I Like Big Tires and I Cannot Lie (An MTB Video)

Downhill mountain biking Petzen Austria

Two months ago, my friend Michael told me about the Petzen downhill mountain bike area in SE Austria. Since it is hunkered in the Carpathian Mountains near Slovenia and 1,500 miles from where we were in England, I figured that would never happen. Nevertheless, I added it to Evernote just in case.

Sometimes, these things work out. As we pedaled through Slovenia, I mapped out a route to Petzen. As luck would have it, we found a vegan hotel/restaurant on Lake Klopein, the perfect location for a few days off after our tour through Hungary. Petzen happened to be just a few pedal strokes (ok, 15 miles) away. A perfect day trip.

The warm-up ride to the park was worth it: the stellar downhill and views of the valley make Petzen was the best flow trail I’ve ever ridden. It was so flowy that my first six-mile run through the berms actually made me slightly motion sick! The trail, which won IMBA’s 2014 Flow Trail of the Year award, is fantastic.

Enough said. Other than visiting it, the best way to experience Petzen is through a video. Here it is.

Cycle Touring in a Hungarian Heat Wave

Pedaling Lake Balaton

The situation was dire. “They don’t have chocolate-covered rice cakes!” Chelsea reported, walking out of our favorite European grocery store, Spar. “And no ajvar either.” We were scarcely 100 pedal strokes over Hungary’s border and already were forced to continue sans our favorite snack and red pepper spread. Whatever – we hadn’t made it this far to only to crumble so easily.

The country’s history is a tough one. Smack-dab in the middle of Central Europe, Hungary was once a wealthy empire ranging from coastal Croatia east to the Black Sea. It was an industrialized nation and Budapest rang with discourse, music and art. Then the ramifications of two world wars carved up the illustrious empire and resulted in half of ethnic Hungarians living outside the new borders and 70% of its previous land holdings stripped away and handed over (or returned) to other countries. This split the beating heart of industry from the lifeblood of raw materials necessary to feed it, crushing the economy.

Sign of the times? Progress rooted in the old.

Sign of the times? Progress rooted in the old.

Though many Hungarian leaders pushed for neutrality during WWII, geography forced it to join the Axis powers. One book I read said, “they could either be broiled by the Germans or boiled by the Russians.” When Hungary tried to negotiate a surrender to the Allies, the German forces stomped in to occupy the country. Then the Russian troops invaded and pillaged. They also extracted onerous war reparations that undermined the Hungarian economy, weakened the previous government and paved the way for 50 years of Communism.

President Harry Truman, a die-hard Midwesterner, once told a Hungarian diplomat that he’d like to visit to learn about their agriculture system. He never made it before the Iron Curtain slammed shut, but if I had a few lines to report back my superficial findings based on my 10 days touring there, I’d say:

“Dear Prez Truman – fields of corn, wheat, rye and sugar beets cover the majority of the countryside. It feels like a Soviet-influenced version of Illinois. Uniform boxy homes cluster together in empty villages, the eerie silence broken occasionally by a tractor gnashing up the street. Elderly people creak by on bikes so rusty it’s a miracle the frames hold together. The cheery flowers in window boxes, so often seen in Western Europe, are gone.”

And then I’d tell Harry to watch the video I put together from our time in Hungary; it’s at the bottom of this post.

Hills of Hungary

Frankly, cycling through Hungary felt more like survival than fun, and we had a hard time enjoying it. The agricultural terrain felt monotonous and the heat hung on our backs like a scorching blanket of coals. We struggled to connect with the place in our usual way, though everyone we interacted with was incredibly cordial and friendly. One memorable evening was a nice Warmshowers stay with a lovely family in the countryside. They told us of the difficulties of starting a business or homeschooling children in a country that is still shaking off old Communist conformity.

Rising in the dark to beat the heat, Chelsea and I were pedaling each day by the time sunrise tinged corn stalks with a crimson hue. One memorable bonus was the roadside stands with delectable, juicy watermelons from southern Hungary. I ate mounds of the delicious fruit every day, spooning it directly out of the rind until my belly swelled, round and taut as the melons themselves.

