A Cross-Country Cyclist's Conclusion

The Transcontinental Eating Contest for the Pandas came to an end when we arrived at Wells Beach, Maine on Friday, August 8, 2008 at around 2 p.m.

We finished at about 4,400 miles having crossed 15 American states- Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine- and 2 Canadian Provinces- Alberta and Ontario.

The entire trip took 72 days, 64 days on the bikes and 8 rest/travel days. That comes out to an average of 69 mile days, but most days were 70 to 90 miles and then there were some half-days. We only needed 4 century days (100 miles or more) to keep us on schedule.

Impressive as this sounds, it was a day-by-day accomplishment. I rode across most of the country with only the next town, landmark, family visit, camp site, ice cream cone, or meal ahead of me, until finally yet suddenly, we had reached the ocean! We did not take the short route. It is not necessary to ride 4,400 miles to get from one coast to another, nor to spend 2 weeks in Minnesota, nor to zig-zag south/north to make 4 stops with family in the Midwest- although I highly recommend it!

I am extremely thankful that we finished this trip without major crashes or injuries. We had no altercations with cars, cougars, cows, or the most dangerous of animals, people. We look forward to the minor injuries we have healing over the next few weeks as we withdraw from the lifestyle that is biking all day, every day.

Last night at dinner, Dad, Cate, Sarah and I were discussing risk management in adventure sports, and we mused on what we did right that got us through safely, and what we could have done even better. I think most of the former were basic, such as putting on sunscreen 3 times a day, filling up water at every opportunity, dealing with equipment problems as soon as we could. We studied maps and routes carefully so that we knew what we were facing and we always made sure we got to a grocery store to have a good meal at the end of the day. In terms of the latter, we should have taken better care of our knees before tendinitis developed and had more reflective gear for rainy days. Although much of our success stemmed from our strong attitudes and behaviors, we also had to rely on people across the whole country to keep us safe in storms, give us directions, feed us, or simply behave as hosts to us, and they did not let us down. I am too cynical a New Yorker not to cringe when I write this, but I think my faith in humanity has been renewed, if not formed for the first time.

Where do we go from here? Speaking only for myself, I was ready to be done. I have a desire for adventure and a love of cycling that I will have my whole life. I have gained the confidence to be less closed off from new experiences and not to enter a situation with the prejudice that I will not be able to communicate or have a positive experience. There were countless moments, attending the Jasper County Fair in Indiana comes to mind, which showed me that the differences between my life in New York city and the lives of people in the rest of the country are not insurmountable and do not inherently create a barrier; it is possible for us to be part of a broader community, to share a country.

While I am being sappy, I should mention the most obvious source of strength I drew from during this trip. No, I don't mean mint chocolate chip ice cream, but rather my sisters. I am really thankful to have 2 people with whom I was able to share the trip with humor and love and that we were able to support each other so well. Also not to be taken for granted is the support we got from our parents, which we were so fortunate to have.

My head is so full of other adventures I want to have that part of me just wanted the trip to end so that I could start planning them sooner! A back-country mountain bike touring trip is definitely in the cards, but I need to make "real life" work for a while.

In the short term, I am looking forward to spending this week with my extended family in Meredith, New Hampshire to celebrate the life of our grandmother and then to seeing the people that I have missed these past months when I go Berlin next week, and then back in New York.

I am sure there is more to say but I will leave it to Cate or Sarah.

Thanks to everyone for reading and giving us such nice feedback!

Liz