Next chapter

The next big thing is here, but we have put too much awesome into one blog so we were forced to start another.  Burtons Being Rad has been started in an attempt to document the going ons of our family from this next big trip and on for some time.  Lots has changed since the days of this blog and instead of spending all day in front of a computer playing catch up we are going to cut it all loose with a fresh start. Basically I am telling you to stop reading this and to follow the link to the new, the up to date, the fresh, the funky, the _____(fill in the blank).

Burtons Being Rad (Burtonsbeingrad.blogspot.com)

the adventure begins July 26th 2013

I guess we'll need a bicycle built for three...

Thats right- we're having a boy sometime around Nov. 30th! He should be ready for a tour by summer, right? :)

Biking season is back!

Well, its the end of may in Alaska, which means we are back in biking season! We wanted to spend the summer in Alaska, since we earned it by lasting through the winter! So, even though we are aching to start another tour, we decided to stick around and save up some money, and check out the local scene. What we have discovered is that on the Kenai Peninsula we are blessed with some GREAT mountain biking. We have anything from short quick trails, to multi day rides.

Our buddy Jedd, Mary and B-rad riding along Kenai Lake

keeping the boys at a reasonable pace on resurrection pass

Friends Jedd and Katie at Juneau Falls- a nice destination on the resurrection trail

Cheesy pose with our arms up!

our biking crew- Jedd, Katie, Mary and Brad

This weekend we thought we would try a 22 mile singletrack ride with promises of glacier views, bears, and sweeping mountain vistas. But, upon arriving at the trailhead, we were thwarted by a foot and a half of snow! I guess that ride will have to wait a bit. On the bright side, we hit up part of another trail, Resurrection Pass, and biked to a gorgeous waterfall. Still sweeping mountain vistas and bears :) here are a few photos of our adventures.

Back off, Cabin Fever!

Now that we are in Alaska, we are doing our best to immerse ourselves in this place. In order to keep all the locals sane during the winter, we celebrate the Iditarod Dogsled race and the Fur Rondy in Anchorage, so we traveled up to be a part of the festivities! The Fur Rondy is a two week fur festival, but they have all kinds of crazy fun events for the locals to take part in.We chose to do the Running of the Reindeer- where they block off the streets and let runners and reindeer loose! That was lots of fun, and we got to slap reindeer on the butts as they ran past us. Pretty crazy. We also got to watch the start of the Last Great Race- a 1000 mile doglsed race from Wasilla to Nome. Its an event I have always wanted to see, so it was pretty exciting.

This guy was really into the fur thing- we had to have a picture with the muskox man.

we dressed up for the running of the reindeer- sorry we didnt get any pictures of the actual reindeer- we were busy running from them! 

1000 miles ahead of them!

At the (ceremonial) start of the Iditarod race

Winter Wonders

Saturday was our ski day last week. After working all week and being busy with life, it was time to get out into the backcountry and cool off. We headed north into the mountains and after studying many slopes along the way, decided on a spot just north of Summit Lake. JUST what the doctor ordered :) Maybe 45 minutes of lung busting skiing through the snow covered forest and up, up, into the wild we went! Its so nice to have wilderness so close to us up here. Literally ten minutes of hiking away from a road and it feels like you are in the middle of nowhere. And we were blessed with one of those legendary perfect ski days- sunshine, no wind, and fresh pow! And the best part- it was all human powered and FREE! Hard to capture a day like that, but here are a few of our photographic efforts. 

backup plan

I think if we didnt live in our favorite one room cabin in alaska, this might be a pretty appealing home.

Life after the road

Well, its been about four months since our last post, and the end of our bike adventure. Lately, we have been doing a lot of reminiscing about our summer. What an adventure it was :) I think we talk or think about it every day, which may seem pathetic or like we are living in the past, but really, we just like thinking about it because it makes us happy.
Here in Soldotna, Alaska, we have been giving this 'normal life' thing a try. We both have jobs working with kids in elementary schools, working monday through friday. Its a pretty big change from what we have been used to, so its an adventure all in itself. But also makes us appreciate our summer memories so much more.
But no worries, it will not be the last of our bike travel adventures... in fact, i think it just fueled a fire for a lifelong obsession and passion. I mean, once you see the light, why live in darkness?
But overall, we are really LOVING Alaska. We love our tiny one room cabin (dream home!) and we still find time for micro adventures. Mary's parents literally live across the street (72 paces away).  Which has been great because Momma Hall loves to make the most amazing homemade bread and then give it away. Here's a few pictures of what we have been up to the past few months:

playing with the skis near our cabin

we still love sleeping outside, even if its -27 F

Lots of friends up here in AK- still sharing the road....

