Turkey (day 17 – 20)

“I can’t think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can’t read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can’t even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.”

Bill Bryson

Thursday (3/31). Thank you Bill for perfectly describing life outside one’s “comfort zone.” We were, however, very much in our comfort zone on our perfect hillside perch. Out across the Aegean Sea, the Greek island of Samos was visible. Most times the only sound came from waves on the rocky shore far below. It offered the best night of sleep since leaving the U.S. After the dog pound the night before, we needed it.

By noon we arrived at the site of ancient Ephesus. Stunning! Walking along the ancient main street you can easily picture life in Ephesus 2,000 years ago. I can’t think of any modern city that could hope to match the beauty and “wow” factor of ancient Ephesus. And then to think we walked the same streets and strolled around the same Agora as the Apostle Paul and possibly other famous historic figures…powerful stuff.

The word ‘awesome’ has almost lost all meaning through over use. Ephesus inspires awe…it truly is awesome. Once again we are very happy to be here before tourist season.

By the 7th century, Ephesus had been sacked, hit by earthquakes, and fallen prey to a silted up harbor. Despite its previous glory, Ephesus pretty much ceased to exist. Most people had moved to the nearby town of Selcuk, which is where we enjoyed more local cuisine and hot showers.

Friday (4/1). I have been bicycle touring since high school. I’ve never been manhandled by the wind like today. Several times a headwind brought us to a complete stop! Other times the sidewind was a giant hand sweeping us completely off the road. As an added bonus, this particular wind coated us with a fine layer of sand being carried all the way from Africa. We we’re inching dangerously close to “not fun” territory. Still, we managed to claw our way forward for twenty-five miles before calling it quits. There was no way our tent would survive this wind, so we took shelter in a pension room for the night.

Saturday (4/2). Biking south from Guzelcamli and Soke, Gursoy parked along the road and motioned for us to stop. He and his mother had just arrived for a stay at their summer home near Akbek. He invited us for dinner and to spend the night. It was farther than we wanted to travel, and not in the direction we had planned, so of course we said “YES!” Best.decision.ever! By evening’s end we had enjoyed a lovely meal. We met family friends and neighbors. We learned so much about life in Turkey, and had so many of our questions answered. Thank your Gursoy, Mother, Turhan, Elwun and Fertik for a most wonderful evening.

Sunday (4/3). We enjoyed another meal as guests of Gursoy and mom before heading out. What a great experience. And based on the collective wisdom of last night’s gathering, we chose a backroad over the mountains and through the woods towards Bodrum. Beautiful, interesting…with lots of 2.4 mph uphills! We were thinking our new ‘friends’ were playing a cruel joke on the gullible foreigners.

Tonight we’ll attempt to avoid sheep and an angry shepherdess and get some sleep. Tomorrow we head toward Bodrum to start checking off the “must see” list given to us. It has been an awesome first week in Turkey!

Welcome to Turkey

Sunday (3/27). The morning started as the night had passed…calm with the gentle sound of waves lapping the beach. We are so far ahead of the tourist, the beach villages are deserted.

Hills steep enough to require walking lay between us, Chios, and our ferry to Turkey. We gave ourselves plenty of time to enjoy the ride back to town, and one last tasty gyro for the road.

For newbies like us, there is always some uncertainty surrounding border crossings. Are we in the right place? Where are we supposed to go? Do we have the right paperwork? Etc. Fortunately we met a couple from Istanbul who gave us a crash course on everything Turkish, and even followed us through the Greek exit and Turkish entrance, just to make sure we had no problems. Tesekkur (thank you) Zeynep and Bob (originally from Philly).

On our way from the port, a young man looked at us, stopped his scooter and said, “Welcome to my country! Enjoy! Another young man opened his cell phone store and spent an hour getting us hooked up with new sim cards. The owner of a hotel/apartment insisted we take a much larger room for the same $24, “so we would be more comfortable!” Enough food from a market to provide a filling dinner set us back $3. So far, we’re liking Turkey!

Monday (3/28). Today is a day to explore Cesme, get our bearings and plan our next few days. Not even 24 hours in the country and a shop owner brought us cups of tea while we enjoyed her (amazing) baklava.

Tuesday (3/29). Today we begin our Turkey tour properly. It was not the day we planned. The riding was  unremarkable as we made our way east off the Cesme peninsula. Just before lunch I picked up a large screw in my rear wheel! Whilst changing said flat, I noticed that my rim was cracked in several places. Only a matter of time before the rim completely fails. Didn’t plan for that! With global bicycle supply chain issues – and in a foreign country – what are the chances of finding anything compatible??? Zero to none, right? But hope springs eternal so instead of turning south down the coast, we headed east to the awesome Bisiklet Izmir shop. Ibrahim and crew searched their inventory, and after some trial and error, found and installed a replacement rear wheel. Can’t say enough good things about everyone in the shop. Enjoyed chatting with Ibrahim “Tuna” while work progressed. He and Guiseppe gave us a list of “must see” places along our route.

