We left lovely Phenom Penh and headed towards Siem Reap. We rode two very long (mileage) and very flat days. Between the two cities there is a long flat highway filled with trucks delivery goods. There were few small villages but the noise from trucks on the four lane highway dissolved all of the intimacy …
Continue reading Phenom Penh to Siem Reap: 2 Days 317k (197 miles)
Kratie to Kampong Cham: 125k (78 miles) If you don’t already know, it’s the Men’s Futbol (or Soccer) World Cup and it’s being played in Qatar. Let me say GO USA! Great game against Iran and now the USA advances to the round of 16. I am also supporting Portugal, England, and Japan. However, if …
Continue reading Kratie to Phenom Penh: 2 Days and 232km (141 miles)
In my last post I lamented the fact that I could not upload pictures because the wifi upload was too slow. I was finally able to get a decent wifi connections to upload some pictures. These are pictures that should have accompanied the last post. Pictures from Krong Strung Treng to Kratie I love the …
Prelude to the this blog…it’s been very frustrating and difficult to upload photos on the trip. The wifi in the hotels is good for downloading email and news but not so good for uploading pictures. It has slowed me down by weeks trying to upload photos. Going forward I will post the blog without pictures …
Continue reading Hoi An Vietnam to Kratie, Cambodia: 6 Days 748km (462 miles) and a lot of climbing.
Day 1 Hue to Lang Co: 84k (52 miles) If you don’t already know Erika is a genius. I’m so lucky that she’s my spouse. She’s always looking out for me and she always trying to improve mechanical things. She decided that our rear fenders were doing a spectacularly bad job at protecting us from …
Continue reading Hue to Hoi An: 2 days 158km (98 miles) + Rest Day in Hoi An
Thank you Bonnie Goldsmith for alerting me that I did not post pictures of the cave in Fong Nha. As a reminder, the caves of Fong Nha is a designated UNESCO world heritage site. It is also a national park in Vietnam. The caves are made of limestone and through the thousands of years water …
My first blog post from the road was difficult to publish. A combination of a slow writer, slow wifi to upload photos, and the bugginess of Word Press makes for a slow user experience. My apologies! What is notable in Vietnam in the small villages and large cities is that everyone seems to have a …
Continue reading Phong Na to Hue: 221km (137 miles) plus rest day in Hue
After four days playing around Hanoi it’s time to start what we came here for, cycling. I had to shift my mind set to get ready for long hours on the bicycle, dealing with traffic and routing, and hydration and nutrition. I want to start the ride with a clear mind with no worries or …
Continue reading Bamboo Road Stages 1 – 5 Hanoi to Huong Khe
There was a don’t ask don’t tell policy in my house growing up in regards to my father’s experience in the Korean and Vietnam war. I heard many stories about his 22 year career in the Navy but my father never told me about his experience in the Korean or Vietnam wars and some how …
Map of tour “Bamboo Road” Hanoi, Vietnamese to Singapore We are getting ready for another multi-month bike trip to South East Asia, a part of the world we have never been before. We are so excited to see things we can’t even imagine now, hear languages that we can’t name or decipher, taste wonderful new …
This section of the ride, Austin to New Orleans (read New Orleans but say N’awlans), is called Cajun Country. It’s 10 days and 688 miles (1,107 KM) and 13,317 FT (4,440 M) of climbing. Unfortunate I missed the first week of the ride from Austin to Deridder, LA. I flew back home from Austin for …
Walking along, whistling a song, Barefoot and fancy free, A big riverboat, passing us by, she's headed for New Orleans There she goes, disappearing around the bend. Roll on Mississippi; you make me feel like a child again
The stars at night are big and bright, Deep in the heart of Texas, The prairie sky is wide and high, Deep in the heart of Texas, The sage in bloom is like perfume, Deep in the heart of Texas
Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high There’s a land that I’ve heard of once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue And the dreams that you dare to dream, Really do come true. Someday I’ll wish upon a star And wake up where the clouds are far behind me. Where troubles melt like lemon drops, High above the chimney tops, That’s where you’ll find me.
I went from Phoenix, Arizona All the way to Tacoma Philadelphia, Atlanta, L. A.
