"so ardent a bicyclist must be full of energy."
-- Sherlock Holmes in "The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist"
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(Yes, I know this page looks like it was designed in 1995 -- I like it that way!)
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1. Biking Across America -- Introduction
Updated September 2, 2008
It's the year 2008, and America is in the grip of its
highest-ever
gasoline prices. A perfect time, in other words, for fulfilling an
ambition I've had for decades: crossing the
United States by bicycle!
I'm a fairly experienced cyclist and I've ridden many centuries, including mountainous ones. However, I've never gone on a trip longer than three days (approximately 275-300 miles), so this is somewhat uncharted territory for me. Still, crossing the US by bike (4,000+ miles), while daunting, would presumably be analogous to how you'd go about eating an elephant: one bite at a time. At the risk of sounding like a pop-culture motivational speaker, I believe that in life the greatest rewards are to be had when you reach just a little beyond your comfort zone and run the risk of failure. I'm not doing this recklessly, as this endeavour is well-planned, but it is through expansion of frontiers, as opposed to consolidation, that one defines the human spirit, I think. The latter strategy always caused me to lose at Ages of Empires, anyway!
I'm planning to go from the Pacific coast (Olympic Peninsula in Washington) to the Atlantic coast (Maine). That is, from west to east, the reverse direction of the historical American expansion and migration patterns. In the middle, I will mostly follow the Northern Tier route, as published by Adventure Cycling. The current plan is to leave around the beginning of September, and I hope to time my arrival in New England to coincide with the fall colours. Perhaps that's optimistic. In any case, I'm assuming a 60 day journey as my outside limit. Of course, maybe even THAT is optimistic! The first leg will take me from the Olympic Peninsula, in view of the Pacific ocean, to our house in Kirkland and should take me a couple of days. There I'll rest a few days before continuing on. Kristin is intending to meet me a few times along the way in the beginning to help with equipment and to bring along anything I might have forgotten. After I'm more than about a day's drive from home, though (900 miles, say), I'll be on my own the rest of the way, leaving Kristin to the company of our pitt bulls, Spike and Mongo.
Over the years, ever since I left Microsoft, so many people have suggested to me that I keep a blog of my various travels. I never did get around to creating one (Idlebone Syndrome), but this seemed like the perfect time. Since I've no particular familiarity with or competence in designing web pages (dammit, I'm a programmer, not a script writer!), I'm aiming for a fairly minimalist look: plain old HTML, no RSS, no "Web 2.0" (whatever that even means), or Java scripts.
So check in occasionally if you're so inclined, to see how far I've gotten or whether my mortal remains have been pried off the asphalt of a lonely and dusty American back road with the aid of a spatula yet. I'm writing this blog mostly to serve as my own journal and trail diary and as a way for friends and family to keep up with my trip. I'm not sponsored by anyone, nor am I riding to try to raise money to help find the cure for an unpleasant disease or to raise awareness for the plight of a photogenic endangered species or any other worthwhile goal -- I'm really just doing this for the fun and challenge of it all. I also will not be running ads on these pages or make any attempt to attract or track visitors, and I absolutely do not want any publicity! My hope is that I'll be able to create a moderately interesting travel log with pictures of flora and fauna and with cutting and amusing anecdotes mocking the locals rather than a series of one line entries along the lines of "I'm tired and my butt hurts". We'll see how far I'll get!
2. Preparation
NOTE: If this information seems outdated and you don't see updates for a few days, you may have to reload (F5) this page!
UPDATE (9/24): Well, I've stopped the attempt to get across the entire country after getting nearly ¼th of the way into it. The cycling itself has been going very well but I think I had not fully realized to what extent there is a "season" for this, and apparently I've started about a month or more too late. I'm not talking about the weather, which has generally been very warm and pleasant, but the fact that there are hardly any bike supplies to be had anymore for hundreds and hundreds of miles in the sparsely populated areas of Washington, Idaho, Montana and North Dakota. What few stores there were have largely switched over to skiing, hunting, fishing and the like, and have run through their entire season's worth of bicycling equipment such as tires, inner tubes, rims, brake pads in the sizes that I need them. The same scarcity applies to competent mechanics as well and I've also come to the realization that I am not currently a good enough mechanic to deal with problems like broken chains and spokes myself when the next mechanic may be hundreds of miles away or out of business altogether. I've not had severe mechanical problems at this stage yet, but my front wheel is eating inner tubes at a rate of one a day, and I suspect the bike may need a new rim. Kristin and I have talked about it and we've come to the conclusion that it would be irresponsible for me to continue under these conditions.
