Final Mile Anthology10

A publication of ADVENTURE CYCLING ASSOCIATION a publication of ADVENTURE CYCLING ASSOCIATION

FINAL MILE ANTHOLOGY10

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2014_Marathon_Plus_Full.indd 1 10/24/14 1:15 PM Letter from the Editor

THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE

Making it look essay

➺ I love essays, though you wouldn’t necessarily know it from the sporadic appearance of the Final Mile department in this magazine. Sure, we’ve printed a This Month Online misfire or two, but a great essay can capture something ➺ For more Adventure Cyclist–related that a compelling feature or jaw-dropping photograph content, be sure to visit our website at can’t. An image may be worth a thousand words, but adventurecycling.org/adventure-cyclist. there’s no guarantee which thousand — I’ll take my chances with a chunk of perfectly wrought text. BI-MONTHLY BLUES? This month, we have what our staff has taken to calling Adventure Cyclist slides back into the Final Mile Spectacular Spectacular (not a typo, it’s more fun to say it combined-month issues for the rest of twice), with a quintet of essays that range in style, topic, and tone as widely as 2018, but you can still get a regular bike the bicycle journeys that birthed them. From reflections on chaos (“Rules of travel fix through our digital channels in the Road”) to generational chasms and bridges (“The C&O Revelation”) to the the off months. just plain funny (“One of Ours”), this anthology explores the way a moment lingers long after the bikes are put away. BIKE AND GEAR REVIEWS Elsewhere in the issue we try something a bit different in our tech coverage We’re testing through the summer as we look at the bikes we, the people behind the magazine, ride. Over and over months and posting a steady stream again in correspondence with readers, we reference bikes and parts that live of reviews at adventurecycling.org/ in our garages and that we have the most experience with, so we’re taking it bike-and-gear-reviews. Check back mainstream. You can see short versions on page 30, and visit adventurecycling. regularly for the latest. org/editorsbikes for a more in-depth look. Last but not least, as part of our yearlong hat tip to the Great Divide’s 20th EDIGEST IN YOUR INBOX anniversary, we sit down with the legendary Alaskan racer Lael Wilcox and Get Adventure Cyclist eDigest every the upstart Salida, Colorado, bag makers at Oveja Negra. Then we head to the month. It’s free, it’s got online-only Windy City for a look at Out Our Front Door, a group dedicated to exploring coverage, highlights from our archives, what’s just around the corner by bike. and did we mention it’s free? Sign up at We’re back into combined-month issues now, so we’ll see you again with adventurecycling.org/eDigest. the October/November edition. In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to our monthly eDigest newsletter (see right) to keep a healthy dose of bike SUBMIT TO US We’re taking travel going through the late summer. submissions year-round in 2018, and we’re especially looking for well- Alex Strickland photographed features from the Editor-in-Chief, Adventure Cyclist U.S. and Canada. Send us yours at [email protected] adventurecycling.org/submit.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF STAFF WRITER COPY EDITOR Alex Strickland Dan Meyer Phyllis Picklesimer [email protected] CONTRIBUTING WRITERS ART DIRECTOR EMERITUS TECHNICAL EDITOR Willie Weir Patrick O’Grady Greg Siple Nick Legan Dan D’Ambrosio Jan Heine [email protected] June Siple Josh Tack ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Rick Bruner 509.493.4930 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 LEAD DESIGNER [email protected] Ally Mabry Volume 45 Number 7

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 03 VOLUME 45 ∞ NUMBER 7 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG contentsAUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 20

is America’s only magazine dedicated to bicycle travel. It is published nine times each year by Adventure Cycling Association, a nonprofit service organization for recreational bicyclists. Individual membership costs $45 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. Learn more at adventurecycling.org/submit.

OUR COVER: The Route des Grandes Alpes DEPARTMENTS connects Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean Sea, a switchback- 08 Waypoints heavy ride of 16 giant passes crammed FINAL MILE WHAT WE RIDE 30 27 Geared Up into 435 miles. The photographer nears the summit of France’s Col des ANTHOLOGY 10 ➺ A glimpse behind the 28 Cyclesense Aravis in this self portrait. Photo by curtain at what our testers 42 Life Member Profile Stephanie Ridenour. ➺ A collection of essays capturing the think makes the best bike. 44 Marketplace/Classifieds 50 Companions Wanted ROAD TEST: magic of bike travel. CO-OP CYCLES ADV 1.1 AN INTERVIEW WITH 51 Open Road Gallery A bike designed to do one 11 thing: tour. $1,299 THE C&O REVELATION LAEL WILCOX 35 by Roy M. Wallack ➺ The endurance legend stops just long enough for 24 14 LETTERS ONE OF OURS a Q&A. by TJ Forrester 03 LETTER from the by Ellee Thalheimer Editor 05 LETTERS from our 16 NORTHWOODS Readers by Helena DeLong OVEJA NEGRA 38 06 LETTER from the ➺ A bikepacking bag Director 20 RULES OF THE ROAD empire in the tiny town by Patricia Isaacs of Salida, Colorado. by Nathan Ward 22 LOSING MY HUE by Liz Sinclair COLUMNS BRINGING THE 24 Road Test 40 Patrick O’Grady ADVENTURE HOME Co-op Cycles ADV 1.1 ➺ Riding in the Windy City. by Dan D’Ambrosio

04 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 Letters from our Readers

PUTTING HISTORY IN PERSPECTIVE

I look forward to having historical Divide (“The Mighty Moes,” May 2018). Here is how I solved the problem: cycling accounts spread among the They were good friends of mine. Your I contacted Microshift. They were annual issues. These articles add article brought back many memories incredible to work with and sent me perspective to the current tales I shared with Mike and Dan. We were a 1x11 road setup that worked with AND humble current riders on their teammates on the Laramie High my XT drivetrain. I thought the front dominating machines. I thought I School swimming team. Additionally, would be a no-brainer, but that also was really accomplishing something rock climbing and camping trips were proved to be a challenge. I ended by riding across the U.S. and down activities we shared. Several years after up with a SRAM crankset, but the the West Coast, but then I recalled these adventures, I heard about many availability of different-sized sprockets the stories of the earliest riders on of Mike’s wild journeys during the few is limited. Currently I run an 11–46T singlespeed bikes and knapsacks. months we commuted the 50 miles to cassette and 11-speed XT rear derailer Todd Collart | Ventura, California work from Laramie to Cheyenne. As with a 38T chainring. I lose a little top implied by your article, I would agree end, but I rarely miss it. KILLING ME WITH KILOS that Mike and Dan were about the Ideally, these bikes would have the Each issue I look forward to your journey and not about the conquest of range of the SRAM Eagle drivetrain, Road Tests despite the fact that most their adventures. 1x11 brifters that support hydraulic of the bikes tested are not readily It should be noted that when the disc brakes, and a crankset that has available in Oz. However, each issue Arctic biking expedition met the boat, available rings from the low 30s. you are doing my head in. The specs the plan was to have marine survival Or, as a compromise, an 11-speed are all in millimeters or centimeters suits for all of them. The survival suits drivetrain like the XT. or degrees. These I understand, were not delivered as planned. They A small shout out to Microshift — Australia converted to metric in 1979. had little choice but to board the boat having used Shimano and SRAM shifters But the weight is in pounds! Could you without the suits because of the cold and for years, the Microshift brifters on my PLEASE do the sums for me and print low food supplies. I greatly miss them. bike are by far the smoothest and most kilograms as well? Lowell Spackman | Laramie, Wyoming precise shifters I have owned. Hopefully Bruce Fry | Stanmore, Australia a maker like Microshift will eventually SHIFTING SEARCH build a groupset that serves this very Editor’s Note: Bruce has us here. We’re I read the review of the Salsa Cutthroat popular niche. more or less mirroring one of the oddities (Road Test, May 2018) with interest, Daniel Randolph | Richfield, Minnesota of the U.S. bike industry (okay, the U.S. especially when discussing the drivetrain. at large) in which we list many lengths in Last year I was in the market for metric, but not weights or volumes. Still, a bike that would double as a gravel we have no idea how much a kilogram is, bike and a touring bike. After much so no promises. research, I had a frame built and built it Your letters are welcome. We may edit letters for up myself. I was surprised that no one length and clarity. If you do not want your comments MOE CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE manufacturer has solved this problem, to be printed in Adventure Cyclist, please state so clearly. Include your name and address with your Thank you for your article which is why makers like Salsa are correspondence. Email your comments, questions, or acknowledging the Moe Brothers as forced to cobble together drivetrains letters to [email protected] or mail to Editor, pioneer mountain bikers of the Great that come up short. Adventure Cyclist, P.O. Box 8308, Missoula, MT 59807.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 05 Letter from the Director

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 Volume 45 Number 7 adventurecycling.org

MISSION Adventure Cycling Association inspires and 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 FULL CIRCLE for bicycle travel.

HOW TO REACH US To join, change your address, or ask questions Bike travel passes through about membership, visit us online at adventurecycling.org or call the generations 800.755.2453 or 406.721.1776. EMAIL [email protected]

Samantha mountain biking in Missoula, before heading to Cape Cod to lead youth bike tours. SUBSCRIPTION ADDRESS Adventure Cycling Association P.O. Box 8308 ➺ As Euripides wrote, “To a father to the next is ingrained in Adventure Missoula, MT 59807 growing old, nothing is dearer than a Cycling’s DNA. Our cofounder Greg HEADQUARTERS Adventure Cycling Association daughter.” Fortunately for me, I have Siple inherited his enthusiasm for 150 E. Pine St. three! I’m also fortunate because I’ve cycling from his father, Charles. In Missoula, MT 59802 been able to share my love of bicycle fact, we recently (and rightly) named STAFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR travel with all of them. our expanded program to develop Jim Sayer All three have cycled together young adult bike travel leaders and [email protected] along the Pacific Coast, in RAGBRAI ambassadors after Greg. Through this CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER Sheila Snyder, CPA (the weeklong extravaganza in Iowa), program and alliances with groups like MEMBERSHIP & DEVELOPMENT and on parts of the Underground the Association of Outdoor Recreation Julie Huck Annette Stahelin Gage Poore Josh Tack Railroad and Quebec’s La Route Verte Educators, Bike and Build, and the April Cypher Michelle Gray Mikayla Dunbar cycle network. Individually, I’ve had National Youth Bike Summit, our goal MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS the deep pleasure of riding with is to reach thousands of young people. Dave Danford Teri Maloughney Alex Strickland Lisa McKinney Keilan all over the Northwest, with Thanks to all of you who have Jim McTighe Eva Dunn-Froebig Dan Meyer Levi Boughn Lucy across the Southern Tier, and financially supported our efforts to Ally Mabry Daniel Mrgan with Samantha in Canada and New connect with younger generations. IT DEPARTMENT England. But now comes perhaps the But even more important, thanks to John Sieber Richard Darne David Barth most satisfying moment of all — when those of you who have shared your TOURS Arlen Hall Emma Wimmer that love of bicycle travel moves like love of bicycle travel with young Mike Lessard Laurie Chipps a current through your daughter to family members or with young people ROUTES & MAPPING other people. through schools, scouts, or in other Carla Majernik Jennifer Hamelman Nathan Taylor Melissa Thompson This summer, Samantha is leading ways. I was reminded of how much I Jamie Robertson Amy Lippus bicycle adventures for Overland, a appreciate the excellent outreach our TRAVEL INITIATIVES Virginia Sullivan Saara Snow company that organizes bike and hike members do when I recently met up Laura Crawford adventures for young people. She’ll be with Joe Matunis in Brooklyn, New CYCLOSOURCE guiding self-contained tours circling York. Through a program he leads Max Siebert Maxton Caplanides Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s at El Puente Academy for Peace and ADMINISTRATION Vineyard. Beyond being jealous (it Justice, Joe helps young people learn Geoff McMillion Jake Flaherty OFFICE MANAGER sounds like an awesome trip), I am how to ride to school — and now Beth Petersen thrilled that my 21-year-old daughter through grants he secured, how to BOARD OF DIRECTORS is introducing dozens of younger folks travel by bike. When I saw the light in PRESIDENT Wally Werner to the joys of bicycle travel. (I was also Joe’s eyes as he described bike tours to VICE PRESIDENT excited to learn that her next ambition come, I also saw that the future of bike Joyce Casey is to ride the Great Divide Mountain travel is bright indeed. SECRETARY TREASURER Bike Route; I just sent her our newly Jenny Park George Mendes revamped maps to stoke the fire.) BOARD MEMBERS Jim Sayer Jeff Miller Mike Dillon This idea of passing the love of Executive Director Andy Baur Andy Huppert bicycle travel from one generation [email protected] Rami Haddad Steven Seto Maria Elena Price

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AROUND THE WORLD BY BIKE (AND BOAT)

In February of this year, Chris Pountney, 33, completed a circumnavigation (plus some) of the earth by only bicycle and boat.

Originally from England, Pountney began STEVEN POWELL his journey at the Eiffel Tower and rode east through Europe and Asia. After 27,000 A SUCCESSFUL SOJOURN kilometers, he was forced to cross a border from Siberia to Mongolia in a car, ending his Third annual event featured worldwide rides streak of vehicle-free locomotion. But instead of ➺ Over 8,400 people throughout the world — from 16 countries, including 49 U.S. quitting, Pountney decided to restart his journey states and seven Canadian provinces — participated in 915 Bike Travel Weekend at the first town he came to in western China. trips June 1–3. Bike Travel Weekend participants rode a collective 855,061 miles Four years later, he returned to Mori having for an average of more than 101.5 miles per person. That’s more than 3.5 times cycled across Australia, Canada, and again the distance from the Earth to the moon! through Europe and Asia. And he didn’t finish One of those trips was the Snoqualmie Valley Sojourn near Seattle, Adventure alone — his girlfriend, Dea Jacobsen, whom he met while on the road in Mongolia, joined him. Cycling’s first supported bike overnight during the event. Over a third of Pountney and Jacobsen are still on the Snoqualmie Valley Sojourn participants, ages six to 77, experienced their first road with plans to cross the rest of China, ride bike overnight, and everyone could claim participation in three additional down through the Americas, and return home initiatives: June’s Great Outdoors Month, the American Hiking Society’s National to Europe via West Africa. You can follow their Trails Day on June 2, the United Nations’ first-ever World Bicycle Day on June 3. journey at differentpartsofeverywhere.com. See you next year for Bike Travel Weekend May 31-June 2, 2019!

products and services to “We wouldn’t be able to fulfill related products and services MEMBERSHIP enhance your bicycle travel our mission of inspiring and to the folks who make our experience. Adventure Cycling empowering people to travel efforts possible.” members receive discounts by bike without the support of Discounts are available to HAS ITS on lodging, gear, and tours our members,” said Adventure members at all levels. To take from corporate partners such Cycling Membership Marketing advantage of your Member PRIVILEGES as Road iD, Primal Wear, Coordinator Laurie Chipps. “In Discounts, simply log into your Companies that support BikeFlights.com, Exodus return, we work closely with our My Adventure Cycling account Adventure Cycling Association Travels, Red Roof Inn, Motel 6, corporate partners to pass along at adventurecycling.org/ offer exclusive pricing on BikeTours.com, and more. some great deals on cycling- myadventurecycling.

