3,000 miles after leaving Brooklyn, Jeffrey arrived in Santa Monica (Image courtesy Lara Solomon)
Two weeks ago, Jeffrey Tanenhaus pedaled his Brand-new York City Bike Share “Citi Bike” down to the end of Santa Monica Pier, and declared his cross-country trek over. It took your man 5 months, yet the native Brand-new Yorker finally managed to push the heavy, three-geared, bike-share bicycle across the entire United States, and arrive at the Pacific Ocean.
Like everybody else, I was undoubtedly curious to know the “why” behind Tanenhaus’ decision to steal a shared-bicycle (he’s since paid the $1,200 great for doing so), and pedal much more compared to 3,000 miles west from Brand-new York to Los Angeles.
Tanenhaus, 35, said he felt deprived by his job, working as a corporate events planner from a dim windowless office in Manhattan. He constantly looked forward to his six-o’clock escape on the big and heavy Citi Bike. While others Brand-new Yorkers jammed themselves in to subways, Tanenhaus pedaled for concerning 40 minutes through Manhattan, across the East River to his residence in Brooklyn.
“I did it in almost any weather,” he recalled. “I remember coasting up Initial Avenue, bone cold, thinking concerning simply exactly how freeing it was to be outside on a machine that went where I told it to, and moved once I made it move.”
Not a windowless office. (Courtesy Jeffrey Tanenhaus)
New York was getting to him, and the need for everyone to “make it,” as he says, was wearing your man down.
“I feel like tourists are the ones that know exactly how to do Brand-new York. They come in for a few days, see the sights, consume the meals and leave prior to it actually starts getting to them,” he explained. “Brand-new Yorkers don’t ever get hold of out to experience their city. It’s like ‘oh yeah, we have actually this fantastic museum. I’ll go visit it sometime, it’s simply a quick train ride away, yet not right now because I’m busy.’”
And Tanenhaus would certainly know: he used to job as a guide for tourists in Brand-new York, and he likewise authored the app NYC Vital Guide. In November 2014, he quit his job. He focused on rewriting and updating his app, and then he began traveling about the globe to places like Chile and even the infamous Death Road, in Bolivia. yet once he returned home, he still wasn’t prepared to settle down. Though he has actually traveled through much more compared to 50 countries, the voyager had never actually traveled extensively through his own.
“I believed why not combine my bike commuting along with something bigger. A trip across the country would certainly be much more of a travel compared to a bike ride, yet I’d be doing it on something rather familiar to me.”
Gesturing the holey operating shoes he wore for the entire trek, he explained exactly how he did the trip along with little preparation. once he left Brand-new York in August of 2015 he did so along with a laptop computer and a modest trailer attached to the bicycle, packed along with some toiletries, a few changes of clothes, a one-man tent, a mattress pad, and no tools. He hoped he’d make it past Jersey.
“The bike is a magnificent means to travel. It opens up a whole different set of circumstances and constraints, that force you to stop at places you ordinarily wouldn’t stop at if you were traveling in a car, or a train, or a plane.”
He logged concerning 30 miles each day, traveling on country roads where America opened up prior to him.
Tanenhaus in Indiana, simply off Route 66. (Courtesy Jeffrey Tanenhaus)
But sometimes he’d linger. For instance, he spent a little longer compared to he anticipated once he rolled up to Brand-new Albany, Indiana and stopped at a brewery. “It was simply kind of serendipitous, I went to the brewery, got delayed, found this bed and breakfast, and ended up spending two days in this little town I never even planned to stop at.”
The Citi Bike In Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Courtesy Jeffrey Tanenhaus)
Again and again, Tanenhaus found themselves drawn to smaller sized cities, finding that though they lack the sort of cosmopolitan reputation of his hometown, they have actually vibrant local cultures he liked as much, otherwise more, compared to his home. Where Angelenos and Brand-new Yorkers could look towards the middle along with pity, Tanenhaus thinks the coasts could stand to learn something from the American interior. Some of his favorite places were Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Flagstaff and Redlands. His absolute favorite was Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“It was kind of surprising. There is no ocean and there are no mountains,” he said of Tulsa. “It’s big enough to be a city, yet small enough to feel like a community, and cool enough to attract a progressive crowd of young professionals.”
Incidentally, it was on his means from Oklahoma that he had his only actually bad experience along with someone, when he was punched by a driver, apparently enraged that Tanenhaus had the audacity to ride his bicycle on a road. Tanenhaus found out later that the man that attacked your man was arrested the same day after he tried to kill one of his neighbors along with an axe.
‘Countri’ Bike battled bitter cold temperatures sleeping outside the Patton Museum in Chiriaco Summit, CA(Courtesy Jeffrey Tanenhaus)
Using a bicycle as his travel car called for Tanenhaus to rely upon the charity of strangers often, and through these connections he managed to get hold of to know locals much more quickly compared to if, say, he was simply driving through. Bike shops along the way, as well as locals contacted through Warmshowers.org (believe Couch Surfing yet for bike-touring), all supported your man along his journey.
As he headed further west, however, the traveling got harder, especially as he found themselves in some truly desolate portions of the Southwest. At a few points he hitched some short rides, yet for the most portion he managed to make it across even some of the much more isolated portions of Brand-new Mexico, Arizona, and California on his own.
Upon reaching Los Angeles, Tanenhaus found themselves welcomed in much more means compared to one. Los Angeles County Metro had been waiting for him, following his journey on Instagram, and invited your man to see a preview of Los Angeles’ soon to debut bike share program of its own. Caltrans likewise called your man up and barraged your man along with questions concerning riding on state highways outside the built-up portions of Southern California.
Riding on the shoulder of I-10 through the Mojave was, err, not so great. (Courtesy Jeffrey Tanenhaus)
Though some of the worst roads he faced were in California, notably once he had to ride on the 10 through the Mojave Desert, he’s found Los Angeles to be surprisingly bike-friendly, even once compared to Brand-new York.
“You constantly hear the bad things. L.A.’s full of cars, the drivers are crazy,” he explained. “yet I’ve found drivers here are much more courteous. In Brand-new York, a lot of the drivers are driving for work, so you’re in their way, Here, people seem to be much more courteous. Maybe it’s because they spend so much time sitting in traffic they’re beaten down, yet it’s a rather noticeable difference.”
The disadvantage of riding in L.A. compared to N.Y.C. is its dearth of infrastructure. Where Brand-new York has actually plenty of protected bike lanes and divide signals for cyclists, Los Angeles is struggling to even get hold of one fully protected lane built.
As for what’s next, Tanenhaus plans on returning the bicycle to Citi Bike dock in Brand-new York City, through the shipping tips of Santa Monica Breeze Bike Share. After a quick trip to San Francisco, he will certainly return to Brand-new York for a some time while exploring the opportunity of a much more permanent move to Tulsa.
But he does actually like L.A.
“I believe the thing that surprises me most concerning L.A. is exactly how complex its bike culture is,” he said. “I like L.A. It’s got a sort of grittiness to it that I didn’t expect. Riding through the city made me appreciate it even more compared to I had once I’d visited it in the past once I simply passed through in a car.”
You and me alike. Delight in your stay!
‘Countri’ Bike meets Metro Bike Share near Union Station (Courtesy Jeffrey Tanenhaus)
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