Adventurelaus

Travel to Seattle and the bike rental went flawless. Neil from Montlake bicycle shop explained everything about the older Bike Friday and a brand spanking new NWT. Initially I thought the bike's gear ratio is a bit on the low side but after hitting a couple of San Fransisco style hills I'm glad about the gearing. I could even keep up somewhat with a buff commuter cyclist girl with clipless clip-on shoes or whatever you call them. So the bike must not be to slow. Of course some traffic lights where in my favor. The big thing that differs the Bike Friday from other bikes are the 20 inch wheels. On rough roads, especially with pot holes, you'll notice this. Handling is surprisingly good. I could even ride hands free without any difficulties. Tomorrow I'll get more experience with the bike, especially for long rides. Maybe I also get to see if the highest gearing is to low. BTW, this Bike Friday has 3 speed internal hub in addition to 7 speeds. BikeFriday loaded and r...

I'll be going to Seattle next week for work and as usual I'm trying to connect my work trip with some fun stuff.  This time I'll take the opportunity to test ride a Bike Friday folding bike on a 120+ miles tour around the Seattle bay area. I'll be a wimp and won't be camping out but seek for more comfortable shelters this time.  So no camping and I'll carry only snacks.  The ride should be very neat.  Having three ferry rides how could it be otherwise? I'm excited about it.

Our family is doing an easy and enjoyable ride along the Katy Trail in Missouri. Due to the recent flooding and several trail closures it was questionable if we could make the ride. After checking with the DNR and online river gauges it looks like we might be riding just between flooding periods. Apparently the reservoirs upriver are releasing excess waters and causing flooding but it looks like we will ride just ahead of the flooding. So it might be just like our 2002 bike ride along the Danube in Austria. A few weeks later they had major flooding. The only difference was that we weren't aware and worried about the flooding. Our plan is to ride from Rocheport to Weldon Spring. We'll stay overnight in our little 4 person tent in Hartsburg, Portland and Marthaville. Oskar will ride with Melissa on the trail-a-bike and Heidi will be in the bicycle trailer. Last night we started packing. It's the first time we are doing a totally self supported tour with the k...