My goal with this post is to give you my final thoughts on the adventure. I may add to this over time as I receive questions from people or new thoughts to share.
How I got home:
After dipping my front tire in the Pacific Ocean, I put my bike in Elizabeth’s rental car and we drove to my niece’s house in Rochester, WA. The next day, I boxed up my bike and added most of my gear to the box. I obtained a box from a local bike shop (they usually give them away to avoid disposal costs). I arranged for a company called Bikeflights to ship my bike for $281 (including insurance). They actually picked up the box from my niece’s house.
The next day, which was a Monday, we were able to book two one-way airline tickets from Seattle to Charlotte for $568. Which was a lot less expensive than I thought it would be. We fly back on Wednesday.
We had a great visit with my niece and really enjoyed the cool summer weather in the northwest.
Statistics:
I’m a stats guy, so let’s start there.
The adventure took 76 days. 54 days of those days were spent biking. 53 nights in a hotel, 18 with family, 4 camping, and once with a Warmshowers host.
The total mileage was 3,942 miles. Of that, 2,275 (58%) miles were on roads and 1,667 (42%) miles were on bike trails/paths/lanes. I think that I would have been close to 50/50, if I didn’t decide to quit on the first part of the Palouse to Cascade Trail in eastern / central Washington.
The total climbing for the trip was 111,387 feet. That’s 2,067 feet on an average day biking.
I spent a total of 344 hours and 15 minutes peddling my bike. So, my average speed was 11.45 mph.
When I spent the day biking, I averaged 73 miles over 6 hours and 22 minutes. My longest day was 139 miles with 10 hours of biking when I was in Nebraska on day #50. The most climbing I did in a day was 4,764 when I finished the Black Hills of South Dakota and entered Wyoming (the day when I lost the crown on my tooth) on Day #53. I think the “hardest” day I had was when I entered eastern Ohio on day #10 – that day sticks out in my memories.
I biked in 16 different states plus the District of Columbia. I rode my bike in every state that starts with the letter “W”.
Costs:
I spent $10,838 on this adventure. $5,761 on hotels, $4,166 on food, $850 on getting home, and $60 on others. I definitely could have saved money by camping more. But, after camping a few times, I realized how important it was for me to have a shower after a day of biking. I did look for cheap motels, so I wasn’t staying in luxurious hotels.
I mostly ate in restaurants when I could $2,665 of the food was in restaurants. The rest ($1,501) was in gas stations and grocery stores.
$568 for two one-way tickets from Seattle to Charlotte
$281 for shipping my bike and gear home.
Things I learned:
I met some wonderful, kind, helpful, caring people on this trip. Anytime I asked for help, people were always happy to assist me. People were so generous with me, it was amazing. You hear so much negativity in the media, but in real life, people are kind and caring for each other. I’ll always remember that.
Biking is a lot like meditating. You need to stay in the moment and keep your mind from wandering. It really helped me to just stay in the moment and enjoy the scenery and people I met.
I like asphalt roads a lot more than gravel ones. A gravel trail was better than a road, because the gravel is much better for biking and it is away from cars. The scenery was also better on trails. The gravel on roads can be very difficult to bike on. I used the Street View feature in Google Maps to examine the asphalt roads to see how much of a shoulder they had to ride on. That helped me to select safe roads to ride on.
I think I would have liked tri-bars on my bike to fight headwinds and give me more hand positions.
The new tires I put on my bike in Madison were better than old knobby ones. They rolled smoother and easier. They still have lots of miles left on them.
I learned to not hesitate to stop my bike and go back to look at something or take a picture. It’s a tour, not a race.
Biking west, the morning sun is NOT in the face of the drivers, making you easier to see.
Radio towers signal the top of the climb. Climbing hills, you sometimes never know when the top is, but the radio tower is always at the top.
There are no elevators in hotels west of Sioux City. I never thought that multi-story hotels couldn’t have an elevator.
Don’t let assumptions hold you back. Use known facts and experiences. That is why I always investigated “road closed” signs, I could usually get through on a bike. But this learning also applies to fearful thoughts about the day or journey. Things have a way of working out, even if you don’t know how. People who you don’t know will gladly help you, sometimes all you need to do is ask. Your fears aren’t reality, unless you make them so by changing your behavior.
