The Everglades

The Everglades

Our ride ended after a late night arrival from Key West to Fort Myers on the “booze cruise” high speed ferry. We picked up a mini-van in which we could roll the bikes so we could roll much more rapidly from Fort Myers to Everglades City. The elusive allure of the Everglades eluded us. Still, the Everglades are one of world’s largest swamps, very important as a giant water filtration system and a habitat for birds, fish, alligators, and smaller creatures.

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    Lewis
Key Largo

Key Largo

The ride from Homestead to Key Largo begins on the causeway supporting US 1—the only way to the Keys. This is a black, asphalt strip with a wide and safe enough shoulder for us to ride on. But, it was long and hot with no places to stop until you reach Key Largo. There Chef Joe’s foodtruck greeted us and a more welcoming stop there never was. Not sure the giant spiny lobster you see above was on Key Largo or further along our journey, but if the lobster fits, wear it.

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    Lewis

Homestead

We rode the one paved, often broken, curvaceous bike trail from downtown Miami 20 miles to Homestead. In Miami, the trail is under the elevated commuter rail. From Miami it winds through the suburbs, including Coral Gables, home of the University of Miami. Before we reached Coral Gables we stopped at the extraordinary Mack Cycle and Fitness. We come from Seattle where there are some nice bike shops. But, none carry the amount of physically present inventory, across the price spectrum, of Mack’s.

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    Lewis
Miami and the Fabulous Fountainebleau

Miami and the Fabulous Fountainebleau

Wow, the sun does shine in Florida. We finally got the sunny, warm riding day we’d always dreamed of. With the wind at our backs we flew into Miami, through Hollywood Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and onto Collins Avenue. On Collins Avenue shoreside nature gives way to 6 lanes of traffic jams, skyscraper condos, and fancy-brands shopping–ah, paradise (lost). Here we are at the faaaabulous Fountainebleau with all of the beautiful people.

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    Lewis

(Not) Navy Seals

We are so not Navy Seals. We visited the National Navy UDT-Seal Museum. We learned that real Navy Seals are incredibly tough, well-trained, courageous, patriotic, and dedicated to each of their team members. They truly leave no one behind. The stories in the Presidential Medal of Honor commendations are harrowing for both those who survived and those who died. In addition to the history of the Seals’ predecessors, the Underwater Demolition Teams, and the Seals, there is a lot of cool stuff:

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    Lewis

Eat the Local Catch

It always pays to eat local and eat the local catch. In Florida, the local catch includes grouper, wahoo, and shrimp. You can have them all fried, grilled, or blackened. You can have them presented in salads, sandwiches, tacos, and platters. Emmy’s favorite is blackened en taco. Lewis’ favorite is grilled sandwich or blackened platter. This fine establishment is on Butler Beach: This popular watering hole is The Inlet Grill right on Pierce Inlet:

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    Lewis
Breezy Day One

Breezy Day One

Today was our send-off on day one after spending 3 days with best hostess Prudy, affectionately known as “Granny P,” and her trusty and ever-present sidekick, Lulu. We did a short test ride to make sure everything was tip-top after jack-of-few-trades and simulated bicycle mechanic Lewis re-assembled the bikes, which had arrived a week earlier courtesy of Bikeflights.com and Fedex. The ride on the Amelia Island Bike Path is stunning, winding its way through forests of tangled Live Oak, dripping with Spanish Moss—see above (though with little Spanish Moss in evidence—but “trust me”).

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    Lewis

Bike Shops Across America

Early on I passed up most bike shops. We had what we needed. Then, the quest for the perfect seat began; I needed more spare tubes and patch kits, and the great rim tape fiasco began and was resolved. Saw a lot of bike shops: White Fish, Montana Glacier Cyclery Great people. Bought electrolyte solution. Wanted more; couldn’t justify. Sportsman & Ski Haus Bought a Specialized e-bike for Emmy so she could join the ride and some tubes.