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11 The C&O Revelation Story by Roy M. Wallack Illustration by Russ Roca

14 One of Ours Story by TJ Forrester Illustration by Levi Boughn

AFTER THE RIDE IS OVER, THERE’S 16 Northwoods JUST A FEELING Story by Hal DeLong LEFT BEHIND. Illustration by Russ Roca MISERABLE RAINSTORMS TURN FUNNY AND 20 Rules of the Road MISSED MEALS ARE Story by Patricia Isaacs FORGOTTEN. Illustration by Daniel Mrgan

WHAT’S LEFT IS NOTHING LESS THAN 22 Losing My Hue THE REASON WHY Story by Liz Sinclair YOU WENT IN THE Illustration by Levi Boughn FIRST PLACE.

10 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 RUSS ROCA

The C&O Revelation

STORY BY ROY M. WALLACK

lush canopy of green forest blocked out the As we like to say, Joey was “made in Italy” — conceived sun. Frogs, crickets, and turtles frolicked during a tandem trip from Nice to Rome in the summer everywhere. A mighty iconic river lulled us to of 1994. It was our honeymoon. Elsa, his mom, was a sleep in a land so drenched in history that you dedicated nonexerciser, but she loved our Santana tandem Ahalf expected Abe Lincoln to pop up any second. It was my and suggested we ride it in Europe. Our trip, along the father–son bike touring dream come true: the C&O Canal and Italian Riviera and the hills of Tuscany and Cinque Terra, to Great Allegheny Passage — a dirt and gravel path that travels Portofino, Pisa, and Rome, was perfect. The last night, she along rivers and over mountains for an astounding 335 car- made a wish while tossing coins into the Trevi Fountain. Joey free miles from Washington, DC, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. arrived nine months later. And then … Joey spent his childhood as the stoker on a $700 Raleigh “Why didn’t you buy mosquito repellent or bring a tent!” Companion mountain bike tandem, riding to the beach and Joey yelled at me. Unzipping his sleeping bag, my son was local trails, and to and from school every day until junior covered head to toe in mosquito bites. Huge, welt-sized ones high, when he said it wasn’t cool anymore. None of his friends — 337 of them (we counted). rode bikes or was athletic. From that point on, he stayed “You know mosquitos destroy me,” he cried. “I didn’t sleep all glued to video games while the Raleigh gathered dust. night! Why aren’t we going to hotels? This trip is a bad idea!” But I didn’t give up. In 2010, over his mother’s objections I bit my tongue. I didn’t launch into a tirade about the that our 15-year-old couldn’t handle it, we trained for a month lack of self-reliance of millennials versus the independence and then rode the tandem from Portland to Yellowstone of my generation. I just kept the faith in this spectacular National Park along the Lewis & Clark Trail. The trip was journey, and in another factor that has always won Joey epic — stunning scenery as we rode and camped along over — the tandem. the Oregon Trail in the Columbia River Gorge, the Blue You see, tandem bikes not only shaped Joey’s life, but Mountains of eastern Oregon, and the Snake River in Idaho. actually helped create it. There wasn’t a mosquito in sight.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 11 Of course, there was some stress. “Give me some help back Wonder blaring from Joey’s iPhone playlist, and some fun there!” I’d yell every 10 minutes. Joey’s thumbs were in shape sightseeing at Harpers Ferry. from years of playing video games, but not his legs. Relentless But the next day, another irritating issue arose — Joey’s headwinds and a 106˚ August heat wave left me exhausted. lack of fitness. Although the C&O is flat, my legs awoke a Once, frustrated by our slowness on a steep hill in Twin Falls, spasm-ridden mess — and I soon figured out why. At 180 I actually kicked Joey off the bike. “You can run faster than pounds, Joey was a third heavier than five years before. As this!” I said. Fuming, he raced me uphill on foot — and won! big as me but untrained, he wasn’t pulling his weight. Add 80 That led to a discovery that made him forget my nagging: he pounds of bike and gear, and I had literally become a human liked running. Joey joined the school cross-country team that pack mule. “I need help back there,” I pleaded. fall. The bike trip had turned him into an athlete. Frustrated, I thought about the dynamics of the tandem. And the next one we took would turn him into a man. The captain, responsible for steering, navigating, and setting the pace, naturally assumes that the stoker, unseen behind him, isn’t working enough. And the stoker always complains Joey and I always talked about another trip, but five that he’s uncomfortable. years flew by in a blur of proms, plays, girlfriends, and So I said, “Wanna switch positions?” college applications. Now he was 20 and pudgy. But with a Joey froze. He’d never been big enough to control the bike. month off before college classes began, I pitched my dream But now he was. trip: DC to Pittsburgh on the C&O/GAP, the world’s longest The change was remarkable. As captain, Joey was instantly continuous biker-hiker path. assertive and responsible. He pushed the pace. He barked The route had just been completed — 335 miles of bike commands: “Stand. Sit. Stay on cadence.” After a lifetime of touring bliss. The venerable C&O, a 184.5-mile national park taking orders, now he was giving them. paralleling the Potomac River along the old Chesapeake & And, as the stoker, I was different too. For the first time, Ohio Canal, was connected to the 150-mile Great Allegheny I could take it easy — no need to think too much or pay Passage (GAP), which had been cobbled together over years attention to bumps in the road. As stoker, I could randomly from Cumberland, Maryland, over the Eastern Continental look around, spot owls in trees, notice odd markings on Divide and all the way to Pittsburgh. lockhouses, shoot kooky selfie videos. Joey and I weren’t seeing eye to eye on many things “Hey,” Joey called out. “Gimme some help back there!” at the time, but he signed on. Five days later, we were on Switching positions every few hours with me for the next our old Raleigh taking selfies at the Capitol, the White three days, Joey upgraded our trip. On our third stop at a bike House, and the Lincoln Memorial, where we officially shop to fix broken spokes, he ordered me to get a new wheel. shoved off at 5:00 pm. Dodging hordes of cyclists, runners, “Dad, that wheel is wrecking our trip and stressing us out,” he and walkers on the C&O, we joyfully pit-stopped at Great said. “And you’re spending as much to fix it as you would to Falls and cruised into Swain’s Lockhouse, mile 16.5, a free get a new one.” He was right. campsite. It was a perfect start — until Joey woke up in To increase the stoker’s comfort and pedaling efficiency, he the morning with 337 mosquito bites. then insisted we buy bar-ends to elevate the rear handlebar Yes, a mesh tent and mosquito repellent might have position. Early in the trip, as the stoker, he never mentioned helped. So I bought him some Off!, humored his grousing that his fingers were going numb. But he wasn’t engaged then. about the hardships of camping and water-pump showers, On the last day, powering into Pittsburgh along the and politely suggested that he could have been more beautiful, bucolic Youghiogheny River, one of the few in involved in the packing and not relied on Daddy to do all the U.S. that flows north, Joey insisted that we stop for a the thinking. He agreed and the healing began. We happily swim. He was right again. Swimming alongside the kayakers, pedaled for hours under the wondrous green canopy, with shooting the breeze with the locals, resuscitating our turtles diving in the mossy canal muck, Sinatra and Stevie overheated bodies as we chilled out for an hour like Tom

12 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 and Huck on the Mississippi — it was perfect. Of all the things we did and saw on this great trip, hanging out in the Yach that afternoon was the highlight. Actually, that whole day was a highlight. We barreled into Pittsburgh at sunset, crisscrossing a half dozen of the city’s 445 bridges and officially reaching Mile 0 of the GAP and mile 334.5 of our trip at Point State Park, where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers meet to form the Ohio. The Steelers were playing a preseason game in Heinz Field across the water. As we took our celebratory photos, the stadium lights sparkled and the crowd screamed. Joey, his face beaming, insisted that we go out for a nice dinner. At midnight, he said he was going to buy me a beer — his first official act as a 21-year-old. We sat and talked until about 2:00 am — not so much like dad and son, but like two buddies on an adventure, equals dispensing stories and advice. Once, calling out to him across the room as he was grabbing a couple more beers, I said, “Hey, Marc,” before I caught myself. “Huh?” Joey said, not hearing me clearly. I had accidentally called him by the name of my brother with whom I’d bike-tripped around the world decades earlier. Our relationship had equilibrated so much in the last few days that my son had momentarily morphed into my brother! I don’t know if the great C&O/GAP tandem trip had anything to do with it, but since then Joey’s done way better in school and kept fit. Our relationship is much improved too. He told me that I gave him more respect the moment he took the front seat. I think that’s a natural reaction. Because whether it’s a boat, a plane, or a tandem bike ride on an epic adventure, the captain gets respect from his passengers — and from himself.

Roy M. Wallack owes it all to bike touring. An article about his 1982 Pacific-to-Atlantic tour launched his journalism career. His first book, The Traveling Cyclist, detailed his many trips in the 1980s and 1990s, including the first into the USSR. His son was born exactly nine months after his 1994 honeymoon tandem ride from Nice, France, to Rome. An L.A. Times fitness columnist, Roy has edited several bike magazines and written five bike and running books, including Bike for Life: How to Ride to 100.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 13 One of Ours

STORY BY TJ FORRESTER LEVI BOUGHN

as I concerned when a woman rounded woman. I got to my feet and limbered up on the chance I was the fence corner and jogged my way? A needed to defend her honor. little, I guess. Okay, to be honest, she more “Arrghh,” I said, failing to touch my toes. “That hurts.” than got my attention. You see, she wasn’t The carts veered around the woman and sped in my W really jogging alongside the fence. No, she was, well, she was direction, front wheels bouncing on the uneven field, and bounding. No, that wasn’t it either. Her legs churned too fast I sat back down on the grass. A bit heavily, I might add. It’s for a bounder, lacking the carefree bounce of an antelope high not like I was out of shape, not totally. When I think about on life — and it didn’t take long to deduce that trouble was it, I blame the weather for what happened that day. If it afoot. I’m good like that, about trouble, I mean. I can see it hadn’t been a steaming dishrag of a morning, and if I hadn’t coming a mile away or, as in this case, 40 yards and closing fast. been so sapped of energy, I might have cycled to the next I leaned toward my titanium pot and sniffed the boiling town for lunch. Instead I’d rolled into this field, dismounted ramen noodles, peas, and carrots. Of course! The woman had my converted Rockhopper, and cooked under the shade of smelled my lunch cooking on my merrily hissing Whisperlite an oak tree. International and, like all connoisseurs of fine foods, wanted More sprinters turned the corner and headed toward me. to acquire the secret to my recipe. Then two squad cars roared down the road and whipped “It’s all about timing,” I shouted in her direction. “You’ve into the field. I turned off the Whisperlite and leaned back got to know exactly when to drop in the spice packet.” against the fence. In short order, people, carts, and cars This revelation did not slow her down so I elaborated in formed a semicircle in front of me. I spread my fingers in the same loud voice. the Vulcan hello. “It’s like making English tea. Get the water boiling and — ” “Greetings,” I said. Golf carts rolled around the fence corner, single file, five in Nothing but stares. all. Men hunched over the steering wheels, shoulders canted “I come in peace,” I added. “Take me to your leader, and in the postures of people who wanted to get somewhere fast, my planet will give you Tootsie Rolls for life.” and I immediately deduced the drivers were chasing the Still nothing.

14 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 “Snickers? Dancing shoes with bows and bells?” Burn on my legs. A man unfolded from one of the squad cars, smoothed Not as bad as mouth. down his shirt, and stepped forward. He wore an official- Wait it out. looking uniform — stripes and decals — and I swiveled his No lasting scars. way. His voice had the grate of a longtime smoker. I grinned at my guards, not knowing what else to do, and “I don’t think he’s one of ours,” he said. realized that a carrot chunk had stuck to my lip. Should I Sixteen men and one woman shook their heads in wipe the chunk away? Act like it wasn’t there? What would agreement. a sane person do? I scooped up the food on my legs and “Then again,” the man said, “he does favor Mr. Veckle. spooned it onto a leaf, then prodded the concoction into Anyone here from C-wing?” a two-inch pyramid. Okay, the pyramid thing was a little Heads wagged side to side. strange — that was evident from looks coming my way — so I “What about you?” The man stared hard my way. “You picked up another leaf and covered my sculpture. from C-wing?” Stop grinning, stupid. “What the heck are you talking about?” I asked. Stupid. The woman stepped forward. Her black hair was askew. It Stupid. resembled a mop that looked like it had recently survived a Stupid. hurricane. She struggled to catch her breath. “State of Florida Do something with that chunk. … Mental Health Institution … behind that … fence.” Eat it, idiot. The man’s words flashed through my mind — “I don’t Not bad. think he’s one of ours.” I had a nightmare vision, an image of The man was talking, and I homed in on his words. playing basketball with a tall Native American while Nurse Apparently a concerned citizen had driven down the road, Ratched stalked me with a hypodermic needle, and right then seen me sitting against the fence, and assumed I was an and there, I decided it was time to act very, very sane. escapee. The citizen called the sheriff, who called the State I needed a prop, something to show I was as normal as the of Florida Mental Health Institution, and they had sent out next guy. their goon squad. Eat. I spoke in a nasal voice: “What we have here is a failure to Use spoon. communicate.” Chew with mouth closed. There were a few smiles at the Cool Hand Luke reference, That should do it. and the squad began to disband. They’d seen a guy sitting I brought a spoonful of ramen, peas, and carrots to my against the fence, cooking food over a stove, a loaded bike mouth. with helmet dangling from the handlebars, and they didn’t Don’t spill. think I was an escaped prisoner. The more I thought about Not a morsel. it, the funnier it became. I laughed too loud and too long, Very, very sane. saw hesitation in a few strides. I almost shouted I was on a I delicately inserted the spoon and withdrew it empty, felt bike tour, traveling thousands of miles on pedal power, but the fire on my tongue and palate. stopped before the words shot past my lips. Didn’t wait for food to cool. Sane. Hot. Very, very sane. Extremely hot. Must act sane. Must spit out. No, must act — Novelist TJ Forrester is the author of Miracles, Inc. and Black Heart on the I spit out the food, and the soggy noodles, green orbs, and Appalachian Trail. On a multiyear ride to raise awareness for the Muscular orange squares landed on my bare legs. Dystrophy Association, he blogs about his adventures at tjforrester.blogspot.com.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 15 RUSS ROCA

Northwoods

STORY BY HAL DELONG

ordy, it’s hot.” other adventure I’d ever been on before — and to think that I gritted my teeth, grinding farther up that this ride had started as nothing but a joke. wretched hill. The air was still as the three of us pedaled, the sun beating down upon us. I looked “L up to the crest, sweat stinging my eyes. Dad was already I first fell in love with the Northwoods when our family visited waiting at the top. the town of Land O’ Lakes in 2015. The emptiness of it all made “Finally,” I said as I reached him. And that’s when the it seem like a perfect place for cycling. So I made a joke one night clouds rolled in. My brother Everett joined us as it began to about riding there, which Dad took seriously. drizzle. We looked to the north, reflecting upon the hill we Long bike trips are a tradition in my family. In 2012, Dad, had just climbed. And we looked to the west, to the slope we Everett (then 7), and I (then 10) rode 104 miles from our home would descend next. We stood there in the rain, drank from near Milwaukee to our relatives’ house in Madison. Two years our bottles, and took in the sights from that spot on the hill. later, we recreated that trip plus some — our “LaCrosse the As the rain poured harder, we hopped back on our bikes to State” trip was 264 miles to the state line in LaCrosse. begin our descent into Irma, Wisconsin. So when it came time to plan the next big trip, Dad said it That was on the ninth day of our trip around Wisconsin. At would be up to me to figure out where we would go. I couldn’t that point, we still had about 170 miles to go until we would stop thinking about riding up north — that first look at its reach our goal. We’d already gone about 500. This was like no splendor kept running through my mind.

