Preparations
Planning always starts with a concept and John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley served as the initial inspiration for a tour around the USA. Christian introduced the cycling component. My economics education at Bucknell & CEU and good ole common sense & logic shaped the Freedom framework.
The dream was born and the following resources helped bring it to life.
Building your bicycle:
Our next American tandem will probably be a Santana from California. There are many companies that produce frames & components in the USA. Cyclophiliac has a great list of custom American road-bike framebuilders.
Traveling by bicycle:
Traveling by train:
Combining cycling with the Amtrak train helps cover longer distances faster and we like riding the train. We can enjoy some amazing landscape while National Park Service's Trails & Rails program provides cultural heritage context.
We hope this tour will help promote the environmental benefits & (potential) convenience of train travel and urge people to demand more investment in our public transit infrastructure.
We also want to promote the bike & train connection. It brings like-minded people together & encourages an active lifestyle. Amtrak should allow & have space for bikes on all trains: ditch the boxes & get some hooks up in there.
Bicycle Accessories:
Light & Motion produces great lights in Marina, CA for activites on the bike, on the mountain, on the water and even under the water. For our combination of nature & urban travel, we chose the versatile & long-lasting Solite 250 EX. To protect our junk in the trunk, the VIS 180 Micro's got our back.
Looking good on your bicycle:
Made in USA:
Joe Cruz's List of everything bike-related Made in the USA.