Sunrise start!

Sunrise start!

Our route was a 400-mile loop out of Slovenia. The destination: Lake Balaton, a blue oval in the midst of Central Europe’s Great Plains that attracts tourists from all over the area. We put the lake in our sights after reading about the excellent bike paths circumventing its shores. Parts of the lake are so shallow that it’s possible to wade out hundreds of feet and still only be up to your waist; people stand around chatting like they’re hanging out in a park.

Wading in Lake Balaton

Balaton felt like two different worlds depending which side we pedaled. The flatter south shore featured rental houses and resorts that spawned hundreds of people and their inflatable beach equipment. Bike paths were often crowded with tourists (takes one to know one) who wandered about like bowling balls between bumpers.

The north was less developed, hillier, and more scenic, and we wound our way through grape vines as we gazed out over the crystalline blue lake from excellent vantage points. Our favorite stop was a rest day in the town of Balatongyörök, where we gulped delicious homemade strawberry lemonade on a restaurant terrace overlooking lake and enjoyed a couple hours of respite before retreating to the comfort of air conditioning. Unless squeaky beach toys and crowds are your idea of a fun bike tour, my recommendation would be to stick to the northern side of Lake Balaton.

North side of Lake Balaton

The silver lining to difficult days on the bike is that they make the rest of life easier in comparison. Cranking on pedals through blinding heat and boring scenery steels me to other tasks that might seem tough, but really aren’t too bad. Plus, hard days of cycling usually (but not always) beat a day in my old engineering office or dealing with a plumbing leak at home. At least that’s what I like to tell myself.

Our last day in Hungary was a good one, and years from now I’ll probably recall our entire trip there in a positive light. We were on the road by six a.m. and rode through winding country roads lined by corn. Tractors chugged past and we cruised with scarcely a break. Five hours and forty miles later, we’d crossed into Slovenia and were sitting by the pool at an odd Soviet-era pool complex. We then cooled off and ambled over to Spar to pick up some chocolate rice cakes. It’s the small things that keep us going some days.

Here’s that little 2-minute video I put together for Mr. Truman documenting our experience in Hungary. Enjoy.

Chelsea rolls along a bike path on the south side of Balaton.

Chelsea rolls along a bike path on the south side of Balaton.

Recommended Reads, Summer 2015

Slovenian valley

I’m in a foreign land physically, but still love transporting my mind to a world constructed by a brilliant writer. As we rode along today in Slovenia, my book took me to Florida during the Cold War. In the last month, I’ve also been to Mars as we spun through Belgium and Pakistan as I pedaled through Croatia.

Diving into the past of a country via a book always deepens my appreciation for a place. Hosts and people we meet build an education, but books I read frequently lay the foundation beforehand or while we’re there.  A true story of two Hungarian families from the 1930’s showed me Hungary through the eyes of people who lived through chaos. With few people alive from that era (practically none of them speaking English), it is more difficult to gain that kind of perspective through a conversation.

Enjoying a lunch break and some reading by a canal in France.

Enjoying a lunch break and some reading by a canal in France.

I’m always searching for additions to my “books to read” Evernote file. Thanks to recommendations from friends and bloggers I follow, I’ve enjoyed some marvelous books this year. Perhaps because we are approaching the end of summer (what?!), a few friends recently asked for recommendations. To share my favorites, I figured I’d assemble a list from the last few months. If you are looking for more, check out my Goodreads profile, which compiles the books I’ve read.

Considering speed reading? Maybe it doesn’t even help, according to this study. I read fairly quickly, but mostly just commit quite a few hours to this rewarding activity.

Below are books that, for various reasons, I highly recommend. No specific genre – you’ll find fiction, nonfiction, self-improvement, biography, sci-fi and more. Here’s to a few more days in the sun by the pool or a lake flipping through a book (or borrowing it digitally) before glorious fall and crackling-cold mornings are upon us.

