Epilogue
Early in the tour I realized that I was in much better physical condition than I was aware beforehand. Aside from my two-day May shakedown ride, I didn’t train for this trip. I commute fifty miles a week in New York, often with my seventy pound dog on the back of my bike. For recreation I ride a unicycle ten miles a month. This was my only ’training’.
My neighbor Gary, who’s crossed the country twice by bicycle, assured me that I wouldn’t have any difficulty. He was right. Given the time, I think just about anybody could do it. When blocking out my itinerary, I gave myself way too much time. If I had kept the pace from my first 2000 miles, I would have done the whole tour in sixty days. That said, I’m glad I slowed down out west to smell the roses and enjoy myself. The west was interesting and unique for me, and I’m glad that I took the time and go off route to visit places that I’ll probably never get back to. There’s nothing that I would change about my trip.
I learned that I’m adaptable. I hadn’t done this sort of adventure in over twenty five years. Sleeping on the ground took some time to adjust to. There are different ways to tour. Hotels offer the best way to recharge. One can get a good night’s sleep, shower, and do laundry. That said, hotels are expensive and isolating. It was way more interesting to camp with other cyclists and to stay in hostels and with Warm Showers hosts. I wouldn’t change how I did it.
My preparations were very good, but there’s always room for improvement. For example, if I were to do the tour again, I still don’t know whether or not I would bring a stove. Eating out was the best option, but there were a few times when I used others’ stoves. Perhaps I wouldn’t bring my hammock. It was comfortable and great to have, but not essential. A hammock and stove are about the same volume, so maybe I would switch. I brought a few too many clothes. I should have spent more time with my clothing and gear before the tour, as to be more familiar with it. In terms of clothing, tools, and spare parts, I was a little over-prepared.
I carried across the country the book ‘Undaunted Courage’ - Lewis and Clark by Stephen Ambrose, and didn’t have a chance to read it until after the tour. Perhaps its a stretch to compare the two journeys, but they’re similar in distance and geography. Both journeys go from Virginia to Oregon, along much of the same route. Meriwether Lewis also over-prepared, and made packing mistakes of his own. He had a cast iron boat frame built for the upper Missouri, which failed due to an inability to find pine pitch to glue stretched animal hides for a boat shell. The frame was carried thousands of miles, and then abandoned. Lewis wrote racist and disparaging views of Native Americans in his logs- much worse that anything I wrote about gun-toting right-wingers in my blog. Lewis’s men stole a canoe from the Chinook Indian tribe - which was much worse than my actions on the Lolo Pass construction site and our drunken night in Wisdom, MT. I never knew that after his journey, Lewis had committed suicide. I relate to the adventurous highs, and am now experiencing the post-trip lows. Certainly my feelings and experiences pale in comparison to their epic adventure. The Corps of Discovery also handed out coins.
I would do this trip again in an instant. I would love to do it with my son. The Northern Tier interests me, as does the Great Divide. I am thankful for the wonderful friends I made along the way. I had been worried about being lonely, but never was. It was a very social experience.
I was very happy on the road, which I attribute to being in the moment, and only having to be in control of my basic needs and milage. I didn’t pay much attention to the news, and hopefully I can continue to avoid spending too much time focused on things I have no control over. To keep my sanity here back home, I am now desperately trying to practice mindfulness and living in the moment.
I can’t recommend this adventure enough. That said, it wouldn’t surprise me if it became popular like the Appalachian trail. I could easily see thousands of cyclists doing it every summer, perhaps spoiling how locals along the route view it and treat cyclists. It would certainly be good for local economies, and I truly believe that cycling is the best way to travel.
My photos don’t come close to doing the trip justice or capturing the beauty. I’m glad that I kept a blog, because there’s no other way that I’d be able to remember all the places and names without it. The tour was an incredible experience. My favorite part of the trip was the Grand Tetons. I have never seen such a dramatic mountain range. It really blew me away. I got to camp in the best spot in the park and I saw two bear cubs there.
Charlotte described my journey as patriotic, and I couldn’t agree more. I carried a small American flag on the back of my bike for almost the entire trip. My TransAm jersey portrayed an American flag, and people described it from the rear as waving in the wind. A man along the way sarcastically commented about my flag, implying that, having no military service record, I had no claim to American patriotism. I risked my life out there for a dream that Americans from the very beginning have cherished - being free and heading west. I vote in every election. I’m active in my community. I’ve been employed by local government for over twenty years educating our country's next generation. I make public art for Americans to enjoy. I now know my country better than ever. It’s huge, breathtakingly beautiful, and it has a troubled history. (I’m aware now, more than ever, the injustices done to Native Americans). America’s people, for the most part, are good. The bad greedy people who do us all wrong are a topic for another discussion. I love my country. To be angry and upset about it’s current state is a reflection of how deeply I care about the USA.
