How it all began - the Introduction Letter to "Discovering America on 2 Wheels"

Sometimes I get the cart before the horse... you know I do things in the wrong order.... bassackwards.

I've had quite a few people along the way ask me "Why are you doing this?" OR "Man - you're crazy!" OR "You do know it's winter - right?"  and a litany of other questions related to a 47-year old guy riding a bicycle across America in the middle of winter.....

Come to think of it, I guess it's time I went backed and asked myself -

Why am I doing this?

What got this started? 

What do I hope to accomplish?

Well - originally I put my thoughts about these things and many others into an Introduction letter that I completed after my first 510 mile leg from Lake Jackson Tx through the Hill Country of Texas to Fort Worth.

I thought it might be useful / helpful to submit that letter to the blog (kinda would've helped if I'd've done that in the first place!)..... so here's the reason for the season, that method for the madness and the fine line dividing what I'm doing from sheer insanity....hang on - I think I crossed over that line a long time ago....anyway here it is:

Note: The Introduction Letter was originally sent out on 12/29/09.
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Hi! Some of you have known me a long time, some of you I just met in the last month…. some of you have never heard of me. My name is William Miller and I just completed a wonderful bicycle adventure from my hometown of Lake Jackson Tx (south of Houston on the Gulf Coast) to where my son lives in a northeast suburb of Fort Worth - North Richland Hills.


I took a northwesterly route through the Hill Country of Texas to Inks Lake State Park about 50 miles northwest of Austin and then turned northward along Highway 281N and then bending northeastward on 67 N and then I35 into Fort Worth. The trip ended up being a little over 500 miles. I camped out in state parks, stayed in economy motels and even spent one night under a gazebo in a guy’s yard in Adamsville, Tx.


Some people may call my bicycle trek a Sabbatical…. others may call it a case of middle age crisis….. still others may just call it crazy and stupid…. for me it was just time.


I’ve been an avid cyclist off and on over the last 9 years beginning as a way to lose weight and get back in shape, then as a way to spend time with my son (who I did a couple of 100 mile rides with) and always using it as a way to just get out, exercise and enjoy the great outdoors.


Over the last couple of years, my weight had crept up, my blood pressure was higher than it should have been, my chronically painful left knee was getting to the point of causing a limp, my attitude was as painful as my knee and it was getting to the point where it was time…. to do something. I’ve never been a big believer in gradual change and I’m not a big fan of medicine and surgery….. I’m more of a “set an impossible goal and die trying – if it don’t kill you, it’ll cure you” sort of guy.


My family and I had spent Thanksgiving camping out at Inks Lake State Park – a beautiful Hill Country park 50 miles northwest of Austin – which we have visited many times over the past 12 years. I had brought my mountain bike with me and spent one day riding the roads leading into the park. I returned from my ride with a hair-brained idea….. I had my bike…. I had my clothes and gear – why not just leave from Inks Lake State Park and ride from there to my son’s house in Ft Worth? My wife could drive my truck back to Lake Jackson. I could visit my son, fly back out of Dallas and he could bring my bike when he came down for Christmas… sounded reasonable to me. Well, that idea survived a few sentences of discussion with my wife who wisely advised me that I needed to drive us back home and approach such an endeavor with a little more thought and planning. It’s funny how reason and hair-brained ideas seem to always come in conflict with each other. Reason won the day…… for a few days.

The week after Thanksgiving found me working through the logistics in my mind, looking over a Texas map, calculating distances, making lists and plotting my revenge on reason. By Friday of that week, my itinerary was roughed out, my clothes and gear were laid out and I had bought a seat post – mounted rack for my bike and bolted an 8-gallon Action Packer to it. Not pretty but functional. Camping supplies, bike supplies and food and eating-related items went in the Action Packer and clothes, sleeping bag, sleeping mat and an 8x10 tarp went in a backpack…… Action Packer on the back of the bike…. backpack on the back of me…. all 3 items went on a Trek 3700 Mountain bike – a moderately priced, sturdy mountain bike I’d been riding for a couple of years. Now for the grand delusion….. who wants to ride a bike with 25 lbs on the back of the bike and 35 lbs in a backpack from Inks Lake State Park to Fort Worth when they can ride it from Lake Jackson to Inks Lake State Park and then to Fort Worth….. double the distance – double the fun – right?…… if it was a good idea before it had to be a great idea now! Now you know how things like this get started…


So….at 12:30 pm Sunday, December 6th, I left Lake Jackson in a slow drizzle knowing only a beginning point and an end point with 510 reasons to make a left at the next block, ride the circle back around to my house, ease up into the driveway, walk the bike into the garage, go back into the house, get a beer, sit down and watch a football game…. but I didn’t. I kept pedaling…. in the rain…. in the sun... in the wind... and I found something in the next town, in the next mile, over the next hill and at the bottom of the last pedal stroke.