It’s been a week and there is so much to catch up on. The last I left off we just arrived in Twentynine Palms in California for a rest day. Now it’s 7 days 363 miles (584 km) and 16,428 feet (5,007 M) of climbing later and we are in Flagstaff Arizona. See image below …
The temperature in Twenty Nine Palms was 107 F (42 C) and I was very happy that we were staying in a hotel for the night and the next day, our first rest day.
Today’s Ride Metrics:82 Miles (132 KM)308 FT (94 M)Cumulative Distance - 205 Miles (330 KM)Cumulative Climbing - 5,244 FT (1,592 M)Weather - Hot as Hades Today’s ride started with a little gravel. To avoid cycling on the 110 freeway (bicycles are allowed on the freeway if there are unpassable sections on city streets), the route …
Continue reading Southern Tier Day 3 – Beaumont to Salton Sea
I felt like a Toreodor letting a bull pass closely. Closely enough to feel the weight and the size of the car (bull) but without contact.
Would you get hip to this kindly tip And take that California trip? Get your kicks on Route 66
What we really wanted to do was finish the bike trip in Africa but that was just not possible. So what’s the next best thing? Cycle across the United States.
Before each cycling trip we pack our gear and get our bikes ready. Given we have done this before you would think it would be easy. We have a detailed packing list to follow and based on the terrain and road conditions we will choose our bicycle and accessories. The packing cycle takes months and …
It’s sad to write that our African Cycling adventure has ended. Due to the outbreak of Covid-19 TDA Global (the tour company) made the difficult and never before decision to cancel a tour, mid-tour. While the epidemic in Africa has so far been minimal, testing and treating the virus in rural Africa will be difficult. …
Wash clothes, clean the bike chain, and eat ice cream are the important chores of the day. Btw, it is actually March 13 and we are in Arusha Tanzania and I’m slowly catching up on my postings. Erika and I want to let all our friends know all around the world that we are concerned …
Addis Ababa is a town of 4 million people and is at 2,326 meters. The elevation of Addis is not important other than to note that we We caravaned into town mostly in the highway and I could not develop an impression of the town. We stayed at a golf course but most of us …
Feb 17: Bus ride from Bahir Dar to Debre Markos (AKA forest camp). 6 long hours cooped up on a bus There was another bus ride out of Bahir Dar to Debre Markos, a 6 hour 254km bus ride. We are both feeling well but another day of rest was good for us since we …
Continue reading Bahir Dar to Addis Ababa: Feb 17 – 20 (281km/4,215m)
We were all looking forward to two rest days in Bahir Dar mainly so we could recooperate. Everyone else was looking forward to eating Ethiopian food. Though we like it we had to play it safe and eat food that we are familiar with and avoid any street food. We stayed at a hotel and …
We arrived to Gondar a day early since we skipped the first two planned rides in Ethiopia and we stayed for two nights instead of one. Erika was not well and the hotel had no availability the first night so we were planning on camping out. Peter from Portland came to the rescue and gave …
Feb 7: Khartoum to Rufaa (141km/415m) Cycling out of Khartoum was very interesting. The streets were mostly empty except some side show activity. Young groups on men spinning out and racing their cars down the street. What was interesting to see was the sheep and goat herds that were on the side of the road …
Continue reading Khartoum to Gondola Feb 7 – 11 (773km/5,277m)
Rest day implies that you kick up your feet maybe sleep in and relax. However when you’re in Sudan on tour the call to prayers still happen before sunrise at 5:00am and sunrise at 6:00am. It’s not one call to prayers it’s every mosque in the city that amplifies a message via a megaphone. I …
Dongola to Dead Camel Camp (149km/532m) The ride today should be described as Dongola to Dead Camel camp via Dead Camel Highway. Unfortunately we saw more dead camels than lives ones. The highway which we rode on intersected the historic route 40. The Bedouins who are a nomadic tribe who have their own language and …
Continue reading Dongola to Kahrtoum Feb 2 – Feb 5 (523/1,679m)
