Clare to Bay City 54 miles / 332ft climb https://videopress.com/v/0S8Hv9Vx?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true While Caroline and Paul set off at some unearthly hour and cycled hard to reach the bike shop in Bay City in time to have the new gear shifter replaced, John and I took a more leisurely pace. The bike trail, a continuation from yesterday, … Continue reading Cycling Across America – Day 80

By Paul Broekman Crisps are chips, chips are fries & tomato sauce is ketchup. A Bike is a motorbike, a cycle is a bike. Plastic or paper? When in a supermarket this is not a reference to your proposed method of payment but to the material of the bag you would like your shopping placed … Continue reading Divided by a Common Language

(Near) Baldwin to Clare 67 miles / 968ft climb We were much later setting off today than we had planned and so, it was perhaps not surprising that we were much later arriving today than we had originally anticipated but still, it was a long, slow day in the saddle today. https://videopress.com/v/SaJr8P6U?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true Caroline managed admirably … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 79

We spent the day, our rest day around Wolf Lake. I got up whilst everyone else was still asleep and walked half an hour to the snack shack where I ordered breakfast and sat quietly enjoying watching the world go by. I hadn’t realised a couple of hours had passed and the others were now … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 78

We want to say a huge ‘Thank You’ to everyone who has been and continues to support us throughout this challenge. Your comments on our blog, your messages, emails, posts, WhatsApps etc all help enormously to keep us motivated and to keep us pedalling. For all those wonderful people we have met along our journey. … Continue reading Thank You!

Bear Lake to (Nearly) Baldwin 70 miles / 1,998ft climb After a surprisingly reasonable sleep, we set off for today’s ride. Destination Baldwin. 60+ miles later we realise despite the address, our Air BnB is not actually in Baldwin but on Wolf Lake about five miles back up the ‘last hill of the day’ we … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 77

Empire to Bear Lake 46miles / 1,594ft As soon as we set off this morning, we were faced with a long hill and further long hills recurring rather too frequently for our liking throughout the rest of the day. Having had a relatively flat couple of weeks of cycling around the lakes, this has to … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 76

Elk Rapids to Empire 47 miles / 1,617ft climb With a 20mile cycle this morning before breakfast, we were ravenous when we reached Archie’s Social Club in Traverse City. The food was fabulous and we left rested, refuelled and ready to face the remaining hilly miles. Again the climb today was more than we had … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 75

Petoskey to Elk Rapids 54 miles / 1545ft climb https://videopress.com/v/G3HopY6B?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true A much hillier day than we have been used to of late and I was thrilled that my legs remembered how to power me up them. Leaving Petoskey on a lovely bike trail, we had the best of all worlds. Shade from the sun and … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 74

Mackinaw City to Petoskey 42 miles / 600ft climb Today’s route started on a lovely bike trail. We were grateful to be off the highway again and at various parts of the trail we were close to the water’s edge. It was shaded from both the wind and sunshine and was beautiful. Sounds idyllic, so … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 73

St Ignace to Mackinaw City Today, our cycling did not contribute many miles to our Cycle Across America total but every little helps and they were enjoyable miles. To get to Mackinac City, our destination for the day, we had two choices. The first, to cross the bridge between St Ignace and Mackinaw City but … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 72

Naubinway to St Ignace 43 miles / 614 ft climb Despite convincing ourselves that the highway would be quieter today, the traffic wasn’t much lighter than yesterday. It was still an assault on the senses and when the we had the option of doing a slight detour for a few miles, we took it simply … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 71

By John Anderson In the US, the hard shoulder is where cyclists go when there’s no alternative route or bike path to your destination. Hard shoulders occur on interstates (think motorways) and State highways (think A roads/dual carriageways). Cyclists are allowed - at your own risk. Hard shoulders are all of a similar design with a … Continue reading Hard Shoulder Habitat

Manistique to Naubinway 44 miles / 591ft climb Anticipating a straightforward ride today, we wanted to arrive at our destination a little earlier than of late and use the extra time to make phone calls home, do some laundry, catch up on messages and of course relax. The relaxation bit came easily and even after … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 70

Gladstone to Manistique 51miles / 764ft climb We were in no hurry this morning to set off. John had a few bike shops to call and to be honest we are getting very blasé about how long it takes us to cycle 50 miles. Our hotel didn’t provide breakfast so we dined out in a … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 69