It was getting late by the time we got back on the road. No problem. We’ll bike a few miles down the road and find some place to camp. We’d seen plenty of likely places all day. Miles later we still hadn’t found a good candidate. Eventually we rolled into the tiny village of Bademler  and a small park of sorts. “Why not?” we thought. We asked a shop owner across the street (with Google translate) did he think there would be a problem? No, but we needed to talk to the muchtar (village headman) for permission – and wait – here’s his brother right here! He’ll call. “No problem!” We were told – but we have to notify the gendarmerie. Mr. Oz (the shopkeeper) happened to know the sister of the police chief. After an animated phone call, all appropriate permissions were received, all appropriate parties were notified, so we rolled into the park. Mr. Oz accompanied us, and with more help from Google translate, made sure we were properly settled. By the time we had our tent up, a very sharply attired business man drove up and introduced himself as the village muchtar (thanks again Google translate). He checked our passports, made sure we had everything we needed, and said good night. The perfect end to a perfectly unplanned day.

Wednesday (3/30). The park would have been lovely – had it not been for the pack of wild dogs who barked and fought outside our tent much of the night. Oh…and except for the birds with intestinal distress who crowded onto the one branch overhanging the tent.

After a rough night in Bademler we enjoyed a relaxing day wandering along the coast. Made even more relaxed by the Turkish army. They were conducting live fire exercises that closed the only road south for two hours. Fine…we’ll sit on the beach and relax for two hours! Many hours and many, many hills later, we ended the day perched on a perfect hillside (of course) above the Aegean Sea. No dogs. No birds. Nice view. Perfect!

Other than the steep nature of the country and the abundance of wild dogs, we are falling in love with Turkey…and we’ve only just started. More to come later. Until then STC!

September 12-18

Sunday, September 12. Poor road design yet again! Where do they find these engineers? I get saving money by having absolutely no shoulder on the road. Why pay to pave something that pick up trucks aren’t going to drive on, right? Makes perfect sense. Sure, it’s inconvenient, possibly even deadly for bicyclists, but we don’t belong on the road anyway! No, what I don’t understand are the unnecessary hills. I’m no engineer, or physicist, but the lake looks flat. Seems reasonable to assume that a road along a lake might also be flat – but NOOOO! Up and down and up and down!! Enough already! But I digress…

It was actually a lovely ride from Flathead Lake into Big Fork and then on into Kalispell! At the cleverly named Kalispell microbrew we had fun chatting up three folks who had just finished a through hike of the Continental Divide trail. Then a local cyclist gave me the skinny on the active year round bike scene in Kalispell. Sounds like a cool, active community. Like many other cool, active communities they are getting over run by work-at-home folks and people fleeing California and Texas. Eventually we moved on to microbrew #2 to watch the Green Bay Packers high school team get destroyed by a real NFL team…’nuf said.

Monday, September 13. A not great ride along a busy highway to Whitefish. The town, however, was pretty great. Visited with Whitney for several hours at Jersey Boys Pizzaria. Interesting how we viewed our respective bike trips. For us, this journey was the logical continuation of active lives spent outdoors. For Whitney, this trip was like stepping through a doorway into an alternate universe. A place where seemingly impossible tasks…like bicycling across the country, or around the world suddenly becomes possible! We parted ways with the knowledge that we will almost certainly meet again.

Tuesday, September 14. Last day on (near) the road. Lengthy lie in. A series of conversations – first with the campground trio of youngsters, then Dom and Donna at the lake, then Heidi at the farmers market. Nice folks all. Did I mention tasty food at the farmer’s market? Excellent music. Strolling around town and sitting by the lake. All the necessary ingredients for a relaxing last day to reflect on the previous 102 days. The day ended with us heading west on the Amtrak Empire Builder.

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Wednesday, September 15. Amtrak spit us out at Everett. Several friendly locals helped us navigate the bus system. For the princely sum of $4 we were efficiently whisked from Everett all the way to Bellingham. Amtrak refunded the $48 they were going to charge us for a similar bus ride five hours later in the day. A delicious lunch with Cailie was followed by a quick ride up the hill to the Buckingham casa. One hundred and three days after leaving, our two wheel odyssey was officially over!

By the numbers…

• 103 days.
• 2,700 miles
• 600+ miles of gravel roads
• 4 flat tires
• 29 degrees…coldest biking temp
• 12,126’…highest elevation while biking (Cottonwood Pass, CO)
• 54 nights camping
• 10 grizzly bear sightings
• 22 hotel nights
• 27 nights spent with family/friends
• 6 different states

As I’ve noted elsewhere, numbers don’t tell the story. So in no particular order, here are some thoughts about this journey…

– During his long run, Forrest Gump stopped one day in Monument Valley and said, “I’m pretty tired…I think I’ll go home now!” That pretty much describes how our trip ended. Very anticlimactic.

– Our country is awesome! That word is over used to the point of being almost meaningless…but it fits. This country of ours regularly “inspired or induced feelings of awe!” So many images come to mind. The Brooks Range panorama. The endless expanse of the arctic. A grizzly mom and her cubs. A male grizzly sprinting at full speed (awesomely terrifying). Denali. A broaching whale. A tidewater glacier up close. The Rocky mountains.