16 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 I was 15 when I began planning the trip. Rather than sense of closeness — unity of purpose, strength, and emotion. just planning a week’s worth of riding to Land O’ Lakes, I I slept well that night. added a southbound leg from there back down to Madison. I The next morning, it took a while to get out of camp. presented the plan to Dad, who rode the TransAmerica Trail Everett’s bike had a flat rear tire, and Dad’s patches kept in 1991, and he was surprised by my ambitions. Nonetheless, failing. After three attempts, a man we recognized from the we decided to do it. We watched the weather, called some bar the previous night, Steve, came out and offered to buy us campgrounds, studied Adventure Cycling maps, and packed breakfast. We happily obliged, as it was already almost 9:00 am. our gear for two of the greatest weeks of my life. I learned that morning that human kindness and compassion can be found anywhere. We thanked Steve profusely for his help before Dad finally fixed Everett’s tube and we departed. On August 8, we said farewell to Mom and our dog Sasha At a store in Mattoon, we bought food for lunch. The next and left home. We began our journey by joining a section town was 14 miles away and it was doubtful that there would of the Oak Leaf Trail near our home. When the three of us even be any services open there. The road between Mattoon and reached the crest of the trail, my heart leaped in excitement Lily was rather unusual as it included a plain surrounded by the upon seeing the hills of Ozaukee County off in the distance. area’s typical glacial hills. There was a slight uphill leaving the We had ridden this way many times before, yet our plain, and the steep downhill side made for one ripping good excitement made it feel completely new. descent into Lily where we sat on our tent’s groundcloth eating We soon reached our campsite, set up camp, and headed bagels and peanut butter in front of an abandoned grocery store. down to Lake Michigan for a swim. An hour later, we roasted hot The afternoon’s riding carried us through the lush dogs and s’mores and discussed our fun day. As the fire burned Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. We rode on and on low, we tidied up our food and turned in. But we shouldn’t have through it, stopping every once in a while for Everett and me left it on a picnic table — raccoons got into it and ate everything! to dramatically recite every historical marker we came across. That mistake was made up for the next day when we The next day, the sun beat down on us as we rode discovered that I’d routed us right by an ice cream factory northward to Land O’ Lakes. We pounded past stands of without even knowing it. Of course it seemed brilliant to tamaracks as we neared our northern terminus. Just as we stop and eat as much ice cream as we could. That’s what rolled into town, a familiar minivan passed us. It was Mom and you do in Wisconsin! Sasha! We stopped to say hello to them before riding to the Day Three brought an even more Wisconsin experience Michigan state line, following Everett’s lead. After a photo op when we rode into Green Bay for a visit to Lambeau Field. at the “Welcome to Michigan” sign, we headed to Conserve Upon purchasing our tour tickets, we learned that the School, an outdoor and environmentally focused high school bike parade would begin soon. The bike parade is a Packer where my aunt and uncle live and work. tradition in which players ride kids’ bikes over to their Our family reunited, we watched the sunset bathe the sky training field before practice. We headed out to watch it, and in a rainbow of color. Once back at the school, we ate dinner Everett made his way over to where other kids waited. We before turning in for the night — in actual beds! The next day were excited when number one draft pick Kenny Clark chose was our first off day of the ride, and we took a hike around Everett and his bike — and he got his bike autographed! the school’s grounds and kayaked on one of its many lakes. Two nights later we quickly set up camp so we could relax and dine at the camp’s bar. Everett spent a great deal of time setting new high scores in the arcade game Dig Dug. And we got I began the second week of riding in pain. My ankles were our first pizza of the trip! sore after not riding for a day, and it was so intense that I After dinner, we sat by the fire beneath the vast, dark debated whether or not I should continue. We decided that I sky. I felt very happy, realizing that this trip was bringing us would try to ride that day before choosing whether to finish the together in a way we had never felt before. There was a new trip. But by the time we reached Eagle River once more, I felt

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 17 confident in my abilities again. We stopped for lunch before would be both long and steep, and it was just our luck that the heading to a bike store where we got a spare tube for Everett sun came out when we reached the base of that hill, roasting and a new saddle for me — I figured a Holstein-print seat would us in its heat. Once Everett joined Dad and me at the top, it be a great way to memorialize a trip around Wisconsin. began to drizzle. We then rocketed down the westerly slope, As we rode on south, we had one of the most frightening at the bottom of which was Irma’s general store. experiences of the trip. I was ahead of the guys on a gradual That evening, I discovered my favorite stretch of road — downhill when a huge black shape lumbered out of the 60th Avenue at sunset in Wausau was incredibly beautiful. woods about 200 feet up the road. It was the biggest black The huge rainclouds from earlier that day dominated bear I’d ever seen — and it was staring me down! I froze, the eastern sky, sending down a rainbow to verdant fields hoping it would not come any closer. I figured any attempt of ginseng below. The sun painted the sky in shades of to outride a bear would be futile so I motioned back to orange, blue, and pink, and the quiet of the countryside was Dad and Everett to stop beside me silently. After a few punctuated by the song of swallows. Mist rose from thickets long seconds, the bear sauntered back into the forest. We of dead trees, making the whole scene a tad eerie as well. continued on cautiously, but there was no sign of it again. As the trip wound down a few days later, we found As we neared Rhinelander, Everett’s tire went flat ourselves in Amish country. At times it seemed as if we’d been again. Dad replaced the old tube, and soon we reached our transported to another time and place altogether. Horse- campground. Mom and Sasha rejoined us that evening for drawn buggies were a more common sight than cars for some dinner and a night of camping. Despite my rough start, I now time, and on a couple of occasions bonneted girls stood at the knew that I must see the trip to its end. roadside watching us pass. Day Nine was my favorite day of the whole trip. It began In tiny Wyocena we set up our tent, hiked a few trails, and with a family breakfast before Mom and Sasha would part ate dinner at the camp’s restaurant. Dad told us to be quick in from us one last time before the trip’s end. After we left doing all this, since we wanted to be ready for bed before an Rhinelander, we headed southwest toward the town of Irma, expected storm rolled in. where we planned to eat lunch. The hilly countryside proved We were asleep when it hit. Lightning flashed, thunder challenging at times, yet it was still fun — every large incline crashed, and the wind howled, waking us up. The wind was so eventually had a downhill to match it. strong that it even blew rain up under the fly, which Dad found But shortly before we reached Irma, we found ourselves at rather impressive. Thankfully I was able to get back to sleep the foot of the largest hill Everett and I had ever climbed. It once it died down some. But my rest would not last long.

18 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 After I’d gotten up during the night, Dad and I found ourselves caught up in an event we dubbed the Great Mosquito Massacre of 2016. Dozens got in after I had accidentally left the door open. We spent quite some time killing them, forever staining the tent walls with splotches of our own blood. Everett continued to sleep, blissfully unaware of the bloodshed around him. After a few minutes, they were all dead and we could finally spend our final night of camping in peace. The next morning, we followed the road south in near silence. I cannot speak for Dad and Everett, but my silence was in part caused by my efforts to recall all the wonderful times we’d had, as well as taking in the experience of the final leg of our journey. I believe that they would have been doing something similar. It was a lot to process, of course, and there would be no recreating this trip just the way it was. Sure, we’d had issues at times, but that’s what made it great. The unexpected made our journey truly unique and served as a catalyst to bring us together like never before. I knew that we would hold onto the memories of it all, which is just as it should be. It would be a bittersweet end, but a satisfying one. Eventually we reached the expanse of wind turbines in Dane County we remembered from our trip to LaCrosse two summers before. Memories of our second trip flooded back, reminding us that the experiences of the present trip as well would certainly stick with us. On we rode through suburban Middleton to southwestern Madison. Exhaustion was taking over, but we were almost there. We talked about our favorite memories and all the things we had learned in those last few miles. We all agreed that it had been a truly wonderful ride. And then we found ourselves before our relatives’ house. And with the popping of little confetti launchers, our grand adventure of 668 miles reached its end.

Hal DeLong is currently a senior at Nicolet High School in Glendale, Wisconsin, and has continued his family’s bike trip tradition with a ride to central Kentucky this summer. This is his first published piece and certainly won’t be his last, as he is an aspiring writer of both fiction and nonfiction works.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 19 DANIEL MRGAN DANIEL

Rules of the Road

STORY BY PATRICIA ISAACS

n the early 1980s, China had just opened to the West were the privilege of a few highly placed officials. The locals but was still emphatically communist. People dressed stopped to stare, open-mouthed, when one passed by. in nearly identical Mao jackets and called each other Minders from my university seemed intent on keeping comrade. With the exception of a few high officials, close tabs on the handful of foreign teachers who worked Ieverybody was poor. Food shortages were common, a radio was there. They arranged excursions for us en masse, either by a luxury, and bicycles transported the masses. The demand for car or bus. But the field trips, often to model communes bicycles outstripped supply. People waited years for an industrial and factories, quickly grew tedious. They involved canned goods ration coupon that would allow them to purchase one. It presentations laden with statistics in tearooms for “Foreign was common to see a family of four sharing a single bike: Papa Guests.” Sometimes there was a gift shop to visit at the end. pedaling, Junior in a handlebar-mounted seat, and Mama riding China had been closed to outsiders for decades, and on the back luggage carrier holding an infant in her arms. wherever we went, crowds gathered to gawk. I had been The roads were crowded with pedestrians, donkey carts, exploring my world by bicycle since I got my first bike at and cyclists who transported all manner of goods on their age eight, a blue Hiawatha model with balloon tires. Cycling luggage racks: great sheaves of straw, heavy wooden desks, to me meant freedom and autonomy. In the restrictive trussed pigs, and dozens of chickens hanging by their feet. atmosphere of communist China, I needed a way to get out Motorized traffic was rare and comprised mostly commune- on my own — I needed a bike. My foreign status allowed me owned trucks, overloaded public buses, and a few small to jump the queue and purchase a black singlespeed Flying tractors. Curtained limousines with white-gloved drivers Pigeon model, the Cadillac of Chinese bikes, at the state-run

20 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 Friendship Store catering to tourists. It cost me 140 yuan, constantly eye and evaluate each other, but like bighorn sheep about one and a half times my monthly salary. establishing dominance by butting heads, they usually avoid the I lived in the ancient Chinese capital of Xi’an, known for carnage of a fight to the death. Instead, once it’s been decided the army of terra cotta soldiers unearthed there only six who leads, they arrange themselves with the flawless timing of years earlier. Xi’an was an ideal cycling town — compact, Peking opera acrobats into a flowing, interwoven pattern. Their flat, and laid out on a north–south grid. The massive city feet hover the brake pedals even as they try to outrun every wall was a convenient landmark. Some city streets had other motorist on the road to reach the spot they want. separate lanes for bicycles, separated by medians from the If Americans tried this, we would surely kill each other. vehicle roadway. A sidewalk repair stand was never more We are a society of laws, intent on following the rulebook. than a couple of blocks away — which was good. The bikes And too many of us are certain we are the one who should were notorious for breaking down. be leading the dance. My first excursions were to the main market downtown, a The Chinese acknowledge that not everyone is up to the couple of miles from my university, where I could sometimes task of driving; they know their traffic is fearsome. Most find exotic items like peanut butter or bread. As I got to locals now use bikes only to get around the quiet streets of the know some of the other Americans in town, I rode to their university or their neighborhood. To venture into the wider universities for visits. Friends and I explored the traditional city, they prefer the relative safety of a bus or taxi. So when neighborhoods within the city wall, where people conducted I regularly bicycled to downtown Xi’an, my Chinese friends all kinds of business on the street — washing clothes in a voiced their respect — welcome respect as I was incompetent basin, getting a haircut, butchering a goat. I ventured outside at many things in my adopted hometown. of the city, riding with a Chinese friend to a hot spring 15 In my two months in “new” China, I got out on my bike miles away. Another time I visited a temple in the hills south every chance I could, photographing places I’d known before of town where monks lived and worshipped. It was one of that had been transformed by wealth and development. The the few to escape destruction during China’s chaotic Cultural bicycle allowed me to explore narrow little streets, to stop Revolution. Sometimes I returned at dusk, cycling past a on a dime without having to find a parking place, to change string of donkey carts, their drivers sleeping to the clop-clop directions in a snap. It allowed me to jump onto the sidewalk if of hooves. Only the lead driver stayed awake, his cigarette the traffic got too threatening. glowing red in the dim light. On one excursion, the street I was riding on approached Cycling among the locals and dressed in my own blue one of the city’s chaotic ring roads where cars, trucks, and farm jacket, I faded into the crowd. equipment rumble past at speeds varying from 15 to 70 mph. Decades later, I returned to Xi’an for a two-month stay Getting across such a road was like playing Frogger in the real to find a metropolis with skyscrapers and high-tech zones world. I followed a man pedaling a utility tricycle and half a surrounded by freeways. Apartment buildings had replaced block farther on discovered that the city had built a pair of the traditional courtyard homes inside the city wall. Audis and interchanges between the two roads, one for motorized vehicles Hyundais cruised roads once traveled by donkey carts. Bicycle and a separate one for everyone else. I have dreamed about such traffic was down now that capitalism was up. a system — a freeway just for bikes — and here it was! In China’s new market economy, bicycles are plentiful, and On another occasion, at the city’s south gate, no such facility within two days of my arrival I had purchased a used 10-speed existed, and I had to brave a massive traffic circle. I moved “Five Goats” brand bike, modified by a previous owner to have into a lane and held my ground despite the truck behind me, only one gear. It cost me 100 yuan, now equivalent to $12. pedaling as if I had as much right to be there as he did — and it Experiencing Xi’an by bicycle provided a glimpse of the social worked. I exited the circle at a little road that led deep into an and cultural differences that separate China from the West. To old neighborhood lined with kebab stands, fruit vendors, and Western eyes, traffic in China appears utterly chaotic. Drivers baskets of steaming buns. I slowed down, breathing the aroma run red lights and turn in front of oncoming cars, pedestrians of charcoal and goat meat. I stopped and put my foot down to blithely step in front of trucks, a bicyclist hogs the center lane watch youngsters practicing their calligraphy on the sidewalk while glancing over his shoulder to deliver a withering look to with a brush dipped in water. I rode alongside utility tricycles the guy behind the wheel of a dump truck. hauling bags of rice and hopped off to buy an apple. I pulled In the 21st century, the Chinese still follow patterns of up on the grass near the city wall to where amateur singers movement established when most transportation was human- gathered to perform Chinese opera. or donkey-powered. Never big on queuing, they don’t so much Maybe because Xi’an now has central heating, email, and drive in their lanes as they jostle to fill any available space. supermarkets, the exotic is harder to find. Getting on a bike, Released from the constraints of enforced egalitarianism, those threading into the traffic tapestry, and learning to deliver the who can now afford cars cheerfully lord it over those who can’t, obligatory dismissive look carried me to a place many people squeezing cyclists against the curb and clipping pedestrians never visit. who brave the crosswalks. Motorists unapologetically occupy a place in the pecking order that used to be reserved for the Patricia Isaacs has been finding freedom and adventure via bicycle since the age of most well-placed Party operatives. five. When she’s not pedaling, she makes maps and infographics from her home in Travel in China involves many games of chicken followed Stillwater, Minnesota. by a series of dances. Drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 21 LEVI BOUGHN

Losing My Hue

STORY BY LIZ SINCLAIR

stood ankle deep in mud on the corner of Phan I couldn’t see my fellow cyclists anywhere. I peered intently Dinh Phung and Hung Vuong streets, feeling like a at poncho-clad figures, looking like plastic-sheeted ghosts, poor excuse for an adventure traveler. Five hours in who rode by me in the rain on rasping bicycles, hoping to Hue and already I’d managed to misplace my tour spot a familiar face. Igroup. Worse, my guidebook was back at the hotel. I was lost I heard a shout and turned my head. A woman stood and alone in Vietnam, and I spoke exactly six words of the behind a steaming soup cart by the side of the road, language. Considering that two of those words were “tea” and gesturing. She pointed to my right. “That way!” she yelled “beer,” I stood a very good chance of not going thirsty. in English. I careened off down the road, dodging slower- There were nine of us on a cycling tour from Hue moving bicyclists. The people around me became a blur of (pronounced “way”) to Saigon, and the wet season was running colored plastic. I pumped faster, splashing heedlessly through late. We were dismayed to learn that our tour leader intended puddles. There was no sign of my group. to take us riding around Hue despite the rain. Mark, a six-foot- For the first time that day, I was oblivious to the cold plus ex-pat Australian with a flat-top military haircut, curtly water dripping steadily down my neck and the rain stinging reminded us that the “adventure” in adventure travel stood for my eyes. Reaching a crossroads, I stopped and glanced just that. We piled on waterproof anoraks, covered them with a each way. I heard another shout. I looked across the road local brand of plastic poncho, and reluctantly headed out to see at an old man standing under a tree, yelling something and what sights a dreary, drab Hue had to offer. pointing on ahead down the main road. He bore a remarkable A few hours later, at the tail end of the group, I came resemblance to the late Ho Chi Minh, with the same wispy speeding out of an alley onto a main road and stopped short. white beard and long, narrow features. I stared at him.

