Day 86, Layover Day In Anacortes.  I awoke this morning to a new reality; the journey was done, I had actually accomplished it.  I rode from the official starting point at the dock in Bar Harbor, ME to the official ending point at the Ferry Terminal in Anacortes, WA.  I rode coast-to-coast, and nothing stopped me; 1.) the wounds to my left leg from the rabid dog attack didn't stop me, 2.) the issues with the skin graft on my left heel and the topical chemotherapy I had to apply during most of the journey didn't stop me, 3.) the sickness I caught from Doc early on didn't stop me, 4.) the infection I got in my big toe didn't stop me, 5.) the 6-mile road closure where they were insisting on transporting cyclist's bikes across the construction zone in a pickup didn't stop me, 6.) the record heat in the High Plains didn't stop me, 7.) the infection from my 5th wisdom tooth going berserk didn't stop me, and 8.) the forest fires didn't stop me.   I still had some recovering wounds from the dog attack for the 1st month, but they healed - the skin graft has never healed completely, but I completed the topical chemotherapy regardless - whatever it was that I caught from Doc resulted in a couple of days off but that was no big deal - Doc and I both ran through the 6-mile road closure early in the morning without being stopped and forced into being ferried in the back of a pickup - we left early in the mornings to deal with the record heat - the wisdom tooth infection was indeed troubling but I got through it with the aid of antibiotics and opioid pain killers - and finally, the forest fires caused a change in route but I reached the destination anyway.   I rode 4,259 miles to get here and nothing stopped me.  I rode every inch of the way and nothing stopped me.  NOTHING stopped me.   

               "Found Money" Coffee. I found $3.20 along the way as I rode coast to coast.  Today I went to the local Starbucks in Anacortes and told them my story, and that I needed to spend exactly $3.20 on a coffee to celebrate the successful completion of the ride.  After some finagling with the possible options, we agreed that an iced coffee for $3.21 was pretty close to my "found money" budget, and so that's what I got.   

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Bill ShaneyfeltWith the coin shortages in recent years, I have noticed a sharp decline in roadkill coins. For the last few years before I retired in 2008, I had a 3 lb coffee can for roadkill. It is about 2/3 full and 30 some dollars, riding the same 12 mile route each way, about half being on bike trails. Not been so careful to pick it up in recent years, although I do take note when I spot it.
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2 years ago

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The barista was a little confused when I explained that my coffee budget required me to spend exactly $3.20, but I got my coffee eventually and I'm happy about that. 

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Kathleen JonesLove that barista.
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It was a long hard journey just to get a Starbucks iced coffee; but I think you know the journey was about much more than that.   After all, I found a lot of tools along the way too! 

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Bill ShaneyfeltOn my 2008 bike tour of 21oo miles, I found lots of tools, most of which I gave away to friends and relatives along the way. Pliers, screw drivers, wrenches, sockets, knives, and of course lots of bungees and other misc. useful stuff. There were also a couple sledge hammers and framing hammers as well as a huge wrench at different places, but I just left them because of all the hills in S-W Ohio, S. IN, KY, TN, NC and GA.

There's a lot of good stuff that just falls off... mostly pickups? or roof tops? Not convinced that it would be worthwhile if that was the point of bike touring.
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How do tools like these end up on the shoulders of rural roads in the middle of nowhere?  I could speculate, but regardless of how they were abandoned they are now at home in my garage.  As I found them, I sent them home with the next mailing to the wife.  Early in the trip I actually passed up a couple of sockets on the shoulder at 2 different locations until I decided to start collecting "found tools" as well as "found money."  

Paradise.  I think I found Paradise.  I always suspected it would be located somewhere in the Pacific northwest, and indeed it is.  Anacortes and the nearby communities and islands certainly qualify as Paradise to a cyclist. The cycling here is just outstanding.  Most of the roads throughout Washington have provision for cycling.  There are lots of cyclists in the Anacortes area; certainly there is a "critical mass" of cyclists such that they are expected on the roadways.   And since the winters are moderated by the relatively warm water of the Pacific, it never gets too cold for cycling.   Lastly, the culture is favorable for cyclists.  How do I say this without getting too political?  The area leans to the left enough such that folks understand the good environmental aspects of cycling and realize that having cyclists on the road is a GOOD thing.  It's not like that in more "conservative" areas of the country, such as where I live.  Paradise?  For me, Paradise would look a lot like the region around Anacortes.

