|
[ Up ] [ OR ] [ ID ] [ MT ] [ WY ] [ CO ] [ KA ] [ MO ] [ IL ] [ KY ] [ VA ] [ Statistics ] [ Epilogue ]
Bike from Oregon to Virginia, June/July 1999
Epilogue
For several years after I finished the ride I would often tell people
that I was glad that I rode across the country but would not recommend
that other people do the same. However, my stance has changed with
time and my position has shifted as follows. If you have the
choice between a bike ride across the country and a summer at home, by
all means, you must go. If people whom you already know, like and
respect invite you on said trip the choice should be that much easier,
as it was in my case.
However, if you are fortunate enough to have the choice between a
summer ride from the Atlantic to the Pacific and an adventure such as
exploring Europe the decision isn't nearly as easy. Although I
love riding, I'm afraid I would take the European trip 9 times out of
10. Perhaps the reason has more to do with the bicycle than the
destinations. Although on the bike you are the master of your own
locomotion, at the same time you become a slave not only to the bike but
to the roads. You may travel by your own power across the country
but you will never leave the roads and are thus never free from the
automobile. Indeed, except for a few miles on a bike path in Colorado
one could drive the entire Transcontinental bike route. I might
even argue that a driver would see much more of the country than the
rider since the former has the luxury of making day trips from the
route, something not really feasible on two wheels. Yes, you can
lock up your bike but what about your gear? Until someone develops
a backpack that can double as a pannier you will have problems.
If you still want to go, and I hope you do (provided you meet the criteria above), all you need to know can be
summed up in the few questions/answers below.
| What do I need to bring? |
|
As little as possible,
seriously. Remember that you will be on a road with cars going by
all the time so help is close at hand. If you find you need
something, buy it during the trip. I had one set of clothes to
ride in (synthetic) and one set to change into at the end of the day
(cotton). For camping you will want a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping
pad, stove, and pot. That was essentially it. Of course I'm
not going to list things like my toothbrush, sunscreen, etc.
|
| How much will it cost? |
|
Almost nothing, really. If
you camp and stay in city parks, as we did on our trip, lodging will
almost never be more than $6 per night. Cooking your own food also
keeps the cost way down. But don't skimp on everything; if you are
in Riggins, Idaho go whitewater rafting and to celebrate leaving Kansas
spend the night in the air-conditioned hostel in Golden City,
Missouri. My biggest expense was airfare home.
|
| Should I train for the ride? |
|
We didn't and if memory serves, neither did the
Virginia or New York Girls. But, you will also recall that
we suffered early on in the ride. I'm sure that training
would have helped, but if you don't have time to train, don't
use this as an excuse not to undertake the adventure. It
probably didn't help matters that on the second day of the trip
I rode ahead of the group, and unknown to me at the time, to a
pass through the Cascades where I waited in light snow for the
group.
|
| How do I know where to go? |
|
The questions keep getting
easier and easier; buy maps from an organization such as Adventure Cycling. In addition to
the route we chose, they have other cross country routes and different tours
such as Canada to Mexico down the Pacific Coast Highway.
|
| Which direction should I ride? |
|
Follow the example of Virginia and New York girls
here and ride toward your home. Imagine the immense
satisfaction you must feel upon riding into your driveway after
cycling for two months and several thousand miles. We
didn't because it was simply to easy to throw our bikes on top
of the Green Tortoise bus and start the trip that way.
|
| What kind of bike should I ride? |
|
Although I had never
owned a road bike I bought one for this trip and it served me
well. I did have to replace the rear tire and rear wheel but that
was my own fault. Kevin brought his several year old mountain bike
and Ned brought his very old mountain bike. Ned's horse, the
oldest of the group had the least amount of problems. It doesn't
really matter what kind of bike you ride, so long as you are comfortable
on it. On our trip, older riders tended towards road bikes and
younger riders had mountain bikes, quite often with front
suspension. I must admit being quite envious whenever I
saw someone with triathlon bars.
|
| Should I get an anatomically
correct seat? |
|
Ned made the switch to a Specialized seat with a
V-shaped notch pretty early on in the ride while Kevin and I
stuck with our conventional seats. However, I now own two
mountain bikes and both are equipped with Terry saddles
featuring holes in the middle and I love them. So I say
yes, get the fancy saddle.
|
| How should I carry my gear? |
|
Human nature being what it is, we tend to fill up
bags. Thus, starting out on this little trek, Kevin's bag
and its contents weighed more than all of my gear, including my
bike! Add in the weight of Kevin's bike and his Bob
trailer and you will see that he rolled along with well over 100
pounds of stuff. Of course Kevin has superhuman strength
so it didn't matter. My point is you can very easily fit
all of your gear in two rear panniers and a handlebar bag using
the space on top of your rear rack for something like your tent
or sleeping bag. This philosophy worked for me, the
Virginia girls and countless others that we met on the
trip. Indeed, while discussing the topic during the ride
Ned and Kevin came to the same conclusion.
|
| How will I fix my bike when it
breaks? |
|
Changing tires, fixing flat tubes and lubricating
moving parts is the extent to which I work on my bike, now and
during the trip. So, as you might guess, I think it is
sufficient to bring a
bike in good working order along with spare tubes, patches, a good pump,
tire irons and a mini tool. OK, go ahead and throw in a
spare tire! You may also want to wrap about 10 feet of duct
tape around a tube on your frame for the unexpected. Even if I was
an expert bike mechanic I would not bring a slew of tools and
spare parts since much of the experience is dealing with the
unexpected with things go wrong. If you take the self
sufficient philosophy too far you could ride across the states
and not meet anyone. For us, that would mean that on day
41 Don wouldn't have come into our lives; that he did was one of
the highlights of the trip.
|
| Should I ride the whole way or
skip certain areas? |
|
Let's be very clear, a good portion of a cross
country bike ride is through mediocre terrain. Adventure
Cycling has done a great job coming up with the route outlined
in their maps but when you are covering over 3,000 miles it all
can't be spectacular. However, skipping areas seems to be
equivalent to opening Pandora's Box since you will always be
able to come up with a million reasons why it's OK to get a ride
to the next town or state. And if you do it once, it will
be all the much easier to justify it the next time. I say
start with the steadfast intention of completing your entire
route. The more that I hated certain areas and suffered
through them the more I cherish those memories as time passes! |
Say, let's not forget about my companions! Kevin and Ned went
on to finish the ride with the Virginia girls, dismounting for the last
time "in" the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial.
And now, almost 5 years later this story is done, and I'm going for a
ride in the hills.
Casey Bowden, 27 March 2004, Berkeley, California
[ Up ] [ OR ] [ ID ] [ MT ] [ WY ] [ CO ] [ KA ] [ MO ] [ IL ] [ KY ] [ VA ] [ Statistics ] [ Epilogue ]
[ Home ] [ PJ ] [ Adventure ] [ Backpacking ] [ Food ] [ Events ] [ Projects ]
|