22 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 The old man suddenly pointed to his head. Of course, my put. Slowly I mimed a figure riding up the road, stopping, and helmet! Westerners are (usually) the only ones who wear bike returning. I pointed next to myself and then at the ground. With helmets. I pedaled on furiously. much vigorous nodding of heads, the cyclo drivers agreed. I reached another crossroad. This time no one called out to I didn’t have long to wait. After 10 minutes, the drivers me. Dismounting, I wheeled my bike toward a group of four again began to shout and point. This time I was waiting in wiry cyclo drivers huddled under a tarp spread between two the center of the road. As motorcycles and bikes dodged trees, their red cyclos lined up neatly in front. The youngest and swerved around me, Mark braked to a halt inches away. braved the rain and sloshed his way over to me. Between “You all right?” he asked. Shaky with relief, I couldn’t think pointing at my helmet and my bike, and then pointing farther of much to say. “Yes, now,” I replied. I turned to thank my down the road, I conveyed to him that I had lost my group. He rescuers and shook numerous hands. The youngest driver walked back to the tarp and conversed briefly with the other grinned at me, not appearing upset at losing his only drivers. The four men began to shout to others passing on the prospective fare for the past half hour. street. The replies were clearly all in the negative. I turned to see Mark disappearing ahead of me. I followed Without language skills or even a guidebook, I had no him down a road that gradually ran out into rice fields. The choice but to wait on the corner and hope that someone rain was now coming down hard enough to strip paint. I was would come back for me. The minutes ticked by like hours. soon dripping wet, following Mark’s receding figure along Searching in my pocket for a cough drop, I found the a twisting, snaking dirt lane a few meters across and over hotel business card, thrust there earlier and forgotten. tiny wooden bridges barely wide enough for two bikes. The When I showed the card to the drivers, two of them pointed landscape was from a Japanese print: slate skies darkening to down a side road. I realized they were trying to give me dusk, rain falling in sheets, distant huddled figures in the fields. directions. I shook my head and pointed to the cyclos. The Mist crept across the road. Mud hissed and spat under my tires. youngest driver responded first: “One U.S. dollar (about We caught up with the rest of the group by the Thanh 20,000 Vietnamese dong),” he said firmly, setting his price. Toan covered Japanese bridge, where they were taking “Fifteen,” I said just as firmly, suspecting my hotel was close. photographs in the fading light. I hung my dripping poncho He paused, grinned, and then nodded. “Okay,” he said. He inside an adjoining teahouse and collapsed, sodden, onto wheeled his cyclo over to me and I clambered in gratefully. a rickety wooden chair. Within minutes, I was sipping hot, Heaving my bike up out of the mud, he rested it gently steaming tea and listening to the rain pound on the tin roof. against my legs and then hopped onto his seat in one quick Mark leaned back in his chair, beer in hand. “This is my motion. I leaned back and flashed him the universal thumbs- favorite spot in all of Vietnam,” he told the group. I looked up sign, anticipating hot tea and a hot shower. around at the 10 of us packed into the tiny teahouse, all in Suddenly, a shout went up. The other cyclo drivers ran various states of dampness, at the landlord’s children chasing quickly to the edge of the street, yelling and gesturing to me, each other around the crowded chairs, at a dog lying — and then pointing up the road. My driver, speaking rapidly snout on paws — on the ground, watching the children run, in Vietnamese, dismounted, grabbed my bicycle, and set it and over to the exquisite wooden bridge with its delicately back in the mud. Puzzled, I climbed out of the cyclo. Looking carved lintel. I was filled with a sense of accomplishment up the road where the men were pointing, I suddenly saw and satisfaction. I borrowed a Lonely Planet Vietnam and a bicycle approaching, ridden by a shape much larger than read: “Finding (the bridge) is a bit tricky, but tolerable if you those around him. He was wearing a helmet. I started yelling consider getting lost part of the excursion.” Perhaps I had a Mark’s name. My cyclo driver watched me intently for a future as an adventure traveler after all. second, then began calling “Mahk, Mahk.” Mark casually glanced at the shouting group and rode past, oblivious. Liz Sinclair is a travel and feature writer who divides her time between Bali and The men grabbed my arms and gestured for me to follow. Melbourne. She writes about solo travel in Southeast Asia and Australia. She I knew Mark had to come back my way so I decided to stay frequently gets lost.

LIFE IS OURS TO BE SPENT, NOT TO BE SAVED.

D.H. Lawrence

tda.bike/livelarger

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 23 TDA_AdventureCycling_quarterH_7-375x2-375in_V2.indd 1 2018-05-09 3:31 PM CO-OP CYCLES ADV 1.1 SPECIFICATIONS Road Test Price: $1,299 • Frame: Double-butted 4130 Sizes available: S, M, L, XL, XXL chromoly, rack/fender mounts, three bottle mounts, pump peg, Size tested: L spoke holder (with two spokes) Weight: 34.6 lbs. without • Fork: 4130 chromoly, low-rider pedals, but with racks front and mounts, fender mounts, cable rear and thorn-resistant tubes guide for optional dynamo hub filled with sealant • Handlebar: Co-op, 31.8mm clamp, 440mm width, 16° flare TEST BIKE MEASUREMENTS • Tape: Velo antislip with gel base • Stack: 599.4mm • Stem: Co-op aluminum, 90mm, • Reach: 376.8mm +7°, 31.8mm • Head tube length: 171.4mm • Brake levers: TRP RRL alloy • Head tube angle: 71° • Shift levers: Microshift bar-cons • Seat tube: 540mm (center to CO-OP CYCLES • Front derailer: Shimano top of seat collar) Deore LX • Seat tube angle: 73˚ • Rear derailer: Shimano Deore LX • Top tube: 560mm (effective) • Brake calipers: TRP HY/RD ADV 1.1 • Chainstays: 455mm cable-actuated hydraulic disc, • Bottom bracket height: 285mm 160mm rotors • Bottom bracket drop: 68mm • Crankset: Shimano FC-M543, • Fork Offset: 50mm 175mm, 48/36/26T BY PATRICK O’GRADY • Trail: 69mm • Wheelbase: 1059mm ➺THE TECHNICAL SPECS for the • Standover height: 795mm $1,299 Co-op Cycles ADV 1.1 cut right to the chase: “Best use: bike touring.” Truer words, etc. Some bikes in this price range suffer from marketing- induced multiple-personality disorder. “I’m a road bike! No, a gravel bike! A commuter? Cross-country tourer? Just buy me, for the love of God! I’ll do anything, I swear!” Not the ADV 1.1. It knows its capabilities and limitations. It will perform specific functions and balk at others. It may be represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The ADV 1.1 will probably not be your only bike. You will not take it out on Sundays for the proverbial “fast club ride.” If you steer it onto a gravel road, it will not be from sheer whimsy but because you’re shortening Day 9 of a self-supported, fully loaded tour or skirting a ragged-edge ribbon of high-speed highway where the only flat bits are the roadkill. If it is your only bike, your daily driver — to work, to the grocery, to the gym — it’s probably because you’re training for the glorious day when you leave all that behind and, like the bear, go over the mountain, to see what you can see. The first thing you’ll see is a sturdy steel frameset rigged for loaded travel, with racks front and rear, disc brakes,

24 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 • Cassette: Shimano HG500, GEARING RANGE and a triple-chainring 10-speed Shimano 10-speed, 11–34T Deore LX-Microshift drivetrain with a • Shimano CN-HG54 Chain: 26 36 48 granny gear of 26x34 (20.9 gear inches). • Bottom bracket: Shimano 11 64.9 89.9 119.8 SM-BB52, threaded You’ll love your granny, too, especially 13 55.0 76.1 101.4 • Seatpost: Co-op aluminum, if by “you” we mean “me,” because a large 15 47.5 65.9 87.9 27.2mm ADV 1.1 weighs nearly 35 lbs. without 17 42.0 58.3 77.5 • Saddle: WTB Pure V Sport pedals, water bottles, or an emergency 19 37.7 51.9 69.5 • Headset: FPD 21 34.1 47.0 62.9 packet of Purina Bear Chow. • Hubs: Shimano Deore LX with thru- Before you shudder and flee to the axles, 32h front, 36h rear 23 31.1 43.1 57.4 Swiss Army Bike Shop, I should note • Rims: WTB STPi23 tubeless 26 27.5 37.9 50.8 compatible 30 23.9 33.0 43.9 that this figure includes those racks; a

• Tires: Schwalbe Marathon, 34 20.9 20.9 38.8 handsome, matte-blue 4130-chromoly

700c x 38mm frame with pump peg, kickstand plate, • Racks: front and rear, 6061 and spoke holders (plus two spokes); a aluminum, rear rated for 40 lbs., front 33 lbs. Contact: REI Co-op Cycles, rei.com/b/co-op-cycles fork suitable for a dynamo upgrade; the customary bottle and fender mounts; and a pair of double-wall, tubeless- compatible WTB rims with 700c x 38mm Schwalbe Marathon GreenGuards bolstered by thorn-resistant tubes filled with sealant (at my request). Repeat after me: “Best use: bike touring.” The ADV 1.1 reminds me of the Novara Mazama (reviewed April 2015), and both bikes share DNA with the venerable Novara Randonee (see Charles Pelkey’s February 2012 review). Maybe REI should have called this latest iteration the Déjà Vu. For our initial get-reacquainted sessions in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains, I gave the ADV 1.1 Shimano PD-A520 touring pedals, two Blackburn bottle cages, Cateye Velo 8 computer, Cygolite Dash and Hotrod running lights, Mirrycle Incredibell, and an Inertia Designs wedge with tools and tubes. That brought the beast up to 37 pounds. I was tempted to add a two- legged kickstand because why not? I wouldn’t enjoy military pressing the ADV 1.1 onto and off of my Subaru’s rooftop rack, but it’s not designed to be up there. It’s transportation, not cargo. You’re supposed to ride it. And it rides quite well. Steel remains real, the plush saddle and gel-taped handlebar have the guts to go hand to hand with the Infrastructure of the Living Deadbeats, and those tires aren’t going flat anytime soon. Not with thorn- resistant, sealant-filled tubes, they’re not. There are a few price-point items. The crank is a generic Shimano FC-M543 (oh, for the Randonee’s Deore LX with its 42/32/22 chainrings). The Co-op brand adorns the stem, seatpost, and bar. The unmarked headset is from FPD, and the bar-cons from Microshift.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 25 But the derailers are Deore LX. rack trunk and Dry-Lite panniers And there’s an upside on the The hubs are Deore. And the brakes with a dozen pounds of spares, tools, downside — descending feels like are TRP HY/RD discs, a mechanical- electronics, and streetwear — felt silly, riding an escalator in an armchair. hydraulic hybrid with reservoirs at the like using seven-league boots to stroll Its closest rival for your purchasing calipers instead of the levers. to the mailbox. power may be the similarly priced Fuji The cable-actuated TRP Spyre was Next time I upped the ante, hanging Touring Disc (reviewed March 2018). deemed good enough for the ADV 3.1, 10 pounds up front in Arkel B-26 The Fuji has a slightly lower granny (19.7 a 650b “adventure touring” model. bags, stuff I’d like to have on a longer gear inches), comes in seven sizes to But Courtney Gearhart of REI public credit-card tour. Easy peasy. I had to the ADV’s five, provides two bosses per affairs said Co-op wanted its loaded shift into the granny once on a mile- fork blade for carrying additional bottles road tourer to have a brake with the long climb with a steep kicker in the or gear, and stops via cable-actuated power and modulation of hydraulics middle, but I was fine otherwise, even Spyres. Only the one rack, though, the but the easy upkeep and durability of when a dust devil dope-slapped me rear, and I think Co-op has the Fuji beat cable actuation. rounding a corner. on looks if that matters to you. Is the HY/RD the best of both The pièce de rolling résistance All in all, the ADV 1.1 feels like a disc brake worlds? As a savagely was nearly 40 pounds of what I modern version of that $1,200 Novara incompetent mechanic and always think is a fairly spartan self- Randonee that Pelkey reviewed back in retrogrouch hoarding rim brakes contained load until I try pushing it 2012. He liked it so much that he bought against the Hydrocalypse, I’m the around outside the office. Four Ortlieb it, then passed it down to his son. wrong person to ask. panniers, a Jandd bar bag, that Inertia Six years later, here’s the Randonee’s But James Huang pronounced Designs wedge, and my Big Agnes Fly offspring, with all its newfangled himself impressed in a 2013 review for Creek UL2 lashed to the rear rack. notions. But it’s still steel, still a steal, and BikeRadar. And Red Kite Prayer’s Patrick I spent more time spinning that would make a prized family heirloom. Brady, no fan of cable-actuated discs, granny and challenging those brakes, Best use? Bike touring. Follow that tried a set in 2016 and spoke highly of but the ADV 1.1 soaked up the extra bear. their power and control. weight the way our Chihuahuan Strapping on my usual bare-bones Desert landscape does the all-too- Patrick O’Grady is a contributing writer for Adventure bike overnight rig — Arkel TailRider infrequent rain. Cyclist and a cartoonist for Bicycle Retailer & Industry News. He blogs at maddogmedia.com.

