Sights, people, and beers from my big bike tour across the country
I keep putting off this post, probably afraid I’ll keep thinking of things to add to it after I publish it, but at some point we all just need to pull the trigger.
Anyway, it should hardly be surprising that I learned a lot over 6 weeks of flying by the seat of my pants (or riding by the seat of my pants, but that’s a bit too literal and not as catchy), so I’ve tried to compile a bunch of my thoughts here.
Continue reading “Epilogue: Lessons Learned”
Okay, now I really have gone from sea to shining sea. The choice of a route for my “epilogue” ride wasn’t obvious though.
Continue reading “Day 33: Cambridge, MA to East Boston, MA”
Well, that’s the ride! Nothing to see here, folks.
But seriously, before I talk about my final full day on the road, let’s take a trip 25 years down memory lane to the summer of 1994. And sorry about the lateness of the post; I’ve had a ton of things to take care of since getting home.
Today has been one of the most amazing days of my life. It may sound like hyperbole, but I mean it.
When I went to bed last night, thunderstorms were in the forecast starting at 11am. So my plan was to hit the road at 6 (sunrise was at 5:53). I was confident I could get to Pittsfield before 11, and then it would be a matter of carefully tracking the forecast and the radar and seeing how far I could get.
You may not have been keeping track, but my last rest day was in Kalamazoo. Since then I biked for 7 days straight to get from Kalamazoo to Syracuse. At no previous point on the trip did I bike for more than 5 days in a row, and it’s really not recommended for amateur cyclists to bike for more than a week without a day off. So I was pretty spent. I also wasn’t particularly excited about the prospect of continuing to bike along the Erie Canal, considering my lack of interest in the scenery the last two days. Solution: Take Amtrak from Syracuse to Schenectady, where I could then stay with my uncle and aunt in Niskayuna.
Another day with more beer than scenery. I checked out of my hotel at 7:30 and after hitting a gas station for some Dunkin’ Donuts and coconut water I was on the road at 7:45. That’s also a definite sign I’m getting closer to home: The nearby gas station carried both Dunkin’ Donuts and coconut water.
Today didn’t have too much by way of scenery, but it had plenty by way of alcohol, so this post will focus mostly on the latter.
I got a pretty late start today, in no small part due to finishing up my massive post for yesterday. When I went to check out of my hotel room, the man at the desk also gave me some information on the area, which was useful to know but also delayed me further. The short of it is, I didn’t get on the road until 8:20. Fortunately it was cloudy and cool, albeit somewhat more humid than it had been.
From the hotel it was only a mile or two to the center of Lockport, where it became obvious how the city got its name: There’s a giant lock in the Erie Canal there.
What a day! I managed to pack so much into it that, looking back, it’s hard for me to believe it all happened in a single day. Not only that, but for the second day running I stayed within the 80-100 mile range!
Continue reading “Day 28: Cayuga, ON to Lockport, NY”Fun news: I biked my 2,222nd mile of the trip today! (This only holds true if you include my warm-up ride in Seattle; otherwise I’m about 6 miles short.)
More fun news: The article from yesterday was posted, and you can read it here.
Still more fun news: Remember how my stated goal for daily distance was 80-100 miles? Today was the first day I achieved that goal since I got to Bismarck. Of the 15 days I pedaled between Bismarck and St. Thomas, five were over 100 miles and ten were under 80 miles, but none were actually in my target range.
I definitely needed that lighter day today. Got up at 7:15, and the only reason I got up that early was because Chris leaves for work at 8 and I wanted to be a gracious guest and chat over breakfast. I was still feeling exhausted and slow to get moving, so I had a leisurely chat with Anne (who works from home) and finally hit the road at 10.
Ben's Adventures Across America (and a bit of Canada too!)