  1. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid. This book is written entirely in 2nd person (e.g. “you wake up in a dark room”) and contains zero names. I found that mechanism, not to mention the story, very thought provoking. He captures a world I knew nothing about (Pakistan) with language and imagery that shimmered. I read two more of his books (Moth Smoke and The Reluctant Fundamentalist) right after this one. All three endings will leave you wondering.
  2. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Ugh, another piece of historical fiction about WWII? And this one with a blind French girl and a young German soldier as the main characters? Just. Read. It. There’s a reason it won the Pulitzer Prize in 2015. The author has an exceptional gift for bringing detail to life.
  3. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. I devoured this book, a true story about a Seattle rowing team. It follows their quest to win gold in the 1936 Berlin games as Hitler was about to launch another world. An absolutely engrossing book.

    Audiobooks make 14% grade inclines like this one in Slovenia just a touch more doable.

    Audiobooks make 14% grade inclines like this one in Slovenia just a touch more doable.

  4. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. I read this depiction of Utah’s red rock region while road tripping through those spires in April. It’s a travel tale, but more so an ode to solitude, adventure for the hell of it, and the power of exploring. With the wilderness constantly under attack, I think Abbey’s genius is even more timely these days.
  5. We Learn Nothing by Tim Kreider. The honesty and wit in this book made me nod in agreement at one sentence, crack up at the next, and tear up by the end of the paragraph. I’m very glad Tim Ferriss unearthed this fantastic piece of work for his book club. Don’t worry what it’s about – just read it.
  6. The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer. One of my favorite deep-thinking bloggers, Maria Popova of BrainPickings.org, recommended this book. It totally surprised me. Amanda, a master crowdfunding musician who is married to the writer Niel Gaiman, lays out vulnerable, brilliant insight on what it takes to ask others for help as a way to grow and create great art. As she writes, “Those who can ask without shame are viewing themselves in collaboration with—rather than in competition with—the world.”

    Hanging in a courtyard in Croatia with Jen and Dave.

    Hanging in a Soviet-era courtyard in Croatia with Jen and Dave.

  7. Open by Andre Agassi. I love biographies, and this is one of my recent favorites. The real story behind the bad-boy tennis player. Honest, painful, and inspiring.
  8. Singularity Series by William Hertling. AI (artificial intelligence) both titillates and scares me, and I’ve dug deep into it recently with nonfiction as well as through this great sci-fi series recommended by Brad Feld. I become a nonexistent husband whenever I picked one of these up and disappeared into the story.
  9. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. No AI in that one, just a world-enveloping virus that changes the face of the planet. The way the author jumps around in time frames was well-executed. Another (slightly terrifying) sci-fi book that won the Arthur C. Clarke award.
  10. How We Got to Now by Steven Johnson. This book was so thought provoking. If you like science, or just enjoy understanding the mechanics of the world, you’ll dig Johnson’s “long-zoom” insights. He investigates and connects basic items we take for granted – chapters are titled clean, time, light, glass, cold, sound – in a compelling way.
  11. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal. Two great books that have helped me recognize – and modify – the destructive actions that undermine forming positive habits. (If only it were easier to eliminate the bad habits.) Great studies and approachable writing made these two solid reads.
  12. The Art of Stillness by Pico Iyer. This short treatise on the power of introspection and stillness is a great read. One quote that spoke to me – both as a traveler and as someone who could benefit from more reflection time – was, “Going nowhere isn’t about turning your back on the world; it’s about stepping away now and then so that you can see the world more clearly and love it more deeply.”
  13. The Martian by Andy Weir was a page-turner of a survival story set on Mars. Plus, the author self-published and it grew to grass-roots success before blowing up. Now Ridley Scott is making a movie of it.
  14. Racing the Rain by John L. Parker, Jr. is the newly released prequel to the cult classic Once a Runner (another inspiring book I gobbled up a few years ago). I finished the audiobook version of Racing earlier today and loved this mix of athletic story and historical fiction from a 1950’s and 60’s Florida. I’m no competitive runner, but the challenge and focus of Quenton, the main character, made me nostalgic for those youthful days when anything felt possible.

