New Zealand pack job - 2 days 'til I leave!

Today I finalized my pack list for the NZ trip.

Before she left, Adria put together a pack list, and for the last two weeks she's been there, we've been tweaking the list.

Here is everything I'm taking.


Here is the second phase of the pack - everything in stuff sacks.

Each stuff sack holds certain gear - the orange dry bag at top has my sleeping bag and ThermaRest sleeping pad, the black bag is bike hardware (lock, extra tube, 10 extra spokes, tools), the blue bag is off-bike clothing (only 2 pair of underwear, 1 pair of jeans), the red bag is riding clothes (chamois, shorts, gloves, socks, etc.), the gold bag is warm-weather gear (Icebreaker thermals, North Face fleece, GoreTex gloves and liners, wool hat), the grey bag is wet-weather gear (Marmot rain pants, Marmot waterproof shell). Icebreaker stuff is going to serve me well, I think. I am a huge fan of this product, and it is saving me a lot of space on this trip. When I get to ChristChurch on the south island, I will buy two short-sleeved Icebreaker tops to supplement my off-bike clothing.

The third phase - the grey, gold, and red stuff sacks are tucked into the blue bag.

Phase four - everything fits perfectly into my panniers. There is a little extra room in each pannier. The orange dry bag will be strapped on the rear of the bike, across the top of the panniers. When we're touring it will hold, in addition to my sleeping bag and ThermaRest, our tent and food.

Phase five - everything in one duffel bag for the plane ride to New Zealand.

New Zealand shakedown ride #2

I took the new bike into the shop today to have it professionally fit to my body.

Plumb bob. Video camera. Carpenter's level.

Saddle, cleat, and bar adjustments. New footbeds. New stem. Lots of stationary riding.

Two hours later I rode 24 miles - up and down Hwy 9 - to Felton from my home.

Three-quarters into the ride, all of my toes went numb and my right shoulder was on fire.

I'm sure it will work itself out - my body is adjusting to the new fit.

I'll ride 30-50 miles tomorrow, and again on Monday.

That will give me ~200 miles on the bike before I leave on Tuesday.

I don't think I'll have time to have it tuned up before leaving. According to Casey, the guy who built it, it takes about 300 miles to break a bike in. Should be interesting, breaking in a new bike on a self-supported tour.

Saw this on my ride up to Felton.

New Zealand shakedown ride #1

I did my first NZ shakedown ride today on my new bike - 40 miles on the road, 50 including commuting to and from work and running errands.

After work, I headed north on Hwy 1 towards San Francisco.

The winds tend to blow harder here in the afternoon, and from the south, so I was into a headwind the first 15 miles on Hwy 1. From what I've read about the southern island of NZ, the winds blow from the South this time of year and can be pretty stiff where we're going, so I settled in got used to it.

I rode along the coast for about fifteen miles, then went up Bonny Doon Road - out of the wind, into the woods, and up into the Santa Cruz mountains into wine country.

A couple of notes about the new bike:

1. Riding a geared bike is easier (physically) than riding a single-speed. All I've been riding lately is single-speeds.

1.5. Riding a geared bike is harder (mentally) than riding a single-speed. I'm always thinking about "Am I in the right gear?", "Could I be more efficient in another gear?", "There's a hill coming. Am I in the right gear?" There's none of that on a SS. I guess it's all about trade-offs, and I know that this is the right bike for a kick-ass bike trip that we're going on.

2. Turns out I still like to climb, even on a geared bike. There was a 10% grade for about two miles, and it made me happy.

3. I think a spoke is giving me a flat. I flatted on the way home, changed the tube, and got another flat.

4. I think I chose the wrong saddle. And that worries me because I'm going to spend a lot of time on it in NZ. I may swap it out tomorrow for another one. With saddles, larger and more cushy does not always mean more comfortable. You want one that's narrow enough to not rub on your thighs when you're in motion, and the only parts of your bum that should touch are your sit-bones. I am getting the bike professionally fit to my body tomorrow, so we'll see what happens.

5. I did decide which bike shorts to take on the trip. I was going to take two pairs, but space is an issue...so I'm only taking one pair.

Riding home (back along Hwy 1, with the wind to my back this time!), I saw this farm crew planting spinach starts. Coming soon to a market near you. Another reason I love living in Santa Cruz...

Saturday random-ness

I went for my first mountain bike ride in over a month on Saturday. We've had a lot of rain lately, and it's bad trail-etiquette to ride most trails when they are wet, so I haven't been on my mtb in a while.

