It is unfortunately difficult to ride a bicycle on public streets in most parts of the country without running into someone expounding on all the ways that bicycles hinder auto traffic.  While there is no denying that a car has occasionally been slowed by a cyclist, the more realistic truth is that cars do a much better job of slowing each other down than a cyclist cruising in a bike lane ever will.  In fact, that cyclist is actually helping by removing one car from that traffic snarl.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that on the whole California cyclists do have the governmental support – even if sometimes that doesn’t trickle down to the general population.

This was brought to the forefront of my thoughts with a tweet from The Path Less Pedaled:

whoa. a CalTrans page all about bike touring! http://1.usa.gov/l4f7x7

I was a little surprised myself when I followed the link to that page.  In fact it does have some good information.  The page is specific to District 1, which according to the supplied map is the area around along the coast north of Napa and Sonoma.  Honestly this has got to be one of the more beautiful parts of the state, and if there was to be anywhere that deserved this much cycle touring attention, this would seem to be a good candidate.

The guide features maps, as well as documents on bicycle related topics such as cycling related laws, safety tips, and a rather handy list of contacts in each of the 12 Caltrans districts for all things bicycle related.

I happened to run into a couple of heavily laden bikes with some rather interesting signage while on my commute home.  Signage that claimed these folks were on their way towards South America on bike.  I seized on the opportunity to get a quick interview with them.  The full audio is available here in mp3 format:

[Text transcript of interview]

Ross Del Duca: We’re here at the Caltrain station at 4th & King in San Francisco and we’ve got a couple of heavily laden bikes that just made their way off the train.  What are you names?

Jessica: I’m Jessica.

Antonio: I’m Antonio.

Ross: I see you’ve got a couple of other passengers, who are they?

Jessica: Twins

Antonio: Sophia and Tonio

Ross: And so, what are you guys starting today?

Antonio: Today we’re starting our way down the coast of the United States and the coast of Mexico through Baja and into central America.  And we’re not really sure how far into south America but that general direction.

Ross: Are you doing it entirely on the bikes I see in front of us?

Antonio: Both the same, yea.

Ross: So, have you done long trips like this before?

Jessica: This is our first one.

Ross: This is your first one?  That’s amazing

Antonio: We didn’t know much about bicycles like three months ago.

Ross: Oh really?  That’s incredible.  So what prompted you to take this on?

Antonio: We were running a hostel in Las Vegas.

Jessica: We had a guest named Mark Doherty, and he was cycling around the world.

Ross: Oh interesting…

Antonio: It was interesting to hear his adventures, and follow him on his blog.  We have our own blog now and also we want to start our own hostel.  We didn’t really like Las Vegas, it wasn’t for us.  So we’re kinda hoping that a South American beach somewhere will be our home.   We like that kind of living where we live at home and clean up after people and meet people…

Antonio & Jessica: laughs

Antonio: The cleaning up is just part of the job.

Jessica: It’s like traveling without having to go anywhere.

Ross: Nice.  Anything else that you’d like to let people know before we sign off here?

Antonio and Jessica together: Check us out on FunkyMonkeyFamily.com

Ross: Excellent.  Thank you very much.

Antonio and Jessica together: Thank you.

Don’t let their relative newness to cycling fool you though.  These are definitely not folks who just jumped on their bikes and started pedaling.  In fact, if you check out their list of gear purchased for their trip, you see some very smart purchases.  Their pair of Surly Long Haul Truckers are, to some, the very definition of touring cycling.  They have clearly done their homework.

Another interesting tidbit picked up after the recorder was turned off: they were actually starting their ride in San Francisco following a Critical Mass ride.

So join me in wishing Antonio, Jess and the twins a safe, interesting and enjoyable trip.  I know I’ll be following their blog with interest.

You may not have heard of them before, but you’ve really got to check out The Woodward Family.  I honestly do not recall how I found these folks initially, but their blog details a ride they did together across the United States – from the east coast to the west coast.  Right now (yes – possibly this very minute) they’re at it again – only this time they are traveling the California coast line.  They are posting blog entries, videos and photos along the way.   You can also keep track of their travels via twitter feeds @zachwoodward and @somewhereonabike.

Join me in wishing them the best of luck, no flats, safe roads and tailwinds all the way.