Epilogue

General Comments
After this summer, I am convinced that bicycling is probably among the best ways to see the world. You make better distance than hiking, you get to see things no person in a car will ever notice, and you rely on people in such a way that even though there may be honking jerks out there, you still see the full-blown kindness that people are capable of. Yes, you see a lot of asphault (which you pay closer attention to - different colors/types of rocks on the shoulders/bugs crawling across), power lines, and fences, but I think you also learn more about the life of the region than when in the backcountry. I talked to a lot of coal people in KY, a lot of grain farmers and processers out in KS, and those who work with lumber in the west. It was fun; there's always a lot to learn from people who don't think the same way as you do. I had never seen much beyond the east coast, and the areas we travelled through are insanely beautiful. The physical and mental challenge was immense but certainly not insurmountable. Below, I've answered some of the common questions I get and talked about some of the less-savory aspects of my Transamerica ride. Feel free to ask any other questions in the comments - I'll answer them. Hopefully, I'll also upload what I consider the "Best Of" photos within the next couple of weeks.
From now on, I may post some adventures from Madison, and this will likely become the blog for the AT trip post-grad-school I'm determined to do. Otherwise, this may be pretty dormant for the next 5 years.
Thank you for everything. Now get out and ride. :)

FAQs

Stats: Biked approx 4400 miles from Yorktown, VA to Anacortes, WA, carried around 40 pounds in 4 paniers, lost no weight (in theory gained around 5 pounds, but I was also much better at being hydrated at the end), went through 1 chain, 3(?) intertubes, 1 tire, highest elevation was 11,542 ft, longest day was approx 90 miles, hottest temps were probably around 104F

Toughest climbs: foothills on top of ridges in Kentucky

Easiest mountains: the Rockies

Most boring rides: certain spots in Kansas and Wyoming

Most beautiful places: Glacier, the Cascades, Currant Creek Pass (though Arapaho NF wasn't shoddy), the Tetons

Hardest mental day: the big fight with my dad

Worst headwinds: Wyoming and Kansas. The day we went past Jeffrey City.

Best food: oh man, there was a lot. (Steak at K-Diamond-K, burritos in Pueblo, and buffet in Waynesboro are the three that most quickly come to mind)

Worst food: "roast beef" in Lander

Biggest Jerks: eastern Missouri people and the octogenarians who cussed me out in Kentucky

Most awesome people: the family with the extra solar home in Crozet, people in Kansas, all the picnic-ers we passed

Most useful thing in my pack: extra water bladders

Numer of times I fell off the bike: 3 or 4 (one crash with dad, others were from losing balance while clipped in)

How was the end? Bittersweet. I was happy I had finished such an amazing journey, but I also recognized that life wouldn't be as simple. And simple is oh so good. Transferring directly to grad school has been tough. I miss the sights; I miss waking up and knowing that all I have to do is pedal; I still miss Emory friends.

Did the trip meet your expectations? I held very few specific expectations going into the trip. I knew that it would be physically and mentally challenging to ride. I knew it would be tough to be in such close proximity to one person for such a long time. I knew that it would be awesome. I did think that the ride would give me a lot of time (perhaps too much) for introspection, and that was the one expectation that wasn't met. I playfully proclaimed that we'd be doing 100+ mile days in the next state, but I never believed that too much. Oh - and I thought I would be eating a lot more ice cream than I did - I craved cookies and hawaiian shaved ice more.

Were there times you thought you might not make it? Yep. After the first couple of catastrophic days (my food poisoning, dad's bike breaking) and when we had to stop for dad to see the dentist, I got worried.

What kept me going? I thought a lot about friends and teammates back at school. I sang a lot, and that usually powered me up hills. Whenever there was a crazy headwind/storm/major obstacle, I usually caught myself thinking "Biking in this is impossible. I'm trying to bike across the continental US; impossible is nothing." You have to be damn stubborn for this kind of trip, but if you have that, the transam is absolutely doable.

How were the ACA maps? Better than expected. The route was pretty good - it kept us going through small towns, off major roads, and through any scenic area in a 100 mile radius. Sometimes, ACA kept us a bit too far away from traffic, and they seem to automatically route onto bike paths (which can be ok, but usually aren't good for touring). They were most useful in finding out where lodging/food/water/internet services could be obtained.

How was the bike? I guess Novaras (REI house brand) are solidly build frames. The REI store in Atlanta did a shitty job of putting my bike together, and that became obvious several times during the trip. I think I'd prefer a Trek 520, Fuji touring, or maybe Surly Long Haul Trucker. My bike also wasn't set up to fit me very well, but this was kinda useful in that I kept shifting my butt around on the seat trying to make things better.

Other gear comments: Novara paniers were awesome. Held up like mad, were super waterproof, etc. I had one CatEye cyclocomputer (Cadence?) that sucked and one (the Astrale) that worked out pretty well. Having one short sleeved and one sleeveless jersey was nice. Ibex wool is by far the best stuff I've ever tried, and the Smartwool PhD socks were great (I dislike their baselayers though). My mountain hardwear pants were, as always, awesome. Handlebar bags are super, super useful if you're the one navigating.

Would I do it again? YES.

Would I do it the same way? Probably not. (camp more, cook more, deal with asthma better, pack lighter, etc) That being said, I'm glad I had the experiences that I did on this trip.

Thing I most want to do now: AT (and see some different continents - I hear there's a bike tour through Africa)

Roadkill summary
Virginia and Kentucky have the most roadkill of the trip. Lots of possums, squirrels, and a few other fuzzy critters.
Missouri and Illinois had a ton of crickets, frogs, turtles, etc.
Kansas, Eastern Colorado, and all those other flat, kinda dry spots had very little roadkill. The little that was there was usually something like birds/bugs.
Mountainous regions out west had more squirrels, deer, etc.

Butt summary (I suggest that you don't read this if you don't want graphic details/aren't going on long bike trips any time soon)
Being on a bike hurts. I never really had many sore-leg problems or anything, but putting all your weight on a small region creates pressure wounds that are almost exactly like bedsores. Dad used chamois butter and bag balm a lot, but I tended to stick with anti-monkey butt powder. I tried the bag balm occasionally, and while my dad swears by it, I found it pretty useless. The powder helped me heal pretty quickly; though I think so long as my sores could stay dry, get air, and not be under constant pressure (getting off the bike, showering, and lying on my stomach was great), I was usually ok. Periods were not all that fun. Starting out, I caught a period a few days after I had just ended another one. Cramps were a little more pronounced than usual, feminine products caused more friction during rides or pressure on sores off the bike. Hiking, I usually focused on my feet; biking, ya have to pay attention to your butt.