My goal was to hunt lobsters by bike. That was the inspiration for the first of my two solo 2018 bicycle trips. In June I left from our home in New Hampshire, close to the Vermont border and headed east to the Atlantic Ocean then north up the Maine coast.  I discovered the secret to great lobster! Read more here: https://bethsrecipes.wordpress.com/2018/06/28/the-great-lobstah-hunt-bicycle-tour/ I wrapped up my second 2018 bicycle tour adventure in November along the coast of California. This spontaneous tour was driven largely by my need to get my cycling legs back after 2 months off the bike in New Hampshire. I did not anticipate the California fires and only hoped to beat the rain. On November 8th I packed my bike...

DAY 1 - Jul 12th - Vancouver, British Columbia In case you haven't heard, I'm doing a bicycle tour. Left on July 11th, flew to Vancouver, BC with the help of two friends, Pete Simons and Tom Hanson. Initial plan was to bike over Whistler, head northeast, up the Alaska Highway, maybe reach Fairbanks, down to Anchorage, etc., etc. That plan has changed just a bit. A few days before I left, many inland areas of BC are on fire. Go to plan B. Biking up Vancouver Island to Port Hardy, ferry to Prince Rupert, then biking east toward Prince George and up the Stewart Cassiar Highway. Lucky I'm flexible. I arrived in Vancouver late at night, biked a little, took...

*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...

We did it. Bob Sheldon, Ursula Misiraca, Sherry Newsham, Ken Hartman and I rode from Vancouver B.C. to the Mexican border. We left Vancouver on August 30, 2015 and touched the fence on October 6, 2015.  Funny how when you take your bike apart and pack it, that after it arrives and you are trying to put it back together there are parts that don't fit, extra pieces and missing pieces and lots of adjustments needed to be made. We arrived in Vancouver by train from Seattle. After checking into our hotel we were planning to cruise Stanley Park however, the park was closed due to unexpected high winds and downed trees. That’s how our adventure started trees blocking bike...

#1 My European bicycle tour has gotten off to an inauspicious start. With the help of two good friends, I got my large bicycle box, another slightly smaller box, myself, and two carry-ons up to LAX in plenty of time for the song and dance routine that the TSA puts you through and to board Norwegian Air's 787 Dreamliner. "Dream" would be the key word here. Things were going well as I boarded a pretty full plane and got a seat next to a comely Norwegian girl. I noticed the little hi-tech screen in front of me had a good selection of movies. Then we backed away from the gate. After maybe 200 yards, I began chewing some gum in order...

The Epitome of a Pilgrimage We departed Lisboa, Portugal on June 2. Malena Serrato, Letitia Sokoll, Ursula Misaraca, Pauline Stehley and myself, Dolores Wells on mountain bikes that weighed somewhere between 50 to 500 pounds. It was downhill all the way out of Lisboa on cobblestone roads to the river. We had bike paths past the Oceanario and were literally on The Way. We had signage to follow along The Way. It was a great day and a great start. The first day was dry and warm and we weren’t aware that we were about to meet the first of many Knights in Shining Armor or Angels on the trail. We stayed in Vila Franca de Xira. The next day I was...

It’s July 11, 2013,  and I’m sitting in a room with 11 other riders in Lourdes, France listening to three Trek Travel guides giving a briefing on today’s ride up Col d’ Soulor and Col d’Aubisque.  Col d’ Soulor is the first of eight climbs up mountains in the Pyrenees, Alpes and Provence where the Tour de France is won and lost.  They are the very essence of the world’s most grueling sporting event. The mountain ascents of the Tour have made and broken champions and the so-called out-of-category climbs are the worst. Tom on Alpe d'Huez Why am I sitting here waiting to ride up the first of eight mountains that have 10% plus grades and how did I get...

Can I start out by telling you about my Harleys, Vincent HRD, Kawaski and Honda Gold Wing? No? Alright, how about my Caterpillar career? How about my other careers like Melles Griot and Tri City hospital? No on all? How about my Jag restorations into show cars? No? For the last time John, this is about bicycles so get on it. OK. My first bike (our, I shared it with my twin brother) was a 1932 (est) brand unknown, with 20 inch wheels with one piece tires. The punctures were fixed by inserting rubber glue soaked rubber bands into the tire with a special gun. The excess bunch of rubber bands sticking out of the tire was then burned off....

What a great re-cap from Wade but I thought there were a few details worth mention. Seven riders left the parking lot at a chilly 8:00AM following our fearless, dressed in layers, impromptu leader, Bill the Adventurer. For a promised casual 100 miler the pace started out brisk but welcome as we all needed to warm our bones. But that all changed when we hit the Valley Center climb and Ursula put the hammer down and put us all in our climbing places. And while true (Wade put it so eloquently) I was not the first to the top, more like dead last, I would have been fine had I not been singled...

The detailed report. The start was surprisingly uneventful.  A quick photo and then Bill led us out with Ursula, Sean, Anthony Sc., Nerius, Steve, and me trailing. Steve, Nerius, Bill, Ursula, Wade, Anthony, Sean We were all bundled up, with Nerius wearing some bib tights with a slightly disturbing hole in the back. But I gave him a pass on that because he was nice enough to lend me his extra set of toe warmers.   We headed out of Escondido full of confidence with Sean and Ursula helping Bill with the pulls.  By the time we reached the top of Valley Center Parkway all of us were starting to get a little warm. Ursula was first to the top showing no sense of...