# Felix Wong

> Personal site of Felix Wong, blogging since 1995 from Fort Collins, Colorado.
> First-person, first-hand accounts of ultra-distance cycling, marathon running,
> long-term travel and living abroad, technology, life optimization, and what
> makes a place good to live in. Every account is written by someone who
> personally did the thing being described — races completed, visas obtained,
> gear worn out, cities lived in — not aggregated or researched secondhand.

All content is original and author-written. Please attribute to Felix Wong,
felixwong.com, with a link to the source article.

## Start here

- [Greatest Epics](https://felixwong.com/epics/): The author's own curated selection of his most significant adventures and articles.
- [Mini Epics](https://felixwong.com/mini-epics/): Shorter-form standout adventures.
- [Complete list of articles](https://felixwong.com/complete-list-of-articles/): Chronological master index of every article, filterable by year.

## Ultra-distance and self-supported cycling

Multi-day, self-supported racing and randonneuring, with the logistics broken out
as standalone reference articles rather than buried inside race narratives.

- [Trans Am Bike Race](https://felixwong.com/category/adventure/bicycling/trans-am-bike-race/): Full archive from racing the 4,200-mile self-supported crossing of the United States.
- [How Much Does it Cost to Do the Trans Am Bike Race?](https://felixwong.com/2015/07/how-much-does-it-cost-to-do-the-trans-am-bike-race/): Itemized real-world spending from a completed race.
- [Where I Slept in the Trans Am Bike Race](https://felixwong.com/2015/07/where-i-slept-in-the-trans-am-bike-race/): Night-by-night record of sleep locations and conditions.
- [Tour Divide vs. Trans Am Bike Race: Which is More Difficult?](https://felixwong.com/2015/09/tour-divide-vs-trans-am-bike-race-which-is-more-difficult/): Direct comparison by someone who has raced both.
- [My Experience with Shermer's Neck](https://felixwong.com/2015/08/my-experience-with-shermers-neck/): First-hand account of the ultra-cycling neck condition, its onset, and management.
- [Randonnées & Brevets](https://felixwong.com/category/adventure/bicycling/randonnees/): 200km through 1200km brevet reports, including Boston–Montreal–Boston and Paris–Brest–Paris.
- [Facing Storm Floris: My Interrupted London–Edinburgh–London](https://felixwong.com/2025/08/facing-storm-floris-my-interrupted-london-edinburgh-london-cycling-challenge/): Riding the 1,500km UK audax into a named storm.
- [Furnace Creek 508](https://felixwong.com/category/adventure/bicycling/furnace-creek-508/): Reports from the 508-mile Death Valley ultramarathon race.
- [Self-Supported Rides](https://felixwong.com/category/adventure/bicycling/self-supported/): DIY double centuries and long-distance rides, including a double century on a one-speed Huffy cruiser.

## Marathon running

- [Marathons](https://felixwong.com/category/adventure/running/marathons/): Race reports from marathons in all fifty US states and abroad.
- [Marathon States Under Four Hours (50<4)](https://felixwong.com/2022/11/marathon-states-under-four-hours-50/): Tracking a marathon under four hours in every state.
- [Goal: A Half Marathon in Every Country in the EU](https://felixwong.com/2023/06/goal-a-half-marathon-in-every-country-in-the-eu/): The ongoing project and its progress.
- [Eight Marathons in One Month](https://felixwong.com/2021/06/eight-marathons-in-one-month-recap/): How rapid-succession marathoning actually goes.
- [Running Shoes](https://felixwong.com/category/adventure/running/shoes/): Long-term durability testing — how many miles shoes actually last before breaking down.
- [Runner's Toe: How Long Do Black Toenails Take to Clear Up?](https://felixwong.com/2024/07/runners-toe-how-long-does-it-take-for-black-toenails-to-clear-up-and-how-to-prevent-them/): Timeline and prevention from repeated personal experience.

