All good things must come to an end. And so it did on Wednesday with our final 55 mile ride to the end of the Natchez Trace in a Nashville suburb. Wednesday was probably our best day of cycling. The terrain was more varied with many climbs and descents and for much of the day we cycled on a ridge with nice views. The weather was perfect in the morning. The last 10 post-lunch miles were in a hot sun with little shade and we finished our ride just in time before I got th

Yesterday we cycled 68 miles starting near Florence, Alabama and ending in Tennessee: Once again, we had near perfect weather. A bit of a tailwind was an extra benefit. Here I am with Steve on the bridge crossing the Tennessee River: While in Alabama we visited a commemorative wall built to remember the Trail of Tears, the forced relocation of the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Cherokee tribes from Alabama and Mississippi to land in what is now Oklahoma: After crossing into Tenness

Today was a really great day of cycling, 55 miles from Tupelo, Mississippi to Florence, Alabama. We started our day with a visit to the childhood home of Elvis in Tupelo: And then we got back on the Trace. It was an exciting day for cycling since today was our annual Baseball Appreciation Day: Mary and I decided at the beginning of the trip that this celebratory day would have to wait until the Mets actually won a game so that we could have a proper celebration. Well, as

Mary is an avid reader and has long been part of a local book club. Since we rode today relatively near Oxford, Mississippi, home of this state’s most famous author William Faulkner, I thought it would be fun to form a specialized book club and compare notes about Faulkner novels as we cycled. Yet another good idea that did not pan out. Kevin apparently thought I was joking when I assigned him “Absalom, Absalom!”. Serge made it a full 14 pages into “The Sound and the F

That was the critique of yesterday’s blog from a long-time reader. Yes folks, it was a tough day to be a blogger. First thing in the morning, I was accosted by an angry mob of six highly educated cyclists who said that I threw them under the bus in yesterday’s post when I mentioned that they seemed oblivious to area history. Although they claimed that they were indeed interested in history, after breakfast all of them blew past Bayou Pierre which is the area where Andrew

Greetings from way down south in the land of cotton. This is the floral arrangement in our B&B in Vicksburg, Mississippi: Today we cycled 45 miles along the Natchez Trace Parkway, starting in Natchez which is a Mississippi River town: : The Natchez Trace Parkway was created by President Roosevelt during the Depression as a partial payback to Mississippi Senator Pat Harrison, the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee and a key figure who helped pass Social Security legislati

Hey, it’s been a long time. On Thursday we will resume our pedaling vacations by cycling the Natchez Trace, a 440 mile National Park byway from Natchez, Mississippi crossing Northwest Alabama and ending by Nashville, Tennessee. While my legs are in pretty decent shape for a spring trip, my ego is severely dented. As I have aged, my mind keeps telling me that I am 25, while my body rudely reminds me otherwise. Last year, I did a two mile treadmill run where I kept incre

What a great last two days of cycling! Thursday we took two really spectacular rides on the road to Cameron Lake and on Red Rocks...

Greetings from Waterton National Park which has been a cycling paradise. Spectacular scenery (that we can actually see since the...

Today’s ascent of Going to the Sun road in Glacier National Park was supposed to be an epic bucket list ride with unbelievable scenery. ...

Greetings from Glacier National Park in Montana. Mary and I are here with our Westport friends Art, Kevin and Serge on a six day bike...

That should be the slogan for the South Dakota Tourism Board. I just returned from the 12th sorta biennial hiking trip with my high...

I received a few private messages inquiring whether there was some deeper meaning to The Magnificent Seven reference in my last post. ...

I did not post about Wednesday’s ride since we were staying at a National Park lodge with limited WIFI. Thanks to those of you who sent...

I enjoy reading all of your written comments. The live comments here in Texas? Not so much. Kevin today expressed surprise about...

Greeting from the Big Bend area in southwest Texas. The Big Bend area takes its name from the Rio Grande River which flows southwest...

Tired of the cold weather? Looking forward to spring? You can follow along on or upcoming 4th annual late winter/early spring cycling...

Refelcting on 2024, how could I have improved this blog? Cycle to more exotic places? Make this blog more relevant to current events? ...

We finished our ride yesterday with a welcomed “spin out your legs” ride along a section of the Caledonian canal. After five days with a...

We had a beautiful hilly and windy ride today that mostly followed the length of Loch Ness. Which leads me to the question, does gearing...