Our Path Across The Country

People need maps. Large spaces--great distances--can be conveyed simply and accurately. People have been asking me about my route from this past summer. I hope this helps.

This map, which comes from the Adventure Cycling Association, shows the route that my sister Janice and I followed while riding our bicycles across the United States.

Back in May, Janice and I started cycling at the western terminus of this route, which is in Astoria, Oregon. 101 days--and 4,000-and-some miles--later I reached Yorktown, Virginia, the eastern terminus of this route. Officially, this route is known as the Transamerica Trail. But the name is slightly misleading because there is basically no trail riding on the route. Most of the time, the Transamerica Trail seemed to follow the back roads, the old two-laners. There were small towns, big skies, endless forests, mountains, and prairies. Places where there were so few cars that for a time we forgot about them. Places where the air was still clean and good.

It is hard to sum up a journey like the one my sister and I had this past summer. Too many things happened. The memories weigh too much. A book might get the job done, but that will be for later. For now you can rest your eyes on this small corner of the Internet and know that there is still more to come.