Below I list the bike tours that I have been on, trying to include
date, distances, duration, and companions: wife Jannie, daughter Gwen,
son William, daughter Natalia, and others as noted. I made guesstimates
of most distances and some dates. I am unsure that the list is
complete, as memory fades. I provide disparate notes for each tour.

TOTAL TOURING MILES: Edwin:  20,555 
                     Jannie:  13,117

South Central NH, 1973, 200m, 4 days, Jannie
  Our first tour. Gwen and Will stayed with my mother-in-law in
  Manchester. I had a 5-speed Murray of Ohio, Jannie a 10-speed Sears
  Free Spirit. We used wire baskets for carrying our gear. Toward the
  end of the ride, I started breaking spokes, eventually five, mildly
  taco-ing my rear wheel.

East NH, 1974, 180m, 4 days, Jannie
  We traveled through the countryside near the University of New
  Hampshire, Jannie's alma mater.
  
Bethlehem, PA, to Salisbury, MA, 1982, 360m, 5 days, Norm Melchert
  I used this ride to introduce Norm to bike touring. I found a route
  that was flat until North Adams, MA. We then had a long, steep climb
  up and through hair-pin turn on Rte 2. After that it is gently rolling
  for next 160 miles to the beach.

Loop of Nova Scotia (Yarmouth, Liverpool, Digby, Yarmouth), 1983,
   300m, 7 days, Jannie, Gwen, Will, Adam Cohen, Norm & Novi Melchert

   Adam is our nephew, who is Gwen's age. I have tremendous respect
   for Novi on this trip. She was around 50 and out of shape, but she
   displayed tremendous grit. At one point, Norm and I were in the
   back, Norm loaded with his and Novi's gear and discussing with me
   how he could make things be easier for Novi. Just then, a couple
   touring on a tandem approached and stopped to talk, because they
   saw that Norm was wearing a jersey as a rider sponsored by Mt. Airy
   Bicycles, where they had bought their tandem. For the rest of the
   trip, Norm could think of nothing else but buying a tandem to solve
   his problem. For his 50th birthday later that summer, after ordering a
   tandem frame from a local builder, he received various needed
   components as birthday presents.

Bethlehem, PA, to Portland, PA, (and back), 1983, 70m, 2 days, William
   Returning from our Nova Scotia trip, William wanted to do a little
   more touring, so off we went.

McMinnville, OR, to Brookings, OR, 1986, 290m, 6 days, Gwen, William
   We lived in Portland, OR, for the 1985-86 academic year. We ended
   the year with a tour of the Oregon coast and Vancouver
   Island. Gwen, William, and I started off at McMinnville, because
   the road from there to the coast went over the lowest pass in the
   coast range. Jannie and Natalia were to meet us at a campground in
   Brookings. On the day we were to meet, Gwen, William, and I had
   lunch at a State Park just north of Brookings. As we sat there, I
   told them that we should go out to the road at 11:45, because I
   expected Jannie to pass by then (a wild guess on my part). At 11:45
   I told them to look out at the road. As they did so, our van went
   by. 

Brookings, OR, to California Northern Redwoods, 1986, 80m, 2 days
    Gwen, William, Jannie, Natalia

    Coming out of Crescent City, heading toward the Del Norte
    Campground we encountered a steep hill that Natalia (then 11)
    found very difficult. I tied a long rope to my seat post and her
    goose neck, and up we went. As we descended to the campground (on
    the 4th of July, around 4:00) we saw sign after sign stating
    "Campground Full," but we knew it had two "hiker-biker" sites. The
    ranger told us we could take our choice but might have to share
    space. By 7 that evening there were around 40 bike tourists
    sharing the two adjacent sites. That made for a grand party around
    the campfire.

Vancouver Island, 1986, 80m, 4 days, Gwen, William, Jannie, Natalia
    We took the ferry from Anacortes to Sidney, BC. It was delayed and
    arrive as the sun was setting. Soon it was dark. Jannie, Gwen, and
    William went ahead to the campsite, with Natalia and I lagging
    behind on very busy roads. A tough start but a beautiful trip.

Bethlehem, PA, to Salisbury, MA, 1987, 360m, 5 days, Gwen
    When on a business trip to Portland, OR, I drove to Corvallis and
    bought a used Peugeot tandem. This trip was the maiden voyage. We
    had a marvelous ride. I kept the tandem until I took it to Ghana,
    where we lived for a year 2010-2011. At the end of the year I sold
    it. 

Salisbury, MA, to Bethlehem, PA, 1988, 420m, 4 days (solo)
    I went to Salisbury with my parents to help them move into the
    beach cottage for the summer. Then I rode back. I bonked badly on
    Hogback Mountain. The last day, eager to be home, I rode 125
    miles, encountering a 2-inch drownpour at the end of the ride.

Bethlehem, PA, to Barryville, NY, and back, 1988, 200m, 4 days, Gwen,
   Natalia 

   This hilly ride took us by Natalia's summer camp, which is north
   of Port Jervis on the Delaware River.

