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SIXTH ANNUAL PHOTO CONTEST 26

OFF THE MAP IN BOSNIA 32

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Letter from the Editor

NO RESISTING THE FAT

Summits and expos spring up to meet every cyclists’ needs

➺ AH, the month of March, and reading this magazine, I figure you are), you definitely should the smell of springtime is in the check into fat bikes a bit further. air. Time to break winter’s icy This January in Jackson, Wyoming, the 3rd Global Fat grip, get off the indoor trainer, Bike Summit took place. Yes, you read that correctly. They and get back on the roads and have their own summit. If you want to know more, check out trails. Actually, as I write this, it’s fatbikesummit.com. And while you’re at it, check out fat- late January and Missoula is still bike.com for feet-in-the-pedals fat bike advice. wallowing in its typical wintery So now you might be wondering, if there’s a Global Fat Bike state, but a guy can project can’t Summit, why isn’t there a Global Touring Bike Summit? I have he? Or maybe he could just get no answer. After more than 20 years involved with it, I regard a fat bike and ride outside year the bicycle industry in the same way Winston Churchill once round like many others have been doing recently. regarded Russia, as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an I remember seeing my first fat bike at the Interbike trade enigma.” It seems there are more off-the-shelf touring bikes show in 2006. I don’t remember the make or model, but it than ever, but there hasn’t been a summit dedicated to them. was tucked away in a dark corner and I felt kind of sorry for Maybe because for most adventure cyclists, it isn’t really about it. My first thought was, “Well, there’s a niche product for the bike. Just about any bike can be used to accomplish the masochists.” So it’s pretty obvious that my abilities in the goal, which is travel. In both regards, though, there’s hope. field of prognostication are sorely lacking. At Interbike 2014, The inaugural Bicycle Tour & Travel Expo will be held in fat bikes were just about everywhere. You nearly couldn’t Cincinnati, Ohio, September 25-27. According to their website, turn around without bumping into one. And over the past it “will feature exhibitors showcasing the latest in touring and almost-decade, they’ve become quite sophisticated, unlike travel bicycles, gear, and equipment. In addition, state, regional the first generation, which were more or less built with parts and local tourism agencies, tour operators, and destination originally spec’d for more traditional bikes. hotels and groups will be exhibiting to help promote and If, like me, you’re considering buying your first fat market their bicycle tour and travel destinations.” Sounds bike, there are now a lot of resources online to help you pretty good to me. To learn more about the Bicycle Tour & decide which one is best for you. In case you missed it, Travel Expo, visit bicycletourandtravelexpo.com. Adventure Cycling celebrated its third Fat Bike February (adventurecycling.org/fatbikefeb). These bike are so durable Michael Deme and are now offered in so many configurations that if you’re Editor, Adventure Cyclist interested in adventure bicycle travel (and since you’re [email protected]

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF CONTRIBUTING WRITERS ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Michael Deme Dan D’Ambrosio Rick Bruner 509.493.4930 [email protected] Patrick O’Grady [email protected] Willie Weir MANAGING EDITOR Jan Heine DESIGN Alex Strickland IridiumGroup [email protected] June Siple Josh Tack 44 West 28th Street ART DIRECTOR 8th Floor MARCH 2015 Greg Siple COPY EDITOR New York, NY 10001 Volume 42 Number 2 [email protected] Phyllis Picklesimer

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 03 TABLE OF CONTENTS

VOLUME 42 ∞ NUMBER 2 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG contentsMARCH 2015

is America’s only magazine dedicated to bicycle travel. It is published nine times each year by the Adventure Cycling Association, a nonprofit service organization for recreational bicyclists. Individual membership costs $40 yearly to U.S. addresses and includes a subscription to Adventure Cyclist and discounts on Adventure Cycling maps. For more information about Adventure Cycling Association and Adventure Cyclist magazine, visit adventurecycling.org or call 800.755.2453.

SUBMISSIONS INFORMATION: Adventure Cyclist accepts stories, articles, and photographs for publication from various sources. We publish stories about bicycle travel and other recreational cycling subjects but do not cover competitive cycling. If you features are interested in submitting a story or article to Adventure 10 Cyclist, please visit us online at adventurecycling.org/submit SPRING TRAINING IN OFF THE MAP IN for further information and guidelines. TEXAS HILL COUNTRY 10 BOSNIA 32 ➺ Shake off the winter ➺ This still-divided nation cobwebs on the rolling is on the road to recovery CURRENT ISSUE NOTES: roads of central Texas. from its war-torn past. But “It requires a bit of mental and emotional gymnastics to edit the by Chuck Haney how’s the cycling? Well, like first issue of ‘spring’ from the depths everything else in Bosnia, of a Montana winter, but reading it’s complicated. about and seeing images from Chuck ONEIDA COUNTY 18 Haney’s trip to the Texas Hill Country by David Kroodsma and Nathan Ward’s travels in New ➺ On road or dirt, the 32 York have me longing for time in the cycling near Utica, New saddle. I suspect you’ll feel the same. NORTH CAROLINA’S And while David Kroodsma’s story of York, is sublime. Saddle up riding through Bosnia doesn’t quite and prepare to be charmed. LONG AFFAIR WITH have me booking a ticket, it does have by Nathan Ward us fascinated about the Balkans. Good BICYCLE TOURING 44 thing; in the coming months we’ll have stories from Slovenia, Croatia, ➺ This southern state had and Albania.” – Alex Strickland BICYCLE TRAVEL PHOTO the first state agency-led Managing Editor, Adventure Cyclist CONTEST 26 bicycle pedestrian program ➺ Some 450 photos were in the country, but there’s OUR COVER: submitted. These are our still a lot of work to be done. Cyclists make the most of the by Dan D’Ambrosio roller-coaster roads in the Texas Hill 10 favorites. Country. Photo by Chuck Haney. by Adventure Cyclists

04 ADVENTURE CYCLIST m a rch 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS

This Month Online ➺ For more Adventure Cyclist related content, be sure to visit our website at adventurecycling.org/adventure-cyclist.

18 JOHNNY LAM

DEPARTMENTS LETTERS COLUMNS MORE TOP PHOTOS 08 Waypoints 03 LETTER from the 38 Road Test Our 10 favorite images from the 6th 42 Travels with Willie Editor By Nick Legan Annual Adventure Cycling Photo YiPsan Light Tourer 46 Marketplace/Classifieds 06 LETTER from the Contest are printed in this issue, Director 51 Open Road Gallery but with so many amazing entries 07 LETTERS from the we’ve posted a gallery of some more Readers top shots at adventurecycling. org/2015photoextra. YIPSAN LIGHT TOURER 38 Going custom isn’t cheap, but it sure is pretty. $7,300

INSTAGRAM FROM ARGENTINA Adventure Cycling’s Instagram account was taken over by frequent Adventure Cyclist contributor Tom Robertson (@thrphoto) earlier this year to file dispatches from Patagonia. The trip is epic, the images stunning, and the scenery isn’t bad either. See them all at @adventurecycling or search #RideAndReelPatagonia.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 05 DIRECTOR LETTER

Letter from the Director

MARCH 2015 Volume 42 Number 2 adventurecycling.org

MISSION Adventure Cycling Association inspires and TOUR DE NEW YORK empowers people to travel by bicycle. AREAS OF FOCUS Provide the premier tools and inspiration for people to travel by bicycle. Expand and integrate bike travel networks for North America. Create the best possible conditions for bicycle travel.

➺ AT THE END of HOW TO REACH US January, I enjoyed To join, change your address, or ask questions about membership, visit us online a whirlwind tour at adventurecycling.org or call through New York, 800.755.2453 or 406.721.1776. EMAIL meeting literally [email protected] thousands of SUBSCRIPTION ADDRESS people interested Adventure Cycling Association P.O. Box 8308 in bike travel. We Missoula, MT 59807 had three member HEADQUARTERS Adventure Cycling Association gatherings 150 E. Pine St. (in Brooklyn, Missoula, MT 59802 Saratoga Springs, STAFF and Ithaca), met EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR with tourism and Jim Sayer [email protected] advocacy leaders CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER in all parts of Sheila Snyder, CPA WILLIS LAURA the state, and We saw many friends at the New York Times Travel Show; featured from MEMBERSHIP & DEVELOPMENT exhibited at the left, Steve Powell (Adventure Cycling Life Member and tour leader), Lukas Julie Huck Annette Stahelin Herbert (member and owner of Gotham Bike Tours, holding his son Henry), Thomas Bassett Gage Poore Josh Tack New York Times Meghan Holler Brian Bonham Lydia Hess (staff tours specialist), and Jim Sayer. Travel Show, the MEDIA largest travel show in North America. next steps after beta testing a digital Lisa McKinney Michael McCoy Alison Riley PUBLICATIONS Through all our interactions, I gleaned version of our Northern Tier Route). Michael Deme Greg Siple Rachel Stevens a top 10 list of interests for bike travel • Questions about our 40th Cassie Nelson Alex Strickland in 2015 (in no particular order): anniversary (events and programs in IT DEPARTMENT John Sieber Richard Darne David Barth • Incredible excitement for Bicycle the works — we will have dates and TOURS Route 66 — out this month! details very soon). Arlen Hall Darrah Rogers Lydia Hess • Big anticipation of Amtrak’s • Where are the next U.S. Bicycle Michael Lessard Mandy Hale ROUTES AND MAPPING pilot projects for roll-on service on Routes going to be? (We can’t always Carla Majernik Jennifer Milyko the Vermonter and Capital Limited be sure which applications will come Nathan Taylor Casey Greene Melissa Thompson Travis Switzer (Chicago to DC) lines, due this year. in, but this year we have high hopes SALES AND MARKETING • A desire to get more young people for routes in Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Teri Maloughney into bike travel (thanks to everyone Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.) TRAVEL INITIATIVES Virginia Sullivan Saara Snow who supported our Young Adult Bike • What’s my next big trip? (Honestly, Eva Dunn-Froebig Travel Scholarships). I have no idea — I have to get cracking!) CYCLOSOURCE • Serious small-town and statewide That’s my list — do you have Patrick Finley Geoff McMillion interest in attracting bike travelers. any other interests, suggestions, or OFFICE MANAGER • More requests for warm-winter questions? Where are you going to Beth Petersen BOARD OF DIRECTORS riding destinations (our new Puerto ride? Share your thoughts with us as PRESIDENT Rico inn-to-inn trips are popular and we head into the prime riding season Wally Werner we are researching a self-contained of the year. I look forward to seeing VICE PRESIDENT Donna O’Neal Hawaii trip). you out there! SECRETARY • Major curiosity about our next new Andy Baur routes (Chicago-to-New York City and Jim Sayer TREASURER Texas Hill Country). Executive Director Andy Huppert • More curiosity about digital [email protected] BOARD MEMBERS Leigh Carter Todd Copley Jennifer Garst versions of our maps (we are evaluating George Mendes Jeff Miller Luis Vargas Mike Dillon Jenny Park

