Adventures of the Hullabaloo Crew

got some good miles in over the past 2 days...depending on your definition of 'good' We spent Thanksgiving at Suzi's parents place in Milton, PA and I ate too much like everyone should on Thanksgiving. Actually, I ate an entire 1/2 of a pumpkin pie, each piece with whipped topping. So, as it has become ritual, I decided to go out on a long ride the day after Thanksgiving. Danville is about 15 miles to the East of Milton and separated from Milton by Montour Ridge, over which there are several paved and gravel roads. So, I found my way to Bald Top (a residential section of the ridge overlooking Danville) and descended down the hill into my old stomping ground. I always find it quite nostalgic to take this ride. As I descended into town, I immediately came upon my old high school, which started me thinking about how I might best enjoy my trip down memory lane and I came up with an idea. I decided to ride sequentially from my elementary school, to Junior High, to Senior...

OK, well...not really...anybody who really cries on a bike in public just needs hang their clips up, but I will concede that this one did make me think twice about staying on the saddle. It's sort of like touching an electric fence and just hanging on. It's just natural to want to let go. This is one steep hill and it caused me pain today. The road is called Bear Wallow Rd. 16% grade at parts and mostly 12%. After riding 40 miles doing everything I could to keep a low cadence and stress my muscles, this was the prize at the end. At the top of the hill, it was all I could do to propel the bike forward enough to stay balanced. I can't imagine riding up hills this steep for hours every day in stages like those in the tour. Now we know why those Warrenton guys are so fast ... with a hill like this in their backyard. My first ride over this hill and we've already developed a love / hate relationship.

Chris Jones : Your buddy Kyle pipped me at the line, well that's the way I saw it anyway! Fanny : Thanks for sending me the newspaper clipping!

Links of Fishing Trip to Kodiak Alaska The Island The People The Bear Camp Isolated Living The Eagles The Bears The Fishing Interviewing The Crew

When Jeannie was in grade school, people asked her the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" She says that question was annoying to her and so she would answer "A Hermit". Little did those folks know that she was right. Jeannie lives on Uganik Bay in remote Kodiak Island, Alaska with no power, no running water and no neighbors aside from the occasional Bears who have discovered her Rasberry Garden. Jeannie was our cook and she didn't mind us poking around her place, so we did the short hike down the coast of the Bay to her place and took some pictures. Chris, Jeannie's friend with a plane was visiting. A 6 foot chain fence surrounds the property to protect from the bears. It's the little things that matter - a flower box. quite an elaborate garden and greenhouse. cabbage Rasberry and Gooseberry Bushes and View of the house. Lots of amenities here for such a remote location.

I have never seen so many Eagles as I did while on Kodiak Island. The number of Eagles in Alaska are comprable to the number of Turkey Buzzards in Virginia. They are scavengers just the same. You could look up and see 10 Eagles circling. On one occasion, we came across an Eagle with a broken wing. I could have walked right up to it, but I decided to give him some space. I sneaked around a rock to get as close as possible, but not so to spook him too much and hurt himself even more. Although our guide said that he saw the same eagle defending himself against a bear the previous day.

Lots of big animals like to eat Salmon. The bears, which normally spend their time up in the mountains come down to eat salmon before they go back up into the colder elevations to hibernate. At one point, we saw 28 bears at one time. The bears make all sorts of paths thru the high grass surrounding the river. We use these bear path to get from one fishing hole to other fishing holes. On many occasions, we encountered bears across the river, in the river on our side of the river...all over. They were more interested in the salmon than us. Some bears were very comfortable with us being there and others were very skiddish. Sows, Boars, and cubs....we saw them all. Some of the larger Boars stay up in the mountains and are content with berries. Here are some pictures of the bears. Bear video:

Sean Bill Frick and Frack Curious George and the Grizzly Bear as George says in not so many words ... We all have our own Grizzly Bear.

George says that our week of fishing is the worst week that he's ever had on Kodiak. Since it was my best week of fishing ever, I can't imagine a good week. It rained every day, which made the water a bit murkier than normal. In spite of that, I caught the biggest fish that I've ever caught on a fly rod. Here is a video and some pictures of the fishing.

The View From the Bay. Coffee To Start The Day Dick Rohrer's Bear Camp is the "Waldorf" of camps on this side of the island. The basically consists of the basics. There are 3 cabins that consist of bunk beds and a propane heater. There are 2 outhouses and 1 common room cabin for cooking, eating and cribbage (the preferred card game of all commercial canneries in Alaska).

We met some very interesting people during our trip. Trevor Dunbar and his father (coach of the Kodiak Cross Country Team) were returning from a 21 team competition just North of Anchorage. Trevor had just beat the state record time for the 5k, with a time of 15:17. (pretty damn fast) Look for Trevor in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Jeanie lives on Island paradise and I will do a seperate entry on the wonderful place where she lives. In addition to being a very self sufficient woman who lives in a remote part of Kodiak Island, she was also our cook for the week. She knows how to cook fish as well as other things like Gooseberry pie, cornbread and rasberry scones to name a few. Sam (left) and Dick (right) Rohrer are the owners and guides behind Dick Rohrers Bear Camp, which was the outfit behind our trip. Dick grew up in Lancaster, PA and found his way to settle down in Kodiak and operate his camp. His son, Sam, is a native of Kodiak. Their operation includes Bear, Goat and Deer hun...

