primarily because of its primo conditions for kite surfing. But I've fallen in love with Akyaka, too -- partially because of its neighbor, the sea, and partially because of the beautiful mountains that surround the valley. But mostly because of Akyaka's amazing sunsets.

My first Akyaka sunset, overlooking the Gökova valley.

Tandem Riding: Doggie Style

During one of our stays in Akyaka, Turkey, we decided to rent bicycles and explore the beautiful seaside valley on two wheels. We chose a pleasant 30 km loop around the valley, and after some deliberation, we settled on renting a single bicycle for the both of us.

As Ferit and I were both tandem virgins, we weren't quite sure how tandem riding worked. But, with Ferit as the bicycle's fearless captain and with me as the ever-ready stoker, we were confident we could figure out how a couple goes about losing their tandem virginity.

Excited to start the ride.

It took a mile or so for us to figure out how to ride together. Once Ferit learned how to use the gears, and once I learned to begin pedaling only after Ferit's feet were firmly planted on the pedals, we were golden.

Hiking the Saklıkent Canyon

We spent an afternoon hiking the Saklıkent Canyon. Saklıkent, in Turkish, means "the hidden city."

Located in the Muğla province in Turkey, the Saklıkent Canyon is 11 miles long, though only 2.5 miles of the canyon are open to hikers. With vertical walls of nearly 1,000 feet, it is one of the deepest canyons in the world.

As is always the case with hiking in a canyon, flash floods are a concern. Two months ago, a flash flood swept through this very canyon, injuring eight people and killing two. Fortunately, the forecast showed no rain for the day of our hike.

Signs suggested that we wear helmets on the hike.
As helmets lacking proper adjustment mechanisms and chin straps
are nearly useless, we opted not to wear the helmets.
At least the helmets provided for a good photo op.

Video Montage: Sierra-Cascades

I finally found some free time in my busy, R'n'R-packed schedule to create a video montage for this summer's Sierra-Cascades bike ride.

For those of you who have loyally followed all of my posts from the trip, you'll recognize a majority of the photos in the video. However, I added a few never-before-seen-by-the-public photos to encourage you to watch the video...

...and maximize my views count! Clever, eh?



The first song is called "You're the Only Thing in Your Way," by Cloud Cult. You may recall from my Day #21: The Soundtracks of My Mind post that this song cycled through my mind every time my I-am-loving-this-bike-touring-thing smile crossed my face. It thus seemed appropriate that this song serve as the opening tune for the video montage.

Video Montage: Portland, OR to Portland, ME

It was a perfectly rainy day today and thus a perfectly spectacular day for making a video montage of my bike ride from Portland, OR to Portland, ME. You will recognize most of the photos from my blog entries, but you'll notice some newbies as well.

As this is the first video I've ever edited, bear with me on some of the rough transitions. With a few more bike rides under my belt, I'll become a pro at editing videos.

I hope you enjoy watching the video as much as I enjoyed making it!

Mamihlapinatapai

Imagine two people at the end of a first date. Each wants to kiss the other, but neither wants to make the first move.

This is "mamihlapinatapai." Each person wishes that the other will offer something that they both desire. But both are unwilling to offer it themselves.