Jan 28: Abu Simbel to Wadi Halfa Part 2 (74km/449m) Today we leave Egypt and cross the border into Sudan. The border between the two countries is disputed and there is tension at the land crossing. Instead we take a ferry to an undisputed border crossing and enter Sudan. It’s sad to leave Egypt as …
Continue reading Jan 28 – Feb 1, 2020: Abu Simbel, Egypt to Dhongola, Sudan: (483 km/2,630m)
Abu Simbel Temple There is not much in Abu Simbel. It is south near the Sudanese border (though it is referred to as being in the Upper Egypt area because at one time Sudan was known as lower Egypt) and if the temple did not exist it would be a small town along Lake Nassar. …
Jan 23 - Luxor to Idfu (113km/207m) I am sorry the blog has few to no pictures. We are in Sudan and the cell and Internet connection is very slow and it takes too much time to upload photos. There are so many photos I’d love to share some I took and many from others …
Continue reading Luxor to Abu Simbel: Jan 23 – 27 (509km/1,662m)
Day 1 Jan 16 - Cairo to Ain Sokhna113 KM/445M (picture credit to: Sarah Fonger Official Photographer TDA Global Cycling Tour D’ Afrique) Day 1 the morning sounded a bit hectic. Wake up and wait for police escort and cycle 5k to the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx at sunrise. After board a bus and …
Continue reading Cairo to Luxor Jan 16 – 22 (731 KM/3,464 M)
It’s been difficult to upload pics to WordPress. I have taken many and I would like to share the splendors of the trip. I am working mostly from a cellular connection to upload the photos and WiFi when we have access and when it’s fast enough. We cross into Sudan tomorrow and it may become …
Let’s not forget that we are here to ride across Africa, We have spent six days enjoying greater Cairo but with each passing day our trip begins to take shape. We put our bikes together, we sorted our gear, and we reviewed the maps and the daily schedule. Finally, we met the staff of TDA …
We planned a two day tour of Cairo with a tour guide. Her name is Seham Gabr and she is very knowledgeable about Egyptian history. She presented Egyptian history in chronological order Old, Middle and the New Dynasty and tied the history together all the way to the present. We all learned a lot and …
When I thought about Egypt I thought about the dessert, pyramids and King Tut. Recently it was replaced by images of the Arab Spring and Tahir Square. Old images were replaced with new ones but I did not have a complete picture of Egypt. Perhaps you cannot from afar. To know a place and a …
The first leg of our flight was San Francisco to Munich and it took 12 hours. Time went by quickly since our flight left at 9:50 PM and after watching 3 movies I fell asleep. By the time I awoke breakfast was served and we had only two hours left. The last leg from Munich …
Thank you to all of our friends for sending us well wishes via email, text, and in person. We had a special visitor last night from a 2019 PBP finisher (Paris Brest Paris), Tara Flanagan our neighbor to wish us bon voyage. We finished packing our bikes and bags and cleaning our house last night. …
It’s Saturday January 4 and we leave for Cairo in four days. My bike is at Eden Cyclery getting a power meter installed. I decided that in addition to miles, heart rate, speed, cadence, and elevation gain over four months of riding, I should also collect data on watts. Watts is the power that is …
Dear Friends and Family, We hope that 2019 was a good year …
This year Erika and I spent 3.5 weeks in Japan in November and had a wonderful time. We went with our friends Isako and Roy and spent 10 days cycling in Shikoku and then visited Kyoto together. After that Erika and I went to Hokkodate, Fujisawa, and Yokohama. My mother is from Niigata Japan and …
Cycling Map of the Tour D' Afrique When you look at the route on the map above, the trip looks daunting. Especially when you look at the big number, 7,000 miles. However, if you break down the mileage and the climbing by country (see below) it becomes 10 stages. And if you further break it …
Continue reading Getting Ready for an Epic African Adventure
It's always an exciting day when you're going to town. Food, Internet, and perhaps a shower and maybe clean clothes. Today we are headed for Pinedale, the portal to the Wind River mountain range. It's a cowboy town or more accurately it should be known as a mountain man town. We went to the Mountain …
Continue reading Day 47 Whiskey Grove to Pine Dale (9/7): 35 miles/725 ft
