Category 2025: CANTBIRD

(Thurs, 3/13/25; 28 miles, 373 feet of climb) I am currently “out in the west Texas town of El Paso.” Yes, I have FINISHED!! —— I woke up at 4:30 am again today. I was SO EXCITED about my last…

(Wed, 3/12/25; 66 miles, 466 feet of climb) My gambit paid off — I made it 25 miles past my original goal of Las Cruces and all the way to Texas! The winds were as strong as predicted (21 mph),…

(Tues, 3/11/25; 54 miles, 946 feet of climb) Well, this day did quite not go as I expected. It was actually one of my more difficult days of the trip. (My second-longest time in the saddle!) If you looked out…

(Mon, 3/10/25; 35 miles, 3264 feet of climb) I CONQUERED EMORY PASS!!  This was the scariest part of the whole trip for me, and now it’s DONE! The weather couldn’t have been better. This is the highest mountain pass I’ve…

(Sun, 3/9/25; 31 miles, 2263 feet of climb) Today was a great day for biking — sunny and not too windy for a change! I have to admit, though, that I’m getting tired of cold air and long climbs. Tomorrow…

(Sat, 3/8/25; 0 miles, 0 feet of climb) Wow, did I need this day! I scheduled a rest day once a week, but this one kept getting postponed due to weather forecasts. But after 14 consecutive days of riding, I…

(Fri, 3/7/25; 47 miles, 4018 feet of climb) Today was a day of fierce tailwinds, long climbs (including a surprise crossing of the continental divide) and barely BEATING THE SNOW! I tried to start as early as possible given the…

(Thurs, 3/6/25; 81 miles, 2671 feet of climb) Today I biked 80 miles. EIGHTY MILES!! And I had another amazing personal connection with yet another Lutheran Pastor, this time in New Mexico. I woke up at 4:12 am in Kevin…

(Wed, 3/5/25; 28 miles, 510 feet of climb) I am sure glad I had a short day today with the headwind — I got my first FLAT TIRE! And my first rescue by a trail angel.  I started off the…

(Mon, 3/3/25; 31 miles, 2800 feet of climb) Today was a day of FIVE (5) disappointments, but a thrilling finish. I love happy endings! ————  DISAPPOINTMENT #1:  I have to postpone my rest day. I was really looking forward to…

(Sun, 3/2/25; 18 miles, 788 feet of climb) Today was a super short day, out of necessity. It’s only 41 miles from the Cholla campground on Lake Roosevelt to Globe, but the problem is, it is a 6600 foot climb.…

(Sat, 3/1/25; 25 miles, 2133 feet of climb) I am back in the mountains! I’ve enjoyed the nine days of mostly flat desert riding, including the last four days on bike paths in the Phoenix metro area.  But there is…

(Fri, 2/28/25; 36 miles, 835 feet of climb) My last day of city biking was splendid! The eight miles from Tempe into Scottsdale was perhaps the most serene of the whole trip so far: The bike path wove around endless…

(Thurs, 2/27/25; 41 miles, 653 feet of climb) Wow, was it windy today! Even at 7 am, the palm trees were shaking and swirling. Lynn and Teri offered to drive me partway to Tempe today due to the conditions, but…

(Wed, 2/26/25; 26 miles, 293 feet of climb) Wow, what a day — maybe my favorite one yet! After two weeks of social isolation, I enjoyed THREE major encounters today: Breakfast with old relatives, supper with new relatives (by marriage),…

(Tues, 2/25/25; 58 miles, 1111 feet of climb) Great day today! I’ve been planning for a long time the 62-mile ride from Gila Bend to Aunt Marjory’s house in Sun City Festival in the extreme northwest corner of the Phoenix…

(Mon, 2/24/25; 53 miles, 865 feet of climb) Day 12 was another day of perfect weather, although it does get a bit hot in the afternoon. It got down to 47° in the tent last night, but that is actually…

(Sun, 2/23/25; 39 miles, 490 feet of climb) Today was another spectacular day for riding! I just can’t tell you how beautiful the weather is. Reminds me of a perfect sunny day in June in Wisconsin. Temperatures in the high…

(Sat, 2/22/25; 58 miles, 677 feet of climb) Today was absolutely glorious! Just perfect weather for biking: it started out in the high 50s, with light breezes from the north and warm sun above. It got a little warmer in…

(Thurs-Fri, Feb. 20-21, 2025; 0 miles) Well, Days 8 and 9 did not go as expected. In my 50 years of bike touring, I have never once been sick on the road. On this trip, however, I haven’t felt quite…

(Wed, 2/19/25, 65 miles@12.4 mph, 751 feet of climb) Day 7 was epic — 65 miles! And I made it to ARIZONA!! It was the first day of “normal” biking in the entire trip: No laborious climbs, no lunar landscape…

(48 miles, 713 feet of climb) “It was the best of roads; it was the worst of roads.” But I finally made it out of the mountains and into the desert! My expectation for today was to enjoy a screaming…

(35 miles, 2000 feet of climbing) Today was a great day for biking! I set many new trip PRs today — highest miles at 37, most time in the saddle, and yet my heart rate was lower, even though I…

(16 miles, 2000 feet of climb) I was a little disappointed with my progress today — only 16 miles! It was my slowest ever average speed at 6.6 mph, while simultaneously my highest average heart rate at 134 bpm. I…

(23.5 miles and 2934 feet of climb) It was a pretty good day for biking. It rained a little bit off and on, but nothing nearly as bad as the last two days. I still have that 1972 song going…

I finally got started riding on CANTBIRD. I’m glad I planned a short day to begin, because it’s been raining in Southern California for most of two days. Fortunately, it did let up some of the time I was riding…

I made it to SAN DIEGO! But not without a little drama.  After Beth dropped me off at the Minneapolis airport, they told me that taking my boxed bike on board would cost an extra $200! I threw the challenge…

The bike is boxed up, and the panniers are packed away in another box. The van is loaded. We leave for the Minneapolis airport in 11 hours. SO EXCITING!! I had a bit of a scare on Sunday when I…

I said goodbye to some of the Scouts of Troop 72 at our meeting tonight —it’s the last troop meeting that I’ll make for 4-5 weeks. I handed out my new “OldScouter.com” business cards so they can all follow my…

I think I have all my gear selected for my 1000-mile bike trip from San Diego to El Paso. I am heavily leveraging last year’s GUMBIRD ride, and making a few adjustments. For example, I am adding more warm clothing,…

This is a new blog for CANTBIRD: California-Arizona-Newmexico-Texas Bike Ride. This will be a 1000-mile solo self-contained bicycle trip on the west half of the Southern Tier Bike Route, from San Diego to El Paso. (Last year I did the…