Seattle, cycling, surfing couches and crowds

I went on a little 4 day sub-vacation from my primary vacation last week.  I failed to mention that for the past few weeks I’d been (pronounced ‘bean’ by some here tehe) cat sitting for a friend and in the end we decided a fair payment was a ticket to the capitol hill block party which my friends planed to attend anyway.  Only being vaguely familiar with most of the bands, I was a bit hesitant but with a decent understanding my friends musical taste and the rep of this particular event, I figured it couldn’t possibly be THAT bad.  The dust has cleared and the music was awesome.  Some favorites in no particular order were Built to Spill, Earth (low key, entrancing ambient rock), Truckasauras (refreshing hip hop with infectious electronic instrumentals), and Gossip who definitely sported a top notch performance.  Headliners Sonic Youth and Jesus Lizard were both only okay musically but rowdy crowds in the front made for a crazy good time of moshing, crowd surfing and generally getting beat up by the surrounding sweaty bodies.  My several bruises and nearly-destroyed-but-somehow-resurrected-glasses serve as proof of that.

Music however was not the entirety of the journey, at least for me.  I’ve still got no immediate job (this will have to change within the week or so) and I decided to use this particular occasion to do some touring on my fancy new bicicletta.  Make no mistake, the ride from Vancouver to Seattle is no cakewalk, clocking in at about 260 kilometers (160 miles) which definitely constitutes a 2 day trip for an amateur like myself.  I previously mentioned that my couchsurfers Bjorn and Jeremy would join my first 60 mile jog to Bellingham.  This experience immediately enlightened me to the value of touring with others.  You lose your way a lot less, it’s easier to pace the ride, morale remains steady, repairs are easier and conversation makes the time fly.  My mates made for extra good cyclist buddies since they would be slightly slower than me due to the trailer loads they toted along.

I will readily say the ride to and through Washington was beautiful, enjoyable, and per usual, it was relatively painless crossing the border on bike.  We ran into a few obstacles on the way including a police road block in the small town of Custer, where apparently someone was running around in the woods with an M-16.  Funny and awesome and just a little scary all at the same time.  There’s no way that dude was getting away from a chopper and about a dozen units covering all ends.  I really need Bjorns pictures to do this situation any justice.

Arriving in Bellingham, we met up with this dude Seth whom B and J would be staying with for the night.  Freaking amazing compadre.  Bjorn probably put it best saying “Not to knock you or anything Brandon, but Seth is probably the best and nicest guy we’ve met on our entire six week trip.”  So there you have it.  We drank a few beers and engaged in a solid discussion about environmentalism, politics and ethics.  You know, the usual topics you aren’t supposed to talk about but always seem to arise when the liquid encouragement starts flowing.  I had a couchsurfer lined up to host me that night and wanted to start heading her direction but was temporarily blocked by the tactful suggestion of grabbing Russian dumplings downtown.  Oh my flippin gawd this place makes Bellingham about 100x awesomer than it already is.  For realzies though, if you ever find yourself in Bellingham, Washington, get the dumplings at Pel’ Meni before you pass go.

Following the dumpling extravaganza I met with my couchsurfer Katie who so kindly gave me all the essentials I’d need for the night.  We talked for a while, I stroked her kitty some, and we headed to our respective beds shortly after.  I spent a good chunk of the night, needlessly planning a confusing route for the next day only to wake up early the next morning and scratch the entire plan in favor of an easier route Katie suggested.  This was the first time I’d ever come and gone from a couchsurfer’s place and it kind of felt dirty, considering the great relationships I’ve formed as a result of the program.  If I find myself there again, I’ll surely hit her up and try to get to know her a little better.

With a new route in mind, I set off at about 10 am for the next 100 miles to Seattle.  The initial part along the coast was hard riding but the eye candy was too spectacular for me to care.  Farmland quickly followed with a series of small towns interspersed.  Though I ride typically between 15 and 20 mph, stops and the occasional turn around slow you to about a 10 mph pace overall.  At the half way mark, I was pleasantly surprised to run into a cyclist named Justin, doing the exact same thing, from the exact same place (Bellingham).  He too was a bit inexperienced but certainly not a slow rider.  “What dumb luck!” we both thought.  I figured since he caught up to me in short order that he would quickly out pace my speed and leave me in the dust, but as I continued a short ways in front of him, I noticed that he had only caught me because I dawdled the first half, gawking at scenery and taking entirely too many pictures.  We met up again at about the 2/3 mark and decided to ride the rest in tandem which again helped incredibly.  We assisted each other in navigation, lent water as necessary and assisted with repairs.

