Shifting Gears

A four-thousand-mile bicycle trip gives you plenty of time to contemplate the universe, life, and love.

For Lou, turning fifty meant it was time to re-evaluate everything. So the ex-ski bum from Vail has a custom bike built, and he heads off from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on the trip of a lifetime. At this time, Lou has no ties to a job or family-and his relationship needs time to settle. It was time to embark on the bike tour he had always dreamed of.

As cooler fall air teases gold from the quaking aspens, he looks north, toward the national parks of the West, across the Cascades to the Pacific Northwest, and down the California coast. Three months later, he's in Palm Springs, California. With countless hours spent pedaling his Jamison Coda, he has plenty of time to review his past. His is a life story peppered with hilarious escapades from the early days of Vail and Aspen, when those colorful pioneers created their own folklore along the way. For Lou, whose future was uncertain when he pulled out of Steam-boat, his time on the road brings it all into focus.

Solo cycling gives way to a journey of romance. Ten years after his epic journey, Lou returns to the Pacific Northwest, this time with his wife, Mari/Moe. Together, they reflect on how they have boldly shaped their dreams into reality and reinvented their lives as inn-keepers in Tulum, Mexico.