If you want to explore the States

…why not rent a car? a friend asked. I kind of like cycling, I responded. So why not just use the spinning bike at the gym? my friend continued.

And he is not the only one to maybe not quite understand. I am OK with that. Everyone cannot understand everything about everyone’s every choice made. But I will even so elaborate on this matter.

The cycling means nothing and the cycling means everything.

I have met quite a few other long distance bicyclists on the road, who just loves bicycling. They might run a bicycle shop, they might repair bikes for a living, they might own six or seven different bicycles because they sometimes want to race, sometimes ride off road in the woods and sometimes commute to work and so on. They might collect bicycles. Old bicycles, new bicycles, tandem bicycles, recumbent bicycles, bicycles from different countries – or bicycles they have made themselves. And they might indeed do spinning too.

I am not one of those people. For me, a bicycle is a mean of transportation. I could also walk, do cross country skiing or even use my roller blades. In that way, the cycling means nothing. I didn't go on this trip so that I could cycle. I just wanted to be on the road again.

But going by car was never an option for me. I need to move, I enjoy being active, I wanted the physical challenge – and also the mental challenges that come with it.

As for this trip, bicycling was my only reasonable choice. You look at the terrain you want to cross and the time you have got. Walking takes much longer (too long in this case), and it is difficult to bring camping gear and clothes for both freezing cold mountains and hot and hostile deserts. For cross country skiing, you need snow, and as for the roller blades… Well, I must admit I am still a bit anxious from an unfortunate fall a couple of years ago.

But I am not unhappy about this at all. Cycling is fun. I most certainly enjoy riding a bike. It is also very practical with all the panniers. And another thing is – and I am sure that the other long distance bicyclists I have met this summer would agree with me – that the slower pace of a bicycle (in comparison to a motorized vehicle), in combination with the special interest locals as well as other travelers show in bicyclists, gave us great opportunities to meet people and get sights of, and insights about, the country traveled. In this way, the cycling means everything. The trip would not have been the same with a different type of vehicle.

And I did have the holiday of my life.

I had to struggle some. I didn’t always feel safe. Maybe there are one or two things that I would have done differently knowing what I know now. But seen in retrospect, it was still all good. It has been a learning experience and so I wouldn’t want it any other way. I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to do this.