There is something about those roadside mirrors … it’s hard not to stop and take your photo. You know the ones I mean. The big circular mirrors placed on the road so that motorists can get a view of traffic before they pull out or go around a blind corner? They are not that common in the U.S., but I’ve run into them (though not literally) around the world.

Why can’t I pass one without stopping and snapping a few shots? Maybe it’s the realization that after all the dreaming and scheming and planning, we are finally there. In some magical foreign place, filled with new sights and sounds and smells.

I always feel a bit silly trying to focus my camera on the mirror and getting it just right to include the background, our bikes, and us in the photo. But I always laugh and smile as I realize that I’m fortunate enough to have the time and health and good fortune to be able to travel this way.

So I’ll continue to snap these silly little portraits for as long as I am able.

Originally posted on the Adventure Cycling Association’s blog.

I truly feel sorry for people who have only observed the world from the seat of a speeding car. It all becomes a blur … literally.

The pace of bicycle travel suites me. But even pedaling can propel you too quickly through your surroundings. To experience the intense beauty of nature, sometimes you’ve got to get off your bike and wallow in it.

While cycling around Crater Lake, my buddy Thomas and I came upon a huge field of dirt and rocks.

At least from a speeding car that’s all you’d have seen. Especially after the grand scenic views of the lake. But at bicycle speed you could still have missed the beauty. Just some flashes of color.

It wasn’t until I got off my bike and onto my belly (I was already sweaty and dirty, anyway) that I experienced the beauty of this place. Among the dirt and rocks were thousands of tiny wildflowers. Little explosions of color. In this mountain climate the flowers were tiny, most barely reaching more than a couple of inches above the dry earth. Yet up close their beauty rivaled that of anything we’d encountered on our trip.

While some prefer fast and furious … I prefer low and slow.

Originally posted on the Adventure Cycling Association’s blog.