I am so happy I had the opportunity to do this trip. I’m equally happy that my leg injury held up so that I could complete it. The journey was amazing and something I’ll never forget. On the one hand, I got to see so many more details than if I had been driving by the sights in a fast car. On the other, I was able to see a lot more than would be feasible walking unless I had many more months to do it.

To any serious cyclists who have pondered a trip like this, I would say you should do it. As long as you go in physically and mentally prepared for the challenge, it will be a worthwhile experience. Like a lot of things, you can’t really know what you’re getting into until you’re in it. But, I do think if you can handle it, you would be happy if you took the leap.

I’ve played sports and pushed myself physically all of my life. Even so, this was by far the hardest physical challenge I’ve ever undertaken. Any given day was pretty much what I expected. But, the cumulative impact of day after day was something I hadn’t fully appreciated. One member of the group has completed a few full Iron Man competitions, and he said numerous times how much harder he thought this was. 

While I enjoy pushing through the extreme discomfort I felt many times, it wouldn’t be for everyone. Even among our group of people who had the experience and preparation to do the ride, not everyone made it through. I came away happy that I did it now as every passing year would just make it even harder.

While I saw some great sights, keep in mind that there was only time to stop for a couple minutes, take a picture, and then move on. The central part of each day was putting in the miles. The few minutes of checking out a landmark and getting some memorable pictures were fleeting. For example, I spent a total of 1 – 2 minutes within view of Mount Rushmore before I moved on to go down the other side of the mountain I had just climbed up because there were still a lot of miles to complete.

I’m ok with that fact and just calling it out so that anyone considering a similar trip sets the right expectations — this trip was a hard-core endurance cycling event with some nice sights and food mixed in here and there. It was not a sightseeing vacation with some cycling mixed in.

So, I anticipated some chilly mornings. But, I expected that it would warm up most days. I also expected to have mostly tail winds behind us given typical wind patterns. Well, it didn’t work out that way.

There was never a day warm enough for me to start with less than a few layers until the trip was nearly 2/3 done. I only got down to a single layer even in the afternoon a couple times before the last few weeks. The temperatures were unusually cold in the westernmost states. We got snowed on 3 times (in June!), sleeted on a couple too. There were several days with windchills in the 20’s before you account for the speed we were moving. Let’s just say the worst days were way worse than I expected. I didn’t have the right gear to ride for hours in a windy 20’s setting, so I had to hop in the van and skip some miles a couple of times due to hypothermia concerns.

The wind also wasn’t our friend. We did have nice tail winds a few days in Wyoming, but most of the trip the winds were not typical and we had headwinds or side winds. A number of times those winds were gusting well over 30 mph, and sometimes close to 40. Strong headwinds make cycling much, much harder and require a lot more effort. There were a few times I almost got blown over by big gusts too. One day, not a single person was able to complete the entire ride due to the winds being too strong and us running out of both energy and daylight. It also rained on us that whole day too (it was the low point day of the trip for sure).

One way we did get lucky was rain. We only got rained on badly a couple of days of the whole trip. That certainly isn’t typical either. I figured we’d have at least some rain every few days and multiple days of continuous downpour to ride through. We only had 2 – 3 downpour days and we never even had any lightning issues to worry about. Had we been a week or two earlier or later, there were some horrid storm fronts we would have been in the middle of. So, the lack of rain was one positive.

The best part was that most of the last 2 weeks were warm and mostly dry with limited winds.

I’ve always loved the USA. This trip only reinforced that for me. The changes in landscape and climate we experienced were as vast as the size of the country. Forest, desert, mountains, lakes, streams, trails, rural roads, urban roads. All of it added to the experience. It was also interesting to see how similar things were in some ways from place to place and also how different other things were.

Regional differences are notable. For example, in the south, you’ll always find fresh brewed iced tea. Usually both sweet and unsweet. I went weeks without seeing anything but soda fountain iced tea. Huckleberry foods were common out west, but nonexistent back home. Some places had “fry sauce” for fries, most didn’t. Some places had baked beans at breakfast like Europe does, most didn’t. Fried cheese curds were everywhere for a week or two but not seen otherwise.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was trying out the local specialties at the (almost always local) restaurants we ate at. Whether you travel the USA by car, plane, or bike, don’t fail to take advantage of the chance to try all the different foods and drinks.

I was so impressed with how nice and helpful people were all across the country. The level of niceness went up as the size of the town went down. The small towns we went through had the most genuine people you’ll ever meet. I don’t know why many people seem to look down on small towns and those who come from them. They’re actually the type of people I’d love to hang around with.

I think we lose something in our big cities and suburbs. With so many people around, we become more reserved and closed off. I wish there was a way to transplant the small-town vibe and attitude into bigger areas, but it likely just can’t be done.

With so much time riding along on my bike, I was able to ponder what I’ll do from here with my life. I made a couple of big decisions related to my work career and also got myself refocused on some of my personal life habits and improvements I can make.

I won’t go into the details here, but I am thankful that I have more clarity on how to proceed with my next chapter since leaving full time work at the start of the year. I still have details to work out and some options to choose from, but I have a much better handle on it than I did two months ago. I was hoping for that and I got it. 

All around, the trip was a great success for me. I am thankful that my wife and family supported giving me the chance to do it. I’m also thankful that I made it through safely. Most of all, I’m thankful for all the great memories that I now have from doing what sounds to many like a crazy thing to do.