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– Social media would have you believe the world is a scary place filled only with horrible people. Turn off your devices! Ignore social media! Go! Interact with real people! With the possible exception of Idaho, people were almost universally kind, curious, generous, encouraging, and friendly. And if I’m honest, many people we met in Idaho were pretty cool as well! Consider just a few examples…

• Pipeline workers stopped to share massive chocolate cookies and rice krispie treats.
• Tom and Amanda gave us the use of their vacation home in Valdez.
• Kay and John hosted and fed us in Anchorage, and allowed us the use of their Deshka cabin.
• People regularly gave us rides through construction zones, dangerous stretches of road, or just when we needed a lift.
• People regularly stopped to see if we were OK or if we needed anything.
• An 11 year old boy caught and gifted us with salmon filets for lunch.
• A restaurant owner in Walden comped us a meal for our anniversary. A Palmer couple let us camp in their yard and made us salmon burgers. A woman drove out of her way into Girdwood to buy us a beer.
• So many people invited us to share their campfire, shared their stories, invited us to share ours, shared their knowledge, and their time.

– We worked very hard for many years to be physically and financially able to take a trip like this. Having said that, we recognize what a gift we’ve been given and what a privilege to be able to spend three plus months on the road. We also recognize the rare gift we have with each other. To not just tolerate, but enjoy spending 24/7 with another person through some grueling conditions…that is a rare gift indeed.

Wanderlust is a powerful force. In addition to the 3+ months bike tour, we’ve been away from home since mid April…and we’re not yet missing a more sedentary life. Ongoing thank you to Jack and Abby for taking care of business for us in Flagstaff. We’re both looking forward to new adventures. Having said that, we’re going to enjoy the luxurious life onboard the Tardis and Bumpy3 for awhile. We will continue to see where we’ll be able to go in the future,, and from that decide where we want to go.

Thank you all for traveling along with us. I really appreciated the comments and encouragement both on and offline. As an FYI…while we’re traveling on six wheels, I’m going to take a break from weekly posts. If something interesting comes up I’ll definitely share. Otherwise, figure that no news is good news. Seize the Carp and make your own adventures!

Two Wheels: September 5-11

Sunday, September 5. All across Wyoming we’d pointed our front wheel toward Yellowstone. Then at the very doorstep, we had second thoughts. Heavy holiday traffic with no shoulder to ride on…mmm, no thank you! Instead, we found a gravel road that cut west across  the northern end of the Tetons into Idaho. “We can do gravel!” we said. So we did! We ended up at a very nice and eerily quiet campsite near the top of our climb across the ridge.

Monday, September 6. Today was meant to be a relatively easy day. Mostly downhill and flat into Ashton, ID. Instead, in the words of a fellow cyclist, the road was “kind of chunky”. Loose, bone jarring chunky gravel road. Not so easy, it turns out. Turns out, also quite by accident, we found ourselves, on the Continental Divide mountain bike route. Consequently we came across more riders in one morning than we’d met our entire trip so far. All were planning to ride all the way from Canada to Mexico. That’s some pretty hard core stuff.

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In Ashton we gorged on excellent pizza, then rode another six miles to a spot along the Henry Fork River. What looked to be a quiet place to camp was a veritable animal menagerie. We caught the Sandhill Crane rush hour after work. Hundreds came flying over on their commute home, all making their distinctive call. Up the road hundreds of cows were bellowing and bawling…not really sure what was going on there. Nearby a lively community of coyotes was having choir practice. Not to be outdone, the elk joined the chorus. Interesting night!

Tuesday, September 7. Best stop so far. Falls Drug store in St Anthony. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast for $3.77 each! You read that right. Unheard of! The huckleberry malt we had for breakfast dessert cost more. (You realize breakfast dessert is a thing, right?) The rest of the day alternated between sublime and sadistic. Sublime, flat, smooth, tailwind assisted riding gave way to rough gravel that led out into a sadistic Mad Max waterless wasteland. Back in civilization, Shane at the sheriff’s office gave us permission to camp next door in the Dubois city park. A lovely end to a long day.

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Wednesday, September 8.  To say the landscape today was butt ugly would be an insult to ugly butts everywhere.

In addition to the bleak landscape, people here seem not “too full of the milk of human kindness”. Those who acknowledge our presence at all, do so with a sort of sullen indifference. Sorry Idaho, you’re not winning hearts and minds. After forty unpleasant miles we decided to bag it and hitch a ride north. Right! Did I mention sullen indifference? What kind of people ignore two frail (yet friendly) senior citizens – literally in the middle of nowhere? For an hour and a half! In 90+ degree heat! We were not thinking kind thoughts of Idaho or Idahoans when Rob circled back to see if we needed anything. He then drove us 20 miles past his turn off to drop us in the nearest town. Well played. Faith in humanity partially restored. (Note to Idaho…the rest of you are not off the hook yet).

The scenery did improve as we moved north. Unfortunately we could see very little of it because of the dense smoke and ash from all the fires. The smell was so overpowering we sought refuge in a B&B in Baker.

