Thirty-eight years ago as we began our married life, we cycled out of Strafford, Vermont and began a year-long bicycling adventure traveling around the world. (The photo is from Nepal.) Then came another wonderful adventure -- children and careers. With children on their own and our careers behind us, we entered the next chapter, again with a bicycle adventure. That one was more modest, train trips across the country and five weeks on bikes from Los Angeles, CA to Portland, OR; but it greeted us with we good riding, great sights, and interesting people.

After two bicycle trips on the west coast, we tried something different. With an old dog along for the ride and a camper in the bed of the pickup, we set off for the desert southwest exploring national parks, enjoying daily cycling, and even playing a little golf.

In Spring, 2017, we decided on an international adventure. We landed in Lisbon, Portugal and rode a loop through Portugal and Spain and back to Lisbon. Once again, seeing the sights, meeting people, and pedaling 1600 miles were wonderful!

In March 2018 we left Maine after a big snow storm and headed to North Carolina for some warmth - we didn't find it. We went further south to SC - still didn't find it! But we did discover new places to cycle and explore!

It is now August 2023, kids are married with families of their own (five wonderful grandchildren) and we are off on another adventure! Our first stop will be Lily Bay State Park on August 13, then head north and west, across Canada and into Alaska driving and camping with bikes and a canoe. Here is the family, though missing Miles' wife, Baily.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

A wild windy Wednesday...


We got up at 5 am and made coffee and oatmeal in the room. Most of the motel rooms we have been staying in have not only coffee makers, but microwave ovens and little refrigerators. It is great to be able to have cold water bottles to begin the day. It was still dark, but we ventured out.



Brawley's Main Street was route 78, our main road for the day. The shoulder was good, traffic light, gentle tail wind and terrain flat as we watched a beautiful sunrise.  This area of California has to be the hay-growing capital of the world -- mile after mile after mile of hay fields and hay bales that are then shipped all over the world. 


Then we climbed a bit into the North Algodones Dunes Wilderness . We were glad it wasn't a weekend day because the dune buggy traffic can get bad.





After Glamis, the road and wind changed. Notice the flags blowing straight out, but at least in the direction we were headed.


We lost the shoulder completely, there were dips in the road, rolling short hills, and the wind picked up. The tractor trailer trucks were more present too. I ended up changing into my sneakers because I wasn't sure I could unclip quickly enough from my pedals, and would tip over in the wind. It was gusting to 40 mph! We kept a close eye on our mirrors and would pull off the road when we saw traffic coming behind us, or even approaching big trucks. Even standing still off the road I almost got blown over a few times. It was stressful and a bit scary at moments. After about 12 miles of this, we had pulled over, again bracing against the wind as a couple of big trucks went past, a Tundra stopped behind us and a nice man asked if we wanted a lift. He said he was a cyclist too and wouldn't want to be out on this road in the windy conditions. He said he especially wouldn't want to be riding behind his wife! So we loaded the bikes in the back of the pickup and he got us through the next 10 miles until the shoulder reappeared a bit.

The rest of the ride to Blythe was still windy and gusty, but less traffic and more of a shoulder. The vistas got obscured by blowing sand and dust.  We stopped and made lunch in the lee of a hay bale pile.  


Our slightly abbreviated long day was behind us, tomorrow we cross the Colorado River into Arizona!
It was a challenging day, but the desert has a beauty.


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