raybo

A recent thread about best tours got me to thinking about my best days on tour. I totaled up my tours and discovered that in the past 15 years, I've gone on more than 25 tours lasting from a few days to more than a month. In all, 415 days and over 16,000 miles.

I spent a good deal of time selecting my most memorable days on tour and came up with 12. These aren't necessarily my "best" days (however that would be defined).

The tally:

7 Europe (1 Switzerland, 2 France, 3 Italy, 1 Austria)

4 US (1 California, 1 Montana, 1 Idaho, 1 Vermont)

1 Canada

The article I wrote has text, photo, and links to the journal entries for each day.

mev

A dozen memorable days on my tours:
- 1992, June 4th "tailwinds, construction, rain" on a ride across America - https://www.mvermeulen.com/crossusa.txt
Synopsis - absolutely wonderful tailwinds pushing me across half of South Dakota for my longest ride ever.

- 1997, May 14th "bike troubles and bears" on a ride across Canada - https://www.mvermeulen.com/canada/bc.html
Synopsis - long day on the Alaska Highway during which my rear rim collapses and I walk for a short while

- 2001, July 17th "bungle bungle rest day" on a ride around Australia - July 11-20
Synopsis - magical place to visit in outback Australia, as well as good representation of what I really liked on that trip

- 2001, October 11th, "opals and Coober Pedy" on a ride around Australia - October 11-20
Synopsis - Coober Pedy is not quite like any other place, really interesting visit

- 2001 - December 18th, "completing one lap" on a ride around Australia - December 11-20
Synopsis - highs of finishing a long trip

- 2002 - February 6th - "getting sick in India" - February 1-10
Synopsis - scary to get sick in a developing country; fortunately short-lived

- 2007 - April 7th - "border troubles" - ********************?, into a little corner of Russia ? Amsterdam to Vladivostok
Synopsis - bureaucracy at the Kalinigrad border

- 2007 - July 25th - "baikal!" - **********?, Baikal at last! ? Amsterdam to Vladivostok
Synopsis - another of those great moments reaching a place I had dreamed about for a long time

- 2007 - September 29th - "visa troubles" - https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/..._id=66517&v=8l
Synopsis - trying to enter China with an expired visa.

- 2013 - February 5th - "heat exhaustion" - Day 20, 78 of 86 km (heat exhaustion) | A bicycle ride across Africa
Synopsis - cycling through Sudan in extreme heat and not succeeding

- 2013 - April 4th - "riots" - Day 64, 176km to Petauke | A bicycle ride across Africa
Synopsis - rather surreal scene in Zambia as our TDA ride goes through an active riot zone

- 2016 - June 21st - "departing Prudhoe Bay" - Coldfoot - A bicycle ride across the Americas
Synopsis - cold, snowy, miserable but also start of my current long trip

The locations:
- USA - 2
- Canada - 1
- Australia - 3
- India - 1
- China - 1
- Russia - 2
- Sudan - 1
- Zambia - 1

I haven't tallied up my shorter trips, but my six longest trips are approximately 50 months in the last 25 years.

fietsbob

Mentioning, for Today, Armistice/Veteran's day .. in 1991, I spent a whole day in the many War grave acres of the Flemish Belgian countryside ..
https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-cemet...e-cot-cemetery


In and around the city of Ypres .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ypres





....

jamawani 

Raybo - -

Betty Ford had people like us in mind when she opened her clinic.
Congrats!

Machka 

It's hard to come up with "most memorable" for me because the memories are usually triggered by something current. In other words, I'll see a person, scene, event, place, object, colour, which will suddenly remind me of something on a tour, and I'll remember that moment on the tour as vividly as if it were yesterday. Same with certain smells or sounds.

For example, there is a song ... Somebody That I Used To Know sung by Gotye ... in the middle of that song, there's a funny little instrumental section. That little instrumental section sounds so much like the tune a certain pinball machine made any time someone walked near it.

