We are suckers for historic buildings. We are currently renovating an 1850 Greek Revival. The house was a definite project. Ummm, an indefinite project is probably a better description since we have been working on it for what seems an eternity. The house was abandoned for a long, long time and was [...]

I was reminded of some other incident that happened even before we got out of the US and into Mexico. The shoe previously discussed in an earlier entry did finally turn up. Pedaling with one shoe isn’t optimal, but not being able to pedal is even worse. Seems that the pedal on [...]

I came across an list of elevation maps for places that I have eithered bicycled or visited in Mexico. Now, I see why cycling down the Baja Peninula was tough. The little charts look like some trendy hairdo, with lots of spikes everywhere. Those little spikes were not fun to climb at [...]

Our route isn’t exactly following the laid out routes of Adventure Cycling. I only know that from reading accounts of cyclists who did follow that route. Some ask why we just don’t follow the AC route since it is already mapped out. Well, following somebody else’s route is all well and good, [...]

Planning the route doesn’t mean simply looking at a map and choosing the roads. I have referred to online journals frequently and emailed locals for their recommendations for routes. In addition to that, I have relied heavily on the satellite features of some mapping programs, mostly Google and MapQuest, although I do prefer [...]

I look at the handset and punch a letter that corresponds with a number. The letters seem way too small to read. I need one of those giant phone pads with huge numbers visible to any over-40 type. I love having a simple phone number to remember when I am not near [...]

Even though we arrive fairly early into Portland, getting to Astoria, assembling the bikes and getting organized will take most of the rest of the day. But, at least we will get to Astoria in the early afternoon thanks to a fellow WSLer who most kindly offered to shuttle us from the Portland airport [...]

Somebody started a thread on the Phred group about slow speeds. That evolved into climbing steep grades, which means gaining elevation. Total elevation gained might be an equally impressive figure as the total distance traveled on this cross-country trip. I am intrigued by numbers and such trivial figures as those displayed on [...]

I looked at some of the stats at Adventure Cycling just to get an idea of what people are doing touring-wise. The resident statistician would warn me of the bias of a voluntary response survey, but that’s ok. I figure that the types of people who voluntarily responded to such questions would [...]

If second breakfast seems common to bicycle touring, then is the second day struggle a common element as well? In our experience, we have found that the first day of touring goes well, even if there are minor equipment failings along the way. It must be the excitement of hitting the road and [...]