Bethlehem, PA, to Salt Point, NY (on the Taconic Parkway), 1988, 140m,
   3 days, Gwen

   Gwen and I rode halfway to Salisbury Beach. Then Jannie picked us
   up for the rest of the trip.

Salisbury, CT, to Salisbury, MA, 1989, 200m, 3 days, Natalia
   This time, on the way to the beach, Jannie dropped Natalia and me
   off in Salisbury, CT, and we rode to the beach. In bright sun, a
   sudden cloudburst struck and dropped about 4 inches of rain over
   the next eight hours or so. We cooked supper under a hastily
   erected tarp, set up the tent upside down, threw it on the ground,
   had Natalia jump in, and then I started handing Natalia our soggy
   gear. I had trouble lifting one of the panniers, because the
   plastic bag meant to protect the gear had collected gallons of
   water. I thought Natalia would complain, but I was very pleasantly
   surprised that she put up with all of it with smiles.

Cotswolds, UK, 1990, 6 days, 250m, Jannie, Gwen
   Gwen had been at Tel Aviv University for the spring semester and
   met us at Heathrow on her way home. We brought the Peugeot tandem
   and her single bike. At Heathrow I assembled the bikes, ending up
   with very dirty, greasy hands. I entered the Men's room to clean
   up. It was pristine and empty, except for the South Asian
   caretaker, who looked balefully at my black hands. I had brought
   along a jar of cold cream for cleaning my hands and left the sink I
   used as clean as when I entered. At about 11 at night we took the
   bike path that goes through separate underpasses out of Heathrow.

Lakes District, UK, 1990, 6 days 240m, Jannie, Gwen
   On the night that UK played Belgium in the World Cup, we stayed at
   a hostel in Ambleside. The problem with youth hostels is there are
   lots of kids staying there. In this case, we joined a mob of kids
   watching the match. Within seconds of the spectacular conclusion,
   an overhead kick to end the match at 1-0, the TV room was empty.

Cross Country, Seattle, WA, to Cape May, NJ, 1991, 3940m, Gwen, Norm 
  Melchert, 52 days
 
  For Gwen's graduation from Bowdoin College we gave her a one-way
  ticket to Seattle. Joined by Norm Melchert, we then set off across
  country, starting with a trip on the Fauntleroy Ferry to Vachon
  Island and a trip on a "foot ferry" (that also allowed bicycles)
  from Port Orchard to Bremerton, WA. We headed north to Anacortes to
  follow the BikeCentennial (now Adventure Cycling), Northern Route. In
  Ohio, we broke off from that route, heading south and east to Lewes,
  DE, and the ferry to Cape May, NJ. We took three rest days,
  averaging >81m per day on the days we rode. Our longest day was
  133m. East of Fargo, ND, John Sumner joined us for 10 days, flying 
  home from Davenport, IA. We had adventures too numerous to mention.
  The high point, both literally and figuratively, was ascending (and
  then descending) the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park.
  I liked that climb so much, I returned with Jannie repeat it in 1997.
  Our route took us to Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada. On the
  road into the park we encountered a bike tourist couple in their
  70s. The woman, Emily, had a pink bike and matching bike shorts and
  jersey. They had homemade panniers and went on their first tour in
  1954. The husband commented that when they started touring he was
  much stronger than Emily, but now their roles were reversed,
  something that has happened with Jannie and me. At the time, the
  couple had been touring for 37 years, which seemed like a long time.
  Not anymore, because as I write this Jannie and I have been touring 
  for 45 years.

Provincetown, MA, to Boston, MA, 1992, 130m, 3 days, Jannie
  On Storrow Drive in Boston was a sign that read "if you lived here
  you would be home now." My cousin lived in that building and allowed
  us to leave our car there. We then rode to Long Wharf and took the
  ferry to Provincetown. This was during the tourist season, and we
  failed to find a place to camp on the cape, ending up in a seedy
  motel in Falmouth. Much of the time we followed the Saltonstall
  Bikeway back to Boston, leaving it when we got to the Jamaicaway.

Kentucky Tour, 1992, 180m, 4 days, Jannie, Eli & Noah Kay-Oliphant,
  We took our 13-year-old (twin) nephews on their first bike tour.
  Starting in the Kentucky Knobs region, passing through Springfield
  (home of Abe Lincoln's father), Bardstown (bourbon country and site
  of a musical honoring Stephen Foster), ending in Berea, home of 
  Berea College, a "liberal arts work college."

Salisbury, MA to Andover to Lowell to Salem, NH, to Salisbury, 1993,
  130m, 4 days, Jannie, Eli & Noah Kay-Oliphant, Gwen

  This tour took place in my neck of the woods. It was a loop around
  my hometown of Lawrence, so we visited many of my childhood haunts. 
  As we ate lunch on the grass in Boxford, I extolled the virtues of
  Benson's ice cream, not realizing it was 100 yards down the road. 
  When we got up to leave, we saw the Benson sign and extended our
  lunch with a visit.

