This year Fred, his wife Pat, Kathy and I all did a non-bicycling trip to Italy. Fred and I wanted to show our appreciation to our lovely wives for putting up with the five summers of cross-country trip. Here we are, engaged in our favorite Italian activity, eating!
Fred and I figured we could still squeeze in a modest tour later in the summer, though. We considered a week of mountain riding in Colorado, then changed our minds and settled on nine days doing a loop from Seattle, across to the Olympia Peninsula, over to Victoria and the San Juan Islands, and back to Seattle. Alas, it was not to be. After our return from Italy I settled in to start planning the trip, but Fred shared that he had lost his enthusiasm for a bike trip this year. Although he didn't say as much, I figure he is just worn out from months of near-constant world traveling. He has been on sabbatical from teaching at U of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and has been away for much of the year so far, including three months in India, a week of family vacation, our trip to Italy, and is just now finishing up ten days lecturing in England. The guy really deserves some time to chill before returning to his teaching duties in August. We still plan to ride the length of the British Isles next summer, doing an approximation of the John O' Groats to Lands End ride. There is no set route for this tour, but the route described here, on the Traveling Two blog and by David Piper on his own blog look very good!
In the meantime, I am hoping for some long-weekend type tours here in Florida with a friend and with Kathy. We will see what develops.
