About

Who We Are and Where We Are From

We are Steve and Dodie Miller, a retired Economist/Statistician and Pediatric Head Nurse from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada. We were born in Montreal, both 72 years ago, and can speak semi- passable French. Over the years we moved westward across the country, even pausing for school in Wisconsin, USA. We have four children, who were born variously in Wisconsin,Quebec, Manitoba, and British Columbia. We spent many years working and raising the children. Our first attempt at “semi-retirement” was to begin the gradual switch from working in our professional fields to working the fields of our 11 acre farm near Cobble Hill, north of Victoria. We very happily spent 10 to 15 years raising chickens, turkeys and veggies and producing a range of jams, chutneys other preserves, and bread for sale at our local farmers market.

Where We Cycle

A chance encounter with a "real" touring cyclist while we were day tripping with our bikes in Jasper National Park introduced us to cycle tour blogging and sent us spinning across the continent with Bob trailers. That first trip covered over 7600 km and hooked us on cycle touring. At the East Coast we looked ahead and realized that the next stop was Europe. Since then we have done many long tours around Western Europe, and are planning a new one in 2018.

Looking for somewhere to cycle when not in Europe, we have tried out crossing the US on the Southern Tier, circling Hawaii, circling Florida, and charging down the West Coast as far as Mexico, in Winter. Our latest effort is a tour around the Yucatan peninsula in eastern Mexico.

We are certainly not athletes or heroes, and are always looking for the flattest, safest way to go. This has not always worked out, and from time to time we have run afoul of heat, wind, distance, and traffic:

What We Cycle and Blog For

One of our greatest loves, and the reason for taking the name "Grampies" are our grandchildren. These blogs are partly an attempt to let them know what we are up to right now, and maybe to give them a record to look back on in future years. At the same time, we hope to involve them directly in the fun of cycle touring. We have so far set off on several short trips with one set or another. We have blogs here for those trips, and have also created short paper books for each child for each trip.

What We Blog About

Our main interests are in finding quiet natural places, but equally towns and cities that are rich in history and culture. We love bakeries and food markets, preferably in ancient towns with narrow, pedestrian only streets. We will stop in to most churches, not because we are religious (far from it!) but because they tend to represent the finest in art and architecture in most towns. We are also amused by the quaint myths and beliefs displayed in carving, painting, and reliquaries. We also keep an eye on the general culture and economy of the regions we pass through, and also frequently stumble on places of enormous historical significance - often by accident. Everything we find, we write about!