06 ADVENTURE CYCLIST m a rch 2015 DIRECTOR LETTER COMPANIONS / CORRECTIONS

Letters from our readers

PETERSEN RESPONDS TO READER for the kind of riding they do, but are, CORRECTIONS: LETTER ‘UNRACING? UNCOOL’ on top of that and more egregiously, not In the February 2015 issue, we Racing attitudes, bikes, clothing, comfortable. We undo that. You may omitted Ellee Thalheimer’s byline in and diets have become the norm and see ego or evil behind it, but I don’t her profile of Gladys Bikes. Ellee’s normal, and are so pervasive that many feel either of those. I see racing and series of profiles on the female- adult cyclists, maybe even some you racers as fringe and am simply trying focused side of the cycling world know, accept the racing standards as to legitimize an alternative point of continues in May. the only legitimate way to be a serious view, one that I feel strongly about. I’m adult cyclist. What I tried to do in the trying — certainly not singlehandedly — February’s listing of cycling events book Just Ride — and what we do here to make people feel good about riding around the country omitted RASDAK, at Rivendell Bicycle Works — is offer without dressing in pro-team gear and the Ride Across South Dakota, taking an alternative, a model to other adult copying so many other affectations of place June 7-13. Learn more at rasdak. cyclists that there is another way. This the racer, and that is what Unracing and com. letter is not an ad for either. I’m simply Just Ride and Rivendell Bicycle Works is saying where I come from and what I all about. We’re nobody’s enemy. Some Midwest Cyclotouring was omitted from do. of my best friends pedal cliplessly and our Bicycle Tour Operators/Advertisers We are the mice trying to squeak in spandex. It’s cool. table in February. You can contact them Grant Petersen above the roar at the base of the at ridethefault.com or 573.380.7875. waterfall. It is no time to be wishy- Walnut Creek, California washy, but I try hard to not offend. Inevitably, a declarative position on HOW MANY RIDE? probably well beyond the scope of an article any matter is bound to raise a few I was hoping you might publish in Adventure Cyclist. A tremendous hackles with those who have a different an article quantifying how many amount of research would need to be done position, but it still hurts to be judged people ride the various routes (either just to come up with somewhat inaccurate by a stranger who would probably like Adventure Cycling Association or numbers. For example, we know how many me, and whom I’d surely like, in person. United States Bicycle Route System people buy Adventure Cycling maps but A good number of our customers are routes) each year, particularly the have no idea if they actually follow up with a middle-aged and older folks trying to cross-country routes. I realize that this tour. And then there are people who don’t use fit in some activity as they age. They may not be done very accurately, but a Adventure Cycling maps at all. often have the means, and they’re review of the number of each map sets influenced by what they read and see might give us an idea of the relative Adventure Cycling Association assumes, but can- that promotes racers as a good model — popularity of each the routes. not verify, that the persons above are truthfully representing themselves. Ads are free to Adventure and that’s something I don’t agree with. Bill Kasper Cycling members. You can see more ads and post They shop as innocents and come Milford Center, Ohio them at adventurecycling.org/adventure-cyclist/ out of it dressed like racers and riding Editors’ Response: companions-wanted or send them to Adventure bikes that are not only inappropriate This is an interesting idea, although Cyclist, P.O. Box 8308, Missoula, MT 59807.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 07 WAYPOINTS

WayPoints News you can use from around the world of bicycle travel edited by Alex Strickland

4 L E BICYC 3 R O UTE 66 BI CYCL E R O UTE 66 6

BI CYCL E COLLECTING 40 YEARS R O UTE 66 OF TRANSAM STORIES —

SECTION 4 WE WANT YOURS Adrian, TX to Gallup, NM ***.* Miles

SECTION 3 Joplin, MO to Adrian, TX 566 Miles IN THE SUMMER of led by Co-Founder Greg Chicago Gallup Santa Adrian Monica SECTION 6 1976, more cyclists likely Siple and 1976 field-team Oatman, AZ to Santa Monica, CA Chicago 360 Miles

Santa Joplin Services for Cyclists Monica Route Map and Guide Adrian rode across the U.S. in a member (and long- Waterproof Paper Bi-Directional 2015 BC-2604 Chicago Route Map and Guide Services for Cyclists single season than had time Adventure Cycling www.adventurecycling.org Bi-Directional Waterproof Paper Oatman Santa Monica BC-2603 ever ridden from coast employee and architect 2015 www.adventurecycling.org

of the Great Divide Route Map and Guide Services for Cyclists Bi-Directional Waterproof Paper

BC-2606 Mountain Bike Route) 2015 www.adventurecycling.org Mac McCoy, who are collecting stories of the trail from long before its official inception, to 1976, to today. Stories from the TransAm’s 40-year 2009 history will also be featured in the pages of Adventure Cyclist leading to coast before, nearly up to and during the all of them on the newly anniversary festivities. RIDE AMERICA’S MAIN ST. minted TransAm Trail as To help complete this MICHAEL CLARKMICHAEL

GREG SIPLE part of Bikecentennial. project in time for ON BICYCLE ROUTE 66 Since then, tens of the 40th anniversary thousands more have celebration in 2016, we’re New route launches on March 1 traveled the trail, which looking for memorable Adventure Cycling will stories and photographs ➺ THE MOST FAMOUS road in America has been called many things celebrate in 2016 with from Adventure Cycling from the grand — The Mother Road and the Main Street of America — to a special coffee-table members who have book dedicated to the traveled the TransAm. the simple and descriptive — U.S. 66. It now has one more moniker to add organization’s most Send submissions to its storied history: Bicycle Route 66. famous 4,232 miles. to TA40Book@ On March 1, Adventure Cycling will unveil its latest bicycle route The book’s creation is adventurecycling.org. tracing the iconic highway corridor from Chicago’s Magnificent Mile to the sparking waters of the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica. “Route 66 was the overwhelming favorite among our members for a new long-distance route,” said Carla Majernik, Adventure Cycling’s Routes DAN BURDENDAN & Mapping Director. “It’s a legendary corridor, and for our route network, a critical link through areas where there were no routes.” The 2,493-mile Bicycle Route 66 takes in sights from the Cadillac Ranch in Texas and America’s bread basket across Oklahoma — Adventure Cycling’s first route in the Sooner State — to the iconic deserts of the Southwest and the bright lights of Southern California and Chicago. The route is covered in a six-map set, allowing cyclists to tour the whole thing or ride a few preferred sections to maximize their Americana intake. “The vision for Bicycle Route 66 is the same as the original vision for Route 66, which was to connect the main streets of rural and urban communities,” said Adventure Cycling Director of Travel Initiatives Ginny Sullivan. For more information about Bicycle Route 66, visit adventurecycling. 1976 org/bicycleroute66.

08 ADVENTURE CYCLIST m a rch 2015 WAYPOINTS

SPREADING THE USDOT LIGHT IN EUROPE STUDYING Princeton Tec manager hits ROAD SAFETY the road on two wheels FOR CYCLISTS ➺ HEADLAMP manufacturer Princeton LAST FALL, U.S. Transportation Secretary Tec recently tapped longtime U.S. sales Anthony Foxx announced manager Justin Kline to be the company’s new a new initiative to reduce BETH PULITI BETH International Business Development Manager. the growing number of To kick off his new post, Kline took a unique, Following the OutDoor trade show in Fried- pedestrian and bicyclist human-powered approach to expanding and richshafen, Germany, in July, Kline began riding injuries and fatalities growing the company’s European partners by across Europe. Beyond the personal challenge through a comprehensive saddling his bike and pedaling his way around the and lifestyle shift, the slow-moving approach approach that addresses continent to cultivate connections. resulted in valuable economic and market insight. infrastructure safety, “Typically we only had access to our distribu- To date, Kline has pedaled more than 2,500 miles education, vehicle safety, tors for a few hours at annual trade shows, and our through 10 countries and has met with numerous and data collection. The direct exposure to markets was limited to a few key distribution and retail partners along the way. 18-month campaign will begin with road safety days during short visits,” said Princeton Tec Vice “I’ve learned far more about the economic assessments conducted President Dave Cozzone. “With Justin it allows us situation and market opportunities of a country by U.S. Department to have a longtime brand expert fully immersed in by chatting with a local family over dinner than of Transportation a number of key international markets.” in any trade show hall,” Kline said. field offices in every state, and will produce multiple resources to help communities build HELPING WOMEN RIDE IN where women don’t have she decided to devote streets that are safer for the right to ride one. her life to the women of people walking, bicycling, AFGHANISTAN There, she encountered Afghanistan. and taking public women in jail for alleged When Galpin learns of transportation. SHANNON GALPIN org), which works to adultery, women who a team of Afghan women “Safety is our didn’t travel to create opportunities for attempted to escape cyclists, her excitement highest priority and that Afghanistan with plans to women in regions of arranged marriages is palpable. “The young commitment is the same ride her bike. The thought conflict and ultimately after being raped. In women who dare to ride regardless of which form didn’t cross her mind until led her to commit her these women, Galpin their bikes are pedaling of transportation people her fourth trip there, in life to empowering the sees herself. In her own a revolution,” she said. choose, including walking 2009, when she decided women of war-torn memoir, Mountain to “They train on some and biking,” Secretary to bring her tangerine Afghanistan using her Mountain, she shares the of the most dangerous Foxx said. Niner 29er singlespeed bike as a vehicle for story of her own rape, highways in the world, Among the with her across the social change in a country citing it as the reason in a country where their many resources the ocean. Shortly after existence is a challenge Department will provide her arrival, in a remote to the status quo.” will help practitioners village in the heart of Together, Galpin — incorporate small safety the Panjshir Mountains, National Geographic’s improvements into many Galpin rode her bike down 2013 Adventurer of the road projects, address a mountainside. It was Year — and the Afghan “last mile” safety for the first time any woman women cyclists are people taking buses had mountain biked in breaking cultural taboos, and trains, and make it Afghanistan. while showing Afghans, easier for jurisdictions to Galpin launched and the world, their count and plan for people a nonprofit, incredible strength and traveling by foot and Mountain2Mountain power. bicycle. (mountain2mountain. COURTESY ST. MARTIN’S PRESS MARTIN’S ST. COURTESY

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 09 TEXAS HANEY - 1

STORY AND PHOTOS BY CHUCK HANEY SPRING TRAINING IN TEXAS HILL COUNTRY TEXAS HANEY - 1

pring training — the term first slips into our conscious- ness each year in the midst of winter when baseball pitchers and catchers congregate to warm southern climates, such as those found in Arizona and Florida. They are later joined by the rest of their teammates to Sprepare for the long season ahead. Cy- clists are not much different than their baseball brethren. Instead of popping catchers’ mitts and batting practice on precisely manicured diamonds, we air up the tires, lube the chain, then try to find smooth roadways with comforting weather to put in some early miles in preparation for the season ahead. To those of us from northern climates, where the cold wind and snow of winter are about two months too long, making the sojourn to southern climates in spring is really appealing. I think I may have found one of the most ideal locations for road cycling “spring training.” Fredericksburg, Tex- as, is a small town of a little over 10,000

THE STUPIDS INVADE SPRING TRAINING IN TEXAS MHILLN COUNTRYTANA TEXAS HANEY - 2

residents, located about an hour west of Austin and San Antonio, right smack dab in the middle of what is known locally as Hill Country. A wide Main Street prome- nades straight through the heart of town and is filled with quaint western shops that entice a loyal following of shoppers and sightseers, especially on weekends and spring break. German beer gardens (a.k.a. bier gartens) sit tucked behind tasty restaurants that feature the smell of slow-cooking beef brisket barbeque or traditional German dishes including schnitzel. Like much of central Texas, the music scene is very energetic with diverse live acts performing along many Main NUTS & BOLTS Texas Hill Country Street establishments. It’s not unusual to see the patrons dancing into the night. Good riding conditions exist BIKE SHOP MORE INFO The town was founded in 1846 by year round in the Texas Hill Hill Country Bicycle Works has Fredericksburg: fredericks Country. It can get plenty hot a shop in both Kerrville and burgtexas-online.com, German immigrants and named for in summer with temperatures Fredericksburg. Besides being 830.997.6523 Prince Frederick of Prussia. As cyclists into the triple digits. If you’re a great resource and bike Texas Tourism; traveltex.com we have to be grateful that those early riding at this time of year, I shop, this establishment holds Germans — especially those elected as suggest riding early in the Tuesday night group rides ORGANIZED RIDE county commissioners — were indus- morning or late in the day. beginning at 6:00 pm. Early March: Hell Week (hell trious and had a penchant for paving Spring — especially beginning hillcountrybicycle.com week.com/texas.html) roadways. Although adjoining counties in mid-April — is ideal if you 702 E. Main Street in Late March: LBJ Cycling have predominantly graveled back like wildflowers and tempera- Fredericksburg, 830.990.2609. Weekend, (lbj100bicycle roads, Gillespie County, of which tures that average in the 70s tour.org) Fredericksburg is the county seat, has and 80s. WEBSITE April: Texas Gran Fondo, a over 400 miles of paved roads. Most Cycle Texas (cycletexas. timed ride that’s not really a PRECAUTIONS com) is a great resource race — similar to events held of the pavement is in the form of rural In arid areas, low-lying water with links for organized rides, in Europe. (texasgranfondo. ranch roads that connect seemingly crossings are much more lodging, great com) every ranch in the county to form a web prevalent than bridges. These printable of pure joy for road-riding cyclists. water crossings can be maps of GROUP RIDE On the east side of Fredericksburg, I extremely slippery, so be cau- local loops, Adventure Cycling Associa- stopped by a charming bicycle shop and tious when water is running in and more. tion puts on a fully supported met up with Lisa and Adam Salladin, them or during a rainstorm. proprietors of Hill Country Bicycle If you’re not accustomed to Works. I secured a road bike and got riding over cattle guards, you the lowdown on which intermediate will be after riding on Hill routes would work best for a northerner Country roads. Simply ride TEXAS directly across these in as with legs just a few days removed from straight a line as possible and HILL COUNTRY powder skiing in Montana. relax your joints. Soon they As I was getting fitted for my bike, will be nothing more than an Lisa told me the story of how the shop occasional rumble beneath came to be situated in Frederickburg. your tires. She and Adam met at a bicycle shop in Beware of cars, loose San Francisco in 1987. Five years later, livestock, and deer — a good LODGING they embarked on a three-year, 30,000- policy to practice no matter Cyclismo (cyclismo. mile bicycle trip around the world, where you’re riding! biz) at 103 East Creek in visiting 17 countries on four continents. You’ll be riding in mostly Fredericksburg is a very cy- At the tail end of their remarkable rural areas where it is often cling-friendly accommodation. hot and sunny so bring plenty Owner Frank Floyd is a very spring trip in the Texas Hill journey, they pedaled through the of water and energy food and knowledgeable and experi- Country. nearby town of Kerrville where they lather on the sunscreen. There enced cyclist and he’ll let you adventurecycling.org/ were told that there was no longer a seemed to be cell service store your bike in his garage guided-tours/fully-sup bicycle shop in town. That fact planted throughout much of the area. complete with workstand. ported-tours/2015-texas- a seed in the couple’s mind; they were 830.997.7812. hill-country seeking new career opportunities after

