Yellow Tent Adventures

Point of Entry “Give the world outside a point of entry. It’ll give back to you.” That lyric stuck in my soul the first time I heard it in Larry Murante’s title song of his album Point of Entry. Music is an incredible force, and each listener interprets what they hear in their own way. [...]

It’s the time of year when holiday tunes are playing everywhere. But sometimes when you are traveling far away from home in another culture, hearing a Christmas carol or familiar song can be a wonderful reminder of home … or not. We were cycling in Northern Thailand during Christmas. We pedaled into a small town [...]

If bread is the Staff of Life, it is also, at the very least, the Kickstand of Cycling. It holds you up and keeps you from falling over. I love this carbolicious treat. As a kid, homemade bread was not in my universe. Bread was something that came in brightly colored cellophane packages from the [...]

The cold November rains have come and my mind drifts off to warmer places on the planet. While we are slamming into winter here in the U.S., New Zealand is sliding into summer. If you have the pleasure of taking a bike trip in New Zealand, don’t miss the cathedral. While I know there are [...]

When you read the word “crowded” what images come to mind? How about “crowded room” or “crowded bar” or “crowded bus”? A couple of definitions I ran across were, “close to capacity” and “uncomfortably close together.” But what is “capacity” and what is “uncomfortable”? Let’s take the situation of putting your bike on the bus. [...]

In a little town in Northern Romania, two boys laughed as they wheeled up and down the street. I’m sure they would have been pedaling bikes if they’d had them. They didn’t. But they had a wheelbarrow. It had a metal wheel that squeaked so loud you’d swear a 700-pound hamster was exercising in its [...]

They are gifts of the road. Nature’s snacks ripened just for you. Their aromas fill the hot summer’s breezes and the late fall’s chill. Roadside trees, far from any home or farm, display these treats more beautifully than any row of sweets in a candy shop. They must have been planted for the benefit of [...]

For the last two years I’ve been writing posts for the Adventure Cycling Association‘s blog. My column is called “Sights and Sounds” and I’ve been given the freedom to dig through photos (slides and digital) and recordings (cassette, mini-disc, and and digital) from my (our) travels by bicycle throughout the globe. Some I’ve re-posted on [...]

One of my favorite moments of any bike trip comes when I’m not on my bike. It is that time after a long day’s ride. The tent is set up. The sun is getting low in the sky. There is nothing to do but observe the beauty around me and listen to the world as [...]

Thirty years ago I left Seaside, Oregon with my buddy Thomas to cycle across America. July 2, 1981. Almost 11,000 days have passed since we dipped our rear tires in the Pacific Ocean. Hard to believe. In some ways it really does feel like it was yesterday. In this photo we are wearing gym shorts, [...]