antonyjcbutcher

As you probably know I can be quite an impulsive person. I committed to cycling across America before I’d done any research and I’m heading from New York to San Francisco because it feels right (despite this probably being into the prevailing wind – see https://www.windy.com/?38.112,-99.287,5 to see a live wind map).

Which is why I’m now adding an 300 miles (7 days of cycling) to my journey for “fun”. You see, 2020 is the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim’s landing in America. The Pilgrims settled in (New) Plymouth, but first set foot on American soil in Provincetown.

Sure, call me impulsive. Call me a romantic. But this just feels too good to be true. My route across America follows the history of America – slowly but surely heading West into the sunset. So to not start from where it all began in such a momentous year would be wrong. And if that wasn’t enough, I was born in Plymouth. Here’s a photo of me from my last trip home in front of the Mayflower Steps:

To top it off, many of the place names in this part of America are named after places in the Westcountry, where I grew up. I’ll be cycling past places like Yarmouth, Barnstable, Bristol, the imaginatively named “New Britain”, and of course Plymouth.

So, here’s my updated route map, now with an extra flick at the start:

So now I’m off to try and find a few extra nights accommodation on route, research some early American history, and try and tie down some contacts between Washington and Chicago, and West of Chicago. If you could introduce me to anyone please do get in touch!