Monday, November 9, 2015

Happy 3rd Re-Birthday to Me!

Happy 3rd Re-Birthday to Me!

It's cupcake time, my friends! It's time to celebrate!

It has been three years since I quit the rat race. It has been three years of semi-retirement bliss. It has been three years of waking up on Monday mornings, endlessly grateful that I don't have to drag my butt into the office after a nice weekend. Nope, siree -- my life now consists of perpetual weekends!

Sunday, November 8, 2015

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.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

My Mostest Favoritest Bike Trip: Central Oregon

My most favorite bicycle trip is no longer. No worries, though, it's been replaced by an even more favoriter trip.

Had you asked me two weeks ago to tell you my favorite bicycle trip, I would have answered that my favorite trip was my ride down the Pacific Coast in 2012. The trip had been at the top of my list for a number of reasons: the route included stunning views of the ocean, the ride was jam-packed full of fantastic people and places, and the trip signified a big step for me -- my first, long-distance, solo tour.

But my favorite trip has now been outdone by an even more favoriter trip. The honors now go to a recent ride through Central Oregon. The trip jockeyed its way to the top for a number of reasons: the ride included continuous, spectacular views of forests and mountains, the route consisted primarily of traffic-free roads through the wilderness, and I had an awesome riding buddy with whom I got along super-duper well. Similar to the Pacific Coast ride, this trip also signified a big step for me -- my first foray into off-road touring.

Plus, how could a trip not be the mostest favoritest when the final sunrise looked like this?

The sunrise on the final morning of my mostest favoritest bike trip.
Note that this is an unedited photo --
no colors have been prettified in this photo.

You may recall from my last post, Sampling the Sierra with Adventure Cycling, the mention of a guy named Brian. He was the mechanic on the trip. And, yup, he was the guy who spent a good deal of the trip being sandwich-kissed. Well, Brian asked if I might be interested in joining him on a bicycle ride through Central Oregon in October.