12 ADVENTURE CYCLIST m a rch 2015 TEXAS HANEY - 2

Local musician David Harris belts out soulful tunes on a sunny afternoon in Luckenbach.

completing their epic journey. Within a year, they had returned to Kerrville and opened up the new shop. Two years later, they opened up a second shop in Fredericksburg. Since settling in central Texas, the couple has been active in cycling advocacy and promotion of the region’s cycling opportunities. I was fascinated not only by their story but by their sheer enthusiasm for the sport of cycling. Empowered by having a bike in hand and newfound knowledge of the area, I was more than eager to put the pedals to the pavement. I studied the county map with its squiggly lines now glossed over by pink highlighter where Lisa had suggested routes that would give me a great perspective of Hill Country without taxing my winter-conditioned legs and butt too much. I took off straight from the Hill Country Bicycle Works parking lot for a 30-mile ride called the “Tuesday Nighter,” organized by the shop as a weekly 6:00 pm group ride that gives riders ample time to finish before sun sets. I was on my way to the tiny burg of Luckenbach, famously known for the

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 13 TEXAS HANEY - 3

catchy country music song first per- big-time acts later formed by Waylon Jennings in 1977. in the evenings, I enjoyed the relatively easy pace but for me the soul as I settled into the nuances of my of Luckenbach Trek rental bike. I cruised past peach was exactly the orchards that had recently bloomed, laid-back experi- and turned south where I got a most ence that I heard welcome tailwind that carried me down and felt at that lonely ranch roads where I seldom saw moment. A few a car. The road was sprinkled with rows other visitors also of grapes from local wineries. enjoyed the mo- Within the hour, I arrived at Lucken- ment. Some were bach, which is much more a place than on bikes, both the an actual town. An old-timey combined pedaling and the general-store and post office firmly situ- motor variety. The Lisa Nye and Adam Fleury ride one of the many roads outside Fredericksburg. ated under stately old oak trees anchors music scene in cen- the site. The sweet sound of guitar tral Texas is second to none; it is one of delightfully devoid of any automobile picking emanated from the back of the the reasons I chose to visit in the first traffic. Because I was in Texas, I wanted historic structure. Soon enough, I was place. As I scanned the diverse small to see an armadillo, but instead of live sitting on a bench under the shade of a crowd enjoying the Luckenbach vibe, ones I only spotted several carcasses giant oak tree sipping on a can of ice- I was reminded that music really is the of the unfortunate ones that hadn’t cold local Pearl beer and listening to the universal language. I saddled back up made the road crossing intact the night gravelly voice of local musician David on the Trek refreshed, inspired, and before. I turned back to the north and Harris as he belted out one soulful tune ready for the return ride to Fredericks- into headwinds that were somewhat after another and played an old acous- burg. mitigated by a nice downhill off the tic guitar. I could tell by the immense There were more hills on the return Col de San Antonio. I raced back to the parking area and dance hall that the section of the loop as I gleefully spun shop, glad to have the first ride of my place gets humming with crowds and along Grapetown Road, which was spring training in the bag.

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14 ADVENTUREinzerat_Top_bicycle.indd CYCLIST 1 m a rch 2015 15.2.2008 16:51:31 TEXAS HANEY - 3

I was fortunate to be in town at the same time as an Adventure Cycling Association supported tour of the Texas Hill Country. I got out early to follow and photograph a group of riders par- ticipating in the event, tagging along in my rental car as the riders strung north along Lower Crabapple Road. Soon I became engrossed with the beautiful hilly countryside starting to brim with prairie wildflowers. Most notable were the Texas bluebonnets, which formed a literal blanket of bright blue color along stretches of the rural roadways. Miles of attractive wooden fences along pretty ranches made great backdrops for my images and left me anticipating my own upcoming ride. The next morning, I left town early to ride another route that Lisa had suggested. I parked at a historic one-room schoolhouse, which was standing tall and sturdy with precise blocks of quar- ried local limestone. With a few dozen pedal strokes, I settled into climbing mode and relished the peace and quiet on rural Welgehausen Road. After rounding a sudden left-hand corner, I spied a fantastic view of Enchanted Rock, a massive slab of pink granite that rises poetically above the rolling central Texas landscape. I had hiked the 425 feet to the top of the weath- ered dome in previous trips to the area, but I really enjoyed the more distant and unique perspective from the seat of my bicycle. Gravity soon spilled me out along pastureland that was starting to green up, and the narrow road was accented by thick stands of vibrant bluebonnets. Once again I was cycling in the heart of rural Hill Country, joyfully climbing and descending the pavement without seeing a single car! My companions for the morning were my lengthy shadow, created from the low angle of the sun at my back; the ever-present wind; and songbirds like cardinals, bluebirds, and finches singing up a symphony of na- ture. That sonata was interrupted with the rumble made as I passed over the grates of cattle guards, which appeared seemingly every mile. A part of this ride is referred to as Little Switzerland on the Cycle Texas (cycletexas.com) website. As I climbed up a rather steep hill called Swiss Miss,

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I reflected on all the private ranchland The downhill lasted for a welcomed few past fields of colorful prairie wildflowers I had seen. The barbed-wire-fencing miles. I flew by a pasture full of content and see cattle grazing along the scenic salesmen of the late 1800s must have Longhorn cattle, a true Texas signature river and the beautiful ranch our 36th made their fortunes here. The strands moment. I had a smile on my face as the president and his wife, Lady Bird, called of jagged wire were just as much a part last few miles of the ride wound down. home. In fact you can thank Lady Bird of the landscape as the stunted oak This tough but rewarding ride had put a for all the colorful wildflowers planted trees and prairie grasses. stamp on what riding in the Hill Country along the highways. It is an approximate After crossing Highway 87, the stiff was all about. 48-mile out-and-back ride from the end headwinds and incessant hills began to According to Adam of Hill Country of Ranch Road 1 and Fredericksburg. take a toll on my energy reserves. I had Bicycle Works, cycling is becoming The rides that I have described thought that my highlighted loop would more popular in the Hill Country as are only the tip of the iceberg when be approximately 25 miles in total, but I each season seems to bring more cyclists it comes to exploring all the paved good- soon realized that I had underestimated to the region. Many organized rides ness of Gillespie County. If the winter the mileage when I finally reached a spot draw large numbers of cyclists to the season is becoming too cold and long, I called Hilltop at 25 miles. I had another area. As an extreme example, Hell Week suggest looking into a trip to the Texas hour to reach my car back at the school- in March features eight straight days Hill Country as good therapy and a house so I chugged onward, calculating of intense riding ranging from shorter great jumpstart to your spring cycling that my turn back to the north would 40-50 mile rides to 100-plus miles per regimen. Pick up a Gillespie County break the headwind. As I spun along day. Some riders use this week as spring map and start dreaming of all of the with my head down, I noticed that the training for ultra-endurance events such spectacular cycling roads with low auto- road surface had turned a chalky white. I as the Race Across America (RAM). mobile traffic. Spring training is not just was cycling past an active gypsum mine For a little less intense riding, I sug- for dusty catchers’ mitts and dreams of but, to be honest, all I cared about at this gest pedaling east from Fredericksburg pennants, but cycling glory as well. point was that I had the wind at my back and crossing the Pedernales River into and a big downhill in front of me. A ride the small town of Stonewall and Lyndon Chuck Haney is an avid cyclist and photographer that would be nothing for me to click off B. Johnson State Park to ride the flat who lives in Whitefish, Montana. You can learn more about him at chuckhaney.com. in June was a challenge in early spring. Ranch Road 1. In spring, you will ride

16 ADVENTURE CYCLIST m a rch 2015 PARK TOOL AD

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 17 ONEIDA WARD - 1 On e i da County Story and photos by Nathan Ward

weet orange peel and cori- This time, I chose to ride farther ander tickled my nose as the south and base out of the city of Utica top popped off a sweating (where there are no black flies) and beer bottle in the summer ride routes through Oneida County and heat. I tipped the cold amber slightly beyond. As far as communities Sale into a tall glass while sitting in the in America go, Utica represents a fair shade at Brewery Ommegang. The slice of the country’s history — the push Rare Vos smelled heavenly and tasted to move westward, conflict between as delicious and ideal as the ride we’d natives and settlers, canal systems that just finished through the green hilly opened the northeastern U.S., industri- lakelands of central New York. alization and success, followed by col- Our ride started in the town of Utica lapse as companies went offshore and and wound through the hills and dales military bases shut down. Today, locals of the Mohawk Valley and surrounding say Utica is experiencing a resurgence, area, on narrow country roads rolling fueled both by longtime residents and sharply up and down for miles. We by new immigrants from around the passed flourishing farms, country mar- world as they move in from less fortu- kets, rivers, cornfields, and houses with nate places and find a city waiting with lawns so expansive and perfect one opportunity and open arms. might mistake them for parks. My home away from home for the Finally we rode along the shore- week was the attractive Hotel Utica, line of beautiful Otsego Lake before which opened in 1912 and hosted its reaching the brewery on the far side of share of the rich, talented, and famous Cooperstown. The July day glowed sun- — President William Taft, Franklin ny and hot, and the ride undulated just Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Rita long enough to make that beer go down Hayworth, Judy Garland, Johnny Cash, easily. In other words, it was a perfect and many more. Recent renovations road ride, the first of several I’d enjoy have returned the hotel to its former in this part of New York where the back glory, right in the heart of the city. roads are empty and plentiful. Near the city center there remain I’d heard good things about the road rain, and a poorly laced back wheel places rough around the edges, but I riding in New York state from other that resulted in many a broken spoke. chose Utica because I was seeking a cyclists, although my own past experi- I remember huddling under a poncho place of authenticity in this homoge- ence had been far from perfect. In 1993, by the side of the road in Lake Placid, nizing country, a place working hard to I’d been a few weeks into a cross-coun- furiously putting new spokes in the rear promote cycling, and I found both here. try ride and things came a bit unglued wheel while being eaten alive by flies. I I found other treasures in Onei- when I reached the Empire State — a hadn’t returned since, but I was ready da County too — long public trails, combination of black flies, persistent for another try, and I’m glad I did. interesting architecture like the Stanley ONEIDA WARD - 1 ONEIDA WARD - 2

