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Biking across the country is a serious Endeavour that is not to be taken lightly. I decided to bike across the country at the age of 24, I met someone, Sam Ryan, interested in joining me, and we started training in earnest
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Some basic tips that can change your trip and make it memorable Biking across the country is a serious Endeavour that is not to be taken lightly. I decided to bike across the country at the age of 24, I met someone, Sam Ryan, interested in joining me, and we started training in earnest. I started cycling 3-4 hrs per day everyday, I cross trained and tried to get as fit as possible. Then the trip started, I instantly understood there was no way to train for this! I was beaten up after one day, and I had to go again the next. It took me and Sam a few days to figure out we did everything wrong. We packed jeans, sweatpants, enough food for several days, extra shoes, dress clothes, tools, extra bike parts, the list goes on and on. Our bikes weighed about 80lbs loaded it was impossible to climb hills, no matter how fit we were. So we made some changes to make the trip manageable. We did the following: 1. We ate all our extra food and carried a minimal supply of food, since there were towns with stores everywhere, we just shopped when we were hungry. 2. We sent our tools, bike parts, jeans, sweatpants, non cycling clothes and shoes home. We did not need any of this stuff and it was really tough to haul. 3. We picked paths that followed water flows such as the Hudson river and Erie Canal. There were big hills away from the water, however the elevation change on roads near the water was minimal. This really helped! 4. After a three weeks I finally got a sustainable concept for long distance cycling that would not beat me up. I sent my panniers home and kept one rackpack, one mosquito net, one sleeping mat, and one sleeping bag. How did I fit all this on one standard bike rack? I didn't, I bought a $5 Hibachi grill, threw away everything except the top grill. I placed the grill on my rack to create a super large mega rack. I placed all my stuff on this Hibachi style mega rack to keep it behind my back to minimize wind resistance.This did the trick, I biked from Minneapolis to Seattle with no problem it worked great. 5. Go west to east. In NY, Canada, Michigan, and Wisconsin we were hit by plenty of cross winds. No matter which way we went we would have to fight the wind resistance. However in the plains the wind was predominantly from the west and it was very strong from morning until night. I travelled East to West so I had to to fight the wind every day. I got all my serious mileage in after 7PM, when the wind diesdown. Going west to east would be so much easier in the plains.
6. Skip national parks and other major tourist areas during peak season. I biked through Yellowstone park and it was beautiful, however it was very dangerous. The park is full of RV's that are in a rush to finish their vacation, I was almost run over many times. 7. Don't be ashamed to hitch hike. I had to hitch hike a few times. Once to get to bike shops ( bike problems ). Once to get out of near tornado force winds, once to get pasta prison ( no cyclists near some prisons ), and once to get out of the rain ( after 4 days of rain in Washington state I had enough ) To summarize, I would recommend a first time tourist to take nothing with them, bring everything onto a mega-Hibachi-style rack. Keeping all the mass behind them to minimize wind resistance. Stay on paths that follow bodies of water. Go west to east, do not visit major tourist attractions during peak season. Use only two changes of clothes, if anything happens you can buy more clothes. Don't forget you will be in America, you can hitch hike if your bike or body breaks down.
