Things are not always as they seem

One thing Adam and I have learned is that things are not always as they seem.

Leaving the comfy bed in Brian's house in El Centro, CA, we decided upon a short day, 20 miles or so, to what looked like camp sites on our way to the town of Glamis. As we biked, the land became increasingly sandy with only some bushes, until even those scarce bushes gave way to beautiful sand dunes. Uphill, then down, then back up over the dunes. The hills were fun and we took out the camera to capture the scenery.



I guess what we were expecting was the crew from Spaceballs, lugging those huge boxes over every hill, but what we got was very different. As the sun was setting, indicating to us that we needed to find a place to camp, a white jeep pulled over on the side of the road and out walked a cute young woman in a white dress, all dolled up. Right there in the middle of nowhere, this bride-to-be walked up a dune and posed as her photographer snapped shots. Even though Adam is on vacation from wedding photography, we couldn't resist and caught a few.





As the sun continued to set, we pushed on a bit farther to find RV heaven. There was a road off the main road into the dunes filled with RV's camped out with their toys. We were wondering where all the buggies, dirt bikes, and quads on the back of all these trucks were headed. We walked cautiously into the RV park, not sure how they would react to two spandex-clad cyclists. Our tires sunk into the sand and we were forced to push our bikes to find a place to camp when we hear, "Aren't you supposed to be riding those things, not pushin 'em?"

And that's how we met Jim. Apparently this RV-driving, buggy-hauling, sand dune-searching group has a soft spot for cyclists in need, and Jim offered for us to camp beside his self-built, RV and trailer combo rig (16 wheels on the ground, as he described it) so we would avoid the $90 permit fee. He and Gina offered us a place by their fire, marshmallows, hot cocoa and the works! And the next morning, he even offered to take us in his buggy. One of the coolest experiences of our lives, even though the buggy broke in the middle of the ride.




Onto the next stop, our goal was to ride through 60 more miles to Blythe. Unfortunately, our map doesn't explain the 20 miles coming to this place was nothing like the 60 miles leaving it. We were greeted instantly by head-winds which slowed us right down and pretty quickly we realized the 60 mile day was a dream, so we settled instead on the little town of Palo Verde only 40 miles away.


The rolling hills from the day before became scary dips where you were lost between hills... You couldn't see traffic and they couldn't see you. The shoulder grew smaller and smaller until there was nowhere else to ride but on the actual road. The traffic grew heavier and heavier as more RVers made their way to the dunes for the weekend. The wind picked up in big bursts from time to time and we were forced to pedal hard downhill or else be pushed back. We cursed out Adventure Cycling Organizations route maps, not understanding how they could ever put a cyclist on a road like this. Not at all what we were expecting from the day.

And finally we rode into Palo Verde... A reprieve from the day? Didn't seem so much. We rode on treacherous roads all day long into a town that was only trailer parks, a gas station, and a pub. We were even a little nervous to leave our bikes outside as we ate and asked to bring them inside with us, but looks can be deceiving. We were immediately greeted by the warmest, nicest people who set our minds at ease. We had a fantastic burger and a even splurged on a beer to wash away the craziness of the day. This view didn't hurt any, either.


When we first reached Palo Verde, we had followed the sheriff's directions and took a look at the campsites that were available behind the trailer park. One couple assured us we could camp there and we told them we'd be back after dinner.


As we pulled up after dinner, Joe had made a fire at our campsite for us. He and his wife Denise and their little dog, Little Bit, shared a few stories with us before heading back home. Joe even admitted to yelling after us earlier when we first met because he wanted to invite us to dinner. Certainly not what we were expecting from people in this town, but we left 'Green Stick'(Palo Verde) the next day with our spirits rejuvenated.


We chose to ride another easy day, only 20 miles to Blythe where we heard there was a Bluegrass Festival. Yes!! Good old fun! We were so excited to stumble upon this on our journey, and made our way straight to the fest. It took a long while to find it, but you knew it when you were there. The smell of fried foods filled our noses and the sounds of banjos filled our ears.

I still can't believe we paid the $15 per person entrance fee (lived off of $15 the next two days in order to get back on budget), but we did and spent a bit of the afternoon walking around the whole 5 booths there. Apparently we excited the soup guy enough with our story, that after we bought a bag of soup to prepare for dinner that night, he told us to come back around 4 and he'd be throwing away all the samples so we could fill up a bowl and have that for dinner. Good stuff this Souper Dips, they called themselves. Although the smell in the tent that night didn't agree.

