Forward: The Calm Before the Ride

At 3:30 PM on May 5, 2023, the traffic on the 405 highway in LA was bumper to bumper, with five lanes crawling along at 3-5 MPH. Earlier that morning, my wife Chris and I loaded our luggage into the car, mounted my Trek Domane road bike on the roof rack, and began the 6-hour drive from Walnut Creek, CA, to El Segundo, CA. The reason for our road trip was that two days hence, on May 7, I would embark on a coast-to-coast bicycle trip from Manhatten Beach, California, to Revere Beach, Massachusetts. I signed up and paid for the trip in the fall of 2022 after discovering a bike tour company called Crossroads Cycling Adventures on the web. Ever since 2019, when I embarked on my first long-distance bike tour, I had been scouring the internet for a company that offered long-distance tours with hotel accommodations instead of camping each night. At the age of 66, having a hot shower and a hotel room after a long day of cycling is a must. 

In 2019, when I was 62, I fulfilled one of my lifelong dreams of riding my bike across the United States. With the help of a small tour company called America By Bike, 14 of us made our way from San Francisco to New Hampshire in 52 days. We averaged between 70 and 80 miles a day. On the last day of that ride, I remember wishing it wouldn't end. I found the daily routine of rising at 5:00 AM, applying sunscreen and chamois cream, putting on the cycling shorts and jersey, then riding new roads for hours on end was quite meditative and immensely exhilarating. Gone were the day-to-day distractions as my singular focus became completing the day's miles safely. Upon arriving at the hotel each day, I would text my wife immediately to let her know I had arrived safely. Then I was off to the nearest sandwich shop or fast food joint to enjoy my reward for burning 5000 calories over the past few hours. And even after devouring a Wendy's "Baconator," large fries, and perhaps even a frosty, there was still dinner to look forward to in just a few hours. What's not to like? Ah, life's simple pleasures.

I've found that most cyclists I have spoken to, even avid ones, have no burning desire to ride their bikes daily for 80 to 90 miles across the US for nearly two months straight. For some, the corn fields of Iowa and Kansas become boring; for others, the training becomes tedious, time-consuming, and not worth their effort. I suspect that most recreational cyclists would be happy to have completed such a ride successfully and check it off their bucket list. But for me however, since I dipped my front wheel in the Atlantic Ocean in New Hampshire in 2019, not a day has passed where I have not dreamed of doing another long-distance ride.

Tomorrow, that day will finally be here...