Ranking the 5 best and 5 worst meals

5th Worst Meal I had a few staples on this trip. Mexican food (more later) and Vietnamese were the right mix of filling, nutritious (ish) and cheap for post-ride recovery meals. Diner food was the right mix of cheap, filling and quick, for breakfast or lunch. And while some diners did great food, most of […]

Nothing to see here

One of two things has happened: either I’ve well and truly lost my desire to carry on and enjoy this trip, or the stretch from Virginia to Florida is DULLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. Probably the latter. After Williamsburg, five days riding through the middle of Virginia and through North Carolina. There were lots of swamps, lots of forest […]

Why I would be no use in a zombie apocalypse

After Washington, I headed into the south. Starting with Fredricksburg, site of some famous battle or other. One of the things I’ve probably done wrong on this leg of the trip is not taking enough time to explore these interesting places and instead smashing out big mile days. After an 85 mile day, I don’t […]

Good morning Baltimore

From not Philadelphia to Baltimore, which is a town I knew nothing about, apart from a song in the musical Hairspray I’ve had the misfortune to hear. Turns out it’s a mixed city. Bits of it are lovely, bits are a dive. Started off cycling through some beautiful farmland to get there. One of the […]

Not Philadelphia (because the countryside is better)

This stretch of the trip is heavy on cities. From Salem into Boston, then to Baltimore, then to Washington DC. Pro-tip: cycling in rush hour sucks. But first, leaving Salem. The witches didn’t want me to leave, so covered the city in mist. Ominous, but lovely. Coming into Boston, I crashed into a parked car. […]

Getting fatigued

Forgive the boring, whiney post, but today kids, I’m going to talk about touring fatigue. Touring fatigue is a thing, and it happens when you’re on the road, cycling for a long time. It doesn’t have to be the three months I’ve put in so far, it can be weeks or days. Symptoms include sluggish […]

Eating my way down the east coast

New England: overrated. That was the sentence I wrote first, but as I recalled my experience, it was actually awesome. Go New England. Or at least the North half of it cause that’s as far as I’ve got. From the desert to Mount Desert Island. Bar Harbor is a tourist town on Mt Desert Island […]

Geology rocks

Because there’s so much to see in the desert, I slowed down a bit through North Arizona and Utah to take it all in. Coyote Buttes is an area of Arizona which has been formed through extreme depositing and erosion cycles. As the wind shifted direction over time, there’s alternating patterns of rock. It’s very […]

Coping with the desert through adrenaline

Cycling in the desert, in the summer has been a bit of a challenge, both physically and logistically. Managing heat, sunscreen, water, salt, food and energy levels needs some concentration and planning. And frankly, at times, it’s sucked balls. Three weeks ago, I entered Brawley, which is pretty much when the Sonora desert started. To […]

Headwindy, cultural exploitation

Sorry to leave Flagstaff behind (needs another visit), but there’s more to be discovered. Started with a detour to Sunset Crater, an extinct volcano which erupted last in the 11th century. The route to the volcano makes a semi-circle against the main road (highway 89), also taking in the Waputaki Monument and is an incredible […]