I met a crazy guy on a bike. He's a biker doing the TransAmerica trail from Seattle to North Carolina. We met him at a rest area somewhere along Highway 26 between Dubois and the 287 junction after passing him slogging up a hill in his yellow windbreaker and admiring his determination at biking in such an empty part of the country that Google Maps seems to lack image data when I look at that part. In reality, there's just so little to show it actually is that white. Where on earth could he be headed? Where did he start from?
We saw him at the rest area and struck up a conversation, and found out that wow, he was going cross country. And of course for any activity, there has to be an internet community to go along with it. So, not only was he biking cross country, he was blogging along the way too! Score! That just adds to the awesomeness. And look my family is mentioned in his blog too. (We're the 'Asian-American family from Michigan') I guess whereas 50 years ago someone who wanted to do this would have a much more daunting challenge. No well prepared maps to download, or stories of other people's experiences to build up courage, no swapping tips and tales with others of similar interest. Just another example of how the internet allows people to connect over niche interests that otherwise would be very lonely.
In our conversation, he told me that three types of people bike this trail. Right after high school, right after college, and in retirement. Basically, the only time you would have 3 months to spare to go for a massive bike trip. And hey look! I'm right in that age bracket.
The trip sounds like the kind of amazing travel experience that I would like, except, that, well, I'm really not that good at biking, and do I have the endurance to go 50 miles a day of tough biking? I wish. I still have time though. I could start training. hrm...
Any takers?
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Thoughts? Corrections? Let me know at albert [at] albertsun.info