Opinions on Bicycling in Israel
Israel is not be the best place for road bicycling. That’s just a fact.
Idaho’s Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes
Putting the FUN back into SuperFund, the Trail of the Couer d’Alenes is a perfect three-day ride.
Excursion to Whidbey Island
Three ferries and three days, the weekend tour to Whidbey had more lounging than biking.
Coulee and Plateau
Three days of bike touring in the Land of the Great Ice Age Floods!
For our first tour together since Yuma, my only disappointment was that we weren’t able to just keep going! Good friends, all the gear we needed, and that lovely zen feeling of rolling into camp tired and blissed-out: AHHHHHHHHHH! What a swell way to spend a weekend.
Biking to Deception Pass
Two weeks ago I had a training schedule. Then it started to rain. This weekend I met some friends up at Deception Pass for some camping and kayaking. The 55 mile ride there about killed me, but loaded up and self-contained, the ride across Whidbey was just what I needed. It’s a fairly busy two-lane [...]
Bike “Tour” to Langley
Sitting in the car today on the way to the ferry, I was trying to sus out the difference between “wake up call” and “clarion call.”
My pal, who is English and more knowledgeable than I about the fine difference words can make, listened to my rationales and then described my Whidbey Bike Tour as a reality check.
Kofa NWR
North and east of the Imperial NWR is Kofa NWR. On our last full day, we piled into the truck and headed out to look at some natural water holes, “horsetanks”, and some petroglyphs. While the Imperial lines the river and exists primarily due to the water, Kofa has almost none but contains nearly twenty [...]
Imperial NWR
As we were leaving, one of the helpful locals described the Yuma area as “the armpit of Arizona.” Certainly, with the natural wonders of Grand Canyon and Monument Valley, the hippie village and Red Rocks of Sedona, the golf resorts in Scottsdale and Tucson, and the Spring Break drink and sexfest that is Lake Havasu, [...]
Visiting Mom and Dad
It’s been a few years since I’ve seen my folks. Since that time, they’ve sold their house and left Tennessee as “full-timers” in an RV. To make ends meet, they’ve started doing volunteer work. They’d be the folks you’d meet at the visitor’s center, which is primarily what they do at the Imperial National Wildlife [...]
Yuma, Arizona!
A quick five days and 190 miles later, we did it. Vic and I rolled over Fourth Avenue at the famed Yuma Crossing. Mom and Dad were waiting and we went to eat Mexican food. Pedaling across the desert!
The Imperial Valley
El Centro is the primary city on the American side of the Imperial Valley, though it’s merely a small town compared to the almost million people that call Mexicali home. The roads run to it straight as knives separating large blocks of bright green fields. Several years ago, I became interested in the area after [...]
Agua Caliente and the Anza-Borrego
State Road 2 runs north-south for 52 miles following an old stage route. It’s marked as the Southern Emigrant Trail of 1849 which was a clever marketing scheme of some of the local Chamber of Commerce men.
At exactly half-way, the geothermal springs of Agua Caliente lie in a fissure along the edge of the mountains beckoning to the weary cyclist to stop for a soak.
Desert Oracles and Road Signs
At the bottom of the Banner Grade is the desert. For the folks up in the lofty air of Julian, “dropping to the floor” means a trip east toward the Salton Sea. About a mile after the turn to State Road 2, which heads south toward Ocotillo, there’s a small collection of houses, trailers, and [...]
Ah, Sunny So-Cal!
Turning north on twisty Highway 79, we headed to the highest point of our two day climb, just under 5000 feet. While I knew it would be cold at night, I never assumed that the campgrounds would be closed due to snow. According to the volunteer rangers that took pity on us and rented us [...]
Poolside in San Diego
With some trepidation, but tons of excitement, we’re off to the trolley this morning with our loaded bikes. We’ve not done as much site seeing as we’d hoped with all the chores of getting the bikes back together and a bit of shoe shopping. However, we’ve had an unexpectedly up-scale life staying at a hotel [...]
Mojave by Bike?
I’ve been buying “product” again. Which means only one thing: Bike Touring! With my new olive-based shaving cream, milky face cleanser and some a shampoo that came with a shower cap which reads “Vixen Hot Mama Bella Donna Goddess Botticelli Muse” and would make an excellent saddle cover, I am off for a seven day [...]
Fueling the Bicycle Tour
Lurking on bicycle touring forums, it is obvious there’s a spectrum of adventurers. There are those who will hop on their bikes with only the vaguest notion of a plan, while others spend months laboring over every imagined contingency. The Cyclist’s Food Guide: Fueling for the Distance would be found on the shelves of the [...]
Winter Tour to New Bedford
On one side, New Bedford rose in terraces of streets, their ice-covered trees all glittering in the clear, cold air. Huge hills and mountains of casks on cask were piled upon her wharves, and side by side the world-wandering whale ships lay silent and safely moored at last; while from others came a sound of [...]
Newfoundland is Really Over
I picked up this little drawing this weekend at the Brookline’s 300th Birthday Party and Street Fair. How can you resist a brightly dressed cyclist in a pointy hat? I’m feeling a bit restless and wistful.Portland, ME to Newfoundland to Portland, ME65 Days2398 Miles1 worn tire, 3 stretched chains, 5 Broken spokes, but only one [...]
Back in Beantown
It was raining. The forecast was for even more rain from Hurricane Ophelia. After 65 days on the road, I cycled up on Friday afternoon to the Portland train station and caught a lift back to Boston. Just like that, the trip to Newfoundland and back ended. I have not unpacked the bike or even [...]