The Path to Each of the 50 States (Plus DC!)

As promised almost two weeks ago, here is a “scorecard” to show you when and how I recorded each of the 50 states (and the District of Columbia).  Before I give you those details I want to let you know that the great logo commemorating my successful completion of riding in all 50 states (plus DC) was designed by my cousin Debby Bewley, of Bowling Green, Ohio.  It was her late husband, Dave, who I rode with in September 2003 from Bowling Green to North Baltimore and back to add Ohio as my ninth state.  Dave was a cyclist who loved organized bike tours and  long distance cycling.  He did double centuries (200 mile rides in 24 hours), rode RAGBRAI across Iowa nine times, owned a road bike for every occasion, and had bookshelves filled with bicycling books.

Debby worked for Bowling Green State University’s PBS Station for 30 years as a graphic designer.  While her artistic endeavors have most recently involved the creation of fine art, she was more than willing to create the great logo design that you see above.

The impetus for completing the fifty state rides was born from my inability to complete a cross country bicycle tour in 2016 that I abandoned due to illness in Mankato, Minnesota after completing over 2,000 miles.  At the time I had ridden in 23 states.  My friends asked me if I was going to either complete the cross country ride the next year, or try again to ride all the way across the country.  Not wanting to do either, but just short of half the states, the idea of riding in every state was born.

Later in 2016 I traveled to Georgia to ride the Chief Ladiga Trail (a rail trail on the route of the former Silver Comet streamliner) in both Georgia and Alabama.  After that, a portion of a cross country tour in 2018, and a ride starting in Massachusetts up through Vermont and back down through New Hampshire with a friend from that aborted 2016 cross-country trip got me to 30 states.  In 2019 I harvested a bumper crop of 13 new states with an Alaska bicycle tour and two driving trips in the East with my bike to complete all the states east of the Mississippi River. 

With 43 states completed, I decided that a good goal was to complete my quest for 50 states by my 70^th birthday in August 2020.  But the Covid 19 pandemic had different ideas, and I had to cancel my planned trips to get the last seven states before completing my seventh decade.  Not wanting to fall short of my goal, I decided that since I wasn’t willing to go out and travel during the darkest days of the pandemic, I would do the most logical thing I could to not miss my goal.  I stopped the clock!  My 70^th birthday waited an extra 51 weeks until at 4:31 p.m. Mountain Time on Friday, August 20, 2021 when I completed my Utah ride at the Roy, Utah commuter rail station. I finally could celebrate my 70^th birthday with all 50 states (plus the District of Columbia) completed.  A week later I celebrated my 71^st birthday!

By year, here is the path to riding in every state of our nation:

	The Path to 50 States
	Early to mid 1960's (1)
	New Jersey	First 10+ mile ride while delivering newspapers
	1974 (2)
	Maryland	Moved there
	Virginia	Maryland-DC-Virginia rides
	Washington DC	"
	1993 (2)
	Wisconsin	Two State Ride along Mississippi River starting in Hudson
	Minnesota	"
	1996 (1)
	Texas	Moved there
	1999 (1)
	Hawaii	Mt. Haleakala Downhill
	2001 (1)
	Delaware	Maryland-New Jersey Ride
	2003 (1)
	Ohio	Bowling Green-New Baltimore ride
	2004 (1)
	New York	NYC Five Boro Bike Tour
	2005 (3)
	Florida	Melbourne to Key West Solo Ride
	West Virginia	MD/WV ride on the Western Maryland Rail Trail
	Pennsylvania	North Central Rail Trail Suburban Baltimore to York
	2007 (2)
	Arizona	Winter Vacation
	Massachusetts	Newton to Charles River Boat Races with my cousin
	2010 (2)
	California	Oceanside-San Diego
	Kentucky	Riding in Lexington area while visiting my daughter
	2014 (2)
	North Carolina	America By Bicycle Tour
	South Carolina	"
	2016 (6)
	Oregon	America By Bicycle Across America North Tour
	Idaho	"
	Wyoming	"
	South Dakota	"
	Georgia	Chief Ladiga Trail Ride—Georgia and Alabama
	Alabama	"
	2018 (5)
	Vermont	Massachusetts-Vermont-New Hampshire Ride
	New Hampshire	"
	New Mexico	Crossroads Cycling Tour
	Oklahoma	"
	Kansas	"
	2019 (13)
	Washington	Around Bainbridge Island
	Alaska	Bicycle tour with Alaskabikes Tour company
	Connecticut	CT/RI lighthouse ride w/friend from Alaska ride
	Rhode Island	"
	Maine	Portland Area Ride
	Tennessee	Kingsport Bike Path ride
	Mississippi	Natchez Trace Parkway ride
	Louisiana	Shreveport local ride
	Arkansas	Little Rock area ride
	Illinois	Two state ride starting east end of former I-66 bridge
	Missouri	"
	Indiana	Two state ride starting in South Bend
	Michigan	"
	2021 (7)
	Iowa	Two State ride starting in Council Bluffs
	Nebraska	"
	North Dakota	Fargo Ride
	Montana	Miles City Ride
	Colorado	Fort Collins Ride
	Nevada	West Wendover Ride
	Utah	D&RGW Rail Trail Ride in Salt Lake City/Ogden Area

Thanks for following my story.  I hope you enjoyed reading about how I successfully accomplished my goal.  And if it serves as inspiration for you to go out and achieve something that you have always wanted to do, I’ll consider that to be a worthy result of what I’ve done with my bicycle.

Bruce