Adam and I were both thinking back to bluegrass fests we have attended in the past. How did the Blythe fest compare? Basically the lamest bluegrass fest we could have imagined. The music was slow and depressing, and instead of the people in the rows of RVs with fires and chairs everywhere playing bluegrass music, there was hardly a peep. Except for the campers next to us who were inviting and even ended up playing some music, we weren't really impressed by this so-called bluegrass fest. Where was all the bluegrass music???

Of course we met some good people at the fest, Suzanne, Rich, and Wayne came right up to us, took pictures of us on the bikes, but it makes me laugh how excited we were for the fest when the night before we had a better time with the friendly people in Palo Verde.

And the next day we hit state #2!!!


Tonight(Sunday) we are camped in a dry wash in the little town of Brenda in Arizona. Meeting our first resident of Brenda, Anne says to us in an English accent, "Well, haven't you heard of Brenda?" No, never heard of Brenda, Arizona but what a welcoming! Anne took it upon herself to find us a place to stay for the night and after calling numerous RV parks, neighbors and even asking the grocery store clerk, she had no other ideas and left for her own home. Within two minutes, Anne comes driving back up to us happy to announce that she forgot there is a place right down the street from where she lives that people camp at and she proceeded to show us the way, driving really slow for us to follow, then getting out of her car and walking us to the camping area.

What friendly people you meet when you don't expect it!




We couldn't resist when we saw the name of this road.




And on we go....


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Ups & Downs

If the first few days our trip are any indication of what's to come, then Adam and I are in for some fantastic adventures.

The Ups:

I swear this really is an Up, but air planes losing luggage is not fun. Maybe it was karma for wearing our helmets on the plane just to see the reaction we'd get from the other passengers.. But we waited and waited until the baggage belt stopped before we finally gave up and went to the counter and gave them all of our info. They assured us the baggage would show up soon. So as we left the airport, another plane's luggage was coming on the same belt and what do you know, our bag comes out. That was huge... How do you pack for a year-long journey without your gear? Thank god we don't have the answer for that.

It's always fun figuring out new cities! We had a big task ahead of us figuring out our way around the vastness of San Diego. It's huge! And there is no easy transportation. We bummed rides from my cousin Shannon and my Aunt Julie, rode trains and buses, and rode our bikes after we picked them up at B+L Bike & Sports where we shipped them there earlier this week. We were blown away at the helpfulness of Hubert and other staff there, from setting up our bikes and even fitting us, to installing new accessories like a new aero bar (courtesy of Uncle Bob) and new front racks that didn't fit. Thank goodness for the motorcycle shop next door who was able to grind down some of the metal on the rack in order to fit it into place.

A big Up was the time we spent with family!
Our cousin Malena met us at the bike shop with her beach cruiser and we rode around to lunch and found some fun biking paths in San Diego. We got to spend time with my Aunt Julie and her boyfriend Chris, and with my cousin Shannon and her boyfriend Nick. We even got to celebrate Nick's birthday with him! (why do we not have any photos of this???)

San Diego was full of good times not only for us, but for our friends, too. We spent a great evening with our newly engaged friends, Robby and Susan! Felt really special that we got to be the first ones to see them after their engagement! Look how happy they are!



On our last day in San Diego, my cousin Shannon and her boyfriend Nick made us a yummy breakfast of fresh veggie juice, eggs, and home fries then brought us to my Aunt Julie's to pack our bikes. Since we couldn't figure out any other way to get us and our bikes to The Blind Lady Ale House for the townie ride and meet & greet, we rode there, really getting to test our bikes for the first time in San Diego. We got to see some pretty sights on the townie ride...


..and the night was a huge success! We had about 40 people there throughout the afternoon/evening and The Blind Lady donated 15% (about $450 in total) of the proceeds from anyone who came into the restaurant to our charities. Very very cool people- thank you Jeff, Clea, Lee, and Jennifer! And a huge thanks to Hubert for setting it all up for us!






Saying goodbye that night and the next morning was bittersweet. We left with some homemade waffles in our tummies and caught a bus to the San Diego Living station where we had our first live T.V. interview of the trip! Talk about nerve-racking. We set ourselves a goal for the plane ride. I'm sure a few of you may have seen the mini video interview on the new haven register site. We apologize.. It was pretty bad. For San Diego Living, we had to be better. So we wrote out answers to all of the questions and practiced on the plane ride. The poor guy sitting next to us could probably have done the interview himself by the end of the plane ride. We offered him one of our friend, Mickey's, cookies she made us for the journey as a peace offering which he gladly accepted.





