Here are some answers to frequently asked questions:
1. Why bicycle across the U.S.? You have a car.
Partly in hopes to have an epiphany along the slow road about what to do with the rest of my life and partly to step off the hamster wheel for what at times seemed like an eternity in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. I'm also looking forward to seeing parts of the U.S. that I haven't been to before.
2. Where are you starting and ending?
After a brief sojourn from Santa Barbara to San Diego, mostly couch surfing along the way, I'll be following the Adventure Cycling Association's Southern Tier (http://www.adventurecycling.org) route. It's been thoroughly mapped out and ridden many times - I will not be blindly cycling off into the vast expanses of the U.S. hoping to someday run into the Atlantic Ocean. But one thing I will be hoping for is the prevailing wind patterns, from West to East, to help my spindly, birdlike legs and give me a push up the mountains along the way.
3. Are you doing this by yourself?
Yes. I get along fine with myself and there won't be any arguments along the way about when to stop/start the way. If there are disagreements, well, then I have some real problems. I took a trip to Italy for a bicycling tour with a friend. We hadn't ridden together before, and at the first refreshment stop she nervously asked me if I wanted to take a break or keep on pedaling. I told her that by stopping at the scheduled rest points and eating the plums, bananas and other assorted provided treats, we could amortize the cost of the trip there and entry fee - stop and hang out for a while and chow down! The point is that we didn't know each others cycling preferences and she could have been a psycho bitch on wheels. We got along on bicycles just as we do in regular life, so it was a delightful ride. I do hope that friends and family will join me on a few legs of the trip though. And btw, that was Italy, Texas.
4. How long is this going to take?
In between 8 days and 6 months. Winners of the Race Across America have done it in under 8 days, but they are elite athletes, I am not. You can call me Al and I'm a little soft in the middle. The route is roughed out, but the timeline is not. Vegas lines have the very smartest money betting on the over (taking me more than 8 days to finish) and most wagers are coming in around the two month time frame, for an arrival date of May-ish in Florida.
5. How did you train?
I used the Norwegian method. I met a bicycle traveler (from Norway) in Madras (now Chennai), India in 1984. I chatted him up and asked how he started to bicycle tour, he said he began in the U.S. because travel any other way was too expensive. He bought a bike and said he almost died after the first day when he completed a grand total of...15 miles. That day in the extreme heat of India, he had ridden over 100 miles and said he felt like he could do another 100. I came back from Afghanistan in November and up to now, the weather has not been particularly cooperative for training rides, so yeah, the Norwegian method. That coupled with a few component swaps on my bike will give me about 4 days to 'train.' I'm just going to get in the saddle and pedal.
1. Why bicycle across the U.S.? You have a car.
Partly in hopes to have an epiphany along the slow road about what to do with the rest of my life and partly to step off the hamster wheel for what at times seemed like an eternity in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. I'm also looking forward to seeing parts of the U.S. that I haven't been to before.
2. Where are you starting and ending?
After a brief sojourn from Santa Barbara to San Diego, mostly couch surfing along the way, I'll be following the Adventure Cycling Association's Southern Tier (http://www.adventurecycling.org) route. It's been thoroughly mapped out and ridden many times - I will not be blindly cycling off into the vast expanses of the U.S. hoping to someday run into the Atlantic Ocean. But one thing I will be hoping for is the prevailing wind patterns, from West to East, to help my spindly, birdlike legs and give me a push up the mountains along the way.
3. Are you doing this by yourself?
Yes. I get along fine with myself and there won't be any arguments along the way about when to stop/start the way. If there are disagreements, well, then I have some real problems. I took a trip to Italy for a bicycling tour with a friend. We hadn't ridden together before, and at the first refreshment stop she nervously asked me if I wanted to take a break or keep on pedaling. I told her that by stopping at the scheduled rest points and eating the plums, bananas and other assorted provided treats, we could amortize the cost of the trip there and entry fee - stop and hang out for a while and chow down! The point is that we didn't know each others cycling preferences and she could have been a psycho bitch on wheels. We got along on bicycles just as we do in regular life, so it was a delightful ride. I do hope that friends and family will join me on a few legs of the trip though. And btw, that was Italy, Texas.
4. How long is this going to take?
In between 8 days and 6 months. Winners of the Race Across America have done it in under 8 days, but they are elite athletes, I am not. You can call me Al and I'm a little soft in the middle. The route is roughed out, but the timeline is not. Vegas lines have the very smartest money betting on the over (taking me more than 8 days to finish) and most wagers are coming in around the two month time frame, for an arrival date of May-ish in Florida.
5. How did you train?
I used the Norwegian method. I met a bicycle traveler (from Norway) in Madras (now Chennai), India in 1984. I chatted him up and asked how he started to bicycle tour, he said he began in the U.S. because travel any other way was too expensive. He bought a bike and said he almost died after the first day when he completed a grand total of...15 miles. That day in the extreme heat of India, he had ridden over 100 miles and said he felt like he could do another 100. I came back from Afghanistan in November and up to now, the weather has not been particularly cooperative for training rides, so yeah, the Norwegian method. That coupled with a few component swaps on my bike will give me about 4 days to 'train.' I'm just going to get in the saddle and pedal.
