Over the last 35 years of bike touring, I have made a point of retracing former bike tour routes whenever I have the opportunity. Riding a route in reverse or duplicating the original route via bike is the same yet so different due to weather conditions, my age and physical condition since the original trip.

Even driving an old tour route evokes visceral memories of steep climbs in thin air, cloudbursts at a summit, violent headwinds and crosswinds on descents forcing hard pedaling just to advance down hill, trail angels helping in a moment of trial or desperation and meeting other bike tourists in unlikely places for an exchange of information. Your vehicle down shifting reminds you that you really did expend a lot of energy ascending that pass on your own leg power.

Lots of emotional imprints of people places and events stored away from each trip can be revisited on a return even more so than from photos in my experience.