Aaron Chamberlain is a cyclist and a production director at Texas Monthly. He joined us on the line on his 23rd day on the road. He was in Shamrock, Texas. And he told the Texas Standard about his journey.
On why he’s doing it:
Last year I was riding my bike on every single street in Austin, actually. So every street you see on a map I’ve ridden it in Austin. When I was finishing that project, I guess you call it. I was thinking, what should I do next? And the idea of just riding around the entire perimeter of the state came to me and it seemed like a possible thing if I could just find the time to do it… You know, when the pandemic hit, I kind of thought, well, this will have to wait until 2021, 2022. But then things kind of just stayed the same. We’re all working from home. And I said, well, maybe now is actually the best time to do it. I can still socially distance myself and I can still do work that I need to get done with work.
On his route so far:
So I left on September 1 out of Brownsville. I went up the coast to Texarkana and then I turned left and head[ed] west to Childress. And now I’ve turned north.
On what’s still ahead:
I think it’s 55 or 56 days of actual riding and with a few rest days in there. So I’m planning to be done by October 29, which is my wife’s birthday. So I told her when I was taking this trip that I would be back for her birthday. So that’s kind of a deadline.
On the best part of the journey:
Actually, I guess the best part is seeing parts Texas I haven’t seen, but also the people along the way who have helped out. I stayed at a family’s house in the backyard in a pop-up camper. And I just met them through Strava, which is a cycling app. And then I’ve had people come out and ride with me. There’s a couple of guys that came out and rode with me from Marshall to Texarkana. And that was kind of a long day – 75 miles. So I was thankful to have them with me during that long ride.
