The first 45km or so today weren’t that great. My legs felt completely empty and apparently did not want to have anything to do with cycling 100 miles. Nevertheless, things improved after that. I wasn’t originally planning to stop there but given my lack of energy I figured it was a good idea. Luckily it... Continue Reading →

Much like yesterday, I was woken up to rain this morning. However rather than waking up to the sound of rain, I was woken up by the rain... at 3am. Despite pitching my tent under a roof, I still got hit very hard by the storm that arrived. It was the wind that was the... Continue Reading →

Waking up to the sound of rain pretty much set the tone for the day this morning. Long story short - I got wet, I had a headwind and the prospect of camping in this weather was pretty much making me as miserable as possible. Mentally it was one of the hardest mornings I've had... Continue Reading →

Having spent more time stretching and working on my knee last night than any other day, I was a tad frustrated this morning to find it the most painful it’s been for the last three weeks. I’m not sure why that was the case and I'm now slightly apprehensive about doing anything with it tonight.... Continue Reading →

I didn’t get loads of sleep last night (surprise surprise) so I wasn’t feeling overly fresh when I woke up this morning. It’s been another shorter day, but unlike yesterday, it didn’t really feel it. I lost an hour as I crossed over into Canada so I guess that didn’t help. The weather today was... Continue Reading →

A shorter day today. I felt good when I set off this morning, and thankfully that lasted all day. The weather was good and I spent the majority of the first 40 kilometres on a very pretty but quite hilly bike path. I started to feel the odd twinge in my knee towards the end... Continue Reading →

15,000 miles! It was nice to hit that earlier. Only 1/6 to go - I should be home in about a month. I’ve still got a lot of cycling to do and a few nights in a tent to endure (primarily tomorrow), but I really am starting to feel like I’m getting close. It’s still... Continue Reading →

Today has been another uneventful day. The scenery has become a fair bit more interesting but still wasn’t anything that exciting. I’m struggling to think of anything to write about this evening. Whilst a boring day is better than having a spoke break - or something else along those lines, it does make writing a... Continue Reading →

Once again, I woke up this morning feeling more tired than when I had gone to sleep. I actually fell asleep again for about half an hour after eating breakfast (not deliberately). Much like yesterday, I felt a lot better once riding; although this didn’t happen until a fair bit later than I had planned.... Continue Reading →

I didn’t get much sleep last night and waking up this morning was a real challenge. It took me ages to get out the door, but once on the bike - as is generally the case - I felt a lot better. This morning was actually reasonably cold and I don’t think it went much... Continue Reading →

Today was the first rain I’ve had in America.. I think it was anyway, the last couple of weeks are beginning to blur together but it was the first time I’ve needed a jacket. Now although I am now out of the 40 degree heat, today still wasn’t cold and I found myself facing a... Continue Reading →

Ok it's another late night so this has to be another quick update.. Today is the 4th of July and I had been slightly apprehensive about whether that would make things harder; but instead the opposite happened. The roads were almost empty all day, so riding on the main road wasn't actually that bad. The... Continue Reading →

Today has been a bit dull. To be honest I’m not overly upset about that given yesterday’s events but it does mean that this will be a short update. I also lost another hour today so it is already rather late. Unlike last time, I knew the clocks would change as I crossed the state... Continue Reading →

Today has not been a good one. It’s annoying that despite 3 fairly straightforward days, I’m instantly on the back foot again after just one bad day. I’m not going to get much sleep tonight, and quite frankly I don’t really want to dwell on the details of today too much so this probably won’t... Continue Reading →

Today didn’t really hold much of anything. It has been another early finish but that is almost entirely down to the fact that there was nothing to stop for. Apart from a few clusters of deserted buildings I didn’t pass anything. There was a lot of low-lying cloud today so mercifully, the temperature didn’t reach... Continue Reading →

Today couldn’t really have gone any better. The difference the wind makes when it is actually in the right direction is amazing. I got another good sleep last night and felt good pretty much from the minute I woke up. The ride today has been the fastest average speed of the whole trip, and considering... Continue Reading →

A shorter ride today… It’s amazing how much difference 25 miles can make. I finished not long after 2 o’clock this afternoon so I’ve actually spent more time doing nothing than I have riding today. Over the course of this trip, I have discovered that I’m actually quite talented when it comes to resting, so... Continue Reading →

Today was another hard day in the saddle, and the first 90 miles or so were not that enjoyable. The road headed gradually uphill for the majority and the wind wasn’t exactly making it easy. Once again the heat was pretty draining. I have come to the conclusion that 40 degrees is more or less... Continue Reading →

I think America is trying to kill me… Today started off fairly well. I was making good time and I had it in my mind to push for an early finish today so that I could get my wheel looked at without any time pressure. The first 60 miles went very much to plan and... Continue Reading →

I think last night may have been the first time of the whole trip that I managed to get consecutive 8 hour sleeps. Unfortunately I think that run is about to end, but it was fun while it lasted. I took ages getting ready this morning. Not entirely sure why - I felt good, I... Continue Reading →

I’m sorry but this has to be really short. I managed to get an 8 hour sleep last night and I’d really like that to happen again. Today was similar to yesterday - stunning scenery (until Spokane which came after about 60 miles) and still very hot. Other than that, hitting 13,500 miles total is... Continue Reading →

I spent today riding through the Palouse region - a rather large agricultural portion of the country that provided some stunning scenery. Wheat fields and rolling hills combined with the complete lack of civilisation made for some very surreal riding. Despite this, I really struggled to get comfortable on the bike this morning and it... Continue Reading →

As per, I’ve left this far too late so I need to be fairly brief.. The majority of the first 50 miles were slightly down hill so it was relatively easy going. The scenery started where yesterday left off, but after not very long, the pine trees ended very abruptly and were replaced by not... Continue Reading →

Today had the potential to be one of the best days of the whole trip... but unfortunately, it didn't quite work out like that. This was largely down to bad luck but I didn't help myself by being even less productive than normal this morning. It was almost 8 o'clock when I finally got going... Continue Reading →

So it turns out I wasn't being totally incompetent when trying to fix my wheel yesterday. The rim had actually spilt so there wasn't much I could do (although that's probably something I probably should have noticed). This means I now have a new wheel.... I owe a huge thank you to Kyle  and Showers Pass... Continue Reading →

Today did not go quite as well as I'd hoped. The weather was good and it was set to be the flattest day I've had this week, so it should have been fairly straightforward. To be fair, the weather was stunning, and I have decided that Oregon - for the most part - is a... Continue Reading →

Today was the first day I haven't woken up up to thick clouds and the weather throughout the ride was actually rather stunning.   It still wasn't that warm but it made a nice change. Despite the weather being so dull for the last five days, my face has actually gone a bit red so... Continue Reading →

Today was actually very similar to yesterday (apart from the wind direction), so to save some time, I'm not going to bother describing the ride... If you feel like you've been short-changed, perhaps read yesterday's update again. I do however have some advice for any men planning a cycling trip with a woman... Today I... Continue Reading →

I’ve now left California - the not-so-golden, Golden State - and entered Oregon. Unfortunately I think the weather looks set to stay the same. Today was a bit weird on that front, it kept changing between dense fog and completely cloudless skies, there wasn’t really any in between. Thankfully the wind was actually behind me... Continue Reading →

I’ve had a cold the last couple of days and so I need to get to bed ASAP in the hope that it will clear… So as is often custom - I need to keep this short. My night in a tent was generally ok apart from the mosquitos and because I was slightly away... Continue Reading →