Increasingly — in recent years — I’ve been looking for the cheapest long distance flights … with stopovers.
For example, my 6 hour break in Lisbon made the LONG Bermuda to Stuttgart flights much more enjoyable.
Category: travel
My first HURRICANE – Umberto
No problem for me.
But schools and Gymnastics clubs in Bermuda were closed for at least 2 days.
The Category 3 storm’s 120 mph winds left 80% of the island — more than 27,000 people — without power …
Our power went out for about 14 hours. During peak winds in our home bunker, we played Mexican Train dominos.
Next morning we surveyed the damage. Some gas leaks, nine medical incidents and three structural fires. One roof blew off.
Bermuda rarely sees storms as big and powerful as Humberto. Only 21 hurricanes have passed within 100 miles of the Atlantic Ocean paradise over the past century …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The rail trail where I run is impassible due to fallen trees.
Portable SSD drives
Love ’em. 🙂
Currently I’m traveling with the Lexar® Professional SL100 Pro Portable SSD.
Don’t buy the Samsung version. One of mine was bricked, incompatible with the most recent Mac OS.
- 500GB
- USB 3.1 Type-C connects directly to my 2019 MacBook Pro
- 70.5g / 0.155lbs plus cable
It’s tiny. Light. Durable. Perfect.
And I paid only CAD $100 at BestBuy in August 2019.
It replaces my Samsung T5 Portable SSD 1TB USB 3.1 at CAD $239.99 from Amazon.
A Samsung software update bricked my drive. There’s been no help getting that fixed. #SamsungSUCKS
icebreaker Mereno clothing
Over the years I haven’t had much luck with wool clothing.
Very expensive. Yet not durable. I found holes in the garments after, perhaps, 10 wash cycles.
But last year I was convinced by an icebreaker salesman to try again. Some of their new products are mostly 87% Merino wool but with some nylon to improve durability.
It works. I’ll be traveling with 3 icebreaker tops on my next trip.
They dry more slowly than synthetic. But stink less. It’s worth it.
The one below costs US$90 or more. I got my most recent shirt for less than $40. You have to shop and wait. The icebreaker sale in my local shop only happens twice a year.
Anker PowerCore Fusion 5000
When you plug your phone into this you know it’s charging at the fastest possible rate.
If you have to pull it out of the wall before your phone is finished, it’s also a 5000 mAh powerbank.
It can recharge an iPhone about 1.1 times.
With two USB ports I typically charge my AirPods and Apple Watch at the same time as I’m charging my phone.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Photographer’s TOP 10 places in Norway
I really want to get to Senja as an alternative to Lofoten.
I’d bikepack carrying an inflatable kayak.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
SUMMING UP – my Pacific NW cycling tour
My major project of summer 2019, I finished a month long trip on August 3rd.
Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4-5 | 6-7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12-13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | info | video
One excellent adventure.
The Pacific Northwest is gorgeous. I had fantastic weather. Very few biting insects.
The theme was rails to trails. I tried to ride as many railway lines converted to non-motorized transport as I could.
- at least 2700 km (1675 miles)
- BC, Washington State, north Idaho, back to BC
- 24 days on the bike
- 2 days off in Port Townsend hosted by the Tumbl Trak crew
- 8 days off in Coeur d’Alene hosted by the Adlards
- one night motel
HIGHLIGHTS
- visiting friends en route
- 5 bears
- Cowichan Valley Trail on Vancouver Island
- Iron Horse rail trail in Washington State
- Kettle Valley rail trail in central B.C.
- the Relive app for mapping my rides on Google Earth
- after many repairs en route, my Ghost hybrid bike is running better than new
- trestles, tunnels, bridges, fantastic wilderness
Click PLAY or watch a 6 minute highlights video on YouTube.
LESSONS LEARNED
- non-motorized rail trails make for excellent cycling
- some surfaces are MUCH better than others
- highways are dangerous
- The Great American Rail-Trail is more of a concept than a thing. There is no signage at all, for example. Current maps on the TrailLink app … suck.
- Canada’s Great Trail app is better, but still sucks
- I love the free maps.me app … but it’s lacking in North America as not many people use it here. It steered me wrong a number of times.
- Google maps offline is not much help as it only shows automobile routes.
- a British cyclist recommended the free ridewithgps app. I’ll try it next.
- Canada’s Great Trail (formerly called the Trans Canada Trail) was better than I expected. B.C. includes many of the best sections.
- I hiked less than anticipated
- I had too much weight on the back. Next time I’ll use saddlebags mounted in front and (possibly) mid-frame
- bikes need a lot of maintenance. And I’m the worst at bicycle maintenance. En route I fixed one flat. Had 4 broken spokes. Visited 4 bike shops. Had both tires upgraded.
- Dave had his guys replace the chain and some other hardware. That helped immensely.
I started in Nanaimo wanting to get to Lake Cowichan as quickly as possible.
Lake Cowichan is the western terminus of the Great Trail.
- Lake Cowichan to Victoria on the Cowichan Valley Trail
2. Islands to Port Townsend WA
After visiting friends in Victoria, I took the most direct route to visit friends in Port Townsend via the American San Juan Islands.
