Monthly Archives: April 2021

Across the US Again

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Around May 6, I’m going to start cycling across the US again. Last time, I cycled about 4,000 miles from east to west on the Trans America Trail, Virginia to Oregon. This time, I’ll cycle about 2,000 miles north to south on the Mississippi River Trail (MRT), from Minnesota to Louisiana. My route is below, click on it to see more.

This trip is special since I started my first bike tour 10 years ago, by cycling 1,100 miles across Britain. That ride was solo, and most of this ride will be, about 1,500 miles. The last 10 years of bike touring have changed my life, especially the consistent generosity of strangers.

Bike touring has made me trust the news less and trust strangers more. Of course, there are some bad people in the world but not nearly as many as the news suggests. Bike touring taught me that, after 10 years and 7,000 miles on a loaded bike.

People sometimes ask which ride is my favorite. My answer’s always the same–the next one. Here’s more information about that ride, following the Mighty Miss.

The Start, before arriving at the actual Mississippi River Trail

  • Cycling with family on the Lake Woebegone Trail
  • Stopping by Art in Motion (aka BoHo) to see friends from my hometown, Holdingford.

The Middle

  • Cycling from the Mississippi Headwaters in Northern Minnesota to New Orleans
  • Dipping my rear tire into the start of the Mississippi River, where it’s about 5 yards wide.
  • Taking a deep dive into Mark Twain’s work, so I can compare what he wrote to what I see, when I write in this cycling blog. The links below show a bit about Mark Twain.

The End

  • Dipping my front tire into the end of the Mississippi, where it’s over a mile wide.
  • Enjoying music, Cajun food, and more in New Orleans

Please Join Me Here

I hope to describe each day in this blog, with stories, pictures, and comments from Mark Twain. I always enjoy hearing from people, so please stop by this blog when you can and add a note, by clicking the link “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this blog post. If you’d like to know when I write something about the trip, click the “Subscribe” button in the upper-right.

More videos about the Mississippi River and bike touring are below.