Well I made it! After 5197 cycled kilometres (3229 miles) I went from east (UN Building New York) to the west Long Beach California, all on two wheels. I am happy that I did it. It was mostly pure discipline to be here in time. Stand up early and keep cycling most of the days, that’s what I had to do. The last stretch of my trip through the country was landscape wise absolutely breath-taking. In New Mexico and Arizona I cycled off the main roads through the mountains, which kept me away from traffic and lead me into the middle of nowhere. I was on high elevation and nights were freezing cold. It was worth it travelling off the beaten tracks.

Everywhere I experienced the friendliness of the people. I just want to show some pictures of the west and say “thank you!!!” America for:

… having a little too long cooked spaghetti at “semper fi” cabin

… letting me camp in yards, barns, shelters, base ball fields, parks and gardens

… helping me out when getting no money at ATM’s

… getting me in contact with other cyclists

… explaining me how fracking works

… introducing me to the amish culture

… encouraging me once having flat tires in the front and the rear

… teaching me words like “hillbilly”

… talking wholes into me explaining differences between all the states

… to all the semi drivers using the other lane of the road once passing me

… letting me sleep in a camper for three nights

… for planting tomatoes and letting me take as much as I want

… giving me world tourer discounts in hotels

… telling me take a left and at the same time pointing to the right

… telling me a million times be careful of …

… emailing and encouraging me even if we never met before

… giving me free wifi access outside of fast food restaurants

… presenting me t shirts and caps which I had to return

… giving me a model plane/helicopter flight show

… sitting on a campfire with me

… inviting the rest of the family to meet me

… giving me Mexican breakfast

… sharing a cabin on “Route 66”

… selling me anti dog spray

… saving me from thunder storms and showing me pictures of Innsbruck

… telling me that Austrians are wild people

… hiding the lunch/breakfast/dinner bill and saying it’s on me

… fixing my front and rear tires and donating it to my trip

… letting me use bike tools and pumps to get my bike going again

… meeting up with me on motorcycles while being two weeks behind schedule

… meeting me in front of a supermarket and introducing me to the local news paper

… letting me put my bike in the supermarket and having an eye on it while shopping

… giving me a ride on a rest day to the lunch place in town

… stopping me after leaving the arrival gate being depressed because my bike did not board the flight

… telling me about the American school system

… supporting me with sandwiches and pumpkin seed cookies

… letting me know to say “are we cool” than “is that ok for you”

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… for introducing me to the “katy trail” which I never took

… waiting forever to pass me on mountain roads

… showing me hunting rifles with scopes

… giving me shelter from the rain and explaining what NAPA is

… giving me water and warning me from a black panther which is running around freely

… joining me watching a Cardinals base ball game and trying to explain the rules

… posing with “Miss Christian County” on pictures

… leaving me unharmed once entering a gay bar

… planting cotton fields next to the road so that I could see it the first time in my life

… putting me on the wall of fame in a bakery

… writing an article about my trip and publishing it in a local news paper

… being a fire fighter and letting me know what real posing is

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… telling me to be extremely (!) careful at a hairpin turn cycling up Georg Washington bridge

… introducing me to horse shoe throwing

… explaining my life in the NAVY as a women

… giving me phone numbers I could call if I am in trouble

… calling me “honey” or “sweetheart” once ordering in restaurants

… guiding me to Queen Marry

… calling me “honey” or “sweetheart” once ordering in restaurants and looking strange once I answered “yes, my lady”

… giving me shelter for four days to go to the hospital and let my pain in the back being checked

… building shoulders on most of the roads for cyclin

… opening the shop after being closed and supporting me with proper screws to fix a problem with the carrier

… putting me on the face book site of a breakfast restaurant

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… letting me know that the person I speak to always wanted to go to “Australia” one day

… making me to least rethink my European attitude about the second amendment

… trying to teach me the “texas-two-step” in a country club

… welcoming me on the pacific coast

… telling me how to recognize a real cowboy

… letting me know that thanksgiving is to celebrate the birth of god

… bringing me water with ice after ordering no ice please

… building Mogollon rim road in Arizona

Days travelled total: 126

Distance cycled: 7897km (4936 miles)

The last few weeks I crossed the centre of the United States and there is one word that describes my daily life best: “SUFFERING!”

