TandemFamily: Week 1
13 September 2019 Friday
Palmyra, NY
Miles: 24 miles
We spent the morning finishing up our gear preparations, then at 11:00 Josh drove away and we biked into Nauvoo. We went to the Hill Cumorah, then the Smith Family Farm and Sacred Grove. We had hoped to attend the temple but it was closed for maintenance. Our last stop was the EB Grandin Print Shop, where the Book of Mormon was printed. It has been neat to see the children connecting the sequence and sights with stories of church history. When we went into the Sacred Grove we spread out so everyone could have their own time there. I was moved to see the children stop and ponder. Hyrum went away byhimself and knelt down and prayed. We have such amazing children.
We ate dinner at a pizza place across from the print shop that served us a pizza almost as big as the table itself! We managed to finish it all. On our ride back to camp in the dark Colleen’s bike computer fell off and we couldn’t find it.
14 September 2019 Saturday
Start: Palmyra NY End: Rochester NY
Miles: 25 Ave speed: 8.5mph 79 F and clear all day
Sleep: Warmshowers – Gomes Family
It rained the second half of the night. After breakfast we packed up all the stuff we thrown into cardboard boxes when Josh was leaving. It was a bit stressful figuring out where to put things and how to strap things on. We have four 60 L REI Big Haul duffels that sit across the back rack. The bikes feel top heavy and wobbly, but we’re adapting pretty quickly.
We ate lunch on the side of the Erie Canal (our route for the next couple weeks). The weather was perfect! The Rochester REI is right on the canal, so we stopped there to return some gear and buy others. We’ve bought and returned so much stuff at REI that I wonder if they’ll revoke our membership! I’ve heard great things about MSR Dragonfly stoves ability to control heat output. We’re using two MSR Whisperlite stoves, one that Colleen and I bought in Skagway AK in 2000, and the other we bought from a NOLS used gear sale in Palmer AK in 2008. I love how indestructible they are, but temperature control is quite difficult (it’s either full blast or sputtering out). Out of principle I really wanted to use the old stoves, but I think the control of the Dragonfly is worth swallowing my pride. I expect the new stoves will last us another 20 years!
We biked from REI four miles to our warmshowers host. They made a delicious dinner for us and we played games together afterward. They were so kind and generous and we had a lot of fun together.
15 September 2019 Sunday
Start: Rochester NY End: Brockport NY
Miles: 30
Sleep: Hotel w/ pool & hot tub!
Lunch: Yerman Fmaily
We ate breakfast with our hosts then rode two miles to church. After church the Yerman family invited us over for lunch. They are a really neat family, their son Dane has an Outdoor Ukulele, he is an excellent musician. He also juggled flaming sticks for us. Bryce is an ER physician and offered to provide prescriptions or medical consultation any time we need it on our trip. They are a great family. It was threatening rain as we prepared to leave and they offered for us to stay the night there. I wanted to spend more time with them and we were tempted to stay, but I’m also anxious to feel like we’re really moving on our trip. I feel like we’ve had lots of delays and stalls, so we decided to move on and build some momentum. We waved goodbye and rode of into the oncoming weather. It rained all afternoon. We planned to ride about 20 miles. There are no campgrounds in the area, so we contacted a warmshowers host. He was out of town but offered his yard to pitch our tents, and recommended Jimmy Z’s for dinner. Because we rode in the rain for hours and today is Colleen’s birthday we decided to go out to dinner and get a hotel with a hot tub. We stopped at Jimmy Z’s and got four “garbage plates” with were delicious and gigantic, then we went to the hotel and soaked in the hot tub together as a family.
16 September 2019 Monday
Start: Brockport NY End: Middleport NY
Miles: 33.5 Ave: 9.8mph
Sleep: canal-side camp area under a pavilion
This morning we played in the pool and had a huge breakfast at the hotel, we didn’t get on the road until 11am. The weather was 70F and we had a slight tailwind helping us as we rode a gravel path that parallels the canal all day. The kids are starting to get a bit restless as stoker, we need to find ways to keep them engaged. Everyone is doing great but we’re at our max for mileage each day. Hunter moans and groans a lot when he stands up from a chair or when we bike up a hill.
