The Proposed Green Route

August 6, 2025

I have used Ride with GPS to plan most of my cycling adventures. I usually break a large adventure down to smaller distances. In this adventure I am sectioning it state by state. So the first section is the state of Minnesota. Since the adventure begins in Angle Inlet, MN which is only accessible by land through Canada, we must travel back through Canada. So we'll need to pack the passports. We understand there is no border station from Angle Inlet MN to Canada but there will be one from Canada back to the US.

The adventure really begins at the Sportman's Lodge north of Baudette, MN on the Rainy River where we will board a 30 foot boat to carry 2 passengers, 2 trikes and two solar trailers. We hope there are other passengers to share the fare. We'll be on either a 6:30 am or 7:30 pm launch and likely will not know until we arrive in MN which boat we'll take. From there it is an hour and a half (only half of a 3 hour Gilligan's Isle tour) to Young's Bay Resort where the cycling begins.

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We'll start cycling at Young's Bay Resort, the northernmost point in the Contiguous 48 states. Then it is simply a matter of steadily pedaling from there all the way to the southernmost point of the continental USA at Key West. The full route is an attempt to connect as many existing off road trails as possible. I am estimating that for the northern half of the pilgrimage from Minnesota to Ohio about half of the journey will be on trails. The start and end points will be the huge buoys at either end.

This is the logo that Richard Larson created for his hiking expedition from Key West to Angle Inlet. Here is a link to his adventure blog from 2021-2022. And he may have been the first to imagine and name the snowbird route. My route will vary significantly but it will share the same end points and general direction. I did correspond with Richard about using the "Snowbird Route" concept as an inspiration for my journey. I've shared the idea with the Adventure Cycling Association as well and who knows maybe some day this way of crossing the country may become more common and popularly used by others.

I like to create a logo for my cycling adventures that are unique. After a cycling pilgrimage on the Camino in Spain in 2012 I invented an image of cross and arrow for adventures here in Ohio, cycling through an area known as the Land of the Cross Tipped Churches. I used to paint one of these arrows on the end of our driveway to suggest that adventure begins right out the front door, every day. This version of the arrow is pointing the general direction I will be taking across the US from northwest to southeast. Green represents hope the attention to Mother Earth as I travel. I've thought Kermit the Frog could be one of my mascots. My hope is to turn the Kermit song "It's Not Easy Being Green" around and make the adventure as enjoyable and easy as I can given the limitation of using only my legs and solar power to travel.

And here's a look at the journey from MN to GA. I have three alternative options for going through Florida - gulf side, Atlantic side or right down the middle to lessen the chance of encountering the full force of a hurricane.

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