What? You Don't Have One Small Enough... #9

So buying my bike was... Ermmm.... Difficult. After what seemed like a life time searching on the Internet, trawling through forums, reviews and tech specs I decided the bike which I want to be my best friend and worst enemy for the next 9 months. A Surly Long Haul Trucker 2011 in blue, 46cm frame with 26" wheels. I will go into the reasoning of it on my kit page as I don't want to bore people to tears. 

I searched high and low for a 46cm frame, emailing the entire list of the UK stockists who had just what I wanted, all came back as a no apart from two. Charley the Bike Monger (http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/) and Active Sport (http://www.activesport.co.uk/) both said that they had a 46cm frame set with no components and another bike with the wrong size but all the same components on it, so simply a frame swap for a small charge. Go check out both of these stores as they are extremely helpful and friendly with good quality gear! But anyway, I chose to go the Active Sport due to a cheaper price and a quicker expected build time.

Within a week it was delivered in a nice big box! I unwrapped it all and built it in 8 hours it was done and ready for a test ride around the driveway. It is so comfortable!!! Mainly due to the 2 hours of getting the saddle and handle bars perfect and replacing the stem with one I already had. (Small arms meaning small reach). Now it is ready, let the training commence!!!

I Am Going!!! #8

So things have been happening!!! I firstly have been trying to get as many people to my blog, twitter and facebook page as possible because I need the support. So sorry if I am annoying anyone yet, but I'm not going to stop because I have to do it. I also have finished and published my first video! It is just 4 mins explaining what I am doing and where I am going and stuff, check it out and subscribe, like it, comment and all that good stuff.




I have also booked my flight tickets! Was a bit of a shock to see my bank account afterwards as it did leave an impressive dent, but could have been a lot worse. After hours of searching Iceland Air was a God send!! More than half the price of British Airways!! This is because I have a few changes, but hey, I don't care. 

My flights are: 

30th June
Heathrow to Reykjavik
Reykjavik to Seattle
Seattle to Bellingham (still need to book)

8th September 
San Diego to Denver
Denver to Reykjavik
Reykjavik to Heathrow 
(Then back to Mummies house :D)

Very complicated and with camping gear and a bike, even worse! But with a bit of planning I should be fine! Anyway, I have always wanted to go to Iceland, even if it is only for 2 hours it will be cool to fly over. 

FINALLY

I do need to get a bigger audience so please follow me: @smallguyride
And like my facebook page /smallguyride
It costs you nothing but means a lot to me as later on I need people to be reading my stuff. 

THANK YOU

Maps and Pretty Pictures #7

A lot of things have been happening which have made little progress forward, but they are needed. I have more or less finished a video to launch the whole SGLR project, I have signed up for twitter @smallguyride where I have made an amazing (if I may say so myself) background. I also have a youtube account when the video is done. My Google account is being used left, right and center. I also have a proper profile picture which I will keep constant over all websites so it is obviously me.

I have just finished now going through all the maps, studying how they work and where I am going etc... They are amazing! I have put a bit of detail about them before as well as on "The Route" page but to really see what they are about, go on the website. I have also got a map now!!! Taken me a while to work out how to do it and make it easy to use and view. It is on "The Route" page and you can look around it as you wish. I do have a few things I want to do, but they shouldn't take that long, and then I will be less bogged down in admin stuff and able to start getting to the fun stuff.

I will be soon buying flights and the bike I will be taking! I will write about these either as a blog entry or on "The Kit" page.

No Turning Back #6

So it looks like everything is coming together. Scary!!! Exciting obviously, but also terrifying. Putting a large amount of money and time into a plan dreamed up from a random idea. My 18th is just in 5 days which is when I plan to really kick this off. I will be advertising, emailing, planning, buying and training like mad!!!

Everything, slowly, is being planned out and seems to be fitting perfectly. The maps are here and are perfect, a few people know what I am planning, money and time has already been set aside to do this trip, information about the charity is with me. Everything seems like it will work out just as planned. Next step, buying the large, expencive items, i.e. the bike and the plane tickets. This also will be around about the same time as I start getting people to look at my blog and such.

It all seems so far away that I don't need to worry about anything but I know that I should be planning it in detail, making purchases and generally getting ready to ride America!!!

I Lied... Well Forgot Really... #5

So I did say that I have no experience of riding my bike a long distance on a tour, well that is true, but I do have experience of riding my bike a long way. Last summer I was in Portugal in mid July with my family and a friend. Me and my friend (Mike) hired out two mountain bikes, nothing special just the classic Hardtail Trek MTBs that were heavily used and about 5 years old, and we went off just where ever we wanted. Probably going to go for about 3 hours, have lunch then 3 hours back, easy right?