That should be enough to load your Kindle or top out your holds at the library. Got any books that blew your mind or lit up your soul? Feel free to share below or send me an email. I’m always on the lookout.

Happy reading!

Audiobooks are great for rainy days. Here's Chelsea and our buddies from Long Haul Trekkers in a valley in Slovenia.

Audiobooks are great for rainy days. Here’s Chelsea and our buddies from Long Haul Trekkers in a valley in Slovenia.

Sharing the Road – Cycle Touring with Friends (Plus a Video!)

Team Awesome

“What’s the limit on the number of cinnamon rolls?” I asked. “I’ve had three!” confessed Dave. “After three, let’s go get gelato,” Jen chimed in.

That was just Wednesday. Days cycling in Croatia and Slovenia with our friends sped by fueled with gelato and Jen’s badass vegan cooking skills. Long swims in the warm Adriatic Sea cut the scathing summer heat; we spent evenings sitting at outdoor cafes listening to the mix of Italian and Croatian bubbling around us. Cycle touring with our buddies was a fabulous few weeks of our bike tour, yet the rendezvous almost didn’t happen.

We started our trip in June from London, whereas Dave and Jen began in Norway in early May. The plan was to meet up, but soon they were in southern Austria and we were in Belgium, with 25 hours on a train in between. Close, but not close enough, we concluded with disappointment during a Skype conversation.

So understandably, Jen was surprised two weeks later when Chelsea shoulder-checked her on the cobblestone streets of Rovinj, Croatia. “Hey, it’s Chelsea!” Blank stare from Jen. “From Portland…” Jen’s confusion lifted and big hugs followed. Dave, the inside conspirator, finally came clean on our surprise arrival, which he and I coordinated using stealth language like “the eagle is coming in for landing.”

A perfect night in Rovinj.

A perfect night in Rovinj.

Woodrow Wilson once said, “Friendship is the only cement that will hold the world together,” a statement I wholeheartedly agree with. Making our friends the priority despite the obstacles, I set aside my must-pedal-every-mile ego and skipped plans to cycle through Switzerland. Instead, we took a train south through the Alps from Basel to Milan, the most graffiti-stricken city I’ve ever seen.

We chugged across northern Italy to Venice, a city as beautiful as all the hype. For two days, we embraced the cliched magic and walked hand in hand along canals, gondolas sliding by. No cars are allowed in the city, which makes it a pedestrian paradise. And (surprise!) we also learned upon arriving that bicycling is not allowed.

A peaceful moment in Venice.

A peaceful moment in Venice as a gondola slides by a bustling restaurant.

Venice is a network of 118 islands built upon sunken pillars – an upside down forest, I heard one tour guide say. And those paved islands are divided by canals and connected by steep bridges with steps. On our arrival and departure days, we slogged through triple-digit weather that melted gelato faster than Donald Trump can piss off John McCain. Lugging our bikes up steps, past selfie stick-hawking vendors, and between tourists downing pizza slices, it felt so ridiculous that I could only laugh at the irony of two cycle tourists carrying our bikes through possibly the only city in the world that forbids cycling. CrossFit Venice.

Fireworks over the canals of Venice. We happened to be in town for a yearly festival.

Fireworks over the canals of Venice. We happened to be in town for a yearly festival.

All the effort was worth it: traveling with Jen, Dave and Sora was fantastic. The mix of four cheery personalities, plus a cute dog licking faces and chasing sheep in her dreams, created laughter galore. Chelsea got into touring through riding with girlfriends, but this was my first time doing an extended bike trip with anyone else. I would absolutely do it again.

As we spent time with  Dave and Jen, a few lessons-learned cropped up. If you’re considering doing a tour with buddies (and you should!), hopefully these items help set guideposts to make sure everyone stays happy and has a great experience. Cycle touring can be a time that unites you for life.

