Day 10: Midwestern Hospitality

Cloudy skies, favorable winds, Midwestern hospitality made for one of the best days of my trip so far. Leaving Fort Wayne this morning, my route took me west northwest back onto stretches of the old Lincoln Highway. I passed through several small and middle-sized farming townships: Columbia City, Warsaw, and Plymouth.

Facing westward on the Lincoln Highway

My first stop brought me to an unexpectedly chic cafe in Columbia City - the Brewha Coffeehouse. Sitting down, sipping a mocha, I entertained questions from a couple locals about my cross-country trip. As I move westward, questions about where I'm headed and where I'm from come more readily. As I stepped out of the cafe, another elderly gentleman inquired about my travels and insisted on making a $20 donation for my trip. I tried to insist that I could not take his money, but he persisted, and it seemed a bit churlish to argue. I gratefully accepted and headed out.

Warsaw marked the halfway point of the day's ride. Just outside of town, I came across an abandoned factory near the railroad tracks. As readers of the blog can guess, I find abandoned buildings fascinating, and took some time to step inside and explore. Unlike the Rust Belt towns in Ohio, places like Warsaw are somewhat insulated from the decline in manufacturing - a boom in farm commodity prices helps keeps the urban centers reasonably alive.

Abandoned factory floor outside Warsaw, IN

My final stop today was at a bakery and coffee shop - Coffee Lodge - in Plymouth. I randomly decided to stop by as I entered the downtown, and found the manager and a solitary patron chatting over a cup of coffee. For the next hour, I spoke with them about my trip and life in the region. 

As the conversation briefly turned to politics, the patron - a 77-year old former county commissioner and local newspaper columnist - asked me directly if I was a Democrat (since I was from New York). He did not hold it against me volunteering that he even votes for Democrats in local races if he can take the measure of the man. Before heading to my motel, he asked me to go to the local newspaper office and tell a reporter/colleague about my journey. Perhaps my story will make the weekend edition of the Plymouth Pilot, filling some column inches with a missive on a cyclist passing through.

STAGE SUMMARY:

Starting Point - Fort Wayne, IN

Ending Point - Plymouth, IN
Distance - 66.3 miles
Cumulative Distance - 828.2 miles
Vertical Elevation - 1327 feet

Counties - Allen, Whitley, Kosciusko, Marshall, IN

Wind - moderate crosswind

Day 9: Island-Hopping

Furious pedaling up steep hills in Pennsylvania has given way to furious pedaling into a stiff crosswind  in the farmlands of Ohio. Today, I left Ohio behind and began my visit to the fifth state on my westward journey.

Pleasant temperatures in the morning gave way to a hot sun by midmorning. The crosswind from south kept me dry, but offered increasing frustration. In calm winds, I can sustain about 14 mph on my bike - not great speed, but it does feel like you are making progress. As the crosshead picked up later in the day, my speed dropped closer to 10 or 11 mph - with each mile passing achingly slow. In contrast, on brief segments when I turned north, the tailwind allowed me to cruise at 20 mph comfortably. All of this is a far cry from the 18 mph I can maintain on 80 mile rides without all the gear loading down my bike. From this description, you probably think cycling seems a lot like sailing.

The combination of the wind and the sun dramatically increased the desired frequency of my breaks. I sought out every small town along the route for air conditioning and/or a place to sit - gas stations, Subways (which are surprisingly common out here), or public parks. Essentially, I spent the day hopping from one air conditioned locale to the next cursing any extended stretches without respite.

At the 70 mile mark, I crossed from Ohio into Indiana with one state extending seamlessly into the next. Unfortunately, my crossing into Indiana was not marked by any of the comforting signage welcoming you to a new state. You will have to take my word that the photo below was taken at the state line.

The Pastimes Cafe in Paulding, OH served as a late lunch stop. The owner was quite excited to see the first cross-country cyclist of the summer - each year brings several cross-country cyclists through the area. The owner and several patrons were curious about life in New York - house prices, using the subways, crime; they all ventured that they like to visit but would never give up their quiet of a country life.

As a reminder, you can always click on Stage Summary to see my exact route and elevation profile.

STAGE SUMMARY:

Starting Point - Findlay, OH

Ending Point - Fort Wayne, IN
Distance - 88.1 miles
Cumulative Distance - 761.9 miles
Vertical Elevation - 1069 feet

Counties - Hancock, Putnam, Paulding, OH; Allen, IN

Wind - strong crosswind

Day 8: Country Roads

Here in northwestern Ohio, the hills are now a thing of the past giving way to acres and acres of flat farmland. Pleasant temperatures and sunny conditions in the morning gave way to strength-sapping heat in the afternoon. In contrast to warm weather days last week, locations offering respite from the sun were at a premium. The wind was particularly brutal today with a warm headwind from the west making the afternoon a tough slog.

