The End

Well. We made it to Astoria two days ago, the end of our official route. Yesterday we got to see the Pacific Ocean, completing our coast-to-coast goal.

There are a lot of mixed feelings about the tour being over, especially on my end with my stolen bike and all... but more than anything I feel grateful. Grateful for this incredible opportunity and accomplishment; for the generosity of others along the way, particularly when my bike was taken and I was given a loaner to use; and for my three incredible friends who made this tour very special to me.

I plan on writing more, but there is currently a lot going on with us getting transported back to Portland and then eventually our respective final destinations. Until then I just want to thank everyone who has been following the blog and supporting us along the way. This tour has made this summer my best one yet.

- Chris

STOLEN BIKE - REWARD OFFERED

(Originally posted on Facebook)

***STOLEN BIKE IN PORTLAND, OREGON***

$500 REWARD, NO QUESTIONS ASKED

Brand: Salsa
Model: Fargo
Color: Green

Portland PD Case #: 15-282546
Serial #: M14062592

This is a follow-up post regarding my still stolen touring bike that I've been riding for almost three months and over 4,000 miles across the country from Yorktown, VA to Portland, OR (Astoria was our intended destination). The sentimental value of the bike is beyond description. Unfortunately, a number of other valuable trinkets were taken along with the bike including personal gifts collected on the tour, my film camera, and a bag of my favorite gummy worms :(

On Monday, August 17, around 4:00pm my bike was stolen from the corner of 15th Ave. and Alberta St. At the time it was unloaded, meaning my bags were not attached. So the bike was last seen with:

- Cork colored bar tape
- Brooks B17 brown leather saddle
- Ortlieb handlebar bag and mount
- Salsa brand plastic front racks mounted to the fork arms
- Salsa brand steel back rack (black)
- Front and rear Planet Bike fenders (black)
- 2 bottle cages and hand pump mount
- American flag mounted in the back

I'm feeling pretty messed up about losing my bike and I just want it back, hence the reward. Please help spread the word. I'm hoping that continued exposure will help expedite the recovery of my bike.

*****Again, I am offering a $500 reward for the safe return of my bicycle--no questions asked.*****

Thank you to everyone who has helped to support and guide me in this awful experience.

Day 76- Kody bday blog

Hola! It's my birthday and we're taking a day off so I figured I should take another shot at this blog thing. 

It's been a month since I've written anything and I'm glad it's been that way- we've just been having too much of a good time. I feel good as shit right now. Post college life had me feeling more serious and cynical than I even knew at the time. Traveling with these three amazing humans that I grew up makes me feel like I'm more of myself again. 

Since there's no way to really capture all of this last month other than the few pics I've been sharing, here's the highlight reel!

1) climbing the Rockies/breckenridge magic 

'Twas my first time seeing the Rockies and they did not disappoint. Was easy peasy to bike compared to the Appalachians because of the generally gradual and long climbs. The Appalachians are a roller coaster of steep ass climbs. 

Got stopped by a dude in his car as we were looking for a campsite in Breckenridge. Ike had biked from the states to the World Cup in Brazil last year and radfully let us camp outside and inside his amazing cabin in the middle of the woods. Most stars I've ever seen, some of the coolest ppl we've met on the tour. 

2) Wyoming/Tetons/Yellowstone

Damn, Wyoming. Most open sky I've ever seen. Also the home of the first and last time the we stealth camped in a bathroom of a mountain lodge.

The Tetons were the coolest mountain range that I've seen. Super jagged looking. 

Yellowstone was aight. Crowded but beautiful. 

3) Montana

Definitely my favorite state of the tour. Big sky country, streams everywhere, all around beauty. Felt super peaceful there. 

Missoula!!!! Favorite city of the tour and only city other than New Orleans that I've been to where I would consider moving too. 

4) Almost there

After Missoula, we booked it and biked 400 miles in five days through the heat, leaving us all pretty burnt out of the tour and ready to be done. For the last 3 days, we've biked in 100+ degree weather through the desert of Eastern Washington/Oregon and it's definitely taken a toll on us. 

