This cross-country bicycle trip started well before the wheels of a bicycle hit the road. Undoubtedly: an undertaking of this magnitude required a lot of collaboration, planning, and, arguably above all, physical preparation. However, that's not quite where things got started. An adventure of this variety was not the product of a fleeting daydream. Before working through the daily routes, planning over night towns, considering the day-to-day logistics of life on the road, spending hours and miles of riding in preparation... before all of that, a friend spoke about his interest of going on a trip of a lifetime. This friend voicing his interest is truly where the prospect of this trip began.
Garrett is one of many good friends that I have had the privilege of meeting through playing ultimate during college. On a weekend in October of 2016, he and a number of alumni reunited at Western Illinois University for a weekend of playing ultimate, reconnecting, and socializing with friends that we no longer see on a regular basis. In summary, it's a reunion of unique sorts. While reminiscing about ultimate, Garrett had mentioned wanting to go on a cross-country bike trip. My interest was immediately piqued! Without hesitation, I commented that we have a shared interest in a cycling trip like this. For at least the next 10 minutes, I couldn't deviate from this topic; I couldn't converse about anything but this trip; the desire to go on a journey like this had been resurrected from the back of my mind.
Fast forward to May of 2017: Garrett and I are well underway with planning our trip. On my end, chronicling this journey is just one of many things that goes into planning this trip and blogging will likely be the most convenient way to do so. So whether you are friend, family, acquaintance, or passerby I welcome you to follow along on this journey; one that is unquestionably going to be challenging, yet irrevocably rewarding.