Cycling Across America open.spotify.com/episode/0E1cBRwJCJzieayKeeXcHY

Foster City to Gladstone 47 Miles / 666ft climb https://videopress.com/v/NNUwMXCH?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true It felt an easy day today. We had 50 miles to cover, the roads were quiet and we cycled fast. The roads were also as flat as any I recall in the last nine weeks or so. I can say this with all eleven of … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 68

Followers We are grateful to everyone who follows our blog and thank you for your interest, support and comments. We’d like to give a special shout out to Julian’s mum, the very lovely, Terri McCarthy who at 91, is one of our oldest subscribers. Thank you for your support Terri! Our Dog We miss our … Continue reading Rest Day News

Iron River to Foster City 60 miles / 2,119ft climb We haven’t stayed in an Americinn hotel chain as yet and when the receptionist informed us that they offered one of the best breakfasts, our excitement was palpable. At breakfast, in search of that elusive fresh fruit, we were disappointed to find only powdered scrambled … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 66

Boulder Junction to Iron River 62 miles / 1952ft climb This morning was more challenging than we had anticipated. The hills were steeper than we have been used to recently, with many of them peaking at 10%. The hills felt much harder than they have done of late and my tired legs were very reluctant … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 65

In the two months we’ve been cycling we have met a lot of people who have clearly been intrigued by our lumious cycle tops. These display our route overlaid on a map of their country. They have been a great prompt for a conversation starter and when we’ve explained we are cycling the whole country … Continue reading Questions by Paul Broekman

Park Falls to Boulder Junction 58 Miles / 1,614 ft climb What a fantastic day! We sat outside overlooking the lake while we made our plans for the day. A short ride to Butternut where we had a great breakfast, followed by a beautiful ride predominantly on quiet country roads and latterly on a gorgeous … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 64

Clam Lake to Park Falls 31 miles / 943ft climb Another short day to arrive at our cabin by the lake by late afternoon. Another beautiful location. Minneapolis may be the ‘State of 10,000 lakes’ but Wisconsin has its fair share of beautiful lakes too from what we have seen to date. We stopped twice … Continue reading Cycle Across America – 63

We have been riding for two months now. We have seen so much and experienced so much up it is difficult to summarise. We have been mostly blessed with good weather. A couple of days with bits of rain and a late start due to rain. Also a couple of thunder storms which have necessitated … Continue reading Summary By Caroline Broekman

Hayward to Clam Lake 33miles / 1,060ft climb A very short cycle today in comparison to what we have been doing. This was due to trying to avoid excessively long days and having to find suitable accommodation along the route which are few and far between. It is of course also an opportunity to relax … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 62

There is absolutely no doubt that cycling across America is something that a very small minority of people will experience. I feel absolutely blessed to be in this minority. I must however confess to be having the ‘easy rider’ experience, except for the challenges that cycling with Parkinson’s brings but more about these on a … Continue reading Easy Rider

Rice Lake to Hayward 56miles / 1,762ft climb https://videopress.com/v/bBwOOCWL?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true Due to a puncture and problems repairing it, John and Paul didn’t set off until about 10.30am. By this time, Caroline and I had enjoyed a quiet and picturesque twenty miles. Another ten miles marked the lunch stop where we decided we would wait for the … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 61

St Croix Falls to Rice Lake 56miles / 1,827ft climb As I write this, I have just passed the 2,500 mile mark. I have less than 2,000 miles to cycle and I feel physically in good form right now. The cycling, although challenging, has become easier as time goes on. We think nothing of doing … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 60

Minneapolis to St Croix Falls 61 miles / 2,313ft climb We woke, as forecast to a black sky and heavy rain. Team decision was to have a leisurely breakfast and delay our start until the rain eased. By 11.30am, we were on the road and eight hours later we arrived at our destination of St … Continue reading Cycle Across America – Day 59

For me, as we planned our itinerary, for a whole variety of reasons, Minneapolis symbolised the dividing line between the first and second halves of our adventure. Having reached Minneapolis, it does indeed feel like a milestone for us. It is just over the halfway mark in terms of both distance cycled and time spent. … Continue reading Minneapolis