But let me start with one of the greatest highlights of the whole tour so far. I stay in St. Louis for two days and the whole city is full of people wearing red or white shirts saying “Cardinals” on it. It’s the local base ball team and it’s supposed to be one of the best nation wide (sorry guys didn’t know that).

While making a loop through town on my bike I spontaneously buy two tickets, call mike an artist which I meet in the hostel if he wants to join and an hour later we are entering the stadium. The Cardinals stadium is huge and sold out, the atmosphere is fantastic and the few over to the gateway arch as well. I think I am the only one here not knowing the rules and not realizing that the game was over.

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But back to real life …

I feel very bad cycling through the west of Ohio. I sweat heavily at night and have to change clothing a few times while resting. My sleeping bag gets so wet that it doesn’t isolate against the cold anymore. One night I have to wear my raingear to be at least a little bit protected. It can be an infection of the kidneys I think, so I need to see a doctor. Luckily not, was the result after being checked in the hospital. I got a cold or a dislocated vertebra in my backbone. So I am forced to rest for a few days, looking out of a hotel window and all I can see are perfect cycling conditions.  Being more or less fit again, the wind decides to change direction. I am fighting against the wind through Illinois and Indiana. After recovering from the push to St. Louis the weather forecast for the Ozarks and whole Missouri was rain, cold and thunderstorms for the next two weeks. I have to go on and California still soooo far away!

I have to do two important things: First being disciplined; stand up early and don’t stop cycling. Second; spend more money for hotels to sleep in a warm bad. After a while I feel better and all of a sudden and completely unexpected the sun shines for me again!

How to react on dog attacks?

Usually the bears scare people but I lost that fear after two summers up in Alaska. Dogs are a different thing. Some dog owners told me they don’t like bicycles. Most of the time they just say hello, but two times in the Ozarks (Missouri) they spot me from far and are after me. I have to flee, the first time in my life I have to really run away from something. The most important thing is to keep the direction, to not run into some passing cars. But what to do if you have to climb, or if they are in big numbers? So I decide to arm myself with dog and pepper spray. The dog spray does not harm them, so first I didn’t want to buy it. But after relaxing about the whole thing I test it once so far and it seems to work just leaving the dog behind reacting somehow stupid.

Something bad brought something good …

Getting money with my ATM card works nowhere in Oklahoma. After another disappointing try at a bank a gentleman named David talked to me and offered me help. I still had enough money for a while, but he offers me to contact him once in trouble and after a good Italian lunch I felt better.

The next thing: While riding through 45km of intense city traffic in Oklahoma City I have a flat tire in the front and the rear, which I couldn’t get fixed. I think: OK that’s it! I will drown my bike with all its luggage in the next city pond, take a taxi to the airport and book a ticket to somewhere. Alright behave Peter, be nice, that’s still nothing. The really hard countries still lay ahead, I know it from tour guiding. Thanks to the wonders of internet I locate the next cycling shop and be there after 2km cycling and pumping air in the tires. At “Al’s Bicycles” they fix my bike and thanks to Henry donated repair and parts to my trip. Thank you!

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The last days on the middle stage …

I always divided the crossing of the US in three major stages: the east, the middle and the west. I am close to Amarillo Texas which is the end of the middle stage for me. I leave Oklahoma and the last days of sun warm me up again. Taking cabins on campsites is also a good idea to enjoy the overnight stay and save time for packing. I feel good again. But that’s life, after the sun comes the rain! I have lunch in Elk City and although spotting the thick clouds, I know it’s better to cycle on. I keep on pedalling and completely wet and freezing I reach the oil booming town of Sayre Oklahoma. Sissy and Ken are running a RV park there, but have no cabins or empty caravans to sleep in for me. Due to the oil boom, hotels got more expensive. After a little chat they offer me to sleep in their barn and invite me for dinner. In the morning Sissy looks at pictures from Innsbruck and a usually unknown feeling comes up called “homesickness”.

