As usual, I was browsing the Guardian online. I noticed a feature called ‘Netjetters’: basically, a series of weblogs from various people getting up to exciting journeys. The one that caught my eye was by Susan Greenwood, a freelance PR copywriter for the Guardian who was attempting to cycle across the US from the East Coast to the West over three months, using the TransAmerica cycle path. I was hooked from the start – in fact, before the start. I was hooked from the introduction, and it was clear that her unfolding story was rekindling in me a desire to get back on my touring bike – to re-connect with the person I was age 18 when I cycled Lands End to John o’Groats with my friend John.
We took a long, meandering route. The point wasn’t to do it fast, or by the most direct route, but to explore Britain and visit as many landmarks as we could link together. We saw Dartmoor, Cheddar Gorge, Thomas Hardy’s cottage, the river where Constable painted The Haywain, Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge, Avebury, Bath, Shakespeare’s cottage, Bakewell (for the tarts), the Pennine Way, the Yorkshire Dales, Ambleside and Lake Windermere, Hadrian’s Wall… all that and more, before returning to the more familiar sites of Scotland. I still remember the long slog over the Forth Bridge, the beauty of Perthshire and the Highlands beyond. I still remember the two of us arriving at John o’Groats on a cold, wet day surrounded by grey clouds, and a twist of sadness in the midst of celebration in recognition that it wasn’t the arrival that counted after all; it was the journey.
My passion for cycle touring was sincere enough, but not very robust: once Edinburgh University had got its social claws into me, it just softly faded away. But, as it turns out, it didn’t take much to bring it back. I first mentioned the idea of a grand Trans-America trip to my friend Edward, as a postscript to an email about noise-cancelling headphones:
From: John
To: Edward
Sent: 14 September 2006
Subject: Take two pairs of headphones into the shower?
OK, sound-isolating. They don't say which model and I've forgotten, but they’re semi-transparent like those 80's Swatch watches or those top-of-the-range earphones you were dreaming about (though they're not). Cost about £50 a couple of years ago and were well recommended at the time. Oh, and they come in a cool black pouch.
Now here’s a thing: I've decided to take some time out next year to go on a cycling adventure. Partly inspired by Susan Greenwood's Netjetters column in the Guardian (http://travel.guardian.co.uk/netjetters/susan/), I'm planning a 4-month Trans-America trip. I know it sounds crazy, but there are so many National Parks I want to visit, and I love small-town rural America (as long as you keep clear of the red-necks, not to mention the bears, moose and rattlesnakes...). So what do you say, want to come with?
From: Edward
To: John
Sent: 15 September 2006
Subject: Trans-America
It's very nice of you to ask, I'm not sure I'd wish four months of me on anyone... it needs some serious thinking about. There are attractions (by God I'd be fit, National Parks, four months off work) and difficulties (hard to organise, long time away from the UK, cost). Let me mull it and discuss with Ewa, OK?
From: John
To: Edward
Sent: 15 September 2006
Subject: Trans-America
I'm not sure I'd wish four months of me on anyone, either. But I'm beginning to formulate a plan. Since starting to think about this in a semi-realistic way I've mentioned it to a couple of friends and so far the response has been similar to yours: “great idea, but, wow, four months”. I'm not against doing it on my own, but there are many good reasons to go with someone else. At the most basic level, if someone has an accident you have backup. And then, although cycling's a solitary pursuit, there's the value of companionship after a long day in the saddle. Now here's the plan:
I’ll basically do it on my own, but ask friends to come along for parts of the route, depending on how much time they can take off work and where they want to go. So, for example, one friend may come along for the Yellowstone bit. Another thinks Oregon sounds mighty nice. Well, you get the idea. Keep thinking it over, and as an aid to thinking, check out the Adventure Cycling Association's TransAmerica Trial. I'm also looking at their Northern Tier route. John.
From: Edward
To: John
Sent: 15 September 2006
Subject: Trans-America
Perfect. Ewa and I were just discussing this, and decided that I'd get back to you and suggest that you get both of us for one month instead. This would be very conditional on Ewa getting appropriately fit, which she isn't, and I would be very stringent about that - I wouldn't want her to come and then not be able to do it. She's very keen, though, so I think it's a realistic possibility. Would that be any use to you?
From: John
To: Edward
Sent: 15 September 2006
Subject: Trans-America
This could pick up momentum quicker than I'd thought! I'd imagined a healthy dose of "get real" rather than "can I come with?" But it's really encouraging and is starting to convince me that I'm on to something. Technically, the cycling should take 3 months, but I'm adding in a week at the start to get fixed up and at the end to come down, plus some time mid-route to compensate for exhaustion / things going awry / just wanting to laze and look at scenery.
Keep thinking it over,
John.
