The Route!

Carol: 

When deciding our route, a few considerations included:

• staying cool since we're going to be camping most nights (hence, Adventure Cycling's Northern Tier in the summer)
• detouring to see the Badlands! (ACA's Lewis and Clark Trail)
• going through Clinton, NY and Williamstown, MA to make up for missing our 5-year college reunions (sorry Poker E!)
• ending up in Duxbury, MA to dip our front wheels in the Atlantic Ocean

So here we have it folks, Colin and Carol's bike trip across 'Merica!
Note - we'll likely change our route when we're on the road, either to meet up with family and friends or to avoid horrendous weather conditions

Previous Adventures

Carol here: Since I am a city kid through and through and have only gone camping 3 times in my life (one of which was car glamping), people often ask me how I worked up to a cross-country bike camping trip. I owe my intrepid attitude to Colin, who has been an excellent partner in working me up from day-rides to long weekend trips. Below are a few of our bike adventures in the last few years that got me ready for our big trip this summer!

Nice afternoon ride to the National Mall. April 2014.

Rode our bikes to ziplining. August 2014.

Colin outside 2Amys. July 2015. 
We took our friends, Angelica and Bobby, for a quick jaunt around town by road bike. 
We quickly learned that the best way to motivate me up any hill is with the promise of pizza. 

Mount Vernon. May 2015. 

On our way to Harper's Ferry. September 2015.

Judging from my facial expression, I think we're close to Harper's Ferry. September 2015. 

Spent the day riding around Antietam. September 2015 .

You're doing what?!

Carol here - It's interesting the responses I get from people when I tell them that Colin and I are riding our bikes across the country. Some people totally get it and are incredibly excited for us. Others are confused and can't understand why we'd want to go through such a physically taxing activity. For the second group of folks, a few reasons I have include:

• It'll be a great way to clear my head and meditate on big picture questions before starting school this fall. 
• What better way to see the country than by feeling every ditch, every hill with your pedals and wheels?
• It'll be a great way to practice minimalism - you don't really know what you need in life, unless you're willing to carry it 4000+ miles
• How freeing it is to carry your home on your bike and rest whenever, wherever you want?!
• It's an adventure!

See ya on the other side!

DC Shake Out Trip

Carol:
Colin and I went bike camping on the weekend of April 8th to shake out any hiccups we might have in our packing/planning. We encountered and overcame so many comedic errors, that I think we're more than prepared for our ride!
Riding out the C&O towpath was fine, though we realized a few miles in that we forgot a lighter for the fire. Colin rode back to town to buy a lighter, while I headed towards the campsite. The campsite sign noted in large letters "Permit Required" which we definitely did not prepare for. Thankfully, two boy scout troops were camping there for the night and asked us to join their site. By the time Colin met up with me, it had started to get dark, so we quickly set up camp. Cold burritos by a warm fire never tasted so good!
That night, I woke up several times both due to the below 30 degree weather and my aching shoulder on the hard, hard ground. In the morning, we woke up to rain pounding down on the tent. Deciding we couldn't wait the 4 hours for the rain to pass, we summoned the courage to pack up in the pouring rain. We decided to head home early to avoid the snow, sleet and gale scheduled for later that afternoon. As luck would have it, Colin caught a flat on the towpath home, which he fixed with our spare CO2 tubes. We arrived home in the early afternoon - muddy, tired, and confident that we could complete our cross-country trip. Shake out trip: wild success!