What's Next for the Farm Cyclers?
Hi everyone! It’s been a while since we last posted, and we apologize for leaving you all hanging. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, as our plans have taken a complete turn due to some unfortunate circumstances.
As you may have read in earlier posts, long-distance cycling has taken a larger toll on Andrea’s pre-existing carpal tunnel syndrome than she had expected. In planning for the trip, she took her weak wrists into account, and purchased the best ergonomic bicycle handlebar grips on the market, the Ergon Bike GP Series (http://www.ergon-bike.com/en/product.html?a=griffe#gptouring-42410036), so that she could hold on to the handlebars without putting too much pressure on her wrists. She also purchased cycling gloves from Shock-Tek (http://www.shocktek.com/products_gen_st9803.html) that were designed by a neurologist who suffered from carpal tunnel while cycling to help relieve pressure on the hands and wrists. Unfortunately, these efforts just weren’t enough, and so we need to do more research into how to prevent pain and numbing in Andrea’s hands before we can take another long-distance cycling tour.
On top of that, the East Coast seems to be having quite a crazy climate this year. When we were riding through Georgia, the temperatures were much lower than normal for March, with nights below freezing and daytime temperatures low enough to affect the air pressure in our tires. Then, as we were finishing our stay at Thorn Chase Cottage, a huge thunderstorm (that we found out later brought large hail and tornadoes to the South) was on its way, and would have pounded us for three days as we rode our bikes to North Carolina. And through all of this, the Northeast was getting hit with at least two snowstorms, meaning that we could have potentially reached the area while there was still snow on the ground. We had done a lot of research into the best time of year to cycle along the East Coast, and we thought that mid-to-late spring would work best; it’s before hurricane season and the weather isn’t typically too severe, with just some occasional rain storms. However, we couldn’t account for how drastic the climate would change so far this year, and we decided to end the tour rather than risk being stuck in an unexpected severe weather event.
Here is a link to an article summarizing the severe weather events in the South: https://weather.com/storms/severe/news/severe-weather-forecast-early-april-2017-tornadoes-hail-wind
Thankfully, our journey has changed directions, but it is far from over. We rented a minivan and drove for three days straight to reach our home in the Los Angeles area. After a couple of weeks of rest, recuperation, and planning, we’re finally prepared for the next leg of our journey...Portland, Oregon! We will be taking the Amtrak to Portland on Earth Day, April 22nd, to arrive on the 23rd. Once there, we will be working on local farms and learning more about agriculture and ecology while exploring the city on our bikes in our free time. Portland is a very bike-friendly city, and we’re excited to go on shorter bike excursions around town!
Of course, we will continue to document our adventure in this blog, and we are ever grateful for your support and companionship as we travel, learn, and explore. Thank you, everyone!