I found out I wasn’t as old as I thought I was. I found out it doesn’t take a lot of money, expensive equipment and expert advice to have a really unique, once-in-a-lifetime outdoor adventure. I found out there are a lot of pretty places I hadn’t seen in Texas. I learned about the history of Texas. I ate at some the best places in Texas and they weren’t 5-star restaurants and it didn’t cost me $20 a plate. I discovered that the entrepreneurial spirit was still alive and well in America. I realized how hard small town Texas and the small businessman has been hit by the recent economic crisis. I found that hospitality, generosity and the willingness to help a stranger was not a thing of the past but was alive and well in the hearts, minds and lives of people I met all along my 500 mile route….. I was the victim of several random acts of kindness…. People offered their time and expertise and shared their conversation and property with a 47-year old bearded stranger riding a bicycle by their little corner of America. As the miles ticked away with each turn of the wheel, I found my cynicism, the pain in my left knee and my extra weight slowly but surely melting away. Yeah, there were a few jerks along the way that seemed to have a death wish for cyclists, but by and large, I found hard-working, kind and helpful people who accepted me at face value….. it may sound corny or sentimental….. but in the end, I found hope…. Things are bad, but people are good…. and sometimes doing something crazy and seemingly impossible is the best way to find good in others….. and in yourself.


I’ve earned a living as a chemical engineer but I’ve always loved the outdoors and I’ve always had a passion for writing and photography. When I’d completed my bicycle trip, I started putting together a chronicle of my trip with the cell phone text messages, pictures and audio that I had sent my family along with some added commentary on unique elements of the trip as well as points of interest and people I met and the businesses they run. At some point, I realized that I not only enjoyed myself on my trip but I also enjoyed writing about it. You probably know where this is going….. a blog!


My wife’s nick-name for me is “Wills”. When I told my son and his fiance’ about my bicycling blog, my future daughter-in-law suggested “WillsOnWheels” for a blog name.


So over the course of the past week, I’ve input all the text messages, pictures and commentary from my 12/6 – 12/19/09 510 mile bicycle trek to my blog:


http://WillsOnWheels.blogspot.com/


I hope you take the time to visit my blog and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed putting it together and living the unique experience it documents. Whether you are an avid cyclist or a person who enjoys learning about good places to eat or someone who just likes to read about the fun and exciting things that happen to you on a cross-country bicycle trip, I think you’ll find something of interest…. maybe something that makes you smile…. makes you mad…. makes you cry….. or just makes you think.


My ultimate goal is to continue this journey of discovery of self and surroundings - to push myself to the limits in a self propelled tour of America. I want to bring the sights, sounds, tastes, and towns of America to those who make it what it is – a great country with great people and beautiful scenery!


It may seem kind of crazy, but right now this mountain-bike-pedaling, backpack-hauling, 18-wheeler-dodging, diner-sampling, small-town-touring, hill-climbing-and-bicycle-overhauling, state park-and-rest stop-cruising adventure is a big part of my life. And even crazier, I'm considering the idea of turning it into a living... my wife is sharing anecdotes from my bike trip with a whole group of friends and co-workers, and, apparently, people want to hear more. She said I should try my hand at "adventure journalism". I plan to explore different formats, venues and approaches.


The blog is my first step - a travel log with pictures, observations and opinions, reviews and commentary on anything and everything I do, come in contact with or use – mechanics and logistics of bicycling cross country, towns I go through, terrain I ride over, parks I stay at, hiking and biking trails I go on, equipment I use, points of interest I visit, places of business I come across, restaurants and cafés I eat at and motels I stay at.


I’d also like to write newspaper or magazine-type stories and reports from the field, or even a narrative or short stories.


The idea is about as crazy as riding 500 miles across Texas on a bicycle in the winter time when I first set out on December 6, in a cold rain, hunched over my bike, with little shelter from my backpack, itself wrapped up in a plastic lawn and leaf bag, with ends flapping in the wind behind me. But I was game for that adventure, and it more than met my expectations. So I might as well check out a crazy new career path, and explore if there actually is an interested audience out there.


The next goal, the 2nd leg of my Discovery of America on 2 Wheels, is a 675 mile ride west across northern Texas and into New Mexico, which I will am beginning TODAY! The trip should take me 14 – 16 days.


If you’d like to follow along with me on this ride – from Fort Worth Tx to Santa Fe NM – it’s as easy as accessing my blog:


http://WillsOnWheels.blogspot.com/


Weather and wireless internet permitting, I’m planning on making inputs to the blog as real-time as possible by submitting the text and pictures straight from the road from my cell phone. At the end of the day, I’ll fill in the details of the day and provide a more extensive description and commentary of the day’s events. This is a work in progress and I’m learning the tools, techniques and technology of doing something like this as I go…. so please bear with me. Finding out what works and doesn’t work is part of the fun of it.


Feel free to forward this information to anyone you think who might be interested in riding along with me on my blog.


Thanks in advance for your support…..and I’ll see you down the road!



William Miller
Cell: 979-285-7219
E-mail: arhth1@yahoo.com
Blog: http://willsonwheels.blogspot.com/