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Travel Blog

Saturday morning comes quickly, after a day of packing and a night of little sleep and anticipation. We get up early, move our bed into the backroom, eat a good breakfast, get on our bikes and pedal toward the Suncoast Trail. On the way there Jessica, our daughter, and our friend Maria join us on their bikes to ride along. As we get to the Trailhead we are greeted by a big group of friends, who are waiting on us to wave us goodbye or to ride along with us for a while. It was very humbling seeing so many friends show up to wish us farewell!

09 March, 2013 /

Rolling Out     Twas the night before rolling, right out of their home, Two cyclists are nervous, getting cold-feet-syndrome.

     Their panniers are hanging on the bikes with great care, And hope all their essentials are packed neatly in there.

08 March, 2013 /
[caption id="attachment_4701" align="alignleft" width="150"]Getting it together Getting it together[/caption] Here we are, a month to go before rolling out of the garage and into the world.  We have written multiple lists on what to get done, clothes and rain gear we need, extra bike parts to take, camping gear to pack, and what ever else we thought are essential things to take on a world tour.  We have checked and rechecked our packing list and are ready to practice packing our bikes.  As we spread all of our gear, clothes, and spare parts out in the room, we are starting to have some doubts whether it is all going to fit into our panniers.  Things just seem to be coming out of the woodwork
06 February, 2013 /
Where are you going?
[caption id="attachment_4601" align="alignright" width="150"]Lot of places to explore on the map Lot of places to explore on the map[/caption] We will roll out of our garage right here in Florida to head north into Canada, then head to Western Europe, Eastern Europe, South East Asia, Australia, .., ……..the world is our limit!
21 January, 2013 /
[caption id="attachment_4515" align="alignleft" width="150"]Presta valve with spacer Presta valve with spacer[/caption] This is our first attempt with creating a "How to …" type video and believe it or not, creating a video like this is a little harder to do than you might expect.  The ending is a little out of focus and unfortunately we did not realize this until the editing started. So please watch and find out How to modify your wheel to accept both Schrader and Presta Valves. We hope you find this helpful.
02 January, 2013 /
Lunch break conversation at work
 "So where all are you guys planning to go??"

“well…, you see we'll be rolling right out of our house and then heading north, to Gainsville to say our goodbyes to Jenni, then to Tennessee to visit family, then maybe to D.C. or straight up to Amish-Country, head to Niagra Falls, then to Canada,

12 December, 2012 /
[caption id="attachment_4454" align="alignleft" width="150"] planning[/caption] Here we are --90 some days to go--the excitement and the anticipations are growing.  So are all the mixed feelings in our heads and hearts. We have basically been planning this world trip for a few years; however, now that we have almost reached our starting point, we still feel utterly unprepared in some aspects. There are still vaccinations to be had, spare bike parts to get, putting together the best possible first aid kit, figuring out the best rain gear to ride in through the cold, wet European weather. Finalizing paperwork, getting our girls power of attorneys should we need them to have to deal with banks, or
09 December, 2012 /
Behold the power of wool, merino wool that is! [caption id="attachment_4122" align="alignright" width="300"] The feel of my childhood wool sweater: scratchy, pins and needles[/caption] I know, the first thing that came to my mind when I read about wearing wool was my old, hot, heavy, uncomfortable, scratchy wool sweater my grandmother knitted for me when I was a child. So the idea of wearing wool for outdoor activities--especially in hot, humid Florida--was not really my idea of staying comfortable while riding my bike. How I was wrong! Not only do we like our merino wool shirts,  bike shorts, and socks for cycling…..We
11 August, 2012 /
[caption id="attachment_4043" align="alignleft" width="300"] Bike Camping in Florida[/caption] We love our new GSI Pinnacle Backpacker cookware! In preparation of living in a tent while traveling on our bikes, not only have we been trying to figure out what cooking gear to take, but also what to cook and how to prepare meals while on the road. Since we don't want to live on dehydrated, prepackaged meals, that only require heating up water in a pot, we practice cooking at least one meal a week in our backyard to see what all we can
23 July, 2012 /
[caption id="attachment_3936" align="alignleft" width="216"] Riding our bikes to Clearwater Beach[/caption] While going for a nice relaxing bike tour along the Pinellas trail, we stopped for a quick bite to eat at a local family business, we met a couple people who showed some interest in our new bikes. After a lot of bike-tech-talk, our plan to travel the world came up, and shortly after that the much dreaded question: "how can you afford such an adventure?" and the so common statement : "you are so lucky, we wish we could do that!" For some reason most people that we encounter seem to believe that we either won the lottery, are independently rich, very lucky, or just plain insane, to undergo such an adventure.
03 July, 2012 /