About

I'm an experienced bike tourist born in 1961. I'm not a gifted athlete and I was a couch potato until age 25. But I've had great success planning and executing bike tours.

My first multi-day bike rides were supported rides: A 3-day American Lung Association Bike Trek in North Texas in the fall of 1987. Then a 10-day commercial tour of the Big Island of Hawaii with Backroads Bicycle Touring in early 1988. After spending a small fortune on the Hawaii tour I decided to try self-supported camping tours.

Since then I've done only self-supported tours. All were independent (no leader, no fee) except for the middle segment of the 1989 Practice Retirement tour in a guided Bikecentennial Northern Tier group.

My first 12 self-supported tours were on a Trek 520 touring bike, for a total of 18,000 miles (29,000 km).

In 1998 I switched to a recumbent bike. Since then I have done 35,000 miles (56,000 km) of self-supported tours on recumbent bikes. 12 tours on a Speed Ross recumbent and 30 tours so far on a 2007 Bacchetta Giro 20 recumbent.

I camped most nights until 2011, age 50. In 2012 and 2013 I struggled with exhaustion when camping and stayed in motels half the nights. In 2014 I quit carrying camping equipment and started staying in motels every night.

Bike tours while living in Fort Worth, Texas:

1. 1988 New Mexico (Santa Fe-Red River loop), 8 days, solo.
2. 1989 Florida (Jacksonville-Key West-Jacksonville), 29 days, solo.
3. 1989 Texas meander (Fort Worth to Kerrville), 14 days, solo.
4. 1989 Practice Retirement (San Francisco-Seattle-Bar Harbor-Fort Worth), 181 days, solo+group
5. 1990 Texas Hill Country (Austin to Austin), 12 days, solo.
6. 1990 West Texas (Big Bend and Davis Mountains), 12 days, solo.

Bike tours while living in suburban Chicago, Illinois:

7. 1992 Southern Utah (Moab to St. George), 16 days, solo.
8. 1993 South Dakota (Black Hills and Badlands), 9 days, solo.
9. 1994 New Zealand (Queenstown to Kaikoura), 17 days, solo.
10. 1995 Hawaii (Maui and Molokai), 16 days, solo.
11. 1995 Pacific Crest (Medford to South Lake Tahoe), 11 days, group.
12. 1997 Pacific Crest (Fresno to Los Angeles), 9 days, group.
13. 1998 Southern California mountain/coast loop, 10 days, group.
14. 1998 Southwest Colorado (San Juan Skyway), 6 days, solo.
15. 1999 Oregon Pacific Crest (Medford to Portland), 12 days, group.
16. 2000 Pacific Crest (Reno to Fresno), 10 days, group.
17. 2001 Western Great Lakes (Duluth MN to Ludington MI) 15 days, solo.
18. 2002 Olympic Peninsula, Victoria, San Juan Islands, 12 days, solo.
19. 2003 Arizona (Flagstaff, Prescott, Grand Canyon), 15 days, solo.
20. 2003 Nova Scotia (Halifax-Cape Breton Highlands), 15 days, solo.
21. 2004 Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, 15 days, solo.

Bike tours while living in Oakland, Oregon:

22. 2005 Southwest Oregon (rivers, coast, Crater Lake), 16 days, solo.
23. 2006 To Hell's Canyon and Back, 37 days, solo.
24. 2007 Western Canada, 38 days, solo.
25. 2008 Southwest Oregon Coast Range and Coast, 7 days, solo.
26. 2008 Hot-springing Idaho and Oregon, 34 days, solo.
27. 2009 California J (San Francisco to Oakland, Oregon), 43 days, solo.
28. 2010 Sacramento to Loveland via 11 National Parks, 61 days, solo.
29. 2011 Death Valley, 13 days, solo.
30. 2011 Tour de Cascadia (Washington, Oregon, Jefferson), 44 days, solo.
31. 2012 Southwest U.S. Coast to Coast, 52 days, solo.
32. 2013 Waterfalls of Calapooya (Southwest Oregon), 9 days, solo.
33. 2013 Florence - Missoula - Salt Lake City. 34 days, solo.
34. 2014 Pittsburgh to Fort Worth. 44 days, solo.
35. 2015 Alaska Loop (Anchorage, Valdez, Fairbanks). 20 days, solo.
36. 2015 The Empty Middle (Amarillo to Rapid City). 19 days, solo.
37. 2016 Southeast Arizona. 12 days, solo.
38. 2016 Joshua Tree, Anza Borrego, Imperial Valley. 10 days, solo.
39. 2017 Atlantic Coast: Jacksonville, FL to Atlantic City, NJ. 27 days, solo.
40. 2017 Indian Country Part 1: Albuquerque to Durango, CO. 11 days, solo.
41. 2018 Indian Country Part 2: Oatman, AZ to Cortez, CO. 13 days, solo.
42. 2018 Northwest Colorado. 18 days, solo+group.
43. 2019 Passes Around San Luis Valley. 20 days. solo.
44. 2019 Idaho Trails. 8 days. solo.
45. 2020 Going Rogue. 9 days. solo.
46. 2020 Lost River to Bonanza. 6 days. solo.
47. 2021 Silver and Gold, Carson City to Merced. 14 days, solo.
48. 2021 Columbia Coulee Chelan Circuit. 8 days, solo.
49. 2022 Brigham Young's Promised Land. 19 days, solo.
50. 2022 Willamette Valley Covered Bridges. 12 days, solo.
51. 2023 Riding the Snake. 13 days, solo.
52. 2023 Exploring Northeast Oregon, 13 days, solo.
53. 2024 Destruction and Renewal, Susanville to Chico. 8 days, solo.
54. 2024 High Desert Rivers. Dubois, WY to Dillon, MT. 18 days, solo.