Hi everyone,
I just finished a 5 month, \~6,900 mile / \~11,000 kilometer tour from LA to NYC. I took the scenic route up highway one and made a big loop of Washington state. This sub was extremely helpful in preparation so I want to pay it forward and answer any questions.
**Preparation/Background**
28yo American white male. I’d never done a bike tour before departure. I started doing endurance sports in 2017, primarily with running and evolving into triathlons up to the Ironman distance most recently. That built mental toughness and resilience, but was not directly beneficial for bike touring. I did a couple overnighters to dial gear. Strongly recommend practice trips if you are planning a big tour. Planning only gets you so far. Let rubber hit the road and adapt from there!
**Gear**
Here’s a link to my LighterPack ([https://lighterpack.com/r/k9lscv](https://lighterpack.com/r/k9lscv)), which is close to what I had at departure. As the summer heated up, I ditched my cooking gear and the front two panniers. Was fortunate to afford restaurants occasionally and had zero interest in boiling water when it was 80+ degrees out. I was most concerned about my saddle, as I’d had saddle sores during triathlon training. Sores sidelined me before and I was about to spend 30+ hours per week on the bike. My bike shop recommended a Brooks C17. I had no issues with sores throughout the trip. Hubba NX 1p tent was great.
If you are not a gearhead and just want something tried and true, go with a conventional touring bike (my Salsa Marrakesh was excellent, Surly Long Haul Trucker, Trek 520, etcetera) and four panniers, assuming the weather is not very hot. The hotter the temperatures, the less gear you need. If average lows exceed 60 degrees, go with 2 panniers. If they drop between 30-60 degrees, use four panniers. Strongly recommend using Schwaalbe Marathon tires. You will not get flats until you’ve put at least 3,000 miles / 5,000 kilometers on them; they are practically bulletproof until then.
My only gear regret is that I wasn’t more deliberate about the clothing I wore. I wish I had more clothes that could’ve started conversations. For example, my college’s logo or my favorite sports teams, hometown, etcetera. Subtle thing that can make a huge difference as the bike is like a magnet for random conversation.
**Accommodation**
I camped about 65% of the nights, used Warmshowers / stayed with trail angels about 30%, and got a hotel for the remaining nights (usually if I was miserable and camping/Warmshowers options were scarce). I don’t think I paid a dollar for accommodation during almost the entire second half of the trip thanks to stealth camping and Warmshowers. For stealth camping, the best spots are under church pavilions, baseball dugouts, or cemeteries. I learned to seek a roof over my head to avoid getting my gear soaked.
**Route + Mileage**
Adventure Cycling’s route network is a great option for any cross country route. I got creative and patched together a bunch of their routes to optimize the nature and other things I wanted to see/do. I had time, so I knew I could veer from the TransAm (particularly the PCH and Washington Parks loop). I also wanted to do RAGBRAI and avoided the apparently hellish slog through the rabid dog country of Kentucky. Many childhood friends live in NYC, so I oriented everything around arriving there for a massive party at the end. Figured that would help dig me out of despair when times got rough. Visualization can get you through a lot of bullshit!
Riding northbound on the PCH was a pretty arrogant and stupid decision. Faced predictably brutal headwinds almost every day and was miserable. But knew that if I got through California, I’d likely get to NYC. I found road closures to be negotiable, as many could be navigated by bike. Part of the beauty of the bike is deciding whether certain roads are passable or not. Break the rules!! There was nothing quite as liberating as riding 30 miles through Big Sur without a single car on the “closed” road.
Plan was for the first half to be \~50 miles per day and \~70mpd for the second half. This worked well. I could have done more, but I sought a balance between challenge and fun. Did a couple centuries just to experiment but nothing too crazy.
RAGBRAI was absolutely epic and one of the best parts of the journey. Quite miserable at times, but it’s an unforgettable spectacle of humanity. Miraculous that the timing worked out as well as it did. Was prepared to skip it, but am glad I didn’t have to. Don’t force anything.