26 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 BY NICK LEGAN, DAN MEYER, AND ALLY MABRY

More gear reviews at Dakine Hot Laps REI Co-op Quarter Dome 1 Tent, adventurecycling.org/0818-gear. 2L Waist Bag, $40 $279 With a variety of pockets, a clever bottle holder, and an available two- liter reservoir, Dakine’s Hot Laps hip pack works well for day rides and long tours. It’s great for items that you want to keep close or access frequently. The ability to add a couple liters to your overall on-bike fluid capacity is icing on the cake for a touring cyclist. It REI’s line of backpacking and sits nice and low on the hips and even outdoor gear offers a great balance of Machines when mountain biking, it was stable performance and affordability. The for and didn’t obstruct breathing. –NL Quarter Dome 1, redesigned in 2017, Freedom is a great option for solo travelers Bibs, Helinox who want to go light but don’t want $235 Ground to break the bank. With the optional footprint ($40), the Quarter Dome GEARED GEARED UP Chair, As a woman, $110 1 can be set up three different ways: I’ve often found normal setup with rain fly, as a mesh myself settling for When bicycle tent without the fly, and as a fast pack men’s (or unisex) touring, a camp using only the footprint, poles, and fly. cycling clothes that chair is a luxury. This versatility lets you drop weight fit a little weird — bibs are too long, You can always sit on a depending on expected weather. sleeves fit awkwardly in the shoulders ... stump, so why bother packing the extra The new design has a much larger the list goes on. Settle no longer, ladies! weight? Because you deserve it. vestibule that keeps your shoes and Machines for Freedom is a female Australian company Helinox helmet out of the elements. Interior engineered/operated cycling clothing (distributed through Big Agnes in the space is also greatly expanded, with company that produces some of the U.S.) is known for its ultralight camp plenty of room to sit up and handy highest quality products for women chairs that pack down small. The pockets for storing easy-to-lose items. on the market. Their bread and butter Ground Chair is one of its better options All told, it’s a great tent for minimalist is their bibs, which offer flattering for bicycle travelers, with a packed campers who still like some privacy and compression, comfortable suspender weight of less than 1.5 pounds and a size protection from both bugs and rain. –NL straps, and a chamois that’s designed slightly bigger than a classic Nalgene for women. Available in three lengths, bottle. It’ll easily slip into a pannier or these bibs are pure magic — ask anyone strap onto an Anything Cage. who’s ever worn them. If you’re going to The Ground Chair is easy to set up Ortlieb splurge on one item of cycling clothing, I and pack away, and in use it’s awfully Seat Pack highly recommend choosing MFF. –AM comfy. The fabric even has a little M, $145 stretch to it and breathes to keep you Revelate Designs Terrapin from getting too sweaty. Despite the Ortlieb’s original System 8L Seatbag, $135 chair’s feathery weight, Helinox claims Seat Pack is one a max user heft of 265 pounds thanks of our favorites, to aluminum poles made by DAC, but it’s so big that maker of high-quality tent poles. –DM carrying smaller loads would bottom out the compression straps. The new Eric Parsons and the gang at Revelate medium sized pack is welcome when Designs continue to churn out innovative, carrying fewer items or when space quality bikepacking goods. The new between the saddle and rear wheel Terrapin System 8L is a smaller, lighter is limited. It is waterproof, has an air version of the brand’s harness-and-drybag rear carrier. Riders of smaller stature will purge valve, and doesn’t sway once appreciate its more compact size but so too will mountain bikers and riders taking tightened down. The only omission on fast-and-light missions. The separate harness and drybag make packing easy and from its larger sibling that we miss is allow you to stow items outside the drybag but inside the harness for maximum the elastic lattice on top that is great versatility. A new attachment system keeps bag sway to a minimum. –NL for quickly stashing jackets. –NL

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 27 Cyclesense Dropping the gavel

BIKEPACKING > GRAVEL

BY NICK LEGAN

➺ IN THE LAST COUPLE OF SEASONS, the editorial crew machines billed as bikepacking bikes instead of getting tagged at Adventure Cyclist has enjoyed the new breed of gravel, as gravel steeds. These bikes, like Salsa’s Fargo, Kona’s Sutra bikepacking, and adventure bikes on the market. Although LTD, and Bombtrack’s Beyond, have low mountain bike gearing a small but steady crop of traditional touring bikes remains, and often larger disc brake rotors. Many of these bikes also the industry’s renewed fascination with dirt roads is fueling feature the higher handlebar position that many touring innovation right now. cyclists prefer and additional With stable geometry, mounting points for racks low bottom brackets, disc and bottle cages. brakes, and clearance Part of the problem for large tires, gravel and in writing this specific all-road bikes provide a column and in simply platform that serves many having a discussion on the cyclists exceptionally well. matter lies in the lack of a They are versatile enough commonly used vernacular to be used for gravel riding, to describe these emerging commuting, and light categories. “Adventure bike” touring. With a change of is wonderfully vague, as is tires, they are quick enough “gravel bike,” although the for spirited road riding, latter’s meaning has solidified and clearance for fenders recently to signify a dropbar puts smiles on riders in wet bike with clearance for climates. There is a lot to 40mm tires and a fairly low like about this latest trend. bottom bracket. Don’t get me But the industry, crazed started on “all-road” or “dual- REISELMIKE with the idea of selling sport” bikes. adventure, has unfortunately Some, including me, have displayed many of its new argued that any bike can be gravel bikes with a full considered a bikepacking complement of soft luggage. Long seatbags, large front rolls, bike. That’s the beauty of soft luggage — braze-ons for racks massive framebags, and top tube bags create a façade of touring are not required. Simply buckle on a set of bags and ride off capability. It’s a classic bait and switch with eyes drawn to fancy toward the horizon. But that’s an oversimplification. And, as bags and distracted from road-race gearing and paper-thin tires. illustrated by the myriad bikes shown with bikepacking bags in As seasoned touring cyclists are keenly aware, it takes more showrooms and at tradeshows, it’s clear that product managers than a set of panniers to make a great touring bicycle. Likewise, are not getting out on stock bikes and going bikepacking. If it takes more than a set of bags to make a bikepacking bike. they are, they’re probably also bemoaning, behind closed doors, Companies displaying their bikes in this way are doing the budgetary limitations that keep them from choosing more their own product a real disservice. Many of the gravel frames appropriate touring components. adorned with bags are actually up to the task of touring through Despite being ill defined, a bicycle that carries the label the use of bikepacking bags and, in some cases, racks and of “bikepacking” is likely the option among this new set of panniers. But they are let down by stock gearing that is simply adventure bikes with the lowest gears, widest tires, and highest too high for average cyclists once they encounter a hill of any handlebar. As such, a bikepacking bike is most likely to suit the kind while toting 20 or 30 pounds of gear. needs of an Adventure Cyclist reader. They’ll work a treat on both There are exceptions to this rule though. They are usually paved roads as well as dirt tracks. With a simple change of tires,

28 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 you can dial in your preferred balance of ADVENTURE CYCLING traction and rolling resistance. The issue that a touring cyclist will CORPORATE MEMBERS face when considering a gravel bike is that Adventure Cycling’s business partners play a significant role in the success of our they are typically designed around a road nonprofit organization. Our Corporate Membership Program is designed to spotlight drivetrain. As we’ve covered in the past, these key supporters. Corporate Members are companies that believe in what we do and there are clever gearing solutions from wish to provide additional assistance through a higher level of support. These corporate brands like Praxis and FSA, with their membership funds go toward special projects and the creation of new programs. To learn more about how your business can become a corporate supporter of Adventure Cycling, go 48/32T chainrings, and Wolftooth, with to adventurecycling.org/corporate or call 800.755.2453. its various adapters that help bring lower gears to bicycles with road drivetrains. This year at Sea Otter, the annual TITANIUM bicycle festival near Monterey, California, Easton showed off a series of new chainrings with double-chainring gearing as low as 46/30T (review coming soon). Pair this with an 11–40T cassette and you’ll achieve the revered low of 20 gear inches, even with a 700c x 32mm tire. And we have it on good authority that Easton’s new chainring offerings are no flash in the pan. Other top component makers are also developing similar double-chainring options. GOLD Of course, many of you will note that lower gearing, specifically ultracompact doubles, has been available for some time. But many of those designs were built around seven-, eight-, or nine- speed drivetrains. It’s important that newer versions, compatible with current 11-speed groupsets, are developed to keep such gearing possible well into the future. So the point is: when in doubt, look to bikepacking bikes. I haven’t seen one yet that won’t serve both touring and gravel duties with aplomb. But I have seen many, many gravel bikes that, while showing real promise, don’t deliver the goods for touring cyclists as they are sold. While some tinkerers don’t mind the need to install a new crank, derailer, cassette, chain, and shifting adapter on a new bike, half-hearted bicycle specifications with too-tall gearing do nothing to invite new people into the touring tribe. It will take time, both from component makers and bicycle SILVER product managers, but the future of Anderson ZurMuehlen & Co. PC Noble Invention Bike Touring touring-capable gravel bikes is very In Situ Travel Litespeed Titanium Bicycles bright. As a lover of mixed-surface riding and touring, I yearn for the day Surly when new bikes, a full complement of bags securely mounted, deliver on BRONZE the empty promises currently seen in The Directory Road iD booths and showrooms. Arkel Art of Bicycle Trips Selle Anatomica Swift Industries Nick Legan is the Technical Editor of Adventure DC Cycling Concierge Staver Law Group, P.C. Cyclist and author of Gravel Cycling.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 29 ou don’t get much sympathy from your riding y buddies when you complain, “I have to ride another review bike,” and you’re pedaling some shiny new bit of steel. It’s true that when pondering a list of dream jobs, riding new bikes for a living is pretty high up for any real cycling nerd. But for many riders — the people behind Adventure Cyclist magazine included — researching, debating, comparing, and finally building the right bike for you is all part of the fun. That’s why, on a perfectly sunny spring day astride some brand-new, well-tuned machine that I THE BIKES OF get paid to ride the wheels off of, sometimes all I can think is, “I want to ride my bike.” ADVENTURE CYCLIST Besides, if bike builds say something about the rider, then a parts list is more than a spreadsheet — it’s a little glimpse into a cyclist’s strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, maybe even blind spots and biases. ILLUSTRATIONS BY Here then are the bikes of Adventure Cyclist, the daily drivers and purpose-built machines that we assembled away from the office, with our own money, and continue tweaking in a constant state of evolution as we look for the same thing every cyclist is always searching for: the perfect bicycle. –Alex Strickland

to a 1x SRAM Rival crank with a 42T ring for simplicity, but a 42/28T mountain double remains in my parts bin for any loaded touring that would demand a wider range. The Soma’s biggest character shift has come from the wheels and tires it rolls on. After running 700c wheels with 40mm tires for more than a year, I swapped on some 27.5in. (650b) wheels with WTB’s 47mm Horizon “Road Plus” tires. The change was staggering. In fairness, the smaller wheels were also a little higher end, tubeless, and sporting thru- axles instead of quick releases (a benefit of the Paragon sliders was an easy swap to accommodate the new axle), but the bike’s personality completely shifted once the tanwall tires were mounted. Somehow the Soma felt simultaneously sharper and more comfortable. In fairness, the Horizons’ smooth design is entirely worthless once the snow flies, so Editor-in-Chief Alex Strickland 42mm Surly Knards go on for winter. SOMA WOLVERINE, SOMAFAB.COM The last major change is a carbon fiber fork from Fyxation. The stock lugged steel fork (in matching orange) My orange Wolverine has worn a few different setups looks classic and features traditional mounts but was much as it also serves as my primary test mule for reviewing too flexy — you could watch the front wheel dive beneath products that appear in Adventure Cyclist. Simple, steel, and you as you shuddered to a stop. The Sparta has slightly less with mountain bike measurements between the dropouts trail, which has sharpened the bike more than some might (and a belt drive cutout), this thing is a pumpkin-colored like, but it’s also stiffened up the front considerably. all-rounder. For me it’s a year-round commuter pressed Familiarity may breed a bit of contempt with my trusty into occasional light touring and gravel duty. (rusty) Wolverine, but the fact of the matter is that I ride this My base build features SRAM Apex shifters, a 10-speed 11– bike every day. It’s done everything I’ve asked and more while 32T SRAM cassette, Salsa Cowbell bars, Thompson post, and receiving some brutal treatment at the hands of Montana’s TRP Spyre cable-actuated disc brakes. Underfoot, I switched long winters and a lazy mechanic. Hard to argue with that.

30 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 Staff Writer Dan Meyer SALSA EL MARIACHI, SALSACYCLES.COM

I somehow got it in my head that I needed a new mountain bike, preferably one with 29in. wheels, one gear, no suspension, and a frame made of steel. Lucky for me the last remaining Salsa El Mariachi SS models were on closeout, I considered keeping Helga as-is and buying a whole so I bought one, size large. It was a steal. ’nother bike, but in the end I decided that the El Mariachi Helga the Boneshaker, Gatekeeper to the Pain Cave (or is a great bikepacking platform and I’d be doing Helga a just Helga if you’re into the whole brevity thing), came disservice by preventing her from living up to her potential. from the factory with serviceable parts, but I replaced most So on went a 100mm Rockshox Reba, a dropper seatpost everything. I gave her a carbon bar, Thomson bits, bigger (internally routed on a frame without internal routing, but brake rotors, and — most important — high-quality, handbuilt that’s a story for another time), a new rear wheel, and a full wheels. If the shoes make the man, then the wheels make the Shimano XT group with an 11–46T cassette. Only two parts bike. (Me? I wear slippers.) remain on the El Mariachi that came from the factory: the With new parts all around, Helga was a light, strong, and seatpost clamp and the headset. still pain-inducing singletrack weapon. But there was one My beloved El Mariachi is a very different beast than when thing that Helga wasn’t very good at — bikepacking. It took I bought her. No longer a stripped-down singlespeed pain two seasons for me to realize that singlespeed bikepacking is machine, Helga nevertheless feels like the same bike — sharp dumb. I needed gears. And a suspension fork. And a dropper angles, slender steel tubes, and classic looks. A few gears and a post. And better brakes. bit of buttery suspension can only change a bike so much.

Lead Designer Ally Mabry Buying mostly used parts allowed me to build a much SURLY STRAGGLER, SURLYBIKES.COM higher-quality machine than if I’d bought a complete bike from a manufacturer. I’d never built a bike from scratch, In anticipation of my first proper bike tour, I built my first and because I planned to tour remote areas with this one, I nonstock bike from the ground up: a 2013 Surly Straggler. wanted to feel as comfortable as possible with the mechanics. Thanks to some eBay luck, the frame already had an impressive Assembling it myself was invaluable. touring résumé: turns out it was Sarah Swallow’s first gravel rig. The result is a seemingly modest steel steed that I know like The only brand-new components on my build were a the back of my hand. Named Merlin for its glittery purple paint, Brooks saddle, cassette, chain, and TRP Spyre disc brakes. riding this bike is so smooth it feels like magic. With Merlin Everything else was hunted on eBay or scavenged from my I’ve toured the length of Oregon, the washed-out backroads of friend’s random parts bin. Up until very recently, I was running Arkansas, and up and down the fire roads of Montana. I often mismatched SRAM Red and Rival 10-speed shifters. commute and I occasionally race on it. I learned how to ride singletrack on Merlin, often being the only woman on a ’cross rig at the mountain bike park in Austin. The bike handles it all. Merlin has been everything I’ve needed in a bike for the past three years, and it definitely shows. As the components begin to wear out, I’ve started the slow journey of upgrading. The mismatched shifters have been replaced with 11-speed SRAM Rival 22s, which means I’m eventually due for a new rear derailer and 11-speed cassette (I don’t mind the extra click for now, and neither does my bank account). I’ve taken it upon myself to master the painfully tedious art of Harlequin handlebar wraps, so I’m sure I’ll be going through a lot of Newbaum’s as well. One thing’s for certain: no matter how many components change, Merlin will continue to be my go-to bike.

