Long days on the bike gives us lots of time to pontificate the meaning of life and entertain one another with dumb what if questions. A classic has been, “what if our bike breaks irreparably?” Would we buy single bikes and continue on? Return home? Continue the trip by backpack/bus? Set up shop in a cool city and take Spanish courses for a few months? Thankfully, we have not ever had to answer that question. Mark has spent countless hours maintaining our bike to keep it runnable, but since we decided to ride a clown bike for seven months through READ MORE
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A Change of Pace
We knew that the pace we had settled into after more than 6 months of riding would not make sense to keep when Noël joined us; not only do we make different decisions with another person in the group, but Noël would be just getting acclimated to life on the bike. “This is more of a Mark touring pace,” Mark declared as we settled into the cabaña we rented for the day at 3 pm. We have been using the extra time off the bike to enjoy some wine, coffee, some good cooking and some bad cooking. Mark and I READ MORE
The Tandem Gets a Third Seat
More problems posting! Originally written for publishing on April 5th. After 6.5 months of traveling just the two of us, Mark and I are being joined by one of our close friends. We did not actually get a third seat, but instead, Noël packed up her bike and flew in from Colorado to join us for the last month of our trip. Yesterday we met her at the bus station in Mendoza and today we’ll start riding. We are really excited to have some new energy, since we have still been battling the post-dengue lethargy. The last few days of READ MORE
Down with Dengue
See our Strava here: https://www.strava.com/athletes/markandnic See our photos here:https://photos.app.goo.gl/8sK1ryrupSjneZ9BA I did not take much time to blog as we rode through the rest of Bolivia and into Northern Argentina. We were coving lots of kilometers, enjoying the fast riding in the remainder of the altiplano and here in the desert of northern Argentina. Our time in Argentina has offered many luxuries: good camping, some incredible vegetarian restaurants, wine, and espresso. The proliferation of Argentinian beef is certainly impressive (although of course not much a treat for us, though the cheese is much better here). Not only is it on almost READ MORE
The Gates of Lodore
** This is an old post from last summer (June 2023) that I never got the chance to share. Since I had the time and space today I figured I would update it and get it out to the world.*** I had spent a handful of days on the river when I first saw the Green River running though Dinasaour National monument. I had gotten into a free program in college in which a non-profit flew myself and few other students around Colorado in small planes to see Colorado’s rivers and talk to locale interest groups about their work on READ MORE
Frying Pan or Fire: it is Hot
After leaving the cool temps of Nevado del Ruiz, we spent the day coasting downhill into the Magdalene river valley. As we dropped in elevation the temperatures climbed and by the time we were ready to end our short day (not wanting to push it with Mark’s stomach on the fritz) we were back into a hot and humid climate at only 200 meters elevation. Given the heat and the sensitivity of Mark’s bowels we opted to stay in hotels to be close to a bathroom as well as to enjoy a fan or a/c on our way to a READ MORE
Fast and Flat in Nicaragua
After pedaling our 100 lb bike up and over impossibly steep hills in Guatemala and El Salvador, we have found ourselves enjoying the break in the mountains more than usual. At my last blog post, I wrote about getting over a bout of food poisoning as we continued from Guatemala into El Salvador. While it was true we were over the vomiting and diarrhea, I was not quite back to 100% when we got back on the bike. I was still getting over the cold I had gotten the week prior, and had not fully recovered my appetite either. The READ MORE
Party Time!
After a winter seasons work Mark and I were ready for some time off to play outside and see some friends. I spent another winter as a ski instructor in Leadville, while Mark helped his mom and niece move into a new house, buy a new van and adjust to some other changes in their household. Once his mom was moved and her old house sold, Mark was able to start focusing on himself more. With our work wrapped up, we marked our calendars for “Nic and Mark Party Time,” and took two weeks to have fun together before Mark READ MORE
Back to blogging!
After a longer break than I expected, I am restarting my blog. I have even put a little more attention into my site this time! If you followed my Continental Divide Trail blog, I hope you’ll enjoy what I have to offer here too! I also hope you continue to read along as I grow this website! A quick update on me: Right now I am working as a ski instructor and enjoy lots of time hiking and skiing in the snow. Besides AT touring, I was gifted a pair of skate skis to use for the season so I READ MORE