Thursday, September 9. Another unhealthy, smoky, smelly day. We biked into Salmon and decided to play thumb roulette again. Craig seemed awesome. Offered to drive us forty miles north to the top of Lost Trail pass. Conversation started with his high end custom car building business. ( He’s the real deal). By the end we were hearing about gov’t death threats because he’d discovered a cure for cancer. We were super grateful for his generosity. We were super grateful to have survived the wild ride in his mega customized (insanely fast) 1,000 hp pickup truck. We were extremely grateful to be out of the truck and back on two wheels again! Apparently hitch hiking is also of like a box of chocolates…

By days end we’d arrived in Darby, MT. Local veterinarian Tom and wife Barbara graciously allowed us to set up behind their clinic. Not only that, but also gave us great local beta on the best food, and stopped by after work to make sure we had everything we needed. Thanks Tom and Barbara

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Friday, September 10. Early start. Huge breakfast in Darby then our longest day yet! I’d like to talk about the beauty of the Bitteroot mountains, but we could only just make out their faint outline through the smoke. Basically, just a long day! We were excited to stay with Ethel, our Warmshower host for the evening. We met 83 year old Ethel bike touring through Alaska! She and her 70 year old friend biked from Seward to Fairbanks. So what’s your excuse? While at Ethel’s we met Whitney, her other guest for the evening. Whitney has biked most of the way across country by herself and was a joy to be with. By evening’s end we’d made plans to spend some time biking together.

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Saturday, September 11. After biking 12 miles across town, Mark graciously ferried us 62 miles into Polson. From there we rode another 13 miles along Flathead Lake to Blue Bay campground. Meanwhile, Ethel’s neighbor Ann was showing Whitney the sights and eventually dropped her off at camp. We had a fun evening with Whitney swapping stories around the first campfire of our trip.

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Perhaps you noticed that during this past week there has been a significant amount of vehicle assisted travel. While we are still very much looking forward to more bike touring, we are ready for this portion of our journey to be over. So today we purchased a ride on Amtrak to take us from Whitefish to Bellingham. We still have a few days to bike and see the sights of northern Montana, but the end is now in sight. Definitely a bittersweet moment, but after 3+ months of two wheel travel we can begin to imagine some new adventures. Maybe a bicycle tour with Whitney around Mt Rainier. Perhaps some hiking, or sea kayaking, or day rides on empty bikes. So many different ways to seize the carp!

Two Wheels: August 29 – September 4.

Sunday, August 29. Today – People often ask what we do all day while we’re riding. Usually we ride together, admire the scenery and chat. At times, pace and road conditions lead us to ride apart. Sharon will occasionally listen to a podcast or an audio book. I have a little Bluetooth speaker and prefer music. Other times I will ponder the question of life, the universe, and everything…and other mysteries, such as…

• I wonder if we could fund our retirement selling used bungee cords found along the road?
• Who is in such a hurry that they need to pee in a soda bottle and chuck it out the window? Related question…how does one pee in a small neck soda bottle while driving?
• I’m would love to know why a broken vibrator ended up alongside the road, and how it got broken…or maybe not!
• Are there mates on the other side of the road for all the single gloves laying in the ditch on my side of the road?
• Why does the driver of a behemoth semi-sized RV not need the training and special license required of a semi driver? 🤔
• Hey Colorado! Roads don’t have to end at the white line! Wyoming has nice wide, smooth shoulders. Just sayin’

These are just a few of the odd places my mind wanders when I’m not paying attention to it. The route from Riverside to Rawlins was interesting and pleasant enough that my brain stayed home most of the day. After restocking our pantry, we found a nice wild camping spot spot a few miles north of town.

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Monday, August 30. The blood red sun and early winds felt ominous. We expected a brutal day until the wind shifted to something called a ‘tailwind.’ I wasn’t sure what that was, so I looked it up. Turns out we like it. On the way to Jeffrey City we crossed the Continental Divide twice. We passed through an area that seemed like it belonged in Nevada. We were regularly surprised by the scenery served up by Wyoming. When at long last we arrived at Jeffrey City, we enjoyed chatting with Bill over a cold beer. A life long resident of this sad little town, he filled us in on the history, the scandals, and his own (fascinating) life story.

That evening we stayed at community church that hosts bikers on the Transamerica route. This route is the cycling equivalent of the Appalachian trail, or PCT. All along its 4000+ miles there are facilities like this and people willing to help ‘through bikers’. We spent much of the evening enjoying conversations with Jim and Gregg who were cycling all the way to the east coast.

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Tuesday, August 31. Just about the time I decide I’m done with Wyoming’s endless scrubby open range, it surprises with some interesting topography. Still, after a long, hot, windy day we we’re both very ready to reach Lander and free camping in a beautiful city park.

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Wednesday, September 1. Technically this is only day 89 of our two wheel adventure, but it sounds cool to say we’re biking in our 4th month. No better way to celebrate than with a lie in and rest day to see the sights of Lander. Kudos to the unbelievably friendly and helpful folks at Gannett Peak Sports. For a few well spent dollars they replaced worn out chains and tweaked our tired bikes. Having someone else work on our bikes…LUXURY! Later that day we enjoyed dinner with Harrison, another biker on his way east.

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Thursday, September 2. Based on advice from several folks, we skipped ahead 75 miles to Dubois, WY. HUGE thank you to Ireneus (sp?) for driving far, far out of her way to give us a ride. She happily filled us in on her life as a member of the Shoshone tribe. Our arrival in Dubois coincided with the arrival of a massive thunderstorm that seemed intent in hanging around. Good enough reason for a hotel, hot tub and hot shower.

Friday, September 3. Today we said good-bye to the open range, and hello you lovely mountains…finally! The wide open spaces were a nice change of pace…for awhile. We were quite happy to slog uphill all day to creep over Togwotee (TOE-go-tee) Pass. We were also quite ready to be done. As I write this we are comfortably reclined in our tent in a high meadow listening to elk bugling, coyotes yipping and a creek bubbling. Sublime!