3. Port Townsend WA to Rattlesnake Lake WA
To avoid some highway miles, Doug & Diana delivered me to the Bainbridge ferry. I cycled the Burke-Gilman rail to trail and others connected to get to the fantastic Iron Horse Trail out of Rattlesnake Lake.
4. Rattlesnake Lake WA to Tekoa WA on the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail
5. Eastern Washington
Just past Ellensburg I was forced off the semi-official GART on to secondary highways and alternative trails that took me through Spokane.
I found this section of GART to be too soft and sandy for my tires. Also it was too disconnected.
I finally stopped at Plummer, Idaho. Dave Adlard picked me up. We dropped the bike at a shop for repair as I’d broken 3 spokes the previous evening. And then took an indulgent 8 days off in Couer d’Alene.
6. North to Castlegar
Dave and Jeni rode with me away from the Adlard log cabin in Athol. We headed towards Sandpoint on back roads and I later rejoined the route shown in the map below. Dave had suggested I cross the border close to pretty Metaline Falls.
6. Castlegar to Hope
For decades I’d wanted to ride the Kettle Valley Rail (KVR) Trail and the Columbia & Western Rail Trail. It’s totally wonderful. And obviously one of the great cycling routes of the world.
Hope to Vancouver and on to Parksville on the Island was problematic. There is no excellent route yet available. Cyclists I met took a number of different roads.
Psychologically finished at Hope, I managed a series of rides, buses, trains and ferries to cover the 240km in about 36 hours without sleeping.
related – compare my 23 days bikepacking Patagonia, Chile earlier this year
Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4-5 | 6-7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12-13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | info | video
Hope to Parksville B.C.
Aug 2, 2019 – day 24
Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4-5 | 6-7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12-13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | info | video
LAST DAY.
In the middle of the night — HOPE B.C. — I was awoken by rain.
Jumped out of the tent to put the fly which I’ve rarely used over the past month. The weather has been terrific.
It rained hard. The first hard rain of the month.
I packed up quickly in the morning when it let up briefly. But was soaked by the time I got to Tim Hortons and, later, McDonalds.
By about 9:30am the skies looked threatening … but I set out anyway with the vague dream of reaching Vancouver Island same day.
It looked unlikely as — shockingly — all these left coast Vancouver suburb cities have yet to organize a connected non-motorized trail through the big sleazy.
Least bad option was starting west on Laugheed Highway 7.
This was a big letdown after the Kettle Valley rail trail. 😕
Some of the bridges are quite dangerous for cyclists, as well.
Happily, the Golden Ears bridge (opened 2009) is a dream. It has bike-pedestrian protected lanes on each side.
On arrival in Langley I asked a bus driver the best public transit with bike to downtown Vancouver. That led to an intercity bus with bike rack. Cycling 6.5 km. The Sky Train. Ferry to Londsdale Quay. And two more local buses to Horseshoe Bay.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
And I made it to Horseshoe Bay in time for the 10:40pm last ferry. The last of the day.
Should I cross. Or wildcamp on the mainland?
I decided to take the ferry. It was 12:20am on arrival in Nanaimo.
Deciding not to wild camp, I decided to stay up all night in Tim Hortons and ride the final 30km or so at dawn.
Click PLAY or watch my 240km travel day on YouTube.
I went straight to bed on arrival at my parent’s place around 7am.
Great trip. But I’m very, very tired.
Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4-5 | 6-7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12-13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | info | video
cycling Thalia to Hope B.C.
Aug 1, 2019 – day 23
Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4-5 | 6-7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12-13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | info | video
Toughest day of the trip.
I was up before dawn anticipating a long day ahead. Then managed to get lost. Twice!
It cost me perhaps 3 hours.
Click PLAY or watch me getting lost on YouTube.
Oops. Seems I ALSO accidentally turned off the Relive app after only 65km. The day was actually at least twice as long.
My navigation skills are poor. But in this case the confusion was mostly due to missing roads on the Maps.me app.
There was nobody to ask.
Also, there are very few road direction signs in this remote area.
Merde.
Another problem. One of my saddle bags broke. Luckily I’m a mechanical genius and quickly hacked a fix.
On the bright side I did see a LOT of wildlife this day. Fox. Coyote. Skunk. Marmot. My 5th bear.
Fewer cyclists cover this section. Some trail is in rough shape. Some rockslides never cleared.
The Great Trail gets complicated when it reaches the Coquihala highway.
All the cyclists I spoke with took the highway when they couldn’t find the trail. As I did.
The Coquihala wasn’t as bad as I feared. And as I was cycling downhill, my average speed was probably 30km / hour.
Happily, whomever added these white painted arrows did a good job. These pointed the best route.
One excellent section of the Great Trail required sliding the bike under these barriers.
There was some superb scenery on the way to Hope.
A British cyclist reminded me how lucky we were to have the chance to cycle in paradise.
Wondering about the time all day, I was happy to reach the Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park before it closed at dark. Fantastic. And I’d never been before.
In the Coquihalla Gorge – the river cut a 300 foot deep channel of solid granite. A straight line of tunnels were built through it which are known now as the Othello Tunnels. …
This park highlights the Kettle Valley Railway grade that passes through the canyon and 5 tunnels which were built in 1914.
I wild camped close the very end of the 450 km Kettle Valley rail trail on the outskirts of Hope.
Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4-5 | 6-7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12-13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | info | video
Rick McCharles 