We only have 250 miles left until we will have biked across America coast to coast. After being on the road for the past two and a half months (and especially this past week), I can now say that I am ready for life after this bike tour. Gonna spend a few days in Portland (another city where I've always wanted to look at to live in), hit the coast, and head back to Portland where I'll fly out of sometime in the last week of August. 

Will make a more coherent post when I'm back in boston if you're into that.

<3 Kody #feelthebern

Day 72: Idaho Schmidaho

I'm currently in Clarkston, Washington, waiting for the rest of the guys to get to our WarmShowers host's house. I left from Kamiah, Idaho, very early with Bryce to beat the heat and get a healthy start on our ~90 mile day. 

Lewis & Clark impression

[Side Note: We decided in Missoula that we would switch over to the Lewis & Clark route, which allows us to go through Portland on our way to the coast, and gives Kody enough extra time to ride to San Francisco with us]

Idaho was meh--though we weren't in the state for very long. Yesterday we put in nearly 100 miles down Highway 12, "The Best Ride In Idaho" (my ass). The narrow, shoulder-less road follows the Clearwater River and is frequented by annoying hoards of Harley riders, old retirees with enormous camper trailers, and all other sorts of traffic. We got all kinds of attitude from motorcyclists, drivers, and the local shopkeepers (where everything was way overpriced, even by small-town standards). It sucked. 

Once we got to Kamiah, it was recommended that we stay off of Highway 12 by the ACA and by Idaho DOT (according to our handy-dandy maps). We ended up taking a different route over yet another mountainous climb and a series of valley hills. But it was totally worth it because we got to descend down 15 miles of Old Winchester Grade. This has been the most fun descent of the tour with its steep straightaways leading into several tight S-curves and banked switchbacks. 

Honestly though Idaho really made a shitty two-day impression on me. The people--on and off the road--were generally unpleasant. The trash on the sides of the road is an eyesore, especially compared to the pristine mountain and country roads of Montana and Wyoming. And Idahoan bike infrastructure is an old wooden ship that sank in the 1700's. But hey, we're in Washington. And soon we'll be in Oregon. And just a bit after that, we'll have completed our coast-to-coast goal! Perhaps even by the end of the week...hmm. 

That's weird/crazy/exciting to think about.  

Until next post.

- Chris

  

Day 69

Sorry mom!

Today is our fourth and final full day in Missoula, and to tell you the truth I don't really want to leave.

I've found so much in this city; diverse and wonderful people, a rich music scene and bicycle community, interesting doors to potential career paths, and even a promising grad school choice. Missoula is the city I've been waiting this entire tour to see and I didn't even know it until I got here.

Yesterday we all got our matching tour tats at a shop called Bound by Glory. Afterwards I split off in search of the local bike polo club. I asked a random cyclist on the road about it and he sent me to Free Cycles, Missoula's impressive community bike shop. A volunteer, Bob, then directed me to the screen printing shop down the road where two polo guys worked. I got hooked up with Jeremy and Corey and they arranged a spare polo bike and mallet for me.

Later that evening, I rode Jeremy's (rather nice) loaner bike to the university garage where I was greeted by a handful of Missoula's bike polo club members. The rest of the guys came by as well and cheered us on as we played several pickup games. I found that, despite only having played polo for a few months, I was able to hold my own and show the locals a little Tallahassee polo flavor (shouts out to everyone in Tally Polo who have helped me get better at the game). We had fun playing polo, drinking beers, and getting to know each othet as newfound friends for hours well after the sun had gone down.

Today we are taking it easy. And by that I mean biking around the town finding even more fun things to do. Missoula has several street pianos scattered about downtown. This morning we jammed with a guy playing one by a bike shop. Before lunch we jammed on a painted piano in front of an office building. After lunch we passed by a street performer and jammed with him too!

Missoula has so much to offer. I wish we had kayaks to paddle the river that goes through town. I wish we had mountain bikes to shred Missoula's surrounding trails. I wish I had more time to visit every odd boutique shop, brewpub, music venue, bike shop, and meet all the people there. It's going to be so hard to leave tomorrow. I'll surely have to come back--perhaps even to live here for a while.

