The Island Line Trail: Cycling across Lake Champlain, Vermont.

Trail - The Island Line Trail  - consisting of the Burlington Bike Path and the Colchester Causeway.
Location - Burlington to South Hero Island, Vermont, USA.
Distance - 45 kms (28 miles) return.
Terrain -  Asphalt for about half the distance and then compacted gravel.
Difficulty - Easy, this is a ride /walk you can take the family on.
Highlights - Cycling the Colchester Causeway and hopping on the Bike Ferry across the Cut to link up with South Hero Island
Website and map - Click here for a link to download a PDF map and here for detailed trail notes.

Cycling the Mount Vernon Trail to Tudor Place and Dumbarton Oaks Gardens, Washington D.C.

The Mount Vernon Trail in Washington DC runs for 18 miles (29 km) from Mount Vernon in the

south to Theodore Roosevelt Island, just past Arlington Cemetery - click here for a trail map. Still jet-lagged and nowhere near as fit as we would have liked to be (are we ever!), we parked the car at Daingerfield Island about 7 miles from our objective at Georgetown. I know, I know 7 miles is pretty whimpy but we had just flown from Sydney,  Australia.

The sealed surface of the trail made the cycling easy - thankfully! Even the few small uphill sections slipped easily beneath the rhythm of our wheels. With a single interruption where we passed Ronald Reagan Washington Airport (I love airports as long as I don't have to arrive or depart from them) this section of the trail runs along the western bank of the Potomac River and has some beautiful views across the water. There is nothing like a nice view to make the cycling easier.

How to turn a bicycle into a pretzel!

QANTAS made us sign a waiver before flying our bikes - 'all care, no responsibility'. They got the 'no responsibility' part right but I'm not so sure about the 'all care'. I think someone ran over David's bike with a truck - well perhaps not quite - but the 'fragile' sticker was a complete waste of time. It's impossible to know whether the culprit was QANTAS or American Airlines but when the bike arrived in Denver, having flown from Sydney and changed planes in LA, it was badly damaged.  The frame was bent. Maybe flying our bikes wasn't such a good idea after all.

High Altitude Cycling - 600 vertical feet

Bringing our bikes over Independence Pass must have gone to our heads. We live at sea level and neither of us cope well at high altitudes. Last year we tried cycling at Telluride (click here for the story). Telluride clocks in at 9540 ft (2907 m). The cycling was hard, very hard  - even hiking was difficult.

Cycling the Tunnel Hill State Trail in Illinois

In the last two days we have cycled 60 miles (96 kms) on the Tunnel Hill State Trail. We are in Marion, Illinois. Tomorrow we move 350 miles north to Ottawa, Illinois. Frankly I'll be glad of the chance to sit in the car for a day and get a rest from being on a bicycle.

The Tunnel Hill Trail is only 45 miles long but as usual we didn't see it all. One day I would love to ride a trail in just one direction. The world is full of tour operators who move bags, provide back-up and transport you from the end of a trail back to where you began but I can't imagine David, who has a passionate loathing of tours of any kind, ever agreeing to such luxury. For my feelings on cycling trails in both directions - see my blog post on The Otago Rail Trail and a Universal Truth.

Cycling the I & M Canal Trail.

"It takes four things to build a canal .. a pick, a shovel, a wheelbarrow and an Irishman".

We came across this quote at a small museum in Lockport, Illinois. Sadly, the death rate among the Irish workers was awful. Conditions were harsh and disease was rife. Unsurprisingly drunkenness was common.

Cycling in Chicago - Be careful what you wish for!

It has been hot since we left Snowmass in Colorado. We drove across Kansas and cycled in Independence, Missouri in 90 degree F (30s C) heat. We rode The Tunnel Hill State Trail and The I & M Canal Trail in Illinois in the mid to high 80s F. We knew the mid-west would be hot this time of year but not this hot. Every exhausting kilometre we have been wishing for a cool change. Yesterday it arrived!

Another day another 40 kms.

We have been averaging about 40 km (25 miles) a day. It doesn't sound much and for a single day it would not be that tough. We often ride that distance at home. However day after day the miles add up and exhaustion starts to set in. We haven't had a cycling free day for five days now. I think we have both just about reached our limit - I know I have!

Mackinac Island - A land without cars.

Imagine an island where the automobile was banned in the late 1800s. There are no cars, trucks or motorbikes of any kind. You would imagine, as I did, an atmosphere of tranquil, unhurried peace where the moment you disembark from the ferry you have stepped back in history to a time before the internal combustion engine.

Now make that island easily accessible to a zillion tourists. The result is an immense culture shock. One which will soon having you begging to return to a land where the car is king. At least then there are rules of the road.

They drive on the right over here!

D will drive anywhere in the world.  He's the only person I have ever met who has hired a car in Macau. The rental car guy didn't seem fazed, but just about everyone else thought we were crazy.  Navigating was a nightmare.

Whenever non-travelling friends ask us about driving in the US, the first thing they want to know about is how hard it is to drive on the right hand side of the road. Our answer is always the same - Be careful at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly and it is just not that difficult. What we don't tell them, and what you never get used to, is walking and cycling on the right - instinct just seems to take over and you find yourself constantly moving to the left.   To all those very nice Americans who I ran off the Rio Grande trail today because I just cannot get used to cycling on the right - I am really, really sorry.

9,540 ft - High altitude living

Mountain Village, Telluride clocks in at 9540 ft (2907 m), more than 2,000 ft (609 m) above our own, diminutive, Kosciuszko. Nestled in the magnificent San Juan Mountains, Telluride is charming and breathtaking at the same time.

Some days you win and some you lose.

Today's plan was to cycle. We are in Boise, the capital of Idaho, passing through on our way to Oregon. Apparently Oregon is green and pretty. Have I said that David likes bucolic countryside? How can he call himself an Australian? Give me a good honest desert any day.

The Boise River winds through the city. There is a  25 mile (40 km) cycle path following the river's greenbelt. On a sunny day it would have been idyllic. Today it rained. We got wet. Fortunately, not too wet. Many years of experience at the cutting edge of tourism have taught us that some days work out better than others. Today was one of the less exciting days, but we've had worse and we've learnt to take the good with the bad.

Cycling in Portland.

If anyone is wondering whether we still have our bikes with us. Yes, we do.  We have a bike carrier which straps onto the boot of our rental car.  With the addition of an octopus strap to secure them a bit more firmly, it works brilliantly.  Even at freeway speeds of up to 75 mph (120 kph) the bikes are rock solid. We bought the carrier in Sydney, but surprisingly, in the land of the 4WD and oversized sports utility vehicle strap-on bike carriers are very common in the US. I can hardly recall ever seeing one in Australia but we see them everywhere here. Just don't hire a car with a rear spoiler. We had to reject the first rental car. It was never going to work.

Cycling in Seattle

We came to Seattle to do a tour of the Boeing Aircraft factory. We don't usually do tours.

Being herded around like kindergarten children is not our idea of fun. Many years ago we got trapped inside Mont Saint Michel for an hour and half when we foolishly joined a French speaking tour. We don't speak French. Once the tour started we couldn't leave and we had no idea when the ordeal would end. Each new room took us down an ever increasing spiral of desperation. We have had a serious allergy to tours ever since.

Bye-bye bikes

We fly home tomorrow. The 'not the cheapest bikes in the store' are now much loved and I will be sorry to part with mine. David - not so much - he has had a bit of grief with his gears over the last few days.
We can't take them home. It is too expensive for such inexpensive bikes. Today we arranged to give them to a thrift store in San Rafael.