Theater, unique local food, a train depot that still serves trains, neighborhoods built around village squares, an Andy Warhol exhibit, cool people dedicated to cycling, and interesting hole-in-the- wall bike shops like AAA Welch’s Bicy- cle & Ski Shop in Utica, which literally has buildings stuffed with bikes from all eras. On the first day of my tour, I joined local bike advocate and triathlete Matthew VanSlyke. Part of his job is helping run Cycle Adirondacks, a week-long tour to attract more cyclists to the area. He also works to improve Singletrack from the center of Old Forge connects to the Maple Ridge trail system. the lives of many of the new immigrants to the area by helping run a Susquahana River Basin and the town Right at the edge of town, they’d community bike program called the of Cooperstown. Best known as the scraped thin singletrack into the wet Utica Bike Rescue. This program gets birthplace of baseball and for being the green hillside and we climbed, slipped, people on bikes, some for the first time home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, the and scrambled to the top of McCau- ever, and teaches mechanical skills so quaint town heaved with baseball fans. ley Mountain, a ski resort on the edge people can maintain the bikes on their We quickly pedaled through downtown of Old Forge. From there mountains, own. Often, when immigrants arrive straight to the nearby Brewery Omme- forest, and lakes stretched out in every in Utica, they don’t have money for a gang where they offered me samples direction as far as I could see. There is car or they don’t know how to drive of all of their award-winning Belgian certainly enough wild country out there so a bicycle immediately makes them beers. There’s nothing like heat, hills, to build all the trails you could want. mobile in their new land. and hops to make the legs grow heavy While enjoying the view from the It quickly became obvious that Matt but happy. mountaintop, Chad Hiatt, then-manager was more fit than me as he led us on The next day Matt and I drove north of the Mountainman Outdoor Supply a beautiful 55-mile ride through the to the hamlet of Old Forge in the Town Company, suddenly exclaimed “We’ve got Mohawk River Valley where we found of Webb in the southern Adirondack to go now!” We all raced each other pell- little traffic, scenic roads, and enough Mountains. We traded our skinny tires mell down the mountain and into town, short, steep hills to make my legs burn for fat ones and joined a group of local Chad yelling on his phone, “Can you hold off. We wound through a countryside mountain bikers who wanted to show the train for us?” Train? What train? lush with crops, forests, and lakeside us the mountain biking potential of that We sprinted through town like a wild villages before dropping down into the part of New York. pack of dogs to Thendara Station where a train from the Adirondack Scenic Rail- road sat running and rumbling, waiting for us. We’d delayed all the other visitors already sitting on the train, but because they loaded us in a special car just for bicycle riders, no one said a thing. With a lurch and a whistle, we headed out of town and the conductor handed each of us a map for all the bike trails we could access along the route. We simply had to tell him when we wanted off the train, and they’d drop us and our bikes right there. A few miles later, we gave him the sign, he stopped the train, and we jumped down to start riding in the 6.1-million acre Adirondack Park. It’s huge — the biggest park in the Lower 48, about the same size as Vermont and bigger than the Grand Canyon, The Adirondack Scenic Railroad’s “Bike & Rail” is a one-of-a-kind experience and a great way to Glacier, Yosemite, Yellowstone, and access thousands of acres of wild forest with miles of dirt trails. Great Smoky Mountains national parks

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combined. If you took a wrong turn and got lost in Adirondack Park, you might never be found. The local riders took off riding hard into the forest. Dirt roads and trails took off in every direction, and I raced to keep them in sight. There were few signs along the way to guide us, but the riding was fun and fast, through pedal-grabbing grass meadows, along gravel roads, and over tea-colored creeks that meandered off into the vast forest. “There are hundreds of miles of snowmobile routes here in the park. So, just imagine if we can make mountain bike trails on all of those in the summer!” said Mike Farmer, the Town of Howard Welch and his son Marty have been meeting the needs of Utica’s bicyclists since the 1970s at Webb’s tourism director, who wants to AAA Welch’s Bicycle & Ski Shop. foster the mountain bike scene in Old Forge. “We just don’t have the man- with a bike.” That is how I met a cyclist shores of Oneida Lake and the village power to do it, but it could be a great named Dick Jordan. of Sylvan Beach, a 70-mile round-trip opportunity for someone.” We shook hands, and Dick laughed. ride. The threatening clouds drizzled, The next day began in an ominous “I’m happy to see you! Some other guy then upgraded to a rain that turned to a cloak of gray as I spun around Utica on rode by and I chased him down yelling hammering torrent of water. a Sunday morning. There was hard- your name, but I guess it wasn’t you,” By the time we reached Sylvan ly another soul on the streets, and I he said. Dick was a tattooed 70-plus- Beach, the water razored up off our headed up the road with instructions year-old, fit as a fiddle. We started front tires into our faces and gushed out to “meet a guy on the side of the road riding northwest from Utica toward the the top of our shoes with every pedal

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stroke. We sloshed our way into Eddie’s started in saying, “Do you know so and tion as the rum warmed us. Restaurant and cozied down at the so?” and going through names until “When I was young, Sylvan Beach was counter, water dripping off us every- they found someone they all knew. the only place you could get a tattoo,” where. They didn’t blink an eye, just I think Dick even found out he was Dick reminisced. “It was a real let-your- handed us hot coffee and asked if we’d related to one of them in some distant hair-down sort of scene.” Drawn by like to bring our bikes in around the cousin’s brother sort of way. tradition and a beach in the forest, gen- counter where they’d be safer and drier. The rain still poured down as we erations of families continue to return to Eddie’s was a place that started out crossed the alley to Harpoon Eddie’s, Sylvan Beach. It’s the sort of town with selling hot dogs and three generations lured by the promise of some spe- amusement parks, beach volleyball, boat later has become the cornerstone of cial drink they serve to get the beach rides, and teenage crushes you remem- Main Street. The counter at Eddie’s parties rolling. It was a pastel tornado bers for a lifetime. There must have proved to be a good place to hear of drink mixes blended with ice and a been some wild times along the way too stories too. As soon as Dick sat down, whole lot of rum poured on top. Not because the locals kept raising their eye- the people at the counter immediately good for riding, but good for conversa- brows and laughing at memories they weren’t sharing. The rain didn’t slack off, so we headed back into it for the ride home. On the nearly deserted back roads, we rode side by side, and I asked Dick, “What are the new tattoos you’ve got on your arm?” “It’s the Ride for Missing Children,” he replied. “A local girl went missing, and afterward a few of us rode bikes to Wash- ington, DC, to draw attention to the case. Then we started a group to try and make sure it didn’t happen again.” Now, every year, over 450 cyclists ride a 100-mile route together and raise several hundred thousand dollars to fund poster cam- paigns and work by the New York/Mo- hawk Valley branch of the National Cen- ter for Missing and Exploited Children. They’ve helped locate several thousand missing children, and I thought it was a pretty noble use of the bicycle. NUTS & BOLTS Oneida County After 70 miles of rain, Dick said, “Let’s WHERE TO RIDE and easiest is to establish a 800.819.2291 eat some blueberry pie.” If you can’t have In Oneida County, there are base camp in a hotel and do • The Ride for Missing sun and scenery, seek out great food and several signed bike routes that day rides in the surrounding Children - theridefor tasty drinks along the way. Full up on traverse the county and near- county. Alternatively, simply missingchildren.com or more calories than I burned on the ride, by Herkimer County. These are select a route, pack the 315.732.7233 I rode back to the hotel through central State Bike Routes 5, 8, 12, 20, panniers, and go. If you want • Oneida County Tourism - Utica feeling inspired by Dick’s fitness, 233, and 365. Contact Oneida an organized tour, the Cycling oneidacountytourism.com devotion to cycling, and commitment to County Tourism for sugges- the Erie Canal Tour (ptny.org/ or 888.999.6560 working on an issue he believes in. tions or download the Biking canaltour) is a great option, • Utica Bike Rescue - The sun came out again for my last Atlas — Herkimer and Oneida or check out the Cycling the uticabikerescue.org or day in New York as I joined Matt and Counties (ocgov.net/oneida/ Erie Canal guidebook. 315.525.9554 two members of the New York Bicycling planning/hocts/ bicyclepedestrian). Alter- WHEN TO GO BIKE RENTALS Coalition for a ride from Utica to Rome natively, call Dick Sonne’s You can enjoy the road rides Dick Sonne’s Cycles, Fitness on a route along the Erie Canalway bike shop (dicksonnes.com of Oneida County any time and Skis may be able to Trail, then to the Oriskany Battlefield or 888.761.7106) or AAA from May to October, but keep arrange a road bike for you to and on to Fort Stanwix in Rome. Welch’s Bicycle & Ski Shop in mind that spring can be rent. For mountain bikes in the The Erie Canal still flows right (315.724.4728) for local rainy and the shoulder-season Old Forge area, contact the through Utica, a water highway that cyclists’ suggestions. nights may be cold. I rode in Mountainman Outdoor Supply helped develop the city into an industri- July, and it was perfect. Co. (mountainmanoutdoors. al powerhouse at its height. Most people HOW TO DO A TOUR com) or 315.369.6670. As don’t know it, but the boats and barges There are several great GREAT LOCAL RESOURCES always, it’s best to bring your didn’t sail or motor along the canal, they options for your bike tour • Adirondack Scenic Railroad own bikes. were pulled by mules. The mules walked in Oneida County. The first - AdirondackRR.com or

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on towpaths next to the canal and towed the boats with long ropes. Today the boats use motors and, luckily for cyclists, many of the towpaths have been converted into a long multi- use trail paralleling the canal. It’s called the Erie Canalway Trail, and it’s an ideal touring route through this part of New York — it’s nearly flat with no traffic and lots of interesting history and sites along the way. The entire canal and trail are included in the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. As we happily ped-

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aled along the canal, I spotted designat- ed tent camping spots right by the trail, perfect for self-supported cyclists. When the canal route is completed, it will be a 524-mile continuous trail along New York’s Erie, Oswego, Cayuga-Sen- eca, and Champlain canals and an ideal bike tour for all ages and abilities. After some miles, we left the canalway trail to visit the Oriskany Battlefield, site of a horribly bloody fight on August 6, 1777. It turned out to be a decisive battle in the American Revo- lutionary War, and Daniel Umstead of the National Park Service told us the Lakeside beers are just one of the rewards for riding the TOBIE Trail in the Town of Webb. story with passion — the ambush by the British and Tory leaders, the slaughter, more great rides there are in the area, culture, quality local businesses still the fierceness of the fight, and the un- and he said “Dozens, maybe hundreds standing in the face of box stores, and a fortunate end of the Great Peace of the more. This part of New York has so strong community of cyclists working to Iroquois Confederacy. many great little back roads with almost make cycling accessible and better for We reached Rome and, with the day’s no traffic. They are perfect road riding.” everyone all make this a special place. ride in the bag, we returned to Utica to I agreed. But it wasn’t just the riding. The riding is pretty ideal too. enjoy one more local institution, the Utica, Oneida County, and the people I Saranac Brewery and tall glasses of the rode with made quite an impression on Nathan Ward is a photographer, writer, and famed-and-followed Uncle Charlie or me. The mix of urban American history, sustainable-tourism consultant. Nathan specializes in adventure, environmental, and humanitarian issues. Utica Club beer. As we sat in the historic land protection on a large scale, the More information found at nathanward.com. drinking room, I asked Matt how many directness and diversity of New York

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24 ADVENTURE CYCLIST m a rch 2015 2 HALF PAGE ADS

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 25 PHOTO CONTEST - 1

ADVENTURE CYCLING’S SIXTH ANNUAL BICYCLE TRAVEL PHOTO CONTEST In the six years Adventure Cycling has held its annual photo con- tell a story of adventure on two wheels that’s contagious. Picking test, thousands of images from the everyday to the awe-inspiring a top 10 isn’t easy for the staffers tasked with sorting through the have been submitted. This year, 451 photos were sent in or posted images, but the photos here reached out and grabbed us, whether to our Flickr group highlighting bicycle travel in places from the through incredible scenery or a feeling of simple joy that’s hard to backyards of Middle America to the back roads of Peru. They explain, but you know it when you see it. To submit your best imag- couldn’t all make the final cut, but individually and together they es in next year’s contest, visit adventurecycling.org/photocontest.

