yummy food, yummy beer, yummy, yummy!

i think everyday should be a food festival, is that too much to ask? i mean really. friday was a spectacular day. it truly was. we slept in, made some grits for breakfast and then headed over to the eat real food festival.

kelly-anne, julie......we need to go there and eat again!!!

yes please! how amazing is this idea!!

love that they used a shipping container, so wise.

you also get to keep the mason jar!

first thing we did was scope out what was available. there were tons of stalls and i plan on buying that mushroom kit because mushrooms are my most favorite! there were sooo many yummy options but we weeded out the food trucks that we had already eaten at. once we did that we made a bee line to the beer and wine stalls to get ourselves some beer!

no, those are not boogers,. its my septum, retainer, which is actually no more, i got a hoop put in!

**love**

best damn gyro i have ever had the pleasure of putting in my mouth hole. ooh mama, that sounds dirty! hehe

you canadians.....genius!

so happy, so full

we made sure to bring a blanket so that we could enjoy ourselves and relax in the warm sun and listen to the band play some great tunes. finally, we got hungry or should i say, we needed to soak up some of the booze we were drinking, so we headed to a stall called the whole beast and got a lamb gyro (holy shit, so good!) and lamb poutine (them canadians really know how to eat french fries! alicia, i have a new love for your home land!!!!! lamb gravy on everything!!!!!!)

after filling up on the most delicious food, i needed to satisfy my sweet tooth, so we packed up and got some ice cream. coffee flavored, booyah! a great way to end a food festival, although i think i could have eaten, like 10 more scoops of that ice cream. sooo good.

what were you up to this weekend?

xo,
cb

camping tips from a pro...well,not really

hey guys! i thought it would be fun to talk a bit about some of the things that tom and i have learned about camping that have helped make it a bit more enjoyable and since summer is coming to an end many of you might be taking those last minute ventures into the woods.

since tom and i mostly bike camp we have to be sure we not only pack lite but that everything we bring is necessary. first, we like to start with a list. this helps a ton and since our last adventure went oh so wrong, we were determined not to forget the necessaries, like, oh,... tent poles. i know they make camping list pads but for us it isn't bike camping specific but if you are a first timer, it is always helpful to know what to bring.

once, you have compiled a list it is helpful to add things that can make the trip fun. i bought tom this awesome solar paneled crank radio and we bring it everywhere. it is perfect for hanging out by the creek and listening to some tunes! plus no batteries are needed. we also LOVE dominoes but a stack of cards is always a great idea too.

 don't forget boooooooooze!!!!!! since tom and i have to pack light, a wine bottle is just too heavy but never fear! this company makes awesome wine in a small box. it's lighter aaaand has more wine then a wine bottle, booyah baby! plus on the back of the box, it tells you 10 reasons why they rock and they are pretty much right on target ;D

rope. thank goodness tom and i at least remembered rope on our last disastrous trip otherwise we would have been sleeping under the stars and would have gotten rained on the following morning. rope is really handy for just about anything and makes for a perfect clothes line. like i have said, we have to pack light so washing our bike clothes is a good idea and saves space in our bags for other things.

lastly, baby wipes. i like to stay as clean as possible while camping and i like our "house" to stay as clean inside as possible too so when walking around the camp site in flip flops your feet can get a little dirty so wiping your feet before you get in keeps all the dirt and pine needles out of the tent. plus it is less clean up when you are packing up and heading for home. coleman makes biodegradable wipes but we ran out of time and didn't get a chance to pick them up.

i hope we can squeeze one more trip in before winter sets in, typing this out really made me want to go asap. i would love to hear if you have any other tips too!
xo,
cb

a peek into our annual bike camping trip

just a warning: this is a photodump, it was hard to narrow down what pictures i wanted to post so i hope you enjoy it as much as we did experiencing it!

tom is getting really good at taking pictures AND steering the bike

this may be my favorite picture we took!

home for 2 1/2 days. beautiful

a view from the drivers side

getting dominated at dominoes, aren't you suppose to let the lady win?

sipping beer and picking berries

wearing my vintage bathing suit. this ones for you sarah!

that is just what we did

 our trip was excellent, maybe the best yet. the weather was superb, no one tried to kill us with their huge cars, we had two great nights meeting the other bikers and hikers who were staying at the same site, had a delicious breakfast at the pine cone diner, practiced and even dominated skipping rocks, got a bit of a tan, wore my new vintage bathing suit, played dominoes and lost (i will get my revenge!!), saw a fox but didn't take a picture, saw & heard a raccoon fight and lastly, tom and i are planning a longer bike camping tour for next year. so excited and living in the bliss that was 2 1/2 days with my best friend and our bike. what could be better?

oh, did i mention i start work today? what a great way to end an impromptu vacation!

xo,
cb

the illustrated lady

hey everyone!  hope everyone had a great weekend. we spent ours up north again hanging out with kelly-anne, working out and dying my hair. it was very fun!


