Bear Phobia

I haven't had a bear attack dream in a while, but I've been thinking about it lately.  Perhaps this is due to the warmer weather.  I'm not sure if I have a phobia of being attacked (which, by the way, there isn't a name for--I checked) or what the deal is, but it sucks.  I searched for "bear attacks," and stumbled across this nicely organized list of fatal bear attacks in North America in the past century or so.  Glad to see that Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado have made the list multiple times.

There are some pretty dumb incidents, though.  For example: Munson had been feeding bears for ten years, though repeatedly warned by wildlife officials.  

Thanks to Nate for purchasing UDAP ultra bear spray with chest holsters.  I'll post a photo of me in full bear spray attire soon.

Woodchipper Handlebars

Here's my Fargo complete with Ay-Up lights, Woodchipper handlebars double wrapped with leather tape over gel cork tape.  Robyn has the same thing on her bike, and of course, she thinks this is overboard, but I'm sure she'll appreciate it on the ride.  We're waiting for our bags to come in from Eric from Epic Designs!

Inspirado

On June 12, Nate and I are hauling our 2 Salsa Fargo bikes out to Banff to begin what we've dubbed as our second honeymoon. The plan is to bike from Banff to the Colorado/New Mexico border in about 65 days along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, or GDR, for short.

The idea for this began at the Museum of Vancouver's biking exhibit while on our first honeymoon in August of 2009. I have always wanted to bike across the United States (i.e. from the Atlantic to the Pacific), and pitched the idea to Nate as we were walking around the exhibit. I'm a schoolteacher and he's in grad school, so the timing of doing it the following summer seemed logical. We've got no kids, no pets, no mortgage...it's a window of opportunity that we can't pass up.