31 extra tire clearance for 650b x 2.1in. tires. While all of those bikes worked well for a very specific type of riding, for my next bike I wanted something more versatile. Dropbars keep my hands happy. Wide 29er tires give me comfort and traction. A rigid bike keeps maintenance to a minimum. When Salsa’s Cutthroat came onto the scene, I told my wife, “that’s my next bike.” After riding a Cutthroat, I knew that its dropbar 29er geometry was for me. But as a fan of steel bikes and threaded bottom brackets, the Cutthroat didn’t actually tick all my boxes. So instead of ordering one, I gave my friend Aaron Barcheck of Mosaic Cycles a call. He works predominantly in titanium road bikes. So my bike is a departure from the norm for Mosaic, but Barcheck’s ability to realize an idea whatever its form is beyond reproach. While we based the geometry on Salsa’s Cutthroat as Technical Editor Nick Legan a starting point (the fork is a carbon Salsa Firestarter MOSAIC CUSTOM, MOSAICCYCLES.COM model painted to match), we did make a few changes. We lengthened the top tube to accommodate my monkey arms The evolution of the bikes I use for bikepacking has and carefully positioned the cages so they would clear been an interesting process. It started with a borrowed one-liter bottles. We also dropped the top tube, using more Salsa Spearfish, a cross-country, dual-suspension mountain exposed seatpost so that I could run a dropper post if I bike. After a great trip in Utah’s Wasatch range, I moved on wanted to in the future. to a Ragley TD1, a now-discontinued titanium 29er. It was We also made sure that I could use 29er mountain bike replaced by yet another Salsa, a titanium El Mariachi. So wheels as well as 27.5in. (or 650b) wheels with plus-sized, far all my bikepacking rides used a flat bar. Next up was a 3in.–wide tires. I’ve also ridden the Mosaic with 700c x custom randonneur bike by Harvey Cycle Works that had 40mm tires at several gravel events.

Road Tester Patrick O’Grady VOODOO NAKISI, VOODOOCYCLES.COM

Aristotle postulated that nature abhors a vacuum. I have deduced further that these voids attract bicycles. At the moment I count 15 in the garage and five in the house. Two are review models, but still, any more and we’ll need a bigger void. The one I reach for most often is a dusty, scarred Voodoo Nakisi. It debuted as a $399 black-and-silver chromoly frame and fork in 2009, but I didn’t get mine until a year later. Out of the box the Nakisi could be all things to all people. Rim brakes or discs, singlespeed or geared, fat tires or thin, flat bar or drop; you could even add fenders and racks if you liked. As designer Joe Murray told the blog Cycloculture in 2012: “It turned out to be a great commuter as well as a dirt-road I eventually replaced the San Marco with a Selle Italia cruiser … an all-around bike.” that didn’t keep a death grip on my shorts. Likewise I Dropbar? Yep, a wide Salsa Pro Road. I went the monster- experimented with pedals (Crank Brothers, Time ATAC) ’crosser route because I had a bunch of suitable parts and tires (Panaracer Fire Cross, WTB All Terrainasaurus) scattered around my bike shop. Garage. Whatever. That before settling on SPDs and Bruce Gordon Rock n’ Roads, handlebar, some beat-up aero brake levers, cantilever brakes, which the astronauts did not take to the moon but should a prehistoric Shimano triple crank with a steel 22-tooth have. They don’t make much noise on pavement and hook up granny ring, Ultegra rear derailer, Thomson seatpost, Selle marvelously in the Southwestern grit. San Marco saddle, pedals, and so on and so forth. Thus equipped the bike is a simple, field-repairable A few items had to be scrounged or bought — a SRAM all-terrain vehicle. It starts, goes, and stops via mechanical nine-speed road cassette and chain, XT front derailer, Dura- levers and cables. There are tubes in the tires. The only Ace bar-cons, and wheels. suspension is of disbelief.

32 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 High-performance tires for your adventures 700C 650B 26"

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ADVENTURECYCLING.ORGCompass_Adventure_Cyclist_2018_04.indd 1 4/7/18 13:5933 34 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 AN INTERVIEW WITH

STORY BY ELLEE THALHEIMER | PHOTOS BY RUGILE KALADYTE

The world of endurance cycling collectively raised its eyebrows when 27-year-old Lael Wilcox pedaled across the finish line of the 2,745-mile Tour Divide bikepacking race in June 2015. Wilcox, who tends to ride in old T-shirts and sneakers, shaved two days off the women’s record, finishing in 17 days, 1 hour, and 51 minutes. New to ultra-endurance bike racing, she has been a full-time bike traveler for seven years, working at restaurants or bike shops in between trips and calling Anchorage, Alaska, her home base. 35 But it was her 2016 overall win of the Trans Am Bike Race — 4,300 miles across 10 states in 18 days and 10 minutes — that sent shock waves through the realm of endurance sports and the bike industry. By beating every male competitor and smashing the women’s record by three days, she confounded the gender status quo in endurance sports. We thought we’d see what she’s up to after her Trans Am win so we snagged her just as she was coming off guiding long-distance off-road bike tours for Cyclist Menu in Patagonia, Arizona.

What was your experience San José del Cabo, Mexico. after you won the Trans Am, Between racing the Tour and how was it different Divide and the Trans Am, I from breaking the women’s co-pioneered the route with record of the Tour Divide? my partner at the time, Nick Basically there wasn’t much Carman. In December 2015, You cofounded a program have 18 with some graduates difference. After the Trans we rode the route, and, less called GRIT (Girls Riding coming back as mentors. We Am, I was a grouchy, dead- than a week into the trip, Into Tomorrow) in 2017. started the program because bodied, eating machine. I we knew we had to share What’s that about? it’s the kind of thing we was focused on trying to this fantastic route. The GRIT is a middle school would have loved at 12. But mentally function again. project took off that spring bicycle mentorship program there was nothing like this. At I was so sleep deprived, it because there was a huge for seventh grade girls in that age, girls are like, “Yeah, took days for my body to response to our invitation Anchorage. The program we’re going to do this!” Older remember how to rest again. for a group-ride start in facilitates bike-buddy pairing girls seem to lose that spark. I spent a little more time January 2017. We hadn’t and 15 weekly lessons (like We want to get them while pulling my bike over to do even published the route bike safety, mountain bike they’re motivated. (More random phone interviews online yet! It was just a skills, and route planning). information at anchoragegrit. with outlets like Jezebel and concept with no website. So As a capstone, we take the wordpress.com.) The Guardian, but everything that motivated us to get it girls on a self-supported, else was the same. I was on together. It took us two runs three-day ride on bike Since the TransAm, you’ve my bike again really soon to make all the connections, paths and gravel roads given away two riding after the race to ride to the map it out, and post the GPS from Anchorage to Eklutna scholarships to women. Tell Canadian border so I was tracks online. Ninety-six Lake. Cait Rodriguez and us about that. pretty disconnected. On people started that group I came up with the idea as When we were planning social media, people were ride. It’s such an incredible we were riding the group- the group start for the Baja excited, but in my own space winter riding option with start Baja Divide tour. And Divide, Nick and I thought nothing was different. great weather through Specialized agreed to sponsor it would be cool to give wide-open spaces with low the program with bikes. At someone a scholarship to What is the Baja Divide and populations. the end of a successfully do the ride — like a bike, how did it evolve? (All route information is completed program, each stipend, gear, everything. It’s a 1,700-mile dirt touring free to you with love from girl gets a bike. We had 11 And I actually just wanted route down the Baja Wilcox and Carman at girls the first year, and it went to give it to a woman Peninsula from San Diego to bajadivide.com.) really well. This year we’ll because they tend to ride

36 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 this kind of thing so much sickness and it inspired them the Silk Road Mountain less. So I organized a bunch to keep trying. Eventually, Race. It’s an unsupported MORE ABOUT LAEL of sponsors to make it after the sickness passed, 1,700-kilometer bikepacking happen. And “Lael’s Globe they got out on their bike race in Kyrgyzstan. of Adventure” Baja Divide again. People reach out with Do you listen to music Women’s Scholarship was a stories like that. People say How can we keep track while you ride? If so, what huge success: 200 applicants what I do gets them going in of you? are some of your faves? with ages ranging from 19 a good direction. When I’m racing, you can I started last spring. I’d to 67. Many women who follow me and the race on never done it before. But I applied and didn’t win rode What would you say to trackleaders.com. Otherwise, began to listen while riding the group-start Baja Divide women out there who might I’m on Instagram my fastest time on the anyway or rode the route on be interested in endurance (@laelwilcox) and I update Baja Divide. Just because I was in so much pain. their own. They just needed bikepacking? my blog (laelwilcox.com). I listen to hip hop from that extra boost. Then, in the As far as racing goes, I’m the ’90s like Notorious summer of 2017, I rode all the tired of there being separate What would the next five B.I.G. and the Fugees. And roads in Alaska (4,500 miles). categories. In endurance years look like in your country music like Dolly I wanted to show it could be races, women can be wildest dreams? Parton and Steve Earle. I done. I loved it, especially competitive with men. But I have no idea. I actually have went through a phase of stuff in the north. People say women don’t think they can plans through September, French pop from the ’50s it’s a wasteland, but riding be. If you don’t believe you which is the longest I’ve ever through the ’70s. Once above the Arctic Circle can, you won’t be able to. had plans. I downloaded 12 Mariah Carey songs. for hundreds of miles was More women are emerging, incredible. And I just stayed like Sarah Hammond in Do you have a favorite on the road system. There’s Australia who led Race to snack while racing? NO LAUREL RESTING: no development; it’s amazing. the Rock, a 2,300-kilometer No, I get so sick of eating. So I created the “Lael Rides unsupported ride from Wilcox’s timeline since Though every race I have Alaska” Women’s Scholarship Adelaide to Uluru, by 200 the Trans Am a different go-to. On for a woman to ride all the kilometers, and was the only the Trans Am I was into roads in Alaska. I don’t want person to finish it entirely. chocolate milk … it was to always be the one telling And Sarah Cooper, who Fall of 2016 kinda gross. Lately it’s been Toured the Colorado lots of chips and salsa. the stories. I want other finished eighth overall in Trail, the Vegas to Reno people telling the stories. the Race Across America. route, and a northern Baja What gets you up in the It’s good to see more women scouting mission for the morning during a race? What’s it like being a taking the overall win. People Baja Divide trail. Technically, an alarm on woman in this niche of don’t believe it’s possible my GPS with weird bird cycling that has a tiny until someone has the result. Early in 2017 chirping. Now I have PTSD minority of women? I shoot for overall win, the Group start of the Baja from that bird-chirping From a marketing overall record … which, you Divide (96 riders started ringtone. My routine was to perspective, it’s a huge know, is kind of hard. the route together in San pull myself out of my bivvy Diego), and in March rode and take three ibuprofen opportunity. I get to make up the Baja Divide’s fastest and a couple of puffs on whatever projects I want. I What’s next for you as known time — 11 days, my inhaler. Sometimes I get to give bikes away to girls far as racing? 13 hours. In 2018, Pete carry instant coffee. I shake and women. I ask brands to In summer 2018, I’ll be Bassinger beat her time by it up in a water bottle and be a part of projects, and they racing in Europe and Asia. an hour and a half. drink it cold. always say yes. Commercial I’ll head to Switzerland in brands want to be involved June for the Navad 1000, a Spring 2017 Favorite time of the day? with this work. I’ve definitely 1,000-kilometer race from First year facilitating Love the moments faced people telling me I’m Romanshorn to Montreux Anchorage GRIT, a school before sunrise. Usually program for seventh I’m already riding. When not capable. And people with 108,000 feet of grade girls to teach them the sun comes up, it’s have accused me of cheating climbing. Only two women mountain biking and incredible. because they think I can’t have competed in it, and bikepacking. ride like I do on my own only one has completed Longest day in the merits. But for the most part, it! In early August, I’ll Summer 2017 saddle? people are so inspired. do the French Divide Rode all the major roads 386 miles for the Fireweed A person wrote to me Route, a 2,170-kilometer in Alaska (4,500 miles 400 in 2014. saying that they read mostly gravel route over several trips) and about me when they were across France. Then, on organized a scholarship for Best part about crossing another woman to do the the finish line? struggling with a long August 18, I’ll squeeze in same thing. Stopping.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 37 THE RIGHT STUFF Oveja Negra Bikepacking Bags Come with a Serving of Grit and Ghosts

story and photos by Nathan Ward

stone’s throw from the rushing Arkansas River Oveja Negra was founded in 2012 by Lane and Monty in Salida, Colorado, sits an old yellowed stucco Willson, not in Salida but 60 miles north in Leadville, the A building. The architectural details and windows highest-altitude city in the U.S. (10,152 feet). It’s a gritty were covered up long ago as the building lay silent while mountain town that feels rough around the edges, endures a locals whispered about its sordid history. In its past life significant winter, supports a young group of outdoor athletes, as the Laura Evens Parlor House, the building harbored and is home to one of the most famous mountain bike races in the famed madam and her working girls as one of the last the world, the Leadville 100. It was the perfect incubator for a operating brothels in the state. bike business like Oveja Negra. When the city of Salida closed it down in 1950, the In 2010, Monty had recently returned from a three-month building slid into disuse, and no one was seen going in or bicycle tour in Patagonia, riding from Ushuaia to Bariloche out for years. Then, one day, the windows were opened, the with a loaded touring bike weighing between 80 and 100 door flung wide, and music drifted out. Stepping through pounds including food, water, and fuel. “I definitely recognized the door, all the trappings of the building’s former life were the benefits of finding a lighter way to bike tour,” said Monty. gone except for faded flowery wallpaper — no waiting room, At the same time, Lane was already sewing full time for an no ornate bar, no collections of bearskins tacked to the outdoor clothing company. “I’ve been sewing since childhood. wall. In its place was a sunlit workshop filled with whirring It was my art form,” Lane said. “My mom taught me to sew sewing machines, rolls of bright fabric, and bikepacking by hand, but I’d sneak the sewing machine out of the closet bags stacked in piles. The old cathouse was reborn as the when she wasn’t home. When I went away to school, I stole new manufacturing home of Oveja Negra bikepacking bags the machine, and my mom didn’t even notice it was gone.” In (ovejanegrabikepacking.com). college, Lane discovered she possessed a love for sewing and The scene still feels eclectic — a deer head adorns a wall put it to use making clothes, repairs, alterations, and fun things near a reclining mannequin in sequins, music pumps through like full-size dancing bear costumes for Grateful Dead shows. the room, the hot water kettle is flanked by herbal tea and After their eyes met across the room at a Cinco de Mayo whiskey, a new mountain bike frame hangs half-built in the party, Monty and Lane fell in love, moved in together, and corner, and bike bags lie everywhere. They’re sorted by type soon put their sociology and history degrees to use making in boxes and lined up in an orderly fashion in various stages bike bags. Lane was a seamstress who wanted to mountain of construction. Fit-looking people are sewing fast, laughing, bike. Monty was a cyclist who wanted to sew. It was a perfect and chatting. It feels like a fun place to work. synthesis of personality, place, and project.

