Cycling Across USA 2023 - Key West to Los Angeles
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- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2023
- More details, including daily stages and Strava links:
havardcycling.blogspot.com/20...
Cycling Motivation video - consider watching while on your indoor bicycle trainer, or just in the background if you're the impatient type. Any comments or questions is appreciated!
I did the same trip in 1992, but on foot. It took a lot more than a month, I had $35 when I started. I got odd jobs along the way, pulling weeds, moving furniture, helping paint a house, and so on. I arrived in Long Beach, California with $45.
Wait you walked?
@@TheWorldsNumberOneFan I got an occasional ride, but for the most part, I walked.
What for a cool story.
Awesome! Thank you for the Video !
Amazing long Journey!! excelent footage!! what a pleasure to enjoy it through your lens!! great opportunity to get acquainted with marvelous USA, thank you for sharing!!
I enjoyed your video. One thing that I found particularly interesting was that your route was quite different compared to what I have seen others do (500-750 miles further north) which made for less mountain climbing but more heat, humidity, and from the looks of it, traffic. I hope my countrymen treated you kindly on your journey. The number of flat tires boggles the mind. Many of the Norwegians that settled in the US went to places like Minnesota, which has a substantial population of people with Norwegian heritage.
Thanks for your comments. Only kind people everywhere! So many conversations I'll never forget, both with locals and with other travellers. Wish I can come back, maybe visit the northern states as well. Anyways, wouldn't do this route again - was spooked to go further south due to all the May rain showers. The original plan was to head towards Colorado Springs, then towards Moab and SF. In retrospect, maybe it was wrong of me to change course, but that was what I did. Tiredness and fear impairs judgement, and it's good to learn from experience this way.
I assume you weren't caring much weight. Because most touring people do this in Two or three months, not thirty one days
Absolutely amazing challenge. Enjoy every moment of the video. It is an adventure that, at 60 years old, I want to do soon. Magnificent. Congratulations. Greetings from Bogotá in Colombia.Absolutely amazing challenge. Enjoy every moment of the video. It is an adventure that, at 60 years old, I want to do soon. Magnificent. Congratulations. Greetings from Bogotá in Colombia.
Hola jovencito. Desde Armenia , ya compré la bicicleta , salgo esperanzada mente en marzo desde fort lauderdale pero haré solo back roads . Nos vemos en el camino.
I live near your end point. Great footage, it would be great hearing how you plan for severe weather.
Thank you for the video. Welcome to rural USA 🐶🐶🐶🐶. I bike pack all thru the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina, Tennessee & Virginia. The remote, quiet gravel roads are endless and beautiful, except for the 🐶. I've learned to get off my bike, walk and keep my bike between myself and the dog(s). I usually have an average of one encounter per day where I do this, but thankfully the dogs have stayed at least 10' away when I'm off the bike. The only time they attempt to bite is if I stay on the bike.... something about a moving object. I've considered using some sort of spray, but I don't want to harm the dogs.
Hi and thanks for your comments. I tried to stop and sweet-talk the dog. Didn't work out. Now I see that some dogs are just completely crazy, probably in the same way as their owners, and best way is probably (as you say) get behind the bike, or put some serious punch into the pedals.
I am so impressed! I'll be training to just ride the rim of Crater Lake in Southern Oregon this summer, and will no longer complain about getting on my bike in tough weather conditions. I'm 75 and won't ever be able to do what you did, but I'm so appreciative the you shared your adventure with the rest of us so we don't HAVE to do the ride. You are an amazing cyclist!! Hillsboro, Oregon
Thank you! Best wishes from Arizona
Thanks! Missing your home state so much, great memories!
Nice ride! enjoyed every minute of it. Just the pure sound of bicycle, road and traffic. Let every one think what they want, there is no need to do insightful conversation. Great adventure!!!!
Yes!!! Thank you :) Just rolling around the neighbourhood, looking at things. Life is good. However - pictures don't convey the anxiety of maybe puncturing the last of your inner tubes though, or the anxiety of getting covered in sticky oil, of getting bank cards cancelled by your bank and having to depend on a payment instrument you've never tried before (applepay), the anxiety of getting stuck in texas mud, the anxiety of getting attacked by a dog and being so shaken you're unable to utter full words to police dispatch. Or the anxiety of needing to go through a desert you know on a bad day would kill you (in order not to disappoint everyone). So many stories - not all of them good - but this video is only showing the A to Z. :)
This is one of the best video covering from east to west on a bicycle. 32 days in 1h10 that is amazing. I was wondering what is the total cost only for the bike ride trip.I will start following you on youtube this was very intersting
Well, the hotels in Florida sure aren't cheap :-) The total cost (except airfares) is probably a bit shy of USD 4.000, for all nights in the cheapest places along the route. None of them had any cockroaches despite claims of the contrary on Google Maps reviews. Most food from food marts, gas stations, or McDonalds (haa - I guess that reveals how uncultured I am). The idea to spend so much on a "selfish" activity like this pains me a bit. I feel blessed to have the opportunity.
