Tour of the West – A Bicycle Adventure

Sunset at Carmel - Day 1

For three weeks in June, I rode my bicycle down the coast of California through Big Sur, turned left to cross the mountains, rode across the Mojave and Sonoran deserts, then northeast through Navajo, Hopi, and Ute lands, finally crossing southern Colorado and the Continental Divide at Wolf Creek Pass, ending up in Walsenburg, CO. I rode the first 60% or so by myself, then met my friend Dave in Flagstaff for the last 40% or so of the ride.

Big Sur Coastline Climbing Out

This ride connects with a ride Dave and I did last summer across southern Colorado and Kansas. Our hope is to extend the ride next year on to the east coast, completing a coast-to-coast journey over 3 years. Here’s a link to a summary of that Colorado and Kansas ride last summer.

A coast-to-coast ride is a nice thing to check off “the list” for sure, but I’m learning the checkmark on the list is something that gets the ride started, but the ride always turns into something much bigger than the checkmark. The goal of the checkmark is a good motivator to get me into the saddle, and get me planning and executing the trip, but it’s never the “why”. Continue reading “Tour of the West – A Bicycle Adventure”