Two days to Amarillo and I decide to empty the batteries. Days are short and the only thing I take my time for is eating (bad tongues say my ingestion works via phagocytosis). Then yesterday at 9pm I arrive. There are tons of hotels out on the interstate but for taking a rest for two days I want to stay downtown. I ask for a “cheap hillbilly 40 bucks hotel…” everyone seems to understand what I am searching for, which I find right in the centre. What does a man need, a bad without insects, internet and a warm shower. Just don’t try to impress a girl with it …

Like coming into Amarillo, I don’t plane much. But one thing is for sure, I will leave Route 66. Main reason is Interstate 40. The traffic is very noisy day and night and Route 66 is mostly paralleling I 40. I might go a little further south taking mostly HWY 60.

The last 2000km and the pacific is waiting…

Total distance travelled on the bike: 5934km (3709M)

Days travelled: 96

A day in a cyclists life,

I just want to give an idea about how it is to be on the road for a while. So I just pick out a random day on my trip through the USA to introduce my daily routine. Of course every day is different, the day I choose should be a representative one. But as so often things come different …

Early morning: 06:00; 0 km

I sleep well but not in a nice hotel. No, yesterday I found a sports field along the road in a small town named Harvel Illinois. For the last two days I had to fight against the wind constantly blowing from the west and also yesterday I could not cycle longer to reach Lichfield where I could have stayed inside. Temperatures drop down close to the freezing point at night, but it hast to be the tent I said to myself. After inspecting the buildings on the sports field I found an open door which gave entrance to a 2m x 2m small chamber and I decided this as my home. I took all my electronic equipment with me in the sleeping bag to prevent malfunction due to the cold.

I stand up early, six o clock. Pack my gear and prepare breakfast consisting of cereals, fruits and coffee. Suddenly the guy which gave me water for the night shows up and makes sure I survived the night and asks if I need anything. His name is Gilbert and he is the major of Harvel a 250 people community.

Late morning: 08:12; 0km

I get ready and start cycling. The wind is not too strong and I hope to make progress. It’s cloudy and cold but once I am on the move I am fine. After 17km I run into some rain.

Before noon: 09:55; 17km

I am in an unsheltered place and speed up to the next house nearby. Cautious of the dogs I ring the doorbell and a friendly fellow opens inviting me in right away. His name is Roger and he is just fixing cars. We have coffee and a chat together and after the rain and wormed up again, I continue cycling.

Before noon: 10:32; 25km

I hit the famous Route 66 the first time. The road that should bring me to California one day! First I planned to cross the US further north in Colorado. But it’s getting too late in the year so I need a rout further south, let’s check out what Route 66 has to offer.

Noon: 11:25; 37km

Saint Louis is not far and the wind is not too strong, so I might make it down there. I stop at one of the most famous fast food restaurants, of course not to eat, but to use their WiFi internet. Alright there it is “Huckleberry Hostel St. Louis”, call them, make reservation, save the location in the GPS, cycle on …

Noon: 12:35; 44km

Wind is strong now. Headwind! So I make myself small on the bike, putting the elbows on the handle bar and pedal on. I need to eat soon and stop at a gas station to have some food. The options are limited so it’s burger and coke. Cycling goes on and I listen to some music, ZZ top helps me through …

Afternoon: 15:18; 71km

The town Edvardsville is coming closer. From now on I will have to cycle through city traffic I think. But nice surprise there is a paralleling cycling path along route 66 with information desks and map directions. Cycling routs in general are hard to find in the US but here they built them on the old abandoned railway trails. Well done Edvardsville that’s how it needs to be done.

