Bike Touring
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Bike Tour Birthday Contrasts
March 2018. It’s my birthday and Felkerino and I are bike touring through California desert. Sand spreads out on all sides, the road undulates ahead. Cars and trucks zip by periodically, reminding us that we are not alone. Even so it feels like we are the only exposed creatures out here. Nonstop sun pours down,… Continue reading
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Favorite Bike Rides Near Washington, D.C.
Because Felkerino and I are frequently asked for ride recommendations around the area, I thought I’d put together a post of some of our favorite local routes. All start in the city and I’ve included rides of around 80 miles up to 200. Note: For any rides that include White’s Ferry, you will need to… Continue reading
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Winter Park to Boulder via Rollins Pass
Have you ever dated someone you knew in your heart wasn’t for you, but they had potential and you wanted it to work? A thrill coursed through you every time you looked at them. You tried hard. When you spent hours together it started out awesome, but as time passed you always ended up arguing,… Continue reading
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Kremmling to Winter Park
All of the tension has been pedaled out of my body. I’m so relaxed that I could ride more miles or just as easily take a nap. Right now I have my feet up and wonder if we can buy a recumbent tandem before tomorrow, it feels so good. Today’s ride from Kremmling to Winter… Continue reading
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Carbondale to Kremmling
Public Service Announcement: If you pedal at a 4.5 miles-per-hour pace near mosquitoes, be assured they will have their way with you. We spent today crawling along the rises between Carbondale, State Bridge, and Kremmling. Our ride was unlike the last couple of days, which have been a big up followed by a big descent… Continue reading
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Buena Vista to Carbondale
Runaway train never going back Wrong way on a one way track Seems like I should be getting somewhere Somehow I’m neither here nor there… –Soul Asylum Ever since we started pedaling from New Mexico, “Runaway Train” has lodged itself into my head and essentially become my 2017 bike tour theme song. This is a… Continue reading
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Gunnison to Buena Vista
I would have written you sooner, but I had to return the fire extinguisher to the hotel lobby. I borrowed it when my shoes became so hot that they burst into flames before our arrival in Buena Vista. Believe me, it surprised me too, especially after our relatively cool and comfortable climb up to 11,300… Continue reading
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Montrose to Gunnison
Greetings from Gunnison! We’re on a rest day, which I’m quite happy about. I wish you were here so we could go grab a gluten-free muffin and chat about life over kombucha. Perhaps you could also help me look for my bike tour legs, which seem to have fallen out of the Carradice somewhere. My… Continue reading
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Durango to Montrose
Guys, we are in Montrose and I just can’t believe this day! 115 miles point to point with three big summits: Coal Bank Pass, Molas Pass, and Red Mountain. And all over 10,500 feet. Fortunately for us, the final 40 miles of our day trended downhill or I’d still be out there riding. Today was… Continue reading
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Chama to Pagosa Springs
Update: the banana bread is gone and for a while today, so was my positive attitude. We planned for our ride from Chama to Pagosa Springs to be 50 miles. However, because of some gambles we made on exploring dirt roads – in hopes of avoiding the main highway – we ended up with almost… Continue reading
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Taos to Chama
We’re in Chama, and I still have a few bites of Saturday’s banana bread left for tomorrow. Go me! This was our longest day so far, at 98 miles. We crossed over two, anonymous peaks on our ride from Taos on US 64 – possibly a third if you count the false summit of the… Continue reading
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Santa Fe to Taos
After a moderate ascent leaving Santa Fe, our route tricked me with 10 miles of downhill swoop and flat. But after leaving the frontage road and entering the Pueblo of Pojoaque, the road began to twist as the terrain undulated beneath us. Soon after, we rode our first surprise gravel section of our tour, followed… Continue reading
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Albuquerque to Santa Fe, New Mexico
We’re back on tour, everybody! I spent the initial miles out of Albuquerque today feeling guilty about leaving work for vacation, but eventually I yet again realized that my employer is a bureaucracy, designed to continue happily along without me. I then resolved to check my bank balance periodically to make sure I remain on… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 11: Detroit to Portland
If I don’t write about this day, I can pretend we will ride on to the next destination. Our tour won’t have ended, D.C. won’t be calling me home. But our final day on the road is over. We are in Portland now, our journey from Sacramento to Portland complete, and Felkerino breaks down the… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 10: Bend to Detroit
Leaving Bend was a surprisingly subdued experience, once the city streets were behind us. We followed one of the Oregon Bikeways for the first 15 miles- the best cycling miles of the day. In retrospect, we should have figured out if there was an Oregon Bikeway long cut to the town of Sisters because once… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 9: Crescent Junction to Bend
