Bike About 2025 – GDMBR Week 2
December 12, 2025 § Leave a comment
In my last post I only covered 6 days, so the title is a little misleading, however I will try to be a little more terse and cram in the rest of my time traveling with the lovely ladies Denise and Rebecca who invited me to join them on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route/Ride (GDMBR). I ended the last post where section 1 of the route ended in Helena, and this post will cover section 2 from Helena Montana, to Jackson Wyoming however, I will be departing this route before then and diverting to West Yellowstone where my next phase in this adventure will begin. For now though, it’s the Rocky Mountains of Montana, and miles to go before we rest.
« Read the rest of this entry »Cycling the Pyrenees – Part Five
August 4, 2024 § 2 Comments
I had joined two friends for an epic ride across the French Pyrenees in October 2022, and 3 days into the ride I tested positive for the Covid 19 virus. I convalesced for a few days, and then rode to Bordeaux and then caught a train back to Paris where I then rode West to Plaisir to join a family friend on a business trip to Caen. This should be the final installment in this series as I recall what went down, and how I remember it.
« Read the rest of this entry »Cycling the Pyrenees – Part Four
August 3, 2024 § Leave a comment
As of my last write up I had just tested positive for Covid, my mates, as agreed to, have continued on their way, and I am convalescing in a 2 star family hotel in Argeles France for 71 Euros a night which includes breakfast and dinner. I don’t know why we don’t have these kinds of places in the US, but this was quite a deal. I was staying in my room, I didn’t allow house cleaning in, and if I left my room, I was masked, though I didn’t communicate to my hosts, my condition. I was the only one wearing a mask, so maybe they figured it out. They always put in a corner for dinner far from any other guests, and no one else dealt with me.
« Read the rest of this entry »Cycling The Pyrenees – Part Three
August 1, 2024 § 1 Comment
As I write about this two years later I find that as I open up the memories, there is a lot of detail there to harvest. In Part I I talked through how I came to do this, and in Part II I covered getting here. Now it’s the morning of 3 October, 2022 and we awake in the seaside resort of Saint Jean de Luz in the southwest of France near the Spanish border and we are going to embark on the Peter Cossins researched Ride across the Pyrenees West to East to the Mediterranean Sea.
« Read the rest of this entry »Ragbrai L – Looking Back
September 10, 2023 § Leave a comment
My take away from this year’s edition should be a “What did I learn?” take away, and not a “What didn’t I like?” or a “What can I complain about?” post as I have read some summaries on the Ragbrai Facebook page, and to be honest, some of those posts seem like complaints to me.
I think one thing we have to agree upon first, is that this year was different. I haven’t even done this even before and even I can tell that it couldn’t possibly have been like this every year for 50 years. I did do it with some folks who have done it before, and more than once, and one of their general observations about Ragbrai was that the average age of participants was rising every year. Reading between the lines, that means that Ragbrai needs new blood, and that old farts like me are not, and should not be the target audience. I am glad that our group included 4 23-something young women and 3 early 30 ish young men, so that is something.
« Read the rest of this entry »Ragbrai L – Sunday Through Saturday
August 12, 2023 § Leave a comment
As I said in the previous post I would like to keep this to 3 posts, so I will not go into too many details regarding this trip. I will mention a few items of interest to me, and I will either embed, or post links to other content that you may or may not wish to click through to. I will post this Facebook link to a Ragbrai LI group where you are free to peruse what others liked/disliked about this years ride.
Sorry Tabitha, I don’t have an image with all of us.
« Read the rest of this entry »Ragbrai L – Let’s Do This!
August 5, 2023 § 2 Comments
My Des Moine’s Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa finished this past Saturday July 29th in Davenport Iowa. This was my first Ragbrai, but not my first time riding across Iowa, as that occurred in 1981 when Frank Falcione and I rode our bikes across the country, at the time somewhat trying to get to that year’s start town on the West side of Iowa for that year’s Ragbrai. We weren’t even close to the start date as I recall, but we did have a good ride.
« Read the rest of this entry »The Assault on Mount Mitchell 2022 – A Baby Seal was I
July 30, 2022 § 2 Comments
When Terry Downs sent me the registration link, this seemed like a great idea. I was going to sign up for Ride the Rockies again, and having this activity in May would force me to get out there and train, because this beast is a monster. In case you aren’t aware, Mount Mitchell is the highest point East of the Mississippi. The term highest has to be understood. The Appalachian Trail does NOT traverse Mount Mitchell and so Clingman’s Dome (soon to be renamed thus ridding us of another Confederate traitor) is the highest point on the AT. Mount Mitchell Highlands NJ is the highest coastal point South of Maine (Cadillac Mtn though is on an island). Mount Mitchell in NC is the highest thing around for man miles. This ride begins all the way South in Spartanburg South Carolina and generally winds it’s way North and West until it ascends to the Blue Ridge, and then its South to the final climb to the summit. One hundred two miles and more than 10K feet of elevation gain.
« Read the rest of this entry »Ride The Rockies 2022 – Day 6
July 25, 2022 § Leave a comment
And we have reached the last day of a tremendous ride in the Rockies. Of course there is still the ride, and that ride includes first getting up and over Loveland Pass, but once that is completed, then it is generally a simple task of losing elevation all the way to Golden. Getting over Loveland would not be a simple task though we all start the day with at least 340 miles in our legs already, and having lifted ourselves up and over the Continental Divide four times already. This is another front-ended climb day that has nothing but downhill afterwards, and on this day there is no forecast for high headwinds. We might hit some weather, but at least we don’t have to fight the wind to get to Golden.
« Read the rest of this entry »Ride The Rockies 2022 – Day 5
July 23, 2022 § Leave a comment
A glorious day!
I tested negative the night before and today was a beautiful rest day. Yes, there was still a ride, but we were looking at 30 miles with only Swan Mountain to climb instead of a longer day that included and out and back to Ute Pass. It is the fifth day of the ride which means it all comes to end on the morrow, but let’s not fret about that just yet. The plan was a simple one. Follow the leaders into Frisco, and Silverthorne and find a place for some coffee, or even a sit-down place to get a bite for either a late breakfast, or an early lunch. It isn’t possible on a trip like this to take in too many calories. Every day of Ride the Rockies is calorie deficit day!
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Big Bird's Adventures 