Late afternoon: 17:45; 105km

I cycle down till Horseshoe Lake and spot the Saint Lois skyline the first time looking at the 192m high Gateway Arch monument. The Gateway Arch symbolizes the westward expansion of the United States. It’s an internationally famous symbol for Saint Louis. It’s getting dark soon, I need to speed up …

Evening: 18:30; 116km

I cycle through the towns east of Saint Lois. To be honest I don’t feel comfortable. Navigation is not easy. The sun is going down and my GPS guides me through gravel roads, over railways and underneath highways. This is one of the times (happened as well in my years tour guiding) I am very thankful for the wonders of new technology. I find the right bicycle open bridge over the Mississippi river and stop for one or the other picture. Cycling at night is a thing I usually avoid at all costs and it happened the first time on this trip. Also when approaching cities I usually sleep before, or after the town. Or I avoid them. But this time I want to be at that hostel and know that I will rest tomorrow. So I push on …

Evening: 19:10; 125km (time in the saddle: 7h 30min)

Happy and exhausted I reach the hostel, it got dark. A friendly voice speaks to me: “Ah, so you have made it …” Quinn the guy who runs the place expected me already.

Evening: 20:13; 125km (time in the saddle: 7h 30min)

I store the bike, shower, wash my cloths (need 2 nights to dry) and get ready for dinner.

Night: 21:10 – 24:00; 125km (time in the saddle: 7h 30min)

No burgers in Quinn’s recommended bar. But further down the road I have some good American food. Then back to the original bar for a beer, where I meet some friendly fellows. …  Let’s call it a day I say so back to the hostel, write my travel diary, make sure will not cycle tomorrow and fall asleep.

This turned out not to be a representative day, but there is no “normal” day anyway.

After a long 10 days rest in Lisboa and New York City I am cycling again.

The first three days in completely settled area out of Manhattan, over George Washington Bridge into New Jersey. It is not my best cycling with lot of traffic and absolutely no places to camp. I check in to an expensive hotel to rest and relax. I need to get out of the most crowded area as fast as possible.

One of the first things I need to figure out is what roads I can cycle on. Highways (HWY) are sometimes ok for cycling and sometimes not. On the Interstates you cannot cycle at all. In New Jersey I use my GPS a lot to find the best route. New Jersey is called “the garden state” and there is really one house with garden after the other. The further you get to the west the bigger the gardens get. But the state is very small so on the third day I am already in Pennsylvania. For me it’s now Penn-hill-vania because it’s hilly everywhere. No wonder the state is right in the Appalachians. I enjoy the cycling again, the rolling hills are covered with high trees and there is not much traffic on the road. In the internet I find detailed information’s about cycling routes in Pennsylvania so I decide to cross the country on “PA cycling path V” which leads 350 M (560 km) right through the country from the easternmost to the westernmost point. The rout is well signposted and with the detailed maps provided in the internet I save a lot of time navigating and finding quiet roads. The route also leads you to some of the “national forest parks” of Pennsylvania, where you could hang out and hike for a day or two. Crossing the country takes my longer than planned, every day I have to do a lot of climbing and with all the heavy load on the bike I am way behind schedule. After two weeks I cross the border to Ohio and make good progress for two days cycling in flat territory.

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The only problem I experience on the east coast is overnight camping.

There is not much public land and only few campsites. Camping on private property only works if people trust you and talked to you for a while. Still I always found a save spot somewhere. One night I see some people play horse shoe throwing along the road. I stop and ask for water, by the way one of the best methods to get in contact, so they invite me to watch their game and later on they offered me to stay and set up a tent for the night. It’s getting dark and cold (down to 3°C/37F) and I was sleeping already, once a car came across in the dark. Immediately I hear a voice in the dark “… Hey there don’t worry, I am one of the horse shoe players …” so one of the guys comes around offering me a lunch package for the next day and a few warm blankets for the night. Really nice, thanks!

