The Ride Begins

As I was riding to work one morning I began to think about how far I ride my bike on an annual basis. Since my commute amounts to a 10.4 mile round trip, I figured that I ride at least about 52 miles per week on average. Sometimes I ride a bit on the weekends as well, and typically go on some longer rides during the summer. This led to me wonder how far my riding would take me across the United States over the course of a year if I started on the east coast and rode west.

I took my wondering to Google Maps and mapped out a route that would take me from the Montauk Point lighthouse on the eastern tip of Long Island, to Seattle. I made sure that the map passed through some points of interest or cities that I would want to check out if I actually made the trip. Here's a link to the map, which you can see below: http://goo.gl/maps/30p6l

The route is 3,634 miles and would take about 317 hours of riding according to Google. It would take me to all of these locations:

-My parents' house in Garden City, NY

-Pat's Steaks in Philadelphia

-Cleveland and Toledo, OH

-Notre Dame University (My wife's alma mater)

-My current home (Chicago, IL)

-Des Moines, IA

-Omaha, NE

-Mount Rushmore

-Yellowstone National Park

-Spokane, WA

-Seattle, WA

In order to make that trip in a year, I'd have to average just about ten miles per day (9.96 to be exact). It would be a lot of fun to actually be able to make that trip a reality, but jobs, mortgages, and responsibilities sort of get in the way. That is when I came up with the Imaginary Bike Ride. Starting on January 1st I will track how far I ride on a daily basis. I will use that mileage to pinpoint where I would be on the Imaginary Bike Ride map. On this blog I will write a little bit about where I am making camp for the night, where I would have eaten in whatever town I am in, and where I would have grabbed a beer.

I see it as a travel guide of sorts, but I won't actually be traveling. Some days there might be some interesting history or trivia thrown in. Other times, I may bring on some guest bloggers to write a fictional short story about my adventures in a random town in South Dakota. Maybe someday I'll actually have the opportunity to make the imaginary trip a reality. 

I've explained the idea to a bunch of people and most people just ask why I would do this. I think there are a few reasons. First, it's just a fun project and an excuse to write, which I haven't really done recently. Second, it's an excuse to learn. For every blog, I'll be doing a bit of research on a town or city that I know nothing about. I'm excited about the little bits of trivia that I will learn about this country in the process. Finally, I hope it will encourage me to ride more during a cold Chicago winter, and will inspire me to go on some longer rides when the weather turns warmer. Ten miles per day doesn't sound like much, but sometimes I work from home, or I don't ride anywhere on the weekend. I could easily fall way behind the pace by the time the winter ends, and I'll need to play catch up.

I probably won't blog every day, but I hope to post at least a few times per week. If I make it 3,634 miles before the end of the year, then my imaginary ride will start to take me down the Pacific coast from Seattle. I'm excited to see how far I can go and I hope that some folks enjoy coming along for the adventure!