Thank you and I agree with you this is such an opportunity and a great experience take care 😀@@hmork
Nice trip! Why don't you cycle from West to East to take advantage of the winds ?
I knew the prevailing wind patterns mattered, but didn't know they mattered THAT much :-) Was hoping that Yosemite opened up by the time I reached California.
Fun to see the "Biden Sucks" and "Pray for President Trump" messages in random spots of footage. Great filmography and capturing some of the present sentiment of the regions.
Well done man! I did the Southern Tier in 2018, so I passed by the some roads you did, but them you took a different way to the 66 Route. Your trip was brutal compared to mine, thunderstorms, tornados, Mojave desert, quite a challenge. Thanks for sharing! Hugs from Brazil.
All the troubles were causing a whole lot of pain there and then, but afterwards it is satisfying to have persisted. Keep safe on the road. Nics videos you have :-)
Fantastic ride and video! Thanks.
You just got to love the internet. Here I am laying in my bed late at night watching this incredible adventure. Amazing effort 🫡😊
This is insane!!Congratulations!!
I’d like to bestow honorary U.S. citizenship in your behalf. Great travel log.!
Such a heartwarming joy to see Maridalen! Lived in Olso 2020-22 for two years and Maridalen was my favorite place to ride, did so many loops up there! Maybe we even crossed paths, who knows! Thanks for conjuring up those great memories!
Wow, so cool! Where did you move? Would find it highly likely that we crossed paths. Bet you got familiar with Grefsenkollen (www.strava.com/segments/660072) as well? :)
Well done, such a brutally fabulous bicycle journey! Thanks for sharing and inspiring ;
Nice footage, well done! Thanks for sharing your journey.
I watched the entire video and WOW! You are a very brave man! Your stats did not include the number of Dog Attacks! Congratulations on your accomplishment!
Call osha! We gotta guy walkin a bike over the unfinished bridge!
Haha i woulda totally did the same thing... 😂
Thank you for showing it. Greetings from Germany
That was a heavy dose of American reality. Too much city, too many miles on highways, bad weather, bad roads, dying towns, not nearly as pleasant as the routes that avoid cities and traffic. I rode Adventure Cycling Associations Northern Tier in 2000 and all of it was gorgeous. But what does it mean to "ride across America"? I rode through a rural scenic park, while you rode through American culture. What you did was an amazing accomplishment, but it makes me want to never leave the West Coast again. In fact the part I liked best was riding down the beach from Santa Monica. I worked temporarily in Biloxi Mississippi and trained there for my cross country adventure riding in beautiful forests just north of Biloxi, but never on the beach road which had no shoulders. When I drove home to Southern California, south of LA, I noticed the Southern Tier had about 1300 miles of desert, not that appealing for bike touring. About flat tires, I had heard that riding along highways there are always a lot of metal wires from steel belted tires. None on the Northern Tier, but I managed to get some sharp small gravel in my tire changing a flat in the rain on Rainy Pass second day out from Anacortes, WA. This gravel was all over the side of the road and because it was wet it stuck to anything that touched it. Anyway I had flats every day thereafter including 4 flats one day, and I think many were due to little pieces of gravel I couldn't find or get out, and maybe the Victoria racing tires I had on my bike. Finally, in Minot ND I bought the only tires in the town, a cheap set of near plastic Michelins that were hard to get on the rims but I never had another flat. One guy riding heavy touring tires didn't get any flats.
Great video, keep going.😍
Absolutely incredible. I watched the whole video and I enjoyed your style - it was very relaxing without a lot of punched up music and commentary. You allowed your riding to your talking.
I’m curious if you were to do it again, would you reconsider using a road bike over something with (slightly) bigger / more robust tires?
I realize you’d give up some speed, but the amount of flats you suffered would be reduced. In the beginning of your video, when you showed your bike, I thought “this isn’t going to end well.”
I used to ride a road bike, and I loved it. But the flats - due in no small part to the garbage on the road - proved to be too much.
Thanks so much for sharing your adventure with us. Great job!
That was so awesome!!!! You made it look so easy!!! 😂😂😂 Congratulations
Great video to watch and also well done on a super cycling effort😊
Congratulations! I loved the video. Great work.
