I’ve been flying with my Performance Bike-branded hard-shell case for at least 30 years. I’ve often been charged an absurd amount of money, but never been told I couldn’t bring it. First time for everything, I guess. Fuck Southwest.
Day -1: Getting there (eventually) Read More »
One of the traits I inherited from my father is a need to exercise anywhere I go. His exercise was jogging: he ran nine marathons. Mine is cycling. So when it came time to visit my dad’s new senior living facility in Buffalo, I started looking at what might be fun to ride while I was in the area. The proximity to Niagara Falls, the Erie Canal and the Finger Lakes helped inspire a plan; cross over into Canada on the Adventure Cycling Association Northern Tier route, ride up Niagara River Parkway, connect with the Empire State Trail along the Erie Canal, head down to Ithaca, then work my way back through the Finger Lakes.
Introduction: Erie Canal and the Finger Lakes Read More »
Bike touring in Italy is pretty awesome, regardless. It’s beautiful, the drivers are used to sharing road space, and the food is great. But I’m naturally critical, so I’m always considering what I might have done differently.
Italy 2018: Conclusion Read More »
It was a short riding day, and started with a tour of Lucca, then a ride around the town walls again before started towards the end of our tour in Pisa. It was mostly fine riding on river paths, and some of us got some bonus riding for a swim in the Ligurian Sea.
Day 10: Lucca to Pisa Read More »
We woke to clear skies and beautiful landscapes, enjoyed breakfast at the agriturismo, and headed off into the Tuscan hills. We were done with major climbs, but we would have some more rolling hills as we headed towards the coast. It was beautiful riding, and even better when a group of us broke off the front and took the last half at our own pace.
Day 9: Vinci to Lucca Read More »
We set out from Firenze in the rain, and got pretty wet and dirty before things cleared up. We got to climb our last ridge of the trip, had a beautiful, fun descent, and visited the Leonardo museum in Vinci.
Day 8: Firenze to Vinci Read More »
Nancy’s ankle was still tender, so we wanted to take it easy on our rest day. There was a group walking tour planned, but we decided to take it at our own pace. We found a great little pasticceria down the street, and walked around Firenze.
Day 7: Rest day in Firenze Read More »
Ronta’s elevation is almost 400 meters, so people were enjoying the prospect of a big net elevation loss. Today wasn’t all downhill though; we had another ridge to get over, including a real climb of about 300 meters. But everyone liked the overall look of the elevation profile, and we all set out to do the whole ride. It was beautiful, with nice riding and views of the Tuscan hills.
Day 6: Ronta to Firenze Read More »
Today we’d be riding into the hills we’d seen off in the distance yesterday, and eventually climb over the Apennines into Tuscany. This would be a real climb, near 1000m total, but it parallels a train line, so those who didn’t feel like going over the mountain could take the train the whole way, or take advantage of one of the train stations along the way to bail out. For me, this was the awesome day.
Day 5: Faenza to Ronta Read More »
After visiting the amazing mosaics of Ravenna, we headed out for another flat ride to grab some piadine in Emilia Romagna and then some beer, gelato and ceramics in Faenza.
Day 4: Ravenna to Faenza Read More »