38 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 “We found our first industrial sewing over manufacturers who produce large machine for sale online for $200,” said Monty. quantities overseas. “We fix problems almost “It was a super deal.” They set up shop on the immediately,” said Monty. “And we constantly kitchen table and started stitching. They first evolve the products to make the best bags created a full framebag, then top tube bags. we can.” This fluid workflow may be crucial “We got busy immediately. At the time, the to their long-term success now that many few companies making bikepacking bags were companies have moved into the bikepacking getting out of business so people couldn’t even space, creating lots of competition. Although get bags,” Monty said. the market has changed, it’s also now bigger and In 2013, they expanded into a 250-square- busier. Bikepacking is no longer as niche and foot shop outside the house but still kept the obscure as it was just a few years ago. “It would kitchen workshop going. After the brutal be much harder to get into this business today, winter of 2012–13 when snowfall smothered compared to when we started,” Monty said. Leadville, growing so deep the snow covered While Monty obsesses about perfecting the first-story windows of their house, Lane the designs and production process, Lane’s and Monty decided to move Oveja Negra overflowing energy certainly fuels the stoke south. “We love Leadville,” said Lane, “but around Oveja Negra. “Whether they want a we had an infant by then, and it was just too simple snack pack or a full setup to bikepack much.” They chose the sun, warmer weather, all the way across Europe, we’ve got it and weaker winters of Salida, a few miles south covered,” said Lane. “We love our cyclists and but still in the upper Arkansas River valley. love hearing about all their travels. We’re Oveja Negra continued to grow as they happy helping people get into nature and upgraded to bigger and bigger workshops, adventure to enjoy life more.” culminating in the 2,000-square-foot former Their bags have been strapped to bikes parlor house. Lane runs the finances, day- pedaled to all corners of planet Earth over the to-day operations, employees, and customer last six years. “We’ve received lots of letters relations. Monty focuses on design changes and love from our customers out on the road,” and new bags, marketing, and maintaining said Lane. They try to bring the adventure their fleet of industrial sewing machines. home to the shop too. “Last year one of our “Even though I don’t sew many days now, I still employees, rode the American Trail Race, and totally geek out on the sewing machines,” said it was so cool because the route came through Monty. “We love this work!” Lane said. “We Salida,” said Lane. don’t leave the work behind when we leave the In addition to their current line of shop. It’s all-encompassing.” bikepacking bags, Oveja Negra has several Lane and Monty are just the kind of new “secret” bags in the works. Recently they people you hope move to your town. They’re started selling a rolltop backpack and the energetic, friendly, and glow with positive Bootlegger, a direct-mount fork bag. They also energy. Businesses like Oveja Negra provide introduced Wack Packs, wildly colorful bags exactly the kind of growth mountain towns made from fabric scraps. like Salida need. Bikepacking bags provide As a cyclist, it’s fun to join in the positive jobs for skilled workers and a living wage in energy and vision of Oveja Negra. Everyone an area where prices are skyrocketing and seems stoked. Recently Lane and some of the hands-on jobs, other than construction, are sewing crew were reading a book by writer hard to find. “We like being able to employ Tracy Beach that detailed the life of Madam people in a small, rural community that lacks Laura Evens. “We had a few spooky moments manufacturing jobs,” said Monty. Today Oveja here so we figured we needed to learn about Negra employs 10 people in addition to Lane the girls who worked here,” said Lane, and Monty, six part time and four full time. opening her eyes wide. What spooked them? In addition to providing jobs, Oveja “Oh, some of us have had ghostly hugs while Negra strives to be a responsible business. working, feelings that arms are wrapping Approximately 90 percent of their materials around us, and one of the old working girls is sourced in the U.S. Local and small also keeps locking the front door while we are means Oveja Negra stays nimble. “We’re small here working, just a few feet away.” enough that we can change colors and make Monty and Lane continue to bike tour new products quickly,” said Monty, “because when they can get away from their business, everything is made here.” and Monty recently bikepacked 500-plus This ability to create, move, and improve miles on the Idaho Hot Springs Route. bikepacking bags swiftly gives them an edge CONTINUED ON PAGE 49

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 39 lenn Schneider and Andrew College in Bronxville, New York, who St. Paul grew up together on wrote and taught extensively about living Bringing GChicago’s South Side, riding their out your dreams in a “hero’s journey.” bikes even into high school, exploring “Follow your bliss and the universe farther and farther until after graduation will open doors for you where there were the they took a trip together to Chain O’ only walls,” Campbell is famously quoted Lakes State Park, about 65 miles north of as saying. Chicago in Spring Grove, Illinois. All the talk of heroes and journeys Adventure “Andrew’s family had a trailer up there,” and bliss led Schneider to plan a gigantic Schneider remembered. “It was just odyssey after grad school. He bought a beautiful prairie and wetlands, a great state one-way ticket to Alaska in 2012 and didn’t park as far as Illinois goes.” return home for three years. Home Schneider and St. Paul, now both Schneider spent the summer salmon 33 years old, were naïve in the ways of fishing in Alaska to save up some money, bicycle touring then and figured they’d then headed south, hitchhiking, taking to Sweet Home Chicago reach the park by lunch. They brought a buses and trains, and fitting in a 400- can of tuna and a granola bar along for the mile ride along the West Coast. He ride. The distance to the trailer ended up spent a month camping alone in Sequoia being 100 miles. National Park in California’s Sierra “We had no idea what we were doing,” Nevada Mountains. Schneider said. “That was quite a profound experience,” The two friends arrived at the he said. trailer bonked, spent, and exhausted — Meanwhile, St. Paul was back in Chicago, but undaunted. dreaming of joining Schneider. The two “It was an amazing adventure, for flew to Colombia, where Schneider began sure,” Schneider said. “We were really teaching English in Bogotá between stints STORY BY DAN D’AMBROSIO proud of ourselves.” of traveling the coast. St. Paul continued on After Chain O’ Lakes, Schneider and St. to Patagonia, where he became involved in PHOTOS BY ANDREW ST. PAUL Paul continued to cycle through college cattle ranching. and grad school, taking a camping trip or After years away, the two returned to two “here and there,” Schneider said. Chicago at about the same time, having spent In grad school studying literature, about a year of their time abroad together. Schneider was writing a thesis on the “We were born and raised in Chicago; nature of the hero in mythology, drawing this is where our roots are,” Schneider said. from the work of Joseph Campbell and “As much as I love the Andes and Sequoia others. Campbell, who died in 1987, was a National Park and Alaska, this is where the professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence most important people in my life are.”

40 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 “There’s always an adventure out our front door.”

More than boring cornfields an earlier attempt to put together a coordinator, is the perfect example weeklong 500-mile loop. of someone who found what he was Both St. Paul and Schneider returned “A lot of retired people came to do looking for in the organization. to Chicago in early 2015. They both that loop,” he said. “Younger people Trebotich, also 33, said he spent wanted to keep the adventure going, can’t justify a week off and spending it a lot of time in his “younger days” in transferring the mentality of being on at home. When they take vacation, they college and high school working on the open road back home to Chicago. want to go somewhere.” bikes, and taking bike tours in the UK, “It’s easy to say Chicago is a To support his efforts, St. Paul used Morocco, and “all kinds of cool places.” beautiful, amazing metropolis the success of the North Loop Ride to After moving to Mexico for surrounded by boring cornfields,” found a new organization called Out graduate school, he returned Schneider said. “We’re trying to break Our Front Door (outourfrontdoor. to Chicago in 2011 to work for that down.” org), with the stated mission to Greenheart Exchange, a nonprofit that As St. Paul soon discovered, that “immerse, educate, and preserve the facilitates cultural exchange programs wouldn’t be so easy. First, there was history, culture, and native habitats of around the world. the problem of busy lives. St. Paul still the Lower Lake Michigan Basin Area After a four-year absence, wasn’t working full time, but his friends by bike.” Trebotich got back into bike touring were. When he proposed a monthlong, Again Schneider was the first to in 2016, planning a solo trip in or even weeklong, trip, the answer was, join Out Our Front Door. Today the Wisconsin around Lake Superior. In a “Maybe next year.” organization has 15 volunteer staff. construction zone in Mackinaw City, Then St. Paul discovered to his St. Paul is founder, president, and Michigan, he was knocked off his bike dismay that there were no good CEO, and Schneider is founder, vice by an RV, breaking his elbow and wrist. resources online for cycling trips in the president, and youth program director. After getting back home with the Chicago area. In 2018 there will be 14 different help of a couple he had met near “For the Chicago region, the only two- and three-day guided rides offered Traverse City, Michigan, Trebotich thing was a two-day tour, out and back,” by Out Our Front Door. decided he was done with solo touring. he said. “I like seeing different scenery “There’s always an adventure out He began going to BFF Bikes, a on my second day.” our front door — that’s where the name neighborhood bike shop in Chicago Using Google Maps and paper maps, comes from,” Schneider said. where there were presentations on St. Paul began putting together weekend St. Paul and Schneider saw it as their various cycling topics. Trebotich says trips that his friends could manage. responsibility to bring back to Chicago at one of those events he “bashfully” Schneider was the first to sign up. the spirit of adventure and discovery raised his hand and asked if there were “He’s my go-to guy,” St. Paul said. they had found in their time away, any meet-up groups to organize rides The North Loop Ride, to Chain O’ and to show their fellow Chicagoans in the area. Lakes State Park and back, was one of that they don’t have to travel to far-off “Glenn and Andrew were there. the first rides St. Paul put together. It’s a places to experience adventure. They said, ‘Hell yeah, you can ride challenging, two-day, 190-mile loop that with us,’” Trebotich said. takes riders through two state parks, You can ride with us “I hopped on and started riding along the shore of Lake Michigan, and with them,” Trebotich said. “Before back through many small Illinois towns Kyle Trebotich, who volunteers long, I was hooked. I started before returning to the metropolis. for Out Our Front Door as a field volunteering with them.” St. Paul had learned his lesson from guide and travel-abroad program CONTINUED ON PAGE 48

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 41 Legacy Profile

Andrew Broan BY APRIL CYPHER

The tour continues for this leader

➺ANDREW BROAN IS ONE OF THE trip with his then-partner Fred. While LUCKY ONES — he gets paid to ride researching routes across the U.S., his bike. And while you won’t see him Broan discovered Adventure Cycling jockeying for position in the Tour de and the Southern Tier Route. France, you might find him leading “Riding the Southern Tier Route groups along some of world’s best made me realize how exotic my native cycling roads. As a tour leader, Broan land can be,” said Broan, who now travels the globe, mostly by bicycle, makes his home in Tucson, Arizona. while introducing local cultures and Lucky for armchair travelers, Fred cuisines to his guests (and changing insisted they bring a laptop “the size their flats). of a small refrigerator” in Broan’s Broan’s first bicycle tour was a far words, and together they chronicled cry from the plush trips he leads now. their travels in what was likely one of When he graduated from high school, the original cycling blogs, BikeBrats his parents gifted him a cycling tour (bikebrats.com, tagline: “around the of England and France. His fellow world with two pairs of underwear”). RICH HOYER RICH riders were other teenagers, and the With varying proficiencies in 10 “CYCLING HAS leaders were college students. languages, a glut of mechanical skills, “The trip was very loosely and an easygoing attitude, Broan has BEEN A HUGE PART structured,” said Broan. “We were no problems finding willing traveling OF MY LIFE. I AM given maps and instructions to meet companions. He has led tours with somewhere at the end of every day.” HE Travel in dozens of countries ALWAYS HAPPIEST Accommodations consisted of “behind from Morocco to Mexico over the the bar” or “someone’s yard.” past 20 years. In 2015, he brought his ON THE SADDLE OF The bare-bones trip launched his son Caspar, his goddaughter Octavia, love of bicycle travel and boosted his and Octavia’s dad Max to southern A BICYCLE.” confidence for navigating foreign India for a bicycle tour. lands. When his Yale classmates “Having traveled extensively in India graduated and started jobs on Wall before, I was expecting all kinds of Street, Broan packed his panniers hassles, but everything went amazingly for Paris. For the next eight years, smooth, and we had a blast. Every day he worked various jobs including is an adventure in India, with surprises teaching English and, eventually, around every corner. The best part leading bicycle tours around France. for me was that it almost certainly He returned to the U.S., but within converted the kids into lifelong cycling three years he was packing again, this adventurers,” said Broan. time for a two-year, around-the-world Broan does in a year what would

42 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 take a lifetime of bicycle travel for most people. For his 55th birthday recently, he rode solo up the Brazilian coast from Rio de Janeiro to Vitoria. He paused long enough on a recent tour of Belgium legacy society and France to do this interview, and by the time it’s published, he’ll have led a walking tour in Peru with a few days tacked on for mountain biking. Adventure Cycling’s Legacy Society is a group of bike “Cycling has been a huge part of my life,” Broan travel enthusiasts who have committed to ensuring a rich said. “It’s put me in contact with many of my and lasting future for bike travel. closest friends, been the basis for a job I’ve held for over 20 years, and it takes up a huge chunk of If you would like to become a part of the legacy of my time. I am always happiest on the saddle of a inspiring and empowering people to travel by bicycle, bicycle.” consider making Adventure Cycling a beneficiary in your After 20 years as an Adventure Cycling member, will or estate plans. Your gift will help build a permanent Broan became a Life Member and, more recently, source of support that will keep Adventure Cycling’s a Legacy Society Member by naming Adventure mission alive and strong into the future. Cycling in his will. “As a fervent believer and advocate of bicycle travel, it seemed a fitting If you have already included Adventure Cycling in your bequest,” he said. will or other estate plans, please let us know so that we As for future adventures, Broan would like can thank you. If you would like more information, please to ride the TransAm with Caspar, ride Route contact Annette Stahelin, at astahelin@adventurecycling. 66 for his 66th, and, at some point, pedal from org or call at 406.532.2775. his doorstep in Tucson to Panama and onwards through South America.

April Cypher is Adventure Cycling’s Development Coordinator. She’ll ride with the Adventure Cycling Glacier-Waterton tour in August where she doubts she’ll hear the two common phrases uttered at Andrew and Fred on the Southern Tier: “Y’all crazy,” and “How y’all payin’ for this?”

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 43 RATE: Marketplace ads start at $195 per issue. For rate information, please contact Marketplace Rick Bruner. Phone/fax: 509.493.4930, email: [email protected].

