I found Santa Fe fascinating and stayed about three weeks before heading north to Colorado. Caption of the photo above: Steve Roberts of Columbus, Ohio, finishes a lap around the Plaza after arriving in Santa Fe on his custom-made, 18-speed bike outfitted with solar panels and a computer. Roberts plans to stay in Santa Fe…

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Hi-tech nomad interfaces job and journey Early in the adventure, it was a delight to have the story picked up by this magazine much-loved in the community of touring cyclists. Doors were opening all over, and this was particularly helpful since a huge part of this kind of travel is hospitality. I remember getting invitations…

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Popular Science cover - July 1984

I have fond memories of this widely read article, written on a Key West beach in January, 1984. I remember that day… thinking about deadlines, cash flow, and how to get back to the mainland without retracing my path up Highway 1. In other words, I had gotten into the groove, and was using new…

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This article by John Schwartz in the Austin American-Statesman stands apart from the rest of the newspaper stories written during the first 10,000 miles… it reads as a feature piece, and was published about a month after I pedaled out of town into west Texas. Local media coverage usually had a sort of ephemeral “geeky guy…

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I have always been amused by this 1984 photo in the Daily Texan. It reminds me of the vigor of my youth, when I was a human engine — a tanned mass of slow-twitch muscle fiber cranking out hundred-mile days. That is hard to imagine now in my creaky dotage, so photos like this are…

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Words on Wheels, Writer's Digest

As a budding freelancer, Writer’s Digest had been one of my most-studied magazines for years, teaching me the craft and providing monthly doses of motivation. The photo was taken on the Indianapolis 500 Speedway, and that map was my standard postcard that I sent to folks during my travels… updated with a route of the…

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This article dovetails with the CBS Morning News piece… I pedaled the Winnebiko into Huntsville on May 24, 1984 with a film crew in tow. Sadly, I am missing the continuation of the text, but the photos by Jimmie Morris are excellent. (I especially love the one above, with that enigmatic figure in the background.…

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This is quite a substantial article for an on-the-road interview; it was a 92-mile day between my overnight stops in Lafayette and Lake Charles. I like the way the author captured the sense of movement — not just a snapshot.  by Angela Gott Jennings Daily News May 17, 1984 Imagine a vehicle equipped with a computer, a…

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I have always loved this article in the media binder… mostly because of that delightful photo above (or larger below). I was staying in the home of a Baton Rouge mayoral candidate, and one day I went for a ride with his wife and kids (in the trailer just out of frame). I find the…

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I spent a delightful few days in Baton Rouge in early May, 1984 – visiting my aunt, staying with the mayor’s family, getting to know an interesting audiophile, and even having a bizarre cultural encounter that spawned a fun book chapter. Somewhere in there, WBRZ Channel 2 television got wind of my adventure, and this…

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