I'm alive and in baker city!
Today I met Tommy, a 26 year old from california who is also doing the transam. He taught me that talking to people makes this so much better. We discovered the "great salt lick" (check it out), and are camping behind the local Y pool.
Oregon has been amazing. My butt hurts, my legs are growing exponentially, and it hasn't rained yet!
ps: side of the road sketchy camping isn't that sketchy after all, and illegal sunsets are the best sunsets!

day one: success!
Andre and I drove to Florence to begin my adventure.
We arrived slightly before 11, went to the beach, to see the ocean, and he let me loose with a fanfare of opera and horn-honking!
One of my dad's cousins has a place in Eugene, so I decided to blast there and delay the inevitable side-of-the-road camping for as long as possible.
Luckily, route 36 is absolutely gorgeous and verdant. I never realized Oregon was so green! Baby blue skies, crystal-clear lakes and huge open valleys made the 78 miles to Eugene go by in a flash.

I am now sitting downtown, agonizingly typing this on my kindle ("experimental" internet browsers aren't ideal for blogging), as I devour pizza and wait to meet up with Elyse, my dad's cousin!

I am going to say farewell (and apologize for any spelling mistakes, this infernal machine makes spell checking hard).
Check back for more exciting stories next time!
Love, Malcolm

Idaho City Warm-up

As a way to check if my bike/gear setup was ready, I decided to bike from Boise to Idaho City, camp somewhere past town, and bike back the next day. Unbeknownst to me, a cold front came in, and instead of the 80+ degree and sunny weather we'd been having, I went to bed with and woke up to a pleasant 36 degree drizzle. Thankfully, I packed with (my understanding of) Oregon in mind.

Camp during the sunny interlude

Luckily, my bivy sack prevailed and the adjacent campsite had a fire I could warm my hands up to before leaving. The ride back started out chilly, but the nice folks at the Idaho City ranger station are very welcoming to whoever wants to warm up and refill on water.

This is me trying to show how misty it was - I don't think it worked

Things I learned on this trip:

As a first bike trip, it was humbling. I only covered 55 miles a day, and my legs weren't pleased with pushing a Malcolm and a half uphill. On the bright side, I appreciated the scenery much more!
Disposable gloves make a good baselayer when your (not so) waterproof gloves soak through.
Carrying more than a few pounds of food isn't worth the extra calories.
My soda can stove guzzles denatured alcohol, and does a good job at keeping my hands warm.
Going downhill on a heavy bike is fun!

A short introduction

Hi! My name is Malcolm. This is my friend Caleb and I:

Hint: I'm not the parrot

Allow me to introduce my traveling partner, Gertrude:

 

Solid, dependable, easy on the eyes

Together, we plan on going on an adventure: bike across the United States, from the Oregon coast to the coast of Virginia, beginning Friday, June 21st.

We will follow the Transamerica Trail from Florence, Oregon to Yorktown, Virginia. At this point the fall semester will be nigh and buses, trains, or truck-beds will become viable alternatives to biking the last 500 miles to Syracuse, New York.

I will be contactable by phone (service dependent) and email (coffee-shop dependent). If you or a friend happen to live on/near the trail (you can check via the link above), and feel up to hosting me / satisfying my insatiable hunger, please let me know!

I will blog about random things whenever I get wifi on my kindle, so it's gonna be sporadic. Feel free to check back every week or so!