Today I Bought This Website

(Copied from the Board Game Bike notebook I started in July 2020).

Today I bought www.boardgamebike.com.

I wish I could be doing this today!  Unfortunately, the state of the world doesn’t exactly let me just up and ride my bike across the country at the moment.  Of course, who’s to say I’d even be in shape enough to do that.

But here’s the idea.  I’ve always been fascinated by crossing the country.  In my late 20s one of my best friends and I went on a road trip through the South from the Carolinas all the way to California. We played an inning of wiffleball in each of the 9 states we passed through.  Some of these were played in rest areas and hotel parking lots, others at The Grand Canyon and a Revolutionary War site.

Having grown up on the East Coast, setting my feet in the Pacific Ocean was a downright religious experience.  I wonder if people who grew up on the West Coast feel the same way about swimming in the Atlantic?  My instinct is to say no.  Heading west is chasing after the sun.  Heading east is running away from it.  But maybe some of you West Coast peeps can let me know?

For a few years after I came back to the East Coast, I daydreamed about going back West, but I wanted to do it using nothing but my own “human power.”  I toyed with the idea of walking across the country, but that’s just so slow.

But when the virus hit and I got laid off from work, I didn’t really have much of a need to drive. I noticed that I filled up my gas tank exactly once between early March and late July.  I’d always wanted to use a bike more, and I was temporarily discouraged when I tried to get a bike from three separate retailers only to be told that there was a national bike shortage!  So I scoured craigslist and found one for sale in good condition and jumped on the opportunity.  

Bike acquired!

I wanted to use it as my primary mode of transport.  My first bike ride in a decade ended up being a 22-mile round trip to the closest REI so I could buy a helmet, a water bottle, and a flashing rear light that clipped onto my seat post.  I got back exhausted and with a sore butt.  I was hooked.

What if I road my bike to the West Coast?   Surely I was crazy.  I mean, there’s no way I was serious, right?  Of course not.  

Except that I couldn’t get the thought out of my head.  I found myself googling “bike ride across the US,” and found that this wasn’t just something a few crazy people did – there is a whole giant community of “Bike Touring” – a way of seeing the world riding just a bicycle.  I was floored.  More importantly, I was excited.  

But let’s face it – I’m not much of a camper.  For a few days, I dismissed the idea as a fantasy.  That is, until I was biking back up my street, just about to pull into my driveway: 

“What if I biked a route that passed through the hometowns of various board game designers I’ve met over the years.”

In that instance, Board Game Bike was born.  I could use the bike, use my “human power”, to visit board game designers from all over the country, biking to their homes, playtesting games, and enjoying the camaraderie of being part of this community.  As the idea developed, it also seemed like an obvious choice to then write/vlog about the experiences.  I could do interviews, playtest session takeaways, highlights of people’s current projects, etc.  

In a way, I could give back to this community that has given me so much of its time, wisdom, and support.  

So this is Board Game Bike.  Coronavirus-withstanding, I’m planning to depart on my cross country game design adventure in the summer of 2021.  In the meantime, there’s a lot of planning to do.  I hope you’ll join me.