Riding a century in all 50 states
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I had to change the last pic above, I pasted the wrong link. I didn't take the previous pic. The new one I took at dusk/night on a randonee.
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If this guy can do this (run 365 marathons in 365 days), cycling 50 centuries in 50 states in 50 days is simply a determination & logistical problem.
https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ath_engels_marathon
https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ath_engels_marathon
Last edited by drmweaver2; 02-06-11 at 01:28 PM.
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Here is a tougher challenge. Pass through the lower 48 states in 48 days in one continuous route without riding in the van. Using interstates, the shortest route is just over 7000 miles. That works out to 145 miles per day which should be quite doable for an endurance cyclist. I think if I find myself out of a job I will try this some summer.
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Are you allowed to ride a bicycle on all those interste freeways? If so, it sounds doable...
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Homeyba, you can only ride on interstates that are deemed to be the "only way" to get there. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I know you can in Colorado and some of Utah, but I'm not sure about any others. I think most of the bicycle legal interstates are out west. By the way, what I meant by "my experience" is the fact that I have only been riding about 3 years - 70 years old when I started. My longest ride is only 70 miles...I wasn't so much flaunting my experience as a rider but I am saying the overall package of experience of actually doing 48 states does count for something. In other words, the logistics takes a lot longer than you can imagine. (1) Finding a route or routes in my case since I did about 1/3 of them in 2 days and the rest in 3 days. (2) finding a campground where you can stay and ride from. (3) Doing all the mundane things that have to be done, grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, driving, motorhome breakdowns (I have a new one, but I had to stay in the same place 3 times for a total of about 25-30 days for repairs.), and (4) writing my blog took quite a bit of time etc. (My blog can be found at https://Biking50States.wordpress.com.) Those are a few of the logistics I am talking about. I was totally wrong about someone having the endurance to actually ride 50 hundred mile days...I agree completely that that can be done by more than a few riders, but the vast majority can't.
I think Dan has come up with the most feasible way to ride in 48 states in 48 days and if he does it, which I hope he does, he will most likely be in a class by himself.
You are right, it would take an endurance cyclist ... more than most of us are capable of. Don't forget you won't be able to go your regular speed due to the weight you would have to carry and maybe due to the long distances everyday. Good luck and make that a lifetime goal, but don't wait until you are 73 to do it!!
Happy riding...winter is fading and warm weather is here.
Dan the Man: Now your idea/plan is a great goal...I don't wish you to be out of a job, but I do hope you can do that one of these days. There is a couple (maybe husband and wife) that are supposed to be doing that right now. They are starting California and zigzagging across the country - BUT they aren't going to do it in 50 days.
Steve
P.S. Please, don't even try to take away my accomplishment. I think I did a pretty good job for my age and limited bike experience...even if it did take me about 6 months to do it. You would have been bored out of your mind riding at my turtle pace!!! My goal is to do a century on my 100th birthday.
Oh, one more BTW, I did take a lot of pictures while riding, but most were taken while stopped. And sometimes I had to turn around to get a particularly nice picture especially if the shot was to the side as opposed to facing forward.
I think Dan has come up with the most feasible way to ride in 48 states in 48 days and if he does it, which I hope he does, he will most likely be in a class by himself.
You are right, it would take an endurance cyclist ... more than most of us are capable of. Don't forget you won't be able to go your regular speed due to the weight you would have to carry and maybe due to the long distances everyday. Good luck and make that a lifetime goal, but don't wait until you are 73 to do it!!
Happy riding...winter is fading and warm weather is here.
Dan the Man: Now your idea/plan is a great goal...I don't wish you to be out of a job, but I do hope you can do that one of these days. There is a couple (maybe husband and wife) that are supposed to be doing that right now. They are starting California and zigzagging across the country - BUT they aren't going to do it in 50 days.
Steve
P.S. Please, don't even try to take away my accomplishment. I think I did a pretty good job for my age and limited bike experience...even if it did take me about 6 months to do it. You would have been bored out of your mind riding at my turtle pace!!! My goal is to do a century on my 100th birthday.
Oh, one more BTW, I did take a lot of pictures while riding, but most were taken while stopped. And sometimes I had to turn around to get a particularly nice picture especially if the shot was to the side as opposed to facing forward.
Last edited by stevevarnum; 02-14-11 at 02:18 PM.
#31
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"be careful this rando stuff is addictive and dan's the 'pusher'."
"be careful this rando stuff is addictive and dan's the 'pusher'."
#32
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Ran across this, and remembered this old thread- guy did 50 Ironman-type events in 50 states in 50 days:
Why Iron Cowboy Is So Important. | tomdemerly
Why Iron Cowboy Is So Important. | tomdemerly
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"be careful this rando stuff is addictive and dan's the 'pusher'."
"be careful this rando stuff is addictive and dan's the 'pusher'."
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On a related note, a while back, a fellow that lives up in the Texas panhandle was commenting on how many Texas counties he had ridden in, and got me to counting it up- think it was 25 or so at the time. But one thing I discovered was you could do a 200k loop out in East Texas and get 9 counties in one ride. I'm tempted to make a permanent route out there just for that reason.
#34
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I hadn't thought about that. It looks like there are a couple of far-west Texas counties about 125 miles across. However, they're also pretty sparsely populated, without much choice of roads, so it's hard to just cut across at that 125 mile dimension. And if you start getting more convoluted routes, well, you could hit 125 miles in one town, too.
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"be careful this rando stuff is addictive and dan's the 'pusher'."
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I had not seen this thread before...I have established a "life time" goal of riding a METRIC century in each state...not the full...not quite willing to jump all over the big ones! I also, kind of, established a few "rules" for my quest...
(1) It must be at least 60 miles (yes, a bit short of 100K, but...it makes it a bit easier with the varying readouts of GPS, Strava, organizer, etc).
(2) It must be an organized event...not just me saying I rode 60+ miles
(3) It must provide a tshirt or jersey as part of the event (documentation of the event)...yes, sounds cheesy, but my wife cuts the shirts up and makes me a quilt...
(4) The state is counted where the ride originates (i.e. Rhode Island! Some of the miles for RI were in Mass, but the ride originated in RI)
I have done ten states...
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Alabama
Florida
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Maine
Connecticut
(1) It must be at least 60 miles (yes, a bit short of 100K, but...it makes it a bit easier with the varying readouts of GPS, Strava, organizer, etc).
(2) It must be an organized event...not just me saying I rode 60+ miles
(3) It must provide a tshirt or jersey as part of the event (documentation of the event)...yes, sounds cheesy, but my wife cuts the shirts up and makes me a quilt...
(4) The state is counted where the ride originates (i.e. Rhode Island! Some of the miles for RI were in Mass, but the ride originated in RI)
I have done ten states...
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Alabama
Florida
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Maine
Connecticut
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I have ridden in 49 states
I have ridden a century ride in all 50 states. I have always done organized century rides in each state, (i.e., Seagull Century in Maryland, Heatstroke 100 in Nebraska, Six Gap Century in Georgia, Mountains of Misery in Virginia). I have never planned my own century route and ridden it by myself. That way I have some souvenir from each ride, (i.e., t-shirt, patch, jersey, socks, water bottle). I have a web site listing all my century rides by state. Go to teamstiff.org/hacky_jedi.htm to view them.
Last edited by HackyJedi; 07-30-19 at 09:17 AM.
#37
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wow, that's a lot of centuries. And welcome to the forum!