The Big Trip- After years of thinking about this trip and almost a year of planning and training, I'm finally at the start of my cross-country bicycle trip! In some ways it's hard to believe it's finally here. In other ways, it seems like it has taken forever to get here and I just want to get started. I have no idea how long it will take. I only have one deadline. My niece, Sian, is getting married in South Dakota on July 11th and I don't want to miss that. My ...

The end of the (New Zealand) road... The group has arrived in Christchurch, had it's farewell dinner and disbanded. So, the end of a wonderful adventure in New Zealand is here. The last few days of riding were through the Central Otago region which alternated between slopes covered in pinot noir grape vines and arid, rolling hills. Parts of it reminded me of Arizona with the addition of high, snow-covered mountains in the far distance and the occasional lake. ...

Queenstown and Milford Sound Yesterday was the hardest cycling day of the trip. The profile showed a long climb in the middle of the day, but that didn't do it justice. The last 3 of the 20km climb were real killers at a 10-14% gradient. Once at the top, there was a plaque telling us we were now crossing the highest paved road in New Zealand! OK, we were still only at 1067 meters of elevation, but tell that to my burning lungs and thighs! I wish I could say th...

Today has to be the best day of vacation travel I've ever had! A couple days ago, a few of us signed up for a helicopter tour of the Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers and Mt. Cook. Since the weather has to be perfect for these trips to take off, we booked a Saturday afternoon trip and a Sunday morning trip to give us two chances. We were disappointed on Saturday afternoon as the clouds were too low for take-off, but Sunday morning the clouds had thinned and we we...

The West Coast... Relations between guests and guide seem to have calmed back down. There was another tense rest day in Nelson, but the last two days of riding down the west coast of the South Island have been drama free. As for the west coast, it is stunning. Think Big Sur but hundreds of kilometers long. The weather has been cloudy and cooler, but the rain has not really caught us while riding and this afternoon the sun came back out in dramatic fashion. I ...