![\"Grain](\"\/zagorsky\/files\/2018\/08\/Grain-silos-in-Toldeo-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI made it to Washington D.C. after 43 days, or about six weeks, on the road.\u00a0 I pedaled approximately 3,000 miles in 38 days of biking and took 5 days off.\u00a0 In the typical day of pedaling I covered about 80 miles.\u00a0 I over-estimated my own abilities.\u00a0 Before starting I expected the trip would take five weeks and when pedaling I would cover 100 miles a day on average.<\/p>\n
During the six weeks I ate a lot of hamburgers.\u00a0 My guess is that a burger was dinner about 20 times not counting the meals I had steak for variety. I drank gallons of Gatorade, but almost no beer or wine.\u00a0 I stopped drinking alcohol a few days into the trip. \u00a0I found you cannot push your body to the limit each day and then toss down beers at night.\u00a0 I did lose a bit of weight.\u00a0 However, it was only six pounds.\u00a0 At the end of an exhausting day the last thing I wanted to do was count calories.<\/p>\n
What were the lessons I took away from the trip?\u00a0 For those of you contemplating a long bike ride, pedal with someone.\u00a0 Don\u2019t pedal alone.\u00a0 I had much more fun pedaling with my son from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pedaling with Beau in Wisconsin and pedaling with Greg from Pittsburgh to Washington D.C. than the days I spent by myself. \u00a0If you do decide to pedal alone, make sure you have amazing support.\u00a0 My wife was phenomenal from cheering me up to getting me on a ferry boat that had already sold out all their tickets.<\/p>\n
What other lessons did I learn?\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to sound trite but if you ask for help people across the USA in general will go out of their way for you.\u00a0 After slashing and warping my rear wheel in Spokane, I was rescued by Roger and his pickup truck.\u00a0 Then my bike was fixed only a few hours later by Randy.\u00a0 When my son\u2019s hydraulic bike brakes locked shut, bike shop Brad took care of us instantly and even told us where to get lunch.\u00a0 When I was stranded and needed to travel down a few exits on the Interstate to get back on local roads there almost always was someone willing to give me a lift.<\/p>\n
I also came away with a deep appreciation for the amazing productive capacity of the USA.\u00a0 I spent weeks staring at giant fields of wheat, corn, soy beans and even kale.\u00a0 I was passed by freight trains loaded with coal, oil, natural gas and other products that stretched almost forever.\u00a0 While forever is an exaggeration, some of the trains were so long they needed four giant locomotive engines to pull all the cars.\u00a0 I passed factories in the Midwest that were mind-boggling large.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Not all was good.\u00a0 I also came away with a realization that most of this country is empty of people.\u00a0 In numerous places you could see that many people once lived there, but not anymore.\u00a0 The eastern sides of the Cascades and the Rockies were both depressing to pedal through.\u00a0 Towns are slowly dying as fewer people are needed in rural areas to run the farms and ranches.\u00a0 The slow death spiral is disheartening as I pedaled through countless places that were once thriving, but today only have a post office that politicians are loath to shut down.<\/p>\n
It was also clear that unemployment today is low, but income is definitely not high.\u00a0 I pedaled past countless homes that were being lived in that needed repairs.\u00a0 I was passed by numerous cars and trucks that were falling apart.\u00a0 Low income and little choice in food seemed highly related.\u00a0 I ate a lot of hamburgers, not because I love burgers but because many towns had little to no other choices for food.<\/p>\n
I also noticed a huge concern over safety, security and personal property.\u00a0 The most common sign I saw while pedaling was not \u201cStop\u201d or even \u201cYield.\u201d\u00a0 Instead, it was \u201cNo Trespassing.\u201d\u00a0 Most of the signs were similar and looked like they were mass produced on only a couple of different assembly lines.\u00a0 However, more than a few were unique, and every unique sign said roughly the same thing; \u201cTrespassers will be shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Stay](\"\/zagorsky\/files\/2018\/08\/Stay-off-my-land-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
More than half the people I talked to on the trip warned me there were lots of \u201ccrazy people out there\u201d and I needed to be careful.\u00a0 I did meet a few crazies, but everyone was harmless and more eccentric than dangerous.\u00a0 For example, in Ohio it took a while to extricate myself from a man who wanted to tell me every detail about the electric trains that used to run on the path I was about to pedal.<\/p>\n
While many of you accept that TSA will scan your body at the airport and check your luggage, I was amazed that a large TSA team showed up to paw through my and all the other passengers\u2019 luggage before taking a 4-hour ferry ride across Lake Michigan.<\/p>\n
In closing I want to thank everyone who helped me out.\u00a0 Many of you did small things that helped a great deal.\u00a0 For example, Caleb in Montana suggested a hotel about 60 miles down the road.\u00a0 This suggestion probably didn\u2019t seem like much, but it prevented me from attempting an exceptionally long bike ride in blistering heat that might have ended badly.\u00a0 I also want to thank those of you who sent public and private encouragements.\u00a0 The messages of support meant a lot and helped keep me going.<\/p>\n
Where and when is the next trip?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know yet since I have only been off the bike for a few hours and it will take some time to heal my saddle sores.\u00a0 Wherever and whenever it is, I am sure it will be interesting since there are so many fascinating places, people and pursuits to see and try in the world.<\/p>\n
![\"End](\"\/zagorsky\/files\/2018\/08\/End-of-this-trail-but-the-beginning-of-the-next-adventure-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I made it to Washington D.C. after 43 days, or about six weeks, on the road.\u00a0 I pedaled approximately 3,000 miles in 38 days of biking and took 5 days off.\u00a0 In the typical day of pedaling I covered about 80 miles.\u00a0 I over-estimated my own abilities.\u00a0 Before starting I expected the trip would take … Continue reading Final Thoughts on Pedaling Across the USA<\/span>