This is Tramp, Bill’s bicycle! Bill’s a bit tired this evening, so I’ve decided to take over the evening blog update. Let me tell you a bit about myself. I am a green (yeah, it ain’t easy being green), aluminum Cannondale, made in the USA. I’ve got 27 gears, and though I may not go fast, I can climb hills carrying nearly 50 pounds of Bill’s stuff -- tent, clothes, bike tools, even the computer this blog is being typed on.. When Gerri named her new white Cannondale Lady Liberty, or Lady for short, it seemed only appropriate for me to be The Tramp, ergo, “Lady and the Tramp.” (I knew you’d like that!) So I was christened. Today, Bill and I, and Gerri and Lady rode west from Paco De Arcos, Portugal, to Estoril ... read more

Lady Liberty is smiling once again. She's all fixed up and rarin' to go. Kiko recommended a bike shop in a nearby town and Tina gave us fantastic directions, so off we went this morning. Julio, the bike mechanic, spent considerable time trying to fix the broken shift lever but to no avail. He could order a new one, but we're talking $200 and a 2 day wait. So, he found a slightly used one in the shop, installed it, and adjusted fit or under $50. We were there maybe two hours and then headed back here to Tina and Kiko's place. With Lady's new lever and no panniers on the bike, we were able to bike the whole way -- up some very, very steep hills!!! Right now it looks as if a storm ... read more

The two words for today are hills and "chuva." I'll get to that in just a minute. But first . . . . Wow! What a difference a good night's sleep can make. Our hosts here in Lisbon offered us a nice room with a nice, hard mattress (which we loved) and a small bathroom -- what a luxury when we are so accustomed to sleeping in a tent. We were both asleep by 9:30 last night and did not awaken until nearly 9 this morning. After breakfast with the family, we left Lady and the Tramp in the bedroom and headed out on foot for town. Probably a two mile walk or so -- that's where the hills come in. The steepest, narrowest, most labyrinthine cobblestone streets you've ever seen, lined on both sides with ... read more

EUROPE BY BICYCLE From Lisbon, Portugal to Madrid, Spain. Then onto Santiago de Compostella, east across the Pyrenees Mountains and north into France. Across the Alps and through Switzerland, Lichtenstein, and into Austra. Then north and west, ending in Frankfurt, Germany. On May 27, 2011, we fly from Harrisburg, PA, to Portugal for the start of our bicycle trip from Lisbon to Frankfurt. The trip has been in the planning stages for a couple of years. Now that we are close to flight time, the excitement is building. Bicycling is such a great way to meet people and see the world, as well as a great way of keeping in good physical shape. (Cycling all those miles means that we can enjoy those European bakeries.) We are avid touring cyclists. Most of our vacations are by ... read more