Marriot Basin: Another Perfect “Weekend”
Last week we started our “weekend” on Monday which made perfect sense since the weekend was rainy and wet and then suddenly on Monday the sun showed up for a couple of days making it a wonderful opportunity for a trip to the mountains. For a while now we said that we’ll try to “cherry pick” the timing for our…
Iago Peak: When Everything Falls Right Into Place
There are those rare days in skiing that are a combination of both perfect sunny weather and excellent snow conditions. Last Sunday was one of those days, so we were off to the Coquihalla for some backcountry skiing. It was our third day in a row of skiing, but each day was of a different type. On Friday we skied…
Elfin Lakes: A Different Kind of Weekend
The Elfin Lakes Hut is often crowded, to the point where there are people sleeping on the floor, and one finds it difficult to sleep since people are constantly coming and going. All that is needed to avoid the crowds is a small timing change: instead of Saturday to Sunday, we made our weekend Sunday to Monday, and lo and…
Central America Route Notes
By popular demand, here’s the approximate route we took on our five month cycling trip from Panama to Belize. As well, we’ve written down detailed route notes below, by country. We tried to take quiet backroads when possible, to stay off the Pan-American Highway, although this “highway” is sometimes as quiet as a small backroad. This is the “dry” version,…
The “Different Israels” Inside of Israel
Being from Israel is not easy… Everyone has heard something about Israel, and often it’s not the good things. It is probably one of the places that people have the most misconceptions about, prejudices and strong opinions even without knowing much. Lately, while travelling we started saying that we are from Canada when asked, it just seemed easier, simpler if…
Amsterdam: “Every Day is a Critical Mass”
In my sweetest dreams I see a city where everyone cycles – everywhere. No matter if you’re old or young, on your way to work or to the pub – you ride. This is what I do in Vancouver, and so do many of my friends. But a recent brief visit to Amsterdam made me realize how far Vancouver, and…
Death Valley National Park: Cycling in a Desert Wonderland
It started out as a crazy idea. We were looking for something to do over the two week Christmas break and a few factors had to be taken into consideration – sun, warmth, blue skies and preferably bicycles. I once heard about cycling in Death Valley and just threw it in the air as an option. Gili made it possible.…
A Mini-Guidebook to Cycle Touring in Central America
The Number One Question: Why? This is often the first question we are asked, and perhaps the most difficult to answer. Why do we cycle tour? Why travel at all? Lots of books and articles have been written listing reasons to travel. The truth is that there are many reasons, but no particular reason at all is necessary. In other…
Cycling + Sex Hotels = Big Bang
Lately we developed a serious obsession with one of the most successful TV shows of all times, “The Big Bang Theory”. When people ask me how did we start watching the program, as it is well known that we don’t have a TV, I reply: “Oh, we became addicted to it while cycling in Central America”. Most people raise their…
Pipeline Protest: Putting the Rest of Us to Shame
Two weekends ago we went to an anti-pipeline protest in Duncan, on Vancouver Island (there were simultaneous demonstrations all over BC). The demonstration was small, much smaller than it should have been: where were the rest of the 5,000 or so residents of Duncan? Based on the newspaper reports Vancouver had the same issue – it seems to be a…
