As a kid I grew up in Colorado and did a fair amount of backpacking, hiking and camping. However, no bike touring. Graduated from high school in Colorado before going to University in urban Boston. As a college student, I didn't have a car but had a bicycle. This was good way to get around and even escape the urban environment. Relatively speaking New England is smaller with states closer together.

My first mini-tour was a two day ride I organized for friends from Boston to tip of Cape Cod where we took the ferry back. My brakes didn't always work, but I could stop myself by dragging my feet. Ten miles into the ride, the route went through local park on path. It went over low hill and around a bend. I didn't make the bend and rode off the path. My bike stopped and I went over the handlebars landing on flat of my back. Mostly ok, except for sharp rock in right side. It hurt. Reasonable thing to do would have been to turn back, but I was the leader. I was also young, male and invincible - so we stopped at pharmacy to get large bandage and tape things up. It hurt a lot later that day as I sweated into the wound and that night camping on a church lawn as the dressing was changed. However, I made it to the tip of the Cape, took the ferry back and felt triumphant cycling back through Boston after ferry ride back to the city.

Touring increased a lot more the following summer when I took an internship in suburban Marlboro. Shortest route was 26 miles from home to work. There was a van pool, but I only took that on average one day a week. Approximately three days a week, I'd cycle round trip distance of 52-60 miles. One day a week, I'd camp out in the Marlboro area - either sleeping in my cube or in nearby woods. Sometimes I'd ride out one morning, sleep overnight and ride back at end of next day. Also some weekends, rather than cycling home, I'd keep riding further outbound and exploring central or western MA.

By the time I graduated, I'd done a fair amount of touring and exploring New England by bicycle. That was a while ago and have continued cycle touring since - though more willing (and able) to spend night in motel rather than in ditch beside the road.