Assaf's Cross-US Bike Ride
Note from 2026: In the summer of 2019, I rode my bike from Miami to Portland. Every night, from a tent, hotel room, or a friend's house, I would write a short blog post with pictures from that day. I have reproduced this blog here (with some typos and formatting fixed).
At the time, I had a live GPS tracker on me, and along the way, I would stop at various towns or attractions and send friends post-cards. The Google Form still works, and if you fill it in, I will send you a post-card, though maybe not from a random town in the middle of the US.
Some of the photos from the start of the trip are a bit hazy for a few reasons: my phone was old and crappy, but more critically, the lens was covered in sunscreen. In fact, everything I carried had a thin layer of sunscreen on it. At my low point on Day 17, I bought a new phone, and the pictures (and frankly the scenery as well) improved from then onwards.
Welcome! This is the index page for my bike ride from Miami, FL to Portland, OR.
Some Blog information
I tend to write my blog posts in the late evenings, before going to bed. They are full of typos, and occasionally have some coding mistakes, such as wrong maps, broken links, or messed up pictures. I'm sorry for that, and I always try to fix it as soon as I can. Some days, the blog is written from inside a tent, and updated through my phone's data plan, so really not the best conditions.
Having said that, if two days go by without a blog post, it's probably a sign that something's gone bad. Either my laptop stops working, or I'm dead. One of these is likelier than the other.
Anyway, no one cares about all that, so let's just jump right to the biking!
Contact
I like sending postcards. If you'd like one, fill in the form here.
Note from 2026: The address below is the one that was on this page during the ride. It is no longer valid — please don't send anything there.
mailing address (no longer valid):
35 East Lynn Ave,
M4C 3X3
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
email: assafbarnatan@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Safibn
arXiv: Assaf Bar-Natan
Ride website: https://tinyurl.com/miamitoportland (defunct)
Location: https://tinyurl.com/wherethefuckisassaf (click "View All Tracks")
Mood: https://www.windy.com and pan to my location.
Messages, e-mails, pictures, and love letters are always welcome.
Epilogues
Chapter 5 - The Oregon Trail
- Day 56 : where I finish the ride.
- Day 55 : where I cross the Bridge of the Gods, and my grandmother writes a guest post.
- Day 54 : where I camp for the last time.
- Day 53 : where I enter the windy gates.
- Day 52 : where I overeat.
- Day 51 : where I am on vacation.
- Day 50 : where I talk about music and Sarah writes about small towns.
- Day 49 : where I take a silly picture in Oregon.
- Day 48 : where my dad tells of the bike's origins.
- Day 47 : where I bike along the old Oregon Trail.
- Day 46 : where I go to some hot springs and waterfalls.
- Day 45 : where I appreciate caffeine.
Chapter 4 - High Desert
- Day 44 : where I show off the happy queen/sad queen trick.
- Day 43 : where I visit the LDS temple.
- Day 42 : where I bike through the Mormon Valley.
- Day 41 : where I go to Middle Earth.
- Day 40 : where I learn to patch an inner tube.
- Day 39 : where I go to Dead Horse Point State Park.
- Day 38 : where I go on a hike with Kevin Walker.
- Day 37 : where I camp at the foot of a mountain.
- Day 36 : where I give a recipe for high desert stew.
- Day 35 : where I look at quilts.
- Day 34 : where I get really cold at night.
- Day 33 : where I get a haircut.
- Day 32 : where I replace my grip tape.
- Day 31 : where my spirit fights wind, fire, earth, and water.
- Day 30 : where I enter the desert.
Chapter 3 - Texas
- Day 29 : where I leave Texas.
- Day 28 : where I fight some more wind.
- Day 27 : where I celebrate my birthday by thinking about my friends.
- Day 26 : where I chase tornados.
- Day 25 : where I want to write you a postcard.
- Day 24 : where I have an optimal day.
- Day 23 : where I visit the place where JFK was assassinated.
- Day 22 : where I arrive in Dallas.
- Day 21 : where I describe the daily routine.
- Day 20 : where I listen to podcasts.
Chapter 2 - The South
- Day 19 : where I leave Louisiana.
- Day 18 : where I meet a friend, who writes a guest entry.
- Day 17 : where I buy a new phone.
- Day 16 : where I take a 4/5ths rest day.
- Day 15 : where I get cabin fever.
- Day 14 : where I sit in a cafe to avoid the storm.
- Day 13 : where I sleep in a nudist park.
- Day 12 : where I'm tempted by the beaches.
- Day 11 : where I think about future me.
- Day 10 : where I get my first rainfall.
- Day 9 : where I think about abandoned buildings.
Chapter 1 - Florida
- Day 8 : where I go to prison.
- Day 7 : where I visit a gas station.
- Day 6 : where I smell pine trees.
- Day 5 : where I bike along Florida trails.
- Day 4 : where I make good mileage.
- Day 3 : where I go to GATORAMA.
- Day 2 : where I do an experiment.
- Day 1 : where I land in Miami.
Chapter 0 - Preparations
- Day 0 : where I pack my bags, and share some final thoughts.
- Day -1 : where I box the bike
- Day -2 : where I update the checklist
- Day -3 : where I talk about some good ideas.
- Day -4 : where I make a final checklist of things I need to do.
- Day -32 : where I announced the destination.
The other rides
Sometimes I like to ride my bike places. Sometimes these places are very far away. On those rides, I spend the day biking, and the evening writing, uploading pictures, and making maps of where I was.
- Boston to Montreal (Summer 2018)
- Toronto to Boston (Spring 2018)