Lacking common sense, an apparently sane man may find himself doing something for which there is no explanation other than, “because I can.”
- J. Stange, 2006

Standing on the Atlantic shore with a bicycle over my shoulder, I am no more prepared to answer that question than one month earlier, standing on the pier at Santa Monica. The Pacific surf rumbled beneath us and a stranger who, consenting to snap our photo, summarized our problematical question; Why do you want to ride a bicycle across America?
Jody and I looked at each other, neither of us wanting to answer. After a pregnant pause, Jody replied, “Because we can. “
It was at best, a stop-gap answer, but served us well during the next month.

Across America, I expected an epiphany; a blindingly brilliant insight that would explain our riding compulsion. However, lofty mountains, immense deserts and wind-swept prairie came and passed, and the primary question remained. A first-class air ticket would have been cheaper. Even a stage-coach, were it available, would have been faster. Our journey was not comfortable nor was it safe. While I think almost anyone in reasonable physical shape could ride across America, why did we do it?

It is written that much of our lives are controlled by urges. Not everyone agrees with this but few contest that our urges influence our spontaneous actions. It is human nature to respond to momentary impulses, although we disguise this perceived weakness by saying, “Well, I have been planning this for a few years, now…”
We refer to a long-contemplated desire as something we have been planning for some time. But at some critical point we cross the line, and find ourselves in mid-adventure. Oh, we done it now!

One wise man said that there are nine irresistible primal urges, another seven persistent transitory desires, and five godly urges.
The desires to eat, sleep, and mate are contained in the first category. Most of us are well acquainted with these desires and refer to them as instinct.
The godly urges are related to acts of altruistic generosity and humanity. Not everyone has knowledge of these and they seem easier to resist than the seven persistent transitory urges.
The transitory urges embrace such compulsions as getting facial tattoos, attending law school, or riding a bicycle across a continent.

Urges, in the real world, counterbalance common sense, responsibility and most importantly, lack of opportunity. Paradoxically, the most hazardous situation occurs when urge and opportunity coincide with availability.
This has been known to ignite in spontaneous compulsion.
Common sense, or more accurately, lack of it, is a vital factor in the creation of a robust compulsion. The psychology of cross-country biking is little understood, but tighter than toe-clips, we am ensnared in a 3,000 mile transitory urge.

“Because I can!” isn’t an answer at all, but Jody and I freely used that dodge accross the country. We gussied it up now and so it might cover the obvious inexplicability of our situation, but it didn’t explain the consumption of 10,000 calories a day, as we simultaneously freeze-dried and sun-burned. We required a better answer, because at every quick-stop, inquiring minds wanted to know.

In all fairness, we had to answer something. After all, we were eating their town’s entire grits ration. Mountaineers say they climb, “Because it’s there!”
This does allow the climber to continue to the peak in tranquility, but I wonder why none have devised a better answer. High-altitude brain-dead syndrome, maybe?
Apparently, I am not the only adventurer who suffers from epiphany deficiency.

Some adventurers try to counteract their impulses with rational thought. They exercise resolute determination when confronted with the prospect of high adventure. These people are known as “couch-potatoes.” They have a life-time of leisure to contemplate an insightful answer to explain why they don”t do something. The most common of which is, “I wouldn’t be caught dead doing that!”
How true. Death by potato-chip is preferable.

The power of rational resolution pales when confronted by primal urges, and common sense flies out the window. Call it instinct, impulse, or inevitability, our window of opportunity opened Jan 28th.
Like Rhett Butler, we were gone with the wind.
We covered 2900 miles, climbed 44,000 vertical feet and ate enough mashed potatoes to fill the Super Dome. Blown on, rained on and run off the road, we were not detoured. In spite of multiple challenges, Jody Stange and I crossed great mountains, flooding rivers, and endless deserts while consuming surging mountains of waffles schlathered in imitation maple syrup. It was a primal adventure. We were subject to many persistent urges, but the urge to stop was not one of them.

Today, though our tracks are gone, The Great question remains. In the end we can not explain why we did it.
Possibly only God knows, and there is no human explanation. For those who leave the path beaten between the microwave and the couch, maybe no explanation is needed. Seeing there is only a fine line between a world of difference, where “because we can,” is confused with, “because we had to.”