The 131 Year Ride

Category: Blog

  • Dipping the tires (it begins!)

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    Charles
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    July 3rd, we drove up to Astoria from Portland.  It took 2 hours but as excited as we were, it really didn’t seem that long.  One thing that did stick out in our mind was the hills and no shoulders on the route we were to follow the next day.   We got to the…

  • Choosing A Goldilocks Saddle

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    Caleb Shadle
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    Guest Post by Caleb  If you’ve ridden a bicycle for more than 5 hours, you will know the pain that comes from a long time on the saddle.  From simple soreness to full on blistering the effect of a wrong saddle can wreck your trip and make for one terrible experience. The bicycling community has…

  • Disassembling the Catrike for my flight to Portland

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    Paul Shadle
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    Post by Paul While we were up north for a wedding I left my Catrike with David’s World Cycle in Ormond Beach for new bearings wheel trueing and general inspection and service for traveling.  Like always I was not disappointed with the service. The test ride was smooth and everything worked perfectly. The staff gave…

  • Head West Young Man!

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    Charles
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    Post by Charles Well. This is it. After months of planning my departure is imminent. As I write this I’m sitting outside The Taproom (Lancaster, PA) on a Sunday evening. It’s a relaxing ending to what has been a beautiful day. Yesterday I spent the day visiting all our old haunts and saying goodbye to…

  • Making it happen

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    Charles
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    What’s the hardest part of taking a long extended bike/trike tour? Some may think of the soreness, others might think it’s being able to take the time off.  Still others will mention the cost that will be incurred.  Hopefully, many will also think about the loved ones and relationships that cannot accompany them on the…

  • There’s nothing to be afraid of but ….

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    Charles
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    Post by Charles One thing that doesn’t enter your mind when you dream about something great like this coast to coast trip, is the negative, the scary, the downside.  However, once your committed (house sold, end of contract in sight, wife with a new contract pending in CO), the other thoughts, feelings started to rise. …

  • War stories from the road

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    Caleb Shadle
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    Guest Post: Caleb If you’ve been on a bicycle tour, there’s a high chance you’ve had a crazy story.  From bears chasing your bike to mirrors clipping you, I’ve heard it all. Today, I want to share my top stories from my trips and from those I’ve hosted over the years. The Beast Of The…

  • $o… how can you afford that?

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    Charles
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    I could never afford to make a trip like that nor take that much time off.

  • The top 5 things I don’t love about the Lancaster County rides I love so much!

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    Charles
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    Post by Charles 5.  Spring time pot holes 4. Lancaster Co. hills every hundred yards (or so it feels) 3. Headwinds that shift so that there’s never a tail wind 2. Dodging horse manure piles …and the #1 thing I don’t love about the rides I love: Gawking tourists      “Look Mildred, there’s one…

  • Staying With Strangers (are we nuts?!)

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    Caleb Shadle
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    Guest post by Caleb   If you’ve been following us or know us, you will know that we won’t be staying at Marriotts for the most of our trip.  On the flip side, we don’t think our backs would love us if we camped the entire time. For normal people, staying with a stranger would…