Originally Posted by
saddlesores
....but what's the point?
you seem to have a distance and time goal, but nothing else?
route is chosen simply to cover ground? in that case, why
not just spend the time on an indoor trainer? save the
trouble and expense of all those hotels!
what's the point of going cross-country other than to say
you did it? especially if more than half is simply spinning
the pedals through boring, dull, monotonous nothingness?
why not pick a bunch of interesting sights and make a big
loop, which just might total 3000km since that number
seems so significant?
your pictures that you'll show off after will be so much more
interesting....death valley, grand canyon, salt lake, sturgis,
los alamos, organ pipe, etc.
sure beats the heck out of:
....and here's a dead armidillo.
....and here's another dead armadillo.
....oh, and hey....here's an armadillo.
Originally Posted by
staehpj1
,,,Riding coast to coast is a worthy goal. Regardless of the route you will meet interesting people, see interesting things, and eat interesting food…Also cranking across some long boring miles can be satisfying in a way that makes the highlights stand out all the more.
National parks and the like make great focal points during a long tour, but experiencing small town and rural settings and people is really seeing what the country is about IMO.
Well said, staehpj1. While
“meeting interesting people, seeing interesting things, and eating interesting food” are germane to almost any recreational ride, a coast to coast tour is at the very least a major “cycling credential.” You
must take whatever the Road brings to you, rather than what you take at your discretion on a chosen route.
Originally Posted by
staehpj1
…I found the scenery on the Southern Tier mostly pretty boring, but greatly enjoyed the people and the food.
The TA was pretty boring scenery wise in eastern Colorado and Kansas, but the people were exceptionally kind and hospitable…
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
On our cross-country honeymoon tour in 1977…There also was a minor let-down as we left the West after the Rocky Mountains since the California and Arizona deserts, and Colorado mountains were such exotic environments for two lifelong Midwesterners who were now descending into more familiar terrain.
I recently posted that comment to the thread,
”Emotional let down after tour ends” but the let down was more anticipatory of the Road ahead as we left the Rockies, but still two-third of the tour was still ahead of us, and we readily enjoyed the rest of the route, as you describe.
Besides the credential of the cross-country tour, we did actually have Boston as a destination for new jobs and residence, and started out as a visit to a friend in Laguna Beach. I like to tell people we moved from Michigan to Boston, on bicycles, by way of California (flew to LA).
As far as our photographs, taken with a cheap Kodak camera, we could not necessarily capture the grandeur as well as a post card, but the initimate “armadillo” photos mean so much more after the years.