Until then I'll just have to enjoy the 17 hours we have left in this amazing city.

- Chris

Day 67: More More More Missoula!

It's 2:18am and I've found myself laying on a tarp in the front yard of a man named Bruce.

Second full day of exploring Missoula.

This morning started slow: packing up our gear, taking one last shower, eating a last minute sandwich, etc. 

Then boom we were off!

I got plastic googly eyes to stick onto random things. Visited more bike shops (there are so many here in Missoula) and revisited the ACA headquarters. 

Biked by a lunch/live music event in the downtown Caras Park. Played Bruce's drumset while Kody played piano. Visited a whacky souvenir shop with all kinds of bohemian paraphernalia. Stopped by a music store to get some valve oil for Kody's trumpet. Played on all of their instruments. Ate at a really good chinese buffet. 

I then took a tour of the University of Montana while the other guys hiked "The M" and I saw two bucks trotting through campus. 

Biked over to the Big Sky Brewery to catch a peek at the Dirty Heads and Slightly Stoopid concert. Ended up jumping the fence and dancing the night away. Ran into some kids jamming on drums in the parking lot. Joined them. Other people with drums and freestyles joined in. Met a pretty girl from France. Met an ugly girl from Idaho.

Biked to Taco Bell where they refused us service because the lobby was closed and they do not acknowledge bikes in the drive-thru (bullshit). Got lost because our phones died. Stumbled into Bruce's place to find the yard sprinkled with tents and the living room crawling with cyclists in their sleeping bags.

Goodnight.

- Chris

Day 66: Home Away From Home

It's 1:04am and I'm just now settling in to sleep after a long day exploring Missoula. 

I'm enamored with this place. 

First off, we are currently staying with a very nice couple. They are the parents of Kody's roommate in Boston. In addition to being generous hosts, Cindy and Barry (and dog, Gus) are fun to socialize with and have had good recommendations regarding what-to-do in Missoula.

So. Bryce and I (Who tf is Bryce?? [More on that later]) got up and out early, on a mission to get new bike chains, visit the REI, and maybe stumble across a cool thing or two. 

We shot straight into downtown for four miles or so on a paved bike path that runs along the river weaving through various small neighborhoods and parks. Ended up finding three local bike shops all within a few blocks of each other including a community bike shop. Got our chains and talked with the shop guys (also window shopped all the ritzy bikes we would never justify buying).

Saw some murals. Saw lots of pretty women. Got smiles from a couple pretty women. Saw lots of people on bikes. Heard a dude playing electric guitar at a really huge city skate park. Passed too many tempting brew pubs and restaurants. Biked down semi-canopy roads. Every road, every bikeable surface pulling me as if with gravity to go faster, and see more things. 

In many ways, it reminded me of all the times I'd bike around Tallahassee with my friends. My happy place at home. And that's exactly where I felt I was as I zipped through the streets, sidewalks, and paths of Missoula. 

Right at 11:00am the Tamarak Brew Pub opened. Bryce and I ordered their stout and scotch ale, respectively, and shot the shit; getting to know each other a bit better. Then we noodled our way to the Adventure Cycling Association Headquarters via streets that were well signed for cyclists, often having a generous bike lane. 

On the ACA wall

The ACA HQ was awesome. For biketour nerdlords, it's a mecca of bicycle touring. Thousands of cyclists have come through Missoula to leave their contribution to the organization's archives. The office departments were small-scale, but were designed and decorated well with a fitting aesthetic. The employee bike parking area seemed to have more bikes than employees. They also offered us free stuff like soda and ice cream sandwiches. 

Afterwards we went to an REI and again ogled at all the ritzy camping/biking shit we would never justify buying. Then biked home to escape the afternoon heat, clean our bikes and put on the new chains, and eat dinner. Before dinner, Barry took us out to the river to swim and play with Gus, their black lab who can swim super fast. 