FIRST PLACE (above) ANNA POLTORAK – Mateusz Emeschajmer kicks back on the Annapurna Circuit in central Nepal. See more at gettingnowhere.net. THE TOOLS: Nikon D90, 11-16mm f/2.8 lens, 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 100

THIRD PLACE (right) BJØRN OLSON – Kim McNett and the photographer became the first people to cycle from Anchorage, Alaska, to the arctic community of Kotzebue on an 1,100-mile winter trail in the winter/spring of 2014. THE TOOLS: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 24-105mm f/4 lens, 1/640, f/9, ISO 100

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SECOND PLACE (above) PAUL GRIFFITHS – Descending crossing of Peru’s mighty Cordillera Blanca. the bewildering number of switchbacks See more at theridesouth.com. from the spectacular Portachuelo de THE TOOLS: Olympus E-M5, Panasonic LUMIX Llanganuco (4,760 meters), during a triple 20mm f/1.7 lens, 1/250 f/5.0, ISO 200

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(left) FLORIAN PRÜLLER – Passing through Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park as part of a year-long, 21,500-kilometer cycling honeymoon. THE TOOLS: Fuji FinePix S5Pro, 10-20mm f/4.0-5.6 lens, 1/180, f/22, ISO 400

(below middle) WILL DAVIES – A self-portrait along the Colle del Nivolet, the tenth highest paved road in Europe, in the Graian Alps in the Piedmont region of Italy. THE TOOLS: Canon PowerShot S120, 5.2- 26.0mm f/1.8-5.7 lens, 1/2000, f/2.8, ISO 80

(below left) PAUL GRIFFITHS – Taking a break from muddy riding in the remote central Peruvian highlands to satisfy this isolated occupant’s curiosity. THE TOOLS: Olympus E-M5, 45mm/f1.8 lens, 1/500, f/4.0, ISO 200

(below right) ANNA POLTORAK – Using a remote trigger, the photographer and Mateusz Emeschajmer are captured tra- versing a 4,000-meter ridge along the Annapurna Circuit in the Nepali Himalayas. THE TOOLS: Nikon D90, 50mm f/1.8 lens, 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 100

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ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 29 PHOTO CONTEST - 3

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(above left) PAUL GRIFFITHS – Tackling the trekking route circumnavigating the Cordillera Huayhuash in Peru by bike is no easy task, but the strenuous climb up to the 4,700-meter Cacananpunta Pass was more than made up for by an incredible singletrack descent to the valley below. THE TOOLS: Olympus E-M5, 45mm/f1.8 lens, 1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 200

(above top) WENDY BRISTOL – The photographer’s 10-year-old daughter rides ahead on the Rhine River Route (EuroVelo 15) near Gorinchem, Netherlands, on their family’s three-month trans-European tour. THE TOOLS: Canon PowerShot ELPH, 4.3- 21.5mm f/2.7-5.9 lens, 1/30, f/2.7, ISO 100

(above bottom) AITOR GALDOS – Cycling OFFICIAL PACK OF THE 2014 from Muslim Kashmir to Buddhist Ladakh, PRO CHALLENGE India, requires many days at high altitude in the superb Northern India Himalaya Mountains. THE TOOLS: Canon EOS 40D, 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, 1/800, f/6.3, ISO 100 ESCAPIST SERIES The Seventh Annual Adventure Cycling 20 & 30L MULTI-SPORT / CYCLING Photo Contest opens September 1, 2015. Check adventurecycling.org/ Built with cycling in mind, this highly versatile design goes beyond photocontest for more info. two-wheeled outings. Loaded with organization, well ventilated and weatherproof, the Escapist is ready for any adventure.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 31 BOSNIA KROODSMA - 1

n the small Croatian village While we looked over the map, a simplification. The Bosnian identity is of Vrpolje, some 10 miles middle-aged man on a cheap orange extremely complicated, largely because north of the border between mountain bike rolled up to us. “Where of the nation’s history. Over the past few Croatia and Bosnia, we are you going?” he said in halting hundred years, it has been governed stopped in the shade and English. We told him we were riding to by the Ottoman Empire, the Austrian- spread out our map of Sarajevo. Hungarian Empire, and Yugoslavia. the Balkans. Up to this “There is nothing across the To the east of Bosnia is Orthodox point in our month-long tour across border,” he said. “It is all destroyed.” Christian Serbia, and to the west and IEastern Europe — the first long trip He introduced himself as Marko and north is Roman Catholic Croatia. my girlfriend Lindsey and I had taken explained that he grew up in Bosnia Both were also part of Yugoslavia. together — we had chosen our route and had been forced to flee during Bosnia’s population is made up of with the help of cyclist forums and the war. “There are no more Croats in three main groups: Orthodox Serbs, online mapping services. Now, though, Bosnia,” he said. Catholic Croats, and Muslims. During we were about to cross into Bosnia We had originally decided to ride the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early and Herzegovina, and we’d need a new into Bosnia because we had read that 90s, Bosnia’s citizens voted to secede strategy. the cycling was excellent. We knew from the communist nation. Almost all The country (often referred to little about the country’s recent war, Serbs, though, fearful of becoming a simply as Bosnia) is literally off the Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World minority in the new country, wanted to map: EuroVelo’s cycle touring routes War II, when perhaps as many as one be part of neighboring Serbia. Serbia, don’t cover it, and Google Maps didn’t out of every 20 people in the country unlike Croatia, had not yet seceded work in the nation when we traveled perished in the early 1990s. from Yugoslavia. With the assistance through, making Bosnia, which is Much as I had thought we’d discover of the Yugoslavian army, Bosnian Serbs about the size of West Virginia and our route across the country as we attacked the non-Serbian parts of the just as mountainous, the only country traveled, I had also hoped we’d learn nation, including the capital, Sarajevo. in Europe in which we’d have to rely more about what had torn the nation For the next few years, Serbs, Muslims, on old-fashioned maps and our ability apart. Bike touring is the ultimate full- and Croats fought for control over the to ask directions. We were also a bit sensory experience. There are no better new country’s territory. nervous. The Bosnian War in the 1990s history and geography classrooms than From our rest stop in the shade, had left unexploded land mines in the the seat of a touring bike. we pedaled to where the meandering countryside, and we’d have to be careful Our research over the previous week Sava River separates Croatia from where we pitched our tent. had given us a basic understanding Bosnia. The border between the two of the country, but we remained confused, and almost any description (including the one we provide here) is a off the map in Bosnia Story and photos by David Kroodsma

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nations had the longest customs line trucks than we would have liked, I have ever seen in Europe, which we arrived in Banja Luka, a town of was particularly ironic since 20 years 200,000 people surrounded by lush earlier they had both been states within green hills. Through Couchsurfing Yugoslavia. Fortunately, as cyclists, we and WarmShowers, we had made a could skip to the front of the line. few contacts here, including one of Across the border, we were greeted the country’s top bicycling advocates. not by a “Welcome to Bosnia and Tihomir Dakic, Bosnia’s lead contact for Herzegovina” sign, but instead by a European Mobility Week and EuroVelo, sign written in the Cyrillic alphabet met us for a lunch of pita — a Bosnian — roughly the same alphabet used specialty of flaky dough rolled with in Russia. Below these mysterious cheese, meat, or potatoes. Sold by the characters was written in English, we found that what Marko had said gram, it might be the perfect cycling “Welcome to the Republic of Srpska.” was true: the towns were in ruins. food (we bought two kilos and carried The flags that flew in the town, with We passed by shells of brick houses, them in our panniers before leaving their red, blue, and white vertical where trees 15 to 20 years old grew town). stripes, were not of Bosnia and up between the walls. The roofs had Tall, energetic, and direct, with a Herzegovina, but rather the Republic collapsed or burned away long ago. shaved head and a quick smile, Tihomir of Srpska. These were likely the homes of those, grabbed our map and said in clear After the war, the country was like Marko, who had been forced to English, “This is how I tell people to divided into two states that roughly leave. Just as strange, though, were the bike to Sarajevo.” He outlined a four- reflected the ethnic population intact, neighboring homes of people to five-day route of empty back roads distribution that the conflict produced. who had stayed, with laundry hanging and mountain passes. He pointed out About half the country is the Republic or children playing in the yards. Trucks camp sites by rivers, reservoirs, and of Srpska, and is mostly Serb. The other lumbered by and the road was busy. It even an artists’ colony. “You can swim is, confusingly, the Federation of Bosnia was as if the country was just ignoring here, here, here, and here,” he said as he and Herzegovina, and is mostly Muslim the empty buildings. We spent the night pointed to various rivers and reservoirs and Croat. The Republic of Srpska more at a hotel in a small town where a few that we would greatly appreciate in the or less surrounds the federation, much of the buildings were pockmarked with July heat. as the Serb army had encircled Sarajevo bullet holes. Tihomir, like everyone else we met and central Bosnia during the war. After an early morning of riding As we rode into the late afternoon, along narrow highways with more

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in Bosnia, spoke freely about the war. to leave. Although cranes were busy turquoise rapids flowed between steep He had been a teenager and too young rebuilding the city’s largest mosque, green walls. The road had been blasted to fight, but his brother had fought in only a few Muslims had returned. into the canyon, and the rock faces the Serbian army, somewhat against his Nonetheless, Tihomir had stories to curved over our heads. Traffic was light, will. “We were pacifists, we didn’t want share that suggested progress. He had but the steep rock left little margin for to shoot anyone,” he said. led a protest against the mayor of Banja error. We were thankful for Tihomir’s He — as well as other English- Luka, and the protest was joined by advice. Following his route, we turned speaking residents of the Republic of Muslims, Croats, and Serbs. It is one of off the main road just before it entered Srpska — seemed to defend the Serbs, the first examples, he said, of the once- a long dark tunnel. Bosnia’s engineers are quite fond of tunnels, and almost all major roads have them, making THE MAN SHOOK HIS HEAD AND FINGER. such highways less palatable for cycle tourists. “REPUBLICA SRPSKA,” HE SAID CONFIDENTLY, Away from the border, we MAKING HIS ALLEGIANCE CLEAR. encountered fewer burned-out buildings, and we forgot for a moment that we were riding through a war- or at least said that the international warring factions joining together for a torn country. The roads led us upward community blamed them too heavily cause. “It has been all over the news,” — 3,000 feet of climbing in 45 miles for the war. I found these statements, as he added. Tihomir has also promoted — and into deep green mountains with well as the copious Republic of Srpska cycling at a national level, working with rounded tops. A road sign cautioned flags, somewhat disturbing. According his counterparts in Sarajevo. “MINE” in large red letters, and a map to most accounts, the Serb forces had After a night at the apartment of showed a few forested areas that hadn’t been responsible for most (although someone we found on Couchsurfing, yet been cleared of land mines from not all) of the atrocities. Sixteen we left Banja Luka and started riding the war. Tihomir had assured us that mosques were destroyed in Banja Luka south, following the route Tihomir most places were safe, and said that if during the war, and almost all Muslim suggested. It first followed the Vrbas we had any doubts, we should just ask and Croat residents had been forced River into a deep canyon, where bluish locals. We stayed in a tent that night on the grassy lawn of Boro, a grey-bearded artist whose sprawling property had a stream so pure we could drink straight from it. A guest of Boro’s told us that their rivers were so clean because the war had destroyed all of the country’s industry. The following day, after we descended from a traffic-free 3,000- foot pass on smooth pavement, a family roasting a goat on a spit waved us down as they stood in the shade next to their small wooden home. A man, probably in his 40s, extended a shot glass, spoke some Serbo-Croatian, and urged us through body language to take a sip. We determined the clear liquid to be rakija, a delicious homemade plum brandy that is popular in the region. For my second drink, I raised the shot glass and said “Bosnia and Herzegovina,” as if toasting the country. The man shook his head and finger disapprovingly. “Republica Srpska,” he said confidently, making his allegiance clear. Like others we had met, the man seemed to consider himself a citizen of the Serb Republic, not the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We finished the brandy. Then an older lady limped over to the nearby house and