After the interview, we were off... The moment we had been planning for. It felt so good to start the journey. One of my favorite moments of the trip so far.

Now for the real Ups...the uphills.


Whoa.. We spent the last hour or two of the day climbing and had another hour to go when we passed another cyclist finishing a ride for the day. Kevin invited us to camp on his lawn, take showers(although we declined this.. Why???), gave us an electrical cord to charge our stuff, and brought us to a Thai restaurant where we all had dinner together. It was more than we could have asked for and a good way to spend the night, prepping us for what was to come today.



It turns out, yesterday was only a taste of the uphills. We climbed all day long and laughed as we passed the 3,000 foot elevation sign and kept going up for a few hours after that. In the last hour of daylight, we finally put on warm gear for a nice long ride down and found our camp site for the night- Adam had to do a little monkeying around first!




Thought this was a pretty cool photo below. Adam caught me scurrying away from the border fence. You can see it in the background! This was right outside of Jacumba, CA.



With each new experience, we learn a little more. One of the things we've learned so far is a little patience. Only 1.2 miles from our destination tonight, warm showers host, Brian, and Adam gets a flat. We fix it(we're getting good at fixing flats) and we pedal maybe five feet when I get a flat. Ugh. Ok. Fix it, blow the tire back up, and oops... There were really two holes in my tire, not just one. Patch that on and pump it up. All good until the valve breaks and all the air we've just pumped in gushes out. So we stick on a brand new tire and all in all 40 minutes later and we're off. When we finally made it to Brian's, the other couple who was staying the night made us extra dinner and it was waiting for us as we came in... Pretty awesome! We don't have a picture of the flats... Sorry.

The Downs

12 miles, 6% grade, downhill! Can't get a better down than that, huh?



And on we go....

Santa Delivered Bikes!

What a nice surprise it was to see a brand new, pretty, white bike under the Christmas tree! Adam struck a deal with Cannondale and they offered to give us two new Cannondale Touring 1 bikes and a box full of clothing in exchange for the rights to a few pictures along the way. I have an awesome husband! Take a look at some pics of the new bikes!







We were very excited about the deal, but a little worried at the timing. Times are getting tight and we have been waiting and waiting and waiting for Cannondale to send everything to us! It's probably pretty important to test out the gear at least once before you pack it up for a year-long journey. But it doesn't look like it'll get any real testing. After we got the bikes, we were tortured to sit on them in the basement and pretend to ride as the blizzard made it's way through CT. Roads finally cleared up and we were able to take the bikes for a little spin. We have a little adjusting to do as the trip was only 3 miles and my butt was a little sore by the end of it!!

As for the apparel, it finally arrived and we found some time one night this week at 10:00 to open it up and see our goodies. I have to admit, Cannondale has some good quality clothing. We just hope it works as well as it looks. What a bummer it would be to find out the rain gear isn't 100% waterproof while in the middle of one of those rain storms in California! Oh well, at least we'll look good!


On the other side of the world, someone else got a bike for Christmas. The 50 kids at Hope Destitute Children's Center in Uganda received four bikes for Christmas thanks to our fundraiser at Ballou's in Guilford, CT. It wasn't an easy task for our brother, Kimuli (Dave) Paradis to ride into Kampala, buy the bikes and bring them back.

Here was one of the stops along the way, where Dave's Brother-in-law works on the truck to keep it running.


Here is what Dave wrote about his trip. "Almost in Kampala and the clutch is lost, nothing. Get the truck to a petrol station where Gertrude's brothers come to fix it. They drop it off the next day at YWCA, but there were new problems: a hole in the water pump, and the front wheels, which were welded on to the axel, were coming off and all pigeon toed. We went for it yesterday, the two hour trip back home through Kampala road worrying about not being able to turn the wheels too hard or run the engine too hot. Things went well until half way home and the electric blows up. No lights, small fire in the radio, etc. Thankfully we were in a town and had Gertrude's bro with us."

TIA, huh? Thankfully, they made it back to Lukaya and the kids enjoyed a fun-filled Christmas day with their new bikes! (Thank you Gertrude for reminding Dave to bring the camera!!)


So these past weeks have been a little trying on Adam and I with all we have to get done, but taking a minute to read about Dave's adventure in Uganda and seeing the smiles on those kids faces makes it all worth while. We were interviewed the other day for the New Haven Register (we'll be in the paper next week) and she asked us a really cool question. Alex, the reporter, asked us how we were going to keep each other motivated during this trip. There are so so so many ways to stay motivated, and this is one of them. Smiles.