Mary playing in the mountains

my what big teeth you have!

hiking up Turnagain pass to snowboard. Pretty AND free!

Learning the art of the redneck- snowmachining!

this is probably what we would look like if we biked much up here...

we have gotten lucky with such  great snow year!!!

Playing out on Kenai Beach

winter beach fun

WELCOME TO ALASKA!

WE MADE IT

Adventure with a song

The end of trip slide show is complete. This was shown at our presentation we did at Wasatch Touring, the wonderful shop downtown Salt Lake that helped us out so much.  We don't have the greatest slide show making skills but its a learn by doing thing for us just as bike touring was for us 4 months ago.  It was so hard to take a summers worth of amazing photos and experiences, then whittle them down into the length of one song. Almost as hard as it is to answer the most commonly asked question that we have been getting since returning, "what was your favorite part?" I hope this slide show can show that there was just to much awesome to have one favorite.

In other news Mary's sister Cassie who attended our presentation was inspired to write down a few words expressing how she felt.  We totally loved it and just couldn't not share it.

A good bye Poem for you guys!

Oh the places you've gone!

Labrador, Maine, Montana and Such,

Places these feet of mine might never touch!

Riding your bike,

You hauled all your gear!

Met new friends and spent part of your year...

You know what you learned,

And you learned what you know.

I bet you didn't expect just how much you would grow.

Thru dirt roads and trails,

Up hills and down sails,

Over bridges, and boat rides,

On high tides and on low tides,

You kept peddling onward,

And upward and down,

You kept it an adventure,

 avoided a frown.

You ate lots of ice cream,

And slept in strange places.

You'll never forget those kind helping faces.

They invited you in,

As old friends do,

They fed you good food,

offered beds too!

You made it home safe,

From the places you've been.

How we've worried and watched,

Before it even began.

I'm happy you did it!

Admire it so,

What a long way to travel

On the tips of your toe.

So I bid you farewell,

As you move up to AK!

Drive safely and quickly,

But do stop to play:)

Oh the places you've been...

And the places to go,

Thru mountains, plains,

And now up to the snow!

Love you Mary-b-rat:)

-By Cassie Jacobson

The End

Four and a half months. 6,447 miles. Nine provinces, 6 states, 6 flat tires. 14 bear sightings. One Epic Bike Ride.

Well, we made it. Thursday, September 15 we finally rolled into Salt Lake City to end our summer ride. We were met by friends and family riding collectively with us almost the whole 90 mile day. What an awesome way to finish!

Thanks to everyone who helped us along the way with shelter, food, friendship or even just a friendly wave- this has been an incredible journey and all of you were the reason. We have been inspired by the kindness and generosity we experienced all summer.

But the end of one adventure is always just the beginning of another- after spending some time with friends and family here in Utah, we will be driving our fully loaded car (i know, a welcome change ;) up to Alaska to see what the north has in store for us.

If you are in the Salt Lake area, come on over to Wasatch Touring for a short presentation we are doing about our ride! Its Wed, Sept. 28th at 7pm. 100 south 700 east. salt lake city.

The Home Stretch

From Glacier national park, we headed south through Missoula and over to West Yellowstone, through the park and into Grand Teton National Park. SO many great experiences- we came around a corner and almost ran into a bison, we crossed the great divide 6 times, with the highest elevation being over 8000 ft, and were photographed by several tourists, and passed our 6000 mile mark. It made us feel pretty proud of what we are accomplishing :) We were met in Jackson by lots of old friends, a rafting trip down the Snake river, and a BBQ before heading toward Salt Lake for the final 300 miles. Bring on the home stretch!

adventures through Yellowstone and Grand Teton

Brad and Mary in 20 years...

All our buddies in Jackson- what a welcoming committee!

Leaving Jackson, bound for Salt Lake!

oh the bike tan :)

An Ode to my wife

I just needed to take a minute and brag about how rad my adventure partner is.  We have been asked numerous times, if I had to talk Mary into doing a trip like this.  And I love being able to answer that she was equally if not more excited to irresponsibly drop everything and spend 4+ months on a bicycle.  This girl has been so tough taking on the challenges that came around every bend in the road.  When my knee was uncooperative at the beginning of the trip, she pulled the trailer for about a thousand miles alone refusing to give it back until she was confident it wouldn't hurt me.  When she could tell I was not riding my best she would find creative ways to get me pedaling.  She is willing and excited for whatever experience we come across.  Sometimes while riding she just gets so excited that I can see her bouncing as she pedals towards that days adventure.  The trip has not always been sunshine and downhill, and Mary handles the unawesome with ease.   With almost a year and a half under our wedding rings, I have been able to learn more about her these last four months than ever.  Riding side by side we do a lot of chatting and thinking which turns into more chatting and deeper thinking.  Spending time in strangers homes we have noted and shared what we have liked and learned from each couple.  We have been able to share so many amazing memories together, and spend every moment side by side that I believe has helped us build a hecka super strong foundation for our lives together.  Everyday I ride behind this girl and just think about how lucky I am to have such a rockstar wife, who is willing and wanting to spend this time together getting crazy.  Many have asked us if we are riding for a cause or a charity, we like to answer that we are riding to raise a marriage.  Thank you Mary for being that girl.  I still love you more everyday.