Salisbury, MA, to Elliot, ME, to Raymond, NH, to Salisbury, 1994,
  140m, 4 days, Jannie, Eli & Noah Kay-Oliphant, Elisha Hopson

  This tour complements the previous tour with our nephews in 1993,
  where we explore northeast Massachusetts and southeast New
  Hampshire. This time we were joined by their stepbrother, Elisha
  Hopson. Elisha was intimidated by the prospect of traveling by
  bike. As an insurance policy, my brother and his wife, Elisha's
  mother, met us at our first campground in Pawtuckaway State Park in
  case he wanted to bail out. By then, he was loving the adventure.

Connecticut River Tour, Brattleboro, VT, to White River Jct, VT, to
   Brattleboro, 2003, 130 miles, 3 days, Jannie, Don and Jean Davis,
   Terry and Ginny Delph

   We went out and back from Brattleboro along the Connecticut River,
   crossing back and forth across the river so that we that we rode
   all of both the NH and VT sides of the river between Brattleboro
   and White River Junction.

Finger Lakes Loop (Lakes Cayuga and Owasco), 1994, 3 days, 140m, 
   Jannie, Terry & Ginny Delph

  In this tour we introduced the Delphs to bike touring. We arrived
  in Ithaca on Friday evening of Columbus Day Weekend, with the 
  temperature hovering around 80. The next day, exactly at noon, a
  cold front came through, bringing torrential rain with it. We spent
  the night in a motel in Seneca Falls and arose to snow flurries. The
  next night, the temperature dipped into the 20s. In the morning,
  seeking sunlight to warm up, we stood under a nearby tree. Every few
  second we heard a light cracking sound. The frozen leaves, as they
  thawed, dropped off the tree. Jannie and I thought that the trip
  would convince the Delphs never to tour again, but they loved it and
  have been touring ever since.

Houston, TX, to San Antonio, TX, 1995, 200m, 4 days, Jannie, Michael
   Halperin, John Sumner.

  Michael was an exchange student from Bern, Switzerland, who lived
  with us for the 1994-95 academic year, while attending Liberty
  High School. At the end of his stay we flew with our tandem to 
  Houston. John and Michael rode John's tandem, while Jannie 
  captained our Burly Rock 'n Roll. In Schulenburg, TX, we 
  encountered a drownpour of four inches. A kindly storekeeper
  lent us the use of his mobile home to that we could get out
  of the rain.

Loop Road, Cameroon, W Africa, 1997, 300m, 5 days, Prabasaj Paul
  I lived in Cameroon, as a Peace Corps volunteer, from June, 1995, to
  June, 1997. During Easter Week vacation from my teaching at the
  University of Buea, I and Prabasaj, a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer
  and office mate at the university, spent the week riding the Ring
  Road in the Northwest Province. I call the phrase "Ring Road" a
  semi-moron, because there was a ring, but not much of a road,
  which had been abandoned when the British left in 1963. Travel by
  car on about half the road was impossible, but it was accessible by 
  bike. Mountainous and incredibly verdant, it was absolutely
  beautiful.

Loop of Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks, 1997, 350m, 6
   days

  After traversing the Going-to-the-Sun Road on my cross-country trip,
  I wanted to return and share the experience with Jannie. We took
  Amtrak from Harrisburg, PA, to East Glacier, MT, and then started
  our circle of the park, saving the climb up the Going-to-the-Sun
  Road for the second last day. Going down the hill from Chief
  Mountain Port to the road to Waterton Lakes National Park we hit 51
  MPH on our tandem. Although it is equipped with a drum brake under
  the control of the stoker, Jannie left it alone. 

Vancouver, WA, to Eugene, OR, 1997, 300m, 6 days, Jannie
  We took Amtrak from East Glacier to Vancouver, WA, and stayed
  overnight with my cousin Barry and his wife Karla. We then headed
  south over the bike path between the two I-205 spans. We then
  followed the road to Mount Hood and then headed south to Bend, OR. 
  Looking at the map, the easiest way across the Cascades appeared to
  be McKenzie Pass. We were astounded at the lava field in the
  pass. Although thousands of years old, it looked like it had been
  created a few weeks before. Our goal was Eugene, where we met our
  granddaughter, then nine months old, for the first time.

Blue Ridge Parkway, Waynesboro, VA, to Peaks of Otter (and back),
  1998, 4 days, 170m, Jannie

  It was spring vacation and the weather was warming. We had
  difficulty deciding whether to go skiing or biking and chose the
  latter. We headed down the Blue Ridge Parkway in glorious and warm
  spring weather. We were the only people at the campground on the
  James River, sleeping in sub-freezing temperatures, as a cold front
  moved in. The next day, as we climbed 3500 feet, we rose into a
  snowstorm that closed off the parkway. We took refuge at the
  delightful Peaks of Otter Lodge. The next day we dropped down into
  the Shenandoah Valley and started our way back, aided by warmish
  weather. 

Pillsbury State Park NH to Colebrook NH to Salisbury MA, 1998, 360m, 
  5 days (solo)

  Jannie spent a few days with her childhood friend, Carmyn, at
  Carmyn's summer "camp" (New Englandese for a vacation home on a 
  lake), and I headed north along the Connecticut River. The climb
  into Dixville Notch (home of the first people to vote in
  presidential elections) was incredibly steep. I dreaded the next
  notch, Grafton Notch, but the road barely rose through that pass.
  