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46 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018

september 29, 2018

HELPING MAKE GOOD RIDERS BETTER SINCE VACATION BICYCLING Treat yourself to a fun, 1981 Join Transcontinental Record Holders beautiful and unforgettable 7-day bicycle tour! bikeyourparkday.org Lon Haldeman & Susan Notorangelo for your The Florida Keys & Key West $1599; “Downhill” cycling adventures. Offering tours from 7 day Colorado $1599; Alaska $1699;Jackson Hole $1599; training camps to coast to coast tours. New 32 day Charleston & Savannah $1599; Bryce & Zion, Utah Northern Transcontinental from Everett, WA to $1599; Acadia, Maine $1599; Maui, Hawaii $1699; Portsmouth, NH. Guided tours of Route 66 and and Arizona Sonoran Desert $1599. Come join us! mission tours in Peru. Full support, motels, gear Trips are fully supported including hotels, food & shuttle and most meals. See our website for new SAG. Celebrating our 11th year Anniversary. 706- tours and other regional adventures. PAC Tour 363-0341 or 800-490-2173 vacationbicycling.com pactour.com 262-736-2453 CROSSROADS CYCLING ADVENTURES RegisteR for WOMEN ONLY BIKE TOURS For all ages and Los Angeles to Boston or anyplace in between. abilities. Fully supported, inn-to-inn, bike path & Small groups, personal attention, business-class a chance to road tours. Cross-country, National Parks, Europe hotels and meals. Luggage delivered to your & more. Bicycle workshops, wine tasting, yoga. Call hotel room and A/C turned on before you arrive! WIN a bike and for free catalog. 800-247-1444, womantours.com GPS Files, extensive pre-trip support including training plan, weekly newsletters, rider/staff amtrak trip! SAN JUAN ISLANDS & VICTORIA BC CANADA email introductions and telephone consultations. HOTEL TOUR 2018 San Juan Islands & Victoria (800) 971-2453 crossroadscycling.com Canada await! Shoreline routes with spectacular views, flowers everywhere, outstanding bakeries SOCKEYE CYCLE CO. Alaska Bicycle Tours, & waterside restaurants. Ferries gliding through Rentals, Sales, Service. Established in 1988, we calm undisturbed waters. Seven days of cycling specialize in guided bicycle tours of Alaska’s heaven in the Pacific Northwest with 3 nights Southeast panhandle and remote areas of Canada’s stationed on San Juan Island & 3 nights in Northwest British Columbia and the Yukon Victoria British Columbia Canada! Fully Territory. Whether you take a day tour or one of supported by Pedal Across Wisconsin—since 1985. our extended trips, our experienced guide staff will August 23-29 2018. sanjuanislandsbiketour.com escort you on an unforgettable adventure through 847-309-4740 Ken: [email protected] the northern wilderness. POB 829, 24 Portage St. Haines, AK 99827-0829, TF 877-292-4154, 907-766- CAROLINA TAILWINDS Flatter destinations 2869, Fax 907-766-2851, 381 Fifth Ave. Skagway, AK include Florida, Charleston, Outer Banks, (May - Sept) 907-983-2851. cyclealaska.com Colonial Virginia and Door County. Hillier tours include Adirondacks/Vermont, Finger Lakes, CYCLE NORTH CAROLINA COASTAL RIDE Virginia Blue Ridge, Tennessee, and Madison. (April 26-28, 2019) Edenton, NC — Enjoy unique All feature luxurious lodging, attentive route waterfront camping and 3 days of cycling on scenic support, and outstanding local cuisine. Rent country roads in Coastal North Carolina. Various a high quality bicycle from us or bring your mileage options for all skill levels from easy family own. Meticulously planned itineraries allow to challenging century. Additional lodging options you to savor the cycling. Browse our tours: are available. Fully supported with SAG support carolinatailwinds.com 888-251-3206 and rest stops. [email protected] ncsports.org

CYCLE AMERICA Enjoy a fully supported CHARLESTON BICYCLE TOURS Come and cycling vacation this summer. Ride Seattle to experience four of the South’s best rides Boston on an epic Coast-to-Coast tour or explore and enjoy guilt-free, gourmet meals. Choose America’s treasures on our series of National Charleston and Savannah, the Golden Isles Park trips. First-Rate Support, Great Routes and of Georgia, Asheville and the Blue Ridge Good Friends! Let Us Help You Plan Your Next Mountains, or the Everglades and the Florida Fun and Affordable Adventure. 800-245-3263. Keys. Van–supported tours, luxury Inns, fun, BIKE YOUR PARK DAY cycleamerica.com small groups with hospitable owners/guides. 800-408-1830. charlestonbicycletours.com september 29, 2018 THE GREAT ALLEGHENY PASSAGE AND C&O CANAL 335 of flat out gorgeous trail...Pittsburgh KOOTENAY CYCLING ADVENTURES bikeyourparkday.org to DC...custom or group tours...16 years’ Cycle British Columbia’s spectacular West experience...B&Bs, inn’s, hotels, excellent meals, Kootenays! Fully supported 3 day tour of luggage shuttle, shuttle of people, gear and bikes, the iconic Silver Triangle features heritage vehicle shuttle, great attractions and sightseeing towns, charming inns, and delicious local along the way...call Trail Gail at 301-722-4887 or cuisine. Quiet waterfront and mountain roads 240-727-7039 or mountainsidebiketours.us with stunning scenery. High quality bicycles “You Pedal, We Pamper” available to rent. Custom tours available. kootenaycyclingadventures.com 250-354-8550

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 47 They both have no shortage draw from riding with these guys,” of enthusiasm for the land Trebotich said. they’re in, both born and St. Paul and Schneider are in the bred South Side Chicagoans.” process of trying to establish the Trebotich said the typical organization as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group he leads is made up so they can raise money and take of riders in their mid-20s donations. St. Paul has a vision of to early 40s, although he establishing a permanent location for has had a few riders in their Out Our Front Door with a hostel, 70s who tell stories of their greenhouse, coffee shop, and tune-up younger days bike touring stand for bikes. He believes that over all over Europe. The older the next five years, he’ll get there. riders find Out Our Front Out Our Front Door was Door to be an “inclusive way recently invited to join a coalition to get back in the saddle,” of 15 organizations looking to CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41 according to Trebotich. improve bicycling conditions in BRINGING THE ADVENTURE HOME “The whole attitude of Out Our Chicago and greater Chicagoland, as Echoing the lessons Schneider and Front Door is to make sure folks are the area is known. St. Paul had learned on their travels, comfortable,” he said. “We ride 12 to “We have a real active voice, Trebotich said Chicagoans tend to think 15 miles per hour. If you can’t have a we’re not just sitting around a table they need to travel to places like Zion conversation, you’re going too fast.” complaining,” St. Paul said. “We’re National Park in Utah to experience the Prices for the tours are reasonable able to provide input and make things adventure and beauty of nature. and include dinner and breakfast as well happen. I find that to be very fulfilling “But there’s a lot of beauty in the as any fees for transportation like trains for the organization, and myself.” prairie,” Trebotich said. “Glenn and and ferries, if required. The North Loop Andrew like to put that in front of Ride, for example, costs $100. Dan D’Ambrosio is a contributing writer for folks. Andrew knows more about “Get out there and enjoy the Adventure Cyclist magazine. ecology than anyone I’ve ever met. sunshine — that’s the feeling I

ORTLIEBUSA.COM

48 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39 THE RIGHT STUFF Currently 40 to 50 bike shops carry Oveja Negra bags. “Cycles of Life in Leadville was the first shop to carry our bags,” said Lane. “Subculture Cyclery just down the block in Salida was the second.” For the most fun experience, visit their shop in person, rock out, and enjoy an herbal tea or an after-hours whiskey. You might even be lucky enough to get a ghostly hug to go along with your new bikepacking setup.

Nathan Ward is a writer/photographer/filmmaker who first wrote for Adventure Cyclist over 20 years ago. He got into bikepacking before there were bags, just bungee cords and drybags. Today he has a child so he tours with the most gear and shortest days possible. nathanward.com

Special Jones magic… Available; framesets, rolling chassis, and custom built-to-order bicycles. UNICROWNS Jones bicycles are great for DO EXIST! dirt, road, gravel, touring… THE JONES UNICROWN FORK The Jones Truss fork is the finest Versions available for the LWB PLUS, SWB PLUS and original Jones 29 fork available but a unicrown fork, 451/76mm & 435/55mm

done right, is a great option and Six bosses each side the Jones Unicrown is making provide really versatile mounting options; racks, a welcome return. Perfectly fenders, cages, etc. paired with a Jones frame (for Fork legs are custom both the SWB and LWB PLUS) butted and tapered it costs less, makes packing Heat-treated 4130 (and air travel) easier and with Cromoly Steel the new multi-boss system it For 150mm Thru-Axle gives you so many options too; Jones custom IS disc tab low rider rack, standard or ‘3- Jones custom CNC bolt’ cages, fenders, front racks machined dropouts etc, etc. Versatile and practical and Brazed bosses still the wonderful Jones Geometry. Steel Diamond LWB PLUS with black steel unicrown fork – can be One piece fitted with fenders, low-rider rack and machined The high-performance bicycle standard bottle cage and ‘3-bolt’ cage steerer tube

And there’s the Jones Loop H-Bar ™ Ample space for bags, The H-Bar is the perfect upgrade for a drop, flat, or riser bar on lights, GPS’s, etc. a road, touring, or mountain bike. It gives you the hand and 45° sweep for natural hand positions body positions to ride better, longer, and more comfortably. Note: H-grips, tape (and controls) Fits standard flat Double Butted and Straight Gauge – new 2.5” rise version available! not included with bars (but crucial). bar controls

Jones Bikes.com INSTAGRAM INSTAGRAM Est. 2002

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 49 Jones_AdventureCyclist_AUG-SEP_issue_Ad_v2.indd 8 31/05/2018 20:11 Companions Wanted Providing partners for tours, domestic and abroad, since 1978

AQUARIUM RIDE 2019 Looking for riding GDMBR 2018 I arrive in Banff the afternoon NATCHEZ TRACE I am looking for partners to partner(s) for a self-supported, low-budget bicycle of August 4 and plan on hitting the trail ride the Natchez Trace from the end of September tour from San Francisco to Boston departing in August 6. I’m a 56-year-old dude with some to October 10, 2018. I am considering doing an inn- April or May 2019. 50–75 miles per day with rest backpacking experience, but this will be my to-inn tour, but I could do a self-contained camping days here and there staying at campgrounds, youth first bikepacking adventure. I prefer to camp trip as well. I am 68, married, a retired school hostels, Warmshowers, inexpensive hotels, and and cook when possible, but after two months administrator, and have been cycling for about five some friends’ and relatives’ houses. I’d like to have on the road, we’ll see how that works out. I years. I have an outline for an 8- to 10-day trip riding a conversation with people across America about break camp early and hope to ride 6+ hours 40 to 45 miles per day. [email protected] our country, our oceans, our kids, and reducing a day. Again, we’ll see how that works out. plastic & CO2 pollution. [email protected] [email protected] FINISHING THE DIVIDE RIDE Celebrating retirement by finishing the GDMBR. Got to MODIFIED NORTHERN TIER 2019 A 4,600- MONTANA TO COLORADO Planning my first Steamboat Springs last year and aiming to finish mile, coast-to-coast bike tour starting in Glen Rock, tour as I can only escape work for about 15 days. the ride this summer. Starting from Steamboat New Jersey, and ending west of Olympic National Bozeman, Montana, to Florence, Colorado. I on August 13. At 65 years old (male), I have a Park. Averaging 40–70 miles a day with generally am a tourist, not a Speedy Gonzales. This will steady touring (not racing) pace aiming for one rest day a week (depending on terrain) and be a self-supported trip using the generosity 35–50 miles a day, all dependent on conditions a very heavy reliance on campgrounds, stealth of Warmshowers as well as good ol’ camping. of me and the weather. Want to enjoy the ride camping, and Warmshowers hosts for sleeping Always forward, forward always! P.S. the date with like-minded companions. Camping with accommodations. Full route here: ridewithgps. hasn’t been set, waiting for my vacation roster. occasional stays indoors and rest days as required. com/routes/16408165 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

AMERICA’S NATIONAL PARKS 2019 I LATE SUMMER START My name is Tricia, I’m NIAGARA FALLS I plan to ride from Hatfield, am a male bike tourist, 21, looking to ride a 28 years old, and I currently live in Southern Pennsylvania, to Harrisburg, then to Niagara custom route across America over 4,000 miles California. I’m looking for a companion or two Falls and back home in Hatfield between in the summer of 2019 beginning in the first to join me in mid-August 2018. Due to other August 22 to October 15. I’m a 60-year-old male. week of June. The trip will begin in Westport, obligations, this is the soonest I can start. Whether I have companions or not, I’ll still go. Washington, and conclude on Emerald Isle, I’m considering the Pacific Coast route or [email protected] North Carolina. We will be camping most of the Southern Tier route, however I’m not too sure time with a few stops at hotels to clean up. I am if the conditions are too harsh for that time of DANUBE RIVER 70-year-old fit male looking for looking for similarly aged group or partner to join year, specifically the desert heat. I’m open to a cycling partner to join me on the Danube River me on this grand bike tour across the country for suggestions and routes. [email protected] cycle trail from the source in southern Germany to 60–65 days over 4,000 miles. Vienna and Budapest. The dates are about August [email protected] FLORIDA KEYS 2018 Self-supported, self- 7 to 30. It is a relatively easy dedicated paved cycle reliant riders are invited to join me for a six-day trail. Planning to stay in B&Bs and small hotels. PUGLIA, ITALY, OCTOBER 2018 63-year-old tour of the beautiful Florida Keys. Total mileage [email protected] Canadian male, married, bike fit, with interests will be 276 miles. This is NOT a commercial in cultural history seeks like-minded people tour and SAG support is not available. I tour the Adventure Cycling Association assumes, but can- for a one- to two-week (maybe three-week?) Florida Keys often (my 35th tour), and several not verify, that the persons above are truthfully ride in and around the heel of Italy, sometime times a year I invite a limited number of riders representing themselves. Ads are free to Adventure in October. Preference is for moderate climbs to join me. All riders must accept my riders’ Cycling members. You can see more ads and post ranging between 40–70 kilometers (25–45 expectations. Ride dates are October 26 to them at adventurecycling.org/adventure-cyclist/ miles) per day and hotel accommodation. November 2, 2018. [email protected] companions-wanted or send them to Adventure [email protected] Cyclist, P.O. Box 8308, Missoula, MT 59807.

50 ADVENTURE CYCLIST augu s t/sep t ember 2018 Open Road Gallery

No. 516 3

TransAm, Two Ways

PHOTOGRAPH BY MAXTON CAPLANIDES STORY BY GAGE POORE

➺ ON JUNE 20, 2017, EVAN DEUTSCH, A 43-YEAR-OLD PHYSICIAN FROM PORTLAND, OREGON, finished first in the Trans Am Bike Race. He did it in 17 days and 9 hours, averaging well over 300 miles (and one map section) per day, breaking Mike Hall’s previous race record. “I have had great experiences racing the Trans Am each of the last three years,” Evan wrote. “This year I set my sights on breaking the prior course record and was fortunate enough to accomplish my goal. During the race I had a lot of time to think about my dad and how much he has influenced me. He bought me my first race bike and we took a yearly cycling trip together until recently as his health became a limiting factor.” When Evan visited the Adventure Cycling headquarters a few months later on September 13th, he was on a much different tour of the TransAm Trail. Having done what takes most touring cyclists two or three months in less than 18 days, Evan and his father, Todd Deutsch, were driving the TransAm heading eastward, riding each day as much or as little as they pleased. Evan wrote, “We are having a great time taking in the sights and meeting great people along the route. He is riding strong at age 79 and making me proud with his effort. Most importantly, we are slowing down and simply enjoying the time together.”

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

Grab Your Bike & GO! Summer’s here now but will soon be gone. Squeeze out the last bits of fun and sun with a fall tour!

Details and registration at: adventurecycling.org/toursbook or call 800.755.2453