Early May: A clifftop campsite near Ribamar, Portugal, two day's ride from Lisbon. Sleeping out beneath the stars, with a moon so bright it seemed to cast light and not simply reflect it. During the night twin thunderstorms slid slowly north: one offshore, one inland, leaving me with a clear patch of starry sky overhead.

y 1987 bicycle trip began in February of that year, when I flew out of Vancouver on a year-long round-the-world ticket, heading east. It ended in February of 1988 when I (and my bicycle) flew back into Vancouver from the west.

In that year I backpacked through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. I rode my bike through western Europe again, pedaling from Lisbon north to Finland. From Scandinavia I flew on to India, where I cycled from Jammu to Srinigar in Kashmir. From Srinigar I continued up into the Himalayas, pedaling over a series of passes which culminated at Fotu La. Eventually I reached Leh, the capital of the Indian province of Ladakh, just before a heavy snowfall closed the passes for the winter, shutting off all road access to the region. No: I did not over-winter in the mountains: Leh's small airport was swamped for days, but eventually I did make it out.

After India and Nepal I carried on via Singapore to Australia, where I rode from Melbourne up to Sydney before flying onwards to Fiji. From Fiji I headed south to New Zealand, before finally turning towards home.

It was an amazing year. Someday I'll flesh out the bike section with accounts and photographs of that journey.