TransAmericaRide '14

The Panorama Post!

Photoshop worked hard for me the last couple of days! Here are a lot more panamora photos from my bike ride that I haven’t postet before!

Full resolution photos are available to download here!

Vacation on the West Coast // The End.

…and then I was there. In the tradition of people crossing the United States on a bicycle Sean and I dipped our front wheels in the Pacific in Everett on July 15. Well technically it wasn’t the Pacific, but the Possession Sound; which I think is pretty close though. After we said goodbye I waited for about an hour until Junxia and his girlfriend Shan came to pick me up. It was so good to see one of my best friends from high school in Germany on the other side of the world again after all that time. For dinner, we went to a Mexican place in Everett and caught up on stories old and new.

The next morning I enjoyed breaking the routine of packing up all my belongings and riding a bicycle for the most part of the day, which I had been used to for the last two and a half months. All these little things that I hadn’t done all that time suddenly felt really great, like riding in a car to get lunch. For the next four days I stayed with Junxia and his roommate Jason in Bellevue. Jason’s friend Ross from New York City was also there for a visit, so the place was filled with people. Since Junxia had to work the next day, Ross and I took the bus to Seattle and “discovered” the city on our own. The following days I hung out with Junxia and his friends. He showed me all the cool spots in Bellevue and Seattle and we even went to a Yoga session. And I thought I was too young for that:-)

Some days later Junxia took me to the Amtrak station in Seattle. Ahead of me was a 22-hour-train-ride to San Francisco. As an avid train rider from Europe, taking that Coast Starlight train felt like going back in time. But mostly in a good way. The train was really slow, but that only made going through the Cascade Mountains more spectacular. There was plenty of space to stretch out, not like in most German trains where a coalition of engineers and businessmen manage to fit more people in a single car with each new revision. On two occasions the train stopped for about an hour while going up a hill because the engines had overheated. Luckily the train conductor was also a bit of a comedian, so people didn’t really care. This train was also a good place to meet some really interesting people. Sarah, who was sitting beside me, made bikinis from plastic litter. Later in the dining car we met some young folks who prepared well for the trip and handed out a Rum and Coke to each of us. We talked about anything from electro-swing music to skateboarding until we eventually all went back to our seats to catch some sleep.

Upon arriving in San Francisco I faced the same problem like in New York City a couple of months earlier: A big suitcase and an even bigger bike box make it almost impossible to catch a cab in a big city. This time I decided to dispose of the cardboard box and to push my bicycle and the suitcase at the same time. Since the hostel was only two miles away this worked fairly well. It was located in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco, which definitely lived up to its reputation (that I didn’t know of before). All in all I only had two and a half days in San Francisco, so I tried to grasp as much of the city as I could. Maybe my expectations were too high or maybe I was rushing things a little bit too much, but I didn’t find San Francisco all that interesting compared to some other bigger cities that I had been to in the United States. Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and driving down to the beach was great, but I was lacking time to discover the city’s soul. I guess I should have pedaled faster going across America.

The whole 3-month-long trip eventually ended at San Francisco Airport. I bought a ridiculously overpriced box for my bicycle there and mailed the last postcards. As I entered the airplane back to Europe, I slowly started to realize that this tour and the following vacation now was a thing of the past. But I will always remember it as the trip of a lifetime! The End.

This is the last regular post from my travels. I will probably do some more front-end work on the blog to make it look more like a finished project. If I find the time, I might write down some tips (in German) for people who want to bicycle across America and add some more details here and there. I also added the GPS-track of the whole trip; it can be viewed on a map (“Landkarte” in the navigation bar.)
Last but not least I would like to thank all people that supported me on this trip! So many people in the U.S. and in Germany have helped make this tour great!

Days 74-78: Making it across the U.S.A. in Washington

The last four days on a bicycle. We experienced heat in eastern Washington, stayed in historic motels, experienced Bavarian life in America, slept in tree houses and jumped into raging rivers. But most importantly we successfully rode our bicycles across the United States!!!

GPS-Tracks:

Spokane Valley to Wilbur

Wilbur to Waterville

Waterville to a tree house in the wild

Stevens Pass to the imaginary finish line in Everett!

Days 66-73: Montana and Idaho

GPS-Tracks:

Ennis, MT to Twin Bridges

Twin Bridges to Jackson

Jackson to Darby

Darby to Missoula

Missoula to Saint Regis

Saint Regis to Pinehurst, Idaho (GPS track incomplete)

Pinehurst to Spokane Valley, Washington

Days 59-65: Wind in Wyoming

GPS-Tracks:

Walden, CO to Saratoga, WY

Saratoga to a gas station in the middle of nowhere

Muddy Gap to Lander (oh the wind!)

Dubois to Colter Bay Village

Colter Bay Village to Madison, Yellowstone

Madison to Ennis, MT

Days 53-58: Colorful Colorado

GPS-Tracks:

Eads, CO to Limon

Limon to Denver

Denver to Idaho Springs

Idaho Springs to Fraser

Fraser to Walden

Days 43-52: Kansas

Salina, I’m as nowhere as I can be
Could you add some somewhere to me
Ah Kansas I’m kneeling, ah Kansas please

The Avett Brothers

 

GPS-Tracks:

Pittsburg to Chanute

Chanute to Cassoday (Prairie Chicken Capital of the World!)

Cassoday to Newton

Newton to Nickerson

Nickerson to La Crosse (long day!)

La Crosse to Ness City (short day:-)

Ness City to Scott City

Scott City to Eads, Colorado

 

Days 37-42: Across the Mississippi into Missouri

GPS-Tracks:

Chester, IL to Farmington, MO

Farmington to Ellington

Ellington to Houston

Houston to Marshfield

Marshfield to Ash Grove

Ash Grove to Pittsburg, KS

 

Days 31-36: Nashville to Chester, IL

Text to come…

GPS-Tracks:

Day 31: Nashville to Spring Creek Campground

Day 32: Clarksville, TN to Lake Barkley State Park, KY

Day 33: Lake Barkley to Cave-In-Rock

Day 34: Cave-In-Rock to Eddyville

Day 35: Eddyville to Carbondale

Day 36: Carbondale to Chester, IL