But that is only the start …

the next following week I am really welcome in lots of places. The other day I stop on a field with some special tables on it. First I think it’s a shooting range, but it turns out to be a small airfield for model helicopters and airplanes. The guys there really know what they were doing, making loops and all kind of crazy manoeuvres with their tools. So after I got a free air action show they offer me to stay overnight in their garage, which was also a very nice experience. Or one night I slept on an Amish farm and Mark the head of the family told me about their way of life and showed me around a bit. They life the old way and don’t adopt to new technology like electricity or cars. Thanks to Mark I get a little idea about their way of life. These are all nice experiences. I was not lucky all the nights though. There were also some days where it was hard to find places to stay and I got sent away to search somewhere else. A highlight though was my last night in Pennsylvania. I already had a spot for the night at an amish school to camp, but had no water for the night. I say to myself “the next house I ask for water …” this ended in a nice evening being the guest of Dave and Barbara on the camp fire with all their family telling stories of our life’s and reporting of my cycling trip.

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Right now I stay in Ohio and rest for three days on the “Sunset Spring RV Resort” northwest of Bucyrus, along the Lincoln HWY. The campsite spreads over a small river valley and has two picturesque lakes in the middle. First I plan to cycle on and stay in a hotel somewhere further down the road. But Brian the guy that runs the place and I start talking about where to cross the USA in this time a year and not run into some bad winter storm and how driving on the famous “Route 66” is. Suddenly he offers me to stay in one of his campers and so I enjoy my time (trying S’more: Grilled marshmallow, crackers and chocolate) here with Brian his wife Cassie their kids and with their parents Skip and Judy.

Tomorrow I will cycle on further south, because it’s getting cold up here and

winter is coming …

New York City is really something special. I come in by subway and enter the town at Madison Square Garden I am amazed and enjoy the town for 6 days.

Check out the pictures attached …

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It was not easy coming here. In Lisboa I check everything for the flight ahead so no bad surprises will pop up. Bike is in a box and all in all it weights less than 32 kg. I already store everything in the bike shop, so just need to ride to the airport, check in and fly. But it turns out to be not as easy as I think. First of all there were never ending rows to the check in, so someone from the employees is putting me and box ahead of the queue. That helps! Then the lady tells me that I have overweight, the whole box with the bike weights 33,5 kg. She writes 32kg in the flight formulary, but tells me that I need to pay more because the transport regulations have changed. So over to the “customer information” and again waiting in the line. Time is running short and I walk in front and explain my situation. The gentleman there tells me I don’t need to pay extra and sends me to the oversize luggage to check in the bike. Only one hour till departure and I was still in the arrival area. Once lifting the box up at the check in of the oversize luggage I realize that the box is too big to fit in the x ray machine. Time is running and the security personal says, “… no check in with this box!” So back to the “customer information” of the Portuguese airline and there they tell me I need to check the box in at the cargo terminal, will miss the flight to New York and have to rebook the tickets. Of course I didn’t wanted that so back to the oversize luggage. Now time is running really short! “Let me check in without the bicycle box I ask …” get an “ok let’s try” as an answer and now everything must go quick. Knife out of my bags, cut the box open and put the bike out. All my gear is falling out of the box and all over the floor. People around think I am freaking out completely. So fast I put the bags on the bike, like if I would go cycling, quickly fix the tent on the bike and checked it through. The bike looks like a Christmas tree with all the stuff hanging on it …

With five pieces of hand luggage (luckily no one complains about that) I sprint to the gates. Passing all the lines on first position, through the passport control and security checks. Right at the gate I check in immediately. Totally stressed and completely wet and from the run I enter the airplane. I get to New York City that’s for sure!

I arrive in time but my bike does not make it. It arrives 3 days later and the wheels are pretty scratched. I do some repair on it and after taking care of the rims and putting a new rear tire on I am good to go again.

but see for yourselfe …

The training is completed!

Just came in yesterday directly along the coast to Praça do Comércio, probably the best way to enter the town. I like Lisboa, the whole town is on hills. You see house roves covering the slopes everywhere and on top of the hills you find nice cafes overlooking the town and the river Tejo.

Of course I had to cross Spain first, one stretch I had to speed up to be here right in time for the flight to New York. This was all in all too stressful, too much cycling at all, in the future I have to take more time to enjoy. It was OK for a while but overall I need to travel slower. And by the way, I need to eat more.

