The dynamic duo in action

Can you spot Lisa?

All the elements to sustain life. Bike, coffee, Internet access, bakery items.

Lisa soaking up the sun, NOT

Camp sites day 5 and day 6

Lisas feet, mike having a cuppa

Day 7 - blown to brookings

52 miles, 4-1/2 hours, 2600ft of climbing. Today was the first day we got our shit together. We were out of camp at 7.30. It was a balmy 10 degrees but improved to 18 by days end. We had a tail wind for the first time which helped us complete a tough climbing course. The scenery was to die for. We had a coffee in the library at Gold Beach where a local sang jesus loves me for everyone. We arrived at brookings and booked a room at a hotel with a heated pool and spa. We sat in the spa and soaked away our pains. Tomorrow California.

Regards

Mike from iPhone

Day 6 - The sun came out

59.89 miles, 5 hrs 27 mins,
We had a great ride today. Despite it pissing down rain just as we were getting out of bed. The day started out cold as we climbed over some high forest country for about twenty miles. Then we descended into a beautiful seaside town called Bandon. After an hour in the coffee shop and two double shots each we were ready to carry on riding. Last time I rode through Bandon I declared it the nicest seaside town on the Oregon coast. Lisa now agrees with me. We could live there if it wasn't so friggin cold. After Bandon we headed inland for a while and the temp got up to 15 degrees. I thought it was perfect riding weather. Lisa was unconvinced. Lisa spent the last hour of the day in the room of mirrors taking a long hard look at herself. We made it into a beautiful campsite around 4.30. And we cooked a great curry and had a fire. Tomorrow we head to brookings where we will stay in a motel and clean ourselves up a bit. Bikes also need attention. Oh, had my first puncture today. I am having an absolute ball. Lisa is cold. If it doesn't start warming up soon I'm in deep doodoo

Regards

Mike from iPhone

How much gear can you carry

MOB commented on a photo that Lisa put up yesterday. He said "can you fit any more stuff on a bike?". The answer is no. I am carrying over 30kgs of gear on my bike and it's definately at it's structural and rideable limit. Lisa is carrying a little less. We have worked out how to balance the bikes so that we are the same speed on the road. That way we can ride together all day. We are averaging around 11-12 mph (19kph) on this trip which is pretty good considdering the conditions.

Regards

Mike from iPhone

Mikeys fat camp

My cycle computer works out your calorie usage based on your weight and the bike weight. It told me I burned over 7100 calories on day 2. Lisa can't understand why she is so hungry all the time. The fact is it's really hard to eat enough calories to keep up with the losses. Last trip I lost 14 kgs in a month. Thats one of the great things about cycle touring. You can basically eat whatever you like without getting fatter. Nice.

Regards

Mike from iPhone

Day 5 - rain, pain, some gain, still playin, were stayin, not complainin

60 miles, 5-3/4 hours, 11 degrees
Today had it's moments. The scenery was fantastic. The road was quiet because it is Saturday. But it was cold all day and it rained on and off. Lisa is really struggling to stay warm enough. She is using those little chemical warmers in her gloves and shoes but at times she is doing it real tuff. Other than that everything is great.
We have camped tonight at a beautiful place called sunset beach. We arrived at about 4.30 and went for a walk up onto the point. For the first time in 2 days we saw the sun. Bonus. We cooked a nice pasta meal and had a fire. We crawled into the tent around 9.00pm. Just as it got dark. We are hoping that it doesn't rain overnite so that we don't have to pack up wet. Guess what. Just as I typed that last sentence it started raining. Bugger. I keep telling Lisa that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Still beats working.

Regards

Mike from iPhone

Day 4 - Still married

55miles (88kms), 4 hours 33 mins, all day head wind and 2000 feet of climbing. And I'm still in the good books?
Today was a non stuff around day. After a Starbucks coffee hit we attacked. The section of the coast that we rode today was difficult and dangerous. The road was narrow and winding with little or no shoulder. The reward was the most breathtaking scenery on the Oregon coast. When we got to the really tricky stuff we found that the roads were pretty quiet. So we took no breaks. Every time we started to fade we would shove a wholemeal tortilla in our gobs and keep riding. The result was a safe and exhilarating ride. 14 degrees and nearly rain free. We both had a wonderful ride. Just before our planned camp we stopped to buy groceries. When we came out of the store it was raining steadily. We abandoned the camp idea and found a hotel in Florence. We found a great little restaurant and had a lovely meal. We are both feeling great and having a ball.

Regards

Mike from iPhone

Day 4-Lisas

Newport, devils blowhole and lighthouse. My favourite photo of the trip so far-mikey taking a break.

Shots from day 3-Lisa

1.Our camp that's the ocean in the back ground.
2.Taking a break
3.View of Siletz Bay( just after Lincoln City)

A week in review by Lisa

The flight from Sydney to San Francisco was the best trip ever. Watched a couple of movies had a bit of sleep and arrived quite fresh for the day ahead.
Spent the weekend doing some sightseeing and catching up with friends. Certainly a beautiful happening city that's easy to spend time in.
Then flew to Portland Oregon and transferred to Astoria where we stayed in the most lovely hotel(Carol you'd love it).Had a look around town and did some shopping followed by a dinner of local salmon.
The last three days have been on the bike and I'm beginning to understand why(I think?) Michael ALWAYS wants to cycle tour. Some of the places we've seen,heard and smelt have truly taken my breath away.
There's certainly a special something about being on the bike for so many hours a day especially when the weathers nice(as any cyclist would know).
We've met a few people on the road/campgrounds who've had some interesting tales to tell.All have the same sickness though.They just love being on the bike.
Experiencing any new place is fun and at the moment I'm having a great time except that I'm missing my babies.Let's see how I feel at the end of week two :)

