Screenshot 2024-05-30 at 10.15.00 PM.png

Biking Across America

Travel Blog

Starting on June 1st 2024, I'm embarking on a bike trip from Boston to San Francisco. My plan is to ride roughly 40 miles per day, to cover around 4,000 miles and visit a bunch of friends and relatives along the way. Several people will ride portions of the route with me and in Albany I'll be joined by Mark Greenberg for the remainder of the trip. I've wanted to make this ride since I was 20 years old working in a bike shop in Cambridge and later working as a bike messenger in Boston. Now I'm 62 and I retired so that I could make this ride before my body gives out :-)

Day #106: Sunnyvale to Santa Cruz (42 miles)

And then it was done... the left hand picture is the Atlantic and the right hand is the Pacific :-) Around 4,000 miles in total and...

chrisbentley349

Jul 291 min read

Day #105: Livermore to Sunnyvale (44 miles)

Today's ride went from the high-tech offices of Livermore to the high-tech offices of Sunnyvale. In between it wound through a beautiful...

chrisbentley349

Jul 291 min read

Day #104: Stockton to Livermore (48 miles)

Today's ride started in the working class section of Stockton, and ended in the high-tech offices of Livermore. In the morning the air...

chrisbentley349

Jul 271 min read

Day #103: Valley Springs to Stockton (32 miles)

Today's ride was short and almost completely flat. The sky started overcast and cool and then by midway, the clouds had blown off and it...

chrisbentley349

Jul 261 min read

Day #102: Pioneer to Valley Springs (35 miles)

Yesterday's 50 miles of downhill continued today with another 15 miles of coasting. After that it was up and down some pretty steep...

chrisbentley349

Jul 261 min read

Day #101: Hope Valley to Pioneer (58 miles)

Today started with 1,600 ft of climbing up to an altitude of 8,500 ft. That took about 8 miles and a couple of hours. The rest of the...

chrisbentley349

Jul 241 min read

Day #100: Minden, Nevada to Hope Valley, California (19 miles)

Today's ride starts with 10 miles of flat, followed by 9 miles of climbing 2,300 feet over the Carson Pass in the Sierra Nevada range. ...

chrisbentley349

Jul 231 min read

Day #98, #99: Carson City to Minden (18 miles)

I spent one extra day in Carson City because I thought there was a problem with my bike. But, as I was riding to the bike shop, I...

chrisbentley349

Jul 221 min read

Day #97: Fallon to Carson City (61 miles)

Great to be really on the road again :-). A medium distance ride at 61 miles, relatively flat, with enough places to get food along the...

chrisbentley349

Jul 211 min read

Day #96: Fallon to Fallon (47 miles)

I dropped the U-Haul off in Fallon at 10am, and decided to get on my bike for the first time in a couple of days and see whether my legs...

chrisbentley349

Jul 201 min read

Day #94, #95: U-Haul to the rescue

The three rides after Ely were, 79 miles, 70 miles and 110 miles, with about 10 mountain ranges to crest, 100 degree Fahrenheit...

chrisbentley349

Jul 201 min read

Day #93: Baker to Ely (36 miles)

Today's ride was medium length, around 64 miles, and it included two large climbs over mountain passes. I had a good attitude on the...

chrisbentley349

Jul 172 min read

Day #92: Delta, Utah to Baker, Nevada (75 miles)

The day was going to be a long one... the ride was supposed to be 90 miles... I'll explain why I just logged 75 miles. Perhaps it's best...

chrisbentley349

Jul 164 min read

Day #91: Payson to Delta (78 miles)

It turns out Payson had a lovely historical center of town. Here it is at sunrise... Speaking with a older couple last night at a...

chrisbentley349

Jul 141 min read

Day #90: Sandy to Payson (55 miles)

Today's ride was dreamy... the first 30 miles was on great bike paths that weaved back and forth part way up the side of the mountains. ...

chrisbentley349

Jul 131 min read

Day #89: Woods Cross to Sandy (32 miles)