Much appreciated!
Incredible endeavor. Well done!!
Hey! You're cycling to Key West! I wish you the best of luck, will follow your channel :-)
@@hmork Thank you. Amazing journey
Interesting to see that you took this Southern route. What do you think are the pros and cons of this route compared to the more standard northern ones? Also, congrats with the massive achievement!
Hermoso video gracias por compartir abrazo fuerte de ciclismo desde argentina 🇦🇷!!!!
Nice bike travel vlog, keep it up
From Philippines 🇵🇭
Quite cool...Id love to do it..that jog north around Dallas into OK a bit different. I guess you didnt want to cross West Texas which could had been very hot. You are very modest in your narration. Nice job.
wow in usa force👍💪❤️🚴♂️
Great video, and you get special recognition for enduring some serious hardships. That was an impressive accomplishment, and I apologize on behalf of my country's dogs and goat head thorns.
my friend, in the lightning capital of the US, one should not stand under a tree during a thunderstorm.
:)
28 flat tires…amazing ride!
First of all wow, congrats, this is amazing!
You had almost 1 flat tire a day, what kind of roads were you riding on?
I wish you had included some scenes of places that you stayed at and what you were eating along the way, that would have been interesting.
What is the plan for your next ride???
Great trip Havard. HOpe you enjoyed the places you went through. You saw some of the best cities and poorest towns along the route.
Thank you for your comment. Yes, most of the places were fantastic. I only wish I had more time to stop and get to know more of the people along the way. That's what you most remember these adventures by. I think I want to see the northern states of the U.S. next time, let's see how the world looks in a year or so :-)
Wow! You are a true bike monster! Congratulations, and thanks for sharing all these images from your journey. If you get back to the American Southwest, I'll take you on a couple of great rides in Southern Arizona! :)
Thanks! Such a beautiful state, hoping to return. Stay safe on the road :)
Great, keep me posted. You probably want to avoid visiting in the summer, though. A tad on the warm side here in June July August. 😎
So you did the ride in pretty much a 100 miles a day. How many hours a day were you on the bike like ten hours a day@@hmork
Wow 😮
Cool journey. - I just did something similar for my next book!
Hi, thanks for your comment. Your videos are awesome!
Great video. You are so lucky to have not been hit by a car or worse. My first 20 years were great. Once cell phones became a thing I was hit twice in 10 years. Now I’m in my 60s and stick to bike trails if possible. I am looking at doing the TAT though. Videos like yours get me restless. 😁🚴🏻♂️
Loved this video. If you ever do a canada trip from east coast Halifax to Vancouver west coast I would watch for sure💕🇨🇦
You managed to ride through New Orleans without getting shot. Amazing.
At one place I was recommended to stay away after dark :) Apart from that, only met fantastic and super friendly people. Got stuck in the rain outside a liquor store on one of the days, and had a nice 2 hour chat with a very friendly guy called Eugene. He didn't appear to be in a hurry. While we did talk about some of the things that could kill you in New Orleans, it was mostly the weather, and only briefly the general unsafety of certain neighbourhoods. Maybe in order not to sound too naive - yes - some of the neighbourhoods felt unsafe, were dirty and looked poor. Do you have your own experiences here?
@@hmork Mericans' fear of certain neighborhoods in big cities is to a certain extent irrational, and to a certain extent derives from car culture (wherein you can avoid ever encountering people that you're uncomfortable with), and to a certain extent real, due to how socio-economic groups get separated geographically...
But bike tourists are pretty unlikely to ever plough right through the center of a major metropolis, much less spend the night there, so it's really not a thing to be concerned about...
I personally never had any problems in new orleans when i was there... I didnt get shot :)
Thank you for a wonderful video! Im 65 this year with a dream of riding west to east coast to coast. Now Im thinking I could start with a ROUTE 66 ride! I'm in Michigan so it's close. LOL
I have seen so money bike tour video this is the second best video I have ever seen so far the picture crystal clear the way recorded the view and the rood absolutely professional the way you posted the picture as well phenomenon you are not taik to much you just posted the information in the screen alone and they show as around only I Lovet I am just curious what kinds of camera you use it if you tell me greatly appreciate .pease and bless.❤ ❤
Hi and thanks for your comment! It's just a simple Gopro Hero9 Black, recording at high-bitrate, 60fps, and at 2.7K. The image stabilization of Gopro Hero9 and newer is pretty good, even stabilizing the horizon. I also had an older DJI drone that I took, but it stopped working for some unknown reason.