Riding cross-country is always a mix of cycling on highways and country roads. Highways typically offer larger shoulders, gentler grades, and better pavement. County roads by contrast feature a lower volume of traffic and typically slower-moving vehicles than highways. In Ohio, my routes have increasingly turned towards county roads with the volume of traffic at its lowest in the trip. Between the small country villages of New Washington, OH and Carey, OH, fewer than a dozen cars probably past me per hour. The resulting silence can be both pleasant and eerie - a chance to enjoy nature's soundtrack tempered by the vague sense of being lost.

Oddly picturesque burned-out farmhouse

The absence of passing automobiles gives more time to listen to the other sounds of the Ohio countryside. In particular, it's been interesting to judge the reaction of the livestock I pass on my ride. Sometimes, the cows and horses I pass by take no notice, while other times they seem to stare intently, turning their heads as I pass by. Yet other times, my presence seems to alarm them as they turn and flee away from the road. 

Today, I even had a horse try to charge me down only to veer off just as it approached the fence line - not sure what I would have done if there was no fence. It is well known that dogs typically have an adverse response to bicycles often barking, chasing, and occasionally biting passing cyclists. Maybe some horses react similarly.

Horses staring at me

Food options around the motels where I am staying are not particularly interesting, so meals during the ride offer one of the few times to sample something local. Today in Carey, OH, I stopped in the Splinter's Cafe for a late lunch. The meal was decent, though not great, but I was struck at the number people drinking at midday. When I asked my otherwise talkative waitress if there's anything to do around town, she forthrightly answered, "Nothing". 

At the end of the day, I stopped by Muddy River Bicycle in downtown Findlay for a quick check of my bike - as with of the bike shops I have visited on my journey, the mechanics have been extraordinarily helpful and interested in hearing about my trip.

STAGE SUMMARY:

Starting Point - Mansfield, OH

Ending Point - Findlay, OH
Distance - 73.4 miles
Cumulative Distance - 673.8 miles
Vertical Elevation - 1348 feet

Counties - Richland, Crawford, Wyandot, Hancock, OH

Wind - strong headwind

Day 7: Lincoln Highway

Today, I headed almost directly west through the rolling farmlands of north central Ohio in the Allegheny foothills. Thunderstorms complicated and delayed the morning ride, but the afternoon saw bursts of sunshine and increasing humidity that presages hotter days ahead. My body is growing more accustomed to the daily ride, but I am still waiting for a brisk tailwind to make easy work of shorter rides like today.

Parts of my route today followed the Lincoln Highway. Laid down in 1913 at the dawn of the automobile age, the Lincoln Highway was one of the nation's first transcontinental highways. In Ohio, four lane US-30 follows parallel to the original Lincoln Highway and carries most of the region's high-speed traffic, allowing cyclists to enjoy stretches of the old highway. Markers like the one shown here in Canton line the route.

As a tool for promoting the construction of highways, the creation of the Lincoln Highway was wildly successful, boosting economic activity along the route and spawning the creation of new national highways. The federal government took an increasing roll in organizing the formation of a national highway network, and Lincoln Highway inspired Dwight Eisenhower - who traveled across the country on the highway in 1919 - to oversee the creation of the interstate highway system in the 1950s that we rely upon today.

Emptiness in Canton, OH

The region between Pittsburgh and Chicago is nicknamed the Rust Belt, and the towns of Canton and Mansfield lived up to the name. Entering Canton yesterday, I was struck by the wide boulevards and grand art deco buildings in the middle of a city utterly bereft of people. Admittedly Memorial Day had something to do with the lack of activity, but the hotel bartender informed me that the downtown typically clears out and shuts down by the end of business hours.

Downtown Mansfield had much the same feel as Canton, with little downtown foot traffic and shuttered buildings and houses lining the route into the city. An abandoned factory near the railroad tracks overgrown with weeds offered a characteristic snapshot of the typical Rust Belt city. In Mansfield, manufacturing continues to provide some economic support to the region, but there is little left to fall back on.

For any who may venture through these parts, I would strongly recommend a stop in Wooster, OH where I enjoyed an excellent lunch at the Muddy Waters Cafe. Unlike Mansfield or Canton, Wooster's downtown was buzzing with activity and far more hospitable.

