2014-08-05: Reflections on the Ride

Post date: Aug 6, 2014 3:22:26 AM


Way out there, where the road meets the horizon, there is an adventure to be found. Go find yours.

It is difficult for me to get my head around what Jon and I just accomplished. The magnitude of the effort by us and by Teresa cannot be easily described. There are too many aspects of this trip to consider all at once. There were hundreds of small towns, lots of scenic country roads, and some stretches that were just plain ugly. We saw rivers and peaceful springs. We saw mountains and valleys. We saw vast grasslands. I loved the geological and geographic aspects of this trip.

Many of you have asked how we could get our bodies to do this ride. Think of this ride not as a 2200 mile ride but instead as a 60 mile ride done 36 times. With proper training almost anyone can ride a bike 60 miles. To chain 36 of these together, you eat lots of good food as much as you want, drink lots of fluids, and get lots of sleep every day. It may be hard to believe but this ride is at least as much mental as it is physical. It is about making a commitment and sticking to it. It is about mentally breaking the distance into doable daily pieces. Then you do it; even if in the morning, you really don’t want to put your butt on that bike seat.

It is the people that we met along the way that was the very best part of this trip. We set out to experience America. We definitely experienced small town America and I loved it. So many acts of kindness and caring - advice about the route, offers to fill water bottles, free lodging in fire stations, churches, and parks, access to swimming pools, and offers of shelters on the one day that it actually rained. The way these people reach out to the several hundred cyclists that pass through their town is absolutely stunning.

Because I am a numbers guy, here is the trip by the numbers:

  • 2206 miles from Yorktown, VA to Pueblo, CO
  • 4412 total miles ridden
  • 40 days (36 riding days and 4 site seeing days)
  • 61.28 miles per riding day
  • 1 very rainy day and only 2 other rainy hours on the whole trip
  • 2 angry motorists shouted obscenities
  • 1 flat tire
  • 8 pounds lost by me; 15 pounds lost by Jon
  • 9,500 miles driven
  • 1 grand adventure