While most of us endure the snowy, wet Portland winter, several local cyclists have wisened up and set off for bike adventures abroad.
Doug Ollerenshaw is a local professional bike racer. He’s competing with his Health Net teammates in the Tour of Taiwan. You can follow along with his (mis)adventures on his personal website at DougOllerenshaw.com. Or check out the official reports of each stage on the team website.
Michael Wolfe is taking in the sublime scenery of New Zealand aboard his recumbent and posting beautiful photos along the way. If you need a little vicarious pleasure, peruse these photos of Michael’s trip.
The Folz Family – Allan, Carie, and 2 year-old Cody – are on a month-long bike trip through Laos and Cambodia. They’re traveling on a tandem with Cody in the child seat. They’re keeping us posted with the ups and downs of life on the road. Here’s a few excerpts from recent emails:
On their popularity (especially Cody’s) with the locals:
“whenever we stopped we were soon surrounded by what felt like half the village. As for Cody… as popular as ever. I keep warning him about using up his 15 minutes of fame, but so far it has all fallen on deaf ears.”
On traffic calming:
“We shared the road with water buffalo, chickens, roto-tiller sized tractors, various other machines defying western description. I pause to say a word about the effectiveness of water buffalo for traffic calming: VERY.”
Thanks for the mention, Jonathan! I’m back in town now.
Maybe I should adapt my little journal/emails into entries on crazyguyonabike.com or something.
I want to talk up New Zealand’s Otago Rail Trail. I just returned from a bike trip there, it is a 130K trail along an abandoned railroad grade. Good for all fitness levels – some in our group had little biking experience, but we all cranked out a couple of 25 mile days over terrain that passes through sheep pastures, small farm towns, a few gorgeous gorges and lots of open trail. Some locals go out and ride the whole trail in a day for something to do, or you can just take your time. Small B+B’s are developing along the way in old farmhouses, even an old bank in Omakau. A few pubs for rest stops, four days lodging and boke rental was about $225US, and the bike rental place does all the reservations.