Statistics.   Here's a few, in no particular order;

          Riding Days; 75

          Rest Days; 10  (4 were for medical recovery; 2 for a cold or COVID, and 2 for recovery from a wisdom tooth infection)

          Average Mileage On Riding Days;  56.8 - 57.6  (depends on whether you count the ceremonial last day wherein I only rode 9 miles as a "riding" day) - I think it's safe to say the average was approximately 57 - 58 miles/day.

          Days Rode Less Than 40 miles; 3

          Days Rode 40 - 49 miles;   19

          Days Rode 50 - 59 miles;  19

          Days Rode 60 - 69 miles;  23

          Days Rode More Than 70 miles;  11

          Days in B&Bs; 2 (3 for Doc)

          Days in AirB&Bs; 1

          Days in Hostels; 4 (counting Oxford Junction, IA as a hostel since they regularly host cyclists)

          Days Camping; 7 

          Days in Hotels; 71 (not counting the 3 travel nights to get to the start and 1 at the end to get to my flight home)

          Flat Tires; 0, absolutely none. 

          Mechanical Issues;  The only issue of significance was  a broken shift cable.  It happened while climbing Going-to-the-Sun road on the way to the continental divide crossing at Logan's Pass, and it took only 15 minutes to fix. Most of that time was used in removing and replacing the panniers, handlebar bag, water bottles, etc.  Fortunately I had a spare shift cable.  

          Cost; $9,500  -My credit card statements, plus the cash I took, indicate that I spent right at $9,500 for everything; transportation, food, and lodging.  Doc and I split the transportation cost to the start and all the lodging until we took different routes from Newport, WA.  So the last 12 days of lodging was all on me.  Additionally, there were 2 days earlier when we were temporarily separated wherein the lodging cost was all mine.  So then; we split the lodging cost for 74 days and I paid the full cost of lodging for 14 days (those numbers include the travel to the start and extra day at the end as I was awaiting my flight).  I had an unexpected cost of $420 to rent a 1-way car from Dallas to Tulsa on my return flight, and this is also part of the $9,500 total; so if you deduct that portion I would have spent $9,100 for the adventure.   This was a "luxury" bicycle tour (if there is such a thing), and certainly the cost could have been much lower if we camped a lot more and we didn't eat in restaurants so much.  

A Rough Time Getting Home. My flight from Seattle to Dallas was delayed just enough that I missed the connecting flight to Tulsa, and the next available flight home was (supposedly) a day later.  It was late at night and I was frustrated, so I paid the rip-off price for a 1-way rental car to get home.  I didn't tell the airline, cause I wanted to continue getting text updates about my connecting flight.  The flight they had scheduled me on for the next day (Sunday) was cancelled and they re-scheduled me for a Monday flight.  It too was cancelled, so they rescheduled me for Tuesday afternoon.  That flight occurred as scheduled - if I had waited in Dallas, I would have gotten home 3 days later than originally scheduled!  Tulsa is only a bit over 4 hours driving from Dallas.  I was one of hundreds of passengers that American Airlines basically just abandoned that weekend.  The really frustrating thing is that I'm a Gold member of their frequent flyer program due to my travels prior to retirement - in the past when things went haywire they would always take care of the frequent flyers - but now I guess things are so bad they don't care.  Despite the fact that I have enough points for at least a couple more free round trips, I'll never fly again unless there's no other option.

Memories & Miscellaneous Ramblings.  This journal will refresh my memories in future years.   I have memories from every day of the trip.  But here's a few of the good and the bad that stand out.  

