Bicycle Ironman Jared Fisher Crossing USA By Bicycle — Again

March 13, 2021March 14, 2021 Alan Snel Jared Fisher

ADVERTISEMENT: Story Presenting Sponsor

By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com

There are two types of people who live in the United State of America.

The 328 million people.

And one Jared Fisher.

Fisher is the bicycling ironman/marathon man from Las Vegas (Blue Diamond, actually) who is pedaling coast-to-coast solo from San Diego, California to Jacksonville, Florida in two and a half weeks or so. He and wife Heather own the Las Vegas Cyclery bike shop in Summerlin and the Escape Adventure bicycle touring company, plus other bike shops in Reno and Moab, Utah.

To call Fisher a “hardcore” bicyclist is like calling Oprah an “interview enthusiast.”

Why is Fisher biking across the country solo? Well, he biked 3,421 miles across the country the northern tier of the U.S. in 18 days in July 2019. So, what the hell, he might as well bike the southern tier of the country, too.

It’s easy to follow Fisher’s trek across America. He bikes like, oh, 180 miles or so a day and then finds time to post a rather comprehensive daily report with lots of photos on his Facebook page.

Here are first-person highlights from Fisher’s daily Facebook posts. Check out his Facebook page for more words and photos.

Day One: San Diego, California to Colorado River, Arizona

After a wonderful surprise from my brother Grant showing up with my dad in San Diego and our good friends Craig and Michelle joining us for dinner, it was a spectacular night riding from the coast of San Diego up to the top of the mountains and down to the Mexican border by sunrise …it was spectacular. Beautiful sunrise and very little traffic if any at all! I got to see that beautiful wall that separates Mexico and the United States. I often wonder why there are so many border patrol on the American side and none on the Mexican side… Hum… Could it be America is fantastic?

Day 2: Colorado River, California/Arizona border to Phoenix, Arizona

I departed at five in the morning and rode 183 miles of smooth roads through the wild west of Arizona and the Sonoran desert. It wasn’t that big of a day as far as elevation gain goes however I did fight a headwind most of the day. Enough about the ride… I was able to land at the end of the day at my sisters house right in the smack dab middle of Phoenix!

Day 3: Phoenix, Arizona to Gila River, Arizona

This morning started off with a torturous alarm clock at 4 AM going off in my ears causing me to have to get out of bed at my sisters house. I was so comfortable and ready to sleep in till 4 PM but that wasn’t the case!… Shortly my friend Mark McCann showed up and embarked upon a fantastic 180 mile bike ride today. We rode in the dark early in the morning I’m beautiful bike paths through the city of Phoenix Arizona for nearly 30 miles. Phoenix Arizona is the biggest city ever! We rode 50 miles before we couldn’t see Phoenix anymore.

Day 4: Gila River, Arizona to Caballo Reservoir, New Mexico

Woke up at 4 AM in Arizona and rode for a few hours and crossed over into New Mexico. I spent quite a few years here when I was a small little kid and I have a Lotta memories of this place. Beautiful wide-open desert. 80 miles into the ride I was able to cross over the continental divide. The continental divide does not mean it’s the highest mountain that means that the watershed either goes to the east or to the west into the Pacific ocean or the gulf.

Day 5: Caballo Reservoir, New Mexico to Fort Hancock, Texas

After sleeping on a dirt road with quite a few rocks underneath of my sleeping bag I woke up late at 6 AM and spun my way through the world-famous green chili fields of Hatch New Mexico along the Rio Grande River. Notice in the photos the Rio Grande River has approximately zero water. Somehow they’re still growing cotton pecans and chilies.

Day 6: Fort Hancock, Texas to Alpine, Texas

Today also was the hardest day I can ever remember riding in a headwind. I never once had a tail wind. I rode for 170 miles with blistering winds in my face and it really truly was frustrating. If there was a support vehicle I would’ve got in it. My knees hurt so bad right now. I ran out of water in a section of road that was 75 miles long… no services. But thank goodness there were a couple old ranchers who gave me a drink. There was some pretty wild things on the side of the highway and you’ll just have to look at the photos. I tried to keep good spirits all day but it was hard to do. Either way I’m still headed east but now I’m looking at at least a couple more days of winds and rain possibly.

Day 7: Alpine Texas to Sanderson Texas

I had to basically quit about eight hours early . . . The headwinds started at mile one and finished at mile 85. They were up to 40 miles an hour in my face and never let up except for a few moments here and there. I can’t pedal in this any longer…I’m gonna have to wait out the wind and probably leave in the middle of the night to make my way east. I wanted to quit about 85 times today that would be once every mile.