-
Not on Vacation
I have to remind myself occasionally that I’m not on vacation. The traveling around and staying in hotels feels like vacation but this is currently my life and I still have to work to be able to eat. Today I’m camped out in the hotel lounge drinking complimentary baby sized cokes, eating chocolate (thanks work),
-
50
I don’t much think about birthdays but I guess this one is hard to ignore. 50! I woke up and didn’t feel any different, went for a bike ride and felt the same. I had vague notions of riding 50 miles to celebrate but instead decided to just get lost. I turned down whatever bike
-
Bike Check: My Rig for this Ride
A number of folks have asked for a bike check of my touring rig and so today I’ve sat down and written one for y’all. I started with a Fairdale Weekender frame and fork set. At 6’1 I can ride both the large or XL size frames and chose an XL this time around. No
-
By Train, Boat and Bicycle
London’s streets in the darkness of 4:45 am were surreal. It seemed like it should be very busy all around me but it was silent. Under the orange glow of a street light a fox was standing in the middle of the road staring at me. I could feel the echos of the hustle and
-
London and Bicycle Union
Woke up at Ian’s house and he took me on a ride of his daily morning routine. We rolled down to the not yet awake beach front and to his favorite coffee shop. As per my usual I had hot chocolate with oat milk. The good conversations from the day before continued easily. A short
-
Hastings
I woke up to some pretty hard rain in Brighton. I fiddled around with my computer and had a slow breakfast hoping the weather would change. Just about at checkout time the rain just about stopped and so I started pedaling. The roads ahead looked busy so I rode along the beachfront. Very slow going
-
Brooklyn to Brighton
I rode alternately marveling at and then forgetting I was pedaling in England. It was a strange morning as I was one of the first people off the ship and out on to the early morning streets of Southampton. It felt like one minute I was pedaling through Brooklyn, took a break in a hotel
-
Transatlantic Taj
I enjoyed myself on the big ship even though I wasn’t much interested in the things the cruise provided for entertainment. The pseudo luxury with spas, servants at the ready, and turn down service wasn’t for me. Nor dressing up in fancy clothes, drinking, partying or even socializing. I never went to the fancy gala
-
I’m on a Boat
Well, for the next 7 days I’ll be on this boat going across the Atlantic. I was able to wheel my bike right into my room. If it seems weird to you that I’m taking a cruise across the ocean it seems weird to me too! When dreaming up this trip I liked the idea
-
Kosher Veggie Sushi
The hotel room I woke up in was absurdly big. They’d upgraded me to a bigger room and it was larger than some houses I’ve lived in with a desk, a bar, another sink near the front door and separate bedroom. My bike sat over against the far wall and outside the window it was
-
No Sleep ’til Brooklyn… Well Maybe one more Night of Sleep
I woke up at 6:30am and went down to the hotel lobby to draw. The Comfort Inn was filled with road construction guys who were staying there while working on a project nearby. The lobby was packed as they swarmed the breakfast bar. I sat in the middle of them and listened to their thick
-
A Wet One For Kyle’s First Ever Bike Tour
I pedaled out of Kingston this morning just after a hard nighttime rain let up. It let up but never really let go and it was one of those days where there was a light spray in the air at all times. Sometimes it would rain just enough that maybe you’d flip your wipers on
-
Spinning Around in Circles
Today was a day for getting lost and confused. It started when I rolled down the hill from my hotel in Albany towards the big ol’ Hudson River and the tangle of highways that converge there. The bike route across was closed for construction and there was a detour. I followed that, got confused, circled
-
Dat Dare is ah Giddy Up on ah Bicycle
We looked at each other smashed into opposite corners of the tiny elevator and someone probably needed to say something. We turned our eyes down at my bike which was taking up most of the floor space. “Dat dare is ah giddy up on ah bicycle.” I had lived in Texas long enough to know
-
Planning Ahead
If you try to plan ahead for every little detail you’ll find it hard to ever get started, but if you don’t plan enough you’ll end up with one of those stories where you went to sleep hungry and almost froze to death sleeping outside in a thunder storm on top of a tick nest.
-
A Great F-in Day of Riding
Yesterday’s ride was excellent. They say it is hard to make the good times into interesting reading but as I am still grinning about what a great ride I had so I’ll give it a try. On the way out of Syracuse I stopped by Melo Velo bike shop . What a cool shop and
-
Unsolicited Review: Garmin Varia
I got to see a little bit of how you other half live with your fancy motorized transportation. I woke with a sore throat, still searing sunburn, some saddle sores and assurances of storms so I decided that this would be the day to skip ahead. I can’t remember ever having ridden an Amtrack before
-
Back to the States
It had been a wonderful day of riding and I was swimming in happy sensations when it came to an abrupt end at the locked door to the USA. I’d ridden across the Peace Bridge from Canada and into Buffalo. It’s a mile long and 170 foot (52m) tall bridge that spans the Niagara River
-
Wondering About White Bread
I sat outside a tiny little grocery store eating bananas and having a soda. I’d been out on empty farm roads and it was the first store I’d seen all day. A bit dazed by all the pedaling I watched the folks coming and going in the same way that I catch myself staring at
-
Day 2 Is Always a Hard One
I felt like I couldn’t do it. I pulled off to the side of road and dismounted my bike. My mind was revolting against this plan. “You can’t make it. This is a terrible idea,” it said to me. I looked back at the narrow two lane road I had just swerved off of and
-
First Day Pedaling
Yesterday I started pedaling. I left in the rain and throughout the day the rain was ever present ranging from light to medium downfalls. In the end I pedaled 94.7miles (152.4 km) over a long 9.5 hours. I started at my Aunt’s house in Fenton, MI and ended up crossing into Canada via a ferry.
-
Leaving Whistler
In the blink of an eye two and half months at Whistler have passed. Remarkably I’m still in one piece and feeling strong. My bike has not been so lucky. I’m not even taking it home. I donated what was still useable but there wasn’t much left. Riding the park understandably accelerated the wear on
-
I Got Podcasted
PinkBike had me on their podcast talking for a while. Being on podcasts kind of gives me anxiety to be honest. As soon as we were done recording and I was alone with my thoughts I started thinking about all the silly things I’ve said. Some possibly offensive and more most likely to be misunderstood.
-
3 Trips
This morning I moved down the street to a new airBNB. I mentally prepared for moving day as if I had a whole household to move, but in the end it only took 3 trips. Everything I own can be moved in 3 trips and fit on to (or at least in front of) a
Think Up Good Things 