The ride was great overall and I really enjoyed the most of it but the end seemed to drag on forever.  At hour 8 and 9 your body really starts to hate you for getting back on the bike and continuing up a hill.  It didn’t help either that Seattle has a massive urban sprawl to the north, giving the impression of an early finish line.  At the 9 hour mark we had made it to the northern part of Lake Washington and were both fading fast.  I had arranged (again) to stay with a couchsurfer that my friends would be staying with the other nights but suddenly I found myself hanging out with Justin and his buddy Jason having a jolly ol’ time.  We all crashed at Jason’s place soon after which was conveniently 3 blocks from the festivities.  Best sleep of my life.

The other nights were spent at hands down the best couchsurfing house I could have ever imagined.  All of the roommates in this place were not only on board with the project, they were pretty much activists and pros at it.  They kind of host as a team with one person or another almost always there to hang out and chill with who ever happens to be rolling through.  Little notes take care of telling surfers the finer details of the place to ensure smooth operation.  A couchsurfer guest book to offer you Seattlite advice or jot your own experience down sits on their table waiting to be tapped.  A guest bathroom and extra mattresses adorn the open space welcoming the 6 guests we had with room to spare.  I learned a lot from these guys and even suggested a few things they could do to improve their operation (namely a donation box/basket).  They were a great group and everyone in our crew was happy with our accommodation decision.  The green couchsurfers in our group were thrust into perhaps the most ideal CS experience possible.  Seattle, you haven’t seen the last of me!

Here’s a map of my route.  Lessons learned from my first substantial trek.
1. Seattle is awesome and freaking huge but I’m not sold on living there quite yet if I can’t stay in Canadialand after my visa expires.  It’s very flavorful, liberal and there’s plenty to do, but it just doesn’t seem quite as cyclist friendly as Van.  I think I’ve been spoiled rotten by the infrastructure here.
2. 100 miles on bike in a day is possible but definitely not for everyone and certainly a once in a while thing.  A ride of this proportion will be reserved for only extreme circumstances.  8 hours on bike is okay, 10 pushes my limits and 12 might be damn near impossible at this point.
3. Riding with friends is the only way to ride bike as outlined above.
4. Proper bike adjustment is crucial to sustaining the trip.  My seat was too low, tires were not inflated enough and the fenders were largely unnecessary for such nice weather.  Some of these things could be fixed on the spot, others had to be tolerated and battled with.  I planned ahead and did a good amount of tweaking but some things just can’t be anticipated without an experience.
5. Couchsurfing fucking rocks.  But you already knew I’d say that.
6. Glasses are (obviously) never safe in a mosh pit or any situation where you feel like you’re being squeezed into a human pulp.  Whether you put them in a pocket, a bag, or keep em on yo face, they’re still in constant peril.  Find a faint of heart friend to pawn them off.

Unrelated lesson learned: perhaps the best way to clear my mind when stressed is to make quick work of park dwellers at a game of chess.

Edit: I left a few details out.  The gay bars were hysterical, the Swiss girl who couchsurfed at the same time was pretty rad, we went to a seafood festival and farmers market on Sunday, I was crowd surfed by folks who wouldn’t let me do otherwise during Sonic Youth and driving in the city was… interesting depending on who was at the wheel and shotgun.

Hosting a UW-L somebody

So this whole couchsurfing bit has blown up beyond what I ever imagined and has become an important part of my adventure here.  I may have mentioned this before but when I got here, I doubted Heather’s claim she got 3 or 4 surfing requests daily but that rate is starting to seem more realistic now that I have my own place and an available couch.  The routine of wake up in the morning, rolling over to check my email, and telling a couchsurfer I’m too busy to host (complete with a lame excuse) is quickly becoming commonplace.  I’m slowly but surely developing the proper filters to only accommodate what I can handle and whom will work with me best.  That and I fear the roommates could get burnt out if I keep it up too much.

