Ride my bike cross-country

I have decided that next summer 2010 I will ride a bike across the country. I have graves disease an illness which in many ways steals your life from you. One of the biggest triggers is stress and exercise is one of the best ways to fight stress. Everyone thinks I am crazy and people who I love have flat out told me that I cannot possibly do it which is just making me more motivated. Although I have this illness I am very healthy and over the past 3 years that I have been living with it I have never let it stop me before. So, if anyone has any suggestions on where to start in finding a tour or a group please pass that information on to me…HAPPY RIDING

i want to slave the roads and tackle the trails

the summer of 2001, i rode from San Fransisco to Washington DC. it changed my life in a few ways:
1) helped me realized that i can do what i and others deem impossible or insane
2) i became an avid cyclist and bike commuter
3) i learned how to fix bikes
4) i learned what meditation in action really means
5) helped me realize how beautiful the US landscape and many of the people in this country really are

this is something I want to do, but in the future. Like years in the future.

I no longer have a bike. This oversight goes one step beyond putting the cart before the horse: it attempts to do that without having said cart in possession any more. I’ll retire this for now and pare my lofty aspirations down to bite sized chunks, starting with getting a new bike.

I have biked acros several countries, just not my own yet. It’ll likely have to wait for another year though.

This November: La Ruta Des Conquistadores, a 3-day mtn bike race across Costa Rica- coast to coast.

I did this a few years ago and had a great time. I went by myself, but I followed the well established 1976 route for most of the trip (starting in Virginia, and ending in Oregon).

Lots of people make the same trip each summer, so you’ll frequently bike for a few days with other people, depending on your pace. If you’re female don’t do it alone, but if you’re a guy I don’t think anybody will bother you (beyond the typical assholes who feel the need to chuck stuff at you as they drive by).

It took me 8 weeks of biking (and 10 weeks total because I took time off in Colorado and Wyoming to sight-see). I usually slept in small town parks or camp grounds, with a motel about once a week to clean up. Everybody was very friendly, and I even had strangers buy me breakfast or invite me to their homes for dinner (people are universally impressed, not realizing that this is a pretty easy feat).

Not being a good cyclist is no excuse. By the time you’re done, trust me, you’ll be a good cyclist. However, get comfortable making simple repairs to your bike (especially fixing spokes, because you’ll probably break one or two). And if you’re using a road bike, gear it down to save your knees over the mountains.

DO THIS!

PS – Kansas? Really fucking flat.