STAGE SUMMARY:

Starting Point - Canton, OH

Ending Point - Mansfield, OH
Distance - 66.2 miles
Cumulative Distance - 600.4 miles
Vertical Elevation - 3725 feet

Counties - Stark, Wayne, Ashland, Richland, OH

Wind - strong head/crosswind

Day 6: Into Ohio

With fresher legs, I hit the road again today heading northwest out of Pittsburgh and into Ohio. Cool weather prevailed again today with some light rainfall in the afternoon - not enough to cause a bother. Relief is in sight from the hilly terrain of Appalachia. By the end of my ride today, high ridges became rolling hills and within a day or two, any elevation will fade away altogether.

The first part of my route today took me northwest along the Ohio River past shabby towns and across worn down industrial parks and rail lines. Despite appearances, several large manufacturing and industrial companies appear to be operating successfully. In Coraopolis, PA, at the end of rundown main street, I passed by the headquarters of America's preeminent civil engineering company: American Bridge. The privately held firm formed in 1900 built the Sears Tower and the Empire State Building and constructed numerous spans, including the Verrazano-Narrows and the Oakland Bay Bridge. This history contrasted sharply with the sorry state of its hometown. While still active, like most engineering companies, the biggest opportunities for American Bridge are now overseas.

At my lunch stop in a McDonald's in East Palestine, OH, I joined a group of older gentlemen taking their lunch after the Memorial Day parade. Curious about where I was headed, they inquired about my route and provisions. Retired bus drivers and factory workers, most of them had spent their life in the vicinity of East Palestine. They noted that most young people now leave the area to find any good work, the town graying in the process. It is a sight that I also saw in Pennsylvania coal country. I asked one of them how he spends his retirement in a small town. He readily confessed that it gets boring, but lawn mowing, gardening, and the other chores along with an occasional vacation helped occupy his time. They wished me luck as I pushed on westward.

Straddling the Pennsylvania-Ohio border

STAGE SUMMARY:

Starting Point - Pittsburgh, PA

Ending Point - Canton, OH
Distance - 97.8 miles
Cumulative Distance - 534.2 miles
Vertical Elevation - 4841 feet

Counties - Allegheny, Beaver, PA; Columbiana, Stark, OH

Wind - slight cross

Day 5: Ghost Town Trail

It may be near the end of May, but this morning felt more like February. I left Ebensburg, PA at 8 AM this morning with temperatures hovering around freezing. Fortunately, conditions improved in the summer sun with the afternoon offering ideal riding conditions sans the stubborn headwind.

The first half of today's ride followed a 35 mile rail trail named the Ghost Town Trail. With alternating dirt and gravel surface and a gentle downward slope, the trail made for much easier riding than the hilly road/highway riding of the previous several days. This beautiful trail follows the Blacklick Creek and visits several small towns with names like Nanty-Glo, Vintondale, and Dilltown - towns shrunken relative to the heyday.

Black Lick Creek

Halfway up the Ghost Town Trail in Dilltown, I stopped at the Dillweed Bed and Breakfast which caters to cyclists on the trail. As the sole patron on a cold day, I had a chance to chat with the owners who told me that each year brings a handful of cross-country cyclists through their doors. They also proudly highlighted a local newspaper article about two high school students who are planning their own cross-country ride on the TransAmerica Trail in a couple weeks.

The owners also spoke about the decline in the coal mining and manufacturing economy in the area. Today, the regions major employers are hospitals and defense contractors in the Johnstown area - the latter a legacy of the expert appropriator, the late Congressman John Murtha. Aside from historical markers, the most prominent symbol of the region's industrial past is the Eliza Furnace - an industrial ruin dating back to the 1840s.

The furnace was used to produce more than a 1000 tons of iron in the 1840s as iron production soared in the opening stages of the industrial revolution. Abandoned towns, mine tailings, and even oil derricks attest to the region's later role as energy provider for steelmaking in the latter stages of the industrial revolution. Historical markers note that the abandoned town of Wehrum, formed by Franklin Roosevelt's maternal uncle, was the site of brutal clashes between workers and company police as labor sought to unionize. No mention was made that the wealth of president who secured labor's greatest legislative victories was amassed in no small part to the union-busting of his uncle.

No blogging tomorrow as I will take the Sabbath day to rest from cycling before setting out on Memorial Day for Ohio.

