Saturday, April 28, 2012

Old Colony Bike Trail: Complete

So after our ride to P-Town and back, Samara was left with a nagging feeling of under-accomplishment. We had biked 170 miles and seen almost every Town on Cape Cod. Every town except Chatham.

So we threw our bikes in her car and drove to the start of the CCRT and biked the 10 or 15 miles to Chatham Light today.


We even had time to relax on the beach and be envious of all the cute dogs out enjoying the great weather. It was a great day, and gets me even more excited for the start of my ride. Hope you are having a great weekend to!




- Jeremy Tagliaferre; hiker, biker, and general life liker.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Other Bike Rides to Follow

So I ran across a few other blogs of some other folks planning to ride across the country this summer. Here is the first link to two young men biking for friend with a form of MD.

And here is blog from a college freshmen doing her ride to raise money for AIDS research.

I wish all three riders good luck. Check out their blogs, wish them luck too, and feel free to donate to any of our causes we are ridding for.

- Jeremy Tagliaferre; hiker, biker, and general life liker.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Day 3 Brewster to Falmouth

I had some technology issues but here is the day 3 post in case you missed it or are especially bored:

This morning was busier than yestermorning because we had to pack everything up for the ride home. We hit the road around 8 and enjoyed the first few miles of the day on the CCRT. We were sad to leave its smooth, pot-hole free paths, tunnels, and mile-markers so we went extra slow the last mile to savor it.
We rode on 6A for most of the rest of the morning and stopped for a snack in Yarmouth at the Village Store.  I asked the lady about all the different chicken and seafood salads until I found one that did not contain any celery (I hate celery).  We saw a bike sitting outside that probably costs more than my total assets. The owner eventually came out, he looked friendly enough but was not very talkative or interested in sharing stories from the road. He seemed rather serious about biking.  THe guy inside told me he came from Falmouth.  I told him that's where we were headed.  He said to be careful on 6A, but I found that most of the Cape Cod drivers were very nice and safe around bikers.
We continued to bike down memory lane on most of the roads we rode on Day 1. We took a few different ones and found a nice route to The Great Wall Chinese Restaurant. It's about ten miles from home and with the money we'd save on gas I could buy an extra egg roll.
We are home now, tired, sunburnt above the shoulders and bellow the thighs, but thankful for a wonderful trip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEwVaKxIwnE&sns=em

Day After

So it is the day after our ride and besides being sunburnt and a little sore, we are feeling great. I am doing a lot of thinking about what gear was worth having with us, what gear should be replaced, and what gear should be left a home. Bellow is a picture of The Lotus loaded up with my current tri-bag system but I have decided that I want to be able to fit all my gear in two bags. One on the back rack and one on the handlebars. The second bag or "frontpack" is what I am having trouble with. Does anybody know of a very simple waterproof handlebar bag?



In the mean time, here is a video of us ridding through the CCRT rotary yesterday. It is such a beautiful day today, I wish we were out riding again today.

YouTube Video



- Jeremy Tagliaferre; hiker, biker, and general life liker

Monday, April 16, 2012

Day 2 Brewster to Provincetown to Brewster

After tea and oatmeal, the troops were ready to ride and we warmed up with about 10 or 15 miles on the CCRT to Wellfleet. I had the tastiest cream puff There and Samara bought an extra baget for breakfast tomorrow.

Then we got into the hills of the lower cape. I did not know there would be so many, but we handled them fine. Samara did seem a bit dismayed that we would be riding back up these same hills on the way home though. The ride to P-Town was otherwise very pleasant and scenic.

Once there we dipped our tires (video posted to twitter @JTagliaferre) and after helping a nice lady put her chain back on, we were headed back to Brewster. This time we risked the open road and speed limits over 50 MPH on route 6 for the chance if ridding fewer hills. It worked! But we were so happy to see the CCRT again and enjoy its bicycle and pedestrian traffic only.

Dinner was at El Guapo's AKA the best Mexican restaurant on the Cape, nay, the world. And it wasn't because we just biked 60 or 80 miles (I am not sure how far we went). It really was amazing food, and the people there were very friendly. Anyway, we rode the last half mile to camp and went straight to bed.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Wellfleet

Dear Wellfleet,

Thank you for the marhetplace full of snacks that we stopped at both on the way to and from Providence.

Love Jeremy

PS I love your wifi!

We made it to Orleans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ZXl5j5ZD0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Day 1 Falmouth to Brewster

Day 1 started great with a 7 am wake up call followed by breakfast. We headed to Falmouth Heights for a tire dipping ceremony even though our ride will not take us to different oceans. We can still celebrate the different bodies of water found right here on the Cape!

Samara and The Lotus are both doing well on their first tours. Samara spent a lot of time contemplating which layers she should wear to stay warm slash cool. My only contribution to her struggle was to insist that she wear the visi-vest whenever her layer swapping resulted in an all black ninja bike suit. Other than that, she has adjusted well to life on the road. Car traffic has been minimal and friendly except for a few busy roads in Mashpee and Hyanis. But we handled it no problem.

We stopped at 4 seas for some fresh peach ice cream which held up to its reputation here on the Cape as one of the best. And the Cape Cod Rail Trail is AMAZING. It is like a bicycle super highway, complete with a Mass rotary!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Cape Cod Ride Begins!

Samara and I left Falmouth today headed to the tip of Cape Cod. Things are going well. Here are some pics

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Cape Cod Bike Ride Eve

Friday the 13th is Cape Cod bike ride eve. Samara and I will embark on our three day journey this Saturday. Lotus is all ready and looks good with all his gear.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Cape Cod Bike Ride in Peril

In preparation for my Cape Cod ride, I took The Lotus to my friend Devin's house to install my new clip-in pedals. He works for Orleans Cycle (http://www.orleanscyclecapecod.com/)and they sold me the pedals for my ride at cost (thanks guys!). However when we went to unscrew my current pedals, we discovered they were frozen on. Devin went and got a pipe but the leverage only allowed us to accidentally sheer off the bolt... oops. In order to get The Lotus ready for his first ever tour, Devin is going to fix it. Wish him luck!

Friday, April 6, 2012

First Stop: Training


Click the picture to register too!

I just registered for the Walk + Bike Retreat that will be held in Bend, OR on June 21 - 23.  Basically, a bunch of Oregonians are getting together to talk about how to best teach kids to ride bikes or walk around town.  They have published some award winning curriculum and have a pretty awesome program.  Not only do they teach bike safety, but they also advocate for better traffic laws and tons of other stuff.  The group is called Safe Routes to School and they are a national organization.  Check them out, maybe they can help you start a bike program in your home town.

I will be participating in their retreat to gain a better understanding of bike safety education before I head out on my adventure.  After the retreat, I will leave from Bend and bike West, dip my tires in the Pacific, and then start my journey East.