Kodiak Island is SW of Anchorage. There are 2 ways to get there 1) by plane 2) by ferry. The Ferry is less expensive, but it is a 10 hour trip - we flew. The island has about 14,000 residents, mostly centered around the township of Kodiak on the East side of the island. There is one road on the island, which is about 80 miles long and doesn't get to the West side of the Island. There are 2 significant activities on the island, fishing and the military. The largest coast guard base in the USA is located on Kodiak Island which accounts for about 2000 of the residents. About 12000 people live in the town of Kodiak, where the largest occupation is commercial fishing. They fish for everything in the ocean - salmon, king crab, red snapper, etc, etc. These operations are known as canneries and they do everything from catch the fish to packaging and distribution to retailers like Costco. The island came to be out of ancient volcanos that erupted and formed the numerous mountain pe...

I think the story may have even started on the east coast and ended in Alaska...although it's been many years since I read the book. Such may be my fate as I leave on Sunday to fish for Salmon in Kodiak, Alaska. I am about to embark on this fishing trip to Kodiak with my dad, uncle, and some close family and friends. It should be a very unique experience and I will take some pictures and try to keep a daily journal of my travels. Although there won't be internet access where I'm headed...not even electricity. Just us, the salmon, the grizzly bears, and the Alaskan wilderness. It takes a bit more preparation to spend a week in Alaska than it does to plan my weekly commute to the office. I've decided that since my arm and leg warmers keep me quite warm on a bike in 30 degree weather, they should do me fine in place of long underwear in 40 degree Alaskan weather. I figure, I'll be around water most of the time, and they'll clean fairly easily via the Dave Z ...

Millersburg is a very cool little town set on the east side of the susquehanna river north of Harrisburg. If you know PA well, then you know that Rt 11 goes north along the west side of the river and so to get to Millersburg , you have to go very far north or south and then backtrack or take a ferry across the river. It's not easy to get to, which is bad for motorists, good for cyclists. Before the race, we were cruising around town and came across a waterfront park off the beaten path on the river just 1 block away from the main street of town. As Terry was soaking in the beauty, he just about ran straight into a blue haired lady driving a 1975 plymouth . The lady was all smiles and waving, little did we know that she was thinking 'if you take one step closer I'm pulling out my baseball bat'. Between races, we ate at the Wooden Nickel for lunch which seemed to be the only option, but a good one at that! The service was excellent and the food was great. I even had a b...

This morning Kellie Sue and Jackson entered their first ever triathlon. As we pulled into the parking lot, Suzi and I were surprised to see Jared 's van laden with Haymarket Bicycles logos. So I guess he isn't lying when he says that he volunteers as the local wrench at these events ;). Jackson ended up second in his division, which we were all very proud of and Kellie Sue might have placed top 3 in her group if she hadn't drifted around the transition area for several minutes trying to figure out where to go! pics and videos of the event -> here .

Submitted by Suzi Burns, tolerant spouse [Herndon, VA] - On Monday, August 4th motorists driving home on Rt. 29 in Northern Virginia witnessed an almost superhuman feat of strength and endurance. As their vehicles crept forward toward their homes at turtle speed, a man in white ( aren't all heroes dressed in white? ) and blue dashed by them on their right, pedaling his bike faster than their gas-guzzling yuppie-mobiles were driving. Who was this crazy person? How can he go so fast? How far is he riding? Where is he storing his laptop? Is that a Blackberry hanging out of the back of his jersey? Does he have Starbucks in those water bottles? Does he wear that silly outfit all day long in meetings? So many questions, yet no way to have them answered, as this cyclist sped past them...his legs pumping faster than their fists to the beat of the hip hop of 99.5 that was blaring on their car radios. Suddenly however, the tempo of this elite executive cyclist came to a halt. Blockin...

Rey made it to Virginia! http://reysrideacrossamerica.blogspot.com/ check out the daily miles from his entries...

Dan Spencer was a friend of mine from Danville, PA who was tragically killed while riding his bike after being hit by an automobile in 1988. This bike race has been held in his memory ever since. The small town of Bloomsburg, PA is set in rural, PA and is home to Bloomsburg University and the town neighbors my home town of Danville, PA. I first participated in the Dan Spencer Memorial Bike Race 2 years ago as a category 5 rider and this year, Terry and I entered this PA State Masters Championship race in the 30+ category on Saturday and we rode the category 3/4 criterium race on Sunday. The scenery and weather were both perfect to make this a great weekend for bike racing. To top it off, we stayed with my parents in Danville, who were the best hosts one could imagine. Jackson, the youngest member of the team LOL, went with us. We took him to Knoebles Grove (a local amusement park) and he won the kids race on Sunday. Saturday was a 56 mile road race with HILLS. As we drove to the c...

The message below was sent from Curtis (co-owner of Haymarket Bicycles) To all:We will have our very own Haymarket Racing teams New York event live tomorrow (that's today now - Sunday 6/15) televised in the shop starting at 4:00pm. Please come and cheer our local BAMF's against the likes of some stiff competition (you may have heard of a guy named Tyler Hamilton) on a national stage. Beverages provided. Bring anything else you may desire. We will remain at the shop until the race ends. ...later in the day.... At 4pm, I went down to the shop and joined Curtis, Steevo, ?Dot?, Scott, and a few other lucky customers who ventured in and we watched Jared and Hayes on TV competing against the nations finest at the Harlem Criterium. We would watch the peloton shoot around the corners, catching glimpses of Jared and "Rat" Hayes on many occasions. At one point, we were excited to see Jared on the front. Tomorrow, Decanio, Steevo and Parks are headed for the Tour of OH,...

This crazy sport of cycling has a cool way of bringing people together. Friends are made on the road. One such friend, who helped re-introduce me to the bike is Rey Roy. I tell you this because he has an interesting story that he is in the process of writing. You can follow it here. http://reysrideacrossamerica.blogspot.com/ Over the next several months, Rey will be riding his bike across the United States. If only for lack of planning on my part, I haven't selected a portion of the ride to ride with him. I still intend to do so, but we'll see what works out. It's pretty cool that he's sponsoring 2 charities and has already raised over $10,000.