Wiesbaden, GDR, to Trier, GDR, 1999, 200m, 5 days, Jannie
  We flew to Frankfurt, GDR, and took the train to Wiesbaden. We
  went down the Rhine to the Moselle and then we went along the
  Moselle to Trier. The Moselle is wine country. At every campground
  we were welcomed with a glass of wine.

Loop in Germany and France (Kehl, GDR, to Freiburg, GDR, to
   Strasbourg, FR), 1999, 4 days, 160m, Jannie, Terry & Ginny Delph

  This trip went up and down two banks of the Rhine. We then rented a
  car and traveled to Burgundy and took day trips on our bicycles. We
  tried to get back to Strasbourg for a full solar eclipse but
  couldn't negotiate the traffic, because half of Switzerland was
  heading for Strasbourg. We ended up seeing a 95% eclipse while
  visiting a vineyard. We later learned Strasbourg had a heavy cloud
  cover, so no eclipse could be seen there. 

Banff National Park, Alberta (Calgary to Athabasca Glacier and back),
  2000, 375m, 9 days, Jannie

  We flew to Calgary the night before the first day of the Calgary
  Stampede, staying at a hostel, where we left some of the gear we
  used to pack the tandem. The next morning we first attended the
  opening parade of the stampede and then followed the Bow River to
  Banff National Park, Lake Louise, and the Ice Fields
  Parkway. Although the Parkway is on the continental divide,
  following the Bow River made for a gentle uphill ride over many
  miles, with the river punching a hole through the front range. We
  only had a couple of big climbs, including Sunwapta Pass. The
  Icefields Parkway is the most scenic I have ever seen, with
  incredible vistas at every turn of the road. On the way to Banff we
  stayed on the north side of the Bow River, which has less
  traffic. Near Banff we descended at a fairly fast clip to the river
  to cross it and saw a puzzling warning sign about a "Texas gate."
  Then we realized the gate consisted of parallel pipes over an
  open culvert across the road that functioned as a barrier against
  cattle. Luckily, we crossed the gate without incident.

Paw Paw Tunnel on C&O Canal, (Hancock MD to Paw Paw WV, via 
  Berkely Springs WV, to Hancock MD, via C&O Canal), 2001, 65m, 
  2 days, Jannie

  I had been on a short stretch of the C&O Canal towpath during my
  cross-country ride and found riding on the canal dull, but I had
  always wanted to go through the Paw Paw Tunnel through which the
  C&O Canal flows. We went to a wedding in Leesburg, VA, which is
  close by, so we took an overnight ride on a route through the
  tunnel.

Newfoundland, CN, Port au Basque to Gros Morne (and back), 2002, 14
  days, 500m, Jannie

  We left our car at North Sydney, Nova Scotia, and took the ferry to
  Newfoundland. Newfoundland is unpopulated, primitive, and
  beautiful. On our last night out we arrived at a campground outside
  Corner Brook in the pouring rain, only to learn the campground was
  full. The owner offered us a spot behind the laundry. We went into
  the laundry to dry off and met a couple who were touring on a tandem
  and who offered to share their campsite. The couple, after retiring
  and with no touring experience, decided to try bike touring. Their
  first tour was from Quebec City to Florida. They also had toured in
  Cambodia. They started their current tour in Quebec City, followed
  the north shore of the St. Lawrence River into Labrador, crossed
  Labrador, took the ferry to the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland,
  and thence to Corner Brook. From there they were going to tour
  through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick back to Quebec City.

Loop Cape Breton Highlands, NS, 2002, 4 days, 185m, Jannie
  On the ferry back from Newfoundland I talked with a Nova Scotian who
  sails and asked how the winds prevailed on the Cape Breton
  Peninsula. He said that on the north side they were easterly and on
  the south side westerly, so we chose to loop our route in a
  clock-wise direction. The loop has four mountains, although the
  first two are connected by a saddle. The first climb was quite
  tough, as was the third. We did not look forward to the fourth. It
  turned out to be long but gentle, so gentle that Jannie would not
  trust my (reliable) judgment that we were at the top. The descent
  was cliff-like, which meant that our choice of the clockwise
  approach was fortuitous for more than having favorable winds.

Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand, 2004, 6 days, 300m, Jannie, Norm
   Melchert

   Norm and Novi Melchert owned a home in Hamilton, NZ, where they
   spent half the year, the other half being spent in Richmond, VA. They
   have four grandchildren in New Zealand and seven grandchildren in
   Richmond. Norm brought over the tandem he had bought in 1993 (see
   above). He rode a single, and Jannie and I rode the tandem. We took
   advantage of New Zealand's very extensive network of hostels (which
   they call "backpackers'). Our first night we spent quite awhile
   relaxing in a seawater hot spring. 
   
Bethlehem PA to Adamstown PA to French Creek St Park to Bethlehem,
   2004, 140m, 3 days, Jannie

   This trip took us to Pennsylvania Dutch country and was memorable
   for the obstacles we encountered: torrential rain the first day and
   then, on Sunday, absolutely no grocery store open, as all the Amish
   were in church. Finding food became a major problem.

