It all started with an innocent post on reddit.com that I found in February. Actually it was anything but innocent but it linked to a Google street view picture of Banff National Park in Canada. And I thought it’d be awesome to bike there. At this point I had not ridden a bike in nearly a decade.

So when the snow from DC’s blizzards melted I went biking with my friend Ryan. And it was fun. I kept it up and before long I started planning out my bike trip. I wouldn’t be able to go to Canada because if I left in July or August it would be too cold by the time I got there. But that couldn’t curb my enthusiasm and I spent my waking hours working out details for my trip. And on August 10th I got on my bike and headed northwest out of the DC area with the intention of making it to the west coast. It was only then that I had doubts about being able to do it. Besides that one day I remained stupidly optimistic about my trip. And I think you have to with this sort of thing.

At the beginning of the trip miles went by very painfully and slowly. There were of course times when the hours flew by but it wasn’t until Kansas or Colorado that I found my rhythm and the trip became less arduous. In Missouri I hit what I called a “mid-trip crisis.” My next destination was Denver, 600+ miles away and I had trouble mentally connecting the miles I was pedaling with the distance to my next stop. I often would find myself inching along at maybe 7 miles per hour due to lack of drive. But I kept at it. Never turned back. I had set a goal for myself and nothing was going to stop me.

So now I’ve finished my trip. I moved my legs the requisite number of times and found myself on the west coast. But there’s more to it than that. Each day was different (except for Kansas) and I saw some awesome scenery and met some amazing people along the way.

Arithmomania

I enjoy looking at trends in data sets and my bike trip is no exception.

Mileage / Day
My mileage per day only went up slightly as the trip went on. I think the reason for this is because I was able to do the same mileage with more ease and instead of pushing myself I was just taking it easy. Also, Mountains.

• Total Miles: 3987
• Total Days: 75
• Rest Days: 18
• Days on the Road: 57
• Average Mileage / Day (not including rest days): 70 (69.94)
• Longest Stretch Between Rest Days: 10 days (738 miles)
• Longest Day: 124 miles
• Fastest Speed: 42.8 mph

Strawberry Corn Fields Forever

To be perfectly honest, all of the places in the first half of the trip kind of blur together. If I think about it I can remember where I stayed every night, where I ate every meal, and maybe even every turn I took. But visually it was all pretty similar. Corn fields, then soy fields, then corn fields, then more soy. However, as long as I could see the sky I never got sick of the views. And this part of the country is where I got chased by dogs the most, so I was kept on my toes trying to avoid them which always helps to alleviate boredom.

Once I got past Kansas the scenery got much more memorable. Colorado was without a doubt the best state. There was so much diversity to the terrain in Colorado, from prairies to mountain forests, dry valleys, mesas, aspen forests turning yellow, and of course stunning mountain ranges. I only spent two days in Utah but it was gorgeous, as was Arizona. The coast in California was a bit of a letdown since it rained or was cloudy for the entire week I was there, but at that point I didn’t much care since I had made it to the other side of the country. I never went more than a day or two without seeing some new sort of terrain in all of these western states which made them very enjoyable to ride through.

I took a ton of photos on the trip and there’s a gallery up on my personal website with a selection of them. This was quite a long trip so there are lots of photos but I hope you’ll find that they are varied enough to warrant their numbers. Link to the gallery at the bottom of this post.

Everyone You Meet

I randomly met far too many people to reflect on or even recall, but some did stand out. The Yellow Dog Tavern was the first place where I really met nice people other than cyclists. The college teachers/sports coaches in Pueblo, CO (I hate you for giving me that hangover and making the next day the hardest of my trip). Matt in Monticello, Utah who saved me by giving me bike supplies. Ashley in Gunnison. The people who saw me on the road in Utah, fed me dinner, and let me stay in their campground in Natural Bridges. And Andrew, Jon, Liz, and Matt with our little makeshift family at the end of the trip.

And then there are of course the people I was planning on meeting up with. My uncle/aunt/cousin in Cleveland, my brother in Denver, Daniel in Indiana, Marcus in Missouri, Will and Jackie/Brock/Mara in Phoenix, Kiet and Chris in LA. It was awesome spending time with everyone and I hope you all can make it out to my neck of the woods some time so I can return the hospitality.

Now and Forever

Rear panniers go on first. Gear on the left side, clothes on the right. Then string the straps under the rack. Put the dry bag with the camping gear on the rear rack and clip it onto the frame before tightening the straps around it. Clip the extra water bottles onto the rear straps, on the right side since the bag with clothes is lighter. Front panniers are next. Repair supplies and extra water on the right and food on the left. Put on my helmet and the dirty gloves that I always forget to wash. Clip into the pedals and head west. If I’m lucky it’ll be six or eight hours until I finish. Twelve or more if I’m unlucky.

This was my routine for two and a half months. To say life on the road was fun does not begin to explain what it’s like. There’s an appeal to being in a new place every day and not knowing where you’ll be tomorrow. A sense of empowerment from traveling so far with nothing but your own power. And a new appreciation for the beautiful chaos we call life. But also a fatigue develops that isn’t just in the legs, the knees, or the back. And it’s one that not a day or even a week of sleep can cure.

