Thursday, September 16, 2021

Goodbye faithful shoes

After years of commuting and a full summer of riding my Shimano SPD SH-M036W just dissolved. I'm pretty sure it isn't that I'm putting so much power into my stroke the shoes couldn't handle it. But I'm not sure what what the heck caused the sole left shoe, and not the right, to just fall apart.

So I got new shoes. Of course, these aren't made any more, so I got something different. I like the new ones, but I don't love them. So it goes.

Wednesday, September 08, 2021

Epic 2021 retirement vacation

Summary:
  • Lasted 11 weeks
  • Drove 8484 miles
  • Visited (or crossed through) through 17 states.
  • Rode bikes 49 days
  • Rode 1427 miles in 9 states.
A few details
  • We rode in Idaho, then spent a week riding gravel along the Divide in Montana with Adventure Cycling's Cycle the Divide tour.
  • We rode the Paul Bunyan Trail in Minnesota
  • We spent a day on car-free Mackinac Island in Michigan. 
  • We rode from Fairport (just outside Rochester) to Niagara Falls and back, carrying our clothes and staying in hotels B&Bs.
  • We took a lap around Lake Keuka, one of the NY Finger lakes. 
  • We rode the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) trail from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, carrying our sleeping bags and tents our first self-supported ride. 
  • We spent time riding the Catharine Valley Trail in Watkins Glen NY
  • We polished it off with a week-long ride with Adventure Cycling around Lake Champlain and into the Green Mountains of Vermont. 
Where are all the photos? There are so many I'm intimidated. I hope to make a Blurb Book. But in a meantime here are a few.

Vermont, gravel roads, green and a bit of rain.

Vermont
Actual, official Vermont bike trail
Most of our camping looked pretty much like this.

Farmland, Vermont

Causeway, Lake Champlain, Vermont

Great Allegheny Passage, Rails to Trails, Pennsylvania

849-foot Pinkerton Tunnel, Great Allegheny Passage, Rails to Trails, Pennsylvania

Katharine Valley Trail, Watkins Glen, NY

Niagara Falls, 

Erie Canal Trail, New York

Lockport, Erie Canal Trail, New York

Seneca Lake, One of New York's Finger Lakes

They said Cycle the Divide was on dirt roads

Seeley Lake, Cycle the Divide Tour, Montana

Sawtooth Mountains, Stanley, Idaho