34 ADVENTURE CYCLIST m a rch 2015 BOSNIA KROODSMA - 2

spray-painted on their side. We passed an unkempt Muslim graveyard where tall grass grew between the crescent- adorned gravestones. Then we passed a much better-kept Orthodox one, where the lawn between the crosses was freshly mowed. The Muslim residents of this town had most likely been forced to leave during the war. Hearing only the bouncing of our wheels on the car-free dirt road and riding under a cloudy sky with a treeless horizon, we felt as if we were in an enormous graveyard — with empty homes for tombstones. Rejoining paved roads, we descended from the highlands and passed through small vibrant towns. Some had churches, some had mosques, and some had both. All had curious children playing in the street. We spent the night camped behind a house on the banks of a large turquoise reservoir. We hadn’t needed our Serbo-Croatian (which consisted only of the phrase “Tent, one night?”), because our host spoke English. He invited us to his porch where his wife served us pita, beer, and a tomato salad. After the neighbors joined us, we learned that several religions were represented at the table as they joked that we should have more to drink and then they could marry Lindsey and I. “We have the Pope and the Imam here,” they teased, indicating they could perform either a Catholic or a Muslim wedding. We went to bed unmarried and left the next day for the capital. Sarajevo is a long, narrow city surrounded by rolling mountains that made great cover for the army that once encircled it. Signs of the past war were everywhere. Countless buildings, many Communist-style high-rises, were Abandoned villages in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina near the border with the Republic of Srpska. riddled with holes from shrapnel. Some sidewalks had divots with concentric brought back another bottle. We left Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. spattering around them, likely from before we were obliged to drink more It was overcast, and despite the heat at grenade strikes. Yet, unlike the ghost and carried with us, wrapped in tin foil sea level the day before, we now needed towns of the countryside, the city was and plastic, a leg of the goat they had our arm and leg warmers. The road bustling. New buildings with reflective insisted that we take for lunch. followed a high plateau at an altitude of glass were either under construction After a 2,500-foot climb through about 4,000 feet, almost entirely above or already standing. One burned-out one of the country’s many verdant river tree line. We passed bombed-out ghost five-story building, which was now just canyons, on a nearly car-free paved road towns, some adjacent to thriving towns. a huge rusting metal frame, was covered — and after a night hidden off the road In the emptiest village we rode through, with billboards advertising cell phones in an area where many people shook along a bumpy dirt road, only about one and department stores. And the historic, their heads yes when we pointed and in every 30 homes still had a roof and largely intact downtown was full of said, “Mines?” — we reached the border was occupied. Some of the buildings had tourists and locals. It felt as if the city between the Republic of Srpska and the “HVO,” the initials of a Croatian militia, was still defying the siege.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 35 BOSNIA KROODSMA - 3

Unfortunately, the city also defied cycling, as Sarajevo has a total of only 800 meters of bike lanes. It is one of the few places in Bosnia and Herzegovina that was unpleasant to ride. Bicycle advocates in Sarajevo told us that cycling has been increasing every year but they have yet to get support for more bikeways. We went on a walking tour with a few members of the youth Rotary Club. Mahir and his friends showed us around the downtown, explaining that Sarajevo is like a “mini-Jerusalem” — within just a few blocks, you can find a Catholic church, an Orthodox church, a Muslim mosque, and a Jewish synagogue Can anyone spare some vowels? A road sign in the Republic of Srpska. (although the city has few Jews as most fled or perished in the Holocaust). Mahir lived in Sarajevo during the war, to Bosnian-held territory. Mahir told us The city is about half Muslim, and we and although he was a young child when that his family had lived so close to the were there during the holy month of it started, he remembered what it was front line that he could hear the soldiers Ramadan when many Muslims fast from like to live in a city under siege. In 1992, taunt each other. His family spent days in dawn to dusk. Mahir didn’t fast — only after the country voted for independence, the basement while the city was shelled. about half of the inhabitants were that Serb forces encircled the city with “How did they do it?” we asked. “You have observant, he said — but he did abstain tanks and started shelling. Sarajevo to go on living,” he said. from alcohol. We ate more pita and also miraculously held off the militia but only As luck would have it, a friend of more cevapi, a serving of juicy, spicy barely — many supplies and almost all Mahir’s was a cycle tourist, and like sausages between pieces of flatbread, weapons were smuggled into the city via Tihomir in Banja Luka, he looked over another high-calorie cycling favorite. an 800-meter-long tunnel that linked it our map and advised us on the best

36 ADVENTURE CYCLIST m a rch 2015 BOSNIA KROODSMA - 3

route to Montenegro. After a day and a half in Sarajevo, we left the city to cycle the final two days across Bosnia. These roads did not disappoint. We dropped into an impossibly green canyon with SUPPORT a pristine river and then climbed into high grasslands beneath granite peaks WHAT YOU where we passed by thousand-year-old tombstones left by a now extinct sect of Christianity. The road led us back into LOVE. the Republic of Srpska, past a few more burned-out villages and graffiti that We share your love of riding told of a more violent time. We left the bikes. Our bicycle accessories country and rode into Montenegro on make your two-wheeled a steep climb overlooking yet another adventures easier, safer and deep blue reservoir. a lot more fun. Every time you Bosnia and Herzegovina was just part purchase one of our products of our tour through Eastern Europe, but it was the most memorable portion of you are partnering in our our journey. We had entered the country mission to contribute 25% without a plan and left it with a handful of profits to support of new friends and vivid memories of bicycle advocacy. the country’s scarred landscape and resilient people. The bikes allowed us BETTER BICYCLE PRODUCTS to meet individuals in the countryside FOR A BETTER WORLD and also made it easier to make contact with people in the major cities because planetbike.com they were interested in meeting us and giving us advice as we rode across their country. We might have learned more facts about the country in a classroom, but we’re more likely to remember what we experienced on a bicycle. Tihomir, as well as other bike advocates we met in Sarajevo, said that everyone in society benefits when more people ride bikes. Cycling across a country is an implicit statement of peace. It is a declaration of confidence in a society, showing that a nation is friendly and safe enough to ride through. Perhaps what is most remarkable in a country that endured civil war just two decades ago – where ghost villages still dot the countryside –is that cyclists can make this statement by pedaling across it. According to Tihomir and other bicycle advocates we spoke with, the number of cyclists in Bosnia and Herzegovina is increasing.

David Kroodsma and his then-girlfriend, Lindsey, are now married (although the marriage was performed by neither an Imam nor the Pope) and in the process of cycling from Turkey to Myanmar. David is also the author of The Bicycle Diaries: My 21,000-Mile Ride for the Climate, about his solo journey from California to Argentina. See more at rideforclimate. com.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 37 ROAD TEST - 1

SPECIFICATIONS 6. Bottom bracket drop: 73mm YIPSAN LIGHT TOURER 7. Crank spindle height above Road Test ground: 262mm Price: $7,300 (as reviewed) 8. Fork offset: 60mm Sizes available: custom 9. Wheelbase: 1037mm Size tested: 56cm 10. Standover height: 807mm Weight: 27.4 lbs (with rack, 11. Frame: YiPsan custom fenders, cages, etc. without pedals) 12. Fork: YiPsan custom 13. Rims: Stan’s Crest TEST BIKE MEASUREMENTS 14. Hubs: Schmidt SON28 ISO 32 1. Seat tube: 55.5cm (center hole, White Industries MI6 rear to top) hub, 32 hole 2. Top tube: 56.8 cm (effective) 15. Tires: Grand Bois Hetre Extra Léger 650b x 42mm 3. Head tube angle: 73° 16. Bottom bracket: SKF sealed YIPSAN LIGHT 4. Seat tube angle: 73° 17. Crankset: White Industries 5. Chainstays: 43.5cm VBC (44/28 chainrings, TOURER 170mm)

BY NICK LEGAN

➺DURING my years of reviewing bikes, I’ve been fortunate to test several handmade examples. I’m also lucky to know many frame builders. They are an interesting lot, handmade bike builders. The products of their toil, those beautiful bicycles, offer an experience that is increasingly lost these days. A custom bicycle allows almost limitless options for the customer tempered only by the counsel of the builder. The process of purchasing, designing, building, and riding a custom bike is wonderfully unique. For cyclists with particular tastes, biomechanical hiccups, or a strong sense of self-expression, a custom frame is nearly a necessity (or at least that is what we tell ours spouses!). In the case of this review, I gladly took Renold Yip’s most recently built bicycle, a Light Tourer, for a series of rides. Born in Hong Kong, China, educated in the UK, and now residing in Fort Collins, Colorado, Yip began building bicycle frames in 2005. Fast- forward a decade, the now-established builder offers a variety of bicycles, but the majority of Yip’s clientele come to him for bikes that fill a certain niche. Touring bikes, randonneur steeds, and custom commuters make up the bulk of Yip’s production. His brand, YiPsan, has won praise over the years, both from cycling media and at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS).

38 ADVENTURE CYCLIST m a rch 2015 ROAD TEST - 1

18. Cassette: Shimano Ultegra 12- GEARING IN INCHES 30T 10spd 44 28 19. Brake levers: TRP Hylex 12 96.4 61.3 hydraulic 13 88.9 56.6 20. Brake calipers: TRP Hylex hydraulic disc 14 82.6 52.6 21. Shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace 15 77.1 49.1 22. Front derailleur: Shimano 17 68 43.3 Ultegra 19 60.9 38.7 In 2010, Yip’s bikes won both “Best City 23. Rear derailleur: Shimano XTR 21 55.1 35 Bike” and the “People’s Choice Award.” 24. Pedals: Shimano A530 single- 24 48.2 30.7 Yip describes his design philosophy sided SPD 27 42.8 27.3 25. Seat post: Thomson 30 38.5 24.5 as “Fit for Use.” He goes further, saying, 26. Stem: YiPsan custom “The bike must fit the rider, and it must 27. Handlebar: Nitto B135 42cm also be designed such that it has the (37cm at hoods) Contact: 970.672.0168, renold@ yipsanbicycles.com, yipsanbicycles. right equipment for the riding purpose 28. Headset: Chris King com, Fort Collins, Colorado (terrain, intensity, duration) and that it 29. Saddle: Brooks B15 Swallow suits the rider style and preference.” If that isn’t the epitome of custom, I don’t know what is.

Buttery ride Yip designed this particular bike in the fashion of French randonneur and front-loaded, light touring bicycles. Its purpose is to help its rider cover great distances in comfort and style. As a neophyte randonneur and somewhat seasoned bikepacker, Yip’s Light Tourer appealed to me greatly from the moment I saw it. Creature comforts like full fenders, a comfy leather saddle, and wide 42mm tires make a long day, no matter the weather, a much more enjoyable affair. Yip also installed an eclectic mix of components that blends old with new, cutting edge with ruggedly reliable. After a few laps around the block to dial in my position, I eagerly took to the tarmac and dirt roads in the Boulder, Colorado, area. The first thing that struck me was a welcome feeling of being inside the bike, not teetering on top of it. Much of this is due to the low bottom bracket, a trait that aids in stability by lowering the rider and bike’s center of gravity. This makes for a bike that loves an uneven surface and long days on winding roads. It is no crit machine and, as such, I did have to watch the orientation of the pedals when cornering. As a lover of dirt roads, the Yipsan proved to be a perfect companion for me. The supple, 42mm Grand Bois Extra Léger tires were great on dirt roads and still very efficient on tarmac. The bike really shined on irregular paved roads.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 39 ROAD TEST - 2