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Saturday, September 4. As expected at 8,500′ it was a frosty night. Going forward we’re going to keep elevation in mind as we pick our camp spots.

Even during Labor Day weekend, it was a pretty chill day riding into Teton National Park. National parks have started offering hiker/biker camping. Sites are almost always available – and at a reduced rate. We snagged a spot at Colter Bay. First order of business,, fixing our fourth flat tire, and also replaced worn brake pads. Maintenance completed, it was a relaxing afternoon.

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Big picture, we’re now looking at Sandpoint, Idaho as our final biking destination. From there it looks like we can catch Amtrak to Seattle, and possibly Bellingham. That will give us a few more weeks of relaxed riding instead of having to crush big days to make it all the way to Bellingham in our time frame. Short term we’re going to bypass the traffic and narrow roads of Yellowstone by taking a remote gravel road across the northern Tetons into Idaho before heading north. Another stupid fun adventure! Whee!

So until next week…Seize the Carp! And for all you Flagstaff Imogene runners…have a great weekend! We’ll be thinking of you all!

Two Wheels: August 22 – 28

Sunday – Tuesday, August 22 -24.  Another day…another herd of cows to help us greet the new day. Actually they were being herded by a young lady on a quad who scolded us for camping on private land. Upon learning that we called Flagstaff home, she said “Well, at least you’re not from California! I guess you’re all right!” We were glad to hear that!

Five miles down the road, we met with Kevin. He’d driven down from Loveland to climb with friends and we’d planned to drive back to spend a few days with he and Katie. Spent a nice day hanging with Kevin, Katie and their friends Mel and Aron at the crags.

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Given the urban sprawl that is Denver and its environs, it made sense that to accept a ride from Kevin and Katie in order to visit them in Loveland. We spent a wonderful few days there enjoying time at a beach, playing games, sampling tasty Mo-Jo (Moore-Johansen) vegan cooking, and just hanging out. I won’t say it was a well deserved rest, but it was truly appreciated.

Wednesday, August 25. Fifteen miles up the road we stopped to meet up with former co-worker, former Flag resident, and current dear friend Glen. It was great catching up. And while it would have been nice to spend more time, the day was heating up and we had some miles to travel. The canyon containing the Cache la Poudre river was to be our home for the next few days. Beautiful!

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Thursday, August 26. Anticipating more warm weather, we got an early start. The headwinds, anticipating our early start, got an even earlier start and reduced our forward progress to an almost glacial pace. On the plus side, this gave us plenty of time to enjoy more of the lovely Poudre river canyon. The downside was that we were barely making 4 miles an hour in our ‘no hero gear’ up a very gradual incline. Late in the day we gratefully accepted a lift up the last seven miles to the top of Cameron pass. Thank you Duncan and Julie.

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At one point during the day, we rode through an area that had burned the previous summer. Just a few weeks prior to our visit, massive mudslides and flooding claimed four lives and caused significant damage. Certainly helped put our whinging about a headwind into perspective.

Friday, August 27. Thunderstorms made for quite a wild night. In spite of all the theatrics, our sturdy little tent allowed us to sleep peacefully through most of the drama. Friday morning dawned cold and clear with temps in the mid 30’s. While we’re still getting some toasty days,, it’s becoming clear that summer is beginning to wane. The wind, obviously feeling guilty about the poor showing yesterday, decided to help us the final 24 miles into Walden.

Walden was the perfect place to prepare for what could be some challenging riding across Wyoming. We treated ourselves to a massive breakfast, a hotel room, a hot tub, and then more food at “All Smoked Up” BBQ. Clearly we haven’t met all 870 residents, but Walden has to be in the running for “friendliest town” ever. Gas station and grocery store clerks, hotel folks, restaurant servers and owners…all were smiling and pleasant.

Larry and Shannon were over the top. Larry came to our table and thanked us for coming to his restaurant. As we chatted about our trip, we mentioned that we were splurging on dinner and a hotel to celebrate our anniversary from a few days prior. He insisted that our BBQ dinner was free. Thank you.

Saturday, August 28. Today we traded the mountains and canyons of Colorado for wide open Wyoming. That’s not to say there was no climbing. The hills were measured in single digit miles instead of double digits. It looked like we were going to have an ‘easy’ fifty mile day until a malicious headwind almost ground us to a halt. Still, we finished relatively early and had a relaxing afternoon/evening complete with shower.

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It’s been another interesting week. There have been some mentally tough and physically demanding days. We’ve also had some beautiful, rewarding, and relaxing days as well. We’re currently in good spirits and ready to continue on. We appreciate the encouragement that’s come our way.

Small side note: Saturday was our 85th day on two wheels and we just surpassed 2,000 miles…400 of those in Colorado and Wyoming. Clearly there have been lots of rest days off the bikes. Also of note…if you don’t count flying into Colorado, after three months we finally biked across our first state border.

Two Wheels: August 1 – 8

Sunday, August 1. This particular Sunday was not to be a day of rest. Rather, it was up and over a seemingly endless series of unnecessary hills from Clam Gulch to Homer – famous for the Spit extending into Kachemak Bay. It’s five mile length makes it one of the longer spits in the world. Which, as I’m sure you all know, pales in comparison to the longest in the world – the 68 mile long Arabat Spit in the Sea of Azov.

