Bike Trips
In 1994 Ellie and I biked, unsupported, down the Pacific Coast from Canada
to Mexico. Then in 1996 I went, also unsupported, from San Diego, CA to
Yorktown, VA...Coast to coast. The coast trip was almost exactly 2000 miles
and the cross country trip was a little over 3200 miles. The coast trip
took 4 weeks and the cross country trip 7 weeks. While I'm happy to have
ridden across the country, the coast trip is much more scenic and pleasing.
On the left is our route down the coast. We did the trip in March and April to avoid the tourist traffic. It can be pretty wet in Washington and Oregon, but even on the rainy days, the scenery is usually great. On the right is our cross country route; also done in March and April. (The desert would be too hot for me any later than that.) We crossed three major mountain ranges and lots of flat desert and farmland. If you don't have patience on a trip like this, you'll never make it. I figure that we were chased across the country by probably 2000 dogs.
This is a good comparison of the scenery we encountered on the two trips. During the coast trip, views like the one on the left were an almost daily occurrence. On the cross country trip, we frequently saw the road stretch from horizon to horizon over flat, barren ground.
On the left, Ellie unveils the final map for the coast trip. And on the right, I excitedly contemplate another 80 mile day through the heartland.
Press here to read a brief report on the cross country trip.
Here is a list of all the gear we brought on our cross-country trip.
