Having gotten into cycling this past year after a lifetime (so far) as a runner I found myself liking it a lot more than I'd expected. Halfway through the summer, though, as my bike miles started to pile up I found myself getting bored with the same routes over and over. A friend prompted me to a challenge: Ride every inch of road in the entire county. That's every alley, access road, dead end...everything. We spent some time hashing out guidelines to frame the challenge and went to it. I'm only 20% of the way done but already it's been one of the most difficult, interesting and unexpectedly rewarding challenges I've ever taken on. Despite having lived in the same place for almost my entire life this challenge (perhaps quest is a better word) has brought me to dozens of hidden corners I never knew about. I've discovered views, waterfalls, restaurants, running trails and so much more.

So now I'm hoping to find some others who'd like to join me, only in their own counties. I want to know what else is out there, I want to know what hidden corners other people find when they follow that road they've never bothered to go down before, and I want to share some of the things I've found.

No time frame for the challenge, just the joy of discovery and adventure along the way and the satisfaction when you're done of having done something supremely difficult that possibly no one's ever done before.

Here are the guidelines my friend and I are using to frame the challenge and keep it manageable:
* We purchased the most recent, most detailed map we could find and use it as our bible for the challenge. If the road's on the map it has to be ridden, except...
* Unpaved roads are exempt, as are private roads and roads not accessible to cyclists, such as Interstates.
* We said all of our rides must begin and end at one of three points in the county, but that was just to prevent us from driving to the top of all the really big hills, this one's optional!

If you think you might be interested in joining us send me a message, we'd love to have some virtual company!