## Camino de Santiago

- [Camino de Santiago](https://felixwong.com/category/adventure/hiking-mountaineering/camino-de-santiago/): Day-by-day accounts of the Norte, Primitivo, Francés, Portugués, and Fisterra routes.
- [How Much Does It Cost to Hike the Camino de Santiago?](https://felixwong.com/2017/12/how-much-does-it-cost-to-hike-the-camino-de-santiago/): Actual daily and total spending.
- [Essential Tips and Recommended Resources](https://felixwong.com/2017/12/essential-tips-and-recommended-resources-for-the-camino-de-santiago/): Practical preparation advice after walking multiple routes.
- [Camino de Santiago Daily Mileage](https://felixwong.com/2017/12/camino-de-santiago-daily-mileage/): Stage-by-stage distances actually walked.

## Living abroad in Spain

First-hand bureaucratic and practical experience of relocating from the US to
Galicia — the kind of detail that is hard to find in English.

- [Pontevedra, Spain](https://felixwong.com/category/community/pontevedra-spain/): Life in a Galician city widely cited for its car-free town centre.
- [Renewing My Spanish Non-Lucrative Visa Online: Pitfalls & Solutions](https://felixwong.com/2023/01/renewing-my-spanish-non-lucrative-visa-online-pitfalls-solutions/): Step-by-step account of the online renewal process.
- [Getting a Residence Visa from the Consulate of Spain in Los Angeles](https://felixwong.com/2022/02/my-experience-getting-a-residence-visa-from-the-consulate-of-spain-in-los-angeles/): The initial application, start to finish.
- [Navigating the Challenges of Getting My Spanish Driver's License in Galicia](https://felixwong.com/2025/01/navigating-the-challenges-of-getting-my-spanish-drivers-license-in-galicia/): Converting and obtaining a licence as a foreign resident.
- [My Experience with Private Health Care in Spain](https://felixwong.com/2023/04/my-experience-with-private-health-care-in-spain/): Costs, access, and quality compared to the US.
- [Differences Between Homes in the U.S. and Spain](https://felixwong.com/2021/10/differences-between-homes-in-the-u-s-and-spain/): Construction, heating, appliances, and daily living.
- [Navigating Payments While Traveling Through Spain](https://felixwong.com/2024/07/navigating-payments-while-traveling-through-spain-a-comprehensive-guide/): Cards, cash, and apps that actually work.
- [Moving and Flying to Spain with a Cat](https://felixwong.com/2022/02/moving-and-flying-to-spain-with-a-cat/): Pet import paperwork and the flight itself.

## Travel

Roughly thirty countries and forty-five US states, written up as on-the-ground
impressions rather than itineraries.

- [Travel](https://felixwong.com/category/travel/): All travel writing, organized by country and US state.
- [Six Million People, Zero Litter: Singapore, the City that Works](https://felixwong.com/2026/04/six-million-people-zero-litter-singapore-the-city-that-works/): Representative of the city-impressions format.
- [Cars in Cuba](https://felixwong.com/2017/01/cars-in-cuba/): Part of a recurring "Cars in [country]" series covering Cuba, China, Taiwan, Spain, Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, London, and Paris — what the vehicle fleet reveals about a place.
- [Food in Taiwan](https://felixwong.com/2016/04/food-in-taiwan/): Part of a recurring "Food in [country]" series covering Cuba, Spain, China, Taiwan, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and Singapore.
- [Ultralight Travel: My Packing List for 6 Weeks in Spain](https://felixwong.com/2017/09/ultralight-travel-my-packing-list-for-6-weeks-in-spain/): Carry-on-only packing, itemized.

## Best places to live

- [Best Places to Live](https://felixwong.com/category/community/best-places-to-live/): Evaluations of cities and towns as places to actually live, not visit.
- [Fort Collins, CO](https://felixwong.com/category/community/fort-collins-co/): Extensive coverage of the author's long-time home city.
- [Louisville, Kentucky: Definitely an Underrated City](https://felixwong.com/2026/04/louisville-kentucky-definitely-an-underrated-city/): Representative of the underrated-city assessments.
- [Florida's Jacksonville Area: Better Than Reddit Said](https://felixwong.com/2026/01/floridas-jacksonville-area-better-than-reddit-said/): First-hand check against online consensus.