I went for over two months without seeing any other cyclists traveling east to west. For me, riding across the country by myself was the only way to do it — it would have been a completely different experience had I ridden with a group or even just another person. However, meeting everyone in the last few days made for the best imaginable finish — racing towards the coast and jumping in the ocean just wouldn’t have been the same had I been alone. Being able to share that moment with others who felt the same way made it so much better.

The week I spent in California after I reached the coast and before flying home gave time for the end of my tour to sink in. No more gas station food and Gatorade. No more getting chased by dogs. But also no more experiencing brand new people and places every day. All things must come to an end.

So where does this all leave me?

Am I different than when I left? My weight has remained constant at 155. My thighs are larger but not freakishly so, and I have a pretty wicked tan that is fading fast. I now am confident in my ability to ride anywhere. No mountain is too steep or too tall. I’m probably a little more patient. A little more straightforward. A lot more confident. A little less reclusive. But by no means am I a completely different person.

I was able to confirm what I thought I knew about America. People are mostly nice, with some jerks and idiots mixed in. I had objects thrown at me from cars in Ohio and Illinois, honked at in every state, and yelled at in a bunch of them, but for the most part people were friendly. The only time I was surprised was when a dozen cars drove by while I was bleeding all over the road in Kansas and no one stopped.

So now I’m back in Arlington. I move back into my apartment on Sunday and the current plan is to resume my job in the near future. I still don’t know if there’s something out there I can do full time without getting bored. It sure as hell isn’t biking. For now I’ll be cycling just as a means of transportation, and maybe I’ll do a double century (200 mile day) at some point. The possibility of another tour in the future is nowhere near the top of my mind, but it isn’t entirely out of the question either. I still have to go to Banff after all.

Photo gallery for the whole trip

Our group of five headed to a commercial campground in San Diego for a rest day. The ride was only a few miles thankfully and so we had the whole day to relax, spend some time in the hot tub and pool before building a campfire at night. Jon and Liz has never eaten s’mores before so they were definitely in order.

Tuesday morning we headed north. Matt left earlier than the rest of us since he was planning on doing a longer day. Andrew was staying in San Diego for a few more days so after our goodbyes it was down to Jon, Liz, and I.

The ride up the coast was nice, with lots of towns lining the coast providing plenty of places to stop. Unfortunately the rain started before long and we pulled over at a coffee shop for shelter. We tried to wait out the rain but it was only getting worse, so we kept on going. Jon got two flats in the rain which always makes things interesting and we met up with Matt in the town of Carlsbad.

The next day was supposed to be rainy so we all stayed another night in Carlsbad. Went out to a bar for our last night together.

Back on the road Thursday and the weather remained crappy. We rode together for a couple hours but Jon and Liz stopped in Dana Point for the night. We said our goodbyes and Matt and I continued north. After a couple more hours we stopped at Huntington beach and parted ways. I took off inland towards Anaheim and met up with Chris from the internets.

After looking over the schedule for the convention I decided I was not too interested in going so I slept in on Friday and just walked around Anaheim. I tried to go to a brewery because I normally find them to be good places to both eat and drink, but being such a big city, it was a gargantuan place with a big line at the door. So I just went back to the hotel and watched a movie.

Not being interested in wasting another day in Anaheim I took off early Saturday morning and headed back to the bike route. I was also thinking of trying to hit the 4000 mile mark. It was another rainy morning, but the sky cleared up as the day went on.

By the time I reached Manhattan Beach near LAX, the weather was great so I spent a little bit of time on the beach before taking my bike to a shop to have it shipped back home. I was only 13 miles from 4000 but didn’t really feel like riding around pointlessly for an hour.

I met up with Kiet from the internets and we hung out and went bowling before meeting up with Jon and Liz again to split a motel room since they happened to be in the same area.

Flew home Sunday.

Mileage: 176 miles.
Final Total: 3987 miles.

I think I can safely round that to four thousand.

This morning we were in no rush to get started. Having climbed out of the desert the temperatures wouldn’t be reaching almost a hundred anymore and the change of scenery from desert shrubberies was most welcome. It was to be about twenty miles of hills before a long downhill towards the ocean. After slowly packing up camp, pumping my tires, and grabbing some water we hit the road.

The first few hills were followed by a decent climb of about a thousand feet. I approached it thinking that it would be difficult after the long day yesterday, but it was over very quickly. In fact, Jon took a wrong turn and kept on going uphill, thinking there was more climbing to be done. I was chasing him, trying to tell him to turn around, but he figured it out before I caught up.

We took a quick break and then proceeded onto the long descent. Just a few minutes in we were greeted by a thick fog. It was a lot of fun cycling through it and luckily we had a wide shoulder so there was little danger of being hit. We raced downhill towards the town of Alpine for lunch as the fog turned to a light rain.

