Heading Off to Eight More States

Tomorrow I take off on my big trip to bike in eight more states (I’ll also do the Hotter N Hell Hundred in Texas, but I’ve already got Texas so that’s not a new state).  I’ll also get two more ballparks in my quest for all 30 current major league ballparks, and see a couple of friends and relatives.  It’s going to be a busy 11 days.

Here’s the riding plan:

Monday, August 19—Tennessee.  I’ll do a round trip on the 9 mile long (18 miles total) Kingsport Greenbelt Trail

Thursday, August 22—Mississippi and Louisiana.   An early morning 25 mile ride on the Natchez Trace Trail from Clinton, Mississippi south.  Then I’ll check out of the hotel and drive to Shreveport, Louisiana.(3 and a half hour drive).  After checking in I’ll do a 35 mile circular ride northwest of Shreveport.

Saturday, August 24—Texas.  This doesn’t count as a new state, but it will be the 15^th time doing the Hotter N Hell Hundred.  I’ll be doing this with my friend Darrell from my Potomac Pedalers Group.  He’s flying down and I’ll pick him up on Friday morning at Dallas Love Field before we drive up to Wichita Falls

Monday, August 26--Arkansas.  An early morning 20 mile ride on the Arkansas River Trail on both sides of the river in Little Rock

Tuesday, August 27—Illinois and Missouri.  A 24 mile ride on both the Illinois and Missouri sides of the Mississippi River.  At the end I will cross over the former Route 66 bridge over the river that is a pedestrian and cyclist bridge.  On the bridge are artifacts from the highway that was nicknamed “The Mother Road.”

Wednesday, August 28—Indiana and Michigan.  Another two state (30 mile) ride starting at my hotel in South Bend, Indiana that loops through both states.

Thursday, August 29—I’m not trying to get the provinces of Canada (I currently have only one—Alberta).  Since I’ll be going to a ballgame the next day in Detroit, I decided that I’ll stay across the river in Windsor, Canada.  I’ve got a 12 mile ride along the trail that follows the waterfront across the river from Detroit, which will give me my second Canadian province, Ontario!

Besides the rides shown here, I’ll also see cousins in Ohio and Pennsylvania, friends in Tennessee, Alabama, Texas and Ohio, bring my ballpark total to 26 with games in Atlanta and Detroit, and put over 3,000 miles on my car!

Next year—the seven remaining states and four remaining ballparks (but I’ll probably have to wait until 2021 to actually get all of the active ballparks since in 2020 the Texas Rangers will move into a new stadium.)

I’ll post updates over the next two weeks (although not necessarily every day) to fill you in on my progress.  I hope you’ll check in occasionally.  I have 35 states so far.  You can see the list below of the states I've ridden in, the ones I'll get on the upcoming trip starting tomorrow and the ones that will complete this quest next year.  

I will make it back to Maryland on Friday, August 30.