Earlier this week I couldn’t have been happier to receive a request from a couple of cyclists exploring the Pacific Northwest.  They’re newbies to the site but claimed to also be from the Minneapolis area, which is always a plus.  Not only that, but the user name of this individual looked strikingly similar to that of a certain UW-La Crosse celebrity known to most as the Bjorn Bergman.  If you’ve been a Lax student in the past 3 years, you know (all too well) the names Gow, Kockler, Ludwig and right up there with them, Bjorn Bergman.  The nearly ubiquitous green tee’s sporting Fred and Bjorn’s names immediately pop into mind when I recall their names.  Though we have countless mutual connections, we hadn’t personally met before but upon hosting them, I can attest that both Jeremy and Bjorn are top notch.

Needless to say that they make the cut through any surfer filters I’ve devised.  How could I not let someone stay with me who comes on bike, from the same area and the same University as me, and SOMEONE I FREAKING VOTED INTO STUDENT SENATE!?  Besides, who wouldn’t cast a vote for the names Fred and Bjorn on a ballot?  Voting 101: odd names get first priority.  I guess the point of this all is the age old it’s a small world (or continent in this case) afterall.  The two are surveying university campuses, talking to environmental groups and specifically documenting the differences of biking infrastructure in each area they stop.  Thus far, they’ve taken lots of notes from Vancouver.  Having designating bike paths off main roads is apparently unique, the signage is unprecedented here and specifically the crosswalk buttons for cyclists makes a huge difference.  From what they’ve seen and experienced, it’s the most cyclist friendly city on their trip thus far   Hope they can bring something back for proposal in the Midwest.

As a bonus, I mentioned to them that I’m heading to the Capitol Hill Block Party in Seattle on bike later this week and it turns out they’re going that same direction at least part of the way.  So now I’ve got company on my way to Bellingham and a couchsurfer to stay with when I get into town.  The next hundred miles to Seattle will be all on me.  I can’t wait for the ride.  Life is grand!

The first half of last week in review

I neglected to blog last week.  Didn’t really have a lot of time while I was hosting couchsurfers.  Granted, I had no excuse to not spend my waking moments with them considering the state of my schedule  (love love love double negs).  My apologies in advance that I’ll be cramming a lot of both words and pictures into this post.

Once again I had an amazing time hosting a couple strangers on their respective journeys.  They both arrived about the same time on Monday evening with Mike staying for two nights and Steph a total of four.  I’d never hosted two CSers at the same time but figured it would be worth a shot since they could entertain each other in the rare instance I’d have something legitimate going on.  Just as a primer of these peeps: Mike is a software developer coming from San Fran and actually lived at couchsurfing HQ for a while (an modestly apartment so he claims).  Terrified of bears, ridiculous Philly accent (ass = eaaayyyssss), and one of those dudes who instantly makes you feel comfortable.  Likewise, Steph was also a software hack managing databases for a scientific research project aboard drilling ships in the Pacific.  Both were waaaaaaay down to earth, outgoing, friendly and all about getting to know Vancouver in their short stay.  Hilariously enough, they both sent me messages to surf my couch using the general template of “Hey … your taste in operating systems kind of rocks … can you host me?”  Having three Linux users within close proximity for over a couple days is pretty much unheard of outside Linux cons.  Mike did a bit more trailblazing on his own and surely saw his own sights both days but Steph really got the see what Vancouver was all about using a spare bike in the garage.

The first day was a bit of a warm up.  They arrived within a half hour of each other and off the bat we all attended a philosophers gathering of sorts at a local restaurant with my roommates.  We were immediately thrust into a loose discussion about climate change, lifestyle, and economics, all the while surrounded by yummy Thai food.  Needless to say, I was anxious to attend purely for the prospect of a certain loud and needing-to-be-heard character who was bound to hog the spotlight.  Indeed I found exactly I hoped for: A dude proposing we bury plastic bags instead of recycle them in order to better sequester the carbon.  Nice   Him aside, a majority of the participants had a decent melon on their shoulders and it was a fine discussion.  The couchsurfers weren’t shy about getting involved and I definitely voiced my opinion more than once.  I find it hard to suppress the thought that at the end of the day these meetings accomplish very little.  It’s a dozen laypeople expressing similar opinions to similar minds.  At times the discussion almost puts advocate vs advocate who carry different ideas of how to best approach the problems.  Overall it’s still refreshing and honestly these citizen gatherings would go a long way if they were more ubiquitous and got more people enthused about grass roots solutions to big problems.  Afterward we got some drinks, rolled with the conversation, ran into some characters on the drive (see picture below of the transvestite on the bike with full steering wheel.  Yea…) and shared a few laughs.  Ice had been thoroughly broken within five hours.

