Back in the LBC!

I'm back in Long Beach. The trip was wonderful, painful and amazing all at once. Definitely a life changing experience. I'm going to post a few pics from the trip every few days (I took about 1700 RAW images) with a little blurb about them...here's a few as a teaser...


The 32 hour train ride from Los Angeles to Portland was very relaxing...

It was nice to get on the road...

We were blessed with some beautiful weather and nice stretches of pavement...

Nothing quite like riding your bike to the woods...

...or even through the woods for that matter.

So Unreal!

It's just after 11pm and we're finally wrapping up packing. Our livingroom is a bundle of bikes and panniers. Although I know I'm about to leave for two weeks to bike in the woods and along the coast, it seems so unreal. I don't think it will settle in until the third day of riding when we're in the middle of nowhere climbing some crazy hill. I can't wait :)

A quick run down of the gear:

Bike:
2006 Trek 520
Jannd front and rear rack, Planet Bike Cascadia fenders, XTR cranks, 11-34 cassette, XT rear mech, SPDs, Brooks B-17, Nitto Randonneur bars, Shimano Dynamo front hub laced to Velocity Deep Vs, XT rear hub laced to Deep Vs.

Camping Gear:
Titanium Spork!
2 Trangia stoves, bottle of denatured alcohol
Spices, pepper grinder, coffee, metal cone filter with holder
REI Quarterdome 3 person tent
REI full length trekker sleeping pad
Old sleeping bag :)
Cotton sleep sack
Quick dry towel
Large full size towel cut out from linen table cloth

Clothing:
Pearl Izumi jacket
Mid-weight fleece
2 long sleeve lightweight wool shirts
1 short sleeve lightweight wool shirt
1 wool undershirt
1 seersucker shirt (casual wear)
Hemp knickers (from Bicycle Fixation)
Fast drying knickers (from Portland Cyclewear)
Fast drying shorts
2 bike shorts
2 pairs of wool socks
2 bandanas

Other:
Nikon D100 with 17-50 2.8, 85mm 1.8
Compact Flash cards
Chargers for AA batteries, for Nikon battery, for Blackberry

Tools:
Multi-tool
15mm wrench
10mm wrench
Fiber Fix
Spare spokes
Patch kit
cassette removal tool
hose clamps
Leatherman tool

According to my scale, whose accuracy is yet to be determined, everything weighs about 50lbs. The bike naked weighs about 40lbs. So I'm looking at riding with about 100lbs of bike and gear. It's really hard to pick up at this point. I'm hoping that my body grows use to it or I'm in big trouble.

Anyway, I have to get back to some last minute packing....