“How much did you . . . [deep breath] . . . train for this ride?” I say to Sarah as we pedal up a hill on the outskirts of St. Paul. We are early on Day One of a 330+ mile self-contained bicycle ride from our home in Minneapolis to our cabin in the … Continue reading The “Use it or Lose it” Tour – Minneapolis to the U.P. of Michigan
self contained biking
Biking Across Florida – The End Comes Early
[This is the last entry in a series about a bicycle ride across Florida with my wife Sarah. You can start the series here] Are they Famous? This is how cheap, I mean frugal, my wife and I can be. Even though we had already ridden 61 stressful miles to reach the Minneola Inn, we … Continue reading Biking Across Florida – The End Comes Early
Biking Across Florida – The Middle
[This is Part 2 of a series about my bicycle ride across Florida with my wife Sarah. You can read Part 1 here] The Ride Begins – aka Let’s Get Out of Jacksonville In a word, our route out of Jacksonville was “gritty.” Broken glass, missing sidewalk sections, boarded up buildings, decrepit warehouses. Trash and … Continue reading Biking Across Florida – The Middle
Biking Across Florida – The Start
"Hello again," the Lyft driver says to me as I slide open his mini-van door outside of the REI store in Jacksonville, Florida. It's the same guy that had dropped me off at the store not 10 minutes earlier. Camping fuel in hand, I hop back into his van and we head back to the … Continue reading Biking Across Florida – The Start
Biking the Atlantic Coast – Part Three
[This is Part 3 of a series on my bicycle ride down the East Coast with my wife Sarah] “It’s called dispersed camping.” Sarah and I just bumped into a long-distance bicycle rider—our first of the trip. Her name is Adela Wagner. Like us, she’s traveling south. Unlike us, she is camping every night. For … Continue reading Biking the Atlantic Coast – Part Three
Biking the Atlantic Coast – Part One
"What did you get me into?," Sarah says as my head hits the pillow. It's a cold Sunday night in Minneapolis. We are leaving at 5AM tomorrow morning for Virginia in our rented minivan and the start of a 5 week, self-supported cycling adventure down the Atlantic Coast. I'm nervous too. My mind is racing. … Continue reading Biking the Atlantic Coast – Part One
Empty Nest Adventures – Part One
In August, our youngest child Jimmy left for UW-Madison. After a quarter of a century of being full time parents with kids at home, my wife Sarah and I are now empty nesters. We have no fall sporting events to attend. The house is eerily quiet, the dishwasher takes three days for us to fill … Continue reading Empty Nest Adventures – Part One
Biking Home
It takes me around 5 hours to drive the 295 miles between our home in Minneapolis and our cottage outside of Watersmeet, Michigan. I’ve driven the route countless times. It’s a chore. The Drive For years I’ve thought about making the trip in a different way. In a way that would turn that chore into … Continue reading Biking Home
wander and wonder 