Supper was grilled chicken, salad with avocado and fresh mozzarella, red and white wine, blue corn chips and salsa, and sea salted homefries. Afterwards, Bryce and I rolled back out across town to the University where "The M" is: a 600 foot hike up to where a concrete "M" lies on a hill/mountain thing. We watched the sun set over the low lying smoke that blew in from the Washington wildfires a few days ago, turning the sun and surrounding sky many shades of red and orange. Bryce and I shot the shit some more. 

At the top of The M

Then we decided to get snacks and wander around the bike paths and any interesting streets we might have found. We did come across a couple neat strips of interesting places, but most were closed. I did note, however, that the bike paths were well-used even at the later hours of night. Also the town is mega dark at night! Lights definitely required. 

So we dragged our feet back to the house, stopping at a couple park benches to watch the river and talk. And it was nice. It was a full day of bikes, exploration, and people. I'm very impressed with Missoula's bike infrastructure, and excited about future improvements such as the HWY 93 bike path addition. I'm stoked we get to stay here another day. Will probably do more riding around, except I'll take more pictures next time. 

I swooned over her for a good while

I'll never forget Missoula. It is the best city I've ever been to (except TLH, duh).

- Chris

65: Missssooooula

We made it to Missoula! We had a nice ride from Darby, MT.

Everywhere around here is blanketed in what looks like fog. Evidently it's smoke from the wildfires in Washington. It's also very hot around here, which is abnormal according to locals.

It's actually pretty odd--everyone across the country seems to be experiencing increasingly odd weather over the past five to ten years. Makes one think...

Anyway. Not much more to say about today except that we went by a flea market and got some cool hats. We are staying here in Missoula for a little while so I'm sure tomorrow will be loaded with fun stuff.

- Chris

Day 64: Don't Call It A Comeback

And just like that, we hit Colorado and the blog went silent.

Well.

We've found that there is an inverse correlation between how much fun we are having and how much we want to blog. Sorry not sorry. I'll give you some highlights:

Colorado

• Extremely rude drivers
• Beautiful and very tall mountains (7,000-14,000 feet)
• Breckenridge was a huge disappointment; hoity-toity, overpriced, and full of snooty tourists
• Except we did get to meet a really cool dude named Ike and his friends. He showed us the sled dog kennel where he works and we got to interact with the 150 huskies there. 
• Hoosier Pass (~12,000 feet) was ezpz. 
• Marijuana is legal and the locals are pretty generous...

Wyoming

Ze Tetons

Bull Lake

• Beautiful country, easy climbs, and gratifying descents
• Sparsely populated, though everyone there is super friendly
• We stayed two nights in the Lander city park where they allow you to camp for up to three days for free
• Dylan and I took a detour to Bull Lake in the Wind River Indian Plantation. It was huge and awesome.
• Wide roads with big shoulders
• Lots of wildlife
• A rare cold front hit, bringing temperatures down to the 30's at night
• Once we got to Yellowstone, it stopped being fun because tourists are awful and are crawling all over there. No shoulders on the road and shit loads of big ass trucks pulling huge ass camper trailers.
• But we did get to stay with a girl we met named Kate who works for the park. She let us stay in her trailer to avoid having to sleep outside in 30 degrees. 

Montana

We found a dead bat

• Very much like Wyoming, except with more mountains, more streams, more hot springs, more wildlife, and just more of everything that we've been excited for on this trip. 
• This is the first state that I've found myself wanting to come back to visit.

Mean muggin' in Montana

We have just over 1,000 miles left to go. It's strange how close to the end that feels. We will be in Missoula tomorrow and we're pumped to take a couple days off there. Yeah buddy!

- Chris

Day 42- HALFWAY ACROSS THE COUNTRY ON THETRANSAM TRAIL post

Hello! For all the loyal blog fans out there, I don't think I've posted my innermost thoughts about the tour for two weeks so this is me doing that now. This is the special "Super sappy but not so sappy HALFWAY ACROSS THE COUNTRY ON THE TRANSAM TRAIL" post. Hope you enjoy the novel!

