Surly Long Haul Trucker Update

It's been too long since I last posted in my cycling blog. I gave up driving completely around six years ago. Been riding my Surly Long Haul Trucker for about 5 1/2 years now. Rode my Electra Townie for about one year, before I invested in my Surly Long Haul Trucker.

The above picture shows some recent changes I have made to my Surly Long Haul Trucker. I removed my four Ortlieb Panniers. I still have my Surly Nice Front and Rear Racks, which allow me to attach various types of bags. I have my Carradice Long Flap Saddlebag on the right rear. I added a board > 7 1/2 inches wide, by 18 inches long, secured with five tiny bungees. So far, the board is holding tight.

This pic shows my Surly Long Haul Trucker loaded to the hilt with around $300.00 worth of food from WINCO ... !!! I have four Ortlieb Panniers attached to Surly Nice Racks. Arkel Large Handlebar Bag. Carradice Long Flap Saddlebag in the rear (green canvas), with an old Dufflebag, four water bottle cages.

We hosted Alec Bernard/Allie Wills, who cycled from Connecticut. Their total cyling tour is around 3,548 miles, in only 43 days, average of 82.5 miles per day ... !!! They cycled for a cancer fund raiser.
 

We hosted Erin Nelson for four days, around July 26th, 2012. She had been cycling around the world, visiting over 30 countries, all alone, riding the same bicycle ... !!! See links to the right to read more about Erin's adventures ..... We had a good time visiting with Erin. My boys and daughter-in-law and I all played Monopoly with Erin. She won. Erin shared lots of her stories with us. When it was time for Erin to leave, I rode to Turlock with her, where she met up with her friends and sponsor for celebration. She eventually finished cycling in Fresno, where she had started her nearly two-year cycling tour around the world.
 

Tested out my new homemade air horns when I rode into town. They work pretty good. Gave a demonstration inside the Army Surplus store!

This air horn, made from a pill bottle, is even better yet, and very loud! If you have the hole for the straw really tight, then you can adjust the depth of the straw, every so slightly, and change the tone of the sound:

Another pill-bottle air horn, even better!

Here is one of my pill-bottle air horns I made last night. Works very nicely, and is very loud!

Riding Into Town ....

Benny and I rode into town. Had two doctor appointments. Then we went to the flower garden across from the McHenry Mansion to rest a bit. On our way home, we got separated. I was chatting with an old friend. I thought I could find a short cut to catch up with Benny, but got stuck at the railroad tracks. Rather than turn around and go back, I decided to cross the tracks and see if I could find a short cut.

While riding along side the tracks, I noticed several railroad spikes. I wanted to pick them up, but decided I'd come back another day. As I continued riding, I noticed more spikes, then more and more .... They were all over the place! So, I parked my bicycle, walked up and down the tracks for about a mile, and collected around 40 railroad spikes and some broken pieces of track, and I think what looks like a brake pad from a train!

Ride Across Town With Benny

Benny and I headed out around 9:10 this morning. We stopped and took some pictures along the way. Stopped by our old house. Cody's dog was still there, and the little dog. Jesse's dog that is handicapped was there too. It is a killer dog, so we couldn't go inside. Looks like my vegetable garden was all dead, except for some green onions. The weeds have completely taken over the garden that I had planted before we moved out.

Benny noticed an old car on 9th Street, at the restaurant where John took him. We stopped and got some pictures of the blue 1932 Ford. I went inside and met the owner of the car. Asked him a few questions.

Made it to the cardiologist a few minutes early. Didn't take too long. The doctor said that Benny's heart is good. They didn't find any problems. On our way back home, we stopped and took lots of pictures.

Benny tried to climb a couple of trees. We admired the flowers and Japanese maples along the way. We rode around downtown Modesto. Took pictures of the murals on the outside of the Brandon Theatre. Got some pictures of the Double Tree, the huge clock, fountain, and more.

Benny found some old raildroad spikes and broken pieces of a train. Benny took a bunch of pictures of things he was interested in. We took pictures of more interesting cars, including a small auto repair shop with a bunch of Jaguars. The guy only works on Jaguars.

Stopped at the Lion Bridge and took some pictures. Took some pictures of Benny sitting on one of the lions. Benny took pictures of me standing on the lion.

I figure we must have rode about 22-23 miles today. I can sure feel the ride! I'm tired, but we survived the long ride. I got sunburned pretty good.

Riding in the Rain ...

Tried out my new rain gear while riding home from work. It's nice to ride in the heavy rain, and stay dry!

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Our World Cyclist Friend ...

Thomas, cycling down the west coast from Alaska to California, came to visit us for a couple days. We rode on the Dry Creek Trail. Dara on the left with his Townie. Thomas standing on top of the sign. His Surly Cross Check on the right.

Thomas, Dara, Vern Riding Around Town

We (Dara and I) took Thomas riding around town. Rode from our place, across the historical Lion Bridge (built in 1916), through downtown, then onto the Dry Creek Trail. We rode to the end and back (nine miles), then rode past the Library, McHenry Mansion (took some pictures), McHenry Museum, then over to A & W Rootbeer. It was already dark by then. We order three large rootbeers. Thomas had never drank rootbeer! We took our time enjoying the rootbeer, took some more pictures, then rode back to our place.

World Cyclist Comes to Visit ....

This afternoon, we had a special guest, Thomas, from England. We met through Warm Showers He had been riding his bicycle from Canada to California. Thomas rode the BART to Pleasonton, then rode his Surly Cross Check to Modesto, about 55 miles, in only four hours! Had a nice visit, sharing stories ..... I am really interested in hearing more about Thomas' adventures with the Mongols, where he stayed for six weeks .....

Riding to Emergency ...

Last night Dara and I rode to the Emergency at Memorial Hospital to get x-rays of Dara's arm. Temperature must have been around 100 degrees when we left home about 4:30. We had to wait at least three hours before they finally did the x-ray. Somebody has mistakenly marked that the x-rays had already been taken, when in fact, no x-rays were done!

We spent about four hours at the Emergency, before we rode home again, from about 9:30 until 10:15. Ride home was pleasant, as the temperature had cooled to about 75 degrees.

Total ride for yesterday = 16 miles