So, the bike that I’ve traveled with for two years, that has been my trusty steed in 8 countries (USA, England, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Canada) and 8 U.S. states (Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, California, Ohio, Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina) will ride no more. Most importantly, no one was hurt, and I was not riding the bike when it was totaled. A little incident that involved a tropical storm, some mud, and the mini-van befell my parents on their way back to Ohio with the bikes on a rear rack. It’s not quite clear what happened, but the Trek 520 and my Dad’s even older Cannondale touring bike were mangled. The Surly escaped with “just” one wheel destroyed.

(I’ll be test riding touring bikes in the Trek 520 price range when I get back to Colorado, so if you have one to recommend that I shouldn’t miss riding, please let me know.)

This came on the heels of another family member’s health crisis, so it was a stressful week. As a result, we are continuing home to Colorado rather than looking for additional big adventures at the moment. We’ll still be blogging about our trip back, our projects in Colorado, some trips later in the summer, and ultimately the next project for the joycycling chicks, so stay tuned and thanks for your support.