It's been crazy, but I'm sure everything will get done. Somewhere in between the wedding Adam is photographing today, the 40 hours of editing he'll have afterwards, the family reunion this weekend, the packing, the shopping, the boxing and shipping bikes, the storing of all of our stuff that we're not taking, and the last visits to family and friends... it will all get done. Less than one week until we get to ride! Just gotta remember to smile!

Mini-Moon: Honeymoon Training Video

 Check out the new HD video:


Bike to VT, Honeymoon bike touring from Adam Coppola on Vimeo.

Some other new additions to Give a Bike have been our web pages:

giveabike.com
-Thanks to Jennie and Frank from Marina, CA for giving us this URL: giveabike.com.  They are supporting us beyond the URL donation.  They have even spoken to their mayor suggesting a send-off event for us in Marina, CA.

www.facebook.com/giveabike
870 "likes" as of 11/8! That is awesome!  Thanks everyone.  There will be updated pictures, videos, and news on this page

www.twitter.com/giveabike
We are new to twitter but we have learned quickly and this will definitely be helpful in giving quick short updates to everyone interested

www.vimeo.com/adamcoppola
This site is for anyone that would like to see our videos in HD quality

We are busy working on getting the media, small town publications, and magazines interested in our story.... it's a ton of work.  I have a huge appreciation for anyone in PR.

Thanks for staying involved.

Mini-moon; Honeymoon Training

Our mini-moon to Vermont starts a day late and a person extra. Those of you that know Adam and I know that our great planning ideas don’t always come to fruition and we’re always late no matter what…  even to our own honeymoon. So our packing started at 5:00pm on Monday night when we realized we had to take an hour drive to REI to get rain gear since the forecast for Tuesday looked gloomy.  We spent a good $650… still recovering from that shock… got home by 10 and started packing.  Of course, this pushed our trip back slightly, but at 10:00am the next morning, we were off with clear, sunny skies.  

In Africa, when someone leaves your house you give them what is called, a “push.”  Basically, you walk them out the door, down the street, and sometimes all the way back to their house.  I guess at this point it wouldn’t be too far fetched to think that now that someone has pushed you all the way back to your house, it’s only right to now give them a push back home.  So Dave, feeling the African vibe, wanted to give us a push for our biking honeymoon trip to Vermont.  The plan was to push us a couple of miles to Guilford, but, as is the African way, it lasted a bit longer. The day turned out to be too nice to pass up a bike ride all the way to Cheshire (about 20 miles further).  

As we rode, I fell back behind Adam and Dave.  Not too far, but enough to see people’s puzzled faces as they saw the white flag Adam mounted to his bike which read, “Just Married,” and then Dave following closely behind.  I laughed to myself and let people think what they wanted, except for this one couple who congratulated them as the rode by.  When I caught up I yelled, “I’m the wife!”  Looking back, I’m not sure if this clarified things or confused the ladies even more. 

In our hectic scramble to get everything packed the night before our trip, Dave volunteered to start mapping out our trip for us.  It’s thanks to him we got to spend 6 miles or so on the Farmington Trail from Hamden to Cheshire.  No cars, no motorcycles, just walkers enjoying the day, runners getting their exercise, beautiful foliage, and us.  It was here that Dave really got to see what traveling with Adam is really like.  Pictures, pictures, and more pictures.  How could we resist, though with such beautiful shots around every corner. I find it funny that most of the pictures of the first day of my honeymoon are with Dave and I!   

After a while, Adam passed on the camera so we could get a few pics of the actual honeymooners. 

 

It was bittersweet to say goodbye to Dave after we shared lunch at a small Italian deli just past the end of the trail.  Though we were excited to start our honeymoon with just the two of us, Dave’s relaxed attitude and goofy demeanor are always welcome.  We have him to thank for setting the mood of the whole trip. 

Our next two days of riding were similar to the first.  Clear skies, warm weather, and beautiful foliage.  Check out some of the shots!!!

Generosity comes in all forms.  When Adam first told me about Warm Showers, I, along with many others, was somewhat skeptical.  It’s an app that allows bicyclers to find places to stay on the road while they are touring.  Adam was determined to use the app on this trip and after our first night of camping out on the side of the road all the while freaking out over the police across the river from us, we decided to try it out.   

