• 100 Miles to See Mom

    4 juni 2020, Förenta staterna ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    I left at 7am to ride mainly gravel to my hometown (Marshalltown) to visit my mom. Lisa drove over to give me a lift home ❤️. A beautiful ride which involved avoiding a thunderstorm, a “Haystack Burger*”
    in Chelsea, Iowa, flooded roads, and running out of water in the heat of the day. Luckily I saw a person watering plants and stopped for rehydration , found out after chatting that we knew each other. Ended in Marshalltown at Tasty Freeze for ice cream. I grew up about two blocks from the ice cream landmark.
    *Haystack Burger: A cheese burger with close to 1 pooung of Mozzarella cheese and 1/2 pound of sauerkraut.
    100 miles / 6 hrs 15 min.
    Läs mer

  • Westmalle Dubbel

    28 maj 2020, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Enjoying one of the best beers in the world on our screened in porch. We fell in love with this Trappist ale in Belgium and have been to the abbey to enjoy it locally too. A delightful taste if you ever have the chance. Our moment was graced with a rainbow in the East.Läs mer

  • A Look Back at the 2019 Tour

    26 maj 2020, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    I use the winter months to plan our tours extensively. I use a combination of mapping sites. Warmsowers.org, Airbnb, Couchsurfing, etc. I plan our routes and line up lodging. I then write out details in my journal and read them nightly to Lisa while on the tour as we recap the day and look forward to the next day. Never a dull moment!Läs mer

  • Postel Abbey & Mol, Belgium

    25 maj 2020, Förenta staterna ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Drinking a beer out of my favorite Belgian glass. Postel Abbey is near Mol, Belgium, one of our favorite places in the world. If you ever go, stay with Kristein & Peter at B&B Molmento! We drove out to a gravel road to enjoy the sunrise with coffee in our favorite mugs. 😀Läs mer

  • Firepit

    17 maj 2020, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    We enjoy having fires in the backyard, and Sebastian is at the age when he enjoys having friends over for a fire. This is one socially distancing thing he can enjoy with friends. We built a new fire pit, ordered a bunch of wood, and built a custom Lisa DeShano Woodshed.Läs mer

  • HOME (Some Final Thoughts)

    28 juni 2019, Belgien ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    1. People are really nice if you give them the chance.
    2. Pet owners in Europe are much more responsible, and the dogs are so well behaved.
    3. European drivers are much kinder to cyclists!
    4. Wine, beer, cheese, chocolate, pastries, bread, homemade items, yogurt, cherries, sausages, fries 🍟, ice creams, etc.
    5. 1,700 miles / 2,700 km / 28 days cycling / 1 rest day
    6. 7 countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein,
    / 4 hotels / 4 CouchSurfing / 19 Warmshowers / 1 other.
    7. 0 complete days of rain / 1 puncture / 1 broken pump / 1 donated pump (thanks Ulrich) / 0 crashes / 0 items lost
    8. National Day in Luxembourg City was a blast with great fireworks
    9.European people we were around were very proud of there homemade goods and gardens
    10. Toughest day: Vielsalm, BE to Liège, BE (hot and hilly) or Silvretta Pass in Austria (cold and hilly)
    Läs mer

  • Brussels Airport, Belgium

    27 juni 2019, Belgien ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    A short tour of Mol in the morning after breakfast at Molmento B&B. We visited Jos at his shoe shop and had some Belgian Fries at the sidewalk sales festival. A lot of logistics to get to the airport hotel, and now packing the bicycle boxes which will definitely be over the weight limit. Tomorrow we fly to Chicago and Doug will drive us to Iowa City. It’s always hard to leave Mol!Läs mer

  • Mol, Belgium

    26 juni 2019, Belgien ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Last day of riding! 🙁 We got a casual start in the morning with breakfast in the hotel room while listening to the garbage collection and street cleaning of the city center. 😬 We proceeded to Tongeren, BE, the oldest city in Belgium (54 BCE.) posing be the statue of the bravest Belgian in history, Ambiorix, who defeated the occupation of the Romans. Later near Hasselt, BE, we stared riding into the wind along the canal. The winds and detours along the canal made for a tougher day than we hoped for. We stopped about 10 miles from Mol for a final pit stop, and reached Mol around 5 PM. Peter and Kristein treated us to a fabulous dinner at Piccolo and we had a relaxing evening at the B&B.Läs mer

  • Liège, Belgium

    25 juni 2019, Belgien ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We rode the last 60 miles of the 2019 Liège-Bastogne-Liège race route which included nine grueling climbs in over 90° heat. I think it was our hardest day of the tour! 60 miles with over 6000 ft of climbing. We made it to our Hotel in Liège near 4pm. The hotel was nicely located in the city center, but didn’t have A/c. After cleaning up we took a hot stroll through the center and stopped for a few drinks and snacks. Our host Violette from the previous night came with here boyfriend Coco to have dinner and give us another evening walking tour of Liège. For dinner I had a traditional meatball with brown sweet gravy on frites. It was delicious. Our evening walk included the 374-step staircase of Montagne de Bueren for a beautiful view over Liège. Tomorrow is an easier day and we return to Mol to pack the bikes. 🙁Läs mer

  • Viesalm, Belgium

    25 juni 2019, Belgien ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Vielsalm: It is hard to explain how every day of cycling seems to have the same structure, but so much diversity that it makes it “the best day ever.” Does this sound fun? We woke up in a stranger’s House, Proceeded to how to make coffee and ate some day-old bread before riding nearly 70 miles in 90° heat. We had a climbs that were over 15% gradient, and and sandwiches and old potato chips for lunch. Later we tried to find our host house, and went to the wrong house and could not communicate with the resident as they only spoke French. This may not sound the best, but it is the best part of bicycle touting... Routine, uncomfortableness, diversity, adventure...and lots of laughs! In the morning we had picturesque views along the Belgian-Luxembourg border. The weather was getting hot when we reached Bastogne, were we would join the race route of the 2019 Liège-Bastogne-Liège race route. Only two major climbs today and nine tomorrow! Our day ended in Viesalm with a rest st a gazebo on the lake and then dinner and an evening walk with our host Violette and her family. We had a fun time without the family and a great night of sleep!Läs mer

  • Arlon, Belgium

    23 juni 2019, Belgien ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    A relaxing morning in Luxembourg City. We left the hotel at 11:00 AM. We at breakfast in the hotel room and enjoyed sleeping in. We casually toured around the city center and eventually found an event with free food, beverages, and a fun band that was hosted by the Luxembourg government / military. At 4:00 PM we headed to Arlon, Belgium. Our host Seb took us to a local street stand for traditional Belgian fries with gravy and cheese. I also had a deep fried sausage thing and Lisa had a veggie burger. After dinner Lisa and I took a short walk and we returned to Seb’s for a taste off Maitrank (a traditional drink made from bad white wine, oranges, sugar, and a special leaf only found in May. Only three days of riding left, and the weather forecast is for heat! 22.5 miles /1090 ft / 1487 total miles.Läs mer

Få din egen reseprofil

Gratis

QR code

FindPenguins för iOSFindPenguins för Android