Cycling

The flight was easier than I expected. I had a window seat on the Chicago-to-Frankfurt leg, and when nobody took the middle seat the aisle passenger and I spread out a little — not quite enough to sleep, though. I’d set myself a 7pm goal off the clock to beat the jet lag, and missed it entirely. Border control dragged on long enough that I started to worry about making the connection, so it was almost a relief when the Ljubljana flight ended up delayed for reasons that had nothing to do with me. ...

The preview post covered the route, so this one is just what I am packing. Everything on the bike plus what I wear on the flight comes to about 19 pounds in the panniers and 4 pounds worn. The gravel bike rental comes with a rear rack and a front handlebar bag with a pump, patch kit, spare tube, multitool and tire levers, so I don’t need to carry those spares separately. ...

Ten days from now I’m on a plane to Slovenia. Landing in Ljubljana, two days to orient, then the bike ride starts. The route is a 640km loop through Slovenia with a Croatian coast detour. Julian Alps (Bohinj, Bled, the Vršič Pass at 1611m), the Soča Valley, Goriška Brda wine country, down to Opatija on the Istrian coast, back up through the Gorski Kotar forest, the Kolpa River valley, and finally back to Ljubljana. About 10,280 meters of climbing over nine riding days with one rest day on the coast. ...

I recently had the fortune of going to Switzerland to visit with my friend in and around Bern. Using my friend’s place as a home base, we did several bike loops out of Bern, including a few train assisted sections and an overnight trip. There was also several miles of hiking and one day of kayaking down the river Aare. The weather was near perfect (end of May, beginning of June) and my friend was able to double as my translator and the itinerary was light on the touristy sightseeing. On my way back home through Chicago, my wife and kids picked me up and we spent a night downtown near the loop where we introduced the kids to the city before heading home. ...

I just got back from another year of RAGBRAI. Wasn’t sure if it would actually happen because of the new wave of COVID-19 cases. It was cancelled last year. I only did three and a half days of riding from Parkersburg to Clinton. Originally, I was going to bike out to the route and back and meet up with my team, but when my friend Mike said he was going to come all the way over from Switzerland, I adjusted my plans so that I could help him get to the route/team and share any gear with him that he may have needed. ...