We stayed in a hostel in Switzerland for 10 days ... we meant to stay one day, and just kept extending it. We were some of the few people who were there, so we had a room to ourselves, and there were English books in the library, and TDF on the TV, and chocolate yogurt in the shops, and great cycling, and all sorts of mountains around. It was perfect!

The hostel was built on three levels. The rooms were on the top floor, the kitchen and lounge on the middle floor which had an open area (balcony) that overlooked the lower level and also took in the views of the mountains through windows that extended from the lower floor all the way up. On the lower floor were the bathrooms, laundry, and a games room, with assorted pinball-type machines. One of those machines played that little tune. So every time someone came in to use the bathroom or laundry and walked past this machine, the tune would play.

It was background noise ... not something we particularly paid any attention to then ... until, several months later, we arrived back in Australia and heard the song. Or more specifically, heard the little instrumental bit in the middle of the song. And every time I hear it, suddenly those beautiful, wonderful 10 days in Switzerland come flooding back.

Doug64

There are many memorable days while on tour. The day my wife dipped her rear tire in the Pacific Ocean at the start of our ride across the U.S. stands out as an almost "perfect day".

saddlesores

kanchaniburi, thailand. rail line towards burma...

Doug64

Saddlesores, Well done!

boomhauer

002.jpg
Most memorable freak show I've ever met was this guy......
25 miles west of Ely Nevada (middle of nowhere).
He had no water nor food.
Carried a cardboard sign that said he would "work for fruit"
His name was Jim. He was a "fruitarian". Never heard of this before.
He claimed to only get water and food thru fruit.
After drinking half my water and eating all of my Fig Newtons he wished me "to remain in God's graces" .

I met him, by chance, a month later across the street from a Seminary. How this happened I haven't a clue.
A divine intervention, no doubt.

acantor

Crossing paths with the same folks more than once while traveling happens to me regularly. In one case, I met the same guy three times: while walking along a country road toward a youth hostel near Banff, Alberta; nine months later, on a roadside where we were both hitchhiking in rural Montana; and five years later, in a tourist information stand in Switzerland!

There is nothing mysterious about the phenomenon, although it is counter-intuitive. It relates to the number of possible connections between large groups of people. It's like the "Birthday Paradox:" Ask 23 people their birthdays, and chances are 50-50 that two people will have the same birthday. Ask 75 people, and the probability jumps to 99.9%, which are extremely good odds!

If there are hundreds or thousands of people traveling around a region during a period of a few weeks or months, it's (almost) inevitable you will cross paths with several of them more than once. You may not even recognize some of them; not everybody is as memorable as Jim the Fruitarian!

Erick L

I had a few perfect days in a row when even troubles were resolved smoothly.

This was on a tour around the gulf of St-Lawrence. I was at the beginning of the famous Cabot Trail stretch and stayed two nights to spend a full day in the park and do some hiking. That full day began under thick clouds so I went hiking along a river. Nice but not great. In late afternoon, the sky cleared and I ran back to my bike to bike part of the Cabot Trail as the sun set on the cliff (my avatar). An eagle flew overhead but I wasn't quick enough... then it flew over again. I was biking back to my site when a moose was feeding next to the road.





The next day, I rode this part again and stopped at a lookout where some Harley guy was telling Harley chicks how they had "real bikes". As soon as the guy left, one woman turned to me and said "OMG, your legs!, I wanna bite into them!" I got a kick out of that. Later I hiked the skyline trail and saw more moose, eagles, hawks and whales. One moose calf was so close that someone tried to feed it grass. The mother was just lying in the shade as if she didn't care.

I stopped at another lookout when a car stopped and some guy came rushing out babbling some unintelligible gibberish. It's only when he showed his cleated shoes that I understood he was a cyclist. Ed the Australian had been biking and driving parts of eastern Canada. We chatted a bit and parted. I kept going, climbed North Mountain and down to a small campsite. A car was there and I was a bit miffed that I wouldn't have the place for myself. It was Ed the Australian! The campsite had a little shelter and stove. Ed had wood, beer and some leftover food. It was a nice evening.



