PORT TOWNSEND — Zoa Lumsden and Fin Fagan were only a few weeks into their cross-country bicycle journey when a woman in Bay St. Louis, Miss., implored them to visit Port Townsend.
“She was like a lot of other people we’ve met on the trip. She invited us to her house and extended her hospitality,” Lumsden said Thursday.
Bay St. Louis was “adopted” in 2005 by a group of Port Townsend residents who took goods and elbow grease to the Gulf Coast town to help get it back on its feet in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
“She said we really needed to come here, so here we are.”
Canadian Lumsden, 37, and Australian Fagan, 29, left Florida in January with the intention of ending up in Vancouver, B.C., Lumsden’s hometown, “whenever we got there.”
They crossed the southern part of the country — through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico — then traveled through Colorado, Utah, Idaho and Oregon before ending up in Washington state, bicycling 40 to 50 miles in about six hours each day.
The couple’s bicycles are loaded with clothes, a small tent, a cook stove and other necessities, also carrying a laptop and a cellphone to stay connected.
They also have brought along two dogs, Paco, 6, a Portuguese podengo, and 12-year-old Jack, an uncertain blend of husky and golden retriever.
Jack, who is arthritic, always stays in his compartment and likes being driven, while Paco gets antsy sometimes and trots along with the bikes.
Lumsden and Fagan met in an Iceland hostel in 2006, and the couple soon set up a house in Belgium, where Lumsden worked as an accountant.
When her job ended, the two sold all their possessions and biked around Europe for several months before deciding to head back to the states for one more long trip.
The dogs, which Lumsden had brought from Canada when she first moved to Europe, were just along for the ride — but they ended up paying their way.
While watching the dogs play, the two came up with the idea for a children’s book about a pair of dog detectives who solve various mysteries, which they previewed on their blog.
A publisher in England liked the idea and commissioned a series, with the third book to be published this year.
The publisher offered a hefty advance against royalties, which has helped to finance the trip.
The latest book, An Outback Odyssey, was developed into an interactive application that is available on Apple’s iTunes.
The couple was scheduled to leave Port Townsend on Thursday night on a late sailing of the MV Chetzemoka and planned to cycle through Whidbey Island and Bellingham before reaching Vancouver, B.C., where they expect to settle.
Before that, they will fly to England (with their bikes and the dogs) for a book tour to promote An Outback Odyssey.
During the trip, the couple have paid little attention to world events, though they have caught the high points such as the killing of Osama bin Ladin.
“When we are riding, we are isolated in our own little world,” Fagan said.
“I used to read the paper every day in Australia, but it doesn’t interest me anymore.”
Reading the news, according to Lumsden, can be misleading.
“If you only listen to the news, you think the United States is a really scary place with border issues and crime,” she said.
“But everyone has been very open and friendly, with several single women opening up their homes to us without any kind of fear.”
In turn, they haven’t felt fear even where they expected it.
At one point in New Orleans, they discovered they had left the case containing their passports, cash and credit cards on the curb.
When they returned, a hot-dog vendor had found the package and returned it to them.
And in several cases, they stopped to camp in places where there were also hotels — and were allowed to stay inside for free through the generosity of a hotel owner.
Lumsden said people are willing to do things for them because they are doing something for themselves.
While they are in good physical shape, they are not super athletes and ride shorter daily distances than professionals.
They have also made some key errors in judgment.
“Traveling in winter with the prevailing winds, it would have been smarter to travel north to south or west to east,” Fagan said.
“We did the opposite.”
They had less trouble traveling over the mountains than they expected.
“Mountain roads have a gradual incline, so they aren’t so difficult to manage,” Lumsden said.
“I think it’s much harder to go up one hill, then down and up again.”
To hear the latest about the travels of Fin and Zoa, visit www.cyclinggypsies.wordpress.com.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