Thats super cool you got to see a rocket launch in Florida. You got to see some pretty interesting sights on your journey.
USA never ceases to amaze! So much to see.
I would love to ride my bike long distance one day. I need to save up my leave from work this year. I want to do a ride that closely follows the trail of tears walk. I also want to ride across my state. It's cool that you literally rode by where my father currently lives in Florida, where I went to college in Louisiana, and then through my reservation and near where my extended family live in Oklahoma.
May 2024... time traveller 😍
Oh no, worst blunder ever! I will have to redo the exact same route next year, otherwise it's all fake news. Thanks for pointing it out ;-)
Very good, that was quite a serious ride? You didn't have to film yourself and that is good you kept the camera on the road and an some selfies and field views. It must have been a challenge to ride for the long stretch of highways going West, I drove on some of those roads and it can get boring for miles. Did you cycle back as well or you flew back to Europe? 😁🤗👍👍Cheers from Oregon.
Haha, yes, I'm no fan of filming myself, but felt it was needed to prove I was not on a motorbike ;) On such a long ride, the first couple of days are demanding on patience, but then it turns into habit. A much bigger challenge is the unexpected events, such as the rains, the flat tires (which are plentiful on the interstates), the incident with being sprayed with bitumen emulsion - I was honestly there and then unsure if that was the end of me! Boredom not a problem - but the unexpected can be terrifying when everything is planned in detail. I flew back to Europe from LA, and now thinking about where to go next summer. A beautiful country you have, and thanks for your comment :)
Wow, 28 flat tires, that's almost one per day. Did you find that you had a lot of headwinds? I know that some say the the winds in the US blow from the west to the east mainly. Hard to know. Nice video.
amazing journey what roads did u take just curious ty and did u stay in hotels?
Love it. How long did it take and how many KMs were you doing a day?
Not sure I would have used GP5000s for this, something a bit more puncture resistant I think.
INSCRITO
Where did you spend nights ? Hotels or camping ?
Hello, I enjoyed your video sow much. Please may I ask which camera you use? the images are so fantastically clear.
Hi and thanks for your comments :-) Most bike footage is Gopro Hero9, filming at 2.7K 60fps with "High" bitrate option enabled. A few clips are Iphone. Editing with Luxea Pro 7, and exporting data as 1440p (2560x1440) 60fps with 30mbps h.264. Not sure if these are good settings. Getting good video has always been a struggle.
@@hmork thanks for your answer!
I made it through all!! Hate small line of tar (road expansion). I counted $5,000 before food and flight.
If you get tar over your legs, don't use industrial-strength degreaser like I tried. Use butter or olive oil!! Twice as effective, and keeps your skin cells alive.
It was a tough couple of days after the tar episode, since I had to ask the next motel for extra throwaway towels to just cover up body parts while sleeping, that weren't 100% clean from tar. Extra tip for the staff!
@@hmork Sorry to hear about the road tar. I have never experienced that. Did get sprayed by a crop duster plane however once but it was not bad.
Could you do a video on changing flat tires? Why no helmet/bike mirror.
Thanks, I'll consider that for the summer :) Haven't tried using a helmet mirror, I might check it out!
Honestly - the other amazing part of the ride is that he was averaging nearly 25 km/hour.
Where did you eat and sleep? It seems you travel light.
I usually slept in cheap motels. Used the Hotels.com app to find accomodations, as soon as I knew approximately how much distance I was able to cover that particular day. Exception for this was Florida, where I chose to pre-book the first 6-7 days, as it looked difficult to find affordable accomodations in some places. Had no unpleasantries whatsoever with the cheap motels, with the possible of one place where they tried to charge me twice, and were hardly able to speak english. Left usually $3 or $5 tip to housekeeper, depending how dirty me and my bike was. Not certain what's appropriate there. For eating, mostly dollar stores, subway, gas stations, and mcdonalds. Have a tendency to choose known places. Menus and etiquette stresses me out :)
what was total weight of your bike with luggage?
They survive the heat by moving away.
You got a flat tire almost every day 😢
how many days from Florida to California ? 🚴🚴♂
31
28 flat tyres! Guessing you didn't use Slime...if not, why not?
How did you resupply tubes?
Unless you carried 28+ tubes from the start? 😮
Haha :) I tried some Muc-Off Tubeless Sealant at some point, but it didn't quite work. It just turned quite messy! I fixed a lot of the flat tires with patches - mostly with the ones with rubber glue. Tried also the green "stick-on" patches that come pre-glued, but quickly learned that was a short-lived last resort. Can't remember how many inner tubes I bought, but atleast found out that in Albuquerque the more snaky bike salesmen don't have a problem putting 20mm inner tubes in boxes for 30mm inner tubes. That was a bit of a downer. By the way, do you have any sealant brands to recommend that works with inner tubes?