Wow what a day! The route was long and difficult almost all on gravel. The roads terrible washboards and rocky with a lot of climbing. I rode the route like a drunk cyclist searching for a smooth patch of road to ride weaving back and forth. This route could break you if you let it. …
Continue reading Day 46 Lava Mountain to Whiskey Grove Campground (9/6): 55 miles/3,800 ft
Leaving the Grand Tetons was hard. I wanted to stay longer and visit Jenny Lake and go to Jackson. We will be back though. I just learned that the Ikon ski pass includes days at Squaw Valley, Alpine, and Mammoth in California, Jackson in Wyoming, Big Sky in Montana, Steamboat in Colorado, plus a resort …
Continue reading Day 45 Coulter Bay to Lava Mountain (9/5): 51 miles/3,624 ft
Remember Aimee and Clay who we met in Canada on Spray Lakes road and who we rode trailing for a few days? Their posse also included Mike and Rich. They both are rangers in the Grand Tetons and invited us to stay with them when we are passing through. Their house is on the Divide …
Continue reading Day 44 Flagg Ranch to Coulter Bay (9/4): 19.2 miles/1,105 ft
We are a day away from the Tetons and today we'll get a glimpse of the western side of the mountain range. The Tetons are one of my favorite mountain ranges in North America. They are very distinctive and commanding and I could look at them all day long in wonderment. I think back when …
Continue reading Day 43 Warm River, ID to Flagg Ranch, WY (9/2): 47.3 miles/3,472 ft
It seems in Idaho that the populace has every opportunity that enjoy off road vehicles. There are many two track roads that parallel the highway and it seems that all gravel roads are open to off road vehicles. It's great and I think how fun it would be to ride an ATV or an off …
Continue reading Day 42 Island Park to Warm River (9/1): 40.7 miles/1,056 ft
Today we left Montana and crossed into Idaho. I love Montana for its rugged landscape. There are many mountain ranges and rivers that are not over developed. It's the fourth largest state, which I did not know, with only 1 million people. As we were told by a local woman in Bannack, "we are welcomed …
Continue reading Day 41 Red Rock Lakes, MT to Island Park, ID (9/1): 29.2 miles/1,105 ft
Life spills into the Divide...today was the funeral of Senator McCain from Arizona. I watched his casket procession to lie in state at the Capitol this morning. It was an elegant well executed procession and I admired the rituals that we have to honor the dead. I admired McCain for his honor, dignity, and sense …
Continue reading Day 40 Lima to Red Rock Lakes (8/31): 57 miles/1,988 ft
Today's route is one of our favorite sections of the Divide. It's along a historic trail, it shows the diversity of the Montana landscape, and it's a beautiful and fun fast ride on well kept gravel roads. 10 miles into the ride and the wide open landscape narrows into a canyon reminiscent of the red …
Continue reading Day 39 Cow Patie Camp to Lima (8/30): 38.1 miles/801 ft
It was a long day in the saddle but it was a beautiful day, no clouds or rain to worry about. It was wonderful to ride the lonesome Bannack road and Medicine Lodge gravel roads through large cattle operations, cattle grazing and hay growing. There were few cars and the road was in decent shape. …
Continue reading Day 38 Bannack to Cow Patie Camp (8/29): 48.1 miles/3,639 ft
After two days rest my engines (legs) were ready to go. Luckily it was an easy short ride to Bannack. It was very cold starting out and I had my cold gear on including leggings. That's unusual for me since I run hot. Wearing my warm gear didn't last long when the sun broke through …
Continue reading Day 37 Elk Horn Springs to Bannack (8/28): 24.9 miles/547 ft
Two down days, what's a rider to do? Soak in the hot springs in the morning and evening, check the weather hourly, take a nap, catch up on reading, stretch, eat but not too much, meet new riders and hikers who arrive, if you're Erika, take a daily hike in the cold and rain, and …
Continue reading Day 35 and 36 Rain Delay Elk Horn Hot Springs (8/26 – 8/27)
The ride today is one of my favorite sections of the Divide. It's along the FR78 a scenic by way connecting Wise River to Polaris surrounded by National Forrest. There are few cars on the road and the area has changed little from the time the first Settlers arrived (The Native Americans were in this …
Continue reading Day 34: Wise River to Elk Horn Springs (8/25): 33.7 miles/2,574 ft
