So what's the plan?
Welcome! Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thank you to all those who have already been generous enough to donate to my cause. If you have any questions/messages, feel free to use the contact page, or email me at thomasblower1994@gmail.com. I think I've got some jolly good explaining to do, so I'll give you some basic stats about my route.
Start - Wilmington NC, 11th August
Finish - Seal Beach CA, 22nd September
Over 2800 miles across 8 states
98,421 feet of ascent
38 days of cycling
I'm doing this journey for a number of reasons. I've never visited the USA before, and I figure that travelling across the country a bicycle is one of the most engaging and enjoyable ways of doing so. For me, the USA is the source of some of the greatest music in the world, and most of my favourite musicians either live in or take their influences from some of the areas I'll be visiting: from the blues scenes of Nashville and Memphis to the desert rock scenes of the California desert, this will be somewhat of a musical pilgrimage for me. I'm also, most importantly, a type 1 diabetic, and certainly from my personal perspective this journey is to prove to myself and to others that diabetes should not be a condition that prevents them from doing incredible things with their bodies. I figured that I'd try and raise some money for a cause I'm passionate about. I' trying to raise £600 in sponsorship for Amnesty International, a charity which advocates dignity, respect and equality as rights for all human beings, regardless of religion, socioeconomic background or ideology: if you fancy donating, there's a link on the homepage. I'm also going to film my journey and turn it into a mini-doc/short film, so keep your eyes peeled for updates!
So. There we have it. Follow me over rivers, mountains and plains, through forests, cities and deserts, from the musical capitals of Nashville and Memphis to the rock-inspiring desert towns of western California. There will be recording studios, ghost towns, legendary roads, meteor craters, abandoned motels, churches, monuments, and a museum solely dedicated to barbed wire. It'll be... well, it's not for me to say yet what it will be, but all I can hope is that it will be an adventure.
So long for now,
Tom