Mission Accomplished

March 1, 2026

Ke Ala Hele Makalae bike trail

10 miles

One of the most asked questions I get is “What do you do sitting on the back of a tandem bicycle?” Well, I do a lot of thinking and come up with gnarly biking goals. The first goal I came up with was - on the 100th anniversary of my great, great grandfather’s move west, we would retrace their route on our tandem bicycle. When we finished that journey in 2012, I had to come up with a new goal; and that was to ride in all 50 states on a tandem bicycle. 

So in 2012 we began working on this new goal. The states we had previously ridden in were grandfathered in. (Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri). 

Clay was still working so we had to plan our vacations around states we needed to ride in. In 2019 we rode in Alaska which was the 49th state. Now it was time to start planning on riding the 50th state somewhere in Hawaii. 

Little did we know that it would be a struggle to get the last state. After 6 years and several attempts to get to Hawaii (Covid, Clay’s cancer diagnosis and my broken ankle) we finally were successful in getting to the Hawaiian island of Kauai. To help us celebrate this goal my sister and brother in law, Susan and Tom Weaver, and my cousin and her husband, Christy and Byron Cate, decided to travel with us to Kauai and ride the last trail with us. Thanks for doing life with us guys! We love you!!

We rented bikes from Hele on Kauai Bike Rentals in Kapa’a which was a very short distance from the Ke Ala Hele Makalae bike trail. The trail name means “the path that goes by the coast” and it lived up to its name. The views were spectacular! As a special bonus we spotted several whales during the duration of our ride. The weather was overcast and in the 70s and that made for a very pleasant ride. As you can see in the photos, Clay and I are wearing t-shirts our daughter Sarah made for us when we last rode the KATY Trail. Our positions on the bike are clearly stated in case we forget who sits where on the bike! 

When we finished our ride and returned our bikes to the rental shop, they presented us with leis as a celebration of completing our goal. It was unexpected and such a thoughtful gesture on their part. It was the perfect ending to our goal of riding in all fifty states!! 

What’s next? That remains to be determined. I’m going to let the completion of this goal sink in for a while and reflect on what a journey it was.  Aloha!

Medicare Ride

October 3, 2025

65 miles

Medicare Ride - Take 2 is in the books and it was a success!

Last year, Clay planned a 65-mile ride on his 65th birthday. He called it his Medicare Ride, and we were going to ride on the Katy Trail and eat at Philly’s Pizza, his favorite place on the Katy. A 20-day hospital stay cancelled those plans, so we decided to try it again when I started Medicare this year. The weather forecast predicted good weather for today, and it was great! Even though the temperature was a little higher than I like, the humidity was low, and the winds were light. The only downside to a perfect day was another event in our summer of catastrophe. With only 2 1/2 miles to go, the back tire went flat. Clay tried putting air back into it to see if it would last, but it went immediately back flat. He put a new tube in and we finished the last few miles to complete our goal. 

Cades Cove Loop, Smoky National Park, Tennessee

June 8, 2022

11 miles

We arrived in the Knoxville area the night before ride day. The weather forecast is daunting. I'm discouraged because riding in Cades Cove has always been something I've wanted to do. Every Wednesday the park rangers close off the 11 mile loop to vehicles. It would be almost impossible to bicycle when there are vehicles on the narrow one way road through the cove. So, if we can't ride tomorrow, we can't wait around for next Wednesday.

We woke up to a rainy overcast day. Looking at the hourly forecast it looks like there will be a couple of hours of no rain around 1 pm. We decide to eat an early lunch and then drive up to Cades Cove parking lot and wait for our riding window of opportunity. When we arrive there are plenty of parking spots and very few people around. We unload the bike in the rain and do all our preparations under a park pavilion. After about 30 minutes it stops raining and we decide to go ahead with our ride. I purchase a rain poncho from a ranger just in case it starts raining again. 

We were less than 2 miles into the ride when we approached a couple that were on foot. The lady was motioning to us about something. We then came to her husband and he was pointing to the side of the road, we turned and looked and we were passing between him and 3 bears.  I asked Clay to stop so I could get a picture. When we felt like we were a safe distance we stopped and got a great picture. It was exciting and scary to see the bears!

There are several old churches, graveyards and homesteads to stop at along the loop. The views of the Smoky Mountains are pristine, especially after a rain. The ride is hilly and there are several dangerous sections where it was recommended to get off your bike and walk. It was even more so since the pavement was wet. This is a relatively short ride for us but it will definitely be one of my favorites. The rain turned out to be a blessing because it kept the crowd numbers down. Since the weather had cleared up, as we were leaving, the cars and people were streaming in and there were no parking spots to be had! We were so fortunate that we arrived while it was still raining. Perfect Day!!