  • Set expectations up front. Run through the nuts and bolts together so everyone is on the same page and no one thinks Dakota is a total a-hole for seizing control of navigation. (Sorry Dave, it’s a control freak thing.) The four of us discussed preferred mileage per day, budget for places to stay/camp, start times each morning, and other basics. This simple conversation set the tone early and let us focus on cycling and enjoying one another’s company. Well, I enjoyed their company at least. (Jen, sorry I ate all the watermelon.)
  • Everyone needs a Road Name. Dave “The Veganator” and Jen “Muscles/MoSo/CinnaMon” quickly realized I never stop eating and dubbed me “The Woodchipper” – picture stuffing food into a hopper followed by a buzzsaw sound. MWARRRR. “Feed it to The Woodchipper” became the mantra when there were leftovers. Chelsea is “The Hammer” for crushing hills as if they were pieces of bubble wrap. Sora is “Borba,” though she really just wants to eat baguettes all day so Bread Hund (<–German for dog) would be more fitting.
  • Accept that more people equals slower pace. Even if you all ride at the same speed, everyone has different needs for rest/picture/food/bathroom breaks. Respect each person’s needs and just reeeelax. (I’m talking to you, Dakota.)Team LongHaul and Traipsing
  • Embrace your sense of humor. This applies to most things in life, and more so in cycle touring. As hungry and tired cyclists navigating a foreign land in summer heat, communication could have quickly devolved into Alien vs. Predator. A well-timed joke, or just a goofy grin, instead turned potential friction into laughter. Dave’s sing-song rendition of Sora the Bread-Loving Hund’s voice never failed to crack me up.
  • Divide and conquer. Split up tasks. Dave and I took on route planning, navigation, and bike maintenance; Chelsea handled lodging and food shopping; Jen the Pro Chef also shopped and whipped up incredible meals like panzanella and desserts like cinnamon rolls. We all developed a keen eye for finding the panacea to hot temperatures, gelato.

    Jen's delicious panzanella.

    Jen’s delicious panzanella.

  • Figure out the money stuff. During past travels, I’ve tracked every transaction in a little book. This time around, I’m challenging my obsessive compulsive data side and only keeping track of lodging. While hanging with Dave and Jen, we split places to stay and both purchased groceries. Traveling as a group allowed us to rent awesome apartments and split the cost, which saved us all a ton of cash, which we dutifully reinvested in gelato.
    Gelato
  • Keep talking to people. It’s easy to only hang out with one another. We did this some days, but also made an effort to hang with locals. An Airbnb host joined us twice for dinner and showed us how to make Istrian soup, a delicious wine-soaked bread drink. We enjoyed another evening with a cheery Croatian family and their homemade wine (are you catching a theme?) as we discussed Communism in former Yugoslavia (the older generation consistently seems to miss the good old days prior to the wall coming down).
  • Time apart is smart. Just like any relationship, make sure there is downtime where everyone isn’t hanging out. Even if this is just everyone blue-facing on their phones or computers, time to just relax and chill is important. Then you can get back to brilliant jokes and high-brow discussions regarding divesting oil holdings (Dave, I concede).
    Time "apart"

Have an awesome time. Remember how lucky you are to travel with great people. Now that we’re in our 30s and many friends are involved in careers or raising children, it is difficult to find amigos with whom we can head out for an extended trip. Traveling with Jen and Dave bonded us all and was a grand adventure. Even the ups and down of tough days cycle touring couldn’t overshadow how much fun we had together.

Suns out, guns out

We bid adieu to our buddies in a green valley in Slovenia. They headed south into the Balkans as we pedaled east toward Hungary, memories of our time together lodged in my memory. It was time for The Woodchipper and The Hammer to ride some extra miles to burn off all the cinnamon rolls and gelato.

I’ll leave you with a fun video compilation of our time together, or click to watch below. Ciao!