November 2014 – Traipsing About

When in Rome, Wave at the Pillsbury Doughboy

November 28, 2014/2 Comments/in Road Trip, Thoughts /by Dakota

I wonder how foreign tourists feel in the U.S. on Thanksgiving Day. Do they search for “local” flavor the same way backpackers clamor for an obscure, off the beaten path scene during an overseas festival? Fireworks and tango in Spain; paint-throwing in India. Here, it’s “We need to find a down-home American family cooking turkey, cranberries and potatoes. We’ll watch football and gorge ourselves. It’s a tradition!”

Even living here for five weeks, we remain tourists in NYC. So, waking to falling snowflakes on Thanksgiving Day, we did what any red-blooded New York visitor does: shouldered through crowds to watch the Macy’s Parade. And as Spiderman, the Pillsbury Doughboy and Sponge Bob Square Pants floated by on Central Park West, we mashed in with everyone and laughed at the scene, chatting amiably with people.

A little girl watches in delight as Sponge Bob Square Pants floats on by.

Stomping our feet to stay warm, holiday cheer jingled in the air. Balloon sellers hawked replicas of the floats; kids perched on police car roofs, gaping at the floats and cheering at marching bands. Eventually, Santa’s sleigh slid by followed by giant red stars proclaiming “Believe” and the holiday tradition finished. Sporting smiles, the crowd dispersed to watch the Bears and Lions face off and roll their eyes during drunk uncle Henry’s rants about how the Democrats are screwing everything up.

Kids snag a better view of the parade. (C photo credit)

Last year, we spent Thanksgiving hiking and camping in California redwood groves. Enjoying it with a million people in Manhattan is 180 degrees (and a lot of biking) away. And it’s all good! Because even as a tourist, when you’re in the middle of a country’s tradition, holidays knock down walls. People are more gracious when lights twinkle in storefront windows. Everybody says “happy holidays” after a short conversation with the restaurant table next to them. And if a parade of inflated icons facilitates that in a busy city like New York, sign me up.

Hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving!

Dakota

P.S. Join us in celebrating Buy Nothing Day today on Black Friday to focus on friends, family and experiences instead. Here’s the Minimalists’ great post about it.

Papa Smurf rolls on by as kids watch from the top of a police van (C photo credit)

Abandoned Bikes of NYC

November 26, 2014/5 Comments/in Photo, Road Trip /by Dakota

We are abandoned bicycles. If you look, we pop up everywhere in New York City, chained and left behind. Bike vultures pick clean our cruisers and svelte carbon racers. Sometimes just a front a wheel remains locked to a rack; other times, only our skeleton frames, with seat, handlebars and components stripped. Or you might spot an elder, complete with rusting chain, bent rims and flat tires, eyeing strangers as they pass.

We live in every big city. Lonely and sad, we linger on street corners and lean against railings. Once loved, now forgotten and left behind by a busy world. No longer a part of anyone’s life, we’re a disappearing memory.

Take a minute from your busy day. We don’t need a dollar bill handout. A simple smile will do.

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Note: Taking shots of abandoned bikes was a random and fun little project of mine in New York. (Click the above photo for a bigger image.) I took a blogging break during November and focused on exploring the city during our stay. Back shortly to writing with a post about my experience here. Then we’re off on another, different adventure…without bikes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dakota

Smashing Fall Colors in New England – Bike Touring Video, Part 4

November 11, 2014/5 Comments/in Bike Touring, Bike Touring Videos, Bike Touring Videos 2014, Videos, XC Bike Tour 2014 /by Dakota

Welcome to the final installment (part 4 of 4) of the video series covering our 4,000 mile bike tour in the summer of 2014. If you missed previous episodes, here are parts one, two and three. This video details our travels from upstate New York to the Atlantic Ocean in Portland, Maine.

Everyone has an opinion about the timing for prime fall color viewing. “This coming weekend, for sure.” “Oh, you just missed them by six minutes. Bummer.” It seems like the changing leaves are a German train sticking to a tight timetable, not a process unfolding slowly in the woods. All aboard the Peak Foliage Express!

From the beginning, our bike tour goal was to hit New England in time to 1) avoid cycling in snow (Abominable Snowmen hate cyclists) and 2) smash into the explosion of colors for which the area is so famous. Somehow, it all worked out.

A perfect day along a river in the Adirondacks.

This was our favorite part of the tour. Crisp, cool weather coupled with scenic views that left our jaws hanging like a teenager at a strip club. It really is as good as they say. (Fall colors, people – stick with me here.)

We lucked out in other ways too. Warm Showers hosts graced us with their hospitality and we added a half dozen new friends to our lives. A guy in a coffee shop invited us back for lunch at his “camp”, which turned into a boat and plane adventure. A new buddy in Burlington is Chelsea’s new soul sister. A couple in Montpelier and their incredible adventures bike touring all over the world (four years total!) inspired us to push our limits.

New England was the perfect conclusion to a trip we’ll remember forever. The journey brought us closer together as a couple, further seared a love of adventure into our souls and inspired us for another bike tour sooner than later. Even if the fall colors are only 36 hours (pffft, we saw them into late October) and the locals can’t understand what all the fuss is about, we can’t wait to get back. I can’t recommend this area of the U.S. highly enough.

