When touring on a capable steed like the Pugsley, the bike is as willing as the rider. I've encountered many interesting dirt tracks on previous tours that seemed beyond the scope of my equipment. With the Pugsley, the bike is almost never the limitation and always agrees to new experiences. Here are some memorable moments from my revelatory fat year.

Having traveled for the last year and making the slow transition from stills to video, I’ve played with more than a few different tripods in search of THE ONE. Depending on how serious/heavy your gear you’ve got a lot of choices. Here are a few different styles of tripods I’ve used over the years to consider.

The holidays are here, so I thought that I would let you in on my favorite gifts for the bike lovers in my life. All of these gifts (except for number five) I have actually purchased for bicycle enthusiasts ...

I recently attended the annual meeting of the Bicycle Tour Network (formally called the National Bike Tour Directors Association) in Denver, Colorado.

When Adventure Cycling Membership Director Julie Huck (that's her above) asked me to compile a blog post about the all-time Top 5 Bike Overnights, my first thought was, "Oh, that'll be easy." After digging into it, however, I learned that it would be anything but easy.

Two of Adventure Cycling's final tours for 2012, the inaugural trips for the Big Bend Loop van-supported tour, just wrapped up. For the first trip, I was lucky enough to fill the shoes as co-leader alongside veteran Southern Tier leader, Dave Points.

I call this photo Candy Break. I’m at a small roadside store (a shack dangerously perched on the side of the narrow winding road) high up in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh. It is early morning and I’m in search of chocolate. Most of the desserts in India are insanely sweet even for a sweet tooth like mine, and I’m losing too much weight. I discover a chocolate bar that most merchants carry, and I eat at least five a day.

When you read the title, you were probably thinking: "uh, Jim, there are nearly two months left in 2012." But actually, Adventure Cycling's fiscal year 2012 concluded on September 30 -- and it was a record setter in so many ways.

Making videos of our bike touring adventures has never come naturally to me. I can often be found muttering to myself, wondering what that button does or how best to combine those two clips. At the end of the day, however, I'm always satisfied to complete a film about our cycling adventures. A video captures the sounds, movements and emotions of a trip in a much more lively, engaging way than a photograph. It is a living memory.

The loop sounded awesome, 160 miles of single track and logging roads around Missoula, MT, typically accomplished in 24 hours, hmmm .... well, maybe not?