Day 59. Munising to Newberry. 60 miles. 1200 feet elevation. 3613 miles TTD. Weather wet but tailwind. This is pretty much what my ride looked like for the first 30 miles of the day, and yes, that gray coloration is rain. And this is what the second 30 miles of my ride looked like also … Continue reading Mu(ni)sings
Day 39. 84 mi. A few hundred feet of elevation. Weather painfully windy When you choose to put yourself on a bicycle and cross a country or a continent, you really can't, or at least shouldn't, complain. That's why this post is late. If I had written it last might have been too much whining … Continue reading Wind and whining
Day 11: Ashcroft to Merritt. 78.7 miles. 6159 feet elevation. Weather warm and dry. I was a Boy Scout, and I'm also so old that I lived many years without a cell phone or gps. So, I do know how to read a map. Unfortunately, nobody puts routes on maps or prints maps anymore. The … Continue reading Technology Terror
Day 6: Rockwater Stone Cove Resort to Squamish. 60 miles. 3600 ft vertical. Weather wet. Angry ocean. Hungry rider. Waking up to rain is not the best start to a bicycle day. To make matters worse, the place I was staying did not have breakfast until late in the morning. I started my ride wet … Continue reading Cursed & Blessed
Day 4: Port Alberni to Courtney. 70.6 mi. 3834 FT elevation. Weather perfect. Sketchy Motel Wilson and I were up and ready to Take On The World early today. Of course, we had to stop first at Tim Hortons so that people assumed we were Canadians. We had a wonderful scrambled egg box. It does … Continue reading Tragic Miracle
The inaugural Grand Depart on the GNBR My riding buddy Gumby and me on the southern tip of Vancouver Island Off into oblivion, or Canada Day 1 - Victoria to Lake Cowichan. 64.6 miles. 4334 feet of vertical. Weather perfect! It was a little stressful putting my bike together the night before and then pulling … Continue reading Butter is Better
Beacon Hill Park - Starting point of the GNBR Let me be clear. I LOVE Canada. Victoria is beautiful. Canada is likely not taking any American immigrants, but I might be interested. However, they need to draw a new map. Vancouver, for example, isn't on Vancouver Island. It would be like New York City being … Continue reading GNBR – Of MICE & MEN
From May 24 to (hopefully) October 4, I will live out of two large panniers, two small panniers, and one handlebar bag. The total volume is about 62 liters, slightly bigger than a large kitchen trash bag. I'll be homeless, albeit in much better shape than most homeless, as I'll have a credit card and … Continue reading GNBR -Freedom’s Just Another Word…
Over the years of doing long tours (1200 to 2600 miles), people often ask how I prepare for that type of ride. Truthfully, there really isn't a way to prepare to ride many miles day after day. Plus, employment, family, and church, before departure, make it impossible to ride any significant miles day after day. … Continue reading GNBR – Painful Preparation
The red line (the route) wanders across Canada and through three northern states of the USA as it travels from Victoria, BC, to St. John's, Newfoundland. Map projections, which squish the upper part of the round earth into flat paper images, make Canada look bigger than it is. Still, Canada is the second-largest country in … Continue reading GNBR – The Great Northern Bikepacking Trip – Perspectives
Grumpy Grandpa's Great Bicycling Adventures 