Old Men On Bikes

Our route goes from Washington, DC, to Astoria, Oregon. An  interactive map of the route  is available on Ride With GPS, a navigation and tracking tool for cyclists. The entire route is somewhat unmanageable on that site, and impossible to use on my bicycle computer, so I divided it into segments in  collection  on Ride With GPS We are following the route of the  Trans Am Bike Nonstop US , an annual race from Astoria to Washington. However, we are old men who have never been on an overnight bicycle tour, much less a tour across a continent, so we are not racing, and of course we are doing it in reverse. Bike Nonstop US is organized by Nathan Jones, who planned this route. He developed the race and route as a lower-traffic alternative to the older TransAm Bike Race. It uses existing bicycle infrastructure as much as possible, including rail trails and canal towpaths. The route is 3,534 miles long with 117,300 feet of total elevation gain. Approximately 23% of t...

At some point in the last year or two, my friend John Sloop, who I have known for over forty years, said he wanted to have some sort of grand adventure before he gets too old. His idea was to ride a bike from one side of the United States to the other, and he wanted somebody to go with him. I always dreamed of long distance travel under my own power. I envisioned hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (because I live close to it), or kayaking the Columbia River (also because I live close to it). But I have also thought about bicycle touring, and, since I'm not getting any younger either, I told him I would do it. So about a year ago, I bought a bike and started training. I'm 61 years old, and not nearly as fit as John, but I'm trying: last year I rode about 2250 miles. The problem is that our route across the US is over 3500 miles, and it normally it takes ten to twelve weeks. So the fact that I rode 2250 miles in eight months does not really mean much. The Pacific Northwest winter...