STAGE SUMMARY:

Starting Point - Ebensburg, PA

Ending Point - Pittsburgh, PA
Distance - 85.7 miles
Cumulative Distance - 436.4 miles
Vertical Elevation - 5486 feet

Counties - Cambria, Indiana, Westmoreland, Allegheny, PA

Wind - strong cross/headwind

Day 4: Eastern Continental Divide

Mother Nature answered my prayers for cooler and more cloudy weather after back to back 90 degree days baking in the sun earlier this week. Unfortunately, her answer included a full 50 degree drop to near freezing levels. When I stepped outside this morning in State College, the temperature was 42 degrees with a stiff 25 mph wind out of the northwest that pushed the wind chill below freezing.

For anyone who enjoys road cycling, it's easy to describe great outdoor riding weather. Partly cloudy skies, a quiet road with smooth pavement, a moderate tailwind pushing you along, and temperature in the 60s pretty much sums it up. In a cross-country journey with limited gear, you quickly realize how often you have to tolerate non-ideal riding conditions and how narrow the range is for ideal conditions.

While conditions may have been less than perfect today, a shorter ride meant less time outside. Nevertheless, the 5 mile climb over the continental divide in the last part of the ride was challenging in the face of a stiff headwind and with somewhat heavy legs after the previous days' hilly rides. The continental divide that you are probably familiar with is in the Rockies. However, another continental divide lies in the Appalachians, separating rivers that flow towards the Atlantic from waters that empty into the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to crossing the main continental divide in western Montana, my route takes me briefly across a third divide in Indiana/Illinois where waters flowing into the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

One more day of climbing and elevation tomorrow as I make my way to Pittsburgh, PA where I will enjoy my first rest day.

STAGE SUMMARY:

Starting Point - State College, PA

Ending Point - Ebensburg, PA
Distance - 65.0 miles
Cumulative Distance - 350.7 miles
Vertical Elevation - 5026 feet

Counties - Centre, Huntingdon, Blair, Cambria, PA

Wind - strong cross/headwind

Day 3: Happy Valley

Thunderstorms last night and this morning brought much needed relief from the heat and humidity of the last couple days.  The light rain generally made for good riding weather, but I had to pull over and seek shelter (and a nap) in a covered picnic area to wait out some heavier squalls.

Once the morning rain cleared, the second part of my ride offered up picturesque rolling hills with farms and small towns situated between forested ridgelines.  While the views were excellent, the strong scent emanating from the surrounding pastures took some getting used to for a city dweller - something I will have to get ready for as I move west.

Happy Valley also features another characteristically Pennsylvanian sight – horse and carriages used by the Amish families living in the area. I took a picture of a signage indicating the presence of horse buggies on the road; I thought it might be a bit rude and conspicuous to stop and take a picture of passing carriage.

The two major towns on my route – Lewisburg and State College – were far more vibrant than the communities I passed yesterday in coal country.  Anchored by universities – Bucknell and Penn State, respectively – both towns enjoy plenty of the small restaurants, cafés and interesting shops that characterize the typical college town.  Both places could stand for more lingering and exploring than my schedule permitted.

STAGE SUMMARY:

Starting Point - Sunbury, PA

Ending Point - State College, PA
Distance - 66.6 miles
Cumulative Distance - 285.7 miles
Vertical Elevation - 3882 feet

Counties - Northumberland, Snyder, Union, Centre, PA

Wind - variable cross/headwind

Day 2: Coal Country

Today's route brought me to the heart of Appalachia in eastern Pennsylvania. While clouds and a cool breeze in the Lehigh River Valley made for a pleasant morning, the heat and humidity again returned midday as I turned westward into Pennsylvania Coal Country.

As a center of American manufacturing at the beginning of the 20th century, the Lehigh River Valley and most of Pennsylvania were criss-crossed by railroads that have now been abandoned.  Like many states, Pennsylvania has converted these railway lines to gravel bike paths.  To avoid scaling the imposing Blue Mountain, I followed a rail trail along the river through the Lehigh gap since railroad tracks follow rivers to avoid excessive gradients.

West of the Lehigh Gap lies Pennsylvania coal country. Like coal producing regions elsewhere in Appalachia, this region features rusting and graying towns. Underground mining has given way to strip mining, but the coal economy continues to deteriorate as natural gas prices have fallen sharply due to fracking.  I passed south of Centralia - a ghost town with the longest burning underground coal fire.

