Lessons from Rhode Island to Philadelphia

What do you learn in the first 10 days of a cross-country bicycle journey? OH MY GOD SO MUCH LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT IT!

My Bike Is Heavy

Practicing in April and May, I was riding around with about 15 pounds worth of books in my bags. THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH!

Weighing all of my gear the night before, it all added up to 35 pounds - and this was AFTER I cut about 5 pounds worth of what I decided was “extra crap.”

Whoops.

Going uphill is hard. Very hard. In case anyone is wondering, 35 pounds is about 6 gallons of gas, or 140 sticks of butter. Try climbing a hill with that much Land ‘o Lakes. On the plus side, I feel like Bowser from Mario Kart when I’m going downhill!

My legs have definitely been sore, but I feel accomplished!

Breaking News: Rain Is Wet (But My Gear Is Good)

Ortlieb bags are a must - also, yellow is bright!

The third day of my trip was rough: I got hit with a 4-hour rainstorm in the southwestern part of Connecticut (you know, the part that’s basically New York). I briefly daydreamed about checking into a dry hotel for the day, but the though of impending thunderstorms if I delayed kept me going.

While the day was gross, my gear was amazing! I was grateful that I had spent the extra money on a set of Ortlieb waterproof bags for my bike. I was soaked, but my stuff was dry!

Roadkill, Roadkill Everywhere

Maybe this is just something you don’t really notice in a car, but I feel like I’ve seen more roadkill in the last week on my bike than I ever saw in my car, even on especially long drives. Maybe you notice it more when you’re close enough to smell it and have the flies fly up into your face from the carcass. Yeah…that must be it.

But seriously there’s a TON of dead animals on the side of the road, and a whole lot more birds than I would have expected.

Not All Bike Routes Are Created Equal

So there is a route from Maine all the way down to Florida called The East Coast Greenway. Some parts of it are amazing, and some parts of it need to die in a fire so we can build amazing bike routes from their ashes.

Seriously, the ride from Hartford to New Haven was an absolute dream of nearly 100% bike paths.

And then the next day, the “greenway” took me onto busy, multi-lane roads, with speeding trucks and no shoulder to speak of. It also didn’t help that this was the day of my trip that the heavens decided to open up and dump gallons of water on my 140-butter-stick carrying self.

So some days, I expect to have peaceful riding in the sun under a canopy of trees, complete with stops by waterfalls. And other days I expect to have trucks splash dirty puddle water into my mouth.

I Can Do This

And despite all of my complaining, lack of preparedness, and the rain, I can totally do this. Ultimately, I’ll get used to the extra weight on the bike, I’ll welcome the rain in the heat of summer, I’ll make a game out of collecting sets of roadkill, and I’ll find the bike path if I just keep pedaling.

And if I can do this, you can do this (or whatever equivalent crazy idea you happen to have). So go do it.