Kellen Smetana
It’s been almost three years since dunking into the Atlantic waves on the Portuguese coast with Bill, finishing the seven-month bicycle tour of Asia and Europe. At the time I thought that was possibly the first and last major cycling trip I would ever undertake; of course, I should have known much better…
Tomorrow, Monday June 2, 2014, we are embarking on a bicycle journey across the US!
You’re at it again… are you crazy? Maybe. But not because of all this biking. Most people I’ve shared this story with ask what it was like cycling nearly every day for months on end. It was awesome. And that’s why we’re back at it. On the surface, cycling offers a great pace to take in a country and interact with the people, hear the chatter of its small towns, smell the freshness of its forests, and marvel at the ambition of its mountains. And let’s not forget, it’s also one heck of a workout. On a deeper level, such a journey slows life down. As I mentioned in the last entry below, it gave me perspective on what I really needed to survive. It proves that all those little rotations of the pedal can add up to something big. It helped me make some of the strongest connections with the people with whom we interacted along the way. And finally, it was fun! A lot of fun.
And so, we’re at it again.
Once again, the trip will be a cast of characters all adding in for different segments. First, Cory just graduated from Michigan State and wants to take some time for adventure before he starts off into the real world. He will be joining me from Boston to Seattle – the whole shebang; his tube repair expertise from the Kazakh desert last trip should prove helpful in the crossing.
Second, Carrie just graduated with me from Harvard Business School and is also returning to Deloitte Consulting. She has previously cycled across the US and will be our resident ACA map reader. She will be joining from Boston to Minneapolis.
Third, Brandon is another fellow classmate from HBS who decided today that he would like to join us for the first three weeks until Buffalo or so. (I spent incredibly less time prepping for this tour versus the last, but one day is an amazing feat!) He has promised plenty of comedic relief to start our journey.
Fourth, Theo has returned to writing in the UK but misses our days together on the bike in Central Asia. He is planning on joining for the last month of the trip from Jackson Hole to Seattle.
And finally, I am also back on the bike again. I just graduated from business school and have some time before returning to work. Ever since starting the last journey across Asia and Europe it’s been a dream of mine to complete the circle of the globe. North American is the final leg of this, until I decide to tackle it vertically…
For those of you new to the site or who haven’t visited in a while, Revolutions for Relief was the original name of our cycling adventure across Eurasia in 2011. We have decided to use the site to build in blogs, photos, maps, and stats from our most recent cycling journey across the US. Visit the Mission page for our planned route. Check out the Team page for more information about the cast of characters above. The Journal page will house a blog of our journal entries throughout the trip. We will most likely rotate entries among the team; the goal is to stick away from simple updates and instead post musings from the road, funny stories, or lessons picked up along the way. We will group photos by region and add albums to the Photo page periodically. The Donate page links to World Bicycle Relief, an organization I am passionate about that does a marvelous job using bicycles to help communities in need. Check it out to learn more. Finally, on the Stats page you will find a map of our GPS tracks and some fun overall statistics from the trip.
I am excited to set out again tomorrow on this North American cycling adventure and expect many great stories from the days ahead. Hope to see you out on the road somewhere!
PS - We have pretty good access to communication and we’d love to hear from you, so keep us updated as well while we’re riding.
It’s been almost three years since dunking into the Atlantic waves on the Portuguese coast with Bill, finishing the seven-month bicycle tour of Asia and Europe. At the time I thought that was possibly the first and last major cycling trip I would ever undertake; of course, I should have known much better…
Tomorrow, Monday June 2, 2014, we are embarking on a bicycle journey across the US!
You’re at it again… are you crazy? Maybe. But not because of all this biking. Most people I’ve shared this story with ask what it was like cycling nearly every day for months on end. It was awesome. And that’s why we’re back at it. On the surface, cycling offers a great pace to take in a country and interact with the people, hear the chatter of its small towns, smell the freshness of its forests, and marvel at the ambition of its mountains. And let’s not forget, it’s also one heck of a workout. On a deeper level, such a journey slows life down. As I mentioned in the last entry below, it gave me perspective on what I really needed to survive. It proves that all those little rotations of the pedal can add up to something big. It helped me make some of the strongest connections with the people with whom we interacted along the way. And finally, it was fun! A lot of fun.
And so, we’re at it again.
Once again, the trip will be a cast of characters all adding in for different segments. First, Cory just graduated from Michigan State and wants to take some time for adventure before he starts off into the real world. He will be joining me from Boston to Seattle – the whole shebang; his tube repair expertise from the Kazakh desert last trip should prove helpful in the crossing.
Second, Carrie just graduated with me from Harvard Business School and is also returning to Deloitte Consulting. She has previously cycled across the US and will be our resident ACA map reader. She will be joining from Boston to Minneapolis.
Third, Brandon is another fellow classmate from HBS who decided today that he would like to join us for the first three weeks until Buffalo or so. (I spent incredibly less time prepping for this tour versus the last, but one day is an amazing feat!) He has promised plenty of comedic relief to start our journey.
Fourth, Theo has returned to writing in the UK but misses our days together on the bike in Central Asia. He is planning on joining for the last month of the trip from Jackson Hole to Seattle.
And finally, I am also back on the bike again. I just graduated from business school and have some time before returning to work. Ever since starting the last journey across Asia and Europe it’s been a dream of mine to complete the circle of the globe. North American is the final leg of this, until I decide to tackle it vertically…
For those of you new to the site or who haven’t visited in a while, Revolutions for Relief was the original name of our cycling adventure across Eurasia in 2011. We have decided to use the site to build in blogs, photos, maps, and stats from our most recent cycling journey across the US. Visit the Mission page for our planned route. Check out the Team page for more information about the cast of characters above. The Journal page will house a blog of our journal entries throughout the trip. We will most likely rotate entries among the team; the goal is to stick away from simple updates and instead post musings from the road, funny stories, or lessons picked up along the way. We will group photos by region and add albums to the Photo page periodically. The Donate page links to World Bicycle Relief, an organization I am passionate about that does a marvelous job using bicycles to help communities in need. Check it out to learn more. Finally, on the Stats page you will find a map of our GPS tracks and some fun overall statistics from the trip.
I am excited to set out again tomorrow on this North American cycling adventure and expect many great stories from the days ahead. Hope to see you out on the road somewhere!
PS - We have pretty good access to communication and we’d love to hear from you, so keep us updated as well while we’re riding.