bicycling
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All Dressed Up For PBP: The Towns Along the Way
This is the latest in a series of posts I’ve been planning about the incomparable international randonneuring event, Paris-Brest-Paris. Previously, I wrote about Drew Buck, who completed PBP 2011 on a 1900 Peugeot, a as well as the tandem bicycles (Post 1 and Post 2). Today I’m talking about the towns along the PBP route. Continue reading
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The Overnight Ferris Wheel: Mile 418 on the Appalachian Adventure 1000K
Felkerino and I returned to the Appalachian Adventure (AA) 1000K course this past weekend to staff the second night of the actual event. Continue reading
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A Post-1000K Conversation With “Future Me”
Immediately after Felkerino’s and my 1000K ride, I was proud of our accomplishment, relieved that we completed what I felt was an extremely challenging course, and happy that we rode within ourselves from beginning to end. There were several tough parts, but we did not come close to timing out and, and our bodies held… Continue reading
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Enduring the Pain Point
Mile 250 of our 625-mile ride. Fatigue courses through my body. My skin has that beat-up feeling from multi-day endurance riding. The sun is shrouded in fog and the road keeps going up. Mile 372. Crawling through Douthat State Park. It’s peaceful and wooded, but night is falling. And the road keeps going up. And… Continue reading
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Appalachian Adventure 1000K Pre-ride Report
Felkerino wrote a day-by-day summary of our weekend 1000K pre-ride. It was intended for those who will be riding the event this upcoming weekend, but I thought others might enjoy reading it, too. Continue reading
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Melting Time Under the Moonlight
A self-confessed person of routine, I don’t stay out late and I don’t rise before the sun most days. I eat three meals a day, work Monday through Friday, and try to sleep seven to eight hours a night. I’m a huge fan of sleep. Randonneuring appeals to my affinity for routine. I select the events I… Continue reading
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Things to Do During Your Taper
Ah, the taper. Time to back away from the long efforts, rest the legs, eat good meals, and ready for the big day. What’s a person to do with all this new-found spare time? Continue reading
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Preparing for a 1000K Brevet
After a summer of bicycling, the Appalachain Adventure 1000K is fast approaching, and Felkerino and I will be riding it. Given that the Appalachian Adventure is a late summer affair, Felkerino and I maintained a pretty big base of mileage since finishing the Super Randonneur series with the D.C. Randonneurs. Despite not tracking my cycling miles, I still have a… Continue reading
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The Wonder of the “Road Closed.” Detours by Bike
Summer is a busy time for road construction. Road repairs may reduce traffic to one lane, and in some cases may cause a temporary road closure. With those road closures come detours. When I see a “Detour” sign during a ride, two thoughts pop into my head. Is it really a detour? That is, can a… Continue reading
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More Tandems at Paris-Brest-Paris 2011
After digging through the photos archives, I discovered more tandem shots worth sharing from the last edition of PBP. That is, they are not hopelessly blurry or otherwise terrible. Perhaps you will even recognize some of the randonneurs. Continue reading
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Tandem Bicycles at Paris-Brest-Paris 2011
Events like Paris-Brest-Paris are difficult to unbox all at once. Some aspects can be, such as the immediacy of the ride experience and the emotions and physical states experienced. Continue reading
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Kit’n Kish 540K: Good Honest Pennsylvania Countryside
To complete our final mileage build before tapering for the upcoming Appalachian Adventure 1000K, Felkerino and I set out with our friend Jerry to ride an abbreviated version of Crista B.’s Kit’n Kish 600K Permanent, which she describes as follows: Very challenging route north through the mountains of central Pennsylvania, with spectacular scenery. “High”lights include… Continue reading
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Colorado 2014: By the Days and Miles
Every day that goes by, our 2014 Colorado tour becomes more memory. I’m surprised to feel saddened by that, since one of our intentions while there was to feed our wanderlust and tire ourselves out so that we would be at peace with settling back into our life in Washington, D.C. Maybe that peace will… Continue reading
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I Really Don’t Know Clouds
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow it’s cloud illusions I recall. I really don’t know clouds at all. –Joni Mitchell I first listened to Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” when I was a teenager, and found it terrible. I had never imagined that a person could think about… Continue reading
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Bike Tourist Encounters
Since I started bike touring, I’ve trained myself to keep an eye open for others who might be on an adventure. Bike riders can blend into the landscape, but if you pay attention they will jump out at you. During the two weeks that Felkerino and I pedaled our bicycle around Colorado, we crossed paths… Continue reading
