Week 2-3: Sun 31 July - Thurs 12 Aug

Hello Again! After a couple weeks long hiatus from computer and internet, while on the bike tour, I returned back to Eugene for a few days to regroup and then (almost immediately) set out on the road again...

So, here's what I've been up to for the past 2 weeks:

Backtracking just a bit. I do have one more thing to say about Sacramento, CA. As quaint and boring as I found California's State Capitol to be, I did stumble across one cool thing happening in the Capitol State Park. This one is the "WEGarden" program in Sacramento, and seemed to me a pretty cool thing as it was valued enough to be planted in the most high profile park in the city. It's quite encouraging to see these community gardens popping up all over the place now...I'm seeing tons of them, everywhere, out here on the west coast.

Also, here's a nice bridge I came across while meandering through the town...

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I arrived in Eugene, OR via train at around 1pm last Friday, 30 July. Although my bike *looks* super awesome all decked out and ready to ride, I did need to have a few things checked out and adjusted at the local REI after claiming it from the Amtrak baggage check. (While definitely way more gentle than the airlines with checked luggage, Amtrak still handled my bike box a bit rough for my taste. Lesson learned.)

The following day, Saturday, was an all day orientation for the bike tour I began riding with 32 other people on Sunday. This day was long and intense,filled with much information, and also included the starting point for meeting and interacting with 32 of the most amazing, inspiring and friendly people I've ever met!

Sunday, 1 August, was our first day of riding (and, literally, my first day riding any long distances since being in Chicago around mid July) and my odometer registered 62.2 miles (100.1 km)...the first half which was somewhat hellish for me, the second half, surprisingly and delightfully easy. (The path shown on the map is not exactly the route we took, but close enough to get the idea of how far and where we traveled).

Our end destination for the day was Sunbow Farm (www.sunbowfarm.org) in Corvallis, owned and operated by Harry MacCormack who was instrumental in creating, organizing and setting the standards for Oregon Tilth Certified Organic (OTCO), which, in 1990, became the foundation of the law for what we now know as USDA Organic Standards.

Having visited this farm and listening to Harry talk taught me *much* and opened my eyes to many aspects of the organic and chemical farming industries that I was previously unaware of. I'm still processing everything I learned during my two days there and am looking forward to the opportunity to go back one day soon and learn more. Many thanks to Harry for opening up his home, heart, farm and extensive knowledge base to us for the short time we were there.

Sidenote: The basic model for this tour was - one day riding to our destination farm, then staying overnight that night and the following night with a service project on the farm on the day in between.

While at Harry's farm, we harvested a relatively small patch of organic garlic, (so very yummy!) strung it up and hung it in the rafters to dry.

There was also this beautiful solar heated outdoor shower on the farm that I (sadly) did not have the chance to experience, but heard from others that it was absolutely delightful...which I definitely plan on checking out next time I'm there!

Tuesday, 3 August was our second day of riding and took us 36.5 miles (58.7 km) north east (again, not totally accurate on the map) where we ended up at MattCyn Farms in Albany. On the way out of Corvallis, we stopped at the First Alternative Food Co-op (which was awesome and amazing) and got to see the projects they had going on in other parts of the building (aside from the obvious grocery), such as the vertical garden, rainwater harvesting, solar patio and local food plant sales. Having visited MattCyn Farms, it is starting to become clear to me the variety of ways that organic farming is being approached and carried out. It was quite an interesting contrast to the day before at Sunbow Farm, but equally as educational. While on the farm, we harvested their barley field (which was an amazingly serene, beautiful and fun community effort) and then had the opportunity to eat some of it that Cyndi had cooked up for dinner later that night. Thank you, Matt and Cyndi for your welcoming us so warmly.

Thursday, 5 August we rode from MattCyn Farms to John Sundquist's Farm in Coburg. This ride took us another 62 miles (100 km) back down south. (...of which I only ended up riding about 34 miles that day due to a somewhat spontaneous leg injury my riding partner was experiencing that day due to a bum seat adjustment. (She got better with some rest and massage and was fine for the last day of riding.)

Arriving at John Sundquist's Farm was *amazing*. Horses, sunflowers, fruit *literally* falling off the trees and bushes. Edible plants absolutely *everywhere*...tons and tons and tons of space to do all sorts of things in (planting, harvesting, sitting, camping), a broken down old bus decked out for gathering in and equipped with solar power...This place was incredible and I cannot wait to go back! Thank you so much John for your warm, welcoming smile and very educational garden walks. I'm eager to learn more.

Also, I used a bulb of garlic I harvested from his farm in a soup made a few days later in Eugene and it was *delicious*! (If you've noticed a trend here, it's garlic harvesting season right now on the west coast...I *totally* lucked out on this trip!)

Saturday, 6 August was our last day of riding and brought us back into Eugene. And, even though we were only about 15 miles (24.1 km) outside of Eugene, our total riding distance for the day topped out at about 34 miles (54.7 km). This was due to all the stops we made along the way before closing up back at our starting point. We stopped and took a tour of Eugene's
Center for Appropriate Transport (CAT), Maitreya EcoVillage (or "intimate neighborhood"), and Jan's Permaculture House and Garden (Jan was on the tour with us and shared with us his extensive knowledge of the Eugene area and progressive things happening there for the last 20 or so years.)

All in all, the bike tour was a success. My odometer read 197 miles from the time I started the tour in Eugene to the morning I left town a week later. (whoohoo!) I have *much* more to relay about this unique experience, but it will have to wait until another time, as I am in desperate need of some good, solid hammock sleepin right now! (Arising at 6am tomorrow to get back on the road to Portland!)

More to come soon...