Why Ride A Bike Across the US / Bike Tour Planning

Originally Written March 31, 1997 by Bernard Lopez

I am embarking on a cross country bicycle trip of the United States (US). It's a bicycle trip that will take me wherever I choose to pedal at whatever pace I dictate. I will leave my home state of New Jersey on a sunny morning (hopefully) to discover the true "me". It will be an exercise in discipline and determination. What my parents and life haven't taught me yet I will likely learn now. I will make mistakes, but I will correct them. I will fall down, but I'll get back up. I will be silent on some days and blabber on others. I'm just going to be me.

The Cross Country Bicycle Ride Idea

The idea to undertake this bicycle touring trip happened innocently enough on a Tuesday afternoon in January of 1997. For this time of the year it was very mild (around 40 degrees Fº). I had taken the bus to Jersey City to close out an old bank account. As I waited for the bus to take me back home to Fort Lee, New Jersey, I saw a minor fender bender. One car was exiting a driveway and the other was trying to enter. They both got into a heated argument and all I kept thinking was at least no one was hurt. It was obvious that the car trying to enter should have yeilded to the one exiting. At that point I had been waiting at least twenty minutes for my bus and seeing / hearing this commotion sparked me to forgo the bus ride and walk home instead. The walk only lasted an hour but it was a very productive hour. As I walked up Anderson Avenue through the towns of Fairview, Cliffside Park and Fort Lee I felt as if I had never walked through this area before. I had a fresh outlook on everything. Continuing on, the thought just popped in my head; a cross country bicycle trip - a bike tour of America! Not paying much attention to this I quickly dismissed the notion and continued on feeling alive and looking at everything such as cars, neon signs, billboards and all the shop windows I had never noticed before. It was invigorating. As I approached a corner my bus pulled up to the curb to let some passengers off and although I could have gotten on I let it go. There went my bus! "Who cares," is what I thought now. It's only a little more to go till I get home. If anything I wish the walk would last a little longer. It just felt so nice to be out and about like a stray dog.

Later that night the thought of the cross country bicycle tour odyssey resurfaced. It appeared as if I would not think of it again but, no, the next morning the same feelings overtook me. At this point I realized that I was going to take that bike ride. How did I know I was going? Because it was the same way I began many important things in my life. The thoughts, the feelings came up in the exact same way and then I became preoccupied into making them a reality. A popular music web site I had created back in 1996 is without a doubt my single biggest achievement. Up until then I always did things "half way". It would get started, but never completed. This seemed to be the case in just about every aspect of my life. The creation of that web site plays a very important part in the whole scheme of things.

When I decided to start the music website in September of 1996 I had only gotten an

Apple Mac computer a few months earlier in February of the same year. Before this I didn't know a thing about computers. No joke-not a thing. I made it a point to learn as much as I could in my spare time. Every night I would go home and play around and learn through trial and error. I would dream up something and then make it come true. I taught myself HTML and assorted programs and just loved it. A woman that I was briefly dating at the time was a graphic arts designer and she gave me some quick tips on using Photoshop and I was off.

This example taught me that anything is possible if you so desire. The ability to bike across America under my own power-just me and my bicycle-is something I desire. I want it all. The internet immediately became my best friend as I researched all there was to know about bicycle touring, camping, how to select and buy the right touring bike and tent, planning my travel routes and reading about other bicyclist's experiences while doing long distance touring. The more I read the more I knew I had to take this trek / journey. I quickly joined Adventure Cycling (formerly Bike Centennial) for bicycling maps and Hostelling International USA for inexpensive accomodations. I only stayed at a hostel once while biking, but it was the most fun I had as I met up with some great people.

Storing My Belongings And Starting My Bicycle Ride Across America

As soon as I realized that I was going take the "crazy" challenge of biking across America, I broke the lease on my apartment and gave notice to my employer in New York City of almost eight years with whom I accrued a sizeable 401k nest egg. Giving notice to my employer didn't faze me, but giving up my beautiful apartment did. As a matter of fact, that was when I realized I had reached the point of no return-I no longer had a home and had to arrnage to stay with my brother and later on my mother till the start of the trip in May. I felt so nervous telling the management officer that I was giving up the apartment that I had just moved into a few months earlier. I felt like I would turn and run, but I didn't I told them straight out: "My last day will be . . . " I had to forfeit my security deposit, but my life and freedom was worth it. Also withdrew my entire 401k savings plan from work to get me through the months I would be without work.

I will travel and cycle on my own and completely self-supported. That means I will have camping, cooking, camera and other equipment to contend with while bicycling. Approximately sixty pounds of gear and luggage strapped onto my bike. I will be the Goldmund of the 1990s (a character in a Hermann Hesse novel). In fact it is the Hermann Hesse book Narcissus and Goldmund along with Siddhartha that planted the seed of taking a journey. I merely chose to do it with a bicycle. I will wander and search the world for...

Please read on to learn how I prepared for this solo bicycle tour and what touring equipment I chose. Everything is listed below in chronological order for easy browsing. Thank you for stopping by BicycleTrek.com and enjoy!