We were about 20 miles outside of Pittsfield, MA when we called up Steve and left a message for him to see if he wouldn’t mind us crashing at his place that night.  Within two minutes he called us back and invited us over.  We weren’t really sure how this Warm Showers works. Was he going to let us camp in his backyard?  Was he going to let us stay inside?  What about having an actual warm shower??  Well, Steve has certainly set the bar, and set it high.  We walked into his place to hear Bela Fleck playing on his CD player (that’s right, I said CD player).  He invited us right inside, sat us by his wood stove, offered for us to take a warm shower, ordered pizza and gelato, and let us sleep in our room of choice.  How much better could you get, really? His generosity was almost too much for us.  We felt like we had to owe him something, anything… I even offered to share our Snickers bar with him.  But he declined it all and told us simply to pay it forward.  I wrote him a note when we left the following morning (he had already gone to work for the day) and in it told him how I can only hope that when we do pay it forward, we can be as generous and caring as he was towards us. 

But right now, it’s our turn to receive the generosity and it came to us again when Victoria from The Equinox, a beautiful hotel in the middle of Manchester, Vermont, found us sitting on the stoop outside of The 1811 House, one of The Equinox’s separate buildings.  We were calling all sorts of places trying to get a decent priced hotel, but it looked like we were going to spend upwards of $180.  When we told her we’d pay $130, she got right to work, calling up the receptionist, making a deal for us.  I heard her say, “We have these newlyweds who biked here from Connecticut and a bunch of empty rooms.  I’d like to make this work for them.”  And she did it!  We spent the night in the hotel, got to sit by a fire, and got breakfast served to us all for under $110. 

After we spent the night in The 1811 House, we reluctantly got on our bikes in the pouring rain and cold.  Our plan was to ride 30 miles to Rutland, VT just so we could shave off a little distance for our last day.  

 

 About 20 miles in, Adam’s hands were soaked and we decided we’d look for a place to stay the night.  Instead of a place to stay, we found a welcome restaurant in Wallingford, VT and stopped in after getting rejected from the only two Inns in town.  We were discussing our worry that we wouldn’t be able to find a hotel in Rutland tonight and I said, “Well, there’s always churches.”  I guess this sparked some interest in the older couple sitting next to us.  They immediately offered for us to stay in their “barn.”  Lucky for us it was on the way, seven miles towards Rutland, down beautiful back roads.  Even though we were cold and wet on the ride to their home, our spirits were high and we enjoyed the last of our rainy ride.   When we arrived, we realized this “barn” was a 3 story studio.  The bottom floor was used for wood working and stone work, the second floor was a decorated studio with marble floors in the kitchen and bathroom, and the top floor was the bed room.  What luck!  So Jen and Art set us up here in their studio apartment for the night and left saying, “I hope you have a minute in the morning to look out the window and enjoy the view of Killington before you get on your way.”   Ahhhhhh.

But it isn’t just these huge acts of kindness and generosity that have made our trip, it can be something so simple.  It’s the people who stop in their cars and offer us help when we stand on the side of the road looking lost.  It’s the people who drive by us and notice the “Just Married” sign and honk as they ride past.  It’s the people, on roads with barely any shoulders, who follow patiently behind us until we get to a straightaway when they feel comfortable enough to pass.  This world is truly filled with good people. 

Our last day was uphill.  You can take that any way you want because it all applies.  It was cold and wet, we had to ride seven miles up Mt. Killington (there was actually snow at the top), the downhill afterwards was frigid, and though we had a fulfilling breakfast, I didn’t have any coffee.  I need to come up with some backup plan for coffee… it’s not fun for either of us and when Adam noticed I was in no mood to take a picture of the “Moose Crossing” sign in the middle of our seven miles uphill, he just pedaled on ahead and steered clear of me for a while. We did break at the top for a picture with the snowman, then took the icy plunge down the mountain until we landed upon a little Vermont restaurant.  I got my coffee, we thawed out, and we finished our trip in high spirits.  

Even though we just biked up Mt. Killington, no hill on the whole trip compared to the driveway of our cabin (especially after we had just packed our bags full of breakfast, lunch, dinner, beer, and wine).  We had just biked 240 miles and there was no way we were walking our bikes now!  We used that logic all the way up the driveway and happily parked our bikes outside our cabin. 

So yes, we rode 240 miles in 5 days but we weren’t quite done.  We had one more task we needed to complete.  At our wedding, Adam and I gave away tree saplings as our favors to our guests.  For 240 miles, a little tree sapling hung strapped to Adam’s bike.  We wanted to plant it at the place we were engaged.  So we hiked into the woods a bit, found a little clearing, pulled up the grass and weeds around it, and planted our tree.   

Who knows if it will escape the perils of the winter snowmobiling, but a little piece of us has been planted in Vermont.  Hopefully the other 180 tree saplings from our wedding are scattered around New England and beyond, excited to see what life brings… I know we are.