Chris George - Member Profile - CycleBlaze

Member Profile

Chris George

Journals

Title Ratings
Chris Cross America 850

About

Hi, I'm Chris. I'm about to launch on a four-month cross-country journey from my home in Washington, D.C., to Astoria, Ore., primarily following the Adventure Cycling Association's TransAmerica Trail. You can also find me on WarmShowers.

A scene from a 2018 ride from Washington, D.C., to Toronto, via Pittsburgh. That's me in blue, Dani in orange.

I got hooked on bike touring in 2013 after joining my wife, Dani, for the first week of her cross-country trip from Phoenix, Ariz., to Washington, D.C. This was also Dani's way of moving from Phoenix to D.C., where I had recently started a new job. Because I was new to the job, I could take only about a week off to ride with her, and I have been itching to do a longer ride ever since. Almost every year since then, I've gone on one or two bike tours of about 1-2 weeks each, and when I add up those trips, I've now ridden a continuous line covering the East Coast of the United States — from Portland, Maine, to New Orleans. 

I had always thought that a cross-country trip would need to wait until I was ready to retire or at least quit my job, which I was not ready to do any time soon. But then the past two years (2020-2022) showed me how unpredictable life is and how quickly your body can fall apart if you let it, so I decided I had to do it as soon as I could. I was granted a leave of absence from work, and I feel very privileged to be able to afford to take four months off and to have a job that I really like waiting for me when I return. Plus, I'm fully vaccinated, and covid numbers in the U.S. are looking better and better. Spring is here. The big barriers are gone. It's time to head west!