Regards

Lisa Coates

Day 3 - 102kms, 6-1/2 hours ride time

Today was one of those test days. Day 3 is traditionally the hardest day on a tour. It comes at the point when your arse is still bruised from your bike seat from the first 2 days. Your legs aren't used to working for so many hours each day yet. And your whole body is sluggish. Our day 3 started after a night of steady rain. We packed up in the rain, ate breakfast in the rain, and headed off for a big climbing day in the rain. It was 8 degrees. It took 2 hours to do the first 15 miles. We pulled over in a little seaside town absolutely miserable and despairing of the day ahead. I spied a coffee shop and suggested that a coffee might make things look better. It did. We started again and it took 2-1/2 hours to do the next 20 miles. Once again we were both stopped in a beach parking lot cold and wet and wondering what the f we were doing. I spied a seafood joint and we sat looking at the waves and ate a fish sandwich. As we thawed out, so to did our spirits. Lisa put those little chem warmers in her shoes and gloves and we hit the road again. A couple of hours further down the road we entered the town of Newport Oregon. It was after 6 pm and we had been going since 8am. With all our sleeping gear damp, and our tent soaking, we decided to stay in a motel and dry everything. We washed all our clothes and dried all our gear ready to start again tomorrow. Forecast isn't great for the next few days. Believe it or not we are both pretty upbeat and enjoying the challenge.

Regards

Mike from iPad

Newport Oregon

Lisa - cracks the ton for the first time.

Well snaps for Lisa who rode 102 kms today. That's no small feat on a fully loaded touring bike. It took over 6-1/2 hours ride time and it was a very tough day with 8 deg temps and rain and fog. To top it off we climbed over 4000 ft vertical taking in 3 huge climbs. Congratulations honey I am very proud of you.

Regards

Mike from iPhone

Lisa - A day in the office

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Climbing in the redwoods

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Cycling the Oregon coast

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Day 2 - 78kms, 4-1/2 hits riding.
Hey it's our 20th wedding anniversary today. What a way to spend it. Riding our arses off. Absolutely beautiful scenery and lovely weather. We broke the day in half with a shopping stop in tillamook. We finally found camping gas for our stove so now we can eat something warm. We made camp around 4.30 pm after a lot of climbing in the last 35 kms. The camp is beautiful. We are right by the beach in the trees. We cooked a great beef curry for dinner and had a nice warm fire to sit by. We managed to stay up until 9.30. 100k day tomorrow with 3 big climbs so we need an early start.
Posted by mikey via SMS

Heading to camp on day 2. The camp is at the southern end of the spit in the centre of the picture

Connie and Wayne

Hanging out together at Cape Meares-Oregon- after a three mile climb-posted by Lisa
Our 20th wedding anniversary!!

Arch Cape photo op

Photos from day 1

Before the ride
First views of the Oregon coast
Tunnel action

Posted by mikey

Day 1 the ride begins

45 miles (72kms), 4 hours ride time. 2200kms to go.

Our day started a little late. Neither one of us wanted to get out of bed for the last time. Once up we carried hung all the gear on the bikes and hit the road. It was 11 degrees. 2 close calls with logging trucks in the first 5 miles was no way to start. One truck buzzed me so close that Lisa said she couldn't see daylight between him and my panniers. As we got further down the coast the traffic thinned out and our nerves settled.

I was a naughty boy and got pulled over by a highway patrol for riding on the wrong side of the road. Oops.

The day got warmer in the arvo. We had our first tunnel. Not as scary as the ones we did in Italy.

Arrived safe and sound at nahalem bay campground. We had a cold dinner because we can't find gas for our stove. We are laying in bed because it's the only way we can keep warm. Poor Lisa is struggling a bit with the cold. It should get better as we go south. All in all a great start to the trip.

Regards

Mike from iPhone

Astoria hotel

This is our hotel in Astoria. A last night of luxury. The cannery pier hotel is built out on a pier over the Columbia river. Also included the view from bed when I woke up this morning.

San Francisco to Astoria Oregon

After a 4am start we transferred to the SF Airport to fly up to Portland Oregon. We had a pleasant flight and it seems all of America is in a great mood after Obama killed Osama.
We were picked up by I guy named bill who I found on the Internet a couple of monthts ago. He drove us the 90 miles down to the coast in his suburban. He was a great guy and the trip down the Columbia river was lovely. Bill even took us on a tour of Astoria before he dropped us at our hotel. The Hotel is AWAeSOME. We walked all over town trying to find gas for our stove and failed. We also did our first shop for food. I spent a few hours putting the bikes together while Lisa washed our gear so we could start fresh tomorrow. Tomorrows ride is a modest 80 km's or so. The first day is always difficult because you have to get the bikes sorted and get used to the traffic. Lisa is pretty pumped about getting stuck into the adventure. I'm still just grumpy as usual.

Posted by mikey

Riding the trolley in San Francisco

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Scenes from San Francisco

Worlds windiest street, the bridge, the Disney ship leaving for Alaska

Night on the town in San Francisco

We just had a great night out with Art and Geni (our friends from Sacramento ). They took us to a theatre restaurant that was spectacular. Hopefully we are going to catch up again in New York in June.

Posted by mike