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    Lewis

Equipment #Fail

Some people care a lot about equipment. I certainly like equipment. And I did ride a bike across America; but let’s not talk about that because a lot of road bikes and mountain bikes would work just as well. Let’s talk about things that worked and didn’t work to make the ride successful. First, what didn’t work: Saddles First, saddles and butt pain. I had no problems with seats for my training rides, which were mostly 30-40 miles with 3-4 50 mile rides in the final 2 weeks.

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    Lewis

Eat Local

Well, I know the buy local, eat local, be local movement is a big thing for various people. I’ve been a bit less rigorous about this–I’d like to have one of those mini-tangerine things and they don’t grow near me. Import one and I’ll have it. Now experience has now taught me that if I want something good, it pays to go to the place that is owned and run by someone in town rather than the nearest outlet of a national franchise (spoiler alert: possible exception below).

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    Lewis

Across Minnesota (say "Minna-soa'-ta")

Minnesota might be the only state that can attract cyclists for tourism with over 100 miles of paved cycling trails. We did 70 miles on parts of the Heartland Trail and the Paul Bunyan Trail. And there is coffee… Minnesota claims Paul Bunyan DayTownDistanceRiding TimeElevation GainAvg. Speed31Two Inlets, MN88.8 miles6:55 hours2,373 feet12.8 mph32Walker, MN42.2 miles3:22 hours:min1,021 feet12.5 mph33Rest Day————34Nisswa, MN52.1 miles4:13 hours1,288 feet12.3 mph35Little Falls, MN57.8 miles4:34 hours988 feet12.7 mph36Milaca, MN60.

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    Lewis

Across North Dakota

North Dakota was a surprise to our geographic bubble: not flat; not dry; not treeless (as in, there are trees). Industrial scale agriculture. Nice, fine people. Badlands in ND near Theodore Roosevelt National Park DayTownDistanceRiding TimeElevation GainAvg. Speed26Medora, ND63.5 miles5:34 hours2,586 feet11.4 mph27Bismarck, ND68 miles6:29 hours:min2,067 feet10.5 mph28Napoleon, ND68.4 miles5:18 hours2,218 feet12.9 mph29Clausen Springs, ND94.2 miles7:16 hours2,247 feet13 mph30Fargo, ND82.7 miles6:31 hours1104 feet12.7 mphTime for more full disclosure. Medora to Bismarck is actually about 128 miles.

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    Lewis

Great Rivers

We have had a chance to see many major rivers and ride along most of them. Here are some mighty rivers in no particular order except my misty recollections: Skykomish, Wenatchee, Okanagan, Columbia, Kootenai, McDonald, Yellowstone, Mississippi, St. Croix. And the not so mighty: Milk, Rum. It is an impressive thing to see parts of these rivers in their free-running state. It is less stirring, but still something to contemplate, to see the the vast expanse of the reservoirs behind the dams of others of them.

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    Lewis

Curves, trees, and coffee ...ah, paradise

We’ve entered Minnesota from North Dakota. North Dakota was fascinating–not flat, more trees than Montana, very serious industrial scale agriculture, and sincerely nice and polite people everywhere. One fellow cut me off by entering the right-hand lane–where I was–making a left turn. He stopped; backed up; and profusely apologized saying that he drove that route nearly every morning and never encountered a car, let alone a bicycle, on the turn. He didn’t have to come back and apologize; he did and he meant it.

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    Lewis

Glendive, MT

Glendive is a fine town full of the nice people we found at every stop in Montana. We had the opportunity to explore diverse viewpoints, too. Here is the Glendive Dinosaur Museum, which is dedicated to employing the various local dinosaur fossil finds to support the alternative viewpoint of creation “science.” We saw a diorama of an Aztec emperor riding a triceratops and dinosaurs lining up to get on Noah’s ark with Noah either running out of room or dinosaurs “missing the boat” so to speak.

