Biking to, RV’ing from Garnet Country

Summer is – finally – in full swing.

Many folks and families are hitting the road.

(PHOTO: One of the Kamer bloggers is crushed outside L.L. Bean) Rye's Kamer family – five plus a dog large enough to qualify as a small pony – is chronicling their RV vacation in a well read blog, Kamer's Rockin Vacation. You can follow their antics up the Eastern seaboard and into Canada as they drive "The Beast" – the affectionate pet name of their RV.

(PHOTO: Coddington on his vehicle.) Then there is Bart Coddington, who lives in California but is biking to his 50th Rye high school reunion (clearly trying to impress the ladies with his fitness…). Bart is blogging his entire 4,000 mile trip on crazyguyonabike.com. Bart just left on July 1st and expects to arrive for his reunion on October 2nd (yes, this year…).  Bart's adverture captured the attention of the Mercury News out in California:

"A Wheel Reunion

Bart Coddington, 65, hatched an ambitious plan to ride across the United States to his 50th high school reunion in Rye, N.Y., in 2006, after reading an article about similar adventures in Adventure Cycling Magazine. Coddington had a few years to prepare for the event — or so he thought. Turned out the reunion date, originally set for 2012, was bumped up to 2009, so the Santa Cruz County resident had only a few months to get in shape for the 4,000-mile cross-country trek.

Pedaling solo, on a bike packed with four bulging, waterproof bags containing his camping gear, Coddington left July 1 and plans to arrive in New York the first week of October. So far, this sturdy cyclist's daily mileage has ranged between roughly 60-80 miles. From the beginning, the president of the Santa Cruz County Cycling Club got a sample of the perilous road conditions while riding at Devil's Slide on Highway 1 between Montara and Pacifica.

"This was some real white-knuckle cycling," Coddington wrote on his online journal. "The road has cement barriers on the edge of the road to hold back rock slides, hence no room for cyclists. Add to that very steep climbs, where we were doing about 3 mph and holding up long lines of cars that were afraid to pass."

One massive hurdle, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, required Coddington to climb a total of more than 16,000 feet."