Carleas, my body is literally broken, and was homeless barely able to walk. You don't need to be in shape to do the walks or bicycling, merely able to consistently put one foot forward after another.
When I first got out of the army, I spent my first year learning how to walk two miles in a day consistently.
When I was in Cincinnati, to do so without a limp.
When I ditched everything and went homeless, I flew out to San Francisco.... no sleeping bag and a rucksack full of heavy philosophy books, and barely any money, and forced myself to carry heavy weigh again, learn to walk or starve from unemployment. If I couldn't find work, I hiked or read in the library. If I was working, I had money for the gym and still had to hike miles daily to find safe shelter in the woods. Rained constantly, loneliness constantly pushing with a rucksack to distant locations.
In Hawaii, I had jingle mountain trails, steamy sweat and weird ass bugs.
Back in the Ohio Valley, I feel after years, my body has definitely morphed.... larger, people mistake my fat for muscle.... can't exactly run, but I'm able to walk no visible limp, and have memories of going much, much, much farther than I can currently manage. It is a competition against my younger, much better self, the guy who could go a triple Marathon.
It isn't about the distance, but your ability to contemplate doing it, consider the difficulties, plan for it, and go against your better judgment and just do it. You have to be excited to see new things never expected before by you, the trill of expanding your map of the world and new experiences.
That is how you hike the length of a map.
And no, I don't start a philosophy group with you. I have bad experience with co-running them, they never take good care of the meeting place and piss off the staff. I let almost anyone chair a meeting and enjoy saying nothing, the whole time, but I gotta be firmly in charge of the location and relations with the staff, and show up a hour in advance. Plus two people paying for advertising fees on meetup.com never works long, and Facebook never attracts people.
Even though I have alot against you, in this case, it is nothing against St you, just people in general. I see too many groups try to become too specific and crash and burn. The guy who took over The Honolulu Philosophy Group did exactly that. It doesn't exist anymore as a result, it exists as several small groups (which is still a legacy, there was none prior to me).
I'm pretty sure I'm going to snap on half of DC, but then again I was certain I wasn't going to fit in at San Francisco. You may not of noticed, but I'm not always the most PC or polished guy around.
If your going to bicycle, get a backpack, a nalgene bottle, waterproof army sleeping bag, and expect your trip to experience diminishing returns as you go farther on. Bike as far as you can on one day, then bust your butt getting back the next.
This bag:
http://ads.midwayusa.com/product/738330 ... Akpn8P8HAQWaterproof the gortex (was issued waterproof, but is used, can't buy new), spray it with the aerosol stuff they sell in the camping area..... this way you can bicycle as far as you can, without worry, and push off into the dark off the path, lay your bike down, crawl in. You don't need the black, just the green and the gortex shell till fall, leave the inner black at home. If it rains, it is waterproof, I've stayed in this bag in a swamp, and in thunderstorms and a hurricane.
If you want to go out farther, bring these two:
Water Filter for backpacking:
UV light (second step)
http://www.backcountry.com/katadyn-hike ... lsrc=aw.dsInside your backpack, put a garbage bag, throw a few pair of balled up socks, underwear, first aid cream, for at night to heal your friction Burns if you got them.
Thats it. No need to be a bitch and say you gotta get into shape. You just do it, no excuses. The hardest part is the fear of not having endurance, or losing your chance to find a hotel, or restaurant, or water.
http://www.google.com/shopping/product/ ... 5725345680If you can filter particles out of water, and UV it, you got infinite water across PA. That sleeping bad is home away from home, and is practically invisible at night, just set your alarm prior to sunrise. It comes with a scrunchbag, guys have lived in them for years, they work, and designed for concealment. Fresh socks, fresh undies, your good to go. You can be in a position to complete the journey in a month to Pittsburgh, can park your bike under a greyhound and ride back if your can't do it under three-four days and need to get back to work. We have runaway teenagers able to bicycle from the PA border to Indiana/Illinois border almost in two nights here, so I can't see how you can't do PA even out of shape in 3-4 Max.