                Oxford Junction, IA.  This was one of the most pleasant memories, and certainly the best surprise of the entire trip.  Doc and I had resigned ourselves to camping in the city park, a most unpleasant place with a pit toilet and no running water.   We stopped at the local bar for some lunch before we set up camp, and met the proprietor, a nice lady named Donna.  She noted that we looked like cyclists and asked "Would you like to sleep inside the Community Center tonight?"  And so, we slept inside with A/C and running water and a bathroom - it was so much better than what we had expected!

               Illinois Wind.  We were surprised by the tough headwinds in western Illinois - 3 days of it was the hardest part of the trip (at that point anyway - the headwinds in North Dakota were actually harder, but we expected some headwinds in the high plains).

               Health Issues.  Doc had an illness early in the trip (maybe COVID), and had to deal with carpal tunnel issues throughout much of the trip.  I caught Doc's sickness early on, then had to deal with a toe infection and wisdom tooth infection at other times.   And I sort of bled all the way across the country - the skin graft on my left heel had an open wound that wouldn't heal while I was applying the topical chemotherapy, and so I left "spots" on the floor towel as I exited the shower.  The wisdom tooth infection almost shut down my journey in Cut Bank, MT.  Fortunately, the local dentist figured out the problem and a few days of antibiotic eliminated the pain.   I didn't even mention that I had to deal with a back issue resulting in significant pain during the last days of the journey - I sprained my back 3 days prior to Anacortes and it became so painful I could barely mount and dismount the bike - it took a full week after the trip before I (mostly) recovered.   I just didn't feel like discussing it at the time because I didn't want to think about it - I needed to focus on finishing without letting anything distract me. I definitely feel like I'm getting older, and this coast-to-coast trip had more health challenges than my Transam journey 6 years earlier.

          Cash Required. Unlike my Transam journey in 2015, lots of places required cash in the eastern U.S. I didn’t expect this until the west, but in the west there were very few places that required cash.

         Morale Boosters.  Tom, a cyclist from Alaska whom I met on the road, "knew" me because of the Hula girl on my rear luggage rack!  He had read my 2015 Transam journal and remembered the Hula girl.  This really made my day - it's hard to explain, but something like this makes you realize that others care about your adventure and that we are all connected.  Others who write their own journals will understand.

          Greg Garceau made our day when he bicycled into Wisconsin from Minnesota to give us a "Welcome to Minnesota" greeting - even though we weren't quite there yet!  Greg continued following us via this journal, and it really helps when times are tough to know that others are following along vicariously.

          Many others followed along on the journal, and I can't name them all without leaving some out.  Steve Henry followed us the entire trip and it was always nice to hear his encouraging words.  Rick Ferl from Conneaut whom we met briefly near the OH-PA border followed our trip.  And numerous other friends and relatives and co-workers and fellow cyclists followed along and offered words of encouragement both in the journal comments and also by email.  My sincere thanks to all of you - sometimes your encouraging comment was just enough to get us through a tough day and give us reason to continue.  Tours like this are physically hard, and the mental aspect is even harder than the physical.  It truly helps when folks comment and stay in touch and let you know they are in your corner.  Thank you all!

          All of the cyclists we met along the way were morale boosters even if we only stopped and chatted for a minute!  Just knowing that others are sharing the adventure and enduring the hardships somehow encourages you to continue.  Steve and Allane were especially helpful to me during the last week or so of the trip as we stayed in touch and encouraged each other to finish.  And the unexpected visit I got from Skip and Gunda really made my day late in the trip!  It was good seeing that these couples successfully completed their own adventure. And there were many other cyclists that we only briefly met, and I wonder (hope) that they were able to successfully complete their own journeys.  I note that Robert Ferrari kept a journal on that "other site" under a pseudonym, and I followed him to the conclusion of his journey.

          Minnesota Trails. I recommend that you take the Trails Alternate route from Bowlus, MN to Fargo, ND.  That was 2 very pleasant days on paved trails that travel along beautiful back-country lakes.   Unless you have a compelling reason to take the other option, you really ought to ride the trails.   How could you resist riding on the Lake Wobegone trail?

