My 2008 Cross-Country Bicycle Trip

Itinerary

1. In mid-January, I had my bicycle boxed at the Seattle REI and shipped to the San Diego REI for pickup.
2. Starting on February 1, I followed the Adventure Cycling Association's Southern Tier route from San Diego CA to Saint Augustine FL. Notable cities along the route included Phoenix AZ, El Paso TX, Austin TX, Baton Rouge LA, and Tallahassee FL. For the sake of reference, I took the Southern Tier's Salt Mountain, Santa Rita, Austin, and Baton Rouge alternates, but skipped the Anthony Gap and Mobile Bay alternates. Completed on April 18 after riding 3332 miles.
3. I then followed the ACA Atlantic Coast route from Saint Augustine FL to the United States Supreme Court Building in Washington DC. Notable cities along the route include Richmond VA (i.e. where Chief Justice John Marshall lived). For the sake of reference, I skipped the Atlantic Coast's Jacksonville Airport, Savannah, Charleston, and Outer Banks alternates. Completed on May 10 after riding 1204 miles.
4. Finally, I shipped my bicycle and cycling gear back to Seattle, and completed my tour of American legal history, politics, education, and culture by rail, mass transit, and foot. Key sites in Washington DC included the Supreme Court Building, the National Archives Building, and Arlington National Cemetery. Key sites in Philadelphia included Independence Hall. Key sites in New York City included the Statue of Liberty, the United Nations Headquarters, the World Trade Center site, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Key sites in New Haven included Yale, and key sites in Boston included Harvard, the family crypt of John Adams, and the Freedom Trail. Completed on May 28.

Motivation

I started law school at the University of Washington in Fall 2008. My cross-country bicycle ride to the United States Supreme Court Building and subsequent rail tour of the east coast was intended to mark the life-altering nature of that choice.

Additional motivations included:

• The desire to experience a wider range of American life: in my case, this meant the South, the East Coast, small towns, rural areas, and border communities.
• The desire to gain a better understanding of contemporary border and immigration issues, by spending time in communities where such issues are part of everyday life.
• The desire to see key sites of American legal history and government activity, so that both history and current legal news can more vividly come to life as I read.

I also used my free time in the evenings to review the fundamentals of American history and thought. To that end, the Sony Reader I took with me was loaded with:

• American Founding Documents and Commentary: The United States Declaration of Independence, The United States Constitution, and The Federalist Papers
• American Political History: American Creation by Joseph J. Ellis
• American Legal History: A History of American Law by Lawrence M. Friedman

Pictures

I posted comments and photographs to my blog throughout this trip: feel free to browse them.

Reference

Feel free to browse my complete inventory, if you're curious what bicycling and camping equipment I used on this trip.

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