eLIFELIST.com Bike Trip

We've pretty much nailed down our route across the country and have referenced a number of different sources for the right roads to ride on.  We are riding on parts of the TransAmerica Trail established by the Adventure Cycling Association.  The Adventure Cycling Association was established in 1973 and is the number one source for Bicycle routes and travel by bicycle.  We will be following the TransAmerica Trail mostly through Kentucky, Missouri, and Kansas.  The trip is fairly straightforward until we get to Colorado and then we are in for several physically grueling weeks.  We are completing numerous Life-Lists items, competing in races and attending all sorts of events in Colorado and Utah. 

If you click on the map and the little biking icons on the map you will see each stopping location plotted out on Google Maps, the projected mileage, and the projected dates we will be at that location.  The mileage and dates are subject to change and not set in stone.  We have several "padding days" built in, some days we may do more or less miles depending on the conditions.  Up to the departure and once we're on the road we will be updating this map with content for each of the locations.  The GPS map tracking us will be very similar but with tons more stats about the weather, altitude and our speed.

TONS of organization!  Where to stay, what to do, who to meet.  Lots of planning is going on right now and it's really becoming quite an exciting reality as things are falling into place.

We are finalizing our route today and tomorrow with all the places we will be stopping.  Hopefully you received the first edition of the weekly newsletter, if not, sign up to receive it on the top of this website's homepage, if you want a copy of last week's, send an email to [email protected] and we'll get that to you.  Tell your friends and family about the newsletter, all you do is click the forward button!

If you haven't seen this show on the Discovery channel yet, check it out.  The host Bear Grylls is an ex British Special Forces soldier, climbed Everest when he was 23 (youngest Briton ever to do it and live) and is a well regarded motivational leader, adventurer and a master survivalist.  On Man vs. Wild he puts himself in extreme outdoor situations and environments with usually just a canteen, knife and a flint, sometimes less and has to work his way out to safety or civlization. 

A few of the more intense moments from this season were when he ate a fish while it was still alive, ate meat from a dead zebra, drank the liquid from elephant feces because his body needed fluids, and ate a live snake, the list goes on.  It's not that he does these things to be "crazy" either, he has a matter of fact, "I need to eat, I need to sleep and I need water" mentality and that's what makes him and the show so great.  He loads every episode with tips and advice.  The show is one of the best things on TV, as is just about everything on the Discovery Channel, don't even get me started on how ridiculous Planet Earth is or the fact that I'm kind of obsessed with it.  There are new episodes of Man vs. Wild starting in June.  Hopefully we won't face any situations on the bike trip near as intense as the ones he puts himself in on the show. I like my meat cooked thank you.  

However, two of the episodes from this first season were based in places we are going, the Sierra Nevada mountain range and Moab, Utah.  I'm honestly looking forward to the unknowns and challenges of the locations we will travel through. 

Brent has "Mountain bike Moab" on his Life-List so we will be doing that among other things.  

Carry on  Mr. Grylls, keep doing what you're doing. 

Yes, slightly, but that's how we roll.  We've bumped up our departure one month for the Bike Trip,  now planning to leave from North Carolina the beginning of July, finishing up in San Francisco the first of September.  Preparing the trip by then is going to be quite intense.

Nailing down the mileage and route is proving to be difficult but exciting to see where we'll be riding.  There are a million things that need to fall into place, ok maybe 1,000 is a more accurate number.

More exciting eLIFELIST.com news to be announced soon.

I can't deny my home state.  The Lincoln Highway just looked so straight forward and easy, that was the problem.  We've gone back to thinking we'll start in North Carolina again, and 99% sure we'll start there.  We'll still end up in San Fran.  It just seemed too easy to do the Lincoln Highway (famous last words).  We want to do something a bit different.  The plan (for now) is to ride across NC then head north through Kentucky and up through Nebraska, then Colorado, Moab Utah, Salt Lake, The Sierras and then on to San Francisco. 

Starting in North Carolina makes me more excited about the route, I'm really looking forward to riding across the state I grew up in. 

Brent and I had a long conversation on the phone today about tackling the trip.  It's difficult to not get bogged down in all the details of it, but I think it will be that much more fun when everything's laid out.  I'm all about some spontaneity but I like to have deadlines and guidelines too, especially when we establish them. 

We've been hitting the web pretty hard to research what the best things are to do and see on the trek.  If you know of anything we should see or do along our route please send us a message [email protected]  We plan on stopping at a lot of college, Wake Forest being one in particular. 

After a bit more research on some routes across the US we've been looking a little more closely at the Lincoln Highway which was the first automobile highway that went across the country.  True Story.  The Lincoln Highway has been undergoing some extensive repairs and restoration in the past several years.  Formed in 1913 the Lincoln Highway spans from New York City to San Francisco and is roughly 3500 miles.  It goes through 14 states and stops in these major cities: New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, South Bend, Des Moines, Omaha, Granger, Salt Lake City, Reno/Carson City, and San Francisco.  We said we wanted to start in NC but this route may be a bit more scenic and established.  We're still weighing a ton of options at this point as we research and learn more about what it will take to ride Bicycles across the country.

Brent found a couple bikes that have barely been used on Craigslist and bargained for them.  They are Diamondbacks and would be fine for the trip.  The bikes we need have to be tough and able to take a beating for two months.  Of Course we wouldn't turn down some newer, nicer bikes though. 

Pretty soon we will be launching a whole new set of features on eLIFELIST.com, we'll be sure to post on here when they're live.