Salisbury Beach, MA to Portland, ME, to Bethel, ME, to Littleton, NH,
   to Brattleboro, VT, to Salisbury, Beach., 2005, 450m, 8 days,
   Jannie

   We went from the Atlantic Ocean to the Connecticut River and back,
   via a scenic, circuitous route. The Appalachians were in the way,
   but I found a reasonably flat and gentle path that avoided the
   high passes.

Richmond, VA, to Appomattox, VA, and back, 2006, 180m, 3 days, Jannie
and Norm Melchert.

   Norm lives in Richmond and has a summer place inland about 50
   miles. We used the summer place for one of our stops. We returned
   to Richmond for Norm's 80th birthday in 2013 and joined him on his
   annual birthday ride in which he matches the number of miles to his
   age. In 2018 he rode 85 miles in celebration of his birthday. We
   plan to join him in 2019. Norm jokes that he looks forward to his
   century ride.

Salisbury, MD, to Fenwick, DE, to Ocean City, MD, to Salisbury, MD,
2007, 80m, 2 days, Jannie

   We rode off-season, when there was little traffic. We stayed
   overnight at a high-rise condo on the beach, owned by our friend
   Chava Weissler.

Adirondack Loop, 2007, 4 days, 200m, Jannie, Terry & Ginny Delph
   The Adirondack State Park is a huge preserve and a delight to
   bike. It is almost all public land. The only bike shop in the
   preserve is in Old Forge. While starting up, right in front of the
   shop, I snapped the gear cable on our Rock 'n Roll tandem. How
   fortuitous. 
   
Northern Kingdom of Vermont, Connecticut Lakes, and Eastern Townships
  (Quebec), 2008, 280m, 6 days, Jannie

   We started where VT, NH, and Quebec meet and headed northeast into
   the Connecticut Lakes region of NH. When we got to the port, Jannie
   discovered she did not have her driver's license with her. We
   returned to our car the next day and then crossed into Canada at
   the port near Stewartstown, NH. When we came back into the states,
   they did not ask for identification at the border.

Bethlehem, PA, to Bangor, PA, (and back), 2009, 60m, 2 days, Jannie,
   Terry & Ginny Delph

   This was a short ramble in our neck of the woods. The distance was
   quite short, but the terrain was quite hilly.

Syracuse, NY to Montreal to Ausable Chasm to Syracuse, 2009, 14 days,
  700m, Jannie
 
   We started at Gwen's house in Syracuse, went north to Lake Ontario,
   followed it up to the St. Lawrence, and followed it northeast
   until we were opposite Montreal. At that point we were looking for
   a place to camp and bumped into a cyclist, Andre, and his wife out
   for an afternoon ride. He invited us to stay at his campground,
   which we did. Andre wanted us to meet one of his seasonal campers,
   who also biked. Our conversation went something like this: "Hello,
   my name is David Kaye." (Ed) "My name is Ed Kay." (David) "My Kaye
   has an 'e'." (Ed) "Mine does not." (David) "Mine was changed from
   Kapelovich." (Ed) "Mine from Kopachevsky." This terse conversation
   conveyed quite a bit of unstated information (about Jewish
   immigrants changing names to assimilate, etc.). We then spent quite
   a bit of time explaining this to Andre, who was dumbfounded. Later
   in the tour we passed through Upper Jay (on the Ausable River,
   upstream from Ausable Chasm) and stayed with a brother of a close
   friend of ours.

Montreal to Quebec to Eastern Townships to Montreal, 2010, 6 days,
  250m, Jannie

   We drove to Andre's campground (see the previous tour), left our
   car there and headed up the St. Lawrence to Quebec City. Along the
   way we spent a few nights camping with close friends of ours, Alan
   and Ellie Rudnick. On the way back, we got caught in a drownpour,
   which doused our GPS and caused us to get quite lost. At some
   point, Jannie stayed at a McDonald's while I found my way back to
   the car.
  
Ghana Tour, Aburi to Korforidua to Aburi, 2011, 2 days, 85m, 
  Bob Groelsema

   Jannie and I spent the 2010-2011 academic year in Accra Ghana,
   while I taught at Ashesi University. I brought over our Peugeot
   tandem (which I sold to an US Embassy physician before returning to
   the states). I often rode the tandem alone and less often rode with
   Jannie. I met a USAID contractor, Bob Groelsema, who joined me on
   rides a few days a week. We decided to take a two-day tour in the
   hills outside of Accra. On the first day out, on a quite rural
   road, I had problems aligning the rear wheel, eventually
   discovering the the frame had broken at the dropout. Just as we
   expected, we soon were picked up by a "tro tro," a beat up old van
   used for public transportation. Although full, we were added to the
   load. On entering Koforidua, the driver told us to get out at an
   outdoor shop, where a welder was recreating vans from the remnants
   of wrecked vans. He quickly welded the dropout, and we were on our
   way, the whole incident, from breakdown to pedaling away, taking
   less than an hour. Back in the US, a local bike shop owner told me
   that in the US, no one would even make the repair because of fear
   of liability.