Homer Spit was both spectacular…and disagreeable. The world famous Spit checked all the positive boxes…ocean, seals, sea otters and sea birds, beach walking with views of the bay and snow capped peaks beyond. Unfortunately it also checked all the boxes for being an over priced tourist trap. We chose to enjoy the former and ignore the latter. We did have one serendipitous moment. A young local (Hayley) saw our bikes and sought us out. She had toured extensively in Asia and offered some great insights and ideas for us to ponder.

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Monday/Tuesday, August 2-3. The sign identifies Homer as “The End of the Road.” Turns out, Homer was in fact the end of the road for us. We spent time on the Spit pondering our options, our timelines, our desire for more adventure, as well as all the events beyond our control. We finally concluded that the time had come to end this chapter of our story. We spent much of our last daily Homer sitting on the beach reflecting on the past two months. We talked about the people we’ve met, and all that we’ve seen and done. As all the BLE folks in Flagstaff know, “Don’t be sad it’s over, be glad it happened!” We’ve decided we can be both…and we are.

Wednesday, August 4. Six days of hard biking were undone in less than six hours. Having experienced the route from Anchorage to Homer on two wheels, the same sights barely registered when simply viewed from a bus. With no effort on our part, we arrived back in the big city to a day filled with preparations to leave. Happily we also found time to have a wonderful evening with a former high school classmate and his lovely bride. Unbeknownst to me, Jeff and Debbie have made Anchorage their home for the past 26 years.

Thursday, August 5. One last bike around town and the bikes were once again relegated to the status of luggage.

The highlight of the day was meeting up with our Warmshower hosts from Palmer, Chelsea and Gerrit. Chelsea (certified badass biker) completed an epic bikepacking ride of her own while we were loafing around Valdez and Anchorage. It was fun comparing notes and meeting some of Gerrit’s friends. It was an evening filled with entertaining conversation, superb pizza and tasty beer. Thanks Chelsea, Gerrit – and Moose’s Tooth Pizza for a memorable send off!

Friday, August 6. Goodbye Alaska! It’s been fun getting to know you. Now that we know where you live, we’ll try not to be strangers.

And just like that…a few hours and several thousand miles later we find ourselves, of all places, in Durango. If you’ve been keeping track, you may recall that our truck and trailer are in Bellingham, Washington. We are not geographically challenged. We realize Durango is nowhere near Bellingham. However, a certain young lady will be celebrating her third birthday this week – an event not to be missed! And, since Canada insisted on making southbound travel difficult and uncertain, we thought, “Let’s celebrate a birthday AND then bike north to Bellingham!” Win-win!

Saturday/Sunday, August 7-8. When we arrived in Durango, Aaron, Vanessa, and the grandkids were away on a San Juan River trip. We used the time until their Sunday evening return doing laundry, shopping, bike maintenance, as well as some serious loafing!

When the magic moment finally arrived, the looks of surprise and excitement from Oliver and Kiri were priceless. We’re all looking forward to spending some quality time together. So far the week is looking good.

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At some point this week we’ll have some hard decisions to make regarding route. But that’s for later. For now we’ll focus on enjoying family and acclimating to life outside of Alaska.

Two Wheels: July 25 – 31

Just to change things up a bit this week, rather than do a day by day journal, I’ll do something of an overview. From Anchorage on Sunday, we followed the road south with stops at Girdwood (1 night), Hope (2), Jean Lake (1), Soldotna (2), and Clam Gulch (1). As usual, we’ve had some wonderful experiences.

Along Turnagain Arm we were fortunate to follow an incoming bore tide. Amazing to see the power of the tide – as well as the surfers, SUP riders and kayakers riding the wave. As we we’re riding along following the progress of the bore tide, we met Debbie. Even though she was on her way home to Anchorage, she followed us to the Girdwood Brewery and insisted on buying us a beer. Trail Magic #1. At the brewery we met Bill and Marina from Truckee. They had just finished a five day sea kayak trip out of Valdez. They shared some incredible stories of kayaking in the same area we took our boat tour. The best was their description of a hunting pod of whales. One of the pictures below was from their trip.

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Next day we made our way to Hope. Hope was exactly what you’d imagine an Alaskan village would look like. Most of the buildings date back to a gold rush in the late 1800’s. Back then as many as 3000 people lived in the area, hoping to strike it rich. Today fewer than 200 hardy souls call it home. We decided it looked like the perfect place to spend an extra day. As usual, the best memories came from some of the folks we met. In the Sea View bar we met family friends of the Seward Olympic swimmer – Lydia Jacoby. They were proud beyond belief. Fellow camper eleven year old Jacob caught and fileted a pink salmon for us. Trail Magic #2. We promptly fried it up for lunch. Delicious. In the same campground Debbie and Steve from Palmer invited us over for adult beverages around their fire. With many similar interests, we would easily see a friendship forming if distance weren’t an issue.

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I had been to Soldotna several times back in the day, but remembered almost nothing about it. We enjoyed visits to both the St Elias and Kenai River breweries. We spent an off day doing laundry, meandering around town. taking our first opportunity to watch some of the Olympics, and getting caught up on chores.

