TransAmerica Trail - not waiting to live

TransAmerica Bicycle Trail East to West

During the summer of 2011 I rode a bicycle 4,200 miles by myself between Virginia and Oregon over a period of 60 days. I followed the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail with paper maps I had purchased from adventurecycling.org. I left from Yorktown, Virginia on June 11, 2011. On August 9, 2011 I reached the Pacific Ocean in the town of Florence, Oregon . From there I rode another 300 miles up the Left Coast to Seattle, Washington. The miles and the memories are all captured here with a collection of daily blog posts.

Check Out My Walk Across America

MY COMPLETE DAILY BLOG CYCLING ACROSS AMERICA FROM START TO FINISH

a short collection of thoughts, notes, and memories

Day 0: Lose Yourself

TransAm Trail Virginia Emmanuel Forge -

I'm going to give this the 'old college try' and I promise if something is going to stop me on this trip it's going to be the loss of a leg or death itself. So if you don't hear from me for a couple of days and they find my body just off the side of some road in Kansas, tell them to put my ashes in the Pacific and give my Playstation controllers to Walsh.

Day 1: Expect the Unexpected

TransAm Trail Virginia Emmanuel Forge -

As I type this, I'm in my tent while a summer storm passes over head. I've got a half eaten sandwich and a bag of chips. I'm not quite sure exactly where I am but I'm far enough off 156 in the woods that I'm hoping no passing cars can see me.

Day 2: Aahhtt

TransAm Trail Virginia Emmanuel Forge -

I made it from Mechanicsville to Louisa VA. I stopped at a country store for lunch in Bumpass, received many thumbs up from passing cyclists, I got one middle finger, and I was chased by a dog for couple driveways. It was a well rounded ride, maybe about 65 miles.

Day 3: Three is a Streak

TransAm Trail Virginia Emmanuel Forge -

I've got the third day under my belt and things are still going great. Looking at the map, it shows it'd be just over 220 miles to get back to Yorktown from where I am in Waynesboro. That means I've come a long way in just these three days. If this trip turned out to be only limited to one long weekend, it would be one to remember for a lifetime.

Day 4: Tuesday’s Gone

TransAm Trail Virginia Emmanuel Forge -

At 10 pm some woman wearing a motor cycle helmet came to the door asking where Larry was. When I made it clear that I did not know Larry and that I was just passing through, she then proceeded to ask about Larry's wife (who I also don't know). Fortunately some kid who'd been living in the room next to mine for the past four days had met Larry and was able to help the woman understand that Larry was probably gone for good.

Day 5: Foamhenge

TransAm Trail Virginia Emmanuel Forge -

This morning I was given a little boost of energy after unintentionally passing Foamhenge. I thought the first road side attraction I was going to see was going to be the Popeye statue in Southern Illinois. I was taken off guard and the humor certainly gave me that boost.

Day 6: Claytor Lake State Park

TransAm Trail Virginia Emmanuel Forge -

I need to write right now to blow off some steam because I'm pissed off. It's actually not about the ride, I'm still having a lot of fun. It's about where I'm staying.

Day 7: Charge it to the Game

TransAm Trail Virginia Emmanuel Forge -

At that moment I was poised for a big day. Unfortunately I ran into my first few mechanical problems. It is what it is; charge it to the game.