Doug Walsh's Blog, page 18

Surprises, Ghost Stories, and a Road Trip

“Do you see them? Maybe Dad’s sleeping. Do you see anyone?” I hid in the corner by the front door peppering Doug with questions as he rang the doorbell to my parent’s Florida beach house. I had butterflies in my stomach and couldn’t wait to see the look on their faces. After all, they thought […]

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Detours Ahead

“And then, after Italy, we’ll continue east through Greece and Turkey before heading up into Georgia and making our way across Central Asia to China.” I could see the hotel manager’s imagination was running wild, his eyes widened as they panned across the map of our proposed route. He asked how long it would take […]

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A New Year in An Other Italy

“So where are you now?” It was the standard start to the weekly conversations we  have with family. What used to be time spent talking about the weather and our jobs is now occupied with ritualistic queries about where we are and where we’re headed. Next week, the second answer becomes the first and a new […]

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All Roads Lead to Rome

While the mental hassle and physical challenge of touring in Morocco managed to sap some of our enthusiasm for bicycle travel, it only took a few days in bella Italy to fully rejuvenate our spirits–and then some! For nowhere else does it feel perfectly normal to stop in the middle of a mountain climb, wet from the rain, […]

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Escape from Morocco

Our time in Morocco has come to an end and, beautiful photos and a few choice memories aside, I coudn’t be happier. And it’s disappointing to say that, as Morocco was one of the three countries I always listed when asked where I was most excited to go (Scotland and New Zealand were the other […]

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Rolling with the Culture in Morocco

As we crested the last hill in Spain and began our descent into Tarifa to catch the ferry to Tangier, Doug asked me how I was feeling about finally going to Morocco. I had to admit, I was a little anxious about being in our first Muslim country. I read many cycling blogs and travel […]

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Looking Back at Europe

The thing about a trip like this is you don’t realize how far you’ve come until you’ve done something you once thought impossible. Then it hits you all at once. It was the case when we first sniffed the Atlantic Ocean in Maine and realized that, yes indeed, we did pedal our way across North […]

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DIY: Eliminating the Need for Ortlieb Rack Spacer Clips

The Problem: There’s a lot of information and recommendations available to the beginner bicycle tourist, but some things have to be learned through experience. One of those things that nobody tells you is that saddle sores get really itchy after you take some time off the bikes. Another is that there is a major defect in […]

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Monologue of La Mancha

Well, the timing for that certainly worked out well. Did it? I don’t know. On the one hand, if we had to get sick, I’m sure glad it was while were in a comfortable hotel with a private bathroom and not out in the woods camping. Yeah, but to pedal all the way to Madrid and not leave the […]

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Cycling the Spanish Sierra

“It’s going to be a six day ride to Madrid.” “I thought you said it was only 400 kilometers. We could do that in four days, three if we had to,” she countered from across the room. “Well, that’s before I saw this.” I  turned the map while pointing at the road marked LR-333. “Look how […]

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