          Comparison With The Transam Route.  Others have made comparisons between the Northern Tier and Transam routes.  I've now ridden these 2 routes, the longest of the ACA routes, so here's my opinion.  BLUF; they are both interesting routes that will give you an epic adventure, but if you can only ride 1 of them then ride the Transam.  The following points are not meant to be in any order of importance, they are just listed as I thought of them.

1. Expense; the Northern Tier is much more expensive.  The entire eastern half traverses what can be considered to be "tourist areas," and the prices for lodging and food are inflated.
2. Hostels; The Transam offers the possibility of staying in about 21 hostels along the way! The Northern Tier only has a few.  These are churches, community centers, volunteer fire departments, etc. that allow cyclists to stay inside for free (but donations are always appreciated).  Not only does this reduce the cost (in a 12-week trip you could stay inside 25% of the time for free), hostels are places where you meet other cyclists.  While I don't remember all the hotels I stayed in, I remember all of the hostels.  
3. Population Density; the Northern Tier route passes through several large cities, while the Transam avoids them as much as possible.  Some folks enjoy cycling through the large cities, but I think most of us had rather avoid them.
4. Continental Divide Crossings; The Northern Tier only crosses the Continental Divide once, while the Transam meanders along it from Colorado through Wyoming and Montana and crosses it 9 times.   
5. Mountain Passes and Scenery; you will be in the mountains on either route and enjoy the scenery.  It is different though.  The Northern Tier never reaches 7,000 feet while the Transam tops out about 4,500 feet higher.  The scenery is good on both routes.  
6. Climbing; the Transam has more climbing.  My numbers were 136,444 feet on the Northern Tier and 171,475 feet on the Transam.  So you climb about 35,000 feet more on the Transam, or about 25% more.  I should note that I rode the Transam as a "both ends to the middle" ride, so my elevation gain was probably about 5,000 feet more than it would have been otherwise - so the real difference between the 2 routes is probably about 30,000 feet more climbing on the Transam.
7. Climbing Difficulty; The Transam is harder. On the Northern Tier, there are some short steep grades along and near the coast in Maine, and Middlebury Gap in Vermont is as hard as the Appalachian climbs.  However, the combination of the Appalachians and Ozarks on the Transam is more difficult than the mountains of New England and the Adirondacks.  I should clarify that I rode the Transam in 10 weeks and took 12 weeks for the Northern Tier - so I had longer days with more climbing on the Transam, and this likely influences my opinion.  Still, I feel secure in saying that the climbing is more difficult on the Transam.
8. Traffic; I think the Transam wins this category.  Both of the routes pass through what one would describe as "tourist areas," but I think the Transam is more easily navigated.  The coast of Maine, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the Green Mountains of Vermont, the New York Adirondacks, and the entire south shore of Lake Erie are all very popular tourist areas with the potential for heavy traffic.  And, of course, Glacier National Park and Going-to-the-sun road is heavily trafficked.  On the Transam one has to deal with heavy summer tourism in the Colorado mountains and with the traffic getting through Yellowstone park.  Yellowstone is the most heavily trafficked area on the Transam, but you can avoid a lot of it with a very early start. 
9. Services; the Northern Tier wins this one.  There are more services along the way, primarily because the route is more densely populated.  There are vast empty stretches out west on either route, but I think there are more services along the eastern half of the Northern Tier as compared to the eastern half of the Transam, simply because the Northern Tier route goes through more populated areas.  Services are adequate along the Transam, but more care is required to plan ahead for each day's stops. 
10. Other Cyclists; the Transam will always have more cyclists traveling it.  You have the potential of meeting up with others, and I found this to be a good thing.  I ended up riding and sharing lodging with others I met along the Transam.  
11. Foreign Cyclists; the Transam is known globally, and many foreign cyclists come here to ride it.  I met cyclists from 9 different countries while riding the Transam!  This may not be an important factor to you, but it certainly makes the ride interesting as you see how others perceive American culture.
12. Cyclist "Acceptance;" The Transam has been around the longest of all the ACA routes, having been established in 1976.  Many folks along the route are used to seeing bicycle tourists.  Most every hostel has a guestbook for you to sign, and their guestbooks include thousands of cyclists from all over the world.  And some restaurants also will bring you their cyclist guestbook to sign!  So you get a small bit of rock-star treatment as folks recognize the magnitude of the journey you are attempting.
13. American "Culture" Considerations; how do I say this without offending too many folks?  Maybe I can't, but here goes anyway. You probably encounter more backwoods and backwards folks on the Transam route than on the Northern Tier.  The NE and NW parts of the continental U.S. are among the most educated parts of the country.  And that means they are more liberal and accepting of cyclists and are less likely to be mad that you are on "their" roads.   Conversely, the backwoods of Kentucky and Missouri represent the opposite end of the education spectrum.   Along the Northern Tier, there are certainly backwards folks in the rural parts of Montana, Idaho, and eastern Washington, but rural Kentucky and Missouri and Kansas overwhelmingly "win" this category.
14. Weather Considerations; I think this is a draw.  On either route you will likely have as much chance of encountering adverse weather.  The winds will sometimes be for you, and sometimes against you, regardless of which direction you go.  Heat will be your biggest challenge, no matter which route you take.  

