More Long-Distance Bicycle Tourists

Our second pair of long-distance bicycle tourists of the season stopped by the Peninsula store yesterday. Kelly Platzer and Chance Glasford are both from Minnesota and are students at St. Cloud State University. They drove to New York city, and headed out on their matching Surly Long Haul Trucker bikes, and are heading west until they reach San Francisco. They are raising money for the American Cancer Society. You can follow their progress and make a donation from their blog at: www.cycle4acure.blogspot.com

Thanks again to Doug for the photos!

Our favorite avid blogger and blog reader Mars Girl asks, "How does one go about preparing for a long bike trip like this?" Good question, and we've got some good answers. Several of the CC staff have some experience at this sort of thing, so stop by our stores and they'd be glad to chat with you about it. A great online place to start is the Adventure Cycling Association's How-To Department at: http://adventurecycling.org/features/howto.cfm They've got great articles for the beginning cyclo-tourist, covering everything from training and packing, to routes and maps.

Speaking of long-distance riding, two of the CC staff are competing in tomorrow's Mohican 100 Mountain Bike Race. Brent from the Peninsula store (on his Surly Karate Monkey) and John from the Medina store (on his Salsa El Mariachi) will be riding the grueling 100-kilometer course!

Good luck to Brent and John in the race, and good luck to Kelly and Chance on their cross-country journey!