I left my house around 1pm and was challenged the entire time by a stiff wind blowing directly from the north. This is what I rode into for the first nine miles on the road, as I made my way to Wilder Ranch.

Honestly, the nine miles on the road to get to the trails were not fun. In the 45-minutes it took to ride to the trails, I had the following thoughts:

Thought #1: "This is not fun."

Thought #2: "You should quit if you're not having fun."

Thought #3: "No! No quitting. But you should at least turn around and get the car and drive to the trails, instead of riding." (I've got a rental car this weekend - grabbed it on Friday to visit a shipper in Salinas, and kept it for the weekend.)

After stopping for the second time to check the drivetrain for issues because the bike was so sluggish, I realize that the bike was fine. It's a single-speed, so the drivetrain is pretty straight-forward. It was me who was sluggish.

Then, something that Amber said here (http://correambercorre.blogspot.com/2009/03/4-miles.html) motivated me to press on. She reminded me that the first few miles can be the toughest. So I settled in, content to suffer, knowing that I would soon find my groove.

Made it to Wilder and enjoyed the early glimpses of spring popping:

The great thing about mountain biking in California is that there is a lot of climbing. I like to climb. I really climbing on a single speed. It's hard, and it forces me to find the balance between effort and ease.

The route I put together for today rewarded my first climb with this view. Looking north at the Pacific Ocean, the fog line is just hanging out there. It never came any closer.

On my first descent, I blew it and went over the handlebars into this stupid little mudhole. Turns out that one of my bar-ends was loose, and as I lifted the front wheel to ease over the hole, the bar-end came off in my hand, the handlebars did NOT come up, so neither did the front wheel. This is the result.

Notice that the handlebars are completely backwards and you can see said bar-end lying nearby. Good times.

The rest of the ride was pretty normal - no falls, but definitely not on my game. I think I'll re-ride it today.

When I was coming back into my neighborhood, I took these pictures of a surf contest down the street from my home.

Longboard attached to Pleasure Point street sign:

Groms watching the contest atop Sector 9 van:

Groms recycling a six pack of Coors. I'm sure they were recycling. Not drinking it. No way.

one less thing to buy for New Zealand trip

I was in the gym today at lunch and walked by the janitorial closet that doubles as the lost 'n found.

I peeked in and saw my long-lost, all-time-favorite water bottle!! I had left it at the gym, like, three or four months ago!

It's all coming together...

let's just call it a cult, shall we?

DISCLAIMER: THIS POSTING MAY ONLY MAKE SENSE TO SANTA CRUZ RESIDENTS.

FACT: I eat very low on the food chain. Vegetarian.
FACT: Since moving to Santa Cruz I have spent all of my grocery dollars at New Leaf.
FACT: I challenged myself for the month of March to spend fewer dollars on groceries.
FACT: I know that New Leaf's markup is ridiculous. I work for an organic produce distributor. FACT: Today, I went to Trader Joe's to source my seven-item grocery list.
SPECULATION: Since only one item was produce, I was wasn't too apprehensive.

Turns out I was apprehensive.

You see, I've only been inside a Trader Joe's one other time in my life. I don't remember the details, but I'm pretty sure that one of two things happened: 1. I ran out screaming; or 2. The person I was with had to hold my hand to get me through it.

My only memories are bright lights, Hawaiian shirts, plastic-wrapped produce, and scary-loyal customers.

I thought it was cult-ish.

But in the effort to save a few bucks for the NZ trip, I decided to give it another shot.

Here's what I noticed, in the exact order that I walked into the store:

1. They sell bananas by the each. I have never. ever. seen that before. $.19 per banana. With a homemade, funky-at-first-but-then-you-look-at-it-and-it's-cheesy sign tellling me that I can get five for a buck.
2. They have no scales to weigh produce.
3. Nearly all of their produce is wrapped. The peppers you cannot touch. The ginger you cannot rub. The lemons you cannot squeeze. And this explains reason #2.
4. They do not sell spinach. Turns out that was my only produce item on the list.
5. The "Captain's Galley" coffee kiosk looks like a prop from an SNL skit. Is that for real?

So, yeah, I'm not a Trader Joe's fan. But I reckon I did save about $10 versus shopping at New Leaf.

When I was paying, and bagging my own stuff in my pannier, the checker - a guy in his late 20's, kind of metro looking - thanked me for bagging and asked if I wanted a lottery ticket. I said, "OK" and I thought "What kind of cult gives out lottery tickets to customers?!"

