This trip was not a race for us.  It was a tour and a trip of discovery.  We took our time and smelled some of the roses along the way.  We were usually done riding by 3:00PM.  We talked to people and tried to see some of the local sites at each stop.  We believe that this made our trip much more meaningful than if we had just tried to hammer from the left coast to the right coast.

Riding coast to coast is an amazing adventure, but it is something you have to want to do.  You have to be ready for almost anything... rain, wind, snow, tears, anger, heat, cold, elation, hunger, discomfort, pain, isolation, fear, traffic, confusion, and the list goes on.  Is it worth it?  YES!   You will discover what an amazing country this is, and you will meet so very many wonderful people.  

During this trip we kept in touch with many friends and relatives via e-mail. We also used the Internet to keep track of our bank balance, transfer cash, and watch our stock portfolio. We accessed the Internet/E-mail from local libraries. Virtually every library we found had Internet access, and we were in some pretty remote towns. And, more importantly, we were NEVER refused access. Libraries are great places. www.mail2web.com will let you access most e-mail accounts.

Ziploc storage bags will become indispensable. We used them for everything because waterproof panniers aren’t. Halfway through the trip we got a whole new set of luggage for only $2.50! Everything we had went into Ziplocs. One good idea we had was to put a day’s riding clothes into each bag (jersey, shorts, socks, sweatband). It makes it very easy to keep track of what’s clean and dirty and makes getting ready in the morning really easy. We carried three days worth of clothes and did laundry every three days.

We both carried an Emergency Information Card. It listed emergency numbers, addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers (hospitals use them for ID), medical information, etc. We had them laminated in plastic. We made two each and each of us carried our own and each others.

We elected not to cook on this trip.  We ate in restaurants, cafes, gas stations, country stores, and anywhere else we could find food.  It was more expensive than cooking, but we saved a lot of weight and bulk in that we did not have to carry food, pots, pans, stoves, fuel, cleaning supplies, etc.  We did carry a set of lexan plasticware each (which we used) and emergency food such as Power Bars, Tiger Bars, and bags of dried fruit.

I carried a gym teacher type whistle. I originally intended it to be a loud emergency signal, but what we wound up using it for was something completely different. We used it to scare away dogs. It worked like a charm! I’d wait until a charging dog was about twenty feet from us and then gave a loud, long blast on the whistle. We were charged five times, and each time it worked. Four times the dog stopped cold, and the fifth time he veered off in another direction. Trust me on this one – take a whistle. I think we were charged more than 5 times!

We both rode Bianchi Eros Road Bikes.  Deb's bike is about three years newer than mine, and mine is around a 1994 model.  I found my loaded bike to be somewhat "twitchy" which was very unsettling on fast bumpy downhills or in gusty winds.  Deb did not experience this on her bike.  We found the bikes to be extremely dependable mechanically.  Except for my rear wheel, we had no problems whatsoever, and the bikes needed only minor adjustments during the trip.  We thank Alan Kayser for this.  He overhauled our bikes for us.  The problem with my rear wheel was that the aluminum sidewall had been ground down by grit under my brake pads during a rainy New England bike trip two years before.  It was very thin, weakened, and began to bulge outward. 

Dogs – Dogs weren’t a problem until after we crossed the Mississippi. We think the reason is that western dogs are working farm and ranch dogs and not pets. They just don’t have time to mess with you. Family pets that are not tied up are far more likely to attack. And you soon learn to identify the difference between a dog that’s attacking and a dog that wants to run and play chase.

We carried pepper spray velcro’d to our bike frames within easy reach. Thankfully, we never had to use it – on animals or people. Don’t take Mace. It works only on people, not animals (so we were told) and it’s illegal in many states.

We made sure that all our electronic equipment - flashlights, tape recorder, alarm clock, etc. used the same size battery - AA in our case.

We both used Camelbacks, and we're both glad we did.  We carried water bottles, but we only used them to carry extra water through places where we may have had trouble getting enough water.  And we never put Gatorade or other sugar based fluids in them so we never had a problem cleaning out gooky residues.  When we did carry fluids other than water, we just kept it in its own bottle.

We never used the duct tape we took, but we used a lot of electrical tape.   

We didn’t intend on taking a lot of pictures, and neither of us are amateur photographers, but we did want to have some pictures of the trip. So we used the small disposable cameras for our pictures. They’re light, and you can buy them at WalMart for $6-8 each. We wrote in our notebook a description of each picture we took so we didn’t forget what it was. We mailed the cameras and these lists to my mother who developed them, copied the list, and mailed a set to Deb’s mother. The mothers were assured that we were still OK.

Tires – We left with Specialized Armadillos because I knew a lot more than Alan Kayser about tires. He wanted to use Continental 2000s. We arrived in Portland, Maine, wearing Continental Top Touring 2000 tires. DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT USING ANY OTHER TIRE! Alan was right. After we put Continentals on all four of our tires in Michigan, we only had three flats all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Before that we had about 30.

Raingear – Deb and I both have Burley rain jackets. I know I’ll take some heat on this, but I didn’t find them to be waterproof at all. They make great windbreakers and they are good cycling jackets, but for the price they charge, I’ll never buy another one. I got as wet inside the jacket as it was outside.  If you want waterPROOF, wear plastic.

We used phone cards for our long distance calling. WalMart seems to have the best prices for the AT&T or Sprint cards that are the same rate no matter when or where you use them.  After some comparison shopping, we found that the cards that offer extremely low rates/minute had so many restrictions to get the low rates that we would have paid more/minute had we bought them.   

We took along a mini-cassette tape recorder, and each night we recorded our thoughts onto tape rather than write a journal.  I think because of this were were prone to record much more of our trip than we would have with a written record.  It is the transcript of these tapes that will become our state-by-state journal on this web site. 

I have a Brooks saddle. I had no problems with my saddle or my bottom. I’m a big fan of Brooks saddles. They take about 500 miles to break in, but it’s the last saddle you’ll ever need.  I bought the Terry Butterfly just before we left. I know you are not supposed to ride off without breaking in a saddle, but I was very happy to be riding my butterfly.

I bought a full-sized floor pump after four days on the road. I was always glad I did. I will never again go on a tour with anything less. I find the small ones too difficult to use.  This also made it much easier to "top off" the tire pressure each morning.  We rode at 110-120psi.

The Weather Channel became our best friend.  We were incredibly lucky as far as the weather was concerned. Before we got to Rochester, New York, except for a few very light and short sprinkles, we had only four days of rain and no snow.  We did, however, experience quite a bit of rain in New England.

West of the Mississippi, everybody waves at you.  You have the full-arm wave, the wrist wave, and the finger-off-the-steering-wheel wave.  East of the Mississippi, nobody waves at you. 

We elected not to take a cell phone because of the weight and possible problems getting it charged.  Also, in the more remote areas where we most likely need it, we probably wouldn't have a signal.  In the more populated areas some passerby would probably have should we have needed one in an emergency.  We never missed it.