10 Things I Love About Bike Travel

Spring has sprung, and to me that means one thing - cycling. After the long Montana winter, I am ready to dig my bike out of the basement, tune it up and hit the road. With upcoming spring rides in Yellowstone, Oregon, and the Kootenai River Valley, I need to get my bike legs back! Needless to say, I've got biking on the brain, which inspired me to write about the things I love most about bike travel.

T-storms from a winding road in Arizona

1. The SCENERY: Travelling by bike allows you to be deeply entrenched and aware of your surroundings. Whereas in a car or plane you might sit idly as the scenery passes you by, on a bike you are in it. You feel every gust of wind, every ray of sunshine, every slight variation in the grade of the road, and every single bump. And, trust me, there are lots of them. Your senses are heightened as you take notice of the little things that might have otherwise slipped past your consciousness, like a songbird whistling from the sagebrush in Oklahoma, the vivid redness of the rocks in Arizona, and even the stench of a thousand cattle in Texas. You feel it all because you are part of it.

Farmer talk in Texas

2. The LOCALS: Pull up to a gas station in a small town on a bike and I guarantee you’ll spark conversation with a local in no time. It’s like having a puppy or a baby – people feel compelled to talk to you, and any societal norms or stranger danger is thrown out the window. Once you get past the basic questions – Where’d ya’ come from? Where ya’ headed?  – you might even discover a thing or two about the person and the place you’re in. Like Debbie, a flea market owner in OH who told me about the colorful history of Port Washington. Or the farmers I saddled up next to in a gas station in TX to talk weather and crops. Suddenly all those soybean fields we passed got a little more interesting.

3. The FOOD: Although this list is in no particular order, food really should be #1, but I thought that would be too superficial of me. It’s pathetic how much of my motivation to bike comes from the guilt-free food frenzy that it facilitates. The reality is that when you spend 6-8 hours on a bike, your thoughts are mostly occupied by food, or at least mine are. Cravings are boiled down to the basics – carbs, fat, protein, salt, sugar - GIVE ME ALL THE CALORIES! The act of eating becomes primal and the pleasure taken from it immeasurable. My favorite bike travel treats include Snickers bars, ice cream, chocolate milk, chicken (in any form), and the occasional gas station breakfast sandwich. Hold the judgment.

4. The CAMRADERIE: Bike travel brings people together. The shared experience, joy, suffering, and adventure of it all can put you on the fast track from complete strangers to instant friends. My Bike & Build team last summer was like a family, and I get slaphappy when I get an email or see them on FaceTime. For the past few years, I’ve done rides in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks with friends in Montana, a tradition I look forward year after year. Sometimes these rides might be the only time I see a friend all year, but every year there is a new adventure to be had and a new story to tell. Bike with me and you’re a friend for life.

5. The NOVELTY: Do you get tired of seeing the same things, having the same old routine day after day? Me too. With bike travel everything is new and exciting. I’m convinced that there is no better way to explore a new place than on two wheels. Now that I’m hooked on bike travel, I’m constantly trying to find ways to fit in rides anywhere I go. Even my own hometown of Memphis was cast in a new light when I took to the streets by bike. Read about it in my last blog entry back in November. 

6. The HOSPITALITY:  If you want to have your faith restored in the goodness of humanity and the kindness of strangers, go on a bike trip. In my bike travels, I’ve found that hospitality is very much alive and well, and not just in the South. While lost in central Italy, a man and his family led us in their minivan for miles into a town as my friends and I pedaled furiously to keep up. On Maine to Santa Barbara’s 110-mile marathon through the desert to Twenty Palms, CA last summer, a guy in an RV magically appeared with cold bottles of water handed out his window. I have countless stories like these. I’m not saying that every person I’ve encountered while riding a bike had been friendly, but kindness and generosity have far outweighed the assholes and rude drivers. 

A memorable climb from Sedona to Flagstaff, AZ

7. The CLIMB: I love hill climbs about as much as I love doing laundry. It’s a chore, but it has to be done, oftentimes more frequently than you would like. Climbing does not come naturally to me and is usually as much of a mental battle as it is a physical one. I have little tricks to distract myself on long ascents, like counting pedal strokes, repeating mantras, and singing songs and nursery rhymes over…and over…and over…until I get to the top…of this STUPID HILL. But the feeling of satisfaction and relief that comes from summiting a challenging hill is far greater than the joy of freshly laundered clothes. It is a battle that you fought and won. And victory is sweet.

Soaking in the view after a long descent in New Mexico

8. The DOWNHILL: Coasting down a hill on a bicycle is the greatest feeling on the planet. Fact. Any memory of the struggle it took to get up it is immediately washed away and replaced with pure, childlike glee. Riding down hills takes me back to my 6 year-old self, flying down my driveway in a plastic red fire engine into the street as my dad nervously watched for traffic. And I distinctly remember the first heart-pounding descent I ever rode while on a bike overnight in Italy. Once I got over the initial fear and settled into the speed, I sang opera at the top of my lungs the whole way down. The tune was lost in the wind along with every other care in the world.

9. The UNEXPECTED: Just when you think everything is going smoothly on a bike trip, shit can (and probably will) hit the fan. You get five flats in a row. Your nice tailwind turns into a 30 mph soul-sucking headwind. The road is closed due to flash floods forcing a lengthy reroute in the middle of the desert. And what do you do? You keep on riding. Easily the most memorable days of my cross-country trip last summer were the ones where we got lost, the weather turned on us, and nothing went according to plan but we managed to enjoy ourselves anyways. No rain, no rainbows.

10. The SIMPLICITY: Bike travel really is simple. All you need is your bike, some clothes and gear, maybe a friend or two, a map/route and the determination to embrace whatever surprises may come your way. Then you just sit back and enjoy the ride. At the end of the day, you’re just riding your bike from one place to the next.

When's you're next ride?