Touring the USA

[rollingthru]

My wife and I toured from Bellingham WA. To Virginia Beach last summer. It was the trip of a lifetime. I’m 57 & my wife is 46, we’re not big “bicycle” people, however my wife is an ex college athlete. I’ve simply always wanted to do it, and after buying my wife the new surly disc trucker as well as a lot of encouragement, actually talked her into it!!! I couldn’t believe it! Within 6 months of “training” in the garage (we live in Alaska), we took the Ferry from Whittier Alaska to Bellingham and headed EAST! My biggest point is Get after it. YOU can do it too! Don’t get me wrong by no means is it easy, and the weather can (and WILL) at times be downright dangerous (GO PREPARED)!!! But in my opinion no other means of travel even comes close (Not even my sports car)! The people you meet along the way (can’t be avoided everyone wants to know where your from and going), are worth the trip, and again in my opinion the good ole USA has the best in the world. (Former U.S.Merchant Marine). We were welcomed into the homes of several people, and one couple in Eastern Montana left us on their 200 acre ranch (as they drove to another house for the night) and told us “not to worry about locking up after we left in the morning”. Seriously. I told my wife I wouldn’t even trust people that much. Anyway, like I said, YOU can do it. I hope to see you on a long stretch of road too someday, and I’ll have my camera ready. Cheers.

 

[rollingthru]

Yes we have several. Would be glad to answer any questions. If you’ve ever thought about doing it, I strongly recommend it!

 

[rollingthru]

A few more...

 

[rollingthru]

I would like to stress the importance of “mapping your ride” and we found that asking the local people in whatever area your in, to be the most helpful getting you off the highways! VERY important in my opinion.

 

[rollingthru]

Here’s some others, the only reason I brought the X-tra wheel trailer was to make sure we had enough water. (1 gallon on each side)

 

[rollingthru]

Also strongly recommend the Schwalbe Marathon tires, this nail went all the way through my tire & somehow didn’t puncture the tube. I pulled it out with a leatherman & kept riding!

 

[rollingthru]

Keep on cycling

 

[Blue Hills]

Wonderful wonderful pics, thank you.

Questions.

Great pic of you both looking uber uber chilled by that white shelter/pagoda thing. A memorial stone next to it. Any story behind that memorial?

What's under the blue cover in the last pic? Your sports car hiding "i am not worthy" in the face of your impressive collection of bikes?

Am intrigued by your display of the stars and stripes on your tour since you are touring your own country. Are touring cyclists that suspicious/dodgy looking?

 

[rollingthru]

Wonderful wonderful pics, thank you.

Questions.

Great pic of you both looking uber uber chilled by that white shelter/pagoda thing. A memorial stone next to it. Any story behind that memorial?

What's under the blue cover in the last pic? Your sports car hiding "i am not worthy" in the face of your impressive collection of bikes?

Am intrigued by your display of the stars and stripes on your tour since you are touring your own country. Are touring cyclists that suspicious/dodgy looking?

Yeah it’s an old Corvette I haven’t driven in years! Ha I know it sounds a little weird but there’s so much of my country I haven’t seen they it makes no sense to me to see other countries first! The memorial was for the founder of the retirement home we were next to. Are home is open to ALL bicycle touring folks headed to the great state of Alaska! Cheers.

 

[rollingthru]

Different strokes for different folks I suppose. I wanted to “look” like the type of folks I’d invite to our home. Ha ha ha
We seen a lot of bicycle tourist with stuff hanging all over the place. In my opinion it looks like shoot. My plan worked as we were invited into many many different homes WITHOUT ASKING! It’s a little sad but 1st impressions make a huge difference! Hope that doesn’t sound to harsh! Ha

 

[Blue Hills]

Yeah it’s an old Corvette I haven’t driven in years! Ha I know it sounds a little weird but there’s so much of my country I haven’t seen they it makes no sense to me to see other countries first! The memorial was for the founder of the retirement home we were next to. Are home is open to ALL bicycle touring folks headed to the great state of Alaska! Cheers.

Ta for the reply I think you misunderstood me. i can well understand exploring your home turf with a bike, flying with a bike can be a pain and you have a lifetime's peddling at home. It was the flag on home turf that seemed odd. I can just about (but probably wouldn't) imagine flying a flag on a touring bike in foreign parts but as a brit touring britain it would seem, to me, distinctly peculiar.

 

[rollingthru]

Simply love my country! I don’t see anything peculiar about it.Cheers

 

[rollingthru]

LOTS of really good hearted crazy bastards. Hence the track record!

 

[Gravity Aided]

Ta for the reply I think you misunderstood me. i can well understand exploring your home turf with a bike, flying with a bike can be a pain and you have a lifetime's peddling at home. It was the flag on home turf that seemed odd. I can just about (but probably wouldn't) imagine flying a flag on a touring bike in foreign parts but as a brit touring britain it would seem, to me, distinctly peculiar.

Very common in the U.S., a lot of reverence for the flag. Also, if you do go overseas, after sewing the flag on there you probably wouldn't remove it.

 

[PJ520]

One tour I would not recommend is Route 66 from Chicago east (I say east because I only got as far as New Mexico.
In Illinois you go through some pretty seedy places, at one motel I stayed at the guy said "Lock both locks and if anybody comes to the door don't answer it" as he left me. Northern Missouri is quite nice, almost like parts of England. Then you get to the seriously flat stuff, Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle, I ground across this into 25-35 mph headwinds all day, every day. It was debilitating, I ended up doing 5 mph on the flat. There's nothing to see and the 'museums' on the way are rubbish, desperately trying to wring a few bucks out of the Grapes of Wrath thing. Oddly one museum that is worth visiting is the Devil's Rope Museum in McLean Texas; a museum of barbed wire. It makes you realize how big a deal barbed wire was in making the West what it is today. BUT by the time I got to Santa Rosa New Mexico I'd had enough and paid someone to take me to Albuquerque so I could fly home. Going the other way it could have been a blast I suppose. For advice I'd say be prepared to quit if you get constant headwinds. The locals said it always blew like that except at night!