Cross Country Cycling Tour – Atlantic Coast

A Love Affair Begins

I love to ride my bicycle and a good cycling tour! Few things compare to a beautiful day of riding through the rolling hills of North Georgia, endorphins surging, with a cool breeze blowing across your face; it’s pure, unadulterated joy! Add that to my fascination with epic journeys and a cross country cycling tour quickly earned a spot on my personal challenge list.

I first dipped my toes in the water with a week long cycling tour in the south of France almost five years ago. A fun group of fellow riders and the charms of the countryside of Provence was all it took, I was hooked!

I rode in a “test” trip with Woman Tours in 2013 in the Texas Hill Country and thought Woman Tours and I were a perfect match. I decided then and there that 2015 would be the Year of the Bike and I would complete a cross country cycling tour.

My 2015 Cross Country Cycling Tour

So what does this cross country cycling tour look like?

• We’ll cycle more than 2500 miles from Ft. Lauderdale to Bangor, Maine, in 53 days, crossing through 14 states
• We’ll stop in historic areas like St. Augustine, Florida, the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Williamsburg and Alexandria, Virginia, and New England
• We’ll cycle near key waterways such as the Potomac River, Delaware River, Connecticut River, the Chesapeake Bay, and cross the Walkway Over The Hudson River, the longest pedestrian bridge in the world
•  We’ll average riding 50-55 miles a day, taking a day off each week
• We’ll ride a metric century (62 miles) or longer  22 days of the trip
• I’ll be a part of a group of 40 women from all over the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand

Why an Epic Bike Ride?

Why a cross-country cycling tour?  People have all sorts of reasons:

• To see the country at a gentle pace
• To push their limits
• To get away from their day to day lives
• For the adventure
• For the people they’ll met

For me, it is all of those things and simply because I can. I may not always be able to ride my bike, but today is not that day.  I also know that, along the way, I’ll gain experiences and learn things about myself that I never anticipated.  And,  I’ll continue to get fitter after 50!

So join me as I start my cross country cycling tour! Along the way, I’ll update you about the trip and the people I meet.

I’ll also be “Cycling for Good,” which means each week I will ride to benefit a charity that has special meaning to me. Stay tuned. My next post will tell the story of my mission to Ride for Good.

P.S. – Check out these links for some great perspectives on cross country bike trips:

8 Reasons Your Should Go on an Cross Country Bike Ride 

What is it like to take a Cross Country Road Trip by Bike?

One Man’s Story of His Coast to Coast Bike Trip

10 Lessons I Learned From Bicycling Across the USA