Tour de Pittsburgh

The Two are on the Tour

First, all of the photos on every web page can be enlarged:

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It was created by Jim (my touring partner) to give it wider exposure. This website is told from my perspectve and Jim's is similar but also provides his prespective.

Below is Jim's and Tom's day-to-day progress.

• Day 1 - Highway 61 Revisited.
• Day 2 - Rain, What Rain?
• Day 3 - Alone (again) in the unglaciated zone.
• Day 4 - Drifting Out of the Driftless Area
• Day 5 - Riding and Smelling Wisconsin's Dairy Air
• Day 6 - High Water Day
• Day 7 - Chicagoland
• Day 8 - Rest Day
• Day 9 - Green Tunnels and Corn
• Day 10 - Sunshine and Better Roads
• Day 11 - Peace Is Always A Good Idea
• Day 12 - Rest Day
• Day 13 - Windy Pancake
• Day 14 - This road can be whatever you want it to be
• Day 15 - Crisp Fall Day
• Day 16 - Bright Bright Sun-Shiny Day
• Reflections 16 - Final thoughts

Jim and Tom hopped on their bikes on September 10th and rode from Minneapolis to Pittsburgh. This tour is called the "Tour de Pittsburgh" and it appears it will stay that way. We didn't drink lots of beer so it wasn't the "Coor Tour", and things went great so it's not the "Sewer Tour", and thankfully it did not become the "Poor Tour" because we didn't lose all of our money at casinos along the way.

How can I help?

Several have asked if there's anything they can do to help while we are on tour. I answered "YES" do not let the stock market crash while we are riding back roads in the middle of nowheresville, USA and totally oblivious to all of the world's problems. Thank you for making sure that did not happen.

Planned Routes for the Newer Tour

• Start to Lake City (83 miles)
• Lake City to La Crosse (83 miles)
• La Crosse - Richland Center, WI (72 miles)
• Richland Center to Madison (78 miles)
• Madison to Delavan, WI (62 miles)
• Delavan to Half Day, IL (61 miles)
• Half Day, IL to Portage, IN (76 miles)
• Portage - Mishawaka, IN (62 miles)
• Mishawaka - Angola, IN (72 miles)
• Angola - Perrysburg, OH (77 miles)
• Perrysburg - Norwalk, OH (67 miles)
• Norwalk - Richfield, OH (62 miles)
• Richfield - North Lima, OH (71 miles)
• North Lima - Pittsburgh (66 miles)

Average: 71 miles per day
Total: About 1000 miles

No time left for us to change our minds - we're all in.

Below is a picture of stuff I brought with me.

I have tried to be as minimal as I can. What things will I wish I had remembered to bring? The inventory is:

• 2 panniers
• reading material (4 magazines)
• spare tire
• bathroom necessities (e.g. a toothbrush and dental floss)
• small bottle of detergent for cleaning clothes occasionally
• hand sanitizer
• snacks
• sunscreen
• long finger gloves
• rags to clean the chain, bike frame, and components
• 2 spare tubes
• evening clothes (T-shirt and shorts)
• Keen sandals (evening wear)
• some socks and underwear
• maps
• tools I hope I do not need
• journal notebook
• more snacks
• Chromebook and mouse (so I can update this web page)
• screaming yellow jacket (in case I get cold)
• arm sleeves
• leggings
• Android phone, credit cards, cash, shaver, biking clothes/shoes, rain gear (not shown)

Below is a picture of stuff that Jim brought with him.

Jim's inventory is:

• wallet and coin purse
• sun glasses and reading glasses
• swiss army knife
• iPhone
• evening shoes
• 2 toiletry bags
• snacks
• bike shorts
• tire levers/bike lube
• bag of tech electronics
• pants (evening wear)
• 2 spare tubes
• long sleeve bike shirt
• spare tire
• maps
• bike jersey
• long finger gloves
• spare spokes (specialized version)
• water resistant jacket
• undergarments
• bike pump