Ater the last three long rides, today was almost a rest day. Most of the route followed the wonderful Salt Lake City bike path along the...

chrisbentley349

Jul 122 min read

Day #88: Logan to Woods Cross (79 miles)

It been a while since I had a picture of McDonalds on my blog... they've been few and far between out West... I thought today's ride...

chrisbentley349

Jul 111 min read

Day #87: Soda Springs, Idaho to Logan, Utah (74 miles)

Today was another 70+ mile ride... they all start bright and early and happy, and end with me feeling a little desperate to make it in to...

chrisbentley349

Jul 101 min read

Day #86: Alpine, WY to Soda Springs, Idaho (73 miles)

I started early enough to have a long shadow. It was also cool, so I layered up. This was all good for a long ride that only had...

chrisbentley349

Jul 91 min read

Day #85: Jackson to Alpine (38 miles)

Before I leave Jackson, I want to sing its praises... It has 2 or 3 really good sushi restaurants and an absolutely hopping downtown...

chrisbentley349

Jul 82 min read

Day #84: Grand Teton to Jackson (39 miles)

I could take pictures of Grand Teton mountain until the Bison come home... and I love these 39 mile days that start off cool, with a...

chrisbentley349

Jul 71 min read

Day #83: Yellowstone to Grand Teton (39 miles)

Re-tracing my path back to Grand Teton, I knew what to expect, so it was a relaxed ride. I started at 7:30am and it was cool enough for...

chrisbentley349

Jul 61 min read

Day #82: Rest Day in Yellowstone

One of the early expeditions of Europeans to explore Yellowstone, included an artist. Describing a waterfall, he said "it surpasses...

chrisbentley349

Jul 61 min read

Day #81: Grand Teton to Yellowstone (39 miles)

Since today's ride was only 39 miles, I had a relaxed morning. Slept in until 6am, had cereal with blueberries for breakfast, and was on...

chrisbentley349

Jul 61 min read

Day #80: Dubois to Grand Teton (66 miles)

A beautiful, but long, day of riding. The first 33 miles were almost all uphill for a total of 3,500 feet of ascent... but the payoff was...

chrisbentley349

Jul 41 min read

Day #79: Riverton to Dubois (80 miles)

A long, beautiful ride up the Wind River Canyon, with convenience stores located at the 20 mile and 50 mile marks. Had a great talk with...

chrisbentley349

Jul 21 min read

Day #78: Rest Day

I had made a mistake in my planning of today's ride... I had thought there were no hotels in between, so I had signed up for a 140 mile...

chrisbentley349

Jul 11 min read

Day #77: Wright to Casper (91 miles)

Today was my longest ride so far, 91 miles. Luckily there was a gas station near the half-way point. The day was sunny, but not too hot....

chrisbentley349

Jul 11 min read

Day #76: Newcastle to Wright (73 miles)

Had a lovely dinner last night with Casey Thorson, who drove me in his pickup to the hospital last Summer. He's one of the loveliest and...

chrisbentley349

Jun 291 min read

Day #75: Custer to Newcastle, Wyoming (38 miles)

The Wild Spruce Market in Custer has everything you need to make a "bagel supreme" :-). Yet another beautiful day, blue skies, not too...

chrisbentley349

Jun 281 min read

Day #74: Keystone to Custer (28 miles)

Another beautiful day, riding through Alpine terrain, made friends with Dana McKnight at a diner in Hill City. Like me, he had ridden...

chrisbentley349

Jun 271 min read

Day #73: Rapid City, SD to Keystone (30 miles)

Rapid City, South Dakota had thunderstorms last night, so the plane circled for 45 minutes before we were cleared to land. But the...

chrisbentley349

Jun 261 min read

Day #72: Restarting the Journey

Almost a year after I had to suspend my cross-country ride, I’m getting back on the road… I had two operations (kidney stone and...

