3 R's: Revived, re-purposed, and re-branded

My poor, neglected blog is being revived once again, friends--this time with a new, shiny purpose! Are you ready for this?!  

Since my adventures in Southeast Asia are done and over for the foreseeable future, it's an appropriate time to re-brand and re-purpose.  So here it is: I'm going to start documenting my favorite adventures here in Iowa--specifically bike touring adventures with the simple intent to educate and encourage readers to explore more of this beautiful Iowa-land (and likely other Midwest locations) by the wonderful, eco-friendly means of bicycling. I truly believe that there's just nothing like being free and easy on a bike, seeing the world through the new perspective above your handlebars, all the while challenging your body physically and mentally. Ever since I was a child, I've loved the independence and power biking provided, so I figured it's about time I start sharing and encouraging others! Speaking of independence and power (and sharing for that matter), here's an interesting article from The Atlantic from a few years back discussing the link between biking and feminism that some of you might find interesting.

Now that you're all caught up on the 3 R's, I should probably backtrack a bit and fill you in on the build up to this blog revival...

Back in February, my fiance Dan (Instagram: seedanbike for more pictures of our adventures) and I set aside our vintage Schwinn road bikes and took the big leap to buy touring bikes.  I say "big leap" because there's no way around it--they were a pretty penny.  Up until this point in my life, I've always ridden hand-me-down bikes or Goodwill fixer uppers, so this was officially my first, brand-spanking-new bike purchase. You would think this would have made it easier to swipe that credit card, but honestly, it still stung. And it continued to sting up until just a few weeks ago when I finished "decorating" it to my liking. 

Dan did a lot of research on touring bikes months prior and found the Surly Disc Trucker's were consistently rated top notch for the kind of touring we plan to do, so it didn't take much convincing for both of us to go with Surly bikes ordered from our favorite Iowa City bike shop, World of Bikes.  Determined not to be "that couple" with matching bikes, we decided right away that we would customized them differently (Dan went black and I went a brown route).  Piece by piece and with lots of advice from our World of Bikes buddies, we've made them into exactly what we want. 

First up, we switched out our original saddles for Brooks saddles and added water bottle cages.  If you've ever picked up a Brooks saddle in a bike shop and felt the rock-hard leather, you've probably wondered why someone would ever want to sit on that, am I right?  Well, (and I can officially attest to this now) the leather is extremely comfortable after you put in between 500-1000 miles because it forms perfectly to the shape of your bum!  The first few rides were painful, for sure, but it's been worth it for the current results.  To match the brown saddle, I added Brooks brown handlebar tape to bring "the look" all together.   

Our beloved Surly Disc Trucker bikes with Brooks saddles, Tubus racks, and Ortleib pannier bags

After switching out the saddle, it was time to gear the Trucker up for long rides by adding the fenders (goodbye water/mud stains going up my back), front and back racks, and pannier bags.  I toyed with the idea of wooden add-ons, but in the end I went with stainless steel fenders and racks to give the bike a more "vintage" look and feel.  I'm happy with my decision and have gotten many compliments so far.  

Hills, IA

Jean-colored Ortleib pannier bags were the last touches (2 big bags in the back, 2 small bags up front) to the bike.  It was initially intimidating to ride with full bags, but true to the Disc Trucker reviews, the bike actually rides smoother fully loaded. Re-starting from full stops and going up hills is really the only time when you can feel the extra weight at all.

Panniers loaded with firewood on the top rack for some weekend camping in Sugarbottom Campground

So there you have it, the story of how my touring bike came to be.  

I have several favorite routes to share from spring/summer RAGBRAI training (not sure what RAGBRAI is? Check this out), but RAGBRAI itself begins in just TWO days.  I'll post about our interesting training routes another time; for now it makes sense to kick off this blog re-branding by sharing how and what we're packing for our week-long, self-contained (everything must fit on our bikes!) journey across Iowa.  

Check back tomorrow for our full packing list with pictures.

Peace, love, and bicycles, 

Kelly

Filipino Time

Wow, I'm the worst, right?  The absolutely worst.  Can I use the excuse that I'm posting on Filipino time?  Haha...

It's a terrible, ridiculous excuse because "Filipino time" is probably one of my biggest frustrations here, even after nearly 5 full months of "getting used to it"/cultural immersion.  And I know what some of you are thinking...you're thinking, "Kelly--Kelly Keegan, the notoriously late friend, being frustrated about lateness?  How ironic!" And to that I say...touché.  But let me explain myself.  

I'm actually totally okay with "Filipino time," aka showing up anywhere from 15 minutes to hours late, when it involves a social activity happening during my free time with patient and understanding friends whom I dearly love (shout out to all my friends whom I dearly love and miss!).  My frustration lies in this kind of "schedule" at school or professional events.  Nothing grinds my gears more than my grad students (consistently) walking into my class 15 minutes or more late with big smiles on their faces and fried, caramelized bananas-on-a-stick in their hands.  Just sauntering back from their lunch break to, ya know, catch some of that graduate level class they have enrolled in.  

I'm going to be honest.  I've lost my cool about it a few times (much to my students' surprise and even my own) which scares them enough for a week, maybe weeks max after which the same situation replays and replays.  

Or, let's take another example: seminars that I'm invited to speak at.  I'm told I'll be speaking from 1:30 to 3:00.  Ok, great.  I clear my schedule, prepare enough materials for 2 and a half hours, and I'm ready to rock.  

I arrive 15 minutes early and, huh? No one is there and nothing is even set up for the seminar.  The doors may even be locked still.  Hmm...am I in the wrong location?  Nope, I confirm the seminar is being held in this venue.  If I rally enough people and appear visually frustrated enough, maybe by 2:00 things are ready to go and at least some people have arrived.  

Now I have 2 choices.  Rush through my prepared lecture/workshop to finish by 3:00 like the "schedule," or do my hard work and preparation justice by presenting all I had planned and finish by 3:30.  It makes no difference to the participants (or so it seems), so often out of my hard-headed, American defiance, I rush to finish on-time.  Well, thank goodness I did because there's another 30+ minutes of picture taking and certificate giving.  By this time, it's well after 4, I'm exhausted, and that stack of journals I had been planning to grade following the seminar is just going to have to wait for another day. 

Sigh.

End rant.  

Hello!  Hi!  

In other news, I've been really busy these last 4 months as the semester got into full swing just in time for a 3-week Christmas break (shout-out to my visitor, Dan), a week-long conference in China (Fellows mid-year conference), and then right back into the semester again.  There's only a few more weeks before finals, and I, honestly, don't know where the time has gone.  

To summarize, I truly enjoy my students (minus the late ones), I'm learning a lot, I'm working a lot (teaching 6 days a week is not ideal), and I'm loving any and all opportunities I get to explore this beautiful country during my free time.

There's so much more to tell you all, so I promise more regular updates in the coming weeks.  It's also funny because as I post this, I'm supposed to be at my friends' basketball game cheering. But that game was scheduled to start at 4 and it's only 4:10.  I have plenty of time...in fact, I might even grab a caramelized banana-on-a-stick on my way.  :)

Beautiful Baguio

Puppies!

Adventuring at the hotel in Guangzhou, China

Enjoying Christmas break with Dan

Sagada

My fav class

Pagudpud

What most of my days look like

xoxo,

Kelly