on to the fun news! tom has a flickr account and is friends with a few bike industry peeps and last year when we went on one of our a tandem bike camping trips, swift industries (an awesome bike bag & accessories shop) favorited this picture.

then a little later, they contacted tom to ask if they could use the picture for their summer ad campaign!! i was more then thrilled because what an awesome opportunity and how cool that someone liked the picture so much that they wanted to use it! and this is how it turned out!! 

drawn by karl addison

i really really love how it turned out. the colors are awesome and it just really rocks all around. they are having a essay contest about riding a bike and the winner receives 15% off their next purchase and tom and i have been eyeing  another pair of bags for our camping trips, so i took the opportunity to submit something. here is what i wrote and the picture i submitted........wish me luck!

Riding has changed me. It has changed how I see the world, where I want life to take me, and what truly is important to me. Being able to power my own way through life and feeling independent from what the mass majority of what society thinks and does is such a freeing feeling. Cycling started as a way to better my health & to be happy about my body by feeding it what it needed, and then it grew the more I rode, the further I went and the harder I pushed myself to tear down mountains that I thought I could never climb. It has put into prospective what matters: living life to the fullest, trying and challenging myself, not just on the road, but in other areas of my life. Now more then ever I feel like I am on the right path to where I have always wanted my life to go. I have a partner who shares my goals and who pushes us to keep going and when that hill is super steep and we are in our granniest of granny gears, to put your head down, keep breathing and keep pedaling. There is nothing like conquering that hill, looking back at what it took to get there and then flying down the other side to reap that oh so sweet soothing breeze. It is so easy to jump in a car, put it in cruise control and be taken on a ride but nothing is more satisfying & empowering to truly earn that final resting place.

And there is no better resting place then that of the ancient redwood forests. Touring has opened up so many wonderful worlds and so many other places that are yet to be explored. There is a warmth on that open road that I often do not feel on my everyday commute, a solitary nod from my fellow cyclist acknowledging that in that single moment that we are both out for the thrill and joy of living an awesome life. Although I have had my run in with unfriendly motorists, it doesn't stop me from living how I want to live. It is more important to preserve rather then to hide when the road gets a little bumpy. That is what riding on two wheels is all about.




is there anything in your life that has changed you and your perception on life?


xo,
cb

when adventures go wrong

haha. funny that right after i wrote about why i love to go on adventures, one goes horribly wrong. well, i shouldn't say it went entirely wrong. it could have been very bad but we laughed a lot...a lot and we stuck it out as best as we could.

thus, let the adventure begin..... it started off great! we were both totally pumped! we were using our backpacks we bought a year ago for the first time. we weren't even going that far, it was gonna be awesome.

not too far from our house, a lady pulls in front of us and asks "are you lost?" tom was very sweet and said, "no, we are going camping to lake chabot." lady: "oh, i thought you were european." me: "ummm, no." we weren't really sure what she would have done if we did say we were lost but we should have taken as a omen. haha. we laughed about the scenario pretty much the entire way there.

the shit we carried

we hiked some more, it took us about 3 1/2 hours to get there. which is sad because it was about 6 miles from our house. there was a lot of climbing and the sun was blazing out so we took many stops. i never thought being a sherpa could be tough stuff. it is. i have never known back pain and leg pain like this in my life! i felt like a 90 year old person by the time we got to our site with blisters on my toes and everything. what the what, man!

as if being in pain from the walk there wasn't enough, we unpacked out stuff and to our dismay, NO TENT POLES! wow, that majorly sucked. with no trees close enough to tie rope to we had a genius idea to prop our tent underneath the picnic table. yes, i said genius and it pretty much was except for the fact that you had to slide your way in and be careful not to bump your head on the top of the table. home sweet home it was for one night and one night only.

still smiling

we made it an early night and to add to the icing on top of this already delicious cake, it rained the following morning! yay! thank goodness for the picnic table otherwise we would have been rained on but sadly all of our stuff got wet that wasn't in the tent with us. tom wasn't feeling well and i was beginning to not feel well either. that is what broke the camels back. thank the lords that verizon is awesome because i called my mom and she came to our rescue!

yea, thats right, i'm eatin' turkey while watching turkeys

while waiting, we were visited by a group of turkeys, that literally came within inches of us! we always see them on our bike rides and saw them as a good omen but this time it was not true. i think the site is cursed because last time we came here it was a bitch to get to, too. you can read about that excursion here. haha good times.

now, tom and i have spent the last 3 days in bed with terrible terrible colds. when adventures go wrong, you bet it did! all in all, though, i am pretty proud of ourselves for sticking it out, trying something new and laughing the entire time. my checks were hurting friday afternoon when my mom dropped us off at home. would we go back packing again? i am not sure i am ready to answer that question right now. but what i know is. that next time, we are totally packing the tent poles.

xo,

cb