Instead slipping me a lottery ticket, he slid one of those red "Admit One" coupons onto the check-writing-credit-card-slash-ATM-machine-table.

"What do I do with this?" I asked.

He looked at me like I was supposed to know that I was supposed to write my name and phone number on it and drop it off in the red pail at the front door for a weekly drawing to win a $25 gift card.

Let's just call it a cult, shall we?

gearing up for NZ

Sweet new bike? Being built at Spokesman right now...
Handlebar bag and map cover? On back-order but being shipped early next week...
Touring shoes? Bought yesterday and breaking them in over the next two weeks...
ThermaRest sleeping pad? Done...
Solar charger for GPS? Funny you should ask...

So, back in the day, Adria and I kicked around the idea of doing a round-the-world bike trip. We want to take, like, a year off work. At least. (And hopefully come back to the same job.) A few days after that first conversation, I started thinking of ways to get this huge trip financed by other people. And now that I'm going to New Zealand to meet her to ride bikes, and I'm in the process of gettting some gear for the trip, I started thinking about how I could get a free solar charger for my GPS for this trip. My grand plan is to document our entire route (hopefully at least 1,000 miles).

So I wrote a letter to the guys at ThinkGeek.com to help me out. And here's the letter:

I'll keep you posted.

Idiots In the Bike Lane

I am tempted to start another blog...dedicated to pictures like this:

This was taken today, about 50 feet from my front door, on my way home from work. I would totally expect to see this happen in downtown Santa Cruz, but not so close to the beaches. So this guy is going to be super-bummed when he gets out of the water.

I have another blog idea, too.

This idea came to me yesterday, Sunday, as I was riding my fixie to yoga, in mid-town, about four miles away. This car totally cut into the bike lane as we rounded this curve. I saw it coming (this actually happens a lot at this very spot, so now I expect it) so I had backed off to give her room. Here's a map of the spot:After she made her way out of my lane, I smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Sarcasm. Anyway, it made me think that I should get a helmet-mounted cam and record my commutes and put those recordings here, and on YouTube, for people to check out. It would totally open people's eyes to the way that cars assume that they don't have to share the road with pedestrians or bicyclists, or to the way that car drivers just aren't fully aware of their surroundings. I could call it "Idiots In the Bike Lane."

"Tiene usted una tarjeta de llamada por New Zealand?"

That was me this afternoon stopping in a couple of Hispanic food stores, looking for one of those pre-paid calling cards. With Adria in New Zealand, and me not in charge of my phone plan (my BlackBerry account is controlled through work), a pre-paid calling card is my only option for speaking with her.

Tip: If you need to call New Zealand, don't stop into a Hispanic food store - all of their calling cards are good for Central and South America - not New Zealand.

7-11 had one for New Zealand, as well as a pint of Ben 'n Jerry's Strawberry Shortcake, so I grabbed one of each.

I was hustling home, excited to talk to Adria, and had a middle-aged woman in a Lincoln Navigator roll down her passenger window and holler "You jam!" when she caught up with me at a stop sign (I was on my fixed gear bike, and yeah, I do jam on that. When it's time for a paint job, I'm going to have it powder-coated all white with script "Fast as F*ck" on the top-tube.); also saw my friend Nick and his little daughter on East Cliff, just coming off the beach from tide-pooling in the reefs at low tide. I walked with them up the street, trying to coordinate with Nick our next surf session while answering a bajillion questions from his daughter. :)

Made it inside, kicked off my shoes, pee'd, put the ice cream in the freezer, read the instructions for the calling card, booted up my computer to get the number of the cell phone Adria rented in NZ, and called. I got the universal three-tone-ring and operator's voice saying this is not a working number. Dang it!

So now I'm sitting at the computer, typing this.

Adria...are you there?! Is that you?

I miss that girl.

f-you, winter!

I woke up this morning, ignorant about the time change.

Looked at the calendar - 13 days until the vernal equinox.

Looked out the window and saw yellow flowers blooming.

Spent the first few hours of the day reading and journaling at the coffee shop and practicing yoga. Thought it was going to be overcast and yucky all day. It was not. It turned out to be a beautiful day, just like a summer day in Santa Cruz. Cloudy and foggy until early afternoon, then, like someone took a squeegie to the sky, the clouds and fog were gone, and it was a flawless blue, sunny sky. About 70 degrees.

I had big plans to climb Nisene fire road up to Demonstration Forest on my SS, so I went to the garage to dust off the mountain bike (it's been raining a lot lately, so I haven't been riding trails lately). Got distracted by friends and neighbors passing by and ended up blowing off the ride. Totally worth it.

