What hang-ups prevent people from bike touring?

My Bantam at Crown Point in the Columbia Gorge during a bike campout last April. It took almost twenty years of touring to figure out what works for me. Last week I went to a bike touring, er, "bikepacking" meetup at Lords Luggage, hosted by Bruce B. There was a good turnout featuring people I...

On another season gone, getting older, and default travel methods

We are now in mid-September. While technically summer lasts until Equinox on Friday September 22nd (though meteorological summer is over), with a few rains and some cooler temps, thoughts are now focused on autumn. I do like autumn (when we get a real one, which wasn't last year), and there is still some more time...

On self-created identities and how they can be a burden

Chained. Rose City Park, 8 June 2023 Pentax IQZoom 170SL/Kodak Ultramax 400 It's been a few weeks since my "Not really a bike tour" down the Willamette Valley. I still did travel and still rode a bike, but it wasn't the true bike touring experience I had hoped. I don't regret my decision, as I...

The Tour that Wasn’t: Willamette Valley Recap

Bush Park, Salem OR, 28 June 2023. Pentax IQZoom 170SL/Kodak Ultramax 400 Last time I left you fine folks, I was heading out the door to do a small-wheeled bike tour down the Willamette Valley. And while I definitely spent some time down that way, a "bike tour" didn't materialize. No, I didn't get injured,...

Ainsworth post-report: A de-briefing on my first bike camping trip of 2023

The Bantam at Horsetail Falls, 29 April 2023. Olympus Pen EES-2/Ilford Delta 400 It's become a thing for me: After the first bike camping trip of the season, reflect on what happened, the good and the bad. This is what happened after my Champoeg trip last year. And now it's time for me to analyze...

The Opulence of Time

North Beach, Orcas Island. 5 August 2022. Camera: Olympus XA2/Film: Fujicolor 100 Stasia over at Carfree Rambles finished up a coast-to-coast (and Portland-to-Portland!) tour with her partner a little while ago. Like many folks who go on a big adventure like this, she's found the readjustment to "real life" a bit tough. In her latest...

A look back at my 2022 touring season

The Bantam at Crown Point, during the Midweek Gorge group camping trip, 15 Oct 2022. Camera: Ricohflex Dia Film: Kodak Gold 200 As the first real rains of autumn hit the Northwest, and the chances of getting "one last camping trip in" diminish, now is a good time for me to look back and reflect...

San Juans Tour: Wrap-up and photos

Watching the ferry from Orcas Hotel. 5 August 2022 Olympus XA2/Fujicolor 200 Hello friends. It's been a few weeks since Emee and I got back from our week-long bike excursion to the San Juan Islands and the Skagit Valley. Overall, it was a great trip. We stayed at hotels/Airbnbs the whole time, meaning we could...