My story

About me

I’ve been riding my bike since my three-wheeler days as a toddler growing up in New Rochelle, NY. I graduated to two wheels when I learned the skill one never forgets (and I expect, one day, to graduate once again to “adult” three-wheelers). I made my early bike treks in the Boy Scouts where we rode on the shoulder of busy Puerto Rican highways (without helmets, of course; this was the early ‘70s). My interest in trekking was rekindled in college when, after some vague discussions about doing a ride from New Jersey to Miami, my friend David walked into my room with a used, heavy, beat-up steel frame and said, “Here’s your new bicycle!” We built that bike from scratch and the day after classes ended in May 1979, David and I rode from Madison, NJ to Miami (again, no helmets). Right after we graduated in 1981, we flew to LA with our “iron steeds” and rode up the west coast to Seattle (this time with helmets!). In recent years I’ve completed shorter treks, such as riding from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) and the C&O Canal Towpath in 2014 and the Ohio to Erie trail (Cleveland to Cincinnati) last year. 

About my route

I am creating my own adventure, and not following the more popular routes, such as the Adventure Cycling northern tier or the TransAmerica Trail.

I’ve mapped my route using the Kamoot app. Below is the first segment I mapped, from my starting point in La Push on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington to our home in Columbus.

Distance: 2,838 miles | Total elevation gain: 82,475 ft | Total elevation loss: 81,625 ft