When I (Josh) was first researching the logistics of planning a trip of this nature I had intended on creating our own route across the country. However, after reading other biker blogs I realized that, although possible, planning your own path could not only be frustrating but also could be dangerous. Many cyclist use routes mapped out by the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA). This is of course the option we chose. Their maps have done a wonderful job of laying out everything we need to know for a successful ride. The maps have the route, an elevation profile, average rainfall, temperature, field notes, wildlife facts, riding strategies, and a list of all the phone numbers of emergency contacts, lodging, grocery stores, etc. All of our planning starts with the maps. The ACA also has helpful links on their website which I used, specifically a list of things to pack and a suggestion of what type of gear to buy.
On Thursday morning we were in Missoula, MT and went to the headquarters of ACA. For me, this was a big highlight. I have been planning and strategizing this trip for over a year. To make it to the place where others have planned and strategized similar trips was pretty neat. When we got there we were given a tour of the building and saw the original tandem bike that was ridden when researching the Trans-American bike route back in 1974 as well as other iconic bikes with impressive stories. We had our polaroid picture taken and hung on a wall of touring cyclists, given ice cream and soda, and hung out for a couple hours in the courtyard area to do some maintenance on our bikes.
While in the courtyard Greg Stiple, one of the founders of ACA, introduced himself and we followed him with our bikes to get a picture for his photo narratives. He’s taken over 4,500 similar black and white photos of touring cyclists. He publishes these photos with short personal stories that people write for him. We also guessed the weight of our bikes. He brought us around to the scales and found that our fully loaded bikes weigh 78 lbs (Josh) and 58 lbs (Brie). We had guessed 8 lbs lighter on each. We talked briefly with him about his vision for the association. When he and his wife and another couple rode from Alaska to Argentina Greg envisioned having a route across the country for America’s 200th year anniversary. In 1976 the Trans-American bicycle route was ridden for the first time. It just so happened that Greg and the ACA had just finished publishing and printing a book about the ACA and the Trans-Am. It wasn’t too hard to convince us to buy a signed copy of the book and two Trans-Am jerseys before we finally left at 1:30.
We stopped at Subway to quickly get some fuel in our systems before starting out on what became one of our bigger days so far. We had a warm showers house to go to that night that was 83 miles away. Starting at 2:00 (after eating) for that long of a ride is not all that great of an idea. Fortunately, about 30 miles of the route was all on bike trails which means smooth, no traffic riding. It was very nice. We pushed hard too. Brie did amazing. I was still so excited from being at the ACA that I just wanted to go faster and faster. I thought that at some point we would slow down but we pushed it the whole ride and took only a small handful of breaks. Our previously highest average was 12.4 mph but during this ride we were up by 1.5 mph to 13.9 mph average speed. We were also very fortunate that the Lord kept us from any weather problems. There was rain in the forecast and we could see the dark clouds coming over the mountains. In fact, at one point we had just a few rain drops falling as we pushed through the valley. We looked back and could see the road we were on a few miles back getting dumped on with rain.
When we finally made it to our warm showers host near Sula, we were so graciously welcomed by Linda and Phil who were just finishing up a Bible study with people from their church. We had skipped supper, choosing quick snacks instead, to try to make it in before dark. Linda kindly pulled out some amazing left overs for us along with homemade bread. We had great conversation with them. They even let us use their hot tub which I nearly could not get out of as it zapped the remainder of my energy. We certainly slept well that night.
The Jake Report (Thursday):
Miles: 82.93 Time on Bike: 5 hrs 57 min Ave: 13.92 Elevation Change: +900 ft Weather: warm, tailwind
On Thursday morning we were in Missoula, MT and went to the headquarters of ACA. For me, this was a big highlight. I have been planning and strategizing this trip for over a year. To make it to the place where others have planned and strategized similar trips was pretty neat. When we got there we were given a tour of the building and saw the original tandem bike that was ridden when researching the Trans-American bike route back in 1974 as well as other iconic bikes with impressive stories. We had our polaroid picture taken and hung on a wall of touring cyclists, given ice cream and soda, and hung out for a couple hours in the courtyard area to do some maintenance on our bikes.
While in the courtyard Greg Stiple, one of the founders of ACA, introduced himself and we followed him with our bikes to get a picture for his photo narratives. He’s taken over 4,500 similar black and white photos of touring cyclists. He publishes these photos with short personal stories that people write for him. We also guessed the weight of our bikes. He brought us around to the scales and found that our fully loaded bikes weigh 78 lbs (Josh) and 58 lbs (Brie). We had guessed 8 lbs lighter on each. We talked briefly with him about his vision for the association. When he and his wife and another couple rode from Alaska to Argentina Greg envisioned having a route across the country for America’s 200th year anniversary. In 1976 the Trans-American bicycle route was ridden for the first time. It just so happened that Greg and the ACA had just finished publishing and printing a book about the ACA and the Trans-Am. It wasn’t too hard to convince us to buy a signed copy of the book and two Trans-Am jerseys before we finally left at 1:30.
We stopped at Subway to quickly get some fuel in our systems before starting out on what became one of our bigger days so far. We had a warm showers house to go to that night that was 83 miles away. Starting at 2:00 (after eating) for that long of a ride is not all that great of an idea. Fortunately, about 30 miles of the route was all on bike trails which means smooth, no traffic riding. It was very nice. We pushed hard too. Brie did amazing. I was still so excited from being at the ACA that I just wanted to go faster and faster. I thought that at some point we would slow down but we pushed it the whole ride and took only a small handful of breaks. Our previously highest average was 12.4 mph but during this ride we were up by 1.5 mph to 13.9 mph average speed. We were also very fortunate that the Lord kept us from any weather problems. There was rain in the forecast and we could see the dark clouds coming over the mountains. In fact, at one point we had just a few rain drops falling as we pushed through the valley. We looked back and could see the road we were on a few miles back getting dumped on with rain.
When we finally made it to our warm showers host near Sula, we were so graciously welcomed by Linda and Phil who were just finishing up a Bible study with people from their church. We had skipped supper, choosing quick snacks instead, to try to make it in before dark. Linda kindly pulled out some amazing left overs for us along with homemade bread. We had great conversation with them. They even let us use their hot tub which I nearly could not get out of as it zapped the remainder of my energy. We certainly slept well that night.
The Jake Report (Thursday):
Miles: 82.93 Time on Bike: 5 hrs 57 min Ave: 13.92 Elevation Change: +900 ft Weather: warm, tailwind