Right after coming into Spain through the Bask country (Euskal) the landscape changes completely. The Spanish country side is much dryer, spread out, low populated and remote then France. I was on the Saint James way at the beginning and saw lots of pilgrims walking west to Santiago the Compostella.

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Some things are a real surprise for me here.

First, the breakfast: Containing a quarter of a tomato, one slice of white bread, olive oil and coffee. I had to get used to it!
Second: Some national roads seem to disappear. It can happen that the new highways (Autovia) were built on top of the national roads. So for a cyclist you face the option, cycling on a highway or taking gravel roads next to it. Especially in the area of Burgos to Valladolid you have to make a choice.

Third: The temperatures were pretty high, but Spain is on a high plateau at about 800 – 900m sea level. With some wind it was not too hot for cycling at all. It got really hot in Portugal afterwards. Being on the road at 35° Celsius adds a new note to the cycling.

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In Portugal the landscape changes again. It gets more hilly and wooded. Portuguese villages look very picturesque with their white coloured houses, cafes and small parks. Fortunately they have a fountain in every town, for refreshing and filling up the water bottles. Always check the water quality before emptying your bottles for a refill. The water in Portugal is good except Lisbon. In Castello Branco I was hanging out with some Portuguese people, telling me stories and facts about their country. Unfortunately young people are struggling (min. income 480€) and thinking of moving away. One guy said to me: “Portugal is a god state to retire, but not to work”

If you are flying from Lisboa and bring a bike, check out the “Velocitat” Café (www.velocitecafe.com). A mixture between a cycle store and a café. They can help you out with packing!

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Start of the trip: 22nd of July 2014
Stand of the statistics: 09th Sept 2015 (end Australia)

Overall distance:             20 094 km
Overall cycling time:          1205,3  h
Overall average speed:      16,4 km/h
Longest day (km): 170,8 km (Australia – Queensland day 373)
Longest day (h): 8 h 46 min (Australia – Queensland day 373)

Days travelling: 415
Days cycling: 245               Days not cycling: 170
km/day (total): 47,1         km/day (when cycling): 80,2
h/day (total): 2,8               h/day (when cycling): 4,8

Nights outside:135           (Campsite: 50/Free camping: 94)
Nights inside: 280                (House/Hotel/Shelter: 268)

Flat tires: 9

Highest pass: 4928m Pass near Sol de Manana (Bolivia)

Highest Camping ca. 4700m (Las Lagunas – Bolivia)

Dog encounters: lots                                         Nights on campfire: 5
Most useful tool: Smartphone
Most useless tool: Compass on the bike (shows wrong directions)

Stages and distances:

–> Part 1 (1651km): Austria – Switzerland – Italy – France

–> Part 2 (1042km): Spain – Portugal

–> Part 4,5,6 (5197km): USA

–> Part 8 (1915km): Cuba

–> Part 9,10,11 (4927km): South America

–> Part 12: Australia … coming soon

Part 1: Austria – Switzerland – Italy – France

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total: 1498 km; 90,85 h, 16,49km/h average

Just want to give a few first impressions of the last three weeks of my trip to Portugal. I experience a lot of friendliness of the people on the way, enjoy the infrastructure Europe offers and cycle through some of the nicest landscapes of this continent. The start was very tough though! Climbing the Alps two times (Maloja Pass – Switzerland and Col du Montgenevre – France) wasn’t easy at all. Now after 1400 km I got into it and through the Pyrenees I will cross the border to Spain the next days.

Impressions from Austria – Switzerland – Italy:

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I didn’t know France well ahead of time, now that I am here for almost 2 weeks I have to commit that France is the most positive surprise so far. The people are very friendly. One time after cycling up a long 14% rise in the heat I am spotted by a couple of workers sitting outside having lunch. Once I come close they talk to me and hand me over a glass of red wine, which I have to empty immediately. In the evening I stop and ask a Lady for water, this ended in a dinner with the whole family and a save pace to camp inside a garage. Storms are short but very heavy next to the Pyrenees.

Impressions from France:

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Stages and Distances

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