Kingston, ON, to Sharbot Lake, ON, to Rideau Lake, ON, to Kingston,
  2011, 140m, 4 days, Jannie

   We drove to Cape Vincent, NY, at the northeast end of Lake Ontario,
   where the St. Lawrence River begins, parked the car, took the ferry
   to Wolfe Island, crossed Wolfe Island, and took the ferry to
   Kingston. We visited Diana and Bryan Hodgson, our Bethlehem
   neighbors who have a summer home on an island on Sharbot Lake, and
   then we visited our friends Maria and Richard Ain, who have a
   summer home on Rideau Lake.

Salisbury, MA, to Manchester, NH, to Wilmot, NH, to Moultonborogh, NH,
  to Wells, ME, to Salisbury, MA, 2011, 250m, 5 days, Janice, Terry
  and Ginny Delph.

   On this trip we visited Linda Kornfeld, a Peace Corps friend from
   the Lehigh Valley who now lives in Manchester, NH,  Dana Dakin,
   whom we met while living in Ghana (2010-2011) and now lives in
   Wilmot Flat, NH. We met up with the Delphs on the third day and
   continued on our way, staying the next night at Wells Beach, ME,
   with our friends Alan and Carol Lincoln. We finished our trip on my
   favorite ride, the (complete) coast of NH on Route 1A.

Ithaca, NY, to Fillmore Glen St. Park and back, 2012, 2 days, 50m,
  Jannie, (Granddaughter) Sequoia Kay Hill.

   This was a simple, two-day tour, giving us a chance to spend some
   time with our granddaughter, who was then 14. Sequoia complained
   about the difficulty biking to the campground but then spent a
   couple of hours biking in circles around the campground.

Syracuse, NY, to Niagara Falls, out on Erie Canal, back on Lake
  Ontario, 2012, 370m, 8 days, Jannie

   For this trip we started at my daughter Gwen's house in Syracuse.
   Most of the time we rode on Rte 31, which parallels the Erie Canal,
   to the Niagara River. On this part of the ride we camped out on the
   canal, which has primitive campgrounds set aside for hikers and
   bikers. We went down river to Lake Ontario, staying at Four Mile
   Creek State Park. After setting up camp, to stay warm, we went to a
   picnic area in the sun to make supper. We had finished cooking
   supper and were getting ready to serve it, wondering what we
   would do with the over-abundance of food, when a bike tourist
   arrived to solve our problem (and his). He was finishing up a ride
   that started in New Orleans. He was British and initially wanted to
   explore the jazz scene in rural Louisiana.

   For the second half of the trip we rode along the shore of Lake
   Ontario back to Syracuse.

Norton, MA, to Provincetown, MA, and back, 2013, 220m, 6 days, Jannie.
   We started at our nephew Adam Cohen's house in Norton, MA. We
   stayed in Falmouth for two nights so that we could spend the day on
   Martha's Vineyard. On our last visit to Cape Cod we could not find
   space at Nickerson State Park. This time, off season, we found that
   the campground was closed for repairs, so we went to a nearby
   private campground.

Loop Norwich, VT, St. Johnsbury, Vergennes, Norwich, 2013, 300m, 6
  days, Jannie

   We went north on the Connecticut River and then northwest, finding
   a fairly flat route through the Green Mountains. Our first night we
   camped out behind the farmstand of an organic farm. The two men
   running the farm stayed upstairs over the farmstand. The only
   running water was at an outside sink near the outhouse. After the
   farmstand closed for the day we cooked our supper on the floor of
   the farmstand. The next night we stayed with a couple whose house
   had a separate area for guests and who served as a high-end meal of
   salmon fillets. Getting back over the Green Mountains was a
   navigational challenge until I found a route that followed the
   Winooski River gently uphill to Montpelier and then followed the
   White River gently downhill to the Connecticut River.

Salisbury Beach, MA, to Ellsworth, ME, and back, 2014, 450m 8 days,
   Jannie. 

   We mostly followed Route 1 to Ellsworth. Then we went through 
   Augusta back to Brunswick and retraced our "steps" back to
   Salisbury. Our tandem had an extra chain ring riding inside the loop
   created by the timing chain. I do this as a quick and dirty way to
   maintain tension as the chain wears (lengthens). We needed a larger
   chain ring. I usually go to a bike shop and ask for a discarded
   (front) chain ring, but the first few shops I visited (including
   L. L. Bean in Freeport) don't keep old stuff. North of Freeport
   about ten miles I saw a classic "local bike shop" and thought they
   could help. Most shop owners are ignorant of my use of the chain
   ring, but I explained it to the owner. He smiled, took a large
   barrel of discarded parts, spilled it onto the shop floor, and
   said, "Take what you want." On our return through Portland, we
   ended up following a bike shop owner to his shop. Along the way I
   explained my use of the chain ring. He was riding a fixed gear
   bike, and I suggested that he could use the same approach for
   maintaining tension. I later realized that this won't work,
   because, unlike the timing chain, the segments of chain on a fixed
   gear bike are not parallel.