My neighbor Gary, who’s crossed the country twice by bicycle, assured me that I wouldn’t have any difficulty. He was right. Given the time, I think just about anybody could do it. When blocking out my itinerary, I gave myself way too much time. If I had kept the pace from my first 2000 miles, I would have done the whole tour in sixty days. That said, I’m glad I slowed down out west to smell the roses and enjoy myself. The west was interesting and unique for me, and I’m glad that I took the time and go off route to visit places that I’ll probably never get back to. There’s nothing that I would change about my trip.
I learned that I’m adaptable. I hadn’t done this sort of adventure in over twenty five years. Sleeping on the ground took some time to adjust to. There are different ways to tour. Hotels offer the best way to recharge. One can get a good night’s sleep, shower, and do laundry. That said, hotels are expensive and isolating. It was way more interesting to camp with other cyclists and to stay in hostels and with Warm Showers hosts. I wouldn’t change how I did it.
My preparations were very good, but there’s always room for improvement. For example, if I were to do the tour again, I still don’t know whether or not I would bring a stove. Eating out was the best option, but there were a few times when I used others’ stoves. Perhaps I wouldn’t bring my hammock. It was comfortable and great to have, but not essential. A hammock and stove are about the same volume, so maybe I would switch. I brought a few too many clothes. I should have spent more time with my clothing and gear before the tour, as to be more familiar with it. In terms of clothing, tools, and spare parts, I was a little over-prepared.
I carried across the country the book ‘Undaunted Courage’ - Lewis and Clark by Stephen Ambrose, and didn’t have a chance to read it until after the tour. Perhaps its a stretch to compare the two journeys, but they’re similar in distance and geography. Both journeys go from Virginia to Oregon, along much of the same route. Meriwether Lewis also over-prepared, and made packing mistakes of his own. He had a cast iron boat frame built for the upper Missouri, which failed due to an inability to find pine pitch to glue stretched animal hides for a boat shell. The frame was carried thousands of miles, and then abandoned. Lewis wrote racist and disparaging views of Native Americans in his logs- much worse that anything I wrote about gun-toting right-wingers in my blog. Lewis’s men stole a canoe from the Chinook Indian tribe - which was much worse than my actions on the Lolo Pass construction site and our drunken night in Wisdom, MT. I never knew that after his journey, Lewis had committed suicide. I relate to the adventurous highs, and am now experiencing the post-trip lows. Certainly my feelings and experiences pale in comparison to their epic adventure. The Corps of Discovery also handed out coins.
I would do this trip again in an instant. I would love to do it with my son. The Northern Tier interests me, as does the Great Divide. I am thankful for the wonderful friends I made along the way. I had been worried about being lonely, but never was. It was a very social experience.
I was very happy on the road, which I attribute to being in the moment, and only having to be in control of my basic needs and milage. I didn’t pay much attention to the news, and hopefully I can continue to avoid spending too much time focused on things I have no control over. To keep my sanity here back home, I am now desperately trying to practice mindfulness and living in the moment.
I can’t recommend this adventure enough. That said, it wouldn’t surprise me if it became popular like the Appalachian trail. I could easily see thousands of cyclists doing it every summer, perhaps spoiling how locals along the route view it and treat cyclists. It would certainly be good for local economies, and I truly believe that cycling is the best way to travel.
My photos don’t come close to doing the trip justice or capturing the beauty. I’m glad that I kept a blog, because there’s no other way that I’d be able to remember all the places and names without it. The tour was an incredible experience. My favorite part of the trip was the Grand Tetons. I have never seen such a dramatic mountain range. It really blew me away. I got to camp in the best spot in the park and I saw two bear cubs there.
Charlotte described my journey as patriotic, and I couldn’t agree more. I carried a small American flag on the back of my bike for almost the entire trip. My TransAm jersey portrayed an American flag, and people described it from the rear as waving in the wind. A man along the way sarcastically commented about my flag, implying that, having no military service record, I had no claim to American patriotism. I risked my life out there for a dream that Americans from the very beginning have cherished - being free and heading west. I vote in every election. I’m active in my community. I’ve been employed by local government for over twenty years educating our country's next generation. I make public art for Americans to enjoy. I now know my country better than ever. It’s huge, breathtakingly beautiful, and it has a troubled history. (I’m aware now, more than ever, the injustices done to Native Americans). America’s people, for the most part, are good. The bad greedy people who do us all wrong are a topic for another discussion. I love my country. To be angry and upset about it’s current state is a reflection of how deeply I care about the USA.
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