Cost of Living...

As I look at a map of the world and wonder all the places we can go, one thing that I think about is... I wonder if I have enough money to get there... and I wonder how much it costs per day.

To this second question, there are many indices to help gauge costs abroad.

The first thought I had was to check lonely planet, or CIA world fact book, and see what they had.

The second thought was to calculate GDP per capita for that country.

After doing some research into these "cost of living" indices things get a little more complicated... but here's a good one. The Big Mac Index, calculates per country. Results for 2008

Another one, perhaps a bit more scientific would be the Mercer's Cost of Living Index, calculates per city.
A link to their newest list here.

Some interesting notes from that index... New York is the base at 100. Other cities are either higher or lower... all based on NYC (ranked 22).

SF = 81 (ranked 78)
Auckland = tied with SF.
Moscow = 142.4 (ranked 1)
Sydney = 104.1 (ranked 15)
Beijing = 101.9 (ranked 20.... HIGHER than NYC)

Santa Barbara Bike Tour

The PLAN? lots of edits... as of 7 pm on Aug 12...

Aug 11- MON: down to Morro Bay?

• 5 hr drive... after dropping parents off at Airport? Camp at a biker/hiker site? or at a Walmart)
• Made Reservations for Morro Bay State Beach
• Camped at Morro Bay... my jaws dropped at the sight of Morro Rock... though when I learned rock climbing is prohibited on it, I wished I never saw it.
  

Aug 12 - TUE: Cycling Full day 1

• Santa Maria (Walmart) - > Refugio State beach (52 miles) Hiker Biker spot
• Also El Capitan State Beach (42 miles) has a hike biker spot
  
• http://www.stateparks.com/refugio_beach.html
• http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=603
• Wildlife Cruise from Island Packers at 1:30 pm. (28$ from Ventura)

EDIT

• We drove to Goleta... planning to ride to Buelton (where I am now)... but got a huge gash on the tire, caught a ride with Carl (a nice guy with a big truck)... back to Goleta (after riding 10 miles straight up)... bought a tire, fixed our problem, and drove up to Solvang (the Dutch Capital of the USA)... rode to Buelton... and I'm writing this now. WarmShowers rocks!!!
  

Aug 13 - WED: Cycling Full day 2

• Buelton to Solvang up Foxen Ranch Road to Santa Maria down to Lompoc (Terry of Warmshowers is gonna hook us up)

Aug 14 - THUR: Cycling Full day 3

• Lompoc to Solvang (where I ditched the car)... to Graviota (hot springs)... to Kayaking? To Carpenteria State Park.
  

Aug 15 - FRI: Cycling Full day 4

• 9:30 am...North Shore wildlife tour - Island Packers (9:30 am)
• With Em?
• Drive to LA.
  

Aug 16 - SAT: Full day 5

• Hang out with Em? Pat?

• Or to Santa Maria? and stay at a B&B?
• Call? - 805-928-7777 (Historic Santa Maria Inn...)
• Or to Nipomo (Kaleido Scope)
• Or to SLO (805.544.3003 - Bridge Creek Inn)
• 
  

Aug 17 - SUN: need to drive back...

• El Capitan back to Santa Maria
• Check out a few wineries
• State Beaches
• Check out SLO
  
• Drive home...

280 miles - 350 miles...

Bike Route option 1 (236 miles? Loop)
Bike Route option 2 (250 miles... many options to turn back...)
Camping at Hiker/Biker sites?
http://www.parks.ca.gov/parkindex/region_info.asp?regiontab=0&id=6

SO... we can drive down to SLO, or Santa Barbara... stay there a night... then ride the tandem down to Santa Monica... (which I've been wanting to check out that area for a while...) Maybe head down to LA to Em's place... etc. and just do a simple loop like 200 miles... or we could just stay in that Santa Barbara region... just wine tasting, staying at the beach, exploring the canyons, etc...

I'd like to do mostly camping... which would mean, we'd either need to reserve... or look for the biker/hiker sites...

Some descriptions here...
http://www.bitrot.de/bike_sfla.html
http://www.sbbike.org/region/region.html#101
http://www.sb-outdoors.org/Trails

Maybe hit up El Cap State Beach on Sat... live music?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/29/TR3E11AJ6A.DTL
EGH?

Wineries (Foxen Canyon Wine Trail)
http://www.foxenwinetrail.com/Map.html
http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/sideways-wineries.html
http://www.santabarbara.com/winecountry/trails/santayneztrail.asp

Cycling Resource
http://www.sbbike.org/region/region.html#101

Brooks B-17 Saddle for Bike Touring

It's the only way to go...

A nice summary by "machaka" of what to do..

#1. Riding in the rain WILL NOT ruin your saddle. Perhaps if you were 275 lbs, and put a lot of pressure on your saddle while you ride in the rain, you might be in trouble, but I know you're not. I'm guessing you are somewhere around my size. Just about every time I get on my bicycle it seems to rain. I've ridden in rain storms so heavy the animals were lining up 2x2, and I could swear I saw an ark under construction. And my Brooks is fine.

#2. To help your Brooks continue to be fine in the rain, there are a few things you can do. A) Get fenders. They protect the underside of your Brooks. B) Tuck a plastic grocery bag under your saddle. This also protects the underside of your Brooks, but when you stop for lunch or for the night, you dig it out, and tie it on over your Brooks to protect it from any lunch-time or night-time moisture. C) In the rain, wear a rain jacket with a long tail. The tail drapes over the saddle in the back.

#3. When you get the saddle, your first response will likely be: "This thing is a ROCK!" and you might be tempted to follow some of the suggestions to soak it in oil or bang it with a hammer. Don't do it!! Just rub a tiny bit of proofide on it ... and ride it. I apply proofide about once a year, just to shine it up a bit. That's it. That's all I do to my saddle, and my saddle is in great shape!

#4. Ride lots. But at first, plan short rides. When I got my Brooks, I put it on my commuter bike first. I had a 13 km round trip commute and that was about all I could handle with that saddle that week. Then on the first weekend, I did a 20 km ride with my commuter bike, and came home and finished my ride on Machak. The next week I did the commutes and a bit extra in the evening. So I built up gradually at first. And then I plunged into a long ride ... and that's when my Brooks broke in: http://www.machka.net/1000/1000km.htm

Enjoy!!

Check out
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=370760&highlight=brooks
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=375966&highlight=brooks

B-17 is the way to go it seems...
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=370581&highlight=brooks

Lick Bike is the cheapest place to get em...

Book Review: Three Cups of Tea

By Greg Mortensen.

An amazing book, about building schools and educating children (with emphasis on girls) in Pakistan and Afganistan. Highly recommended, very moving...

Warmshowers.org

"The Warm Showers List is a list of Internet cyclists who have offered their hospitality towards touring cyclists. The extent of the hospitality depends on the host and may range from simply a spot to pitch a tent to meals, a warm (hot!) shower, and a bed."

I've been a host for the past few years, and although I haven't been able to host too many cyclists because of conflicts in timing, I'm really keen on the idea.

In general cyclists on a tour are very friendly, trustworthy (I mean HOW are they gonna steal anything?), interesting, and have plenty of stories to tell. So if you want to enrich your life, I encourage you to sign up to host.

www.warmshowers.org