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    Lewis

The Great Northern Plains

We’ve covered another large segment of large Montana–389 miles worth. With the prior week that means we’ve traveled 796 miles by bike through Montana. We’ve got about 49 miles to go to the North Dakota border so we’ll have done 845 miles to cross the whole state. Phew! (Full Disclosure: I did leave out 49 miles of the north-south path to get to Glendive, MT because we had a guest arriving and needed to fly out of Glendive to a wedding back east.

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    Lewis

Wait, wait, don't tell me... no. 1

On our way to Rexford Bench, MT we rode along Lake Koocanusa. We were wondering what the origins of this name were. Was it…. …..? The Flat Iron Indians have a word in their language to depict a crazy person who doesn’t understand the spiritual relationship between humankind and the natural world that sustains humankind. A person who is “koocan” is the sort of person who’d kill a buffalo and not collect the the meat and hide to provide for his group.

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    Lewis

Our Week In Montana

After a day in touristy SandPoint, ID–where we enjoyed amazing coffee (current record-holder for best morning coffee on the bike trek) and pastries at Pine Street Coffee–we continued into Montana where we will spend 15 days! So far, here’s where we’ve been: the charming Amber Bear Inn in Heron; then after a stop at Kootenai Falls we were on to Libby; then to Rexford Bench on the shores of the Reservoir called Lake Koocanusa; on to the resort town of Whitefish; two days in the gem of Glacier National Park; the plains began at Cut Bank; coasted on to Chester.

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    Lewis

Biking while Scuba Diving

After the most glorious weather ever for our two days in Glacier National Park our weather luck ran out. Bad weather happens. Riding to Cut Bank, MT we got 20mph winds in the face and pounding rain. It felt more like scuba diving than biking. Main Street in Browning, the seat of the Blackfeet Nation, was flooded to add to their other much more serious woes. After the support team showed up with a complete change of togs and my complete winter cycling outfit I was drier and warmer for the balance of the 76 mile ride.

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    Lewis

Our Team

Our stalwart team: Lewis: approaching 60 years old James Dailey: cyclist, enthusiast, instigator, dad, husband, friend => on the road from Seattle to Whitefish, MT Emmy: best wife, partner, and friend ever the “Scotsmen”—son Jay’s ATO fraternity brothers Andrew Peeples Christopher McDougal Drivers, dog-sitters, long-distance carryout sandwich shop operators, slack-liners, philosophers the dogs (quotation marks not required–they are actually dogs): Wally, a wired-hair dachshund of gravity and dignity, almost 10 years old Joni, cousin twice-removed of Wally, a rambunctious wired-hair dachshund puppy 7 months old

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    Lewis

We're off!

Three stalwart cyclists and the valiant support crew set off to Skykomish. From the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle we are heading to the Atlantic coast at Great Cranberry Island, Maine. All because in May of 2016 I thought I should ride across the US for my 60th birthday. I began researching and planning. Somehow, I convinced Emmy to go with me. We bought an RV to use as the support vehicle, mini-cabin, and–little did we know–cross-the-country food truck.

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    Lewis

Land of Saguaro Cacti

Gilbert Ray Campground in Tucson was our favorite stop. Operated by Pima County, the fabulous setting is atop a hill overlooking saguaro in every direction. We are very glad Joni didn’t have a rattlesnake encounter. Here we are: Just a mile away is the extraordinary Sonora Desert Museum. This lovingly created mostly outdoor museum guides you along paths through desert flora and fauna condensed into a few acres. The museum advances a strongly ecological theme depicting riparian habitats, long gone, where lived river otters, beavers, herons, and fish.

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    Lewis

Patterns of Urban Settlement

Cities are laid out differently in the Netherlands than in the US. First, the Dutch have made a virtue of living with density. For them, it’s better. It’s gezellig (see other post). Most houses are small and share outer walls. In cities with canals, such as Amsterdam, Haarlem, and, well, most Dutch cities, canal houses are 3 or 4 stories high and only 6 meters wide. Think of “brownstones” in Brooklyn or “walk-ups” in Boston, but much more compact.

