We have been taken in by generous friends and strangers along our trip, and pampered with good food and warm places to stay. We are so gracious for these homes away from home.

And crisis it is. By now we have all heard about the oil spill, the latest numbers on the staggering amount of oil in the gulf, and the implications it has for the coming decades. Everyone can agree that the oil spewed into the gulf is not going to go away quickly. 

We pulled up to the school in the rain and met the teacher, Margret, outside. The students saw us through the windows and 20 smiling faces filled the panes. They had the look of curiosity and excitement.

As far as winds go, I’ve experienced pretty much everything short of a hurricane or tornado. I’ve climbed high peaks in Colorado and experienced all that the Chinook gusts have to offer in the Front Range. I enjoy a good destructive wind, as long as it’s not your average wind, but an extraordinarily harsh wind that makes flapping your arms and flying away more probable. In this circumstance, the five of us got to experience the hardest wind we’ve ever felt near Humbug Mountain, Oregon.

The bike49ers are now on the road and the years of planning are over

Adventure is not just about traveling to exotic places or conquering a distant peak.  Adventure is dipping your feet into anything new.  When I first got excited about bike49, it was because of the adventure of biking new roads and speeding down new hills.  What I didn’t know when I decided to tackle bike49 was the adventures of planning, creating a lesson plan, and networking with teachers. 

With four months until the official bike49 kick off in May, Tommy, Aaron, and I were “killing time”. Sure there was planning to be done, but one can only plan so much. We were tired of talking about bike touring, and just needed to go bike touring. 

Now that 3/4ths of the bike49 crew are unemployed college graduates, the planning of bike49 has launched into full effect. Whoo Hooo! 

I have already heard the story of bike49s conception from Aaron on multiple occasions. It is a story I have grown to love.