I'm in Pittsburgh, PA taking a rest day, and I decided I've made it far enough to post something. I left Burlington, VT, earlier this month and I'm heading to Los Angeles, CA. My route after leaving Vermont is Empire State Trail to NYC, ACA route from NYC to Chicago, and ACA Bicycle Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles. It's not the shortest route (4,000 miles), but I wanted to stick with well-traveled routes where there are more resources and Warmshowers hosts. I'm a longtime bike commuter, but I've never toured before.
I turn 55 in 6 months. In the past few months I finalized my divorce, sold and split our property, bought a cheap fixer-upper, sent my kids off to college, and quit the toxic job that was giving me anxiety and depression. This trip is hitting the reset button on my life. It is physically and mentally demanding, but incredibly rewarding. Because I had never toured before, almost all of my rides so far have been longer than I ever rode before. Yesterday, I rode 86 miles to Pittsburgh to earn myself a rest day. I'm proud of and amazed at what I'm capable of.
I called this my midlife crisis when talking with a friend, and he corrected me. This is no crisis, it's a needed paradigm shift. I'm going to start truly living and experiencing life vs. existing. I can't believe how different I feel already. I'm meeting awesome people and finding kindness from strangers when I most need it. Beneath the awful divisiveness in this country, there is still a lot of good.
I need to arrive in LA by the last week in November to have Thanksgiving with my daughter. She is a freshman at a college there and doesn't have enough time to come home to Vermont. So I'm motivated to get there in time to keep her company. I need to average 65 miles/day, 6 days/week, with one rest day each week. I'm on schedule so far, but there's no room for error. But even if something happened now (injury, sickness, family emergency), I would be proud and fulfilled by what I accomplished.
Thanks to this group for inspiring me. I've enjoyed seeing other people's experiences here, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to share mine.
by Gullible_Bullfrog_83
1 Comment
Super cool dude! I wonder what your budget is for this trip. I dropped about 3,000 down the GDMBR a couple of years back. Most of that was food. I camped 2 out of every 3 days, so motel/hotel stays was the other big expenditure. It only took a month and I was not racing, so I’d take an extra day here or there to sight-see. Being ‘out there’ is what really feels like living. Kudos!