Day two: Mike went on his own mission while Steph and I rode through the luscious green Stanley park.  I’ve now been there a grand total of three times in my stay and it definitely ranks high on the must-see list in Vancouver.  It’s probably deserving of it’s own post which I’ll sooner or later get around to writing up.  We eventually ran into technical difficulties as she blew a flat but we quickly recovered, borrowing some tools from a local rental shop and repairing the tube for $6 in the span of an hour.  Ahh the joys of having a lady with you to bat eyes at appropriate times.  Following our repair stint and a pit stop at a scrumptious Mongolian barbeque (pic), we hit Jericho beach and met up with Heather.  It’s always a safe bet to have couchsurfers shake hands with other couchsurfers.  It just works.  If that statement isn’t fully justified yet, the rest of the night surely does it justice.  Every Tuesday, couchsurfers in the area gather at the Brickhouse pub which lyes directly between my place and downtown.  Having not attended yet, I figured with two fellow surfers in tow, why not try it out?  The bar was fantastic.  Laxers I’m convinced this is the Bodega of Vancouver.  The vibe was right on, the music excellent and the people we met were pretty much top notch.  I’ll surely not hesitate to attend on another Tuesday.

Day three: Mike takes off early on as he has some camping to get after on the island.  We wave farewell and pray that the bears leave him be.  Wednesday wouldn’t be any ordinary day however.  Oh no.  This was July 1st, Canada day kiddies.  As expected, it’s similar to America day only the people seem to actually care about the festivities.  July 4th celebrations in the States always feel forced and centered around this one terribly gaudy event best known as fireworks.  Setting off your own fire[anything] is a great time but that was never a big aspect of my previous 4ths.  Maybe I just never had girlfriends on 4th of Julys.  Either way, patriotism on the Independence day seems to pale considerably in comparison to flag waving Canadians on Canada day.  It all felt more genuine but then again I may or may not be biased.  The weather was gorgeous and as such we snuck in some more beach time, eventually meeting up with Heather and her one night couchsurfer, Beau at Trout beach. Again, mixing and matching couchsurfers was a surefire bet.  Beau was fairly new to couchsurfing having only used it on his current trip.  He’s an Aussie with a hearty appetite and character just as large.  The four of us spent the remainder of the day biking to Granville Island (pic), drinking beer (pic, pic pIc), eating (pic) and generally enjoying Vancouver life (see entire gallary).  Far and away the best Canada day I’ve ever experienced and I’m inclined to think a few of my comrades would say the same

Steph decided to stay a final extra day as her schedule was flexible.  We made the mission to hit up the much hyped Wreck beach, known for being clothing optional and sporting a certified black market.  It was even hotter than the previous days but in all honesty the daytime wasn’t the highlight.  Our bike ride back was borderline surreal.  As the three of us screamed down the ginormous initial hill on bike, blaze orange sunset poking through the temperate rain forest and the coast within a stones throw I thought to myself, “holy *&$* #)#* I think I live for moments like this!”  An solid minute of chills would follow; it was that profound.  The sunset along the coast with the city in the distance and the weather nearly perfect gave the feeling of reading the scene from a fantastical fictional account.  We continued through coastal parks surrounded by Canadians dancing and delicious barbecues… barbecuing along our sides.  At one point of the park we passed the cutest little musical group composed of an accordion, tuba, guitar, and some other player I’m not recalling right now.  I recall questioning reality aloud to my mates at that point, “I’m just waiting for someone to pinch me.”  Whithering away, we concluded the night with beer and food at a local spot with the absolute best tuna apps (oops!) and poutine known to Canada.  The day was complete and I couldn’t help but think something must have been crossed off the bucket list in the past few days.

The next morning I sent Steph on her merry way.  Since then, we’ve all written kind things about each other on the couchsurfing website and I obtained my first vouch from Steph who happens to be an experienced surfer able to give a higher level of verification.  Perhaps the best part of all was that Steph gladly forfeited her camera to me pretty much the whole visit.  Tons of great pictures in much better quality than my POS would deliver.  I’ll conclude with some of the best.

Edit: Again, my apologies for length.  I’m just as turned off to an internet novel as the next user.  In retrospect, it would have been best to chop this post up as the days were happening though pictures wouldn’t have been included.  I’ll do better on the timing next round.  Also I failed to edit the pictures this time.  I guess that’s what happens when you post 45 of em at once.

Edit again: Turns out it takes about 3 rounds of editing to get 1400 words to play nice together.