My name is Nate, and I am planning a bike ride to Northwestern University, in Evanston, IL, where I will be a freshman this fall. I am biking to Evanston from my house in Western Massachusetts with my dad. We will try to ride 100 miles per day, for 10 days, and have a few days for rain and resting. I will pull a small bike trailer, called a Bob, and my dad may also be carrying panniers. My mom will be driving out all of my belongings for the fall, and providing backup for us, in case we need to be bailed out.
Our route is currently under review, but the general plan is to bike from my house, to the Troy, NY area, and then follow the Erie Canal Bike Path, and the New York Bike Route 5, which follows the canal pretty closely. We will follow these routes to Niagara Falls, and then cross into Ontario, and bike through to Michigan, and straight on through to Muskegon, where we will take a ferry to Milwaukee, WI. From there we will bike down to Evanston, and I will go on the Project Wildcat trip.
I hope I’ll be in shape for backpacking!
I will be taking an Asus EEE PC 701 on this trip, so I’ll be able to update this page regularly, and post photos and maybe videos as well.
Comments are welcome!
Tags: Asus eee pc, bike, biking, cycling, evanston, ferry, Illinois, massachusetts, Niagara falls, Northwestern University, ride, trek, trip
August 10, 2008 at 4:13 pm |
Sounds like fun.
August 11, 2008 at 12:35 am |
Good luck Nate, you’re a bigger man than I.
I hope you have a safe trip and everything goes according to plan!
August 11, 2008 at 4:23 am |
wow, this is awesome. i’m super impressed.
August 11, 2008 at 6:08 pm |
Hi, Nate! This is really awesome! Good luck, and a safe journey to you!
August 12, 2008 at 4:55 am |
nate! so cool! enjoy the ride and NU!! i will be coming back to read your posts!
August 12, 2008 at 7:23 pm |
Hi Nate, was that you I saw installing a gas powered motor to your bike? Kidding,
Dave
August 12, 2008 at 9:52 pm |
Nate, you crazyman! Good luck, dude! I’m going to send this blog to my girlfriend, she’ll love this!
August 13, 2008 at 7:12 pm |
Hello Nate! I’m so envious of you! I like the route you’ve planned out (much better than the I-80 I imagined). Have a wonderful and safe trip!
August 13, 2008 at 11:55 pm |
That is so darn cool. Northwestern Cycling will be waiting here for your arrival: http://www.northwesterncycling.com.
August 14, 2008 at 5:49 pm |
Nate, this is awesome! I lived in CRC and saw your link on the facebook page… anyway, I’ve been biking a lot this summer and just wanted to say that this is such a cool idea. Good luck!
August 25, 2008 at 12:28 am |
Hey Sam & Nate, I’m looking forward to your reports. Marie told me about the flats right out of the gate; sounds like this is going to be a good adventure. Hugs to you both!
August 26, 2008 at 4:44 am |
Typical NU student. Chronic over-achiever. You’ll have a great four years, just keep your creativity and drive going. – An ‘08 grad.
August 27, 2008 at 12:12 am |
hope you enjoy your stay at the marina in cicero ny
August 30, 2008 at 2:06 pm |
Hey Sam — Next time I see you I want to hear again just exactly how far 180 miles is.
Nate — keep blogging! I feel like I’m with you, but it’s a lot easier having you two do all the pedaling.
August 31, 2008 at 1:28 am |
Hey, Hope you have a safe ride.
August 31, 2008 at 1:37 am |
hope the ground beside the field isn’t too hard, have a good night sleep, good luck on your journey!!
September 1, 2008 at 3:58 pm |
Any roadkill meals yet?
September 3, 2008 at 6:51 pm |
Hey! I stumbled here from your Facebook page.
This is awesome! What a great way to get in shape for backpacking, haha.
Good luck!
See you at PWild
September 4, 2008 at 4:00 pm |
Hi Guys:
I guess my first comment didn’t get to you. We waited in Readsboro for a while after getting there a half hour late. We stopped to watch a train come out of the tunnel, so we knew that was an OK excuse for Sam. We did our 104 miles that day, but coming back up Florida Mtn, at mile 88 in the heat really sucked! Glad all is going well. – Tom
February 20, 2009 at 9:42 am |
Hey Nate, really nice site.
I also like riding my bike to all kinds of destinations. Just out of curiosity:
What bikes were u riding and in general are the midwest states a good “soil” for riding ? Would like to do a USA trip by bike some day and looking for appropriate territories.
Thankx and good luck
February 20, 2009 at 9:52 am |
Hi Andrew,
See the page on “Dad’s Musings” (right at the top at http://biketoschool.wordpress.com/), where I cover our equipment and how we felt about the route.
Sam