Loop Lake Ontario, 2015, 14 days, 700m, Jannie.
   Jannie looked at the map of Lake Ontario and asked, "Why don't we
   ride around the lake?" We drove to a friend's house on Rideau Lake,
   ON, left our car there, rode south to Kingston, ON, and started our
   counter-clockwise ride around the lake. Most of the way we followed
   bike routes. Going through Toronto, part of the route was closed
   because of the Carabana (Carribean) Festival. This led us
   astray. Near Niagara Falls we thought we could not take the
   Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, so we took the Rainbow Bridge and
   encountered incredible mobs of tourists.

Key West, FL, to Fort Myers, FL, 2016, 300m, 6 days, Jannie
   Our friend, Gerry Friedman, drove us to the ferry in Fort Meyers.
   Nicknamed the "Vomit Rocket", this high-speed catamaran took us to
   Key West, and we then started our ride back. The Overseas Highway,
   which stretches 108 miles to Key Largo, is flat and has bike lanes
   almost the whole way. We had a hair-raising ride on Rte 997, as we
   headed for the Tamiami Highaway. Rte 997 has high speed traffic and
   barely has a shoulder, which disappeared when we encountered Jersey 
   barriers set up for construction. We had to take the lane for a
   number of miles.

Bethlehem, PA, to Ithaca, NY, 2016, 190m, 4 days, (Richard Ain) Jannie
   My son was living in Ithaca, so we decided to visit him. We headed
   north over the Pocono Mountains to Wilkes-Barre, PA, so that we
   could follow the Susquehanna north. Richard intended to spend the
   first two days with us, but he skidded on wet pavement on a steep
   incline the first day and cracked some ribs. Jannie and I were
   riding an S&S coupled Bushnell tandem. We took the bike apart in
   Ithaca, and our son drove it and us home.

Underground Railway Route, Birmingham, AL, to Erie, PA, 2017, 30 days,
   1400 miles, Jannie

   I casually mentioned the Underground Railway Route (of Adventure
   Cycling), and Jannie was ready to go. I have a nephew in Birmingham,
   AL. We broke down and boxed up the Bushnell tandem and took Amtrak
   from Philadelphia to Birmingham. When we reached Erie, we broke the
   tandem down, rented a compact car, and headed home. We usually tour
   fully loaded, but on this route, the campgrounds were few and far
   between, so about half the time we stayed in motels.
  
Upper Lake Michigan Circuit, Ludington, MI, to Manitowoc, WI, to
  Mackinac City, MI, to Ludington, MI, 2018, 11 days, 550m, Jannie

   Continuing the theme of riding around the Great Lakes, we decided to
   ride around the northern part of Lake Michigan. We parked our car
   in Ludington and took the ferry across the lake to Manitowoc. For
   the first time, we decided to do a "plastic" tour, using Warm
   Showers host four times and motels the rest of the time. The Upper
   Peninsula of Michigan was a bit of challenge, because there were
   very few motels (which are far outnumbered by the campgrounds).

Tampa, FL, to Ft. Meyers, FL, and back, 2019, 6 days, 253 miles (solo)
   Jannie and I drove to Tampa so that she could attend a week-long
   retreat. I rode to Ft. Meyers and spent two days visiting our
   friends Gerry and Sally Friedman. Then I rode back. 

CT, RI, LI loop, 2019, 7 days, 294m, Jannie.
   We started at my son's house in East Setauket, NY, took the Port
   Jefferson Ferry to Bridgeport, CT, rode to the house of my 
   step-grandson Howie and his wife Kiki in Warwick, RI, rode south to
   the Block Island, RI, Ferry, spent a day exploring Block Island,
   rode to the New London Ferry to Orient Point, NY, and then rode
   back to East Setauket. Originally, another couple planned to join
   us, so we lugged camping gear along with us. We stayed with Warm
   Showers hosts for all the nights except for the night with Kiki and
   Howie and except for the last night, when we camped out, justifying
   carrying all that weight.

Lombardy Lakes, Italy, 2019, 6 days, 180m, Jannie.
   This was our first supported trip. We used HookedOnCycling, which
   provided three and four star hotels, transported our luggage,
   rented us bikes, and gave us detailed maps and directions. It was a
   beautiful ride but marred by difficult-to-follow instructions,
   which made for slow going: sometimes we got lost; there were
   numerous twists and turns, seemingly every 0.1 Km (but I exaggerate
   slightly). At $3000, it was just not worth the money. I think our
   future rides will be like the past: go as you please.

Friesland, Holland, 2019, 3 days, 100m, Jannie.
   Well, this ride, about a week after the Italy ride, was go as you
   please. On the infrequent winters when the canals freeze solid,
   there is a 200Km ice skating race on a loop through 11 cities in 
   the Friesland. We followed about half the loop. We made the mistake 
   of renting city bikes, being misled by the tourist bureau in 
   Leeuwarden. That slowed us down to half speed. Still, we got a
   great taste of rural Holland.