chrisbentley349

Jun 261 min read

Day #71: Temporary break in the trip

I’m sorry for the lack of updates... once I got to Newcastle, WY, it turns out I had a third bout of bladder infection and the symptoms...

chrisbentley349

Aug 11, 20241 min read

Day #70: Custer, SD to Newcastle, WY (36 miles)

Google showed that I would climb 1,400 feet today, but descend 2,500 feet. I didn't fully grasp that all the climbing was in the first...

chrisbentley349

Aug 9, 20241 min read

Day #69: Keystone to Custer, South Dakota (28 miles)

It was a glorious day... a little cool, so I had my long pants, sweater and wind breaker on for parts of the ride, but the sun came out...

chrisbentley349

Aug 8, 20241 min read

Day #68: Rest Day in Keystone

Well, it was sort of a "rest" day... I left the saddle bags in the motel room and rode my pared-down bike the 850 feet up to Mount...

chrisbentley349

Aug 7, 20241 min read

Day #67: Rapid City to Keystone, South Dakota (16 miles)

What a miracle a good night's sleep is! At the end yesterday's ride I felt broken, but after 8 hours of rest I felt ready to get on the...

chrisbentley349

Aug 6, 20241 min read

Day #66: Interior to Rapid City, South Dakota (73 miles)

If yesterday was magic, today was a trial by ordeal... I think it was the hardest ride of my trip, because it was so long and the...

chrisbentley349

Aug 5, 20242 min read

Day #65: Kadoka to Interior, South Dakota (34 miles)

Today was a magical day for several reasons... In the first place, the blast furnace heat from yesterday was gone at least at the start...

chrisbentley349

Aug 5, 20242 min read

Day #64: Murdo to Kadoka, South Dakota (43 miles)

Not too long a ride today... if the wind picks up it will be against me... but my big concern is the heat... it's supposed to hit 104...

chrisbentley349

Aug 3, 20241 min read

Day #63: Presho to Murdo, South Dakota (33 miles)

The temperature was forecast to hit 100 degrees, with a bit of a headwind as well, so I wanted to get out early to beat both the wind and...

chrisbentley349

Aug 2, 20241 min read

Day #62: Oacoma to Presho, South Dakota (40 miles)

Nice conversations all day... with a woman in her pickup truck, with a dad doing a road trip with his extended family, with a truck...

chrisbentley349

Aug 1, 20241 min read

Day #61: Kimball to Oacoma, South Dakota (26 miles)

Originally this was going to be another long day, but when I told Google that I was searching as a car, it found a much shorter route......

chrisbentley349

Jul 31, 20241 min read

Day #60: Mitchell to Kimball, South Dakota (49 miles)

No math today, but I should mention I loved Trev's comment on the shortest path. If the paths have width of course he's right, since...

chrisbentley349

Jul 30, 20241 min read

Day #59: Madison to Mitchell, South Dakota (70 miles)

So, Fengmei and Zoë were of course right about yesterday's math puzzle: path A and B are the same length. One way to see this is to...

chrisbentley349

Jul 29, 20241 min read

Day #58: Brookings to Madison, South Dakota (44 miles)

Small math question: which of the two paths from Start to End is shorter? (Hint: it's a trick question :-) If you peek down to the...

chrisbentley349

Jul 28, 20241 min read

Day #57: Marshall to Brookings, South Dakota (60 miles)

Today was long... according to the forecast, the wind was 10-18 mph gusting to 30, hot and humid. On the plus side I figured out...

chrisbentley349

Jul 27, 20241 min read

Day #56: Morton to Marshall (57 miles)

The day was supposed to be hotter than the previous few days ... hitting a high of 90 degrees, so I started around 6:15am. The sky was...

chrisbentley349

Jul 26, 20241 min read

Day #55: Hutchinson to Morton (57 miles)

Today was a beautiful day for biking: cool with hazy blue skies, but by the end it was tough, fighting a northerly wind whenever the path...

chrisbentley349

Jul 25, 20241 min read