What I'm going to do now is take an intensive mechanic's course during the winter, stock up on these supplies myself and try again in the spring. Probably from east to west this time.
I don't feel too deflated, if you'll pardon the pun. After all, I did make it through the most difficult ¼th (the Northern Rockies), and have really enjoyed the experience! I've seen parts of three western states that I'd never seen or been in before, and most of my preparations turned out to be spot on. The route and the maps were great too -- I was often the only person on the roads that I was riding on, and I had absolutely zero hostile encounters with drivers. In fact, most of the people I met along the way were quite nice.
Thanks for all the messages of support and goodwill and I can't wait to try this again in the spring! I'll type up the notes for last several days of the trip over the next week or so.
-=Ron
Day 12: Sandpoint, Idaho to Troy, Montana (80 miles) (Report to Follow)
Day 11: Stayed in Sandpoint today to stock up on supplies and enjoy a meal in a real restaurant (0 miles)
Day 10: Newport, WA to Sandpoint, ID (38½ miles) (Report to Follow)
Day 9: Colville to Newport, WA (92 miles) (Report to Follow)
Day 8: Republic to Colville, WA over Sherman Pass (57 miles) (Report to Follow)
Day 7: Mechanical difficulty in Republic, WA (0 effective miles)
Day 6: Okanogan to Republic, WA over Wauconda Pass (72 miles)
Day 5: Lake Chelan to Okanogan, WA (54½ miles)
Day 4: Ellensburg to Lake Chelan, WA over Blewett Pass (107 miles)
Day 3: Kirkland to Ellensburg, WA over Snoqualmie Pass (120 miles)
Day 2: Port Angeles to Kirkland, WA via the Kingston-Edmonds Ferry (82 miles)
Day 1: Forks to Port Angeles, WA (58 miles)
Day 0 (prologue): Ruby Beach to Forks, WA on the Olympic Peninsula (28 miles)
4. Other Recent Bike Journeys
Kirkland to Aberdeen around the Olympic Peninsula
Duration: 3 days
Length: 273 miles
Kirkland to Ellensburg over Snoqualmie Pass
Duration: 1 day
Length: 119 miles (2644' max. elevation)
Kirkland to Puyallup loop via Military Road and Sea-Tac Airport
Duration: 1 day,
Length: 122 miles
5. Daily Training Rides
For the cycling enthusiast who lives in the Seattle area only. Pretty dull reading for anyone else, I imagine...
TO DO: None of these have text descriptions yet, just maps.
Seattle, WA
Two or three times a week, I ride one of the following when I'm at home:
Around the Lakes (Lake Washington & Lake Sammamish)
Kirkland, Issaquah, Renton, Downtown Seattle, Kenmore
Length: 75 miles
Around the Lakes, shorter version
As above, but through the Arboretum instead of downtown.
Length: 64 miles
Around Lake Sammamish
From Kirkland to Lake Sammamish Park Trail (East & West)
Length: 41 miles
I90 Floating Bridge
Kirkland, Redmond, Bellevue, Mercer Island, Downtown Seattle, U-District, Kenmore
Length: 54 miles
Around Lake Washington through the Arboretum
Kirkland, Redmond Bellevue, Renton, Seattle, Arboretum, U-District, Kenmore
Length: 55 miles
Discovery Park Loop
North Lake Washington, U-District, Discovery Park and back
Length: 51 miles
Seattle to Cascade Foothills Loop
Seattle, Issaquah, Preston, Fall City, Carnation, Tolt Pipeline Trail
Length: 88 miles
Amherst, MA
While in Amherst, I alternate between two loops centred on the Norwottuck Trail.
Norwottuck Trail North
Trail over and along the Connecticut River, North Amherst
Length: 33 miles
Norwottuck Trail South
South of Amherst around Mt. Holyoke through South Hadley
Length: 32 miles
6. Some Miscellaneous Rides Recently Completed
Amherst, MA to Manchester, NH
Duration: 1 day
Length: 110 Miles
Portland, ME to Ogunquit, ME
Duration: An afternoon
Length: 60 miles
Neede (NL) to Kleve (D)
Duration: A morning
Length: 41 miles
7. Contact Information
Contact Me:
solitarycyclist@comcast.net
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