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After Soldotna we took a detour into Kenai to witness the spectacle that is dip netting. Apparently every AK resident head of household can dipnet 15 salmon, and 10 more for every member of the household. From what we saw at the mouth of the Kenai River, not many residents were passing on that opportunity.

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We also spent time planning our next few weeks. We were disappointed to learn that the normal ferry between Homer to Kodiak had been reassigned elsewhere for the first two weeks of August. That effectively removes a visit to Kodiak as an option.  Not to worry. We have Homer to explore. Seward still awaits. In the meantime, we’re enjoying the journey. Hope you are enjoying yours.

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Two Wheels: July 18 – 25

Sunday, July 18. FOMO vs. RD. In the midst of sweating, slogging uphill, fighting a headwind… we fantasize about the pleasures of a rest day (RD). Sleeping in. Reading a good book. Enjoying beautiful views. Eating! On one of our rare rest days, FOMO (fear of missing out) whispers in our ear, “Go do something!! You’re missing…. something! FOMO vs. RD. On Sunday morning we listened to FOMO. We intended to hike up Mineral Creek into the mountains outside of Valdez. Rain cut that short. We took that as a sign. Later when the skies cleared, we sat by the harbor, playing cards, chatting with folks who happened by, eating, and just enjoying the little spot of loveliness that is Valdez. RD = 1. FOMO = 0

Monday, June 19. FOMO vs. RD. We’ll call this one a draw. We had talked about taking a boat tour in Seward. In an uncharacteristic change of plans (ha) we chose to seize the carp in Valdez. We chose…wisely.

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Tuesday, July 20. For six hours we watched islands and bays materialize out of a foggy Prince William Sound, only to disappear back into the murk. That was the ferry ride from Valdez to Whittier. The town is much as I remember it. A not so attractive community in a stunning location. We decided to give Whittier a chance to show off. After setting up camp in a city campground, we hiked up to see the Portage glacier. It was a bargain hike. The pay off far exceeded the efforts of climbing up to the pass.. We ended the day firmly seated on the Bucks bandwagon, watching them win the NBA championship. It was a very good day.

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Wednesday, July 21. Thanks to the rain arriving as predicted, we packed away a soggy mass of tent before heading to the tunnel entrance. A very friendly young man from Palmer agreed to take us through the persistent rain all the way to Anchorage. He was freshly off the PCT due to an injury. Born and raised in Palmer, he had a wealth of information to share. We appreciated the ride and enjoyed our chat.

After so many days in rural or small town AK, Anchorage was a bit jarring. We had a happy reunion with Marshal. Over lunch and a beer he regaled us with fantastic stories of camping with local homeless folks, leaping whales, and adventures with new friends and former co-workers. We parted with vague plans to meet the next day.

We ended the day chatting with friends Kay and John who have once again graciously opened their home to us. (The Deshka cabin was theirs as well)

Thursday, July 22. John and Kay work, so Marshall, Sharon and I biked some local bike trails. Beautiful. After a brief stop at 49th State Brewery, we finally parted ways with Marshall for the last time. Given the uncertainty about Canada, he is flying to Montana to continue his journey. We certainly wish him well on his travels. He will be missed.

It was fun biking around Anchorage reminiscing about my time here a lifetime ago. Later, Kay, John and I took an enjoyable romp down memory lane sharing stories of growing up in Rhinelander.

Friday, July 23. A few chores today. Sharon rode to do some errands. Kay and I strolled the beach below Kincaid park. This evening was spent getting to know a classmates lovely daughter and one of Kay’s dear friends. With access to real grocery stores and a proper kitchen, we provided home made pizza and apple pie. What a treat!

Saturday, July 24. You may have noticed, by the time we get back on the road tomorrow, we will have spent an entire week NOT bicycle touring. This is actually one of the best parts of bicycle touring. Yes, we do enjoy watching the scenery roll by while on the bike. The real point of the exercise though is to enjoy the places we visit. The bicycle just happens to be our chosen means of transport.

Today was a perfect example of enjoying a place. After doing some packing, sorting, preparing and planning, the four of us drove to Girdwood, took a pleasant hike, enjoyed a pint at Girdwood Brewery, had amazing deep fried halibut prepared by John and conversed late into the evening. An amazing day “bike touring” and nary a butt touched a bike saddle.

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It has been a wonderful week enjoying beautiful places and wonderful people. Thanks again to Fairbanks Tom and Amanda for allowing us to stay at their place in Valdez. And special thanks to Kay and John for being the perfect host and tour guide during our stay in Anchorage. We’re looking forward to getting back on the road to explore the Kenai peninsula…and to making some final decisions about the next portion of our journey.

Until next time…Seize the Carp!