Well of course we shot off and killed our selves in about an hour and a half, stopped onw a beach and chilled for a bit just so that our legs could recover a bit. We managed to get hold of one of the worst maps ever but it was all we needed, so we just carried on going east along the coast. Our idea was that if the sea is on the left, you are going away from home, on the right, going towards home, simple! After about 4 hours of riding we were miles away but enjoying it like hell! Stopped off at this tiny beach hut restaurant which did amazing pizzas and cold drinks more importantly! Everything was feeling good and we were full of energy and water so instead of turning back, we had a better idea!!!

We pushed on and tried to find the marina as we could see a huge yacht moored up with loads of other around it, obviously where all the big impressive boats will be. So we kept going, but this time being more adventurous, going off the main road down little side streets which was amazing! We ended up finding a long boardwalk that went on for about half a mile and along side a lake with Flamingos in it! Then we got to a beach where we decided would be the turn around point. So far it was going so well, just had the same enjoyable trip back.

But instead of doing the same route back because nothing is as boring as seeing the same thing again, we tried to be clever and cut back a different "quicker" way. Big mistake!!! 2 hours later of being lost and tired with no water we started to almost panic. July heat in Portugal with no shade, cycling and no water is not the best position to be in. We cycled around tried to work out where we could go to get a drink of anything!! eventually 20 mins later finding a supermarket and buying about 3 litres of water. The ride back was awful, we stopped every few miles and were going down all the main roads so cars were shooting past constantly.

So yes I have done a long bike ride in a place I didnt know, but it wasn't planned, nor as big as what I am planning.Importantly, it taught me that food but especially water is EXTREMLY important and can change the feel of a ride totally. Also, small roads are normally slower but so much better to ride on, and finally, work out a plan and stick to it!!!

So Where Am I Going #4

I have no idea about America, all I know is that it is really big, has hot bits and cold bits and have some insanely unhealthy food (I'm not complaining!). So if i want to ride my bike there, where do I start and where do I finish and where do I go?!?!

Well luckily I do know a little more about America than that, I have been to San Francisco when I was young and then Boston when I was a bit older. I remember San Francisco being amazing and with a lot of Googling I saw that the West Coast looks very nice. While watching videos of other people on bike tours someone mentioned The Adventure Cycling Association Maps which are probably the best thing EVER!!! Go on their website and look at the video about the maps, they look incredible! I looked at their routes that they have and two really caught my eye, the Pacific Coast Route and the Sierra Cascades. I love the coast and the water but I think 2000 miles of that would get a bit dull, and the Sierra Cascades looks amazing with great scenery but also some tough riding. So I am trying to take the good bits from each. I want to try to go from Washington, south to about the middle of California and then cut towards to Pacific Ocean along the Western Express Route for a tiny bit and then down to San Diego riding the Coast. 

I will probably try to stick to the routes that are given as I have no idea what to expect and I don't really getting lost with little supplies!! If you are interested more in my route I will write a page in more detail on it soon. They have been ordered and are in the post right now. Can't wait!!!

I Have No Idea What I Am Doing #3

I have no idea what I am doing. I have never written a blog nor have a ridden my bike for a long period of time. The furthest I have ever gone in one go is 26 miles in 2 hours. People run that distance, and the world record is 2 hour 4 minutes!!! I am not exactly what you would say "naturally gifted" seeing as a bloke in silly shorts can keep up with me. I also haven’t gone on a camping trip before; I have done camping here and there but never anything of note.

So the point of telling you this is that I want to be clear that I am a total beginner, not like one of those “beginners” who have already ridden across the country 20 times but didn’t think that they made them experienced. Simply, as I said before, I have no idea what I am doing. But looking forward to what will come!

What I Am Doing #2

So basically I want to cycle down the West Coast of the United States of America in three months that I have off between end of school and start of University. How simple does that sound! The main focus is to survive…Which not meaning to brag but I have been doing since I was born. The other focus is too keep pedalling. If I keep spinning my legs then I will probably doing the right thing. Unless I get lost… I will be screwed if I get lost…

I want to try to camp as much of the way, firstly due to cost, but also because it is probably one of the best ways to see things that you would never see otherwise. That is probably the main goal of my trip; to find the moments that rarely are found. I guarantee the best memories that you have were never planned or expected, they always just pop up and become something amazing. That’s what I what to do on my trip, come back with amazing memories (and probably tired legs).

So, what am I doing? Riding a bike and sleeping in a tent for a long time :) 

Introduction #1

Hello there!

Thanks for going on my blog!!! There is quite a lot I need to explain and say but I don't really know how I can do it in just a simple lump of text. So check the different pages at the top and hopefully that will explain a lot about me, my goal and my progress!

I hope that you can follow me from going from knowing nothing to completing my trip :)