Coal once fed the industrial economy in the region, fueling steel mills and shipyards down the Lehigh and Delaware rivers - a Silicon Valley in its time. My destination - Sunbury - featured the first building electrified by Thomas Edison, while another hardscrabble town enroute - Mahoney City - proudly noted its history as the birthplace of cable television.

Traffic on the highways was generally steady but shoulders and riding conditions were typically decent. There may be better routes for cyclists, but the route I mapped out seems serviceable.  In West Penn, PA, I stopped by a quaint bakery serving donut pudding - bread pudding made from custard donuts.  C&J's Doghouse in Mahoney City offered a nice and cheap bite for lunch and a chance to chat with the locals.

STAGE SUMMARY:

Starting Point - Bethlehem, PA

Ending Point - Sunbury, PA
Distance - 98.7 miles
Cumulative Distance - 219.1 miles
Vertical Elevation - 6147 feet

Counties - Northampton, Lehigh, Carbon, Schuylkill, Northumberland, PA

Wind - moderate crosswind

Day 1: The Garden State

Commencement day for my cross-country ride was a bit of a doozy -  heat and humidity combined with 100 miles and plenty of hills conspired for a rough ride.  My ride started in Manhattan and crossed into New Jersey at the George Washington Bridge.  Typically the GWB offers great views of the Manhattan skyline, but the humidity shrouded the city in haze.

After crossing into the Garden State, the next couple hours were spent negotiating urban streets with plenty of stoplights as I passed through Hackensack, Teaneck and Patterson.  Around noon, I left Patterson and arrived in Boonton, NJ where I refueled with a bagel and Gatorade.

The afternoon provided a hilly ride through Morris County, NJ as the Piedmont region gave way to the ridges and valleys of Appalachia - a topography that will continue to figure prominently in my rides through Pennsylvania. In terms of vertical elevation, today's ride is among the most challenging of my entire trip - most of the stages through the Rockies will not best the elevation faced today.

I crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania in the late afternoon at Easton, PA.  From there, it was another 12 miles into Bethlehem, PA, whose dominant feature is rusting edifice of the massive Bethlehem Steel mill on the Lehigh River.

My day ended with a quick (and free!) gear adjustment from the kind folks at Cutters Bike Shop in Bethleham, along with a couple pints and a burger at the local Irish pub.

STAGE SUMMARY: (click for map)

Starting Point - Morningside Heights, NY

Ending Point - Bethlehem, PA
Distance - 101.6 miles
Cumulative Distance - 120.4
Vertical Elevation - 6418 feet

Counties -New York, NY; Bergen, Passaic, Morris, Warren, NJ; Northampton, PA

Wind - intermittent headwind

St. Totteringham's Day

It's graduation day.  Six years at Columbia University came to an end with today's PhD convocation held in a cool, steady rain.  For me, the dominant emotion was more relief than elation. The memory of dissertation struggles and the stressful job market process are too fresh to look back fondly.

The happiness of graduation day was somewhat tempered by the celebration of St. Totteringham's Day.    I joined my friend Nick this morning to watch the final day of the English Premier League season at a New York pub, hoping (more than believing) that St. Totteringham's Day would skip this year. For the uninitiated, St. Totteringham's Day refers to the day in the English Premier League season after which Tottenham Hotspur cannot finish above their North London rivals Arsenal in the table. Over 18 years, Arsenal have finished above Tottenham without fail - often well before the last day of the season.

This year, as last year, Spurs pushed Arsenal to the end of the season, but nevertheless ended up a point behind the Gunners despite enjoying a sizable lead a couple months back. The fact that this ignominious occasion was postponed to the last day of the season provides little solace. I probably should not feel so strongly about a team I have only been following for three years, but English football has that effect on fans.  Maybe next year . . .

In the meantime, with graduation past, some last minute preparations await tomorrow before I start west on Tuesday.

Brighton Beach

Hoping to avoid the irritation of traveling 3000+ miles and having some know-it-all tell me that I did not really cross the US since I did not start at the Atlantic Ocean, I made a 20 mile trip today to Brighton Beach in Brooklyn. Nicknamed "Little Odessa" as home for a large immigrant community from the old Soviet Union, I might have stood out but for the fact that no one really stands out in New York City.

The presence of bike lanes makes cycling in Brooklyn and Manhattan somewhat easier but often provides a false sense of security.  Dedicated bike paths may seem safer by separating bicycles from other vehicles but often suffer from poor design and the presence of meandering pedestrians.  Bike lanes that are not separated from traffic are also narrow and situated too closely to parked cars, raising the risk of getting doored. However, for a city of 8 million, New York seems to be fairly bike friendly.

