Lisa and I spent a few days last week checking out Yosemite National Park in northeastern California. What an amazing place! Granite monoliths, beautiful streams, great hiking, crazy rock climbing, cinnamon bears and giant redwoods. We were quite amused as few snowflakes began to fall on the afternoon we arrived. Fortunately, it warmed up considerably after the first unseasonably chilly night. We spent the next couple of days hiking and biking around in the sunshine. Both of us were blown away by the seemingly-endless stunning scenery in Yosemite. [View Full Entry]

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The last few days of our trip certainly had their challenges. I think we were all getting a bit road weary. All this outdoor living had me suffering from California allergies as well. After a full day of riding through farmland and redwoods, Derek was disappointed that he needed to get back off the bike again for the sake of his bruised knee. In the meantime, Lisa, Bryan and I powered up to face the hills of northern California. Those hills were somehow not nearly as bad as we had expected. I suspect that we were actually all in pretty [View Full Entry]

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The days have definitely begun to run together. The routine of waking up, making a huge breakfast, breaking camp, packing the car, hitting the road, riding for hours, stopping for picnic, riding for more hours, finding camp, cooking an epic dinner while setting up tents and crashing into a deep, exercise-induced sleep is getting, well, a bit monotonous. Nightly alcohol consumption is on the rise. Physically, we are holding up pretty well. Stiff necks, sore backs, tight legs and tender backsides are common enough, but not slowing us down significantly. Derek has climbed back on his bike today for his [View Full Entry]

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I was a bit concerned the first week of the trip about the state of my fitness and the state of Princess, my classic 12-speed bike. I ate myself silly for the first few days building back those leg muscles I'd forgotten I didn't have anymore. Princess' low gear is not so low which has meant some knee-grinding climbs for me. Fortunately, the Washington state country road run that we were on had mostly gentle hills and little traffic - a good warm up for both the body and the nerves. Derek fell down on Day 4. He pretty seriously [View Full Entry]

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Who knew that one could ride out of one's driveway in Vancouver, BC in the morning and be in Bellingham, Washington in time for 3 o'clock tea? Well, that was DAY 1 of the great cycling journey to San Francisco. I arrived back in Vancouver on Wednesday (from Thailand) and we started riding on Sunday morning. So basically I had time to unpack, do laundry, eat and sleep a lot, get bike road-ready, re-pack and go. As anyone who has been following my blogs already knows, I have not been doing much (okay, any) training over the last few months. [View Full Entry]

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My last day in Lao was quite grueling. The road from Luang Namtha to Houey Xai is now mostly paved with numerous sections still actively under construction. It is a windy, hilly route that passes through primarily brush and small villages. It got progressively hotter as I gradually descended south out of the mountains of Lao back to the Mekong River that serves as the Lao/Thailand border at Houey Xai/Chiang Khong. It was a bit of a trip trying to figure out how to get out of Lao once I got to Houey Xai. Immigration is located at the passenger [View Full Entry]

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Luang Prabang is a charming little French colonial town surrounded by rivers. Not much else to say except that I was jumped by an amourous novice monk (who was, fortunately, half my size) after sunset on Phu Si and spent a lovely afternoon at the refreshing Tat Kuang Si waterfall a little ways south of town. The tiny, quirky town of Nong Khiaw was my next stop after Luang Prabang. The ride from Nong Khiaw to Luang Namtha was a bit ambitious. The road was windy, steep and slow but good from Nong Khiaw to Udom Xai. The ride after [View Full Entry]

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The ride to Vang Vieng is wonderful. It is a gradual, winding ascent into the hills. Vang Vieng is a funny place. Kind of comes out of nowhere. One minute I am travelling through quaint dusty little Lao villages, next minute I am on the strip of shops, restaurants, guesthouses and booking agents that make up Vang Vieng. The reasons for Vang Vieng are the caves, the river and the "scene." We spent a day wandering through some huge limestone caves and enjoying a swim in the river. Not sure I fully participated in the scene, but I had fun [View Full Entry]

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I couldn't get the bike to start when I returned from Don Det. This would have been relatively simple if it hadn't been parked in the sand down at beach level. Fortunately, like much of southeast Asia, there are always curious people hanging around doing what appears to be nothing, so two guys helped me push the bike up the short but steep hill to a level street in town. They gave me a good shove, I popped the clutch (something I did not know I knew how to do) and I went flying off down the road. Riding in [View Full Entry]

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It was relatively easy getting across the Cambodia/Lao border. Had to pay $5 on the Cambodian side for motorbike paperwork that I was supposed to have. This was likely a fabrication, but it is pretty hard to argue with these guys when I am at the edge of the forest in the middle of nowhere and can't read the forms. I headed straight for Si Phan Don (aka the 4000 Islands). As the name suggests, this is a point in the Mekong where the river widens out and slows down, creating 1000's of small sand and rock islands. A few [View Full Entry]

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