Here’s the link to the final video from our tour or just click play below. Turns out that video editing is a lot of work (I’d never done it before) and I’m glad to wrap this up. A few more photos below the video too. Enjoy, and onward!

Dakota

Ducks preen and watch a kayaker on Blue Mountain Lake.

I found this funny – a short bus hiding out in the Tug Hill Wilderness in the middle of nowhere New York.

A lovely evening in Burlington, VT.

Cyborgs on Bikes – Bike Touring Video (Part 3)

November 6, 2014/0 Comments/in Bike Touring, Bike Touring Videos, Bike Touring Videos 2014, Videos, XC Bike Tour 2014 /by Dakota

This is Part 3 of 4 of the video series documenting our 101 day trip cycling across the the U.S. in the summer of 2014. If you missed Part 2, click here to check it out. This section covers from Indiana to the middle of upstate New York.

A gorgeous night on Fletcher Lake in Indiana. Jumped in for a swim and then we watched lightning on the horizon before camping out under a giant maple tree and listening to the rain on the tent.

Three thousand miles into the tour, we are like cyborgs on bikes. With day-to-day routines nailed (except for my elusive rain jacket, which hides in the bottom of a pannier during storms) and legs forged from steely dragon’s teeth, we zip east. Most days, we don’t even break a sweat (<–dirty lie, even cyborgs sweat in 90% humidity).

At this point, we’re both starting to think about Maine, a far-distant mirage in our minds for the first 2/3 of the trip. The realization that we might actually complete the tour without our bodies breaking down feels great. But first, we finish out Indiana, head up toward Cleveland and then skirt along the southern edge of Lake Erie all the way to Niagara Falls before heading east into upstate New York. The magnitude of the effort to get this far sank in as the fall colors of New York beckoned from afar and the days cooled off, a welcome change.

A little metal barn in the middle of nowhere on a back country road in Indiana. Sad news: C’s rainbow socks wore out by the end of the trip. 🙁

You’ll notice I’m goofier in this series. Believe me, all videos are off-the-cuff and I (obviously) don’t employ a joke writer. I think you’ll get a couple chuckles at our random antics as we roll from nowhere Indiana all the way into the NE. If nothing else, it’s a good picture of what the terrain looks like!

Here’s the movie link for email subscribers, or click play below on the embedded video if you visit the site directly. Enjoy.

Dakota

P.S. There are a few more photos below the movie if you want to check those out first.

Between the motorcycle rallies and car shows, we learned quite a bit about vehicles. (Not.)

Between all the motorcycle rallies and car shows we biked through, we learned quite a bit about vehicles. Ok, not really.

The thing to do (apparently) in Grand Rapids, Ohio is to go fishing at sunset off a small dam in town.

Cold beans by the side of the road. Accessed with an old-school can opener, no less.

Cold beans by the side of the road (on a hot day at least). Accessed with an old-school can opener, no less.

Always fun to find covered bridges! This one is in Roann, Indiana.

Acadia National Park Will Rock Your Socks Off

November 3, 2014/0 Comments/in Hiking, Nature /by Dakota

Acadia National Park has a magnetic pull to it. “OH, you HAVE to go to Acadia!” was the first thing many people told us upon discovering we were finishing our bike tour in Maine.

And so we did. And they were right, it’s stunning. So are all the parts of Maine that we visited, but Acadia is the crown jewel.

Maine has more coastline than any other state except Alaska. Why? There are 12.7 million (give or take) inlets, bays, harbors and other nifty names for places to paddle or sail a boat into. For those who prefer the comfort of earth beneath their feet, pink granite is the rock of choice locally, and big outcroppings and mountains of it are tremendous fun to hike on. Mainers keep things interesting with dangerous (to some) iron rungs on steep ascents. My kind of hiking.

Fall colors were fading a bit toward late October, but were still quite nice!

We spent a full week in Bar Harbor, gateway to Acadia, and were out in nature every single day. Beyond learning some local phrases such as wicked pissah (rain storm), tag sale (yard sale) and door yard (driveway), we spent hours exploring the beautiful expanse of national park on foot and bikes.

And so should you. Yep, that’s right, I’m a convert. You HAVE to visit Acadia the next time you’re anywhere near Maine.

I’ll leave it there and let the pictures do the talking. I threw in a few more from south of Acadia in Camden, which is also well worth a visit.

Onward,

Dakota

Twice a day at low tide, it’s possible to hike along a thin sand bar out to Bar Island for a view of the town.

A great vista of Jordan Pond and the Atlantic Ocean from Acadia National Park on the (very rad) Jordan Cliffs hike.

Pink granite on a foggy day in Acadia.

A narrow, old-school walkway on a hike in Acadia.

Acadia granite is used to make signature cairns all over the park.

Hanging out on Precipice Trail. My kinda hike. 🙂

Chelsea “hiking” up Precipice Trail. Yep, her badass parents scaled the cliff with us.

Acadia is so old that a few of the trails use “unsafe” (pffft) iron rungs and ladders from over a century ago rather than rerouting hikers along a boring route. So. Fun.