A quick meal later and we began suiting up as the rain had increased in intensity and the temperature seemed to have dropped. I bundled up in most of my remaining warm clothes and we continued downhill. We were now entering the suburbs of San Diego and the map route had us take many turns to stay on roads with bike lanes as we sped down towards the ocean.

The route was pretty scenic and took us through a nice park with steep hills on both sides before dumping us onto a main drag that ran towards the coast. Not many pictures from this timeframe due to the rain, but it did let up as we approached the end.

Riding past Sea World we took a wrong turn and went about a mile out of the way but managed to turn around and get back on track. In the final stretch it was Andrew and I racing down a bumpy pedestrian filled bike path to Ocean Beach. We ran our bikes onto the beach, stripped off our clothes, and jumped in the water. We had arrived.

Jon and Liz joined us in the ocean and we got some photos before finding a motel, having a nice victory dinner, and hanging around celebrating.
It’s crazy to think this touring lifestyle will be coming to a conclusion. It has been an amazing journey and even though I had been ready to finish since the Rockies, It’s now sad to see it end. I still have to make my way north to Anaheim next week before flying home on the 24th.

Stick around for updates for the coming week (perhaps not daily) followed by a post-mortem of the trip including a much more comprehensive photo gallery.

Today’s mileage: 75 miles.
Total: 3811 miles.

We got a decently early start this morning after Jon and Liz decided they didn’t need to wait for the bike shop to open. They were down to one spare tube but waiting until 10 to start biking across the desert would have made it rather miserable.

Once on the road we deviated slightly from the ACA route because passing cyclists had told us the road on the map was in poor condition, so we headed straight south instead. In the town of Calexico there was a Walmart so we stopped for supplies. While there, another touring cyclist pulled up. His name was Matt and he was headed from Phoenix to San Diego before going up to LA. He decided to join our little troupe, bringing the member count to five.

The elevation was about minus two hundred and even at nine in the morning it was incredibly hot. We pushed westward towards the town of Ocotillo for lunch and the mountains that separated the desert from the sea loomed closer and closer. The farmland gave way to dirt and shrubs as we entered the Yuha Desert.

In Ocotillo we stopped at a gas station for food and took and extended break. Ahead of us was the last big climb of the trip – about 3500 feet up – and the signs and tales of fierce headwinds added to the dread of proceeding onwards. After a while of discussing how terrible it would be we finally just decided to do it and headed out.

The road merged onto I-8 and there was a well maintained roomy shoulder on which to ride. Once the climb started in earnest I turned on my music and broke away from the pack. After a couple miles my pace slowed to about 7.5 mph as I ran out of my initial confidence. The sun was beating down unrelentingly and sweat poured over my entire body. Along the road there were bridges over canyons where the shoulder all but disappeared and cars would pass by at uncomfortably close distances. There was probably a nice view of the canyons too but I was too focused on getting up the hill to much care.

After 5 miles I stopped in some shade for a break. Andrew showed up less than a minute later but the rest were five or ten minutes behind. After a little rest we continued upwards and I stuck with the pack this time. The road began winding a fair amount and there were brief periods of shade. The miles went on and eventually we reached our exit from the highway. Matt had lagged behind a fair amount – since he had only been on the road a week he hadn’t become as acclimated to these long climbs as us.
It was just another mile uphill before reaching the top. All the fuss about the climb was pretty much for naught and we coasted down to a town for a well deserved rest.

Unfortunately, we had set our sights on the town of Live Oak Springs and a couple more large hills to go. The road wound up and down through the mountains and at one point took us just a few hundred feet from the Mexican border – as indicated by a large fence that would randomly stop and start.

We eventually arrived at the tiny town, got a private room in the restaurant and ate massive quantities of food before retiring to the campsite next door.

Today’s mileage: 68 miles.
Total mileage: 3736 miles.

Andrew and I got a decently early start, heading out of town towards the town of Palo Verde for an early meal. These morning miles went by quickly and before long we arrived at the sole shop in town, where Jon and Liz were having a meal. They made introductions with Andrew before taking off.

After a quick meal of packaged food we followed and passed them before too long. The road was nothing but rolling hills and some of them were quite steep but we were able push on, resting at a border patrol station for a bit. Another hour or so took us to the town of Glamis for Lunch.

We arrived just after Jon and Liz and stopped in the only store in town. It was extremely expensive so I only bought a little for lunch. There were lots of people in dune buggies driving around town because of all of the sand dunes. After a break we headed off into the dunes which were awesome looking for the few miles they lasted, but unfortunately the shrubby boring desert soon returned.

The four of us headed on to the town of Brawley and before long my pace slowed due to my lack of food and I got left behind. Pulled over for a quick snack and continued on. It was in the middle of the afternoon and was extraordinarily hot out – probably about a hundred. Arriving in town, we took relief from the heat in a fast food joint while waiting for the temperature to drop a bit.

After about an hour we left, heading south towards El Centro where we were going to camp for the night. Pulled into the RV park after dark and set up camp.

Today’s mileage: 102 miles.
Total: 3668 miles.