This is Steve and Heidi (they are Zak's parents), and Tim (holding Zak's leash).

This is my other friend named Tim. Here he is on his new SS townie, taking a break from Ironman training.

On my beach walk, I turned the corner around this outcropping of reef (this spot is normally underwater) and saw this couple. He is rubbbing his pregnant wife's back as they watch their kid run around on the beach. That made me happy.

The forecast is calling for seven days of sun and 70 degree weather.

So, yeah...f-you, winter. I'm glad you're on your way out.

the worst tip ever

I dusted off my fixed gear bike yesterday - the sun was shining and the roads were dry, finally - and took a 15-mile spin around the neighborhood. I accidentally stopped for a beer downtown, and as I was getting back on my bike, an older guy was loading his panniers with two family-sized packs of toilet paper from Trader Joe's.

We started talking when he commented on my bike. His name is Gary and he has been commuting on bikes for nearly twenty years. He told me that he recently had to switch to a recumbent bike because the stress on his wrists has made it impossible to ride long distances anymore on a traditional bike frame.

When I asked him if he had any tips for a young guy like myself he said, "Yeah. Die young."

The worst tip ever.

And a violation of my third law of bike commuting (http://clayton-ryon.blogspot.com/2009/02/four-laws-of-bike-commuting.html).

you forgot the seat

Seen in downtown Santa Cruz today, near the bus station...

See also http://clayton-ryon.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-i-dont-have-quick-release.html

the best bus ride ever

Possibly the best bus ride ever on Friday afternoon.

It did start off badly when I arrived and all the bike slots were taken...

...so I had to wait half an hour for the next bus.

A few stops into the ride, a man, he could have been as young as me or in his 50's - hard to tell, got on. The nametag on his blue workcoat said "Dalton" in cursive script. Definitely a blue collar worker, but very tucked and pressed. Heavy khaki work shirt under the monogrammed blue jacket. The shirt was tucked neatly into black Dickie work pants, and he had black, lace-up work boots on. He sat on the same bench as me, with an empty seat between us. He had good posture and he wore black sunglasses. Had this been a movie, Denzel Washington could have played this guy. A lady got on shortly afterwards. If Dalton was Denzel, this lady was straight from "Flashdance." Feathered hair. Half-finger, knitted mittens. She was in her late fifties, maybe younger 'cause she looked like a smoker, and she sat directly across from Dalton. She was carrying a large, brown, fake leather purse with lots of buckles and what looked like a broom handle that looked like it had been broken off about 3/4 of the way down. The tip was very sharp looking. As the bus crawled up Highway 17, the setting sun illuminated the entire cab of the bus, basically blinding all of us. Dalton, without saying a word, took off his sunglasses, and handed them across the aisle to Flashdance. She took them, without saying a word, and put them on. Then they started talking. Good job, Dalton...if you're into Flashdance.

A blind lady got on with her caretaker and reminded me to appreciate what I have, and that we only go around once. Make the most of it.

Another lady, with a spendy looking handbag and black wool overcoat who wouldn't lean back into the seat, asked me "Is that your bike out there?" When I said "yes" she said "What kind of shifters does it have?" as she squinted, like she was trying to see through the glare and figure it out. I said "None. It's a single speed." I think that confused her. When I got off the bus I followed one of my rules of bus-riding: to always say goodbye to people you talk to. So I acknowledged her before I got off in Felton.

I climbed the four hilly sections to Adria's house. That's a big deal because she lives way uphill and last week when I was feeling strong, I made it up all the hills on my single-speed with two full panniers. So that set the new standard and I didn't want to blow it today. About halfway up I was doing track-stands at the top of each stroke, my throat was fully constricted, and my forearms were on fire. But I made it.

When I got to the mountain house, Greta took me for a walk to the cemetery down the road. I noticed that these two graves look very different:

Greta ran around the open space the entire time.

Ray LaHood doesn't get it

This week I've been researching trends in the transportation industry for an upcoming contract negotiation, and I ran across an interesting statistic (esp. interesting and inspiring from a bicycle commuter's perspective): the U.S. is in the middle of a trend that we have never seen: total vehicle miles driven is declining! Something like 2% since December.

Then I ran across this letter from Ray LaHood, the United States' newly appointed Transportation Secretary.

115 billion miles not driven since December! That's a lot of miles not driven. That's 4.6 million trips around the globe (in only three months). That's a lot of greenhouse gases not released into the atmosphere. That's a lot of money not given to foreign, oil-producing countries.