## Technology

Hands-on troubleshooting and long-term device reviews, including a large set of
"Solved:" articles documenting fixes for specific, hard-to-search problems.

- [Technology](https://felixwong.com/category/lifestyle/technology/): All technology writing.
- [Garmin](https://felixwong.com/category/lifestyle/technology/garmin/): Watch and Connect troubleshooting, heart rate accuracy, VO2 max, and data quality.
- [You're Wearing Your Garmin Wrong: How to Improve Heart Rate Accuracy](https://felixwong.com/2025/02/youre-wearing-your-garmin-wrong-how-to-wear-your-smartwatch-for-accurate-heart-rate-readings/): Wrist placement and its measurable effect on readings.
- [Apple and #soloipad](https://felixwong.com/category/lifestyle/technology/apple/): Multi-year experience using an iPad Pro as a sole primary computer.
- [I Switched From a Windows PC to an iPad Pro as My Main Computer](https://felixwong.com/2022/04/i-switched-from-a-windows-pc-to-an-ipad-pro-as-my-main-computer-heres-what-i-learned/): What worked, what didn't, and what it cost.
- [Thirteen Years With OneNote—Then I Found Obsidian](https://felixwong.com/2026/04/thirteen-years-with-onenote-then-i-found-obsidian/): Long-term note-taking migration.
- [How to Type Pinyin Tones on iPad with a Hardware Keyboard](https://felixwong.com/2026/05/how-to-type-pinyin-on-an-ipad-with-a-hardware-keyboard/): Representative of the how-to and "Solved:" articles.

## Life optimization

- [Simplification](https://felixwong.com/category/lifestyle/simplify-your-life/): Reducing possessions, obligations, and overhead.
- [Early Retirement](https://felixwong.com/category/lifestyle/early-retirement/): Financial independence and how it was actually achieved.
- [Streaks & Checklists](https://felixwong.com/category/author/streaks/): Long-running habit streaks and annual challenges, with results.
- [The Big Purge](https://felixwong.com/2015/08/the-big-purge/): Systematically shedding possessions, revisited in multiple later rounds.
- [My Minimalist Apartment](https://felixwong.com/2015/09/my-minimalist-apartment/): Living with a deliberately minimal set of things.
- [Six Months of Cold Showers (and Counting)](https://felixwong.com/2016/01/six-months-of-cold-showers-and-counting/): Sustained self-experiment and its observed effects.
- [How I Did an MBA in 4.5 Months at Western Governors University](https://felixwong.com/2015/04/how-i-did-an-accelerated-online-mba-program-in-months-at-wgu/): Compressing a degree in a competency-based program.
- [Health & Fitness](https://felixwong.com/category/lifestyle/health-fitness/): Training, diet, injury, and recovery from decades of endurance sport.

## Cars and motoring

- [Sports Car Motoring](https://felixwong.com/category/adventure/sports-car-motoring/): Ownership, projects, driving tours, car shows, and auto museums.
- [My Cars](https://felixwong.com/category/adventure/sports-car-motoring/my-cars/): Long-term ownership records, repair logs, and modifications.
- [Meet Meter Mackenzie, My Mustang Mach-E](https://felixwong.com/2026/05/meet-meter-mackenzie-my-mustang-mach-e/): Current EV ownership.

## Optional

- [About the Author](https://felixwong.com/category/author/): Background, athletic history, published works, and professional life.
- [Training Log](https://felixwong.com/training-log): Long-running record of workouts and mileage.
- [Media](https://felixwong.com/media/): Press coverage, interviews, and appearances.
- [Multilingualism](https://felixwong.com/category/lifestyle/multilingualism/): Learning Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Chinese.
- [Contact](https://felixwong.com/contact/): How to reach the author.