The small towns in Oregon have been good to us. They manage to survive with decent to good lodging options, a convenience store, and often a nearby restaurant that opens early enough for bike touring breakfast and late enough for bike touring dinner. I’m grateful these towns hang on, unlike what you might find in… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 8: Prospect to Crater Lake to Crescent Junction
“Adventureland, where you can ride the Tornado, see a family show, and hear a rock and roll band!” During my childhood in Iowa, an amusement park called Adventureland was the summer go-to place for families, second only to the state fair. When we reached the rim of Crater Lake, and that old Adventureland jingle began… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 7: Ashland to Prospect
Summer, where did you go? We rose away from Ashland, following the cerulean patches between the clouds, sure that we would find you and ride some miles in your company. But all we found was springtime. Blue disappeared and clouds blocked the sunshine. Temperatures hovered in the mid-40s to high 50s, making for comfortable climbing… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 6: Mt. Shasta to Ashland
Cloudy and cool this morning. Wahoo! The sun can take a break from burning a hole in my retina. We eat and coffee up at Seven Suns- best breakfast burrito ever- and roll quietly out of Mt. Shasta. No one follows us, but I can feel the mountain’s gaze on me. Even partially shrouded, the… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 5: Burney to Mt. Shasta
Every day I sleep a full seven or eight hours, but each day that passes our cumulative miles make themselves known throughout my body. We’ve achieved true touring pace, I tell myself. A bowl of oatmeal and we’re on the back road out of Burney. Yay, we don’t have to deal with that no-shoulder rise… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 4: Mineral to Lassen Volcanic National Park to Burney
Climbing from Mineral and back up Morgan Summit ended up not being as daunting as I imagined. Knowing that Lassen Volcanic National Park awaited us around the bend inspired us forward, too. Our friends and Instagram buddies told us Lassen would be an eye popping ride, and we took our time pedaling through it. This… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 3: Graeagle to Mineral
“I was up above it, now I’m down in it.” –Nine Inch Nails, Down In It We departed Graeagle- on a sweet sweet downhill- and pointed the bike toward Quincy. Highway 89 was quiet in the early hours, which was helpful to our tour-tired bodies. At Quincy, Felkerino was tempted to stop at a restaurant… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 2: South Lake Tahoe to Graeagle
It’s a good day of bike touring when your only what-if is whether you should have eaten dinner on a picnic table at the Tastee Freeze or held out for the possibility of finer fare down the road. Felkerino and I eased our way out of South Lake Tahoe and after a few miles of… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 1: Sacramento to South Lake Tahoe
If anyone ever suggests you start a tandem bike tour by biting off 147 miles with over 12,000 feet of climbing from Sacramento over to South Lake Tahoe, laugh at that person. Tell them to think seriously about what they are doing. Advise no. Now Felkerino and I pack light since we credit card tour,… Continue reading
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Summer Bike Tour Plans: Sierra Cascades
A couple of years ago, someone advised me that Oregon is a nice place to ride bikes. At the time, Felkerino and I were both taken with the mountains of Colorado, and that’s where we took our bike. Not this year. This year we take on the ups and downs of the Sierra Cascades, launching from Sacramento, California on… Continue reading
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Traveling Light and Self-Contained: Jerry’s Cross-Country Bike Tour Secrets
Last summer, our friend Jerry spent 9 weeks bike touring 9,300 km across the United States and parts of Canada. I talked with Jerry a few times about his tour – once before he left, once while he was in the midst of his ride, and again after he finished. He also shared snapshots of his… Continue reading
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Strava For the Unracer (and Randonneur)
As I recently wrote, I began using Strava this year as part of the Freezing Saddles challenge. So far, I have really enjoyed using it as a training log. I know Strava can do more than serve as a virtual log and space for kudos (although I will never tire of kudos!), but those other features… Continue reading
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Idaho-Montana Bike Tour: By The Days and Miles
Over the holidays I received the gift of free time, and spent a fair amount of it going through photos from Felkerino’s and my 2015 summer bike tour of Idaho and Montana. In retrospect, it appears we had a grand adventure. While it was happening, our good times were interspersed with humbling moments and some… Continue reading
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Giving Thanks for Long Rides: Jerry’s 2015 Coast to Coast Bike Tour
As we head into Thanksgiving, I thought I’d share a recent conversation with our buddy Jerry, who rode his bike coast to coast this year, beginning in Alaska, passing through Canada, and back into the United States until finally reaching his Washington, DC., home over nine weeks of riding. Continue reading
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Unexpected Letdown
Almost two weeks have passed since Felkerino and I were last turning our tandem wheels through Idaho and Montana. This bike tour, combined with my recent work travels, really helped me appreciate my Washington, D.C., home. Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 