Why Not Bicycle?

I have spent at least the week thinking about what to write for our very first post in this new blog.  There are so many things going through my head and so many things I want to write that I just don’t know how to get it out of my head and onto this screen. 

So, how did “why not bicycle” come to be?  Well, first of all, the blog called “why not bike” was already taken by someone named David who has posted exactly zero times.  Bummer.  I started thinking of alternate blog names and decided to keep it simple and go with “why not bicycle?”  It seemed fitting.

So how did we come up with biking at all?  We both probably have our own versions of that story.  Jeff says he’s always wanted to bike across the US.  He had always wanted to hike the AT, but now that he’s checked that goal off the list he's moving on.  We’re not cyclists by any stretch, but we are practicing to be, and having a lot of fun doing it.  For me, the desire to bike across the US started with a combination of things. 

First and foremost, coming back to work for corporate America after hiking 2,175+ miles in under 6 months is just... awkward.  We didn't feel fulfilled in what we were doing before we went on the hike, and after we finished, we brought ourselves right back around to where we were when we left.  We both understand the concept of "the grass is never greener," but we also want to walk through all kinds of grass while we are still young enough to enjoy how it feels.

Second, Jeff mentioned hiking again.  He found a trail called the "American Discovery Trail" that goes from somewhere near Washington DC all the way across the US to around San Francisco, CA.  For at least a week he would give me unsolicited information about the ADT and details on people who had hiked it.  Though it’s been 6 months since our epic hike ended, I admitted I am just not ready to hike again right now. 

Third, the ‘winter blues’ really caught us hard this year, as we enjoyed record snow and a long winter in Connecticut.  Today it was supposed to snow again, but so far it’s just been some sort of weatherman’s April Fools Day joke.  A new job and the extended winter really put me in a state of mind where I was either ‘blah,’ or asking myself “what’s next?”  At random times the past few months I’ve compulsively applied for jobs in Germany (Michelle is moving there if you missed that memo) and also Colorado.  Why Colorado?  Well, I hear there are 300 days of sun each year, lots of outdoorsy stuff to do, and it allows me to cross “live in every state that starts with a C”  off my list of things to do in life. 

So what happens when you combine hiking the AT, working for Unilever again, discovering the ADT and wanting to move to Germany / Colorado?  Obviously you can connect those dots!  *Sarcasm* Let’s bicycle across America!!!  OK, so when the Colorado thing came up it led me to apply for a job at the company that makes Fat Tire Ale – New Belgium Brewing.  They are super-committed to environmental stewardship, frequenly hold rallies to "trade your car for a bike," and as a part of my cover letter I offered to sell my Jeep and ride my bike from here to there.  Maybe it wasn't the right angle considering I didn't get the job, but it is how the path to bicycling across America developed in my mind.  After receiving the rejection notice from New Belgium I asked myself... "Who wants to stop in Colorado when you can ride all the way to California anyways?"  After I say 'hi' to mom in CA I can head back to CO.  :0)

So that’s how it started.  We have no definite plan on what is going to happen next.  If we were independently wealthy we would have been on the road yesterday, but since we’re not, a little bit more planning is involved.  The goal is to go within the next year or ten, but a lot of things can happen between now and then, so who knows!

Stay tuned if you like – thanks for reading (mom!)

~Aly