The next day, I stopped at a small store but it was closed so I got something from a vending machine. I kept going, got out of the park for good and stopped for ice cream. Oops, no wallet. I called my bank to cancel my cards and rode back 15km to the vending machine but couldn't find my wallet so I kept going. The next town was two days away and thanks to Ed's food, I had just enough left to get in town without skipping a meal. I stopped at a lookout looking for my wallet and a guy offered me 20$ but I didn't need it. Also, I heard that a cable car that would save me 30km of hilly terrain was free for cyclists but I wasn't sure. Just before the crossroad, I came across a couple on a tandem who confirmed the ferry was free.

I got in town in late afternoon and went straight to the bank. They asked me a bunch of question, issued a new debit card and made arrangement to pick up a new credit card in another town. I had just enough time to stop for fuel, then I hopped on the ferry to Newfoundland and we were off within 30 minutes. Timing wouldn't have been better if I had planned it.

A month or two later, I got a package from the police. It was my wallet with the cash still in it.

Doug64

Another pretty memorable day started in March on a ski trip to eastern Oregon. My wife and I knew that part of the route we were going to take for our bike trip across the country, which we planned on starting in late June, was just east of the ski area. So after a good day skiing we drove out to check out a particularly desolate section for possible water stops and camping opportunities. As we were driving back, we stopped at one of the few cafes along HWY 20. There happened to be a young man sitting on a bench outside the cafe looking at a laptop computer. I recognized him from an article I saw in our local newspaper about a month earlier, telling about a young man who was walking across the U.S. on Hwy 20 stopping in our small town. We approached him and started a conversation.

Alborz had recently finished grad school, graduating with a degree in macro economics, and now wanted to experience his country a little differently, up close and personal. We asked the usual questions, and after doing some calculations, figuring his and our average mileages, we thought we'd pass him somewhere in the middle of Nebraska. We left telling him, "see you later".

As it turned out we actually did see him later on August 3rd, close to the middle of Nebraska, near Valentine. We camped with him that evening and had a great time. He did reach Boston in November

We still talk abut the young man who walked 3700 miles across the country.

chrisx

Good memories or bad memories?

What about the time on the Arizona New Mexico Border, high in the mountains, in late february. During the night my gallon jug of water frooze solid, all the way solid. I had to get a big rock and break the ice in the creek to get water. Then I rolled down to Safford Az, and visited the museum. I stared at a mormon handcart for along time, wondering how they could walk across the country, pulling a cart full of supplies. I had spent the last month pedaling into a 30 mph head wind all day.

Or

I left Oregon and headed south to La Paz BCS. I stopped at a hotel a good ways north of La Paz. The girl that worked there said she and her friend, (both young and beautiful,) wanted to have babies.

DropBarFan

Nifty backpack trailer which I read is actually a "thing". Did he ever have to break it down & tote everything on his back? Looks possible if perhaps a bit heavy.

Doug64

The trailer was a DIY job, but it was pretty functional It had a waist belt attached to the trailer with two short poles. He did not mention having to carry the entire load.

He started out carrying it on his back, but I'm not sure when he switched over to the trailer.

Leebo

One of my first longer( 5 days) tours here in MA. Rode around the Quabbin reservoir. Ran into a hog nosed snake. The disguise is looking like a rattlesnake. Fell over backwards while walking my bike. Now snake is more startled and I'm closer to it, at ground level. Some really quick moving on my part after that. Packed some couscous for dinner, looking to pick up something to go with it, the store had slim jims, beer and 2 gallons of water. Dinner. yea. Stayed in Petersham, way, way down this dirt road, bear country, and just a pit toilet and lots o woods. I've done lots of camping and am comfortable in the woods, but this was really out there. Built a giant fire, with huge logs, nice. Finished my ( awesome) dinner. Remembered I had some apples that I picked while going through the reservoir. Dessert! Cored but not peeled 4 small apples, a little olive oil for saute' , 1/2 a cinnamon granola bar, finish with a splash of whiskey. Best ever. Now AM, almost out of water, none near by. Saving water to drink, need a bath of sort to start the day. Really long lawn grass, lot of very cold dew on it. Did the roll around in it for fresh dew bath thing. Very refreshing, very cold. Filled a need. Memorable 24 hrs.