It helps me to have things to do/see each day. Otherwise, the tour turns into a race to the next thing and you lose flexibility to take in unplanned stuff along the way. After leaving Wisconsin and the last visit with friends & family, the ride seemed to turn into more of a race to the next trail that I wanted to see. I should have spent more time looking for things to see along the way.
What gear worked well:
Rear view mirror – I’ve never biked with a mirror before. But, I really used it a lot. Especially, when biking on roads. When a car was coming at me in the opposite direction, I would use the mirror to see if a car was approaching me from behind. This would allow me to see if I was going to have a close pass, and either get over or stop my bike. Cars coming from behind me usually slowed down, but it wasn’t so easy for trucks.
Bike bell – never biked with a bell on my handlebars before. But, I used it often. Mostly to signal pedestrians on the bike trail that I was coming through. I also used it to scare geese and seagulls off the trail.
I used an insulated lunch bag as a cooler. In my hotel, I would fill a water bottle with ice from the ice machine. I would put it in the bag to keep either a Gatorade, sandwich, or fruit cold. After the ice melted, it became extra water to drink.
Managing battery life of my cell phone was best accomplished by biking with my phone in airplane mode. If I didn’t need to use navigation, it helped to turn off my phone screen. When my phone started running low on battery, I had a small battery pack (5000 ma) in a waterproof bag on the top tube of my bike frame. I could easily plug my phone into the battery pack to recharge it while biking.
Miscellaneous
I have some neat tan lines from the trip. I was wearing half-finger bike gloves every day, so only the ends of my fingers are tan. Also the outside of my legs are much more tan than the inside.
I haven’t had a haircut since I started my trip, and my hair is really long. I kind of like it, but am not sure if I’m going to keep it long.
When I was in Madison, I had to replace the Nalgene I was using to carry extra water. I replaced it with a stainless steel one. The water that I filled it with at my brother John’s house was still in it when I finished. I guess I didn’t need to carry that extra weight after all. I did drink it when I was packing my bike up, and it was still good.
My Aunt Linda had a large map of the United States, and she put a post it note on it each day with the town I was in. It’s very cool to see the final result.
Next bike adventure?
Two and a half months was a long time to be away. I never got tired of riding my bike, but did miss home. I will do more bike tours. But, I think I’ll stick to shorter ones. Maybe keep them shorter than three weeks. At least that’s where my head is at now.
I’m thinking of doing a tour in Europe. Also, I would like to do a tour around Lake Michigan. The Natchez Trace Parkway is another possibility.
I’ve really enjoyed blogging about the trip, and will definitely blog about future adventures.
Let me know if you have any questions. I’m happy to answer them.
The End.
Way to go man!
So wonderful to follow you on your journey.
Thanks for all of the reports along the way.
It was great to meet you in Indiana and we are more inspired to ride because of you!
Love your insights Jim. Thank you!
What a thoughtful wrap to the epic journey. Thank you for sharing your experience with us!
I did the Trans Am trail in 1976
It was part of America’s bicentennial celebration
I was 17
Reading about your trip was a lot of fun and brought back a lot of pleasant memories
I just ran across your blog in the most recent ACA newsletter.
Congrats on whet looks like a most successful trip!
One thing I would like to see is more information on your bike, primarily, gear inches, wheels, etc. You mentioned your saddle, but I missed anything else. I’m particularly interested in your belt drive system.
Thanks!
John,
Thanks for your questions. In my Day #0 blog post, I talked about my bike setup, but I’ll summarize it here for you.
I rode the Priority 600X bike on this adventure. It has incorporated a Pinion gearbox into the bottom bracket of the bike frame. Then there is a Gates carbon fiber toothed belt that connects the gearbox to the rear wheel via a cog. I chose it, because it would be maintenance free. I didn’t have to worry about dust and dirt wearing down my drivetrain during the trip. There is no lubricant on the belt, so if it gets dirty you can just spray some water on it. It is also a very quiet system.
You can go to the Priority Bike website for all the technical specs. I started out the tour with the stock knobby tires, but they only lasted about 1,300 miles before I had to replace them with a more durable tire. I ran my tires tubeless and never had a flat tire the whole trip.