No matter the route, you’ll probably find Appalachia to be the hardest region. Steepest hills, most poverty. Not great but an education nonetheless.
Creating checkpoints helped a lot. Small days or weeks that I could look forward to when the going got tough. I particularly looked forward to: the PCH, Rainier, Cascades, Olympic, friend joining around WA for a bit, Yellowstone/Tetons, Black Hills, RAGBRAI, visiting friends in Chicago, Indy, and Pittsburgh, visiting my alma mater Indiana University, and finally the giant party in NYC. I usually knew something good was on the horizon when there were shitty stretches of nothingness.
**Safety**
I tried to wear bright clothes or a construction vest for the first couple months. Eventually, I got comfortable and stopped being so vigilant about visibility. Found drivers to be extremely cautious and courteous. Some people are more sensitive to that though. Ride as if the drivers are drunk, texting, or both and you won’t be disappointed.
By far the most danger I put myself in was by blindly following RidewithGPS’s (then Google’s) maps algorithms, especially out west. In the west, there are many mountainous unpaved service roads that are extremely steep with no traffic. The algorithms seem to route you through them to avoid traffic. But they are ROUGH to ride on, and if shit hits the fan you might not see a soul within 25-50 miles + no cell service. I was clueless about bike maintenance, so a mechanical issue easily could have threatened my life. After two or three of these debacles, I developed a sixth sense for when the algorithm’s routes were leading me astray. Those were the biggest adventures of the trip (Refugio road outside Santa Barbara especially), but also the most dangerous.
99% of the time I felt completely safe.
**Budget**
Depends on your circumstances and willingness to rough it, but I aimed for $50 per day, which afforded me the ability to eat out if I wanted. That saved me a lot of time cooking and helped introduce me to tons of interesting people at restaurants, in town, etcetera. I particularly loved eating exotic cuisine at random unexpected places. For example, I had a Michelin star quality Indonesian meal in Greensburg, Indiana and a fantastic Dominican meal in Lancaster, PA. I also met people who were okay riding on $20 per day. And of course older people on $100+ per day staying in hotels. If you get a good Warmshowers host, you can pretty easily get by on $20 per day, as they often provide breakfast and dinner. Do whatever you can afford and feels reasonable. There were a handful of days in which I literally spent $0, as I used Warmshowers and a stranger bought me lunch.
I hated when people asked if my parents were rich, implying I was on their dime or something. Much of America has a pretty shitty travel culture that equates travel with money. Of course long term travel requires a baseline level of privilege and wealth, but not nearly what most assume. It’s the opportunity cost of not working / building a family that’s the real consideration to make.
**Diet**
I gained about 8 pounds! Mostly because my diet was crap and I indulged in the easiest calories my body could take. Tons of cinnamon rolls, burgers, greasy spoon diners, etcetera. Eventually my body would demand vegetables and I’d get bagged salads at the grocery store. Had some divine meals courtesy of Warmshowers hosts. The nasty diet was fun at the beginning but became gross and unsustainable by the end.
**Highs**
People often assume that Yellowstone or North Cascades or some beautiful place were the highlights of the trip. Some of those were undoubtedly my favorites, particularly Logan Pass (Glacier), Washington + Rainy Pass (Cascades), Tetons, Kootenay Pass, and White Pass (Rainier). But some of the best memories are from simple things like Warmshowers or even staying at a hotel after a grueling stretch. Part of the joy of such a crazy journey is the reintroduction to the simplicities of life. The comfort of air conditioning, a bed to sleep in, a meal to eat, and people to enjoy. I don’t have enough words to say about the incredible Warmshowers hosts who provided these luxuries throughout the trip.
There are inevitably some wild things that happen on the road and you’ll find the world small and large simultaneously, a paradox that life seems to be full of. For example, on RAGBRAI I randomly met a guy who was my parents’ first Warmshowers guest just a few months earlier. One Warmshowers host immigrated to the US from Australia after marrying one of his Warmshowers hosts whom he stayed with during a 2.5 year tour from Patagonia to Alaska. An Englishman quit his job on site after discovering he had terminal prostrate cancer and immediately started riding the Pacific. Joined a fireside blunt rotation with 5 random bikepackers in the Samuel P Taylor Park hiker/biker site.