Jacksonville-Baldwin Trail, Florida

 June 2, 2022

22 miles

Decided to ride this trail again since we were in the area. We rode it last time in 2013 with Tom and Susan. As we pulled into the parking lot I noticed a sign about being under construction. I don't like these signs because as a visitor you don't know if it's 1 mile down the trail or 15 miles down the trail. We decided to continue our ride as planned and hope for the best. 

We started out slow because of the slight incline and from being sore from our other rides. Between miles 3 and 4 we noticed the surface was new. It was really nice and smooth. The majority of the bikes we passed, or the ones coming from the other direction, were recumbent bikes. I've never seen so many on one trail. Just as unusual observation. At mile 11 we finally hit the section that was closed. It was 3 miles more to the end of the trail. Not too bad, we got the majority of the trail ridden!

Turning around and coming back to the parking lot we really picked up our speed. We ended up with our highest average speed for this trip if not for the season. We missed having Tom and Susan with us and thankfully we didn't have yellow fly trouble like we did in 2013!

Amelia Island Trail, Florida

June 1, 2022

14 miles

Amelia Island is north of Jacksonville Beach where we are staying. Loaded up the bike early and drove to the island. Parked at Peter's Point Parking. Very nice parking lot with nice bathrooms and a lovely access to the beach. 

The trail took us back west just a tad bit before turning south and hugging Florida's A1A highway. The trail in town was curvy, crossed lots of streets and very tree covered. It was very beautiful riding under the spanish moss draped live oaks. The trail also is very actively used. After 4 miles we were out of town and the trail was straighter. When we hit the 7 mile mark it was on an old bridge that parallels the current bridge. Many people were fishing off the bridge. At the south end of the bridge we came to a chain link fence blocking the rest of the trail. We found out later it is because part of the trail has collapsed . We could have biked on the road but didn't want to cross on a bridge in the narrow bike lane with vehicles. Florida drivers don't have a very friendly reputation regarding bicyclists.

It was a very short and pleasant ride for us. Afterwards we ate lunch alfresco at Palms Fish Camp. Delicious shrimp and fish baskets and bread pudding for dessert. 

Tallahassee-St. Marks Trail, Florida

May 29, 2022

32 miles

Wide, smooth, straight and flat all describe this trail. These are all attributes of a great trail. We got out early to ride before the Florida heat and humidity got too bad and it was definitely a great decision. It was a calm, beautiful morning and the trail wasn't busy yet on this holiday weekend. We were pleasantly surprised at the road crossings it was the cars who had the stop signs and not us. It made crossing roads so much smoother!

 

Interesting situation upon arriving at the trailhead this morning. When we pulled into the parking lot there were two men outside of a car about two spaces away from us and their trunk was open. As we were unloading and preparing our bike we heard quite a bit of screaming. I looked over and one man had crawled into the trunk of the car and was pretending to be in distress. Then a few minutes later, even though he was just steps from the bathroom facilities, he urinated on the back tire of his car. Then both men got into the car and just sat there. As we rode off on our bicycle I was both glad to get away from them but also concerned about what they might do after we left. It was all very strange.

Tanglefoot Trail, Pontotoc, Mississippi

May 27-28, 2022

50 miles

Arrived at the Bodock B&B late afternoon. The innkeepers are lovely people and great hosts. They live next door and have turned the old homestead into a B&B. No one else was staying so Clay and I had the whole place to ourselves. Our whole stay was Southern Hospitality at it's finest, including the cheese grits served at breakfast and the fresh gardenia in the bathroom.

After checking in we rode north on the Tanglefoot trail. Fifteen miles out and turned around and came back. An interesting thing about this trail is we saw many golf carts. One cart had a man and woman and the man had a sheriff's badge on his t-shirt. We learned from our host that they patrol the trail. The others we saw we don't know what they were doing. Possibly going for an evening ride or going to dinner at one of the towns along the trail??? Maybe they are saving gas by going in the golf carts instead of driving their vehicles. It's so unusual because motorized vehicles aren't supposed to be on the trails.

The trailheads were also called whistle stops and had nice facilities with bike repair stations and pumps. Most also had benches or picnic tables and flowerbeds or hanging baskets of flowers.

After breakfast Saturday morning we rode south on the trail 10 miles, turned around and came back. There were more people on the trail this morning compared to yesterday. Also, more golf carts. It was a gorgeous morning and a great way to start our day! Thanks to retired judge Toby Winston and his beautiful wife Jane for letting us have a late checkout so we could clean up after the ride. Next stop....Tallahassee, Florida.