@@hmork Finding larger tubes can be a challenge - I've blown up more than one smaller tube in my randonneuring brevets. What most of the long distance riders use for sealant is the green stuff called Slime. It works well for small punctures but bigger ones you end with with a big mess of green goo. What tyres did you have? Continental Top Contact II Reflex are my choice. Amazing how far we have come in technology but we can't make a flat-proof tyre/tube. I tried tubeless tyres on my road bike where you have to add sealant and had ok results but those were 700x28c Mavic rim/tyres. My touring bike has 700x38c which in Europe I think you list as 38-622. Right now I have Soma Shikoro 38's mounted (made by Panaracer in Japan) but for loaded touring I only rely on the Top Contacts. With tube road biking I only use Conti GranPrix 4Season folding 28-622...never has a sidewall failure and I'm a big guy at 113 kilos...and I love to climb = a rare combination. Almost qualified for Paris-Brest-Paris but got lost on my 600Km brevet. Then back surgeries took me off the bike - hoping to ride RAGBRAI in '24 - have done that ride twice - crazy tour but you have to like the partying otherwise it can be a nuisance especially trying to sleep in the Iowa heat - this year was the 50th anniversary with an estimated peak ridership of 30k+ riders.
8:28 did they say "hi girl" ?
I think they said "hi, bro" :) If they were confused as to which gender I was, they'd probably keep silent. The only misgendering occassion was caused by me on a mcdonalds visit in Louisiana, one of my many cringe moments!!
🤍🤍
Your opening video looks like Los Angeles.
What is your packing list? That is not much stuff.
Hi! Yes, it is :) I've added a packing list on my blog at havardcycling.blogspot.com/ - note that it may not be completely accurate. Thank you for your question
Is this a gravel bike?
Yes :) that's the the term Canyon use for it, although some people might find it sacrilegious to put 30mm road tires on a gravel bike! www.canyon.com/en-gb/gravel-bikes/performance/grail/
The baggage system in use is Tailfin (www.tailfin.cc/)
Km?????
What lousy tires are you using? 28 flats? I usually have 1 or 2 at that distance.
To each, their own! Buddy
Sorry for the Florida's stupid and impatient drivers. We Cyclist are working on it. Thanks for sharing. Pensacola Florida.
Thanks :) The only unpleasantry in Florida was a jeep in Daytona that didn't signal his right turn, and didn't check his mirror. Very close to accident. Loud interjections were exchanged. Maybe it wasn't the best road for cycling - but it was the road passing by the Speedway. Stay safe!!
Yup! One certain thing in Florida is no one ever uses thir signals. Glad there was no one hurt. Thanks for sharing such a amazing adventure.
34:06 Dog 🐶Attack... new fear 😱unlocked... I thought they were just intimidating cyclists... 🚲
An average of 200 km/flat tire. That's totaly absurd.
The number may be a bit inflated by certain *ahem* failed patching attempts, but the metal shards/wire fragments from heavy transport tires were causing a lot of problems. Fortunately, I had no flat tires through the Mojave desert - an extra half-an-hour stop in the middle of the desert may not have ended so well.
@@hmork What month of the year were you in Mojave?
When making a video of this type, you need to take everyone with you on the journey. Some verbal description of your day your thoughts,, a bit of history and content of the area you are travelling through. We need to engage with you on your journey..
I hour of wind, traffic and bike noises, is not interesting
You are the story teller, and I want to listen
So noted. Thank you for your constructive feedback, it is quite insightful. I will try to find a concept that works for everyone on the next adventure. Tried telling a story every day for my followers - see links to daily videos on the summary here: havardcycling.blogspot.com/2023/07/across-usa-east-to-west-key-west-to-los.html , however I felt that it just turned into a lot of unpleasant rambling. In the future I will probably adding less narration, but focus on substantial things that can be backed up with pictures/video, in the hopes that will be more inspiring.
thumb down for glorifying war museums...
Was enjoying your video and would have watched it in entirety, but shut it off at 11:40 when for some odd reason, you focused on a divisive political insert. Whether this is your personal opinion, I don't know. But I see no positive reason why this image was included... only negativity which has no place in the joy of cycling. Love your bike!
I apologize for the lack of tact here. It was not my intention to take a side and cause offense. I will try to be more careful with sensitive imagery in the future. I know this is not my fight - however I try to film everything that catches the eye. Thank you for commenting.
You're easily offended...... have a lie down.