Hey guys.
Lats and I are going for a ride this morning. Leaving West 7th Ave, Vancouver in an hour, heading to Seattle. Come join us if you like. 
man, hold up⌠still pumping my tyres up. 
say hi to the nice men at the border for me⌠:roll:
Donât get raped by a moose or LatsâŚ
When youâre in China next week, look me up
Your wife is letting you go back again? After what happened last time with midget and the tiger penis!!!
That midget touched a part of me, thatâll never be replacedâŚ
No moose rapage occurred.
Border crossing was uneventful, even though we screwed it up and went through the Nexus lane instead of the foot traffic / truck lane.
PS: for vintage cycle buffs, Classic Cycle on Bainbridge Island will blow your mind. Especially if youâre into 6 Day racing. Multiple Malvern Stars too.
Leaving Seattle for Portland tomorrow, hoping to pin a number on at Alpenrose velodrome, but I may only be able to watch. Should have brought my BCC jersey with me!
wasnât aware you had an international race licenseâŚ
Do I sense a hint of jealousy? :evil:
not entirely necessary⌠a lot of velodromes will let you race at âclubâ events if you can prove that you have the equivalent race licence for your home country.
i saw a couple of poms and aussie rock up and race at burnaby and marymoor velos after showing their national licences (or at least looking like they knew what they were doing).
a few of the velodromes are open air so much like some of melbournes you can show up and jump a fence to ride them as well. 
was definitely said with a touch of the sulksâŚ
you did a âCadelâ.
it wasnât my fault. i wasnât getting any support from my team.
People Iâve spoken to reckon I can get a day licence and race on a rented GT easy enough.
Iâll head out tomorrow night and see what happens.
Saw a sweet Pogliahi today Stu. Along with a Merckx, Teledyne Titan, Exxon Graftek, Paramount, ColnagoâŚ
Portland appears to be made of bikes, beer & coffee. I may not return.
Love to see some pics Blakey. Sounds like a great trip.
Stu
befriend him on facebook! bikes and coffee galore!
ââŚTeledyne TitanâŚâ
being ridden? did you have a chance to flick the top tube?
Thanks a million for the derailleur and shifters mate, here is a pic of birthday bike on birthday morning in pyjamas
hot⌠bike! 
Good Morning Eugene!
Got in at midnight last night, hostel door lock code didnât work, gate wasnât unlocked, night phone not being answered⌠found an unlocked door, then my bed. Phew.
Alpenrose was awesome! Located on the grounds of Alpenrose Dairy (Sorry xBBx), also a soccer and baseball field. The track is about 40 years old, and had the corners modified in the 90âs. ~268m, long straights, tight turns.
I raced Cat 4, which was way faster than D grade BCC (2 discs in Cat4 club racingâŚ). Decent sized field, 4 races but I scratched after 3 as I had to high tail it back to Portland. 20 lap points, mystery lap scratch (10? They roll the dice, and count laps up on the board, you donât know when itâs going to end until you get the bell, anywhere between 2 & 18 laps), 10 lap âtempoâ (points race with first two riders scoring every lap.) Photo finish setup operating, reasonable number of spectators. This was a weekly Omnium, with points accumulated over the season.
No madison due to lack of riders, but they normally do one each week (!!).
The track is painted, but almost as rough as Harrison Street Velodrome, each corner is a little different, and the turns are really tight, my first one at speed sent me way up the bank.
OBRA were fine with a day licence, hooked me up with a sweet GTB (theyâre selling their fleet of 30 of these shortly BTW). Great to be out in the sun tearing round the track with music over the PA.
If youâre in the US/Canada and have the chance to get to a track, do it!
Didnât touch the Teledyne, was hanging from the ceiling. Glad the parts worked for you.
Made it the 100km from Eugene to Florence / Honeyman state park with a solid afternoonâs riding, 13 bottles of water and 3 burritos. The hardest days were yet to come however.
Since then have ridden the rest of the way with:
- A couple on Kleins with 16 spoke wheels and a Bob trailer who start at lunch and then hammer. Believe they had serious mechanical issues after I left them, hardly surprising.
- Microsoft engineers on a fast tour. One is an elite triathlete who contested all the green jersey (city/county limit signs) and blue jersey (tsunami warning zone signs) points with me.
- Excellent bunch of Californians over the last few days and over the Golden Gate bridge, dodging tourists wobbling on rental bikes.
Have been cruising around SF for the last couple of days, mostly in the Mission District, drinking coffee, NJS walking my bike (only 1 NJS part), volunteering at the Bike KitchenâŚ
Mechanical issues:
1 lost chainring bolt. 2 zipties did the trick for the last couple of hundred km, have no idea when it fell out though, somewhere between Canada & California.
Flat tyres: 0. Vittoria Randonneur Pros conquered road, trail, glass, thorns⌠Barely any wear showing.
In future: Take less. 2 front panniers and a saddlebag is definitely enough to travel indefinitely as long as you have a decent tent/bag/pad, and you travel much faster than people with front & rear panniers loaded to the hilt. Also use warm showers to connect with more locals in metro areas.
Items I missed: Stove, to avoid raw dinners / takeout. WiFi enabled device for email/directions/maps.
Overall: Had a blast, saw some spectacular scenery, met many great people. If you are thinking about touring the Pacific Coast, PM me with any questions. I also have maps from Vancouver -> San Francisco if you need them.