D&L Trail, Lehigh Valley, PA, 2019 3 days 100m, Jannie, Ann Felker,
   Don Kelley, Scott Slingerland

   We live within one mile of the 142-mile D&L trail, which follows
   the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers and is the spine of the Delaware and
   Lehigh Heritage Corridor, but we have never toured on it. Also,
   despite our many years of touring, this is the first time we have
   been on a group tour, with the minor exception of our Nova Scotia
   tour with the Melcherts and our family. Starting from home we
   followed the Lehigh River to Jim Thorpe and the Mauch Chunk
   Campground. The next day we went 20 miles further upriver and
   returned to camp. This was Foliage Festival weekend. The foliage
   was pretty good, and the Lehigh Gorge was thronged with many
   hundreds of bicyclists. I am not fond of bike paths, but the D&L
   trail is well maintained and quite beautiful.

Outer Banks Tour, NC, 2020 5 days 203m, Jannie, Emil Gnasso
   Jannie and I drove to Emil's house in Virginia Beach. Emil joined
   us for the first two days, leaving his house and heading for
   Currituck, NC, where Jannie and I took the bridge to Kitty Hawk and
   Emil returned home. The Outer Banks offered a number of
   challenges. A recent offshore hurricane, combined with the autumnal
   equinox and the coincident new moon, caused the ocean to overflow
   the dunes protecting the roadway, which led to minor flooding with
   seawater and lots of sand on the roadway. This closed the road, and
   we were the first to ride the reopened road ahead of the pulse of
   backed up traffic. Timing our taking of the Hatteras Ferry so we
   could make the Cedar Island Ferry failed, because the Cedar Island
   Ferry was not making the afternoon trip. The next morning our
   attempt to take the Swan Quarter Ferry failed, because it was not
   making the morning run. We soon learned that one of the two ferries
   serving Cedar Island and Swan Quarter was sidelined for repairs,
   and the other ferry was doing double duty by omitting half the
   trips. We returned north to a point south of Avon where Emil and
   his wife, Lisa, picked us up for a return trip to Virginia Beach.

D&L Trail, Lehigh Valley, PA, 2020 3 days 120m, Ann Felker,
   Don Kelley, Scott Slingerland and partner Kellen, Julie Gallagher,
   and Shari and Rick Wilson

   This followed the same itinerary as the tour in 2019, except that
   in 2019 my rear tire shredded about 20 miles from home, and I had
   to be sagged, whereas this year I made it the whole way. Various
   people joined us on Saturday. At one point there were 16 riders in
   our group.

Southern New Hampshire, 2021 3 days 119m, Jannie
   We decided to do a loop in NH, starting at our cottage at Salisbury
   Beach, MA: Salisbury to Somersworth, NH, to Derry, NH, to
   Salisbury. Much of the terrain was flat. It was quite hot, with
   temperatures in the 90s, which we found enervating. It was fun to go
   over some of the roads from my teenage years, when I frequently
   drove from Lawrence, MA, my home town, to Manchester, NH, Jannie's
   home town.

Erie Canal Bike Path, 2022  4 days, 148m, Jannie, Gale Maleskey
   In 2012 (see above) Jannie and I shadowed the Erie Canal from
   Syracuse to Niagara Falls and returned along Lake Ontario. Ever
   since, I had in the back of my mind to do the rest of the canal
   between Syracuse and Albany. Spurred by a New York Times article
   about the completion of the Empire State Trail, a T-shaped trail,
   with one segment going from Albany to Buffalo, the other segment
   from Manhattan to the Candian Border, Jannie proposed we finish up
   the Erie Canal segment. We stuck quite closely to the trail,
   starting in Schenectady and ending in Syracuse. Two nights we took
   advantage of the free camping at two of the canal locks. We
   encountered an incredible number of bike tourists along the
   way. The highlight of the trip for me was interacting with two bike
   tourists who started in Amsterdam, stayed overnight in a motel,
   and took Amtrak back to Amsterdam from Rome. One of them, seeing that
   we were traveling fully loaded, commented that riding fully loaded
   was for younger people like us. I looked at him and, seeing that he
   appeared to be fairly young, said, "You can't possibly be older
   than me. How old are you?" He responded,"Sixty three," and I
   said,"Well, I am 80." Jannie now has vague plans for us to ride the
   Manhattan-to-Canadian-Border segment of the Empire trail.
   

D&L Trail, Lehigh Valley, PA, 2022 3 days 122m

   This followed the same itinerary as the tours in 2019 and 2020.
   Ten of us rode to Jim Thorpe on Friday and were joined by Jannie,
   Ginnie Delph, and others. Saturdy, 20 of us, including Gale
   Maleskey, who drove up on Saturday, went north through the Lehigh
   Gorge and returned to the Mauch Chunk Lake Campground. Sunday,
   seven us rode back to Bethlehem. We had spectacularly good weather,
   with the sun shining each day, and the temperatures quite moderate.   

Lake Winnepesauki, NH, 2032  2 days 75m

   Jannie's love of her home state of New Hampshire and her penchant
   for circumnaviagating lakes led us to a two-day ride around Lake
   Winnepesauki. We parked in Alton, NH, at the home of the daughter
   of some close friends. I found a Warm Showers site almost exactly
   half-way around the lake, so off we went. To some extent, we
   struggled over the hilly terrain. This led to our discussing
   whether this might be our last bike tour.