People were also wildly generous. A South Dakota farmer gave me the $73 in his pocket as a gift from God. Nearly every other week strangers footed my bill at bars or restaurants, often without mentioning it. Katie, the Warmshowers host in Crescent City, converted her church to a bikepackers’ oasis and has hosted thousands of tourers in the last decade.
And goddamn is the west beautiful!!! Rolling up to Jenny Lake with no reservation, camping under the Tetons or Devils Tower, knowing you’ve got the world by the balls, that 99% of the visitors made overpriced reservations months in advance and were flying back to work on Monday. But not you. By sheer luck and some hard work, you had the fortune to get that view for yourself. No reservations, no cubicle, no corporate small talk, and no “real world” bullshit. Completely fucking free.
Arriving in NYC to the party of friends and my parents made everything worth it and is as close to a bachelor party as a single 28yo having an existential crisis can have…
**Lows**
Four or five days in, I got severe poison oak after trying to take videos of cows in a roadside bush. Lasted three weeks. I was itchy most of the time out west. Couldn’t seem to avoid mosquitoes. Though the poison oak made the mosquitoes seem like an afterthought. Waking up to cold rain drenching all my gear, especially in Oregon, was rough. A massive hailstorm broke out as I descended Powder River Pass. 70 year old grocery store cashier said it was the worst he’d ever seen. A few Warmshowers hosts were bad weird. Camping in 80+ degree heat during RAGBRAI. Truck drivers honking. Confederate flags. Brutal Appalachian climbs. Headwinds 20 days in a row riding up the pacific. Nutella exploding in panniers. Existential angst.
Life is relative, and if you don’t have the lows you won’t know the highs.
**Fundraising**
Before the trip, I committed to raising $50k for athletes with disabilities via Achilles International. In hindsight, I should’ve set the goal lower and raised it along the way. As time went on, I got increasingly anxious about not meeting the goal. I don’t regret fundraising, but it’s something you should give a lot of thought if you’re going to do it and care about reaching your goal. Make a plan, don’t just assume it will come together. Expect extreme indifference from most people. Understand how precious money is and that a vague or indirect request will be ignored. But also be courageous enough to chase the uncomfortable if you think it’s the right thing to do. The last thing I wanted to do after riding all day was ask a stranger for money, so I stopped doing it. But I understood I could still continue this journey after the trip, and that is what I plan to do.
**Final Thoughts**
Embarking on this trip was one of the best decisions of my life. The journey was not completely euphoric. I remember one night camping in a playground tunnel in South Dakota, considering how ridiculous I felt given that my peers are climbing the corporate ladder and getting married. But I also appreciated that we all have our own path, and that this path was undoubtedly mine for the last five months.
I don’t want to sound preachy and I don’t think that budget travel and crazy adventures are for everyone because we all have different circumstances and resources. But if you are thinking about doing something crazy like a cross country tour, do not hesitate.
What I’ll take to my grave, what I’ll try to sprinkle into the world as long as I’m here and hopefully after I’m gone is this: humans are fucking amazing. We have the power to connect, especially when moving at the speed of life on a bicycle. You will see friendly Trump supporters and disconnected liberals. You’ll see delusional Trump supporters and rational liberals. You’ll sit in a cigarette-stained Indiana bar that says “No Politics, Please” while two big screens blast Fox News. People will give you all the money in their pockets for no reason beyond feeling a call from God. They’ll say prayers for you. Bless your meals. Give you rides. Introduce friends. Redefine happiness. Push you to your limits. Show you what you want and who you want to be. They’ll beat addictions and live to tell the tale. They’ll cry on your shoulder and describe their son who shot himself. They’ll somehow found a silver lining. They’ll show you why we are all here.
You’ll amaze them. Now let them amaze you.
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by eled34