Two Wheels: July 11-17

Sunday, July 11. We have looked Madness in the eye and have seen the abyss. Insanity is a retired cop driving a battered pick up truck. He drove over to see who was sitting on the road 200′ over from his driveway. After using his retired cop super powers of deduction, he determined we were senior citizens riding bicycles. Then the interrogation began. “Who do you think  won the election?” (Uh oh). Well…Biden is the president. “Nope!! It was all a massive fraud! Mark my words…his day is coming! Just a week ago Comey was tried by a secret military tribunal and found guilty of treason. He was executed by guillotine, just like he executed by guillotine thousands of homeless Republicans who came to FEMA’s emergency camps.” (You can’t make this stuff up) He was starting to pick up momentum now. “Do you have passports?” Umm…Yes? “You won’t get through Canada! Trudeau’s got 175,000 communist Chinese troops massed on the Alaska border. They’re just waiting for Biden to take our guns before they attack!” He was getting passionate now. “Make no mistake, he’s coming for our guns! You won’t hear about any of this on the news, but it’s a proven fact!!” He continued on, no longer bothering to ask questions before launching into his next tirade. We were ignoring him and packing to leave when someone he didn’t know drove down the side road onto the highway. Insanity fired up the beater and roared off in pursuit. We saw him a few miles down the road, grilling some unfortunate woman in a convenience store parking lot. We’ve been on the road five weeks and met dozens of wonderful people. This was our only uncomfortable and bizarre encounter. We happily left him in our rear view mirror.

Speaking of leaving people behind. With our change of plans to head to Valdez, it seems unlikely that we will cross paths with Marshal again. In spite of the Chinese army at the border, if Canada allows, he will bike south as soon as possible to continue his journey to Ushuia. If not, he will fly to Washington. It has been a tremendous pleasure spending time with a fascinating young man. I have no doubt we will meet again.

As for us, we said good bye to Chelsea (our Palmer Warmshower host) bought groceries, talked with a nutter, and landed thirty some miles down the road. The Glenn highway follows the Matanuska river and is sandwiched between the Talkeetna and Chugach mountains. Even the omnipresent headwinds did not detract from the pleasant weather and visual feast. We’re hoping for an early am start tomorrow to avoid wind and traffic.  We’ll see.

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Monday July 12. Nope! No early start! Sleep was deemed more important. Still, we hit the road fairly early and all day were treated to views of the Chugach range to the right, and Talkeetna mountains to our left. At our mid-afternoon food stop we pondered our dilemma. If the forecast for heavy rain for the next 36 hours was accurate (doubtful) that meant lots of soggy time in our tent. What to do? How about camp out under a highway bridge? It was unbelievably quiet and protected us from the rain all afternoon and evening.

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Tuesday, July 13. The forecast was partially right. It did rain all afternoon and evening, but at some point overnight, the rain went away. Refreshed, we decided to make the most of the dry weather and light winds to put in our longest day yet. We rode 65 miles through more magical mountain scenery. We crossed Eureka summit – apparently the highest paved road in AK at 3322′ above sea level. This achievement earned us an afternoon of mostly downhill. Perfect.

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Wednesday, July 14. A nice lazy lie in followed our big day yesterday. Still the road called and we are compelled to answer. Our first real town since leaving Palmer is Glenallen, just over an hour down (literally down) the road. Our first priority? The grocery store. It took three separate trips to sate our appetites and prepare us with a little extra for the road ahead.  We turned right onto the Richardson Highway and pedaled south toward Valdez. We found a lovely place to camp next to the lovely Klutina River next to some lovely Minnesotans who were kind enough to share a beer with some thirsty cyclists. 

Thursday, July 15. If you’ve been following our journey for a while, it may seem like we’re whinging a great deal about rain and hills and headwinds. Today was one of those days that remind us why we endure the hard days.  No rain. Light winds. A long gradual uphill for the first part of the day was followed by a miles-long downhill through corridor of snow-capped peaks. In the midst of all that loveliness we enjoyed a new taste treat – a Russian dish called machanka – served up by the Russian owners of the Tonsina River Lodge. Our 55 mile  day means that tomorrow we only have to slog our way 20 miles up Thompson pass before we get to enjoy a 30 miles down into Valdez!

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Friday, July 16. Happy Birthday Sharon!!! 🎂 In honor of Sharon’s big day, we rode over Thompson pass and down into Valdez. According to Sharon, it was her favorite day of riding and favorite town so far. Wish I could take credit, but it was her idea to come here. I’ll say no more and let the pictures speak.

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Saturday, July 17. Rest day! And, a huge thank you to Tom and Amanda (Fairbanks Warmshower host for Marshal) for the trust and generosity of allowing us to stay at their vacation place in Valdez. It has allowed us to clean and sort gear. Make plans for the future. Connect with  family and friends. Cook some food. Lay on a sofa and read a book. Walk around and enjoy all that the charming little town of Valdez has to offer.

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Speaking of plans for the future, you may have noticed the somewhat…fluid nature of our plans. We have made some decisions. After the boat ride to Whittier on Tuesday, we going to head to Anchorage first, then explore the Kenai peninsula. This makes sense because…drum roll…it looks like we will not bike through Canada. At least, not all the way. There is still too much uncertainty involved with timing,  restrictions, and whether or not we’ll find places open where we can buy food. So instead, we will likely catch the ferry all or part of the way back to Bellingham. Not to worry gentle readers. While this is a bit of a disappointment – we’re already excited about other opportunities to explore. So until next time…Seize the Carp!

PS. For those of you interested in such things, here are a few stats. As of today, we’ve been on two wheels for 43 days. We’ve camped 28 nights. We’ve spent 10 nights in hotels (mostly Fairbanks dealing with my knee). We’ve enjoyed 5 nights of hospitality in other people’s homes/cabins. In 43 days we have covered 1,266 miles – roughly half on gravel. We’ve taken 8 rest days – but only recorded zero miles biked on two of those eight rest days.