indyfabz

One that will always stick out was the day over the North Cascades Highway from Colonial Creek Campground to Winthrop, WA. It was only my sixth day of unsupported touring. It was very cold for the nearly 30 mile climb. At some point it started raining before Rainy Pass. The rain eventually turned to snow. I had never ridden out west before, and I remember thinking "What did I get myself into?" I finally made it to Washington Pass with one other member of our group of 13. The pass sign was half buried in snow. My REI gloves were not up to the task and I had to stop a couple of times to stick by freezing fingers down my pant to defrost them. My companion left me behind. (Couldn't blame him.) I finally reached Mazama and stopped at the café/store there. I saw they were advertising hot apple cider. This was Washington, after all. It turned out to me made from a packaged mix. WTH? In any even, I was the last one to make it to the campground. One thing that shocked me were the tumbleweeds in town. I had just ridden in the coldest, snowiest place I had ever experienced and their were tumbleweeds in a town about 32 miles away. The KOA had $0.69 beers. It was both the best and the worst beer I ever had. That night we went out for dinners. The owner of the KOA drove us into town for some great pizza.


From near the summit of Washington Pass:

Doug64

On a tour this summer we had an experience that had an extremely low probability of ever happening.

My wife and I stopped in St. Paul, MN while on a 6 week tour through the midwest. We got a motel room, showered, and decided to go out for dinner. We randomly picked a restaurant and headed off on a circuitous route to find it. As we passed a cafe with outdoor seating, I heard a shout, " hey Doug" coming from one of the patrons. Turning, I saw a guy that my wife and I have worked together with as ski patrollers for over a decade. He and his wife were helping their son move from Oregon to St. Paul, and were relaxing after a hard day with cold beers.

It is a little too recent to call memorable, but I'm sure that chance meeting will stick with all of us for a long time. In retrospect we should have gone out and bought a lottery ticket that day

indyfabz

Some may have read these stories before....


The year after my x-country tour I was riding in Yellowstone on my way from Seattle to Cortez, CO. A car pulled along side me and I heard a woman's voice say "Hey, Dave." In the passenger's seat was a woman who had been on my cross country tour. Earlier in the trip, a couple pulled into a park in Kremling, CO while I was having lunch. I had seen them the year before riding south along the east shore of Lake Koocanusa while our group was heading north. I recognized them by their custom purple Beckman panniers.


But the coolest "I have seen you before" story involves Whitefish, MT. For a time, a couple there ran a small hostel there. It was in a separate building across the yard from their house. Our cross country group stayed there in '99. The wife was pregnant and due any day. The following year I rode through town and got to meet her daughter, who she had given birth to few days after our '99 stay. In '09 I started a tour from Whitefish. I wanted to stay at the hostel but learned it had closed. I walked around the neighborhood and found the old place. Playing in the yard was girl who appeared to be about the age of 10.

chrisx

My new air pad popped.
Those 3 inch thick pads you blow up, good in a deep freeze. I had to have the first model year.

8 pm 22f. It got cold that night. I woke to the sound of pop, and sank to the ground. How cold is it without a sleeping pad? 40 minutes later the sun crossed into view.

chrisx

I walked out into the atlantic ocean. I pedaled west through the winter. I went to touch the pacific ocean. I heard a mean old fat lady say you cant ride your bike on the board walk. I told her I just spent 2 months riding into 30 mph head winds, deep freezes, and week long rain storms, and need to touch the pacific ocean to complete the journey. In a nitwit accent she said, you cant ride your bike on the board walk.

Nitwit Ridge Cambria California.

She was to fat to get around,

I found a way.

