Boulder to Zion test drive

This week we got our feet a little wet (and cold) in the world of bike touring. Mary and I are completely new to this venture and are trying everything we can to become pro before too long, and decided to take a few days through warm southern Utah to try out all this new gear. I somehow talked my Dad and brother Aaron into joining us, and we also brought along our good friend Jo. My Dad and Aaron showed up with the hokiest looking set-ups, and ironicly have the most "touring" experience out of us (but not for long). My Dad has become a bit soft and hooked us up for our mini trip with lodging and amazing food, limiting the items that we had to carry. And after the first day we realized how unprepared some of us were in ways of repair gear/winter survival skills. Therefore my Dad again came to the rescue, stuck out his thumb and retrieved our support truck. The trip was great training for us and helped us feel a bit of the gravity for what this summer's undertaking is really about. The weather this trip was not the most awesome, with crazy headwinds, snow, and rain.... but that just makes everything that much more epic to talk about later. We only have a few weeks left before our departure to Bangor Maine. And almost every minute of our spare time until then is busy. But the excitement in our small, now almost empty Burton home is thick, unfortunately not as thick as our sore muscles....

Christmas in February

Our massive order came in to Wasatch touring, our faithful supporters. We had a blast putting it all together and taking a few test rides. The bikes are now fully operational, and have taken several successful voyages around the block. We are loaded with all the absolutely necessary accessories like, cartoon handlebar bags, two legged kickstands, and peanut butter holders. Mary and I are headed back out on trail tomorrow and bummed we can't take our new bikes with us, but we have some shorter practice tours planned just to help us work out whatever kinks we may have. We have only 4 more weeks of work until our trip begins on May 5th. Thanks again to Wasatch Touring for all your help getting us all set up and teaching us the ins and outs of this adventure we are embarking on.

The tools

The Surly Long Haul Trucker, This is the ride Mary and B-rad will be taking across the longest country in the world.

Fun fact: It is illegal to ride a bike in Canada without any hands. B-rad has set getting a ticket for this crime as a goal for this trip.

The rough draft

The prospected route is marked in yellow. Still subject to change upon referrals by locals, bears in the road, rumors of hot springs, or forgetting to turn. Mary and B-rad are currently thinking of finishing in Alaska now but the fun part is we can always change our mind.

The Backstory

Last fall our friend Keith Larsen sent Mary and I a little message asking us if we would be interested in joining him, and his wife, on a cross Canada bike tour. Our eyes instantly lit up to the idea. Then the thoughts of responsibility and following through with the years commitment to work we recently made, quickly withered the fireworks. Very little thought was given to the invitation for the next couple months, until Keith nudged again with another invite, just after New Years. The idea was like a tall glass of water to our adventurous thirst, and our mouths forgot how to say anything other than YES. We told our work we were outta here, and as friends they were happy for us but as employers distraught over the thought of having to try and replace us (good luck). We began drooling over gear, and scenic pictures Keith would dangle in front of us. We started looking for advice, hookups, and pro deals while selling any other gear that would just be costing storage space all summer (whitewater kayak still for sale). We bought plane tickets to Bangor, Maine as our starting point, while battling criticism from our wonderfully responsibly thinking (but secretly envious) family and friends. Our orders for bikes, bags, tents, and everything else we finally have a reason to buy, is all coming in faster than we know how to pay for. This is all just the beginning of what we hope will be a great way to spend our mid life crisis. Much more blogging to come, in the meantime may I recommend shopping at Wasatch Touring- shameless plug. *B-rad