For me, the biggest factor in choosing between the 2 routes lies in the answer to this question; Would I ride the route again?  I absolutely would ride the Transam again.  I am glad I had the opportunity to ride the Northern Tier, but I have no interest in riding it again.  Either route will give you an epic adventure, but since most folks aren't going to ride coast-to-coast more than once in a lifetime, I would strongly recommend the Transam over the Northern Tier.   

Warrior Death.  (NOTE; If you didn't read the "About That Title" section of the Introduction, you should read it prior to reading the paragraphs below) 

As of the time of this writing, I have now been home for 6 weeks.  One feels a bit strange immediately after completing an epic adventure; honestly, I think there was some depression involved as I "came down" from the adrenaline high of the last 3 months and adjusted to home life.  It's taken me awhile to want to put the finishing touches on this journal, because I didn't want to admit to myself that it was over and I needed to face the real world again. When I rode the Transam in 2015 I thought I was the luckiest guy alive to be able to undertake a coast-to-coast adventure; and now I got to do it again! Will there be any more long tours in my future?  Was this my last tour ever?  I don't know those answers, of course, no one could.

I didn't find a warrior's death on the Northern Tier, and that's a good thing.  But now I have to face up to the reality of dealing with the Big C.  I've had a blood PSA test since returning home, and it simply confirmed that the cancer was progressing about as expected.   Since I had earlier received dramatically different opinions from the 2 medical experts I consulted, I was forced to decide which one I was going to trust with my future treatment.  Both of these doctors have outstanding credentials, but only one can be right.  So, I did my own research (yes, I realize the danger in that - but I had to make a decision) and have decided to follow the advice of the doctor who thinks I don't need treatment for a while yet.  This was a very stressful decision for me, because the other doctor believes that the cancer will metastasize soon if left untreated at this time.   My decision impacts both the quality and quantity of my remaining life - that's all.  I hope I chose correctly.

I am lucky to have a large and supportive family.  I had planned on visiting with many of them soon after returning, but the Delta variant of COVID-19 is now surging strongly in Arkansas and Oklahoma, hospital ICUs are beyond capacity, and unnecessary travel in this region doesn't seem wise. So those of us who are vaccinated are being punished by those who aren't.   In the meantime, my wife is more than happy to direct my attention to the many projects that need attention around the house.  And if that's not enough, we are considering building a house and are studying floor plans. So that's all good, as I need some positive places to focus my energy.

I only rode 4 times during the entire month of August, and bicycled only 86 miles total.  But I'm now starting to go back to my routine of riding 5 times weekly, and I'm beginning to think about future tours.  Riding helps me think and daydream, and I know I benefit from that relaxing bit of "me time." Maybe I will ride the Texas Hill Country loop later in the fall or early winter? I'm certainly not going to ride another coast-to-coast ride next year, but maybe a shorter tour of 4 weeks or so?  Perhaps the Great Rivers South route?

Maybe I'll find that Warrior's Death on the next tour? Or the one after that? Best wishes to all,

Bud