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A friend organized a ride around Lake Tahoe for a group of 7 adventurous comrades (many of whom hadn’t biked much this year), and it was an excellent weekend. 76 moderately hilly miles and 4200′ of elevation gain (maxing out at 7000′ where there was snow on the ground). I’d never biked at any significant altitude (maybe a short distance in Glacier Park) and while it wasn’t noticeable on the flats, I was surprised how much I felt it when pushing myself or going uphill– deep breaths feeling like shallow ones. Or maybe I just need to ride more. ...

76-mile ride in the CA and NV hills around Lake Tahoe

Even with just a spare hour and the hotel loaner bike, it’s possible to get up into the hills East of Healdsburg, where a woodpecker’s the noisiest thing around.

I’ve done this general ride too many times to remember over the years. This was an especially good day of it– lush green hills instead of the usual dead grass, sunny but not too hot, a children’s lemonade stand, a group of friends, a picnic and some British beer at The Warehouse, and my first time riding on Carquinez Scenic Drive since its renovation (though to be honest, I sort of miss its previous painted, crumbling-into-the-bay state and the 50 feet of hillside dirt path you used to need to traverse).

Well that was a great weekend. Took the train to Menlo Park, and rode with five friends up for miles on twisty, narrow, mostly deserted Old La Honda, down along twisty roads, and stopped for artichoke bread and other lunch in Pescadero. Then on down Highway 1 to Pigeon Point Lighthouse, where there’s a hostel you can stay in… and a hot tub on a cliff overlooking the ocean. A whole pod of dolphins swam by, fins arcing, a whale(?) made a big splash, and at night with the lights out, you could see stars, the surf, and the beams of the lighthouse sweeping by every few seconds. ...

While I was visiting Iceland at the end of December, Stefan of Reykjavik Bike Tours kindly fit me in to a tour and I helped out by wearing an orange vest and riding sweep. It was a cold and snowy day, with a lot of black ice on the roads from the past weeks of storms, so it wasn’t the easiest time to spin around the city, but it was still a good overview. ...

In Buenos Aires, rented a bike for the afternoon: While I didn’t see that many people on bikes around the city, and the driving was… aggressive, I heard from a walking tour guide that there’s been a big upswing in cycling the past few years. And I did see evidence of a city bike share program, and some retrofitted separated bike lanes. ...

Biking it near, along, and in the shallow edge of Laguna Garzon.

Visiting Uruguay. Went for a ride along / in a shallow lagoon.

Came out of a restaurant to find my lock badly warped around my bike frame… but not broken. Close call.