So, from a bike perspective, I had absolutely no problems the entire tour.
Jim.
Just finished reading your blog! Congratulations on finishing!! I had to abandon my tour on the 24th (Trans Am) as I broke 2 ribs in a spill…going to go back next year and came across the Komoo APP & came across your blog…..I’m thinking of using it next year….Again I enjoyed reading your adventure and congratulations again!!!
I just returned from my own Pilgrim’s journey across America trip, cycling from Newark (NJ) to San Francisco, touching 12 State Houses from Trenton to Sacramento on the way (5620 km / 3500 mi). Thank you for your thoughts in your epilogue.
I used Komoot navigation as well, navigation mostly off line using Komoots GPS abilities. Power supply for my mobile came continually from my front wheel hub dynamo when riding. The mobile sometimes got too hot and stoppt charging. Then I wrapped a wet hanky around it, and with the resulting evoporation cooled the phone.
At the age of 72, I camped out less than expected (13x), and appreciated the comfort of a motel room. I averaged approx. 50-60 mi/day, with an average speed of 9.6 mi/h. I wish I had opted for a bike with belt drive, since the conventional gear shifting system wore out towards the end of the journey. The Schwalbe tires performed well; I had no flat all the way. A big challenge was the wind, but I chose the direction East-West deliberately, following the early settlers trails (Oregon, Mormon, California, Pony Express Trails) over large segments of the ride.
My Blog is based on the findpenguins platform, but in German. I enclose the link anyway; since it has a translation function for the texts. Click on “foot prints” to access the daily posts.
Jim, I came across a link to your blog on Adventure Cycling, and I’m reading every day of it. Great job doing it, and great job blogging it! I’m planning a cross country ride myself in a few years, and your thoughts and comments are very valuable, especially since I’m a newbie bikepacker. You have me re-thinking my route so I can visit friends and family along the way. Coincidentally, I have relatives in/near Milwaukee, Madison, La Crosse, and Houston, MN. I now live near Wallace, ID and have biked the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes numerous times.
I have a few questions for you. First, if you did it all over again, would you ride East-West again or West-East? Don’t factor in the logistics of getting to and from the start and end points–if you could teleport yourself and your gear to one coast or the other, which way would you ride and why? Second, thanks a ton for naming all the trails you rode on–easy to look them up! Considering safety, scenery and ridability, which trails, highways, roads etc. would you ride again in a heartbeat, and which would you avoid and why?
Thanks, Erik
Thank you, Erik! I’m glad you enjoyed reading about my bike tour across America.
I chose East-West for several reasons. Mostly, I wanted to avoid hot weather. I’m not a big fan of biking in the heat. By starting in May at the Atlantic, I was through the plains before it got too hot. I was concerned about headwinds, so I referenced the climate wind models (you can Google them) and saw that the wind would not be a problem until I got to Western Montana. And that is what I experienced as well. Finally, I was impatient and didn’t want to wait to start. If I traveled West-East I probably wouldn’t start until August to avoid heat while biking in the plains.
Listing the best trails is hard. Most all of them were great. The Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes was excellent and you are blessed to be able to ride it frequently. I also fondly remember the Root River Trail in MN, The Mickelson Trail in SD, The Elroy-Sparta Trail in WI, The Panhandle Trail in PA, and the C&O and GAP trails in MD and PA.
The trail that I would not ride again is the Cowboy Trail in Nebraska. The crushed gravel on the surface was too deep, which made it difficult to ride, even with the 1.9” wide tires I had.
I also avoided the eastern part of the Palouse to Cascades Trail in Washington, because of the lack of services and the reports I read of poor trail surfaces.
I hope that helps you with your planning. Feel free to reach out again if you have any additional questions.
Jim.
Thanks Jim! Good info. It was obvious you missed your wife big time while on the road. If/when I do my cross-country ride, my wife is planning on following me by car and being my support crew. We’ll stay in motels like you mostly did. The benefits of companionship and not carrying 46+ pounds of gear cannot be overstated!
God bless, Godspeed, and safety on your future trips.
Erik