When travelling, it is always exciting to visit historical places: the Paris Mouffetard cafés where Hemingway met with Gertrude Stein and Picasso; Gare St-Lazare where Monet would setup his easel; or Auvers-sur-Oise where Van Gogh roamed the melancholically beautiful wheatfield with crows in tow. Closer to home at Cannery Row, a faded wooden ...

Seems like it was yesterday, Bob and Kris Thompson, Jean and I were having lunch on a sunny afternoon at a League of American Bicyclist meeting in Olympia, Washington. That was nearly thirty years ago -- my friendship with Bob grew with more respect and admiration each passing year. In ...

During our last visit to Dalian, China, a child, no older than 5, came up and hugged Jean, asking for money. We knew not to give children money or sweets because the apparent kind act may create beggars of them. Furthermore, parents then will send their children to beg rather ...

Two score years ago, ACTC, then with just a hundred members, bravely created the first Tierra Bella Century. Historical ACTC Members still with the club are Ken Schwab (Past President and Club's Art Designer), Rosa and Lou Mason, Connie and Terry Shaw, Peter Enright (first VP and second President), and ...

Dip your toes and front wheel in Lake Tahoe and dip them again a week later in the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco, how cool is that! Sierra to the Sea, an uniquely ACTC tour started by the late Past-President Rod Annable, has a new exciting route from South Tahoe to ...

Poppies, lupines, shooting stars, Indian paint brushes, and uniquely large Manzanitas greeted John Muir on his historic walk to Yosemite and remain unchanged to greet ACTC Tierra Bella cyclists on April 1st, 2017. Next year will mark the 40th Anniversary of Tierra Bella, a 'beautiful country' bicycle tour to showcase ...

On this bright December Saturday morning, more than forty ACTC members, led by Jim Schallau, volunteered at the Turning Wheels for Kids (TWFK) Big Bike Build to assemble over 2500 new bicycles to be given free to underprivileged children. Jim and Marjorie Schallau, Past-President Herman Wadler, and I have been helping ...

Make your voice heard by voting. It always amazed me that a great percentage never bothered to vote. Many failed to appreciate how fortunate we are to live in this democracy, having not seen how people in other countries struggle, with not enough food, no education, no future, and no ...

On our September low-cost self-supported Italian trip, it was predicted to rain and perhaps snow up at Passo Stelvio by noon that day. We all started bright and early and nearly everyone made it to the top before the rain. As we were waiting it out, warm inside a cafe with an ...

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” Albert Einstein On this, the 15th Anniversary-Remembrance of 9/11, a helpful way for me to move forward is to listen to meaningful music. A favorite is the Daniel Pearl World Music Days, an international network of concerts ...