Finally!  All of my life events have aligned, and it is now time to attempt the cross-country bike trip on the Northern Tier. I have been told that most people do a cross country bike trip when they are either in their 20’s or their 60’s.  I was too poor in my 20’s, so now that I am in my 60’s I am going to attempt it.  I have been bike touring since I was 16 years old; the dream of this trip has been simmering for a long time.  Most of my previous bike trips have been relatively short (1 – 2 weeks),  have been mainly camping with some motels and have mostly been with only my wife and I.  This trip is going to be a bit different.  

Our planned start date for the trip is May 31.  We live near Birch Bay, Washington, which is about 30 miles north of Anacortes, Washington, the traditional starting point of the northern tier.  We are lucky that we will be able to start by rolling out from our driveway.  The end point will be Bar Harbor, Maine.  We will follow the northern tier up to Fargo, ND.  After Fargo, we will go off trail and visit relatives and friends in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.  After Michigan, we will take the route through Canada (if the border is open), north of Lake Erie and then re-join the northern tier trail in Niagara Falls and follow it until Bar Harbor.   Our trip will be self-contained with a mixture of camping and motels.  We are hoping to complete the trip by early September.
 

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My wife and biking partner, Janet,  will be riding along on the trip.   Janet is an experienced bike rider and has been on all our bike trips over the last 35 years.  I am looking forward to sharing another great biking experience with her.  My son Ross will be along for the trip.  Ross has been working as a professional in IT and has decided to take some time off from working.  I am extremely happy and excited that he decided to accompany us on this trip. There are other participants planning on joining us for some time on the trip.  My brother Doug is planning on riding with us for a week in Michigan.  We are hoping some other friends or family will accompany us for a day or so on the trip. Whether someone rides with us for an hour, a day, a week, month or the whole trip, we are grateful and eager to have them participate with us on this once in a lifetime adventure.  

I chose the phrase “attempt the Northern Tier” very carefully.  We have done lots of bike trips over the years and not all have been successfully completed.  Accidents, physical ailments, mechanical problems and other unknown circumstances  have prevented some trips from completing  their goal.  Originally, this trip was suppose to happen last summer.  I retired in March 2020 and we were ready to go.  Then Covid hit and we decided to postpone the trip for a year.  During the postponed year, we rode bike a lot, spent our first winter in Mesa, Arizona (and had a GREAT time).  Oh yeah, and Janet had a total left hip replacement.  

Which brings us to the name of this blog.  The "Metal Hip Club" has two official members, President Janet, who had the total hip replacement in August, and Vice President Terry, who had an accident a couple of years ago and has a rod in his femur and two screws in his hip.  We have made Ross a honorary member and are praying he will never become an official member.   

Stuff happens!  The experience we have gained over the many bike trips has taught us how to train, ride and pack for bike trips to decrease the probability of not being able to complete the trip.   However, even if we only successfully ride one mile on this trip, it will be wildly successful.  That is because the journey to get to this point has been wonderful.  Bike riding is such a huge part of our lives, we are either riding bikes or thinking about riding bikes all the time.  It has been such a source of great joy in our lives that completing this awesome trip is more “icing on the cake”.

We feel incredibly lucky to have the resources and ability to take a trip like this, and we want to give something back along the way. That's why we are raising money for Feeding America, an organization that works to connect people with food and advocates for policies that help end hunger. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, 42 million people may face hunger in the U.S. — including more than 13 million children — so Feeding America's work is more important than ever.  We hope you will consider a donation through our Go Fund Me site that is here: DONATE

If you have any questions during our tour, please put them in the comment section and we will answer them as soon as possible.

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