Jamie and Liz had a rest day in Butte and we pressed onto Wise River. Wise River is along the Big Hole River, a fly fishing Mecca in the U.S. possibly the world. The river is scenic and is located in a very isolated but one of the most beautiful parts of the state between …
Continue reading Day 33 Butte to Wise River (8/24): 52.4 miles/3,210 ft
I started my day with a large breakfast at the Silver Saddle Bar and Grille in Basin, MT. I really enjoy going to a local restaurant to hear the chit chat in the morning. This morning I learned about the snow that's expected in the next few days, the rodeo coming to town, and smoke …
Continue reading Day 32 Merry Widow to Butte (8/23): 35 miles/2,585 ft
Today we rode in a posse of 8 cyclists. It's nice to ride in a big pack. There are more people to talk to and trade stories with and there is a sense of safety in large numbers. Since we are riding on the freeway having a lot of cyclists is good and are more …
Continue reading Day 31 Helena to Merry Widow Radon Health Mine (8/22): 45.5 miles/3,724 ft
We rode the alternative route ride today which was very easy because it was very flat. We did not ride the official route because of the possibility of mud due to the rain. I enjoyed the route which passed farms and open spaces. We learned that farmers who raise cows graze their cows on rented …
Continue reading Day 30 Llama Camp to Helena: 27.3miles/783 feet
Since we have been cycling in Montana there has been a series of records in terms of the weather. Record hot days, record days without rain, and record cold days, all within a two week period. Cycling in the hot weather was draining but the reward was swimming in the cold ice melt water. After …
Continue reading Day 29 Rain Day Llama Camp: 11.6 miles/533 ft
Today was a short ride in terms of distance but it featured a big climb up Poormans Creek, a 4.4 mile climb with sustained 10% climbs in the last 1.5 miles. It's one of the steepest climbs on the Divide. The pay off? 7 miles of downhill not peddling required leading to the Bikers Camp …
Continue reading Day 28 Lincoln to Llama Camp (8/19): 24 miles/2,370 feet
Ovando is sticky and we did not leave until 11:30. Between breakfast, visits, and discussions about the reroute (Trail 467 fire), time just slipped away. 11 miles out of town on a flat route, brought us to the foot of Huckleberry pass, a civilized climb of 8 miles that was not too steep. The name …
Continue reading Day 27 Ovando to Lincoln (8/19): 38.6 miles/2,614
Ovando is one of my favorite places on the Divide. It's a small town in terms of population, 50 people and 100 dogs. The city has a long history and there are still historic buildings downtown. The city is very much part of the Divide and it's famous among the racers. Kathy owns the Blackfoot …
Continue reading Day 26 Seeley Lake to Ovando (8/17): 28 miles/1,771 ft
In the morning it's best to check on the status of your legs before getting on your bike as a pre assessment of your day. A number of factors can influence the condition of your bicycle engine. Sleep amount and quantity, how much water consumed, quality and quantity of food and wether you stretched after …
Continue reading Day 25 Holland Lake to Seeley Lake (8/16): 33.5 miles/3,079 ft
Today was hot and there was a lot of climbing from the beginning of the ride. We headed through a section of climbs and I decided to check out and turn on some music as inspiration through the section. I passed a tree and saw something black move swiftly out of the corner of my …
Continue reading Day 24 Cedar Creek to Holland Lake (8/15): 36.6 miles/3,152 ft
The best campsites have a hiker/biker section with flat purpose built campsites, a bear box for food, a shower, and a pavilion with a table and bench and electrical outlets. Lucky for us in Montana many of the state parks are configuring their parks this way. The policy is to never turn a biker or …
Continue reading Day 23 Flathead Lake to Cedar Creek (8/14): 37.2 miles/3,152 ft
Some towns we say are "sticky" meaning they are hard to leave once you arrive and Whitefish is one of those to towns. It has all services for bicyclists, restaurants, excellent coffee, and a hidden gem of an Army Navy surplus. We did not leave town until 11:00 AM when our typical departure is at …
Continue reading Day 22 Whitefish to Flathead Lake (8/13): 54.2 miles/1,818 ft
Mountains R Calling 