Cycling is a rather late discovery for me and I'm pleased to have found a kinestetic activity that motivates me with a goal - yes, I was doing the health club thing, but it seemed so industrial - all these earnest people pounding away on state-of-the-art fitness equipment, in rows with blaring music/TV feeds/iPods/whirring equipment - it wasn't enough to exercise for the sake of exercise

So I came up with a "stretch goal" that would inspire me to pick myself off the coach and exercise regularly because now I had a "gaining idea" - I was exercising to be able to pedal across the United States on my own.

Over several years I have been cycling across the US one segment at a time, taking the most southerly route possible, first along the US-Mexican border, then the Gulf of Mexico.

I'm a travel minimalist with a desire for creature comforts - I pack lighter than most for a bike trip: tools / food / water / one change of clothes.

I have a daily goal to get to a town that has a motel and a restaurant. My exercise regime back in Toronto was to make sure that I was fit enough to pedal 100 miles/160 km per day for a week at a time.