Being accepted to the Whiting School of Engineering’s PhD program in chemical and biomolecular engineering was Chun-Chiao Yang’s first challenge. The second? Moving from San Francisco to Baltimore. So he hopped on his bicycle: a 2015 Giant Defy 3.
Calling his trip “The Grand Commute,” Yang, who came to Johns Hopkins after three years as a research scientist at a biotech company, spent 69 days traversing the 4,040 miles from California through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and finally Maryland. On the way, he documented the trip on Instagram.
“I have driven to Lake Tahoe several times, but it is not until I rode it that I realized what 8,500-feet elevation actually means,” one post read. Traveling further east he wrote, “Colorado is your most adventurous and outdoorsy friend who is always wild. Kansas is the reserved and taciturn one that you can be with all night long during a stormy night.” His favorite part: the Ozark National Scenic Riverways in Missouri, where he took time out for a canoe trip.
Yang plans to continue cycling in the Baltimore area.