INTRO: We've biked 2,176 miles. We have 2,056 more miles until we reach Astoria, OR. After Pueblo, we'll be swooping up the Rockies hitting our max altitude of around 11,000 feet before heading north to Wyoming, over to Yellowstone, up to Missoula, Montana, through the land of potatoes, and on to Portlandia and the gorgeous coast of Oregon. Afterwards, imma solo ride up to Seattle and fly or take a 3-day train to Boston- hopefully by Sept. 1. Boom. Now here's the innermost thoughts section of the ride:

Hiking!

COLORADO!!! Michael "Michael Taylor" Taylor and I are in the luxurious home of another one of his dope/rad family members in Colorado Springs while Chris and Dylan make their way to Pueblo (Chris got a new wheel shipped since his back wheel was poo and so him and Dylan hung back in Kansas while me and Michael pedaled to Colorado.) Me and MT got super lucky in Kansas/Eastern Colorado (which basically still Kansas), having tailwinds and overcast skies for all but the last two days so we booked it- doing two 100+ miles rides, two 80+, and one 65er in the span of five days. #milebrag. The last day was super special as Michael and I biked 105 miles for the sole purpose of making it to Pueblo, CO before Sunday so we could eat Chick-fil-a. God bless it.

I've only been in Colorado for two days and I'm already in love. Today, we went on a rad hike in the most crispest, not humid air I've ever felt and couldn't believe that so many people live here and just do this shit every weekend. People are out cycling, hiking, riding horses, doing super beautiful outdoorsy stuff in this outdoor wonderland underneath the most expansive sky I've ever seen and this is their life. How do they do that?! How can I get enough money to do that?! Maybe I should move here.

Anyways, Kansas. Kansas was like nothing I've ever seen. Up til then, we'd been in pretty similar, familiar land. Not to diminish or hate on the beauty of our first four states (Virginia being my pre-Colorado favorite), but Kansas was stupid silly. This picture I took pretty much captures it for me. I got off my bike and stayed back from the group for about ten minutes and tried to take this all in. I don't think I've ever been in a place where there is absolutely NOTHING in any direction on the horizon.


It was really something. Biking through the stillness of fields as far as the eye can see breeds introspection. It was the first time on the tour where I wasn't thinking about what was around me or anything cycling-related but instead was all about the things that one would expect from a "journey across America." I.e. What I'm going to do when this ride is over?/What the hell was college about?/What do I see myself doing in the next five years?/What makes me happy?/Who do I want to share it all with? Eww gross. After I got that out of the way, I listened to two days worth of podcasts, M83, Bombay Bicycle Club, Phoenix, and the Beatles. Marc Maron's interview w/Obama is pretty rad you should check it out.

Newton, Kansas was rad. They have a rad bike shop with a hostel. And in that hostel I took a book about four early-twenty somethings who cycled around the world in the early 80s. One of the riders goes into some pretty serious detail about biking along the Gaza Strip, through the deserts of Egypt and Sudan, and through the widespread poverty of India and Nepal. Reading all this has made me extremely thankful at how relatively easy it is to bike across America. Every twenty miles or so along our route, I know that we can find some source of clean water and a place where we can set up our tents. We've rode for over 2,000 miles and I have not felt in danger at all. Granted, that statement is loaded with the flip side in that there are definitely, absolutely places in America that are not safe and are not prosperous for all. Granted, I am a white male. I am constantly reminded out here at how lucky I am to have the financial and spiritual freedom to be able to ride my bike every day for three months.

It feels weird sometimes (especially biking through Eastern Kentucky) to ride through a place in such a quick amount of time- to be almost like a ghost taking snapshots of other people's lives. It's odd being in a restaurant in the middle of Missouri while a group a tired-looking farmers sit down for lunch to take a break from a hard morning of trying to salvage their crops from the Mississippi River flooding. It's confusing to have older people come up to you, ask about your trip, and then look at you with sullen eyes and say, "Man, I wish I did something like that when I was younger." Because while the easy answer may be to want to jump up and down, shake the person and say, "Well, fuck! Then go do it now! There's still time! Fucking do it!", the financial and spiritual realities for so many people are not cured by a smile and an adventurous attitude.

