Riding Across Middle America

Next weekend I will begin my latest long distance bicycle trip, a 1300-mile, two week ride from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Champaign, Illinois with Crossroads Cycling by Big Dream Bike Tours.  A couple of people, remembering my trip in 2016, have asked me if I will have a blog for this ride.  I wasn’t planning on it, thinking that a trip across six states, as opposed to a cross-country trip attempt, would be of little interest to most people.  But as the trip approaches, I realize that it is really part of a much longer adventure.  One that started decades ago, but only two years ago came into focus.  And this blog will really be the first part of the story of the rest of that quest.  And even if not that many people are interested, this blog will serve to help me always remember this upcoming ride.

For those who don’t know, in 2016 I attempted to ride cross-country, from Astoria, Oregon to Portsmouth, New Hamsphire, with a group from the America By Bicycle tour company.  A little over a week into the trip I came down with bronchitis.  An antibiotic and two days of rest (nothing as frustrating as riding all day in the van while everyone else is on their bikes enjoying a gorgeous day and a tailwind!) and I was back on the bike.  I thought I was getting better but soon began to feel run down and struggle a bit.  The terrain got easier as we headed east, but for me each day became more difficult.  Finally, when we reached Minnesota with three weeks left, there was a day that I felt so bad that I stopped and got into the van with about 40 miles to go.  That night, with three weeks left until the end, I knew that I could not continue for that long.  So in Mankato, Minnesota, after 2,007 miles, I ended my trip.

With that I abandoned my dream of cycling across the country in one trip, but a new challenge arose.  When we had biked into South Dakota, as soon as I put my foot down for the state line crossing picture, I had set foot in all 50 states.  When I told the people around me about completing all the states, someone misunderstood and congratulated me on so much biking.  I thought about that as I drove home to Maryland about a week later, and although I had not achieved my cross country trip goal, a new challenge was born—bike in all 50 states!  

In the last year I’ve picked up five new states and have now ridden in 27, and I plan to complete the quest for all 50 by my 70^th birthday at the end of the summer in 2020.  I’ve given myself that deadline because realistically long distance bike touring will likely become a bit more difficult as the years go by.

The trip I will begin next week (which is actually a segment of a cross-country journey) will go through New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.  Since I have already ridden in Texas when I lived there, this trip will add five new states.  On the way home from Champaign I will rent a car and drive up to Iowa to take a ride, east to South Bend, Indiana where I will ride up toward Niles, Michigan, partly on the Indiana Michigan River Valley Trail.  Then I’ll head home, but later this summer will do the Hotter N Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls, TX (for the 15^th time) with a friend from my Tuesday/Friday bike group.  Driving down I will stop in Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana to ride in those states, and in Mississippi on the way home.  That will bring my total to 39 with 2 years and 11 states to go!  The toughest to get?  Alaska!  But there’s a bicycle tour that I plan to take next summer which will add the Last Frontier.

I’ll be flying out to Albuquerque on Friday, May 25 and start riding from Santa Fe on Sunday, May 27.  I'll try to blog each day of the coming trip and will focus on the sites across the middle of the country, as well as writing a little bit about the cycling itself.  I’m not a great photographer, but I’ll add a few pictures too.  So if you are interested, check back often. If you can stand a daily dose of my trip, you can subscribe below to be notified of updates.