I have loved riding bikes for a long time. I love the freedom they give to explore. I was inspired by the 1984 Olympics when I was in grad school. In the summer of 1985 I did an internship that gave me enough money to buy my first real bike, a Centurion Elite RS. It was fun to go fast and far.

I explored the roads around Chapel Hill and rode as much as I could. I joined the Carolina Tarwheels bike club and met my wife on a bike trip in 1986.

I remember a talk by a club member about her Bicentennial Trip to Alaska. Another club member had ridden his bike across the country on his own. I found the idea of doing a long tour like that interesting. I tried a little loaded touring, but decided that I preferred to go fast. In 2002 we moved to Maryland and joined the Baltimore Bicycle Club. I heard a talk by a club member about her trips across the country. She had done them with several groups and wrote a book about them. They were van supported trips. That sounded really appealing to me, but I was too busy with a career and raising kids to do it. 

In about 2018 my wife and I did the North Carolina Mountains to the Coast ride. That is a ride where they carry your stuff between the destinations and ou camp at night in a baseball stadium, county park or other place. The ride covered 500 miles in a week (o.k., I did the optional century and 8 extra miles so I could top that mark). I was tired and everything that touched the bike hurt.  Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun and whetted my appetite to do more. Not only did I enjoy the challenge, but I really liked riding through all the little towns and on the beautiful country roads.

I set my eyes on riding cross country in 2020 when I was 60 as that seemed like a nice round number. However, things came up and I was too busy at work, so I put it off. It's good I did as I probably wouldn't have been able to go because of COVID. 

In 2023 I did the 50th edition of RAGBRAI (Register Annual Bike Ride Across Iowa) with my wife and her brother's club. It also covered a bit more than 500 miles in a week. It was amazing for a number of reasons. First, it was just so big: there were rumored to be more than 50,000 riders on some days. There was an endless stream of riders of all abilities on all kinds of bikes. They just overwhelmed the roads and little towns. This too whetted my appetite to ride across the country.

Over the years I had started looking at ways to do the tour. I didn't want to do it self supported (where you carry all your stuff). Staying in hotels would have been nice, but that was expensive and it would likely have meant taking roads that were more heavily traveled.The Adventure Cycling van supported tours sounded good, and I had a friend who did some 1-week tours with them and enjoyed them. I signed up on the wait list in 2023 and 2024. Both times I was offered a spot, but not until a few weeks before the tour. By then we had made other plans, I felt I wasn't in good enough shape to attempt it, and there wasn't enough time to prepare. So, I decided to sign up early to do it in 2025 when I am 65. Early in September 2024, as soon as the website for 2025 tours  was opened, I signed for the spring tour because my wife wanted me to do it then rather than the fall. 

I have been to all the states except Arkansas, Alabama, and Oklahoma, so seeing the US isn't the reason it is appealing. I think it is appealing because it seems hard and gives me a reason to train. The past two years my wife ad I have driven across the country and to Alaska in a camper van. We have both enjoyed seeing the less visited places. That is also something that I look forward to on this tour.