Oregon Cycling Magazine

by Ellee Thalheimer

Here’s an idea. Imagine touring across the country on your bike. Been done, right? Now imagine the ride is fully supported by a biodiesel vehicle driven by fellow band members who rock out with you at gigs as you stop at various locations across the country. It’s not such a bad fantasy. Amanda and Abby of the Ditty Bops dreamed it up on a bike ride around Los Angeles. The kicker is they actually made it happen.

The Ditty Bops started from their home in Los Angeles and made their roundabout way to New York City, playing around 40 shows along the way. Various members of the Ditty Bops crew cycled intermittently throughout the tour, but Amanda and Abby-neither whom had ever done long distance cycling-were the hellbent pair who biked the entire way.

The Ditty Bops are a music circuit anomaly which catches people’s interest and leaves many fans impressed. It’s a pretty romantic notion to tour by bike while touring with a band. However, in terms of the nuts and bolts of it all, cycling by day and performing by night is a possibly discordant combination. The classic rock and roll lifestyle of a band on tour is distinctively different from a cyclist’s lifestyle on tour where nine o’clock is a cozy lights out and dressing up means wearing the shirt without the tomato sauce stain. Yet, Amanda and Abby put in their best effort to get to bed early and made it work in the face of fried bar food and smoky venues.

“Everything is a surprise. You can’t plan anything,” commented Amanda about the tour. Over the course of the summer, they faced drastic desert heat, crazy headwinds, and wet weather. Dogs presented a particularly annoying challenge. Abby sustained a bite, and dogs once chased Amanda across a busy highway. Amanda now espouses the yet untried slingshot theory. Instead of becoming susceptible to a furry attacker while looking for a rock to throw, she says, carry a slingshot and a pouch of pre-gathered rocks. Note to self.

Besides the dogs, they actually had a great bike tour. Abby’s favorite part was being in contact with the environment and watching the gradual change of scenery, and Amanda loved getting into a zone while cycling high mileage days. As far as future plans go, a European tour might be in the cards for the Ditty Bops, or maybe off to Japan. Wherever they go, they plan to be riding their bikes on route. Their new CD is called “Moon Over the Freeway” and you can check out their website at www.dittybops.com.

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