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    Lewis

More Biking in Amsterdam

With all the stories of gentleman riding bikes in tweed jackets and ladies riding in skirts and spike heels and moms toting toddlers to daycare, you might think that bicycling in Amsterdam is a breeze, or a walk in the park, or something that seems very easy. Well, sorta… There are dedicated bike lines along most busy streets. There are separate traffic signals for people, bikes, and cars. There is a network of numbered bike routes throughout the entire country.

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    Lewis

Intro to Biking in Amsterdam

Emmy Emmy likes her “omafiets”. It’s by Gazelle, a large Dutch bike manufacturer. It’s called “Ambiance” and has 7 gears, so it is much more advanced than a classic omafiets, which is a black single speed coaster-brake bike. By the way, “omafiets” means grandma’s bike, which is not applicable to Emmy, as yet. Lewis Lewis brought his gear-head folding bike from Seattle. It’s a Bike Friday Tikit, the like of which has not been seen in Amsterdam.

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    Lewis

Arrival

We flew in directly from Seattle, departing mid-afternoon and arriving bright and early in the morning. The morning was that; we were not–having not achieved the necessary state of pre-departure exhaustion or inebriation that would induce sleep enroute. Taking the canal tour is a great orientation to Amsterdam and demands neither effort nor thought. We had been to Amsterdam last year and wanted to see something new. So, we went to the Nemo Science Museum along with hundreds of Dutch families and their happy, cute, very indulged children.

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    Lewis

Isafjordur

Isafjordur (issa-fyor'-thur) is a remote city in the Western Fjords region of Iceland. We flew into the precarious airport that requires the pilot to execute a 180 degree turn with one wingtip within 100 yards of a steep mountainside. The pilot had practiced the maneuver prior to our arrival and we landed safely. ..don’t miss that turn.. …ah, safely arrived at last.. Within an hour of arriving in Isafjordur we went kayaking under the able guidance of Runnar (like Gunnar, but with an ‘r’) of Borea Expeditions.

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    Lewis

The Road to Latrabjarg

After a hearty breakfast of cold salami and pancakes, we headed out of town in the mighty Grand Vitarra, fishtailing down the road toward Latrabjarg, the westernmost point in Iceland and all of Europe. We drove through an underground tunnel that must have been at least ten miles long, the Icelandic equivalent of the NORAD command under Cheyenne Mountain. It was the only tunnel either of us had ever seen with an intersection (no stoplight), but we managed to stay on the right path, finally emerging the other end and racing past a bicyclist who had probably been inside the tunnel since 1972.

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    Lewis

Snaefellsnesjokull (achoo!)

A quick trip in the Grand Vitarra took us from Latrabjarg to the ferry terminal, where we boarded for our trip to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, the central of the three major peninsulas in western Iceland. Lewis was hungry enough to try the “Captain’s sandwich,” a mistake, but not as bad as the soupy potatoes of the night before. Having been on the move nearly non-stop, Lewis promptly fell asleep on his chin, as Brad enjoyed the view from the deck of the ferry.

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    Lewis

Islay–land of peat and whiskey

Port Charlotte was a good place to catch up on sleep, which we did and, after breakfast, headed out in search of the perfect dram of whiskey. First stop was Bruichladdich (“Bruch-laddie”). Bruichladdie is an old distillery that was closed in the 1990s. It was purchased in 2001 and “reborn.” The story we were told is that a young British bicyclist stopped by the gate, peered inside and decided on the spot to buy the place.

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    Lewis
Oakland to Seattle via Tesla

Oakland to Seattle via Tesla

Wind Resistance We’ve slowly learned something about wind resistance and electric cars. More wind resistance cuts mile range a lot. A trailer hitch bike rack behind the car is like an abstract art installation parachute. Bikes don’t go sideways. But, in the meant-to-be smooth airflow behind a Tesla, sideways bikes create suction. On our trip from Seattle to Oakland, we were alarmed by our battery consumption: 100 actual road miles were costing us 200 e-miles.

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    Lewis