A highlight of any bike ride from Brooklyn into Manhattan is crossing the East River over the Brooklyn Bridge with its great views of the lower Manhattan skyline.

Though lacking the density of the midtown Manhattan skyline, lower Manhattan has its share of impressive buildings, some of which have been built since September 11th.  With the completion of the spire at 1 WTC, the highest point in the Manhattan skyline returns downtown.  While much of the press coverage has focused on the 12-year delay in resurrecting the WTC site, the construction of 1776 foot Freedom Tower proceeded quickly and impressively from my perspective.  Between today's ride and ride through Chicago, my cross-country route will take me past 9 of the 10 largest skyscrapers in the US.

STAGE SUMMARY:

Starting Point - Brighton Beach, NY

Ending Point - Morningside Heights, NY
Distance - 18.8 miles
Vertical Elevation - 400 feet

Counties - Kings and New York, NY

Bear Mountain

My weekend ride out to Bear Mountain marked a final long-distance tune-up ride before I begin my cross-country trip next week. I got a late start Saturday around noon, but I was able to complete the 100-mile ride before sunset.  The distance and elevation are great for training, and a downpour followed by a subsequent steady rain made the conditions a bit more challenging. 

Typically, the top of Bear Mountain offers great views of both New York City and the Hudson River Valley, but as I climbed to the top, all I got was the view from inside a cloud.  The steady rainfall made the descent a bit more tricky as I basically rode my brakes for the 4 miles down the mountain.  Riding in the rain also leaves your bike a mess afterwards.

For those of you in the New York area looking for a good day ride, I would definitely recommend a ride up to Bear Mountain.  In addition to great views from Bear Mountain, a more leisurely ride in sunny conditions offers segments riding along the Hudson River, excellent food stops in Nyack and Piermont, and Revolutionary War sites like Washington's encampment at Tappen and Stony Point battlefield.

A Route West

Preparations continue apace for my cross-country cycling trip starting in two weeks.  Over the past year, I have spent considerable time staring at Google maps and casting about for advice from other cross-country cyclists about the best route to cross the US.

My route will take me westward from New York City across the northern US culminating at the mouth of the Columbia River in Astoria, Oregon.  The first part of the journey takes me through Appalachia and the Great Lakes states, traveling from New York to Pittsburgh to points south of Cleveland and then to Chicago.

From Chicago, I turn north to Milwaukee and the west to Madison eventually following the Mississippi River to Minneapolis.  East of the Mississippi, population density is higher with numerous small towns along the route every 15-20 miles.

West of Minneapolis comes a daunting 800 mile stretch traversing the Great Plains through South Dakota and eastern Montana.  Population density thins out and the distances between towns lengthens.  My route here takes me along US-12 due west through Minnesota and then west northwest in the Dakotas.

From Billings, Montana westward, I follow the route taken by Lewis and Clark in 1804.  The Adventure Cycling Association provides routes for long-distance cycling tours.  I will follow their Lewis and Clark bike trail through western Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. Two mountain passes must be scaled in Montana before following the Snake and Columbia rivers to the Pacific.  It's a real life version of classic computer game, Oregon Trail.

One question is why travel westward instead of eastward given that winds typically blow from west to east.  Aside from a desire to follow the nation's westward expansion, it turns out that wind direction on any given day is just a matter of luck.  While coastal winds tend to blow west to east, in the middle of the country, winds typically blow from the south.  This US wind map provides a great visualization of wind patterns across the country, and a resource I will use frequently during my travels.

T-21 Days

So here goes nothing . . .

I'm 30 years old and (hopefully) completing my PhD in economics in the next couple weeks.  Anticipating an early mid-life crisis, I decided two years ago that this summer would be an excellent time for a getaway - chance to clear my head after the existential stresses of writing a dissertation and finding an academic position.

So two years ago, I decided that I was going to cycle across the United States.

The only problem with this plan: I had no experience road cycling.  My grand plan was greeted with guffaws and a healthy dose of skepticism from more seasoned cyclists.  But I figured I had two years to get ready.  I got a road bike and started riding, experiencing my share of accidents and mishaps in the beginning.

In May of 2012, I cycled from New York to Montreal - a five-day trip along the Hudson River and through the Adirondacks.  That tour was a tune-up and preparation for the big one.  Now with 21 days to go, I'm making preparations to venture out for a 50 day trek across the US.  In the coming posts, I'll keep you updated on preparations for the big trip.