Then, I was talking with Adria during her morning commute and she mentioned that she has noticed less congestion on the roads lately when going through Silicon Valley, likely due to recent layoffs.

Now, I'm not a total idiot. I get it that it's the economy. And I am sympathetic to those who have lost their jobs (a few of these people are my friends). But for the U.S. Transportation Seceretary to suggest that we take our stimulus payment (part of Obama's recovery plan - is this for real, by the way?) and:

dump it into our gas tank
so we can sit in our cars
probably alone
to get across town
or to another town
to go to the mall
and ride the escalators
and walk around under fake lighting
and buy stuff we probably don't need
and sit in traffic on the way home
probably alone

just doesn't make sense to me.

So here's my suggestion for how to spend your stimulus payment: buy a bike from your local bike shop. Challenge yourself to replace a couple of car-dependent trips per week with your bike. Explore your neighborhood. Drive halfway to work and bike the rest. Be a "hunter/gatherer" on your bike - ride your bike to the grocery store (or farmer's market!) and bring your dinner home on your bike. It will satisfy the caveman in you, and it's close to the the best feeling ever.

And if you do end up going to the mall...at least carpool.

Guess who's going to New Zealand for three weeks?

Me!
Adria and I are going to play bikes on the south island.
She leaves this Saturday, I meet up with her on the 24th.


Here's the pack list she put together. (She's on her game):
*****************************************************************************************
New Zealand Cycling Trip 2009 Pack List
(If only one person is bringing a particular item for the whole group, their name is noted next to the item in parentheses.)

Gear
• Cycling helmet • Camel Back • Handlebar bag• Panniers • Dry Bag (for sleeping bag/pad)• Water Bottle(s)
On-the-bike Clothing
• Bright Orange Cycling Vests (Adria has 2)• Road ID band• Touring shoes • Cycling gloves • Cycling shorts (2 pair) • Socks — wool or synthetic (2 pair) • Short-sleeved shirts – Breathable/quick-drying (2 pair) **you could wear off bike too • Light, long-sleeved shirt for layering and sun protection (could work for off bike, too) • Rain gear, jacket and pants Long underwear, top and bottom (wool or thinsulate)
Off-the-Bike Clothing
• Comfortable shorts (1)• Swim trunks (also could be worn as pair of shorts) • Comfortable pants (1) (zip-off legs or quick-dry, non-wrinkle pants) NO jeans
• Underwear (2 pair) • T-shirt (1 or 2) • Flip-flops • Running Shoes (light weight hikers)• Wool or fleece hat • fleece or down jacket (mid-weight layer) **Windstopper Fleece is best! • Gloves — wool or fleece (lightweight) **I brought my black/yellow cotton ones• Sun Hat
Miscellaneous
• Passport (and a photocopy of passport and birth cert) • Toiletries (w/ extra contacts) • Towel (lightweight to enhance quick drying, like the PackTowl) • Leatherman (pliers and other tools are handy) (Adria) • Lightweight lock and cable (Adria) • Journal/reading book• Maps / guidebook (Adria)• Basic first-aid kit with emergency numbers (Adria) • Bandannas (2) • Sunglasses w/ case (sunglasses leash optional) • Headlamp • Sewing kit (Adria)• Laundry Detergent (Adria) • Sunblock • Bungie cords (2) • Camera and batteries / battery charger • Stuff sacks • Zip lock bags• Electricity converter (Dad) Bike Computer • GPS (Clay)• Farkle Game (Clay) Deck of Cards (Adria) •
Tools and Spare Parts
• Tire levers/patch kit (Adria) • Spare tube • Mini-pump (Dad) • Spoke wrench (optional) • Spare spokes sized for your bike’s wheels (optional) • Good Multi-tool for chain, allen wrenches, and screwdrivers (Dad) • Extra nuts, bolts, and wire (particularly for racks) optional • Bailing wire / Assorted plastic zip ties (Adria) • Small chain lube and rag (Adria) • Bicycle light, Front/Rear (Headlamp works for front) • Rearview mirror (optional) • Duct tape (invaluable – you can wrap some around a broken pencil to save weight)
Camping
Sleeping bag (Compression stuff sack helps to reduce bulk) Sleeping pad Tent (Lightweight, with rainfly and vestibules.) (Adria) Ground cloth (Adria) Swiss Army Knife (Adria) Personal eating utensils-fork, spoon, coffee mug, bowl (Adria) *I have enough for two! J Stove (A small backpacking stove with fuel) (Adria) *purchase fuel over there Cooking equipment and lighter (Adria)