Unlike many touring bikes that are travel when using the couplers. There is stem-mounted metal support). While designed for massive loads, the YiPsan something very reassuring about having it certainly never seemed like it would retains liveliness when unloaded. The lights available without any need for come off, the bag did rattle around some downside, of course, is that you need charging or replaceable batteries. on dirt roads. If I stuck to pavement, to keep the load on the light end of the Where the bike takes a step back into there was no such noise. spectrum when you do venture out for history is in the shifting department. longer periods. When I began riding bikes many Pricing That liveliness is thanks to the years ago, friction downtube shifters For those with an aversion to large lightweight set of tubes that Yip used. were installed on the bikes that I numbers, please look away now. Like any The tubeset, combined with the long, could afford. Soon after I stepped up custom, handmade bicycle the YiPsan low geometry and supple tires, gave the to indexed downtube shifters. In the is not cheap. As tested, the complete bike a buttery smooth ride. At speed intervening years, I’ve ridden bar-end bike would cost a prospective customer over bumps that would normally have shifters, Shimano’s STI, Campagnolo’s $7,300. For the S&S-coupled frame, fork, me bracing, I was surprised to feel a ErgoPower, then SRAM’s DoubleTap stem, racks, Watanabe bag, and fenders, gentle undulation instead of a harsh shifters. I consider all four of those Yip sets the price at $4,500. interruption. This gave the bicycle a options to be functional improvements But let’s put those figures in pleasant, bouncy feel that left me feeling over downtube shifters. That said, I can perspective. Top-of-the-line road and fresh after longer spells aboard it. see three areas where the downtube mountain bikes now sell for close to shifter stills trumps: affordability, double that complete bike figure. And An eclectic build kit simplicity, and weight. while they too are dazzling examples At first glance, the YiPsan has a very It was an interesting ride down of machinery, they lack the personal refined, classic look. I would go so far as memory lane using the downtube touches that only a custom bike can to say that the frame with color-matched shifters again. While I see where Yip provide. In the custom world, Yip’s fenders, front rack, and stem is gorgeous. is coming from with them, I won’t be pricing is competitive. Upon closer inspection, the keen cyclist building up any of my personal bikes There is also something very will note some modern amenities as with them. But then, this is a custom refreshing about a series of well as some throwback bits. Of course, bike, the build is entirely up to the conversations with a custom builder as a custom bike, these parts only act customer. resulting in a tailor-made bicycle. as an indication of Yip’s personal tastes. The remainder of the drivetrain on The bike has an actual human being’s Customers are free to choose whatever the YiPsan included White Industries’ personal guarantee and in the case parts they prefer. excellent VBC crank, Shimano derailers, of Renold Yip, he’s a very intriguing, In a nod to the 21st century, Yip and a flash gold chain (Mr. T would genuine human. build this Light Tourer with hydraulic approve). The 44/28 chainrings and 12- disc brakes. While disc brakes typically 30 cassette offered a great gear selection Conclusion add weight to a given bicycle, they for a bike intended for light loads. With Most of Yip’s customers come to him also greatly improve modulation and the use of the Shimano mountain bike for touring, rando, and commuter bikes. reliability in wet conditions, especially rear derailer, one could have installed a While he happily builds road, mountain, when carrying a load. larger rear cog — up to a 34-tooth — if and cyclocross bikes, the smaller niches The TRP Hylex brakes that Yip heavier loads or sustained climbs were is where many framebuilders find a installed worked very nicely and offered expected. foothold. Because of the relatively small excellent ergonomics. I didn’t get a All told, the YiPsan had an eclectic numbers, larger bicycle manufacturers chance to use them in the rain, but I mix of parts both modern and vintage, under service these categories. Therein was very pleased with both the stopping but all reliable. Top marks. lies the opportunity for handmade power and the modulation. It made for frame builders. confident descending on tarmac and dirt. Accessories Based on the criteria that Yip set For this reviewer, the choice is clear: disc One of the clever touches on Yip’s for this bike, it must be considered a brakes all the way. bike is the convertible front rack. Yip success. The ride is sublime and the Yip also built this particular Light designed it for use with a Watanabe looks are more than fetching. The Tourer with S&S couplers, something randonneur front bag (guu-watanabe. eclectic build kit and wonderful paint that many cyclists who have incurred com/bags.html), but also with front (with matching fenders, stem and rack) exorbitant airline fees will appreciate. I panniers. If only using the Watanabe on the YiPsan exemplify why custom invested in an S&S coupled bike many bag, the lower portion of the rack can be bikes are so attractive. years ago and in a few more trips, the unbolted to save weight and clean up the saved fees will have paid for the bike. looks of the bike. Slick. Nick Legan lives in Boulder, Colorado, but firmly Another touch with a modern flair The Watanabe bag itself has a believes that adventure is a state of mind and has little is the Schmidt dynamo hub and the clever mounting that couples with to do with geography. As a former pro cycling team mechanic, he’s seen parking lots the world over and a associated front and rear lights. Both are Yip’s custom, corresponding front rack few great roads along the way. wired with quick disconnects for easy without the need for a decaleur (a

40 ADVENTURE CYCLIST m a rch 2015 ROAD TEST - 2 SHARE THE JOY / CORPORATE Share The Joy FOR A CHANCE TO WIN

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ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 41 TRAVELS WITH WILLIE

Travels with Willie Take it Slow

Slow Down STORY BY WILLIE WEIR

Learning from high-speed trips of his youth, the author realizes that to see more you need to slow down

➺ SOME time ago, I received an email from a fellow cyclist who wanted some advice. I didn’t recognize the name, but the address @rei.com let me know it was sent by an employee from one of the 135 Recreational Equipment, Inc., stores in the U.S. The writer asked a couple of routine bicycle touring questions, which I was happy to answer. I didn’t think much of it until I received a reply. “Thank you, Mr. Weir, for taking the time to answer my questions. It is amazing to get advice from someone who has been doing this longer than I’ve been alive.” Wow. I was bewildered, touched, offended, and completely charmed all at the same time. The first thought that zipped through my brain was “This person is joking, right?” But then I did the math. My first cross-country trip was in 1981, and that was 20 — no, 30, Oh Willie and Kat slow down to soak in the views of Portugal’s Alentejo region. my God, 34 years ago. Not only was this person simply stating a fact, but most of No, I’m not. I’ve been there. Many years ago, I decided to the retail staff of REI could have replied to my email with the pedal across Canada, but I had a limited amount of time. In same statement. order to get from Vancouver, British Colombia, to Halifax, I’m old. Old-ish. Uniquely experienced. Whatever. Nova Scotia, I averaged 93 miles a day on a fully loaded I’m also a veteran of many, many bicycle journeys. Whether touring bike. Canada is amazing. I hope to truly travel there it is my age or my byline for the longest-running magazine in one day. But, of all the trips I’ve taken, Canada is the one America exclusively devoted to bicycle travel, I have “cred.” I have the fewest stories to tell about. Why? Well, I spent That is simultaneously depressing and really amazing. almost all of my time in the saddle. I didn’t allow myself the I decided to stick with the really amazing angle. luxury of lingering with locals or taking side trips to discover So, with this, my 79th piece for Adventure Cyclist, I’d like places beyond the main routes. And, to be honest, I didn’t to impart one piece of wisdom, earned over decades of bike know what I was missing at the time. touring. The most important piece of advice I wish I could If you push the number of miles you pedal each day on a have given my younger self is — wait for it: bike trip to the point where you barely have time to stop, eat, Slow down. drink, and eliminate, well, in my humble opinion, you aren’t That’s it. Two single-syllable words that will make you a traveling. better traveler. I think the true essence of travel began to reveal itself to me But wait! The world is huge. There are currently (give in India. I had five months planned but no route. Still, India is or take) 195 countries in the world! The Adventure Cycling huge, and my first instinct was to pedal morning till night. Association network alone is over 42,000 miles and counting. I was on a seriously low budget, and one night after 10 That’s just the United States. Slow down? Are you kidding me? hours of pedaling, I found myself in the most disgustingly COURTESY WILLIE WEIR

42 ADVENTURE CYCLIST m a rch 2015 TRAVELS WITH WILLIE

dingy, dirty hotel room imaginable. Rats Everything looks good. Mountain roads, rummaged through my panniers and coastal byways, and lush green valleys cockroaches waited for the crumbs left — next thing you know, you’ve routed behind. enough miles to fill your schedule at 80 In the morning, I got on my bike at to 100 miles a day with no rest days. dawn’s early light. The road crested a It all plays well in your mind, but hill and there was a hotel, a beautiful reality is filled with bad weather, muscle hotel with a view of the valley below. A strains, stomach flu, and headwinds. man greeted me with open arms and And that’s just the bad stuff. What about invited me to stay. all the amazing opportunities that will It was 9:00 am, and I surely couldn’t come your way that you can’t plan with afford a room here. More important, my a map and a guidebook? Perfect sandy cyclometer hadn’t even registered one beaches to linger on, the amazingly kilometer. At that point in my travels, cheap hotel with a balcony where you 50 miles was the bare minimum. I could spend the rest of your life, the mean, I had all of India to see. I told family you meet at a rest stop who him thanks for the offer, but I needed to invite you to their mountain cabin, the pedal on. local who points out a magical back But he insisted. You see, this was road that isn’t even on your map, the the very first day his hotel was open spontaneous invitation to a wedding for business. It would be bad luck if (it’s happened to me!). the first potential customer refused his Plan less and you’ll experience invitation. more. A fixed schedule is a guarantee “There will be no charge,” he stated that adventure won’t find you. Allow emphatically. “Please be our first guest.” yourself the luxury of time to linger so My back hurt. I hadn’t slept for more you can not only see a country but truly than 10 minutes the night before. Yet I experience it. still debated about whether to stay or If you’d like to try the “slow” pedal down the road. Why? Because approach to bike travel, start with to me, at that age and time in my life, shrinking the scope of your journey. travel was still a distance. Don’t cycle all of Europe for a month, But the owner kept insisting, and he cycle Switzerland. My wife and I spent finally wore me down. I would be his two and a half months cycling Portugal, very first guest. It would be an honor. I a country smaller than the state of stayed. Indiana. That’s the same amount of And because I checked into his hotel time I took to pedal across Canada 20 at 9:20 in the morning, I had all kinds years before. But I only scraped the of time to experience this little piece surface of Canada, pedaling the main of the vast subcontinent of India. I highways, while Kat and I delved deep met his family and took a walk in the into the wondrous nooks and crannies countryside. I sat on my little balcony of Portugal. for hours and soaked in the view. We Travel is about experiencing a place, later talked of politics, religion, and a country, a culture — and a bicycle, in cinema over endless cups of chai. my opinion, is the best vehicle for it. I left that hotel a different But without the element of discovery person, ready to stop after 100 or reflection, a journey, even a bicycle kilometers or one kilometer as long journey, can devolve into getting from as the opportunity presented itself to point A to point B. That’s not travel. It’s experience India rather than simply commuting in a foreign land. traverse India. So slow down. You might discover, as It was life changing. Yet it is a lesson I did, that adventure will have an easier I’ve had to re-learn time and time again. time finding you. You’d think it would have sunk into my travel DNA by now. Willie Weir is a contributing writer for Adventure Perhaps it’s because every journey Cyclist. As a public speaker, he has presented hundreds of keynote addresses and presentations at begins with a map. You dream of a universities, public schools, corporations, and bike country or region to travel through, clubs in the U.S. and Bermuda (yes, Bermuda). pull out a map, and start planning.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 43 North Carolina’s long affair with bicycle touring by Dan D’Ambrosio

he North Carolina Department In the 1980s, the North Carolina route is an expensive proposition, of Transportation has long DOT was focused on establishing signed especially in these lean times for most had one of the best bicycle bicycle routes, and today the state has state governments. Route signs can cost Tand pedestrian programs in some 3,000 “lane miles” of routes — $500 to $1,000 per sign, depending on the country, and last year adopted a signed in both directions — which would topography and other factors. comprehensive statewide plan called translate to about 1,500 miles of roadway “It’s not just the material, the real cost WalkBikeNC (ncdot.gov/bikeped/ signed for bicycles. is the manpower to install it,” she said. planning/walkbikenc). The routes include a series of touring Whenever Blackburn talks to bike One look at the 43-page summary of options like Mountains to Sea, a 700- clubs, however, the members invariably the plan on the department’s website, mile route that traverses the state from ask for signage. Some clubs have even with its charts and graphs and engaging west to east, dropping some 2,000 offered to raise the money to pay for the photos, makes it clear the amount of feet in elevation from the Blue Ridge signs, although Blackburn isn’t so sure energy and effort North Carolina is Mountains to the Piedmont. they know what they’re getting into. putting into making things better for “Quiet rural lanes take you through She said a recent study showed it would pedestrians and cyclists. The plan lays lush rural farm country to most of cost around $200,000 to sign a 300-mile out five main pillars for the future the major cities in the state,” says the stretch of bike routes. of bicycling and walking in the state, description on the bike-ped program Still, North Carolina cyclists are including greater investment in walking website. undeterred, for a couple of reasons. and bicycling infrastructure. The touring routes also include “I’ve asked the question of cycling Lauren Blackburn, who has been Ports of Call, which follows the 300- advocates, ‘Should we continue to sign?’” director of the program for the past two- mile North Carolina coast from South Blackburn said. “I get a resounding ‘Yes!’ and-a-half years, said North Carolina Carolina to Virginia, taking in the Outer for a couple of reasons. No one wants to has shown a “legacy of leadership” for Banks. The route visits all the major look at their computer the whole time bicyclists dating back to the 1970s, when ports of the colonial era, including they’re riding to follow a route, and they Adventure Cycling Association itself got Southport, Wilmington, New Bern, Bath, want the signs to remind drivers there its start in 1976. and Edenton. are bikes on the road. Most important is “As bicycle touring was getting to be During the 18-month process of to help remind motorists they should be a popular sport all across the country, developing the new statewide bike-ped aware of cyclists.” North Carolina and virtually every state plan, Blackburn’s department revised Despite its longstanding bike-ped started to adopt policies and laws that the route system with a series of new, program, North Carolina ranks 44th in addressed bicycling,” Blackburn said. unsigned routes that she and her staff the nation among the safest states for The summary of WalkBikeNC says are now working to incorporate into the bicycling, leaving plenty of room for North Carolina has the oldest state existing system. improvement. The ranking, which is agency-led bicycle and pedestrian “For the most part, we were part of the summary for WalkBikeNC, program in the country. responding to the public’s desire for was developed by the Alliance for “It was in 1974, long before ISTEA, different kinds of touring experiences,” Biking & Walking, which tracked bicycle when North Carolina enacted the Blackburn said. “The new unsigned crashes per capita from 2007 to 2011. Bicycle and Bikeway Act. They hired a routes look at urban connections, trying The summary notes that every year, coordinator to lead an effort to find out to get cyclists into urban centers as well. on average, 19 bicyclists are killed in what it meant to follow the law, saying Previously the routes we had were all collisions with motor vehicles on North the department of transportation (DOT) about connecting you through the rural Carolina roads and many more are was going to establish bicycling routes countryside.” seriously injured. During the five years and pilot projects to help safety for Blackburn said the new routes may from 2007 to 2011, there were 4,700 bicyclists,” she said. or may not be signed. Signing a bicycle bicycle-motor vehicle crashes.

