I took a short September vacation in California and Oregon this year. The idea was to take my time to visit old friends and to cycle here and there as my whims dictated. It turned our well, except for one particular ride around San Francisco Bay. This ride could be named “One Nut, One Flat and Two Bridges”. I stayed a few days in Berkeley with an old friend. One can’t ride across the Bay Bridge so it was necessary to take BART to the Embarcadero, bikes are welcome on all but the first car. I got on and was immediately offered senior seating across from the bike rack so I suppose I am showing my age these days. I...

This has been a good cycling year for piling on miles. My monthly average during the summer dropped while I was in Canada helping friends and relatives with household projects. Some, make that all, of them are getting older and need assistance. I didn’t mind but it did cut into my annual mileage aspirations. I have been knocking out the miles again since mid-September. I need about 1150 more in November and December to get to 5000. On November 20th I was aiming for another 55 miles or so. Things went south in Oceanside at about 1:00 PM. I was headed north on Myers Street on the right shoulder of the two-lane road when a Toyota Camry taillight and fender...

Dick, a good friend with whom I worked in Haz Mat at the County of San Diego Environmental Health Department and I have kept in touch since he switched jobs years ago. He retires this week from the City of San Diego. It has been over two years since our cycle trip along the Danube. I have put off writing up the trip long enough; so, as it’s a blustery fall day I have resolved to get it done. Another reason I finally got started was a promise I made to dear 98-year-old friend that I visited in Canada this summer. She made me promise to write this story since she really enjoyed my STR story a few years...

*EOR, pronounced Eeyore, with apologies to A. A. Milne In late January Mike told me about a group planning to ride the Southern Tier Route. After some hemming and hawing I decided I would give it a try. I chose a Fuji 58 cm model. I immediately ordered and installed a Brooks saddle. To alleviate a persistent neck pain I replaced the 110 mm stem with a 90 mm one, and switched the 32 C tires for Continental 38s. I also carried two spare tubes although I never got a flat over the entire 3100 miles. Mike and I did a two-day test ride with fully loaded bikes from Ocotillo Wells to Agua Caliente in the Borrego State Park as test...