We're off!

That's right, we've not just gotten our feet in the water, we've held hands and jumped in over our heads. Ben, Kayla, and I left Anchorage Sunday evening and have been riding since. There has been rain every day and plenty of bike problems, but there has also been loads of fun had and beautiful things seen and people met. Following this caveat I'll give you the rundown of what has been going on: We don't have regular internet access for updates, so I'll probably end up writing a lot at once. You're not obligated to read it all at once, or ever.

Sunday: After readying our bikes, eating a wonderful breakfast with wonderful friends, and saying some important goodbyes, we finally rolled out of Anchorage around 5pm. None of us had done much riding with all of our panniers packed, so we were all riding slowly and nervously. We rode only as far as Palmer. There we stayed at Ben's father's place and spent our first night of homeless adventuring sleeping safely in a room that had at one time been a science laboratory, complete with empty though still labeled specimen cabinets.

Monday: We woke early, and after coffee, fresh bread, and crossword puzzles at Vagabond Blues, and picking up a surprisingly large list of things we'd either forgotten to pack or hadn't thought to bring, we finally hit the road. This time slightly earlier at 2:30pm. It had been raining since before we woke, and continued to rain throught the day. We spent most of the day riding up, and very occasionally down, the hills and mountains just outside of Palmer.

The first bike problems occured when a screw was lost from Kayla's cleat making her unable to remove her shoe from the pedal and later Ben's chain broke during a big climb. Fortunately we had enough extra parts with us that neither of these problems was much of a delay. The large, delay causing problem on Monday was something that we should have expected and been ready for: the mountains. By the time we stopped to pitch our tents we had only covered 40 miles. We camped about 70 feet off of the highway that night, beneath powerlines.

Tuesday: We woke, once again, to rain. After a quick breakfast we started riding. We had very little water left, so we agreed to stop at the first friendly looking place we could find to fill our bottles. 14 miles later, after some really fun, fast downhill sections through contruction zones, we found a general store. They didn't have much, and told us we couldn't fill our water bottles, but they had warm coffee and we were content. Later Ben and I distracted the proprietor with conversation while Kayla filled our bottles in the bathroom sink. Deciding to meet after another 6 miles, at mile 100, we rode off.

Just before mile 100 is Glacierview Bible Church. I found Ben waiting in the parking lot there enjoying the first real sunshine we'd seen on the adventure. Over the last few miles I had noticed that my cleat was loose and now I meant to investigate. Upon examination I found that the problem wasn't my cleat, but that my shoe had broken. I had other footwear, and could ride the pedals like traditional platform pedals, but that would be much slower and less efficient. Ben mentioned that his father was leaving to drive back to Nevada later that day and might be able to bring out parts if we needed them. We reached him on the phone and he agreed to go to the Wasilla bike shop and get me new SPD compatible shoes. Excellent. In a few hours Tony (Ben's dad) would arrive and we'd be on the road again.... After I patched a tire that had gone flat since we'd arrived.

After the phoning Ben's dad for a rescue we had an afternoon to spend in this church parking lot. We spoke about the ride so far and about our expectations for and concerns about the road ahead. After pulling the cleat, which might still be useful, from the bottom of my shoes, I went to investigate the church and see if I could find a garbage can for my now dead bike shoes. Inside the church I found the Pastor, who pleasantly said that he would dispose of my shoes and offered us water to refill our bottles. I thanked him for his help and went to nap in the sun. He and Kayla then spoke for a while and he gave us permission to wait inside if it began to rain and to spend the night inside if Ben's dad arrived late.

It began to rain again, and by the time Tony arrived we had decided to spend the night where we were. Our tents were still wet from the previous night's rain, and in the spacious basement we were able to set them up and dry them out. We were incredibly lucky not only to have a warm place to sleep and a roof over our heads, but also to have a ready supply of hot water for tea! I don't think we can express our appreciation enough. Marlin, if you're reading this, thanks again.