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10 Things I Learned on Our Colorado Bike Tour
Remember me? It’s been a few days, but I’m mostly free of my post bike tour fog and thought I’d rip off a quick top 10 list of what I learned on our tour. Continue reading
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CO Tour Day 11: Rollins Pass on Tandem
Felkerino called our day going over Rollins Pass an immersive experience. It’s definitely one of the most intense things I’ve done on a tandem. Continue reading
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Rollins Pass: You Can’t Always Get What You Want
But if you try sometimes You just might find You get what you need. –The Rolling Stones More to come. Continue reading
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CO Tour Day 10: Another Day, Another Mountain Pass in Colorado
The short story is this– 82 miles from Leadville to Winter Park. Our bike is still in one piece. Thanks to everyone who complimented our pure power and torque after the broken crankarm incident. This also provides solid evidence that Felkerino is indeed pedaling. Continue reading
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CO Tour Rest Day: Backwards Pedal and Crankarm Day
When we last saw our two intrepid bike tourists, they were stranded in Leadville with a broken crankarm… It was Leadville layover day and bike shop stop on our Colorado odyssey. Nervously we awaited the 10 a.m. opening of Cycles of Life to see if Brian could repair our broken crankarm. We watched him… Continue reading
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CO Tour Day 9: Las Cosas Se Arreglan: Cottonwood Pass and a Broken Crankarm
“Las cosas se arreglan. La gente no.” Things can be fixed. People can’t. Someone I used to work with told me that, after I had been in a fender bender. That phrase keeps running through my mind as I reflect on our day from Gunnison to Leadville, 105 miles via the big meandering Cottonwood Pass… Continue reading
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CO Tour Day 8: Creede to Gunnison: 106 Big Bicycling Miles
It still surprises me that Felkerino and I can ride a 200k brevet in 10 hours, but when we bike tour a century will take us 11 or more. Is there no escape from bike tour pace? It was a big day of riding, with the big climbs packed into the first half of our… Continue reading
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CO Tour Day 7: Wolf Creek Pass, I Think I Love You
As we began the steady ascent up Wolf Creek Pass, I wished that I had known about it years earlier. I wished that I had begun bike touring years earlier. If I had, then maybe I would have basked in the magnificence of this pass years ago. If only, if only. Continue reading
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CO Tour Day 6: Hot Hot Rollers to Pagosa Springs
Today’s 65 miles reminded me of riding in the Virginia Highlands, only with evergreens and a higher elevation. And more horses. And a dry heat. And the white hot sunshine with rare shade. Okay so it wasn’t alike in all ways. Continue reading
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CO Tour Day 5: Bike Tour Magic: 83 Miles from Ouray to Durango
Felkerino said that today is when the mountains embraced us. I said it was a day of bike tour magic. Part of the reason for that, of course, was the beautiful climbing on the Million Dollar Highway for the first 38 miles. We ascended from Ouray at 7,800 feet to over 10,000 feet and crossed… Continue reading
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CO Tour Day 4: Everything Weighs Something, Even Ambition: 100 Miles to Ouray
When bike touring, you become keenly aware of how much your stuff weighs. This weighs “x” amount. Do I really need to take it up every hill and mountain? If yes, the item goes on the bike. If no, set it aside. I am pleased with how Felkerino and I packed. The only potential surplus… Continue reading
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CO Tour Day 3: What Goes Up from Carbondale Must Come Down to Paonia
Greetings from Paonia! We wish you were here. Then the mosquitoes wouldn’t just be gnawing on Felkerino and me. Another great day on the bike, tempered with looming saddle sores. Haven’t had one of those in a few years so maybe it was time. I blame Trail Ridge. This day, which was essentially a 30-mile… Continue reading
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CO Tour Day 2: 90 Miles From Kremmling to Carbondale
Riding through the big mountains of the west can be so cathartic. Their presence envelops me and I become– no, I realize– that I am so small. Felkerino’s and my efforts to clamber over the mountains is almost laughable. We take so long to go up and over their every bump that I suspect we… Continue reading
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CO Tour Day 1: Facing My Inner Fraidy Cat: 150 Miles From Boulder to Kremmling
Nothing kicks off a bike tour like a 150-mile day that includes a front-loaded first half climb fest, including the ever-daunting Trail Ridge Road. Last year Felkerino and I climbed Trail Ridge while I howled like a kitten that climbed too high into a tree and needed rescue. I hated that feeling and vowed that… Continue reading
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Get Out The Map: Bike Tour Prep
Get out the map get out the map and lay your finger anywhere down We’ll leave the figuring to those we pass on our way out of town — Indigo Girls, Get Out The Map This Indigo Girls song reminds me of long gone days wedded to the school calendar as it simultaneously urges me to… Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 