When we got to camp we met a fun older couple who are spending the night here on a canal boat they rented. Next summer he plans to celebrate 72 years of life by riding his jet-ski from Minnesota to his home in Florida, it sounds like an incredible trip! He and his next-door neighbor will carry two jerry cans of fuel and haul their camping gear on the back. I would love to join him!
I feel like Hunter constantly has one earbud in listening to music or podcasts or audiobooks. I’m excited that he loves to learn, but I feel like he has a media addiction that hinders his ability to connect with others. We need to decide together what is reasonable media use.
I think we’ll layover tomorrow and reorganize gear, we’re loaded quite top heavy right now. We’re camping with our tents set up under a pavilion with a cement floor, so we have protected space that we can spread out and reorganize our gear.
17 September 2019 Tuesday
Today was a layover day. The morning was spent adjusting the pannier rack frames (my job) and testing gear in different pannier configurations (Colleen) and playing games (everyone else). Hunter and I went on a walk and I asked him to do some research and report back regarding what social science, church leaders and our family goals each would say about headphone use.
The afternoon was spent going to the grocery store and then the library, where all the kids sat down and read for 2-3 hours. The librarians were shocked to see kids sitting down and reading books. On said to the other “did you see those kids, sitting there reading books? They’re nothing like the ones who spread glue all over my door yesterday!” Back at camp the girls dyed their hair, but the color didn’t turn out as strong as they wanted.
I’m confused/frustrated by the desire to study the Book of Mormon (recommended daily reading), the 2nd half of the New Testament (Come Follow Me curriculum) and the 1st half of the New Testament (Seminary curriculum). That is a lot of different things to study all at the same time. So we decided our family will focus on the seminary curriculum in order to get the most out of our (hopeful) bike tour of the Holy Land.
I was so excited about the MSR Dragonfly stoves, but we decided we’re going to return them. They are CRAZY LOUD! We have to shout to talk to each other when cooking with them, so we decided we would deal with the flame control of the Whisperlite in order to have the whisper quietness!
18 September 2019 Wednesday
Start: Middleport NY End: Lewiston NY, KOA campground
Miles: 32 Ave: 10.5mph!
We planned to get an early start, but we were not on the road until 11am due to fiddling with gear organization. Eventually we’ll have things dialed in! We ate lunch at a city park and had seminary then played together on the playground.
We camped at the Lewiston KOA, which was 2.5 miles off our route, most of that downhill. So far our route has been totally flat along the canal, but today we had to climb a hill where there were two consecutive locks, and we had to push the bikes up the hill. I’m not looking forward to biking from the campground back up to our route tomorrow!
We did some much needed laundry washing today. We can get really sweaty in these humid conditions. I do not sleep well with the humidity either. If I’m inside a sleeping bag I feel hot and sweaty, if I’m on top of the bag I feel cold and clammy. I love the lush greenery here, but I miss the dry air of the west.
19 September 2019 Thursday
Start: Lewiston KOA End: Riverside Motel and Campground, Niagara Falls, Canada
Miles: 27
We never get on the road as early as I expect so far, but we’re getting better. This morning we were moving by 10:30. We crossed over the Hope Bridge into Canada without incident, the kids were excited to actually visit Canada! (It is a very sore subject with Hyrum and Greg that they haven’t lived in Alaska or visited Canada, [Hurum was born in Alaska but we moved away when he was 6 months old])
We rode along the Niagara River bike path, enjoying the beautiful scenery until we were awestruck at the sight of Niagara Falls. We went to Table Rock and took a tour down in the tunnels that go behind the falls, it was spectacular! The kids were disappointed that we didn’t take the time or spend the money to visit all the numberless attractions of Niagara Falls, Ontario but the trip to the base of the falls made up for it.
