via the "Blogosphere"

This will be a first.

Follow the Lao tour. We will try to get something up wherever and whenever we find decent bandwith.

To get the ball rolling, I posted a pic of something that Patrick, Mike and I came across in a restaurant kitchen on last year's tour (no, we DID NOT eat there....we were just passing through). Anyway if you are squeamish, stop right here. Hopefully, it wasn't the, "thought to be extinct for 2 million years", rodent found in a Loation market earlier this year.

Newsletter sign up

All you need to do is forward this newsletter to some cycling pals who you think might like to subscribe.

We will have our auditors select the winner at random from all new subscribers between now and the end of the year. If your pal/new subscriber is selected, you get a new jersey and so does your pal.

Given this isn't the Washington Post, your odds are good.

New subscribers: If the "subscribe" link at left does not work, just click on the "news-dog" image and it will take you to the "news" page of our website, where you can also subscribe. When you subscribe, there is a spot to indicate who referred you. Fill that in with a name so both you and your pal have a shot at a free jersey.

Trains, planes, hotels, bikes and ferries....

Here at the World Headquarters, we get quite a few questions about a variety of topics....."where can I rent a bike?", "what's a good hotel to stay in?" , "can I get there by ferry?, "do you know someone running a tour in XXX in July"?

We try to help everyone, period. Go solo, go self guided, go with another tour operator, it doesn't matter. The important thing is to go.

Anyway, most of our hotels, where you can rent bikes as well as other useful links are included on our "resource page".

What a town fair should be

We met up with a town Feria by chance on the last tour in Spain. This thing was unbelievably BIG and the WHOLE town was there. Everyone. It had everything too...kiddie rides, mechanical bulls for all ages, adult ferris wheels, roller coasters, beer gardens, bands, dancing ; half the restaurants in town shut down so they could open booths at the fair.

What struck me most though were all the lights and the colors. Perhaps it was the 220v current in Spain or maybe it was the couple glasses of wine I had, but the whole place vibrated in a dizzying display of motion and energy.