Anyways, still meeting some amazing people on the trail. Biked for a few days with a group of Harvard peeps who are teaching/biking across the country. Way cool. I'm already thinking about next summer and some possibilities for a tour. I definitely want to ride my next trip for a cause of some kind other than "cause I wanna!" Definitely wanna get more into the bike community in Boston and start doing some races. I miss some key people in my life and wish I could share this experience with them. Mom, dad- love you. Gonna do a better job of calling you when I'm not tired as dick.

My beard game is getting semi-strong. Leggo, Rockies.

Hearts,
Kody

                                     

                                     

Da Rockies. Can't wait to bike through you

Day 39: The Big Split

I failed to mention the day we left Newton and rode 115 miles to Larned that I broke a spoke along the way. No big deal at the time; I've been breaking spokes every few hundred miles since Virginia. I thought it might be the strain of the mountains or perhaps the weight of my bags, but actually my gear doesn't weigh a lot compared to other riders (also my weight is well distributed) and I'm still breaking spokes on the flats. I'm thinking it is just a bad wheel. After breaking an additional spoke today, I decided to stop riding--not wanted to cause irreparable damage to my wheel. Dylan and I caught a ride to La Crosse, Kansas where we are now waiting for a replacement wheel. Michael and Kody have gone ahead and we will catch up to them later.

Dylan and I are camping at the city park. We met an eastbound rider named Dick who was kind of a dick, but also really funny and interesting to talk to. We bought charcoal and grilled beer brats and a rack of ribs with asparagus. It was a feast, complete with a bourbon whiskey nightcap.

Big thanks to Chris and JC at the Great Bicycle Shop who worked out a warranty deal with Salsa and got me a 36-spoke 10-speed disc brake wheel express shipped out to me in middle-of-nowhere Kansas. I couldn't find this wheel in any of the bike shops I've seen thus far.

Dylan and I are going to visit the La Crosse Barbed Wire Museum tomorrow and then jump in the city pool when it gets hot. Probably will grill more too. Cheers!

- Chris

Day 38: 115 Miles

Well yesterday we ended up staying in Newton again to give the bike mechanic time to clean and tune up our bikes. The bike shop/hostel had a super nice bike wash station and our bikes look and feel like new! 

So today we made up the miles and put in our longest day yet: 115 miles. We lucked out and had an abnormally cool day in the 70's with a bonus tailwind most of the way. It was awesome. 

We are staying in the Larned City Park which doesn't have showers but does have a small water park which Dylan and I utilized. One thing I have noticed about staying in these small-town parks is that they are well used by the community. We regularly see people staying at these parks as late as nine o clock! I suppose I found it surprising considering that most of these towns hardly have a thousand people in them. 

As we approached Larned, we passed a mass-production cattle feed lot. Up until that point, we had only seen grass fed cattle grazing in large pastures. The feed lot was huge, filled to the brim with cows, and pretty much looked like they do in those PETA videos. The stench was putrid. It was god awful. As we passed through historic downtown Larned, I couldn't help but notice the odor lingered and pervaded the entire strip. 

We'll be in Colorado in three days or so. Hell yeah! Oh and here are my top Kansas albums:

• George and Jonathan III by George and Jonathan
• Cydeways by The Pharcyde
• Skylon by Ott

- Chris

Day 36: The Oasis In the Grass Desert

Had a very relaxing rest day in Newton today. After saying our goodbyes to last night's hosts, we went to the movie theater and saw Jurassic World for only $5. Afterwards we met Heather at the Newton Bike Shop Hostel where we are currently staying. 

This place is amazing. They have all the standard bike shop features including a bike repair workshop, a bike wash station, and a well stocked retail section. In addition they offer comfy bunks, a kitchen and bathroom, and plenty of extra food and toiletries should any biker be in need. It's also decorated with some pretty interesting bike parephernalia and is very well-kept.  The best part: locally brewed beer on tap in a kegerator. This place really does live up to its claim as the "oasis in the grass desert". 

Tomorrow we get back on the road. It's crazy to think we've gone over 1,700 miles at this point. There are supposed to be severe thunderstorms tomorrow so hopefully we will be able to avoid them. I'm not looking forward to the inevitable winds.

- Chris