Sharpshin

1) First bike tour. Told my nephews I was coming up to New York from Texas "on my bike" again, which has been a motorcycle more times than I can recall. Cover story why no one could reach me for a month in transit was I would be working in far West Texas doing a bird survey out of cell phone range. The look on their faces when I nonchalantly strolled up their driveway with my "bike" was priceless 😀

2) Same tour, a week earlier. Three months before that first tour I had occasion to fly to New York, on Delta which transfers in Detroit. Looking down at the south shore of Lake Erie I wondered how the fugg was I ever going to ride all that way on a bicycle from San Antonio? Three months and three weeks later there I was 😎

3) In my classroom where I teach high school, I have a Nat Geo map of the British Isles showing a single ferry route between Cork and Cherbourg. July of '16, on tour, it turns out that that once a week ferry out of Cork actually leaves from Ringaskiddy, to a place called Roscoff, which I supposed must lie adjacent to Cherbourg.

The next morning, upon disembarking from the ferry in France, I learned that Roscoff is actually en Bretagne, maybe 250 highway miles south and west of Cherbourg 🙄
No worries, I was riding the solution to that particular dilemma, and the French leg of my 1,500 mile loop became Roscoff-Cherbourg instead of the Cherbourg-Calais route I had planned. Hey, Mont Saint Michel was spectacular and I still got to see the Bayeux tapestry 😎

Mike

indyfabz

Near the end of my ride home after crossing the country I had to ride about 8 miles in the early bands of Hurricane Floyd to hole up in a motel for the rest of the day and night. The woman who ran the place also had a German restaurant. She closed the place for the day but was so kind as to drive me a nearby deli for food and beer. I had a schedule to keep so the next day I decided to combine two days and rode down the Delaware River on one of those beautiful after-Hurricane days you often get. Had to wade through an overflowing creek, slide the bike under a downed tree and weave around all sorts of tree debris.


At one point I crested a hill and a kid ran down his driveway and asked me if I knew what time it was. I must have gave him a funny look that said "Don't you have a clock in your house?" because he then explained that their power was still out. (This was before the widespread ownership of cell phones.)


Stopped in a town 10 miles from my intended campground along the river and bought a Stromboli and a bottle of wine for what was supposed to be my last night in a tent before reaching a friend's house the next day. I had done about 110 miles at that point. Riding down the bike path to the campground I started to drift sideways. I saw what was happening but I was so tired my mind couldn't react in time and I ended up in the bushes. Slapped myself in the face a few times for revival and continued on. Made it to the campground only to find it closed due to flooding. Ended up having to ride farther to a motel in New Hope, PA. Total for the day was about 132 miles, but I made it to my friend's house the next day as scheduled.

BobG

In 1983 I signed on as a participant with an ACA tour (then Bikecentennial) called "Great Parks Odyssey". It was a long trip from Durango CO to Jasper AB, utilizing ACA's Great Parks South, TransAm and Great Parks North routes. The group had a high attrition rate for various reasons and that affected the morale of those of us who remained. I finally left the group tour at Bannack MT and continued out on my own.

My first day alone I climbed over the gravel Lemhi Pass to Salmon, ID. The next day I climbed up Forest Service roads to the Salmon NF Blue Nose fire lookout for the night. These rank among my most memorable two days of touring ever as I was reminded of the feelings of independence of solo travel and the loneliness of such travel after parting with a group of friends I had been with for over a month. The fire tower was a cool place to reflect upon the group trip up to that point and anticipate the solo trip to follow. It also included the excitement of learning to enjoy gravel road "short cuts".

In the "I've seen you before!" category, when I arrived in Banff I was greeted by a young Canadian woman while I was walking my bike through town. She was one of our early group drop outs who took a summer job at one of the shops!

saddlesores

touring in new zealand, was camping at lake gunn between
te anau and milford sound. quiet place, maybe 10 or so
primitive campsites. only one other tent in sight.

late afternoon, tour bus and catering truck pull up...next
several hours experienced the filming of a beer commercial.
campers invited to the catering truck for free food.

chatting with the other campers, they were from germany.
really? i was living in germany. berlin? wow, me too.
zehlendorf district? no way! ..... turns out, they lived
on the same street, 2 blocks down from my apartment.