I want to start by saying I am not a doctor. However, I ran a bike shop for years and helped people get comfortable on their bikes. See a doctor and/or get a proper bike fitting if you have serious riding pain or similar issues. This is another in a series of beginner riding tips. …
eBiking has brought many new riders into the two-wheeled world. Some are young people who are riding on the street for the first time. Some are older people who are enabled by their electric steed. In many cases, the eBike has enabled them to propel their bikes forward without all the skills needed to do …
If respect for human life is not a good reason to respect cyclists, maybe caring for the planet is. I live in southern California, where a large percentage of the population considers themselves “green” or “environmentalists” or “tree-huggers.” The streets here are brimming with Teslas and Priuses, and buildings are festooned with solar panels. We …
Note: This is an older article that was written in the early days of rising eBike popularity. I am keeping the style unchanged, since it reflects an interesting historical period of eBike adoption. Enjoy! eBikes are getting more popular all the time, so it is easy to buy a complete, ready-to-ride eBike. But it wasn’t …
This is a snapshot in time before my bike tour began. It is written from the perspective of the ride being in the future, which it was at the time. Enjoy! My tour of Northern California starts in less than a week. I will be riding from Eureka to Oakland along the Pacific Coast Route. …
It’s been a while since I have blogged about a ride, but not since I have ridden. I busted out the camera for a blog, and it’s time to share a few local secrets from this gravel ride. My current gravel steed is a Diamondback Haanjo Carbon 7c. It isn’t included on most lists of …
As I prepared for my trip to Northern California, it seemed like I went over my checklist about a dozen times. Each time I found something that I needed to pack or change. Somehow I ended up feeling confident that everything was good to go. I packed my bike and gear into a bike box …
Day 1 started as expected: in the cute coastal town of Eureka, with overcast, damp weather. I was pleased to find I hadn’t forgotten anything, which I usually do on bike tours. I would not be 100% sure until I made camp for the night, but it was “so far, so good.” I made a …
Day 2 was the day of my tour when I had the least amount of riding planned. I normally covered about 50 miles a day. If I rode at that pace, I would pass through the redwood region without spending much time there. Riding less would make the day a sightseeing tourist day. Oddly, that …
The part of Northern California that I was traveling through was full of Bigfoot references. Statues of Bigfoot, murals, and advertisements featuring the beast dotted the area. Whether locals believed or were amused didn’t matter. Bigfoot was part of local lore. On Day 3, I awoke to an empty campsite, though another cyclist had been …