Tomorrow, I begin my second big cycling trip of 2023: the Erie Canal trail, all the way from Buffalo to Albany. It’s an organized ride sponsored by Parks & Trails of New York. Although I don’t (yet) know anyone else who’s riding, there should be a couple hundred other cyclists on the trail. Like the …
Route 66, Stage 1: Post iter
("Post mortem" seemed a little too... fatal, so I turned to Google Translate for the Latin translation of "after the journey.") Here's the wheels, before-and-after. (This is not Highlights magazine, so you do not have to circle the differences between the two.) Saturday Thursday I don't want this to be a purely quantitative recitation of …
Day 6: Meet Me in Street Louis
For several years now, I’ve noticed that one of the big programming glitches of Ride With GPS is its inability to distinguish between “S-t” meaning “Street,” and “S-t” meaning “Saint.” So when Jon and I were approaching the Arch, and RWGPS told me to “Turn Left on Street Louis Avenue,” I had to smile and …
Day 5: Finally, uneventful
Between the first day (or evening, actually) when we scrambled to find accommodations, and the tire issues of the subsequent three days, it was time for nothing but riding. We were due. It was a good day. Clear skies, a tailwind or mild crosswind, little vehicle traffic or wide-enough shoulders… and consistent reminders of how …
Day 4: “SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS”
Yep, more tire problems. This morning, as we expected, Jon’s rear tire was flat. Unlike yesterday, however, when we were able to ride 10-12 miles before having to add air, we couldn’t even make it through breakfast. Jon fully inflated the tube before coming to eat, and it was already flat when he got back …
Day 3: Straight as a string
Yesterday, I did a fairly poor job of planning my nutritional needs and was running on fumes when Jon spotted a Subway for lunch. The best evidence I can offer for my state of hunger was that I couldn’t even muster the energy for a decent Jared Fogle joke. This morning, I loaded up at …
Day 2: On the Mother Road
As it turns out, last night’s last-minute hotel put us in great position to ride almost due south this morning, and shave off five miles before intercepting Route 66 at Elwood (probably named for the Blues Brother who, as we all know, spent time—er, I mean, did time—in Joliet.) We were on a fairly major …
Day 1: “I love it when a plan comes together…”
… until it doesn’t. The fact that this post is coming a day late should tip you off that something went awry. All’s well that ends well, but there was a slightly harrowing moment last night. The plan was this: I take a train from Springfield to Summit, bike to Midway, and meet Jon’s arriving …
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“It winds from Chicago to LA”
[A nod here to my once-and-future riding partner—and the very first subscriber to this blog—Jon Scott, who blogged his cycling tour of the lower 48 last summer (https://www.shiftinggears57.com/), and who frequently used song lyrics for the titles of his posts.] COVID KO'ed the Grand Illinois Bike Tour in 2020. When the event returned in 2021, …
Still time
When the weather began to warm in the spring of 2018, I started bike shopping. I knew that I wanted to stay with a hybrid bike, but with an aluminum frame and a few more gears. I decided on a Trek FX3 from a local bike shop in Decatur. It cost several hundred dollars, but …
Rideworthy 