People often asked what a typical day was like for us on the bikes, and though none was truly typical, our routine looked something like this:
I usually wake up first, climb out of the tent and get some water boiling for coffee. Zach packs up the mats and bedding and tent while I get our morning meal together. We eat, drink coffee, relax for a few minutes. Wash dishes, pack up the bikes. Leave about 9am. Then we ride about 10 miles. Stop for a coffee somewhere, and/or a snack, our treat of choice is a chocolate-chip cookie. Then we ride another 20 miles or so, stopping to peel off layers, pee in the bushes, snap photos and snack before stopping for a longer lunch break which lasts ½ to 1 hour depending on how many people are around. Then we ride to our evening spot 20-30 more miles, arriving sometime between 3 and 6pm. Zach sets up the tent, I shower—then I cook dinner, he showers. Then we eat. Usually, shortly thereafter we climb into the tent to read and listen to podcasts before falling dead asleep….
That’s the mechanics of it. Details change all the time. The scenery, the meals, the people, the small catastrophes mark each day with its own unique character. Sometimes we’re camping alone in the wild, bathing naked in glacial run-off. Sometimes we’re camping in a beach-side tent-site with hot showers and 20 other bikers swapping stories. Sometimes we’re sleeping in a stranger’s guest room in a town we’ve never heard of before. Sometimes we eat a dozen hard-boiled eggs in a day. Sometimes we see 40 Bald Eagles fishing, sometimes a dead bear, sometimes escaped antelope run before us down the center of the road. Sometimes we have the wind at our back, sometimes we climb hills all day in the fog. Sometimes we’re excited and happy and sometimes we’re crabby and silent. Sometimes the sun is shining and everything works out perfectly, and some days you can’t catch a break—its all flat tires, traffic and fresh oil + gravel. Sometimes we’re dry and sunburnt by 11 am, sometimes we’re still soggy and wearing jackets at lunch. The path is varied and fascinating...