44 ADVENTURE CYCLIST m a rch 2015 This southern state had have two little kids. I’d say my cycling the first state agency-led frequency is much less than when I was in my 20s.” bicycle pedestrian program Her riding has evolved into more in the country, but there’s “family-style” cycling, she said, taking her kids on recreational rides. Her still a lot of work to be 9-year-old son rides his own bike, while her 5-year-old daughter rides an done for it to live up to its attached bike. As she moves forward in her job, potential for bicyclists Blackburn would like to find a way to better measure how many people are coming to North Carolina to ride, as the numbers would likely bolster her efforts To improve safety, the summary rural agricultural state to a fast-growing to find funding for the projects that are concludes, North Carolina needs to step urbanizing state entails. important to her department. up its game on installing bicycle facilities People are moving to North Carolina She has been talking to the state’s such as bike lanes, and better traffic for a variety of reasons, including the commerce department about ways control markings at intersections. The weather, jobs, and cultural resources. to track cyclists’ visits, and she said summary says that in a recent survey Asheville, for example, is built around the the department already asks visitors by the Federal Highway Administration idea of being a tourist center and having a what brought them to North Carolina. and the University of North Carolina high quality of life, Blackburn said. Bicycling consistently shows up as a Highway Safety Research Center, 70 “People go there to retire,” she said. percentage point or two out of the total. percent of respondents said they would “Asheville is an example of a place Perhaps more significantly, a study done walk or bike more if safety issues were where we’ve seen people asking for on the Outer Banks seven years ago addressed, “citing a lack of bicycle and transportation options like bicycle showed that picturesque region collects pedestrian facilities as the top issues.” accommodations. Local employers say an estimated $60 million annually as a North Carolina’s efforts to improve they located there for the quality of result of bicycle touring. for bicyclists may be helped by its life and walkability. It’s not universal “It’s a great state to go ride,” Blackburn COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION OF CAROLINA DEPT. NORTH COURTESY demographics, Blackburn said, which but we’re seeing a growing interest in said. “We have infrastructure challenges are increasingly trending toward a making the quality of life better overall.” like everyone, but you can’t ask for more urban population with more Blackburn often finds herself in the anything more diverse geographically, expectations of the state’s infrastructure. position of trying to balance what people with great weather, cool places to visit, “North Carolina is a fast-growing are asking for with what’s possible. lots of history, and beautiful scenery. state, with a lot of migration from other “There’s a lot of competition for It’s not typical of DOT to get into the states,” Blackburn said. “People are state funds,” she said. “Nobody has all tourism development business. That’s moving here in large quantities.” the money they want. There are a lot of why I think it’s going to be important to Originally from Arkansas, Blackburn road-building needs too — and trains, work with the commerce department to is reluctant to speak for the locals, ferries, and public transportation.” do that better.” but she said they have opinions “not Blackburn, 37, is a cyclist herself, too different from the Southeast in “unofficial job requirement” to run the Contributing writer Dan D’Ambrosio lives in general” when it comes to dealing with bike-ped program. Vermont, where he is a business reporter for the Burlington Free Press. the change that transforming from a “I like to road bike,” she said. “We

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[email protected]. gourmet meals with small fun groups. 800-408- EXCLUSIVE Epic Appalachian Trail Ride - April 24TH ANNUAL OATBRAN 1830. www.charlestonbicycletours.com. 11-May 5. A 1,500-mile tour offered exclusively One Awesome by Cycle of Life Adventures. email: info@ Tour Bike Ride Across Nevada, Sept. 27-Oct. 3, CYCLE CYCLE NORTH CAROLINA (September cycleoflifeadventures.com CHECK US OUT: 2015. “America’s Loneliest Bike Tour” is a fully 26 – October 3) — 17th Annual “Mountains to www.cycleoflifeadventures.comPhone: 303- supported motel-style tour across US Hwy. 50, 420 Coast” Cycle 450 plus miles while experiencing 945-9886. miles, border to border, from Lake Tahoe to the the North Carolina countryside on scenic back Great Basin National Park. Limited to 50 riders. roads amidst beautiful fall colors. Explore quaint TIMBERLINE ADVENTURES Fully supported For more info: BiketheWest.com. towns, visit famous State Parks, Historic Sites, bicycling & hiking adventure vacations with an SEPTEMBER 2015 RIDE ACROSS AMERICA wineries, and more. Fully supported with SAG organization whose sole focus for 32 years is FAST Support and rest stops. Various registration extraordinary adventure throughout western Southern Transcontinental. Join options available. [email protected], www. U.S. & Canada. Website: www.timbertours.com, Transcontinental Record Holders Lon ncsports.org. Email: timber@earth net.net, Phone: 800-417-2453. Haldeman & Susan Notorangelo for your cycling adventures. Specializing in Arizona Training RAINSTORM™- July 6-11, 2014 Need coast-to- WISCONSIN BACKROADS HOTEL TOURS Camps, Northern Trans-con 2016, Pacific Crest, coast preparation? Try five centuries over five Fully supported affordable 5-7 day bicycling Eastern Mountains. Over 80 cross-country days, with a 160-mile ride on day six. Inn or vacations. $590 includes HOTELS w/indoor events since 1981 PAC Tour, www.pactour. motel accommodations and seven catered meals. pools-whirlpools, buffet dinners, food stops, & com, 262.736.2453. Contact: 812-333-8176; [email protected]; or www. emergency support. Quiet, scenic, all paved back RIDE THE FAULT LINE triri.org. roads. NORTHWOODS, DOOR COUNTY, Spring 400 mostly flat miles Green, New Glarus, & more. Celebrating our 30th along the New Madrid fault line through Missouri, WOMEN ONLY BIKE TOURS For all ages and year. www.pedalacrosswisconsin.com, 847-707- Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky June 14th to the abilities. Fully supported, inn-to-inn, bike path 6888, 847-309-4740, [email protected]. 20th, 2015. Experience earthquake & civil war & road tours. Cross-country, National Parks, history, bluegrass music, southern hospitality! Europe & more. Bicycle workshops, wine tasting, KATY TRAIL BICYCLE TOUR August 30 – Register now www.ridethefault.com. yoga. Call for free catalog. 800-247-1444, www. September 5, 2015 Following Lewis and Clark’s GREAT FREEDOM ADVENTURES womantours.com. route, this flat and totally traffic-free tour is The Northeast on America’s longest Rails to Trails. This fully US experts. “I would not hesitate to book another tour with Great Freedom Adventures CYCLE AMERICA® Enjoy a Fully Supported supported tour, which includes daily route sheets and would urge anyone contemplating a Cycling Vacation this Summer. Ride Seattle to and SAG stops, over-nights in B&B’s and Historic bike tour in the Northeast to look no further Boston on an epic Coast-to-Coast tour or explore Hotels. All breakfasts and dinners as well as than this fine company.” 877-545-1864, www. America’s treasures on our series of National Park lodging included. Tour starts just outside of St. greatfreedomadventures.com. trips. First-Rate Support, Great Routes and Good Louis where you will be returned upon completion Friends! Let Us Help You Plan Your Next Fun of the tour. You deserve to be PAMPERED! BubbasPamperedPedalers.com RAGIN’ CAJUN COUNTRY May 2-8, 2015 – and Affordable Adventure. 800-245-3263. www. Details from or Bicycle through the heart of Cajun Country CycleAmerica.com. [email protected]. — partake of all the food, music, and culture SEPTEMBER ESCAPADE™ TRIRI® of Acadiana! You’ll find that the spicy cuisine CYCLE MASSACHUSETTS August 1-7, 2015. September of southern Louisiana is complemented by its Not just a ride, it’s a Celebration of Cycling in 20-25, 2015 Scenic, historic tour of south central mellow terrain. The tour will take you through Massachusetts. Quaint towns, spectacular routes Indiana with inn or camping overnights at Indiana historic settlements where you can sample a wide and local culture. 2, 4, and 7 day options. Find out State Parks, two layover days, and ten catered range of culinary delights, historic sites, and local why we’re “The Friendliest Ride the East.” www. meals. Contact: 812-333-8176; [email protected]; or www.triri.org music. $949. adventurecycling.org/tours. CycleMA.org or 617 710-1832. .

50 ADVENTURE CYCLIST m a rch 2015 OPEN ROAD GALLERY

Open Road Gallery

No. 4510

With Fruitcake and Kindle PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG SIPLE STORY BY GAGE POORE

➺ THE SUMMER before his senior year studying bioprocess engineering in Syracuse, New York, Bring the Bicycle Malcolm Moncheur rode the TransAmerica Trail from Florence, Oregon, to Yorktown, Virginia, in 57 Eclectic traveling days. The 21-year-old wrote of his first long-distance tour, “Riding across America completely changed portrait exhibition to the way I want to live my life, and ruined me for any kind of conventional lifestyle.” Calling the trip the your town. Contact Bicycle Eclectic “best decision of his life,” he also remarked, “There were times when I thought I’d made a huge mistake. Adventure Cycling’s Greg Siple for traveling exhibition But after pushing through and continuing on, I realized that you can thrive in adversity — constantly more information: of photos from the blowing your comfort bubble to smithereens and exalting in the catharsis that ensues.” gsiple@adventure National Bicycle Born in the U.S. and raised in Belgium, Malcolm had a relatively light rig of 67 pounds when he cycling.org Touring Collection visited Adventure Cycling headquarters on July 1, 2014. This weight included a loaf of his great aunt’s can be seen at fruitcake as well as a Kindle loaded with the 22 books he would read during the course of his 57-day The Art Gallery at journey. They included the entire Dark Tower series by Stephen King, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, and Umpqua Commu- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Persig. “I would read during breakfast for about nity College, 1140 Umpqua College half an hour, then for about an hour during lunch, and would start reading in the afternoons after I had Road, Roseburg, stopped interacting with whoever I happened to meet, stopping for dinner to write in my journal and Oregon. The exhibit for my blog. I would usually stay up reading until dark and would go to bed with the sun — although will run from March sometimes the reading was too riveting and I would stay up an hour or so past nightfall.” 31 - May 2, 2015. Malcolm described the high point of his tour as going five miles off route to Piney River Brewing Co. For more informa- in Bucyrus, Missouri. The detour involved “making fast friends with all the locals, spending the night tion, email at a farm, and spending my rest day bottle feeding baby cows, feeding pigs, and herding cattle around. See more portraits at artgallery@ adventurecycling. umpqua.edu. It was fantastic because it was the last thing I would have expected to happen during the tour.” If org/gspg you’d like to read Malcolm’s first-hand account of these experiences, or see his entire reading list, visit onebelgianonebike.blogspot.com.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 51 Non-profit Adventure Cycling Association U.S. POSTAGE P.O. Box 8308 PAID Missoula, Montana 59807-8308 Adventure Cycling Association

America’s Bicycle Travel Experts maps tours gear resources Questions?· 800.755.2453· · www.adventurecycling.org GREG SIPLE

Fully Supported Tours - Early Summer 2015 • Cycle Utah, June 6-12, June 13-19 • Columbia River Gorge, June 20-27 • Blue Ridge Bliss – Virginia, June 13-20 • Montana Big Sky Country, June 20-27 • Minnesota-Wisconsin Rivers & Trails, June 13-20 • Cycle Washington, June 28-July 5 adventurecycling.org/tours