Going to the Sun in Glacier

Well, we made it out of Canada, and are headed south toward Salt Lake City, Utah. Its a pretty exciting way home- we have been biking in the mountains since we left Alberta, which has been great! Legs burning up a mountain are much more tolerable than weeks of headwinds, for us anyway. Our first stop in the states? Glacier National Park, taking the famous Going to the Sun road. It is a long mountain pass that cuts right through the heart of the park, through some pretty stunning mountains. We were so excited, and rightly so- it was AWESOME! The views, the downhill, everything. And luckily, we hit it on a good day- the next day, it snowed :)

we finally got through the plains!!! WAHOO!!! what doesnt kill you makes you stronger, right?

Oh rockies- bring on your goodness.

Gorgeous morning to a gorgeous ride- glacier national park

Going to the Sun

Almost at the top!

We went on a hike at the top of the pass with a friend we met at our campsite- Kirk the tugboat captain. What a gorgeous trail- but who knew after biking over 5000 miles hiking could make us sore!?

The top of our first mountain pass- Logan pass on the Going to the Sun road through Glacier National Park. 12 miles of uphill is better than headwinds any day!

Making friends with the 'other bikers'

Fooled you!, Suprise ending!



Riding through the plains has been tough on us mentally and physically.  Most of the time we have had the dreaded headwinds keeping us from breaking any land speed records.  The treeless, rolling hills have their own beauty but that got old for us pretty quick.   Throughout a day we have many phases of our own energy levels.  We have experimented a lot with several different (legal) ways of giving us that extra boost we need throughout the day.  Most of the time we just need something new, cool, fresh and exciting to get our spirits going.  Often times this ends up in the form of a milkshake.  After a tall cold milkshake in a small town diner I am instantly ready to crank out another 20 30 miles no problem.  We have decided that for us to really give us the boost we need for the rest of the trip though we would need something else.  A full slow morning had a thinking hard of the possibilities.  We again needed the something new, cool, fresh and exciting to kick start us for the last leg or legs of our summer.  Brad had the idea of getting a puppy.  We could start it out in a handlebar basket and train it to tour with us, it would also double as great kitchen clean up and a bear alarm.  Mary (being the slightly more practical one) thought up a surprise ending to our trip.  We tossed a coin and Mary still said no to the puppy idea.  So here is the NEW and hopefully Final plan... We are turning south.  From Lethbridge, Alberta we are going southbound to Glacier national park in our home country of the United States. (finally Payday candy bars will be available again)  Then we are going on a National park tour home, through Yellow Stone, and Grand Teton.  Probably spend a couple days with all our friends in Jackson hole Wyoming (where we both worked as river guides last year) then through Logan and onto Salt Lake city.  Whew there it is. We chose this for many reasons, but really we wanted to see some good friends.  From Salt Lake we will probably only stick around for a few days, then we are driving to our original destination of Alaska.  Then we have to get real, find jobs quick before we have to sell a kidney and start our new Alaskan lives.  We are super excited about this plan, riding through some epic country, and ending hopefully with a warm welcome from friends (preferably with food and hugs)  We have already pedaled more than 5300 miles which is more than most other cross Canada tours, so I do want to stress that we are not cheating, or quiting early, just continuing to make this trip our own, and the best.  Since making this route change our spirits have been at nose-bleeding altitudes and our daydreams of riding the homestretch are storybook.  Hope to see you all soon.

\brad was so excited to reach Alberta he crack climbed up the sign!

This guy saw us riding in the heat in Medicine Hat and invited us to take shelter at his house- including great meals, laundry, a bed for the night, AND he tuned up our bikes! Thanks Doug!

little tent on the prairie...

While riding through Taber we couldnt turn down signs for a cornfest! We showed up and the locals gave us free corn, elephant ears, and cold bottles of water. A fest worth stopping for!

we got the first ears of the festival!

everyone says they are riding for some cause, we are riding for a marraige :)

B-rad working on some of his tricks.

this is mary trying to put on a positive face for the constant headwinds...