After that we continued following the river to a delightful camp fronting the river. The route was incredibly picturesque, like a scene from THE VON TRAPP MOVIE. At the campground the little boys enjoyed a game of miniature golf before going to bed.
20 September 2019, Friday
Start: Riverside Park Motel and Campground, Niagara River Canada End: Orchard Park NY Warmshowers
Warmshowers Host: O’Connell
28 miles,
This morning we biked along the Niagara River to the Peace bridge and crossed back into the USA. To exit Canada required going through a turnstile gate that we couldn’t fit the bikes through, so we moved a construction fence and went around it!
Once back in the USA we went to the Amazon Locker in Buffalo where we had some items shipped. We are trying to find a convenient and space-efficient system to charge all our devices when we stop somewhere with power. Between four phones, 9 cameras, drone, microphones, and other devices we have a huge demand for USB charging!
All this charging demand has made me realize how much extra stuff we are hauling, but I’m not sure I would want to give it up. We have extra weight, which makes us go slower, but I think that’s one of the sacrifices I’m willing to make to have this experience with the family. If I were on my own I’d pursue a more spartan, faster trip but that would be completely different than actually living on bikes with the family for a year.
We are staying with a WarmShowers host near Orchard Park NY. He is a landscape designer and has an amazing back yard. We are camped in the middle of a hobbit-like forest on their 3-acre property. He does landscaping all summer and generally spends the winters cycling in New Zealand.
Every meal Colleen makes she expects to have leftovers, but for the most part we have polished it off without difficulty. I’m curious how many calories we are burning each day.
21 September 22, 2019 Saturday
Start: Orchard Park End: Evangola State Park, NY
Last night I saw Aaron and his girlfriend sitting by a fire by their house and it looked so pleasant, so when I went back to our camp in the woods behind the house lit a fire and enjoyed sitting beside it as I journaled. It was delightful. This morning we were on the road by 10am, headed west toward the shore of Lake Erie again. We will travel along the lake for the next week or so until we turn toward Alice’s house in Michigan.
The day today was somewhat hot and incredibly humid. We stopped at a farmers market for lunch, feasting on fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, gouda cheese and artisan bread. Our biking was mostly flat except for a few hills. The hills really kill us. Today Hunter suddenly stopped and doubled over with a side cramp while going up a slight hill, and Colleen drops behind the group every time the grade begins to go up. We also stopped in some shade for twenty minutes to give everyone a chance to rest, and during our break Greg gave each of us a “massage” by karate chopping our back and then rubbing his head on us before “rolling our back muscles” by rolling on his side over the top of us. It was hilarious!
At one point on the road I was a hundred yards behind the group after stopping for a photo. A couple driving a Mini Cooper convertible the opposite direction from us saw the first bikes then slowed to a stop as I rode by. He started to talk to us, then put the car in reverse to keep up. We didn’t stop so he turned around and drive beside me for a minute or so asking about the bikes. I felt bad for not stopping, but I was already behind the group and I knew if I stopped we’d visit for five or ten minutes.
Tonight we are camped at Evangola State Park on the shore of Lake Erie. We rolled in around 4pm and headed down to the lake for a swim, it was very refreshing. For dinner we had fried potatoes and boston baked beans, followed by a delicious cherry brownie cobbler. We have discovered that we can bake brownies in our nesting pot set by using it as a double boiler, something that makes the kids (and me!) very happy.
Today was a lightly hilly ride, but the hills really took a toll on the group. Hills are really the only concern I have about cycling Patagonia. I believe Patagonia is not particularly challenging in terms of cycling, but it definitely has a fair amount of climbing. Aaron (our Warmshowers host) does landscape design in the summer and spends his winters cycling in New Zealand. Visiting with him made me want to put New Zealand back on our itinerary, perhaps in replacement of Patagonia? Of course, New Zealand is far from flat as well. We’ll see how we do with hills as we continue into our journey.
Tomorrow we are going to layover here and (if we have enough cell reception) watch Stake Conference via the link Bishop emailed us.