Our epic voyage West to East USA. Several years before we rode this epic route, Stef watched a documentary of a TV presenter who rode and documented his Trans America trip.
This inspired Stef to put it on his bucket list.
Of course I couldn’t let him go alone so we planned to ride it in 2020.
Then came the COVID 19 Pandemic just as we were ready to start…. We postponed until 2022 and this is the blog I wrote, mainly for my father’s benefit as he is not on social media.
90.03km. 1,424m ascent. 5h23 ride time Probably the most beautiful days regarding scenery. Really a great ride through the lush, green, Virginia forests. Not too hot and we had plenty of shade. Always very humid though. Only one long climb which wasn’t steep at all, just a pleasure to ride. Our overnight was a church…
72.16km. 1,316m ascent. 4h20 ride time. Another day of climbing today. Straight out of our motel and into 320m ascent 🥵. With 92% humidity we were glad to have a cool start. After the big climb, where my sweat ran down my arms, through my brake levers and off the end of my handlebars, we…
107.52 km. 1,346m ascent. 5h46 ride time Last night we shared the hostel with 3 others, an Englishman, Matt riding the same way as us and 2 American TransAmerica racers. The racers got up at 03h00, I heard their alarm clock! They left without cleaning up after themselves which, I think is inexcusable. To empty…
73.05km. 1,034m ascent. 4h08 ride time Tougher than expected today! We first had 2 hard climbs up from the lake but then we had some more after that too, a couple of <15% which, when you are carrying all your luggage, is hard work. Yet again the countryside was beautiful but near the coal mining…
130km. 1,907m ascent. 7h16 ride time Today was to be a big climbing day so we set out early to try to arrive before it got too hot. The climbing started in Richmond and brought us to McKey where we saved another turtle from certain death on the road. Again the countryside was beautiful, green…
80.64 km. 952m ascent. 4h03 ride time Today we actually got a decent breakfast at the hotel. That’s the first time since we set off! Another beautiful ride through Kentucky. It was super humid today at 96% humidity and quite warm in the upper 30s but such beautiful countryside. We stopped at a sign ‘cyclists…
45km. 512m ascent. 2h05 ride time Super humid and hot today but we had a short ride to get to Harrodsburg to visit the 1770s reconstructed fort there. The ride continued through the beautiful countryside of Kentucky with plenty of short sharp climbs to keep us sweating. An excellent choice and only $6/person (over 55…
Some may think I am a bit obsessed with the wind. Well, I am! Wind affects our ride as much as the profile. We have had more than our fair share of headwind and, not only does it slow our progress, it also has a big influence on our morale. At home we usually (always…
91.35 km. 934m ascent. 4h32 ride time 60 days continuous riding. Neither Stef nor I have ever done so much riding We are really in the rhythm and feel we could go on for ever at this pace or even more 😊 Easy day today through the beautiful Kentucky countryside with no wind at all…
83.88 km. 734m ascent. 4h08 ride time After a good night’s sleep in our tent at the lake we set off around 07:36 in cool but sunny conditions. This is the first day when we have set off with temperatures under 19C for quite a long time now. A beautiful day and although the wind…