Why? That is the question alright... Why do it again? Why spend all that time pedaling and being away from familiar surroundings, friends, family, convenience, and comfort? Not sure I know the answer to this one. Not long ago it was just a thought. Having completed the TransAm in 2014, I know how arduous and long such a trip can be. I heard a lot about the Northern Tier route from other cyclists. Hmmmm... Riding west to east along the northern states would be interesting. I did the TransAm from east-to-west, so if I ever did the Northern Tier I decided I would do it west-to-east. The possibility of such an adventure sat in the back of my mind for the last two years. Then three rather pivotal things happened.
First, my friend John Hyzer cycled through Oregon on the second half of his TransAm trip. I joined him for three days of riding from Redmond Oregon to Corvallis as he made his way to the coast. Knee pains and aches that I would not have had back in 2014 made me acutely aware of my loss of physical conditioning for long-haul touring. I pedaled through it feeling totally inadequate while admiring John's physical fitness and stamina. He was a machine after having come over the western mountain ranges and half away across the country over the past few weeks. While pain was evident, so were the flashbacks of my own cross-country trip. The feeling of freedom and accomplishment as the miles roll by pedal stroke by pedal stroke, the camaraderie between tour cyclists on the road. (John was riding with a couple from Holland), and the simplicity of living day-to-day and minute-by-minute. While touring can be arduous and uncomfortable at times, the simplicity of life on a bicycle is refreshing. Your job? - Pedaling. Your needs? - Water, food, and a place to rest. That about sums it up.
Second, I reached the conclusion of a chapter in my career life. Not that I particularly wanted it to be so, but without going into all the gory details, the plant I ran making lithium battery separator material was shoved abruptly out of the marketplace by highly subsidized, cheap, Chinese battery separator material. Like so many others who scratch out a living in the U.S. manufacturing sector, once the Chinese 'acquire' the ability to produce a product, it is nearly impossible to compete in terms of labor cost. Add to that Chinese government subsidy and the fate of U.S. manufacturing is sealed. I need to stop the discussion here lest I begin to rant about how the wealthy and super wealthy have insured the rapid demise of the middle class. After two years of declining and shifting job responsibilities, I chose to step away from the rat race for a while.
Third, my cycling partner Jerry Smith was keen to ride the Northern Tier Route. Being retired and with nothing to do but renovate his back deck, he jumped at the chance.
So suddenly.... here it is.
The timing is a bit late for this trip. Normally one would start in late Spring or early summer to ride cross-country. Attempting the Northern Tier route this late in the riding season is maybe a little crazy, but the opportunity is here and for me it may not come around again. Besides, I need to lose some weight.
My touring kit will be similar to the one I carried on my TransAm journey. My training....what training? Because things happened so quickly the training will be along the way. I plan to start out slowly and not push too hard. The first week will undoubtedly be a struggle. If I make it two weeks, then maybe I will be able to continue. Jerry is in much better shape than I as he has been riding. Hopefully he does not get impatient with me.
The map below shows two of the standard routes for cycling the Northern Tier. There is a route that takes you through Michigan's upper peninsula and another (light blue) that goes south down around Chicago. The northern route takes one though a dozen states (including Canada). This is the one that we will likely do (assuming we get that far). There are several alternate routes aside from these along the way as well.
A third option is to take ferry across Lake Michigan (depicted in blue below) from Manitowoc to Ludington. This will be kept in our back pocket as an alternate depending on how we feel, the weather, the timing, and so on.
On Saturday 8/20 we will make our way from Corvallis to Anacortes. We have a Warm Showers Host for our first night, Bill and Ann Testerman in Anacortes. Jerry's wife Sue will haul us and our bikes to Portland where Jerry's brother will take over and drive us the rest of the way north. Their assistance has made this much easier as rental car options were limited and very expensive.
Our ride is scheduled to begin on Sunday 8/21. There is a solar eclipse on that date. We should finish by election day if all goes well. Another type of total solar eclipse depending on who wins...
