Touring by Bike

Many people think that you need a fancy bike or even electric-assist in order to go across town. For me though, all that was needed was a regular old hybrid bike, water, and lunch. This trip was about 50-60 miles. In my late teens I took trips like this every week to different parts of Los Angeles. Some of my adventures were more then 100 miles round trip.

During my time in New York there was less time for travel as I was working more. I had a work commute that ranged from 15-20 miles each day. This got me in such great shape that I was able to take a trip along the entire length of Long Island to Montauk Point. The trip was roughly 100 miles and took me from the densest part of Brooklyn through the suburbs and out to the more rural areas.

The peak of my touring experience was cycling across North America. I didn't take a plane flight to the coast and then depart (as many do), I just hiked my bike out from my apartment and left Manhattan for New Jersey and then north toward the Erie Canal which took me to Niagara falls and into Canada (this was before border crossings became tightened). Then I cycled across Ontario and back into Michigan, Ohio, and Chicago. As the weather got colder in the fall I shifted south towards Texas and New Mexico along route 66.

Living in the Pacific Northwest opened up new opportunities for experiencing the outdoors. I connected with other bike touring enthusiasts and we would take trips out to the forest on weekends. The best time for this was a three-day weekend which allowed one day to go out, a day for relaxing, and a final day for the return trip.

In 2014 I met someone who took regular trips to Wy'East (called Mt. Hood by settlers) and I traveled with his group on several occasions. It's difficult for modern people to imagine the experience of traveling from sea level to the top of a 3000 meter high mountain entirely with human power. But that's what we did.

In 2017 a solar eclipse was predicted to pass through Oregon and Idaho. This motivated me to travel with some friends on a 100+ mile trip to Seekseekqua (called Mt. Jefferson by settlers). Although this mountain is nearly as tall as Wy'East, I didn't go as far up the slope due to severe smoke and wildfire conditions (you can see the orange tint in the photo). Instead we watched the eclipse from a spot called Tombstone Pass. The trip was still an amazing adventure and I had a great time connecting with my friends.

With the pandemic still in force, the trip that I took was with only 1 person and went to a remote part of the Pacific Crest trail. This was a great location for offering options for traveling farther from the road then some other trips allowed. In this case I hiked from the highway south for more then a day to reach Clear Lake which was quite an experience. The only downside to this trip was the overwhelming flood of biting insects.